Chapter 365 Chapter 365
Konner crossed his arms over his chest and stared in the door to see Raelyn was laying down now and Terah was standing beside the couch and pulling a blanket down over her. “They recovered records and I have someone tracking sales of the tanks they used, so we should have some directions to go in soon.”
“Good.” Malachi sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly, “is the Alliance going to help?”
Konner smiled at Terah as she started walking toward them. “The prince himself has assured me they will.”
“The prince?”
Konner nodded slowly, “that’s where Terah was taken after she was found, to his campground.” He smirked, “the princess is very invested in finding and freeing all of those from our world.”
“I can’t,” he shrugged, “knowing there are more, it’s just—” He looked at Terah who stopped and stood just outside the door. “You’ve brought us hope,” he said softly, “when we had none left.”
Terah moved just her eyes to look at Konner before speaking, “hope never runs out,” she smiled at Malachi, “you just have to look for it sometimes.”
Malachi nodded his head in almost slow motion. Konner could see the emotion in his eyes. “Thank you for helping her.”
Terah looked over her shoulder to where his mate lay sleeping, “new life renews hope, always.”
Malachi released a shaking breath, “I’m going to get some tea brewed and make Rae a snack for when she wakes up.” He glanced at Konner, “I’ll go get the chopper ready when Olanna comes over to sit with Rae.”
“We’ll go back over to my place; I have to get the plans to take to Blair when I pick up Shaelan and Calum.”
“We’ll build them a damn mansion if they want it,” Malachi said with a tone of conviction as he stomped toward the kitchen.
They walked without talking until the house was in view again. Overall, the complex had all of the homes far enough apart that everyone had their privacy but getting from one to the other was no more than a five-minute walk. He glanced back to Malachi’s home and wondered if they would need to add to it to make more room for three children. He smirked and looked down at the ground, if they had to expand it ten times, they would. Although with how harrowing it was to bring a child into the world, he hoped they didn’t go for that many. Their kind lived longer and had children at a later age than most did, but that didn’t mean it was without risks. The few women in the clan felt it was their responsibility to repopulate the clan’s number. Konner agreed, within reason. He glanced at Nolyn’s door as they went by, it was black again, thankfully. He still couldn’t believe she had considered getting pregnant to bring another life to the clan. Of course, when the options for available father came down to himself or Reeves, she’d changed her mind. For the longest time, Konner thought the two had a clandestine romance happening, but other than the odd look between them, there was no proof.
“You are leaving?” Terah stopped and stood where she could see the lake, “Malachi said he would have the helicopter ready.”
He stopped and crossed his arms over his chest, watching the ripples in the water. “I’m going to go get Shaelan so she can check on the babies.”
“She can do that?”
He looked down to see she was watching him now and not the water, “with a machine, yes she can actually see the babies. It’s called an ultrasound.”
“Can I see the babies?”
Konner shrugged, “I don’t see why not.”
He was rewarded with a brilliant smile, which cued his own whether he’d felt like smiling or not. She had some sort of contagious chemistry. “I will leave in the morning and be back before dinner time.”
“Your helicopter goes fast.” She didn’t sound amused.
“I think it’s more that I don’t have to follow roads to get where I’m going.” He cleared his throat and looked back to the water. “Listen, I know you’re probably wanting to go swimming, but for the next while, I need you to avoid swimming with the others.”
She gave him a distraught look. “You do not swim together?”
He stepped back and motioned to the path, “we do. I’ll explain it while we’re on the way to the fishery.” He grinned down at her, “I thought you might like to see it.”
“I would like to see the fish.” Her tone was much lighter now.
“We don’t eat from the fishery.” He gave her a quick look.
“I understand, I will behave.”
“We can go see the greenhouses too if you like.” He kept the pace slow, appreciating that this was the first time he’d been able to walk along at an easy pace, without looking over his shoulder.
“What is a greenhouse?” Terah bent down and pulled off her shoes, “the path is smooth.” She clarified her action.
“It’s where the flowers and plants grow that we use for health research,” he noted she looked relieved to have the shoes off, “that stuff we mix to drink came from many years of researching the right plants.”
“The taste is different, but not bad.”
He shrugged, “it’s come a long way.”
“Yes. I would like to see the greenhouse.” She turned her head and looked into the trees that surrounded the complex.
He wanted to explain to her as much as he could about their kind before he had to leave. It was for everyone’s safety. “The reason I want you to wait before you swim with others is for a few reasons,” he glanced to see she was giving him her complete attention, “first, you’ve never swum free with others, it could trigger underlying aggressiveness.” He looked down to see if she was trying to understand. “Our kind, in the past,” he thought of trying to get close to Olanna and Reeves when he’d found them, “were very territorial, protective of their area.” When she nodded, he continued, “because you haven’t been in the water with others, I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt accidentally.”
“I understand.” She nodded her head quickly, “it is so new, swimming like that.” She grinned, “I was exhausted after the first time, but I feel stronger each time.”
Konner smiled, if that was her weak state in the river with the rushing water, he didn’t know if he wanted to see her full strength. “There’s another reason and I don’t expect you to know about it, because you’ve been isolated from your own kind for too many years.”
She stopped and put her hand on his arm. “Are you okay?” She searched his face, compassion bleeding from her eyes, “your tone is tense as you speak of this.”
Konner hadn’t even realized that he was expressing that outwardly. “I’m okay, I just have a lot,” he shrugged it off, “on my mind.”
“I understand. You are a very important man to your people and others.”
“Our people” He corrected.
Her eyes rounded, as the corners of her mouth turned to smile. “Our people.”
He motioned to keep walking, “anyway, the other reason I’d like you to wait, is for another reason entirely.”
Terah watched him closely, he had to focus on keeping his legs moving and not stopping to watch her watch him. He needed sleep soon. “One of the males here could end up being your mate—” He rubbed his jaw, trying to figure out how to explain it. “We don’t know until we’re in the water with them and,” he looked away and into the trees, trying to gather his thoughts, he looked down at her, “it can become quite,” he waved his hand around, “aggressive.” He searched her face to see if she understood. She was puzzling it out, but he kept going, not wanting her to think he was calling her weak or unworthy, “you feel good now, but after years of neglect, I’d like you to be much stronger, internally,” he motioned in a circle in front of his stomach, “inside your body.”
She nodded in a slow, jerky motion, “you do not want me to get hurt?” She said the words slowly.
“No, I don’t.” He rubbed his hand against the side of his neck, trying to figure out if he should keep going, or just leave her with that to ponder. “If it’s one of the younger males, instinct will help control you,” he gave her a brief smile, “as much as your maternal instinct is with the little ones, I have no worries with that.”