Gorul grunted.
“New blood does interesting things. We require it. Sometimes we bring in lost murol and they mate into our tribe and it brings new vitality to our people. The noswal’s daughter who left our land for her mate must have done the same for your family. I pray my mate will do likewise.”
Turning away, he summoned a male. As he approached, Kaede noticed that he was tall with the ungainly appearance of a youth still growing into his body. But rather than slyly looking for an opening to advance his opportunity, the youth’s face was open with the eager enthusiasm.
“Emik, go and fetch the healer’s assistants. These males need care.”
Emik nodded and darted through the trees. Within minutes, he returned with four males. They inclined their heads respectfully toward Gorul and took up their charges. They seemed to think nothing of carrying an Edoka and a Teril, regardless of how strange a sight they must have seemed to the tribe. The Arobi paced with the nervous energy of predators in a new and unpredictable environment, but ended up following the assistants, despite the Agraak villagers fleeing out of their way, leaving the remainder of their company with the noswal.
With Mi’yar and Borth seen to, Kaede ascended to the noswal hut behind Gorul at his silent invitation. Frahnkee climbed behind him and it took everything he had not to snatch her against him and carry her up to the dwelling. He did not wish to embarrass her, even if his territorial impulses demanded the display. He did not like the open curiosity of the other males watching her. He bared his teeth in an open challenge at several of them, which made them drop their eyes and resume whatever activity they were engaged in.
The hut they entered smelled of stored spices and several large furs stretched over the floor. Gorul settled himself on a darker, luxurious fur and waved his hand for the rest of them to be seated. Within minutes, the curtain was brushed aside and a female Agraak entered carrying a tray of cups. Her skin was a brilliant green of new shoots among the reeds after the wet season. She served Gorul first, dropping her head with respect. The noswal took his cup and inclined his head in thanks.
“Thank you, Navri. When you are finished here, can you please bring my mate to me?”
She nodded demurely and then made her way directly to Kaede.
Kaede froze as she bent over close to him, extending the tray. A flirtatious smile curved her lips as she dropped further to show the line of her throat and the mounds of her breasts beneath her anidupar. She was clearly interested, despite the female seated beside him. Her tail rose at that moment and attempted to caress his. With a snarl he yanked his tail away and scooted to Frahnkee’s side. Her eyes strayed from him and widened as she noticed the female beside him.
Frahnkee’s face was drawn with anger, a red flush rising in her cheeks. Kaede reveled in her display as she thinned her lips and reached over to wrap her fingers around his tail in a full territorial display in front of her would-be rival. The other female glanced back at him, but she must have seen his pleasure at his mate’s possessiveness because her face immediately crumbled. She moved swiftly to serve the rest of the drinks before fleeing from the hut.
Gorul clicked his tongue and waved a weary hand through the air.
“My apologies. Please take no offense to Navri. It is difficult for our younger generation to find mates who they are not closely related to. Sometimes, at the annual gathering of tribes they will find suitable mates. She did not think before she acted in this case.” He looked Kaede over. “You are a young, strong male. Would you consider perhaps taking a second mate? Before you get offended, understand that it happens sometimes among the village where two males may share a female or two females share a mate in situations where options are less than ideal. She is a kind, gentle female. She would make a good mate.”
“Would you?” Kaede challenged.
Gorul paused as if surprised by the question. At last he shook his head with a small smile.
“No. You are correct. Although the elders pressure me into accepting a female from our own to breed hatchlings, I could not bear to touch another female other than my mate.”
Kaede grunted in agreement but Frahnkee looked at the older male in confusion.
“If your mate is human, why couldn’t you have hatchlings with her? We can breed with most species, including the Agraak. That’s why I am here, and the other offworlder males. Human females were brought to this planet for a breeding program.”
Gorul stared in wonder.
“You speak the truth? My mate could be gravid even at this moment?”
“Well, I’m not certain, but anything is possible. The bigger problem is that none of them legally belong here, unless they choose to be. What is being done—forced breeding—it’s wrong. Even in the dome-cities, we are losing a fight against those who enslave others.”
He leaned back, his brow drawing down with concern.
“This... is very troubling. It also explains much. We have long known that our relatives in the bright hives lived differently, but never would any of us have imagined this. This is why you have come into the swamp?”
“We need allies,” Kaede stated bluntly. “Someone to help us bring down the ruling raniks who destroy our world.”
Gorul nodded sagely but then he sat straighter and a smile brightened his face as the curtain parted from the door.
“Ah, my mate has arrived!”
Kaede glanced over when he heard Frahnkee gasp. She sat beside him, as white as the finned creatures that swam through the rivers of the swamp, her suddenly colorless lips parting with shock. He looked to see what shocked his mate so, and he drew in his own breath in wonder.
“Alisha?” Frahnkee cried, already in tears.
