by Cara Bristol
Marlix’s subterranean abode, though comfortable, was more utilitarian than luxurious. And though she’d thought Dak’s marble domicile magnificent when she’d first laid eyes upon it, its modest size could not compete with the lavishness of Qalin’s. She’d been stunned when Perce had informed them they entered not a city, but his sire’s personal abode, and had been awe-struck at the first glimpse of the tallest telenium spire. She had a hunch their quarters were located somewhere beneath that single starred steeple.
“You are right.” Anika bowed her head in guilt over the shameful, childish glee she’d experienced bouncing on her sleeping platform. The excesses of Qalin’s command should have strengthened her attention to their objective rather than distracting her.
But she refused to feel guilty about enjoying her bath, especially since she noted Urazi also appeared to have washed and had traded his dusty, stained uniform for a fresh one. They could not appear before Qalin looking like something a domesticated feleen had dragged in. While opening all the doors in her chamber, she’d found a private bathing facility. Though she’d wished to linger, she did not know how much time they had before the summons—and feared being caught with her shirt off—so she hurried through a wash, but enjoyed every hasty second. Then she rebound her breasts and dressed in a replacement uniform she’d found hanging in a wardrobe. To her relief, it was a winter one.
With no other footwear, she’d donned Tara’s boots. The lining inside had separated from the leather, but that gave her a place to slip the knitting needle and prevent it from rubbing her calf or slipping down to stab her in the ankle as it had done once before. Then she strapped Jergan’s dagger onto her thigh. All guards wore arms—some, like the Veronians, had LPDs. She wondered, though, if her weapons would be confiscated when she appeared before Qalin.
Anika rubbed her sweaty palms on her thighs. “I wonder how much longer we will wait until we are summoned.”
Urazi rounded on her. “You will remain here. I will see Qalin alone.”
Nervousness vanished under his autocratic behavior. He didn’t have the right to tell her what to do! Well, technically, he did. But hadn’t they ridden together? Worked side by side? Supported each other? Sure, they’d had a conversation during which he’d announced she would stand back while he took the lead, but she hadn’t agreed. She’d had enough of males telling her what to do.
Anika planted her feet wide part. “I am going.” She lifted her chin. “Perce asked for both of us.”
“My presence will have to suffice. All Perce needs is one witness to verify his story. If Qalin gets a glimmer of suspicion you are female, not only will you be in great jeopardy, we will lose our chance to kill him and save Parseon from further destruction.”
“He will not suspect. No one else has.” Anika flicked at her short hair and plucked at the uniform shirt covering her flat chest, before anchoring a hand on each hip. ”Do I look female to you?”
Urazi assessed her from head to toe, lingering on her lips, her waist, her hips. “Yes.” He cocked his head. “Even the way you speak betrays your gender.”
“Only because you know the truth.” Maybe her voice did sound a little high. “Only because you know the truth,” she repeated in a much lower tone.
Urazi scowled. “Parseons do not use the intelligence Nature gave them. They are trained to believe without question. To obey—”
“Does that not prove my point—”
Urazi held up his hand. “But, Qalin is intelligent and has been trained to identify and eliminate threats. A uniform will not fool him. He is Alpha. You are way outmatched.”
“So are you!” she snapped. “And, like you, I am willing to take the chance. When the summons comes, I will go.”
“No.”
Anika narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”
A heavy silence descended on the room. “We’ve had this discussion once before,” he said in a low, threatening voice. “I promised you a spanking if you persisted in endangering your safety. Shall I demonstrate how outmatched you are?” Urazi pushed his shirt sleeves up to his elbows.
Rather than discourage her, the whisperflies fluttering in her stomach egged her on. She flung back her head. “You and what guard force?”
Anika emitted a little squeal when Urazi’s hand shot out to clamp around her wrist. She’d never seen him move! With a hard, swift tug, he unbalanced her and hoisted her into his arms and strode to the bed. Outraged, she slapped at his chest and arms. “Let me go!”
