I’d thought the idea absurd at the time, but allowed the women to please themselves. I had no care for my clothing. But now, I rather enjoyed knowing that with one glance, all would know my mate was with me. Mine.
Tia cleared her throat and looked at me expectantly, tilting her head at my mate and raising her eyebrows as if I were the biggest idiot on the planet. Perhaps I was. But even as I conceded to her wishes, I was relieved to have her treat me like an annoying older brother once more, and not a potential mate.
“Tiffani, may I introduce my cousins. This is Engel Steen. He serves on the Atlan council and is in charge of all interplanetary trade.”
“Nice to meet you.” Tiffani held out her hand in an odd Earth custom Sarah and Tiffani had tried to explain to me. I had informed her that mated males do not enjoy watching another touch their mate. If Atlans “shook hands,” as those of Earth did, warriors would get hurt.
As I expected, Engel simply stared for a moment before bowing at the waist to offer his respect, as was our custom. “My lady, it is an honor.”
She grinned up at me in a flash, but I saw the defeated resignation in her eyes. I had won this argument.
Tiffani smiled at Engel and lowered her arm. “Thank you.”
“This is his daughter, Tia.”
I saw Tiffani stiffen at the mention of Tia, but I doubted anyone else would notice but me. She had a broad smile on her face. Tia held her hand out to my mate, whose smile turned genuine as she accepted the gesture.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Tiffani. I am so glad you are here.” She blushed, just a bit, but I knew Tiffani had seen the color rise in her cheeks when my mate’s back stiffened and her smile turned forced once more.
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”
Tia withdrew her hand. She stood nearly a head taller than my mate, her dark eyes round with worry as she fussed with her long dark hair, throwing it back over her shoulders as if she had nothing better to do. When Tia took a deep breath, I braced for the worst.
“Your dress is lovely,” Tia offered, and I sighed with relief.
My mate’s smile softened and became real. “Thank you. Yours is pretty, too.”
“Since we are family now, you will have to let me show you about. While Deek is a good guide, I’m sure you’d like a female’s perspective.” Tia’s dark eyes were sincere. “I’d really like us to be friends.”
“I’d like that.” Tiffani glanced up at me. “I heard that you offered to mate Deek to save him.”
Tia looked apprehensive and feared answering. I didn’t blame her, for it was common knowledge that Atlan mates, male and female, were quite possessive. I gave Tiffani’s hand a squeeze to somehow tell her not to kill my distant cousin if she was envious.
“Yes,” Tia admitted finally. “And I guess you’ve probably heard that Commander Deek and I were betrothed when we were five.”
Tiffani looked to me in surprise, but I simply wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, under my arm, as Tia continued.
“I want you to know, I do love Deek. He’s like a brother to me. We grew up together. But neither of us ever truly wanted to be mated, Tiffani. His beast didn’t want me either. We both knew it early on. I want you to know that. When I visited him, offering myself, it was because I couldn’t let him die without trying to save him. I just couldn’t.”
Tiffani, so stiff in my arms, relaxed, stepping forward to embrace Tia. “Thank you for trying. I understand. And I’m grateful. It’s good to know that Deek has family that loves him so much.”
Tiffani stepped back when Engel cleared his throat. “Yes, Deek. I am greatly relieved to know that you are well and truly mated. We were all so worried for you.”
“Thank you, cousin.” I’d never thought of Tia’s offer as a sacrifice, as an act of love for a brother. But now, thanks to Tiffani, I understood, and the la
st of my anger with her faded. Her father, however, was another matter entirely. What lay between us would not be polite conversation at this party.
I looked at the woman who’d been willing to sacrifice her own chance for a true mating, her happiness, to save my life. “Thank you, Tia. I am honored.”
Tia looked up at her father, nudging him with her elbow.
“Quite right,” he said. “It would have been a shame to have a commander such as yourself succumb to the mating fever. It would have been a tragic waste.”
Tia and Tiffani continued to chat about exploring the market, going shopping, and female things as I stared at Engel. Yes, he would think it a waste. A waste should I have succumbed to fever instead of maintaining my position as commander in the Coalition Fleet, I thought dryly. Tiffani frowned slightly, taking my hand as if she sensed my anger. I liked it very much and so did my beast. Such a simple gesture, and yet her touch soothed my irritation as nothing else could.
Engel might be my mother’s cousin, but he was also an Atlan council member who had been in power for far too long. I’d been asked for favors in the past, used for my position in the Fleet by others seeking to gain, but never offered a bribe by my own family. Until Engel.
Trading Coalition weapons with primitive planets was illegal. Engel knew this. Every first-year recruit at every level of Fleet operations knew that we didn’t give ion blasters to savages. And yet Engel had wanted to do just that. I’d caught him on the Battleship Brekk during his visit with two crates full of blasters being loaded onto a freighter that was scheduled to deliver medical aid to a war-torn region of Xerima.