The Alien's Undoing: A SciFi Alien Warrior Romance (Drixonian Warriors Book 3)

by Ella Maven

  “I expect they have been planning as they’ve healed and gained strength, so we should expect them any rotation now. Understand?” Daz knocked his knuckles onto the table’s surface.”

  Everyone responded with, “Yes, drexel,” except for Sax who quipped, “Got it.”

  We spent more time going over the final details of preparations, delegating tasks to the six of us and to other responsible members of the clavas. By the time we were finished, my mind ached with tactical strategies and I was eager to stretch my legs. See my Reba. Throw a stick with Luna.

  But as the rest of the males rose to leave, I remained seated, because I knew I had unfinished business with my brother. Gar, who sat with his elbow propped on the arm of the chair, chin on his fist, staring at the wall deep in thought.

  Daz clapped me on the shoulder with a squeeze as he was the last out the door, leaving Gar and I alone.

  “Brother,” I called out.

  He didn’t speak for some time, and when he did, he rubbed at his chest, claws scratching at the scales there until vivid black lines appeared on his abused skin. “She would have made a great mother,” he said. “A wonderful role model to our chits.”

  “She would have,” I said softly. “I mourn she never got the chance, just like you do.”

  He closed his eyes briefly and inhaled sharply. “I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to claim a non-Drixonian female as my own, but I respect the humans. I will accept Reba, and I will be an uncle to your chit.”

  “One rotation, I think you’ll find one of these small females have grit behind their blunt nails and teeth. They will hook you too.”

  He shook his head but wouldn’t look me in the eye. “Fatas will not choose that for me.”

  I sucked in a breath, knowing the wounds he carried inside were far worse than the marks visible on his skin. “Fatas surprises us.”

  He met my eyes then, and they were black pits of nothing. “She is done with me, as I am done with her.” He rose quickly, and while my cora ached at the emptiness in his eyes, I knew I couldn’t fill what was missing in his life. Nothing could.

  He clasped my neck and brought our foreheads together. “Fatas chose the right brother to carry on our bloodline.” He squeezed and walked out, leaving me alone with a feeling of dread in my stomach. War was coming. I could feel it in the air and in my bones. Gar lived for battle, and every time he lifted his machets and fought for his people, I held my breath. He fought selflessly. He didn’t care about injuries or his life. He stayed alive long enough to wreak as much destruction as he could, but he’d willingly throw himself in a ball of fire to protect his clavas.

  Now that he knew Drixonians had a future? I dreaded his mindset once we met with the Red Hands. And I begged Fatas to spare him, because while he was done with her, I knew she wasn’t done with him.

  Later that night, Xavy started a fire outside in the center of camp. Normally this would be a raucous affair with spirits flowing, good-natured fights over game betting, and storytelling, but the atmosphere was a subdued. Daz had already informed the whole clavas that the Red Hands would most likely attack with the intent so steal the females.

  I sat on the outskirts of the fire, my back against a log, with Reba settled between my legs. Luna lay on her lap, twitching in her sleep. The fire warmed my skin, and the cup of Xavy’s spirits in my hand warmed my blood. “This reminds me of how we slept that first night in the Rizar camp.”

  “I remember,” her hair tickled my arm as she leaned back to look at me. “You got caught on purpose, didn’t you?

  I laughed. “Of course. A Rizar pack might catch an inexperienced warrior, but not me.”

  She sighed and faced the fire. “That was the night I realized I’d made a terrible mistake.”

  From this angle, I could see her biting her lip. “It’s not your fault that war looms,” I said.

  “I know we talked about that, but it’s so hard not to… blame myself for bringing the Red Hands to your front gates.”

  “This was going to happen eventually.” Daz sank down beside us, Fra-kee at his side. “Gaul has been waiting for an excuse to give to his men to take over our territory. And kill me. You didn’t start this war, Reba. If anything, I’m grateful for the opportunity to get it over with. I’m tired of looking over my shoulder all the time, waiting for him to strike.”

  Sax joined us, stretching out on the ground in front of us, Valerie tucked into his front.

