Page 33 of Planet Wolf
Carl grinned as he walked to the control area of the shuttle. “He went back into the woods and killed the beast to bring it to you here. He was rather determined.”
“Well, I knew nothing of our mate, except she needed me, and I could not get to her. I had lost her, and that was my fault. She was sick and that is literally what I do. All I knew was that this didn’t make her sick. So yes, Esther, I went and got it for you because I had nothing else to do.” He opened the container. “Sit down.”
I did as he said, and he brought out plates. “Is anyone else eating?”
“No.” Jadon kissed me before he walked by. “I want to help Carl get us out of here. You’re right, Alfie, we’re neglecting her health. We will all do better. Feed our mate.”
I took a tentative bite of the food he placed in front of me. It was delicious. I chewed it slowly. There was a possibility that, although it had once been fine, it wouldn’t be any longer. I swallowed and waited.
Alfie lifted an eyebrow. “Well?”
“So far so good.” I ate more, trying to restrain myself from gorging on the meat. Too much would be too much regardless of the food.
“I could watch you do anything. Just sit here and watch you.” He leaned on his elbow and did just that. Apparently, he wasn’t eating, either. Eventually, my stomach couldn’t take any more. I stopped and pushed the plate a little bit away.
“Thank you, I can’t eat any more.”
Alfie frowned. “It’s not enough. You haven’t eaten, and we’ve done so much. Slept, had sex—you three times—ran from authorities, visited your mother.”
That reminded me of the folder I still hadn’t looked at. What was the matter with me? I grabbed it and pulled it over to me. “I never eat very much. I can’t. And tomorrow I might not be able to eat this, even though I could today. Being hungry? It’s normal for me.”
He grabbed over his heart. “Like you took a knife and stabbed me. I want to feed you more than I want almost anything.”
I had to control myself from asking him if he wanted to feed me more than he wanted to fuck me, because that would surely land me on the table again with my legs wrapped around him. I craved that, too, but at some point, I had to look at this folder. We’d run from the planet because of this folder.
I flipped it open and then looked at Alfie one more time. “You’re completely adorable.”
His grin was huge. “Adorable? I’m adorable. I’ll take that. Thank you, Esther. I don’t think anyone has ever thought of me that way, ever.”
“That’s because you’re absolutely not adorable.” Carl yelled from the control room. I rolled my eyes, forcing my gaze down to the folder.
There were pages and pages of information, and I quickly forgot how wonderful Alfie, Carl, and Jadon were. I had in front of me an outline of the plan the Union had for the shifter planets. Right there, with names, dates, and attempted coups. In some places, they’d been more successful than others. And, then there were the names of women. Starting fifteen years earlier, they’d begun tracking women who mated shifters on various planets. There were about a hundred of them that they knew of, but they suspected there were more. The Union didn’t think the shifters themselves understood how likely it was that they’d mate with a human. Since the shifters kicked the humans off their planets they’d all but destroyed evidence of it ever having happened.
The Union liked that.
There were resources they wanted, and since the shifters were weak and incredibly mateless these days on all three planets, it was the perfect time to pounce on them. They used to be strong, but poor decision making, isolationism, and just general bigotry really screwed with things.
“Esther?” Jadon came up behind me, putting his arms around me. “What does it say? Alfie, give me the translating glasses.”
The piece embedded in my ear let us understand each other, but we couldn’t read each other’s languages unless we wore translating glasses. It was a little less convenient.
“It says a lot of concerning stuff. The Union is targeting the shifter planets. I know you’re involved in this somehow. And maybe that has to do with your plan.” I lifted the folder. “This is the kind of thing that I would have thought my cousin could have used, but I guess he’s not the one. I’m thinking—and hoping—that it’s actually you, Jadon.”
He took the folder from me and started reading. “It is, mate. It’s me.”
It should have sounded egotistical, but instead it was just that he was sure, absolutely cognizant he was the man for the job. Jadon didn’t do false modesty. He lifted his gaze finally to meet mine. “This was just what I needed. It ends soon. And, Alfie, you were right. Everything got fucked up when they ejected the humans.” He nodded again. “It’s time.”
I leaned back. “Your plan?”
“My father and others like him, they oppose the Union—which I agree with them about—but they were there when the humans were ejected five decades ago. They were the group that made that decision. Almost immediately things went to hell. Anyone who had the audacity to try to mate a human was kicked out or their mates were killed, which is the same as killing the Wolf since we don’t do okay when our mates are killed.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Our generation, we see things differently. We want the old ways back. The right to mate whoever we want to.” He pointed at me. “Like you, for example. I can’t speak for the Bears and the Cats. This is their own problem to solve. But, we aren’t going to allow this to continue. We just have to get the Union out of our lives. Stop them from interfering. That meeting where we met you, that was them continuing to make plans. We were there pretending to agree with them. We have a problem, fighting on all sides. Only now we have you and we won’t lose you.”
I sat forward. “That’s very sweet, Jadon, but it raises some questions for me.”
“Of course it does.” Carl sat down at the table. “Autopilot for a minute. There’s no one around.”
“First, you’re wondering what kind of reception you should expect at home. Now that you’ve heard that Wolves don’t want humans on their planet.”
That actually hadn’t been my first concern but yes, that was among them. “Will it be very bad? Should we not bring my mom, if it’s so hostile?”