Chapter 18

Gaelec

C ontrary to what Tedrick implied, we didn’t get the news about the raid until the next day. Then again, we’d been a little too busy playing with our new toys to really devote much time tracking down any tidbits of information we could get.

For all the relief we felt for having wisely steered clear of it, reading the fate that befell those who went out of stubbornness—but especially those who did out of desperation—broke our hearts. The Enforcer didn’t exaggerate by saying they wanted to make a statement with this. Nearly two hundred males from various Prides were caught alive. Fifty-six lost their lives trying to escape or resist. Twenty-three were injured, some seriously maimed. Every single survivor, injured or not, was guaranteed a minimum of fifteen years in a Q2 or Q3 on Molvi. For most of them, it was a death sentence.

On top of that, their Prides were fined a flat amount for each of their members as punitive damage for their part in encouraging or coercing them to participate. It would be a severe blow to a lot of them, as most Prides pushed their males to participate in those missions to bring back desperately needed extra income. They likely wouldn’t have the credits to pay.

Naturally, our government would challenge that sanction, claiming that the Enforcers had no jurisdiction on our people. My gut told me that the UPO was hoping specifically for that response so that they could then put the burden on our government to take steps to eradicate piracy. Obviously they never would. Too many of our major corporations and wealthy preyed on our males intentionally to do their dirty work. Most of Melelyn’s technology was stolen during those raids. The firms who funded these missions would then reverse engineer and sell their knock-off versions of the same technology.

In all probability, once the UPO either threatened or applied sanctions against Melelyn due to our government’s lack of cooperation, our leaders would likely simply pay the fines or negotiate a lesser amount, promising to instate some sort of educational programs to help fight crime and crack down on recruiters.

All of which would conveniently meet one hurdle after another until it was simply abandoned before it ever truly took place.

Despite how devastated we were by the news, especially since most of us knew at least one person or more from the list of names that was made public, we needed to focus on our own future. Anyway, we still had tons of work to do building our new home.

The next five days flew by in a whirlwind of activity. The village was coming along nicely. Thanks to all the gifts we received, my original budget remained intact. We were debating whether to buy a small fishing ship or build our own. With the fancy tools we now possessed, we could make something pretty impressive in a relatively short amount of time. However, considering all the other work we needed to do, we had to carefully weigh what made the most sense for us.

The biggest issue was the need to bring in credits. Without the shuttle, we would have had a bit more time. But as we had to pay the lease on it, we had to bring in some form of income. Fishing was the fastest thing we could do on that front… which required a boat. On the other hand, if I didn’t spend my credits buying that ship, we could use them to pay the lease, which would keep us covered for several months. If we had more people helping us build everything, then it would have been a non-issue.

And that was the crux of it.

I didn’t know how I felt about the fact that, contrary to Tedrick’s warning, no one had come knocking to join us or even attempt to take over what we were building here. Although relieved that we could continue building our new home in peace, a part of me felt a little hurt and even slightly depressed that no one seemed interested in what we had to offer. In truth, I expected the floodgates to open the minute people heard what a failure the mission had been. Was I truly so out of touch with my people that I still completely misinterpreted what other males might want?

And then the tsunami hit.

Exactly seven days after we received those gifts, and ten days after leaving the Nevian Village, the one person I truly hoped to see showed up. My brother’s happy shouts alerted me as to the identity of the intruder announced by the perimeter motion detector.

I rushed out of the house we’d been working on only to see Kazaer running towards the forest. It was silly considering she was still a few minutes away. But she also wasn’t alone. Based on the security system, three more females we’re tagging along. I didn’t quite know how I felt about it. It could both be great and seriously problematic.

Walking hand in hand with my mate, we approached the entrance of the village, our other males, especially the younger ones, perking up. My stomach knotted with apprehension. Although they’d not been with us for very long, I’d seriously grown attached to all the members of my Pride. They were good, hard-working males, and had so far shown themselves to be respectable and honorable. Without bringing females into our village, they would eventually have no choice but to leave. I couldn’t expect them to remain celibate through their prime years while personally enjoying the companionship of my own mate.

The newcomers finally cleared the forest. My chest warmed at seeing Ylis and Kazaer entering the village, their hands clasped, and their eyes filled with the joy of being reunited. Despite us having established our com system, my brother complained about her going radio silent since he joined us.

At first, he acknowledged that things were probably shaking up so much over there that she had her hands too full to contact him. But as more and more days went by without a word from her or any response to his messages, Kazaer started convincing himself that she never truly wanted a future with him and had used my project of starting my own village as an excuse to get rid of him.

