Sarazen's Hunt

by Isabel Wroth

  His attempt to adopt the human phrase for what sounded like a very enjoyable mating made Alec once again laugh so hard, tears leaked from her eyes.

  He was unclear why his declaration garnered such hilarity in response, but he welcomed it in place of her apprehension.

  Hours later as they boarded the vessel that would take them and the three other couples to S9, Kalix caught his mate blushing and smiling when she thought no one was looking.

  When it came time to retire to the small cabin appointed to them for the duration of the trip, he walked in and found Alec already in bed, seated with her back against the wall, watching him through narrow eyes.

  He sensed curiosity mixed with a jumble of shyness and uncertainty through their bond, yet neither her posture nor her scent gave away any of those feelings.

  It was remarkable to him how some of the human hybrids had so easily bonded with their beasts.

  How capable they were at adapting to their circumstances physically, unconsciously performing tasks such as concealing their scents, without anyone telling them how.

  He tilted his head at her, preparing to ask if something was amiss. Her brows furrowed in concentration, and a blossom of elation filled him as her voice once again whispered across his thoughts.

  ~Can you hear me?

  Kalix leaned back against the door, folding his arms across his chest to keep himself from leaping the distance to put his hands on her.

  ~I hear you very clearly, mate.

  Alec’s cheeks turned bright pink, though she lifted her chin as though defying her own feelings of pride and pleasure, which was ridiculous. She should be pleased, and very proud of herself. He certainly was.

  ~Good. I kept trying earlier, but the distraction of carrying on a verbal and non-verbal conversation was too much.

  ~It will become easier as our connection deepens.

  She gave a hum of agreement, shifting to curl her feet beneath her, fidgeting with the fold of the blankets.

  ~The cabin is small, you, um, you won’t be able to sit up and watch me sleep. Which is just weird, by the way. We’re about to go running through a desert. You should sleep.

  ~I had planned to shift and sleep here on the deck.

  Her head shot up fast enough to cause her curls to fly, surprise plain now in her expression.

  ~On the floor?

  ~Yes, mate. He chuckled. I have slept on far worse things.

  ~That’s not necessary. We can share the bed. I need to get used to it, and why do you call me that?

  Having already moved toward her at her invitation to share the bed, Kalix was lowering himself down when the last of her thoughts hit him in a rush. Her knees brushed his hip as he sat, the tiniest scent of her arousal tickled at his senses.

  ~Call you what?

  ~Mate.

  ~Because you are my mate.

  ~No, I mean yes, I know I am. But that’s not what the others call their mates.

  Kalix understood immediately what she was asking and reached out to wind a skein of her hair around his fingers. Again, she leaned into the tug ever so slightly.

  ~No, it’s not. I do not call you my One, because I do not feel as though I have earned the right to make such a claim.

  You know I desire nothing more than to lie here with you, but if it unsettles you, I will gladly sleep on the floor.

  She took a breath to speak, her lips jumping in a quick smile when she remembered she didn’t need to.

  ~I’m trying to face the things that unsettle me. And... I did like it. Lying with you by the lake the other day.

  Kalix had his boots off and was lying back before Alec could change her mind about sharing the bed. He waited, his beast frozen and eagerly perked, waiting for Alec to decide how she would be most comfortable.

  It took her a few moments to settle, but she scooted down and lay her cheek on his chest, a soft sigh feathering from her lips when he curved his arm around her and buried his hand in her hair to knead at her scalp.

  ~Tell me about the festival. How many have you been to?

  Her mental voice held an edge of relaxation, her muscles unknotting one at a time as his rumbles and the gentle tugs to her hair began to soothe her.

  Kalix smiled, glad they were finally able to communicate this way, so he could speak to her and give her the purring tones intended to soothe her.

  ~I have not personally attended a festival, so my experience comes from the stories of others.

  Kalix could feel his sleepy mate frown, wanting so badly to kiss her when she tilted her head back far enough to look up at him.