Urazi plopped onto the platform and tipped her over his lap, yanking down her uniform pants. The room’s air felt cool against her skin, suffused by angry heat. “Luckily for you, I do not have a sudon,” he stated.
“Let”—Anika kicked–“Me”—she thrashed—“Go!”
“Shall I request one?” The smirk in his voice infuriated her almost as much as the ease with which he thwarted her efforts to free herself. “You like to gamble. Shall we wager on whether somewhere among Qalin’s cache of supplies there is a sudon? A fresh one, recently tanned, as yet unattenuated by use.”
“Go right ahead!” Qalin probably owned many sudons—and far worse disciplinary implements—but Urazi would not blow their cover by asking for one.
“Fortunately, I do not need one to do this.” He smacked one upturned moon. He was right—he didn’t need a paddle formed from the leathery tail of the venomous baronian ilyx. His hand was paddle like enough. Way too broad, hard, and fast as it descended on her buttocks.
He didn’t give her time to prepare or protest, but launched into a volley of stinging slaps, alternating sides.
She tried to twist off his lap, but he held her snugly around the waist. She struck at his legs, and he pinioned her arms to her lower back. She kicked, and he swung his leg to immobilize hers. All without missing a stroke.
The rapid-fire scorching smacks brought tears to her eyes, but Anika ground her teeth to prevent even a whimper. She would not give him satisfaction. Urazi was a brute! A beast. An—an—alpha to the core!
Her buttocks felt as if he had laid a flame to her tender skin, but he was relentless in his punishment. He cracked a vicious palm to her left buttock, and she nearly broke her vow of silence.
“Have you had enough?” he inquired.
“I had enough before you started!” she snapped, the sharpness of her rebuke muted by the tears thickening her voice.
Smack!
“You are no match for Qalin. No physical contender. Do you not see how easy this is?” He delivered two spanks to each side.
“I doubt Qalin would castigate me in such a manner.” If the Alpha attempted it, she would grab her knife and turn him into a eunuch! But though she railed against Urazi’s chastisement, she could not retaliate as she would if someone else attempted the same. He had tied her hands. Figuratively—and literally. He still had them pinned.
“If Qalin were to discover your identity, what he would do to you would be far worse. You would beg to be disciplined in such a manner as this.”
She could not refute his claim, but she didn’t have to admit it out loud. She compressed her lips. Another punitive strike blistered an area already well seared.
“Do I have your agreement to remain in your chamber and not attempt to see Qalin?”
How simple the answer should have been. Only a fool would seek to confront a monster. Wouldn’t any person of sound mind accept any out offered? But she’d journeyed too far to choose the easy way, to stand back and allow a male to dictate to her—even if his intentions were good.
“Anika, do not assume your will is greater than mine.” He punctuated his threat with a hard swat.
She clenched her teeth.
Crack! “Tell me you will remain here.” Crack! Crack!
Or he would spank her for as long as it took her to agree. He didn’t need to say it. She would not win against him. Not this battle. She sagged.
He must have felt the resistance leave her body because he ceased spanking. “I need to hear
you say it,” he said.
“All right.” She surrendered on an exhale. “I shall not accompany you when you appear before Qalin.” Anika twisted, attempting to right herself and restore her dignity.
“Stay.” He released her wrists, but maintained a light hold on her waist and proceeded to massage the very same area he’d punished. She did not want to like his soothing ministration, tried to retain her anger, but her traitorous body had other ideas. Her hips moved, lifted, sought his caress.
Back and forth he rubbed, alternating firmer touches that alleviated the painful throbbing with lazy, lighter ones that ignited a different sort of tingle. Pleasurable rather than merely palliative.
“I dislike punishing you,” he said. “But I will do whatever is required to keep you safe.”
Keep me safe. Anika stiffened, and this time he let her roll off his lap. She focused on securing her uniform trousers, then she speared him with her gaze. “I do not want to be kept safe.”
