Brida Pact (12 page)

“Ever the politician,” Val said with a wry smile.

“I get it. So how do we go about letting the Council know
I’m not going anywhere? This Demascus person has no idea who he is dealing with
if he thinks he can bully us for his own agenda.” By this time, Poppy had her
hands on her hips and was ready to go to battle.

“I would call for a Council meeting immediately, Wheaton. It
would be better for you to call the Council meeting before you are summoned and
need to defend yourself,” Thorne said with a nod.

“I agree,” Wheaton said.

Flashing green lights suddenly lit up their bands. The men
exchanged startled glances, each of them seeming surprised.

“Ummm, guys, what does that mean?” Valerie asked.

“It means the ship has been called home and we will leave
Earth’s orbit immediately,” Wheaton said with a questioning glance at Thorne.

“I was not aware we were going to depart today,” Thorne said
with a frown then smiled at Poppy. “However, this means that you will not be
able to go to Earth regardless of the Council ruling. We are only able to
shuttle between certain distances and the trip home will be too far to transport
you back to Earth. Once the ship is mobilized, nothing except mechanical issues
will stop our voyage. Our planet is three weeks away according to Earth
timetables so we know for certain we now have more time until you can
physically leave.”

“Well hell, that’s good to know. Are you still going to call
a meeting ASAP or wait a bit?” Poppy asked, relieved that she would have more
time regardless of what the Council ruled.

“I am unsure what time ‘ASAP’ is, but I will still call one
immediately. It is better to get this taken care of than to continuing worrying
about it. Do you feel the same?” Wheaton asked with his brow raised.

“Yep, big guy. Right now my stomach is still turning at the
thought of having to leave. I don’t want this hanging over our heads any longer.
Call your guys together so we can get this done.” She leaned up to give him a
quick kiss, which turned to a slightly longer one once their lips touched.

Valerie clearing her throat was the only thing that stopped
the impromptu cuddling Poppy found herself in. Glancing at the three people
watching them with varying degrees of smiles on their face, Poppy decided she
would be a good hostess and offer them something to drink or eat while they
waited for a meeting she was dreading.

Poppy was relieved when Wheaton said they had a few hours
before the Council meeting would start. The extra time gave them an opportunity
to go over all the information Val had brought with her. Wheaton needed to go
and feel out some of the other members to see who might be allies in case
Demascus tried to cause shenanigans during the meeting. According to Valerie,
it seemed pretty cut and dried, but Dathrow seemed worried even though he kept
his mouth shut. Poppy could tell Wheaton was worried. He kept stroking her hand
and had essentially been glued to her side for the last few hours. She had to
pry him off her to visit the bathroom and he had been chagrined when he
realized where he was following her.

Poppy’s stomach churned as she walked to the Council room.
The hallways seemed brighter and longer than ever before. Hoping she didn’t
puke in front of everyone was one of the concerns running through her mind. For
all her tough talk back in their quarters she was worried she was going to lose
her newfound happiness. She had never been one to have amazing luck and she was
hoping whatever good juju she had out in the universe would kick in right now.

Thorne, Dathrow and Valerie were all walking ahead of
Wheaton and Poppy. She took in the fact that Thorne stayed between the other
two at all times, and if her eyes weren’t deceiving her, he had also taken a
whiff of Valerie’s hair a couple times along this seemingly endless trek.

Coming to a set of bright double doors, the group stopped
and Wheaton turned to Poppy.

“Poppy, remember that I will not let you go. No matter what
you hear today, nothing is going to change that.” Wheaton picked her up into a
hard hug. He gazed at her as if he had forever in their future no matter what
happened.

“Don’t worry, you two. We will present Valerie’s loophole
and this should be over soon,” Dathrow said with an expression that didn’t
necessarily seem like he believed what he was saying.

A group of warriors were standing behind a large table
inside the Council room. At Wheaton’s entrance, the men turned and revealed the
small man who had held their attention. His smarmy looks were exactly what
she’d expected when the warriors had described Demascus. She wasn’t
disappointed in the villain-like appearance he presented when he introduced
himself with a sly smile.

“Well, I should have assumed this meeting had been called by
you regarding your human problem.”

Poppy could only describe his approach as a slither as
Demascus moved closer. Wheaton managed to keep Poppy by his side but angled
himself so he was shielding her slightly.

“Demascus, this is my bride, Poppy.” Keeping a firm arm
around her, he motioned to Mr. Smarmypants.

“Poppy, this is Council Member Demascus.”

Without letting go of Wheaton, Poppy stretched out her hand
for a handshake out of reflex.

