The Lobos' Heartsong

by Laura Jo Phillips

  They all sank their fangs into Saige’s skin at the same moment, and froze. Long seconds crawled by as they waited, hardly daring to breathe in this most crucial of moments. Finally instinct told them enough, and they withdrew their fangs at the same instant. Faron heard Saige take in a large breath and glanced at her throat to see that Dav was still deeply seated there. He was so relieved that it took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in control of his body. It seemed to be acting on instinct alone, without his conscious thought. He knew that to fight it would be a costly error so he relaxed and let it happen.

  Dav, Ban and Faron began to thrust in and out of Saige’s body in a precise rhythm that none of them were consciously aware of. Their bodies moved faster and faster, harder and deeper with each stroke until all any of them could do was close their eyes and feel.

  Faron sensed a light growing inside of Saige. He could just see it behind his eyelids, small and blue, glowing softly at first but growing rapidly the harder they fucked her until all at once, they all tensed as they climaxed at the same time. Faron felt his seed rushing from his body and into Saige’s where it raced through her passage towards the bright light in the deepest part of her womb. Once there it met with Dav’s seed and then Ban’s, all three of blending together within the light, causing it to grow larger and brighter. Suddenly it began to vibrate, beckoning in some mysterious way towards each of the three men. Faron felt it reaching out to him, coaxing something from him, straining towards him until finally something inside of him answered and flowed towards it in response. My soul, he thought. Like his seed before, his soul, the very essence of his being, flowed into Saige and raced towards the light in the center of her being. A part of Saige entered him at the same time and he felt her essence sinking into his very skin and bone, a soft warmth of love and desire settling across his shoulders. All at once the blue light within Saige flared so brightly that, even with his eyes closed, Faron felt blinded by it. At the same moment, they all climaxed so hard that they had to hold tightly to each other in order to remain standing. Faron felt his joints pop as his body tightened, his every muscle straining with an orgasm unlike anything he had every imagined possible. He heard himself roaring with it, his voice rising to meet Dav’s, Ban’s and Saige’s, his heart so filled with love and joy he thought it might burst.

  After a few long moments Faron realized he had control of his body back. Ban carefully withdrew from Saige’s body, as did Dav. Saige’s head fell forward against Faron’s shoulder and she sighed deeply. Ban lifted her gently off of Faron, and they all climbed onto the bed together to wait until their limbs stopped trembling. After a few minutes, Faron, Dav and Ban began carefully inspecting Saige’s body, going over her inch by inch to insure that she was unharmed. They paused to take in the lau-lotu markings on her body, the sight of them almost too wondrous to behold. But that was nothing compared to the way they felt when they gazed upon the markings on their own bodies. Saige’s green eyed loboenca form draped across Faron’s shoulders, Ban’s left arm and Dav’s right arm. They could feel her in their skin, their hearts and their souls, along with a joy too intense to express with mere words.

  “Saige, are you awake?” Faron asked softly.

  Saige smiled though her eyes did not open. “I am just enjoying the way I feel right now,” she said. “I feel connected to each of you. I have been alone for so long, thought I would always be alone. Now, I will never be alone again.” Her eyes opened and she gazed lovingly at each of them. “Thank you for this.”

  “She performs a miracle and thanks us for it,” Ban chuckled.

  Saige smiled at him and opened her mouth to say something. Whatever it was, the words caught in her throat as her eyes widened. “Lariah?” she asked quickly, fear in her voice.

  “Do not worry, lorea,” Dav soothed. “Lariah has given birth to her daughters, and all of them are perfectly fine.”

  “That’s wonderful news,” Saige said, her eyes misty with happiness and relief. “When can we see them?”

  “In the morning, amada,” Faron said as he reached out and plucked her off the bed as though she weighed nothing. “It is very late, and I am sure they are all sleeping now.” He carried her into the bathroom, Dav and Ban right behind them, and set her down to turn the water on in the shower. Her gasp had him spinning around, his senses instantly alert for danger.

