“I appreciate your concern, Hella, but my father has brought this upon himself. He has already caused the death of one son, and he ordered the murder of the other. He is no kin of mine.”
Hella’s mouth pinched. “I know, child. It is still a sad thing.”
Ohem reached for Jack’s hand, pulling it to his chest, his four yellow eyes narrowing in his version of a smile. “It is. But I have a new family now and I stand with them against my old one. Even my birth mother is not innocent in this murderous plot. Do what you will.”
A sigh whooshed out of Hella who then frowned hard before nodding again. “Alright. I plan on this being a short campaign so I can unload our people onto Ara’Ama and start the rebuildingprocess.” She stroked down Hannah’s little body, looking down at her sleeping niece like she held the whole world in her hands. “It’s high time these little ones have a place where they can roam freely.”
With the amount of Rijitera at her disposal, I imagine the Unity would fall before a single day had passed. Rathal had told me stories of planets falling under their claws in hours, and those stories had just a single platoon of Rijiteran soldiers invading. Hella had come with hundreds of thousands all frothing at the mouth for war. I think her biggest hurdle was going to be dealing with the disappointment that it was over too soon.
“Do any of you have any questions? Now would be the time to ask them before we land on Korsal tomorrow. Things will move quickly then.”
Jack got an evil sparkle in her eye before smiling at her mother. “Did you bringherwith you?”
Hella regarded her only child like a bug under a microscope… but her ears had turned red. “That has nothing to do with what we are talking about now.”
Jack wagged her eyebrows. “Sure it does. Settling the families on Ara’Ama was part of the discussion. She’s caught your eye. Ergo, part of the family. Did. You. Bring. Her. With. You?”
Hella flushed just the slightest bit and Rathal let out a puff of surprised air. “Dear me, does the unflappable Hella have a paramour?”
Hella shot him a quelling glare, but Rathal only laughed. “She does! By the Mother, is it serious?” he asked Jack, his ears perking. “I know your sire was merely a fling for procreation, and she’s had a few casual lovers here and there. Is this one of those situations or is it different?”
Jack’s face curled like the Grinch who stole Christmas. “It’s serious. Like, mating serious. So serious in fact that the woman’sabusive husband disappeared and was found in pieces in some ditch two states over. And who should be the one to take in a traumatized new widow and her darling children? Why, the clan leader, of course.”
Hella’s growl was a rumbling bass that everyone ignored.
Rathal leaned forward. “Oh? Was the husband Rijitera?” he asked, getting into gossip mode.
Hella threw up her hands. “This is wildly off topic.”
The rest of us shushed her before returning our attention to Jack. This was good stuff.
“No, he was human. But her step-mother is Rijiteran, so she’s part of the clan. It wouldn’t have been so obvious if mom had just killed him and then left it at that, but she moved her onto the main compound, and she’sattentive, y’all. Gentle. Fiercely protective.” Jack shot her mom a cat that got the cream look. “Possessive. All the classic hallmark signs of an impending mate bond.”
Rathal crowed, slapping the table with his palm. I shot Hannah a concerned look, but the little terror didn’t even twitch an ear at the sound. Guess Rijiteran kids were used to loud noises.
“Hella! This is wonderful news. Six thousand years, and you’ve found your mate at last. Congratulations. When do you plan on completing the bond? How much longer do you have until the frenzy?”
Hella shifted uncomfortably in her seat and chewed her lip. “I am old, Rathal. I have more control than most. There is time. She’s traumatized. Her husband was a cruel man. She’s got three children to think of. Two of them are under ten. She needs time. Plus, I'm female. I don’t think she’s ever acted on her desires for a woman, though I know from her father that she identified as bisexual before her husband baby trapped her in high school. I will need to go slow.”
The room erupted with reassurances and overlapping questions. I settled in for a long family gab session, my chest tight with both warmth and an ache at missing my own parents.
My mom was better at relationship advice than I was and I think she’d have loved to help with Hella’s situation. Though maybe watching this fierce predator look both flustered and a little hopeless might have tongue tied even my mom. My dad would have awkwardly patted Hella’s shoulder. I smiled at the image of my dad trying to comfort a woman twice his size. My dad was a lean man, just under five eight and probably weighed about a hundred and eighty pounds soaking wet. My mother was pure latin fire crammed in a short curvy package. She topped out at five three and yet, she somehow felt like she was ten feet tall to me. She'd have been more than capable of comforting someone as intimidating as Hella.
“Enough! My love life is none of your concern. Especially right now, you meddling children. I appreciate you trying to help, but Amelia will come to me in her own time. Now, if you don’t have any questions pertaining to the war effort then shoo. Begone with you. I have to get this little girl back to her bed. Good night.”
She stood despite the many protests thrown her way and marched out of the room in a blushing huff.
Jack snickered, standing as well. “Oh, this is going to make my whole year. We have to crush the Unity ASAP so I can enjoy watching my poor mom flounder like a lovesick puppy. We have to meddle, guys. It’s basically our job.”
Patty slapped her hands together and rubbed them. “Exactly. Operation Get Hella and Amelia Happily Married i a top priority. Aga, as soon as we get to Korsal separate Sam from her duties. Make some excuse that we have a super secret war council or something. Sam’s the best with people's emotions. If Amelia’s marriage was as bad as Hella says, she’s going to need counseling and having someone fully human and sweet wouldhelp her navigate the whole alien planet thing and ya know, having a literal monster pursuing her."
“I know a Healer that is an expert in mental health. We can set up a casual meeting,” Rema suggested, and the group exploded into another overlapping planning session.
I tugged on Rathal’s arm until he looked down at me. “I’m tired. Let’s let them plot. You and I have other things to do.”
His eyes heated right before he shot to his feet, taking me with him. “Callie is tired. Good night,” he said to the room. No one was paying attention so he backed out of the conference room and retreated down the hall at a fast walk until we got to the hall with the rooms. He picked the first door and swept inside.
It was a nice room, more like a hotel than the lavish apartments I was becoming used to, but it had everything we needed. Rathal paused for a second to look around before spotting the bathroom door and darting inside. He set me on my feet.
