by Belle Harper
“I will get you some water, maybe that will help you.” I spoke to myself, as he couldn’t hear me in this state. But I felt guilty now. Something I didn’t want to feel when I attacked the M’Mori. I needed to keep the right frame of mind when it came to kill them.
I looked around the area and found no water, I didn’t want to stray too far from him. I didn’t know this planet and I wasn’t sure where I was, only that in one direction were the M’Mori and in the other… Elle.
My heart sank, Elle had been so good to me. The kiss we’d shared was electric and I knew I wanted to be her mate. Even though we would not be fated, I still wished to share my heart with her. She was everything I didn’t know I needed in life. She was my warrior. And here I was, being hers. Only now I on what K’Tem had been saying. I wasn’t being the warrior she deserved. A dead warrior was no good to anyone.
I sat beside the male, I couldn’t leave him unprotected. He was from Clan Wolf. The other males in the woods might see him as a threat and kill him while he laid here. I couldn’t let that happen to him. I knew I wouldn’t forgive myself if I did, and Elle would never forgive me either.
Night had fallen, I had seen the spacecraft leave hours ago, my chance at revenge now gone. I had heard some males earlier, but I was unsure if they were Clan Wolf or from another clan. I kept the male hidden, covering him with some leaves I had found close by. They eventually left and I waited with him until he woke.
The time here alone with him, had given me plenty of time to think. And calm down from my earlier misjudgment. I needed to apologize to K’Tem… to Elle.
I heard a groaning sound and shuffled closer to the male. I could see him stirring and braced myself for when he woke. He might not be happy to see my face after I hit him that hard. He opened his eyes and rubbed his jaw, wincing at where it was now swollen. I felt a pang of guilt.
“Sanza?” He questioned when he saw me. I nodded.
“Yes, it is me. I stayed with you to protect you. You were right in stopping me. I would have only wound-up dead. And I couldn’t do that to Elle, I know the feeling of losing a mate and I know I couldn’t do that to her.”
“Elle?” he sat up a little more and looked around. I shook my head. Elle wasn’t here, but I also wasn’t sure if the clan was directly north from here or north-east. He moved onto his feet, and I watched as he swayed a little before holding the tree to steady himself.
“Elle?” he asked again. He knew Elle and my name. I wanted to know his.
“I’m Sanza.” I tapped my chest and pointed to him. He smiled and nodded.
“Carub.” I nodded.
“Carub, do you know the way back to Elle?” I pointed to where I thought it was and he nodded as he stumbled a few feet in front of him. I must have hit him very hard for him to be this affected. He tried to shake it off but he fell to his knees.
“Carub, maybe you need more rest. We can rest a while more.” I pushed him to sit against the tree again. He tried to get up but I shook my head and said no. when he tried again, I said his word for stop and his eyes widened. He laughed and nodded.
“We will make our way back in the morning to Elle. Now we rest.”
I sat down beside him and laid my head back against the tree’s hard trunk. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for the first time this night and dreamt of Elle.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Elle
No Sanza… no girls from the spaceships. Today was depressing already. I had eaten with the girls and I felt bad for my sullen mood. I didn’t want them to feel like crap because I did. I could see they were all happy. They had their mates and they were laughing and giggling. I knew I had mine but my heart was still breaking for Sanza. I needed him here. Safe.
“Can we use your datapad to scan Brooklyn?” Jessica called over to K’Tem. Why did she want to scan Brooklyn?
“What for?” Luna asked and Jessica laughed. When her hand went to her belly my mouth dropped open… She was pregnant… already?
“Do M’Mori have like super powerful sperm?” Luna asked and I laughed. Because… well yeah. That was fast… or was it? I didn’t know with these aliens and the crazy effects they had on our hormones.
“Yeah, really. I’m just as surprised. But his datapad told him there was one kit growing in me. So… I was thinking.” Jessica started and holy shit… I turned to look at Brooklyn. She was so much bigger than the rest of us. This was where I was thinking the Aashi were messing with us… it was like rare to have multiples. Well… she didn’t look like she was having twins. Shit… I wonder if I asked K’Tem if his brother could smuggle us some birth control, because I wasn’t about to pop out a hundred babies here. And it was so hard to resist my mates…
“Oh, wow, yes. I think I need to know… wait, maybe it’s better if I don’t.” Brooklyn seemed unsure. But then she jumped up and called out, “K’Tem, bring me the datapad.”
