Chapter 7

The next day was rather uneventful, at least at first. We awoke more or less together, and swapped Craxill and human-style kisses before heading off one by one to the bathroom for our morning cleanup.

Breakfast was quiet, with Naltort once again demonstrating great skill in the kitchen. Tarmant seemed quiet. I didn't ask why, but I suspected she might be thinking about the confession she owed Naltort. I hoped he wouldn't be too upset when she did tell him, but I was sure it would get worse the longer she waited.

Morning classes were uneventful, and we gathered for a quick lunch before heading off to our afternoon sessions. Tarmant was still sniffing both of us when we met after being separated, but there was much less urgency about it; I sensed it was now as much about pleasure as about need.

I was the last one home to the flat after classes, and a found a very sorrowful-looking Tarmant curled up on the couch when I walked in.

"I told him, lord," she said sadly. "He's in the bedroom; he wanted to be alone for a few moments."

I sat down beside her, and stroked her cheek, and let her sniff me. It seemed to help calm her, but her eyes were still sad.

"I'll go and check on him," I told her. "It will be fine; I'm sure of it."

I found Naltort lying on the bed, looking at nothing. I didn't speak, just climbed in and put my arms around him. He snuggled up, and we lay there silently. There was nothing sexual about our embrace; it was far more intimate than that.

A little while later, he asked, "When did you find out?"

"I figured it out the first day, after the two of you had left to get some things from your own flats. She heard me tell a friend what I'd figured out, and confessed. I told her it was her responsibility to tell you, and I see she has. I can't tell you what to think, or what to feel, or what to do, but remember that everything I've said and done to the two of you since you met me at Rorke's was done with the knowledge that she 'tricked' me into bonding to you.

"And remember that she's bound to me, and to you, as her Clan Lord and First Beta. The feeling that she's betrayed us will eat at her until she's convinced we've forgiven her. I was a bit upset when I figured it out, but she's already punished herself more than I could bring myself to, and so I've accepted it."

"I feel confused, lord," Naltort said into my chest. "I am still bound to her, but I find it hard to trust her."

"I understand why, in a sense, but in another sense, nothing she did that night was a betrayal of you. She tricked me into using her sexually, and into encouraging you to do so as well, but other than getting you intoxicated, I don't see anything she did to manipulate you. I'm pushy enough sober, and enough worse when I'm drunk, that all she had to do was point me in the right direction and I'd pull both of you along.

"If I'd been a power-mad bastard, instead of a suggestible drunk, the exact same things would have happened to you, and you'd now feel the same feelings towards me as you do now. Not as intensely, perhaps, if your mind was fighting your instincts. In fact, those instincts are probably making you more unhappy with her than you would be on your own. Whether you know it or not, I suspect you're at least as upset at her for deceiving me as you are for what happened between the two of you."

Naltort didn't reply, but he didn't disagree either.

"Despite what she did, I've grown to love her, and to love you, and I've forgiven her for her actions. I only hope that that fact makes it easier for you to set aside what she did to me, and what she did to you, and to help me to convince her to forgive herself."

Naltort looked up at me with love in his eyes. I stroked his cheek with the back of my hand, and leaned in to kiss him. He accepted it at first, then began to return it. As with our cuddle, this was closeness and love, not passion, but it was the most intense emotional experience we'd shared to date.

"I love you, lord," he said when we broke off at last.

"And I love you, Naltort. Now, if you're ready, bring your mate to me so we can begin to help her heal."

I thought for a moment he was going to treat 'if you're ready' as an excuse to leave her hanging, but he gave me another kiss, then climbed out of the bed and went into the main room. He returned with Tarmant, and I could tell by her eyes and his that we were past the worst of the pain, for both of them.

I waved them to the bed, and lay on my back, with them laying half on top of me, the way we'd awakened together for the first time. I kissed both of them, and held them tight for a moment, then loosened my grip and began to speak.

"I know we haven't had the best beginning here, but I love both of you very much, and despite how it happened, I'm glad it did. Without the two of you, I would be lonely, depressed, and doomed to failure. And without what Tarmant did, the two of you could never have been mated, and from what I've seen of the way you love each other, I can't believe that would have been a good thing.

"I don't have any magical solutions to making the pain we've all felt go away, but I think if we all try very hard, we'll be able to put it behind us."

I stopped for a moment, and looked at each of them in turn, silently asking for comment. I didn't get any verbal response, but their eyes spoke volumes, being full of love and respect for me.

"Tarmant, Naltort told me he wasn't sure he could trust you, given what you'd done. Personally, I think his fears are misplaced, but he has them, and my opinions won't make them go away. But with time, I think the pain and the fear will pass. After all, you are my drone, bound to me, and you can no more betray me than you can fly by flapping your arms. And betraying Naltort would be betraying me, so he's safe as well. Not to mention that I intend to encourage you to continue to attach to him as my First One."

I felt a bit inadequate to the task of comforting Naltort, but he seemed calm enough. Tarmant looked a little shakier, but returned my smile when I tried to cheer her up. We lay in silence for a few moments, then Naltort spoke in a low tone.

"I should tell you, lord," he said, "That I can feel myself becoming fertile again. When I next take her, unless we repeat our first night's acts, I will most likely impregnate her."

"Are you ready to be a mother, my love?" I asked Tarmant. Eyes moist, she nodded, and said, "If it please you lord, then yes, I am." The expression on Naltort's face made it pointless to ask him, so I just said, "Then I guess we'll have a nice little celebration tomorrow, and put a baby in our little drone."

Both of them tried to kiss me at the same time, and it got more than a little moist, what with saliva and tears flowing freely. I wiped my face and theirs with my sleeve, then held them both close.

After a while we got out of bed, and Naltort made another fabulous meal for us. We sat quietly together for a while, and then prepared for an early bedtime, exhausted from the emotional storms we'd suffered.

"We should start making plans to move soon," Naltort said as we faded off.

"Sounds good to me," I said, "I need to meet our cat first, I think." And with that, I faded off to sleep.

Things were calm the next day; Naltort was tender and loving with Tarmant, who seemed back to her normal well-balanced self, variously serious (while she was tutoring me), tender (when we cuddled afterwards), and frivolous (when we stopped by Naltort's flat to 'meet the cat.') I was far too smart to assume we were past the problem of Tarmant's role in our bonding, but it definitely looked like we were past the danger point.