by Wells, Juno
“I feel that you’re my mate,” he said, as though it was obvious. When Hannah turned back to the window, he realized he’d been too vague. Did humans not have these feelings at all? Was it impossible for her to mate? “I can feel that you’re the woman I’m meant to love for the rest of my life.”
“You met me five minutes ago.”
“The goddesses work quickly.”
“Goddesses?”
“They’re the deities that watch over our planet.” He was beginning to realize how much there was going to be to explain to their human guests. He would have to give her the history books they used to teach their children. The thought of giving her a gift, of seeing her smile, made his blood run hot.
“You know them? They’re physical beings?” she asked, turning her head to the side again.
“No. They departed the physical realm thousands of years ago, but records exist of their physical forms. They’re the founders of the planet, the original Vaherians.”
“But they’re just women?”
“Yes. They came to Vaher and found on the planet a species of all-male animals that lived here. They were dying, just like we are now. The goddesses faced the same problem. They merged the two species, creating the first Vaherians, and allowed them to mate. It’s why there are always more men than women on the planet, and why one woman is always the mate to many men. It goes back to our origins.”
Hannah turned completely, “There is always one woman to many men?”
“Yes. Is it not like that on Earth?”
“Sometimes it is. Normally it’s one man and one woman.” She waved a hand. “But this mating thing, you really believe it?”
Veiko snorted. “It’s not something you believe. It’s something you feel.” His derisive voice riled Aavik. They’d been having a nice conversation, he’d convinced Hannah to turn around. She didn’t look angry.
“So you think the goddesses will make me feel it too?”
“Yes,” Aavik said at the same time as Veiko denied, “No.”
Hannah ran her hands over her face. “This is too much.”
“There’s plenty of time to understand our culture,” Aavik said.
Hannah scowled. “Let’s hope not.”
“But for now we could show you around,” Wraxic suggested. It was the first time he’d spoken in a while. He’d been stood with his arms crossed, face impassive. Aavik knew he’d been just as excited about finding a mate as he had.
They shared that disappointment when they looked at each other now.
Hannah turned back to the window, and Aavik thought they’d lost her. “It does look very beautiful outside,” she said. They were in the king’s palace, and it sat on the shore to one of the few bodies of water on Vaher. Navy waves lapped an emerald shore.
“And I am in space,” she said, standing on her tiptoes and craning her neck to get a better view. “Holy shit, I cannot believe I’m in space.” She said this under her breath. Aavik felt jealous of the planet, that it inspired awe he couldn’t.
“Let’s go then!” Wraxic said, brightening.
Hannah turned away from the window and beamed too. “Let’s do it.”
9 Hannah
Aavik’s assurance that they weren’t going to do anything she didn’t want made her feel better, and she finally gave into the excitement that coursed through her body.
Another planet. She was on another planet! And being treated as a guest of honor. She was about to get a guided tour by, as she’d found out as they started walking around, the king’s personal guard.
It was all a strange mix of archaic and futuristic. They still carried weapons like swords but used AI to let them speak every language in the universe. They could teleport, but they had absolute monarchs and all believed strictly in religion and goddesses.
The part of her that loved information soaked it all in. It was a small part of her personality that remained after having the part that just wanted to join the CIA shattered.
Small steps at a time. Finding out about her home for the foreseeable future was a good first step.
And they were falling over each other—at least Aavik and Wraxic were—to tell her about everything they came across.
Veiko walked stoically behind them, not saying a word.
Hannah was still endeared to him the most, even if he actively hated her. He was her best chance of getting home.
“It's like a labyrinth in here,” she said as they walked, trying and failing to memorize the route they’d taken. That was probably something she’d have been taught if she’d really joined the agency.
“You’ll get used to it,” Wraxic said. “We can go walking around often. Do bits at a time. It’ll all build up to be a big map eventually.”
“Who guards the king while you’re here showing me around?”
“There is a second guard that are with him now,” Aavik explained. “Our position as his personal guard is more about status than anything. There isn’t much real threat on Vaher. We’re a peaceful planet.”
“You get all your anger out in the arena?”
“Exactly,” Aavik agreed.
“And I’ll be living in the palace?”
“Yes, that’s our room,” Wraxic said. “We’ve always lived in the palace.”
“Our room,” Hannah echoed limply. Our bed, she repeated in her head. “Is that a… necessary arrangement?”
“Yes,” Veiko said, voice flat. She was most reassured that he was the one saying it—she didn’t think he was holding an ulterior motive to get her into bed, even if it was just to sleep. “The appearance needs to be that this process is working. If we’re not staying in the same room, rumors will spread.”
“I see.” She supposed it made sense. “Can we go outside? I’d like to see more of the planet.” The palace was nice, but it was all made up in the same style. It was like the castles she’d visited in Europe. They were so gorgeous, but the kind of place you could look at and not touch. Not very homey.
“There are safety concerns with taking you outside the walls of the palace this early,” Veiko dismissed. “And… image concerns.”
