by KD Jones
Cassie’s clouded thoughts started to clear. She remembered the pain, and falling on the floor. She reached down to grab her enlarged stomach. “Is my baby okay?” She looked panicked as she gazed into her friend’s concerned brown eyes.
Before Jaxon could answer her, the door slid open to the medic room and Dr. Morris and Medic JadEN came in. They looked at her and sighed with relief.
“You gave us quite a scare.” Dr. Morris said as she came in and greeted both her and Jaxon.
Medic JadEN smiled warmly as he picked up his medical scope and scanned her. “Her vitals are stable and so are both young.” JadEN turned to show Dr. Morris his results.
It took Cassie a moment to realize what JadEN just said. “Wait … both young?” She looked at Jaxon, JadEN, and then Dr. Morris who were all smiling at her.
Jaxon was the one to answer her, “TWINS! My friend when you do something … you really do something to the fullest!” She laughed and hugged Cassie who was shocked and speechless. Twins. Wow.
“Are they okay? I was in a lot of pain earlier. I thought … I thought I might be miscarrying.” Cassie was rubbing her belly with tears in her eyes.
Dr. Morris reassured Cassie, “They are both doing fine. What you experienced is common with pregnancies with multiple babies who share the same placenta. It’s called ATTTS, Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. All the nutrients had been diverted to only one of the babies, leaving the other baby to struggle on her own.
“Normally the nanos would have diverted the nutrients to both babies, but we did not detect the second baby when we implanted you with the nanos. The nanos were programmed for a single baby. The twin that we did not detect early on had come to a critical stage. That’s when you started having the pains. If you hadn’t called for help when you did, you would have lost one of the babies, possibly both.” Dr. Morris gave her an apologetic smile.
Cassie looked at Medic JadEN who had tears in his eyes. “I am sorry Miss Tomlin. I did not see that you were carrying two young. I would have reprogrammed the nanos immediately.”
Dr. Morris tried to alleviate the Katieran male, “JadEN, the other baby was smaller and hidden behind the larger baby. Neither of us saw her.”
Cassie looked at JadEN and reached out her hand. He took it as her sign that she forgave him. She had learned a lot about the Katierans, one of which is physical contact such as hand clasping was to express feelings such as comfort, love, or forgiveness.
“So, I am having twin girls huh?” Cassie asked trying to lighten the mood. “Great, now I have to pick out two names instead of one.”
Chapter 5
Ren woke to find himself laid out in a comfortable chair. He ran his hand through his shoulder length black hair trying to recall exactly what had happened. He remembered being in a room and struggling against some of the medics. Members of the security had been called in. Someone had yelled out for a tranquilizer. Ren felt dazed as he started losing consciousness. He had become out of control. But why? And then he remembered. Cassie!
He jumped to his feet only to be pushed back down by a strong male hand on his shoulder. He looked up into his brother KydEL’s black eyes. Ren tried again to get up only to have another set of strong male hands grab him from his other side pushing him back down. He glared at his younger brother SydEL. “Let me go!” RendEL demanded. Both his brothers shook their heads.
Kyd responded with his strong authoritative voice. “No. You stay down until you are in complete control of yourself.”
Ren looked at Kyd and growled. “I am in control! Why are you treating me like this?”
Kyd didn’t answer Ren. They stared each other down. His brother Syd asked him instead, “When did you mate the breeding female?”
He looked at Syd with frustration and confusion showing on his face, “Cassie … Her name is Cassie. And, I never mated her. I need to see if she is okay.” Ren tried a third time to stand but both brothers pushed him back into his chair. “Let me up damn it!”
Kyd stared him down until he calmed. “Medic JadEN reported to me 10 minutes ago. Cassie is doing fine and so are both of her young. Our concern is with you right now.”
“Wait … did you say … both young?” Ren felt the color rise in his cheeks, which was rare due to the Katierans' naturally bronzed skin.
