Author's note: This chapter might be too rough around the edges and I apologize for that. If I waited for until I was happy with it, you all might be waiting until 2017. Also, it's late, late night here and I will do my review replies tomorrow (or you'd wait another day or two before I posted the chapter). Thank you for the tremendous support and amazing reviews. Each one is awesome and adored.

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Chapter 26

Raz'ha watched his students huddled in small assigned groups on the kehrite's training mats. They whispered their plots and tactics to each other and stole glances at other groups. He had never seen his students as cooperative or eager to win as a team before this assignment. Usually one or two scuffles broke out over a disagreement, but not this time. Raz'ha heard only a few raised voices which were quickly hushed and the dispute settled as swiftly.

The assignment was simple one that was given to every class at some point. Raz'ha gave his students a hypothetical hunt and their jobs were to devise the best strategy as a team. The results were always mixed the first few times. Students gave strategies that were competent, but not individualized. They rarely took into consideration their own strengths and weaknesses as they would in a real hunt. This was to teach them to consider practical application instead of theory.

This time they were competing for more than a passing assessment. The group with the best solution would win shifts to stand guard outside Raz'ha's quarters. Guarding his quarters was a boring duty and not the reason the unbloods formed tight secretive circles and shared their best ideas in hushed voices. It was the ration of nutritional pellets guards received as payment that the students wanted.

Since they weren't expected to defend Raz'ha's quarters, it was the easiest path to extra food for the young males. He'd received an overwhelming number of requests for the shifts once word had spread he sought volunteers. This assignment was the fairest method he could think of to select guards. Each class would have a winning team that would be assigned short shifts to stand in the hallway and send word if anyone attempted breaking into Raz'ha's quarters again.

Mar'cte entered and the students were too busy with their assignment to notice. Raz'ha greeted him in polite clicks as they stepped out of earshot of the young males.

"Sain'ja's information was correct and the mechanics confirmed who borrowed the tool used to bypass the lock to your quarters," Mar'cte said.

"Where can I can find him after the last meal?" Raz'ha demanded. This one could present more of a challenge than the last.

His hunt brother trilled. "That won't be necessary unless you intend to challenge him in his medical bed."

Raz'ha chirped.

"The mechanics demonstrate their appreciation by retaliating on your behalf. They asked me to pass their thanks to Raz'ha's ooman." Mar'cte trilled his amusement. "It will be several cycles before the pauk'de returns to duty and his access to tools will be restricted."

Raz'ha joined in trilling his amusement at that news.

This wasn't the first time Raz'ha heard of males wanting appreciation passed along to Amelia, though it was never by name. They had taken to calling her his ooman or his pet. It came with a slew of offers for mating that Raz'ha omitted whenever he spoke to Amelia about the topic. She was overly sensitive about sex and wasn't healthy enough for the strenuous activity anyway.

It was the first time someone retaliated on her behalf. And Raz'ha understood that to be the case because no one thought Raz'ha needed assistance with fighting challenges. The warriors were reciprocating Amelia's goodwill and proving their intent to cooperate. He could not think of another time when warriors would take up a personal challenge on behalf of a stranger.

Raz'ha supposed this was personal for them despite not knowing Amelia.

The small ooman provided a food supplement that offered more nutrition than pash. Even though it wasn't filling, it was more than they had before, and since it wasn't legal to trade it, yautja were able to eat more of their pash as well. The warriors had spread the word that disrespecting "Raz'ha's ooman" risked their food supply and that wasn't tolerated. So they took it upon themselves to challenge the yautja who helped break into his quarters. The warrior Sain'ja saw had been easy to locate and challenge that same cycle. He too was still recovering in medical.

Raz'ha considered filing a formal complaint, but having the warrior whipped fifty times seemed excessive. Odin was making a complete recovery. Hult'ah had taken a chunk from the warrior's hand, destroying tendons and ligaments that would require a lengthy recovery. Raz'ha overheard that the warrior would never regain full use of his hand. Sain'ja had bruised the warrior's organs and made him an unworthy opponent, too weak and injured, for a true hand-to-hand challenge. Raz'ha had been swift and merciful by only breaking his arm in the challenge.

It hadn't given Raz'ha satisfaction the way challenging Yeyinde had.

