The Alien's Mate (A SciFi Alien Warrior Romance) (Warriors of Luxiria Book 2)

by Zoey Draven

  He left the room shortly, giving Vaxa’an time to calm himself, to be near his mate, before the doctor returned with a sleeping platform he pushed on wheels.

  “I will stay here this night,” Privanax said, “in the next room. Alert me if you are worried about her condition or if she wakes.”

  Vaxa’an nodded, fatigue weighing on him. He had hardly slept in the past few spans and he knew that he wouldn’t sleep much this night either.

  “You have my eternal gratitude, Privanax,” he told him, holding the doctor’s eyes.

  Privanax jerked his head in a nod. “It is an honor, Prime Leader.”

  With that, he turned to leave, the door closing behind him. Vaxa’an turned to regard his mate, watching the way her chest fell in measured breaths, and the dark little hairs she’d called her eyelashes fanning over her cheeks. He leaned down, touching his forehead with hers. Her skin was cool to the touch, but he thought it may just be an effect of the large amount of blood he’d given her. Her lips were no longer the pale white they’d been when he’d first brought her there. They were flushed and he was glad to see their color.

  He glanced between her legs and then rummaged around the room before he found a clean cloth. With a gentleness he didn’t know he possessed, he washed her body, erasing every evidence of blood, until she lay clean. Then he went about wiping himself off.

  Privanax had pushed a small device into her body to monitor her womb and Vaxa’an was careful not to disturb it as he lifted her from the cold slab of the lab table and set her on the pillowed sleeping platform. Privanax had left a piling of furs at the foot and Vaxa’an drew them around her shoulders before slipping into them himself.

  She didn’t wake. The sedative that Privanax had given her was strong, the effects of which wouldn’t wear off until the dawn. Vaxa’an had succumbed to its numbing embrace more than once when he’d returned to Luxiria, fresh from battle, with injuries that required invasive surgery.

  He stroked her hair, pressing his flesh against hers, needing to feel her safe and alive.

  He understood now why his sire had taken his own life, once his mate, Vaxa’an’s mother, had been killed by the Jetutian virus. He’d been presented with that possibility this night. If his luxiva passed into the next life…Vaxa’an knew that he would follow her without hesitation. There was no other option, not now.

  His fate was tied to hers, a truth that was both sobering and comforting…because he knew that he would never live another span without his mate by his side.

  * * *

  Kate woke from a strange dream, the memory of which was fleeting as she ventured further and further into the real world. She was groggy, her head muddled, and it felt like cotton was stuffing her ears.

  When she realized where she was—the bright, blinding lights of the lab gave it away—she gasped, dread filling her, the memory of last night rushing back to her in one dizzying tidal wave.

  Her hands flew to her stomach, feeling its roundness. A dull ache between her legs reminded her that last night hadn’t been some terrible nightmare, but very, very real.

  “Calm down, luxiva,” Vaxa rasped next to her. She felt his hands touch hers on her stomach. When she turned her panicked gaze onto him, she noted that it looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep. The bed they were on was small in comparison to the one they slept on at home. She was disoriented and confused and it felt like she was drugged.

  “The baby,” she said. “What—”

  “Our child lives,” Vaxa told her, trying to coax her back to lying down. Sweet relief swept through her at the words and she almost burst into tears. “Come,” he murmured, slowly lowering her back on the bed. “Rest, Kat.”

  She did as she was told, reclining back. They were in the labs yet Privanax was no where in sight. Kate glanced at her mate, who was lying beside her in bed, although he’d propped himself up on his elbow to help her.

  “What happened?” she whispered softly, racking her sluggish brain. She remembered the day before, she remembered cleaning the blood off Vaxa, she remembered—

  Blood. There had been so much blood pouring from her. Red blood. Not blue.

  She didn’t remember anything after that.

  Vaxa leaned close and pressed his lips to her cheeks, nuzzling her face. Kate felt herself relax, responding to the comfort her mate was offering her.