“And if I promise not to shout at you?”
“Still safety concerns.”
“What if we go somewhere quiet? I’m on this new planet with all this crazy technology and I just want to see some of it.”
Aavik and Wraxic took no persuading. “I know where we can go,” Aavik said. “It’ll be quiet.”
“No,” Veiko said.
Wraxic slipped her a piece of the same squidgy material that Jukk had used to transport her. His fingers brushed her hand and she got goosebumps again.
Their description of finding their mate as feeling it made her self-conscious about touching them. Was she really feeling that tingle up her spine, that slight flush of her cheeks, or was she just paranoid?
Wraxic gave a small nod to Aavik that Veiko didn’t miss.
“Don’t even think about—” he began, reaching out to snatch Aavik’s arm, but then the palace had disappeared from around Hannah.
All four of them made it to the same location.
Hannah ignored their bickering, overcome by her surroundings. It was a waterfall. The same navy water she’d seen from her window cascaded over a rocky outcrop and down into a small pool that drained away in a winding stream. It was such dark water but when she approached the edge, it was surprisingly clear. She could see things swimming, though they didn’t look like fish. They were long thin things that looked more like stick insects that something you’d find underwater.
The pool was surrounded by a small clearing. A forest of trees so big she couldn't see the top of them surrounded them, but they’d parted here for a small meadow of yellow grass. It should have looked like the dead grass on Earth with the color, but the strands were danced lively in the breeze and nothing about them looked dead.
Especially not the adorable little creatures that were rolling around in it. She squatted down, nervous that th
ey would bite her, or be more dangerous than they looked, but she didn’t think Aavik and Wraxic would have brought her somewhere dangerous.
They were little furballs in every color under the sun. They had small legs that didn’t look like they should be able to hold the fat, fluffy bodies that sat on them. She couldn’t see any arms. They had antennas with fur on the end in a little clump that looked like a pom-pom.
She reached out her hand to a small green one near to her, wary to touch it but eager to know if the fur was just as cozy as it looked.
The little creature nuzzled against her hand like a cat, and her heart flipped. She beamed at the small thing and ran her fingers through its fuzz.
At the contact, the others looked in her direction. Her grin got bigger when several gave up on standing on their legs and rolled toward her. She stroked them all, sitting down properly and crossing her legs.
They bashed into each other, fighting to be stroked.
“Okay, one at a time,” she said, scrunching the top of furry head after furry head.
“I thought you might like to see some of the wildlife,” Aavik said, lowering himself to his knees close beside her. She didn’t flinch away like she thought she would. “I guess it’s different to on Earth.” His large fingers buried one of the fluff balls as he petted it.
“What are they called?” she asked.
“Eeli,” Wraxic said, sitting on her other side and picking an eeli up and letting it roll around his huge palm. “They’re pretty stupid creatures, really, but they’re cute.”
An eeli was rubbing against her ankles, as if trying to climb her, but it had no arms to help it along. “They’re adorable.”
Veiko stood with his arms crossed, scowling at the eeli that was rubbing itself against his boot. He picked it up, as though he planned to throw it into the pond, but when it was in his hand he couldn’t resist petting it with a large finger. It purred.
Hannah bit the inside of her cheek, trying to hold in a smile and failing. The huge, angry man liked a cute animal just as much as everyone else.
“You can have one if you want,” Wraxic suggested. “Take it back to the palace. I’m sure no one would mind. They’re docile enough.”
She shook her head, moving her fingers to an eeli that was rose red and patting its head. “I wouldn’t want to take it away from where it’s happy. I’m glad you brought me here, though.” She smiled at him, and at Aavik.
“It’s a nice spot,” Aavik agreed. “I used to come here as a kid. My mom liked it here.”
Hannah couldn’t look at him. “I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to have people just vanish like that.”
“Actually my mom died before that, but I lost my sisters when people disappeared.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Her lip quirked. “I know. But, you know. Saying that you feel sympathy for someone makes a lot of people have a knee jerk reaction that they don’t want to be felt sorry for.”
“I’m glad that you can feel sorry for me,” Aavik said.
His words only made her feel guilty though. Aavik so obviously wanted more from her— had expected something more from her— and she couldn’t give it.
“What is day-to-day going to look like here?” she asked, wanting to get onto something more impersonal.
“It can look however you want it to,” Wraxic said.
“No it can’t,” Vaher contradicted. It was hard to take his angry tone too seriously when he held the small eeli so tenderly in his hand. “We have duties with the king. You will have to stay in the palace.”
“But… I’ll be safe in the palace?” She hadn’t quite grasped the security situation on the planet yet. She suspected it had something to do with the same distrust of her that Veiko obviously held. There would be more Vaherians who didn’t want her on their planet.
“Of course,” Wraxic answered enthusiastically. “It’s the most well-guarded place on the planet. You’ll be perfectly safe.”
“But it would be best to stay in your room anyway,” Veiko said.
