Alien General's Baby: BBW Human - Alien Surprise Pregnancy SciFi Romance (Brion Brides)

by Vi Voxley

  "We are coming with you," Stomech went on.

  "Wait-"

  "News has come to us. More Chali are on their way from the Xarro section. They come for their own. They want the Fearless too. We let them escape once. Not again. Now, we hunt. We will not stop until they are gone, all gone."

  Words failed Naima. It seemed like everything had gone well, badly and utterly shockingly at the same time. From Braen's silence, she guessed the general didn't mind the Uthers waging their own vendetta against the traders, but Naima wasn't so thrilled. While the added numbers and the free passage was great, she realized something at long last.

  “Your presence is welcome,” Braen said, breaking his silence once more.

  They had started nothing less than a full-out war. And Braen seemed pleased about it.

  30

  Braen

  They were flying with half the armies of Uthers on their tail now.

  The whole affair had gone exactly as Braen had predicted. He hadn't said anything to Naima, not wanting to get her hopes up, but the swift movement of the Chali had been a mystery to him before.

  There had to be a way how the traders could have reached the Fearless so quickly. Even now, with the Chali fleet approaching them from the other side of the section, they had to have been on their way longer than he had.

  The general had been certain that one way or another, Sinetha had cut her way through the Uther territories. He'd been wondering how she did that, considering how little the anti-social species tolerated guests, but he couldn't rule out the possibility Sinetha had achieved her passage with peaceful means. She was, after all, a trader. If anyone would find a way to deal with Uthers, it would be the Chali.

  It said plenty about the stocky brutes that Sinetha had apparently failed in that. Or perhaps she didn't have enough patience.

  Those were the questions and concerns of the past now. Braen had been prepared to go with the flow, hoping Sinetha had made the impossible negotiations easier for him. As a sign of luck, she had.

  In a way, the Uthers were fortunate as well. Braen didn't tell them that, but he suspected that in their hearts, some of the wiser ones had to know – they had suffered the lesser evil. Sinetha's attack upon them may have been unprovoked and vicious, but the traders were nothing compared to a Brion general on a warpath.

  If he'd found them to be reluctant, refusing to let him pass, Braen would have showed them what it was to stand in the way of a Brion.

  Uthers were proud and stubborn, but they weren't – ultimately – suicidal. And his name did precede him. The general took it as a compliment.

  So he'd accepted their unwelcome decision to come along with passive disinterest. Brions had no love for Uthers, but no hatred either. If they wanted to justly settle the score with the Chali, he wasn't going to stop them.

  Unless they got in the way of his mission, of course. And the traders, for all he cared, deserved everything they got.

  The only question that still needed an answer was the reason why the other Chali were rushing to Sinetha's aid. Did they come out of some sense of loyalty or to see her failed mission through with greater forces?

  Braen would have bet the Benevolent he knew the truth of the matter, but the brewing conflict was not ultimately his business. Despite the region being in uproar, they still had a mission and nothing was going to stray him from that path. Especially not now, after Audrey and Naima had begun to fear for the lives of their unborn children.

  In secret, the paladin commander Tieran had sent him a message concerning that.

  It said: "You heard Audrey. You heard them both. After all this, the Fearless can't escape. We have this one chance to stop it forever.

  “I trust in you, as Miss Jones seems to, but just like you are bound to be a true son of your world, so am I always a Palian first. So I must offer. Should the Fearless escape, don't let foolish pride detain you. I could muster an army to match yours and we would answer your call.

  "One more thing, General, as one man to another. Audrey is weakening. She won't admit it, but I see the signs. I believe Miss Jones carries the same fierce Terran spirit that won't allow her to complain, but I urge you to be vigilant. For her sake, as well as the baby’s."

  After that moment, Braen didn't let Naima out of his sight. Carefully, with hesitation first, he observed the little cues his gesha was giving him without knowing it herself, just like Tieran had warned.

