Ineq (Dragons Of Kelon) (A Sci Fi Alien Weredragon Romance)

by Maia Starr

  Jedrian grabbed my hand and led me along with the warriors. I noticed that he did not tell them that we were being hunted, and I knew that I should keep my mouth closed as well. Something told me that although these were her Corillion warriors, we were not in friendly company. It was the way Jedrian changed his demeanor.

  "Are you sure that you are not hurt? You must allow me to look at you as soon as we are in a safe place,” I said to him quietly, but not in a whisper. I wanted the others to hear. I did not want them to think we were conspiring.

  "Yes, you may look me over once we are in a safe place. But I do feel like I am fine. But it could just be the shock of fighting that bear,” he said.

  "Thank you. Thank you for fighting that beast for me. It means everything,” I said to him. He looked at me and gave me a slight smile. It was the first time he’d smiled at me since he’d found the notebook, and I felt relieved. It took fighting a large grizzly bear for him to forgive me, and it took a large grizzly bear for me to admit that I loved him. We were really messed up.

  We walked in the direction of the lake. I was expecting a standard mountain lake, but I was wrong. As soon as we entered the clearing, the lake in front of us was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was a crystal-clear blue, almost like a swimming pool. Behind it, the mountains and everything looked like a magical fairytale land complete with massive dragonflies and the buzzing of nature.

  But that was not the most stunning part. From where we stood, the lake was above us. It seemed a phenomenon had taken place here. We stood facing a rock wall about 7-feet high, and beyond it was the lake.

  "This way,” Cultan said. I looked at Jedrian, and he nodded. I followed Cultan and the other warriors with Jedrian at my side. They walked along the rock wall until it suddenly split into a long crevice. They docked there are 8 foot tall frame under the rock and inside the crevice. I looked at Jedrian with wide eyes.

  "It's all right; don't be afraid,” he said to me quietly.

  I followed along and suddenly was submerged into darkness. The air grew colder. I could only feel Jedrian's hands on my arm, but otherwise, it was dark. Then there was light. I could not believe what I saw in front of me.

  "Where are we?” I asked Jedrian.

  "This is where I've been trying to take us. This belongs to the phone," he said.

  I looked around to see that there were 20 warriors in a large underground chamber. It had everything you could possibly need. There were many beds; there was a kitchen area. There was a very advanced corner full of technology. I could not believe that this was real.

  "How is this here?” I asked Jedrian.

  "It is the leak. The water provides the perfect cover above us. It blocks the Earth military scans that might be searching for a Corillion place on Earth. It is the water that lets us be here,” Jedrian said to me quietly.

  I was astonished by the secrecy and the fact that there was a Corillion secret base right under the noses of Earthlings. I wondered just how many of these were dotted all along the surface of the Earth. Then I noticed that the warriors that had been escorting us had diffused into various parts of the chamber. Now Jedrian and I followed Cultan to the back of the chamber.

  "Is that what I think it is?” I said looking toward a small spaceship.

  "Yes, it is,” Jedrian said.

  I could not believe that all of this was here. But why? Why would they want to be here?

  The blond warrior Cultan moved a cloth curtain and stepped into a small area that I could only describe as his office. There was a long table. He gestured for Jedrian and me to step in and then he pulled the curtain behind us.

  "Jedrian, we were expecting you months ago,” Cultan said.

  "Yes, but as you may know by now, my ship was attacked. It was a very strange thing. The attack came out of nowhere, and considering how stealth my cargo ship was, it is a very suspicious for the Earthlings to have been able to find us," Jedrian said.

  Cultan gave him a grin, but he did not speak any more of it. Instead, he looked at me. He looked at me up-and-down again and said, “I see you have kept yourself busy in the meantime.”

  "This is my human female. She helped me escape from the Earthlings.”

  "And how much does she know? Why would you bring her here to this space?” Cultan asked.

  "As I said before, she is mine. Where I go, she goes,” Jedrian said sternly. I didn't understand why he had to keep claiming me. I was not his. I did not belong to anyone but myself. But something told me that it was best to just stay quiet at the moment. Perhaps he was claiming me so that this other warrior could not do the same thing. By the way he was looking at me, it seems like he would jump on top of me at any moment.

  "Understood. So am I to understand we are still in the same situation? You are here, but your ship is not. We have no way to transfer the cargo back to the Corillion galaxy?” Cultan asked.

  "Yes, that is the situation. Unless in the three months you have come up with another plan, perhaps contacted another Corillion leader to lure here to Earth,” Jedrian said.

  Cultan grinned again. “No. After you did not show with the cargo ship, we decided to do things a little differently. We have been making our departure from here little by little. We planted smart escape pods all around this forest. We have stolen Earth spaceships and modified them to our travel needs. It has been the perfect plan. We leave once a week, one ship at a time, and the Earthlings do not suspect a thing when they see their own ship. The problem is that only a few of us can leave in this manner. So I have to stay here overseeing this project until the job is done. A leader never abandons a project,” he said in a condescending way.

