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“Yes. You can choose not to accept the bond, but you will not get another Elska mate, based on my understanding,” I said, looking to Agnarr.
Agnarr stepped in to provide further explanation.
“Yes. You can reject the Elska bond. It is rare, but it does happen. If you do, your mating marks will fade eventually. The downside is, you will not find another Elska mate, there is only one,” Agnarr explained.
“What if we don’t find an Elska mate with anyone?” Billie asked.
“You can find a mate of your choosing. It doesn’t have to be an Elska mate. Actually, up until Piper’s arrival, Elska mates were becoming rarer and rarer,” Agnarr said.
“Is there any difference between an Elska mate and a regular mate?” Diedrre asked.
“Well, Elska mates are fated. They do not separate and are more likely to produce young,” Agnarr said.
“Is producing young necessary?” Lucy asked hesitantly.
“Definitely not. It is merely one reason orkin cling to their Elska mates. We are low on female offspring so any Elska pairing provides us with hope,” Agnarr explained honestly.
Lucy nodded, looking back down at her hands in her lap. She was definitely going to need some help.
“I believe, the next steps for us will be for Astrid to officially step down and for Agnarr and I to take her role,” I explained.
“And you sure you’re ready for that now?” Diedre asked, looking concerned.
“Well, I was in charge of 150 high school students before this, so it can’t be that different, can it?” I attempted for my response to come out breezy, but I could definitely hear the edges of panic in my voice.
Diedre gave me a smile, “I guess you have a point there.”
All of the women in the circle looked somewhat comforted. I wasn’t really ready to address their concerns one-on-one, but the fact that, as a group, they were willing to accept us as leaders, was a huge deal.
Agnarr asked, “does anyone have questions or concerns?”
“Can you all fill Agnarr in as to what happened while we were gone?” I asked.
I wasn’t surprised that it was Billie who piped up first, “Like we said, most of us woke up yesterday, if not the day before.”
“And you haven’t met the rest of the tribe?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, “Tora wanted us to wait until you returned.”
“What have you been doing with your time?”
“Well, we’ve been comparing the notes left behind by the ‘bad aliens’ with Tora, attempting to figure out what landed us here,” Billie explained.
Eleven heads nodded in agreement. I was relieved they hadn’t been exposed to the males of the tribe, not that I didn’t trust them, but as soon-to-be jarlin, I was protective of these women. Many of them were definitelynotready for a mate, bonded or not.
Given that I had quite a length of time to adjust in comparison to the others, I walked the women through what I had been through since I woke up, leaving out some of the more intimate details. I had just met them, I’d share all the details in time. I ended with bringing back enough Baldrian for several months
“So how are you feeling, now that you have the baldrian?” Ellie asked, fidgeting in her seat.
“Honestly, I can tell it is helping a lot. Hopefully between Emla, Ruby, and Ginny we can find an appropriate way to manage your ADHD,” I said earnestly.
Ellie shifted from looking uncomfortable to looking hopeful.
“Ellie, there is no shame in having ADHD. I spent most of my teen years being told to just ‘get over’ my anxiety. We’re here to help,” I said.
“Thank you,” Ellie said, giving me a watery smile.
“So, what’s next?” Billie asked.