Although I went out of my way to reassure him that he was being silly, I couldn’t deny feeling relieved she was finally here, confirming that she had not been leading him on.

Her dreamy smile faded to give way to complete shock and wonder as she took in the appearance of our village. Her companions, all young huntresses in their early twenties, looked just as stupefied. I didn’t need to look at our males to know they were bubbling with excitement.

“By the Gods, Gaelec! This is incredible!” Ylis whispered, transfixed as she closed the distance between us.

“Thank you, Ylis. And welcome to Gyota Village,” I said, my tone friendly although a little guarded.

She immediately picked up on my reservation, subtle though it was. Her gaze flicked back to me, ending her mesmerized examination of our surroundings. A sliver of worry flitted over her lovely features as she studied me.

“Are we… welcome?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Of course you are!” Kazaer exclaimed as if she had said something silly.

When she continued to stare at me, my brother turned his attention to me, his brow creased in a frown.

“Gaelec, tell her!” he said, looking confused.

“You are always welcome to visit. But am I to understand you and your companions are thinking of something a bit more permanent?” I asked in a gentle tone.

The females shifted uneasily on their paws, their eyes flicking towards Ylis before eyeing me warily. I hated to put them in the same type of uncertainty Rozel subjected me to when I first returned. However, even though I didn’t plan on dragging this on unnecessarily, I needed to make sure we were all on the same wavelength before opening the door to what could spell disaster down the road.

“Yes, we would be interested in something more permanent, or at least temporary,” she added, glancing at her companions.

“I’m listening,” I said, intrigued.

“Things are a complete mess back home… or rather what used to be our home,” Ylis explained. “You probably heard what a tragedy that mission turned out to be. Arys and Izana both lost the visiting males they’d hoped to pair with to that raid,” she added, waving at two of the young huntresses. “And Andrane is one of the young Queens who was supposed to leave with some of her sisters in two years from now to form their own Pride. But none of us wish to remain under Rozel’s tyranny.”

“Tyranny?” I repeated, shocked by that extreme choice of word.

“There are a lot of people talking about leaving. After what happened, when she blatantly ignored the warnings that you gave and that many of us told her to heed, the Queens and huntresses asked Rozel to step down as Head Matriarch and to let my mother take over. Naturally, Rozel refused. She even refused to depose Moriak. Unfortunately, you know the rule. None of the younger females can issue a challenge to the Head Matriarch unless she be labeled a pariah. The only people who can are the other two Matriarchs, meaning my mother and my aunt.”

“Pria and Jilam will never challenge their sister to a duel,” I said with conviction.

“Exactly. Which means we either accept it or leave. We have chosen to leave,” Ylis said, before running a frustrated hand through her mane. “A third of our males have left.”

“WHAT?!” I exclaimed, my shock reflected on every face.

“The younger ones are looking for a new Pride to join with a more reasonable Head Matriarch,” she continued grimly. “Some of the others are roaming together while trying to assess what their next move will be. And then you have a few more who are considering joining you, if you will have them. They’re waiting to see whether we will be welcome before taking their chances.”

“Why would they want to wait after you tried? You are females, they are males. The criteria for acceptance are extremely different,” I said, baffled.

“They figure if you refuse the person you treated like your baby sister since you joined us, then they will not stand a chance,” she said with a shrug.

Her pretend nonchalance didn’t fool me. I could feel her underlying tension. “That is a completely flawed assumption. The bar for a male joining us is much lower than for females.”

She instantly stiffened, as did the others, my brother included. I gave her a reassuring smile.

“I explained my rules to you before I left. Like you said, you’ve been like a little sister to me from the moment we met. And now, you could officially be one,” I continued, gesturing at my brother with my chin. “Nothing would make me happier, so long as you understand that no female will come here to dominate and rule the males.”

She gave me a firm nod, as did the other three females. “We fully understand. I made sure to explain it to them, and we’re all in agreement. Arys and Izana are looking for a permanent home with all of you, as am I. Andrane wants to keep her options open. Her sisters, with whom she was meant to start her own Pride, are still uncertain as to what they want to do. But they definitely don’t want to repeat the disaster that Rozel made of Nevian, and they don’t want to see more young males meeting the fate of their young brother. Living among you with this new structure would be a great experience allowing her to see if this is something they could implement in their own Pride.”

“That seems like a good idea,” Ophelia said timidly.

I glanced at her and found her staring at me with almost pleading eyes. I smiled and caressed her cheek.

“Yes, it does seem like a good idea. It is wise to try things first when given the opportunity before making a permanent commitment. Therefore, unless anyone else objects, I’m happy to welcome all four of you to the Gyota Pride.”

