****
The sound of the hatch opening was deep and slow. Pyra felt as though he had been standing watching it gradually slide open for hours, the opening revealing the planet in front of them little by little. Though he had seen much of it through the windows of the ship, it was different looking at it without the thick glass between himself and the desert beyond. The entire planet looked dry and desolate. He couldn’t imagine anyone or anything able to survive on the hot surface even though he knew that this was the planet where the illegal prison colony had been run by the Valdicians and the prisoners, many of them Denynso, had been kept for a period Pyra didn’t know how long. He knew that they had lived there and thrived enough that they were able to leave the planet and go to Earth to be a part of the breeding program, but that didn’t provide him with any reassurance. Spending any length of time on this planet seemed like torture in of itself. He couldn’t imagine the Valdicians voluntarily committing themselves to living there for as long as they did.
When the hatch was finally open, Pyra drew in a breath and reached down beside him for Eden’s hand. She took it and offered it a squeeze. Even though it was tiny in his, fully enveloped by his grip, the presence of it made him feel stronger and more prepared for whatever they were going to face when they walked out of the ship. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his mate look up at him and he glanced down at her. She smiled at him and for the first time he noticed just how much she had really changed since the first moment that he saw her when she walked down off of the shuttle onto Uoria. There had been no affection in her eyes then. In fact, the bright green, that was now a beautiful orange, was sharp, shallow, and filled with suspicion and distaste. There were moments when he saw something that he would have described as hatred if she had known anything about him or had reason to hate him as the warriors did the enemies that they encountered in battle.
Pyra hadn’t felt any of those negative feelings when he first saw Eden or when Creia declared that he was to be her guard and protector for the entire time that she was to be on Uoria. Though she seemed to get angrier and more aggressive with each passing moment that they spent together, Pyra only became surer that she was the woman that he had been waiting for his entire life. Just as this fiery redhead showed sharp aggression with each moment that he was with her, Pyra himself was feeling more intense and more violent than usual, wanting to kill any man who got close to him, even his brothers. The feeling, though, accompanied by sexual arousal unlike anything that he had ever experienced, though, wasn’t about anger or dislike for this woman. Instead, it was his body’s way of telling him that he was rapidly approaching the moment when he would meet the mate that was intended for him from his birth. The aggression and violence was meant to keep other men away from him so that they wouldn’t approach his intended mate, while the powerful arousal acted as a further reinforcement of the knowledge that he was going to meet the woman with whom he would share his life so that he could differentiate this level of violence and anger from the viciousness that was naturally inborn in the warriors and that had given them the reputation of being the most fearsome warriors in the Universe.
Looking back, Pyra knew that it wasn’t fully instant dislike for him that had caused Eden to act that way when they first met. Instead, she was being controlled by her emotions toward the same horrible man who had created the hybrid army they were preparing to wage war against. Ryan had been her boss at the University laboratory and when she refused his advances, he had planned what he thought was the perfect vengeance. He demanded that she go to Uoria and collect the blood of the most powerful Denynso warrior so that it could be used for his weaponry development. His thought was that if she succeeded, he would have access to the material that had eluded him and that would help him to move forward with his grisly efforts, and if she failed, which was far more likely, she would be killed in punishment and retaliation, and he wouldn’t have to deal with her any longer. What he didn’t know was that she would arrive into the guardianship of the very warrior whose blood she was meant to illegally collect, and that that warrior, Pyra himself, would love her ferociously from the first second that they were near each other.
She was so different then, and yet still the woman he loved so much. He had seen some of her softness when she stood before Creia and confessed to the mission on which Ryan had sent her. She wasn’t a part of the University program that the King was planning, but rather an independent scientist sent to the planet under the guise of collecting plant materials for biological projects on Earth. That made her more vulnerable, and Pyra could see the nervousness on her beautiful, freckle-sprinkled face as she told Creia what Ryan had asked her to do and handed over materials that he had given her. Pyra knew that she feared for her life. It was not an illogical fear. It was well-known throughout the Universe that no one was permitted to possess the incredibly powerful blood of a Denynso warrior, and anyone who was to attempt to collect it would be punished swiftly and severely. Even though she was terrified of what the Denynso King was going to do with her now that he knew that she had admitted that she had come to the planet with the intention of doing what Ryan had asked, at least initially, Eden had stood before the King courageously and gave him all of the information that she could. It was a show of tremendous bravery and her desire to make sure that Ryan would not have control over the Denynso in as much capacity as she was able to prevent.
