by Isabel Wroth
Andi shuddered so hard that she shook the entire couch and swallowed loud enough that she wondered if it hurt. “Ohlen is an alien that shapeshifts into a monster, well over twice my size. He’s the devil I don’t know,” She nodded in complete understanding, looking out at the passing stars. “Has he made advances towards you that are sexual in nature?”
“N-no.” Andi choked out, “But he wants m-me to share his r-room. His b-bed. He says he doesn’t want m-me to be al-lone anymore.”
Andi was so small and delicate, that part of her wanted to put her arm around the girl and hug her until she stopped shaking, but her defensive posture was even to her socially stunted senses, closed off. “I admit I was pretty terrified when I first woke up in Tarek’s room and realized I wasn’t alone. He doesn’t share the bed with me though, I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and seen him sitting up in the chair across the room. He sleeps there, he hasn’t even once tried to crawl in bed with me while I’m vulnerable. It’s strange, but he’s careful with me, tender even and even though I should be frightened of him, I’m not. I was lucky, I was too big for Ethan to corner alone. I can tell you weren’t so lucky. You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to, and if you’re afraid of Ohlen repeating the same kind of abuse you suffered at Ethan’s hands, I will do whatever I can to keep you where you are in the bay with the other women. I have a feeling, a good feeling about our future. About these warriors. I could be wrong, but…only time will tell. I have learned some things about the Sarazens, if you’d like to hear them.”
Andi nodded quickly, and she found herself telling the other woman everything she’d learned and discussed with Tarek over the last few days. And instead of putting Andi at ease, it seemed to make her even more upset. Sad. Desolate even, and when she asked what was really going on in Andi’s head, a tear trickled down her pale cheek and dropped to the white material stretched tight over her knees. “Ohlen is so kind to me. So big, but so careful around me. He thinks I’m something…special. But I’m not. I’m dirty, soiled because of what Ethan did to me. Five years, he used me for five years, and no one did anything to stop him, because I’m expendable. Worthless. Weak, because I wasn’t strong enough to just kill myself to make it stop. I had this stupid idea that if I killed myself, Ethan won something, that he broke me. But the truth is he broke me a long time ago.”
Andi gave a humorless little laugh, her eyes glittering while she stared out into space, into the nothingness, bleak and desolate. “It was my birthday the first time. I was sixteen. I hadn’t ever even kissed a man before, and he was so handsome, paying attention to a little nobody like me. I look back and can’t believe how stupid and naive I was. I bled for days afterwards, to ashamed to go to medical, I was worried they wouldn’t believe me. Ethan was a lieutenant then. He cornered me a few weeks later in the engineering bay, no one could hear me screaming over the noise of all the machinery. I lost count of how many times that year, and then he stopped coming around for a while. I thought he’d forgotten about me and I was so grateful, even if it was because he’d found someone else…but when I turned seventeen, he found me in engineering again. Said he didn’t want me to think he’d ever forget my birthday present. Every year on my birthday, he came back. The worst part was that no one cared. So long as I kept my tiny part of the ship running, no one cared. I didn’t pass the genetic or intelligence tests, so as far as command was concerned, I didn’t matter. None of us did.”
She opened her mouth to apologize for not knowing, or being there to care, but Andi swiped an embarrassed, angry arm across her face to wipe the tears away, sniffling loudly and kept going. “This year I was going to do it. Kill myself on my birthday, so that when he came for me, all he’d find was a corpse. But then those snake things attacked us, and for some ungodly reason I survived that whole fucking mess, and I didn’t get the chance.” She couldn’t take it anymore and reached out to take Andi’s small hand, squeezing gently. “When was your birthday?” She asked gently, and Andi’s lips wobbled in a mockery of a smile, “Today, and surprise, Ethan told me he hadn’t forgotten. That he wouldn’t miss giving me my present later.”