  I could see Jedrian growing tense. He did not like this warrior Cultan. Then Cultan made things worse.

  "You were attacked by that beast out there in the forest,” Cultan said. Just as he was speaking, another warrior entered. Cultan looked at him.

  "This is our medic. Go with him he will see to your wounds and scan for internal damage,” Cultan said.

  "I am fine. I have said this before,” Jedrian responded.

  "I insist,” Cultan said sternly.

  Jedrian tensed. “Come, Trish,” he said grabbing my hand to leave me out.

  "The human female can stay here. She looks exhausted. I will make sure that she is fed and given water. You will only be gone a short time,” Cultan said.

  "I prefer that she come with me," Jedrian said.

  "Jedrian, you must know that this space is mine. I am the leader here. What I say is a command. If you want to stay in the shelter of this space and hitch a ride home, then you must understand that,” Cultan said.

  Jedrian flinched. I thought that he was going to punch Cultan. I squeezed his hand, trying to get him to calm down. He looked at me. “I will be right back.”

  I nodded my head yes to him. I was nervous, but I did not want to cause any trouble. I could see this was a very delicate situation.

  "Let's hurry this up,” Jedrian said to the medic warrior as he followed him out. Then I was alone with Cultan. He was still looking at me with a smile. He was a very attractive warrior, but it was obvious to me that he was dangerous.

  "Please, Trish, sit down. You look exhausted. I apologize that Jedrian has been dragging you through the woods. That is no place for a lady,” he said, turning on the charm.

  I sat in a chair at the table far away from him. “Thank you,” was all I said. I did not want to ignore him and be rude. I could tell that he would not take that lightly.

  He walked over to the curtain and pulled it back a little and shouted, “Food! Water!”

  Then he walked around the small space looking at me. “Did Jedrian tell you what we were doing here? Why he came here?”

  "No. He told me nothing,” I said to him.

  "He came here as an arrangement. I have a cargo that needs to be delivered back to my planet. I was going to give him half that cargo to use his ship. But he never appeared. Why do you think that is
?” he asked.

  "As he said, he was attacked," I said to him, now rolling my eyes at him in anger.

  He walked behind me. The hairs on my neck stood up. I did not like him standing behind me. Then he put his hands on my shoulders and started to massage them.

  "I can see why he picked you over his own mate waiting for him here," Cultan said.

  I turned my head up and looked at him in shock. “What do you mean? Who is waiting for him?” I said, trying to hold back my anger.

  "Oh, I see he did not tell you. It was smart of him. You probably would not have mated with him if you knew,” Cultan said as he stepped away from me and laughed.

  "What are you saying?” I asked.

  "I am saying that the cargo that we were going to split was 50 human females. Jedrian was to get 25 of them, and amongst that 25 was his chosen human mate. Surely he told you this much?” Cultan said.

  I held back tears. What a freaking jerk. No, he had not told me that he had a human female waiting for him in the secret base. No wonder he wanted to get to it so badly. So what was I? He had just used to me. He had used me to escape from the research and then used me to have sex with him so that he could live. What was worse was that I was finding all of this out from this condescending asshole.

  Just then a warrior walked in with food and water and placed it in front of me and then left.

  "Please, eat, drink. You will need all of your strength,” Cultan said. I looked at the fruit in front of me. I was hungry and thirsty. I drank and bit into a peach.

  "I can see why he would want to you. you are more striking than any of the 50 human females that we have here. Now Jedrian will have two. He is very lucky,” Cultan said.

  I looked at him and narrowed my eyes at him. I was angry, but I was not angry at Cultan; I was angry at Jedrian. He had fooled me. I had been a fool. I was absolutely filled with rage.

  "If you were mine, you would be the only one. I would not have a need for two wives. I can see that you are very special, Trish. I wish you luck with this Jedrian. But I warn you not to trust him. I will leave you now. Please do not hesitate to ask me for anything. You shall have a comfortable bed here and bathe in the lake in privacy. No other warriors will bother you, or they will have to answer to me,” Cultan said with a bow before walking out.

  I was shocked by his gentlemanly behavior. I thought for sure he was going to try to push himself onto me. But instead he told me the truth about Jedrian, even gave me a warning not to trust him. He offered open hospitality and protection. I was shocked by it all, but I could not stop thinking about Jedrian and the anger I felt toward the fact that he had another human female waiting for him here. He was probably with her now. The rat. How could you do this? Then I thought, you are the one that is stupid Trish. He has already proven to you that he has a rat. Did you forget that he took you hostage by knife in order to save his own ass?

  "Are you all right?” Jedrian asked as he stepped inside.

  I looked up at him glaring with rage.

