Fragments

by Aya DeAniege

  “How are you going to get Alphas to agree to be guinea pigs to such an experiment?” Morgan asked. “Especially after that little show of force? No one is going to agree to it, and I don’t think Rachel will loan me to you, so to speak.”

  “That’s very possible,” Gerrid responded. “Can I have one of those?”

  Morgan took the glass he had sipped from and held it out to Gerrid.

  “You gave him something?” I asked Morgan.

  “Uh, no, he’s been drinking since about ten. I filled that bottle with water and convinced him it was piss tasting wine, but also all that was left. Thankfully he believed me, so hopefully that will help tomorrow morning when he wakes. The only thing Da can’t fix is a hangover.”

  “I know how to help one,” Gerrid said. “Most medical rooms have the necessary bits. I’m sure Blane has them as well.”

  The Alphas turned to me, as if expecting me to say something. I ducked my head and brought the wine to my lips rather than answer.

  “We should get her out of that clothing,” Gerrid said. “Did Blane bring in some clothing for them?”

  “Oh, absolutely.”

  “Where’s Penelope?” Gerrid asked.

  “Bathroom,” Morgan said. “I told her it takes longer than that, but she took a pregnancy test and is not happy.”

  “It hasn’t been long enough,” Gerrid said, then sighed. “But I suppose she didn’t believe you and your limited knowledge.”

  “No, and she’s worried Blane will be killed tonight, and she won’t have another shot.”

  “Which could stress her out and cause a possibly fertilized egg to not implant,” Gerrid said, considering the wine. “You know, she’s not pregnant yet.”

  The bathroom door snapped open and Penelope glared out at us. The female Alpha stalked into the room, glared at everyone, then focused on the open bottle of wine. Morgan edged away from it slowly as she snarled and advanced on it as if it were prey. She snapped the bottle off the counter and drank straight from it while jabbing a finger at us.

  “It still needs about a month for the test to come back,” Gerrid said.

  The finger waggled at Gerrid as if telling him off. She continued to drink the wine, unsealing her lips to allow air to get in, before they sealed up again and she continued chugging. The wine bottle lowered, and Penelope gasped out.

  “If he’s dead and I’m not pregnant, I’m breeding you,” she snapped, jabbing the bottle toward Gerrid.

  “Aw, thanks,” Gerrid said with a little smile.

  “Then I’ll throw you to my companions, break you, and make you a footstool.”

  The vicious tone Penelope used made me want to step forward and defend Gerrid, but I just couldn’t get my tongue to work. I might as well have been glued to the floor, for all the good I did.

  “I didn’t suggest you breed,” Gerrid said.

  “That’s for saying I should wait to take the test again. I’m not pregnant, I don’t feel any different.”

  “Not everyone feels different right away,” I said. “Sometimes it takes time. However. That’s in the future and we’re apparently all drinking.”

  Penelope frowned at me, turned to Morgan, and wavered just a little bit. Ever so slowly, she turned back to me, that frown deepening.

  “Rachel isn’t dead because he’s still here. Why were you crying?” Penelope asked.

  “The Alphas all knew about Owen, well, most did,” Gerrid said.

  “They what?” Penelope shouted.

  Matt made a little sound and Morgan shushed Penelope.

  As the female Alpha glared at him, Morgan moved across the safe room and dragged a blanket up over Matt, tucking him in gently as the rest of us remained silent.

  Morgan glared across the room at Penelope, who stuck her tongue out and gave her head a shake at Morgan in response.

  “If we didn’t have to be quiet right now, I’d put you into the ground,” Morgan hissed at her.

  To which Penelope’s tongue jabbed out further.

  “I’m babysitting a bunch of five-year-olds,” I muttered, moving to the couch along the wall.

  I sat with a heavy sigh. Sipping my wine, I tried not to make another sound as Gerrid moved to my side and settled beside me. He lifted his arm and I slipped under it, against him. He hugged me and made a happy little sound as he bent and kissed the top of my head.