A hair raising growl sliced through the air, and she half caught Andi before she hit the deck. They both turned around to see Ohlen standing in the open doorway, his entire body vibrating with rage, all trace of kindness gone from his features. His eyes glowed an unearthly yellow, his pupils having slit vertically even. She saw the massive tips of his fangs when he spoke, saw the blood that dripped from his clenched fists, his arms and shoulders bulging with his quivering muscles, his body betraying the depth of his rage. “You will never, fear this day again.” Neither of them had the chance to say anything, because he spun on his heel, slapped his hand to the door lock and disappeared.
Andi called out to him and stumbled across the room, banging on the door, demanding to be let out. “It won’t open! He locked us in here!” She sobbed, and slammed both hands down on the door, hiccupping in distress. Her hand shook as she raised her arm, keeping one eye on Andi while she used her communicator, “Tarek?”
“Yes, my one.”
“Ohlen locked Andi and me in the observation room. He overheard our conversation and I think he’s going to kill Ethan.”
“I know, I heard his declaration.”
Shocked, not sure how to respond, she was still gaping at her wrist unit when the door hissed open and Andi stumbled back a step to see Tarek filling the space just beyond. He looked grim and imposing, his eyes moving from Andi, to her and back. “This is our justice, little one.” He told Andi, his tone so gentle despite how big and gruff he was, “Ohlen has claimed you as his mate, he goes to earn that right. You may witness what comes next, but understand it will be brutal, and Ohlen chose to confine you here to spare you from it. From witnessing his beast, claiming vengeance for its mate. I believe he wishes to spare himself your fear of him, of thinking him a monster, if you see him in such a state.”
Andi stubbornly shook her head and bravely lifted her chin to look up at Tarek, “If he’s going to kill Ethan, I don’t care if he changes into a fire breathing dragon. I want to see it happen.” She said it firmly, with conviction, and even though her bottom lip trembled, Tarek inclined his head and moved out of the way, “Then I will take you, come.”
It seemed like the corridors had shortened, and only seconds before they could hear the screaming. The snarling and roaring. She wasn’t sure which was more terrifying, but Andi had some balls. She walked right into the barracks where the rest of the humans were huddled to one side, a few warriors standing in front of them, protecting them almost, from the monstrosity circling the prone, bleeding, screaming figure on the floor.
Ethan’s blood seemed remarkably red against the white floor, lying on his belly, his back, from nape to thigh, a red ruin of claw marks. Like the animal Ohlen had become had thrown him down and raked all four paws down his back. The feline like creature was massive, easily three times as muscular and heavy as Tarek, its pelt a shining copper, with a black stripe down its spine. It had no tail, but moved and looked like a lion on the prowl. Ethan tried to crawl away, and Ohlen used one massive black clawed paw to cruelly slap him over onto his back, pounced on him and used his elongated canines to crunch down on his shoulder, holding him still while those vicious claws tore into his flesh. “Why aren’t you stopping this?”
She tore her gaze away to find one of the other men from the Aria, standing a little bit ahead of the crowd, staring accusingly at Tarek, white faced, eyes wide with fear. She noticed that the Sarazens weren’t so much protecting the humans, as standing in front of them to prevent them from interfering. They all were stone faced, though some of them seemed to be taking a vicious sort of pleasure in watching the carnage. Tarek stood next to her, his face completely impassive, hard, like he had no care at all for what was happening. “This is the justice of our kind. Ask your females why I do not interfere,”
Ohlen’s massive head lifted at th
e sound of Tarek’s voice, his enraged golden eyes finding Andi, and then looked at his commander with a roar. Lips peeled back from his massive teeth, claws still flexing and digging into Ethan’s body while he begged and pleaded, crying, screaming. Andi had tears streaking down her cheeks, she had flinched when Ohlen roared, but she wasn’t running away. She was standing alone there on her own two feet, watching, not taking her eyes off of them. “It is her right to witness this,” Tarek told Ohlen, and the beast hissed, batting at Ethan when he tried to drag himself away with one mangled arm. She realized then that none of the wounds inflicted on Ethan were immediately fatal. He would bleed out eventually, but each rake, slice and bite had been made to cause the most possible pain. To keep him conscious and aware of what was happening to him.