  ~You’ve never been? I thought it was like a mandatory big deal for everyone.

  ~Mandatory? No, it is not mandatory, though it is as you say, a big deal. It is uncommon for mates to find one another at random on the street.

  Only twice a solar cycle will a Sarazen born female come into heat and put off a mating scent. It was not always this way, and now with the new evidence of the forced population control, we know why.

  The gathering of all unmated males and females at the festivals gives us the optimal chance to call a mate within the time frame that the females are in heat.

  I have not attended because I knew, even if my beast did call a mate, she would not have me.

  Alec continued to frown, gently tracing her fingertips along the lines of his clan markings, unconcerned by what they meant or what they represented.

  ~Just because your marks are purple? That’s ridiculous.

  Kalix let his feelings in response to her heartfelt remark flow openly between them. He wanted her to sense his gratitude, his continued relief, his happiness even, that she was not among the females who would have discounted him as a potential mate.

  ~I am glad you feel this way.

  ~So you haven’t been to a festival. Does uh...does that mean you’ve never been with a woman before?

  He turned to rub his lips against her brow, pressing away the scowl she still wore with a hum.

  ~No. When I was newly assigned to Warship Five, there were opportunities to explore. I assumed because of my heritage there would never be a mate for me, so I enjoyed what pleasure was offered to me. Does this upset you?

  ~No. I figure one of us should know what they’re doing.

  Her response was honest, making him breathe a sigh of relief. He regretted those interludes with females who had no care for him other than what pleasure he could provide them, but he was glad that he had the experience to satisfy his mate.

  ~I haven’t seen anyone else with a pattern like this. Or with a beard.

  Most Sarazens’ markings spread down the sides of their skulls and onto their shoulders. Kalix’s covered only his left side, from scalp to fingertips.

  The pattern wasn’t unique; he was simply the last remaining member of his clan, and no other Sarazen he was aware of, had anything like it. As for the hair on his jaw, it was simply another visible marker to alert others that he was different.

  ~Our markings are unique to our clans. This pattern and the hair growth on my face is aberrant and seen only among my familial line, of which I am the last.

  Alec’s fingertips followed the swirl over his wrist, exploring the way the stripes and whorls got smaller and smaller as they stretched up to his knuckles.

  ~You say aberrant, like it was a bad thing.

  ~Not bad. Just... different.

  ~One of a kind? Special? Something no one else in the Sarazen population has?

  Alec argued, causing Kalix to grin at the ceiling. Beast’s Fur, she did like to challenge him.

  ~Yes, mate. It is unique, but it is a genetic trait I may pass on to our offspring, so it may not be one of a kind for long.

  As open as their bond was, there was no possible way for Kalix to mistake the churn of sadness, fear, and no small amount of anger that burned through Alec’s body.

  ~Unless it is your wish not to have cubs.

  Alec shook her head, and for one heartrending moment, Kalix thought it might
be the case.

  ~It’s not that I don’t want to. It honestly wasn’t ever a topic that came up, thinking someday, when we weren’t being hunted by the Scylla or fighting for one more day of survival, I might have kids. And... it hurts, makes me angry, thinking about all the things I’ll get to do that Meg won’t.

  Kalix rolled to his side and hugged his arms tight around his mate, relieved when she didn’t struggle or pull away. He rubbed his chin over her hair, wondering if there was anything he could say to comfort her.

  ~Rest, we will not speak of it again until you are ready to do so.

  ELEVEN

  The terrain of S9 was exactly as it had been in the fantasy Kalix had shared with her, but the reality of actually walking through the desert still had her jumping and flinching with the volume of so many beasts roaring.

  The sounds bounced off the enormous boulders, making the clumps of tough grayish-green grass and scrubby yellow bushes almost vibrate.

  Given the opportunity to take in the third alien planet she had ever been on, Alec was fascinated by the differences.

  She wasn’t a stranger to desert terrain, but the colors here were so different than the ones found on Moika.