"Your ooman is not here," Mar'cte said glancing around the kehrite. "Am I not to escort her to her meeting with Elder Durnst now?"

"Amelia was summoned to the meeting early. Again." Raz'ha chuffed. "Sain'ja escorted her."

Mar'cte clicked his annoyance. "Guan-Thewi and I escort her to Yeyinde's kehrite then?"

"If you are not busy, I would appreciate it. She can attend early if you have duties at that time."

"We are not too busy to perform duties." Mar'cte tone was sharp, drawing attention from a nearby group. They glanced at the disturbance then returned to their plotting.

Raz'ha clicked caution. "You are offended."

Mar'cte chuffed. "You should have sent for us when the pauk'de destroyed your quarters."

Raz'ha rumbled to stifle his amusement. Mar'cte was offended that he missed the commotion. "Sain'ja and Yeyinde did not send for me either."

"When you returned then." Mar'cte clicked a reprimand. "We would have come. We should have come help."

Raz'ha tilted his head. "I know you would have come, but it was resolved at the time. There was nothing more to do and no need to draw you away from Guan-Thewi." He chirped. "Guan-Thewi needed you more and we all respect that the same as you respect Amelia's needs."

"Guan-Thewi adjusted to our ways long ago. He merely pretends at being feral because he deems ship life annoying," Mar'cte chuffed, "and you are not ignorant to that, Raz'ha."

"He disagrees with our plans and wanted to be alone with you," Raz'ha reminded. "Why disturb him more with the interruption?"

"He doesn't believe we are wrong, but he thinks oomans are too frail by design to ensure her survival, and he's right." Mar'cte clicked emphasis. "But he will follow because that is what we have decided to do. All of us. That should not be doubted."

Neither Guan-Thewi's loyalty nor status as their hunt brother was in question, and Raz'ha clicked as much, but was prompted to ask, "Even if he thinks this path leads to a purposeless death, he intends to follow?"

There was something disturbing about that. Tensions were easing and the situation improved every cycle since Amelia's trade with Elder Durnst. They planned to remain vigilant, but it appeared the danger was passing for now. Guan-Thewi had been vocal as always about his skepticism of the that however. Their hunt brother was certain this was the quiet before the true battle.

"He sees no purpose in living if everyone he can tolerate is dead. He has no other ties here and won't go back to being alone-clanless." Mar'cte shrugged and clicked to dismiss the topic. "Since the Elder intends to continue changing the schedule, it's best if we all agree to escort her based on availability when she is summoned."

"Agreed." Raz'ha nodded, eager to talk about something more straightforward. "I will tell the others."

"Guan-Thewi has a class later. We will escort your ooman from Elder Durnst's quarters directly to Yeyinde." Mar'cte trilled amusement once more as if they hadn't just discussed their deaths. "I hear she reprimands him in front of his students. He will enjoy her early arrival."

Raz'ha ignored the mention of Yeyinde because he knew Yeyinde did enjoy her visits in truth, but the matter between them was settled with their challenge. "Her name is Amelia," Raz'ha said instead. "Encourage the others to use it, or if they cannot make the sounds, she is Elder Val'jek's mate. Not a pet."

Mar'cte trilled more amusement, at Raz'ha's expense, even as he clicked his agreement. "It's a fucked time we live in, hunt brother."

With that, they clicked farewells and Mar'cte left Raz'ha to focus on his students.

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Elder Durnst's aid entered his office and nodded to him before exiting again.

"What was that?" Elder Mur asked from his guest chair. "News?"

"The ooman is waiting for our meeting," Durnst said.

Elder Mur clicked his disapproval. "Raz'ha's pet arrives unscheduled again?"

"I summon her at random times to see what she will do." Durnst rumbled. "Now I will see what she does when I make her wait."

He had learned much about the ooman mated to a Tauren elder in the last three cycles. They sparred verbally and he tested her response in subtle ways. The female was aware of these and it became a game to decide which of her responses were genuine and which were disinformation. That in itself was an opportunity to learn her strategies.

Mur clicked disapproval again. "And are you making progress with these secret dealings between you and the ooman?"

Mur had been furious to discover their trickery with the food distribution vote, but not because he disagreed. No, Mur hated being shut out of the negotiations.

