Alien Barbarians' Mate

by Zara Starr

  I lifted my hand and began stroking between his ears. “Shh, it’s okay, boy. Just calm down, Trem. Stay calm, boy.”

  The male was directly before me now, tilting his head as he looked me over.

  I lifted a brow and groaned.

  “Dude, seriously? Have you never seen curvy chick before or something? Yeah, I got curves. What gives?” I muttered in annoyance.

  I didn’t like dudes gawking over me and I never had any patience for people’s murmuring stares. Both of those things sent me from zero to sixty real fast—and I had a habit of tearing people’s heads off without any remorse.

  From time to time that had blown up in my face, but for the most part it had kept me from being harmed in worse ways. People were vicious and I had no patience for bullshit.

  Because of that, I had learned to nip it in the bud well before it ever got any worse. Why should now be any different? I mean, I was standing before some weird and staring purple man who ate his meals off a freaking leaf!

  Was I still even in the US? The place reminded me more and more of the Amazon as I noticed the flora and fauna around us.

  Tremor seemed to stop barking for a moment, but the purple male walked closer and reached out his hand toward him. Instantly, Tremor began growling.

  I pulled him closer to me and stepped back slightly, perking my brow as I felt both mine and my dog’s space being crept in upon.

  “Hello! I asked you a freaking question! What the hell is your problem and why are you acting so weird toward my dog?” I demanded.

  By now, I was getting tired of the man simply staring and walking around without opening his mouth to utter even a single word. I hated being ignored, but I hated the silent treatment even more.

  Was that what was going on here? I felt like all my choices and decisions had been stripped away from me—the same feeling I got every single time my mother had done that to me. It had developed into a sort of complex that had really messed with my relationships, and here I was still being challenged by it!

  What the hell was wrong with the universe and why did it feel the need to extract as much pain from my ass as possible? The pound of flesh just wasn’t enough—it had to go after all my extra assets, of course.

  I spun around and the male seemed to chuckle at me slightly—his eyes flickering over my breasts, which thankfully were covered by my swaddling hoodie.

  What was this guy’s deal? And why in the hell was he so vividly purple? Something wasn’t adding up, and I was really starting to feel endangered in ways that I hadn’t at all expected to be.

  This dude had already thrown a spear in my direction, eyed me like a salivating pervert and refused to answer any of my questions. Something wasn’t right. I knew it.

  Tremor began barking again and I pulled him closer to me. It was obvious from the purple man’s behavior that he didn’t really like my dog and the feeling seemed to be mutual.

  That meant that my instincts were on point. I trusted Tremor—he may have been prone to some anxiety attacks but he was a smart, good dog and I loved him. I knew he wouldn’t lead me astray and the fact that he didn’t like the strange purple man made me feel even more insecure.

  I tried to retrace what had happened before I awoke. Had I been struck by lightning? Was that why my head hurt so much when I first opened my eyes? Had that been the blinding white light that I vaguely recalled before opening my eyes? Or had it all been some weird dream?

  That had to be it! This was just some weird dream and soon enough I’d wake up from it.

  Right?

  Two

  Arh

  I was beyond livid. How could the elders all agree that Ella should be allowed to break protocol? That this newcomer—from gods knew where—could just appear and completely change everything about Eilahasan history and culture. It was beyond believable!

  Who the hell did she think she was to deny me? I had given her the very best stag meat! I had gone above and beyond to provide her with the diet that would have been the envy of any other female!

  She seemed foolish, downright stupid to me in the long run though, as I thought upon it. I had been spending all of my time away from the tribal cave and my own home cave because the idea of seeing all of them happy while she still appeared so malnourished made my blood burn!

  The only way I seemed to be able to release any of my rage was by constantly keeping on the hunt—keeping my hands and mind busy with the things I had control over.

  It was certain that once the elders made their ruling, nothing I could do or say would dissuade them of their cause. I had been completely rejected by the female and I couldn’t do anything about it. Why should I be forced to endure more torture by being present in a place nobody wanted me anyway?

  It seemed to make the most sense for me to stay at the edge of the forest in my own encampment. I had no fear of the dragons or forest leeches. I knew how to handle them well enough and after killing the legendary stag, I was more interested in collecting another meat type for the winter: the bovine sort.

  I had spent the better part of the last week chasing after their herd and had spotted the one creature I wanted to bring home most—a large female that had to weigh well over the typical weight.

  I estimated it to be at least three hundred pounds. This would bring the tribe a great deal of meat to last for the worst of our wintertime—a time when hunting became more sporadic and scarce.

  The beast would be very suitable as we prepared for our coming holidays. I knew that my mother would be especially proud if I brought her the beast I was considering, and I felt obligated to do so after spending so much time away.

  My mother was the only healer aside from Julene but she had never been chosen to be an elder. I knew that when Julene passed though, my mother, Veruka, would be her most likely successor.

  As the sun began to drop in the sky, I decided I was close enough to get in the shot I’d been working for—at first light.

  For now, I would allow the beast one last evening to rest with her herd. Then, I would take her life and provide the sustenance that my people would need.

