We talked a long time about the things she’d said to Damien and his Brothers. Some of it she did not


    remember saying, but she certainly felt that way. My position in this household terrified her, talking


    about it seemed to help some.


    Having the reason for her fears out in the open changed Hannah’s rtionship with my men. She


    talked to them now and didn’t hiss. The unrestrained anger seemed to have abated and she treated


    them like equals.


    I woke Late one night to find her sitting on Damien’s stomach. At first I thought she was hurting him and


    then I realized they were just talking. Since I typically slept deeply, it was no wonder they found it a


    good time to talk. I closed my eyes,y still, and listened.


    “Nu-reeh is going to send you back to thepound,“ she told Damien. “She told me once my teeth


    come in and I Leave; you will all go back.”


    “Your Mama will be safer in thepound,” Bane whispered from the other side of the bed.


    “The other Warriors respect the rules and your female breeder knows them well. I fear for her safety


    around the women and the men here. They are not as respectful of the rules.”


    “I don’t want to leave Mama,” Hannah told them.


    “I want her to stay here, with me, in the mountains.”


    Christof spoke next, “We will care for her. We swear it to you. Men like us never tire of family,” he said


    gently. “From the little bit we understand, you are supposed to travel.”


    Everyone in the bed told Hannah the same thing in soft murmured voices. I heard her shuddering


    breath as she tried to trust them.


    “I am torn. The world, it intrigues me, but I don’t want to leave her,” Hannah whispered, “I still want to


    see her.”


    “Well,” Damien said thoughtfully, “there are ways you could visit her. Nu-reeh can probably arrange


    what you want.”


    “I wish to stay with her,” Hannah said softly, “but I also wish to travel.”


    “You should travel,” Damien said seriously. “Come back to these mountains if you wish, but you should


    see the world first.”


    Ang’s Library


    Content from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.


    Kein sighed and said he would have liked to travel. No one ever told him it was an option. He and his


    Brothers had just assumed the Administrators knew what was best for them. Now, though, he felt he


    had missed out.


    “Imagine ces where water falls from the sky all the time,” he said softly.


    “We see it so infrequently here. I would like to see it more often.”


    “And the tami tree,” Bane said, “wouldn’t it be nice to Live in a ce closer to that wonderful nt. I


    love the taste of the meat prepared with it.”


    The men talked softly about all the things they wanted to see for themselves. It would have been fun to


    travel together. They would have enjoyed it.


    “I can feel the teeth under my gums,” Hannah admitted quietly, “It will not be long.”


    I sucked in a gasp and Hannah crawled over to me. “Mama, are you awake?” she asked.


    Pretending to be waking up, I asked if she was hungry.