“AALYAN?” IT WAS A WOMAN calling his name, but he was too groggy to place her until he came out. Chaikuni.
He’d rolled off the bed, still half-asleep and he was only wearing clothes because he’d been cold. Chaikuni had come with another woman and a baby, Jaguars, of course, but no one Aalyan remembered talking to before. The baby was somewhat reassuring, it couldn’t be an emergency if they’d send someone with a baby, could it?
“Is everything okay?” he asked them.
“Yes,” Chaikuni said simply.
Her companion nodded at him. “I’m Sirin’s mother. Mera.”
“Oh.” Aalyan gulped. “I’m sorry—”
Her raised hand was enough to stop him on his tracks. She was an omega too, so it was no magic, just her age and confidence. “Sirin is no child, he will be fine. That’s not why we are here.”
“I don’t know