  I never took more than we needed, though I loved the hunt more than anything else. It gave me purpose and was a thrill unlike anything else.

  Then again, I had never known the intimacy of a triad, having never before mated with anyone—so I could not understand those carnal needs, though I did understand the frustration being denied had brought me.

  If just the thought of mating made me feel such a way I imagined that the act of lovemaking was probably equally as vigorous and stimulating. But with the way things looked, I somehow began to doubt that would ever happen for me.

  I pursed my lips as I made my way through the forest—it was growing warmer and the strange storms that had been coming across Eilahas seemed to have stopped. But as the evening loomed ahead of me I tilted my head, noting the sickly grey clouds that seemed to fill the sky suddenly.

  I needed to quicken my pace as an unexpected squall would soon release its tears upon us. I could practically feel it creeping into my skin as I began to jog back toward my camp. As I grew closer to the camp, I heard a strange sound—like an animal gawking somewhere near my camp.

  When I left, the fire was just barely going and I figured it would long have been out by now. But then I remembered that I had left some food out on a Guayana leaf.

  It hadn’t been much, just a bit of stag meat, some of Karr’s smoked monlas, a few moon berries, and a nice sized piece of well-fermented topas. It was possible—probable, even—that some animal may have come across the camp.

  I pulled my spear upward and readied myself to strike the creature as I approached the edge of the tree line.

  Puzzled by the shadow of what I saw kneeling down beside the fire, I tossed the spear. But the shadow moved. I walked into the clearing and saw a strangely dressed being with skin unlike ours—and yet nothing like Ella’s either.

  I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head as I walked
into the encampment. The being knelt down and lifted a furry and small creature into its arms. I glanced at the animal, realizing it had been the source of all the strange noises I had heard.

  Oddly, the creature looked female even though so weirdly dressed. I walked around her once, gazing over her body, and found myself surprised by the strange difference in her body shape compared to that of the thin female that Karr had first brought to the elders—Ella.

  I wondered if she was of the same species, or if she had come to the place by the same means Ella had, which to my knowledge we had still not uncovered. Not that it mattered, she had chosen her one hunter and it wasn’t me, so why should I continue to care?

  Besides, with this new female’s arrival and me having been the first to find her, I felt that maybe fate was choosing to hand me a different fortune than the undesirable one I’d so long been given when it came to mates.

  I felt hopeful for the first time in weeks, but the weird animal she held clutched beneath her arm was unsettling and I didn’t like how it wouldn’t quit making sounds despite what the female seemed to do to quiet it.

  Why was she holding the animal so closely? Was it her food supply? That couldn’t be though, with Ella being an herbivore as all the others had insisted. Was this female different? Was she actually a carnivore like us?

  I walked back over to the Guayana leaf and chuckled as I noticed that most of the meat had been torn apart, and some of the monlas also.

  I pursed my lips as I turned toward the creature again. I walked around her again, checking her over curiously because she appeared so different. I wanted to ensure that she was, in fact, a female before I made any hasty decisions. I had almost killed her already.

  I was suddenly grateful my aim had been slightly off—a rarity for me, but in this case, a welcomed one.

  What should I do with her?

  The creature she was holding was a nuisance, and I worried that its constant yelping would attract the attention of a bigger and more sinister being—something that would eat all three of us and then go looking for its next meal. I knew that such creatures would be coming in soon as the changing season approached.

  I walked back over to the fire and began throwing a few logs atop it, blowing into the flame to stoke it as the female held her strange animal close to her side. I looked up at her again and she spoke, in the same tongue that Ella spoke, though I couldn’t understand a word.

  “Are you going to just sit there and ignore me or are you going to explain just what the hell is going on here?”

  The animal in her arms let out another loud wail and I covered my ears as I snorted. The damn animal was louder than anything its size should be and I felt the sudden need to crush its esophagus as I stood up.

  I walked toward her and reached for the creature. But the female was quicker than I was, leaping out of my reach and dragging the animal along with her. I pointed at it and shook my head as I cursed aloud.

  “Jikia!” I hollered, quickly lifting my hand and covering my mouth as I glared at the creature. The female just shook her head and scoffed aloud.

  “What the hell is your problem? What the hell does ‘jikia’ mean anyway?” she asked, shaking her head more. “Where the hell am I and what the hell are you going to do to us?”

  I started back at her, unsure of what to say. I had no idea what she had just said to me, but I knew that the animal she seemed so intent on holding needed to shut up—and quickly.

  I sighed. I didn’t want to take her back to the tribal cave or the elders. What if another male got to steal her from under me just like what had happened with Ella? How was I going to keep her to myself if that animal didn’t stop its shrieking?

  I needed to dispatch the animal, but I didn’t want to hurt the female in the process. This left me in a situation I wasn’t quite sure how to handle.

  I decided to try feeding the female to test out my theory that she ate meat. Maybe if I offered the creature in her arms food, it would finally shut its mouth long enough for me to attempt bridging the communication gap.