  The night blooming flowers there had been vibrant, small shrubs and bushes just like here, but on Moika they had been bright green or red, and the sky had been blue.

  Here on S9, the sky was a dull red, the flowers that did bloom were a dingy yellow, the dirt and rocks a mix of tan and gray.

  With the naked eye, two of the neighboring planets could be seen glowing white and green, rising up on the horizon.

  The temperature was high enough to make Alec sweat buckets, and all the commotion had stirred up the ultra-fine earth, making it cling to her body like a secondary layer of skin.

  Alec was crouched on a boulder, eager to see the punishing sun gone as quickly as possible. Eager to get away from the insanity going on all around her and her small group. Eager to be done with this entire event.

  She was hot, itchy, and ready to get the hell out of here and have a bath.

  Having not yet seen a Sarazen-born female in her beast form, Alec couldn’t help the unkind thoughts of how hideous they were, or be grateful to know she was able to make a full shift to four legs.

  The shortest of them topped out at eight feet tall, their sinewy bodies were entirely covered in fur, and their beautiful faces replaced with a short muzzle filled with razor sharp canines.

  Their slanted eyes gone wild with lust as they raced through the desert, leaping over boulders with powerful thrusts of their muscled legs.

  The females were more savage than Alec had expected, louder than their male counterparts, tackling the fully shifted warriors with gleeful abandon and submitting only when their male mate was able to get them in a choke hold.

  ~Did you forget to mention you were going to get your teeth around my throat and not let go until I went tits up?

  Kalix’s amusement rippled through her despite the fact he was miles away.

  ~It is the only way to subdue a heat-crazed Sarazen female in her shift. Did you decide to take your fur, mate?

  ~No. But maybe I should. My skin is gray from the dust being kicked up, you might not recognize me.

  ~The choice is yours, I will be able to find you no matter what.

  Alec scoffed and turned her face to the wind, trying to pick up the masculine scent unique to her mate.

  There were so many, and he was so far away, but this morning he had challenged her before they had parted ways. Declaring he would find her within a few hours, or less.

  ~Not if I find you first.

  ~If you do shift, drink all the water you’re carrying first.

  “Are you doing that telepathy thing with your mate?”

  Even surrounded like they were by lust crazed beasts, Darya’s eyes were bright with excitement. At nineteen, Darya was the youngest of the women from Moika to be mated to a Sarazen. Wide-eyed and filled with wonder, she seemed to be having no trouble adapting to her new situation.

  “Yes. Can you and...” Alec tried to remember the name of Darya’s mate, but was totally drawing a blank.

  “Ke’denn,” Darya murmured with a shy blush, very obviously head over heels for the guy.

  “Right, sorry. Can you and Ke’denn not talk to one another through your bond?” Alec wasn’t trying to imply something was wrong with Darya or her mate, but Darya’s blush deepened to one of embarrassment.

  “Um, no. Not yet.”

  The one male in their group, Ra’ten, slanted Alec a droll look, “Everyone’s bond develops differently.”

  “I wasn’t implying there was anything wrong with Darya’s bonding to Ke’denn, Rotten.”

  The big red eyed male curled his lip at her in annoyance. “My name is, Ra’ten. Rah-ten. Not, rotten. How many times must I correct you?”

  Alec knew not every Sarazen male, mated or otherwise, would find her personality pleasing.

  Unfortunately for him, there was something about Ra’ten that made it so easy for Alec to take pleasure in irritating him.

  Perhaps it was the constant condescension in his tone. Or maybe the way he looked at her with such distaste when he held his mate in his lap at the dinner table.

  Though maybe through his bond with Emma, Ra’ten knew Alec was the one to kill Emma’s father after he had become infected by the Scylla, and was outwardly expressing the emotion Emma in truth felt toward Alec.

  A disturbing thought.

  ~You feel sadness, mate. Is something wrong?

  Kalix flooded her with the soothing comfort of his presence, and she had to fight the smile her mouth wanted to curl into, not wanting Ra’ten to get the wrong idea.

