Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1)

by Stormy McKnight

  The solid forms that appeared were all wearing some type of armor. Golden, red, black, blue and finally purple-tinged figures were all around her. The five clans all had a stake in The Maxon, and all had men on this away mission it would seem.

  “Did I hear that voice correctly?” Dak had charged the bridge with Arik and Tae.

  Before Cali could register the shock on the males faces, the others had somehow retracted their helmets.

  Cries of “brother” were ringing around the room. Flashes of armor were moving around faster than she could keep up, and males were embracing and pounding each other on the backs.

  Cali kept her eye on the purple-tinged figure. This would be a member of Drake’s clan.

  “Drake?”

  “Varian.” Cali watched as Drake embraced then slapped the other male on the back. The other fellow did the same to him.

  “It’s so good to see you. What happened? We thought you were lost to us forever.”

  Before Drake could say anything, a few males in black armor swept up to them.

  Drake and Varian stopped their reunion to give their attention to these giants. Cali unconsciously drew closer to Drake. If the color of their armor hadn’t told her, their size, shorn black hair, and similar rugged good looks would have. These males were in the same clan as Mica.

  “Mica? I don’t see him.” Their leader’s deep voice bounced around the bridge.

  Yep, Cali thought. Definitely Mica’s clan.

  “He died with honor then?”

  Drake took mercy on them, “He hasn’t died. He refuses to leave his room for fear the female he is pursuing will find a way to lock him out.”

  “He is pursuing a female?” the lead male asked incredulously. His glowing blue eyes swept her ship as if inspecting a dung heap. “Here?”

  Cali took offense. “Yes, here. What’s wrong with that?” her eyes narrowed when the males laughed uproariously at her question.

  Taking a deep breath to let them have it, she ended up tamping down her temper when Drake took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “Take us to him,” They ordered her imperiously, and she ignored them to look at Drake.

  “We need to organize who is staying on The Reliant and who is offloading,” She stressed the last word hoping he would take the hint and get rid of all the extra males she didn’t need running around the bridge.

  “Female. I said to take us to Mica.” The leader growled and Drake’s eyes flashed.

  “You will speak with respect to my chosen.” He didn’t raise his voice, but the threat was implied in every syllable.

  “Your chosen is a female that is of this ship and the smallest of the bunch?” The imposing figure loomed over her, his eyes scanning her as if to find what the appeal was. His lips were twitching with suppressed amusement and Cali wanted to scream. She was on the rounder side but she didn’t consider herself deficient or unattractive!

  “Yes.” Drake didn’t expound on his answer. “One of The Reliant’s guard can take you to Mica.” Drake gestured toward one of the males standing by the doorway.

  Cali wasn’t sure Vareen would appreciate these giant males storming into her quarters and went to argue, but the black armored males were already striding toward the doorway. “You there. Take us to Mica.”

  The guard swallowed hard and looked to her. She nodded her head to comply and the guard hurried toward the lift instead of the hallway.

  “You never did tell me where they were.” Cali turned to Drake. “Why are they heading into the lift, Vareen’s quarters are right across from mine.”

  “They are in security. Mica appropriated the whole section for himself once we released the others.” Drake supplied with a guilty shrug.

  “Mica has Vareen in a holding cell in security?” Cali’s outraged yell had the whispered chatting on the bridge tapering. Everyone’s attention was now centered on her.

  “I think it best if everyone returns to The Maxon,” Drake spoke to Varian and Cali was in agreement. If this boarding party was only searching for Dak, Arik, and Tae, then they had who they were looking for.

  “I agree,” Cali went to return to her seat to wait for the males to clear off her ship. Drake’s arm around her waist stopped her.

  “You are included in ‘everyone’ my sweet Cali,” Drake pulled her closer to whisper in her ear. “I did warn you I was keeping you.”

  Cali felt the familiar sensation of dematerializing. It could only mean one thing. She was being teleported.