What he learned of the ooman thus far made him certain that Elder Mur's tactics would not result in a positive outcome. What he knew of Mur made him reluctant to share many details of his ooman discoveries. Mur had been the one to spread the word that the ooman wanted the ban on challenges for food. It had been risky and foolish to incite warriors to confront her.

"Yes," Elder Durnst said.

"What progress have you made?" Elder Mur demanded.

"She remains cooperative. My assessment is that her goals are in line with our goals. As long as they remain thus, there will be no problem." It was the truth.

Elder Mur chuffed. "Why would her goals be in line with ours? She is a pet. An ooman. I doubt she understands our goals."

Elder Durnst tilted his head. Mur was a known snob and it blinded him to reality in this instance. "Her motives are different, but she desires the same outcome."

"What do you know of her motives?" Mur demanded once more.

"Her survival of course is a major motivator, but also the survival of those she meets. She spends time with young bloods and unbloods and then wants to help them. Warriors beg for her aid, and then she wants to help them. She sees pups missing from classes, and she wants to know if they are safe." Elder Durnst shrugged a shoulder in an effort to appear casual under Mur's blatant scrutiny.

Durnst clicked slowly, forcing himself to not give away his full opinion on the topic. "She wants to protect all things as she becomes aware of them. It is short sighted, and very strange, but not a deception. She will maintain her silence because she wants to prevent bloodshed."

What Durnst wouldn't say was that she would be a difficult opponent if those she protected were at risk. Much of their plans required Mur's support and they would not have it if Mur doubted the alliance.

"And you can swear to your certainty that once this ooman is safe from the consequences on a Tauren ship that she will never speak the truth?" Mur clicked skepticism.

"I am certain. She doesn't understand the full extent of what happened and I convinced her to sign an agreement never to speak of our trades." Durnst trilled with the lie to hide his deception. "What she does understand we are safe from as long as we fulfill our contractual obligations."

Mur still looked skeptical but clicked his agreement. "And Raz'ha? Does he understand what happened?"

"There is no proof he can obtain and he has nothing to gain from the accusation." Elder Durnst clicked to signal a dismissal of the idea. "He signed a contract to maintain his silence as well."

"That was very clever of you," Elder Mur said and then moved on. "Has Del'is requested a meeting with you yet?"

Elder Durnst rumbled displeasure at that. "I speak with her tomorrow."

"She intends to-"

"Select the next high priestess as she had done with the last four." Elder Durnst shook his head. "If we have learned anything from our past mistakes it should be not to trust her candidates."

"It's not her fault the females are corrupted by power." Elder Mur leaned forward. "She has the most support with the priestesses. They listen to her counsel and they will be swayed to her reasoning."

"She had no issue with the current leadership until they stopped catering to her desires." Elder Durnst tilted his head. "As those that came before, she will select a priestess she can control to usurp High Priestess Dar'ana."

"She has chosen Ark'ee." Elder Mur trilled. "You supported her selection as a priestess."

"That was long ago," Durnst said. "What was her vote on stealing from an ooman and risking our entire clan by crossing Taurens?"

"You know it was unanimous. You say this to rile me," Elder Mur chirped with amusement instead of unleashing his notorious temper. "All voted for it even if they did not agree because there would be retaliation, perhaps even civil war if they did not. You are familiar with such difficult choices."

"I do not need a reminder," Durnst snapped.

"You do." Elder Mur clicked. "You are as guilty as the rest of us for all your denials, you participated in two unsanctioned removals of a high priestess, and let's not forget that vote on Mek'ja's fate."

"Those were mistakes. Grievous mistakes we should learn from instead of repeating."

"Those mistakes ensured our survival," Elder Mur countered. "Let us not forget that Mek'ja was executed while Raz'ha was busy hunting for a reason. For all your assurances, the warrior is known for an unhealthy penchant for honesty."

"I do not demand that he lie only that he not speak and he will do that to protect the ooman."

"This could as easily end with arbitrators destroying us all in disgrace," Elder Mur said. "Now is the time for caution and defensive measures not uncertain alliances with lower species."

Durnst pounded the desk. "We have no choice but to make these alliances now. The females saw to that when they broke the contract and stole."

Mur spread his mandibles and growled.

Durnst mirrored the expression.