Ohlen had stopped once he’d seen Andi, but a tight nod from her had him lowering his head back down to Ethan’s body, his golden eyes focused on Andi when he chomped down on his shoulder again and shook Ethan like a rag doll. Blood spattered everywhere, splashed against the walls, got on some of the warriors, slashed across the white clothing her people wore and some of them made sounds of disgust. Andi had some on her face, sliding down her already wet cheeks to stain her white dress. She didn’t shy away from it. “This is our justice,” Tarek repeated coldly, his hand finding hers, warming the chilled flesh with the awesome heat of his skin, squeezing gently when she clung to him and Ohlen punctuated Tarek’s statement by pouncing on Ethan’s lower leg, snapping the bone with a loud crunch.
“We do not harm our females, or stand by and do nothing while such an atrocity is committed.”
Crunch! Ethan’s screams were beginning to rise in pitch,
“Our mates are sacred to us,”
Crunch!
“If they are harmed, disrespected, mistreated in any way, our vengeance is brutal,”
Crunch, crunch, CRUNCH!
She flinched every time another bone snapped, and soon Tarek had cuddled her up under his arm and was soothingly rubbing his hand up and down her spine. She cringed when Ethan’s hand disappeared into Ohlen’s mouth, and reappeared at Andi’s feet. When he brought her the second one, Ethan writhing and screaming while he stared at the stumps where his hands used to be, her stomach threatened to revolt. “Your mate brings you the hands that harmed you. You are not expected to keep them, they are his promise that never again will any other hands touch you in harm, no other hands will cause you pain, and no other hands will threaten you, not even his own. Whether you accept him or not, Andi of the Starsong, Ohlen is your mate and he will protect you always.”
Andi raised a trembling hand towards the massive beast standing in front of her, covered and dripping scarlet beads of blood, showing more bravery than she would have had herself. Andi’s fingers touched a whisker, and Ohlen lowered his head with a soft purr, his eyes drooping when Andi’s hand slid up the blood stained length of his muzzle to stroke his ears. “You’ve pretty much shredded everything else so if it’s not too much trouble, could I have his heart too?” Ohlen chuffed like he was laughing, and after a quick lick to her hand, he spun away and pounced on Ethan. The screams turned into wet gurgling sounds, and then to horrific silence until with a wet squelch Ohlen dropped Ethan’s heart at Andi’s feet. She almost lost it laughing in hysterical giggles when Andi pulled up the already blood splattered hem of her dress to nudge the oozing organ with a little sniffle, “I thought it’d be black, or covered in festering sores or something.”
Andi’s brave face started to crumble around the edges a little and she stepped over Ethan’s hands and heart to crouch down and throw her arms around Ohlen’s furry neck, not caring that she was pressing her face to his gore covered shoulder. Ohlen balked, a choked sound coming from his throat and he looked up at Tarek with huge eyes, like this massive beast who had just dismembered a man, didn’t know what to do with a tiny little woman clinging to him for dear life. Tarek huffed in amusement and curled his arm tighter around her waist, bringing her closer to his chest, and with a rapid blink of long golden lashes, Ohlen awkwardly lifted his muscled forearm and hugged Andi closer.
She watched in fascination as fur and claws began to recede, muscles and bones shrinking and shortening until Andi was clinging to a still bloody, very naked Ohlen. He bent his head and whispered something in her ear that made Andi nod, her arms around his shoulders so tight she wondered if Ohlen was choking. If he was, he didn’t seem to care as he stood up and with a nod to them left with Andi held safe and securely against his chest. Once the doors hissed closed behind them, Tarek made everyone but his warriors jump in surprise, “Is anyone in any way confused by what you just witnessed?” No one spoke up, so he grunted, considered the matter closed, and ordered Ethan’s corpse to be shot out of the airlock and the room sanitized. “Enjoy your evening meal.”
He steered her out, passing Falken and Ga’rae on the way and gave them tight nods. He didn’t say a word until he got her back to their quarters, crouching down on his haunches after seating her on a comfortable chair. He took her hands, searching her face, his voice soft and gentle. “Should I have kept you from witnessing that?” She shook her head, surprised when he reached up and gently brushed a tear from her cheek, “Seeing a Sarazen in his full shift can be terrifying for most. Our kind are known as the most horrifying foe, for a reason. I will not think less of you for fearing my beast,”
“I’m not afraid, intimidated maybe, I think I’m just overwhelmed. It’s um, not every day I see someone disemboweled by a man who can turn into a completely different creature, even if the other guy deserved it ten times over.”
