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And since the Bonding Period rules stated that she must eat every meal at the same table and sleep every night in the same bed with the warrior who had chosen her, she was inundated with his Bonding Scent constantly through the entire time they were together.
It might be a dirty biological trick, as Solon had once heard a human male podcaster complaining, but it was an effective one. The Bride Retention Rate of the Monstrum was almost one hundred percent. Not just because of their Bonding Scent though, but because they put their females first and worked hard to keep them happy—which Solon fully intended to do. He would love his new bride and give her anything she desired—he wanted this time to be a good experience for her.
He was confident that once he got Abbey up to the Mother Ship and they started spending time together, she would understand that they were meant to be together and would want to stay with him. She?—
His thoughts were cut off abruptly as the Drafting Agents entered the building dragging his new bride between them.
Abbey was sobbing, her whole body shaking with the force of her grief.
Solon was immediately stricken with guilt and worry—and anger at the agents. What had they done to upset her so?
“What did you do?” he demanded, running to meet them. “What did you do to my female?”
“Nothing!” one of them protested. “She became upset when we took her from her place of employment.” He shrugged. “It happens sometimes—especially if the human female has already rejected her fated mate the first time and doesn’t want to go.”
“Couldn’t you at least try to comfort her?” Solon demanded. Abbey was sagging between the two Agents, being held up by their grip on her arms. She was wearing a dark green top and tight blue trousers the humans called “jeans” and her long, brown hair was hanging in her face, which was tilted down as she sobbed her heart out.
Apparently hearing his voice, she looked up and her eyes seemed to focus on his face.
“You! It’s y-you!” Her voice dripped venom and it was clear she was trying to stop crying. She yanked her arms away from the Agents who let her go—perhaps too abruptly because she fell to her knees.
“Abbey!” Solon was on his knees beside her, trying to help her up at once.
“Don’t touch me you son-of-a-bitch!” she snarled, jerking away from him. “How dare you have me kidnapped and dragged down here—wherever ‘here’ is?” She looked around the room, but her eyes didn’t seem to stay on any one object or person. It was as though she wasn’t really seeing anything—maybe because of her grief, Solon thought.
“You weren’t kidnapped—you were drafted,” he reminded her. “You signed up for the Bride Draft just like every other human female of marriageable age, remember?”
“I was supposed to get an exemption!” she protested. “I applied for one.”
“Well, it didn’t go through.” Solon felt distinctly uneasy lying to her. But it wasn’t exactly lying, he told himself. After all, the exemption paperwork was still making its way through the system and it was technically true that it hadn’t gone all the way through yet.
That’s because you got Brone to send it around again, whispered a guilty little voice in his head. You’re the reason it hasn’t reached her domicile.
But there was no time for guilt—he had to try to get through to her. Solon pushed the voice away and concentrated on his new bride.
“Abbey, please—I can see you’re upset,” he said, trying to make his voice soft and gentle as he knelt beside her on the gray carpeted floor. “But please remember, the Claiming Period is only a month long. In that time, we’ll get to know each other and we can decide if we’re compatible or not.”
“I can tell you already we’re not compatible!” she spat, glaring up at him. “Let me go home right now or I swear to God I’m going to do my best to make your life a living hell every minute we’re together!”
Solon was taken aback by her vehemence. Why did she hate him so much? For months he’d been Dream-Sharing with her and observing the way she acted with others—both her customers and her aunt. Well—listening anyway, since everything he saw when he dreamed of her was just colorful blurs. But all the dreams seemed to indicate that she was a sweet, shy, sensitive female. He had never heard her speak this way to anyone or had any indication that she had the capacity for such hatred inside her.
“I hope you’ll feel differently once you get to know me,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. “I’ve been dreaming of you for months, which means the Goddess intends for us to be together. If you could just enter the Claiming Period with an open mind?—”
As he spoke, he reached for her hands, hoping to make some contact and understand her better. After months of Dream-Sharing he was already attuned to her and his Chimera blood should enable him to feel her emotions when they made direct skin-to-skin contact.
“What are you doing? Leave me alone!” she demanded as he enfolded her much smaller hands in his own.
“Just helping you up,” Solon assured her. “If you’ll just let me?—”
And then her emotions slammed into him with the force of a hydro-jet engine and he let out a hoarse gasp.
She’s scared to death of me!
It was true—his curvy little bride was putting up a good front and pretending to be angry but in reality the overriding emotion she was feeling was overwhelming fear. She was absolutely terrified of him—Solon could feel it running through her like an electrical current.
It was a hard emotion to absorb and he nearly dropped her hands. But if she was experiencing this feeling because of him, he had to experience it too, Solon told himself. It was only right—only fair. So he forced himself to keep holding her hands but he couldn’t help speaking out.
“Why do you feel this way about me when you don’t even know me?” he demanded, forgetting that she didn’t know about his Chimera heritage and his ability to Feel. “What have I ever done to you to make you fear me like this? You don’t even know me!”