  “The way you talk about this guy gives me the creeps,” Fra-kee muttered.

  “He is creepy.” Reba sat up and crossed her legs in front of her. “And he’s smart and manipulative.”

  “I’ll never get over why some Drix turned.” Daz took a swig of his own spirits cup. “So many good males died in the Uprising who would have upheld our beliefs. Gaul had always been a bad seed.”

  I knew he was thinking about his youngest brother, Rex, who died during our battle with the Uldani. He had been a great warrior, young but focused. His loss had been felt by us all.

  “His men could maybe be turned if they elected a good drexel,” I said. “Barto, his second, is just as dark as Gaul is. He’ll be just as hard to defeat as his leader.”

  Another body dropped down beside me, and Xavy tipped his cup in my direction before upending the contents into his mouth. “Have we met?” Xavy asked Reba.

  “I don’t think so.” She smiled.

  “Well I’m Xavy,” he grinned, his lip tattoos catching the light of the fire. “I heard of your beauty, but it’s nothing compared to seeing you in person.”

  I shoved him with a laugh. “Oh, fleck off. Go charm someone else.”

  He widened his eyes in mock innocence. “I’m just giving the female a compliment.”

  Reba giggled. “Thank you, Xavy. It’s nice to meet you. Your reputation precedes you.”

  He placed a hand on his chest. “Me? A reputation. I’m humbled.”

  “Humble,” I snorted. “You don’t have a humble bone in your body.”

  Laughter rang out across the camp. Near the fire stood Tabitha and a younger warrior named Hap. They were moving their arms and legs in a coordinated fashion. When Hap tripped over his feet and landed on his face, Tabitha nearly fell over with peals of laughter.

  Hap recovered quickly and grinned.

  “What’s that about?” I asked. Hap was a good Drixonian, but he wasn’t quite made for the way we lived now on Torin. If our civilization had remained, he wouldn’t have been on the front lines of battle. He probably would have been a mechanic or a cook, which were both necessary and important jobs. He didn’t quite have the warrior mentality, and we had sheltered him during the Uprising. Daz had a soft spot for the younger warrior. We all did.

  “They bonded when stuck in that hideout.” Fra-kee said.

  “Bonded?” That was Xavy, all traces of humor gone.

  Fra-kee blinked at him for a moment. “Yeaaahhh. Bonded. As in they became fast friends. They get along. What did you think I meant?”

  Xavy opened his mouth, closed it, and then shook his head. He stared straight ahead into the fire, a dark look on his face.

  When Tabitha shrieked with laughter again and hugged Hap, Xavy stood and stomped away.

  “Uh, okay,” Reba said in a low voice. “What was that about?”

  “Methinks some blue playboy has a crush,” Fra-kee sang in a soft voice.

  “Playboy?” Daz asked.

  Fra-kee waved his question away. “Well, I think Tab is clueless and also a little wild.”

  “She does seem to love having a harem of blue males hanging on her every word,” Valerie smirked.

  I watched Tabitha, though, and every so often, her eyes would scan the crowd as if looking for a particular face.

  Soon two three other females joined us—Naomi, Miranda, and Justine. Gar wandered over eventually too, so instead of brooding across from us, he brooded behind us. Reba stole glances at him every once in a while, and I’d do my best to give her a re
assuring squeeze. “He needs time,” I whispered in her ear.

  “I get that,” she said back softly. “I just… want to be here for him. When he’s ready.”

  “I need to send everyone to get sleep,” Daz said with a stretch of his arms over his head. “No late nights. No abuse of spirits. Not until the Red Hands are taken care of.”

  We herded the females out first, while Daz stayed behind to try to convince the males to quit their drinking and mischief.

  Safe behind the walls of our hut, with a slumbering Luna, Reba and I collapsed into the furs. She held me tightly, clinging to my chest in a way that felt panicked.

  “I’m worried,” her small voice confessed in the dark.

  “Fatas has blessed us with you and the other females. She has sought to create life in you. She would not give victory to the Red Hands.”

  She was quiet for a long time. “You really think that, don’t you?”

  “I do.”

