Marcun

by Sadie Carter

  And then the thumping began.

  Eden placed her forehead on her knees with a sigh of defeat.

  Could her life get any more bizarre?

  3

  “What is this?” Sacaren asked, staring down at the plate of brownies. He prodded at them with his finger, giving them a suspicious look as though they might bite. Or explode in his face.

  Hm, that thought had not occurred to Marcun. Was it possible the female had poisoned them? Perhaps she did know that he was here for her and her whole sweet and innocent façade was an act?

  Of course it was. She was mated to a thief.

  Unless Barry the thief had also deceived her. Used her. There had to be some reason why they lived apart. If she were Marcun’s mate he would not let her live away from him. No, he would keep her right by his side where he could watch over her, ensure her safety, make certain no one took advantage of her.

  Where he could touch her, taste her whenever the urge came over him. His shaft hardened at the thought. He could not understand how someone like Barry the thief had managed to win such a beautiful mate. Perhaps she had been forced by her family to mate with him. That happened in some cultures. He was not sure about humans. Maybe he should make more of an effort to understand these humans.

  That thought surprised him. He had never felt the urge to understand others beyond what he needed to know to do his job. But if the pack wanted a human mate they would need to know about their mating habits.

  What if they wanted Eden?

  Jealousy stirred at the thought. Of his pack mates putting their hands on her. Kissing her. Mating with her.

  Mine.

  What? What was wrong with him? Sky Warriors always shared their mates. He could not take a mate of his own. It went against everything he knew. He rubbed his head. Something very strange was going on.

  “Marcun? Marcun is all well?” Sacaren asked.

  He looked over at his pack mates, possessive anger filling him once more. He snarled.

  Mine.

  Both Sacaren and Tecan watched him warily. He had come to meet them in their living quarters as it was much larger than his and he did not have to worry about the female overhearing him. He did not know why he had brought the brownie with him. And he was beginning to regret it.

  “If I did not know better I would say he was about to attack us,” Tecan commented.

  Tecan sat on a chair, spreading his legs out in front of him, while Sacaren leaned back against the bench, crossing his arms over his chest. To someone else, they might have looked relaxed, even lazy. But he knew they were ready to strike at any moment.

  “But I am certain he knows better, because I would easily best him,” Tecan added.

  Marcun snorted, forcing himself to relax. What was wrong with him? These were his pack mates. He shared everything with them and the female meant nothing to him. There was no reason for jealousy. “You have no hope of beating me.”

  “I do it regularly during training,” Sacaren told him.

  “Only because I allow it. I do not wish to harm your fragile ego.”

  Sacaren’s eyes widened and Marcun readied himself. Perhaps a fight was just what he needed. It would help expel some of the tension riding him.

  “The two of you must calm down.” Tecan stood between them, staring from one to the other. “Have you forgotten where we are? We must not draw attention to ourselves.”

  Marcun took a deep breath and checked the monitor on his wrist communicator. The tight knot in his stomach eased as he noted she was still fast asleep. When he’d searched her apartment, he had set cameras up to keep watch over her.

  “Marcun, what is wrong with you?” Tecan asked, sounding confused.

  Marcun shrugged.

  “What is not wrong with him?” Sacaren asked

  Tecan gave Sacaren an impatient look. “You are not helping. Both of you need to control yourselves. Next time Ioin sends me to watch over the two of you I will tell him I would rather stick my head out of an airlock.”

  “That could be arranged,” Sacaren told him.

  “Very easily,” Marcun added.

  They both grinned, the tension broken.

  “What is the matter?” Sacaren asked. “You are even more on edge than normal.”

  “I think it has been too long since he had some relief.” Tecan grinned.

  Sacaren nodded. “His face has that tight, pinched look. He needs some female company.”

  “Any company would be preferable to yours,” Marcun snarled back. “And this tight, pinched look is because I am being forced to live in a box, among these creatures. Not because I need some release.”

  Although that was something of a lie. His sac felt heavy and tight, his shaft pressed against his pants and each time he thought of the female it only grew worse. Perhaps Tecan was right. He needed a female for some release.

  “Where did you get this from? And why does it smell so delicious?” Sacaren asked. He picked up the plate, bringing it to his nose to sniff it.

  He fought the urge to snatch it out of Sacaren’s hands. To lay claim to it. Sacaren was his pack mate. They shared everything. Besides, what did he care if the other male wanted to eat it?

  “The female brought it to me.”

  “The female?” Sacaren asked with a frown that cleared quickly. “You mean, the female. The one you are watching? She brought this to you?”

  “Yes,” he said, slightly irritated and unsure exactly why. “She said it is brownie.”

  “Brownie?” Tecan asked. “It is edible?”

  Marcun shrugged, trying to figure out why he was having these feelings towards the female. It was unfathomable that he should feel attracted to her. She was mated to a thief. Probably as guilty as he was. She was human.

  And she’d been concerned about him.

  It could all be an act. One never knew with these humans.

  “Yes. She creates food in that building of work she goes to each day.”

  “Could she know who you are? Is there a chance she poisoned it?” Sacaren asked. The other male was even more suspicious than Marcun.