  ~No, nothing is wrong. I’ll see you soon.

  Alec stopped and turned half way around, not liking the hulking male at her back, realizing he had continued to speak while Alec had been focused on Kalix. She seriously needed to work on that.

  It was like her ears couldn’t process sound or hear anything else when she spoke to Kalix via their bond.

  It was a weakness, a small one, though one of significance if it meant not hearing an enemy sneak up on her, or miss out on an important verbal conversation.

  “—and I know it is not due to your lack of intelligence, so clearly you do it on purpose for your own amusement.”

  It did indeed give Alec a measure of enjoyment to see the alien male so easily riled, but it was less for her amusement and more for her peace of mind.

  Pushing and pressing on this sore subject until Ra’ten threw off the thin veil of civility he wore and told her straight up why he had a problem with her.

  Until she saw the most honest, open, unguarded side of him, it wouldn’t matter what Kalix said of Ra’ten’s trustworthiness.

  Before Alec could respond to Ra’ten, the other woman in their group, Kaia, spoke up.

  “I suggest if you wish Alec to stop being rude to you and finding ways to irritate you, you might consider speaking to her in a less condescending manner. It makes you seem less trustworthy.

  “Alec, we’re wasting the light by lingering here. Vale says when the stars come out, the frenzy heightens.”

  Alec nodded around a mouthful of water, beginning to feel the effects of the rising moon herself. All around her the female Sarazens’ calls were growing louder, the scent of their lust and need thicker.

  It was making her twitchy, her own beast so restless inside her Alec had been unable to keep total control of her. For the past hour or so, she hadn’t been able to force her claws to retract.

  As the minutes ticked by, the sun sinking lower and lower, the meaning behind the term ‘breeding heat’ became crystal clear.

  Every move she made, from the breaths she took of the dusty air, to the motion of her throat working to swallow her water, her skin, her entire body grew insanely sensitive, which made the irritation of the powdery earth covering her so much more abrasive.

  Her beast was on the hunt, di
recting and tugging her closer to Kalix with every step. Standing here wasting time dealing with Ra’ten was only making her angry, which in turn made it that much more difficult for Alec to keep hold of her beast and not go running off to leave the group to their own devices.

  Alec felt the heat of arousal licking at her belly, a discomfort that would grow in strength the more she tried to ignore it, and Kalix.

  “The rise of the heat appears to be the least of our problems.” Ra’ten pointed toward their left flank, and Alec had to shade her eyes in an attempt to make out what that shadow could be.

  “Rain?” she guessed.

  Ra’ten scoffed darkly. “Rain on this planet is a blessing. That, is a dust storm. We must run to meet our mates and find shelter before the storm hits. Come, quickly.”

  *****

  The winds that rushed ahead of the oncoming storm brought the alluring scent of his mate’s heat, and the driving need to hunt her down to breed was overpowered by the need to protect her. Kalix was no stranger to storms such as this one.

  They came out of nowhere with an almost sentient violence, and soon the soft, ash-like dirt of S9 would feel like the kiss of a thousand knife blades on any exposed skin.

  If he did not find Alec before the storm, did not find them shelter, she would be buried beneath the deluge.

  Unacceptable.

  ~Alec, where are you?

  ~I’m on a desert planet, surrounded by crazed beasts, about to be consumed by a dust storm, while trying to find my beast amongst all this chaos so some puffed up official can make our mating legal.

  This is the dumbest way to find a life-partner ever, and I hate whoever came up with such a cockamamie, disorganized, barbaric, outdated practice.

  It’s not a ‘festival,’ it’s a goddamn free for all. I’m shocked I haven’t seen anyone die yet. Darya says to tell her mate she’s hungry and wants to go home now.

  Despite the seriousness of the oncoming tempest, Kalix found himself smiling in reaction to his female’s testy rant.

  His mate was uncomfortable, surrounded on all sides by strangers at their most volatile, and a force of nature was bearing down on them.

  His One did not like such a blatant lack of control.