by Isabel Wroth
He looked past Ga’rae to where his mate stood, her fingers moving over the tablet to review the results of the testing little Gwen had done. Listened to the words she spoke in reaction to reading them. “Our base code has been changed, obviously, cellular regeneration is such that our bodies will repair any environmental damage, from too much radiation exposure, to…” Clary shifted to pull the side of her sheet away and stuck her leg out, palming the smooth length of her thigh, “Huh, to unnecessary fat deposits. I expect, from these scans, from the rapid nature of that cell regeneration, our life expectancy will have increased as well.” He acknowledged then, what she had said to him after Brennaugh’s departure. “I did not explain our culture to Clary, because I assumed she would not understand. She does not, but it is because of my failure to explain, not because of her inability to do so. Because my assumptions. Our, assumptions.”
“Our bone density has increased, as well as our muscle mass, metabolism, shit, is this our DNA strand?” Clary asked, and Gwen confirmed it was, both of them falling silent for a time, until Gwen stated it was Clary’s turn for her scan.
He moved towards her then, standing beside the medical table while the green lasers moved over her body in repetitive, rhythmic sweeps. The damage to her womb was now completely healed, her body in perfect condition, though to him it had been perfect from the start. “Can you copy the results to my tablet?” Clary asked Gwen, and the smaller female confirmed she would do so, “All of you must rest, your transformations were violent, extremely violent.” Ga’rae interjected, and after looking at him, Clary looked to her own medic and asked if that was her advice as well. “For now, yes. I’ll be reviewing the data from my quarters, I had thought to return to the crew quarters with the other women, but until we know for sure we can control this new change, it’s smarter, as much as I hate to say it, if we’re supervised. Seven of Commander Brennaugh’s warriors, including himself identified seven of our females as potential mates. As of now, they’ve agreed to be patient and keep their distance, until we can explain this new…development.”
Clary nodded, agreeing that was best, commanding her fellow human to keep her updated regularly. There was a tone there, that hadn’t been before, her cat, making itself known. He tensed, right alongside Ga’rae, ready to intervene when Gwen’s lips peeled back from her teeth in a natural, instinctual challenge. It was natural for their beasts to assert dominance, for one to be more powerful among a grouping, and often those challenges were violent. Gwen growled, and Clary’s head snapped towards her. She was silent, just staring down the other female, the only change to be seen were the crystal tips of her claws, and the vertical slits of her pupils.
Several tense heartbeats passed until Gwen looked away, shaking herself, taking a step back as her cat bowed to Clary’s. He released a soft breath, unsurprised now by that sensation of pride in his female. Gwen raked a hand through her hair, licking her lips and looked back at Clary, who was still staring at her with her cat’s eyes. “Sorry, don’t know what that was.” Clary turned her hands over, as though just realizing she had released her claws without thought towards it, swallowing thickly as she examined them. “I’m guessing dominance display,” It was the first time since waking that she acknowledged his presence, glancing at him for conformation. He inclined his head to her, knowing that soon they would have such a display of their own. He understood it was necessary, inevitable for them to find harmony together, but understanding it made it no easier knowing that he could further alienate her and her affections towards him.
Twenty One
She held her hands carefully at her sides, stiffly, unable it seemed to make her claws retract, but unwilling to appear weak by showing her discomfort. Gwen agreed to send her regular updates, and even wearing nothing but a bedsheet, his mate was as regal as any queen of his race as she acknowledged her subordinate and moved towards him. He nodded to Ga’rae, moving to allow Clary to fall into step beside him, both of them silent all the way back up to his quarters. Once inside, he called her to a stop and took her wrists, squeezing gently when she made to pull away. “Your claws will be the easiest change your body will make. It is sometimes effortless and will happen even when you are not thinking of it. Will it interest you to know, that no Sarazen in the existence of our species, has ever had crystalline, white claws like this?”
She sucked in a soft breath, holding perfectly still while he stroked the pads of his fingers up along the underside of her sparkling, almost delicate claws. “Um, yes. All data is good data, right now. Maybe a physical identifier to say we are a mutated version of your kind.” He snorted in distaste, hating that was how she felt about what she was now. “How do I make them go away?” He pressed a kiss to her palm, turning his hand over so the back of his knuckles rested in her palm. “Feel the muscles, the ligaments, how they shift. You are still, beneath the façade, distressed. Your cat knows this, and offers you the tools to protect yourself.”
He flexed his hand slowly, tensing his muscles to allow his own claws to press from under his nailbeds, Clary, watched with a determined sort of focus. “Gwen presented you with challenge, and your cat answered, ready to defend herself, defend you, and your position as alpha female. This will not be the last time this happens, and when you look back on it later, this will be the easiest challenge you ever faced. However, you have proven to me, beyond all doubt or question, that you can do the impossible. Not even our cubs are able to change back so quickly, or have such control of themselves after their first shift. I don’t pretend to understand how you accomplished it, though I suspect it is just your nature. Your stubborn refusal to meet anyone’s expectations or the restrictions those expectations place on you. Even mine. Well done,”
She jolted when she realized that while he had been speaking to her, using the power of his cat to soothe the tension in her with the pitch of his voice, she had relaxed enough for her claws to retract. She pulled her hands away from his, turning them over, rubbing at her fingertips, flexing them, “Your voice, you used it to calm me down.” She accused, and his lips twitched, “There is a reason, my one, why I am the commander of the Sarazen armada.”
