Page 59 of Cheating Fate

“We’ll never know unless you go,” Vahl said, his gaze intense as he stared at Gavin. “Do you want to go?”

“I must,” Gavin said without hesitation.

“Do you feel that you must, or you just think it’s diplomatically appropriate?” Vahl insisted.

Gavin didn’t answer right away. His eyes shifted slightly down and to the right as he assessed whatever emanated from his sixth sense.

“Yes, I have to go,” Gavin said at last.

Vahl nodded. “Then we’re going.”

Gavin froze and gave him a confused look. “We are going?”

Dad proceeded to give him an update on the meeting we just had. In that instant, I would have given anything to be able to read his mind as a flurry of emotions flashed over Gavin’s face. Thankfully, they didn’t bring up the part about Vahl wanting him as his First Officer.

To me, this should be handled almost like a marriage proposal, with the two people involved having a private discussion where they determined whether this was the right choice for each of them. I didn’t want my mate to feel as if it had been imposed on him, even though he had implied that he would be happy to take on the role.

Their lives, and those of millions of people across the galaxy, depended on this partnership being as rock solid as the one between Dad and Ghan. I didn’t doubt they would become a legendary pair. But this needed to be done right.

“Then I guess we indeed go,” Gavin said with an air of wonder. “When? Tomorrow?”

“No,” Dad said in a tone that brooked no argument. “In two days.”

“Why?” Gavin asked.

“Because tomorrow we celebrate those who qualified for the Sentinels and hand out assignments,” Ghan replied. “We will also need time for provisioning the ships.”

“Right,” Gavin said with an uneasy expression. “Under the circumstances, where does that leave me and the other Braxians?”

“You mean the Insubordinate Pack?” Khel asked tauntingly.

Ignoring him, Vahl faced Gavin. “The Sentinels don’t matter. You’re all mine now.”

“And you passed,” Ghan added with his legendary haughty expression.

“Thank the Ancestors,” Gavin breathed with such dramatic relief we all chuckled.

“I told you, you would,” I said proudly, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“You did,” he conceded before claiming my mouth under the reluctantly approving gazes of the other men.

Chapter 13

Gavin

That night, Jhola all but assaulted me with an excessive amount of food again. The whole time, Khel wouldn’t stop cackling, stating that it was only fair I should suffer like he did back then. Even Amalia chastising him failed to stop the mockery. Whenever she would look away, he would flash a shit-eating grin in my direction. Naturally, his sons were deriving just as much pleasure at my distress as he did. Only Lhor and Rhadames seemed to have any kind of sympathy for me.

Afterwards, we went on another short walk to help me digest some of it, then shifted to a cavas ride. The six-legged mounts might have been the offspring of a horse and a dragon. They possessed a soft leathery skin, with scales on their underbellies that ran up their necks and covered their faces. Two to three pairs of horns adorned their draconic heads with a long muzzle and razor-sharp teeth. Deadly retractable claws with vicious talons jutted out of their massive paws. The creatures came in various colors, from whites to browns, to blacks. Mine was a beautiful shade of midnight blue with a coppery underbelly. Zhara’s was silver and black.

On Braxia, Uncle Ravik bred the distant cousin of the cavas, called karvelis. They were lethal battle mounts. Although similar to the cavas, they differed in that their bodies were entirely covered in scales. Instead of the lizard tail of the cavas, the karvelis had a scorpion tail with one of the deadliest venoms in existence. Instead of paws, they had hoofed feet whence dagger claws protruded. And on each side of their faces, fan-like appendages folded inconspicuously alongside their long necks. But if they opened, woe onto anyone standing in the path of the poisoned darts that would shoot out of them.

We explored the property, discussing the pros and cons of the various locations that might be suitable for us to build our house. The more we talked about it and the more impatient I felt about actually starting the work. But we still needed to agree on the design of the house, its layout, number of bedrooms, etc.

Upon our return, Vahleryon lured me into a game of Bakhol. In the simple version of that strategic board game, you moved pawns along a board to capture your rival’s commander. In the advanced version, you had to draw a card before each turn that could help or significantly hinder you.

It wasn’t a popular game in the Eastern Quadrant. In fact, I hadn’t known about it until Zhara mentioned in passing that it was Khel’s favorite game. Few people managed to defeat him at it as he mastered it so well. Naturally, Vahleryon made it his duty to rival his sire. I’d also taken it as a personal challenge to excel at the game so that I could impress them the day I finally came here. Unfortunately, I only ever got to train against artificial intelligence. It lacked the creative thinking of a real person.

For all that, Vahl didn’t mop the floor with me, although he did win all three games we played. Under normal circumstances, my competitive edge might have become annoyed with my repeated failures. But no such feelings ever surged within me. And it stemmed largely from Vahleryon’s own behavior.