“Respectfully, Zacal,” I said, teeth grating. “She’s not work. She will be my mate. Things are going well, but she needs time to prepare. Everything will be settled before you have to give Shek a name.”
“He’s already pressuring me for an answer,” Zacal said. “If I continue to put him off, he’ll be insulted. If I give him Evik’s name and you have no intended mate to show him, he will be insulted.”
“If you force me to marry hisga’adof a daughter, I’ll kill her, and he’ll be insulted,” I snarled. “Stall for time. I’ll let you know as soon as I have news.”
“Two days.”
“Zacal.”
“Two. Days. Andonlybecause you’re like a son to me, Yiri. You’ve had years to find a mate. Any number of alliances could have required this of you, and yet you did not prepare.” His features twisted with frustration. “I’m being lenient. One day, you will be in my place, making decisions like this for your men. You’ll see how impossible it can be.” He sipped from his glass and then scoffed. “But you’ll have Evik for an heir. He isn’t half as headstrong as you. Everything is easier for you.”
I made a disgruntled sound. “So easy to have my life tied to a female I hate,” I said. “She’ll be here even as Evik’s mate. I’ll have to look at her lying face.She killed Rava.”
“You don’t know that,” Zacal sighed, his shoulders slumping at the start of an old argument. “We agreed to put the past to rest, Yiri. This is what that looks like. You will do your duty to this family, or face the consequences.”
His expression was cold and hard as stone. It had been years since I’d pushed him to this particular mood. He had a hard enough time with me when I was a young male that he had to dole out some tough love. It was never pretty, but I was never in any doubt that he was in the right. Even with this, I understood why it had to be this way. If things fell apart with Cendaqua, it would put our family in danger. His mate and son, all our soldiers and their families, and all our loyal allies. He may have raised me, but he wouldn’t put me and my grudge before everyone else.
“Two days,” I said. “I’ll give you my answer then.”
CHAPTER 9
CORA
“When areyou hitchhiking out to my neighborhood, babe?” Qhev asked.
“I’m not,” I said. “Just paying the bills, remember?”
He sucked in some of the smoke from his vape pen, leaving me mystified as usual. The things put out a lot more smoke than they breathed in. It seemed very wasteful.
“You’ve been talking to that Eissoini for a while, though,” Qhev said, squinting at me through the call. “Seems pretty serious. If you’re just paying the bills, you’d switch it up a little more.”
“I’ve been talking to you for a while, and you’re not trying to marry me,” I pointed out.
Qhev gave me an incredulous look. “The other guy just wants to be your friend, huh?”
“Well, no,” I said. “But he hasn’t asked me to start packing my bags or anything.”
“It’s coming,” Qhev said. “Trust me. Pretty thing like you? He’s gotta lock that down before somebody else does.”
“I’m going to tell him I don’t want to talk anymore.”
Qhev’s eyes snapped wide open. “Why? Hasn’t this dude paid a lifetime of your Earth bills at this point?”
“No,” I said. “Sometimes it’s a while between messages.”
“You hear from him every day?”
“Most days.”
He gave me a funny look. “Something else is cooking, here.”
“I have no idea what you mean by that,” I said.
“Did he upset you?” Qhev asked. “If he did, just tell me his name and I’ll take care of it. I know people.”
“He didn’t upset me,” I frowned. “I just started thinking about all of this, and I think you’re right. I should be switching it up, not letting anyone get attached. There are so many guys in my inbox, and I’m spending all this time leading one man on. It’s mean, right?”
“Did you tell him you were going to move here for him?”