  No. Yes.

  “I do not know.”

  “Here it is.” Tecan was tapping on a small hand-held device. All humans had them and they were always on them. It was ridiculous to the point of being unsafe. The other day he had seen two humans crash into each other, because they had both been staring at these small tablets. At least they had not needed the vehicle with the siren.

  “Why do you have that?”

  Tecan looked up. “It is a communicator. All humans have one.”

  “I know that. But why do you need it?” Their technology was vastly superior to these communicators. They were so big and bulky.

  “Tecan is attempting to fit in,” Sacaren explained. “To understand these humans.”

  “Why would he wish to do that?” Marcun scoffed. “They are vastly inferior to our race.”

  Sacaren nodded.

  Tecan sighed. “The two of you are so set in your ways. Marcun, you are as suspicious and as indifferent of other races as the oldest among us.”

  “Thank you,” Marcun told him.

  Tecan rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t a compliment. What if we decide to take a human mate? Do we not owe it to her to learn about her culture and customs?”

  “She will become one of us,” Sacaren proclaimed. “She will learn our customs and adapt to our needs.”

  Marcun nodded. He agreed.

  “Gods give me strength,” Tecan muttered. “Here it is. I spelled it wrong.”

  Here what was?

  “A brownie is a member of the Girl Guides Association, which is for girls aged seven to ten years old.”

  Marcun’s eyes widened as he stared at the squares of brown on the plate.

  “She cooked up a child?” Sacaren whispered.

  “No, wait. A brownie is also a rich chocolate cake cut into squares.”

  They all let out a breath, relaxing.

 
; “It is obviously a cake. Not a child,” Marcun stated.

  Sacaren nodded.

  “A brownie is also a little brown elf that does housework,” Tecan added. “I have not seen any little brown creatures around.”

  “An elf?” Marcun asked.

  “Yes, by the look of these images, they have pointed ears and wear pointed hats and pointed shoes. Very strange.”

  “Should we taste it?” Sacaren asked.

  They all stared at the brownie.

  “It’s not a child or an elf,” Marcun stated as much for himself as the others.

  “Of course not,” Tecan said. “Humans have not been cannibals for thousands of years.”

  “They were once cannibals?” Sacaren stared at him.

  Tecan nodded. “I saw it on the History Channel.”

  That was horrid.

  “If it is just food, why did the female bring it to you? Is this some sort of ritual?” Sacaren asked.

  “She said it was a welcome to the building.”

  “Why would you wish to be welcomed to a building?” Sacaren asked.

  Marcun shrugged, trying to look unconcerned. “I do not know. She probably brings it to everyone in this building.” He ground his teeth together at the thought. That would be highly unsafe, to knock on strangers’ doors. Anyone could attack her.

  “Did she say anything else?” Sacaren asked.

  He didn’t want to tell them, but he did not keep secrets from his pack mates. “She knows I’m an alien.”

  “What? How?” Tecan stared at him in alarm.

  He started pacing. The living quarters that Sacaren and Tecan had taken was much larger than his. It had three sleeping areas and huge windows where you could look out at the city’s horizon. It made him feel more at peace than the box he resided in. There was enough room to stretch his wings. “I do not know. Parts of what she said made no sense. But she must have seen the two of you as well. Because she said that she knew there were other aliens in the building.”

  “But she cannot have seen us. We only come in darkness when she is asleep,” Tecan said with confusion.

  “And we do not reside there,” Sacaren added.

  Marcun shrugged. “Perhaps she is not speaking of you. Perhaps there are other aliens around.”

  They were all silent as they pondered that.

  “I have not seen them,” Marcun stated.

  “They have probably assumed human forms,” Sacaren said.

  “Then how does she know who they are?” Tecan asked. “These humans do not have a lot of contact with other races. Many have never have seen an alien, unless they took off-planet posts in their military.”

  Marcun nodded. Humans remained in ignorance of what went on outside of their little sphere. It would make it ridiculously easy to attack them.

  If one had that in mind.

  It also made it easier to sneak under their detection systems and sneak on-planet. They needed better security systems. The only reason they had not been attacked by someone more powerful was because their planet was over-populated and under resourced.

  “Could she be talking of Zerconians? They know who they are due to all the advertisements on the television,” Tecan suggested.

  “Advertisements?” Marcun asked.

  Tecan sighed. “You really should make an effort to understand these humans. No wonder she figured out what you are. They have vids that entertain and also advertise things. There was an advertisement trying to get females to visit Zerconia. The advertisement shows Zerconia as this paradise with clean air, unpolluted water, and lots of males looking for mates. After being here it is no wonder that females wish to move there. The pollution in the air here makes my skin itch. I do not know how the people stand it.”

  “Do you think she will alert the authorities?” Sacaren asked.

  He ground his teeth together. “She did not seem alarmed.”

  Tecan shook his head. “If she was going to alert someone then she would have already. Perhaps the thought of you being an alien intrigues her. And she made you brownie. That does not seem to indicate she is afraid of you.”

  “How can she not fear him?” Sacaren asked.

  Tecan shrugged. “I know not. I have seen him make grown males cry with just one look. Is she stupid, then?”

