Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven)

by Lyons, Brenna

  “Sakkra? What are you doing?”

  He didn’t answer immediately. He and Dravil kept talking. At last, Sakkra focused on her. “It is time.”

  “What is—?” Realization made her blood run cold. “You’re joking.” But she knew he wasn’t.

  Dravil smiled. “The bio tracker picks up the changes in your body before you note them.”

  “But I’m not due for more than a month.” In her shock, Amy couldn’t call to mind the corresponding Sakk term.

  He tipped his head. “The release of adrenaline may spur the release of the hormones that spur labor. That is why we endeavor to keep heavily bearing women calm.”

  As if in agreement, their daughter started battering at the walls of her womb.

  Sakkra winced at the implied rebuke.

  Or maybe at my gasp? Amy took a deep breath, as Dravil had taught her to in labor.

  Another male came running, and Dravil tipped his head toward Jo. “The bio tracker shows she is well but stressed. Give her a mild sedative. She should be well tomorrow morning.”

  He pulled out a small hypo kit and selected one. The shot was in Jo’s arm in seconds.

  Dravil drew Amy’s attention back to her own situation. “Do not concern yourself, though. A babe at this stage of development is perfectly able to live outside the womb. And it will be easier for you to deliver her, since she will be slightly smaller than she would have been at your planned labor date.”

  Amy nodded. Even human children at thirty-four weeks weren’t considered overly premature, and Sakk medicine outstripped human in most respects. “Okay then. Let’s get this babe born.”

  ****

  Jo woke in a bed and reached for Rietin automatically. He sank to the mattress beside her and pulled her to his bare chest.

  She took a moment to evaluate the situation. He’d removed the gloves, her shoes, and the headband, but she still wore her gown.

  “Oh, no. It’s completely rumpled,” she moaned.

  Rietin chuckled. “Our wedding will be held in three days. We have plenty of time to have the dress cleaned and prepared again.”

  “It will?”

  He nodded.

  “I missed something, didn’t I?”

  Another nod.

  “Would you mind sharing?”

  “Sakku Amy went into labor. Their daughter was born a ses-time ago. Sakkra requested that we put off our ceremony for three days, to allow your cousin and their new babe to attend.”

  “Of course!” She smiled. “I guess that means we have nothing else to do today.”

  His expression lit in interest. “I suppose that’s true.”

  “We have plenty of time to have the dress cleaned.”

  In the next moment, his mouth was meshed with hers.

  Section Five: Homeless

  Sandy and Darm

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “And why are you visiting the consulate today?”

  Her hand shaking, Sandy offered the sonogram picture.

  The huge Angel-like man stared at it in confusion, then took it. His eyes darted this way and that so long, she considered pointing out what he needed to see. Her move to do so ended at his gasp.

  He sees it. But what would he do?

  There are no unwanted children on Sakk. They even took on strong Sakk-descended orphans and surrendered babies.

  That didn’t mean they’d accept unwed mothers and their bastards, though. Her own family and Zeke hadn’t wanted anything to do with her and her baby. Why would they?

  “Please... Come with me.” He motioned Sandy out of line and escorted her to a door between the checkpoints. On the other side, people milled in a thick stream down the hallway.

  “Make a hole,” her escort thundered.

  Other Sakk men scrambled to do so, waving a handful of wingless women and men along with them. They all stared at Sandy as she picked her way between the rows.

  Her face burned in embarrassment. She was clearly pregnant and just as clearly wearing second-hand clothes instead of the finery Sakk women wore. They were already making judgments, she was sure.

  They probably think I want to give my baby up to the Sakk.

  Oh, man. What do I do if that’s the only help they’ll offer? There has to be another way.

  As if in confirmation, whispers raced down the line of soldiers, and their scrutiny intensified. Sandy tried not to meet their gazes.

  She glanced up at the sonogram picture still clutched in the warrior’s hand. Every few steps, he looked down at it as if he was in shock. Turn after turn, they walked in silence. He stopped abruptly, and she did likewise, jerking to a halt.