“Fuck yeah!” Kazaer exclaimed, making us all laugh.

He scooped Ylis into his arms, effortlessly lifting her, and twirled while she laughed.

We spent the next little while giving the females a tour. No words could express the extent of the pride I felt seeing their reaction to what we’d accomplished. To my surprise, Izana left, accompanied by Danel to fetch the couple of hover carts they had hidden a short distance outside our security perimeter and which contained most of the belongings they simply couldn’t part with. They initially planned on using a city shuttle to get the rest of their stuff once they received confirmation that we would welcome them. But seeing the fancy shuttle we now possessed had them fanning themselves.

On the following day, six more males from Nevian—the ones who had been waiting to see how Ylis and the other three females would be received—also came to join us. Things turned quite awkward when I rejected two of them. They’d been problematic in their work ethics, performance, and general attitude. I laughed at their pathetic attempt to make a stink about it, calling me an elitist. But in the end, they had no choice but to go back on their way.

The other four gladly stayed.

It triggered a longer debate among us as to our criteria of acceptance for newcomers, as well as the maximum population we sought, and at which pace we could welcome them. Even with these extra hands helping, it took time to build entire houses from scratch. All these people also required necessities such as beds, mattresses, and blankets. And all of that required credits that were not coming in as we weren’t set up yet to weave our own fabrics and craft various other things.

“Don’t fret so much about it, Brother,” Kazaer said in a reassuring tone. “You warned us the first few months—and maybe even the first couple of years—wouldn’t be an easy ride. But what we’re building here exceeds anything I could have hoped for. We have solid roofs over our heads, food in our bellies, and wonderful companions to rely upon.”

Everyone nodded.

“You’ve given us safety and a place to call home, Alpha,” Faran said, one of the young males who joined us with Kazaer. “None of us fear hardship. We expected much worse as nomads. The question for us isn’t how much work will be required to get this place to where it needs to be, but whether it will always be our home should we temporarily go away.”

My chest warmed with the oddly paternal emotion I increasingly felt towards the younger males. It was all the sillier that we barely had ten years difference.

“You’re a member of this Pride now, Faran. You’re young and in your prime. It’s normal for you to feel the call to roam and find a mate,” I said gently. “When the time for you to set off comes, we’ll be sad to see you go. But know that we’ll wait for you with open arms the day you decide to come back home.”

The air of deep gratitude and affection that burned in every males’ eyes warmed my chest. The thought that I would one day have a similar conversation with the sons I hoped to have filled me with a joy I could barely contain.

“Thank you, Alpha. But don’t think you will be rid of me anytime soon,” Faran said with a grin. “I will see this village properly built and surpass every other in the realm. The day I and any of our males go roaming, the Prides we visit will be the ones begging for the attention of one of the sons of Gyota.”

Cheers welcomed his words.

Sadly, that optimistic mood was dampened the following day, first by a group of roaming males who tried to challenge me as the new Alpha of our Pride. Although I made mincemeat out of their leader, it only marked the beginning of an endless string of random people showing up, acting as if being welcomed in was their due.

The most infuriating case was when a pack of ten females showed up, claiming our village as theirs and demanding to be instated as our Matriarchs and huntresses. They even had the nerve to demand we expel Ylis and her three relatives who followed her here. My blood still boiled at the sheer entitlement. It boggled my mind that they genuinely believed they were doing us a favor—if not an honor—by settling among us and allowing a bunch of males they had not personally vetted first to stay.

Needless to say we sent them packing quickly. Their wretched leader tried to challenge my mate as new Head Matriarch, thinking it would be an easy win. Watching Ylis giving her the trouncing of the century still had me grinning from ear to ear.

As infuriating as these intrusions were, they achieved something that otherwise might have taken a very long time. It brought us all closer, deepened our mutual loyalty, but above all gave every member of our Pride a sense of ownership. They weren’t just helping me build my village. We were building our home, and we wouldn’t let anyone take that away from us.

By the fourth week, with a sufficient number of homes for everyone, and our first trade workshop functional, things finally felt like they were settling down. Through her contacts, Ophelia found us a used fishing ship in prime condition. The cost of getting it delivered to us was a fraction of what it would have cost to buy a new one or even to build it from scratch. That day, when the motion detectors went off, we assumed our ship had finally arrived.

The reality couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

The alerted voices outside echoed the shock I felt upon seeing Oluina and two of her huntresses, followed by Moriak, Latsa, and Olmar quickly approaching on their speeders.

I ran to our dwelling to grab my staff. Ophelia—who had been tanning the leather from the creatures our huntresses had brought back—ran towards me with an air of panic. I caressed her cheek in a reassuring fashion.

