Tempest had walked from end to end of the large home at least thirty times.

It was huge. She was sure she’d walked at least two miles in the time that Dron had left her in the space.

Still even though she tried there was nothing that she could do to stave off the boredom. Her entire mind was consumed by the fact that she truly had nothing to do. There were no books for her to read. No television. What’s worse was there was no one there for her to talk to.

Tempest reasoned with herself. She told herself that the boredom was the main reason she was so upset that Dron had left. She was left in that large house on her own. She wasn’t dumb enough to go back out in the wilderness on her own again. One time was more than enough.

"I guess I’ll take a nap." Tempest plopped herself down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She could try to memorize the details but just thinking about doing that made Tempest roll her eyes in boredom.

At once she started thinking about the other human women that were abducted and brought here.

They didn’t have the same problems Tempest had, she was sure. They weren’t worried about being bored. They were worried about surviving.

Tempest wondered what was going through those women’s heads as they ran out there in the wilderness. She wondered how many of them were still alive. Had they all found eachother? Maybe started up their own little community?

The more she thought about it the more Tempest knew that it was unlikely. The trees were all beautiful but they were dense and hard to navigate. She remembered being worried that she would lose sight of the house even when she’d only walked a little bit away.

She couldn’t even fathom being miles and miles away from civilization.

Tempest turned on her side and tried to close her eyes. Hopefully when she woke up again Dron would be back.

And then what?

Tempest sighed as she turned onto her back again and slammed her hands down on the soft bed. Even when Dron came back it wasn’t like he was going to engage with her in titiling conversation. It’ll be more grunts and intense gazes.

Tempest just wanted someone to talk to. She looked down at the device on her wrist. She didn’t want to be annoying but Mexyn did tell her that it would be okay for her to call her to talk.

Tempest bit her lip as she pulled her arm up and activated her communicator. It was easy to use now that she’d had it for a while. It was almost like second nature.

The guilt began to overtake Tempest’s mind as she waited for the call to connect. Mexyn probably didn’t want to talk to her. She had her own life to think about. Tempest was just a job. It was silly for Tempest to take up all her time.

Before Tempest could disconnect the call Mexyn answered. "Tempest? What’s happened?"

The concern was clear in Mexyn’s voice.

"Hmm...nothing. I’m okay." Tempest smiled, she tried to put Mexyn at ease.

"Oh? Did you need something from me?" Mexyn questioned.

"No... I mean... not really. I just..." Tempest didn’t know what to say. The more she thought about it, the more Tempest realized just how selfish she was being.

"There was obviously a reason you decided to call me."

"I just wanted someone to talk to. It’s silly."

Mexyn tilted her head, "Where is Dron?"

"I don’t know. He doesn’t really spend any time here with me. Is that normal?" Tempest asked not really wanting to get him in trouble.

"I supposed so. Most omegas realize that they are only in the marriage to produce children. We tend to make sure that we don’t become attached. It’s easier when the marriage procedure is over and we are set to marry someone else."

Tempest sighed. It made sense. What was the point of becoming emotionally invested with someone you were just going to have to leave in a few months.

"I guess I understand that" Tempest wasn’t sure why she was thinking about a different outcome but she couldn’t help it. "But what if an omega doesn’t want to marry someone else." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Mexyn’s eyebrows shoot up. "Are you saying you want to stay with Dron past your end date?"

"No! That’s not what I’m saying at all." Tempest waved her free hand in front of her face trying to erase the thought from the air.

"Then what are you asking?"

"I’m just trying to find out if that’s possible? I mean is it unheard of?"

"Not unheard of but the only time it happens is when an omega and an alpha turn out to be fated mates. That hasn’t happened in years. The only other time is when both the omega and alpha are tainted, making them unchoosable by anyone other than the partners they are married to at the given time." Mexyn took a breath before she continued, "Is that what you are worried about? Do you think because you are married to the cursed alpha you are tainted?"

Tempest scoffed, "Not at all. I still don’t get what you all have against the man. He is as normal as they come. At least he seems that way to me."

Mexyn was silent on the display for another few minutes.

Tempest knew that she should hang up but that would mean that she would be alone in the house again.

"Would it be completely unheard of for you to come for a visit?" Tempest’s voice was soft.

Mexyn gave her a tight smile, "I’ll be over shortly."

"Yay! Thank goodness." Tempest popped up in the bed, jumping to her feet and staring down at the screen.

"I’m happy to help. Give me a few moments to make sure the home is set up." Mexyn shrugged once before she abruptly ended the connection.

Tempest felt the excitement coursing through her veins. Even with Mexyn coming over she didn’t know what they would do. It was more about the company. Tempest did have a few more questions that she could ask. Hell, Tempest had a million more questions to ask.

She rushed to the bathroom and decided to wash up.

Every few moments, Tempest would stop what she was doing and listen out for Dron. She wondered if he would be upset that she was having company? Back on Earth, Sam never liked to have unannounced guests. At first Tempest used to believe that it was simply because he wanted to have the house in order. The longer she was with him the more she realized that it was because he wanted to be at his best before entertaining company. He wanted to make sure the mask was in place.

Tempest didn’t want to think on it too long. She’d made it her business to do anything else when she started thinking about Sam. She was still hurting from what he did to her but with everything else that was going on in her life at the moment, she didn’t have much time to dwell.

It couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes before the lights in the house started to flicker. It didn’t bother Tempest any more. She knew what it meant.

Mexyn was here.

Tempest squealed slightly before she rushed off to the door. She undid the lock and tried to pull the door open. Just as before the door didn’t budge.

"Crap!" Tempest cursed out.

"Is there an issue?" Mexyn called through the door.

"Uhh... just a bit. Hold on I’m trying to get the door open." Tempest called back.

"Is it unlocked?"

Tempest could hear the indignation in Mexyn’s voice.

"Yes, it’s unlocked. I just can’t..." Tempest grunted as she tried to pull the door open to no avail, "I can’t open the damn door"

"Maybe I should come back at a different time then?" Mexyn offered up.

"No! No... I’ll be right there." Tempest nearly yelped.

She took off running to her room. "I can do this. No problem." Tempest built herself up. She walked up to the window in her room that lead out to the wrap around porch. So far she hadn’t built up the courage to walk around out in that direction but she hoped that it was secure enough for her to make it to the front of the house without many problems.

The window receeded into the floor as it had done previously and Tempest walked out onto the porch. She kept to the wall and took a few steps around the perimeter. The floor held steady. The trees canopied the walkway. After a few seconds once Tempest found it to be safe, she took off at a run so she could get to the front of the house.

Mexyn startled when she saw Tempest coming out from around the side of the house.

"Hey!" Tempest called out and waved as she got closer to Mexyn.

"Tempest, it’s lovely to see you." Mexyn bowed her head slightly. She was so formal.

"Do you want to stay out here or do you want to come in and sit?" Tempest asked jerking her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the direction she’d just come from.

Mexyn scrunched her face, "I think it might be safer for us to just take in the weather."

Tempest turned around and looked at the direction she’d just come from. It did look dangerous.

"Okay, that’s fine." Tempest looked around but there was no seating out here for the two of them.

"This will do." Mexyn gestured to a stump a couple of paces down from the entrance of the house.

They settled in and Mexyn turned to look at her. "So, Tempest, what would you like to discuss?"

"I don’t know. I just thought we could have a little girl time?" Tempest shrugged her shoulder.

"Girl time?"

"You know, gossip, stories... just talking." Tempest wrung her hands together.

"That’s quite strange but I guess I could accomodate."

Tempest clapped her hands in excitement, "Okay great. How should we start?"

Mexyn looked at her as if she had no idea, they were both at a loss.

Tempest looked off to the trees. It had been so long since she engaged in girl talk that she wasn’t sure how to start it off. "What about if we talked about you for a while. Since I’ve known you, we’ve only talked about me and my situation. What about you?"

Mexyn thought for a second, "I’m not sure where to start."

"How about your husband. You told me you were mated."

Mexyn shrugged, "Yes. I’m near the end of my marriage cycle. Topax is a very strong Alpha."

"Is that good? I mean, I thought all alphas were strong."

"That is correct. Topax is strong in both ability and mental prowess."

"So he’s not stupid. You’re right, that is a good thing." Tempest giggled and moved in a little closer. She could feel the pressure lifting off of her. This is what she’s needed.

"What does he do? Am I allowed to ask that?"

"Sure, he’s a engineer. He works on the transports."

"Oooh, a man that works with his hands is always attractive." Tempest waggled her eyebrows and Mexyn looked down as if she were embarrassed.

"Well it’s better than my last marriage, Drix was an academic. He was as you call it...boring. I think I know more about atmospheric pressure than any other omega alive."

Tempest laughed fully at that.

Tempest and Mexyn lost themselves in chatter, switching from topic to topic until they were both completely engaged.

"I swear I thought my mother would have a life event when she realized that I wasn’t planning on going into the holy sector." Mexyn smiled and comb her fingers through her hair.

"Seriously, she groomed you to be what... a nun?"

Mexyn tilted her head, "Yes, exactly. If you think this life is boring, you’d have wished for death if you decided to be part of the holy order."

Tempest laughed hard, she couldn’t even imagine it.

Mexyn cleared her throat, "I know we agreed that we would talk about me but I’m curious. How are things going with you and Dron? Have you worked on the communications?"

Tempest thought back to Dron and her’s time in the wilderness. She could feel the blush crawling up her cheeks.

"I’ll take that to mean things are better?" Mexyn tried to lean forward to get a better look at Tempest’s face.

"Yes, we’ve come to certain agreements." Tempest didn’t want to give anything away. It was a secret. Though she really wished that she could talk to Mexyn about it. Tempest was used to playing a part. Sam had trained her well but there was something about how Dron acted with her. How he seemed to be able to touch the very soul of her without every physically touching her.

"That sounds promising." Mexyn smirked.

Tempest nodded.

"So I guess that means I’ll be see the two of you at the festival tonight?" Mexyn questioned.

"The festival?"

"Yes, it’s for all the newlyweds. It’s a blessing of sorts. I’m not even sure Dron is aware of it. As you know this will be his first time attending."

"I’m assuming its customary that I attend?"

"Yes. The royals will think of it as a snub if you do not. Getting on their bad side isn’t something I’d recommend."

Tempest sat back. Dron wanted to put on a show for the town. It was time that she put her words in action. It was time she played her part.

This was going to be fun.