Page 16 of I Married A Catman

“She doesn’t know you yet, but she will. Ophelia cannot love anyone more than she will love you, and the same will apply to you where she’s concerned.”

“Even if that were true—and I’m not saying it is—I’m not in a good situation. Any day now, I could get evicted from my Pride. I’m still in the process of earning my place here again.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to go through this phase with someone willing to support you every step of the way?” he argued.

I narrowed my eyes as a suspicion blossomed in my heart. “Why would she? Humans—and most of the galaxy for that matter—have a very negative opinion of Nazhrals. Why would she subject herself to the hardships I’m facing? What is she running from?”

“Ophelia is not running away from anything,” Kayog said in a firm but reassuring tone. “She’s runningtowardsher soulmate. And you’re correct about humans’ opinions about Nazhrals. She was quite worried when I revealed your identity and past to her. Your people have a questionable reputation. As you stated so well, humans are physically weaker and more vulnerable than species such as yours. It is scary for her to put herself in such a situation.”

Although I hid it, his words stung my pride.

“Which is all the more reason why her so-called eagerness to give this a try seems suspicious to me,” I challenged.

“She is willing to give it a try because I vouched for the honorability of your character. I am a Temern. I can feel your emotions. And in my case, as an Edal, I possess a rare ability among my people which allows me to see and hear the song of your soul. You’re a good male, Gaelec. You are worth fighting for. I am never wrong when it comes to reuniting the two halves of a soul. She understands that there can never be another for her but you. Therefore, she is willing to take the risk and get to know you during the six-month trial required by the agency.”

I shifted in my seat and swallowed past the lump in my throat. It was a good thing that we were having this conversation through vidcom and not in person. His being able to feel how deeply his words moved me would have made me far too self-conscious.

“Even if I wanted to give this a try, the Matriarchs must approve any newcomer who wishes to join our Pride,” I argued. “And females are not allowed to join. The only females in a Pride must be direct blood relatives of the Matriarchs.”

“But Ophelia is not trying to join your Pride as one of the new Queens or future Matriarchs. She’s merely here to be with her soulmate. Prides never block bonded mates to stay indefinitely with their partner, right?”

“Right,” I conceded reluctantly. “However, those bonded mates are always males marrying one of the Queens. The opposite has never occurred before.”

“Well, there is a first to everything!” Kayog said cheerfully.

I frowned and shook my head, still unconvinced. The Temern sobered and leveled a serious gaze on me.

“Why such reluctance?” he asked with genuine curiosity. “Have you met someone since your return?”

I snorted and shook my head. “No, not at all.”

“Aren’t you tired of being lonely, then?” he asked in a gentle, almost paternal fashion that had my throat constricting again.

“It’s not that simple, Kayog,” I said in a tired voice. “The Nazhral culture is so different from hers… Life here is harsh, devoid of all the comforts she’s certainly used to in industrial cities.”

He grinned and waved a hand as if I’d said something silly. “Remember the part about humans being adaptable? Ophelia does not care for all the trappings of city life. In fact, she spent the past ten years working on various planets performing missionary work with primitive species, most of it as a teacher but some of it to help with housing projects or disaster recovery assistance. She is used to living in harsh conditions and adjusting to foreign cultures. Life in a Pride is far more comfortable than in some of the places where she has lived.”

“The past ten years?” I echoed. “How old is she?”

“She’s twenty-eight, three years younger than you are. See? You are perfect for each other in every way.”

I scrunched my face, failing to find additional arguments to throw his way. To be honest, I didn’t really know that I wanted to find any.

“I still need to obtain the Matriarchs’ blessing,” I muttered.

“Then you get right on it! I have faith in you. In the meantime, I will tell Ophelia to prepare for her journey to your homeworld,” Kayog said in a triumphant tone. “Trust me, Gaelec, you will not regret this.”

After exchanging our farewells, I stared blankly at the dark screen, too many thoughts rushing through my mind to properly sort them out. But two of them dominated. I had no idea what my soulmate looked-like, and I didn’t know a damn thing about human females.

Glancing out the window at the Great Hall in the distance, I heaved a sigh at the prospect of breaking the news to the Matriarchs. This was guaranteed to go well…

Chapter 5

Ophelia

Ihurried out of the humongous cruise line ship that brought me to the Melelyn spaceport, homeworld of the Nazhrals. I hated being late, and our vessel docking more than two hours past our scheduled arrival had me totally frantic. Obviously, it had been beyond my control, but I still felt shitty about it.

We’d been doing so great, too, until a bunch of flipping pirates decided to attack us. The panic that spread through the passengers died down in minutes when our ship’s defense squad just swarmed the fools who thought to make bank at our expense. I could see why they would have set their sights on theBehemoth. Aptly named, the humongous cruise liner could host more than nine thousand passengers and had its own fighter fleet and military-grade defense systems.

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