by L. A. Casey
“Mating right away is not my intention, but Vorah did ask me out earlier.”
“Vorah?” Kol repeated. “That young silver-haired tail chaser?”
Tail chaser?
“I guess,” I replied, looking up at him once more.
Kol growled to himself then to me he said, “He is not a good match for you. He is too young to be searching for an intended. He is only forty years old! A single moon cycle older than Surkah.”
“You do realise that forty years is a lot to humans, right?” I quizzed. “I’m only twenty-three.”
“Yes, but we have a longer lifespan than humans. Vorah is barely out of his minor years. He is three moon cycles shy of becoming a grown male.”
“Well, he wants to see if we’re suitable.”
Sharp intakes of breaths were taken around the room, and I thought something was wrong with the Ebony until I looked around Kol and realised all eyes were on us… or him. I looked at Mikoh when he slowly approached us. I hadn’t realised Kol’s arms went around me, but they did, and they were squeezing me tightly.
“I’ll kill him,” Kol growled, his voice sounding so unlike himself that I wouldn’t have believed it came from his lips had I not been looking at him when he said it.
“Who?” I asked, unsure of what was happening.
“Vorah,” Kol snarled and stretched out the ‘rah’ on Vorah’s name.
“What did he do?” I asked, confused and a little frightened.
“He’d dare present himself to you as a mate when I—”
“Easy, my friend,” Mikoh said softly, cutting Kol off. “Vorah is young, and he did not know Nova was… unavailable.”
I’m unavailable?
“Is it because I’ve been difficult?” I frowned. “Am I un… mateable or something now?”
I didn’t think I truly wanted to mate with a Maji but being told I wasn’t allowed didn’t seem very fair. I behaved wrongly, like a real bitch, but my emotions fuelled my anger and the whole being kidnapped by aliens thing really freaked me out. Surely, I couldn’t have been the only human woman to act out?
“Kol,” Mikoh said firmly, ignoring me completely. “Remember what we said? Offspring steps for the human females so we don’t scare them with their transition to the Maji way.”
Kol growled at Mikoh, but then he looked down at me, and his features softened once more.
“Vorah wants to… share sex with you to see if you desire him as a mate.”
I was mortified for so many males to be listening in on our conversation.
“Yes, I know. He told me so, but he also said he would take baby steps with me.”
Kol’s hold on me went extremely tight.
“You wish to… mate with him?”
I didn’t know whether he sounded mad, disgusted, or disheartened.
I cleared my throat. “You were the one who told me I’d have to take a husband.”
“I never said you were to go out and seek a mate straight away!”
That was true.
“Look, I’m just as surprised as you that this is going down,” I expressed. “Vorah surprised me. I mean, who comes out and asks someone they just met if they want to have sex?”
“We shouldn’t do that?” an unfamiliar male voice asked.
I looked around Kol to the orange-haired male that spoke to me, but before I answered him, Kol let out a vicious snarl.
“I beg your forgiveness, my prince,” the male suddenly said and dropped to his knees with his head bowed.
I looked at Kol. “Stop that. He did nothing wrong.”
“He spoke to you,” Kol growled, his body shaking.
“I’m not Surkah,” I informed him. “I’m not a princess. I’m just me. He can ask a question if he wants to. How will Maji and humans learn about one another if we don’t ask questions?”
“He can ask another human, not you.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
“Wow,” I said with a shake of my head. “That’s really mature.”
“Being mature is not something a male remembers when his—”
“When his what?” I cut him off.
Kol looked like he was fighting an internal battle.
“Nothing,” he eventually said.
I raised a brow. “For someone who wants me to accept that you’re saving my people and that mating with your people is a good idea, you aren’t very happy that one of your males wants to see if I could be his wife.”
“We will discuss this later,” Kol said, the muscle in his jaw rolling back and forth.
He turned to Mikoh and said something in his own language. I gasped when the translator didn’t give it to me in English, and I knew straight away that Kol disconnected my translator with his comm again.
