by SJ Sanders
Vidok rubbed his horn uncertainly. “She said she realized her error and came to atone. She seemed earnest in her wish to do so. And her desire to apologize to Sara. She knew that there was nothing more she could do to win me.”
Nadar humphed unimpressed, snarling under her breath about untrustworthy deceitful females. With an angry flick of her tail she stalked back to the den, leaving the males to their planning. Borax scratched the base of one horn.
“We will summon some hunters and head out as a group within two hours. They should have enough time to arrive by then. Others can catch up with us. We do not want to delay leaving.”
Vidok growled. “The longer we delay the further the male who has my mate gets. If we hesitate too long we will loose them. I also need a milking vadak to be sent to my den so that Ita can feed my younglings.”
Borax gripped his arm. “I will send Balar out with one immediately. It is fortunate he chose to not leave immediately after the gathering. Then we shall hunt.”
***
Half the warriors of the tribe spent days searching the north territory, looking for any sign of Sara. Scouts were sent as runners to question the nearby tribes to see if anyone had seen any sign of a strange male with Sara. It was like she disappeared. After a week Borax apologetically called off the hunt, and Vidok returned to his den with heavy heart.
When he arrived, his heart wept to not see his mate within their den. Instead Ita sat maternally by the fire, playing with the younglings who were already rapidly begin to grow. Ita brushed the long length of her locks back over her shoulder and rose up from her spot by the fire. She walked up to him and embraced him.
“Is there any news Vidok?”
“No Ita, none,” he blinked back tears as looked at the concerned female.
She bit her lip. “Vidok I know you are sorrowing for Sara, but I am happy to stay. I already love the younglings like my own and help you care for them. I know we will never mate, but I can offer you some comfort when you are ready.”
Vidok stared blankly at her for a long moment. Sadness and loneliness weighing heavily in his heart. His instinct rebelled at the idea of accepting Ita, while another part of his brain reasoned that his younglings needed a female to help care for them. He was at war within himself. He didn’t want her. Every part of his body recoiled at her touch. But he was worried about his offspring too.
Ita eased herself into his arm, leaning her head against him, her hand stroking against his chest familiarly. Vidok tensed. This was not right. Ita was coming on too strongly for his comfort.
She whispered, her hand slipping down his hip, “I can ease you Vidok, I know how you are in need for your mate. And I can help you in the temple too. I can take over Sara’s duties so you are not doing it alone again. I can be mother to your children and a mate in every way that counts, except one.”
Vidok gripped her wandering hand and stepped away from her. “You are generous to offer so much of yourself to help me, but I am not comfortable with this Ita. I will never take another mate as you know. But nor do I ever wish to have a Pleasure Partner. Sara is it for me.”
A scowl marred Ita’s lovely face, “Even lost to you, she is all you will accept?! I offer myself without mating bonds. I offer myself to your pleasure, your comfort and your aide. To care for your young as their mother, and help you in place of a mate...and still you refuse me,” she screeched.
Vidok’s frown deepened. “I do not know what would have made you think otherwise Ita. I am grateful for your sacrifice and your help, but I will not take another into my bed or heart. Nor will any other female be mother to my younglings. Help is appreciated but Sara can never be replaced. My younglings will be raised knowing of their mother, whether she is here or not.”
Ita stalked away from him, throwing her hand out to knock over a delicate carving Sara had made for their den during her pregnancy to celebrate the love of their new family. Vidok reached forward to stop its fall, but too late. The figure crashed, breaking into so many pieces like his heart. Ita stormed through the living area, throwing the beautiful things created by the hands of his mate everywhere. Breaking things beneath her feet.
With a furious roar Vidok leaped to his feet, “Ita stop! Do not destroy my mate’s things.”
“She is not here,” she screamed. “Sara is never coming back. Ever! And you cling to her memory and these things of hers like they are better than anything I would offer you!” She threw a carving against the fireplace, the crack startling his younglings. Both VaAbora and VaUdol began to cry out in their breathy wails.
