by Catty Diva
The wolf reached his paw out towards Razar not touching him but almost like he wanted to shake hands. She wasn’t getting the impression this beast wanted to eat them, but he did seem to want something. Razar reached out and touched the paw lightly. He examined it as if it was a unique find, which it probably was. Mazlans didn’t have pets and they only had two types of domestic animals. Grunts, which were beasts of burden used for transportation and work that had been there since the penal colony was first established, and feeders, which were animals that were used for food.
Mazlans only ate a small amount of meat, most of their food supply was plant based. The penal colony had been set up to be largely self-sustaining and had even produced crops that were sent back to the main world. The cost of keeping up the colony was more than offset by the income from the prison. It was no wonder that they never stopped sending new inmates there. Lista had read that half the prisoners had had estates that had been liquidated by the Emperor to fill his own personal coffers.
Razar seemed to have found something he was fiddling with on the wolf’s paw. “I’ve almost got it, Boy.” Razar pulled something loose then examined it. It was a giant splinter of some sort. Lista tried to remember some story about a splinter and a lion but she couldn’t remember much of it.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lista stood with her hands on her hips. “We run from certain death but he’s only looking for someone to doctor him?”
“You should be happy that’s all he seems to want.” Razar reached out with his empty hand and petted the wolf. “I’m glad I didn’t have to hurt him, he’s a beautiful animal.”
“Yeah, pretty is as pretty does.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I don’t know but I had a friend on Earth who used to say it all the time and I never got to.”
“You’re a little odd, aren’t you?” Razar looked at her with a smile on his face.
Lista smiled back. “Just a little bit.”
“We need to go. Goodbye, Boy.” Razar turned and led Lista on their way. The wolf didn’t turn and run away as he’d expected. He trailed after them but once they made it to the final exit, there was no way he’d get out that narrow opening. Razar had barely made it down the narrow passageway to the even narrower exit.
“What’s going to happen when we leave and he can’t come along?”
“I don’t know but I guess he’ll give up.”
They trudged along through the last cavern until they finally came to the beginning of the passageway. Razar petted the wolf and Lista thought he was sad about leaving him behind but there was no choice. She had to admit that Razar was likable and kinda grew on a person or a wolf. It wasn’t that she wanted to stay but if she had to she could do much worse. By the time they made it out of the mountain into the sunlight, they had developed a truce of sorts.
Razar made sense when he suggested dealing with the immediate issues of food and sleep. Everything else could be dealt with later. Lista missed her family but Razar had assured her if they had a proper mating he would take her back to visit her family annually. With the high tech ships they had here the trip could be made in less than a week. It was amazing really when you thought about the enormous distance between the two planets.
He was on his com device calling someone to come get them. Lista would see how things worked out but he didn’t seem so alien anymore. They sat quietly talking and it seemed like no time before his friend picked them up and then dropped them off at Razar’s vehicle. Lista had never had her own car and Razar’s was nice. He’d told her that he would take good care of her and see to her needs. Undeniably, it was nice to think about someone looking out for her and caring about her.
They went straight to the house that was big for one person. It looked like it was recently constructed. “Did you build this when you decided to mate?”
“I built it as soon as I found out about you.”
“Where did you live before?”
“I lived with my parents. All my brothers still live there but they will all eventually build their own houses when they mate.”
“All your siblings are male?”
“Yes, our race tends to have more male than female births but the reason most of our population is male is because that’s who the emperor sent here. My mother and a few other females insisted on accompanying their mates. Most didn’t and the children sent with their parents were only the male ones.”
“Why would they send children here?”
“Because we have more males than females so they kept the females for mating purposes.”
“Oh my God, that’s terrible.”
“We thought so too.”
“So you were sent here with your parents?”
“No, we were born here.”
“I had no idea. That’s awful that they made your parents raise you in a penal colony.”
“We managed and I think we were lucky even. Our parents loved us and while we didn’t have any luxuries or fancy stuff, we had everything we needed.”
“Sounds like you didn’t have it that bad after all.” Lista yawned unable to help herself.
“I need to fix you something to eat but I’ll show you the washroom so you can clean up while I do it.” Razar led her to a large room with a pool and a shower above the pool. There was a small room next door with a toilet in it. A sink was just outside the door. Everything was in soft soothing blues. He showed her how to use all the buttons and knobs.
As soon as he left she stripped out of her dirty clothes and turned on the water. Lista took a shower afraid she’d fall asleep in a bath. Once she was squeaky clean she realized she had nothing clean to wear. Pulling a towel out of the drawer to dry off, she wrapped it around her when she was done and it covered her well enough.
Razar was cooking on some kind of stovetop. The food smelled delicious and her stomach growled like a beast. He turned around suddenly and his eyes flashed with a weird light. It must have been her imagination. “You must be hungry.” Razar said as his eyes ate her up.
“I didn’t have any clean clothes to put on.” Lista felt uncomfortable just wearing a towel.