  “You were in pain,” he finally told her, his voice gruff, as if it pained him just talking about it. “You were bleeding out. Privanax worked on you, mending the bleeding inside. He saved you and the child. He injected a sedative and you have been resting for a full span now. Your body needed the rest.”

  Her breath hitched. “A full day? What time is it?”

  “The suns have long set.”

  “You…you’ve been here this entire time?” she asked, eyeing him. He looked awful. At least as awful as she’d ever seen him look. His hair was mussed, his eyes unfocused, and he wore some strange robe that didn’t fit him properly.

  “Where else would I be?” he asked, his voice quiet. “I would not leave you, luxiva.”

  Her heart softened.

  Vaxa squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, the lines of his face drawing tight. When he opened his eyes, they were tormented. “I have done this to you. Privanax said that stress was the partial cause of this. If I had not—”

  Kate stroked his lips, remembering their fight in the bath, how angry and tense both of them had been. “If by ‘doing this’ means knocking me up, then yeah, you did,” she said dryly. “But don’t you dare blame yourself for what happened. I won’t have it, Vaxa.”

  “You bled because of the fight we had, the words we shared,” he said.

  An unexpected smile crossed her features, although it was small. “Are we arguing again?”

  Vaxa opened his mouth but then closed it, scowling. He muttered a Luxirian curse under his breath, angry with himself.

  “I was just teasing you,” she said. “I’m trying to make a point, Vaxa. We argue all the time. We are both stubborn and opinionated and used to getting our own way. And that means that we are going to clash on many, many things during our life together,” she murmured, her throat burning, her heart beating with the affection and love she felt for him, just thankful that she was still there with him, that their baby was still alive. It really put things into perspective. “We fight and then we make up. I think it’s when we stop fighting that we are going to have a real problem, okay?”

  Vaxa’an shook his head and rasped, “Luxiva…”

  He wasn’t convinced and she knew that it would take time to do it. “What did Privanax determine?” she asked, instead.

  “He believes that the child is growing too rapidly. Your body is having a difficult time and is exhausting itself.”

  “Then you see? You aren’t the cause of this.”

  “He said it was also your environment…meaning stress. You are tired and stressed. How can you not blame me for this, especially after the past few spans…after the way I have treated you?” he asked quietly.

  “I simply don’t,” she said in response. She moved closer to his body, letting his warmth seep into her. They lapsed into silence before she asked softly, “You’re sure the baby is alright?”

  “Tev,” he murmured, his warm breath rustling her hair. “Privanax has confirmed that the child is healthy and unharmed.”

  Kate had believed him the first time but she needed to hear it again, if only for reassurance.

  “Luxiva…” he murmured.

  “Hmmm?” She was watching the way his chest rose and fell, lulled by the comforting rhythm.

  When he paused, she looked up at him, finding his gaze. Finally, he said, “I know that there is still much to discuss between us.”

  She nodded, thinking of the uprisings, that man in the marketplace, Vaxa’s reaction to her telling him…

  “There is.”

  He continued, swallowing thickly, his voice nothing more than gravel and smoke, “I
wish you to know that even though we argue and that I raised my voice to you in anger and that we still have much to learn about one another…you must know that I hold nothing in this entire universe as more important than you. I would give you anything you ask of me.”

  Her voice went wobbly when she murmured, “There you go being romantic again.”

  His lips curled but only slightly. “By the Fates, every word is the truth.”

  Kate looked at him, her heart thrumming happily inside her breast. It was positively singing for him.

  “My love has been,” he said, “and always will be yours. Until the end of our spans and into our next life.”

  Kate exhaled a sharp breath, overwhelmed, ecstatic, happy. And with the worst possible timing in the entire universe, Privanax came bursting into the lab room just at that moment, his eyes darting to the two of them in bed.

  “My monitors indicated your elevation in heart rate,” the doctor said, his eyes flickering between the two of them. He looked at Vaxa and frowned. “Prime Leader, we discussed upsetting her. I must ask—”

  “He isn’t upsetting me,” Kate interrupted, her eyes returning to her mate. Privanax faded into the background. “Just the opposite, in fact,” she whispered, giving him a watery smile.

