Grai's Game (First Wave)

by Mikayla Lane

  “Why don’t you go to your mate and child. I’m sure Tricia is worried over you.” Ivint suggested, surprised when Balduen growled and glared at Grai.

  The two men stared at each other for a heated moment before Grai looked away first, turning to Ivint.

  “I thank you for the offer, but we have much to go over. She has been informed that I am well and is busy assisting in the MedLab… with Dare.” Grai added, inclining his head slightly towards Ivint in a show of gratitude and respect.

  Ivint didn’t know that the two women were still together and respected that Grai did not want to upset Balduen by going near his mate. The situation between the two men was already strained to the breaking point and needed no help to push it over the edge.

  “The med tech’s have everything under control now. Dare is leaving to go lie down. If I may?” Balduen never took his eyes off of Grai while he spoke to Ivint.

  It didn’t go unnoticed that some of the rage that had glowed so brightly in his eyes earlier when he’d looked at Grai, diminished a little since the battle in the parking lot. Ivint chose to take it as a good sign and nodded his head to Balduen. “Of course! Let me know if she needs anything.”

  Balduen inclined his head to Ivint before standing and moving silently towards the door, leaving without another word.

  “Let’s give it five minutes, and then you really need to go to your mate. She has to be worried.” Ivint said after Balduen had closed the door, giving Grai no further excuses not to go get properly treated.

  He held his smile when Grai just nodded. Under the circumstances, Ivint was sure he was worried about his family and wanted to make sure that they were well. He had already heard the rumblings among the ranks, the choosing of sides between Dare’s friends and those hybrids that had become friends with Banatar’s females but were loyal to Grai.

  If this situation was not handled delicately the place could easily erupt into in-fighting, and he would not allow that to happen. The first thing he needed to do was distinguish them as something other than Relian to his people… to himself. He was not above the petty thoughts that the others were also having and expressing, but he knew the futility of allowing those thoughts to continue to fester and grow.

  “What do you call your people?” He asked.

  Chapter Six

  Grai looked blankly at the High Councilor not really sure that he understood the question. He turned to Traze to see if he understood, and he just shrugged, a curious look on his face as well. Ivint watched the exchange with equal puzzlement. It was a simple question.

  “I think what the High Councilor is trying to say is that you really aren’t Relian’s… you don’t act like them. Some of your teams are previous captives of the Relian’s, and you even have some of our girls. You’re like a ragtag group of resistance fighters from some cheesy romance novel. And they always have an equally cheesy name, so what do you call your group?” Jax explained with a cheeky grin at Ivint.

  “Well, I don’t think I would have put it quite like that.” Ivint sputtered, his face turning pink from embarrassment at Jax’s attempt to explain for him.

  Traze and Grai continued to look at each other in puzzlement, which seemed to irritate Reven a little.

  “Do you call yourself Relian’s?” Reven asked a little gruffly.

  “NO!” The growling roar uttered by both Grai and Traze startled Reven into jumping back from tending the wound for a moment.

  “We do not have a name. We just… are.” Grai said, unsure why they would think his people had a name when they were a multitude of people.

  “You do not name yourselves something to reflect that you are not… like the others of your kind?” Risk asked, surprised that they hadn’t thought of it. He couldn’t fathom wanting to be associated with a name that basically said you were the ultimate parasite scum.

  It finally dawned on Grai what they were asking, and he had to wonder why he had not thought of it sooner. It would have been a good way to assist in bonding his people together, although he certainly hadn’t done too badly with that anyway.

  “No, I had not thought of that. Nor would I know what to call us since we are a ragtag group as you said.” Grai admitted with a slight frown. His people were highly trained, good people and being described as ragtag, no matter how true, was beneath them. However, it was still better than being called a Relian.

  “Then that sounds like something you need to speak to your people about. If we are to fight together in the future, then we need a way to distinguish your people from Dagog’s to prevent… accidents.” Ivint suggested, liking the idea the more he thought of it.

  “We are beast. We do not need to create new names for brethren. Our brothers the Zendarian’s have agreed to offer their name and sanctuary to Grai’s people. Apparently, they know you and your people well.” Dread interjected with curiosity heavy in his voice as he looked at Grai.

  The Zendarian’s were the most reclusive of the beast species and considered to be the wisest and peaceful. For them to have offered their name to Grai’s people, they must have done something rather extraordinary to have earned it.

  “Yes, we know them well. We will not take the chance that we will do something that will tarnish their reputation and have rejected their generous offer.” Grai replied to Dread, hoping the Tezarian would let the subject drop.

  “For some reason, they do not share that concern. However, the choice belongs to you and your people. I cannot offer you the Tezarian name as I do not have the authority to do so. Even so, I offer you our friendship.” Dread replied nodding his head in respect to Grai, Viper following suit.

  “I… we thank you for that. It means a lot to us. More so since Dagog will return, and we will all need your assistance.” Grai said, returning the nod of respect to the Tezarian brothers.

  This was all going so much more differently than he had expected that it would, and he was a little flustered by it. This was definitely not the way that he was raised. These people were so alien from what he was used to dealing with.

