by L. A. Casey
“Why?” I asked him, without looking at him.
“That is none of your business.”
His clipped answer caused me to tense.
“I don’t understand any of this,” I said, feeling helpless. “Why am I here?”
“It will be explained but later,” Surkah assured me. “You need your rest. Your wounds are healed, but your body still needs to recover from the blood loss you sustained.”
I nodded but said nothing further as I turned and stared at the Maji shipmaster who was staring right back at me. His stare was unnerving but captivating at the same time. He looked from me to Surkah and frowned.
“You seem tense, sister. Are you well?”
Surkah is the shipmaster’s sister?
“I am troubled.” She sighed. “She feared she would die by Maji hand or become a slave. I assured her we wish for peace with humans, but she remains unconvinced.”
You’re damn right I remain unconvinced!
“Surkah speaks the truth,” the male rumbled. “Humans need not fear us. We are here to help.”
So you say, you huge son of a bitch.
“Okay,” I mumbled.
Surkah made a sound of displeasure.
“She does not trust us,” she said. “Her fear stinks the room.”
The shipmaster nodded. “I can scent it, but it is to be expected after her … ordeal last night.”
I’ve been out the whole night?
“We were informed that no human citizens come close to your World Base of Operations,” the shipmaster said, interrupting my thoughts. “But you came very close last night … why?”
I hesitated in replying, and this prompted the shipmaster to say, “Be truthful.”
I pondered on that request for a moment. I wasn’t sure what would happen to me if I told the truth. Would they hand me over to the watchmen? I looked at Surkah.
“If I tell the truth, will you keep your word that you won’t allow any harm to come to me because I’m a human?”
“Yes,” she replied instantly. “Human females are just as important as Maji females now. No male or female of my people would allow any harm to come to you. You are … precious.”
Why are humans so damn valuable to this species?
“Okay,” I said slowly before looking back at the shipmaster. “I came here because a trader I met told me that the power was down at the WBO and that the watchmen had retreated to the wall. I wanted to see if that was true.”
“A very risky move,” the shipmaster commented.
“Every move I make is risky,” I countered.
He raised a thick brow. “I’ve noticed.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Earth is currently in a global civil war. There is no law, no order, no humanity, and now, the sun is affecting things. Earthquakes happen nearly every day; just last week, I had to hike hundreds of miles to avoid a flooding so bad it would consume a five-story building in hours. Things are … falling apart here. It’s why your arrival has everyone even more on edge than usual.”
“If what you say is the truth, then we have arrived just in time.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, flustered.
Every time one of them spoke, it only resulted in me having more questions, and it was pissing me off.
“Rest,” the shipmaster responded. “We will converse when you’re stronger.”
“I’m not sure humans get much stronger,” a voice said from the door, earning a menacing growl from Surkah.
I turned my head and stared at Mikoh, who was leaning against the door panel with his massive arms folded over his broad chest. He winked at me, which earned another growl from Surkah. He looked at her, puckered his lips, and made kissing sounds, and when she advanced on him, the shipmaster moved into her path. He was grinning like a fool.
“Please do not maim my second in command, sister.”
I mentally stored the information about Mikoh’s rank. Surkah kept her focus on Mikoh, her lips curled up and her teeth bared at him.
“I won’t cause permanent damage,” she hissed. “I’ll rip open his thigh and leave it to heal naturally. That will make him rethink bothering me in the future.”
Mikoh laughed, and this caused the shipmaster to sigh.
“Mik, she will harm you,” he informed his second in command.
“Only because I won’t hit back,” Mikoh teased. “We all know that Surkah just wants to get her hands on me, and on a region close to my cock as well. A coincidence? I think not. You’re not hiding your lust for me very well, my intended.”
Surkah roared and knocked the shipmaster’s arm aside and charged at Mikoh.
With wide eyes, I watched as he pushed away from the wall and took up a defensive stance with a sadistic grin on his face. He caught Surkah the second she jumped and crashed into him. They both moved incredibly fast, but Mikoh was faster, and within a couple of seconds, he had Surkah spun around and pressed against the wall with her arms pinned behind her back. Mikoh had her legs spread apart and had his knee between them to stop her from being able to kick him. One hand held both of her wrists at the base of her spine, and his free arm was pressed on the base of her neck to likely put a stop to her using her head as a weapon.
“Do you feel better?” Mikoh growled low.
Surkah growled back, and she sounded meaner than he did.
“You won’t be aware of when I harm you,” she warned him, her voice gruff. “I swear I will kill you.”
I glanced at the shipmaster and jumped when I found he was watching me. His gaze was intense yet curious at the same time. I couldn’t break eye contact until he did. He turned from me and looked at his sister and his second in command and just stared at them with obvious interest. I could have sworn I saw him smirk a little, too.