With a snarl Vidok grabbed Ita’s arm and jerked it roughly. Her eyes widened with fear. Finally she was aware that she had pushed him way too far. With his grip tight, and growling menacingly at the female, he began to draw her to the door. He flung it open to toss her out when he drew up short meeting the gaze of a startled Edoka with his hand upraised to knock.
He paused, surprised to see A’Jular. The male recovered quickly, yanking his hand back down to his side and fixing a malevolent look on Ita.
“A’Jular this is not a good time,” Vidok growled out.
“Actually this is slightly late, but still somewhat on time,” the male amended. “I came here as soon as I heard a communication go out. Apparently, a VaDorok male by name of Merlor was at the Agraak lab and communicating with an Agraadax starship that he was waiting there per instructions of one Ita,” his eyes flashed over to the female scornfully. “He has Sara there, and they are waiting for the arrival of the Agraak ship carrying her ‘mate.’ So if we want to save the day, and rescue your delectable female we need to go.
“Oh and I brought some help to deal with that,” A’Jular spat. For the first time Vidok became aware of Borax and two other large males standing behind the trader. All the VaDorok males wore forbidding scowls on their faces as they looked upon Ita. Never before had anyone sold another member of the tribe, offworlder or not. Ita was the shame of their entire tribe.
Vidok felt like he had been stampeded by an alpak. Betrayal filled him as he glared down at the female in his grasp. She shrank back from him in terror. Never had he contemplated doing bodily harm to a female. Until now. His claws extracted, and he yearned to cut them as deeply into her as her actions had cut him.
“You,” he snarled. “You orchestrated this? Stole my mate!” He was yelling, his fur bristling with his fury.
“You gave me no choice,” she screamed. “With her gone your body would have eventually accepted a pleasure partner. It was my only chance to get what I wanted. You never would have given her up willingly so that we could be together. She is ugly and weak, she is less than me, but you wouldn’t let her go. It should have been me that was your mate!”
“Of course not,” Vidok bellowed. “Sara is my mate, my love. She is my ulukska. I feel nothing for you but contempt and disgust. At best it was gratitude when I thought you were helping me in Sara’s absence. But you did this, planned it all out to put yourself in her place. You are loathsome in my sight.”
Vidok shoved Ita into the arms of one of the warriors and solemnly faced Borax. “Give my apologies to your mate, Borax. She warned me about Ita and I was a fool to give a female of my tribe the benefit of my doubt, in face of all what she had done in the past. Will you be so kind to take my younglings to Nadar with my request that she protect them until I return with Sara.”
Borax inclined his head, “Do not trouble yourself. Nadar was present when A’Jular told me what was going on when he came looking for direction on where to find you. From what you had said I figured that Ita would still be here. Nadar sends her well wishes, and already told me to bring her the little ones. We will keep your younglings safe Vidok. Go get your mate.”
He bestowed a vicious grin on Ita, who shrank back from him, “And don’t worry about her. After we take your younglings to Nadar, we will be heading immediately to take her to the eastern tribe. She is banished from our tribe, so it is only fitting she is returned to her mother�
�s tribe. Neither you, or Sara, will troubled by her any longer.”
Ita’s mouth dropped open. Vidok suspected that she had never imagined that she would fail. Nor that she would ever been punished to such extreme as banishment from the tribe. It would be a black mark to follow her for the rest of her life. Everyone in the eastern tribe would know the reason for her expulsion. None would trust her, or welcome her. Maybe some of her family would care for her at best. Banishment was a very serious offense, reserved for the worst among the VaDorok.
With a grateful nod to his chief, Vidok grabbed his lance and ran with A’Jular up the ramp onto the starship. He felt slightly bad for putting Borax in the position to return with the female by the long route on foot, but not a moment longer could be spared. He was comforted at very least that his younglings would be well cared for in his absence. He called himself all kinds of a fool for trusting Ita. He was fortunate that she did not considering killing his young, rather than using them as a tool against him. But the very fact that she could do something so cruel to Sara made his blood run cold at imagining the possibilities of what could have happened to his younglings in her care.
