“That’s not fair at all, azhera. You’re bringing someone into our home, someone the rest of us don’t know, and?—”
Arcanthus snapped his mouth shut when Drakkal pointedly shifted his eyes toward Samantha.
The sedhi looked at his mate, frowned, and drew in a deep breath before saying, “That was an entirely different situation.”
Drakkal shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. “Samantha’s your mate. Shay is mine.”
Arcanthus lifted a finger and opened his mouth to speak, but he hesitated before any words came out. “All right. But let me point out, Drakkal, that Samantha didn’t rob me when we first met.”
“Point noted, sedhi. Doesn’t change anything.”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe this. Drak has amate!” Samantha pushed her chair back and stood. “She’ll need a room...um, unless she’s staying with you?”
Drakkal’s tongue slipped out and ran over his suddenly dry lips. His ears drooped. “She, uh…hasn’t exactly agreed to anything but the job, so far…”
Sekk’thi leaned back in her chair and cackled. “A terran is giving you trouble, Drakkal?”
“If only you knew,” he muttered.
“I’ll get a room ready for her,” Sam said.
Drakkal nodded and offered Samantha a gentle smile. “Is there anything extra she’ll need? She’s carrying a cub.”
“Huh? A cub?”
He lowered a hand to his stomach. “A…baby.”
Sam’s mouth dropped open. “She’s… You…Already?”
“You azhera have strange ways if you make younglings before accepting one another as mates,” Sekk’thi said.
“I’m not the cub’s sire,” Drakkal said. The irritation creeping into his voice wasn’t because he was not the cub’s father, but because he wanted to be—whether tied by blood or not.
“How far along is she?” Sam asked.
Drakkal shook his head and shrugged. “Don’t know. Not really sure how to judge it with terrans.”
Urgand sighed. “I guess it’s a good thing Arcanthus has had me studying terranmedicine.”
“You should be proud that you’re expanding your knowledge,” Arcanthus said.
The vorgal narrowed his gaze on Arcanthus. “I believe I was promised a bonus in exchange for the extracurricular studies,boss.”
“Isn’t the work itself a reward?”
A mischievous light sparked in Urgand’s eyes, and he grinned. “I suppose it can be, considering the body parts I’ll get to see.”
Arcanthus’s expression fell. Something sank in Drakkal’s stomach even as fire flared in his chest, accompanied by a tightness that threatened to seize his heart and lungs.
“What?” Arc and Drak demanded in unison.
Samantha cleared her throat and eased toward the door. “I’m...going to get that room ready now.” She hurried out of the room, and the door slid shut behind her.
Sekk’thi shifted in her chair. There was a thump under the table, and Urgand jumped in his seat, legs bumping the table’s underside and rattling everything atop it. Without betraying any emotion on his face, Razi reached out with both hands and caught severalguroshbottles before they could topple over.
Sekk’thi jabbed a finger at Urgand. “Behave. I will not step in if you provoke them.”
“I was joking. Just didn’t realize it was in such poor taste until the words were out of my mouth,” Urgand said, scooting his chair away from the table—and from the end of Sekk’thi’s lashing tail. “Of course, everything will be in the capacity of a medical professional. What did you think, I’m just going to coach her through birth over a commlink?”