Kyd smiled at his brother and decided it was safe to take a seat across from him. “Yes. That was actually the cause of her collapse earlier. When the nanos were implanted, they were programmed to care for only one infant. The medics and Dr. Morris did not see another infant or hear another heartbeat. But, there were two infants. Only one of the young was receiving nutrients by the nanos and the other young struggled to survive.”
“Cassie’s collapse earlier was caused when the smaller infant had gone into distress, causing much pain for Cassie. Medic JadEN said that if Cassie had not called for help when she did, she would have lost one or possibly both young. She could have bled out herself and died.” Kyd reached out a comforting hand and placed it on his brother’s shoulder. “She and both young are recovering in the South Medic Wing. The nanos have been reprogrammed. She should be ready to go back to her own suite later this evening.”
Ren nodded his head that he understood everything that Kyd said. His voice was shaky with deep emotion, “I want to see her.”
“Not until we discuss what happened.” Kyd stated firmly.
“We just did. I want to see her now!” Ren was getting very impatient with his brothers.
It was Syd that answered in his calm intellectual voice of reason. “Not what happened with Cassie and her young, we need to discuss what happened with you.”
“I don’t understand what you are saying. What about me?” Ren asked Syd.
“You went into protection mode Ren. Like a fully mated Katieran male. You scared the shit out of everyone in the room.” Kyd didn’t gentle his words. It was important that Ren knew the danger he posed.
“But, we’re ... not … mated!” The idea of mating Cassie stuck in his head and would not go away. He didn’t want it to either. He had been denying his attraction to the beautiful female, thinking he was doing it for the good of his people. Things were different now. He could have lost her forever.
“What kind of contact did you have with the female … I mean … Cassie?” Syd asked as he leaned forward to rest his long arms on the tops of his knees.
“Not that much.” He looked at Kyd for confirmation as he relayed his encounters he had with Cassie. “I first met her when Kyd and I had to help defuse the security breach in the interview room on Earth. She collapsed into my arms and I carried her to the temporary Medic Room. I left her there for treatment and went to my suite.”
“Next time I saw her was in the small shuttle we shared taking us from Earth to the transport ship. I did notice both times that her scent appealed to me.” He frowned when his two brothers looked at each other knowingly. He continued, “I thought, well, I thought I needed to make a match that would benefit the Katieran people, so I tried to keep my distance from her while on the transport ship. I confess to being overly concerned with her well being.”
“Did you have any kind of skin contact other than that first day on Earth?” Syd asked completely fascinated with something.
“No … well … maybe just once, on board the transport ship. It was just a tiny brush of our lips … couldn’t be called a kiss.” No, not a true kiss, but it had affected him more than any kiss or sexual encounter he had ever had. He waited for his brothers to help come up with another explanation.
Kyd knew Ren wasn’t telling them everything, “What about all the late night visits you have made to her suite?”
Ren gave him a surprised look, “Have you been following me?”
“No, but when the Prime is on a floor that is not a Prime floor it does not go unnoticed.” Kyd answered.
Syd sat back with a satisfied look on his face. “A bond mate then. A true bond mate. I haven’t heard of one happening in o
ver 60 years.”
A bond mate. Ren just slumped back into his seat and looked resigned. All this time he had been denying his true bond mate. He felt like a complete and utter idiot. He wondered if it was too late. Would Cassie accept him now?
After Ren had convinced both of his interfering brothers that he was in complete control of himself, he made his way to the South Medic Wing to check on Cassie. He was anxious to test out the bond mate theory. The truth was he had been getting tired of constantly fighting his feelings for Cassie. He felt a relief that he was allowing himself to finally feel what he was feeling. And he was feeling it all for Cassie.
Ren walked through the open door of the medic wing. He heard feminine laughter and then a male’s laughter coming from one of the medic rooms around the corner. The male and female voices were clearly having a conversation and then there was more laughter. Ren frowned. He knew the female voice but who was the male? And what was he doing with his Cassie?
Cassie laughed at what TarAK just told her. “That did not happen.”