  “This way... What is your name, young one?”

  “Sandra Vick.”

  “Ms. Vick.” He bowed his head. “If you would?” He motioned to the door to her left.

  Her stomach clenched. “Please call me Sandy. Only teachers and doctors call me Ms. Vick.” Not that she had teachers anymore.

  “As you wish, Sandy. This way, please.” He opened the door for her and waved her through.

  She ambled into the room beyond, backpedaling at the rush of men coming toward her. The chest at her back didn’t help, and Sandy squealed in alarm.

  “Stop,” the warrior at her back ordered. His hand came up, motioning the others to a halt.

  The closest man’s feathers ruffled. “They said it was an emergency.”

  “Emergency?” Sandy asked. What emergency?

  “No emergency,” the one at her back stated. “But the young one does require...evaluation.”

  “She has tested as a match?”

  The sonogram picture changed hands. “No. But there is little question that she is one.”

  The doctor—at least Sandy assumed he was a doctor—stared at the picture for only a moment. “This way, young one.”

  The warrior who’d escorted her answered before she could. “Her name is Sandra Vick, but she prefers to be called Sandy.”

  The doctor nodded. “This way, Sandy.”

  She whispered her thanks to her escort.

  He tipped his head. “I will take my leave now. Good fortune, Sandy.”

  In the next heartbeat, he was gone.

  ****

  Yet another Sakk warrior came into the clinic room. It seemed a steady stream of them found reasons to visit while she was there. This one came with a female and a winged baby in tow.

  “I have been told you prefer to be called Sandy,” he greeted her.

  She swallowed a mouthful of the sweet cornbread they’d brought her on the tray of food. “It’s my name. What’s yours?”

  He smiled and executed a slight bow. “Sakkra.”

  Sandy took a drink of the apple juice, trying to hide her shaking hands. “The prince?” Who was she that a prince was coming to visit her?

  Sakkra pulled up a chair for the woman with him, got her situated, and pulled one up for himself. He settled in it with a flourish. “Yes.”

  “What can I do for you, Prince Sakkra?”

  “Just Sakkra. It translates as ‘prince’.”

  She nodded to the woman. “Your wife?”

  “Mate,” he corrected her.

  Sandy took another bite of the cornbread.

  The woman smiled. “My name is Jo. Sakkra’s mate is my cousin Amy. She would be here, but she’s at a meeting in DC right now.”

  “Okay,” she mumbled around the last of the food in her mouth. Roll call was complete. Time to get down to business.

  “If you’ll tell us the name of the father, we’ll help you find him.”

  Sandy coughed on the mush in her mouth, and two of the doctors rushed to assist her. She forced a breath. Then a second. They stopped short of touching her, though they seemed indecisive.

  She focused on Jo, trying to find the words to protest. “Find him? I know where he is, but who wants him?” Certainly not me. If that’s the help they’re willing to offer, I don’t need it.

  Jo and Sakkra shot unrea
dable looks at each other. Finally, Jo spoke.

  “Where is he?”

  “At his shitty little apartment across town, of course.” What did that matter?

  Sakkra’s brow furrowed, and he leaned forward on the chair. “He’s not one of my men?”

  “Not unless you’ve had men without wings hanging around Earth for the last few decades.” She seriously doubted it, and she’d known Zeke since they were in Kindergarten together. It was unlikely he’d been recruited that young.

  “No. Nothing like that, of course.” He stared into space. “Your... The sire thought he was human, as you did yourself?”

  She nodded. “If it takes two Sakk-descended to make a winged baby, then he must be Sakk-descended, too.”

  There was another potent moment of silence. “What precisely did you come here for, Sandy?”

  She fisted her hand in the silky sheet, her heart pounding so hard and fast she went lightheaded. The doctors shifted and shot looks between themselves, as if deciding whether or not to approach her again.

