Page 54 of Guardians

“Actually, I did. Zion gave preliminary approval, but he wants to work out specific procedures before they assign you a cabin.”

Emma’s expression softened and her lips curved into a relieved smile. “I thought you blew us off.”

Lexie shook her head as she pulled on her coat. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before. The attack put a lot of things on hold. I’ll ask Kane to set up a meeting and I’ll let you know when it is.”

“That would be great.” Emma gave Lexie a quick hug and then Lexie and Tara left the dormitory.

“That went better than I expected,” Tara said as they walked back to their cabins.

“I agree. Do you have any ideas for social events? I’m not a big fan of parties.”

“I don’t think it has to be complicated. It will have to be up at the lodge. It’s the only building I know of that’s big enough for thissort of thing. We could bring the interested females and Zion can decide which of his men to invite.”

“Yeah, it can’t be an open invitation, or we’ll have fifteen hundred males trying to cram themselves into that one room.”

“Fifteen hundred?” Tara sounded incredulous. “Are there really that many cats?”

“One of the reports I read said that fifteen hundred and seventy feline hybrids were transported to Rydaria. I don’t know how many of them are still alive, but I know it’s well over a thousand.”

“And there are only three hundred of us.” Tara shook her head and shivered. “And we’re not even considering the wolves and raptors. No wonder we need protection. Even with group marriages, hundreds of the hybrids will still be without mates.”

It was a sobering thought, one that Lexie couldn’t shake all evening.

“Did you finally tell the other females about the deadline?” Kane wanted to know. “You’ve been unusually quiet all evening.”

“I did, and they took it a lot better than I expected them to. And before I forget, the three females who want to set up the brothel are ready to talk details with Zion. Can you please set up a meeting for them?”

“Of course.” Kane’s gaze narrowed speculatively. “Is that what’s bothering you?”

“No. It’s clearly not a choice I would make, but I think it’s a good idea.”

“Then what’s the matter?” Malik asked. “Kane’s right. You’re sulking.”

Lexie was lying on the sofa with her head in Malik’s lap. Diego sat on the floor with his back pressed against the sofa near her hips. Kane was sitting in the armchair facing her. “I finally thought about the numbers. Even if every female agrees to become a mate, we’re not solving the problem. We need to get off this planet or bring more females here.”

Kane smiled, his pale-blue gaze warm and caressing. “We’re working on it, but it’s not an easy problem to solve. The bastards back on Earth did a good job of stranding us here.”

“If the remaining females are willing to take on eight males each, every hybrid on this planet can have a mate,” Diego offered cheerfully.

Lexie lightly slapped the back of his head. “Talking them into three has been hard enough. They would never agree to that.”

He turned around and folded his long legs in front of him, all playfulness was gone. “Gabriel and I are trying to piece together a long-distance communications system from the ships and shuttles that were left behind. Everything was sabotaged before the final crew left, but Gabriel is a brilliant engineer. If anyone can design a system from scraps, it’s him.”

“I’m glad you’re working on it, but I want to make the situation better, not worse.”

“Won’t a brothel help with that?” Kane asked.

“Hopefully, but there are only three of them.” Lexie shook her head. “Like everything else, that’s just not enough.”

“We all understand that there are not enough women, but how does that make things worse?” Malik asked as he continued to stroke her hair.

“When only a handful of males had mates, everyone was equally miserable. Now almost a third will have mates while the other two thirds will not. This creates a lot more opportunity for comparisons and jealousy. Both can be incredibly destructive.”

“Hybrids are territorial by nature,” Diego insisted. “We will protect our mates.”

“Oh, I know you’ll try, but the wolves are sneaky and brutal. Didn’t they get their hands on one of the hybrid females not that long ago?”

Diego growled dangerously, coming up out of his chair. “Every wolf who touched Akari will pay for it with his life. Plans are in the works even as we speak to make that happen.”

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