Sev smiled.
“Then Uncle Rick went to you and said, ‘This is my daughter Areo.’ You stared at her funny at first. You gently touched Areo’s hair and cheek. Everyone wondered what was going through your head. The look on your face was one no one recognized. You then suddenly gave my uncle a dirty look and hissed at him. ‘My kitten!’ you yelled, then snarled at him.”
Sev’s head jerked back in surprise.
“You can’t imagine the reaction your first words and actions had on everyone. My uncle nearly dropped Areo. He was known to say that the mean look you gave him that day was the same evil eye you gave anyone who tried to get between the two of you.” Mike laughed. “It got worse after that. You never wanted to leave Areo’s side. Your father was enraged that the only way to appease you was to have the twins near you almost all the time. You spent more time in our house than you did at the castle. Haven’t you noticed that you speak differently than the rest of your felines?”
Sev laughed. “I’ve always wondered about that. I thought I picked it up from Jugar.”
Mike’s face beamed. These were the few happy moments of his childhood. Despite all the bad, he had never forgotten them. “You and Jugar picked it up from Uncle Rick, my mother, and all the other Earthlings you came into contact with. Your father hated it. He tried to make you stop talking like us, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. You also had nasty temper tantrums when it was time for you to leave our house. And when days went by that your father didn’t allow you to visit our house to see Areo, you would protest.”
“Protest?”
“Stop eating.”
“You are making this up! How could that have possibly happened?”
Mike shrugged. “We’re still wondering about that ourselves. And believe it or not, you got worse as you grew older. The things that happened as we grew up were amazing, but funny. I’ll give you a quick synopsis. By the time you turned three, you were calling her your princess. By five, you announced that Areo was your soulmate and you were going to marry her. By ten, you and Areo had shared your first kiss. And when you turned eleven, you—”
Sev did not move. He did not have to. His nose had picked up Areo’s scent the moment she had entered the bridge. She stood on the other side of his seat. “My kitten.” He turned to her.
“I’d better get back to the controls,” mumbled Mike.
Areo’s heated stare followed Mike’s departing back while Sev ogled her. He had not seen her up close in seven and a half months and was starving for her beauty. “Princess.” Now he knew why calling her that felt so familiar.
“Forget everything he said to you. It was all a lie,” she curtly instructed.
“Why are you saying that?” Her response told him it was not.
“Because it was,” she bit out. Areo eyeballed her cousin. {How dare you try to reopen his mind on our past together. You had no right!}
{He asked me. What was I supposed to say, no?}
{Yes!}
{He’s my king, Areo. I can’t just say no to him or lie when I feel like it.}
{He is not your king!} Areo shouted at him with her mind.
{He is your husband, which makes him our new king.}
{No, it doesn’t!}
{For as long as you’re our queen, Sev will be our king. Or have you forgotten you bear his soulscar? Technically, whether you like it or not, that makes him our king and new leader.}
Sev observed his wife and Mike exchanging glowers. “What are the two of you talking about?”
Areo looked at him. “I haven’t said a thing.”
Sev released a terrible growl. He leapt from his seat and snatched a hold of Areo’s arm. “Mike, you have the bridge.” He hauled his wife outside. Spinning her about, he scolded her. “You are never to lie to me again. Understand? This is the last time I will allow it!”
“What are you talking about?”
“You were speaking to Mike telepathically.” At her shocked expression, Sev admitted, “Yes, I know you were born with that little talent. Amongst the other skills you inherited, thanks to your parents being from different worlds. But that’s not why I brought you out here. I do not appreciate being lied to, especially in front of my warriors.”
Areo blinked. “Your warriors? And since when are my brand of Seacats your warriors?”
“Since you became their queen. And since this!” Sev grabbed Areo’s bottom and pulled her hard against him. Seizing her lips, he plundered her moist cavern until she melted against him.
“Release me,” she whispered against his lips.