Staring pointedly at her hand, Demascus sniffed and said,
“Wheaton, apparently you did not receive the notification that she is
not
your bride.”

Poppy could see a mean spark in his eyes but didn’t want to
say anything yet. Wheaton had explained that usually Council members were the
only ones allowed to speak within the room, and she was only to respond if they
spoke specifically to her.

Wheaton tightened his grasp around her and said in a very
cold voice, “Demascus, we have decided that the alert does not apply to us and
since we are both more than happy with our match we are prepared to sign the
bridal contract immediately.” He enunciated every syllable so as not to be
misunderstood.

Poppy took in the stunned look on Demascus’s face and smiled
inwardly. The man was obviously one of the warriors who had been affected by
cloning. He was tall for a human but a good foot shorter than the others in the
room. Moreover he was pale and she was unable to tell what breed group he
belonged to. With his obviously receding hair slicked back into a low ponytail,
he was completely creepy. When he smiled, he reminded her of a used car
salesman she had once dealt with who called her “little lady” and “sweetheart”
the whole time while trying to sell her a lemon. Even if this hadn’t been the
Council member she’d spent the afternoon being schooled on, she wouldn’t have
liked him anyway.

“I don’t think I heard you correctly. Councilor Wheaton,
this is not your choice to make. The matches are null and void as they were
incorrectly made on Earth. Your bride is not your bride.” Glancing to his side,
he nodded at a few Council members who seemed to be listening in on the
conversation.

“Let us rule and then your little human can go back to her
world,” he finished in the most condescending tone she had ever heard.

The men seemed to know that they were ready to begin and
took their seats. Poppy would have been unsure where to go, but Wheaton
directed her to her seat and took the one next to her with Valerie flanking her
other side.

“Council members, it has come to my knowledge that my mating
is being challenged due to a glitch in the matching profiles, and the brides
are being transported back to Earth,” Wheaton addressed the group of men in
front of him. “I am here to let you know that we are happy with our mating and
do not intend to separate but instead call for an immediate joining.”

This was said with such finality that the room was silent
for a moment. Some scanned the group, as if trying to decide how to take this
announcement. Wheaton had certainly stunned some of them.

Demascus broke the silence.

“What gives you the idea you have the authority to make such
a demand or go against a Council edict?” he asked as if he were offended on
behalf of all of the Councilmen sitting around the table. Unfortunately, when
he said this, Poppy noticed some nods to his statement from the jerks on his
right side.

“Council members, I would not go against a ruling if I felt
it was the correct one to make for the good of our race.” Linking his fingers
through Poppy’s, Wheaton smiled reassuringly. “This match is perfect in every
way. We are compatible and have developed feelings for each other that would
make it impossible for our match to be dissolved.” Moving his gaze from one man
to another and meeting their stares head-on, he then continued, “We are also
physically compatible as well and it is in not only our best interests but the
interests of the breeding pact to keep our union as binding.”

A Council member whom Poppy had yet to meet watched her with
kind eyes and addressed Wheaton. “Physically compatible? Does that mean that
you have had sexual relations with your bride?”

As if realizing that he had asked a very personal question,
he then shifted his attention to Poppy. When Wheaton stiffened at her side,
Poppy stroked her thumb along his palm to let him know it was okay.

“Miss, I am sorry for the personal questions. Let me
introduce myself. My name is Kain and I am a brother to Wheaton. Most of us are
wanting this program to work while others still have concerns. This mistake
with the matches is a major concern for the entire program and has given us
doubts if this is the best way to approach the breeding of our race. We are
hesitant to let your match stand. All indications are pointing to Wheaton being
matched to another female and you even had another warrior match. The original
profiles were designed to find our most compatible mates and I cannot see how,
if the system made a mistake, you would be happy to stay with Wheaton.”

Poppy could see the kindness and understanding on Kain’s
face and figured she was now allowed to talk considering that he had spoken to
her directly.

“Councilor Kain, I am unsure how the system made a mistake.
From everything that Wheaton and I have learned about each other, we know we
are compatible. It was an adjustment at first but once we got over the hurdles
of a new relationship and started communicating, we realized that we cared for
each other. We had developed feelings for each other, strong ones.” Shooting
Wheaton a smile, she continued, “I know for sure that there is no one else for
me. Over the past couple weeks, we have bonded and if I were to leave him, I
don’t believe I would ever find another person to make me feel as he makes me
feel.”

