The Elder's Mate

Twelve - Family

Dhare snarled as he read over the latest message from the leader of the Desert Clan. The words weren't many but they were enough to make him pound his fist into the table, the metal groaning beneath the force of the hit.

The Desert Clan continued to make negotiations difficult. They were dead set on trying to piss off his sire and the council of his clan it seemed. His sire Rhage was already close to ending the peace agreement and going to war but Dhare had talked him out of it. The usual calmness his sire conveyed had lessened considerably, especially since bringing home a human life mate — his temper from youth had returned.

With the ongoing talks with the Desert Clan, tensions between them was at an all time high. War was certainly inevitable if the two alpha male Clan Leaders continued to have their cock measuring contest from afar.

Being peacemaker was Dhare's specialty, but these days he felt useless. There wasn't much that could be done other than trying to come up with something both sides could agree on, a compromise of some sort. The Desert Clan demanded hunting rights to a game preserve planet called Orumack, but his sire's clan, the Blue Spear Clan, seeded and tended to it since it was terraformed some hundreds of thousands of cycles ago. The Blue Spear Clan had ownership of the planet itself, something Rhage wasn't giving up. Orumack was part of the hunting grounds for the clan's youth training. It couldn't be handed over.

He contemplated what to do as Khaj entered the room, holding a drinking vessel in each hand with what smelled like c'ntlip. It was ironic, seeing how at that moment Dhare craved a hearty drink to calm himself.

"Have a drink with me, Dhare. You look like you need one, my friend." Khaj set the metal container on the table beside Dhare as he came to stand adjacent to him, his eyes focusing on the offending message.

"I appreciate your kindness." He took a long draft from the vessel, licking away the remnants in his mouth. "The Desert Clan is a bunch of savage idiots! It is like they wish war upon them!"

Khaj grunted as he drank from his own vessel, "Perhaps we can allow them to hunt on Orumack for a few months out of the year? That could be the solution." His dreads framed his face as he leaned over the table to inspect the satellite images of the aforementioned planet, the lit up display making his yellow and grey scales shine.

The planet was a game preserve that had been terraformed many generations ago to be the perfect environment for the species they had brought there. It was a tropical but mild jungle environment, perfect for the reptilian species that now called it home. Since the planet had been seeded with the species that dominated it now, the Blue Spear Clan trained their pups for several weeks out of a cycle there. They were trained in various techniques important to the Hunt such as evasion, stealth, and etcetera.

Scratching his neck in contemplation Dhare only grunted.

Pleasing his sire was his only desire, besides preventing a pauking war. The second part was the most frustrating.

He hated war.

It was unnecessary. A waste of resources in some primitive pissing contest that was usually over something stupid. The idea of a peaceful existence with only the Hunt to think about was nonexistent; a fantasy at best. Times such as this made him seriously reconsider taking up the opportunity to have a seat on the council. He was about the age when other males had litters of pups with various females, ensuring their bloodline and genes would pass down.

Dhare wanted more.

He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards his sire Rhage. Having a life mate usually changed nothing but it had in his sire's case. There was a gentleness that he used with Artemis, the little human more than willing to be by his side.