Razar put the food he’d cooked on plates and set them on the table. “I’ll find something for you to wear. Go ahead and eat.” He disappeared down the hallway. She took a first hesitant bite but it was good and she ate faster. Her plate was empty and her drink gone by the time he returned.
“This should work.” He handed her what looked like a short dress. It was a light blue and she slipped it over her head and pulled off the towel once the dress was in place. The dress was soft and fit perfectly. “Thank you. This will work fine.” She sent a smile his way and fought a yawn but it won.
“You’re exhausted. Let me show you where you’ll sleep.” He motioned for her to follow him and he moved down the hall past two doors. “My room is next door if you need anything.” She looked down the hall at the other doors. Bedrooms maybe?
She went through the door he held open into a small bedroom which would be suitable for a child. The bed was cot size and there was a small closet with a built in dresser. There was a small window with a built in seat. The seat lifted and there was more storage inside. Lista figured it was intended as a toy box. Everything in the house screamed family.
Razar left and Lista pulled back the covers on the bed. Snuggling underneath, she moved her pillow around until she had it just so and fell asleep almost immediately. She woke up a few hours later and went to use the bathroom. Heading back to her room, she noticed his door was open. Maybe he’d done that in case she needed him. Slipping in just passed the door, she watched him sleeping the sheet just barely covering his groin. His chest was hard and sculpted. Her heart beat faster and her mouth got dry.
He was the most attractive man she had ever seen, she’d be crazy not to mate with him. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, his scent filled her lungs. The male even smelled sexy as hell. Quietly she snuck out so he would never know she’d bee
n in his room. When she made it back to hers she settled back in so she could sleep some more. She was still exhausted and felt like it would take a week to catch up on her rest. It was no time before she slipped into a deep peaceful sleep.
Something smelled delicious and Lista started to wake up. Her stomach growled and she had to find something to feed it. Hurrying to the bathroom, she took care of her needs and then went to the kitchen. Razar was cooking something like pancakes and bacon.
“How are you feeling today?” He turned to watch her as she made her way to a seat at the table.
“I feel much better. How about you?”
“Hungry, but we will eat soon. I made some coffee. It’s my understanding that most of your people are addicted to it.”
“You have real coffee or that Imo stuff?” She looked at him suspiciously. Coffee was a favorite of hers but the Imo was a substitute coffee and she just couldn’t stand it.
“What is Imo?”
“It’s pretend coffee.”
“I was assured this was genuine and it was expensive so it better be.”
“I can’t wait to try it.” She rummaged through the cabinets until she found a mug then went to the coffee maker and poured herself a mug. “Do you have creamer?”
“In the refrigerator.”
She looked and found a pitcher of what appeared to be real cream. Adding some to the coffee, she took a sip. “Oh, that is so good.” Real coffee, he cooked her breakfast, the male was perfect, too perfect. She needed to find the faults that every male had.
He slid her plate onto the table in front of her and he sat down across from her to eat his food. “What would you like to do today?”
“What are my choices?”
“I could show you around our village? We could go visit my family? Do you want to go fishing?”
“Surprise me.” She wasn’t sure why she said it but she supposed it was because she just couldn’t make a choice so she left it in his hands.
Razar left for a moment and brought her back some clothes. These were tougher, outdoor clothes in the form of a pair of pants that looked just like jeans, a tank top, and a flannel shirt. There was also a pair of sturdy slip on ankle boots that were made out of some kind of animal hide. Lista took them to her room and changed. They fit snug but comfortably and she liked them. Hurrying back to the kitchen, she found Razar waiting for her.
“You look good.” He smiled approvingly. It made her feel good and she smiled back. “Come on, let’s go.”
He led her out to a hover car, they went to a spot on the lake, he pulled out the local version of fishing poles, and he baited them up and he handed her one to cast. It was a good thing she knew a little about fishing. They sat on the bank of the lake, at least she thought it was a lake, in companionable silence. The water was darker than the waters on Earth. This one was nearly black and she wondered why.
“What makes the water so dark?”
“It’s an inky substance some of the leviathans give off.”
“You mean like octopus and squids?”
“Not exactly. Some of our large water dwellers can even walk on land.”
“What would we do if one came out and attacked us?” Lista was nervous now.
“You have to trust that there is nothing I can’t protect you from.”
“I look at you and I see you can handle anything our size, but a leviathan? Unless you have some secret abilities, I can’t see that.”
“After we know each other better, we will discuss both our secrets.”
“What the hell does that mean? I don’t have any secrets.”
“Are you sure about that? Why did you sign up to become my mate when you obviously didn’t want to?” He gave her a hard look unhappy that she wasn’t being honest with him.
Lista blushed with embarrassment. Maybe she did have things she preferred not to discuss but it wasn’t the same as secrets. She just didn’t want anyone to know her sister considered her only worth what she could get out of her. It was true she didn’t have to go along with it but she could never stand back and watch her mother die and her baby brothers get taken away. At least Lista wasn’t stupid. She had locked the money in so Narcissi couldn’t waste in on the luxury items she loved.
“I had to help someone. There was no other way.”