  Saige stood staring at her reflection in the mirror, tracing the images of her men on her flesh. Faron’s lobenca draped across her shoulders, his long, striped tail running down her back, his pale blue eyes staring back at her in the mirror. Ban’s loboenca wrapped around her left arm, Dav’s around her right, their eyes seeming to gaze at her as well. She wasn’t entirely sure how it was she could tell the three of them apart in their loboenca forms as they were identical to each other in that form. But to her, they were each distinctly different. She would never confuse them.

  “They are so beautiful,” she breathed, tears falling from her eyes.

  “Are you unhappy?” Dav asked as he eyed the tears worriedly.

  “Not at all,” Saige replied, laughing even though the tears continued to fall. She turned to look at Dav, her eyes going at once to the loboenca now curled around his right arm. It seemed smaller than her loboencas, clearly feminine with more delicate features and finer bone structure. Its eyes were the same light green flecked with gold as her own.

  “Is that what I will look like?” she asked, reaching out to trace the markings along Dav’s arms with one finger.

  “Yes, that is you,” Dav replied. “You are just as beautiful in your loboenca form as you are in your human form.”

  “I am so happy I cannot believe this is all real,” she said, tears continuing to fall unnoticed down her cheeks.

  Faron picked her up and carried her into the shower. “It’s real, amada,” he said. “Apparently, even impossible dreams come true sometimes.”

  Chapter 34

  The next morning Faron, Dav and Ban exited the guest room with Saige tucked comfortably between them. Saige nearly rolled her eyes at their overprotective behavior, but restrained herself. They had been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours.

  They stepped into the living room to find a large group of warriors gathered there. Saige’s men edged closer to her, though all of the men present were known to them, and were trusted.

  “Congratulations, Lord Protector,” Garen said, rising from his chair. “Congratulations to all of you. Saige, I am glad to see you are up and about. How are you feeling?”

  “I feel wonderful Garen, thank you,” Saige replied. She realized that the men in the room were all staring at the markings on her arms and she blushed, though she did not try to hide them. The stares were not insulting or rude. On the contrary, they were nearly awestruck with wonder.

  “We would introduce you to our Arima, Saige Shira Lobo,” Faron said formally. All of the men in the room rose to their feet and bowed to her. Saige shot a panicked look at Faron, uncertain what she was supposed to do. He smiled and tucked her closer against his side.

  “Saige, you know the Katres,” he began. Saige nodded at the familiar faces of Maxim, Lonim and Ranim. She was then introduced to another Katre male-set, the youngest siblings of Maxim and his brothers. Their names were Lian, Tyeran and Malcan. After that was a Falcoran male-set, and a Gryphon male-set, but she knew she would never remember their names so she focused on their faces instead, hoping that if she saw them again, they would at least be familiar to her. Just as Faron finished the introductions, three more men entered the room. These faces were very familiar to Saige and her smile brightened at the sight of them.

  “Jackson,” she said, “how wonderful to see you. And you Clark, and of course Rob.”

  The Bearens returned her smile and bowed, their eyes widening as they spotted the lau-lotu on her arms. “Congratulations are in order I see,” Jackson said happily. “So now there are two Arimas. It is an exciting time for Jasan,” Jackson said.

&
nbsp; “Lucky damn Lobos,” Clark said good naturedly. The room rumbled with male laughter.

  “Saige, would you like to visit with Lariah and the babies now?” Faron asked.

  “Babies?” Jackson asked, shocked. “Have the babies been born then? When? Are they well? How is the Princess?”

  “They have been born, last night, and they are well, as is their mother,” Garen said with a grin. “All here will have a chance to see them later.”

  Every man in the room sucked in a startled breath at that. None of them had imagined they would be so honored as to see the newborns so soon after their birth. As one, they bowed to their Princes for the honor done to them.

  “Come, amada,” Faron said softly as he guided her across the living room and into the short hall to the bedroom. Faron opened the door for her but did not enter himself. “We will see you soon,” he said to Saige. She nodded her head, not wanting to be separated from her men so soon after their linking, but knowing they had to attend the warrior council taking place in the living room.