Elder Durnst's aid tapped on the door and then entered without permission. The unblood peeked his head in the entrance with a chirp and an apology. "Elder Val'jek's mate asks if all is well." He clicked another apology. "We heard," the unblood stammered, "noises. She is concerned."

Elder Mur chuffed. "It is not an ooman's place."

Durnst was about to say the same thing, but hearing the words spoken aloud changed his mind. The ooman was concerned or the ooman was being clever. Perhaps both. Either way, the inquiry should not be met with disrespect.

"Inform Elder Val'jek's mate that all is well," Durnst said. He wanted to ask his aid about her behavior, but not while Mur still occupied his office. Instead he dismissed his aid and returned his attention to Elder Mur. It was time to conclude the meeting.

"I will listen to Del'is and will consider her schemes if they are in line with our goals," he said to make peace with Mur. They were allies, not enemies, even if they rarely agreed.

"She acknowledges past mistakes and has plans to address those mistakes," Elder Mur said. "Only a fool ignores her."

Durnst disagreed, but he nodded. "I thank you for your time, Elder Mur."

They exchanged proper farewells and Elder Mur exited. The ooman female entered as Mur exited and the two made an awkward shuffle around each other. She wore no mask and Durnst didn't need to be an expert on oomans to know she was gleaning information from the exchange. Once Elder Mur was gone, she thanked the unblood aid for his company and the unblood replied with enthusiasm before exiting the office. She then greeted Durnst formally.

Elder Durnst felt certain she had been soliciting loyalty from his aid if not outright prying information from him. Making the ooman wait was not an ideal tactic to be used. She was not unsettled or otherwise affected by the lengthy wait he subjected her to.

"I hope everything is well with you, Elder Durnst," she said pleasantly and showed him her ooman teeth in what was supposed to be a friendly expression for oomans. In any other species he had hunted such a display would have been associated with aggression. "I know firsthand how difficult and rude Elder Mur can be. I hear he means well though."

She was seeking information with this friendly conversation and put on her mask to hear his reply.

"He is abominably rude but our closest ally," Durnst said flatly. It was best to tell the ooman what she wanted if he didn't want to spar at length on the topic. "He wanted more information on our trade agreements and assurances that they are secret from all others."

"Well, he'll have to be reassured by the fact that you aren't telling even our closest ally what's really going on." Her voice was muffled by the mask which gave her more advantage as he struggled to associate her tone with the proper assessment of her moods.

This ooman was the only creature to make him feel at a disadvantage in his own office. He clicked his agreement with her words.

She took his response as a cue to begin their meeting and spouted rapid questions as she was prone to doing. "How are we progressing with our trade agreement? Is food going where it should? I hear tensions are lower now. Is that what you hear? What about the females, are they angry?"

"The females were angry, but they are quieter about their displeasure now that males are quieter about their demands for food." Elder Durnst rumbled his pleasure at having good news to convey.

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Amelia wasn't sure what to do. Raz'ha was near sulking and she had never seen that before. He'd been his usual self through dinner and after his hunt brothers left for the night. When they returned from washing a batch of rags from her period, his shoulders were more than a little hunched. Somewhere between protecting two entire ranks of males, managing training efforts, coordinating security for her pets, and giving her lessons on his clan's lengthy history of bloody regime changes, he had to squeeze in extra trips to the bathroom to wash her bloody rags. His hunt brothers took over much of the escort duties for her meetings with Elder Durnst and assisting Yeyinde in his classes, but Raz'ha always helped her personally with this task.

"I'm sorry we have to make extra trips to wash," she said softly. "I could do something for you. Maybe I could polish your trophies, or your armor, if you want."

She felt bad to add to the extra tasks he'd already taken on to help his clan.

He shook his head. "You are no hardship."

She would believe him if it wasn't for his lack of supporting sounds. He gave only words and no clicks or chirps to give them context which was rare for any yautja.

"You look unhappy and we're so busy now. I just thought-" She struggled with something to say but came up with nothing.

He chuffed but then said, "I am honored to care for you."

Again there was no context offered and he gave her only words.

"But?" she prompted.

He laid out her cloths to dry and she thought he might not reply.

After a moment he shrugged his large shoulders. "I am disappointed that I have not given you a suckling. It is foolish because we have not mated this cycle, but it reminds me that we have mated during other breeding cycles with the same result."