“All will be well, my mate. They have no jurisdiction here and no power over us,” I said in a soft voice.

She nodded, her expression still troubled. It bothered me to see her absent-mindedly touch her blaster. I wanted us to reach a point where she no longer felt the need to stay armed at all times. We’d had a few close calls in the past couple of weeks, but nothing that actually required her to shoot. I just wished people would leave us alone.

We headed towards the entrance of the village, the rest of our Pride also gathering around us. Their timing couldn’t have been more rotten as Ylis and our other females were out hunting. As they would have received the intruder warning, I didn’t doubt they were rushing back home in all haste.

I didn’t believe things would devolve into a physical altercation. However, if things got heated, no male wanted to be forced to manhandle a female. While we were undeniably stronger, our females were faster. Except for duels, they usually fought as a pack, thus easily overwhelming their target. This meant, should things get ugly, many of us would have to jump in if Oluina and her companions charged us.

I could only hope Moriak would be the one to issue a challenge. My claws had been itching for a long time to give him a new look.

A burning contempt surged within me upon seeing their wretched faces. It baffled me that I had once thought her the sweetest, loveliest, and most beautiful female in the world. As a na?ve cub, I truly believed myself in love with her. And yet, in retrospect, all the signs had been there. She didn’t change into someone despicable. I simply no longer was blind to her true personality. And that made her ugly.

As for Moriak, if not for how many lives he had destroyed in his malicious attempts at securing his position, I would feel pity for him. He was only seven or eight years older than I was, but the past few weeks had aged him before his time. His features were strained, his eyes a bit haggard as if from lack of sleep. I heard of Nevian’s steady decline since our departure. The failed mission had been a major blow that nearly got him evicted. I strongly suspected that he was still on borrowed time over it.

The saddest part was that I genuinely believed that he’d trusted Ranor as to the partial safety of the mission. He likely thought only a handful of people would be caught or harmed. After all, they’d sent a little over three hundred males. With a crew this size, he couldn’t have imagined most wouldn’t make it out.

However, it was the incredulous look on their faces as they took in our village that affected me the most. I should be ashamed of the malicious glee their devastated expressions stirred within me. Even halfway built as it was, anyone with eyes could see that it by far surpassed what they currently had. For all its qualities, their village was dated because of their stubborn refusal to update it.

They had expected us to utterly fail and come groveling back for mercy. Instead, they started reaching out to us—or more specifically to me—over the past ten days. I ignored every single one of their messages.

“What are you doing here, Oluina? What do you want?” I demanded, my voice frosty.

She lifted her chin defiantly, instantly angered by my hostile stance. Where before I would have forced myself to be a bit more diplomatic and less confrontational, now I no longer cared if she got riled up. She had no here in our Pride.

“You have not responded to Rozel’s summons. We would know the reason for such rudeness,” she said in a haughty tone.

I snorted in disbelief, my reaction echoed by the members of my Pride.

“Why would I? I’m not her servant or employee. I’m no longer a member of your Pride that she should have any authority over me. She is nothing to me anymore… as are the rest of you.”

“Do not be disrespectful,” she snarled. “You’ve made your point. You were right about the mission, and we acknowledge that we need to update our village to be more modern and efficient. Now let us stop this nonsense. You can apologize to my mother and return to the Pride.”

I burst out laughing, while my mate and our companions emitted various incredulous sounds, some of them joining their laughter to mine.

“Fuck that!” Ophelia said, looking at her like she had lost her mind. “If anyone owes anyone else an apology it’s your mother, you, and that fool you call your Alpha!”

“Do not meddle in Nazhral affairs, human!” Oluina hissed.

“You watch how you address my mate!” I snarled. “This is her home, not yours. You will show her the proper respect or leave at once.”

Oluina clenched her teeth, fury burning in her green eyes.

“We will never return to Nevian. If you want to establish business trades with us, tell us what you have to offer, and we will assess if we want any of it. Otherwise, I will ask you to leave. You are not welcome here,” I said sternly.

“What we have to offer?!” she exclaimed angrily. “We took you in! You owe us!”

“I owe you nothing !” I ground between my teeth. “If anyone is indebted, it is your Pride towards me. My credits during my incarceration and the extra labor I performed upon my return are the last things you will have ever gotten from me. You wanted us gone, we are.”

“In light of the recent events, we’ve changed our minds on that front,” Oluina said, the words appearing to scorch her lips.

“That’s just too bad. As you can see, we’ve set a pretty good life for ourselves here, without you and your mother’s toxicity,” I said mockingly while waving at our village.

