Chapter 214

Chapter 214: Chapter 214

Tempest was so used to living in the dream world that the second she stood up and started to walk to the front door of the small hut they’d been secluded in, she could feel the oppressive heat starting to weigh her down.

"Maybe we can hide away for a little while longer," Tempest groaned.

"Don’t tempt me, woman. If we stay away any longer, the people will think we’ve abandoned them." Dron chuckled and reached down to grab her hand.

She sighed and continued to walk to the front door. Part of her was scared of what she would see on the other side of the door. There hadn’t been anyone to wake them up or force them out of their dream world, but that didn’t mean nothing had happened. What if there was another attack and the enemies were just waiting outside for them? What if the people in the settlement all figured out that neither Dron nor Tempest was strong enough to be the leader? What if Crilium organized a coup? All of it was possible, and the closer Tempest got to the front door, the more it all seemed like a reasonable possibility.

"Everything is going to be okay, right?" Tempest whispered and looked up at Dron.

"I promise you we will be okay." He nodded once, and Tempest took all the comfort he was trying to give her. She needed it in the moment.

Slowly, Dron raised his hand and laid it on the door before slowly pushing it open. Tempest wasn’t sure, but it was like she could see a slight tremble in his muscles. Maybe he was as uncertain about all this as she was. He didn’t say anything to that effect, but there had to be at least a little doubt in Dron’s mind that things would be in shambles when they opened the door. Tempest knew he was gaining confidence, but he wasn’t that confident yet.

Tempest held her breath as the door opened. She looked around, her eyes adjusting to the bright light of the sun blasting through the space of the settlement. She blinked a few times before she started to laugh. It started off as a soft chuckle but soon turned into gut-clenching cackles.

Here she was assuming the absolute worst about what was going on outside when it turned out there was nothing for her to worry about in the first place. The settlement was bustling with activity.

More importantly, peaceful activity.

"Well, I guess we weren’t as missed as I thought we’d be." Dron shrugged his shoulders as the two of them stepped out into the area.

Tempest looked around, completely amazed at what she was seeing. The so-called rebellion was moving on its own. She spied Gerax on the far right helping with the physical labor of building what looked to be beds. Beds that could be taken apart. Toward the left of the settlement, Aliq and Rynax were bundling large pieces of wood, some the size of huge trees, so other people could carry them away. In the back of the settlement, Crilium and several other alphas were training men and women in the art of battle.

The rebellion had carried on without them.

Tempest calmed herself down when a somber thought occurred to her. Dron was right, they weren’t as missed as she thought they would’ve been. The rebellion didn’t need them to continue. They chose them.

It was humbling, to say the least.

"Come, let’s find out where we are needed." Dron pulled on her hand, and they began walking deeper into the settlement.

"I wonder where Hen and Mexyn are?" Tempest questioned, looking around.

"Probably off somewhere trying to figure out how to keep everyone in line," Dron offered.

"What makes you think it’s the women who are trying to keep everyone in line? It could be Crilium," Tempest snapped back.

"Please, I don’t know of any civilization that doesn’t do what the women tell them to do. At least not any civilization that wants to survive." Dron grinned.

Tempest shrugged once. He wasn’t lying.

"Oh, I was beginning to get worried."

Tempest turned to see Minnie rushing over to them.

Tempest smiled gently at the woman. "Worried? You knew where we were, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I knew, and we were told under no circumstances were we to disturb you for anything. It’s just..." Minnie shuffled from foot to foot, looking more and more uncomfortable.

"What?"

"It’s just, I’ve never seen a woman go through a heat when there was an alpha present before. I don’t know what it entails."

Tempest leaned closer to Minnie to give the illusion of secrecy. "Think of the most horny you’ve ever been, then multiply that by fifty. Lucky for me, Dron is here to take care of all my needs." Tempest winked at Minnie as her tan skin turned a deep shade of pink.

"Oh...oh...wow. Okay then. I’m glad no one disturbed you." Minnie spoke but then chuckled slightly in embarrassment.

Tempest nodded her head and moved closer to Dron once again.

"So, what’s going on here? Seems like you’ve all got a lot done in the short time that we were unavailable."

"Short time?" Minnie raised one of her eyebrows.

Tempest rolled her eyes at that. "Oh, come on, it’s only been three days..." She looked at Minnie, whose face became more and more shocked.

"Four days?" Tempest said, thinking that it couldn’t have been more than that.

"Tempest, you and Dron have been in that hut for twelve days. Honestly, a lot of the women were starting to think he’d held you hostage or something."

Tempest’s jaw dropped. Twelve days?

That’s crazy. Her heat doesn’t last for that long. She could understand five, even a week, but twelve days.

"Oh God! That’s too long. I’m so sorry." Tempest instantly felt bad for leaving everyone on their own for so long and for the fact that she was trying to barter for more time earlier. How could she have slept through twelve days?

"Hey, based on how you both look and the glow coming off your skin, I would say that you have nothing to be sorry for. You needed the time and the release together. It’s nice to see." Minnie reached over and patted Tempest’s shoulder as a sign of comfort. It didn’t do much.

"Twelve days," Dron finally spoke. It was clear that he didn’t expect to be out that long either.

"Yeah, no worries, though. No one stepped out of place. Even the newcomers took to working with us well rather quickly." Minnie pointed to the back of the settlement, where Crilium and another alpha Tempest didn’t recognize were teaching people how to fight.

"So, what’s been going on? Where do we start?" Tempest asked.

"Start? You? You actually missed out on the hardest of everything. Come, let me show you." Minnie reached forward and grabbed Tempest’s hand. She wasn’t like Mexyn. She didn’t have the hang-ups about touching like Mexyn did.

Tempest followed Minnie, and Dron followed her.

"We have to climb a bit. I know you just finished some rather strenuous..." Minnie wiggled her eyebrows, and Tempest nudged her with her shoulder. "Activities, but do you think you’re up to it?"

"Yeah, I’m fine. Show me." Tempest was already starting to pant from the extreme heat. She was wishing for her cloak right about now.

It didn’t take long for Minnie, Tempest, and Dron to climb up the steep cliff. Dron even pushed the two of them up and over a dangerous ledge a few times. After about fifteen minutes of climbing, Minnie brought them to a small clearing and pointed out into the distance. Not very far, but farther than Tempest had traveled and on the other side of the settlement.

"Moon Spirits, it can’t be," Dron muttered as he looked at what Minnie was showing them. There was a look of disbelief on his face. Tempest was sure the same was on her face.

Four large ships were nearly complete. The bones for all four ships were completed, and the people around them were simply creating the different decks for each ship.

"Where did you get the resources for this? How could you have completed all this in such a short period of time?"

"The work never stops. And the alphas can lift and work for longer than any of the humans. Most of them work for twenty hours and sleep for what is about four," Minnie explained, using Earth time.

"And it’s sturdy? Has anyone checked it?"

"Yes, Rynax, Aliq, Gerax, Hen, Tine, all of them have gone over there to make sure the ships are suited for the journey ahead of us. The crashed ships that Tine had been hoarding away were in better condition than she originally stated. It didn’t take much for us to build them up."

"What about the other supplies?" Dron questioned, his eyes still locked on the ships in front of him.

"The same deal. The work never stops. When one group is sleeping, the next is out hunting and gathering what we need," Minnie explained.

Tempest stepped off to the side and just stared at the ships down in the clearing. Under each, it looked like there was a small layer of logs, probably how they were going to get the ships out to sea. All of them looked massive. She was just amazed at how much these people could do. Once they had a goal, they could all work together and get the job done. They were a community, even if they didn’t know they were.