"Has Prince Roan or Vailen been able to explain the tenants of the Temani Bercari in depth to the human populace, yet?" I asked the question aloud, but I already knew the answer. This would be a long hard fought battle and the human governments seemed deadset on misleading their populace while placing the blame elsewhere.

"No." The other members of my Riniere grumbled from their places in front of the viewscreens displaying the human news media.

I'd tried to go to petition the Prince and the Communications Lead for my mate's right to speak to her friends, but they were still locked in conversation and no one was permitted entry.

Instead, I'd retraced my steps and gone in search of my kinsmen for advice. I found them in one of the media halls, glued to the special screens that showcased human entertainment. It had been a busy place when we'd first arrived. Many different males came here to learn about the culture of the females we'd been lead to, but as time passed and no matches were found slowly there was a deterioration of hope. And yet, this place was busy once more. "The uproar on the human news stations have brought many males back to this room."

Kayle laughed and sent me a smile over his shoulder, "No. You brought more males back to this room. You and your little mate. Business tripled in this district once news of your match got out."

I stifled the urge to ask how he even knew that. Kayle has always been business savvy. He'd inherited that from his father.

Instead, I turned my gaze back to the viewscreens, to the clips of Addison's transport that they just kept replaying. Reasonably I knew they only spanned a few seconds, but the look of terror and the tears that streaked down her face caused something ugly to boil over in my gut. The males who escorted her took up protective positions. Absently, I was grateful that a Sumase Val'Dornn was there with her in case someone had tried to grab her.

I swallowed down the instinctual possessiveness that reared it's ugly head as he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder in the video. He was only trying to keep her safe. And he did. He got Addison out of the crush of bodies and into the safety of the genetics lab quickly. I let out a breath just like I did each time I saw him get her to safety. It didn't matter to me that this moment was over and done with. Each time the tension coiled tight and each time I felt the moment as if it were happening here and now. Get her to safety, quickly. Every single instinct screamed at me and it was a hard battle, fighting one's instincts.

"I need help." The words were quiet beneath the chatter of all the other males in the room, but my Riniere acted immediately. They --each of them-- quietly got up and walked toward one of the quieter rooms deeper in the building. Once we'd closed ourselves off in a small room they each took spots in the seating around the room.

"An issue with your little female?" Kados asked, crossing his long legs at the ankle as he lounged in the chair to my left.

"Kados, you sound too smug."

"Not smug, just interested in the first match of our race. Any help we can offer is useful both for Esayr and truthfully--"

"Shamelessly, you mean," Addric cut in sensing his brothers next words.

"Helpful for me as well. We all benefit from a completed mating." Kados shrugged, "We all know that a comparison of genetic material before and after a completed mating is crucial. We just need to get to the completing and I'm ready to help."

Kayle smothered a laugh and even Laene had to look away for a moment.

"You're ready to help in that completing are you, Kados? We all expected you to claim a female with another male, we just figured it'd be with Addric, not Esayr," Kayle jabbed at Kados good-naturedly.

"Addric would be the smarter choice, Esayr would fight you," Laene quipped in.

Addric rumbled a deep laugh while his brother got flustered, "I'm here to help him get to his completing, you fool. I'm sure he needs no help from me."

"Oh? No? How would you know?" Kayle continued his joking.

"I assure you I am perfectly capable of...completing." I gritted my teeth through the awkward wording.

All of my Riniere burst into raucous laughter and it helped to ease some of the tension I'd felt since my little mate had asked me to help her build up walls between our bond.

"Then what are we here for?" Addric gasped through his laughter, wiping at his eyes

I sighed, the topic wouldn't be a happy one, most of all for Laene, but I needed other thoughts, "Addison has asked me to help her block her emotions from flowing through the bond.

They all sobered immediately, all of their faces showcasing mirrored images of sadness.

"It makes her uncomfortable that I have unfettered access to her feelings. And of course, it's worse because of my," I waved my hand in the air, "abilities. I told her I would help her."