  Probably my heart rate. She made a conscious effort at calming it.

  “Sandy?” Jo prodded her.

  “They said... In the interviews, Janice Beldon said there were no unwanted babies on Sakk.”

  “Do you want to give your baby up?”

  “No! Absolutely not.”

  Sakkra motioned for her to calm. “It is true that there are no unwanted children on Sakk, but what do you want from us, Sandy?”

  She fought for any reasonable request she could make. “To stay here. I’ll earn my keep...room, board, medical... I promise.”

  Sakkra stared at her, then nodded slowly. “Welcome home.”

  Sandy’s muscles relaxed at his agreement. “I don’t have a lot of experience. I can cook and...file and type. I’m sure we can find something of value I can do.”

  Sakkra gaped at her, momentarily stunning her silent. “There will be time to discuss that later.”

  “I don’t understand,” she admitted. They had to discuss how she would pay her way.

  “Bearing women do not...” He glanced at Jo.

  The other woman smiled widely. “Pregnant women don’t work on Sakk. The warriors won’t stand for it. For now, consider yourself our guest.”

  Sandy nodded, at a loss for words. I don’t want to be in their debt. I want to earn my keep.

  I have no choice. It seemed they weren’t going to let her earn her keep.

  “Sandy?” Jo called out.

  She forced herself to pay attention to the conversation. “Yeah?”

  “Do you need an escort to pick up any of your belongings?”

  Swallowing the laugh was difficult at best. Sandy motioned up and down her body. “Everything I value, I carry with me.”

  Jo paled a notch, and Sakkra shot her a look that said he didn’t understand the inference.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Darm filed into Sakkra’s office with two dozen other warriors, wondering at the strange request for his presence in this company. He would have suspected they were searching for the one who’d impregnated the new young match, but their features and coloring varied too much for that.

  “Men,” Sakkra greeted them. “You have all heard we have a match who is bearing among us.”

  She doesn’t know what the sire of her babe looks like? Darm screwed up his lip in disgust. It was likely a drunken sex act, then. But why are they not cross-matching the babe to the sire with the bio bed? It is capable of that, and all of us have samples on file.

  The prince continued. “The sire is...”

  Sakkan! Not dead. Or matched to another female in the months since this one conceived.

  “There is no curse appropriate to describe the Earthling,” Sakkra imparted. “He refuses responsibility for his young and for the match bearing his son.”

  Son. Darm winced. It would be easier to find her a mate if she carried a daughter, winged or not.

  “Because the babe is winged?” one of the other men chanced asking.

  “He doesn’t know the babe is winged. He rejects the very idea of being a sire and of having a mate.”

  Darm gaped at him. “What a...You are correct, Sakkra. There is no word strong enough. The glut of females on this world, and he has no appreciation for the gift they are.” He tipped his head to the prince. “My apologies for the interruption.”

  “Excused.” Sakkra hesitated a moment. “There was a time when we were not as appreciative,” he reminded them.

  “As you say, Sakkra.”

  He nodded, then continued. “The young one did not come here searching for a mate. Her son’s sire has made her wary of males and their motives.”

  “Why did she come?” someone at the far end of the room asked.

  “She felt she had nowhere else to go.”

  She has no family? No ancestral home?

  “Her mother’s current mate banished Sandy from the nest when he learned she carried a babe without a mate.”

  Shock nearly folded Darm’s knees. Were there any responsible, caring males on Earth?

  “She lived in what the humans call a shelter. It is...a barracks for those who have no homes. They only allowed her to stay so long because she is bearing.

  “This...shelter offers a modicum of food and medical care, but when Sandy learned her young one was winged, she fled. She doesn’t trust healers who work for the government with a Sakk child. She fears they would injure her son...or use him for testing...or take him from her with their laws.”

  The silence in the room was absolute.

  “Ideally, Sandy will choose a mate. All of you test as primary matches for her likes and dislikes.”

