"Human settlement?" Tempest yelped.

Her heart slamming in her chest like a sledgehammer.

"What are you talking about, human settlement? There’s no such thing." Tempest shook her head. Her hands already balled into fists.

"According to Mark Chief Tuliq, there is such a thing. There is a settlement in the forbidden lands with all the humans that the high council has brought here. They are all hiding out in fear that the high council will get rid of them. Apparently it’s the lower classes that are keeping them hidden until the right time."

Tempest pushed up from the bed and started pacing in a small area right next to the bed. "That’s impossible. It was the first thing Mexyn and everyone else told me when I got here. That I was the only one left. Why would they keep something like there was a human settlement on the planet? Why would they make things that much more difficult for themselves."

"How are you figuring it’s more difficult for them?" Dron asked swinging his legs over the side of the bed, watching her as she continued to pace back and forth.

"My big issue is the fact that I don’t belong here. That I need to get back to my own people. If I had known that there were people here, I might not have put up such a fuss to get home. No, I probably still would’ve, but they don’t know that." Tempest threw her hands up in the air and finally stopped moving around.

"I’m not sure they were taking into consideration what you wanted. This is all orchestrated, Tempest. Now that I know what Rynax believes and what he was telling you, it seems as if there is a much bigger agenda here than just having you stay with me for safety."

Tempest nodded her head, but there was something else that she wanted to know about. Something that Rynax had told her that she didn’t believe to be true. After all it never happened to her while she was on earth.

"I have a question. Rynax said that pretty much all the alpha’s were waiting for me to go into heat. That’s not something that humans do. I don’t have a heat cycle. I do have an ovulation cycle but I don’t think it means the same thing as going into heat."

Dron swallowed hard, but he didn’t look away from her. "I can’t tell you the details of a heat cycle for an omega. I’ve never been allowed to be present while it happened. Even my mother was taken away when she went into heat when I was younger. Yours will be the first one I get to experience."

"But it can’t happen to me, right? I mean, am I to believe that I’m going to go crazy with lust and just be willing to lay down with whatever man comes my way? I don’t see that happening."

"You’re damn right that’s not going to be happening." Dron growled.

"Dron, focus." She admonished him lightly. He sighed and calmed himself down.

"If what I have heard is true. It’s more of a primal instinct. Omegas know when it’s time to be impregnated, and they long to further the line of the strongest alpha. Maybe it will be different for you. I hope that’s the case because if what I’ve heard is true, denying the urge to mate while you’re in heat will be more than just a little painful." Dron’s expression darkened slightly after he said it, as if he regretted bringing the topic up at all. Tempest noticed the way his shoulders tightened and the way he suddenly became interested in a small crack running along the wall. Whatever he was imagining couldn’t have been pleasant.

"Painful? Why would it be painful?" Tempest questioned.

"I’m not really sure. You may need to speak with another omega about this." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Do you go into heat?" Tempest asked trying to change the subject even just a little bit.

"I go into what is called a rut. It’s similar but not as intense, and I can control it. I’ll likely just be in a bad mood."

"A bad mood?" Tempest snorted. "So exactly like every other day then?"

Dron stared at her for a moment before a reluctant smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Careful, temptation. I might start thinking you enjoy provoking me."

"Only when it’s easy."

The brief exchange eased some of the tension in the room, and Tempest was surprised by how much she enjoyed making him smile.

Tempest sighed loudly, "I don’t understand. That sounds like what happens to me. When I am PMS’ing I may get a little extra needy, but I can control it and I get a little more grumpy during the time, but that’s the extent of it. None of this seems like it applies to me. I think Rynax was wrong."

Dron nodded his head as if to signify that he agreed with her but she could read the expression on his face clear as day. He wasn’t all the way convinced.

If Tempest were going to clear this up, she would need to talk to an Omega. There was only one that she knew well enough to ask questions like this, but now after everything that had happened, she wasn’t completely sure that she could trust Mexyn to tell her the truth.

She had to take the chance, though. Tempest needed to know before this supposed heat came on. And if she’d been counting the days right and the heat coincided with her ovulation period, she had less than a week to figure it out.

"So what do you think is really going on with all this secret information that we are getting from your Mark Chief and Rynax?"

Dron rubbed a hand down his face. "I’m not sure. It’s possible that both of them have been led to believe what they are saying. One faction thinks you are going to try to take over and the other thinks that you are exactly what they need to survive. The only thing I can assume is that both sides need you. They’re going to come at us hard to make sure that you are on their side. It’ll be a fight."

"I would rather not fight anyone."

"Oh my temptation. How sweet you are. You won’t be lifting a finger. I’m here to fight your battles." Dron smirked at her and Tempest’s insides nearly melted.

"I don’t want you fighting either, Dron. When are you going to realize that I don’t want you hurt?"

"I won’t..." He started but then must have realized that there was no way to guarantee that, so he continued, "I’ll make sure I always come back to you."

Tempest smiled at him and rushed into his arms. Dron was stiff at first, as if he didn’t know what he should be doing, but Tempest didn’t move away. She let him get used to her holding him, and then he leaned back onto the bed, taking her with him. They got back under the covers and cuddled up together.

Out of everything that’s been going on and all the secrets that they’ve just uncovered together in the last few minutes, Tempest felt like she and Dron had turned a corner.

It no longer felt like they were fighting each other but that they were a team. Both of them wanted nothing more than to make sure the other stayed safe.

That realization should have scared her. Trusting people had never worked out particularly well for Tempest. Every time she’d let someone get close, she’d ended up disappointed or hurt. Yet lying there beside Dron felt strangely natural, as if she’d been doing it far longer than a few short weeks.

The knowledge that there might actually be a human settlement here also forced her to do some thinking about her plans. She wanted to get back to Earth simply because she didn’t think she belonged here in Ustea.

But what if she did?

What if there was a way that she could live out her life peacefully with other humans? People that understood her, that had things in common with her. Would that be enough for her to be willing to stay?

And if she stayed, did that mean that she could stay with Dron?

Sure, he wasn’t the most cheerful man she’d ever come across. He was possessive, grumpy, tended to have a intense anger problem with other people, but when it came to Tempest, she knew that Dron would do anything to make sure that she was okay.

The panic she remembered seeing in his eyes as she suffered from the allergic reaction was more than enough proof of that. It seemed like with every second that she was in pain, he was in just as much pain. Tempest was absolutely sure now that Dron would sacrifice himself if it meant that she would be safe.

But was that enough?

Was Tempest truly ready to trust another man again with her heart? After her experience with Sam she figured she’d need a long, long time to get back in the relationship pool. Turns out she just needed to be thrown into the ocean of a contract marriage for these feeling to rear their heads again.