Kristen was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement. “I know! So romantic. And hot. And then Bahre with that poor Quinn and her crazy stalker boyfriend. That one had me on edge. I was so nervous. Governor Maxim thought we might have to go down to Earth and break him out of prison.”
“Well, he does have experience.” Rachel sounded like she was teasing, and the others all laughed. There was a story there, I was sure of it.
A gorgeous woman with a friendly smile shifted the baby on her hip, a very big baby. She raised his chubby arm and waved it at me, and the baby smiled the most adorable smile I’d ever seen. Well, except for my baby brother’s. “I’m Gabriela. This is Jori. I’m mated to Jorik. He’s an Atlan.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m mated to Kiel. He’s an Elite Hunter from Everis.” Lindsey walked to Gabriela and reached for the baby. He held out his arms and went eagerly. She kissed the little one on the cheek and looked back at me. “Come on, you two. We promised Olivia we would bring you to the gardens. She’s there with her niece and nephew. And my son, Wyatt and Caroline’s twins, CJ and RJ, and Kristen’s little girl, Tia. They have probably wrecked the place by now. Oh, and you can meet my mom! She came her with us. You can call her mom or Carla. She’ll answer to both.”
What? “Your mother has a matched mate here?”
Lindsey burst into laughter. “No. She’s not a bride. And she doesn’t have one mate, more like a Viken-style group of three very dedicated lovers. She’s a maniac. I can barely handle one. They haven’t had a formal claiming, but only because she refuses to get married again. Doesn’t matter, she’s theirs and they are hers.”
“Three Vikens?” I had read that Viken males mated in threes.
“Oh no. My mom never does anything by the book. She’s with one Viken, one Prillon and an Atlan. They are all older males, about ten years older than Kiel.”
“How old is Kiel?”
“I don’t know in Earth years. Maybe in his thirties?”
“And your mom?”
“She’s just over fifty this year.”
“Damn. Good for her.” Holy shit. I couldn’t even imagine taking on three lovers at that age. But then, I couldn’t imagine surviving to forty, let alone fifty. At least not while I was in prison. “How did she hook up with all three of them?”
Lindsey grinned. “Long story. I’ll tell you over lunch one of these days. But right now, we have to go save Olivia, my mom and Rachel’s mother-in-law from the tiny terrors.” She kissed the baby again. “That’s what we call you, isn’t it? You’re all little troublemaking terrors.”
The baby squealed and wiggled in Lindsey’s arms, clearly pleased at anything said to him that came loaded with love and kisses.
Smart baby.
I looked over my shoulder at Rachel. “Your mother-in-law is here?”
“Yes. Ryston’s mother. She relocated to The Colony after his father passed and he refused to leave.”
“Because of you?”
She smiled like the cat who ate the canary. “Because of me.”
“Does she have a mate here, too?”
“She won’t admit anything, but I think she’s flirting with one of the males. Taking her time. Making him court her. She was a very important female on Prillon Prime. She’s used to being treated like a noblewoman.”
“Just one suitor? Not two?”
“Yes. She seems quite taken with one of the Prillons here, but I don’t know if he has a second and they haven’t made a formal courting agreement. She’s not wearing his collar; she’s still wearing Ryston’s family colors.” Rachel shrugged. “She’s not talking, so I’m trying to be a good daughter and mind my own business. Ryston will freak and demand to meet the male in the fighting pit. It will be a bunch of drama. These guys are so overprotective. We’ll see. She’s a fireball, just like Lindsey’s mom. I never know what she’s going to do.”
Fighting pit? That didn’t sound good. I had no way to relate. My mom was anything but a fireball. More like a punching bag.
No, that wasn’t fair. But my life would have been so different if she’d been stronger. If my dad hadn’t died. If she’d never married Martin, the asshole. But then I wouldn’t have my little brother, Josh. Had to take the good with the bad.
“Do you all have children?” I was not going to fit in here if I was the only female who had no intention of becoming a mother.
“No. Olivia is raising her niece and nephew. Mikki doesn’t have children. Kira either, but she and Angh are at the Academy most of the time. Gwen and Mak are child free, too busy fighting the Hive.”
“Yeah, kicking ass and taking names.” Kristen sounded proud of her. Like a sister bragging about a sibling.
All the ladies laughed and chatted about the amazing Gwendolyn Fernandez, Hive killer and mate of something called a Forsian, which, according to these women, was even bigger than an Atlan. Which seemed impossible. The ladies moved out of the room, and Rachel rose and indicated I should follow them.