  The males scanned the others in the room, sizing up the competition for her attentions.

  Sakkra continued. “But Sandy is a female from Earth. She is not a match from a breeding colony.”

  What does that mean? It sounded like a caution, warning of a twist, a deviation from the norms they expected for even Earth-born matches.

  “Whatever man she chooses must agree to raise her son as his own, as he would a fully-winged female born on a seed world.” Sakkra paused, seemingly letting them consider it.

  “Your families may balk at this, I know. You may have to take nest parent duties on a seed world or guard duties here on Earth to remain with Sandy and your young, if your family persists.”

  Darm weighed his options.

  “If any of you cannot live with such an arrangement, I suggest you leave now.”

  A trickle of warriors headed for the door...then a flood. Darm shifted to join them, paused, and planted his feet. The sire hadn’t appreciated what a prize a female and young were. Darm did, and he wouldn’t shy from a complication or two in claiming one.

  The door slid shut, and he glanced around, meeting the gaze of the single other male who’d chosen to stay. The odds of becoming mated were better than he’d ever dreamed.

  If she chooses to mate.

  Sakkra grunted. “Two. Less than I’d hoped for but better fewer than more, I suppose.” He turned and headed for the door. “Come along. It is time to meet Sandy.”

  “Now, Sakkra?” Darm asked. “You said she wasn’t seeking a mate.”

  He paused, halfway through the door, then continued. “She isn’t, but my mate and Jo both assure me that human women often form an attachment to males who are in close contact with them, especially in trying times. You two will be Sandy’s guards.”

  “Guards?” the other questioned.

  “Her personal guards. Each will have half a turning. Based on evaluations of her sleep patterns, the changeover will come at two of the afternoon and two of the morning. That grants each of you roughly half of her waking hours.”

  “Equitable,” Darm agreed.

  Sakkra motioned to him. “You will take first shift with her.”

  Which means I am cut short this turning. “I am honored.” Part shift or not, he would still be first.

  The
prince stopped at a door in the match living quarters and knocked lightly.

  “Come in,” Sakku Amy called out.

  Sakkra opened the door and entered, waving the two competitors in after him.

  The three females looked up. Darm dismissed the princess and her cousin—both carrying their young daughters in slings—and focused on the third.

  Her hair was the color of the sun behind a mist, with just a hint of orange in the mix. Her eyes were the blue-gray of the feathers on an American Jay.

  The swell of her pregnancy was very pronounced, making Darm wonder how far progressed she was. He would have to check with the healers at another time. By Sakkan, it made her all the more beautiful.

  “These are your personal guards, Sandy. If you leave your rooms, the one on duty at that time will escort you. If you wish to leave the consulate for some reason, he will lead your security detail.”

  “Is that really necessary?” she asked.

  Jo grimaced. “Believe me, it’s best.”

  Sakkra continued as if the interruption hadn’t occurred. “If you wish food brought to you, the one on duty will do so. If you wish privacy, he will retire to his own room. They will have the two rooms bordering yours. If you wish company, they both have interests compatible to yours.”

  She nodded weakly. “What should I call you?”

  “Zave,” the other hastened to offer.

  “Darm.”

  Her lips moved, probably repeating their names to commit them to memory. At last, Sandy nodded.

  ****

  The two warriors stared at her intently, making Sandy self-conscious.

  Sakkra continued. “Darm’s shift will be from two of the afternoon to two of the morning. Zave’s will be the opposite hours. Any comm board or comm unit will summon them...or summon aid.”

  “How do I use it?”

  He stepped to the comm board and pointed out a large, round, yellow button. “In a medical or...any other kind of emergency, press this button and state your emergency.” He pointed out a small blue button next to it. “If you wish to summon Darm or Zave, press this one. It will automatically connect to the correct guard for the time of day.” He pointed out the purple. “This button will contact a...comm station. They can connect you to Amy or Jo...or anyone else you may need to contact.”