16. Rake

Chapter 16

Rake

M y tablet blinks red with a vid message from Erid. "Rake, there's a whole contingent of male and female humans who have arrived at the transporter station. They claim to have leave to arrive, free of charge, due to legality? They are here to find Stella Smith."

We are still at the main ranch, but it is now later in the day. Many beings have left, returning home. Many have returned to work. But I am now sitting in chairs with family, in front of a fire pit.

Heh. I let out a deep grunt. "There is no Stella Smith here any longer."

"Do you want me to play dumb and get rid of them?"

I glance over at my bound who was listening in to this conversation. "What do you want to do, Stella?"

"This is so weird. I can't believe they are people here from my former town. It's got to be the mayor and town council. Possibly members of the school board and maybe even the principal. They don't scare me. I wouldn't mind them coming out here though and seeing how this life they thought that would be awful for me, has turned out so well. Also, I'm curious why they've come all this way. It's been about seven months since I left so what do they even care anymore? Well, it is close to the start of the next school year. That's all I can think of as to why they'd care to come out here and find me."

I hand the baby back to her to hold. "I'll go get them. You stay here."

"I'll go gather Lucy and Mica and everyone else to come here as witnesses."

"That's a good idea." Erid says. "I will be there too. It will take more than one vehicle because there are so many of them. And I want to make sure this group is gone off planet before sundown."

Forty minutes later I'm at the transporter station to help pick up the human visitors who want to see Stella. I know I'm getting close when I hear screams in the air.

"Oh thank gods, please take them away," Mytrina exclaims, waving a claw at the terrified humans. "I'm used to working with arriving humans, but never this many at once. They all just started arriving, somehow managing to bypass the code lock. And they all say they have legal authority to arrive, for free," she snorts. "I'm definitely going to look into that and I fully plan on charging them later if this proves untrue."

"Are you here to take us to Stella?" a small human male of middle years questions with an air of authority.

"Yes."

"Good, we are ready."

They all take the time to tell me their name and positions, none of which I care about and quickly forget. And I do not bother telling them my name or that Stella is my mate, because again, I don't care. Half of them load into Erid's vehicle and half into mine. We take off on the long drive back to the ranch. They try to talk to me, but I burst out a flame to quiet them, which works because I don't hear another word for the rest of the drive.

Finally, I park in the driveway of the main Flagstone Ranch house, which I know is highly impressive. It's three stories tall and almost as large as a royal mansion because it needs to be able to house guests from far away. But it will not house these human guests. I plan on making that return trip as soon as possible.

"Julia?" my female cries out. And then I see her running for the vehicle and she's hugging a human who just exited. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you again. I missed you. I was trying to get I touch with you."

"Oh, Stella you look good. I'm…surprised. Your clothes are so pretty too. Is this where you live?"

The rest of the humans exit the vehicle.

One male in particular strides up to my female and starts speaking to her as if giving an order.

"Stella, we need you to come back," the principal says to my female.

"Wh…what?" she sputters. "I thought all of you hated me. You had me arrested, then fired me and then kicked me off planet. You tried to force me into a marriage you thought would be bad for me."

"We were wrong. We apologize."

"Wrong about what?" Stella questions.

"We learned that the mayor was committing fraud."

"I tried to tell you that. Many people tried to tell you that. It was why I was in his office that day, to disburse fliers about his fraud. I never meant to throw that red paint. I've told you this ten times. I didn't know that's what that was and then I tripped and fell and it splashed all over the place. I was horrified to discover it was on the furniture. I got it all over myself too."

"Well, he is finally in jail and no longer mayor. Also, we learned that Vyktoria planted red paint in your bag and even tripped you and caused you to fall. It turned out Vyktoria and the mayor were having an affair. They both wanted you gone because she was getting currency from his fraud and didn't want it to end any more than he did."

"I can't believe it was Vyktoria."

"She's also in jail."

"We want you to return with us and become a highly paid member of the town council. The first female to ever hold such a position."

Stella crosses her arms. "I cannot imagine you wanting me back in your community in such a position. You called me a whore."

I have no idea what this word means, but Lucy and Mica gasp with outrage.

