“I know.”
“Colony center’s going to be chaos.”
“Good thing I won’t be there to see it.”
“What?” Gaauth’s brow furrowed. “You have to collect her from the landing pad. All the hosts do.”
Goraath’s hand tightened around the post driver. He’d been trying not to think about that part. About standing in a crowd of curious colonists while a transport ship opened and six human females walked out. About the spectacle of it. About having to meet her in front of everyone, and drive back to the ranch with a complete stranger sitting in his transport.
“Fine.”
“You ready?”
“No.”
The honesty surprised him. He hadn’t meant to say it.
Gaauth’s expression softened. “Did you prepare the guest room?”
Goraath looked past his uncle toward the house. It sat low against the hillside, built from stone and timber, designed to withstand the harsh winters and the winds that screamed down from the mountain peaks. “I’ll get to it.”
“Goraath.”
“I said I’ll get to it.”
Gaauth was quiet for a long moment. Then he sighed. “I bought supplies. Food, linens, and some things the other males suggested might make a human female more comfortable. I’ll bring them to the house.”
He didn’t wait for a response. Just turned and headed back toward his transport, moving with that careful deliberate pace that made Goraath’s chest tight.
His uncle was getting old. Too old to keep up with his own ranch, which was why Goraath was managing both properties now under the guise of Gaauth ‘showing him the ropes’. But they both knew that one day Gaauth wouldn’t wake up, just like Goraath’s father hadn’t all those years ago.
He didn’t want to think about that day.
Gathering his tools, he followed Gaauth back toward the house. The krulaati were already stirring in their enclosure, massive six-legged shapes moving through the early morning mist. He’d need to feed them soon. Check the water lines. Make sure the youngling that had been limping yesterday was moving better.
Ranch work. Normal work. Work that didn’t involve preparing for a female he didn’t want and hadn’t asked for.
By the time he reached the house, his uncle had already unloaded half the supplies onto the porch. Boxes and crates stamped with colony supply codes. Way too much for one person.
He frowned. “This is excessive.”
Gaauth straightened, one hand pressed to his lower back. “You have no idea what human females need. None of us do. Better to have too much than not enough.”
“She’s only staying six weeks.”
“You hope.”
The words hit wrong, and he turned to glare at his uncle. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The old male wrinkled his nose. “Means the program’s designed for permanent matches. Means if you’re compatible, she stays. That’s the whole point.”
“We won’t be compatible.”
“You’ve decided that already?” Gaauth’s eyebrows lifted. “Without even meeting her?”
“I know enough.”
“You know nothing, pup. You’ve seen a file with basic information. That’s not knowing someone.”