Sev heard her words lacked conviction; therefore, he held on to her. “We’ll be arriving at Sea Base Five in three hours. We already know what awaits us. What we don’t know is how our union would be accepted.”
“We are not married. I told you that already. We shared one night together. That doesn’t make us man and—”
Sev squeezed her derriere hard, making Areo cry out in pain. “No, but this does. I won’t allow you to forget it. I love you, Princess.” He grasped her jaw. “I love you.” He heatedly kissed her.
Sev felt Areo pushing at his chest, so he released her.
“I am not your wife,” she threw at him. “I have never sworn before a priest a life of fidelity to you or to any man, for that matter.”
Sev eyed her closely. His anger rose with each word that left her red lips.
“I’m human, remember?” Areo said. “That’s the only form of marriage I know. A priest and a wedding ring on my finger. Until then, I’m as free as a bird to go where I choose, when I choose, and with whomever I choose.”
“Tread carefully, my kitten. I will not allow you to betray me. You are my permanent mate, my soulmate. That means I am your only mate.”
“If that’s what you want to believe, then go ahead. I can’t stop you. But heed my words, Oren’s son. I am not an Oceanan. I’m not subject to your laws, only to Earth’s laws.” Areo shrugged a slender shoulder. “If you had taken Serena like I told you to, then you wouldn’t be having this conversation with your”—she made the gesture of quotation marks—“wife.”
OK. Two could play at this game, thought Sev, struggling with his temper. “Is that what you really want, Areo? For me to take Serena to my bed? For me to mate with her like I mated with you?”
That silenced her.
“To make love to Serena several times each night?” He stepped closer. “For me to place my erection deep inside her tight, sleek virgin’s heat? To enter her again and again, until she cries out my name in ecstasy?”
Areo’s expression crumbled.
“Do you want me to make her beg for me to take her fast and hard like a wildcat?” Sev loomed over her. “Do you want me to make her cry out my name as she reaches orgasm and pours her juices over my arousal?”
Tears glistened in Areo’s soulful eyes.
“Do you really want me to place my matrimonial scar on her unmarked thigh while I call out her name and pour my seed inside her receptive, orgasmic body, signifying that I am eternally, solely hers?”
Areo stormed off.
Sev watched her go. “That will never happen, my kitten. That will never happen.” He reentered the bridge.
Three hours later, Arnold entered the bridge. He spotted Sev dressed in Sea Ranger clothes, standing in front of the window.
He paused beside him and said, “Welcome to Sea Base Five, Sire.”
Sev stood in awe of the enormous elliptical-shaped, gray-metal space station. The bright and colorful blinking lights hypnotized him. His sights traveled from left to right, then up and down, following the transverse and lengthwise movements of the elevators through glass-encased tunnels. He had never seen so many spaceships enter or leave one complex from different ends at the same time. If he had seen something more magnificent, he could not remember it.
“Wow. There were ten of these built?”
Arnold’s chest puffed with pride. “That’s right. Would you believe we got the ide
a from your father?”
Sev gave him a quizzical look.
“He had sent my father to a space station as a delegate to obtain a peace contract with a group of aligned worlds. Oren wanted Oceana to become part of their alliance. Later on, my father uncovered the Alliance’s plot to have the Seacats join, then to use them to protect the Alliance. Naturally, father told his adopted sister.” He met Sev’s gaze. “And she and the king destroyed the contract.”
“Adopted sister? I didn’t know Challen had another sister. Who was she?”
“The queen.”
“What? My mother?”
Arnold nodded.
“Why wasn’t I told this? How?”
“Aunt Karla’s parents died alongside my father’s. She was three at the time, and Aunt Nora was two months old. My father wasn’t going to turn his back on Karla, so he formally adopted her and raised both females, alone, with no money and no home. He was ten.”
“I see. Wow. I wish Jugar had told me, or in this case, had reminded me.”
“I’m sure he had his reasons for never leaving your side.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. You’ll figure it out.”
