She raised her brows. “Sure.” She said as she sat down across from him, taking the same seat Brant had just vacated. “It looks serious.”
“Not at all, my queen.” Gideon tried to put on what he hoped looked like a carefree smile. “I’m just curious, about the humans. Since it is my duty to ensure their safety, I’m having to spend a lot of time in the vicinity of both the elite males and the humans.”
She nodded, her lips curling up with a hint of a smile.
“I overheard one female talking with another female.” Again, he worked hard at keeping his voice light and neutral.
Tanya nodded, urging him to go on. Since Brant could come back at any moment, he did just that. “Sometimes when humans mate with one another, it does not last. This is a very strange concept to us vampires since we mate for life. Now this female mentioned that she was mated… I believe the correct human term is married… to a male and then decided to be with another male. Again, this is a very strange concept. Not only do vampires mate for life but we are strictly monogamous when it comes to our mate.”
Tanya smiled at him. Her face was animated with warmth. She nodded. “Yes, it’s true. Humans do not always mate for life and they are not always a monogamous species. Please do not look harshly on such females as you do not have all of the details. Do not judge them based on vampire rules and standards if you do not have all of the information. Yes, there are those that lie and cheat on their partners but sometimes a marriage break-up is consensual. What if this woman’s husband…mate cheated on her with another woman?” She paused for a few seconds. “That’s what I mean about getting all the facts first.”
Gideon sat forward, placing his elbows on his thighs and clasped his hands together. “It’s just, I feel a little worried for the males in the program. I am concerned that such females…the lying cheating ones, will not be able to mate for life or to conform to our ways.”
Tanya nodded. “You are right to be concerned. Please do bear in mind though that the females were put through rigorous psychometric testing and had to fill in detailed questionnaires before being permitted into the program. Both parties have been trained and sufficiently briefed on the cultures of the opposite species. I’m not saying that things can’t go wrong, but at the same time Brant and Zane have put in huge amounts of effort to ensure that risk is minimized and not only in the physical sense.”
Gideon nodded. “This particular female mentioned”—he felt himself frown—“that she’d already left her mate. It had only been a few weeks and she was no longer living with him. This still doesn’t make sense to me, my queen. If you are mated, then you are mated. There are no grey areas. This type of female will surely go from male to male.”
Again his queen smiled. “Humans do not always mate for life. We do not possess vampire senses, and this sometimes makes it more difficult when it comes to choosing a lifetime partner. Humans make more mistakes in this regard. I’m hoping that our males are not complete idiots. That they will ask the right questions and spend enough time with the females before making any decisions. Things will turn out fine, you will see. Communication will be key. Also, sometimes a female needs to be with the wrong male to give her better perspective about who she really wants to be with. It is not necessarily a bad thing.”
Gideon nodded. “I hope you are right.”
“You don’t seem convinced.” Tanya moved to her feet.
“That’s because I’m not. I guess I don’t get human females.” He raised his brows. “No offense.”
Tanya laughed. “None taken. I wouldn’t worry, you’re not in the program anyway.”
Thank fuck.
One mistake he could understand. Two. Not so much. It was imperative that he continue to do his job, but at the same time he would avoid Jenna as much as possible. He only prayed that she took his advice and left. The sooner , the better.
After waiting another few minutes, Brant came back and sat back down. “Tell me about the guards.”
They spent the next twenty minutes discussing all the new training programs aimed at closing some major loopholes that York had highlighted for them. The original plans had been put in place to ensure that the vampire territory and human facilities were protected from outside assaults. They never figured on one of their own breaking in. Gideon had spent many hours fixing this.
“What the fuck happened last night?” Brant growled. “A pig carcass? Are you fucking serious?”
“I typed a full report”—Gideon said, watching as Brant’s eyes darkened—“but I would be more than happy to give you an overview.” Gideon supplied the details of the events that had taken place the night before.