“What do you want?”
How did one define the push-pull of yearning for freedom with the desire to be…desired?
“I want to—to…live,” she said.
Urazi opened his mouth, but whatever he’d been about to say was halted by a pounding at his chamber door. “The summons,” he said, and shot her a warning look.
Anika slumped her shoulders, but nodded. She would not rescind her promise—even if it had been coerced. She sank onto the platform with a wince.
Urazi opened the door to admit a beta. “Alpha Perce has instructed me to inform you that your audience with Commander Qalin has been granted. You are to present yourselves immediately. I am to escort you,” the male said.
“Very well. Let us go.” Urazi gestured for the beta to move out of the way to allow him to exit, but when Anika didn’t follow, the beta spoke. “My apologies. I did not make myself clear. The presence of both of you is required.”
“Anjot is unable to accompany us. He ails and fears spreading his illness to Commander Qalin’s…retinue.” Anika knew he chose his words to avoid implication Qalin might succumb to any form of feebleness.
The beta hesitated, and a glimpse of Urazi’s threatening scowl convinced her to fake a paroxysm of coughing. The beta paled and darted into the hallway like he was ejected from a catapult. Urazi followed at a more sedate pace and shut the door.
Anika stopped coughing. Her buttocks throbbed, pulsed with every beat of her hammering heart. Like every other male she knew, Urazi hadn’t hesitated to enforce his will with a strict application of discipline. Even mild-mannered Jergan had physically chastised her when she provoked his ire.
Except Jergan had never caressed her afterwards. Never left the impression he regretted having to punish her.
Of course, qualms hadn’t prevented Urazi from doing it—nor did it eliminate his belief of entitlement. As long as she acquiesced to punishment, she would be subject to a male’s whims, forced to settle for what he allowed her to have, rather than choosing a life of her own.
Anika scrambled off the platform and pressed her ear to the door. Through the thickness, she could hear no footsteps. She nibbled on a fingernail. Were Urazi and the escort still in the corridor? She closed her fingers around the telenium handle.
Urazi would be furious if she disobeyed. And disappointed. Until this point she’d never earned enough of a man’s respect to have to worry about disappointing him. But, during their long journey, he’d sought her opinion as if it mattered and had come around on what had been the most important issue—her indenture to Ilian. Except for his order for her to stay behind now, he had acted as if she was a person of status while still seeming to appreciate her femaleness, too.
If she defied him, she risked destroying his respect and regard.
But if Qalin continued to pillage and raze Parseon, it did not matter who she’d been promised to; it did not matter if she was treated as an alpha, a beta, a female, or a conveyance animal. All would be lost. All would suffer. Perhaps the idea had been planted by the guerillas who had trained her to fight, but she’d had an epiphany.
She could get closer to Qalin than any male. Blinded by Protocol, by arrogance, the Alpha would never suspect a female. Just like his guerillas had predicted.
She could save Parseon.
But I promised Urazi.
Under duress. Anika tightened her grip on her emotions and the door handle, and pulled. She stuck her head into the corridor and spied Urazi and the escort disappearing around the long corner.
Now or never.
I said I would not accompany him. I did not say I would not attempt to locate Qalin’s receiving chamber.
Anika scurried down the wide marble hall, her uniform rubbing her chastened buttocks with every step.
Chapter Seventeen
Two alphas stood sentry outside massive telenium doors inlaid with jewels when Urazi arrived to find Perce pacing and vibrating with nerves. The beta escort bowed his head and disappeared. The guards confiscated Urazi’s dagger and checked him for more weapons, running their hands over his body, under his arms, between his legs. They had him remove, upend, and shake out his boots before pronouncing him “clear” and returning to flank the telenium doors, their posture as stiff and motionless as the statues of Qalin that abounded in the citylike domicile.
