Authors: Brenna Lyons
Gabe lifted Michael from the car seat and hooked the bag of supplies over his shoulder. Beside him, Abby reached for the computer bag.
“Not now. My
seir
and I will collect the rest later.”
She closed the car door and looked around the garage bunker.
Like most Xxanian nests, it was designed to deceive. It appeared to be a typical ranch-style house with attached garage from the outside, but this house was akin to a bomb shelter. It was a reinforced bunker: outfitted with blast doors, defensive systems, a hanger with two shuttles, a self-contained support system, and emergency escape tunnels. The tunnels of the main nest areas themselves were three stories beneath the surface and could be isolated from the outer shell.
Gabe guided Abby to the door, coded in, and escorted her into the
s’sanuea
. The garage door closed behind them, and he got down to business.
“We’re going to dress appropriately. That means stripping off everything you have on now. Hang the clothing on the hooks, and place your shoes under the bench.”
Abby shot a nervous look at the door to the nest, then complied. Gabe went to work on Michael’s one-piece outfit.
Dressing them in the traditional Xxanian garb didn’t take long. Each of them would only be wearing a single item of clothing—Michael’s diaper aside—and proper wrap and folds were second nature to someone born and raised in a nest. Gabe had been aiding Ariel with her
S’suuhhea
since before she could walk and tying his own
S’suumea
since shortly after that age.
He took a moment to admire her. “You are beautiful.”
And strong and confident. My family will love her.
Abby was a stunning shade of embarrassed red, and she stared at him, shifting from foot to foot. “What now?”
“Now we enter the nest.” He hesitated. “Don’t try to introduce yourself or Michael to anyone. There is a tradition for bringing new family members to the nest. I have to introduce you.”
She nodded. “Anything else I should know?”
“I’ll have to teach you Xxan. Usually, we all speak Xxan in the nest, but everyone knows English. They’ll understand you, but I’ll have to do a lot of translating for you for now.”
Abby groaned. “I have completely screwed this up, haven’t I?”
Gabe gathered her into his arms. “We both have, and it’s my job to make it right. Just let me.”
A shaky nod was her only reply.
Best I can hope for.
It wasn’t ideal to walk in with Abby so obviously frightened, but it was better than chancing Michael.
Gabe hefted the bag and Michael, then offered Abby his arm. The internal door slid open for him, prompted by facial recognition scanners hooked to the defensive systems. It was a layer of security most of the nests didn’t have. That way, even if someone got the code to open the outer door, he or she would be stuck in the
s’sanuea
with no way into the nest proper.
They stepped through, and the door slid closed behind them. The faint click announced the first of the blast doors securing at their backs. It was a sound that made Gabe feel safe. Behind doors like these, no one would try to kill his mate and son.
Not now.
For now, he could only hope Abby would like the nest and choose to stay.
The first two downward sloping chambers were behind them before he sighted his
seir
. Abby stopped abruptly, as Brien stepped out of the shadows, the elder’s
zuahhhbeahhh
in hand.
He surveyed their little group, then lowered the weapon.
“The scanners showed three,”
he offered by way of apology.
“Safety of the nest, the women, and the young first,”
Gabe intoned.
Brien stepped toward them and offered his hand.
“I welcome the brother warrior to the nest. I welcome all that come with—”
He stopped speaking abruptly and focused on Michael. His tongue extended a bit to take in the baby’s scent.
“The elder will have questions,”
he grumbled.
“I know. I expect it.”
It was clear his
seir
had questions as well, but tradition said that the elder would be privy to all news first.
Gabe clasped his
seir’s
hand in a warrior’s welcome.
“He’s waiting for you.”
With one last questioning glance at Michael, Brien turned and led the way toward the center nest.
Abby hurried to keep up, and Gabe reeled her in. A woman being added to the nest should never be rushed.
When they reached the center nest, the family was assembled and waiting for them. Ariel and Geoff waited with their
Hauaa
, Geoff in a protective posture. Between that group and Gabe’s little family, Brien stood with Zhaahvan.