I looked back at the pair and jumped when Surkah let out a vicious roar that was quickly silenced by Mikoh. He leaned in and bit her neck; I watched as his gold-capped fangs and other teeth sunk into the flesh of her neck. Surkah let out a cry of what was obviously pain, but Mikoh didn’t retreat; he simply held still with his teeth in her neck. I could hear him growling, and I felt horrible for Surkah because her cries had turned into whimpers. It reminded me of the sound a dog would make when they were hurt and needed help.
I didn’t care for Surkah, and I knew she was lying to me, but she had saved my life when she healed my destroyed arm. And it was for that reason alone that I concluded my anger at seeing her hurt was out of genuine concern for her. It would probably prove me a fool in the long run for trying to help an alien, but I couldn’t stand by and watch her be attacked. I just couldn’t. Anger gave me the courage to struggle against my ties, but I could not break free. The material rubbed against my flesh, and it stung like hell. When I pulled too hard, it began to chafe my skin.
“Help her!” I ordered the shipmaster.
He looked at me and blinked as if he forgot I was there.
“No,” he said nonchalantly.
“No?” I repeated incredulously. “She is your sister, and he is hurting her!”
“He is disciplining her for attacking him and threatening him with death.”
“Disciplining her?” I repeated, dumbfounded. “He is abusing her, you fucking idiot.” I looked at Mikoh and shouted, “Let go of her, you big bastard!”
This made the shipmaster laugh, and I didn’t know why.
I jumped when Surkah let out a cry again, but it was only because Mikoh had retracted his teeth from her. I raised my eyebrows when he licked at the bite wound that he caused. He didn’t move an inch; he stayed put and continued to pin Surkah in place as he cleaned her wound like an animal.
“Hey!” I shouted again. “I’m going to get free of these ties, pick up the nearest object to me, and bash you over the head with it if you don’t get away from her right now, you piece of shit!”
The shipmaster laughed again, and so did Mikoh, but he quickly refocused on Surkah and asked, “Okay?”
She nodd
ed once, and a few seconds later, Mikoh released her. She spun away from him, keeping her head low as she returned to my side. She fussed over me while I glared at Mikoh who she was obviously, and rightly, now afraid of.
“You’re an asshole!” I hollered.
Surkah clicked her tongue at me. “It is fine.”
I jerked my head in her direction. “It is not! How dare he put his hands on you in that forceful way, and then to bite you and make you cry? He is an asshole.”
“It is our way. I challenged him, so he reacted,” Surkah explained. “He was declaring his dominance, tiny one. He didn’t hurt me; he’d never hurt me. I am female; I have no physical chance of harming him while he is at full health, and he knows that. He was letting me vent my anger, and when he’d had enough, he forced my submission.”
“I’ll declare my dominance and force his submission by putting my foot up his ass!”
This caused both males to burst into gleeful laughter, and I even caught Surkah hiding a smile. I didn’t understand any of what was happening, but I was spitting mad.
“You’re not fearful anymore,” she said happily.
“No,” I agreed. “I am angry because he hurt you.”
Surkah shook her head. “He did not.”
“He bit you, and I heard you cry. Don’t lie to me. I know what I saw and heard.”
“His bite has already begun to heal,” she said and showed me the teeth marks that now looked like day-old red insect bites instead of fresh wounds, which freaked me out because there was no natural way they could have already healed that fast.
“And my cries were of annoyance because I cannot best him. It hurts for a few seconds, but that is just to get my attention that his patience has worn thin and I had better stop fighting, or I could get hurt.”
I didn’t understand how she dignified what he had done.
“Do humans not fight a lot when they need to let off steam?” she asked when she saw my expression.
“Not most,” I replied. “We take a walk or something. If a human man harmed a human woman, he would be looked down upon and classed as weak. Well … that used to be the way.”
Before everyone started killing each other.
“Females are precious to us,” Mikoh angrily growled. “We would never harm our females, no matter what they do. A female could try to kill me, and my only objective would be to restrain her so she wouldn’t harm herself. Surkah is my intended; I’d die before I bring her harm.”
He said that word ‘intended’ like it meant something important.
“What’s intended mean?”
“They’re to be mated soon,” the shipmaster replied to me, his voice encircling me like a warm blanket.
I looked at Surkah who was busying herself with a machine next to me.
“You’re marrying this guy?”
She glanced at me. “What does that mean?”
“Is he going to be your husband, the person you spend your life with?”
“Oh,” she said then nodded. “Yes, Mikoh has been my intended since my birth. When I am of age in four more moon cycles, we will be mated.”
What. The. Hell?
“Wait just a second,” I said as I tried and failed to sit upright. “Who decided he would be your intended if he has been that since your birth?”
“My father, of course,” Surkah said with a smile. “Do human fathers not pick their daughter’s intended?”
“No,” I said, managing a snort. “We pick our own. Arranged marriages are a thing of the past. Now that I think of it, marriage is a thing of the past, too.”
“Oh, well, our males can pick who they want and so can females, but many prefer their fathers or eldest brother to choose for them. The females do have a say just in case she does not like the match, but a rejection is rare. They trust their father or brother to pick them a good male.”
I raised my brow. “Do you have a say?”
