by Brenna Lyons
Abby tipped her head to each of them in turn. Her brow furrowed. “What is a Hauaa?”
Jana smiled. “It’s the Xxanian term for a mother. You’ll find most Xxan prefer the term. There is a blessing couched in the term...an almost spiritual connotation to bringing forth life.”
Abby seemed stunned by the concept. “I think I understand.”
“We should eat,” Brien suggested. He smiled down at Michael. “I believe our young Dominant is losing patience.”
Gabe chuckled at Michael’s attempts to reach the tray of meat and nodded his agreement. He glanced at Abby, wincing at the fact that she didn’t eat a Xxanian diet.
She smiled and plucked a cube of meat off the tray. Gabe watched her eat it in amazement.
Abby glanced at him, her cheeks darkening in a blush. She swallowed the mouthful of meat and offered an answer to his unasked question. “I craved this when I was pregnant with Michael. I still have a taste for it.”
Jana spoke up from across the room. “While you’re nursing, you should make an effort to eat z’haahn. It will strengthen the milk you make for a young Xxanian.”
That said, the entire family started eating in earnest. Brien chewed food for Michael and finger-fed the young Dominant.
It was several minutes before Zhaahvan offered a comment from his place at the head of the room. “Your mate is most responsive, Gabe. Even moreso than fully mated females usually are. It was all I could do to leave the pool in time.”
Brien darkened, and Geoff shot the elder a look of disbelief.
Gabe smiled. “Then you will not question that someone to watch over my son after his final meal would be necessary.”
No one answered, a sure sign that no one did.
Chapter Seven
Gabe strode into the station house, dropped the car seat he’d borrowed at Anderson’s desk, and continued directly through to the locker room. Though he had come to work in uniform, he had something important to attend to.
The inside of his locker was largely unadorned. Aside from pictures of his Hauaa and Ariel, Gabe hadn’t found the need to indulge in memorabilia of loved ones or sports teams or pastimes he enjoyed.
Now he had another thing he wanted to see whenever he opened his locker. Gabe rearranged the pictures of his Hauaa and sister to place the picture of Abby and Michael in the center and at eye level.
It was a recent picture, obviously taken in a studio designed for Xxanian customers. The lights had been low enough to allow Michael to go without his sunglasses. Still the equipment had captured the blue of his eyes—so close a match for Abby’s—with the flecks of stunning gold his son had inherited from Gabe.
He was so captivated by the scene that Thomas was next to him before Gabe realized anyone had entered the room.
Bad form for a Xxanian warrior.
“Good picture,” his partner intoned.
Gabe smiled, taking the compliment to heart. “Yes, it is. We’ll have to do another soon.” One with me in it. Of course, Michael would grow quickly. Most Xxanian couples opted for a continuous stream of pictures, due to a Xxanian child’s growth rate.
Thomas opened his locker and started changing his clothing. It took a moment for the silence to strike Gabe as odd. His partner was something of a chatterbox, always sharing some story about the latest sporting event or what his family had done this time.
A glace in Thomas’s direction revealed his partner’s stiff posture. Something was seriously off with the human today.
“Is there a problem, Thomas?” Gabe inquired, the skin over his ridge plates itching in warning.
His partner shot a quick glance past Gabe then turned back to the buttons on his uniform shirt without comment.
Gabe followed his line of sight to the picture of Abby and Michael. He swung the locker door shut, second guessing his choice to put a picture of them up, though it made little sense to do so. It was a natural thing to take comfort in the sight of loved ones.
Stay calm. There has been no overt threat to them. This was Thomas, after all. They’d been partnered for over a year. Gabe knew him.
Do I? “Might as well spit it out, Thomas. What is bothering you?” The last thing any officer wanted to do was head out with trouble brewing between him and his partner.
There was a moment of tense silence. Then Thomas looked at Gabe directly, his expression unreadable. “Did you know?”
“That I had a son? No. It’s a long story. Probably take me half the shift to do justice to it,” he admitted.
The tightening of Thomas’s jaw said the answer wasn’t to his liking. Before Gabe could question that, he’d continued his questioning.
“Not that. Did you know Xxanian’s could have babies with human women without...?”
“Binding?”
He nodded once, a jerk of his head.
“No. It’s never been an issue before.” Though there was still some question of whether or not crossbred females could become pregnant to an alpha human male without an infusion of Zhigaaal—Thank you Zondra for that uncertainty!—there had never been question of the reverse.
Thomas’s expression said he expected more of an answer.
Gabe obliged him. “Women that are straightforward either want to bind or don’t. If they don’t, they are on pregnancy block. Those that aren’t straightforward typically reek of deception, which we find highly unpalatable. If we fuck them, we use protection of our own.”
“Which was she?”
Gabe’s ridge plates stirred at the unspoken implication that Abby had deceived him...or that Gabe had knowingly let himself be deceived. “Straightforward,” he snapped in return.
“Pregnancy block doesn’t fail, buddy.” The accusation was impossible to miss.
“No, it doesn’t, but doctors do not always diagnose accurately, either.”
Another oppressive silence followed. Gabe reined in his instincts. Humans had the most infuriating ability to make a Xxanian Dominant want to strike out.