“Hey!” I said, frowning. “It’s rude to talk in front of me in words I don’t understand.”
Kol ignored me as he continued to speak back and forth with Mikoh in a heated tone until Mikoh grunted and nodded once. Kol turned backed to me then, and he looked mad. No, scratch that, he looked pained.
“You’re dismissed, Nova.”
I blinked. “I’m dismissed?”
Kol nodded. “You sought out my forgiveness, and you now have it.”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“But what?”
I swallowed. “You’re one of three Maji who I’m comfortable with being around.”
“Four if you include Vorah, which you have,” Kol responded.
I flinched. “Don’t be mad at me, Kol. I’m trying to fall in line and do what’s expected of me.”
“I’m not mad,” he replied. “I’m happy you agreed to Maji terms for sanctuary.”
He didn’t look like he was happy.
“It’s not like that, though,” I explained. “Vorah understands that I—”
“I don’t want to speak of this anymore, Nova,” he clipped. “Vorah is not going to be your intended.”
I leaned back.
“Why the hell not?” I demanded.
“Because I have declared it!”
I jumped at the volume of Kol’s voice, but instead of leaning into him for the comfort he provided before, I stepped away from him.
“You’re to return to your quarters and meet with no males unless it is myself, Mikoh, or Nero.”
I felt my lower lip wobble, but I refused to cry.
“What did I do wrong that Vorah—”
“Nova, enough!”
Kol was spitting mad. I could practically feel the anger radiate from him in waves. I took a hearty step backwards and swallowed. I didn’t know him enough—virtually at all—to reassure myself that he wouldn’t attack me no matter how much I was told that Maji didn’t harm women.
“Yes, sir,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice even. “Thanks for your time. I won’t bother you again.”
I turned away from him and walked towards the exit of the bridge. I didn’t dare look at Mikoh or anyone else, for that matter. I kept my eyes straight ahead until the doorway opened and gave me a view of the hallway. The empty hallway.
“Nova,” Kol’s said from behind me, his voice still thick with anger. “Mikoh will escort you back to your quarters… I will speak to you later about this matter.”
He wasn’t threatening me; he was promising me … and I’d be damned if it didn’t have the same effect.
The Maji way.
I had been in the company of the Maji for three full days—though I was unconscious for nearly two of them—and all I had heard about was the Maji way this, the Maji way that, and it was driving me up the damn wall. Hearing about the Maji way from the Maji themselves was annoying after a while. Their customs were too bizarre to comprehend, but having to be subjected to it from humans as well was simply too much for me to deal with.
With my eyes closed, I gritted my teeth as Envi, my unwelcome roommate, chatted to her sister, Echo, my other unwelcome roommate, about the Maji way, and I could feel that I w
ould break my word to Kol about not attacking the sisters if this would continue to be the daily topic of conversation.
“Don’t you ever shut up?” I hissed to Envi, keeping my eyes closed. “People are trying to sleep.”
I wasn’t trying to sleep. I was feigning sleep just so the sisters, mainly Envi, wouldn’t be tempted to speak to me. I didn’t trust them, and I knew they didn’t trust me, so it was either pretend to be asleep or stare at them until they fell asleep. I was lying on my bed, my back tight against the oddly warm wall, and my body turned to the right so if I heard a noise, or felt a present close to me, I could open my eyes and see everything I needed to.
“I’m sorry, Nova,” Envi said softly. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“Don’t apologise to her. You weren’t doing a damn thing wrong.” Echo huffed. “This is our room, too!”
“Don’t remind me,” I grumbled to myself but knew that the sisters could hear me.
“If you’ve got something to say, Nova, then spit it out.”
This was from Echo, and without opening my eyes, I knew she had stood, her challenge obvious in her tone. I kept my eyes closed just to show her how little of a threat to me I thought she was even though part of me was extremely wary of her. She had a sister, someone she loved and was willing do anything to protect, and that made her even more dangerous. People with something or someone to lose would do just about anything to ensure its safety.