  Chapter 10

  JEDRIAN GLOMERORUM

  I didn't trust Cultan. I didn't trust that he did not betray me and was responsible for my ship going down. But I definitely did not trust him with Trish. I could tell by the way he looked at her that he wanted her. Over my dead body. No one was going to touch her.

  I wasn't lying when I said that she was my human. I had said it partly to get Cultan to leave her alone, but I also said it because I meant it. When I saw that the beast in the woods about to charge her, I knew then that I would die for her. I charged that beast without even thinking twice about it. If I had to die in order to save her life, then that was what I was going to do. It was fortunate that Cultan and his warriors were around to shoot the beast, allowing both Trish and me to live.

  But because that had happened, it opened my eyes and my heart. I knew then that I would do anything for her. I knew then that I was deeply and madly in love with her. For who else would run straight at a beast like that if they were not insanely in love? I knew that this was who I was. I knew that this was what I wanted, and I wanted Trish.

  Leaving her alone with Cultan while the medic checked me out was torture. It was more torture than the jolts of electricity that Dr. Maxwell had given me. I could not stand the thought of Cultan touching her or trying to steal her from me. It was then that I hoped that I had implanted an offspring inside of her. Then he could not claim her. That was the way of the Corillion, but I would have no way of knowing. We had only just laid together.

  I walked back to the area where a Cultan and Trish were as fast as I could after I was examined. Just as I had thought, I only had a couple of bruises and no internal damage. The small scratches I had on my body from the bear's claws were nothing to be concerned about. But I was surprised to find Trish alone. I was expecting to find Cultan trying to kiss her.

  "Are you all right?" I asked.

  Trish looked at me with such anger in her eyes. What had changed? Only minutes before she had been crying and hoping that I was safe from the beast. Now she looked at me with such hatred.

  "I am fine. Cultan has been kind to me. He has been honest. That is more than I can say for you,” she said to me.

  I sighed and sat next to her and drank water.

  "Trish, you cannot believe anything that he says. He is not to be trusted,” I said to her, realizing that he had gotten under her skin.

  "You mean he was lying that you came to Earth in order to get a human wife from the 25 human females that were promised to you?” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. I looked at her with wide eyes. Shit. I didn't realize that he had told her about the arrangements, but I should have guessed.

  "No, that is true. That is exactly why I came to Earth and why I brought a cargo ship. But it is not the way—"

  "You asshole! You lying piece of shit! You lied to me! You have been using me all just so that you could get here and be with a human female that was promised you like some sort of property. Have you even met her? Why would you do this to me? I trusted you and yet you have proven over and over again that you were not to be trusted! I am such an idiot!"

  She ran out of the space. “Trish! Let me explain!” But it was too late; she had already run out. I wasn't going to run after her and put on a show for the warriors all around. I was not going to give Cultan that satisfaction, and I knew that this was what he had set up to happen. It was official; he wanted Trish. Now he had effectively separated us and made her hate me just within the first 10 minutes of our arrival. I would be damned if he would touch her. Rage swelled up and me. He needed to be put in his place; I didn't care if he was the damn leader of this secret hideout.

  I sat at the table and finished the food that Trish had not touched. I ate the wild berries, peaches, and apples. I would need all the energy I could get in order to deal with what was coming. I didn't have to wait long.

  "The medic tells me you are fine,” Cultan said as he walked into the curtained off area.

  "I told you that much already,” I said as I got up and poured me some more water from the giant jug.

  "Where is your human female?” he smiled.

  "She needed to get some air. Just as you wanted her to,” I said as I chugged the water.

  "What do you mean? I just told her the truth. It shocked me that she didn't already know. So what now? Would you like to follow me to where the females are kept? There are no longer 50 of them, and of course, you will not be getting the 25 that were promised to you since you did not go through with your side of the arrangement. But I am still in good spirit to allow you to pick one. I have already chosen a wife, and she lives with me. But there are 10 females left to choose from.”

  I put the glass down. I nodded at him. He smiled. I followed him out into the base. I was following him not because I was agreeing to find a new human wife, but because I wanted to get the layout of the place. I wanted to see where the human females were being kept. I wanted to see where the small escape spaceship po
ds were held. Going along with him was the only way to do this.

  To my surprise, we walked out of the underground secret base. I followed him along a very short trail covered by the dense canopy of trees. I noticed small mounds in the distance, only a few meters away. They were the spaceships covered with branches and grass. I could see six of them from where I walked. They would be impossible to see from above, but they were not impossible to see from ground level.

  There was another crevice in the rock that led into a different cave. I followed Cultan inside. Directly inside were three armed warriors. They guarded the human females.

  "These are the ones that remain,” Cultan said as he pointed to the women in the room. It was a very large room that looked somewhat comfortable. There were various beds tables and sitting areas. The women looked clean and well fed. They did not look like prisoners to me.