“Uh…she does, huh?”Lucy asked carefully. She hadn’t told Iyanna about the kinky pegging scene she and T’zaren had been involved in. She hadn’t toldanyonebecause she was still trying to process it herself.
“Stop beating around the bush—you know she does because you took T’zaren that way, didn’t you?”Iyanna demanded.
“Wait—hetoldyou that? I thought he was so embarrassed about it he wouldn’t want to admit it to anyone!”Lucy exclaimed through the mental link.
“It took a little prying to get it out of him,”Iyanna admitted.“But he told me eventually. He also told me thesignificanceof that act. By, er,takinghim that way, you were also claiming him as your mate and the two of you were supposed to move in together afterwards and get bonded.”
“What?” Lucy demanded—so upset now that she was talking out loud, as well as sending her words through the link to her friend. “Move in together? Get bonded? Why, he didn’t even want to go on adatewith me! I told him I was going back to Earth and he acted like he couldn’t care less!”
“He cares more than he let you know,”Iyanna told her.“Alotmore. Apparently what you two did together had a name in Stri’vor society—they call it the ‘Unbreakable Vow.’ But then you went and broke it.”
“What?Ibroke it? How?” Lucy was so upset she was striding around the shop now. To someone looking in the windows, she probably looked like a crazy person talking to herself, she thought distractedly. But how could she have broken a vow she didn’t even know she’d taken?
“After a female Stri’vor—the S’rentha—chooses her male and takes him, she agrees to live with him afterwards. Either he moves in with her or she moves in with him and they swear never to be parted again. It’s almost like bonding, though that’s actually a whole other thing,”Iyanna explained.“So you ‘took’ T’zaren, but then you kind of just left him high and dry.”
“Oh my God!” Lucy ran a hand through her hair. “He must think I’m like one of those awful men on the dating apps who only want sex and once they get it, you never hear from them again!”
“Yes—a fuckboi,”Iyanna sent dryly.“You’re a female version of a fuckboi.”
“No, I’m not! Or I didn’t mean to be!” Lucy protested. “This is crazy—hewas mad atme!I’m sure he was!”
“I think maybe he was upset that after you went through that, er, intimate experience together, you didn’t say anything about moving in together. And when you said you were going back to Earth, he assumed you didn’t want him,”Iyanna sent.
“But I didn’t know I was making a life-long promise to get bonded and live together!” Lucy exclaimed. She was still talking out loud and pacing back and forth, running her fingers through her hair in agitation.
“T’zaren seems to think you did. He said you talked about making a promise between the two of you or something like that,”Iyanna sent.“Honestly, I think this whole thing is one big misunderstanding.”
“I thought he was mad at mebecausehe let me, er, take him,” Lucy confessed. “What human guy would let you do that and not be upset afterwards?”
“But T’zarenisn’thuman—he’s a Monstrum Kindred,”Iyanna reminded her.“You’re from two different worlds and it takes time to get used to that. You wouldn’t believe some of the mix-ups I’ve had with Dra’vik and when we talked it out, it was clear we just had different expectations because of our wildly different upbringings.”
“Yeah, but I’m sure T’zaren is still mad at me,” Lucy protested. “Otherwise, why wouldn’t he call me or come see me?”
“Because he was waiting foryouto call him or come see him—because that’s his culture,”Iyanna explained patiently.“Stri’vor males are big and protective and Alpha but in their dating scene, the females do the pursuing,notthe males. Although now that I’ve explained to T’zaren that it’s the other way around in most Earth cultures, I think you two might be able to make up.”
“Do you really think so?”Lucy switched back to purely mental communication because she saw some late trick-or-treaters approaching the door.
“I do, hon—I really do,”Iyanna sent warmly.“I knew it had to be just a miscommunication between the two of you.”
“Hey, Iyanna, I have to go—I have some late trick-or-treaters at the door,”Lucy sent.“But I want to come back up to the Monstrum Mother Ship as soon as possible. Can you send someone to come get me tomorrow? It’s probably too late tonight.”
“If you still want to come tomorrow, I’ll send you a ship,”Iyanna promised mysteriously.
“What? Why would I not want to come? I need to see T’zaren right away and sort this thing out!”Lucy sent.
“We’ll get in touch tomorrow then—if you’re not too busy. Bye!”And Iyanna broke the connection just as the trick-or-treaters reached the door.
Lucy led them around on a tour of the shop and theyooedandahedover the multicolored crystals hanging everywhere and jumped when the laughing skeleton started cackling. The kids—a little girl dressed as a princess and a boy who looked like some kind of elf—were both delighted to reach into the smoking cauldron and pick out a piece of “magic candy.” Lucy exchanged pleasantries with the parents and then waved at them as they walked down to the next house.
She was about to flip off the porch light and close the door for the night when a large form suddenly appeared on the front steps.
At first Lucy thought it was someone huge dressed in a blue bodysuit but when the figure came out of the shadows, she recognized him.
“T’zaren?” she exclaimed as she looked up at the big Monstrum. “What are you doing here?”
He bowed his head stiffly.
“Forgive me. I know it isn’t proper for a male to pursue a female—at least not in my culture—but your friend, Iyanna told me it was allowed in yours. However, if you want me to go—”