  “That should hold you until your mate can fuss over you. Personally, I think Zendarian suits you, and you get to avoid all that registration of a new society crap with the Alliance.” Reven said the last on a whisper, before standing up and taking the empty seat next to Ivint.

  “What is a registration of a new society?” Grai asked in puzzlement; he didn’t like feeling so stupid, and this conversation was moving in a direction; he was unprepared to go right now.

  “That is something we can worry about later. Right now, you need to go assure your mate that you are well. Do you expect Dagog to attack again tonight?” Ivint asked, hoping the answer was no.

  “No. It will take days for him to assess the damages and loss of personnel. By now, he’s also reeling from the scale of desertion and the loss of the mother ship. We have at least a week before he tries to retest our defenses. He is far from done with us and this planet.” Grai admitted with a sigh, wishing his brother would stop the fighting but knowing that he wouldn’t.

  “Then why don’t we all get some rest? Grai, pick your teams to join in the sentry rotations at each of the safe houses. Reven and Jax, organize our teams as well. I want both teams to work together, make sure your choices are aware of that and willing to do so.”

  “Scaden, I want hourly reports on the repairs to Koda’s ships and the status of the injured. Risk, please find rooms for Grai and his people, some should already have rooms here. I want no one leaving the security of the safe houses for any reason until we can meet in the morning and do a thorough threat assessment.” Ivint ordered. A chorus of ‘Yes, Sir!’ followed each order.

  Ivint stood, signifying an end to the meeting. He stayed standing while everyone but he, Reven, Banatar, the Tezarian’s and Grai filed out of the room.

  “Hey! Maybe I can bunk in your room, and I can show you how I was able to break into your security?” Traze said to Risk as they headed down the hallway.

  “Y
eah, sure.” Risk replied, closing the door behind them.

  Ivint sat back down at the table and looked around the room, glad to see that Banatar had calmed down dramatically since the earlier events that had brought the Relian brothers to their door. The more relaxed posture of he and Reven were a welcome sight.

  Even the puzzling young Relian leader seemed more relaxed now that the room had cleared. Now that the initial excitement, fear and adrenaline had worn off, and he could think more clearly about the situation, he realized the importance of proceeding with great caution where this man was concerned and chose his next words very carefully.

  “The order to stay was more of a request due to the dangerous circumstances. You and your people will not be held here against your will. Although, trust may take us some time, I do not think that you risked your lives and provided our people with protection and the tools to survive for so many years, merely to kill us now.”

  Ivint almost sighed in relief when he saw Banatar nod his head slightly out of the corner of his eye.

  “You will, of course, be watched closely when you are with us until we can be assured of the safety of our people. It is not a reflection of your character or the sacrifices you have made for our people, more of a precaution to avoid paranoia and fear among those who…” Ivint paused trying to find the right way to explain it without offending the proud man.

  “I understand, as do my people. We expected no less. For those like Jess and the others who were abused by my father and his minions, it will be difficult for them. We do not wish to cause them any more pain than they have already suffered. We can just as easily stay at our warehouse location if it alleviates any concern for them.” Grai offered. He did not expect the Valendran leader even to offer for them to stay with them. Guarded or not.

  “Absolutely not! If you can fight and die beside us, you can stay within the protection provided by our strength in numbers. Besides, if we are to make a true effort at an alliance, then our people need to see how you truly are, not as we have assumed all of you to be.” Ivint responded quickly, keeping all of his reasons for wanting Grai and his people there to himself.

  “There’s no better way to learn trust than to work and fight beside one another, for the same goal. If you really want to forge a place for your people to call home, then we all need to learn to trust.”

  “I have no doubt you have half-Relian’s among your people that are afraid to be mistaken for one of your father’s men by one of us as well. They have a right to live without that fear. Give them a chance to show the others, your people are different.” Reven added, hoping they would stay. He had every intention of ferreting out if they were lying. However, he was hoping that they weren’t.

  “I understand the wisdom in your words.” Grai responded carefully, knowing full well the Valendrans wanted to test them and see if this was a ruse. “But I must ask my people and allow them to decide for themselves. As you said, I have some who fear you greatly and do not wish to distress them.”

  “I will meet with my people tomorrow and allow them to decide who stays. For those who do not wish it, I will call in others to replace them to ensure our security is not compromised.”

  “Additional room will not be a problem as our company owns this entire row of warehouses, rooms are already set up and supplies are stored. There is more than enough room to shelter as many as another hundred Valendrans and my people if needed.” Grai explained, hoping that he had not offended them by wanting to ask his people first.

  The latter news had Banatar smacking his palm to his face and shaking his head. Ivint had to give Grai credit; he'd done one hell of a job of infiltrating Banatar’s entire operation. All the more reason for them to stay, where they could be watched closely, and he could learn just how deeply they were compromised.

  “That is good to know, and we can start opening the walls between them tomorrow after we each speak separately with our people. We also have no desire to make anyone stay who does not want to be here. We will shuffle our people as well, and we can meet later in the morning to determine any additional forces we may need. Until then.” Ivint stood and everyone else followed suit.