  “Wait…”

  Chapter Twenty

  Cali paced in the quarters she shared with Drake. Her anger at being teleported without permission had lessened, then grew again, then lessened. Right now she sat solidly in the middle between calm and angry.

  She hadn’t had a chance to talk with Drake about the future. Obviously, her mistake had been in thinking there would be time. She knew it meant something special to be Drake’s chosen mate, she just hadn’t taken the time to question exactly what that entailed. She would need to rectify that as well.

  She’d transported with Drake and before she knew it he’d seen her to this room. After kissing her quickly he’d left to attend a meeting. A few minutes later, her door had chimed.

  “Yes. Come in,” Cali called. She was still slightly reeling from the transport.

  Another dark haired male, in purple-tinged armor, stood in the hallway. “Drake has asked me to bring you something appropriate to wear.” He held out his hands.

  “Thank you.” Cali took the dark purple material absently.

  The male bowed and went to move away, the doors closing behind him.

  Fingering the soft material, Cali shook it out and held it up to look at it. Was it supposed to be a dress? In all of her training, it had been instilled in her to honor any culture she was exposed to. This dress would be a good challenge for her. Moving into the other room for privacy she shimmied out of her uniform. Taking the material, she pulled it over her head and tried to arrange it so everything vital was covered.

  It really was lovely once she had it on. The ties of the dress met at the back of the neck, leaving both shoulders and all of her back to the top of her ass uncovered. The front had a deep V. In her opinion if left a tad too much of cleavage showing, but she couldn’t find a way to drape it any differently. The rest of the layers floated over her curves, landing in waves to mid-calf, with slits to mid-thigh. Taking her hair out of the bun, she shook her hair out. Satisfied, Cali went barefoot back into the other room.

  “Computer,” she called. “Can you tell me the location of Chan’ Drake?”

  “Chan’ Drake is in observation room three.” The computer’s masculine voice echoed around her quarters. They certainly were patriarchal.

  “Are there any others from The Reliant onboard, besides myself?” She knew that Vareen had to be here as well, but had anyone else been taken.

  “There is only one lifeform from the spacecraft known as The Reliant on board The Maxon.”

  Cali sighed. It was just her then. Vareen hadn’t been taken by Mica. She either wasn’t interested in him, or she’d talked him into letting her stay on The Reliant for some reason.

  The door opened and Drake strode in.

  “Cali.”

  She jumped out of her seat, “Drake, you have to take me back.”

  He stopped short, his expression eating up her body in the dress. His eyes flashed and Cali recognized the heated look.

  “I can’t, even if I wanted to.” His voice was thick.

  “I need to warn Nellia and Vareen of Diandra’s allegiance to my mother. I—”

  “Cali, I spoke with Vareen before The Maxon left for Titus. Your friend said she is fine with taking over as captain and will make sure The Reliant makes it to Cestori. I assured her, and Mica for that matter, that we would be no longer than a week behind them. I’ll stand by you as you face your mother and to right any wrongs, I promise. There are a few things I need to fix on Titus first, though
.” Drake towered over her, his eyes a glowing blue. “I’ve been missing for ten months, Cali. My family—”

  Cali gasped and drew her arms around Drake’s waist. “You were in stasis for that long?” Cali was stunned. She knew there was the possibility he had been missing for a long time. To hear him say it, with such pain in his voice was her undoing. Where her mother would be furious at losing her as a pawn, Drake’s family had been mourning, thinking he was dead. Seven days wouldn’t be too long a gap to get to Cestori.

  Drake drew himself back to look into her eyes. “Cali, I know we haven’t had a chance to talk about what a chosen mate means. Just know this one thing. As my chosen mate I want you by my side, forever. Where your partnerships could be dissolved if either person desired, a mating on Titus is forever. If I were to be kept from you, for any reason, I think I would go mad.”

  Well, that put matters into perspective. Drake wanted her to be his forever.