  Penelope collapsed to my other side and raised the bottle, drinking straight from it again.

  “What is with you people and giving them Rieslings?” Penelope asked. “We don’t collect Riesling. Did you seriously go out to a store and buy this, Morgan?”

  “Rachel likes that kind,” Morgan protested.

  “So you went to the store, like a normal person, and bought a bottle of, what, five dollar wine for her?”

  “I bought a whole case of five dollar wine for her,” Morgan said.

  “I like how you say that proudly, like it’s great of you to do, or something.”

  “Her tastes aren’t refined yet,” Gerrid said. “Expensive or cheap, it will all taste the same. And if you keep giving her expensive wine, she could get upset.”

  “That’s true, Rachel isn’t one to buy things for,” Morgan said. “I’m hoping she’ll come around, because I can taste the difference, but until then, this is fine, this makes her happy, so this is what I will buy for her.”

  “They did a double-blind study once,” I said. “And found even those who claimed to be able to taste the difference, couldn’t. The flavour of a wine doesn’t change or get better if the bottle is more expensive. At some level, every wine tastes the same.”

  “On the one hand, I agree,” Gerrid said. “But on the other, the placebo effect has a strong pull on everything we do. You and Rachel are the same, but… piss you off and Rachel breaks a man while you use another man to attack that man, then release him to prove a point.”

  “You can’t compare women to wine,” I said.

  “I can,” Gerrid said. “And I am. From the outside, you two are the same. Would I sleep with Rachel? No.”

  “Smart,” Morgan said with a slow nod. “Just deny the twincest porn you’ve been accessing since you attached to Da’s network.”

  Gerrid coughed in surprise. I smiled just slightly as I raised my glass and sipped from it.

  “I’d love me some twincest,” Penelope said. “I mean, come on, it’s the masturbatory fantasy of a lot of Alphas. And men. Maybe some women, but normally speaking they don’t think of two guys who look equally as attractive and see a fun time.”

  “The incest part of that doesn’t creep anyone out?” I asked.

  The Alphas were silent, as if they hadn’t considered that before.

  “You have access to everything I’ve looked up?” Gerrid asked.

  “Da uses me as a bit of a security head,” Morgan answered. “Although it should probably be noted that he did a lot of research on it as well.”

  “I’m just trying to figure out what’s so attractive about it,” Gerrid said. “You know, I get threesomes, foursomes, moresomes. Even full on orgies and swinging, but twins together and naked in the same bed? That just doesn’t sit right with me. I can’t even figure out why Alphas want that mythical twin set.”

  “Is that what we’re going to do?” I asked. “Sit in here and talk about sex?”

  “Could talk about what is going to happen after all this,” Penelope said.

  “Everything will be fine,” Gerrid countered.

  “Yeah, for Morgan and Rachel. They have land to take. But what about you two?” Penelope asked. “Is this more than a fling?”

  “I don’t understand the question,” I said.

  “I know Alphas before would have flings,” Gerrid said.

  “Alphas now have flings,” Morgan countered. “You’ve had flings. I’ve had flings. At least once a week, Penelope has a fling. But if you want my opinion? I don’t think this is a fling with you two. You’re too, I don’t know.”

 
; “That’s true,” Penelope said. “But you’re not supposed to have that conversation. I’m not asking who or what you are, or where you are. I’m asking what you’re going to do once this is all said and done. Go back to Rachel’s territory?”

  “That’s what their plan is,” Gerrid said. “To have Rachel and Rebecca work in tandem to keep them alive longer.”

  “Is that really the best idea?” Penelope asked. “Work in tandem? Ugh. They are dictating your life for you and you should be free, do what you want to do. Whatever it was that you wanted to get into.”

  “I’d like to go to school,” I said. “I was interested in the biogenetic medical field that Blane has been founding, but I didn’t have the grades I needed. I didn’t get to go. From what Gerrid said, it probably wasn’t going to work out, what with my being pregnant and all.”