  There was one exciting difference between this female and Ella, and that was her size. She was by no means sickly or too thin, as Ella had been. This made me both happy and surprised but I needed to be certain she had been the one to eat the meat and not some other creature from in the forest.

  I moved to sit atop a rock and began pulling out stag meat from my satchel. I lifted the Guayana leaf from the ground and placed the meat on top of it—holding it toward the female as I nodded.

  She perked a brow at me and tilted her head. From her movements, I realized that she didn’t feel secure in the least bit. She seemed uneasy, so I arose and walked over to her—holding the leaf out toward her.

  The creature in her arms immediately leaped toward me, nipping at my finger as I offered the food. I pulled my hand away just as the creature’s tiny teeth drew against the edge of my skin. My eyes widened as I realized the animal had bitten me!

  Enraged, I reached for the creature and pulled it free from her grip, my hands reaching around its neck as I moved to choke it.

  No animal would bite me; Arh the Greatest Hunter of the Eilahasan tribe. Not unless it wished to meet its end by my own hands like every other creature I had come in contact with did.

  “No! You dickhead! What the hell are you doing?” the female began yelling as she rushed over to me, her arms reaching around my torso as she jumped on my back.

  Stunned, I released the animal and began working my hands to peel her from my spine as I spun around. She began hitting the side of my face, shoulders, and neck in succession.

  I leaned forward, launching her over my head toward the ground. She fell with a loud oomph and I glanced down at her, shaking my head as the animal came charging for my feet. Its teeth nipped at the back of my ankles as it yapped loudly.

  I scoffed and moved to reach for my spear, lifting it from the ground as I aimed at the beast.

  The female suddenly flew back toward me, knocking me clean to the ground as she wrestled to pull the spear from my hands.

  “No, you asshole! I’ll rip you a new one if you kill him! I’ll beat you to a pulp!” she bellowed.

  I couldn’t understand a word but her actions showed anger that almost mirrored my own. I chuckled as I realized that she may have been female but within her resided the spirit of a warrior—something I had never before seen in any female I had ever known.

  But, that wasn’t enough to keep me from shutting up the animal—it was a liability to us both. The sounds it seemed to continuously make were far beyond anything I could just overlook.

  I rolled to my side, the spear still in my hands as the female crawled atop me and balled up her five-fingered hand to punch me straight in the nose. I blinked, the pain quickly rolling through my nasal cavity.

  Before I could react, the female launched another punch into the left side of my cheek and I lifted my hips, bucking her off of me and onto the ground as I rushed to my knees.

  I tossed the spear a good distance away from me, now on the defensive and ready for a hand-to-hand fight with a being that I never would have presumed could hold up to me—and a female, at that!

  The female came running toward me full speed and knocked me to my feet again. I coughed slightly as she began pummeling her fists into both sides of my face.

  I couldn’t let her keep it up though. I couldn’t afford to be scarred by a female who had lost her mind over an animal. It just wasn’t going to happen. Although I didn’t want to harm the female, it seemed impossible not to with her unrelenting blows.

  I braced myself for her next rush. As she came tumbling into me, I sidestepped her blows, allowing her to fall to her face at the edge of the tree line. I watched as her hands met with the dirt and she turned to look back at me.

  I knew she would lunge at me again, and sure enough, she came bounding toward me yet again. But she seemed to expect my sidestepping and jumped atop me, wrapping her legs around my waist and p
ushing forward with her chest.

  I could feel my body growing heavier as I fell to the ground with her atop me. I recalled a fight that had gone similarly with my cousin, Maun, when the two of us were just boys.

  “Aunt Veruka!” Maun’s childish voice hollered through the cave as he came running into it.

  “What is it, Maun? Why aren’t you out playing with Arh and the others?” she asked.

  I came striding into the cave behind him with a scowl. “Because Maun doesn’t play fair! Why should I play with him when he steals my spears and blades constantly? He also cheats at seeking the hide!”

  My mother, Veruka, crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at both of us.

  “Well, go hand-to-hand and see who is the tougher of the two! Then maybe you will learn the value of being a fair sport, Maun!” Veruka said.

  I widened my eyes. “You would allow us to fight, mother?” I asked, surprised at hearing her say this.

  I knew I could take Maun, he was younger and smaller than I, but my fear of being reprimanded had kept me from doing so.

  “That seems unfair, Aunt Veruka! He should share his things. I am his cousin!” Maun protested.

  “Yes, and your mother—my sister—was notorious for trying to do the very same thing. If you want Arh to share you should play by the rules. Or else, settle it like real men!” she said with a nod.

  “Fine! But, I cannot be held responsible for whatever maiming Arh receives because of it!” Maun said.

  I nodded. “Very well.”

  The two of us made our way out of the cave and my mother came to stand before the cave mouth, her arms still crossed over her chest as she watched us.

  I had no desire to truly hurt my cousin, but it seemed a fitting consequence and I braced myself as he came bounding toward me, jutting my foot out slightly as I readied for the impact.

  As Maun came toward me, he ran into my chest but missed my foot—tripping over it and landing flat on his face—his nose practically shoved into the dirt.