“Our room,” Aavik corrected under his breath.
She struggled not to stiffen at the reminder. She was already fighting tiredness, not wanting to address the obvious issue of the bed yet.
Veiko scowled at him. Hannah didn’t know if their hostility toward each other was purely because of her, or if there had already been some disagreement between them.
He put down the eeli and looked at the setting sun. “We should get back to the palace soon. It’s going to get cold.”
“Can we watch the sunset?” she asked.
He sighed. “Fine.”
“I guess I don’t know if they’re as pretty on Vaher as they are on Earth,” she said, turning to the side and realizing the trees were going to completely block her view. “Oh.”
“We can watch from the palace,” Wraxic suggested.
It was the perfect middle ground, and Veiko nodded. “Good idea.” It was probably the first positive thing he’d said.
Wraxic held his hand out, but there wasn’t the piece of squidgy material in it that she normally used to teleport. It was empty. “You can just touch me and it’ll transport you, too,” he said.
She swallowed her protest that she’d just take the other thing. It seemed petty. Instead she put a tentative hand in Wraxic and fought a blush at the sudden heat that rushed through her. She wanted to lean closer, to feel more than just his hand. She would have felt content pressed against his chest, she knew it deep inside. All these worries whirring around her head would disappear.
It wasn’t there. It couldn’t be there.
Everything they’d said about mating, it was reserved for Vaherians. The goddesses were just a myth and they had no input on who was fucking who.
The placebo effect was just really intense, that was all.
10 Wraxic
Wraxic fought his urges. He’d never had to fight his urges before. When he was angry, he went to the training room and beat a dummy until he wasn’t angry anymore. When he was hungry, he ate. When he was horny, he jerked off until he was satiated.
But this wasn’t the same as just being horny. This was being turned on for Hannah. Only for Hannah. It wasn’t just that he wanted to get himself off. He wanted to touch her everywhere, to feel her lips on his skin, to hear her moaning his name.
Aavik had been right. The goddesses had definitely blessed them. Hannah was his mate, he was absolutely certain of it.
He looked at Veiko, who stood at the edge of the palace’s roof without looking at any of them. Did he really feel nothing at all? He had tried to throw the tournament, maybe this was his punishment for it.
Or maybe he was being stubborn. Wraxic wouldn’t put it past him. He’d been against making contact with Earth since the very beginning.
Wraxic shuffled slightly so he was closer to Hannah. She was leaning on the fence that surrounding the roof of the palace, hands clasped together and chin leaning against it. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, to rest his chin on her head. She would have melted into him, and he would be complete.
Even that slightest movement made her look at him, and he couldn’t read the look on her face.
When he saw longing he didn’t know if he imagined it.
“You’re missing the sunset,” Veiko snapped.
Hannah flushed and looked away. Wraxic glared at Veiko.
Veiko just lifted a shoulder.
Jealousy, or irritation that she might end up thinking she wanted to stay?
The sunset was beautiful. It wasn’t something he’d ever really thought about, but as the yellow sun disappeared behind dark clouds it made the sky light up in colors he hadn’t seen it before.
Aavik shared a look with him. He must be thinking the same thing.
They really were being blessed, he was certain of it. This was a turning point for Vaher. This was when things started to rebuild after a year of pain and mourning.
Wraxic sighed. The sun disappeared completely, and the chill of the night swept over them.
“Let’s go back inside,” Veiko said. “You’ll die of cold up here.”
Absently, Hannah nodded.
Wraxic’s mood perked up again. Back to their room, where they would be sleeping in their bed.
He offered a hand to Hannah and she hesitated long enough for Veiko to rest a hand on her shoulder and teleport them.
Veiko removed his hand the second they were back in their room. Hannah stared at the bed with a scrunched-up face.
Veiko began removing the weapons from his belt.
“We can’t all sleep in there,” Hannah said.
“Why?” Wraxic asked.
“Because it’s so… intimate, I guess— oh my God, what the fuck are you doing?” she demanded, looking at Veiko aghast as he pulled his pants down so he was completely naked.
“Getting ready for bed,” he said, straight-faced.
Wraxic held back a smile as Hannah threw her hands up. He didn’t miss how her gaze kept flicking back to Veiko’s cock before moving away again quickly.
“Well we definitely can’t sleep in there together if you’re going to sleep like that!” she said, voice shrill.
Veiko, unfazed, went to the bed and pulled the comforter back, slipping beneath it. He fluffed one of the pillows. “Then sleep on the couch,” he deadpanned.
She scowled at him, opened her mouth, then shut it again. “Fine. I will.”
Wraxic and Aavik looked at each other. “You’ll get too cold,” Wraxic said.
“Just sleep in the bed,” Aavik replied. “We’ll take the couch.”
“I’m not sleeping on the couch,” Veiko said.
“At least give her the blanket,” Aavik hissed, folding his arms. “Stop being such a stubborn bastard about all this.”