  “I don’t… I don’t know I have that kind of faith in an intangible being. If Fatas has an authority on Earth, then I have a bone to pick with her about my sister.”

  “I don’t believe she takes life, or decides which life to take, but I think she chooses to bless us with or curse us based on how we live our lives. The details are up to our free will.”

  She sighed. “Well I’ve met the males in this clavas, and I gotta say, if anyone’s got Fatas in their corner, it’s you guys.”

  “That’s my clever Reba,” I pressed a kiss to her temple.

  “I reserve the right to denounce Fatas if she dares take you from me,” she said.

  I smiled at my fiery mate’s words. “I will accept that.”

  Reba

  Three days passed—or rotations as the Drix called them. These days were filled with battle preparations. Repairs were made to the structure of the walls, and the insides were fortified with slabs of hard wood. Nero spent almost all his time in his hut watching the feeds to catch any glimpse of the Red Hands.

  I hated it. I hated the tension and the waiting. I threw myself into preparing food ahead of time, racks and racks of tein bars which the females said were like Drix protein bars, easy to grab and go for energy.

  Multiple times a day, Xavy led the warriors through training exercise. They jogged, did pushups, pull-ups, and some complicated maneuver that looked like a nearly impossible burpee. They sparred with each other, machets out, until black blood stained the dirt ground.

  When I suggested they fight with props, like gladiators did with wooden swords to prevent injury, Ward had looked at me like I was crazy. I didn’t try to give warrior advice after that.

  Luna had grown considerably in a short amount of time. She could no longer be bundled in a pack on Ward’s back, let alone mine. She was now about the size of a husky, and Ward said she wasn’t even close to full grown.

  She followed me around everywhere, and while some of the Drix males still gave her a wide berth, they had grown used to her. Ward liked her at my side. I’d been bumped by pure accident in the mess hall by a Drixonian holding his massive dinner plate and Luna had nearly taken his throat out in my defense.

  At nights, as the sun dropped, us females gathered on the cliff edge to look out at their green ocean, or freshas as they called it.

  “I’ve never seen any ships or boats,” Miranda observed, shielding her eyes from the sun as she gazed at the calm waters.

  “Daz said the freshas is off-limits,” Frankie said. “They have a few vessels in case of an emergency, but the freshas has its own hierarchy of alien sea life. Land lubbers are not welcome.”

  I gazed down into the water, which seemed so placid from here with gentle waves lapping at the cliff face. “Well now I’m imagining giant squid and megalodon.”

  Tabitha shuddered. “I visit the ocean for beer, beach, and boinking. I don’t get in the ocean. Fish pee in there.”

  “I pee in there,” Naomi giggled.

  “My point!”

  We chatted some more until the males insisted we retreat to our beds. Daz had been keeping a strict curfew. Everyone agreed waiting was the worst part.

  That night I woke in the dark to Ward shaking me. I knew right away by the set of his jaw that the waiting was over. My stomach plummeted as I leapt out of bed. We’d practiced this routine, and I knew what to do but my hands shook as I pulled up my pants.

  “What’s happening?” I wanted details.

  “Nero spotted several Red Hands in the southeast of our territory. It is time.” Ward said.

  The unspoken words hung in the air. Time for battle. Time for blood. Time for death.

  “Hap will lead you and the other females to the bunker,” he said just as a knock rapped at our door. “Stay alert.”

  My heart pounded in my ears when I turned around to see my mate standing in full battle gear. He wore a vest and a belt strapped with weapons, including a solar gun. On his tail was a reticulated band that spanned the entire length, sharp blades jutting from the top.

  His blue scales rippled in color, signaling his agitated state. Despite that, his eyes were clear, dark, and focused.

  He took a step forward and placed his hand on my stomach. “Take care of our chit, my clever human. Keep Luna at your side.”

  “I will,” my voice choked with tears. “Please be safe, Ward. And kill that Gaul asshole.”

  Just a hint of a smile appeared on his lips before it was gone. He swept the door open and Hap stepped inside. Behind him stood the rest of the women, guarded by a dozen males of the Night King clavas. Hap nodded at Ward and gentled his expression for me. “Let’s go, Reba.”