  Chapter 35

  Za-Queg was both furious and resigned. He stood in his quarters and gazed at the damage done to his makina. He knew that, even if Xaqana-Ti forgave his failure at capturing the Arimas, his carelessness in allowing the makina to be damaged in such a way that bits of it were left behind in enemy hands carried its own penalty. Ironically, the higher one’s rank, the more severe the penalty. But that was because the higher one’s rank, the more advanced one’s makina was.

  A short beep sounded from his private comm device. Not really caring all that much who was contacting him or why, he reached for the tiny switch on his wrist band and pressed it anyway. A moment later he was listening to the harsh tones of a human female’s voice. He nearly cut it off, but something she said caught his interest. He checked the display and saw that the recording had been sent to him by Lio. For that alone, he instantly decided, he would not destroy Lio before he left the sector as he had planned. He listened to the recording twice, his anger intensifying as he placed more and more of the blame for his failure to obtain the berezi on the human female called Darleen.

  He was trying to think of the most painful method of killing her when his eyes fell on the two silver cases sitting on the table just inside his quarters. He had requisitioned the prime controllers before he transported himself to Jasan because he wanted the pleasure of installing them on his captives himself.

  The prime controllers were very expensive and the technology behind them deeply classified, so there was total accountability for each and every one issued. Za-Queg knew there would be an uproar when these two were not returned to the security officer to be placed back in the ship’s vault, but why should he care about that? He was still in command of his ship, therefore the security officer would not dare to request they be returned for several days at least. By the time it was discovered that the controllers were no longer in his quarters, Za-Queg would no longer exist.

  He picked up the cases, placed them in a protective transmittal container and activated the built in lock on the container. He thought for a moment, trying to decide what code to use, and then grinned as he punched in the letters he wanted. When he was finished, he placed the container on the personal transportation grid next to the door and sent it to Lio’s office. Then he called Lio’s vox from his vid terminal.

  “The pick-up did not go as expected,” he began as soon as Lio answered his call. “In truth, I don’t believe it could have gone much worse, and thanks to the recording you sent me, I know who is to blame.”

  Lio swore softly into his ear.

  “Yes, your human female,” Za-Queg confirmed, realizing by his reaction that Lio had sent the file, but had not listened to it yet. “She ordered your men to take along the Alverian Empath, Riata, having her placed in the trunk with the berezi. The Alverian Empath Healer,” he emphasized. “The tranquilizer I sent down for the berezi was not calibrated for an Alverian, so of course it wore off quickly on her. The Healer was then able to remove the effects of the tranquilizer from the berezi, resulting in the death of one of the human males, perhaps both. To make matters worse, one of the berezi is now an Arima, and a Dracon. A very pregnant Dracon which I am certain this Darleen was aware of, yet she did not reveal that information to either of us. The Arima was able to call her Dracon mates to her so that when I arrived, I was nearly destroyed by them.”

  Za-Queg realized that he was nearly yelling into the vid mic and paused a moment to calm himself.

  “At no time did she inform the human males that the Alverian was a Healer, even though she must have known that fact,” Za-Queg continued. “She was ordered to get two specific women. Not three. She should have either killed the Alverian, or at the very least, informed the human males of her abilities.”

  “Yes sir,” Lio responded. “I agree with you completely.”

  “I have decided that killing her outright would be too good for her,” Za-Queg said. “Instead, I think that you should keep her.”

  “Ah,” Lio said, his voice carefully controlled, but not enough to fool Za-Queg. He heard the dark note of interest and desire in the human’s tone.

  “I believe she would make a fair replacement for your blue toy,” Za-Queg said.

  “Yes sir, I agree with you,” Lio replied.

  Za-Queg heard the excitement in his voice, but few others would. Za-Queg decided that if it were possible for him to actually like a human, he would like Lio. The human was vicious, cruel, greedy and self-centered, not to mention treacherous, deceitful and manipulative, all while being very loyal to him. All traits that Za-Queg found to be exemplary.

