Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 7

The next day…

Her hands felt clammy.Her mouth felt dry, even though she had just taken a sip of her water. She stuffed the bottle back in her purse.

“Follow me, Dr. Bristol.” Locke smiled at her. “Don’t look so nervous.”

“Do I look nervous?” She smoothed the front of her suit.

“You look petrified. They won’t bite…I can promise you that much.”

“They’re royalty. A real king and queen. It’s Claire and Leukos. Not that I will call the king by his first name, mind you. Then there’s Magnar…is that right?”

“Yes, Magnar is also mated to Claire.”

“Does Magnar have a title? Is he a king too?”

Locke pushed the button to the elevator, and the doors opened. “After you,” he said, gesturing inside.

Hope didn’t move. She kept her eyes on Locke’s.

“Magnar is not a king and therefore he does not have a title.” Locke gestured inside again.

Hope walked in. “So I can call him Magnar, then?”

“That is correct. They are very down-to-earth…you’ll see. There’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Hope pushed out a heavy breath she had been holding and looked down at herself for the tenth time.

“You look great. Professional, and yet…very pretty. I’m not sure Reece will approve.” He chuckled.

She rolled her eyes and laughed, too. Right up until the elevator dinged, and the doors opened, then all humor evaporated.

The first thing she saw were two almost naked people. They were clearly Feral from their builds and yellow eyes. One of them was a woman, which was interesting. She was the first Feral woman Hope had seen.

“Hello, human,” the woman said; her wrinkled face was open and friendly. “Welcome.” She was wearing a skirt and nothing else. Her breasts were large and sagging. Her skin was brown and leathery.

“Hi there. I’m Dr. Hope Bristol.”

“I am Delise. I am the head healer.” She put out her hand.

Hope did the same. She smiled when Delise grabbed her wrist. Hope took the other woman by the wrist as well. It was obviously customary among the Feral. Come to think of it, that booklet she received before coming here was far too thin. Not nearly enough information. They shook.

There was a guy standing next to her. He had what looked like a furry cloth over his privates, and that was it. Hope looked over at him, and he inclined his head without further introduction.

“This is King Leukos.” Delise drew her attention, gesturing to a man dressed in a three-piece suit. He was tall and very attractive.

“Please, you must call me Leukos, Doctor.”

“Then I insist that you call me Hope.” They shook hands, only this time, the king took her hand when they shook, instead of her wrist.

“I am Magnar,” another really good-looking guy said. He had longish hair, with a hint of stubble on his face. He wore jeans and a button-down shirt. “This is our mate, Claire,” he added.

“Hi there.” A beautiful woman smiled at her. She had big, bright blue eyes and gorgeous, long blonde hair. They were a similar height and even though Claire was very much pregnant, Hope suspected that they had a similar build as well. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m glad to have an Ob-Gyn on board, even though I know that Delise has a wealth of knowledge.”

“I’m happy to be here, too. I can’t wait to learn everything there is to know about the Feral species and to help you deliver these…um…eggs.” She smiled. It felt weird talking about eggs instead of babies. “I will need to tap into your expertise, Delise.”

“I, too, have much to learn from you, Doctor,” Delise said. “Although there are many similarities between our species, there are also many things that are very different.”

Hope nodded, thinking about Reece for some reason. “That is very true.”

“This is Evander. He is our first male healer. We are trying to make progress as a species. Up until recently, there were no female warriors and no male healers. Things are changing. Evander has learned everything there is to know about egg-laying. Now he needs to learn in practice.”

Evander inclined his head. “I am greatly looking forward to learning from both of you.”

“How exciting…the first male healer,” Hope said. “I think that with our combined knowledge, we should do just fine.” She glanced at Claire when she said that.

“I hope so.” The queen went pale and clutched her rounded belly. “There has only been one Feral-human egg-laying.”

“And it was a success,” Delise said. “No clutch sickness. The chicks are all thriving.”

“That’s fantastic news.” Hope nodded.

“The clinic is almost ready,” Leukos said. “We left you office space, Doctor. You must order the furniture and items you need.”

“It’s a personal space,” Magnar chimed in. “We are hoping that you decide to stay longer than your six-month contract.”

“That’s very sweet. I worked hard to get my business going at home. I can’t stay away for too long.” She made a face.

“Perhaps we can convince you.” Leukos put an arm around Claire. “There will be many more pregnant females in the future. Our males have started taking mates. We are encouraging it. There is no future without children. If you stay on, you would have your hands full in no time. Mark my words.”

“We’ll have to see.” There was no way she could stay on beyond the six months. There was too much she’d end up losing. Hope left it at that.

“Shall we take a seat?” Claire said.

“We thought it would be best if we had a discussion about the two species. Everything surrounding being with clutch and the laying,” Delise said. “We can meet at the clinic tomorrow. You can examine Claire then.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hope nodded.

Claire hung back while they all made their way to the living room area. “It’s so nice to see another human face,” she whispered. “I hope we can be friends.”

“That would be great.” Hope followed Claire, watching as she positioned herself between the two men. Both of them were her husbands. It sure was different. Different was interesting, though. She had wanted an adventure, after all. Claire seemed so nice. She couldn’t believe that somewhere lurking in the shadows was an evil madman intent on stealing her babies as soon as they were born…hatched.