  I patted my leg, and Luna rose from her bed and trotted to my side. We stole out into the night, walking fast to the back of the clavas, right to the cliff edge. This was the part I dreaded.

  Hap unrolled a vine and wood ladder at the edge of the cliff, securing it with pre-embedded hooks in the ground, and swung himself down as if there was no big deal to descending a rickety ladder over a two-hundred-foot drop. I wanted to vomit even thinking about it. His body bobbed down the ladder before he disappeared in a small bunker cave sunk into the cliff face. That was our panic room, stocked with supplies for seven rotations. We were to remain there, guarded by a dozen warriors, until the battle was finished. The Night Kings were taking no chances at protecting their precious females.

  Miranda went next, then another Drix, and we alternated like that until the last female—Justine—was in the panic cave, as we called it. Luna was lowered from the top with a rope harness. The last warrior remained at the top in order to roll up the ladder and toss it over the cliff. We watched it sail past us only to land long moments later in the freshas below.

  The only way out of here now was from inside the panic cave. Supplies sat in the back corner and a warrior would scale the cliff with his claws, a new ladder on his back. From the top, he’d drop it down and free us.

  We’d done our best to make this as cozy as possible. The warriors remained at the front of the cave, all but Hap, who sat back with us among the furs and food. We had a small solar light we tucked far back inside so it wasn’t visible from the outside… even though the only one to see would be the freshas underwater inhabitants.

  “Anyone hungry?” Hap asked. “Want some qua?”

  We all stared at him.

  “Not really in the mood for a snack right now while our men are up there possibly getting gouged,” Frankie grumbled.

  Hap deflated. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Tabitha placed her hand on his and urged him to sit next to her. “We know you’re just trying to help out.”

  “I wish I had something to do.” Valerie paced the length of the cave as she ticked off items on her fingers. “For the last few rotations, I prepared bandages, medis vials with correct dosages, pallets for the injured. Everything. I worked until my fingers bled, and yet that was when I was in my element. When I was doing something.”

  “You’re amazing, V
al,” Naomi said. “Sax struts around the camp every day telling everyone about you. It’s really adorable how proud he is.”

  Val blushed. “Yeah, well, I like helping. I find this planet and everything on it fascinating. Now that I’m not locked up in a prison to be a breeder.” Her hand dropped to her stomach as she swore fiercely. “I hope they’re okay.”

  “Daz is a great battle strategist,” Hap said. “He’s one of the main reasons we won the Uprising. Gaul’s smart, but not as smart as Daz, especially now that Daz has his two best warriors back in Sax and Ward. Plus,” his fangs chewed on his lower lip, “No one has a warrior like Gar. The rotation he falls will be the rotation pivars fly.”

  “He didn’t talk about all the details with me, but he’s confident,” Frankie said. “He has plans A to Z.” Despite her words, her chin wobbled. She looked away and blinked her eyes rapidly. “Shit.”

  Valerie stopped her pace and sat down next to Frankie, taking her hand and squeezing it. We all huddled into a circle, holding hands, all the women and Hap. We didn’t pray, and we didn’t talk, but we remained silent.

  Just as a dull buzzing sounded from above us, Frankie gasped. “They’re here,” she said, eyes open as they stared unseeing out into the sea air. “I can feel Daz. He’s focused and confident.”

  “Sax too,” Val murmured. “Actually, Sax is happy. He loves this.”

  I wondered if I tried really hard if I could sense Ward, but I didn’t feel his aura as the women called it. Just me, my brain rattling in my skull as I searched for my other half, and I hoped like hell he was okay.

  The Drix at the entrance shuffled their feet and remained alert, machets out. Minutes passed or maybe hours. I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was I sat with every muscle tensed, my ears strained. The sounds of battle above reached us, and I worried they were within the walls, and when I voiced this concern, Frankie shook her head. “If they were in the walls, Daz would be losing it. He’s still confident. Tired, but not alarmed.”

  I relaxed a bit at that, but I still flinched every time I heard grunts and cries of pain in the distance, carried down to our safe space by the humid air.