Warrior's Pain (Cadi Warriors Book 4)(102)

“Son of a bitch. I should have Kagan string him up by his tail,” a blonde woman growled.

Riley looked through the crack in the door, to find she had an audience. It was practically a party in her bedroom. Besides June there was the blonde holding a pink baby, Ion, and a svelte Cadi woman.

Riley studied the red skinned chick. She was skinny, tall and attractive. If Cyprian’s mate looked anything like this woman, no wonder he was eager to cut Riley loose. By comparison Riley was short, thick in the hips, and painted like damn piñata.

“I don’t care if he was pretending to be some slave master, there are lines you don’t cross,” June growled. “Come on. Don’t hide in here.”

Riley let June lead her to the bed, where she sat down. Ion joined Riley and they leaned against one another. A silent sad comradery passed between them.

“You know, Cyprian has always been a stoic, overbearing, pain in the ass, but I’ve never known him to be cruel like this,” the blonde said.

Riley agreed with the woman. Cyprian was bossy, but she also thought he was a good guy. He just wasn’t her guy.

Instead of responding, Riley studied the sleeping baby bundled in the blonde’s arms. The child’s skin was pinker than normal, and her full crop of black hair had frosted tips. It was obvious the sweet little tyke was half human, half Cadi. Riley was amazed humans were compatible with the Cadi. She couldn’t help but wonder what her own children might have looked like. Riley shook her head to dispel the depressing notion, and wiped away the new tears that formed.

“I don’t know if he’s that great. I still haven’t forgiven Cyprian for accusing Tytus of assaulting me, when I said he didn’t,” June grumbled.

“Wait. What?” Riley blurted.

Clearly, she wasn’t the only one who had been through an ordeal. Riley suddenly felt very selfish. She’d been so concerned with herself, she hadn’t given much thought to what happened to June in her absence.

“I’m sorry for being a wreck. How have you been, and who is everyone?” she asked.

“It’s okay. A lot has happened since we parted,” June replied.

“I’m Giselle. I’m married to Kagan, the leader of Cadi. He’s the guy Cyprian was talking to. This is our baby, Graca. My adopted son Sabin is with his father,” Giselle said as she extended her hand. “I’m sorry for everything that’s happened.”

“Nice to meet you,” Riley replied, as she shook Giselle’s outstretched hand. “I’ll survive.”

“I’m Sundara. June and I are friends. This is my house,” Sundara said with a nod of her head. “I’m glad you made it home safe. June was so worried.”

“Sundara is mating Metcor today, and I’m getting married to Tytus,” June said.

“Seriously?” Riley gawked at her friend.

I did miss a lot.

In the span of a few weeks, June was getting married to some guy named Tytus, and had a host of new friends. The sense of being left behind, added to Riley’s bleak mood.

“When I found myself stranded on Cadi, I hid in Tytus’ lab. He’s an engineer like me. Anyway, long story short, we’re getting married.”

“Of course, you found another rocket scientist,” Riley snorted at the irony. “I should’ve known it wasn’t going to work with Cyprian. What a pair we would’ve made. A criminal and a soldier.”

“Shut up.” June shoved Riley.

“I’m happy for you. Shouldn’t you girls be getting ready, instead of dealing with me?”

“We’re going to get ready together,” June replied.

“I’m blocking all the males out of the upstairs, so we can take over,” Sundara said excitedly.

“It’ll be a girl party, so you won’t have to deal with the general,” June added.

“Hey, so this is where you guys are hiding.” A redhead peeked into the bedroom.

“Providence, meet Riley and Sundara,” Giselle introduced everyone.

Riley gave a little wave to Providence. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one new to this group.

“Providence is married to Madhava and Dagaa. Madhava is sort of like my brother-in-law. You’ll meet both of them later,” June said.

“Before you ask, yes, I’m married to two men. And, no, it’s not common, but also not looked down upon on Cadi,” Providence said quickly after seeing the expression on Riley’s face.

“I’m not judging. Do men here ever marry more than one female too?” Riley asked.

“Yes. My great grandsire was mated to two females. From what I understand it was more common in times when many warriors died in battle,” Sundara explained.