“Because you have a voice to soothe the savage beast?”
“No, because I am the most savage of us. I have been a warrior longer than any other, my cat was bred and tested for war, and I have not once failed. I am among very few who can say the same, and those few have just called mates to them, human mates who can share our beast. The Gods have conspired to reward us, after so long, and already we have made a mess of underestimating such beauty. It distresses me greatly, that I can no longer feel you, here.”
He touched his fingertips to his chest, and she was unable to hold back the little rumble of desire. A rumble of sound, her throat had never made before. She wrapped her hand around her neck, and a half smile canted his handsome lips in response. Thankfully he made no move to press that advantage, her clear desire for his body. “It distresses me even more, to know that my actions, my lack of them, caused you to lose faith in me. Lose trust, in me. I did not keep the truth from you intentionally, about the festival. I wished for our bond to become stronger, the foundation was already there, our senses opening to one another so that you could feel my emotions, and I yours. With enough time, your thoughts would have been open to me, and mine to you, as I did say. What I did not say was, you could be floating in the void between universes, and I would be able to hear and find you. Amidst the thousands of voices of the festival, to hear you would have been as easy as breathing.”
Thanks to the animal now living and breathing inside her, she could literally smell the truth in his words. Could smell, his sincerity that it had in fact distressed him, more than he was saying verbally, that their bond had been severed. It made things a hell of a lot easier, while at the same time more complicated, and difficult to remain mad. She glared at him regardless, doing her level best to ignore the other scent, the one she could taste, sweet like the coveted honeyed candy
she had been given over the years, rolling across her tongue and making her body react in kind. The deep, musky, mouthwatering scent of his lust. His need for her. It was all she could do to keep her mad face and not allow another weird purr to come out of her throat. “Why wouldn’t you have just told me that before?”
Seeing a seven foot tall warrior’s ears turn a bit pink with his discomfiture made her cat snicker. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her with that edge of desire making his eyes flicker yellow gold. “It did not occur to me that it would affect you so greatly. I was relying on your trust.” She and her cat both snorted derisively. “How long has it been since you’ve been around any species of female?”
“Several of your centuries.”
“Clearly.”
Her new friend made a huff of displeasure when she made herself turn and walk away from Tarek. The pissy little cat curling her lip, urging her to stop and go back to him, but she forcibly ignored that, and told her to be quiet for now. Another testy huff was her response, but no further fight or objection was given. Thankfully. She felt strange, noticing the way she moved now, walking forward with more…confidence maybe? Sinuous, her muscles stronger, shaped differently or something, because when she crawled onto the bed, she used only her fingertips and her knees to propel her forward, and for some reason she rolled down onto the mattress like, well, like a cat. She imagined if her tail manifested again, the tuft of it would be twitching right now. Tarek stepped into her line of sight and her eyes rolled up to pin him to the spot. “I’m resting. Now tell me your plan to explain to my crew, how this new development affects them.”
His lips twitched, ticked really, and over his chest went his big arms, muscles bulging and rippling, which was just annoying. Like he knew just how to stand and pose to garner her maximum arousal. Jerk. “There are several facts, evident by our situation, though the most important are these: Firstly, a blood transfer must be made for this miracle to occur. Secondly, now that we know this is possible, we also know it can be, will be, voluntary. Thirdly, this now nullifies your fears that you will be unable to participate in the hunt. Your beast will guide you to me with ease. I confess, I am eager to see you run among the trees of my homeland. And lastly, there is now sense to why my beast chose you. Why your kind is compatible with mine, when your species is physically inferior. We can share our beast with you, your males can mate with our females, and per the study Ga’rae has been working on, it is very likely that a mating between our two species could produce viable female offspring even stronger than generations before.”
“You give facts, but that wasn’t what I asked for.”
He paced them, went so far as to peel his shirt off and reach up to rake his hands through the stripe of his hair. Which made her wonder if all her hair was going to fall out in reaction to her mutation. Her new friend snickered in amusement inside her, and got mentally shushed. She tried not to fixate on how his body rippled and flexed, realizing rather belatedly that her vision was so sharp, she could see the individual muscle groups flex and move with him, the way his blood pulsed under his swarthy tanned skin. Her jaw ached suddenly, and she touched her mouth, tasting blood, startled to realize that she now had an upper and lower set of dainty fangs, “I tell you truthfully, Clary, I am to on edge at this moment to think beyond the fact that you are unharmed. I am aware you are angry with me, but I need to…what is wrong?” She shook her head and wiggled her finger at her mouth. “Teeth.” She said, clenching them to keep from cutting her lips or something.