Sev faced the window. He repeated Arnold’s words. It dawned on him that Challen must have made Jugar promise to keep an eye on him. The thought of something happening to his sister’s only son, his nephew, must have worried him to death.
Sev felt terrible. How could my father do this to her clan, my family unit? It’s no wonder they’re so bitter. He changed the topic before his emotions got the best of him. “I can’t imagine the manpower needed to run a station this size. Who’s in command here?” He heard the doors to the bridge slide open. He glanced behind him and saw Sea Ranger Superior Bill and Jugar.
“His name is Captain Jonathan Rider. He’s an Earthling. In fact, all our stations are commanded by Earthlings.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
The White Star steadily approached the elliptical space station. It easily slipped through a side opening and glided to one of the many docking ports, gently coming to a halt.
Bill interrupted by clearing his throat. “It’s time, Commander.”
“Thank you,” said Arnold with a slight bow of his head. He placed his hood over his head. “We’d better go.”
Sev’s lips thinned at the thought of what might happen once they left the safety of the ship. “Right.” He lifted his own hood. He was grateful Mike had given him a black sword for protection. His hand caressed the hilt at his side as he followed Arnold off the bridge.
They joined a group of imperial warriors about to leave for Sea Base Five. The group entered the Dock Twelve check-in area. At the opposite end of the room was a large electromagnetic wall of green energy. This energy grid was divided by small metallic doorways. Beside each doorway was a desk with several computers on it and a station guard sitting behind it.
Arnold’s group patiently waited their turn in one of the lines. From underneath their dark hoods, the Sea-anans noticed how dramatically things had changed. No one would have guessed that the station had ever been an orderly, smoothly operating one from the chaotic show of panicked aliens running amuck and yelling at officers. The disorganized state brought sadness to their hearts and hatred to their souls. It strengthened their conviction to put an end to Daehog’s carnage and restore an orderly peace.
It was now their turn at the counter. They were moved by the appearance of their fellow comrade behind the desk. Arnold saw the Ave wore his shoulder-length, sandy brown hair that was scattered with tan feathers pulled back in a neat ponytail, exposing his pointy ears. The tiny feathers on his lashes and brows drew attention to his light brown eyes. He wore no robe, so Arnold noticed his closed wings were hanging low. The man’s humanlike features were strong and angular. And he appeared as if he was about to fall on his face.
After Sea Ranger Superior Bill Stevens was scanned in, he asked the overtaxed officer, “Where is Captain Rider?”
“I don’t know, sir. I can find out for you if you would like,” the birdman politely replied, despite his obvious exhaustion.
“Please do,” said Arnold.
“Just a moment, please.” The Ave contacted the bridge via a small monitor to his right. It took him a few seconds to locate his commander. “Captain Rider is in his office.”
“Thank you,” said Bill. He passed unharmed through the green energy field that separated the security hall and the rest of the space station while Arnold placed his hand on the DNA scanner.
The officer’s main monitor displayed a picture and a short personal biography of Arnold McCall surrounded by green light. The officer glanced up. His tired features turned hopeful. Arnold grabbed his hood and revealed his face only to the officer. The Ave’s shoulders drooped in relief. Arnold smiled and re-covered his face. He was given permission to enter.
Arnold moved aside. Before he could speak, Sev placed his hand on the DNA scanner. Arnold knew that the word ALERT would flash in bold red on the monitor. The officer responded immediately. He grabbed his gun, stood, and aimed his laser blaster at Sev’s chest. The gun hummed with energy, ready to kill.
Several aliens noticed and pointed at the tall, hooded person trying to enter the station illegally. They yelled in their native dialects. Now always fearful of an attack, many aliens cried out to the station guards while others tried to get far away from Arnold’s group.
Sev, startled by the Ave’s sudden, swift behavior, was slow to understand what had happened and to raise his wristguards. Mike, however, proved how fast he could move. Before the gun could fire, he moved from the end of the line of ten aliens to stand in front of Sev with his right hand raised toward the officer.