  “There are options. You still might have done it, if you had the child or not,” Penelope said. “Children, had the children.”

  “I can set it up,” Gerrid said. “We’ll look at your grades, update your knowledge and get you enrolled.”

  “But the university is two hours away,” I said.

  “If you want to be with Rachel, we can still work it out. Conferencing in isn’t normal, but it’s not completely unheard of. It’s happened before.”

  “I’m not sure I want to go back there, but it’s where my children are.”

  “Give me two months and you won’t have to,” Gerrid said. “Let’s face it, you and a lot of women were forced into this. You shouldn’t… you should have the option. And in a couple of months, you will.”

  “Give up my children for one of those morons to raise?” I asked with a huff. “Not flipping likely.”

  I sipped my wine as Gerrid watched me. I held the wine in my mouth as he continued to watch me. Then I swallowed and turned my body toward him.

  “Is that a problem?” I asked.

  “I’m just trying to decide if you mean that,” Gerrid said. “Because if I’m not absolutely certain, I still need to make those plans. I need to make certain that they are looked after and cared for by someone who couldn’t be labelled a moron.”

  “And if I choose to raise my children?”

  “I suppose I’ll have to baby proof my cupboards,” Gerrid said with a little nod. “And put a lock on the alcohol cupboard. Should probably do something with the knife and dildo collection.”

  Penelope choked on the wine, spraying it across the floor as she bent over coughing.

  “Knives and dildos should not be kept together,” I said.

  “I’ll buy it,” Penelope gasped out. “Don’t care what you want, I’ll buy it.”

  She almost sounded desperate, as if she had seen this collection of his and had offered to buy it before. His answer then had likely been the same.

  “I said do something with it, not sell it,” Gerrid said.

  “You literally have a knife and dildo collection?” I asked.

  “Well, I have a knife collection and a dildo collection, they don’t go together.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Women like it, and I like it.”

  “Women like the dildos and you like the knives?”

  “Other way around,” Gerrid said calmly. “I have been very clear about a certain like of mine. I just don’t trust others to not take advantage unless I pay them. I’ve just gone and helped myself instead. That’s not a crime, is it?”

  “Yes, something would have to be done about those,” I said with a little nod.

  Gerrid smiled and sipped his wine.

  “What’s that look for?” I asked.

  Gerrid shook his head.

  “Nothing. Why don’t you enjoy your cheap wine while you can? I won’t bring this into my home. And if you’re going to live with me, you’re going to be spoiled. So there. I said it.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  We spent the night drinking and then slept late into the morning. When we woke the next morning, Gerrid took me to my room, where I showered. He provided a white summer dress with a wide blue ribbon around the middle and trailing down the back, which he tied for me. He offered no explanation for the dress he had provided, and I asked nothing in return.

  In our time together, he had bought me nothing, tried to force nothing on me. I allowed him that little thing without protest.

  For some reason, Blane had decided lunch was to be held in the gardens. There were tables set up with a buffet style spread on them, and then smaller tables draped in white and blue. Gerrid looked over the tables and made a little sound.

  “You match the tables,” he muttered with a little chuckle.

  The Alphas were bruised and battered but seemed to be in good spirits. Rachel had a cracked lip, but was smiling even as she jostled one of them out of the way to reach the food. They all seemed quite pleased with themselves, laughing and joking and going on.

  Rachel had given as good as she had gotten the night before. They viewed her in a different light than they saw me. She was now a Dom in their eyes, but I was still just a woman. They no longer seemed afraid of me, so much as concerned about whether they were getting too close, encroaching on my personal space.

  Whatever Blane had done, the Alphas had calmed right down.

  At the sight of me in a white summer dress, they all fell silent.

  The Alphas moved out of my way, watched me as I took a plate and wandered up and down the buffet Blane had provided, unable to decide on any of it. It was during my third pass when someone leaned over me, picked up a piece of roasted chicken with a set of tongs and set it on my plate.

