The VaDorok: The Mate Index Book 1

by SJ Sanders

  “Seven females,” E’budar grinned, sharing in the excitement. “I do not think I have heard of any clan having so many in a season between all of their cannid clutches combined.” He looked over to A’Jular, “When are you planning on finding our female then?”

  Sara narrowed her eyes at him, “You are not going to go steal a woman from Earth.”

  E’budar put an offended hand to his chest, “I would never suggest that my brother steal a woman. Cajole, bribe, sweet-talk, seduce, fuck into willing surrender...it all works just as well.”

  Sara stared at him in disbelief. “Uh, ok. I hate to break it to you tall and fangy, but the Edoka isn’t an exactly a...cuddly looking species. In fact you guys look downright threatening and scary on a good day.” She peered at the brother speculatively.

  “Are the Edoka in some ways similar to the Agraak,” she asked motioning vaguely to his spines. The corners of his eyes crinkled up in amusement.

  “If you are asking if my spines secrete toxins, yes they do. We share similar evolutionary traits with the Agraak who share our galaxy, but as you can see we are very different otherwise. Not only are our home worlds very different which shaped many evolutionary features you probably have noticed, after all the Agraak come from a very hot swampy environment I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but we are also fundamentally different biologically,” he cheerfully clarified.

  “Uh huh,” Sara said. “See, to an average human female that would be considered scary as fuck. It is a bit of a turn off knowing that the male you are fucking can potentially poison you and cause a pretty awful death.”

  “Well their scales are pretty,” Trish offered, ignoring the huff and dirty look Ladox threw her. “There are probably plenty of women who would probably bang a guy that had shiny scales.”

  All three Edoka males looked down at themselves in pleasure. E’budar positively preened. “Banging is sex yes?” E’budar clarified hopefully.

  Sara sucked her lips in tight to hold back a grin, “Yes it is human slang referring to particularly wild sex.”

  She could concede the point to Trish. Some of her favorite sci-fi romances featured sexy scaled aliens. Again, none of them were equipped with neuro-toxins, but maybe she was just particularly squeamish. Sara was more into horned sexyness herself, so counted herself more than fortunate with her VaDorok mate. But there could potentially be females out there who would be as drawn to the Edoka males.

  Sha’melor interjected with a firm shake of his head, “E’dubar we are not looking for a female to ‘bang.’ We are looking for a permanent compatible mate for our clannid.” He stared down his brother with a shrewd look. “Maybe more serious consideration and less recklessness would be better.”

  E’budar shrugged and smiled.

  ***

  The gathering of the Intergalactic Council was impressive to say the least. Sara couldn’t get her fill of observing all the different species represented. Teal, as in peacock teal, species with high arched webbed crests. More of the scarlet red cat-like Forad species that Nadar came from. There were more humanoid looking aliens too with their own particular hues and features. And vaguely-humanoid ones among not-at-all-humanoid ones that Sara couldn’t help but to stare at openly. It was all just so fascinating!

  The Agraak were also there at a podium, though Sara tried not to look at them. Though she could feel the eyes of her ‘mate’ staring through her from over there. Finally, the representatives from planet Earth came into view. A man who had the appearance of a high ranking military position stood at a podium, facing the Council. Vidok nodded towards them. “ Those are males from your planet?”

  “Frightfully small,” Ladox observed with a dark chuckle that was echoed by Torok and Kull, likely thinking of easily twisting the arms off anyone who tried to take the women back to earth.

  They had been warned that it could be an option. Earth was denying the claim of both the Agraak and the VaDorok, citing that they were unlawfully stolen females. As such Earth demanded their return. None of the VaDorok males had been impressed when Sha’melor, present representing Edokora, had informed them of that in their rooms earlier.

  “All males, not a female human in sight among them,”A’Jular observed, a laugh rumbling from his throat as his spines flicked slightly up with his amusement. “Do you think word got out and now they are keeping their females hidden away on Earth?”