Abby looked up at the elder...and up. She took a shuffling step backward, then planted her feet before Gabe could draw her to his side.
Zhaahvan cocked his head to one side and surveyed the visitors to his nest.
“A most interesting pair, Gabe.”
It was a challenge of bringing a young one to the nest, Gabe was sure.
Scent him, stars blaze you. Scent him, and you will know he belongs here. “They are, Gran-Seir. A most pleasant surprise for me.”
“Who is responsible for this young one?”
His tone was gruff, a warning that he was highly displeased. Whether he was displeased with Gabe or with whatever male
Gran-Seir
suspected was the
seir
was unclear.
“I am.”
Zhaahvan snapped a look at him, and his ridge plates stirred minutely. Gabe’s did the same. He settled Michael in Abby’s arms and took a step toward his
gran-seir
in challenge.
Slowly, with precision, the elder extended his forked tongue and drew in Abby and Michael’s scents. A growl built in his massive chest, and Zhaahvan showed his hunting teeth. Abby sank back another step, her breathing rasping in and out in her terror.
“You hid a child from us? From your nest and elders?”
“No. I didn’t know my son existed until three days ago. My mate was gone from my life before either of us knew he existed.”
The elder snorted in displeasure, his ridge plates extending fully, his frills shaking in challenge. The rest of the family was silent. This was a judgment, and for the first time, Gabe feared his
gran-seir
might turn them away.
Then Michael will have my nest scent and not my family’s. It is the old lizard’s choice to accept us or not.
Gabe squared his shoulders and prepared to tell the old buck precisely what he thought of him. That would most likely end in bitter battle, but if that was the elder’s choice, so be it.
“And you were such a worthless male she didn’t come to you to help raise your own son?”
Gabe bristled at the insult.
“No. She was told our son would not survive and didn’t want to cause me pain. She knew how important family is to me and was afraid of letting me tie myself to a woman that
reportedly
couldn’t give me young, to force me to mourn a son that had no chance of surviving to see his first days.”
It still amazed him that Abby thought so highly of him.
Zhaahvan scented again in earnest.
“I can detect no frailty in the young Dominant.”
“The frailty is my mate’s. She carries badly, but my son’s presence proves she can carry and has already blessed the nest with a young Dominant.”
It was a half-truth, since the human doctor had determined Abby couldn’t possibly carry so close to term again.
They told her she couldn’t the first time. Maybe I should ask Rayn his opinion of her chances of carrying again.
His
gran-seir’s
voice snapped Gabe back to the continuing judgment.
“You call the female your mate, but her scent proves that is not so.”
“Only because our son is nursing. When he weans, we intend to bind. What sort of male do you think I am? I would not risk my son, even for this.”
A moment of tense silence fell.
“And you believe this female when she promises to mate?”
“I trust my mate is sincere. If you do not, we will leave this nest and never return.”
Gabe’s
Hauaa
gasped out a protest, and Zhaahvan’s ridge plates retracted part way. Brien glanced at his mate, made a soothing sound, then shot a glare at Gabe.
Gabe forced back a wince. He hadn’t meant to distress his
Hauaa
, but a show of his strength had been warranted.
“Perhaps I should see the young Dominant and his Hauaa,”
Zhaahvan suggested.
“Perhaps you should.”
Gabe didn’t pretend all was forgiven and forgotten. That wasn’t a Xxanian warrior’s way. He back-stepped to Abby’s side.
She grasped his hand, trembling more than a little. “He won’t accept us. Will he?”
The elder snorted, and she jumped minutely.
Chapter Six
Zhaahvan took a long stride toward them and reached one taloned hand toward Abby. Her heart pounded in fear. Moments ago, he’d clearly been arguing with Gabe. What if he didn’t approve of them?
He won’t try to hurt Michael, will he? Or me? This is my fault, after all.