Pyra still saw that bravery now, but the harsh, sharp edges that had defined her pretty face had softened. It was a strange development, an odd change that had come over her in a way that he didn’t think that it would come over anyone else. The other human women who had found their way into the lives of the Denynso men and their homes in the compound had become noticeably harder since their time on the planet. They were still feminine and beautiful in a way that was so different from the Denynso women, but the challenges and turmoil that they had experienced since committing to being a part of the clan had taken some of the tenderness from them and given them a tangible strength that made them seem more grounded and capable of handling the challenges ahead without being controlled by their fear or emotions. Eden, on the other hand, seemed to be the opposite. When Pyra looked at her then he had seen steeliness and thick walls that had developed over the years of mistreatment by Ryan. She had been virtually emotionless with the exception of anger and frustration, and was always quick to temper. She seemed nearly fearless. Over the time that she had been with him, though, those edges had smoothed. Her transformation into being Denynso and then into a mother had suited her, and now he could see more layers within her than he had ever been aware that she had. He had finally seen her cry and heard her laugh from the depths of her soul. He had seen her look truly happy and held her as she broke down with deep, tearing pain that pulled sadness and feeling of betrayal from within her chest. Though she was still courageous, even more so probably now that she was truly aware of what she was capable of accomplishing, his beloved mate was a calmer, more peaceful, and more comfortable creature who he couldn’t wait to share the rest of his life with when they were finally able to put all of this behind them.
As he thought back to the first day that he saw Eden, Pyra’s mind traveled to Creia. Both King of the Denynso and Pyra’s father, Creia had once been revered as he was as the most powerful and fierce warrior in all the Universe. Now he was seen as a strong, loyal, and fearless leader who protected his compound and his people with everything in him. It was he who was responsible to making sure that every child born into the clan knew their destined position in life, and though it was Creia’s wife and Pyra’s mother Theia, who was responsible for the actual training of the warriors, Creia was their unquestioned commander, even above Pyra himself when it came to leading and controlling the army.
Pyra knew that Creia held a tremendous amount of faith and respect in his oldest son. He had chosen him as the leader of the warriors when he made the decision to no longer enter battle himself, and it had been he who had agreed t
o allow the warriors to leave the compound where they had all spent their lives in order to explore the planet in the way that the Kings had done for generations before. He had even humbled himself by admitting that he had been wrong for not telling the warriors the complete truth about their planet and their clan, and asking for their forgiveness. Pyra knew how difficult that must have been for him. He himself had had to ask his father to forgive him when he had acted irrationally with the Mikana men and allow his father to guide him in how he was going to repair the damage that he had done and move forward to earn back the respect and trust of his own kind as well as the other species on Uoria.
The thoughts of his father and King brought painful tightness to Pyra’s chest and throat. Creia trusted him. He had sent him out into the Universe with the faith that he would take care of those who followed him and make sure that they were well protected. He was waiting on Uoria, knowing what they had faced in their time on Earth, believing that his son would do what he was supposed to do to handle the situation and restore peace. Pyra could only hope that he would be able to live up to what his father expected and hoped of him. Never before had he questioned himself or wondered if he was going to be capable of handling the challenge that was in front of him. He was the fiercest of the warriors, the most dedicated and aggressive, and the first to storm into battle, always confident of the victory that they would achieve. Now that he was looking into Eden’s face and seeing his son’s tiny head rested against her chest, however, Pyra felt a flicker of nerves and could only hope that he would be able to protect them and make Creia proud.
Chapter Eight
Ryan leaned on the counter and stared down into the sink, watching the water swirl around the sides and down the drain. Even when it was gone, he continued to stare at it, as if there was some sort of wisdom in the lingering traces of the water against the shining metal of the sink. Finally, he looked up into the mirror and glared at his reflection. The dark depths of his eyes seemed flatter, some of the lustrousness gone. There were questions in them that he wouldn’t put voice to. If he did, he would be admitting something that he didn’t want to admit even to himself much less to any of those around him. The Valdicians stayed with him under the belief that they were far closer to his equals than the hybrids that he had created, but Ryan knew that they were anything but equal to him. Though he descended from them, he was far above them as they were now. There was a tremendous difference between the powerful creatures that his great-grandfather had led and who had joined with the humans to start the breeding. Ryan blamed the men that descended from them for the lack of characteristics that he had. If they had focused on breeding for the special features and abilities of the different species, he wouldn’t have been born with nothing to differentiate him from the other men that he encountered every day. Instead, they had diverted from this goal and instead allowed themselves to be controlled by what they thought was love, but what Ryan saw as only weakness.
By the time that his father was born, the youngest child of a grandfather who had married three times, his bloodline was already diluted. He then married a human woman and Ryan was born, devoid of all of the characteristics and features that he knew he should have inherited. All his life he had heard about the incredible intelligence and military power of his Valdician ancestors. They were a vicious and powerful species, rivaled only by the Denynso in their strength. He had watched the banked memories of his great-grandfather living through him as he traveled the Universe and took over planets, battling species for dominance and establishing their control everywhere that they stopped. There were few places that they had not been successful in conquering, and it was the experiments that were going to fill that gap and bring their success rate to completion.