  “Doubtlessly,” Borax observed as he watched the human dignitaries whisper among themselves.“If word has already gotten out that humans are breeding compatible in this way, Earth is probably anticipating the fact that they, despite being a new member of the union, have a great deal of power being handed to them. They could potentially have the greatest market in the Intergalactic Union, in the trade of their own people. In that case, they will not risk a single unprofitable loss of a female. They will see their population as their greatest resources--females to planets in lack, and the occasional male to planets with the opposite problem.”

  Sara’s stomach turned.“You are talking virtual slavery,” she choked out. “Human trafficking of our own citizens.”

  Sha’melor nodded grimly. “Unfortunately it is better than the alternative. If Earth isn’t recognized in this hearing of having some power of the welfare over its own people it would make Earth easy pickings for species all over the universe to steal humans in masses.” He gives her a small smile, “Of course we are hoping that in this case, that they will also recognize your rights as mated females. Setting up a precedence of rights for mated couples will help the rest of us long-term.”

  “What, you guys actually are planning snatch and grab?” she asked, eyeing the brothers warily.

  “Despite what my brothers have alluded to, it is not so easy as that I am afraid,” he chuckled.

  “Ohhh,” Sara drawled. “Are you like the VaDorok then...you need to find your female.”

  He shrugged elegantly. Though no less threatening in appearance than his brother, he had a kind of civilized polish to him that the other two lacked. Sara considered for a moment that perhaps, of the three, he would be the better option to find and secure a mate for them.

  “Yes and no. We don’t have the mating heat...thing the way the VaDorok do. Instead,” he tapped the side of his broad nose with a claw, “the Edoka have very large nasal cavities and olfactory receptors. Only the scent of our mate will cause our mating stem to unfurl.”

  She couldn’t help eyeballing their crotches now that she was loaded with that visual.

  These guys cocks are curled up like a fern? God damn it looks like they are packing heat unsexed. If he ‘unfurls’ he will scare a human girlfriend to death with that thing.

  A thought occurred to her, “Wait, how was E’budar able to get it on with that female then?”

  Vidok choked a bit, “Ulukska, I don’t think you need to know about how the cocks of other males work.”

  E’budar grinned, clearly enjoying the attention. “The mating stem is our true cock. We are born with a false cock that overlaps the furled mating stem. When we find our mates the false cock will wither and fall off so that the mating stem can unfurl,” he unabashedly informed Sara. “It is what allows us to deposit our seed within the womb. Otherwise, with the false cock, it just pleasure and a carrier fluid. Fucking and mating are ultimately a bit different.”

  “That is very--” alarming, horrifying, totally creepy, very oh-my-god-what-the-fuck-worthy “--unique,” Sara managed diplomatically.

  Withering false cocks. Sara restrained a shudder.

  Vidok, obviously catching her crotch-staring, growled low in her ear. “Mate,” the word came out like he was forcing it through broken glass. She recognized it as her only warning and she promptly yanked her eyes back up to the amused gaze of the Edoka, heat filling her cheeks.

  Apparently everyone caught me trying to stare a hole through E’budar’s britches.

  She cleared her throat, “A word of warning, if you nab yourself a human girlfriend, you migh
t want to run that by her if you don’t want her to have a heart attack.”

  All the males around her laugh uproariously, even her testy mate and the scary, scaled mother fuckers. But hey, she wasn’t lying. She would pay good money to be a fly on the wall when they found their mate.

  Apparently the speculative gleam in her eye was pretty telling of the direction of her thoughts, because her growly-ass mate yanked her up firmly against his chest and headed to the podium reserved for the VaDorok, leaving the Edoka to their own podium.

  At the Council head, a thick-bodied male of a deep rust color, with a wide bridge of of ridges and horns sloping up his forehead, slammed a metal sphere repeatedly on the podium in front of him. His voice had a deep resonance that immediately quieted the crowd.

  “It has been brought to the attention of the Galactic Council that we are faced with an unprecedented event. For the first time, a species has been found that has wide range mating compatibility with most other races.” He paused, allowing the crowd several minutes to mutter among themselves.

