Bearfoot and Pregnant(26)

Merita’s head came up from Jensen’s neck. Her tear-stained face and trembling lip reminded Talen so much of his mother whenever she tried to get her husband to forgive Paxten for whatever he’d done to disrespect a guest or fellow clan member.

Talen stood still, his gaze roamed the group, ensuring no one decided to start anything. As angry as he was, he could kill a few people and not think twice. He was like his father in a lot of ways. He never disrespected his people and he didn’t look to start a fight. But he wasn’t standing by while someone decided he should be on trial for defending himself. That’s not how Arctos clan worked and it wasn’t starting now.

“Here you go,” said one of his enforcers, handing Dylan an electronic viewer. The small tablet gave a holographic image of everything their security system recorded. Talen had always felt his business place needed a system with multi cameras to record each of the rooms in the headquarters, getting images of everything that went on at all times.

Dylan pressed a few keys and the holograms of the fighting turned to life-size. Everyone who stood around them was able to see the three kids attacking first Talen and then Dylan as well.

The fight wasn’t as long as it had felt while it was happening, but the silence afterwards was. People glanced around, none making eye contact with him.

Merita stepped toward Talen and stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize Paxten had gotten to him so much.”

Jensen nodded. “We are just as shocked seeing this as we were to find out about the fight.”

Lydorn turned away and marched into the trees without saying another word.

The group dispersed and soon just Talen and Dylan stood on the grassy hill. They turned to their left and approached the cliff overlooking the main cabin.

“What happened at Alyx’s? I thought you said you met someone?”

Talen growled his unhappiness. “She left. Cassie went back to Earth.”

Dylan sucked in a shocked breath. “That’s odd. Did she not like it here? What went wrong?”

“I don’t know but I need to get her.” He glanced at Dylan. The wind howled through the trees at their high altitude on the mountain. He hated having to leave when things were unstable, but the last thing he wanted was to lose any more time from getting Cassie back.

Dylan gave a short nod, the kind that meant Talen could count on him to keep things running while he was gone. “I’ll oversee everything. Don’t worry about it.”

Dylan sat next to him to watch the suns set. Talen frowned at the distance. The various orange colors from both suns turned the skies into a glow of shades of yellow and gold. “Bella said something she thought I could be. Something I’m not sure I like.”

Dylan scratched at his beard. Like Talen, he shaved regularly but being shifters meant hair grew quickly. Facial or otherwise. “What did she say?”

“You’re more familiar with Earth customs and sayings.”

Dylan nodded. “I’ve watched a lot of the up to date videos and tapped into their satellites to get better knowledge of the United States and its people.”

“What is a booty call?”

Dylan choked on his laughter. He started low, trying to keep the chuckles to a minimum but then he appeared to be unable to control himself and laughed wholeheartedly. Loud. “Bella said you were a booty call?”

“Yes.” There was nothing amusing of being used for sex if that’s what she was implying. In Aurora shifters mated or shared sex when in heat or for mutual pleasure. One was never used for it.

“That’s rough,” Dylan cleared his throat, wiping at his eyes. “Listen, she’s probably wrong. You have to speak to Cassie. Only she can tell you why she left and you might be able to convince her to come back.”

Talen’s gaze snapped up to Dylan’s. “Might?”

“Earth women are not like ours. They have strange beliefs.”

“Like what?”

“Like a male should ask them to mate or one should spend time getting to know each other before you mate.” Dylan sounded as confused as Talen felt.

“Mating is natural. It just happens,” he argued.

“We know this, but since humans don’t read scents and don’t have an animal guide, I guess that’s why they need reassurance.”

“And we get to know each other once we mate. That’s the point of the mating getaway. Alone time.” He didn’t get why humans did things backwards.

“I understand where you’re coming from, but you have to play by their world’s rules if you want her to come back with you.” Dylan shrugged. “It could help her decide to return.”