Michael shifted in her arms, and Abby remembered what had happened the last time a man got this close when she was scared.
“No. Be careful. Michael will—”
Her son moved like a little streak, his mouth opening wide and closing on the elder’s hand.
Abby winced in anticipation of a violent reaction to the bite. Why wasn’t Gabe doing something? Whether
he
believed they could teach Michael not to bite or not, it was essential she try. She reached for Michael’s cheeks. “No, Michael. No biting.”
The rumbling from the elder couldn’t be anything but laughter. He brushed her hand away and stroked the back of a talon along the extended ridge plate on the right of Michael’s throat. Sounds she didn’t recognize left the big warrior’s lips, and Michael turned his head stubbornly, no doubt widening the tear.
“I’m so sorry,” she began. “When I’m scared, he tends to—”
Gabe chuckled. “It’s all right, Abby.
Gran-Seir
approves of Michael. Young ones rarely display their Dominant traits so vividly at this age. He will be showing that bite to all his contemporaries with pride. Trust me.”
“I can’t let him—” Abby reached for Michael again.
Zhaahvan’s free hand circled her wrist, and he guided her hand away gently. The sounds he made had the tone of an order.
Gabe translated for him. “
Gran-Seir
says Michael will let go when he is content his warning is understood.”
“But it will scar,” she protested.
“I’m sure that’s his intent.” A sly smile curved Gabe’s lips.
I will never understand Xxanian men.
It was a given, and it was nerve wracking.
Before she could reason with them that she had to teach Michael how to live in a human world, her son let go with a glare at the elder, yellow-green Xxanian blood dripping from his mouth.
Zhaahvan tipped his head, offered a rumble, and reached his uninjured hand toward Abby. Michael moved to strike again, and Abby raised her hand to block him with a warning shout of “no.”
In a blur of motion, Gabe’s hand was between her fingers and Michael’s mouth, and he had a finger hooked inside the baby’s mouth. “No, Michael,” he offered calmly. “
Hauaa
is never to be injured. Your mother is precious.” He slanted a soft look her direction. “So precious.”
Her face burned in pleasure. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt me.”
“But he would have, and the lesson for it would have been harsh. This is a kinder way to teach him not to bite you.” His gaze trailed to her breasts and away again.
The scars.
She nodded. “I understand.”
Gabe lifted Michael from Abby’s arms, and she shot him a questioning look. His eyes slanted toward the elder towering over them. “
Gran-Seir
wishes to meet you.”
He turned back to the elder and shifted Michael in his arms, switching back to Xxan. The only words she understood were her own name and Michael’s.
Abby looked up at Zhaahvan again, her heart skittering at his proximity. A soothing rumble not unlike the one Gabe had used at the café reverberated between them. His uninjured hand came up, and he cupped her cheek, his talons combing through her hair. His scaled skin was cool and smooth.
His voice emerged in stilted English. “Welcome, li-ttle daughter.”
She nodded, forcing speech. “Thank you.”
A long string of Xxan language trilled off his lips, and Gabe started translating for her.
“You do the entire nest honor by bringing such a strong young Dominant to us.”
Zhaahvan tipped his head to one side and started speaking again.
“But you should not have tried to raise a young Xxanian without his nest elders. Michael is a babe today. Tomorrow, he will be stronger and faster than you are. We must teach him now and teach him well, so you are not injured by him when that is so. The young warrior will not know his strength.”
Abby swallowed a lump in her throat at the fact that she’d underestimated the difficulties of raising Michael alone. “I think I understand.”
It had never been my
intent
to raise him alone.
Though after so many months of indecision, Abby couldn’t state with certainty that she ever would have found a way to tell Gabe about Michael either.
The elder’s voice was getting more soothing by the moment. Abby closed her eyes, abruptly tired.
“And still this is the fault of my race. We did not know this was a possibility. We put you at unconscionable risk.”
Abby shook her head in denial. They hadn’t. It had been a misunderstanding.
“We did. Gabe will bathe you daily for—”