Sons. I want a little time alone with my new sister.”
Caleb shook his head and shrugged. Taking Chase’s arm in his tight grip he dragged him out the door. Chase seemed to want to resist, seemed ready to take a swing at his Mohawked brother, but then reluctantly let himself be led away. When the door closed between the men and her, Anna huffed out a big sigh of relief. She hadn’t realised how tense she was until the source of that tension was removed.
“Take a seat, Anna. You look ready to fall down. This must seem scary to you. A strange businessman bites you on your neck, you see his eyes turn cat and then your own do the same, then he whisks you away from everything you know and brings you down to the dungeons where everyone you meet acts like a crazy person. Have I got it right?”
Anna laughed softly, liking the real Alyssa as much as she did the media version. She had no pretensions, nothing that marked her as superior to Anna, other than her knowledge of what was going on.
“Pretty much. Is...Is Mr Scanlan usually like that?”
“Call him Chase. I think you have the right to do that after everything he’s put you through today. And is he usually like what? Moody, volatile, and about to go postal on us?”
She nodded, smiling guiltily. Somehow it sounded so much worse when Alyssa put it into words like that. Although she was tense around the man, she couldn’t truly say she was scared of him, even when he appeared ready to go postal . She hadn’t understood that saying when she first came to the US, until someone explained how a sacked postal worker had come to work one day and just started shooting up the place. Now that kind of sudden, out-of-the-blue, extreme violence was called going postal .
“No. That’s all his cat. Normally Chase is very controlled. He has to be, as he’s the leader of the Scorpio Sons."
Anna had heard the word Sons used to describe the cat-people, but she didn't know what the Scorpio Sons were. Her confusion must have shown on her face because Alyssa stopped talking to study her.
"Didn't Chase tell you about the genetically-engineered super-soldiers he leads?"
"Yes, he said we're all clones created to fight the Guild. But I thought clones looked alike and you and I don't look alike and we don't look like Chase and Caleb, or your bodyguards."
Alyssa sighed heavily and shook her head. "Boy is he messing this up. We aren't clones. We were genetically-engineered with panther DNA, the same as our males, but we only share panther DNA, the rest of our genetic makeup is different for all the Mates.
"We weren't gestated in tube either. We were taken as fertilised embryos from the lab when the Termination Order was issued by the Guild. Then we were gestated in the wombs of women within the Résistance movement all over the world." Alyssa paused for a moment, as if trying to get her story straight. For Anna, the more she was told, the more overwhelmed she felt.
"We're called the Mates. We were created so that the Sons could breed and keep fighting this war for as long as it's necessary. But the idea of having their son fight this war doesn't sit well with most of the Sons."
"So you're telling me that my mother wasn't really my mother. She just allowed a science experiment to be put in her womb." Anna frowned with revulsion at the idea. How could the mother she had loved with all her heart done such a thing, and then gone on to raise this unknown creature as if she really was her daughter? It boggled the mind.
"Said like that it does sound awful. But the Résistance believes in their fight. They will do anything to bring down the alien monsters that are sucking our world dry, like they did to their own planet. So I think our mothers saw the idea of giving birth to us as a privilege. I know my mom loved me as if I was her own. I imagine yours did, too."
"Yes, she did. I just can't understand why. I'm not even human."
"The only thing you need to remember is that she does love
Caleb shook his head and shrugged. Taking Chase’s arm in his tight grip he dragged him out the door. Chase seemed to want to resist, seemed ready to take a swing at his Mohawked brother, but then reluctantly let himself be led away. When the door closed between the men and her, Anna huffed out a big sigh of relief. She hadn’t realised how tense she was until the source of that tension was removed.
“Take a seat, Anna. You look ready to fall down. This must seem scary to you. A strange businessman bites you on your neck, you see his eyes turn cat and then your own do the same, then he whisks you away from everything you know and brings you down to the dungeons where everyone you meet acts like a crazy person. Have I got it right?”
Anna laughed softly, liking the real Alyssa as much as she did the media version. She had no pretensions, nothing that marked her as superior to Anna, other than her knowledge of what was going on.
“Pretty much. Is...Is Mr Scanlan usually like that?”
“Call him Chase. I think you have the right to do that after everything he’s put you through today. And is he usually like what? Moody, volatile, and about to go postal on us?”
She nodded, smiling guiltily. Somehow it sounded so much worse when Alyssa put it into words like that. Although she was tense around the man, she couldn’t truly say she was scared of him, even when he appeared ready to go postal . She hadn’t understood that saying when she first came to the US, until someone explained how a sacked postal worker had come to work one day and just started shooting up the place. Now that kind of sudden, out-of-the-blue, extreme violence was called going postal .
“No. That’s all his cat. Normally Chase is very controlled. He has to be, as he’s the leader of the Scorpio Sons."
Anna had heard the word Sons used to describe the cat-people, but she didn't know what the Scorpio Sons were. Her confusion must have shown on her face because Alyssa stopped talking to study her.
"Didn't Chase tell you about the genetically-engineered super-soldiers he leads?"
"Yes, he said we're all clones created to fight the Guild. But I thought clones looked alike and you and I don't look alike and we don't look like Chase and Caleb, or your bodyguards."
Alyssa sighed heavily and shook her head. "Boy is he messing this up. We aren't clones. We were genetically-engineered with panther DNA, the same as our males, but we only share panther DNA, the rest of our genetic makeup is different for all the Mates.
"We weren't gestated in tube either. We were taken as fertilised embryos from the lab when the Termination Order was issued by the Guild. Then we were gestated in the wombs of women within the Résistance movement all over the world." Alyssa paused for a moment, as if trying to get her story straight. For Anna, the more she was told, the more overwhelmed she felt.
"We're called the Mates. We were created so that the Sons could breed and keep fighting this war for as long as it's necessary. But the idea of having their son fight this war doesn't sit well with most of the Sons."
"So you're telling me that my mother wasn't really my mother. She just allowed a science experiment to be put in her womb." Anna frowned with revulsion at the idea. How could the mother she had loved with all her heart done such a thing, and then gone on to raise this unknown creature as if she really was her daughter? It boggled the mind.
"Said like that it does sound awful. But the Résistance believes in their fight. They will do anything to bring down the alien monsters that are sucking our world dry, like they did to their own planet. So I think our mothers saw the idea of giving birth to us as a privilege. I know my mom loved me as if I was her own. I imagine yours did, too."
"Yes, she did. I just can't understand why. I'm not even human."
"The only thing you need to remember is that she does love
Similar Books
