by Maia Starr
“I heard your mother passed,” I said, and my low tones carried in an understated echo throughout the room. “M'shon.”
“Thank you,” he said, sounding absolutely disingenuous.
He probably thought I was being flippant. I wasn't. I could relate to the loss of parents more than anyone else in the council room.
“I understand you are now the leader of the Atherien?” I asked.
“I'm the Dendren, yes,” he said evenly.
I could hear Pash gritting her teeth before she snapped out, “Yes, well... while we will show you respect for your position, we have our own Dendren, here, and it is to him that you will give your submission while in the plenks.”
A hot needling started in the pit of my stomach: irritation. She should not have said that. It was what we were all thinking, of course, but there was no reason to be outwardly hostile or come off as disrespectful to the new shifters.
Orylis’ eyes flicked up toward mine to see if I agreed with her sentiments. Of course, I did.
“A new role to you, one that I bid you well with,” I tried to say respectfully. “Leading an army is not easy, let alone a nation. But trust me when I say that whatever hardship you bared is nothing in comparison to the threat both of us are now left with for our people: our eniwan.”
To my surprise, Orylis laughed and looked incredulously at his associate before staring back up at me.
It was clear the boy had no idea what he was doing: no expectation for any real help from us, yet he commanded attention. Every subtle flick of the eyes and guarded, smug laugh garnered a charmed glance from our council, our civilians, and our women.
“Well, you're right, there,” he said with a little too much levity for someone whose mother just died, “Because we no longer have eniwan. And yes, that is a problem.”
The aweless statement elicited some chirps from the audience.
I needled my brows together and restrained myself.
“We know your issue well,” I tried to say evenly. “What is your proposal to the Dendren?”
“We will give you ten hunters for the year to regularly bring you supplies and food from the wilds in exchange for…” he began but fell short.
Orylis’ associate nudged him, but still he said nothing: his jaw locked tight.
“Is it your contention that you will not be living in the plenks?” I asked, trying to prompt him forward.
He nodded. “It is.”
Pash licked her lips and raised a suspicious brow. “You choose to stay in the wildlands?”
“As ridiculous as that may sound to you,” he snipped back.
Veynore spoke up then, “We will give you ten hunters and regular food supplies from within the wilds in exchange for ten humans each cycle.”
I nodded at the request, but I was already seeing problems. We didn’t have ten humans to give. We were given eight per year: no more, no less. We couldn’t afford to give them one, let alone ten.
Pash and I exchanged wary glances and she raised her regal chin to the visiting Parduss. “We will give you three humans per year in exchange for three hunters and we will expect to be taken through the wilds before the deal is completed to decide what supplies we wish to have.”
“Three?” Orylis spat back, clearly offended.
“There is not an endless supply,” Pash snapped. “They are not commodities. They are our guests.”
I wondered if Pash was saying that for my benefit. The truth was, Pash had abhorred the humans up until she found out she could still get pregnant. Now they seemed to be of no consequence to her either way.
But she was right, regardless. Unlike the days of the L7 wars between Cadir and Earth, the humans were no longer possessions. They were our guests, who had graciously come to help us.
“With all due respect,” Veynore said calmly, urging his leader to follow suit, “we have heard that humans have a longer gestation period than Parduss. How are we supposed to continue the Atherien breed with only three humans?”
“When you come to the plenks, you’ll have access to the humans. Otherwise, three is our offer,” Pash said.
“Your final offer?” Veynore asked, raising a curious brow.
Pash shook her head and simply affirmed, “Our only offer.”
“But we’re not coming to the plenks!” Orylis shouted, his gravely tones echoing throughout the room and causing silence to hush over our guests.
This was not someone I wanted a human near, let alone someone I would welcome into the plenks.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t up to me to decide.
I stood up and walked down the large staircase to the bottom of the dais, meeting Orylis face-to-face.
I leaned into the podium he was standing in front of and in a low voice warned him, “This is a great offer that nearly does a disservice to the Dendren by extending it. It is only because of his great pity and great love for the Parduss that he extends it to you. Do not be a fool and sentence your people to death all because of one unhappy decision.”
Orylis set his jaw, deep amber eyes piercing into me with fury.
He felt disrespect, I thought. He should. I would have, too.
But this was the only offer we could give.
“We have dealings with Earth,” I urged him. “If you join us here, in the plenks, and give unrestricted access to the wilds through your warriors, we will be able to adjust our truce with the humans for more breeders. But you must come live in the plenks. We can’t have rogue Parduss anymore. We just can’t. We won’t put ourselves or the humans in danger for it.”
Orylis looked incensed, but he knew I was right.
Still, by the stubborn look in his eyes, I could tell this wouldn’t be a snap decision.
Chapter Four
Hazel
Theren had been gone all afternoon, making the surprise of him coming back from his mission early a bit of an empty one.
Luckily, Nariva had decided to leave her post and join me for a nightcap.
