“Head Chairmen Mwe is coming for a hopefully short visit,” Zirene hedged. His voice grumbling with his distaste. “Once he visits hisdaughtersand takes care of a few things, we will be on our way.”
“We will explain more in person,” I added, resting my head on Zirene’s side. “For now, just know we are fine and recovering, but if my cubs can’t wait a few more days, I need to know now so we can continue to make plans here.”
Meti gazed at her twin brothers, who both silently nodded in return.
“We miss you every day,” Meti began, wrapping her arms around her brothers’ necks. “But we are happy that you have returned and to be able to see you.”
“We can handle a few more days, Ma,” Nocrez added, leaning his head on Meti’s shoulder. “I am glad to see all of my clanfathers are mending. Hopefully, they can come with you to Liskta to see all the sand.”
“I hate sand.” Neazzos fake gagged and stuck his tongue out as he shook his head. “It’s rough, grainy, and gets everywhere. No matter how much I try, I keep discovering it in my fur.”
“That’s because you refuse to groom yourself,” Meti muttered, rolling her eyes. “Maybe if you wore a protective robe like me, you wouldn’t have a problem.”
“Robes are forfemales,” Nocrez countered. “Males wear loincloths and capes.”
“What does that have to do with your mother’s question?” Zirene growled. “Answer her.”
Covering my mouth, I failed to stifle my giggles from the shocked expressions on my cubs’ faces.
“While we would love to see you now, we understand that you have unfinished business to deal with…” Meti replied slowly, her ears rotating as she took time to think about her choice of words. “This gives us time to finish the surprise gift we are making for you.”
“A gift?”
“Yeah, Ma!” Neazzos shouted excitedly as he wrapped a paw around his sister’s waist. “Aunt Masmi told us whenever we missed you, we could work on something to give to you, so when you return, you would know how much we love you.”
“I love you too.”
Dropping Odelm’s hand, I shook myself free from Zirene’s embrace as he willingly gave it and walked over to the windscreen. Placing my hand on the gel-like surface, tears fell freely as I stared at my cubs.
“I love you three so much and thought about you often, every day.”
One by one, they placed their paws on their vidscreen, blocking everything else from my view.
“We love you too, Ma.”
“We will be waiting for you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Xylo
Selena had never ceased to amaze him.
As he watched the exchange between his nestqueen and her cubs, he couldn’t deny how much she felt for them. Since they’ve been awake, her thoughts followed the same pattern: wondering about her cubs, worrying about her clan, and dreaming about their future together once everything had set.
She was more concerned about those she cared about than her health—something he needed to find time to remedy. They needed to work together as a clan to prevent her from overworking herself as she tried to fix everything that had gone wrong while she was away.
It was something so foreign, and yet, even after all of the time they had been together, it was pleasing tofeelhow his nestqueen cared for her clan. Selena was different from the other nestqueens who had favored males who weren’t injured and fully capable of doting over them. Instead, the nestqueens on their home planet only cared about the female hatchlings they produced, abandoning the males in the community hatchery or using them as political fodder to create business junctures between clans.
Selena cared about all three of her cubs equally—and it upset her that she had to wait a few more days until she was capable of reuniting with them. He could feel how hurt she was through their connection as she spoke with them through the vidscreen.
All of the love and determination she had to get them back shook him to his core.
If it weren’t for his research, he would’ve thought it was a product of being in her clan. But he knew it was typical for most females outside his species to feel this way; it was the sudden mother instincts demanding them to be near their children.
This was an early lesson on the sacrifices a leader must make for the good of their people. If Selena wanted to provide sanctuary to the crew her ambassadors had left behind, she must prepare to assist Zirene in representing them to the Assembly.
He didn’t know if it was something that he needed to learn to comprehend.
