Chapter 5. In the Tribe

Cybele glared angrily at the madman in front of her, but before she could say anything, the car door opened and strong hands pulled her out, but not before she saw the debauched smile of the crazy man, who believed she would marry him.

She was taken and pushed into a private spaceship. The madman, Gael, entered after everyone else and sat down next to her, where she had been tied up so that she would stay in place.

"Cybele. You agreed to be my mistress, but I could tell you didn't like it when I explained that we're getting married. That's quite unusual. Usually women jump for joy when they hear they're going to marry a billionaire CEO..."

"Being a mistress doesn't require commitment." She replied, looking away. The green dots on the screen indicated that they would be arriving at their destination in a few minutes.

"Having an engagement, with a billionaire CEO, is the purpose of almost every girl..."

"Not mine."

"You... Cybele, I'm not going to force you into anything. If, after getting to know your tribe, your position and what's expected of you, you still don't want to stay, I'll let you go after you've chosen a wife for me."

Cybele turned her eyes to the crazy man.

"Why should I have to choose your wife?"

"You'll understand when you get to know our traditions."

Cybele was reassured when he said he would leave her free and her whole body relaxed.

"Maybe I'll choose the woman of your thoughts. You seem to love her."

"She's your mother. You can't choose her. She's already married."

"Is your romance with her known to her current husband?"

"Known and shared." He answered without emotion.

Cybele felt as if he had punched her violently in the stomach.

"Is that also a tradition in your tribe?" She asked, unable to avoid the contempt in his tone.

"No." He took a deep breath, showing that the subject was bothering him. "But maybe it runs in your family. Your mother has trouble being monogamous."

"Maybe I inherited it from her." Cybele replied, happy to have a subject to tease him about.

"Is that what you dream of for your life?"

"Maybe."

The ship landed and he stood up and stared at her, his eyes now the color of silver. The men approached and untied her and left the ship.

Cybele stood up.

"Cybele, before we disembark I need you to know something about your mother." He said and put his hands in his pants pockets. He seemed to be hesitating to say what he thought. "Your mother isn't the ordinary person you must be thinking... She simply couldn't resist me, because I'm Alpha. I had to allow her to marry someone else, because our tribe wouldn't accept her becoming my wife, and it wouldn't be fair to leave her without a family."

"Wow! How generous you are!" Cybele said wryly.

"Let's go then." He said, hurrying towards the exit of the ship.

Cybele noticed that there were many heads outside.

"It's never been easier to decide something, Gael."

He stopped at the door and looked back.

"It's not easy, Cybele. If you choose to leave, you won't be able to live away from me."

She was surprised.

"Why would I do that? What I want most is to get away from you."

"Because Cybele, you won't forget me once we've gone to bed and we both know that all I have to do is touch you for you to be mine." He said and went downstairs, leaving Cybele open-mouthed, indignant at his arrogance.

The men didn't come for her. Cybele could hear the commotion outside the ship. They were celebrating the return of that arrogant Gael.

She climbed down and was soon taken aback by the joy of the people there, who spoke to her as if they knew her.

Cybele realized that everyone there had the same physical features. Some women who must have been her age came up to her and took her away, making their way through the crowd that was still celebrating.

She was ushered into a palace where the outside looked as if it had been made out of crystals. On the way there, she noticed that there were modern houses all over the area, with crops and livestock, looking very prosperous.

She heard them tell her that they were on an island, but Cybele feigned indifference. Inside, she longed to be part of those people, but she would never admit it to herself.

The women left her in a kind of large ballroom, furnished with the latest modern furniture, and went away.

Cybele began to observe the 3D portraits that moved as she walked and was not surprised to realize that all those people in the frames were familiar to her. She herself didn't share the appearance of those people. She stopped in front of a mirror and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw, unsurprisingly, that her eyes had a silver-colored ring while her insides weren't as gray as usual. It was the color of almonds.

She turned around quickly and startled when she heard a door close and saw a woman who looked like her approaching.

She had seen her before.

She was Gael's lover.

She was his biological mother.

Cybele waited for her to approach. She wasn't greeted with the same joy as the women who had led her there.

"Cybele?" She asked doubtfully. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course I remember. As soon as I touched Gael, all I saw were images of you and the two of you together."

The woman looked surprised.

"He... Gael let you know everything through his memories?"

"It seems so... Maybe not, he wouldn't fail to make some biting comment if he knew." Cybele said and turned to the mirror. Her eyes were normal now. "Do I have to worry about meeting brothers around here?"

Cybele saw the woman smiling with pleasure through the mirror.

"You have two brothers, aged seven and three."

"Are they Gael's children?"

"We'll never know, will we?"

Cybele turned to the woman.

"Just one blood test, and the DNA of these children and even the diseases they will develop will be known. There are no more obstacles to knowing who the father is... You should be ashamed of yourself for being so promiscuous."

The woman continued to smile reassuringly.

"Gael didn't tell you, did he? This test only works on humans. Do you really think we've never tried using all the resources there are?"

Cybele looked at the white armchair, walked over to it and sat down.

"If that's all you came to tell me..."

The woman approached and held out her hand to Cybele.

"I'm Aurora. Your mother."

Cybele ignored her hand and stared at her coldly.

"To me, you're just the woman who lay with another man on my father's grave."

Aurora withdrew her hand and her smile died on her lips.

"You don't like me..."

"I don't like you."

Aurora sat down next to Cybele.

"You... Gael couldn't have shown me our memories before I could explain them to you. Your father died for a reason..."

Aurora was interrupted by the sudden entrance of another woman. A woman with shoulder-length black hair and eyes as blue as the sky, who stared at Cybele with her eyes blazing furiously.

Cybele liked the dislike that at least one of the natives showed for her and smiled.

"And you? Who are you?" She asked, settling into her chair to listen to the answer, interested.

The woman looked at Aurora, who took a deep breath.

"My daughter... This is Gael's fiancée."

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