  “Lavrix’an, I must—”

  She paid Privanax no mind as she whispered to Vaxa, “I love you too. Always.”

  * * *

  It was later that night that they had a much needed talk, despite Vaxa’s protests against it. Privanax had ordered Kate to stay in the labs for one more night, since she’d slept the day away. And despite her trying to tell Vaxa to go home—it looked like he sorely needed one night of undisturbed sleep—he insisted on staying with her and she knew better than to try to sway him.

  So, with her promise that she would try to keep her temper in check, and with the same promise from Vaxa, they continued where they’d left off that previous night in the bath.

  From the beginning, Kate told Vaxa what had happened in the marketplace. She told him as much as she could possibly remember, even recalling a detail that she hadn’t mentioned before: the male wore a golden band around his wrist, but just one. Not two, like Bidan.

  That detail had seemed to strike a chord with Vaxa. “It means he is either still in military training…or he never completed it. I will have Rixavox send over all matching files and I will look through them with you.”

  She’d nodded, thankful that his reaction wasn’t like what it was the previous night. Although, Privanax would’ve come barging in with a fierce scolding if he’d roared to the ceiling in fury again. Perhaps Privanax was threatening enough.

  In return, she stayed true to her word and kept a good grasp on her temper as he told her about the uprisings. She’d heard only a little from Bruxilia, but unrest had been brewing since she stepped foot on the planet apparently. Vaxa told her about factions of Luxirians in several of the outposts that had spoken out against the mixing of blood, resorting to destruction and even violence in some cases.

  The knowledge chilled her even as she tried to keep up a strong front for Vaxa’s sake.

  That wasn’t even the worst part.

  “I have been challenged, luxiva,” he finally said, his voice heavy. “I did not want to tell you yet because I did not want to worry you, or upset you. Forgive me for this.”

  “I didn’t tell you about the marketplace for the same reason, Vaxa. So I understand,” she said, her brow furrowing. “Now, tell me what being challenged means. Is is very bad?”

  Vaxa exhaled a sharp breath. “On our planet, every Luxirian has the right to challenge the Prime Leader. And since we worship strength, I have been challenged to the Trials.”

  “The Trials,” she repeated, feeling dread skitter up her sides, churning her belly.

  “When the lunar cycle is complete, when the moon is fullest in the sky, I must meet my challengers.”

  “And what happens then?” she asked, almost too frightened to hear his answer.

  “We fight until one falls,” he told her, the truth shining in his gaze. “Until the victor has taken the other’s life.”

  “But—but you said challengers. As in plural,” she said, slightly panicked. Vaxa placed his hand on her belly, as if reminding her that she needed to keep calm, especially in her state.

  “I have five challengers.”

  “Five,” she whispered, a shuddering breath escaping her.

  As if sensing that she was on the verge of completely losing her shit, he sat up, taking her hand in his. “Luxiva,” he started, his voice low, even, “You trust me, do you not?”

  “I do,” she said automatically. “But you’re telling me that you have to fight five men. And that if you lose…you die.”

  “You have seen me fight, Kat,” he said. Yes, she had. He’d been quick and fierce and calculated. “I have been raised as a warrior my entire life. I was born to be a warrior. Trust in my abilities, luxiva. For I have trained for many rotations and I am strong. And I have much more at risk than my challengers and that will be motivation enough. I promise you that I will live to see the span our child is birthed into this world. You must trust this, Kat.”

  “Vaxa,” she whispered, tears making her eyes shimmer.

  “I need to hear you say it, luxiva.”

  She looked at this male, who had once seemed so strange to her with his odd, bright eyes and skin that shifted with the light. She was scared shitless at what he was telling her. The moon would be full in less than two weeks time. He’d come home from the training pits last night completely bloodied and beaten. Of course, she was worried.

