[b]“Who would have thought you’d be good with kids?”[/b] Cassie teased. [b]“I’m impressed, Serix.”[/b]

“I’m just full of surprises,” Serix replied, casting her a playful grin. “I can’t let you get bored with me, now can I?” He looked back down at the sleeping infant in his arms. For a moment, he could almost imagine a future like this with Cassie; one where they could live in peace and even raise a child together. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like that was a door that would open for them any time soon. If they were to have a child, he was almost certain it would look more Lunairan than human, given his and Cassie’s heritages. The half-bloods in the compound already hated him. He wouldn’t wish the same fate upon his child.

“I think somebody needs a nap,” Emily said, gently taking the infant from Serix’s arms. “I’ll take him back to my room. See you both later.” She got up from the table, moving carefully so as not to wake her child, and left the dining hall.

“We should probably get back to work, too,” Serix said, glancing at Cassie. He wasn’t sure how long human lunch breaks were, and he didn’t want to risk running into Ryan again for waiting around. The human was probably still in a sour mood after being scolded so harshly by Cassie earlier, and Serix didn’t want to become someone he could take his anger out on. He took his mate’s hand and led her back to the farm, where they met up with Jerry and Victoria who had already returned.

“Ah, I was starting to think you two would never show up,” Jerry grinned when he saw them. “Welcome back. We have a ripe bunch of blueberries that need to be picked over there.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at a cluster of bushes that were dotted with small, blue-purple fruits. “It’s pretty simple; even Hunter could do it. Just pick the berries and put them in the baskets that are already over there. Got it?” He turned to go back to his work, and then spun around one more time. “Oh yeah, one more thing. We just have one rule: Don’t eat what you harvest. We need to make sure that the food here makes it to everyone in the caves. That’s all.” He nodded as if satisfied with his explanation and went back to planting seeds.

Serix headed over to the shrubs Jerry had indicated and went to work with Cassie. He was still determined to prove that the humans could trust him. Perhaps if he showed enough dedication to the jobs they assigned him, they would learn to tolerate him more. At least, that was the only plan he had been able to come up with, and he was going to stick to it until he thought of something better.

Serix looked up when he saw Hunter enter the farm through one of the tunnels. The human didn’t even glance in his direction. He wasn’t sure what to think about that. On one hand, it was nice that Hunter was giving him a break from his usual relentless torment, but on the other hand, Hunter wasn’t a nice person. Serix couldn’t bring himself to believe that he had given up so easily, so instead of feeling relieved that the human was leaving him alone, he found himself even more on edge.

“He’s planning something,” Serix said quietly to Cassie, subtly flicking his eyes towards Hunter for a moment to indicate who he was talking about. “I just know it.”