9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Y ou can't be that far away from me. Ha! SaKura must think she was born yesterday. No wait, what was the saying? I was born at night, but not last night. Yep, that's it. He's a silly, foolish male. What did she see in him? Wait, what? There was nothing to see in him. Just because she'd been dreaming about him for months didn't mean anything. Sure, he treated her like a gentleman in those dreams, as gentle as a monster can get. Still, it meant nothing. Was it getting hot out here? She wiped her brow, wondering about all the sweat.

"Where are you going?" Jenna jumped, not realizing she wasn't alone. Hadn't she just scanned her surroundings less than a minute ago and no one was there? She must not have been paying attention.

"Quick, did someone misplace a runway model?" The girl, well, she seemed older than a girl, but Jenna would be surprised if she wasn't twenty, maybe closer to eighteen. She could be sixteen. She was so beautiful, making Jenna feel a bit jealous. "Shouldn't you be in school, or you know, dripping wet in a bikini, holding some god-awful perfume you're selling?"

"He said you were funny. I like you."

"He?" The girl who may be a woman standing in front of her was around 5'8 with the prettiest hazel eyes she'd ever seen. Her brown skin was smooth, and it shone from whatever goodness and joy she had inside of her. She had a toned and sleek physique, and Jenna wanted to feed her a hamburger simply because she looked like she hadn't eaten in a while.

"School?" The young woman frowned, looking like she wasn't sure what Jenna was talking about.

"You know the free educational system?" Why had she felt the need to tack that free on there? Probably because of the people who wanted parents to pay to send their children to school. This pay-to-play society was messing with her head.

"The American education system?"

"Aren't you American, and what's your name?"

"You may call me Cleo, short for Cleopatra."

Jenna looked her over again. Whoever her parents were, they were correct with the name. The woman looked like a Nubian queen.

"Hi, I'm Jenna and I like your parent's style." Cleo got in step with her when she started walking.

"You never told me where you're going."

"Anywhere he isn't." She pointed to the house behind her.

"Do you think that's wise?"

Jenna would have answered, but she was having an asthma attack, something she had grown out of by the time she was a teenager. Her suitcase hit the ground as she doubled over, trying to breathe.

"Jenna!" Cleo's arms went around her. She tried to pick her up, but Jenna was fighting her. She went to her hands and knees and started crawling until she passed out.

Cleo sprinted for the door of the house that Jenna pointed out. She pounded on the door. SaKura opened it, took one look at her, and ran to get to Jenna. He picked her up, watching as her breathing approached normal.

"That's the problem with frya mates. They are stubborn and don't take care of themselves. They're too worried about the world around them. You, my mate, are more stubborn than most. You refuse to acknowledge that you know me. Four months may not be a long time, but it's long enough for you to know who I am." He shook his head. Jenna didn't pass out, but she also wasn't awake. She was drifting in that place that only she had access to unless he was asleep and could join her there.

"One day," . "Watcher?" He asked it as a question, but he knew the answer. The female sitting on his couch had the aura of a watcher.

"Cleo is short for Cleopatra. I'd greet you, but your hands are full." He looked at Jenna curled against his chest and smiled.

"I'll be back." He took Jenna upstairs into their room, which felt cold to him. He placed her on the bed, pulling the cover over her. Then he stoked the fire and left her alone to speak to the watcher.

"I wasn't expecting a watcher," he said. He was standing at the bottom of the steps, looking at Cleo.

"You thought that your brother, who isn't the crown elect would get a watcher for his mate, but you didn't rate."

Didn't rate? He mulled that over until he realized it was slang and what it meant.

"You've spent a lot of time on this planet."

"I love this planet. The young people are doing so much, opening their eyes and the parties are out of this world."

He took in the curve of her face and the locks she was wearing. He learned what locks were from Thad, who had a head full of them.

"Are you related to Thad?"

"Very good crown elect."

"Call me SaKura."

"I will until it becomes necessary to call you monarch." SaKura shivered. He never wanted to be in control of a planet.

"Yes, Thad is my father."

"Father?" It took all his considerable might not to stare or gasp for breath. He crossed the living room and took a seat.

"How old are you? How old is your father?"

"We both remember you being born." Her eyebrows lifted, and she got a twinkle in her eyes as SaKura struggled to breathe that time. "Not as easy as you thought it was, is it?"

He threw his head back and laughed. "You got me there. I have a deeper understanding of what my mate went through when she learned how old I was."

"I love a male who can learn."

"Why are you here?"

