Page 49 of I Married A Catman

“I know that all too well,” Gaelec snarled, which had the Matriarch lift her chin defiantly. “It is shameful that it should be deemed acceptable to use these so-called missions as a means to sell us off as slave labor.”

“Tread carefully, Gaelec Sulwyn!” Rozel warned.

“Or what? Is truth to be silenced now as well? How about you ask your Alpha’s friend how that exploitation of our youth and labor is at an end now? Sacrificing us will no longer benefit the Pride. The Obosians have seen to it.”

Every eye turned towards the recruiter, who shifted uneasily on his paws…

“What do you mean?” Ranor asked with an air of pretend confusion that fooled no one.

“Are you pretending that you haven’t heard of the new laws recently passed regarding prisoner wages?” Gaelec asked with an almost cruel smile.

When the recruiter failed to respond quickly enough, my husband addressed the entire audience.

“For those of you who do not know, Argin was a member of this Pride long before I joined you. He was arrested during a mission and served his time in the Light Quadrant of Lord Amreth’s sector. I ended up going there as well after my incarceration. He became both a mentor and a friend. It is to him that I owe surviving my ordeal over there and returning unscathed, against all odds.”

“We’re not here for tales!” Moriak interrupted.

“Silence!” Gaelec snapped, his muscles bunching as if he was readying to go on the offensive.

“We would hear what he has to say,” Ylis intervened when Moriak opened his mouth to respond. “Go on, Gaelec.”

Despite his obvious desire to challenge the young huntress, the Alpha wisely kept his mouth shut. I could have given her a freaking bone crushing hug. Anyway, judging by the expressions on every face, the rest of the Pride also wanted to hear what was going on. As was often the case with species living in more of a tribal setting, learning what was happening outside of their closed circuit could be quite challenging, even with connectivity.

Gaelec cast a grateful look at Ylis before continuing. “He was released three years ago and returned home. Some of you may remember him,” he said, eliciting a few nods from both males and females. “Less than a month after his return, he was forced to participate in another mission because all the credits he earned over more than a decade of hard labor on Molvi was appropriated and spent by the Pride. He had nothing to live off of or to use over time as his contribution, now that he was too old for the types of work expected of him here.”

My chest constricted for the poor older male. After surviving Molvi, he deserved a peaceful retirement with the credits he earned. It was criminal that they just took everything and then expected him to provide again or face expulsion.

Judging by the expressions of the people around me, there seemed to be conflicting emotions on that topic. Some of them, especially the younger females, appeared to find it normal. They were undoubtedly raised to think that way, while some of the elders better related to how their bodies slowing down would set an unfair burden on them had they been in his situation.

“As you know, that mission failed. For a second-time offender, the sentence was automatically a Gray Quadrant—although that is now changed to the Dark Quadrant. Argin died within a month of his new incarceration. This never should have happened. He had more than paid his due. But the Pride condemned him in the hopes of continuing to receive his wages while he suffered.”

“That was not the intention!” Rozel exclaimed with outrage.

“No, but it was an outcome you were very comfortable with, if it came to that. So long as the Pride got its cut, you were fine with it damning him, thinking it would simply be the same as before. But that time is over,” Gaelec shouted, taking us all aback.

“Are you threatening us?” Rozel asked in a dangerously low voice, that had everyone—including me—suddenly feeling extremely nervous.

“I’m not making any threat, Matriarch. I’m simply informing you of what your so-called Alpha and that sorry excuse of a recruiter are hiding from you and everyone else,” Gaelec replied with a disdainful gesture. “Following this incident, Lord Amreth proposed a new law that has now been instituted to make sure Prides will no longer have access to any of the wages earned by the prisoners. Although exceptions can be made for those who have younglings and spouses to help, a maximum percentage will need to be authorized after proper validation of such a need has been established.”

“That’s a lie!” Moriak exclaimed. “We’re still receiving wages for incarcerated members of the Pride.”

“Not for long, and certainly not from Molvi,” Gaelec retorted with contempt. “In case your tiny brain didn’t register it, I mentioned that going forward, all pirates will go straight to Molvi, regardless of which sector they were captured in. And every other galactic penitentiary that is part of the UPO is in the process of implementing a similar law. But don’t take my word for it. The law was implemented on Molvi three years ago, which is when you stopped receiving my wages, which led many of you to believe I was dead. But for the record, Lomar and Gulan are still alive in Lord Kronos’s Light Quadrant. Have you seen any of their wages?”

“My son lives?!” one of the Elder females exclaimed, her palm pressed to her chest.

It was my first time seeing one of them actually express concern for males who had left the Pride. I had begun to believe they truly didn’t see males as people, but merely tools. This gave me hope that things could eventually change for the better.

“He does. And from what I understand, he’s faring decently well and—like I did—seizing the opportunity to learn new trades and acquiring new skills that will give him a chance at a better future once he regains his freedom. The funds being safely set aside will give him the extra leg up needed for success.”

My chest constricted further upon seeing that female’s eyes misting and her lips stretching into a quivering smile. However messed up I found their society to be, this mother loved her child.

“These new laws are meant to be a deterrent by making sure Prides will no longer profit from crimes, even when they failed,” Gaelec continued before turning his attention towards Moriak with something akin to hatred. “Therefore, Alphas will need to come up with new ways to get rid of their competition since selling them as slave labor to prisons will no longer work.”

“This is slander!” Moriak hissed, taking a menacing step towards Gaelec.

My back stiffened, and the tension in the park became palpable. To my dismay, too many people perked up, looking almost as if they wanted this escalation. My heart skipped a beat when Gaelec also took a menacing step forward. I almost reached out to grab his hand and pull him back. But I knew better than to interfere. I only prayed that the amazing restraint he’d displayed since my arrival would prevail.

“Is it?” Gaelec challenged. “Am I the only one who finds it funny that most of the missions with the biggest failures only occurred right after a feast with particularly promising candidates, or when a young male started becoming a significant threat to your position?”

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