“I swear Cassie, your friend Jaxon is giving the Commander a hard time. When he sees her coming his way, he practically runs in the other direction.” TarAK laughed as he relayed the information to Cassie. He enjoyed her company greatly. He hoped by spending more time with her he might be able to change her mind about mating with him.
Cassie giggled. She couldn’t remember the last time she giggled. “Jax was always the hardest on the guys she liked the most.”
TarAK almost choked on the herbal drink he took a sip of. “Like? You think she likes the Commander?” TarAK laughed so hard he almost fell off the chair he was sitting in.
Ren walked into the room demanding, “What’s going on here?”
TarAK jumped up spilling the hot substance on him but refused to show any pain. “Prime Leader. I was assigned to be Cassie’s ... Miss Tomlin’s personal guard.”
Ren narrowed his eyes at the male. “By whose authority?”
TarAK straightened his shoulders, “Prime Commander assigned me to this position upon Dr. Morris’s request.”
Cassie was confused over the tension between the two men. “I don’t need a guard.”
Ren turned to look at Cassie and her traitorous body responded to his presence instantly. Damn it! Cassie needed to get in control. She managed to say something intelligible, “Prime Leader, it is good to see you again.”
Ren ignored the other male as he stepped all the way into the room and approached the bed Cassie was laying in. She looked a little tired but she had a healthy glow. “Ren … please call me Ren.” Cassie just nodded.
“I heard that your joy has doubled since last we spoke?” Ren asked as he took the seat that TarAK had been sitting in.
Cassie loved the way the Katierans said things. “Yes, twins. I can’t believe it!” Cassie told Ren about her babies and their health. Ren listened intently and asked questions.
TarAK stepped back and leaned against the wall as he watched the interaction between Prime Leader RendEL and Cassie. He had not been aware that the two even knew each other. He noted the intense looks the Prime Leader gave the female and Cassie’s face turned red several times from blushing. There was something more going on between the two. This caused a pain in TarAK’s heart.
Dr. Morris came into the room to check Cassie’s vital signs.
Ren addressed the female medic, “Dr. Morris, why would you request a guard for Cassie?” If Cassie was in danger he wanted to know.
“I don’t need a guard.” Cassie repeated while pouting. It was adorable. Made Ren want to suck on those lips of hers.
“I understand it’s inconvenient for you Cassie, but now that we know you are carrying twins, we need to keep a much closer eye on you. You are at 26 weeks. Most twin pregnancies last 37 weeks. I want to make sure you have someone with you or close by in case you experience any other problems. If you had roommates that I could count on to watch over you, that would be a different story.” Dr. Morris stopped as she noticed Cassie shaking her head at her motioning for her to stop talking.
Ren caught the roommate remark. He knew that each suite had 15 females and there were 3 females to share each room. But he did not remember seeing 3 beds in Cassie’s bedroom. He directed his question to Dr. Morris but he kept his eyes on Cassie, “Why does she not have roommates Dr. Morris?”
“Um …” Dr. Morris looked worriedly at Cassie as she answered the best that she could, “I’m not sure of the details. I know that there were many women on board the transport ship that were a little resentful towards Cassie … it’s possible that the same thing may have happened here as well. I’m not sure …” Dr. Morris was interrupted by Ren when he addressed Cassie directly.
“Is that what happened Cassie? Were they resentful? Were they unkind to you?” Ren could not keep his anger from showing in his voice. How dare they treat his mate in this way! Had she been miserable this entire time while he remained clueless?
“It’s okay. Some of them have been good to me, bringing me meals when I was not feeling up to leaving the suite. It’s alright...” Cassie was blushing from the embarrassment of the situation. It was like being in Kindergarten and nobody wanted to play in the sandbox with her.
Ren turned to look at TarAK, “I want all the females in that suite marked for a return to Earth on the next available transport ship.”
“Yes Prime Leader.” TarAK answered readily. He was just as livid that the females treated Cassie as they have. He did not recall seeing any of this while giving them tours.
