Read Mandate for Free Online

delicate moment and gave me some of his blood at the same time. It started the ball rolling, so to speak, and it changed my body chemistry.”
    “Right. But he wasn’t jealous at any point after that?”
    “Well, there were a few moments. I am guessing that until they lock you in, they are uncertain and it makes them dangerous.” Beryl grinned. “Having trouble with Drovin already?”
    “He pinned Rand to the ceiling.”
    Beryl winced and headed into the kitchen. “Well, I hope, for your sake, that courtship progresses quickly or you will be putting out little fires like that all over the place.”
    Wren narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean that since you two have made direct contact, he and you will be pulled together and anyone who interrupts that process will feel your upset. Can I eat this?”
    Wren moved between Beryl and her target and sliced the bars with a quick thought. “You can have one now and one in an hour.”
    Beryl beamed and snagged one of the bars while Wren packaged the rest of them up and put them away.
    “So, are you content to wear the bodysuits or do you want some more W’lyn clothing?”
    “I am not up to shopping. I don’t have any funds yet.”
    Beryl waved that away. “I am not concerned with money. You will be drawing a stipend from the Guardian Project, but for now, I have a lot of clothing that doesn’t match my colouring and I am never going to wear. We are currently the same size, more or less, and I think you could help me thin out my wardrobe to make room for maternity stuff.”
    “Are you serious?” Wren frowned.
    “Of course. The clothes shouldn’t go to waste because I am suggestible in the marketplace. This will give you something to wear when we go to concerts in the cities.”
    Beryl was trailing down the hallway toward the new addition that had been installed for the new couple’s privacy.
    “Why do you think that the talents of the Guardians come with the bonding?” Wren asked the other woman.
    “I don’t know. Either it is a way of making things physically equal, or the men are only attracted to women with complementary genetics. I don’t know which, but I am sure that there are bunches of folks looking into it.” Beryl grinned. “I cannot imagine life with Rand. I think I would have fought it with everything in me. Can you think of life with Loesh?”
    Wren shuddered. “No, nor with Rand or Toyo, though neither was an option. Just the thought of anyone other than Drovin makes me cringe.”
    Beryl opened the door to her quarters. “And if one of them were to press the issue?”
    “Then Rand would have company on the ceiling.” There was no doubt. There was no other man on W’lyn for her and she had no idea why.
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    The teenagers and the stampede of large animals had been solved with a minimal amount of injuries to the idiot youngsters who thought that riding the ten-foot-high, horned beasts as their ancestors did would be a fun afternoon’s entertainment.
    The Guardians were tired, grubby and two had been trampled, though Rand was taking it well and Toyo just wore the hoof marks without side effect.
    “Snacks are in the cooler. Dinner in an hour. Rand, Drovin, come with me to the medical office.”
    She turned and felt the two confused emotional signatures follow her. She entered the medical office, cleared the bed and told Rand to take a seat with the flick of her gaze.
    “Why am I here?” Drovin scowled.
    “If you want to be irritated when they are near me, then you will be here when I have to strip them down and treat them. Rand, expose all trampled areas. I will know if you are concealing any.”
    While Rand was bemused and disrobing, Wren went over to Drovin and pulled his head to hers for a violent kiss that shook his control to the point where his teeth extended. She nipped his lip and stepped back. Their breathing was rapid, but she turned and took the medical equipment to Rand, using a tissue