  “Perhaps.” Sacaren nodded.

  “She is not stupid.” Marcun glared at both of them. “She is naïve, though. Twice while following her home in the dark I have had to intercede before she was attacked.” His hands twisted into fists at the memory. Where were her family? They must know how ill-equipped she was to protect herself. Why did they not intercede? And how could her mate just leave her…

  “What were her exact words?” Tecan asked.

  He sighed, and pulled back their conversation. “She asked me if I was not from around here. Then she said that she would not tell anyone I was an illegal alien and that there were others living in the building.”

  “Living in the building? Not us then, unless she believes we reside there,” Sacaren interrupted.

  “Illegal alien? How does she know you do not have permission to be here?” Tecan asked, bringing out his phone.

  “I think she overheard us. She pointed out how thin the walls are.”

  He didn’t mention her outrage over what he was paying to live in that hovel—to his mind, any credits were too much—or of her vow to come to his defense. It went against who he was to allow a female to defend him.

  Yet he couldn’t help but feel a softening in his attitude towards her.

  “Wait.” Tecan looked down at his phone. “She definitely said ‘illegal alien’?”

  “Yes.” His recall was excellent.

  “An illegal alien is a foreigner who has entered or resides in a country unlawfully or without the country’s authorization.” Tecan looked up. “She does not know you are an actual alien. She just believes you have come from another country and are here illegally.”

  “Humans cannot move between countries?” Sacaren asked.

  “Not to live, I believe.” Tecan tapped on his phone again. “Even though they now have one Earth Council, they have branches of government beneath the council, which rule each country. This country has the United States government.”

  “Like feudal lords?” Sacaren asked.

  “I guess so,” Tecan added.

  “Their guardians of the law are very strict,” Marcun told them. “I guess these feudal lords are very vicious in the enforcing of their laws.”

  All three nodded.

  “At least she does not know who you are. It is unlikely she has connected you with her mate,” Sacaren said.

  “Do you think she knows what he did?” Tecan asked.

  “Had to,” Sacaren answered. “Why else would he send her the jewel?”

  Marcun resisted the urge to defend her. “She probably does know,” he acknowledged. It was what he had firmly believed. Until he had met her. And that should change nothing. She could be acting the innocent.

  “Do you know what a pimp is?” he asked.

  Tecan tapped at his phone again. “A pimp?”

  “Yes, the female said she thought I was a pimp but then she asked if I was selling myself. I was not sure what she meant by selling myself.”

  Tecan made a funny noise. Marcun and Sacaren turned to him. His face had gone a strange blotchy red and his eyes were wide.

  “What is it?” Sacaren asked, leaping towards him. “Are you ill?”

  “A p-pimp? S-selling y-yourself?” The words stuttered from Tecan’s mouth. He had to be ill.

  “Yes. Do we need to take him to a regen chamber?” he asked Sacaren.

  Tecan pushed away Sacaren’s hand as he reached to touch him. “I’m not ill.” He stood before bursting into laughter. Great huffs of laughter filled the room.

  Marcun and Sacaren just stared at him.

  “What is wrong with him?” Sacaren asked.

  “I do not know, but if he does not be quiet I will
make him.” The threat in his voice seemed to break through Tecan’s mirth and he lowered the volume of his laughter.

  “I apologize. It is just. She thinks…she thinks you are selling yourself.”

  “That is what she said.” What was so hilarious about that?

  “For money,” Tecan added, as though that explained things.

  It did not.

  “Just spit it out.” Sacaren was obviously at the end of his patience. He had even less patience than Marcun.

  “A pimp is someone who controls prostitutes and arranges clients for them. Selling yourself is giving sex for credits. She believes you are having sex for money. Perhaps he is not in need of as much relief as we had assumed,” Tecan said to Sacaren.

  Sacaren’s eyes widened. Then a huge smile broke out on his face. “You know that if you needed credits, you only had to ask. I would have given you some of mine.”

  Marcun growled. A cold, nasty sound.

  “Why did you not tell us you had female companionship while here?” Tecan asked.

  “And that you had found an extra way of making credits?” Sacaren smiled. He didn’t smile that often and normally Marcun would be glad to see his grin. But not at his expense.

  “I will kill you,” Marcun told him.

  “It does not seem that the release is doing anything for your temper.” Sacaren rubbed his finger over the scar on his cheek. He had received the scar while defending their pack mate, Brogan. The scar was one of honor. Few creatures with access to regen chambers had scars anymore, but Sacaren had received it so long ago that even a regen chamber could not fix it. “Perhaps you are doing it wrong. If you need instruction, I can help. After all, if people are paying for your services, it is only right you give them the best.”

  Marcun leaped for Sacaren. Tecan stepped between them, grabbing hold of his arms to hold him back. Marcun knew he could break free. But not without hurting his pack mate.

  Not that Tecan was not owed some retaliation for his teasing.

  “Let me go.”

  “If you attack Sacaren you are going to alert people. Then they may investigate what the noise is. We do not need to draw attention to ourselves.”

  He pulled back with a grumble. “I was not going to attack him. Just punch him a few times.”