"I've found him."
"Him?" Hassan asked, arching an eyebrow
curiously. "Who him? Could you be more specific, brother?"
"My mate," Shaikh Bogden Dhal Wuher
Al'Abdalha said simply as he looked across the
table at his brothers. He folded his hands together to keep from drumming his
fingers anxiously on the table as he waited for his brothers' responses.
"Many blessings upon you, brother," Urik said,
pounding on Bogden's back so hard he grunted and fell forward. Urik was
strong, the strongest of all the brothers. The man could crush someone if he
wasn't careful.
Bogden was just grateful that his brother
never challenged him for leadership of their pride. Urik might win. Luckily,
he said time and time again that he didn't want the mantle of leadership. He
much preferred not being in charge of the pride, just himself.
"Thank you, brother," Bogden said after
righting himself.
"So, where is he?" Hassan asked as he plopped
down in a chair across the table from Bogden. He looked excited, but not as
excited as Bogden felt that he could share this news with his brothers. "When
do we get to meet him?"
"That part is not so easy." Bogden grimaced.
"I do not believe he knows we are mates."
"He doesn't know?" Hassan asked. "How can that
be? A mate always knows."
"He's not a Katzman." Bogden grimaced as he
watched the surprise and shock on his brothers' faces as he imparted that bit
of information. "I found him when I was in service to the High Ruler. Anjali
is from Elquone like Commander Chellak Rai's mate."
Bogden couldn't help but smile as he
remembered the sexy little man he'd discovered while on a rescue mission with
Commander Rai. He knew the moment he spotted Anjali inside the cave that they
were meant to be together.
"Ashu!" Urik swore softly. "You really know
how to make thing complicated, don't you?"
"What are you going to do?" Hassan asked.
"Offer a contract for him?" Bogden asked. He
hated the idea of offering a contract for his mate but he couldn't think of
any other way to get the man now that Anjali had returned to his home planet
of Elquone. "What else can I do?"
"Meet him?" Hassan asked.
"We've already met, Hassan. We rescued Anjali
along with Trajan and Saris after they crashed on that deserted planet."
Bogden grinned proudly. "Anjali is the one that knocked Toc Jerell on
his ass."
"Then ask him if he's even interested in being
with you. Get to know him a little better."
"And if he says no?" Urik snapped. "You know
what will happen to Bogden if he's denied his mate, his mayht. Is that
what you want for him?"
"No, of course not, but…" Hassan shook his
head.
"I will have my mate, Hassan."
"Isn't there just some way you can, I don't
know…" Hassan waved his hand absently in the air, "work him into it slowly or
something? Do you really have to purchase his contract?"
"Hassan!" Bogden snapped then immediately
regretted it when his youngest brother's head dropped forward. "Look, Hassan,"
he said, calming his voice and his facial features, "I promise to give him
whatever time I can but now that I know he is out there, I can wait no longer
to claim him."
He really didn't need Hassan's agreement to
claim his mate. It was an instinctual imperative to claim a mate once they had
been found. Bogden could no more deny that natural part of himself than he
could stop breathing. Anjali was his.
It helped that Bogden had recently been
appointed the
Shaikh
of the Leonid
Pride upon his father's death. Bogden now ruled all of the
Province of Leonidia, as his father had done
before him. His word was law and final. Still, it made things easier to have
his brothers' agreement and support.
"So, will you help me obtain my mate?" Bogden
asked hopefully as he looked across the large wooden table at his brothers.
They nodded their heads. "Alright, I'll have Yasir get the ball rolling first
thing in the morning."
"What if he says no, Bogden?" Hassan asked.
"Why would he? I'm offering him a good life
here. As my mate, he'll help me rule our people. He'll be the Hahyda,
the heart of our pride."
"I don't know, Bogden." Hassan shrugged. "It
all seems so cold and calculating to me. I mean come on, a contract? Weren't
those outlawed by the Federation of Planets? Look at all the trouble Chellak
Rai went through when he had a contract with his mate? He almost went to
prison."
"Hassan," Bogden said, "You know I don't have
any other choice. I need my mate. As for the contract, that is what is needed
to bring Anjali to our province. I figure if we complete the mating ceremony
when he arrives then no one can say anything."
"I know. I just feel bad about--"
"Hassan, things are still precarious on
Katzmann. You know that," Bogden said. "Our life here is dangerous even
without the interference from the Federation of Planets. I have to bring
Anjali here as fast as I can and complete the mating before his contract is
sold to someone else. I don't have time to romance him."
"Yeah, but it's like you're buying him. Why
can't you just get to know him first? Isn't that what normal people do?"
"Hassan, we are not normal people." Bogden
chuckled.
"No, I guess not, but this still feels wrong."
"Once I get Anjali here and complete the
mating ceremony, I'll make sure that there is nothing that he wants for. If
he's anything like most people I know, he'll be in heaven."
"If you say so," Hassan grumbled. "But I still
don't like it."
"Would you rather I didn't send for him?"
Bogden asked, his voice hardening with aggravation. Everyone knew what would
happen if Bogden didn't have his mate now that he'd found him. The separation
would drive Bogden insane.
"No, but—"
"Look, let's just do this and we'll deal with
the fallout after he's here, okay?" Urik said, looking between the brothers.
"Urik." Hassan laughed. "Ever the voice of
reason."
"Bite me!" Urik snarled, making Hassan laugh
even harder.
"Okay, I'm going to go talk with Yasir. I'll
be back in a little while," Bogden said as he stood to his feet. He could
barely stop himself from rolling his eyes at his brothers. They were always
arguing with each other.
Maybe it came from growing up together but he
knew neither of them would hurt the other, or him. They were brothers, with
Bogden being born first, then Urik, and last came Hassan.
They were also closer than he believed most
brothers were. Bogden knew that his brothers would do anything for him just as
he would for them. Needing his mate wasn't going to change that. Bogden
wouldn't let it.
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