Well.

Day one of hell, and we were spending it in a hotel room.

And it was a we now, of course, because Terrance and I were in this together now for real.

The female officer registering me had given me her comm and I had called Terrance. He had picked up on the first ring and right away complained and whined about me taking to long to come home, and as he started to go into detail on how horny he was for me, I told him that I was at the colony registration and that my parents had signed me up for it.

And it was like a switch flipped with him. Gone was the dirty, drooling animal, replaced by something else entirely.

It made me question if he had just been fucking with me this entire time, or if the shock from what I said made him finally snap.

Lots of questions then:

‘Are you okay?’ ‘Where are you?’ ‘Can you get out of line?’ ‘Go find a bench and sit down, I’m coming.’ ‘Are you where your cross is? I can see that on a map.’

All of that said by Terrance in a very odd, calm and cool tone that was strange and unfamiliar coming out of his stupid mouth. This fit him better, oddly, with his impulsive actions, quick and rough – grabbing me, kissing me, appearing out of nowhere.

That was a predator, and I had been speaking to one on the comm briefly before Heaven and I waited for my replacement, eating snacks the officers had given us.

My replacement was already on site in case one of several men dropped out, and when he came out, he was dressed in bloodied clothes and wearing the boots of a MAN. He introduced himself to Heaven as Boris and she let go of me to take his hands, and as she leaned up onto her tippy toes to kiss his dirty, bloody cheeks and I let out a laugh because it was such a strange sight – such a cute little thing kissing a filthy, manic looking young man.

When he heard me laughing, the young man – Boris – sneered and told me that people that stared ended up like the novus he got his boots from, and that shut me right us.

He was a man that killed a MAN.

That made him someone worth taking seriously.

And Heaven seemed instantly smitten.

I sat by and watched in silence as he was given the bride I would have been given, Boris standing very still while she tried to clean him up before they said their vows. When she asked if he had a favorite spot he said he liked hunting, and when she asked if he had a favorite television show, he said he only got one channel on his television, and it was one that just played Campora news. They stood there in silence as I watched on, sweating, and then she asked what his trade was. When he told her he was a cobbler, she got excited and told him she loved shoes, and as the priest came over, he promised to make her all the shoes she could ever want and she fully kissed him on the lips, making the priest shuffle awkwardly off until they were finished.

After they were married, they left together, getting on the train that I was meant to get on.

I stayed on my bench for hours, it felt like, watching the train go, sitting there as the commotion at the station slowly broke up.

And then Terrance appeared, coming toward me and petting my hair to smooth it back like I liked it, my father having told me to style it different before I met my future bride.

I realized then I had been crying.

For a while, I think.

Since I had last talked to Terrance on the comm, probably.

I with with him then, Terrance holding my hand and leading me out of the station to where his cruiser was parked half on the sidewalk. I went and laid in the back seat while he drove.

He drove for a while.

A long while.

We didn’t talk.

He was busy on his comm, talking for hours until his voice was raw, his voice switching between coldly professional to sharp and mocking at times, and then even friendly and polite. I didn’t even register the words he was saying, just his switch in tones. His growls, his murmurs, his mumbling.

And then humming.

Just humming.

I didn’t think about much of anything, but I didn’t sleep.

I thought about my family, mostly.

That I’d never see them again.

That, for all they would know, I was gone forever. I’d never talk to my Dad again, or my mother, or my siblings. They’d think I’d be in the colony, being a good man, meanwhile I’d really be here still, living in sin with a nightwalker male.

My heart hurt, but I didn’t want to see them again.

I knew I could never.

They wouldn’t accept me.

They wouldn’t accept Terrance.

There wouldn’t be any introductions, no seat at the table for him. He wouldn’t help me with dishes while I avoided the games my family played after the big holiday meal, and we wouldn’t slink off at bedtime so we could lay in bed together, where I’d fill him in on the family gossip his missed while he was out sneaking smokes.

If I went back to my family now…

They’d tell me all these things about God and...and I wasn’t so sure that they were true anymore.

I believed in God, but I was really starting to feel like the one I had raised to obey might not be the one that was really watching over us. I just...I couldn’t believe in a God that wanted me to not be with Terrance.

Terrance was an asshole, but I don’t think he was a bad person. I thought he was a demon for sure, but redemption was found with his mate, like his church taught, and – and there were some truly evil, demonic sapiens as well, and there was no chance of redemption for them.

So...so why was Terrance, who I think could be redeemed, the true evil?

I didn’t think so.

And I don’t think God wanted Terrance to die, so that meant that he wanted me to be with him, didn’t it?

I thought on that as we went on in the night, thinking about what I had been raised to believe and what Terrance had told me he believed. Some of it sounded crazy, but...some of it wasn’t so bad, I don’t think.

What was wrong with two people being made for each other? Two people being together forever? One person...making another human for the first time in their lives?

I don’t know.

I don’t think I knew anything anymore.

When we stopped, I sat up and watched Terrance nervously get out of the car, standing there as a much bigger male came over.

He was a mated male novus and after novus mated, they got taller, and broader, and gained usually a hundred pounds of pure muscle, and the man that clearly had gone through that transition. He was very, very handsome, not a scratch on his face, which meant he hadn’t been in the war, and that likely meant he was a high ranking member of the matriarch’s family.

And I could have slapped myself, because DUH, that was Roman, the grandson of Campora’s matriarch, and the MAN of Greater Lakes – he had held the position for over twenty years and was basically a God.

I just didn’t recognize him because I was so used to his picture having been messed with by the magazine during the war. Everyone in Victoria had wanted him dead, but now that we were buddies…

I watched as Terrance held out his hand as the man approached, but Roman shook his head and I tensed, grabbing the back of the front seat. Terrance hesitated before he suddenly ducked his head and Roman reached over to grab onto the back of his neck, sinking his claws in to draw blood as he moved Terrance to bend over the front of the cruiser.

He was seeing if Terrance – a prominent solider for Victoria – was going to show submission to the MAN of Campora.

And Terrance did, staring at me through the front window. I watched him as Roman patted Terrance down with his free hand, keeping his other hand locked on the back of Terrance’s neck. Once he patted down Terrance’s legs, hips and back, he released Terrance, hooking a finger into the back of his jacket to make him stand.

They talked for a few minutes before Roman came over and opened the back door to eye me, chuckling when I gave him a critical look. He reached forward and briefly petted my jaw and I knew he was testing Terrance, who put a hand on the hood of his cruiser but otherwise stayed put.

“Alright,” Roman said in a low, low tone that novus only got when they mated. It was like hot chocolate and warm blankets in the winter, and yeah, that was for sure how the devil would sound. He hooked a finger at me, signaling me to get out, and I did so, Roman’s gaze cutting over to where a toddler was screaming. The toddler went silent when the mother pointed to Roman, telling her son that the MAN was right there, Roman turning fully to eye the little boy. The little novus burst into tears and danced around with his arms up until his mother picked him up, Roman then looking back to us. “I’ve spoken to Granny, she’ll handle the matchmakers.” He said in his low, low, low voice, and I was completely away to the fact that my mouth was open and my chin was down as I stared at him.

When Terrance took my hand I straightened, my jaw snapping closed.

“For now, you’ll stay here until we sort things out, but...expect to be recruited into the peacekeepers until we find a place for you.” He said then, looking Terrance over. “Did you call your girls?”