  But she also saw the determination in his gaze. He hadn’t said it explicitly, but she knew that if he fell in these Trials, if he lost, something might happen to her. These challengers just might decide to kill her as well, kill their child, because wasn’t that why they were challenging Vaxa in the first place? Because of her and the child she now carried and everything that baby represented?

  That was how she knew Vaxa would win. It wouldn’t stop her from worrying about it or replaying the worst possible situation in her mind. But she knew with every part of her soul that Vaxa would never let anything happen to her or their child, not if he could help it.

  He would win, despite the odds stacked against him.

  Kate pressed a fierce kiss to his lips and he responded with equal fervor.

  “I believe you,” she whispered against his lips. “You are going to kick some major Luxirian ass.”

  EIGHT

  When Keriva emerged from the hovercraft that had just landed outside on the terrace, Kate immediately went out to greet her, her bare feet padding on the sandstone-like floors of their house.

  “Thank God,” Kate said, reaching out to touch her friend’s shoulder. The wrist on her bruise had faded into a yellow that was hardly noticeable. It had been a little over a week since the marketplace incident and consequently, a little over a week since she’d last seen Keriva. She’d just returned from another outpost the previous day and they’d made plans to start on a formal dress for the Lunar Celebration.

  Kate had mixed feelings about it. For one, the Lunar Celebration would take place the day after the Trials that Vaxa had told her about. So, the Lunar Celebration would either be filled with a relieved happiness…or an unimaginable grief.

  She’d told Vaxa that she trusted him to win, however, so she’d agreed to Keriva’s suggestion that they get started crafting her outfit.

  Keriva’s face softened when she saw her. “You are well and recovered? Truly? If you had not made me promise to stay at the outpost, I would have come straight back when I heard about what happened.”

  Kate smiled and led her inside the house. As part of a compromise with Vaxa, she only worked at the archives every other day now and today was her day off. Truth be told, Kate was glad that Vaxa had been so insistent. Her body did need the rest and she felt infinitely more refreshed.

  “Yes,” Kate said
, her hands grazing her stomach. “It was a little scary for a while and Vaxa has hardly left me alone for more than an hour at a time, but I am perfectly fine and so is the baby.”

  Privanax made her come to the labs every single day now, to check-up on the child and monitor Kate’s health. He had also created some sort of tonic that he claimed would help her body gestate the baby with greater ease, which she drank every morning with her breakfast. Kate didn’t care for the taste whatsoever and had almost thrown up the first time she’d taken it, but she would do whatever the doctor ordered. She’d stay at the labs for the rest of her pregnancy if it meant that her baby was safe and healthy.

  Besides the impending knowledge of the Trials—which were less than a week away—the only other dampener on Kate’s mood was that Vaxa had seemed to put an all-out ban on sex. They hadn’t been intimate since the night before the marketplace. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Even though Privanax had given them the okay for sex after the scare they’d had, Vaxa hadn’t so much as touched her.

  To say that it was frustrating was an understatement. Every night they went to bed, Kate had tried to initiate something. And every night, Vaxa stopped it before they got a little too hot and heavy. They both fell asleep unsatisfied and aching, judging by the size of the erection Vaxa usually sported.

  He was afraid that he would hurt her and possibly cause her to bleed, she understood that. But after Privanax’s thorough exams, she thought he’d be okay with it by now.

  Once they were inside the house, Keriva set down the roll of the midnight blue material that the vendor at the marketplace had given Kate as a gift. It was just as beautiful as she remembered and it would make a wonderful dress. She hoped and prayed that she would get a chance to wear it.

  Kate watched as Keriva set up her supplies and they chatted about her time at the outpost. It was called Kroratax and it was the outpost that Lihvan oversaw, situated towards the southern lands. Keriva told her that it was only a couple hours away by hovercraft, but it still boggled her mind that Lihvan lived there and that he had to commute almost every day into the Golden City. It made Kate’s forty-five minute commute back in Chicago—which she’d moaned about to Beks often—seem trivial.