“A family member, maybe a parent or a sibling?”
She nodded but tears came to her eyes. Lista looked away hoping Razar would just quit. The water she was looking at rippled and bubbles came to the surface. “Razar, what’s happening over there?”
Razar looked and an irritated look came over his face. “It looks like you may get to see one of the leviathans today.”
The bubbles and ripples spread out over an ever increasing area. It was like something was rising from in the deep and coming their way. Why wasn’t Razar more concerned instead of just annoyed? “How big is that thing?”
“The size of one dinosaur from your planet’s past, I would guess. Go stand by the hover car.”
“What the hell are you going to do to stop that thing?” Lista looked on awed and frankly terrified as a giant form rose slowly out of the water. It looked like a fat spider with six long legs but its fangs, or whatever they were called looked sharp and deadly.
“If the creature isn’t smart enough to retreat, you may discover one of my secrets sooner than I had hoped. Just remember, it’s still me.”
Lista wondered what the hell that meant but she nodded since he stared at her unblinking as if requiring an answer. “Be careful.” Such an unhelpful thing to say. It was a trite Earth saying and all that came to mind in the face of such danger. Razar nodded, an indication he’d heard and agreed.
She stared at the creature, an odd combination with a birdlike beak for a nose, a mouth full of large sharp teeth, big eyes that searched for something and finally focused on them. Its legs were like tentacles, thin and wobbly, as it moved in their direction. The horrible scent of dead fish hung in the air as she tried not to breathe but had no choice. It was black, even darker than the water it had risen from. It made a weird noise, perhaps its attempt at a growl or even a roar. It glared at Razar as if it recognized him.
“You don’t want to do this.” Razar was speaking to the thing as if he could discourage it. Yeah, right. It wasn’t working because it walked toward him its tentacle like legs rolled under to form feet. Water rolled off it with every move and it looked as if it was trying to smile. The look wasn’t comforting.
Reaching out with a tentacle, Lista could see it had feelers or suckers on the bottom. It probably was needed for locomotion in the water. It wrapped the tentacle around Razar and lifted him toward its mouth ready to eat him. Lista wanted to scream in horror but it was stuck in her throat. She realized she was not happy to be a widow before she was a wife. It made her angry at Razar for not leaving instead of staying to be on the menu. She was probably going to be next since she saw no way of escaping or overcoming this monster.
There was a blur and suddenly the monster lay down in the water. Looking closely, she saw another creature attacking the leviathan. It had wings on its back stretched out farther than its height. It too was dark, closer to eggplant than black. Two horns protruded from his head and the term demon popped into her head. It was seven feet tall if it was in inch and muscular like a weight lifter. It was beautiful in its own way. The demon flew to her and stopped right in front of her. His jewel purple eyes glittered but she wasn’t afraid. Her hand reached out slowly and she stroked its arm. Its flesh was silky and warm.
Lista should have run screaming but she knew somehow that he wouldn’t hurt her. She knew its sex because he was naked and a giant cock jutted out between his legs. The view both excited and terrified her. The desire to reach out and stroke him entered her head and she fought to stop her fingers from doing so. Her eyes were drawn to it but she managed to look at his eyes.
“Who are you?”
“I am Razar.” He answered in a guttural voice. T
hat, of course, was impossible, Razar was dead, the monster had eaten him.
“That can’t be. Who are you really?” Right before her eyes the demon began to change. His skin lightened to a deep tan, his hair lightened to a sable, and his eyes adjusted back to the familiar cinnamon that she was used to. Razar once again stood before her, but this time, he was naked and proud.
“I told you I had some secrets.”
“You didn’t tell me you were the Incredible Hulk’s cousin.”
“What?”
“It’s a cartoon on Earth. A scientist turns into a huge creature when he gets angry.”
“That’s not a bad comparison. Make it angry or threatened.”
“You never getting scared of anything makes more sense now. Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“The fact you’re taking this so well is unusual. We’ve had bad luck with sharing our other form with females before we become friends. One of my buddies had a female die of a heart attack when he revealed his form. That’s why females now get a medical exam.”
“Now that you’ve explained your reasons, I can see some terrible reactions from fellow humans. Maybe if you revealed it while saving them they would handle it better. Compared to the super octopus spider thing your other form is a sweetheart.”
“Maybe you just realize I would always protect you and never harm you.”
“I will admit that I feel safe with you now that I know you have another form. My world is full of stories of shapeshifters, now I wonder if they are true. Maybe some of your people came to my world and showed their form. Can you all change? Are all your people’s forms the same?”
“All of us can shift, even those with mothers from other races. We have found three planets other than Earth that are compatible, as you know but there were others that were sent here from far away long ago that mated with our males. There were only a few, and they said they came from Cameroon, but they didn’t know where that was from here. But no, we come in a variety of sizes, colors, and other differences. Unless we are away out in the countryside, it is unlikely you will see others in their daig form. It is very private and while we do change and go for flights regularly, we usually go alone or with family. We are expert at avoiding others in that form.”