his zest for all things Drokten. Would Jenna entertain the idea of letting them train with Drokten youth back on Drokt?
And that was making Sevith all the more interested in this arrangement. He liked the family Jenna had built, and the idea of taking them back to Drokt to show them off to his people made him proud. Coming home as the vanquisher of the Zignill was a triumph, but coming home with a loving family and a pregnant female was another, even greater accomplishment.
Sevith used his tablet to access Sonam and Lochan, the two officers Jenna had been speaking with on the bridge just before he took her Tuk racing. The thought of taking Jenna on a real Tuk bike sent a ripple of excitement through his body.
“Awaiting your orders, sir,” Sonam reported.
“Excellent. I want you to ready a detachment of warriors and personal transport to send to my location.”
“Hey, Sev?” Jenna called from the kitchen before she poked her head out. “Are you going to eat with us?”
He glanced over. Her use of this shortened form of his name puzzled him so much he stopped mid-sentence and blinked at her.
She went on without missing a beat. “Are you? Hiren says he’s going to make dinner again and he’s going to show me how to cook Drokten meat sticks.”
His stomach growled in response. Hiren was an infamous grill master, and his meat sauce won competitions. Of course, he would eat dinner with them.
“Yes, one moment,” he said, holding up a clawed finger and continuing to speak into the tablet. “We require transport for no more than five—me, Bahn Hiren, Oso Jenna, and her two siblings. Send my personal guard for the security detail. And send packing materials—a dozen standard issue warriors’ bags should do.”
Sevith noticed something amiss in the gentle waves of feelings coming from his Oso. He turned to look. She was giving him an alarmed glare. He walked closer to her to find out the problem.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I am arranging transport to the ship. We can move there immediately.”
“What? For all of us? Right now? I didn’t agree to that!”
He stared at her blankly.
“...sir?” the officer asked through the tablet.
“I tasted you yesterday,” Sevith said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Hiren tasted you minutes ago. You were ready to mate and participate in the claiming. Of course the next step is to bring you to the Avash.”
“Oh my—oh my god! Shut that off,” she blurted, stepping forward and trying to snatch the tablet from Sevith. “They heard you.”
He put a calming hand on her shoulder and frowned. “That will be all,” he said to the officer and then ended the session. He met his Oso’s troubled gaze. “Why are you upset? You were happy just a few minutes ago.”
Jenna rolled her eyes and then whispered. “You can’t come in and take control of things just because we did that together,” she insisted. “That’s not how it works!”
Sevith furrowed his brow, replying at a normal speaking volume, “Of course I can, and I should.” He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “I am the Azi of our triad. It falls to me to make such decisions.”
“Humans don’t do that!” she protested, using a hand gesture to try to make him lower his voice.
“You are no longer an Earther, Jenna. You will live as a Drokten,” Sevith reminded her, as if she had genuinely forgotten. “Your ways will be our ways, in time.”
“No,” she said firmly. “I don’t care what the mating power dynamic or whatever is. Humans don’t like to mate with people who boss them around like that.”
“I am doing what is expected of an Azi of a proud Drokten triad. I am providing for this family, my Oso. If you fear for your siblings, there is no need for that. I want to provide for them as well, to give them a future you will be proud of.”
“But that is my decision, Sevith. You need to ask me first before you make plans, like moving everyone right this second. I thought you two were coming here to take us all to the Avash tonight to visit so that Bea and Noah can see where we will be living. I’m not saying no to this, but how about you ask me first before doing things, like planning a full-on move? How about asking Noah and Bea too?”
“We will treat your siblings as if they were our own!” Sevith said, gesturing wildly to the living