  “Unfortunately, it has come with a serious tangle of unresolved disputes we must take into consideration. The Agraak are claiming that eleven mated females were stolen from their facility outpost on planet Dorok. This Council, however, is concerned because the Agraak refuse to share any information about the facility, the tests carried out there, or even the condition of eighty-nine unaccounted for human females. They are citing the mating privacy act on this last matter.”

  The Agraak ambassadors shifted, appearing aggravated as other species around them began to glare at them, and the volume of discussion increased exponentially. Sara was happy to see that the Agraak had put themselves in an uncomfortable position.

  “However,” the head of the Council droned on, “we have received word through their envoys, the Edoka, that the VaDorok are challenging this claim.” He lifted a brow at Borax.

  Borax stood, the gold of his collar, and hanging from his locks, gleamed beneath the artificial light, looking every inch the proud chief of the VaDorok. Vidok presented himself at his side, as a demonstration of the unity between the leading powers of their community.

  “Chancellor, we object most strenuously to the suggestion that we, the VaDorok, the children of Dorok, stole anyone’s mates,” Borax spoke in a clear loud voice. “Vidok, the warrior-priest of our people found one female on the ice flows in the far north of our planet, nearly frozen to death from the brutal cold.

  “She told us that the Agraak, who never sought our permission to build their lab in the far northern territory, were experimenting mating compatibility and force-breeding females there. We merely rescued them. That they ended up mate-bonding to our males is inconsequential. It wasn’t planned. It happened by the will of the gods.”

  A deep colored Agraak beside the Agraadax ambassador leaped to his feet, spines shaking in threat. “That male stole my mate, and the mates of other elite families of Agraadax,” he shouted. “I demand their return. I demand the return of my mate and all breeding rights. These males are thieves!”

  As one, the VaDorok jumped up and began to growl. Eleven very angry Agraak males pushed their ambassador out of the way as they tried to shout down the Intergalactic Inquiry. The VaDorok males responded to each and every one of them with deafening roaring threats. Loudest among them was Kull whose roar threatened death and violence when Katie whimpered at seeing her rapist begin to approach her at their podium.

  The Chancellor banged his sphere repeatedly, and the Council guards moved swiftly with great precision between the Agraak and VaDorok. He leveled a hard to look at the representatives of Agraadax, unimpressed. “I have no problem telling you that the Intergalactic Council is not pleased by the actions of Agraadax. The secrecy and questionable methods makes us severely question the claims you have on these females. Truthfully, if it were in our power, we would demand that you bring forward all your females to the Council. But you are right, we have to yield to the mating privacy act.

  “However, your dealings with the Budo, whom Earth provided evidence of unlawful movement of their citizens, and the establishment of your research facility on a foreign planet without permission, and in conditions that imprisoned the humans is one that we are considering quite gravely. As well as the disappearance of one hundred human males that were sold into your custody, as recorded by the Budo. I would not be amiss in telling you that things are not looking in your favor.”

  His steely eyes turned towards the VaDorok, “The Council is giving great consideration towards granting protected status to the mating-bonds formed between the human females and the VaDorok males, if all females testify that they are willingly mated to them.”

  He held up a thick hand, “However, Earth is also pushing their own interest, which we will first hear before the Council adjourns. Proceed.”

  The ambassador from Earth stood stiffly, his iron gray hair swept back from his head and expression grim. “As you know Chancellor, the Budo removed two hundred citizens from our planet in the guise of a study and research exchange. We had no knowledge that the Budo intended to sell our citizens for experimentation, nor that there was no intention of their eventual return. All information material they provided, of which we turned into the Council, advertised it as a safe mutual cooperative exchange.”

  His eyes spanned the crowd, coming to rest on the VaDorok podium. “We are angry at the loss of our citizens. At the likely death of one hundred men, and the absence of one hundred women. As we do not know the condition of the women with the Agraak, we are asking that these eleven women before us be returned immediately to the care of their parental planet for observation and care. We do not recognize any...mating between our people and creatures such as the VaDorok. Not only do we consider it unnatural, but borderline bestiality among us.”