"You did?" Kados looked horrified, "why in the world?"

"I only want her to be happy. I want her to be comfortable with me. If that means I have to sacrifice this aspect of the bond then I'm willing to do it," I paused in the wake of the sadness I felt by the idea of not feeling that complete mental connection for even a short time, "I can only hope that once she's comfortable with me she will begin to take the wall down little by little. I need to know how to block myself from someone else's point of view."

"I'd just tell her it can't be done." Kados murmured.

"That's not an option and you'll realize that when you find your female as well."

Kados looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded, accepting my words.

"I don't quite think Kados is completely wrong," Kayle mused, "You've got a twofold bond. The bond between both of you and the bond of an empath. It will be much harder to build a strong wall that you won't naturally be able to overcome. And even if she does make one it may not last forever. All I know is that she'll have to focus on something unbreakable. Something that she knows as acutely as her own self. She'll have to focus on that when she wants to block emotions from you."

I nodded. I'd heard that explanation before, but it was easy to say those words. It was a completely different matter to put them into practice. "What do you think of when you try to block me. If it's personal you don't need to answer me."

"I haven't needed to block you in such a long time, but when I did I thought of Kados," Addric was the first, not even sparing a second to think about his answer.

Kados turned a dazzling smile on his brother, looking as positively radiant as a golden sun, "You do care."

Addric kicked Kados' chair, "Very funny."

Kados turned to me a wicked smile on his face, "I thought of the garbage shoot in the cafeteria near the sparring rooms on level three."

"Aw, you do care," Addric drawled sarcastically.

The rest of them burst into laughter again before Kados yet again changed his answer, "Honestly, I thought of Addric. He is as much me as I am him."

I nodded.

Kayle seemed to think about the question a while, "I thought of the small Chipti my parents gifted me and my brother as a pet when we were young."

I didn't expect Laene to give an answer, he never physically had to shield himself anyway since he was immune to my abilities, but he gave me an answer nonetheless, "I would think of my mother."

We were quiet for a while taking the time to reflect on matters that weren't quite intimate but weren't matters you would share with people you weren't close to.

Kayle broke the silence, "I would start small and do it from the opposite direction. Manipulating her feelings will be harder for you. Have her focus on something and have her try to keep you from changing what she's feeling. That way you can be sure the training is actually working."

"Reasonable, but what emotion should I make her feel?"

Kados snorted, "I certainly know what I'd try."

I shot him a disapproving look, "That's the issue that got us here. She asked me to help her block her feelings because she's afraid I'll know if she..." I stopped not sure if I should have even mentioned it.

"Well, surely you won't leave us wanting to know what she's afraid you'll feel."

"She's embarrassed by the idea of me feeling her want me."

All of them smiled secret smiles.

"So you didn't really need help then? You've got this completing thing all in hand don't you?" Kayle muffled more laughter.

"Are you going to tell her you'll smell it on her just the same? She won't be able to hide it even if she can mask her emotions."

I rolled my eyes at their amusement. Truly they were all just happy for me for finding my mate. Was I going to tell her that I could smell her need and her desire rolling off of her? I should, but how would I find a moment to tell her without stressing her. And, that certainly wasn't something I could stop from doing. That was simply Val'Dornn genetics ensuring a connection between mates. I wouldn't be surprised if she would eventually be able to do something similar when we completed our bond and some of her DNA changed to mingle with Val'Dornn.

*****A/N*****

Also, straight up realized none of Esayr's Riniere should be able to speak English. So, none of them should have been able to speak to Addison lmao whoops.

That being said, I should mention that all of this is literally very much a first draft. I'm publishing each piece literally seconds after I finish it for NaNoWriMo. I will eventually go back and edit these pages into something that sounds better and flows better, but for now, I just want to get this story told in whatever manner it decides to come out.

Always yours,

Layla