“I’ve got nothing to say,” I said, yawning for good measure. “I just wanna sleep.”
“You’re not sleeping, and you damn well know it,” Echo quipped. “Your breathing isn’t even, and your body is too tense for sleep. I’m not stupid enough to not see what’s right in front of me.”
Well, shit. The cranky twin is more perceptive than I gave her credit for.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked directly at Echo who was standing up next to her bed with her hands balled into fists at her side showcasing how pissed she was. Envi was sitting on her bed, but she kept flicking her eyes back and forth between Echo and myself like we were going to come to blows at any second.
“Sit down, Echo,” I said as firmly as I could. “I’m not interested in arguing.”
“Are you sure?” she quizzed. “You seem like your fixing for a fight to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure.”
“Well, tough, get your ass up,” she all but growled. “I told you not to scare my sister again.”
“I’m not scared,” Envi quickly shouted and jumped to her feet. “Lay off, Echo. I’m not scared.”
“Bullshit,” Echo snapped, still focused on me as I sat upright on my bed. “You’ve been walking on eggshells since that big Maji fellow brought her back here a few hours ago, and I’m not having you scared of the Maji and certainly not from this bitch.”
Unwillingly, I stood from my bed, knowing exactly where this was heading. Envi and Echo were only a few years younger than I was, but it might as well have been decades. I was wise enough to know when to avoid a fight. Heck, I made running and hiding my entire life, but it seemed the twins didn’t.
“Think about this,” I said, flexing my fingers. “We don’t have to fight.”
“When you scare and disrespect my blood, we do.”
I was surprised at how quickly Echo moved. She stood on Envi’s bed and literally jumped at me with her arm extended. Envi was screaming murder before Echo even crashed into me, but as soon as her body hit mine, and we flew backwards onto my bed, her volume increased.
“Help!” she screamed just as pain exploded across my face, and the metallic twang of blood filled my mouth. “Somebody help!”
All bets were off as I focused on Echo, who was on top of me, straddling me, with her arm raised, and hand fisted as she threw another punch at my face. I vented my anger, confusion, and helplessness from the past three days and unleashed it on Echo.
With a grunt, I rolled us over and pinned her under me before she could hit me again. I quickly slammed my fist into her face. I ignored the pain that shot up my arm and delivered two more quick punches, hitting Echo’s jaw twice. I used my free hand to tangle in her hair, so I could keep her head still. I rasped in pain when her knee smashed into my side, knocking the air out of me. I applied all my weight on her to keep her from using her limbs as weapons, but the crazy bitch switched things up and head butted me. I saw stars for a few seconds before I turned to the side and rammed my elbow into her temple, dazing her.
Envi’s panicked screaming broke through my clouded mind, and I yelped when I felt my head being yanked back. The force of it pulled me clean off Echo, and the bed, and resulted in me hitting the floor with a mighty thud. I groaned in pain but opened my eyes to focus on the twins. Envi was the one who grabbed my hair and pulled me off the bed, but it was only so she could get me off her sister. I knew that the second Envi went to Echo’s aid instead of jumping on me.
I looked to my right when the door to the room opened and two male Maji hustled inside. I knew there would be no more fighting, so I closed my eyes and let my head fall back to the floor. I gripped my left side and silently cursed when pain pulsed with each breath I took. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Echo had cracked a couple of my ribs. The pain from it overwhelmed the throbbing on my face.
I heard rushed talking when Envi stopped screaming; she was still pretty hysterical as she shouted at the males, though. I opened my eyes and saw a familiar face was hovering over mine, and I tried my best to smile without wincing.
“Hey, Vorah.”
He touched my face, and I hissed in pain which only caused his face to scrunch up in what appeared to be anger.