  Sara’s couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Borderline bestiality? Observation and care? That did not sound good.

  “This is an outrage,” bellowed Sha’melor, his scales darkening. “My clan has traded with the VaDorok for generations. The VaDorok are known to be a loyal, honest and just people. They are good allies, caring, protective mates, and faultless warriors when called upon by the Intergalactic community. To liken their mating as bestiality is a grave insult not only to them, but also all other species of the Union,” he shouted.

  Pandemonium hit as representatives of the Intergalactic Union began to shout out their indignation. Many called for the Council to seize regulatory power from Earth and allow citizens of the Intergalactic Union unrestricted mating and breeding rights. The representatives from Earth began to look unnerved beneath the backlash. In fact, the ambassador looked positively purple with anger.

  Borax raised his fist to speak. The Chancellor noticed and regained the attention of the Council.

  Borax fixed his gaze, eyes like blue fire, on the representatives of Earth. “With all due respect,” he snarled. “The VaDorok love their mates. All of these honorable males of my tribe have formed permanent bonds with the human females in the manner most sacred to our people. There is nothing unnatural about our mating-bonds.The tribe embraces them, and will cherish and love the younglings to be born. I guarantee you, we will protect both with the last breath within us.”

  The Chancellor nodded his head in recognition of Borax’s words. When the ambassador of Earth sputtered and tried to interject, he quickly silenced him. “I think we have heard enough from all the representatives. And some of those we didn’t intend to hear from,” he gave the other representatives in the audience a thoroughly disgruntled look. “The Intergalactic Council with convene and we will present our decision in the morning. We are adjourned.”

  With a firm hand he slammed down the metal sphere and the five members of the Council rose from their chairs and departed from the chambers. Instantly arguing resumed. Among some of the more impressive were the large iridescent-scaled males with huge leathery wings--and she thought the VaDorok had dragonish traits--shouting down fr
om their high podiums at humans who recoiled as if they were looking at demons.

  Well perhaps that is an accurate comparison. Most species here the more fanatical nuts on Earth would take one look at and be screaming demon.

  The bestiality comment rubbed her wrong though. She looked over at the human men, seeing the way they looked at her and the other women and the VaDorok with disgust. They did not see powerful, caring, virile VaDorok males. They saw monsters. Tall furry creatures of folklore. They saw women who engaged in acts of perversion. Sara placed a protective hand over her womb. She knew that they would see her babies as abominations. Things to rip out and study.

  Vidok caught on to her fear and nuzzled her lovingly, his hands following hers, stroking over her belly. “Don’t worry ulukska. Those males are weak and narrow minded. Not even the council would force us to turn our mates and younglings over to them. Especially not after what they heard from them.”

  Sara hoped he was right. Otherwise she was going to pitch the biggest fit in the history of fits. And she had a feeling that she wouldn’t be the only one judging but the look on the faces of the other women clinging possessively to their mates. Worse, she knew that the males would aggressively do whatever it took to keep their mates from harm, even if it came to using punishable lethal means counter to the decision of the Council.

  ***

  Sara laid on the belly of her mate. She missed their nest in their den.The beds in the space station were not any where near big enough for her to curl up comfortably with her mate. Vidok, after being on edge all evening while they ate and explored the station more, had also grumbled about how small everything in the room was. She knew that was also missing the comforts of their home. Nothing fit her mate in the space station.

  She doubted it would barely fit the tall lean Edoka males and whatever bed partner they managed to catch. She had been a bit shocked when they had returned to their quarters after their evening meal to see A’Jular, eyes subtly glowing, grinding lustfully on a giggling female. She had been startled enough to almost trip into Vidok, drawing the Edoka’s attention to her. He merely gave her a wicked grin as he pulled the female into the quarters he shared with his brothers.