Page 18 of BrOdByc
“Lan said you scanned your mate before removing the kack from the compliance pool. He sent me that medical report. Lan, please do another medical scan from here so I can compare the two,” the Father ordered.
Everything was silent while Lan pressed the buttons that would start the second scan. Once it was running, Brode knew it would take five minutes. It would feel like hours. He started pacing.
The Father’s voice cut through the craziness in his mind. “You all know that when I created you, my genetic material formed the foundation for the brothers. You also know that I combined bits and pieces of other species. Some of those additions, like the mating bands, I gave to everyone. Other add-ons were sprinkled through only a few, often mixed with other attributes.” Father sighed and motioned at the chair beside Lan. “Sit. Let the scan run while you listen to me. This is important, Brode.”
Brode sat and turned all his attention to the screen.
Father sighed, “You also know that my life has been filled with women. They come and go. Right now, they are all gone.” He laughed. “And I was happy to see the back of them. Even before I created you… I realized that a revolving door of feminine company wasn’t ideal. This spurred me to search throughout the universe for something better for my boys.”
Brode looked back at his mate. Casey was no longer writhing in agony. Her body was motionless with her hands still pressed over her stomach. Her face was pinched a little, so he knew she was still in pain. But her eyes were open and she stared at the screen, enthralled with the Father’s story. Pressing his lips together to keep from smiling, Brode turned back. He always loved the stories his Father told.
Lan frowned. “What do you mean, you searched for something better?”
“I didn’t want to leave your choice of female to fate. So, the first thing I did was mix my DNA with genetic material from the dragon king on Megoth. That is where you get your mating bands.” Father met his gaze. “The mating bands will only react to the perfect woman for you. It also ensures that you are the perfect man for her.
“If you meet the perfect woman—even briefly—the bands will know. You won’t miss an opportunity because there wasn’t time to speak to her, or get to know the woman. The bands will move or start to itch. They’ll ache if you leave her. Yes, fate must bring you together, but once that is done… the bands create a physical and mental link between the two of you… then there is no divorce. No unhappiness and slammed doors in the middle of the night. She is the only woman who can make you happy, and that happiness will last your entire life. You won’t grow tired of each other or regret the relationship.”
Lan leaned forward, drawing the Father’s attention. “So, because your relationships have been unhappy, you figured out how to give us a fated mate?”
Brode spoke before the Father could answer, “I don’t have any issues with Casey being my fated mate.” He turned and looked into his woman’s ice-blue eyes. “I truly believe the bands got it right. She is meant to be mine. But why is she in so much pain?” The medical scan beeped. It had finished. Brode didn’t move. “What does the pain mean? For Casey? For us? Am I going to lose her?” Confusion passed over his mate’s face.
He looked back and saw the Father frown at a small device in his hand. Brode realized he was scanning the medical reports. Comparing what had been done before—to the new ones. It didn’t take him long to come to a conclusion.
Father slowly sat the device down and walked over to a chair. Once he sat, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Once your mate’s life was joined to yours, the marks started running through her body. Healing… everything.“ He stressed the last word.
He heard Casey gasp. But didn’t turn. Keeping his eyes on the Father. Something was going on.
Father continued, “The marks aren’t designed to cause pain and agony. They are meant to revive and refresh. To make her the healthiest she’s ever been. To tie her life span to yours. If I’d given it any thought, I would have said that the natural process would be to push impurities through her skin. At the most, she would vomit or have diarrhea.”
“She did both,” Brode confirmed.
Father nodded. “It was short-sighted of me, but I didn’t consider what it would mean if the women chosen by the bands were truly sick.”
“I don’t understand.” Brode looked back at his mate.
Casey answered him. “I have cancer in my lungs. The Siloth doctor found the shadow. Lung cancer is usually a death sentence.”
Cancer. His translator simply inserted wasting disease. But his mate said it was a death sentence. He moved to Casey’s side, picking her up. He sat with her in his lap. Brode tightened his hold.
Before he could panic, the Father cut in, “You did have lung cancer, my dear. But no longer. BrOdByc’s mating bands have healed that sickness.”
She grunted, teared up again, and clenched her stomach.
Father sighed. “Casey is riddled with pain in her stomach area because the marks didn’t stop at healing her cancer. They are working overtime to heal her entire body. Since Casey had her uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes removed in a long-ago surgery, the mating bands are struggling to recreate those organs. Lan, the pain meds are wearing off. Please give her another injection so she can hear the rest of this.”
Before his mate could protest, Brode leaned down and whispered in her ear, “These shots are not addictive. They are a common herbal medication. They won’t last long, but they will help for a short time and so far… they aren’t causing side effects. There is no limit to how many you can have. Let them help.”
Casey sighed and nodded.
The Father waited until Casey gave him a thumbs up. “The intense pain comes from the bands attempting to rebuild her entire reproductive system.” He turned his attention to his brother. “Lan you need to make a note of what I’m about to tell you. There may come a day when BrOdByc and Casey need the information.”
Lan nodded. “I am recording all of this. The captain will want to know details he wouldn’t get from our sharing the story. So will Reb, as he is our doctor.”
Father nodded and switched his attention back to Brode. “Your mate and her sister are from Earth. There is a large colony of Earth women on Megoth. My last information is that a human doctor just mated a Guardian. They are one of two Human/Guardian pairs that live there. More importantly, another of the human females is mated to the dragon prince. Which means the combination of mating bands and a human female has already occurred. If you need help with anything, you might find it on this desert planet.”
Through the bands, he felt Casey’s thirst. He could also feel that the shot had once again taken the edge off her pain. One of the brothers waiting outside the bridge handed her a hydration tube. It was the first time Brode realized that all the brothers were there. They had propped open the sliding door so they could see and hear the Father.
Sipping water, his mate focused on the large screen. Her eyes never left the Father. Brode didn’t need to ask why. The Father was the original. The brothers were all clones of him. Father’s skin was just a bit darker in color than Casey’s. He wasn’t a colorful shade that signified a clone. The Father was also decades older than the first of them. His dark hair had just a touch of gray. He was also clean-shaven. No mustache, no facial hair—and the brothers all had at least scruff and a mustache. Some had grown beards that hung down to mid-chest, or mustaches that curled and stretched from ear to ear.