That was the last thing on earth she expected to hear. "You're disappointed that I'm not pregnant?" Dumbfounded, she stammered incoherent nonsense before managing, "But I'm on birth control. You give it to me every morning."

He made a mangled chirping sound that was more like a croak from his throat. "Birth control?"

"Prevents pregnancy." She motioned to the locker where the medkit was stored. "The blue vial."

His entire body went rigid and his mandibles closed tightly over his mouth. She grew nervous, uncertain of what was happening. He said nothing for a long time as he just stared at her seeming as dumbfounded as she felt.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped. He had thought she could get pregnant. He wanted her to have a child with him. The thought came with a stab of pain and she quickly shook it off. Yautja wanted to have as many babies as possible. It was duty and pride, not a desire to have a family. Val'jek could barely remember the names of some of his children and had never met two that he knew of. Raz'ha said he had a few children, but made no other mention of them. This wasn't about her. It was about his pride.

His body jerked into motion and he yanked open the locker with tremendous force, denting both the locker and the wall. He grabbed the medkit and wrenched off the lid snapping the hinges.

Realizing his intention, she darted to intercept him. "Don't!"

Raz'ha held the kit away from her grasping hands with one easy motion of his long alien arm. He made an angry grunt as she continued to reach though her human arms would never be long enough to reach their goal.

"It prevents pups!" he barked at her as his breath fanned her face.

"It keeps me healthy," she countered.

That gave him pause, but he was still holding the kit away from her. He leaned closer and rumbled a dark accusation, "The elder claimed you could bear my pup."

That gave her pause and she hesitated. They stood at a standstill. Neither moving to press or give up ground.

She broke the silence and her voice was weak. Unrecognizable. "He said I would have a baby for you?"

Her mate was known for being devious with his carefully worded negotiations. There could be no doubts that he had pulled Raz'ha into some sort of meeting when he had first shown interest on the Tauren ship.

She felt sick to her stomach. Had they bartered her body?

Raz'ha stiffened and then recoiled a fraction at her question. "He said you were able," he said, then added more grudgingly, "if you were willing."

He looked at the open medkit, glaring at the blue vial in it, and seemed to make some sort of connection. He opened his mouth to speak again, but she cut him off.

"You never asked me," she snapped at him with all the frustration of months living in uncertainty. "Neither of you bothered with that pesky formality of asking me what I wanted to do with my body. You never asked whether having a child with you was what I wanted."

He chirped and clicked disbelief. "Why mate if not for sucklings?"

Why mate? She couldn't believe her ears. Was that all it was for him?

"For love and affection." It was her turn to recoil. She had just said that. To Raz'ha. She quickly blurted out, "The medicine does not belong to you."

She turned, with a calm she didn't feel, entered the bedroom, and left him alone with her birth control. It wasn't possible to physically stop him from destroying it. Only his sense of honor could do that.

Hult'ah greeted her with a rigid posture and huffing breaths to take in her scent that must have been rife with anxiety.

A moment later she heard Raz'ha exit his quarters and she let out a shaky breath.

It was all wrong. Why would he want half breed children? Was she a chance to have babies when yautja females weren't in season? Perhaps it was a way to inflate his numbers, or some other ridiculous plot to puff up his male pride. Those reasons were flimsy at best, but she couldn't piece together a reasonable explanation.

They had enough problems with his clan right now. No one in their right mind would want to add a baby into this mess. Why did he want to subject a baby to this madness?

None of it made sense. Not to her human thinking.

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Quick note: Lot of questions about what Raz'ha is doing even thinking about having a kid at a time like this. It's not that he expects one right now, he was just reminded that it hadn't happened before when they were having sex and had regular food. It's been a while since I updated, but at an earlier point he was concerned that she might be able to conceive during the shortage which would be bad for her and a baby. That was in addition to the concerns about exercising when there isn't enough food to burn those extra calories. With those things (among others) in mind, he decided sex was a bad idea for the time being. I hope that clears things up for everyone!

Thank you again for reading and can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of this chapter. We've had quite a few names added this chapter, oh and that little moment where Raz'ha and Amelia realize that they weren't on the same page with getting pregnant. Did you enjoy that awkward revelation? :D

Review Replies: Coming soon! Please check back tomorrow.