  He noticed the tiredness first. Whenever she was with him, it all washed away like sunlight pouring over a flower that had been in shadows for too long.

  It was no wonder to the general he hadn't seen it before. Finding his fated, finally getting Naima to stay with him and accept the bond between them – it had blinded him to what she was still going through.

  Once he would leave the room, Kerven would report the same Braen could see with his very own eyes when Naima wasn't aware he was nearby. And that was the undeniable fact that she was exhausted. Not physically, but mentally.

  There was a strain in her that never truly ceased to torment her, perhaps only when they were so close together with Braen that they seemed to be one.

  The fidgeting was another proof of her growing anxiety. As the Benevolent sailed closer to the planet Darius, Naima touched the glove on her wrist more and more. Small, subtle movements like brushing her fingers over the smooth surface became more frequent. She crossed her arms across her chest more often. Braen had never been so thankful for Palian technology and its wonders. His gesha was amazing and smart and gorgeous, but one thing was glaringly apparent.

  If she'd still been wearing the bracelet, the Fearless would have broken through with barely a problem at this point. Even the lifestone seemed to have trouble holding the enemy at bay.

  And finally there was the strand of white in her hair. When he'd met her, Naima had already been suffering the effects of the lifestone. The icy world the Fearless was on seeped through to her across space.

  Audrey Price lived on a similar planet, but she was used to the cold. Naima, used to the warmth of the systems she usually visited, was not. On her, the shuddering was plain to see, especially when the general made sure the temperature in her room was kept more than a little hot.

  Every time she shook from the cold that no one else could feel, the white in her hair spread a little further, forming delicate patterns like ice sculptures in the red curls.

  It would have been absolutely breathtakingly beautiful if it wasn't so ominous.

  The day they crossed over the border of the Darnetta system, practically on Darius' doorstep by galactic standards, Braen realized that the Fearless had struck one final blow to him before they came face to face again.

  Naima was fading. Like a flower wilting in autumn, the light that usually shone through her was growing dimmer with every day.

  She didn't ask for her quarters to be bright anymore, preferring the darkness that now ruled there.

  The change was not immediate, but it was there. And one morning when Braen woke up next to her, cradling her in his arms, Naima's skin was so cold his heart stopped for moment before he heard her breathe.

  He sent for breakfast, watching as Naima dressed. The dresses she had worn before to tease him were now gone completely, after a brief resurgence after they affirmed their bond, replaced by the uniform she'd come aboard with. She sat on the bed, pulling a soft blanket on her lap, and smiled sadly.

  "I guess you noticed," she said, resting her head against the headboard.

  "This morning, for one second, I thought you were dead," Braen replied, his voice shaking a little from the effort it took not to imagine something so unthinkable. "When were you going to tell me, my heart?"

  "I don't know," Naima admitted with an apologetic smile. "At first I thought it was the pregnancy. You know, changes in my body and all that. I figured it was just different because you are a Brion. When the coldness crept back, I knew. It's astounding. It feels like my bones are ice."

  "Is our ba
by alright?" the general asked with a frown. "There is no way to protect our child like we shield you."

  "I think it is okay for now," Naima said, slowly caressing her belly. "As long as I'm fine, my baby is too. It's the life after birth that I'm worried about. I'm scared of so many things now, Braen. It's wearing me down and I think the Fearless knows it."

  The general sat down next to her on their bed, the massive bulk of his armor pushing the mattress down so much Naima almost fell over the edge. She laughed, but Braen couldn't take his mind off her words. He pulled her into his arms, feeling her cool skin under his touch.

  "What are you afraid of?" he asked quietly. "Tell me, so I can promise you everything will be alright."

  To his surprise and horror, there were tears beading in the corners of Naima's eyes.

  "Don't say that," she pleaded with him. "Every time you talk like that... I want it. I want all of it. All the crazy, awesome things you've promised me. To travel the stars and be a part of your world.