“Yes, but Mikoh has always been my intended. All the people know it, and if I now decided against the pairing, no other male would mate with me because of his position. That and Mikoh would kill them if they touched me.”
Mikoh’s growl of agreement made the shipmaster chuckle.
“I don’t understand,” I said, terribly confused. “I thought you didn’t like him. From how you both interact—”
“We don’t like one another,” Surkah cut in. “But he is still my intended, and that won’t ever change. In four more moon cycles, I will belong to him.”
“Like property?” I asked on a gasp.
“No, not slavery.” Surkah giggled. “He cannot force me to do something I do not wish too, but he will be the lead Maji in our homestead. He will make the decisions and so forth. I will be his female, and he will be my male.”
It was hard to digest that.
“That is so different to the human way.”
“Really?” Surkah quizzed.
I thought I saw concern on her face, but I wasn’t sure.
“Yeah,” I said. “Our women are very independent, and if a man ordered us about, he’d be dropped so fast his head would spin.”
“I do not understand your words,” Surkah frowned. “You would harm him?”
“No.” I chuckled. “But if my husband ordered me about and treated me like anything less than his equal, I’d leave him.”
Surkah gasped, and I could have sworn that the Maji males did, too.
“You would leave your intended?” Surkah asked, and I could have sworn she had a hint of horror in her tone because it was plastered all over her face.
“Well, yeah. Long before the war, humans got divorced, separated, or just disappeared all the time. It’s not a big deal; people change their minds.”
“Not Maji,” Surkah said firmly. “We mate for life.”
Nothing is for life.
“What if Mikoh cheated on you with another woman?”
“I do not understand.”
“What if he had sex with another female?” I clarified.
Surkah blinked. “That would be impossible. His loyalty would be to me, and my scent would be imprinted on him from our first mating as he would know going into the mating that I am his intended. He would open his senses to me and encourage the mating scent. He would never want another female because he physically would not be able to respond to her sexually; another’s scent would irritate him, and he would become aggressive towards a female. He would not harm her, but he would force her submission until she learnt her lesson. We may not like one another right now, tiny one, but once we mate, we will never part, not until death.”
“That is … crazy.”
“Is it?”
I nodded. “It sounds like your species has a chemical bond with your partners.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, when Mikoh … mates with you, he’ll become addicted to you … your scent … right?”
“Well, yes, and I to him.”
Yep, so different to humans.
“So do you all wait until mate before you have sex?”
This prompted another laugh from the males and an eye roll from Surkah.
“No,” she said. “We can share our furs with another until a mating.”
“Then how does the intended thing work?” I questioned. “Why hasn’t Mikoh become addicted to another Maji female?”
Surkah shrugged. “None were his intended.”
“Yeah, but, what if he got addicted to another Maji female?”
“Then she would be his intended because he would not be able to part with her, but as that has not happened, I remain his intended. Sometimes a bond happens without knowledge, but most of the time a male or female will feel the connection to their intended and will the bond to occur. Mikoh already feels a strong connection with me, so our bond will snap in place fast; it can happen before we share furs if it’s strong enough. Besides, if Mikoh found another intended, my father and brothers would kill him for dishonouring me since he made the offer t
o be my intended when I was born.”
I widened my eyes as I looked at Mikoh.
“How old are you?” I quizzed.
I knew he wasn’t human, but he looked around twenty-five years old, if even.
“Two hundred and three,” he answered.
My jaw fell open. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“No.” He frowned. “You cannot make me leave.”
I laughed at him because he took what I said literally, but also because I was shocked and amazed by their lifespan.
The shipmaster nudged him. “Sera said their lifespans are greatly shorter, so she is probably surprised at your age.” He switched his eyes to me and asked, “How old are you?”
I shrunk under his gaze and murmured, “Twenty-three.”
“You’re a minor?” Surkah asked, her surprised lacing around her words.
A minor?
“No, on Earth and especially during these hard times, anyone aged thirteen and up is considered an adult. I’ve never known anyone to live past sixty-five years. Many years ago, some humans could get to one hundred years of age but not anymore. If you make it to sixty now, then you’re considered really old.”
My father had made it to fifty-nine.
“Maji are minors until our fortieth year,” Surkah informed me.
Holy Almighty.
“So you’re nearly forty?” I asked, my shock obvious. “Forty years?
Surkah nodded.
“Forty Earth years?”
“No, Ealra years. Your orbital period is three hundred and sixty-five days for one year; ours is five hundred and forty-one days for one year.”
That meant she was even older in Earth years, a hell of lot older.
“You look incredible for forty. Seriously, you look like you could be eighteen.”
Surkah smiled widely. “Thank you, but forty is very young in Maji culture.”
I gestured towards Mikoh. “So you can’t marry him until you’re an adult?”
She bobbed her head up and down. “Mikoh does not want to mate me until I am at least one hundred years of age, he thinks I am too young right now, but I cannot share sex with another male unless he is my intended. Mikoh does not wish me to be in pain, so he has agreed to mate with me as soon as I am of age.”