  “Lio, I will be leaving this sector and another will be taking my place. As a personal reward for your years of loyalty to me, I have transported a special bonus to your office. The code on the case is toys for lio.”

  Za-Queg heard the soft gasp that Lio tried to hide and was pleased.

  “Thank you sir,” Lio said, his voice sincere.

  “Just be sure that the female is properly punished for her role in today’s events,” Za-Queg replied.

  “You have my word on that, Sir,” Lio said. “I will take care of it at once.” Lio tapped the vox in his ear and sighed, a sound so soft that Darleen nearly missed it.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Lio glanced at her, shook his head and gestured toward the side of the road. “Pull over by that grove of trees ahead,” he said.

  “Why?” Darleen asked.

  “Because we must talk and I want your full attention,” Lio said, an edge in his usually soft voice. He didn’t like being questioned, she realized.

  Darleen did not want to pull over. In fact, she did not want to spend any more time than she absolutely had to in Lio’s company. Ever since she had picked him up just outside of Granite Falls after dropping the women off he had been acting strangely. The easy charm he had shown her the day they’d met was gone as though he’d removed a mask. She could not really put her finger on what it was that bothered her about him, but she sensed danger coming off of him in waves. That, on top of the strange premonition of danger she had felt since touching that damn stone around Saige’s neck, had her nerves strung tight. All she wanted right now was to get herself as far away from Lio as she could, as soon as she could.

  “We’ll be at the spaceport in just a few minutes,” she said. “Can’t it wait till then?”

  “No,” he said abruptly. “Pull over now.”

  Darleen considered disobeying, but a quick sideways glance at him changed her mind. Lio was a small man, but he was still bigger and stronger than she was. More than that, there was something in his eyes that warned her not to push him. She slowed the vehicle and pulled over to the side of the road and into the grove of trees as he told her. She cut the power and turned to face him.

  “What is it?” she asked, trying hard not to let her impatience show. She had never been good at accepting orders and not even the dangerous glint in Lio’s eyes
was enough to make her hold her tongue for long.

  “Apparently you abducted three females, not two,” Lio said.

  Darleen shrugged. “The Alverian was there so we had to drug her and take her as well,” she explained carelessly. “So what? I told them it didn’t matter what happened to her.”

  “Was the Alverian known to you?” Lio asked.

  “Yes,” Darleen said with a cruel smile. “Her name is Riata and I hate her nearly as much as the other two.”

  “Ah,” Lio said, his expression not changing so much as a hair. “Did you tell the men that she was a Healer?” he asked.

  “No, why would I?” Darleen was getting tired of the conversation. She wished he would come to the point because she really wanted to get to the spaceport, collect her luggage and get off of Jasan. Lio smiled faintly as though he could read her mind.

  “Did it not occur to you that the Healer might heal the two Arimas so that the drug no longer effected them?” he asked.

  Darleen froze, her face flushing an ugly brick red. “No,” she replied finally. “What difference does it make anyway? They were all still paralyzed when we opened the trunk.”

  “No, they were not paralyzed, you stupid bint,” Lio said in the same cool tone. “The Alverian healed both of the other women. Then one of them killed my men before Za-Queg arrived. He was unable to collect his booty because the Dracon Princes arrived, forcing him to return to his ship without them.”

  As he spoke Lio reached into his pocket and pulled out a small dart exactly like those his men had used on the women. He turned it over in his fingers, studying it closely.

  “Za-Queg is furious, and, after watching the digital recording of events before he arrived on the scene, he has concluded that it is your fault. You told the men to include the Alverian, yet you did not tell them that she was a Healer.”

  Darleen opened her mouth to speak as Lio flicked his fingers almost nonchalantly toward her. She felt a light sting in her throat. She reached up and pulled the dart from her skin, staring at it with fear in her eyes. Then the world went dark.