He strapped himself into the seat beside the Edoka as he fired up Nightmare Wing. As usual Vidok felt his stomach flip as they ascended rapidly into the air, but he quelled his nausea with a merciless determination. Ita was banished, but Merlor wouldn’t be facing so kind of a justice. The Edoka had the right of it after all.
That male had touched his female. Stolen her away. Now he waited for the Agraak to arrive so that he could sell her, delivering her to a male who would harm her. A male who was not her rightful mate. Vidok would not be merciful for him, nor for any Agraak who dared to face him.
***
Sara had imagined that if she ever ran into the Agraak male that she had been selected for--that is, outside of seeing him from a distance at the Intergalactic Space Station--that she would be bold, fierce and unbreakable. That she would have intelligent, witty things to say to take him down a notch. Instead, Sara already felt broken as the male approached her. She barely took note of Merlor at her rear, stationed there to prevent her from running. She wanted to snort in derision--where exactly did he think she was going to be able to run to? She certainly couldn’t physically outrun either of them. Nor could she risk another trek over the ice flow. She experienced all she cared to of that her last trip over it.
The Agraak in front of her was unlike other males that were more common around the lab. Instead of a boggy dull color, he was a deep emerald green, and Sara wondered inanely if the Agraak bred for specific phenotype of color among their elite. Rather than having hair that hung limply in lank, dark tendrils, like that of the guards, this male had his arranged into a series of six tight braids, which drew attention to his spines intersecting them. A far better look, she admitted reluctantly. Still toady though.
No where near as tall as Vidok, he was still tall for one of his species, and still towered over her. His shrewd eyes looked down on her speculatively as he turned her from side to side, inspecting her as if she were livestock.
“I see you have dropped your younglings then. Good. It is far better for my purpose that they are gone. At least it saves me the trouble and expense of having to get rid of them myself. You should be back in season to breed within weeks. It is a shame it takes the body so long to recuperate, but I can be a patient male when it suites me.”
He tilted her head up to get a clear look into her eyes. “She does seem healthy and well cared for. I am glad to see I was not deceived about the quality of her welfare. Naturally, if I had been lied to I would have to dock it from the fee I am paying you,” he said to Merlor.
“But you are fortunate that everything appears to be in order and I am satisfied. She will make a fine breeder for my family.” He leaned in to speak directly to her. “Be prepared female, I plan to breed offspring on you every year that you remain fertile. I will be honored by all the elite families of Agraadaz for having the largest family in the province. And when not breeding, you will be present to sate my body whenever I desire it. You are indeed a very soft, pleasing female. I look forward to your feminine comforts,” he whispered lustfully in her ear. Sara’s muscles stiffened in horror and no little disgust. Breeder was indeed a very good description for his plans for her. Breeder and personal sex slave.
His lips curled in satisfaction as a clawed finger ran down between her breasts. She shivered with revulsion. Unfortunately, it did not go unobserved. He struck out like a snake, Sara crying out as his claws cut shallow furrows into her cheek. The impact of his strike also made her mouth fill with blood, and her tongue stung horribly. She must have bitten it.
“You will learn to appreciate my touch, female. I am your master and mate, Ividak, first lord of the Sha’na’zul Province. My word is law. My authority will be the one you obey. My touch will be the only one you receive for the rest of yours days. You are mine,” he hissed.
She could tell he was obviously really feeling his self-importance--having himself a nice little moment. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Merlor silently beseeching her to remain quiet. Sara gave them both a snide, bloody grin. Maybe she had something left in her after all. Or maybe some crazy just got knocked loose--that was a higher probability.“I have no master and only one mate.” She gave him a once over, her lip curling in disdain, “and trust me, you in no way measure up to him.”
Ividak snarled and struck her repeatedly, and Sara just laughed. Ita may have broken her, but that only meant that he couldn’t break her any worse. What worse could do to her that Ita hadn’t already accomplished? Her mate and babies were stolen from her, and she was sold back into slavery. With him, she would just be waiting for her eventual death. She certainly wouldn’t bare him any young if she could help it.
