Page 31 of His to Mate

“Oh! You’re right. What can I do with them though? If I leave them in a bag here a servant might find them, or Rager.”

“I’ll take them with me and dispose of them for you. Keep the two you’ve saved, and I’ll take the rest.”

“Thanks, Skye. You saved me some trouble.”

“No problem. I just don’t want you getting in a predicament if you don’t have to. I know up here, in your compound, you’re safe, but I hear things out there.” Skye waved at the ether, at the life outside of the walls that surrounded the house. “The men are getting more pissed off, and the women are too. Everyone is, it seems. It’s so bad, I rarely go out in the evenings now.”

The new people that Rager brought in weren’t settling in well. Two had already been taken off to the prison he’d alluded to, or so Skye had heard, and four were on the verge of it. All of them had been the leaders of the group, and had felt they should have some say in what happened in this new world because of it. Two had been senators before the cataclysm and seemed to think the US government still existed. Rager had swiftly shown them it didn’t, and that he wouldn’t bow to their demands.

“What will make those people happy?” Ann wondered aloud without realizing it. She looked at Skye in surprise when she replied to the question.

“Nothing. Being sent back to Illinois? I don’t know, but a lot of them are joining forces with the wolves. They didn’t have any wolves in their group, but they see them as allies. Unlike some of the people that are just terrified of them.”

“That’s good in a way, I suppose.” Ann let her head fall back on the chair and felt the stiff soreness in her neck. “I don’t know why people waste so much energy on giving up their lives. What does it matter now if you’re from Illinois or Montana? We’re all human and right now, we don’t have the luxury of wasting all of this time arguing. It’s a shame, really.”

“You’re right, Ann,” Skye agreed and turned to face Ann. “I don’t understand it either. I was training to put people back together from accidents, not wars. I couldn’t stand working on someone knowing they’d tried to kill another human being and had ended up with me instead. It’s senseless, really.”

“Rager doesn’t want war, either. His people aren’t warmongers. He wants this place to be peaceful, like his own planet.” She looked at Skye, sadness in her eyes. “I don’t think our people will allow it. Wolf or not.”

“It’s that ingrained in us, isn’t it?” Skye looked away and winced with annoyance. “The same old story, time after time.”

“In a way, it is, yes. No matter what kind of ideology we follow, what kind of government we put in place, people in power always lead us to war.” Ann was disgusted, but at least it distracted her for a moment. “Why can’t we just see that we can’t continue like that? There aren’t enough of us anymore.”

“I don’t think the aliens will allow our numbers to increase like that again,” Skye mused, speculating now. “I think, once we reach a certain number, they’ll start to control the population.”

“What makes you think that? I don’t disagree, but why do you think that?” Ann went to answer the door and brought in a tray with two sandwiches, some sliced vegetables, and two glasses of apple juice.

“I think that because they won’t want to spread themselves too thin. That, and we were not going to be able to sustain the status quo for much longer, not the way things were going. That outbreak of super-measles in December 2019 nearly got out of hand. And that virus that was blinding people in Canada had started to spread down to us too. Then there was the rest of it. It was all just… getting out of hand. I don’t think we had long.”

“So why do we keep repeating it?” Ann asked, her hand on her stomach. “Why do we women put up with it?”

“That’s the million-dollar question right now, isn’t it?” Skye looked at Ann with a look that almost made Ann shiver. “I’m not certain we should put up with it.”

“We have power now, power that the men want, that the men need,” Ann said it softly, a spirit of revolution growing in her own heart, but it was a spirit that marched in time with Rager’s. With him, not against him.

“I think we might have something here, Skye.” She leaned back, sipped her drink, and took a nibble from her sandwich. After she swallowed, she smiled and looked at her friend. “It’s us that have been left to organize things and create what we need. Perhaps we should work on what we really need. To stop this nonsense about revolution and focus on making lives the best we can for all of us, not just a few.”

“How do we do that, though? We’ve tried so many times in the past. We’ve overcome a lot, but men still think they have to march off to fight a king’s war and we have to cater to them for it. They die for what? To be free of one yoke only to put on another? At least Earth men do. How do we stop that?”

“I’m not sure we can, but the aliens can. I know this much.” The flare of spirit quivered a little, but didn’t quite die down. “They won’t put up with much, and they have the power to turn this place into an ice sheet again if they want to. I don’t want to see that happen.”

“You have some influence with Rager, don’t you?” Skye asked, and took a bite of her sandwich. “You need to start talking to him.”

“I try not to say too much about what’s happening here. When he comes home, he’s had a hard day…”

“Fuck that, and fuck him. He’s the ruler here, he needs to hear what you’re concerned about. You need to stop being the little woman, and start being the leader you’re meant to be.” Skye’s bright blue eyes burned with icy fire as she spoke and Ann listened.

“But I’m not a leader. Not a very good one anyway. I had to insult Penelope just to get the luncheons to turn into something meaningful.”

“You did, but you did it because you knew you had to. And you haven’t backed down. I want you to rise a little higher, honey, keep moving up. And talk to your mate, for fuck’s sake. Help us.”

“Of course,” Ann answered automatically, but she blinked. How could she interrupt his quiet time?

“Ann, look. I know you want to care for your husband, but if you die, if that baby you think you’re pregnant with dies because you didn’t speak up, I’ll kill myself and haunt you!” Skye huffed and glared at Ann, but then she softened it all with a smile. “You have to think of more than just taking care of Rager now. You have to think of that baby, the rest of us, your people, Ann. Guide us and lead us, even if that means following an alien leader. Bring us this life you dream of.”

It was all very surreal to Ann, but she heard Skye, and understood her. She’d been playing at being a leader with the women at her luncheons, but she’d not truly been a good leader yet. Not until she did all she could to make sure people were safe, happy, and healthy. And that meant talking to Rager about a lot.

She hadn’t wanted to inconvenience him, but now she could see that was stupid. She’d been keeping things from him that he probably needed to know. “I’ll talk to him tonight. If I can manage to stay awake. I’ve been falling asleep really early. I get so tired suddenly, and then I’m gone.”

“That’s probably another symptom,” Skye said in an offhand way as she bit into her sandwich again. “Try, and if nothing else, write him a note and leave it for him.”

“I hear you,” Ann said, and took another bite. She chewed and thought about everything Skye had told her. She’d start with her Mom, she decided. She’d go see her tomorrow and talk to her about this baby stuff, and the rest of it too.

“I bet my Mom already has a plan in place. Her and Amanda, they’re both always whispering to each other. Two peas in a pod, those two.” Ann laughed and finished her sandwich.

“I’m glad you still have your mom.” It was a subtle reminder, but one Ann still heard. Most people in the world no longer had a mother. Even the group from Illinois was mainly single people or couples, no children or parents had made it into the bunker there.

“I’ll want to speak to the women from the bunker too. Let’s arrange something for them. Rager said they were being put into what basically amounts to crisis shelters. I can’t blame them for being angry about that. Maybe we can sort out better accommodations for them.”

“That would be a start, I believe.” Skye winked at Ann before she spoke again. “Good start.”

Ann smiled, not sure she was ready for all the things she now had on her plate.