"I do not understand," I declare. "I notice that not all the humans in the group look happy at this thought." Some frown and in fact glare at my bound, which causes me to growl in my throat. "My bound is not returning to your community because she is now my legal mate. But even if it were possible, I wouldn't return her to the same place that treated her so poorly, and it doesn't seem like you have changed any policies to make it better and safe for her."

"I will give you your same classroom back and a raise," the principal offers.

Stella shakes her head.

"You are never going back," I comment.

"We'll give you an office in town hall," a man offers.

My female waves a hand. "I don't care about that."

"Well, if you don't come back with us, what are you going to do here?" Julia asks. "You can't be a teacher here. You don't have the right credential."

"I thought I'd spend my life on New Earth, teaching. That was my career and I loved it. The most I thought would happen was that one day maybe I'd get a teaching job at the district closest to where I grew up and where my mother lives, but that was the extent of it. Or maybe get an Administrative credential and see about doing something different in the District Office. But all of this on New Earth. And then I was sent to Tarvos and met Rake. And now I'm trying to decide what to do next."

Julia leans forward. "Stella, you don't have to stay. You can leave with us right now and get a divorce." She glances at me and steps back with fright. "Why would you stay married to that monster?"

A dark frown mars Stella's delicate face. "Julia, that monster is the man I love. He's the father of my son and the man I plan on spending the rest of my life with." She looks up at the others. "And that monster , these other monsters you're all so afraid of are Hyrrokin who are all ten times better than all of you people who have returned to bring me back for your own selfish reasons." She points at the principal. "You only want me because you need last year's Teacher of the Year returned so you aren't fired by the county superintendent for letting me go."

The small man sputters a denial.

She points at another group. "The town council only wants me back so they can hire me and get currency credits for their token female hire. Oh yes, I know about that award the state is giving out to local governments. You'd get the highest amount with me because I wouldn't be a ‘fake' hire but actually credible, especially because I was a former activist."

"It's true," one of the men admits. He looks around at the others who are frowning at him. "What does it matter? Why pretend we really want her there when we don't? I'm here for the money we agreed to divide between us."

"And why are you here, Julia?" my female questions her friend. "What's the real reason? What did they offer you?"

The female looks away and then back at Stella, baring her teeth. "And you think you're so wonderful? You always thought you were better than me, better than the rest of us."

"I thought you were my best friend."

"I was your friend until…"

"Until, what?"

"Until," she hisses, "I found out you were pregnant out of wedlock, which is disgusting. How could you? I thought you had morals and that we were essentially the same, but we weren't."

Stella stares at her friend in shock. "What did they offer you, Julia?" she repeats.

"A raise, all the way across to the end of the pay scale, and a stipend for the next five years."

I step forward and blast a flame over all their heads. "Enough."

The group grows quiet and all eyes are on me. "None of you have asked about her child. Not one of you. You cared so much that Stella was pregnant without a mate, but it appears to me you cared even less for her offspring. You therefore don't care at all for Stella. She will remain here for the rest of her days, cherished. Her offspring will inherit a portion of this mighty ranch. She doesn't need you. And now all of you are leaving this planet."

All the Flagstones and other Hyrrokin who were nearby and overheard everything start clapping and cheering.

"I agree."

"Get rid of those assholes, Rake."

"Stella, you don't need them. We're lucky to have you. Thank you for choosing us."

"You can teach our kids. We've already been talking about it."

"You guys want me to be a teacher here, on Tarvos, to the half human offspring?"

"Yes. We would love it if my children could be bilingual and be able to read and write in both Hyrrokin and English."

"You could even teach the older ones through tablets. Or even during school breaks."

"I love this idea. I can get in touch with the department of education on New Earth and purchase the actual curriculum we use. It's true that I'd love that for my own children too. And if anyone else wanted to learn English I could teach them."

"See, you'd be perfect."

I sweep my bound into my arms and kiss her in front of all the horrified humans. "I love you too," I whisper in her ear. Then I set her down on her small feet and turn around to growl at the small beings. Then I march back to the vehicle, herding the frightened humans.

Erid and I drive them all back to Fire Creek and visually confirm that each of them are transported back from whence they came.

Good riddance.