“That does not sound like a very good friend,” Zann says softly.
“No, it’s fine,” Corrina says. “It’s just the way he is. It’s the way he’s always been.”
“Not a good friend,” Davix signs, but Corrina doesn’t see.
“Anyway, I just thought I’d let you know. It’s no big deal. What are we watching tonight?” she asks, changing the subject. I settle against her in the nest, letting my arm drape across her stomach as Zann pulls up some options on the console screen. Davix isright. It is not a sign of being a good friend to not tell someone when you will see them next. But I do not think that Slade is interested in Corrina’s friendship.
???
The following night, Davix’s lips curl in displeasure as we watch Slade wrap an arm around Corrina and pull her closer. They are eating at a restaurant that Corrina specifically said is one of her least favorites, but she is there with him anyway. I hiss as I watch Slade bring a hand to her face and cup her cheek before tucking a loose strand behind her ear. He leans in to whisper something to her, and I see her shiver slightly in response. Zann did not think we should follow Corrina to her dinner with Slade, but he is here beside us watching just as intently as we are. It was surprisingly easy to follow her. Even if we didn’t know her scent almost as well as each other’s, she has been distracted by Slade’s hands and chatter. She didn’t notice us trailing behind her, nor did she notice when we slipped into the shadows of an alley across from the restaurant.
“We should not be here,” Zann repeats for the third time, but he makes no move to leave.
“She should not be here with him,” Davix signs angrily. “She should be with us.”
“She is not our female,” Zann replies, and both Davix and I turn to stare at him.
“You’re right,” I tell him. “But she should be.” As soon as I say the words, I feel the truth of them. “She should be ours,” I say more firmly.
“What if she only wants us to be friends?” Zann asks. “What if she wants to be Slade’s or another’s?”
I turn my gaze back to the restaurant where Corrina turns her cheek to meet Slade’s lips. “Maybe she does not want to be ours,” I say, “but I do not think she wants to be his.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Zann
Slade’s irritation at running into us after his dinner with Corrina was apparent, as was her genuine delight to see us. We stepped out from the alley as Slade was paying the check and pretended to be examining something through a nearby store window when they emerged. I hide my grin when Corrina bids Slade goodnight in the street, though I am disappointed that she does not come back to our new home.
The next night, Krish and I are playing cards with some of the other workers in the loading dock near Slade’s ship when he and Corrina approach, and she again bids him good night. The following night, Davix happens to be returning from a swim in the lake as Corrina and Slade are walking through the park after another dinner together.
This may not be the stealthy hunt we are used to, but my brood brothers and I have decades of experience of tracking a target. There is nowhere on this station that Slade can take Corrina that we cannot follow or find her. A part of me feels bad that we are behaving like this, like we are spoiling Corrina’s fun. But a deeper part of me cannot wait for Slade to leave again so thatCorrina can be back with us where she belongs. It is more than jealousy, though I now understand and recognize the feeling.
Slade does not see her or understand her the way that we do. He takes her to loud restaurants that she does not like and chatters constantly about himself. He does not see the small ways that she gets frustrated just as he does not notice the small things that bring a smile to her face, like stopping beside her favorite flowers at the park so that she can look at them.
I can see and sense his agitation growing as Corrina declines, yet again, to return to his ship with him at the end of their evening together. I would not be agitated with her. I would be grateful for every moment that we spent together, regardless of what we were doing. I would not be trying to lure her into my bed, as I now recognize Slade is trying to do. He wishes to breed her.
On the fourth night, when Krish happens to pass by the restaurant where Corrina and Slade are dining outside, Corrina invites Krish to join them. The following night, my brood brothers and I are eating the meat skewers that are among Corrina’s favorites when she passes by on her way to meet Slade. A few minutes later, she returns with Slade in tow and we eat sitting in the grass as we did on the day of our first visit to the lake together. Slade glares at me when Corrina is not looking, but I simply take another bite of meat with my sharp teeth and glance away.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Corrina
“I had an ulterior motive for asking to see you alone,” Slade murmurs to me, taking my hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back of my hand.
“And I assumed it was just because you and the haleens get along like oil and water,” I say with a chuckle.
“They do seem awfully protective of you for friends,” Slade says, easing himself down onto the grass and pulling me down beside him.
“They’re just protective,” I reply casually. “It’s not necessarily all that different from how they are protective of each other.” I don’t mention to Slade that their protectiveness of me is more than a little justified.
“Well, I’m glad I was able to get you to myself alone for a little bit,” Slade replies, turning my hand over and tracing the lines of my palm with a finger.
“And why is that?” I ask.
“I want you to come with me when I leave,” Slade says softly.
I let out an incredulous laugh. “Slade, I can’t just give up my post.”
“Why not?” he asks. I am baffled by his sudden request. He’s never asked me to come with him before, and I’ve never asked if I could. That’s not how things have ever been between us. “You could resign and come away with me. We always have a good time together.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “We do, but we’ve never been together for all that long. It’s fun for a while, but it never lasts.” I don’t mention the part about him always leaving.