  I didn’t recognize the Alpha, but he gave me a look that clearly indicated I had best eat it.

  Trying not to huff, I moved a little further down and placed some potato salad beside the chicken, then grabbed a soft roll to go along with it. I found a place to sit on the edge of the tables and then sat down. From there, I could see all the Alphas in the little area, and I kept a close eye on them.

  A harpist arrived in the middle of lunch. She began to play a lovely tune off to the side as servants showed up with wine and began drifting among the Alphas and offering them glasses.

  Everyone continued on their happy conversation as I sat there, with food before me and didn’t touch it. I couldn’t bring myself to eat. I just couldn’t do it.

  Instead, I poked at the food as everyone began finding seats.

  Blane drifted in with Matt, holding hands. Someone had actually given him a black eye, and it was a little swollen, but Blane didn’t seem to mind at all.

  Rachel plopped down beside me in a yellow coloured dress. She looked down, made a face, then looked back up at me. She blew a raspberry at me. I blew one back and she smiled.

  “What happened last night?” I asked.

  “Uh, he actually made us spar,” Rachel said. She reached up and touched her lip with a wince. “I got this when I put one of them into the floor and got caught by his belt buckle because he flailed.”

  “And now he’s feeding them all?” I asked.

  “It’s some sort of thing about showing that there are no hard feelings,” Rachel said.

  “There are hard feelings.”

  “There… right, I’m sorry, Rebecca, that’s not what I meant. This does not mean that they’re forgiven over keeping it quiet. It’s more like… they promise not to do it again and you already levelled punishment, so Blane is going to let them go as long as they follow through.”

  Blane stopped behind Rachel’s chair and set his hands on the back of it.

  “That’s not what it is, it’s not a no hard feelings type of thing, it’s a rebonding of the area. They will behave better and more like a unit now. Over the coming months, Gerrid will come and go, hunting my land because that still stands. The others have already put out word to their mothers, all their mothers, first and seconds alike, and they will come and talk to you tomorrow.

  “You want my opinion? They’re all sticking around because they’r
e worried about what you’re going to say to their mothers. They want to be here, rather than have them fume all the way home and think about it before they deal with their boys.”

  “Then, they are not forgiven?”

  “Have you forgiven them?”

  “No, I have not,” I said. “Who will look after those who have been hurt, Blane? Rachel can’t afford that. Owen’s land doesn’t have that kind of money.”

  “I have discussed it with Abraham. We will get the money we need. Rachel isn’t going to be indebted over Owen’s mistakes, as her actions came about directly because she was challenging someone who was hurting innocent people. We want that behaviour encouraged, not to place debt on the poor folk who stand for those who do wrong.”

  “Stand against,” Rachel said.

  “What?”

  “You said stand for, you meant stand against.”

  “Damn,” Blane muttered. “What’s that Matt? Coming.”

  I watched him retreat, knowing full well that he was running away before I had time to comment on his slip up. As he retreated, Gerrid approached me with a bouquet of flowers. Rachel turned and looked up, her eyes growing wide in surprise.

  “Are you bringing flowers?” she demanded.

  “It’s what you’re supposed to do,” Gerrid said, presenting them to me.

  “Oh, thank you,” I said, taking the flowers from him.

  I sniffed the ball shaped bouquet, then reached out and fingered one of the white flowers.

  “Such an odd shape,” Rachel said. “All… ball like with a long stem. Normally when you get a bouquet it should be like, you know, wide and colourful. I think the florist had a bit of fun with you, Gerrid.”

  “Maybe,” Gerrid said. “Rebecca, can I talk to you over here?”

  “Sure,” I said, moving to hand Rachel the flowers.

  “No, you should bring those,” Gerrid said. “Alphas, flowers, it’s this whole thing. They won’t survive back to your rooms if you leave them there.”

  “Ah, okay,” I said, pulling the flowers back to myself.