  “I didn’t know that’s how it worked for you.” Cali drew a ragged breath. “I don’t want to be parted from you Drake, but—”

  “Ahem. I don’t mean to break this up, but we’re ready to resume the meeting.”

  “Cali, this is my brother. Chan’ Varian,” He swept her up to the other male, “This is Calinae Edal.”

  Cali held out her hand, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  Ignoring her hand Drake’s brother swept her into a bone-cracking hug and then returned her to her feet. Kissing both cheeks, he said. “It’s nice to meet you.”[FC1]

  Drake pulled her away. “I’ll be right there. I just wanted to update Cali on what’s happening.” Turning to her as he strode to the door he said, “We’ll talk later. I shouldn’t be too much longer. Thank you for understanding.”

  The door closed behind him.

  *****

  “We’re ready to teleport.” Chan’ Varian was talking to Drake. “Dak, Arik, and Tae have already left. You know how fast word travels. If you want to get ahead of the gossip, we better get moving. It should just now be reported that The Maxon is in orbit, we’ve kept radio silent so the surprise would have more impact.” His brown eyes danced with mischief.

  Cali glanced around Drake to look at Chan’ Varian from his place in the doorway.

  “We can transport from here. Directly into the dining room will suffice.” Drake ordered the other male.

  “Suffice to give mother a heart attack,” Varian laughed.

  Something hit Cali and she yelled, “Wait a minute. When you said—”

  She hadn’t protested soon enough because she felt the familiar sensation of teleporting once again.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The room they materialized into was very large. Directly in front of her was a massive table in the middle of the floor, with cushioned chairs all around it. There were chairs and couches placed along the edges of the room for additional seating. The light was flowing in from large windows placed at the top of the wall, as well as through large doors in three of the four walls. The covers on the doors were floating with a breeze, that Cali was happy to say had a nice earthy smell to it. On the fourth wall was a large fireplace, with an intricate mantelpiece.

  The room was currently empty, but Cali heard a feminine voice coming from somewhere outside the room.

  “Varian, what’s this I’m hearing about The Maxon returning? The telecommunication unit is going crazy. I haven’t answered because frankly it’s all idle gossip if you ask me. Also, you know how your father feels about teleporting directly into the house. It better be important for you to break protocol.”

  A woman in a purple dress that matched the one Cali was wearing came into view from an archway on the end of the wall on the left. The only difference between them was the fact that this woman was tall, slim, and fit, where Cali was curvy and…plush.

  “I’ve made extra food if you want to stay for—” her voice died suddenly when she got a good look at the three of them standing in the middle of the room. “Drake?!”

  “Hello, Mother.”

  With a flash of purple, the woman made it to Drake. It seemed their women had the same special abilities too. That wasn’t something Cali had expected. The woman embracing Drake was beautiful. Cali might be gnashing her teeth in jealousy if Drake hadn’t said this was his mother. She had the same dark hair pulled off her shoulders in a ponytail. She had laugh lines at her eyes and mouth. She was very tall, at least to Cali and held herself with a regal authority.

  “By the moons, I can’t believe it.” His mother stepped back to get a good look at him.

  A sudden commotion drew everyone’s attention. The doors behind them swung wide and Cali caught a glimpse of some type of driveway before they closed again.

  Another flash of purple and another female was in Drake’s arms. This one so exceptionally pretty Cali did gnash her teeth.

  “I just heard.”

  “Nevir!” Drake held the woman tightly and Cali’s unease grew. Who was she? The newcomer was young, with luxurious black hair. Her face was porcelain smooth, with no scars or blemishes. Her blue eyes were losing their electric blue tinge and returned to a color similar to Drakes. Like Drake’s mother, this female was tall and slim, wearing the same purple dress. This time, Cali did notice that both women were wearing some type of sandals, where her feet were bare. She spared a moment to worry about breaking some protocol, then decided to let it go. Drake wouldn’t have left her barefoot if it was insulting to his mother.