Chapter 23
Frankie stared at the woman in the doorway, barely recognizing her twin. She was thinner than she remembered, and her twin had her blond hair plaited into several braids that fell nearly to her waist. Her sister appeared to be in good health. Tears clogged her throat and she blinked as she stumbled over to the stunned woman and threw her arms around her. Her sister’s body felt stiff and unresponsive at first, but then she felt Alisha’s arms close around her... and then tighten as a harsh cry ripped out of Alisha’s throat.
“Frankiiieeeeee,” she wailed, her fingers gripping Frankie tighter as her entire body shook and she burrowed against Frankie’s shoulder.
Then the tears came. Hard, shuddering sobs that wracked Alisha’s frame. Frankie let her own tears fall and mingle with that of her sister. Frankie couldn’t even find words to speak; she just nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks as she absorbed her sister’s pain and grief. Five years of torture seemed to pour out in a torrent of devastation, and Frankie was determined to be the rock her sister needed.
They stood there, holding each other up until their sobs faded and they clung to each other. Frankie eased back so she could look upon her twin’s face. With shaking hands, she stroked a hand over Alisha’s hair, and they exchanged small, tearful smiles. The relief she felt at being reunited with her twin was palpable.
Gorul shifted closer, one of his large hands extending.
“Mate, are you well?” he rumbled.
Frankie caressed Alisha’s back.
“Gorul is asking if you are okay,” she said quietly.
Her sister stilled and looked at her searchingly.
“You understand him? How?
Frankie gave her sister a wan smile.
“A perk of joining the Intergalactic Fleet. I fight and have the added benefit of a secondary translator that helps me speak languages I hear.”
“Wow, that’s pretty handy,” her sister choked out. She shook her head and wiped a tear away with one hand. “Wait, Intergalactic Fleet? What did you do, join the military?” Alisha whispered furiously.
“I did what I had to do to find you.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear this,” Alisha hissed as she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. “There was no reason to put yourself in danger.”<
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“Fuck if there wasn’t! Damnit, Alisha, they turned you into a breeder slave. How is that not a good enough reason?”
Gorul began to growl.
“You hurry up and reassure that male you are mated to,” she snapped.
Alisha blushed.
“You don’t find it strange, do you? I can’t understand a word he says but somehow it doesn’t matter all that much.”
“I can’t judge,” Frankie muttered, her eyes searching out Kaede instinctively. He gave her a slow, toe-curling smile before she ripped her gaze away to give her sister her undivided attention. “Seriously, go show your guy some love before he starts thinking something is wrong.”
Alisha nodded gratefully and slipped away to join her mate. Frankie watched as his thick arms wrapped around her delicate sister. Her slight frame was nearly lost in his grasp. But the way he held her was so sweet, the bliss on her sister’s face peeking out from his arm so obvious that Frankie felt nothing but happiness for her sister. Alisha went through hell and survived to find something worth holding onto.
If only they could get some help for that communication issue.
“Frankie, can you come over and translate for me?” Alisha called softly.
Hiding her grimace at having to relay emotional things she could barely say for herself, Frankie went to her sister’s side. Alisha grinned and mouthed ‘thank you,’ before looking up at her mate with big, adoring gray eyes.
“Gorul, I’m so glad I have this moment to tell you my feelings like I’ve wanted to for so long. Every time you spoke to me, your words of love and affection, I wished that I could reply in turn. Thank you for rescuing me in more ways than one. And thank you for reuniting me with my sister. My heart is full once again because of you.”
As Frankie translated, she watched a transformation come over the chief. First wonder, and then happiness as he smiled down at his mate, his spines flaring with the intensity of his emotions. His eyes were soft as he pulled Alisha into his embrace, crooning his little love words. When he finally glanced at Frankie, his smile conveyed the depth of his joy.
“Thank you, sister, for this gift. I hope that you will be blessed with such happiness with your mate.”
Frankie’s brow dropped in confusion.
“My mate?”
He gestured at the pink marks from Kaede’s bite from several days ago. “Kaede chose well to make one such as you his mate,” Gorul offered with a broad smile as he cuddled Alisha closer to his large frame.
“Yes,” Frankie murmured, her eyes narrowing on her “mate.” “His excellent decision is going to have to be a topic of conversation very soon between the two of us. I am sure it will be an excellent addition to our conversation about finding the other women who were in the breeding facility.”
Alisha broke away from her mate and gripped Frankie’s arm firmly.
“But, Frankie, they’re here.”
Frankie slowly blinked at her twin, unable to comprehend, although she was distantly aware of the sharp intakes of breath from the guys. From the corner of her eye, she saw Emagul open his comm and curse when a red ‘no signal’ symbol flashed. Shaking her head, she frowned at her sister.
“Excuse me? What do you mean they’re here? How is that even possible?”
“I’m sure you must know I was badly injured if you thought I was dead. With the last round of breeding, the male they assigned me was an absolute brute. He tore into my womb so badly that I am no longer capable of bearing young.” She let out a low sob. “Frankie, they didn’t even try to treat my injuries after that. They just threw me into the swamp to die. And I would have if Gorul hadn’t found me. I was so afraid of him, but I was a pitiful mess. He took me away and brought me back to his village.