“It’s OK!” he exclaimed.
Station guards surrounded the group with their guns drawn.
“Relax,” Arnold told the Ave behind the desk. He pointed to Sev, then Jugar. “These two are with me. They are not in the system yet. Let them pass.”
The Ave relaxed. “Of course, sir.” He addressed his fellow guards. “False alarm. New arrivals.” He glanced at the many alien faces. “My apologies. Everything is all right. Please proceed.” He returned his gun to its holster and sat back down.
The station guards were hesitant to leave their defensive positions or lower their guns. They continued to surround Arnold and his group.
The Ave noticed. “I said it was a false alarm. There is no danger. Return to your posts.” He pressed a button that switched off the electromagnetic field within the metallic doorframe.
The station guards suspiciously eyed the two hooded beings who passed unquestioned. The Ave fingered the translator device hooked around his right ear as he watched the guards slowly walk back to their posts. Seeing the newcomers were safe on the other side, the soldier quickly switched the grid back on.
Mike placed his hand on the scanner. The Ave glanced at the image on the screen. He looked up at the hooded male. Mike exposed his face to the Ave only. The soldier’s shoulders and wings no longer drooped; his tired features seemed to have gained energy. Mike inclined his head politely and walked through the energy field.
Areo was next. She placed her hand on the DNA scanner. Her picture appeared on the monitor. The Ave’s eyes doubled in size.
Before the officer could react, Mike and Arnold telepathically spoke in his head. {Don’t say a word!}
The officer quickly glanced their way. He hesitated for only a moment before nodding his understanding. He allowed his leader to pass without making a scene. He then addressed the next alien with a smile.
“This way.” Arnold led the group to the captain’s office.
“That was unexpected,” whispered Jugar.
Mike shook his head. “Actually, we’ve always had tight security. Now with the war, they expect another attack from the Dominion any day. We can’t blame them. They’re doing their jobs.”
Sev placed a hand on Mike’s right should
er. “Thank you, Mike. He was fast. I wasn’t expecting his reaction.”
Mike nodded. “I told you, you have to be faster. He was an Ave. They’re as quick as the wind and as deadly as vipers. Next to the Mages, they’re our closest allies.”
“Why were the colors on his insignia light blue on blue surrounded by light gray?” asked Jugar.
Mike continued in a hushed tone. “He’s a station guard. You’ll understand everything better as you go along. There are only three main color affiliations: red for castle, green for empire, and blue for space station. There are a few different color combinations— those signify rank—to learn within each, but you already know the main ones: the red on dark blue worn by the Seacats and the dark red on emerald worn by the Sea Rangers. The leading Sea Rangers carry the title ‘Superior.’ Their badges are surrounded by gold.” Mike shrugged a shoulder. “It’s easy enough to remember. Several Seacats wanted dual careers as Rangers, so their titles are Seacat Ranger Superior. You’ll know who they are by their insignias.”
Sev spotted another male’s insignia as he passed him in the corridors. “And the light blue on blue surrounded by dark gray?”
“A station fighter pilot. Remember, the color blue indicates that he works aboard a space station. Green is for the empire and red is for those who work at one of the royal palaces.”
Sev nodded. “But why? What’s the purpose of it? We Seacats never had a use for all these ranks. You are either a Seacat or not. And why was the shape of the pupil changed?”
Sea Ranger Superior Bill answered this time. “Not everyone can become a Seacat. That’s the highest honor. And we certainly can’t make everyone a Sea Ranger Superior. That’s the second highest position here. These are the two most difficult ranks to obtain. The training is rigorous. Besides, it takes more than warriors of brute strength to make an empire run smoothly. We work as a team; therefore, all warriors are identified by their color combinations. As for the new shape of the eye, we felt the feline’s eye contracting to a slit more appropriate for a new brand of feline warrior. After all, we didn’t want to be considered copycats.”
A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) Page 17