“You fought bravely, Nova,” he said with a firm nod. “You fought with honour; your opponents did not.”
How does he know how I fought?
“Thanks,” I hissed as I moved. “I guess.”
“You’re a fierce female,” Vorah continued.
He looked at me with so much admiration that I honestly felt gutted we couldn’t go on a date to see if we liked one another. Kol, prince dick, made sure of that with his orders.
“I can’t be your intended,” I told him, gripping my side. “Kol forbid it.”
Vorah’s shoulders slumped. “I know. My prince requested an audience with me not long after our first meeting.”
Worry surged through me, and it was only then that I noticed the discolouration to different parts of Vorah’s face.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I asked, swallowing down the blood that filled my mouth.
Vorah didn’t respond to me, but his expressive face answered for him. Kol had harmed Vorah for doing what the Maji were supposed to do—seek human females to be their wives.
“I’m going to kick his ass!” I swore.
Vorah smiled. “You truly are a mighty female.”
“I don’t feel very mighty right now,” I admitted.
He frowned. “You were attacked without honour and could not defend yourself when the small female with yellow hair grabbed your hair from behind. Do not feel bad.”
I blinked a couple of times. “How did you know Envi pulled my hair?”
Vorah pointed up at the blank ceiling. “Motion capture.”
Motion capture.
I widened my eyes. “There’s a camera in here?”
Vorah nodded. “Of course. How can we make sure human females are safe if we cannot see them?”
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I remained mute.
“Are you angry?” Vorah asked me, his purple eyes scanning my face. “You look angry.”
“I’m not angry,” I assured him. “Just annoyed that I wasn’t informed of the lack of privacy.”
Vorah bobbed his head in understanding. “We don’t track our females back home; it is only aboard the Ebony to protect human females until both Maji and humans are known to the other. And to make sure you humans play nice.”
I understood the need for security, but it’d
have been nice to be informed. Years of survival and the need to know every single little thing about my surroundings meant it was hard for me to hand over the reins to someone else where my safety was concerned, but I’d have to if I wanted to fit in with the Maji.
“It’s okay, Vorah.” I winced when my ribs screamed in protest of my breathing. “I just need to get to the medical bay. Is Surkah still working?”
“I’m unaware of my princess’s schedule,” he said, his face flushing pink.
I wanted to smile at how he reacted to my question about Surkah, but I couldn’t because black dots began to spot my vision.
“Oh, shit,” I murmured. “I’m gonna pass out.”
Vorah’s eyes widened, and aloud, he said, “My prince, she is losing consciousness. Permission to carry her to the med bay?”
I heard the door to the room slide open.
“Permission denied,” Kol’s voice almost growled.
I cried out when arms slid under my knees and neck and lifted me into the air. My ribs throbbed in protest, and I was pretty sure I was going to get sick.
“I have you, shiva,” Kol’s voice whispered seconds before I blacked out. “I have you.”
I found more comfort in those words than I should have.
I awoke with a start.
Unlike the times before when I suddenly awoke from a dreamless sleep, I wasn’t confused. I was aware of where I was, whose company I kept, and what had happened to me. I sprung into an upright position and instantly brought my hands to my ribs. I waited for the bone-crushing pain to consume me, but I felt nothing, not even a twinge of discomfort. I softly pressed on my ribs before rolling up my t-shirt and examining my bruise-free skin. No trace of my ribs ever being injured existed, and I knew who I had to thank for that. I lowered my t-shirt and exhaled a deep breath.
“Surkah.”
“Yes?”
I screamed and instinctively covered my head with my arms to protect it.
“I’m sorry,” Surkah’s rushed out. “You said my name.”
I lowered my hands and pressed them against my chest as Surkah stood a few feet away from me, mirroring my actions. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who got a fright.
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to calm my rapid breathing. “I wasn’t calling for you. I was thinking of you when I noticed my ribs were healed, and I guess I just said your name out loud without realising it.”