“No! Please Ren, don’t do that, I don’t want to be responsible for them being sent away. Just because they don’t like me? Besides, some of those women were starting to warm up to me. Please ….” Cassie had tears streaming down her face and she was shaking.
Ren couldn’t bear the tears. He moved closer and grabbed a tissue that Dr. Morris handed to him. He gently took her face in his large, warm hand as he wiped the tears from her beautiful green eyes with his other hand. “Shh... It’s going to be okay.” It took several more minutes for Cassie to get all the tears out and to finally stop shaking. But Ren kept comforting her as he helped with the tissues.
It was Dr. Morris who suggested a more reasonable resolution. “Perhaps Cassie could be moved to a different suite. I do not mind sharing a room with her myself. In fact, I would feel better if I was with her at night in case she needs immediate medical attention.”
Cassie smiled kindly at Dr. Morris, “Wouldn’t that be too much like taking your work home with you?” Both women laughed. Ren and TarAK shared a confused look between them.
“That is a very kind offer Dr. Morris. I want to move Cassie to the 8th floor. Would you mind moving there with her?” Ren asked. He ignored the shocked sound coming from TarAK. He could care less what he or anyone else thought. He wanted Cassie close to him.
The 8th floor was reserved entirely for the Prime family, which consisted of himself, his two brothers, his mother, his young female cousin, and his wayward uncle, whenever he showed up. They didn’t even take up a third of the floor so there was plenty of room for Cassie. He would ask his mother and cousin for help getting a suite ready, one that was closest to his.
Cassie looked at Ren and saw that he was completely serious. “I … don’t think …”
Ren didn’t give her a chance to refuse, “Dr. Morris, I am not sure how long it will take to get a suite ready. Will it be okay for Cassie to remain here until it is time?”
“Of course, I will be here monitoring her vitals for most of the day. Just let us know when you are ready for us to move and I will go to my suite to get my things.” Dr. Morris answered.
“Wait a minute here …” Cassie tried to interrupt but she was ignored.
“No need for that.” Ren told Dr. Morris. He then turned back to TarAK glad to have an excuse to get the male away from his mate. “TarAK, I will have someone contact you in the next 20 minutes to let you know which suite Cassie will be moved to. Please
go to both Cassie’s and Dr. Morris’s current suites and see that their things are moved for them.” Ren was standing now getting ready to leave.
TarAK stood at attention, “It will be done Prime Leader.”
“Just let us know when the suite is ready and I will get a wheelchair for Cassie to be wheeled up in.” Dr. Morris answered.
“But I don’t need to be moved!” Cassie yelled to a now completely empty Medic Room. What the hell just happened? Does no one care about what she wants? She rubbed her rounded belly. “Don’t worry girls, where I go you both will go with me.”
Chapter 6
The women from Earth took up 5 floors of the Prime Building. Cassie was originally assigned to the 5th floor. The 7th floor was reserved for more important people like those with close ties with the EWG. And everyone knew that the 8th floor was reserved for the Prime family. Those on the 7th and 8th floors shared a separate lift, noted in royal blue colors. There were security stations at the lifts at all times. You were not allowed to step on the blue lift without a special clearance.
The clearance turned out to be another implant that was placed under the skin on the palm of Cassie’s hand. It didn’t hurt at all. But it felt strange. She wondered how many more implants she would get. Would she have to get upgrades in a few years?
When it was finally time to be moved to the 8th floor, Cassie was ready to go. She didn’t want to see the boring walls of the Medic Wing again until it was time to give birth. TarAK had come back to help transport her. Dr. Morris was able to find a wheelchair for her, even though she didn’t need one. As they reached the blue lift, she was surprised to find Ren waiting for them. He smiled that smile that women found sexy and she felt a thrill go through her.
“How are you feeling?” He asked Cassie.
“I’m fine. I don’t need this chair.” She made an attempt to stand up but was stopped by Ren when he put his large hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back down. She looked up into those dark blue eyes that were very close to her.
“This is more for us than you. We need to make sure you get there safely. Okay?” Ren was told that human females responded better when they were asked instead of told.
