by Maia Starr
There were cheers all around. I looked at Vanessa. I was very proud of her. I was proud that she was mine as well. We had decided to keep the blackness a secret for now. It would not do well to tell the humans that we were sick. We did not want them to think that they could get it from us. So my army had promised to keep it a secret. None of them were infected as of yet anyway. But if they did, we knew the cure. It would take some secret love connecting on our part, but it would be a better way of going about the solution. Judging from the human females that I met, many of them were eager to take on the task anyway.
There were two phases of this plan of occupying Haven Brook. But we thought it best to only tell them this first phase for now. The second phase would be happening in six months. But we weren't going to tell anyone until a month before. For now, we were going to concentrate on mixing our two races in peace and harmony.
I stepped off of the stage next to Vanessa. All were in celebration.
“Well, you've really done it now, haven't you? You have all these people fooled. I know what you're up to,” I heard a voice say. Dr. Bradley Douglas was beside me.
“I thought you died in the fight,” I said annoyed with him.
“Of course you would want that. I am surprised that you did not have one of your soldiers kill me and make it look like a cyborg incident,” he said.
“I would not waste the energy of any of my soldiers for that. Now go bother someone else,” I said. I began to move away from him. He grabbed my arm to stop me. I turned to him and growled. He stepped back in fear. I wasn't going to let him bully me or Vanessa anymore. Then I heard a little trickle.
“Oh my God,” I heard Vanessa say. I looked at her, and she was looking at his crotch. I looked. The man was pissing all over himself. I roared with laughter. I could not help myself. He ran off in the other direction. People were pointing at him as he did so.
“Well, that is very embarrassing for him,” I said
“He deserves it. Trust me,” Vanessa said.
“Maybe we should work on building you your own lab far away from the other one so that you don't have to work with him. This town could use more than one,” I said.
“You would do that for me?” she said smiling a big smile.
“Absolutely. I would do anything for you,” I said, pulling her to me. She gasped and looked around.
“Maybe we shouldn't do this in public,” she said.
“I think now is the perfect time to let everyone know that I love you,” I said as I pulled her to me and placed a kiss on her mouth. She kissed me back. Suddenly I could hear whispers around us. Some people were approving others were disapproving, as it always was. People were always divided. But that was the way of things. If everyone was the same, it would be a boring Earth. I liked it just the way it was.
Her arms went up around my neck, and I knew that she was accepting this new position as the human female lover of a Veruka king. I was glad. I wanted her to be comfortable. I wanted everyone to know that it was all right to be with a Veruka. This was going to open the doors for many happy encounters between humans and the Veruka and save so many lives.
A month later, Vanessa had successfully replicated the virus. We had stored it on many jump drives. We now had a new mission: to spread the word about this to as many human camps as we could. We knew it was possible that the Clenok cyborgs would eventually learn to not be affected by this virus. So we needed to act fast. I knew exactly what I needed to do.
“Azlo, Jex, I leave this in your hands. Each of you will go separate ways with a group of soldiers. You will take a couple of humans with you. The brave that have volunteered to go. You must watch after them. They are the key to getting inside these camps. As you know, it is hard when we show up alone. But if we show up with humans to explain, more humans would be likely to listen to what we had to say. You have a mission to take this virus to as many camps as you can. We trust you with this mission, and I know that you will make me proud. You are my most trusted confidant,” I said to them as we sat around a table.
“I will not let you down, my king. I am excited to go on this adventure,” Azlo said.
“As am I,” Jex said.
“Good. Then you shall be on your way in a week. You will be given coordinates of the human camps that Haven Brook knows of. That should be helpful to you. But it is a very dangerous mission. You should fly the ship as high as possible in the atmosphere until you reach your destination. It is the best way,” I said.
“I will start preparations as soon as we are dismissed,” Azlo said.
“In that case, you are dismissed,” I said.
They both left the table and went to work. I was excited that they would be going on their own journeys. I knew they would be a success. They always were when they journeyed across galaxies for me. This would be no different. They would show the humans how to use the virus. But it was another matter altogether if they would be able to upload it. We knew that it was a tricky situation altogether. Vanessa was key to doing it because she had already been hooked up to the keddle. Maybe humans in other parts of the Earth had the same experience that she did. But if they did, would they be brave enough to do what she did? Only time would tell.
After my meeting with my soldiers, I went to meet with Vanessa. We had come up with plans of our own. Time was passing quickly now that I was with her. I was in a state of extreme happiness almost every morning. I had the great privilege of being able to mate with her. She had allowed me to claim her as my own. It was exactly what I needed.