  “To be your gesha like you've wanted. To take our baby to Briolina and Terra so our child could see both worlds we come from.

  "But I – it's too good. Like a dream that I know might not actually happen, so I barely dare to hope. What if something happens to you? What if by the time my baby is born, there won't be a father? Or what if I can’t give you the child you so long for?"

  Braen kissed her, feeling salty tears run down her cheeks and wet his lips as he pushed his hands deeper into her wild hair. He kissed her until she stopped trembling, holding her through the hopeless sobs.

  "I will always be here," he promised, pressing a small kiss on her forehead, seeing the way a small smile dawned on her lips. "I've come to learn that Terran girls are hard to convince, but it is the truth. When we are together, nothing can conquer us."

  "We're not all like that," Naima said, accepting his offer to joke her fears away. "You just landed yourself a suspicious one."

  "I got the best one," Braen argued, claiming her lips again when she seemed to burst into tears once more. "Listen to me. This is the enemy, trying to break us apart when we're so close to the end. Feeding paranoia and terror into your mind, even by a little, step by step so you would think it's you who is giving up, but I know you. That's not what you want to do, is it?"

  "No," his gesha admitted.

  It sickened him to know that the lifestone was no longer protecting her as well as they’d all hoped. It meant that he would have to move even faster than he already was to handle the threat of the Fearless. The closer they got to the Fearless, the more Naima would suffer. Yet to leave her behind, defenseless, was equally as unthinkable.

  "What do you want to do?" he asked.

  Naima laughed, running her hand over his cheek and pulling at his hair softly. His body reacted at once to the tease, but the general resisted, knowing it was not lust his fated needed from him right then.

  "I want to go and see how they are doing with the spear," she replied pensively. "Keep myself busy. You're right. It's a very annoying habit of yours. This is not me. I figured out how to protect my mind, knowing it might not be a permanent solution. I started the project of the weapon to kill the Fearless. I will go to the end, come what may."

  "That's the woman I love," Braen said, pulling her closer to himself and holding her there despite the fact that his armor was registering a rapid drop of temperature.

  "You are very easy to impress," Naima laughed, slowly disentangling herself from his grip and getting up.

  The general didn't miss the fact that she took the blanket, keeping it around her shoulders for warmth in a room that was warm like summer.

  "I assure you, I am not," he said, meaning it.

  As the little Terran looked at him seriously, obviously noticing how his voice had lost its jesting tone, Braen fought himself. All he wanted was to shower her with oaths and magical stories of their future together. The plans he had for them, for the worlds they were going to visit, the people he wanted to introduce to her.

  Like telling a bedtime story to a child, the general was tempted with all his heart to let Naima stay in bed and watch her fall asleep, dreaming up wondrous days to come.

  He did not.

  Naima was right – they both seemed to have that habit, but for his part he didn't find it to be annoying at all.

  It was more important that she focused her mind on something else. A real object, a tangible weapon to put her faith into. Distraction seemed to produce positive results now that she was wearing the glove. No dream, however real or beautiful, would help her now that she was in the reach of the enemy.

  Tieran's letter haunted Braen as he took her hand, leading her to the workshops. If Audrey and Naima were showing similar symptoms, there could be no question about their origin. Pregnancies didn't bring troubles like that, not by far.

  Once again, he found himself regretting that he'd brought Naima with him. On Briolina, under the watchful eyes of the best healers of his people, she might have been safer. Above all, Braen regretted that he hadn't been able to leave her on Laveden.

  On that day, he should have made his heart cold and parted with his heart. In a way, he trusted Palians more than his own kind. They were just as dutiful, but altruistic in a way a Brion could never be. And they were smart.

  On Laveden, Naima would have stayed under the supervision of the people who had the skill and ability to keep the glove working until he'd handled the Fearless. All that was gone now. Like Naima had said, nothing but dreams and lost opportunities. They'd come too far and the only hope they had was that it wasn't too late.