“Then one day, he left with a number of warriors... Frankie, he came back with the women from the facility and gave them all homes here. There are three huts where the few single women live comfortably together. The others mated with warriors of the village who wooed them, even if they couldn’t communicate. Me too, when Gorul came to me. It was good to be touched with affection after the horrors of that place,” she whispered.
Gorul shifted closer, noting the seriousness of the conversation.
“Of what does she speak that brings such sadness to my mate’s eyes?”
Frankie gave him a sympathetic glance.
“She speaks of when you rescued her and the other females.”
“Ah, a grim day,” he replied. “I worried for many days that she would not survive. She is small and delicate compared to our species and I was certain that even running days on end through the jungle, even the most direct route with her wounds wrapped to the best of my ability, she would not survive the trip. However, my mate has a will stronger than the great trees. It was a blessing that she lived,” he stated with a fond look down at his mate.
“After discovering my Alisha in such a terrible state, I then took it upon myself to gather my best warriors. We thought we would have to fight to remove any other females from their negligent care, but we were surprised to see the females being led out of the building toward a massive flying transport those of the light hives prefer. We attacked and stole every one of them,” he declared proudly with a loud laugh.
Grish laughed, slapping his massive hand on his knee. “I would have paid much to see the looks on the faces of those creatures when you accosted them. Truly would have been worthy of verse among the Teril, of that I am quite certain.”
“Man, if you start singing again, I’m going back out into the swamp and looking for something to end my suffering,” Rodriguez snorted from where he sat.
Grish merely laughed louder.
“May we see the women you rescued?” Frankie asked, her excitement creeping in.
“Yes,” Emagul agreed as he made notes on his comm. “We must see them and report on their condition and health.”
Gorul scowled at the Itashvanda.
“You may meet them, but you will be respectful of the presence of their mates. Do not speak of or consider taking them away from our village,” he rumbled threateningly. “I will not abide families being torn apart, regardless of good intentions.”
Emagul looked like he was going to argue but then sighed.
“I do not wish for them to be separated from loving families if they wish to be here. At least allow them to make the decision to approach us if they wish to leave.”
Gorul’s lips thinned with displeasure but he reluctantly inclined his head.
“It is agreed. I do not wish females to remain here, unhappy, out of a misplaced sense of obligation. If they ask you to return them to their world, they will be released to your care.” He let loose a weary breath. “Follow me. The females are this way. They have settled on the southwestern island where we originally put them. Their mates were happy to join them there so the females could remain close and feel safe among each other. We did not know they had been through such horrors. We had only thought that the males had been careless with their safety.”
He closed his eyes as if personally pained by the knowledge.
“Tell him that the women do not resent it but most cherish their place here. Even the few remaining who look to return home honor the great things that his people have done for us,” Alisha said urgently to Frankie.
When Frankie relayed the information, Gorul’s face softened and he nodded his thanks. She said little more but dropped back to Kaede’s side as Alisha and Gorul preceded them on the rope ladders. Despite her irritation with Kaede for marking her and then failing to inform her of what it meant, she leaned into him as they passed by each midpoint. It took a while, but they finally worked their way to the southwestern island platform. Around it, a number of huts circled loosely. There was no question that they were in the right place. The homes echoed with the happy sound of human voices.
Then she saw them. Women were going in and out of their homes, doing various chores. Several of them were noticeably pregnant. They wer
e at ease chatting to each other as they prepared meals and washed clothes in tubs of filtered water. When the women spotted them, the chatter died away and the women watched apprehensively as they came closer. Frankie suspected that if it hadn’t been for Gorul and Alisha with them, the women would have fled into the sanctuary of their homes.
Alisha raised her hands.
“Don’t be afraid. My sister Frankie has come with the Intergalactic Fleet. They are here to help us.”
“What sort of help?” a woman called out angrily. She wrapped a hand protectively around her swollen belly and glared at them.
“We are here only to offer you an opportunity to return home, should you wish to do so,” Emagul soothed, his calm voice seeming to put many of the women at ease.
“What if we don’t want to go?” a soft voice spoke up.
“Then you stay. It is your choice.”
The women began to talk over each other, many of them wearing expressions of grief, though more than a few wore hardened looks of suspicion. After everything that had happened to them, they had the right to doubt what was spoken to them.
Around the edge of the island she could see males gathering, likely the mates. They paced with agitation in the trees, held in check by the hand their noswal held up to keep them in their places. The hum of spines sounded like an angry hornet’s nest.
A tall red-haired woman stepped forward, her chin held high with obstinance.
“You want to help us? You give us back our babies. I want my babies, every single one.”
A number of women called out in agreement with her.
“I delivered six eggs in the time I was in that hellhole and I expect them to be returned to me. The sadistic assholes who bred them don’t deserve to have them,” the redhead continued.
“I have five,” another woman called out. “I want mine too.”
“I have six.”
“I have five.”
“I have three,” a small, soft-spoken woman called out nervously, her eyes filling with tears.
Heart of the Agraak Page 17