But we had plans, and they were secret plans kept from the humans. I had only told Azlo and Jex. No one else would know until one month before we were putting it into action. The plan was that I was to go back to Tivoso. Vanessa would be joining me on the journey. I was going to leave my army in Haven Brook with the exception of a small squad of soldiers that would travel with me. It was essential. The king was never to travel alone. One never knew what kind of violence you would find in space on a journey across the galaxies.
We were going to invite a couple of human females along. It was their choice to go. But we did hope that we could find a few human females that would eventually allow a Veruka weredragon to claim them. Specifically, those that were infected with the blackness on my home planet. It was the best that we could do for now. But it was also the reason I had Azlo and Jex seeking out the other human colonies. Perhaps in exchange for defending them and sharing the virus, more human females would want to allow the claiming of a Veruka.
So Vanessa and I were preparing for a journey back to my planet. We were only going to stay on Tivoso for six months. We were going to rally more of my army and bring them back to Earth. Especially those that were sick with the blackness. They would have a better chance of claiming a human female on Earth. Vanessa was eager to go. She had never been in space, and she wanted to see my planet. I wanted her to see it. I wanted her to know my kingdom. I was very excited about all of it. Time was going by quickly. But there was one thing that we absolutely had to do before we left Earth. But I had to ask her first.
Chapter 23
Dr. Vanessa Lopez
I was very excited when Karik told me his plans to return to his planet. He wanted me to go with him. I, of course, said yes immediately. It wasn’t every day you got invited on a space adventure. I could not wait to see what space looked like and also to see his planet.
The months were passing quickly, and Azlo and Jex had left us to spread news of the virus that I had created. I really hope that it helped to bring down some keddle across the Earth. Eventually, the machines would figure it out, but right now it would let us get ahead. Especially because Karik planned to return to Earth with a bigger army. The prospect of getting our planet back from the Clenok cyborgs was very exciting.
I walked into my lab. It was my very own lab. Karik had his engineers build it for me. It only took them a week with their advanced technology. I was very excited to not to be sharing my lab with Dr. Bradley
Douglas. I hardly saw him anymore after the incident that we had. He stayed out of my way. I was spending time with a student teaching her everything that I knew. Of course, I knew it was because I would be gone for about seven to eight months and I would need someone filling in for me while I was gone. But she did not know this. I did not want to make her nervous.
“How is your day going?” I heard a familiar voice.
“It is going well. I am very happy. The lab is beautiful,” I said to Karik. He came up to me and gave me a kiss and put his arms around me. I kissed him back. I was happy to be in his arms every time it happened.
“I was wondering if you have time for a break. If not now, then maybe in a couple of hours?” he said.
“I can take a break now,” I said smiling at him.
“Terrific,” he said.” Come with me outside.”
I looked at him suspiciously. What was he up to? I followed him outside and locked the lab. He stepped away from me and shifted into dragon form. I would never get tired of watching him do it. It was fascinating. It was sexy.
Then he scooped me up into his arms. I squealed with joy. He took off into the air and flew around the village. There were other weredragons flying around. This had become the normal sight in the village ever since the battle. The humans were embracing the weredragons now that they had proven they were essential at protecting the wall. The humans showed great gratitude and almost everyone was fascinated by our new allies. They loved watching the weredragons shift. They loved watching them fly around the sky. I didn't blame them. I was just as fascinated. But we had also been a village that was very bored for a long time living in a place where we were just surviving and not really living. The Veruka brought new life. It was like a whole new village. And a military installation was built in a field inside the walls. There was a lot going on.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I hope it is someplace that you will like very much. It is outside the walls,” he said.
I looked at him shocked.
“Don't worry. I have scouts posted in every direction. They will notify me if there is any activity at all in the way of Clenok cyborgs.”
“All right. I will go,” I said feeling scared but also excited to leave the perimeter walls.
“It is only a few miles outside the wall, and with my speed, we will be there in less than five minutes,” he said.
“Then full speed ahead,” I said.
He laughed. Then he took off very fast. I couldn't see anything passing us by. It was just a blur. It was so fast that the wind was actually harsh on my face. I tucked my face into his chest. I enjoyed being there. It was an excuse to be close to him.
Then he slowed down. What I saw took my breath away. It was a beautiful lake. I had heard about it before. I had heard that people had ventured outside the walls every now and then during the summer to go swimming, but I always thought it was a myth. Now that I was seeing it, I was captivated. The water was crystal clear. There was a gray cliff on one side. The sun was beating down on the banks of the lake begging anyone to jump in. Karik landed next to it and put me down on my feet.
“This is beautiful. I love it,” I said.
“I thought we could take a dip and cool off,” he said.
