Jaxar
Chapter 24

Vanessa:

Jaxar brought them to an animal hospital and admitted Snacks. The receptionist gasped when Jaxar carried the fretti in through the doors, possibly because her man looked so awesome carrying an injured animal, but probably because Van staggered behind covered in blood from her head wound. Yeah, probably that.

She washed up as best as she could while they waited for the vet. "I must ask about the name," Jaxar said.

"She's a biter. Took a big old chomp out of that guy, like a special move. A snack attack."

"Do not grow attached. The fretti may be too damaged and dangerous to be a companion."

"Not the fretti. Snacks. Say it. Snacks."

"You are already emotionally attached," he said.

"To my Snack-aroni? Hell yeah." Van settled next to him on the hard bench, leaning against him. He felt comfortably warm. With the adrenaline leaving her body, exhaustion swept over her. Or that could be the blood loss. "For the record, this date sucked. I got motion sickness, gross. My ex turned up and invited himself along. I never finished my lunch. We never made it to the gardens, but we got held at gunpoint instead. Somehow I spent all my money buying Teddy's debt and I hate Teddy." She yawned. "I'm planning the next date."

"I am glad that there will be a next date." Then, he added, "You are no longer worried about my family's acceptance."

"Fuck you for mentioning that. Now I'm going to worry all night and not sleep." Another yawn. Okay, sleep probably wouldn't be as elusive as she thought. "Shit, my head. Don't let me fall asleep, at least until I get checked out by a doctor. Can I get some coffee or a sugary something?"

"Too much caffeine is not good for your heart. I will replace a suitable beverage," he said, vanishing out the door on his quest.

The day hadn't been good for her heart, physically speaking. Stress and adrenaline spiked her heart rate and now she was up way too late. A solid night's sleep was as important to her heart health as taking her meds. Emotionally speaking, the day had been solid. She found a sense of closure with Havik, even if she wasn't sure she bought his story about being betrayed by his father. That chapter was closed now, and she felt she could go forward with Jaxar, unburdened by the past.

Jaxar returned, holding two steaming cups of that caffeine-free herbal tea he liked, even though it tasted like grass clippings. Van was just about to resign herself to sipping lawn-flavored hot water when he produced a handful of sugar packets. Her man knew her so well.

She dumped the sugar packets in the tea. "Spending all my money was pretty dumb, right?"

"You have a compassionate heart."

"It wasn't compassion." Van sipped the hot beverage, wondering how much to confess. All of it. Unburdening herself of the past sucked. "I didn't like Teddy. He pretty much made my life hell back on the Vel Mori moon. He had a bench warrant and I reported his location. I snitched on him."

"If he was a criminal-"

Van shrugged. "Minor stuff. But he owed money to the sort of people you don't steal money from."

"Then he faced the consequences of his own actions."

"They cut off a finger. No one deserves that." Van shuddered at the memory of Teddy's hand wrapped in bloody bandages. "I did that. They wouldn't have found him without me, because I was petty and spiteful."

"He tormented you. He deserved much worse."

Van huffed and gave a thin smile. Trust an alien to take the bloody revenge position. "I didn't do it for him. I did it because I couldn't live with the guilt, so even when I was trying to be a good person, I was still selfish." Plus, her efforts at being a good person lost her the ability to pay for her degree.

Jaxar shifted next to her on the bench. "If you have changed your mind about mating me "

"I do want you to claim me," she said. "Today changes nothing. I made my decision a few days ago. I was just waiting to tell you at the wedding tomorrow, so it'd be romantic as fuck."

"I adore your way with words," he said, pulling her closer to him.

A vet informed them of Snacks' condition-dehydrated and malnourished-but otherwise healthy. They would keep her for observation for the next few days while she recovered.

After a stop at a medical center to patch up her head, they arrived at the family home well into the early hours of the morning.

The house was located on the outskirts of the metro area, perched on a bluff that overlooked the city. Jaxar led her to a small guest house at the back of the property. "I stay here when I visit. It has been readied for us."

The interior was one large space. The back wall was entirely glass and offered a breathtaking view of the city lights. Colorful screens separated the platform bed from the small seating area. With a cleansing room, the guest house offered all the amenities of a luxury hotel room, plus charm.

"This is perfect," Van said.

After a shower and carefully washing her hair, she reapplied a layer of gel to the cut on her head and was too tired to worry about the next day.

"Just sleep tonight," Jaxar said, pulling her to his side. "And there was nothing wrong with the date I had planned. Our activities were simply redirected."

Jaxar:

That morning, his mate fussed about her appearance and her clothing. She looked wonderful to him, in a flowing white blouse with gold embroidery and loose-fitting trousers. He fed her and kept her distracted with endless questions about Terran weddings and why it was rude to wear white to someone else's wedding, even if the color meant something different at a Sangrin wedding. He enjoyed seeing his mate in the traditional wedding colors of her culture. Vanessa need not have worried about his family's acceptance. No one cared about the color of the garment she wore. Dania embraced Vanessa like friends reunited at last. Stanelle thumped Jaxar on the back and grinned. "That's the one?" "She is."

Dania and her mate had exchanged vows that morning. The evening passed with drinking and dancing. Jaxar held his tiny niece, Neela, enchanted by her tiny fingers and toes. He grinned like a fool.

"You look good with a kid," Vanessa said.

"It is the strong family resemblance. She got all her good looks from me."

Vanessa laughed. She leaned in next to him, resting her head against his shoulder. She stroked the infant's soft cheek with one finger. "Hello, cutie pie."

Jaxar tensed, ready to have his mate doubt him again about his desire for children. He would enjoy sons, yes, but he would rather have Vanessa. She was the only thing he ever wanted for himself. Instead, Vanessa said, "Do you think those clouds mean rain?"

When Dania retrieved her child, she handed him a small wooden box. "Dad says you know what to do with this." She gave an overly dramatic wink.

He cracked open the lid and found a pair of fine cups nestled in fabric. Indeed, he knew what to do. Ten minutes later, he handed Vanessa a delicate cup.

She cradled it carefully. Steam curled off the tea. "Something tells me this is more than regular tea."

"These are the cups my grandparents used for their mating ceremony," he said. "They have been used for several generations because they bring us luck." He paused, searching for the correct words. "Vanessa, will you-❞

"Yes." Vanessa rotated the cup, inspecting the design. She bit her lower lip, which she always did when thinking, and said, "Lucky cups. We don't need luck."

In one move, she drained the cup. Then coughed. "Ugh, that's so much worse than the lawn clippings tea."

"It is a special blend for mating ceremonies." He tilted his head back and poured it down his throat, trying not to taste it. "Stanelle warned me of the taste. He was not wrong.

"So that's it," she said. "We're mated?"

"Nearly." One thing remained. He brushed back the collar of her blouse, exposing the base of her neck.

The wind picked up and the sky rumbled, giving a warning a second before lightning pierced the night. A storm swept through with lashing rain, ending the celebration. Jaxar and Vanessa ran back to the guest cottage, thoroughly soaked.