He came and sat on the edge of the bed, lifting her chin and rubbed at her mouth until she showed him her teeth. Why it made him smile faintly, she wasn’t sure. His voice dropped to an even deeper rumble, and a sharper, acrid scent wafted over her, his desire tainted by something that smelled like charcoal and fire. “When our cubs shift for the first time, they are surrounded by family and mentors, people they trust. It is a time of pride, a passage from youth into maturity, the elders in the family sit near and explain to the cub the sensations that will come, how to welcome his beast. He is not frightened, but eager to experience his change. He is not isolated, not alone, and in the first few moments when skin gives way to fur, the hands of those who love him are gentle on his coat, soothing his pain and disorientation. He is surrounded by his pack mates, supported while he takes his first run through the forest to hunt and bond with his new senses. I do not regret that you have a beast of your own, but I deeply regret how your shift occurred, I would not have wished such torment on anyone. It eats at me and has, ever since you hit the deck on four paws, that had I not the power to have forced you to listen to me, you would have continued to fight the change and perished, mere handspans away, just as quickly as you had come to me. Do your teeth still hurt?”
She ran her tongue over her teeth, and just like before, he’d used the sound of his voice to distract her and make her relax enough that the little fangs had slipped back into place. His lips kicked in a tiny smile and his thumb swept her cheek, “No. What is it you need to do?” She stiffened when he lowered his head, but he only rested his brow on hers and made no further moves to kiss her. “Just a while longer to assure myself you are well and in no further danger.” She struggled with how to respond, but could clearly hear the irritated huff of her cat, and the image of two massive cats, the slightly smaller of the two rubbing her face under the chin of her mate in order to soothe and reassure him.
She struggled for a moment, but her body was already softening to follow through with her new instincts. She scooted forward and turned her cheek so she could rub her nose up the side of his face, rolling the other way to nuzzle at his shoulder. His powerful body shuddered, his arms snaked around her and hauled her into his lap, holding tight as a sound rumbled free of his throat to vibrate down her spine. “Do I have your forgiveness for failing you, my one?” He murmured, that charcoal scent growing stronger, but she didn’t have enough experience with scent to identify it. “Failing me?” His fingers kneaded deeply into the muscles of her shoulders and back, his bare skin sliding on hers with a whole new sensation, hard steel covered with hot sued. Her fingers hungrily rubbed at his arms, testing the texture with her heightened senses. “It has not happened often in my life, but today I was helpless to act in your defense. I could do nothing but watch.”
“I believe the fact that I’m currently alive and sitting in your lap, speaks to the fact that you did more than watch. What else could you have done?”
“Been with you, the moment the change began, to soothe your fears and prepare you for what was to come. I was not, because I made assumptions that I had explained sufficiently enough for you to understand. It is no excuse, but I am a warrior, my one. It has become second nature for me to give orders without explaining the intricate details as to why I give them, and that my warriors would trust in my command to obey. I command thousands, and while I give you my vow to do better with you, I will never stop being a commander.” She sighed as the rest of her resistance drained away, because all reasons for his behavior considered, that was a plausible one. “I’m tired. Stay with me?”
“Always, my one.”
She scooted slowly off his lap and got up to untangle herself from the med lab sheet, tasting that sweet honeyed scent in her mouth again, Tarek’s lust rolling over her senses. She stood totally nude for his appraisal, and the slit pupils that stroked over her were evidence enough to match that scent. “Do I smell like candy to you?” She asked, hearing the husky purr in her own voice, taking the hands he held out to her to draw her down under the much softer sheets, “Candy?” She nodded, undulating just to better feel all his hard flesh rubbing against hers, “I can smell your desire, taste it. It’s sweet, rolling over my tongue with a flavor that reminds me of a treat made of honey.”
“Honey?” His fingers tangled in her hair, kneading at her scalp, tugging gently until she tipped her head back and met his gaze. “Mm hm. A substance made by insects on eart
h. They feed on the nectar of flowers, carrying it back to the hive to be turned into a sticky liquid used to feed the rest of the hive. Humans discovered its sweetness and used it as a sugar substitute, or to make alcohol, lots of stuff. Keeps forever. But point is, it tastes delicious,”
Tarek made a rumble of sound, his hand pushing down her body unerringly to curl down between her legs, her gasp making his rumbles deepen while he cupped her pussy and spread the gush of her arousal with gentle strokes. “Like this, then.” She shuddered, clenching her fists just in case she lost control of her claws and hurt him, the pleasure of his thumb rubbing gently at her clit almost more than she could bear. “Ahh, um, n-no. Sweeter,” She managed to whisper out on a sigh, “There is no sweeter taste, than that of your mate.” She made a sound of pained denial when he took his hand away, watching him lift his fingers to his mouth to lick the taste of her off his skin. “To answer you, the scent of you is intoxicating. It doesn’t just roll over my tongue, it is overwhelming, fills my senses until I reel. And your taste, mate, is addictive.”
He shared it with her on a hungry kiss, his hands finding hers to uncurl the tight fists she held, not letting go when she pulled back with a quick gasp. “My claws,” He smiled, rolling over her to tuck her beneath him, urging her to slide her arms around his shoulders, touching a sweet, soft kiss to her mouth. Licking at her lips, “Your cat knows me, unless I incite her wrath, she will not harm me.”
“They cut through metal. You’re strong, but not made of metal. You’re willing to risk it?”