  Pulling away from the woman named Nevir, Drake turned to her.

  “I want you to meet Cali.” He pulled her into his arms and both women gazed at her intently. “Cali this is my mother, Chan’ Essdey.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Cali held out her hand. Drake’s mother reluctantly held out hers. Cali grabbed it and shook gently, “Your home, from what I see of it, is very lovely.”

  Cali had learned in Cultural Classes at the Academy that complimenting an alien host on their domicile was the first thing you should do.

  “Thank you, Cali,” Drake’s mother smiled faintly. “It’s nice to meet you as well. Please call me Essdey.”

  “Cali, this is Nevir.” Drake motioned toward the younger woman.

  “Nevir,” Cali held out her hand again, this time, the younger woman took it immediately. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Cali,” The younger woman smiled warmly, “That’s a beautiful name.”

  “Thank you. It’s short for—”

  “Cali and I would like to wait for father to arrive before going into any further details.” Drake interrupted her.

  “He should be home soon,” Nevir offered. “Everyone is talking about it.”

  “Talking about what?” Essdey asked, her confusion clear. “I turned off the telecom unit. It wouldn’t stop ringing.”

  “The reason for The Maxon coming back so soon,” Varian hurried to get Essdey up to speed. “Not only did they find Drake, but Mica, Tae, Arik and Dak as well.”

  “All of them?” his mother gasped. “The clans have a reason to celebrate then. Five of their sons have been returned to them.”

  “Drake!?” A male voice boomed from the doorway.

  All eyes swung that direction, and a male who had to be Drake’s father stood there. He was wearing the same purple shirt, black pants and boots as every male of the Renari clan she had seen. The difference in Drake’s father was the air of authority he carried. His hair had silvered at the temples and his eyes and mouth held small lines, but he was still an imposing figure.

  “Father,” Drake bowed slightly and then the male moved and grabbed him into what appeared to be a crushing hug.

  “Virrel,” Essdey was speaking to Drake’s father so Cali surmised that must be his name. “I will order cook to add some festive touches to dinner tonight. Everyone must stay to eat. I suspect Nallan and Lathan will be here soon.” Drake’s mother was far more composed than Cali would have believed possible. Except for the sign of emotion in darkening of her ele
ctric blue eyes, she held herself together well. Moving with impossible grace she left the room by the same arch she had entered.

  “We need to hear what happened,” Drake’s father released him, and turned to eye her speculatively.

  “Yes. I’ll tell you everything,’ Drake insisted. “I would prefer to sit down for the telling. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to wait for mother to get back. That way we only have to explain it once.”

  “As you prefer,” His father gestured to the seating in front of the fireplace.

  Drake took her arm and led her to a couch that would hold two occupants. Gesturing for her to take a seat, she did as he asked and he sat next to her. The heat of his thigh was burning against her leg, a soothing reminder of their connection.

  “Cali?”

  “Yes?” she drew her gaze from where their legs touched to see Drake’s mother offering her a glass.

  “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Yes, please.” Cali took a glass and saw that there were small tables at the end of her and Drake’s couch to place them on when not drinking. “Thank you.”

  Taking a sip, her mouth started watering and her lips puckered against her will. The drink was semi-sweet but very sour. Taking another sip, the effect lessened and Cali had to admit it was refreshing.

  “Do you like it?” Essdey was seated across from her in a chair next to Drake’s father, Virrel.

  “Yes, it was sour at first, but very refreshing now that I’ve gotten used to it.” Cali didn’t believe in lying and was honest about the taste.

  “Some clans drink it straight. I find that to be too sour, so add a touch of sweet nectar.”

  “I’m grateful that you did,” Cali laughed and Drake’s mother joined her.

  “I don’t mean to be rude,” Virrel had run out of patience for small talk. “Can someone explain what’s going on, what happened to you, and just who exactly our lovely guest is?”