"My papa tells me your mate can't cook. His exact words were ‘I watched her burn water once.' I expect you can cook, but you can't cook." He tilted his head at her.

"I can do enough to get by. My Manan wouldn't have lived with herself if I couldn't cook, but I never had the patience to learn the more intricate dishes."

"I am Cleo. I'm your new chef."

"Not so fast. It will be Jenna's choice if you stay or not."

Cleo winked at him. "Take my word. She'll keep me. I'll rearrange your sad kitchen and then start with lunch. She'll be down soon." She stood and turned around to show him the tail he was looking for.

He murmured she had to be related to Thad when she was in the kitchen.

"I heard that. I'm a watcher I hear everything." He shook his head before closing his eyes, debating if he should go to his mate or wait for her to come to him.

SaKura wanted to go to his mate, but forced himself to sit still. If he didn't allow her to come to him, she'd never understand or feel that she was equal in this relationship. A king must be intentional in his moves, his Manan once told him. He could easily make those he cared about feel inferior to him.

That was how his mate was feeling, less than. Did she realize they were mated, or did she think he was using her? It would take time and patience, but she would understand that no one and nothing were as important as she was. He was willing to bet she would argue that his people and his kingdom would be more important. He would… his thoughts stalled as he heard her light steps on the stairs. If she wanted, he was sure she'd be able to move without being detected.

"I don't know what's happening." Her voice was soft, but it was also filled with pain. He turned on the couch to face her, stretching out his hand. The choice was hers.

Jenna looked at SaKura's outstretched hand like it was a snake ready to bite her. What did he want from her? All she wanted was her freedom. Freedom to do what? She'd spent so much time hiding from the world that she couldn't imagine suddenly becoming part of it.

When had she stopped living? How had she allowed the trauma she went through in her youth to consume her life, and did she want it to always dictate her actions? Being safe was one thing, being scared to leave the house was different. Taking his hand meant taking a bigger step than she might be ready for. What would rejecting him mean? The voices said she will regret it for the rest of her life. The voices other than Bella were the one thing she put her trust in. This wasn't their call, it was hers.

Calling herself a fool, she walked over and placed her hand in his. She'd been walking alone for a long time. It might be time for some company.

SaKura smiled and guided her around the couch. She sat on one end of it, and he sat on the other end.

Jenna took the time to really look at the living room. The walls were white, and the furniture was beige. It was all nondescript and in ways reminded her of a pleasant hotel with little personality.

"Talk to me." It was the best she could do. Parts of her trusted him and other parts saw a monster waiting to devour her when her guard was down. Who was the real Sakura? Was he a monster, or the crown-elect who cared for no one other than himself? Could he be the male his sister saw him as? She didn't know.

"You accused me of binding you to me so that I could use you as a baby-making machine and then throw you away and get another. That's not a far-fetched thought. My Papan has many children all with different Manan's. My older sister, Traure, and I shared the same Papan and Manan. Rakha and I only share a Papan. All the different females that my Papan had were gifted with the same longevity he has until the Tan-ge." The spikes on his shoulders and wrist popped out. The claws on his fingers grew, breaking the skin of his palm as he fought to keep what he was feeling at bay. "If they had been human like you when my Papan bit you, he would have used his lancur teeth. Using those would bind your life cycle to his. I don't know how it works, but it does."

"You didn't do that to me. I'll die and then you'll get someone else. Probably a thinner model."

"Come with me." He held his hand out again. This time, when she took it, he led her upstairs to one of the walk-in closets in their bedroom. There was a full-length mirror they stood in front of. He was behind her. "Look. Let me tell you what I see. On this reflective surface is a beautiful, thick female. Any male would be happy to call her his. This male," he pointed to himself, "is ecstatic to call you his."

She lifted her head to stare into SaKura's eyes. They were black with a line of red in the middle, not a pupil as she knew them, but something different, exotic. They were also telling the truth.

"One hundred years from now, you will be my mate. A thousand years from now, I will look at you the way I am looking at you today. Two thousand, three, and so on. I don't have wandering eyes. My father was constantly looking for his frya. I've found mine and have no desire or plans to give her up or lose her through death."

The sadness that emanated from him at the word death should have told her from the beginning, when he spoke of his sisters and the females on his planet, that he wouldn't willingly watch a female die.

"I'll live as long as you?"

"We live or we die, but we do it together."

"Together? I can't live without you and vice versa?"

"Yes."

No one had ever been willing to link their lives to her. She had so many questions, but she was overwhelmed enough to ponder if this could last.

The sound of glass breaking and the curtain catching on fire brought her out of the stupor of wonder she found herself in.