  All eyes followed him as he walked out of the door, obviously dismissing everyone.

  “I must go to my mate. Good evening.” Grai stood and nodded to Reven, Banatar and the Tezarian’s before also leaving the room, following the familiar scent to his mate and son.

  He ignored the curious and sometimes hostile stares of those he passed as he headed determinedly to the MedLab where he knew he would find Tricia and Tristan.

  Standing outside the door with his guards who had flanked him when he left the conference room, he checked his clothes nervously. He tucked in his clean shirt and tried to wipe as much blood and grime off of his pants as he could when the door was flung open.

  Dr. Maggie and Tarvok immediately stopped speaking when they saw who was on the other side of the door. Grai could tell that the conversation they had been having must have been rather heated by the angry looks on both of their faces. Sadly, he had no doubt it was because of him.

  He stepped aside quickly to let the couple pass, and returned the nod that Maggie gave him before Tarvok propelled her down the hallway. Presumably, to a more private location in which to argue.

  Looking back to the door, he saw Tricia standing near the farthest bed in the room, her beautiful brown eyes shining with her unshed tears. He crossed the distance between them quickly, ignoring the others who were laying injured in five of the beds in the room.

  Moving the fabric bed divider to give them a little privacy, he picked her petite body up into his arms and held her closely to his chest trying hard not to squeeze her too hard from his need to be close to her.

  It had been three hundred and twenty four days since he’d been able to touch her, terrified if they tried to meet they would be caught and she, and Tristan would be in danger from the Valendrans as well as his father and Dagog.

  Dagog’s spies had been everywhere, and Grai had spent every day hunting them down and killing them to keep them from betraying him or Banatar and the hybrids to his father and brother.

  “Are you all right?” Tricia whispered in his ear, her voice shaking from emotion. She had missed him so much over the long months they had been apart.

  “I am fine, my love. All is well. How are you? How is Tristan?” Grai asked, pulling back from her long enough to sit in the chair next to his son’s bed. He settled her gently across his lap and began inspecting her for injuries.

  Tricia laughed at his overprotective nature and responded, “Stop; I'm fine. Tristan is… stable.”

  Grai turned to stare at his beautiful son. Reaching out he gently took his hand, rubbing his thumb over his soft skin in wonder. The videos did not do justice to how tall he’d gotten since Grai saw him last.

  It also did not show how truly thin the boy had become, his small hand so delicate and frail; Grai was afraid to harm him with his large and rough hands.

  “I know what you are thinking and stop it. He’s not so fragile that you can’t touch him. He needs to feel your touch Grai; he always feels better when you do.” Tricia encouraged, not the least surprised that her gentle mate was afraid for their son.

  Grai stared at the amazing woman in his lap, and his breath caught in his throat as he thought about how lucky he was to have them both. A dream he thought he would never deserve to have. Every day, he fought to keep them, to keep the sins of his father from ever reaching them and tarnishing the beauty of their souls.

  Now, his own brother would be the greatest threat to them instead of his father. Dagog would pick up where his father left off, and his brutality would far overshadow their fathers. If Dagog ever found out about Tricia and Tristan, he would hunt them as he hunted the gifted and hybrids. And he would inflict even greater pain upon them in order to wound Grai in the cruelest way possible.

  Tricia could tell by the look on his face that he was over thinking again,
trying to overdo everything in order to protect everyone and make up for the evil his father committed.

  “Stop worrying so much. Please, let’s just enjoy being together after so long. I missed you so much.” Tricia whispered in his ear, after hugging him close.

  “I have missed you both more than you can ever imagine. But there is a need to worry, my love. Dagog will return again soon to test our defenses.”

  “He will never believe that the Valendrans would have anything to do with us, and he’ll think that if he waits long enough any truce between us will break. That’s when he’ll attack us separately. We must be as prepared as possible.” Grai explained, trying not to worry her about how tenuous their situation was.

  He had not wanted to implement his plans until he was sure they had at least an agreement with the Valendrans, but when they had taken Tricia into custody, the only thing, he could think of was making sure she and Tristan were safe.

  He would adapt and make sure his people were safe no matter what the Valendrans decided about a truce, but hoped like hell; they would accept it. He had believed the High Councilor when he said that they would be free to go, so he didn’t think that would be an issue if negotiations broke down. However, he wouldn’t be his father’s son if he didn’t have a backup plan, in case he was mistaken about the High Councilor.

  “We are here and we’re safe, so stop thinking so much and just hold us.” Tricia said, her soft brown eyes pleading with him.

  “I am sorry, my love. I still haven’t learned how to turn my mind off in all the months that I have been away. You will have to use that distraction technique you were always so good at…” Grai began when he was interrupted by loud coughing and the clearing of throats.

  “Hey guys, not that I don’t appreciate you helping to save our asses out there, but man you guys have got to get a room! And not one that has us in it! A private room!” Grai heard one of the patient's good-natured teasing, to the chuckles and groans of the others in the room.