Tarek nodded in understanding, asking her if she felt like eating anything, but frankly she was disgusted at the idea right now and shook her head. “Go ahead without me, I’m just going to go have a quick shower. I’ve got blood…spattered all over me,” She looked down at her dress, feeling mildly queasy to see the bright red droplets and the one slash of it near her thigh. She’d never run so quickly to a shower before in her life. Tarek had a fresh dress for her when she stepped out of the enzyme wash, a pale green one that shimmered slightly in the light. “It’s beautiful. I’m so used to wearing flight suits and trousers that this feels weird, in a good way, like some kind of special occasion or something.”
Tarek tilted his head at her curiously, his lips canting up when she stepped back into the bathing room to do a quick change, “Had no one ever given you fine things to wear?” She discarded the white gown and stepped out, smoothing her hands down over the material, in awe of how soft it was. It was the same style as the white one, a scooped neckline that bared her throat and shoulders, long sleeved to keep her warm, the skirt long enough to brush the tops of her feet, and full enough that when she twirled it billowed out all around her by a good few feet.
She remembered having an ancient bear made out of velvet when she was a child, but this was even softer, “Well no, of course not. I wasn’t special enough or ranked high enough to rate any kind of luxuries like this. I’ve actually never had a dress before, I love it. Thank you,” He grunted, his eyes gone molten with appreciation as he looked her over slowly. “I have access to very few fine things aboard this warship, we are only males and the ships computer is only able to generate the most basic of garments for females. It will please me greatly to take you to the markets on Saraz. I wished for the color of…you call it a dress?” She nodded, and he grunted again, “I wished for the color to match your eyes. It doesn’t, but worry not, once we get home I will find a fabric to match. I think it will be the color for our house.”
“You want to paint your home green?”
“No. Homes on Saraz are made of stone, and it will be OUR home. The color of your eyes will be our standard. The color I take to identify our line. The royal house colors are gold and black, ours will be green. You still are pale. I have reports to complete, you will lie down here where I can see you.”
He scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom, like she was too delicate
and fragile to have made the distance herself, and it made her smile. Made her feel cherished and cared for. Special. “I’ll be alright,” She murmured when he set her down, touching a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth, to that little dimple that so rarely winked out at her, and he purred softly. “Of course you will, my mate is strong. I have known many who would have run, or lost the contents of their stomachs or bowels, rather than stand and watch what was done this day. You are still recovering from the many shocks you have had these past few risings. I think no less of you for needing rest. You, are not a warrior, my one. For this I am grateful.”
She stayed close even though he was nudging at her to lie down, pressed heart to heart, even went so far as to stroke her hands down the long tail of his hair, just to watch his lashes droop a bit and a purr feather from between his handsome lips. “Why are you grateful that I’m not a warrior?” A warm puff of air huffed across her cheek, his nose sliding up one side, then down the other side of hers, nuzzling at her tenderly. The same way Ohlen in his massive cat form had done to Andi’s hands. “Because, my one,” He murmured, giving her a soft kiss that melted her straight down to her toes. “Then you would have no need of me.”
Ten
Her nightmare was a slide show of horrors, and when she woke up with a cry, it continued. It was dark, and all she saw were yellow eyes and heard a deadly snarl from the shadows. She felt the monster stalk her, felt it crawl up onto the bed with her, and not being able to see it made her panic that much worse. “Clary, all is well, breathe, my one. I’m here. Dim lights,” The lights came up softly, and she shuddered to find Tarek kneeling in front of her, reaching for her where she had scuttled back against the headboard. “I’m sorry, I was having… a nightmare.” She panted out, unable to help flinching when his hands curved around her arms, “Not surprising considering all you have witnessed over these short few days, and I made it worse. My apologies, I reacted to your scream without thinking. Come here to me, let me warm you.”