“So...she...?” For the first time, Thomas looked uncertain.
“Abby was told there was no chance she could have a child. She believed it. I knew she was sincere when she said there was no possibility of her becoming pregnant, though I mistakenly thought she meant she was on pregnancy block. We can’t scent it as we can the typical hormonal preventatives.”
“Then why—?”
“It’s a long story. I can tell you the whole thing today. Unless you’d rather...?” Gabe’s heart ached at the fact that he might have lost his partner over some indefinable offense or species discomfort.
“What? Switch partners?”
To Gabe’s relief, he sounded offended by the suggestion.
“You must be kidding. Do you have any idea what our combined success rate does for both our careers?”
Gabe bit back a laugh. “Not a clue,” he lied.
Thomas snorted and rolled his eyes, then went back to buttoning his uniform shirt. “Yeah. I believe that. Not.”
****
“All this time, she’s been raising Michael alone and trying to figure out how to tell you?” The question came out muffled by the bite of hamburger Thomas was choking down, but clear enough for Gabe to pick out the words...more or less.
Gabe closed the now-empty temperature-controlled unit he carried his lunch in, nodding in answer. He could skip lunch, but he’d always enjoyed the social interaction with Thomas. Since the only ‘fast food’ option for a Xxanian was sashimi, he brought his lunch four days out of five and treated Thomas to oriental food the fifth.
“Damn. That must have been hard for her.”
“Yes. Very hard, I’m certain.” Too hard. A human mother raising a human child alone was hard enough. A human Hauaa raising a Xxanian-mix child alone was inconceivable. More than ever, Gabe wanted to do something special for Abby.
“You do realize the trouble this is going to cause, don’t you?”
The abrupt change of subject caught Gabe off guard and sent warning t
remors down his spine. “What trouble?”
Thomas swallowed another mouthful of burger. “You know humans.” He shrugged and took another bite.
Some days, all too well. Some days, not nearly well enough. “I suppose so.” But he still wasn’t following the connection between Abby’s pregnancy, his son, and human troubles. They’d already jailed the men who’d attacked Abby and Michael, and she’d agreed to take one of the men with her or leave Michael at the nest when she ventured out, to avoid a repeat.
Thomas set his burger down and stared at Gabe, his expression starkly serious. “When the elders started taking human mates and crossbreeding, what happened?”
Gabe considered that. “It took the humans a few bindings to react to it, but that’s when the guerrilla attacks against Xxanians started.” They’d been bloody and brutal, and they’d only escalated when Earth’s military moved to protect their new Xxanian allies. “But there hasn’t been an attack like that in at least...two decades.”
“Because there haven’t been any more accidental bindings, and it was believed that it was impossible to create a bastard crossbreed.” Thomas raised his hand to still Gabe’s boiling temper. “I’m not calling your son a bastard, but they will. And once word gets around that it’s possible for babies to be conceived out of binding, there is going to be a whole new shit-storm. Excuse the term.”
“Why would word...get around?” Suspicion burned in his gut.
Thomas leaned toward him, his usual easy-going nature chillingly missing. “Because these things always...get around. It’s all over the station already. Your emergency leave paperwork listed the reason for your leave.”
“Caring for my mate and son.”
“But the rest of your paperwork has you listed as unmarried...unbound. What’s your next step? At the end of our shift?”
They’d discussed this already. Realization dawned on him. “Changing my benefits paperwork. Listing Abby and Michael as my beneficiaries and adding them to my medical.”
“But your paperwork still shows you as unbound. Even if you married Abby today...human marriage, you’re still unbound. No Xxanian that had been through binding would neglect to...well, no offense—”
“None taken. You’re correct about that. A Xxanian would take every possible measure, human and Xxanian, to make sure every man on Earth and beyond knew his mate was his woman. Not even the smallest doubt would be left to chance.”
Thomas waited for his response.
Gabe nodded. “I’ll suggest to Zhaahvan that the other elders might need to know this information. Not only because of the human threat, either.”
Thomas winced. “So no one else makes the same...oversight you did?” he guessed.
“That would be prudent.” This was sure to cause the same sorts of repercussions Andy Daahn’s mating did. May the Seir-God and human gods all protect us.
****
By the time Gabe made it back to the nest, his nerves were jumping. Once Thomas mentioned the rumors circulating, Gabe became all too aware of heads turning his direction as he walked through the station.
He’d dismissed it earlier as officers simply noting that he’d returned to duty. By late afternoon, he was struck by the averted eyes, whispered comments to coworkers, and sideward glances people tried to mask.
It is the subtle undercurrent of human society that you must be wary of.
How often had his gran-seir warned them of that? Xxanians never made a secret of their intentions. Though a Xxanian warrior might lay in wait and ambush an enemy, it was always an ambush the enemy should have known was a possibility. Unlike humans, Xxanians never wore a false face and stabbed one that perceived the Xxanian as a comrade in the back.
But humans do. That raised issues Gabe hadn’t concerned himself with earlier. He could trust no one human, save those tied to Xxanian nests. He would have to be vigilant.