  Naima was going to stay with him to the end. Just like she’d said.

  Her hand in his was pure ice, but he could hear her heart beat wildly and surely. The warmth in her wasn't gone yet, just hidden. The general had to believe that. By killing the Fearless, he could bring her back to him and make her world warm again.

  The workshop welcomed them with an almost festive mood. The entire place was crawling with workers, admiring the spear lying on the table. For him, it was like meeting an old friend, or possibly even more. Being parted from his weapon felt like being naked. The general ached to hold it in his hand again, get accustomed to its comfortable weight on his back.

  Right under the long blade, the lifestone shone. Naima had given the Brions everything that was left of her piece after the Palians were finished with fitting the gloves for her and Audrey. It gleamed and sparkled, reminding Braen of the valor squares on his neck.

  The comparison was a good one in his mind, like the lifestone was answering him, admitting him as its new master.

  He hoped it was enough to cut the thread of a life that had lasted for an eternity.

  "It's ready, General!" a warrior shouted victoriously, handing him the weapon.

  Braen took the blade, giving it a testing twirl. By his side, Naima's smile was once again the warm one he loved so very dearly.

  Holding the spear, Braen dared to hope again. Brions didn't much care for that emotion, because it implied a warrior needed luck or something out of their own control to triumph, but the circumstances were special. It was the first time he'd face an enemy with a blade he didn't know would work.

  At the eve of the most important battle of his life, there was no fear in the general's heart. He was as ready as he was ever going to be.

  The Fearless will die again. This time to never rise again.

  31

  Naima

  The blade was gorgeous.

  Naima had never liked violence, or condoned it if there was a peaceful solution. As such, she had never gotten the beauty of weapons. Like anyone, she could appreciate good artistry, but no sword or crafted gun had ever gotten her to admit it was easy on the eyes. Eventually, they were all tools of war and she couldn't look past that.

  Braen's spear was, no doubt, exactly that. Yet with the gently glowing lifestone embedded into the dark silver shaft, casting the sharp blade in an aura of light – even she cou
ldn't deny it was a beautiful thing.

  The warriors around her were practically ecstatic. She couldn't relate to that sort of fervor, but she understood, in her own way. They were on the brink of a legendary battle, one they clearly all hoped to witness.

  That was the weird thing about Brions. Well, one of the weird things, anyway. The Galactic Union freely called them the most self-centered species in the known universe, but the warriors actually had a lot of respect for the accomplishments of their brothers and sisters.

  Naima had been aboard the Benevolent for long enough now to know that firsthand. She'd sat through impossibly long conversations, taking one tiny duel apart piece by piece, discussing every curve of the strikes and all scenarios. Some stemmed from the smallest things, like the chosen arena and the surface of it.

  All eyes in the room were nailed to Braen. She watched with quiet awe as they admired their general, how they believed without the shadow of doubt ever crossing their mind that he'd slay the monster.

  There would be many stories after that, Naima was sure. Tales would be told for ages, no matter the outcome.

  She wanted to feel the same glee, the same excitement, but she couldn't muster any. Leave it to the Brions to welcome a war that common sense said could not be won with bright eyes and itching hands. For her, the whole affair was a little too close to home. She had too much to lose.

  Everything, in fact.

  Braen had become the most pivotal part of her life, along with the life growing in her belly. She couldn't imagine losing him.

  A shot of pain went through her, just like that. Naima winced, biting her tongue not to cry out loud. The room around her was bustling with joy and hope was in the air. She didn't want to ruin it, knowing the general would shut down all cheer until she was fine again. Only Naima predicted she wouldn't be anything close to okay until the Fearless died.

  She had given it a fair bit of thought and come to an alarming realization. For the past week that they'd spent flying through Uther territory, she'd gradually felt worse. All the symptoms she'd suffered on Matthos IV were back with a vengeance. She'd tried to hide it from Braen, but she'd failed.