“It is a pretty decent village,” she conceded, the malicious glimmer in her eyes immediately setting all my senses on high alert. “Such a nice place will need a proper hand to manage it. Therefore, if you will not return home where you belong, then I will have to challenge your Queen to take over your Pride.”

The same incredulous sounds resonated from everyone.

“We don’t do that here, you stupid female!” I said, laughing disdainfully at her.

“It is the law!” she exclaimed.

“It is your law!” I corrected. “This is our Pride, and we follow our own rules. Now fuck off!”

“You cannot do this!” she shouted.

“ Oh, putain! Won’t you ever learn?!” Ophelia exclaimed, exasperated. “What did I tell you about showing some self-respect and not throwing yourself at someone who doesn’t want you? We all left because life in your Pride was toxic. We’ve moved on. How about you try and do the same? Nobody wants you here. None of us would follow your lead. So what are you trying to accomplish? Just fuck off already!”

“Fight me!” Oluina hissed, taking a menacing step forward.

I instinctively raised my arm protectively in front of my mate, pushing her back slightly to get in the way of Oluina’s line of sight.

“I already told you that we do not do that here!” I growled.

“You do not get to rewrite the law because you chose to lie with a weak female!” Oluina said, taking yet another step forward. “I demand—”

“You demand nothing!” Ylis shouted in the distance.

My heart soared upon seeing her coming out of the forest, our other females in tow.

“If you’re itching so badly for a fight, you fight me!” Ylis said as she stopped her speeder halfway between her cousin and us.

“You would turn on your own family and fight your own blood?!” Oluina exclaimed as she watched her cousin dismount.

“You’re the one who turned on our family years ago,” Ylis said, her tone sharp enough to cut through metal. “You were warned and stubbornly chose this path. Now you reap what you sowed. That pathetic Alpha of yours drove off every good male the Pride ever had, got them killed or incarcerated. Now you don’t get to crawl over here trying to get back the truest Alpha we’ve ever had. There’s a reason why your last feast drew absolutely no one.”

She turned to stare at Moriak, examining him from top to bottom with an air of pure disgust. She waved at him before turning to her cousin.

“This is what you put above the welfare of a Pride that had endured for generations. And today, no male will want to put their lives at the mercy of that fool. Good luck attracting new blood to Nevian with your poorly trained huntresses, this sorry excuse of an Alpha, and your outdated village,” Ylis hissed. “You made the place so foul we left our home. Now leave and never come back. We both know the outcome of a duel between us.”

For the first time, I felt true pity for Oluina. In many ways, her mother turned her into this spoiled and entitled brat. According to rumors—apparently confirmed by the fact she didn’t argue Ylis’s statement—not a single male showed up at the feast they held a week after the outcome of the disastrous raid had gone public. It was rare for a Pride to be blacklisted. But it was now Nevian’s case. Unlike the other villages who had lost many males, our Alpha had known about the trap and deliberately chose to ignore it and not warn the others.

No wonder Rozel was desperate for me to return. Forgiveness from me would signal to others that the village deserved a second chance, and that maybe the rumors about their criminal negligence in this disaster were in fact exaggerated.

Eyes brimming with tears of helpless rage, Oluina cast one last glance filled with hatred at my mate, then one of betrayal at her cousin before turning around and walking away. Tension slowly bled out of my shoulders as I cast a grateful smile at Ylis.

Behind her, Moriak drew my attention. He was staring in turn at me and at the village with seething rage. I didn’t need to read minds to know he believed this place should be his to lead. Unable to resist, I gave him a taunting smile before winking at him. He bared his teeth at me, and I held this gaze, daring him to issue the challenge I was praying for.

I could see him genuinely considering it. He blamed me for how his life had been upended. Moriak was too much of a narcissist to acknowledge how his own actions and choices led him to this moment. At the same time, his survival instincts told him not to be even more foolish than he’d already been. A defeat at my hands before so many witnesses, especially the top huntresses of what was left of their Pride would be the final blow to his already crumbling future.

Just when he looked about to choose the wiser path and go back to Nevian with his tail between his legs, movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention. As if in slow motion, I watched Oluina spin around and throw something in our direction. Alarmed shouts resonated all around us as I stared in horror at a sharp dagger flying straight for my woman. On instinct, I shoved Ophelia out of the way half a second before the blade would have embedded itself in her neck.

I hissed at the burning sensation of the blade slicing through the skin and muscle of my upper arm. It wasn’t a critical wound, but deep enough that it would likely require a few stitches. But a blind rage took over me. I raced towards Oluina, who was pulling out a second dagger. Simultaneously, Moriak burst into action. Their companions appeared frozen in shock and disbelief.

And then mayhem broke out.