Though no one had ever told him, Ryan knew even then that things had changed for the Valdicians. He knew that they weren’t the same creatures that they had once been, and part of the aggression and determination that flowed through their veins was their desire to reclaim what they had once been. He never knew what had happened to the intimidating group that his great-grandfather had built. By the time that he was old enough to be a part of the experiments, the program had faded to nearly nothing and the Valdicians seemed weaker and in need of guidance. That was when Ryan decided that he was going to give that guidance. It didn’t matter that his family had achieved only part of what they had set out to do when they planned the breeding program. That was when he had learned about the true history of the Valdicians, and in turn, himself. Hearing what had happened to them and why they had become what they were when they encountered the humans of Nyx 23 had filled Ryan with an anger and disgust that ignited his desire for power and revenge even more. He couldn’t tolerate what had happened to them. They still hadn’t fully recovered, even with the extensive care that he had been giving them, but soon they would. Soon they would return to what they once were and he would be right there beside them, leading the group that was now beholden to him.
He was ready to take what they had started, piece the program back together, and bring it to its full glorious potential. Then it would no longer matter if he seemed nothing more than human. He wouldn’t be controlled by the limitations of the original program. He would create the hybrids in the way that was right for him, ensuring that they were the most fearsome and had the most complex collection of skills and features that he could possibly achieve. Soon he would raise up an army that would conquer the Universe and put it under his control, starting with the source of the greatest anguish from his family’s past…Uoria.
The longer he stared into his own eyes, the more Ryan became aware of the tearing sensation within him. It felt as though there was something inside him that was pulling in two directions, ripping him apart, though no one on the outside was able to see it. He didn’t know how to describe it, and even if he had wanted to reach out to those around him and explain to them what was happening in his mind and his heart, he wouldn’t have been able to. He didn’t understand it himself, no matter how intense the pain or how deep the hollow that seemed to be forming low in his belly and spreading through his body. It seemed that the worse this tearing feeling became, the more ferocious the drive to complete his goals reared. The two feelings were at once dueling with each other and encouraging each other to build and grow. Ryan could feel his hands shaking on the edge of the counter and his teeth gritting down on each other so hard his jaws ached.
“Sir?”
Ryan turned away from the mirror sharply, immediately experiencing the strange feeling that the reflection of his face was still there and he was staring at himself now as he looked out of the bathroom and toward the door to his bedroom. He strode away from it, leaving it at his back and pretending that he could no longer feel the imagined gaze burning into his skin.
The bedroom door was standing open a few inches and he could see the slightly shifting shadow of one of the Valdicians standing partially inside the room.
“I’ve told you that you are never to come into my room without knocking,” Ryan said sharply.
The shadow stepped back a few inches, but the door remained open.
“I did knock,” the voice he recognized as Stellan said back nervously. “I knocked several times, but you didn’t respond. I was concerned about you. I apologize.”
The man was starting to back out, but Ryan took a long step toward him to stop him.
“It’s alright,” he said. “I was taking a shower. I must not have heard you knocking. Is there something wrong?”
He saw the man’s eyes briefly lift to his hair and Ryan could feel that the thick lock of hair laying on his forehead was already nearly dry. He wondered how long he had been standing at the counter in front of the mirror, so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t heard the Valdician man knocking at his bedroom door.
“The hybrid woman who escaped took one of the new babies and started across Penthos.”
“One of the new hybrid babies was born?” Ryan asked. “There were no b
irths scheduled for at least three weeks.”
“I know that. One of the women delivered early. She didn’t survive the birth.”
“And the child?” Ryan asked.
“He was alive when he was taken from the vehicle on Penthos.”
“Where are they now?”
“They started in the opposite direction of the compound, but they were followed.”
“Who followed them?”
Stellan seemed to hesitate, but Ryan couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t want to say what he needed to, or if he was just trying to come up with the right words to express himself.
“The man I was telling you about,” he said. “The one they call Rilex.”
Ryan stiffened at the sound of the name. Though the intelligence that they were able to get from Earth and now Penthos was limited, he had heard enough from the Valdicians who had come in contact with the group that was helping the Denynso to suspect that this man was something that he had never expected to encounter. He had thought about it. He had dreamed of it since he first learned about the true origin of the Valdicians, but had been told so many times that it was never going to happen. That species was gone, long dead, so there was no use in hoping that he would be able to find one so that he could exact the ultimate of vengeance. This man, the one they called Rilex, if he was what the Valdicians were saying that he was, was even more valuable to him than Pyra’s blood. Having control over him would mean the ability to have control over all of the Universe.
“Where did they go?” he asked.
He was moving through the room now, pulling out fresh clothing and getting dressed. He had intended to go to bed and try to get some of the sleep that had been eluding him for days, but now any trace of the exhaustion that had been pulling on him was gone and he was filled with an almost frantic energy that fueled him to get back to the room downstairs where he could sit in the chair that seemed to help him think, to give him a connection to what was happening around him a way that he didn’t get elsewhere. There was no real reason for it, but he didn’t question the one semblance of peace that he could find in the chaos, even if it was still tenuous at best.
The Alien's Lair (Uoria Mates IV Book 9) Page 5