She walked into the space, and her eyes seemed to touch every surface in the room until they rested on my pregnancy test, which I’d stupidly left on the counter in the living room.
She noticed me watching her and then tilted her head to the side with a genuine display of sympathy.
“Sorry,” she said, gesturing to the test.
I bit my lip and stared down at it before asking, “Do you think he’s mad?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation.
“Ouch!” I said with a half-offended laugh. “Twist the knife a little more, why don’t you?”
Nariva shrugged, and I realized how insensitive I must have seemed to her. Or how rude even leaving it on the counter must have been. After all, Nariva couldn't get pregnant even if she wanted to.
It’s why so many women had joined the warrior ranks, or so she confided in me.
If they couldn’t breed, they would make themselves superior to the Dendren’s subjects in another way—their skills.
Nariva walked to our long, over-filled couch and sat down on it with some familiarity. She crossed her legs over, and they made a squeegee noise against the leather armor on her thighs.
“But he cares for you,” she quickly followed up, extending a hand as I handed her a glass of Earthy, musky liquor the Vithohn were so fond of drinking. “He wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt your feelings.”
I raised my brows dismissively. “Right.”
Nariva had perfect teeth, straight and white, with wider-than-usual canines. Appropriately so; they looked just like fangs. It gave her a wild look that I envied. There wasn't much about Nariva's appearance I didn't envy. In many ways, she was the stark contrast of me.
She was tall and curvaceous and sexy. She was exotic looking, like an elf or some sort of fairy creature with her long hair and impossibly blue eyes.
I had short brown hair: pixie cut with wispy bangs with mixed tan skin from a South African father and a Scottish mother. My face was angular, while hers wa
s soft and oval. There was something professional about my appearance, so said my mother. But I didn't want to be professional. I wanted to be edgy and sexy.
The thought in itself made me want to laugh. It was as though I had completely forgotten who I was.
Scraping her perfect teeth along her bottom lip, I could tell Nariva wanted to ask me something.
I slumped down on the couch next to her and extended my feet out so they rested on her thighs. She looked down at them with a cocked brow and then shook her head playfully at me.
“What?” I prompted, and she looked up at me. I chuckled and offered, “Just ask whatever it is you’re stewing on over there.”
“Did Theren tell you anything about the representative meeting?”
I shrugged, unsure what specifically she was after. “Yeah.”
“…Like?”
The request was an odd one, especially considering I'd never been to one of their meetings before.
“Oh, uh, just that they were having one? Trying to make peace with the rebels,” I said.
She nodded slowly, seeming displeased with my answer. “So, he didn’t invite you to attend?”
I shook my head. “No, he’s there now. Why? Should he have?”
“I had heard that the council wanted the rebel Atherien dragons… you know,” she mumbled awkwardly, twirling her ice-blonde hair in her long fingertips.
“No, what?” I asked stupidly and then set my cheek in my hand. “Oh,” I faltered. “Women? That they have healthy women for procreation?”
She gave an absent-minded shoulder shrug and confirmed, “They must have been hoping you would be pregnant by now. You know, show you off to the Atheriens.”
“Wow!” I scoffed, taking a sip of the disgusting liquor and feeling the heat go right to the top of my head. “So, not only did I disappoint him, but I also got uninvited to an event?” I laughed, and Nariva couldn’t help but join in. “This has not been a victorious day for me so far.”
“Ah. You’ll live,” she waved me off, finishing her liquor and setting the glass hard down on the table.
Nariva didn’t stay long after that. She made idle chit-chat about the days ahead and what I would fill my time with, considering she was the one who had to make sure I was safe while doing it.
I promised I would lay low for a while, especially while the Atherien breed of Parduss were in the area. Nobody seemed to trust them, and I didn’t want to learn the hard way that they were right not to.
Laying low would mean staying away from the mainlands, which I was sure made Nariva want to jump for joy.
She stayed posted outside our door but didn’t come in for the rest of the night. She would only be dismissed once Theren came home.
I got so bored I dozed off to sleep, only to be awakened by Theren many hours later.
“How did it go?” I asked sleepily as he crawled into bed beside me. His body was intensely warm. So warm that I started to sweat just by being near him.
He didn’t answer, and I snorted. “That good, huh?”
“You guessed it,” he said gruffly. “They aren’t happy with us.”
“Sorry,” I said. “Forget them, then.”
There was a hesitation in him I wasn’t used to. It jarred me awake, and I opened my eyes and moved myself onto his chest. “What’s wrong?”
“We can’t incite another rebellion,” he said. “Fenris won’t like it. We’re supposed to be making peace.”
I didn’t know the ins and outs of the war with the rebels yet. Not enough to comment as well as he may have liked me to. “Well, didn’t you?” I asked, stupidly.
He only sighed in response and rolled me onto my side, scooping me into a spooning position. His sign that we were done talking now. We were still getting to know each other, Theren and I, but I knew that much.
I closed my eyes, and I could tell that he was trying deliberately to be quiet. To go to sleep.