Meanwhile, her laughter and disdain clearly enraged him, so she would work with that. All he would ever get from her is laughter and disgust. Laugh at his dick, guys hated that. She winced as she felt one of her ribs crack, and she shouted out from the pain, before looking him straight in the eye and grinning up at him like a crazy person. He wasn’t going to get his sadistic jollies tickled with her.
Ividak sneered down his nose at her as Merlor cleared his throat, nervously. His eyes snapped over to him. Sara had the impression that, whereas Ividak looked at the VaDorok male as an annoying detail to deal with, Merlor just wanted to get while the getting was good. Although he was greedy, and under Ita’s thumb, he was also distinctly uncomfortable watching Ividak attack her.
Not that the weasel--or burrah, as Vidok would say (just thinking of him made her heart hurt)--had a problem leaving Sara to her fate, he just didn’t want to stick around and watch the consequences of his betrayal.
Over the months Sara had to come to understand that the very large VaDorok, despite their threatening proportions, were not, as a species, typically cruel. They were capable of great physical harm, but they preferred to use their strength towards honorable peaceful ends. But at least they fully followed through on their actions if they decided it was necessary to fight. Such as in the case where they fought rivals for their mates. They didn’t start shit and slink away. They were pretty fucking committed. Merlor was a pitiful excuse for a VaDorok. Sara snorted to herself--and this was the male who thought to challenge Vidok those months ago.
What a fucking weakling.
“You had an agreement with Ita on a payment of credits,” Merlor reminded him, the flattening of his ears and nervy twitch of his tail betraying his feelings.
Ividak snorted and unclipped a bag from his belt which he threw at the male contemptuously. “The agreed upon credits. You and your cousin have my gratitude for returning my mate to me. It is a shame that you couldn’t secure the other females, but I will leave that for my friends to concern themselves over. I have what I want after all.”
Merlor breathed an obvious sigh of relief as he caught the bundle, a small smile sketching over his lips. He nodded his
appreciation to Ividak and gave Sara a wistful look. “Sorry. I can see that you hate me right now, but Ita would make my life miserable. I am sure you can imagine. You know Ita. It is always in one’s best interest, and health, to go along with what she wants. I am sure your new mate will take good care of you.”
“Way to justify yourself dickhead,” Sara muttered angrily.
Merlor frowned at her, but didn’t repudiate her comment.
Of course not, what was going to say--that he had no choice?
That she would find true love with Ividak, and would thank him later?
Puh-lease.
As she mentally called Merlor every dirty name in the book, she was not completely unaware of Ividak unwinding a coiled length of what appeared to Sara as some sort of steel rope. She attempted to evade him, but it didn’t work out too well. As a faster species, it took Ividak hilariously little effort to subdue her and gather both her hands up into his larger one.
Her lips pinched together as he painfully yanked her hands in front of her and secured them tightly with one end of the rope. The other end he kept lax in his hand. She was about to be led about on her own leash. Well at least he was running with the whole livestock theme. He tugged sharp enough on his end to throw Sara off balance, falling abruptly to her knees. She winced at the pain shooting up from her knees, and then stilled as she felt the laboratory around her vibrate. Earthquake?
Ividak’s head twisted from side to side, his spines snapping up threateningly as he looked around. Even Merlor looked more nervous, if that was even possible. Sara absently wondered what scared them. The tremor wasn’t all that, not even a 5.0 as far as she could tell. It was barely strong enough to get noticed back home.
The light in the lab dimmed as if a shadow were cast over the windows. Curious. She was so intent on the windows that she jerked in alarm when a large figure ran through the door as it glided open. Just as she dropped and flattened herself to the floor, a spear found its home buried in Merlor’s chest. The force of it sent him back several feet before he crashed heavily into the floor. The male looked to Sara, stunned, before he slumped over on the ground. Sara’s heart raced. She knew that lance!