That thought made the click of the blast doors all the more comforting. Inside, there was little chance of successful attack against those he loved and protected.
Chapter Eight
“Zhaahvan! Captain’s office.”
Gabe looked up from the fasteners on his leg armor. “On my way.” He buckled down the last strap, offered Thomas a shrug, and headed toward the central office suite, his helmet tucked under his arm.
The officer on Captain DeMarco’s door waved Gabe through. He knocked and waited for De Marco’s shout of “Enter.” to let himself in.
“You called, sir?”
DeMarco didn’t look up from his paperwork. “Close the door, Zhaahvan.”
He did so, and the sounds of the bustling station house tapered to a comfortable buzzing. DeMarco didn’t address him promptly, and Gabe bit back the urge to clear his throat and hint at an explanation.
I would do that with Xxanian elders. But human supervisors were not Xxanian elders.
At last, the Captain pushed the paperwork away and looked up at Gabe. He sighed, his expression weary. “I’m going to have to put you on paid leave, Zhaahvan.”
“Has there been some complaint against me?” There were only so many reasons the Captain would make such a decision.
“Nothing past the usual.”
Gabe nodded, relieved. ‘The usual’ meant ridiculous claims of police or Xxan-Human brutality that physical evidence and witnesses didn’t bear out.
“Rhaazhaa was killed this morning.”
The news hit Gabe like a gut shot. Still...”His nest and mine are not closely allied. I will not be called upon to honor him at the pyre.” Though Mattew’s gran-seir would be furious at the loss of his only gran-vashee, Rhaazhaa wasn’t likely to request aid from Zhaahvan, no matter what his plans.
DeMarco winced. “You don’t understand. Rhaazhaa didn’t die in the line of duty. He was targeted. You will be, too.”
Gabe straightened, fighting his ridge plates back. “My job—”
“This isn’t about your job, Zhaahvan. This is about keeping you alive to raise your son.”
He opened his mouth to protest the assumption that he was incapable of defending himself.
“And it’s about keeping Thomas alive long enough to have a son.”
His stomach clenched at that pronouncement. “I don’t think I understand.” He hoped he didn’t.
“Rhaazhaa and his partner—”
“Greete,” Gabe recalled.
“Yes. Rhaazhaa and Greete stopped for breakfast after their shift.”
As Thomas and I have lunch together halfway through ours. He nodded dumbly, sure he knew what was coming next.
“When the anti-Xxan guerillas opened fire, Greete tried to protect his partner with his personal weapon.”
“They killed him as well,” Gabe guessed. He glanced at the steady-stream of work going on outside the bullet-proof glass. “No one knows yet.” News like this traveled fast. How could no one know?
“It happened in grid six-beta.”
Across town.
“I just got the call half an hour ago. Within an hour, it will be all over the station.”
“And you want me gone by then.”
“Thomas is young, Zhaahvan. He won’t let you go to a more experienced partner. He won’t back down if...when you’re attacked.”
Gabe considered that. “I think you’re right.”
DeMarco seemed relieved. “You won’t fight me then?”
“No. I’ll change out and—”
“Wear the armor home,” he ordered.
Gabe hesitated, then nodded. “Will do.”
“Good. Let’s sign the paperwork.”
By the time Gabe returned to the locker room, Thomas was nowhere in sight. He’s probably in the briefing room.
Gabe reasoned it was better this way. If his partner didn’t see Gabe leaving, he wouldn’t ask questions. Gabe wouldn’t be forced to explain that he was leaving to save Thomas’s life.
Thomas would hear about it in the briefing. By then, it would all be over, a ‘done deal.’
He paused with his hand hovering over the photos of his family, torn. He didn’t want to have to have the pictures on him if he was ambushed, but destroying them wasn’t an option. At a loss for a better idea, Gabe folded them in half, slid his hand inside his body armor, and deposited them in his shirt pocket.
The empty locker room was a depressing sight. Without question, he knew his life as a police officer in this city had ended.
Maybe I can get a job in security at a Xxanian company. He didn’t doubt Spice Industries would consider him an asset. As long as Gabe was working and providing for his family, he could live with not being on the force, he was sure.
One last glance around convinced Gabe it was time to go. He settled his helmet on his head, positioned the mic, locked the face plate, then headed for his car. For the first time in his life, he was glad his gran-seir had insisted on the military-grade safety systems in his vehicle...and at the nest.
****
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Abby felt her face pale. He’d only been on leave from the police for a day, and Gabe was already giving orders to keep her in the nest full time.
Gabe winced. “There are three dead already, Abby. I do not intend to add you or Michael to that number.”
“I’ve already agreed to leave Michael here at the nest when I go out. I’ve already agreed that we’ll move here permanently.”
He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “If they see you leave the nest, they’ll assume you are a mate or prospective mate. They will do their best to kill you, Abby, to keep the population of crossbred Xxan down. They’ve killed two Dominants and a human officer who got in their way. Please...understand.”
She nodded. “But we have to collect our belongings. At least some things from the apartment. How will we—?”
Gabe waved her off. “I’ll arrange a detail of Xxanian warriors to do it. We’ll get everything we can. We may only be able to get in once, so we’ll have to take the most important things first.”