But he was restless.
Just as I could feel my eyes rolling back into some half-asleep daze, I could feel his hand slip under the band of my pants and down my stomach. His fingers found their way in between my legs, and I spread them slightly to give him a better reach.
“Does that feel good?” he asked lowly as his thick fingers circled my clit.
“Mm-hmm,” I sounded out in response.
I tilted my head to the side to let him kiss me and could feel his tongue gently caress mine. We carried on kissing while he touched me until he couldn’t hold back anymore and started undressing me.
He took off my shirt, revealing my pointed breasts and tan skin and I started undoing his pants until we were both completely naked.
Before he could crawl on top of me, I sat up and pushed him down so that his body was bared before me. I sat on my knees between his legs and began running my hands up his thighs and across the thick mound of trim hair just above the base of his penis.
I lowered my lips toward the head of his penis and just as my tongue made its way toward him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me up onto his body.
Theren and I had performed oral sex on each other only one other time, and while I knew he liked it, he would never let it happen again.
He wanted to breed. Not to mess around.
And that was fine by me.
“Come up here,” he said quietly, and I followed his direction, slipping his penis inside of me and grinding our bodies together.
He was the biggest I'd ever been with. It took a lot of prep to get myself worked up enough to take it, but when I did... it was definitely worth the wait.
Theren pulled my face down toward him and continued to kiss me until I readjusted to use the wall in front of me as leverage and he slipped my small breast into his mouth instead.
Our bodies writhed against one another, and I used the friction to build my orgasm, which was just about to burst.
I sat upright, moving faster, and tried to ignore the way he watched me. It made me feel sexy and desired, but ultimately unnerved me for its intensity.
“I’m going to cum,” I said through slow, deep breaths.
Theren didn’t say anything.
Just before the moans of orgasm could escape my lips, Theren stopped.
I blinked in surprise and looked up at him: my body reeling from the trick that had just been played on it.
“Are you alright?” I asked and lay down next to him. He let out a sigh but didn’t seem embarrassed. We resumed our spooning, still naked, and he pulled the silky blankets up over our bodies before wrapping a strong arm around me.
“I do care for you, Hazel,” he said.
I didn’t know what to say to that, and so I didn’t say anything.
“Things didn’t go well,” he said of his meeting earlier. “A truce was made, but Fenris doesn’t trust it.”
“Why not?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure. But his advisors are directing him to betray the truce.”
“Pash?” I asked. She was the old advisor to the deceased Dendren, Fenris’ father. Apparently, he’d kept her on as his own, despite the rumors that she’d had a hand in killing both his father and his sister to secure a place in power for herself.
Theren nodded. “Of course Pash,” he announced. He wasn’t a fan of hers. “Always Pash when it comes to betrayals.”
I snorted at that. “So, what do they want to do to then? With the rebels?”
He made a disapproving noise and then exhaled a deep sigh. “Something stupid.”
Normally, I didn’t push Theren, but tonight I wanted to know.
“Like what?” I asked, and he moved his hand along my arm, wondering how to answer me.
To my surprise, there was no sugar-coating. He just… told me.
“The council is planning on making peace by sending me out to the rebel base under the guise of helping them: providing them females. Then we’re supposed to slaughter them.”
“Holy shit,” I said without thinking. “That’s a bit harsh
.”
“Yep,” he said.
“And I take it you’re not behind this plan?”
He swallowed. “I’m not behind any plan instituted by Pash.”
I nodded into my pillow. “So I’ve heard. She is not a popular lady.”
“She is,” he corrected. “That’s the problem.”
“Right,” I said, wondering why anyone would give their respect to a person like that. “So, are you going to do it?”
“I’m not sure yet. We’re supposed to come look at their camp, see what the rest of their people are like with the addendum that we can strike them down at any time if we feel the need. I’d prefer the truce, to be honest. The representative, Orylis… I didn’t mind him.”
“Wow,” I teased, “High praise, coming from you.”
“Hm,” he said, and I could feel him smile against my neck.
“Then, I hope everything goes well.”
Theren kissed my cheek, signaling the end of our conversation.
I had grown fond of our nights together. I felt safe around him: excited to continually get to know him even if it was only in these brief conversations before bed. He seemed to have given his complete heart to me… as best as he knew how.
Before long, I could tell by his breath that he’d fallen asleep.
I'd heard horrors stories from some of the girl's I'd come up here with about their first time with their assigned shifters. How it was about the equivalent of a dating high-school boy.
BANG. BANG. Done!
That was never the case between my Parduss and me.
I liked having sex with Theren. Really liked it.
Not only because he took care of me: helped me to orgasm even when it took absolutely, pitifully for-ever. But… because it was the only time in our relationship where I felt like I really connected with him. The only time that he let all of his walls down.
I knew as a warrior it was hard for him to let someone in: to not put up a front of strength, but I hoped one day we would be able to get there without having to take our clothes off.