Divided: Brides of the Kindred 10 by Evangeline Anderson

child
knows what I told him.”
    “A child raised on Twin Moons does,” Lock
said quietly. “But Truth was raised on Pax among the Rai’ku. They are a savage
race with strict ideas about wrong and right. It is probable that the things we
have asked him to do here would make him an outcast there.”
    “What do you know about their culture?” Far
asked, breaking his anguished silence at last. “I couldn’t find out much—only
that the Kindred Council had refused a genetic trade with them. But none of the
documents said why.”
    “It’s because of what Truth said—about
being raised in ‘the pack,’” Lock said. “The Rai’ku males have a beast within
them—a beast which rises to the surface and overtakes them until it blots out
all personality, making them mindless creatures capable of acting only on
instinct. When this happens they band together and hunt in a pack.”
    “What—like a wolf pack? But what causes
that?” Kat demanded. “Are they like…werewolves or something? They get hairy
during the full moon?”
    “As far as anyone can say the rising beast
seems to be tied to some kind of cycle though I do not know if the moons that
orbit Pax have anything to do with it,” Lock said. “The change from man to
beast may also be tied to emotional instability.”
    “How did you find this out?” Far asked
hoarsely.
    “The Kindred Council sent a warrior to
study them,” Lock said. “I was able to gain access to his records for my
language studies. They have been locked against casual observers due to some of
the graphic content they contain.” He shook his head. “I don’t think you want
to read them, Far. Sufficed to say that when the Rai’ku change they are very
unpredictable and very dangerous.”
    Becca felt sick. “But…we’re not thinking
that Truth is some kind of a…a were beast are we?”
    “Of course not!” Kat exclaimed. “We’re
just saying he was raised by them.” She looked at Lock. “Right?”
    “Right.” He nodded. “But even being raised
by them has been enough to color his perceptions. The Rai’ku are a very
dominant and possessive race and they are also extremely competitive
when it comes to mates. They do notsharetheir women under any
circumstances. In fact, even seeing another male too near a female who is
spoken for would be enough to cause a fight to the death.”
    “I suppose they want to be sure their
genes are getting passed down and not some other guy’s,” Kat muttered.
    “Speaking of that,” Becca said. “Truth
mentioned that he had some half brothers from his father’s second marriage. But
if what Commander Deep said about the Twin Kindred way of…of fathering children
is right…” She felt her cheeks heating up and cleared her throat. “Well, I just
don’t see how it’s possible.”
    “It shouldn’t be,” Lock said thoughtfully.
“Although the Rai’ku do possess very dominant genetics. That is one reason the
Council voted not to make a trade with them—they determined that the tendency
to transition into a mindless beast could not be bred out of them, not even
with an infusion of Kindred DNA.”
    “So Truth’s other brothers are half
Kindred and half savage beast,” Far said, sounding bitter. “And still he
prefers them to me.”
    Becca felt her heart twist at his
expression.
    “Far, honey, don’t feel that way,” she
protested. “Whoever those other brothers are, he doesn’t have a bond with
them.”
    “He doesn’t have one with me either,” Far
pointed out. “And now he’s never going to.”
    “Give him some time,” Lock counseled.
“Think of the society he was raised in. Rai’ku males never come into physical
contact unless they are fighting. Aggression is like a second language to them.
But affection—especially between members of the same sex—is foreign.”
    “Yes, remember—he said he had never been
hugged, even by his own father.” Kat shook her head. “That’s just sad. I don’t
understand how anyone