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Jenna’s eyes got big. SaKura had brought one for her, ignoring that they didn’t allow them off the planet. The male was a mystery, a kingly mystery. She couldn’t help the smile that graced her lips.
“He’s not that bad, is he?”
Jenna went back to the strange talk Cleo had with her. “He’s not. He still takes some getting used to.”
“What male doesn’t?” Jenna laughed. Cleo was right, good or bad, they all took some getting used to. What she hadn’t realized before now was if you got a good one, the learning curve was worth it.
They pulled up in front of Bella’s domicile, she was outside waiting with her shopping purse. What the heck had Jenna gotten herself into?
“I love it!” Bella gushed all about the Duran before she stopped, and Jenna threw herself into her sister’s arms, being careful of the baby.
“I’m sorry,” they said at the same time.
“I kept wondering how they knew. It never dawned on me that Amelia was telling them, but why?” Jenna shook her head like if she could clear her mind the answers would be there. Then she told Bella about the Duran and how it worked.
“I’m going to need one of these when the baby comes. Rakha said that the material used in the glass and the other materials are bulletproof. You won’t have to worry about that. We have Spindrift’s. Do you remember the bikes we rode when…”
Jenna knew she was thinking of their sperm donor and the traitor who was supposed to be Rakha’s best friend.
“I remember that day is a bit of a blur. I got a peek at those bikes and must admit I was a tad bit jealous.”
Bella looked around. “Same.” They laughed together. “Please tell me we are going to the mall.”
Jenna was sure she was going to regret this, but she told her Duran to take them to the mall.
Chapter Nineteen
“Jenna?” Bella called her name. That’s when she realized she’d stop driving and was retreating into her thoughts.
“I just remembered that SaKura asked me a question and with everything that was happening, I never answered him.” The highway was zipping by underneath them, and several people had stopped, slowing down traffic as they gawked at her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Bella asked.
Did she? She trusted Bella and, by extension, Cleo because of who her father was. “You saw that note from Humanity against Monsters. SaKura asked me if I wanted them to leave and withdraw their forces.”
“Do you?” This time it was Cleo who asked. Jenna’s hands fisted in her lap and the shine of the windows with the maps on it was playing over her face.
“Good question. If he had asked me that three days ago, I’d have said yes in a heartbeat, or so I’m telling myself. Now, I’m confused. I know the Tan-ge threat is real. She had horrifying memories that told her how real it was. “Can we defend ourselves against them?”
“That’s not the question and you know it. It’s also not what SaKura was asking you. Do you want him to leave? Are you ready to give up this? No, forget about this.” Bella’s arms went out and took in the Duran then spread wider, indicating their world. “Are you ready to give him up?”
That was the question in a nutshell, and Jenna didn’t want to answer it. It wasn’t because she didn’t know the answer. It couldn’t be that easy. She was still fighting within herself. She looked at Bella with fear in her eyes.
“Did I make it look easy? Was it like I got this bitches? It wasn’t, you know…easy. The minute Agent Scarlatti came to my house and dragged me to that SUV, I fought with fear. Every day was one of learning how to live a different life with a male who didn’t fit into my plans for the future. Falling in love with him was the hardest and the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Jenna, no one has the right to your heart. You’re the gatekeeper. No one has the right to tell you who you can love or even lust after. It all belongs to you.”
Bella was right, she knew that. Still, people were waiting to line up with signs and pitchforks to tell her she was wrong and that this was what she needed or had to do. The same people were ready to throw women in jail because they dared to think about an abortion. They thought the lives of those women were less important than the lives of the potential child. Maybe they would have the next Einstein. Not that they planned to stick around to make sure the parents could afford to care for the child. They also didn’t stick around to make sure the children were safe. What was worse, in her opinion, was when a woman died from carrying a child she needed to abort. No one came to the funeral to explain why she needed to die. Who comforted the husband and her parents? Who took care of the family she was helping to support? No one. It would be the same with her. If she rejected her mate, no one would come and hold her hand as she cried. They wouldn’t warm her bed or protect her. The world would be happy to tell her what to do and punish her if she went against them, but it wouldn’t be there with her in the trenches.
“Sometimes I think I’m so caught up in my misery that I forget I can have freedom. That the rest of the world doesn’t get a say in my life. I can’t say I love SaKura. I’m not ready to make that move, but I don’t want to lose him. Is that selfish?”
“No, it’s human,” Bella said. Jenna nodded. That was good. She’d never dated anyone before and didn’t know the protocol. Yes, they were mated, but she needed to take it one step at a time.
She took over the Duran when they got to the mall. She told it to park close to the mall entrance.
People surrounded them by the time Jenna got out to join Bella and Cleo.
“How the hell did you get a car like that?” one man asked.
Jenna looked around the crowd and realized all they saw were three women with dark skin. The others with skin like hers were a little envious. The others were furious that someone of African American heritage had something they had never seen before.