Urazi shoved his feet into his footwear, ruing the loss of the dagger, although he’d expected it. He had assumed he would be searched, but had brought the weapon just in case he wasn’t. He had to be prepared because he could not predict when an opportunity to assassinate Qalin might arise. During this meeting, he hoped to discover how protected Qalin was and identify possible future vulnerabilities.
“Where is Anjot?” Perce asked.
“He ails,” Urazi replied. Monto, she was stubborn. Fortunately her buttocks were more…impressionable. He regretted the necessity of chastisement, but they did not have the luxury of time to argue or negotiate. “Anjot thought it prudent he not appear before Alpha Qalin in such a state.”
“I concur.” Perce nodded. “Not that Anjot’s condition would pose any threat to a supreme warrior like Alpha Qalin,” he added hastily.
“Of course not,” Urazi agreed. Woe to the ailing individual if Qalin did become stricken after granting an audience.
“Before we enter the Chamber of Familiars —”
“Familiars?” Urazi arched his eyebrows.
“My sire has larger, more formal chambers reserved for greeting dignitaries of equal stature—although none currently exist,” Perce explained. “This chamber is the smaller of two used to confer with familial members of his household and most trusted staff.
How revealing—Qalin did not consider the other Alphas his peers—and interesting that there might be staff members he did trust. Opportunity? “I am surprised the Commander’s blood relations are so numerous to necessitate two chambers.” Hadn’t Perce said he was the sole son? “What other kin does he have?”
If his inquisitiveness violated Protocol, Perce appeared not to notice. “Until recently, my sire had a younger male sibling, an uncle, and a male cousin.”
“Until recently? What happened?”
“They fell victim to accident just before Marlix, Dak, and Ilian declared war.”
Urazi blinked. All three had died? And Marlix, Dak, and Ilian had declared war? Technically so, but only after they had no choice because Qalin’s forces had marched through Dak’s province and burned the Enclave to the ground.
“But, now, I am the only relation,” Perce continued. “And, one day, my sire will acquire a breeder who can produce additional sons to ensure his legacy continues in the event I am killed in battle.” He shook his head. “It is tragic the breeders produced feeble male offspring.”
“I thought you were the only son.”
“I am the sole surviving male. The others expired within days of their birth.”
A sibling. An uncle. A cousin. Infant sons. To be a male blood relation of Qalin decreased one’s ch
ances for survival. Perce seemed to have had no idea Qalin was eliminating all possible usurpers. The young man’s dearth of discernment coupled with his usefulness probably had kept him alive. As heir, he served as an additional barrier to those who would challenge Qalin’s command, while his unsuitability to be Alpha ensured he would never threaten Qalin himself. Due to his close association with Marlix, Urazi had an inkling of what Alpha training entailed. Perce would never survive its rigors. Perce embodied beta. But no one would dare tell an Alpha he’d sired a son of lesser status.
“What of the females born?” Urazi asked.
Perce shrugged. “Oh, they all survived. Upon maturation, they are transferred to Breeder Containment Facilities. Commander Qalin’s female offspring bring high prices indeed.” His expression turned serious. “We should enter now, but before we do, I must give you some instructions….”
* * * *
From behind a massive statue of Qalin outside the Chamber of Familiars, Anika watched as the guards strained to open the telenium doors. She’d thought at first the gleaming panels might be plated, but the manner in which the guards grunted revealed the metal was solid. Not extravagance. Fortification. Not only did the weight hinder anyone who might try to rush it, the door could withstand a lot of battering before it would cave. The need for security, Anika understood—why Qalin might need protection from his familiars remained unclear.
However, the guards would have to admit her; she could not open the doors by herself, even if she could manage to sneak by the sentries.
Anika massaged her still-throbbing buttocks. She would pay the price for disobedience later.
She’d been too far away to hear more than a mumble, but she’d seen the guards search Urazi, so Anika unbuckled the holster with her dagger and hid it behind the statue of Qalin immortalizing the Alpha in attack mode: knife in hand, body in a lunge, face in a grimace. She checked that her boot lining concealed the knitting needle.