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I smiled, debating how to answer. A part of me wanted to continue our verbal sparring. It was turning out to be quite entertaining. But the other needed me to call her out and find out exactly where we stood before I allowed myself to indulge further in her pleasant company.
“It’s natural that I should be drawn to you,” I said, my smile fading and my gaze boring into hers. “After all, you’re Braxian.”
Dawn froze, blood draining from her face. Despite the admirable way in which she maintained a neutral expression, I didn’t miss the flash of fear in her eyes. Regaining her composure, she emitted a small laugh and glanced at me as if I’d said something silly. Unable to hold my gaze, she turned back to her vegetables as she resumed chopping them.
“Braxian? Being tall and big boned doesn’t automatically make someone Braxian. There is such a thing as the Amazons among humans,” she said teasingly. “Do I really look like one of your females?”
“Your body does. Your face doesn’t. But your scent indicates beyond the shadow of a doubt that you’re a daughter of Clan Caldes,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, daring her to contradict me.
This time, she didn’t even try to hide her terrified expression. It stirred an irrational protective response from me. I barely kept myself from pulling her into my embrace to reassure her that all would be well. Her reaction confirmed what I already knew.
“Don’t be ridi—”
“Don’t lie!” I hissed, interrupting her. “Right here, right now, you’re about to define what relationship you and I are going to have. I can forgive or overlook many things. But don’t ever lie to me.”
Dawn put down her knife and hugged herself. The need to reassure her surged through me again. It took every bit of my willpower to silence it.
“Who… who else knows?” she whispered.
“As of right now, only my two guards and I.”
“Your guards?!” she exclaimed, horrified.
“Of course. Every Braxian—even hybrids—can smell bloodlines. Despite your nose being mostly human in appearance, I’m sure it’s sensitive enough to do so as well.”
She licked her lips nervously, her eyes flicking from side to side as if trying to make sense of something that didn’t.
“I am the Crown Prince of Braxia. Tagar and Nowik have been my father’s bodyguards for years. Both the Magnar and his Jakars regularly meet with the various clan leaders. I know every bloodline on our planet, as do my guards. Once I see the other hybrids, I will immediately know who they belong to,” I explained in a calm voice. “Does your sire know of your existence?”
Dawn shook her head, then stared at the partially cut vegetables in front of her with a haunted expression.
Walking up to the sink, I washed my hands in the otherwise heavy silence that had settled in the room. Once done, I gently pushed Dawn aside and picked up chopping the vegetables. That snapped her out of the somber thoughts that had overtaken her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Preparing supper. You’re in shock. I’m not risking you cutting yourself and bleeding all over this fine produce. You can set the table while telling me about your parents,” I said in a slightly teasing tone to dampen some of the tension in the room.
“You’re going to cook?” she asked in a disbelieving tone that I should have found offensive.
“I’m a prince, not a severely disabled person. I can do things for myself, like cooking, as I have done many times before. Go on, and set the table,” I said gently but firmly.
Although still frazzled, Dawn complied. Despite my burning curiosity, I didn’t press her while she gathered her thoughts. There was something oddly domestic to me preparing our meal as she fetched the plates. If not for the tension knotting her back, you’d think we were a couple going about their routine.
“My father doesn’t know of my existence,” Dawn said at last, while putting down placemats on the table. “My mother had been on a mission on Jeruna. She’d gone to one of the local bars after her meeting and met him there. Apparently, she was quite the adventurous type, always up for new experiences. She’d never been with a Braxian before, and he seemed gentle enough. It was just a one-night stand. They went their separate ways the next day, and never talked again.”
“Ah yes,” I said with a sympathetic nod. “Many off-worlder females who couple with Braxians make that mistake. Unless they use condoms or contraceptives specifically calibrated for Braxians, the chances they will get pregnant are extremely high. Our seminal fluids will override any regular contraceptive’s effect. If the female is ovulating at that time, it’s a done deal.”
Dawn nodded with a troubled expression. “My mother found that out a few weeks later. She definitely didn’t want kids. In a way, I was lucky that she was off on a primitive planet when she realized it. The medical pods on the planet couldn’t perform the procedure for her. She could have requested a medical ship in the sector drop by at their earliest convenience, but that would have forced her to give the reason why.”
I tossed the vegetables into the pan to stir fry them before looking up at Dawn with undisguised curiosity. “Why did she want to hide it? I know that Earth—like most other planets of the Western Quadrant—still follow one form of religion or another. But premarital sex and pregnancies out of wedlock have not been considered as sins in centuries.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, that’s definitely stopped being frowned upon ages ago. It’s a good thing, too, or half the Quadrant would have a one-way ticket straight to Hell. My mother becoming pregnant while single wasn’t the issue. That she didn’t want to keep me would be a stain on her record, as it would be deemed an uncharitable act from someone working within a charitable organization. They wouldn’t have fired her over it, but it would have stilted her chances of advancement. And Mother is extremely ambitious.”
“Ambitious?” I echoed, this time genuinely taken aback. “Am I to understand she wasn’t a field worker but an administrator?”
“Yep,” Dawn said while placing the utensils by the plates. “She would go to the location of whatever new project was being put together to secure leases, appoint the senior staff and managers, help establish the budget, and secure partners to finance the venture. She was gunning for the chairwoman role. It wouldn’t have looked good on her resume if it was ever revealed she got herself impregnated during a one-night stand, by some brutish stranger in a sleazy bar on a backwater planet. For such an envied position, her record needed to be flawless on every front.”
“So you were sacrificed to her ambitions,” I said, dropping the first steak into a hot pan.