“Feelings. Ha,” Demascus scoffed. Gesturing around the room,
he raised his voice as if trying to get the group on his side. “I am sure that
you feel sexual attraction.” He smiled snarkily at Poppy. “The profiles do not
match though. There cannot be any other compatibility other than a physical
attraction that you feel for Wheaton. Whatever he feels toward you is most
likely due to being without a female for such a span of time. He simply needs
to spend some time in the Pleasure Sector to cure himself of these feelings he
has for you.”

“Do
not
speak to my bride in that tone of voice,
Demascus!” Wheaton seemed not only angered that Demascus had dismissed their
match as based on sexual attraction only, but to say that Wheaton needed to
“get laid” to cure himself of their attraction was offensive.

Poppy could feel Wheaton’s hand shaking in anger by the time
he finished biting out the sentence. She wanted to punch the guy out herself
and easily imagined Wheaton shared the same feelings but didn’t want do it and
get into trouble.

“Poppy and I have made our decision,” Wheaton said flatly.

“Not so fast, Councilor Wheaton,” Demascus interrupted. “You
have no grounds to keep your union intact. The decision has already been made.”

“The Council is unable to interfere with our decision. We
have brought along Poppy’s liaison and she has the paperwork to support us in
this situation.” Gesturing to Valerie, Wheaton handed her the floor. Obviously
hoping this would be the final argument that they received, he sat back in his
chair.

Half the Council members had understanding on their
previously unreadable faces. The others appeared as though they would follow
Demascus out of sheer fear.

Poppy waited for Valerie to speak. Valerie seemed unfazed by
the abundant amount of jackasses in the room, scanning the room and smiling at
the men in front of her while she readied the paperwork that would hopefully pull
their fannies out of the fire.

“Council members, according to the trial period clause
within the contract that everyone has signed, you are only able to remove Poppy
from Wheaton for the following reasons…” She started going through the contract
and pointed to the paragraphs that held their saving grace.

Poppy could tell that the wind had left Demascus’s sails but
was positive he wasn’t finished. He no longer seemed to be searching for
backers but instead Poppy could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried
to come up with a reason to get rid of her.

“And so according to your own paperwork, Poppy is here for
good. Unless the honorable Phaeton Council is willing to go back on a vow.”
Valerie ended her speech with another smile.

A couple of the Councilmen were grinning back at Valerie and
giving her appraising glances. Out of the corner of her eye, Poppy noticed that
Thorne didn’t seem to be too happy about the attention Valerie was getting.

“I concede that you seem to have found a way to keep your
trial period intact for the time being, and for your human to stay on the
ship,” Demascus started.

“Thank you, Councilor Demascus.” Wheaton stood up, his
relief obvious.

“Please let me finish what I was saying, Council Member
Wheaton.” Demascus leaned back with an expression that made Poppy want to smack
him. “Since we had already decided that Poppy was leaving, we took the
opportunity to send for your
new
bride.”

“Excuse me?” Poppy said at the exact same time that Wheaton
yelled, “What?”

“We have explained that your match was incorrect and I
believe you were notified that another bride had been matched to your profile.
The Council took the initiative and brought her up to start her trial period
immediately, which is in agreement with the contract
you
signed when
filling out your profile for the warrior pool. According to our paperwork, you
are required to serve out a trial period with the bridal match that the system
has generated. The system has given you another bride and you are expected to
entertain her.”

With this statement sitting like a lead weight in her
stomach, Poppy sat back in her chair with her palm now sweating in Wheaton’s
hand.

“Well, send her back. I do not want her and it does not
matter what the matching system says.” Wheaton said this to the Council, but
Poppy could tell it was also directed to her.

Apparently Demascus wasn’t finished raining on her parade,
because his next statement made her cringe on the inside.

“She is your match in every way. She is in politics. She is
also very beautiful.” This was followed by a sneer in Poppy’s direction. “She
understands how important your place on the Council is and she is highly
educated. Her sexual compatibility also scored near identical to your own
profile regarding your preferences. From what we have gathered this match is a
far more appropriate one.”

As if he had just won the battle, Demascus crossed his arms
over his skinny middle and leaned back in his chair.

“I will repeat myself again so the entire Council can hear
me since apparently you did not the first time,” Wheaton said in a voice that
wiped the smile off Mr. Smarmy’s face. “My union to Poppy will stand. It will
also be finalized with the bride contract as soon as we are able to file the
paperwork.” Pulling on Poppy’s hand for her to stand, he tugged her up.

“We are done here. Council members, hopefully you can get
this new woman back to Earth with no problems and we will hear no more about
this. I can understand if any of the other warriors are having problems with
their matches but mine is perfect and I will complete it.” Starting toward the
door, he stopped when Demascus spoke out again.