“I do not have a swimsuit. I have not had one in years,” I said.
“Swimsuit? You mean a suit for swimming?” he asked confused.
“Yes. That is exactly what it is. Though it is a lot less material than an entire suit,” I said laughing at him.
“We do not have such things on Tivoso. We swim completely naked. It is how it should be,” he said taking off his boots. I realized then that he wanted to skinny-dip with me. I was open to that. I took off my clothes while he did the same. Then we stood there naked. He put his arms around me and kissed me. I kissed him back. Then we stepped toward the water. He took my hand and together, we walked into the shallow water. It was cool and refreshing on my skin.
“This is wonderful,” I said.
“I thought you might like it,” he said. Then he dove into the water. I dove after him. We swim around all afternoon. We played in the water. We laid down on the sandy bank soaking in the sun. It was a wonderful day. It reminded me of being on the beach before the Clenok cyborgs invaded.
I felt very happy. My body felt calm, and I felt good. I didn't think that it could get any better. But then it did.
I heard some commotion. I looked up to see Karik fumbling with his belt. He opened a small compartment.
“What is it? Did something come over the radio?” I said scanning the horizon. I felt a little panicked. We were still outside of the walls, and even though scouts had not reported Clenok cyborgs, they could easily sneak up on you. Especially if it was not a full army and just a band of Clenok cyborgs.
“No. Everything is great,” he said. He came to lay down next to me once more. He put his hand on my chest, rubbing up and down from my belly up to my breasts.
“That feels wonderful,” I said leaning back into the sand feeling relaxed once more.
“Do you know when else would feel wonderful?” he asked.
“What?”
“If you would be my queen,” he said as he lifted a ring with an emerald to my eyes. I was frozen. Had he just asked me to marry him?
“Do you mean…”
“I want you to be my wife. Will you have me as your lifelong mate, Vanessa? Will you allow me to claim you? Will you be my one and only forever? Will you marry me?” he said with a big smile.
“Yes. Yes, I will marry you,” I said as I sat up and give him a big hug. He slid the ring on my finger.
“It is beautiful. I can't believe this. I was not expecting this at all,” I said.
“I know. That is why I did it out here. I wanted to be somewhere special. In this beautiful place,” he said.
“Well, it worked. This is a perfect proposal. We are lying here naked in the sun. There is nothing more perfect than that,” I said.
“You make me happy. I am happy that you said yes. You are going to be queen of a planet. I hope you know that it is a big responsibility. I am not trying to frighten you; I am just being honest,” he said.
“I understand. I think I am up for the challenge,” I said with a wink.
“Yes, I have no doubt in your abilities. You are the smartest and most courageous human female I have ever met. I love you so much,” he said.
“And I love you,” I said. He leaned down and kissed me. His hard body rolled on top of mine. I opened my thighs, letting him rest between them. We made love for an hour in the sun on the sand. It was a perfect day. I had been very happy, and it was only getting better and better.
Two days later, the news of my engagement to an alien weredragon had spread throughout the village. I had many human females asking me so many questions. I did not want to give them too much information, but I did make it very enticing to be in a relationship with a Veruka weredragon.
I finally had time to go to my lab. As I unlocked the door, I heard a familiar voice that I was not expecting to hear. It brought chills down my spine.
“I guess I should be congratulating you,” Dr. Bradley Douglas said. I turned around to face him.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I am very happy,” I said.
“Yes, I bet you are,” he said.
I rolled my eyes at him and turned it back to the door.
“In fact, I know exactly why you were very happy. I know a lot more than you think,” he said.
I turned back to him. I did not like the sound of this. “What do you mean by that?”
“I will tell you. But I am not going to tell you here. Meet me at my house in an hour, and I will show you the evidence,” he said.
“No. Leave me alone,” I said.
“You will, or I will tell everyone about the DNA,” he said.
My mouth fell open. How did he know? I was suddenly frightened.
“Yes, that is what I thought. And don't go running t
o your fiancé. That will only make things worse. Meet me in an hour and come alone,” he said.
He walked away. I opened the door to my lab and walked inside. I locked the door. I went to go find my old notebooks. I looked for the test results that I had run on Karik, as well as my results. I found them. I had the hardcopies. Did he really know what he was talking about or was he bluffing? Maybe he heard Azlo or Jex talking about it at some point. I didn't know what to think of it. I knew I should find Karik and tell him. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that if I showed up with Karik, it would only make Dr. Bradley Douglas angrier. He wouldn't tell me then what he knew. No, I needed to find out exactly what he knew and then take action afterward.
One hour later, I was knocking on his door. He opened the door with a smug look on his face. I wanted to slap it off of him.