We all laughed, this was going to be so interesting. I wanted to take a bet on how many, but then I didn’t want to freak her out either.
“I want to make sure everything is going well, and the babe…bees are all healthy, plus how many. So, I’m prepared.” Luna said and I nodded that was understandable. I would want to know if they were healthy. But at the same time, I didn’t want to find out… not without Sanza. I didn’t know why but I had a feeling him being here when I found out was important
“Actually, can someone else go first, I think I’m going to throw up. I’m so freaking out right now.” Brooklyn wasn’t doing well, shit. She was feeling a little like me… I didn’t want them to say something like, “Congrats you have five on board.” Because there was no safe way I was going to deliver them here on Aarzyn. Hell, even one was going to be hard, and with no help. No medical stuff. Maybe K’Tem’s brother could deliver a lot of things to us.
“I will go first.” Quinn stood up and moved in front of K’Tem. I quickly moved beside Jessica, Hadley and Luna as K’Tem held the datapad up. Well, this wasn’t like a regular ultrasound, I couldn’t see shit but three circles surrounded a pulsating blue part. Three? Three babies? I looked up to Quinn as Luna asked, “Is that three babies?”
Quinn gasped. “No fucking way.” My eyes widened, yeah way I can see that shit right there. My body started to feel warm… well warmer than it already was. I felt a little lightheaded as Quinn’s mates all beamed with the news, then moved in to hold her because I think they realized that wasn’t the look of happy Quinn but freaked out Quinn..
K’Tem quickly corrected Luna. “No, this is her heartbeat. This here is the heartbeat of her kit. And this her is the heartbeat of her other kit. She has two kits.” I looked back to the screen and saw what he was talking about. Okay so whatever the blue circles were, minus one and that was how many babies.
I was still in a daze. Quinn was having twins? She was the same size as me and Luna. Luna asked for her turn and Quinn took her spot beside me. I swallowed and took a deep breath. Quinn whispered low to us, “Let’s tell her three also.” I made a snorting sound and she looked to me then winked.
When the screen showed four circles… four minus one was three. Yep, I can do math and now I was officially freaked the fuck out. I didn’t want to know… I think surprise was best for me or I would worry over this way too long. Quinn laughed as she looked up at a very impatient Luna. “Well, I guess the jokes on us.”
“You better not mess with me.” She pointed to Quinn, who flipped her off and Luna just laughed.
“Congrats, momma. You’re having triplets,” Quinn announced. But when I looked over Luna just laughed her off. She wasn’t joking… triplets. I was still trying to wrap my head around it.
“Nice try. K’Tem, Elle… anyone else wanna tell me. I’m excited to know.”
I held up three fingers and Quinn laughed at Luna’s expression. “I was telling you the truth.”
“What the fuck, are you for real? Oh, wow… oh.” Axoh moved in and held her tight. I think that was a big surprise to her, and so far, the
only one not pregnant with more than one was Jessica and she had a different alien. So, chances were, I was having more than one. I was worried to find out how many Brooklyn was having, as she moved into Luna’s spot.
“Are you sure? This isn’t going how I’d planned. I seem to have scared more than excited you all.” Jessica was concerned, I was too. What if she was having six… eight? I wrapped my arms around myself. And I caught Hadley moving away from me. The look on her face reflected what was on mine.
“You know what, since you have one on board and K’Tem is your mate, maybe can you just scan me and let me know if I have a healthy baby? And that’s all you say. Not babies. Okay?” Jessica nodded.
“I think I will wait,” I quickly added. I wanted to wait for Sanza but I didn’t want to tell them that. Would he even want to be with me? We hadn’t discussed the pregnancy thing. Not really. Oh god… please let him be safe.
“I don’t think I want a surprise, I need to know. Tell me, I’m ready and I’ve been expecting more than one.” Brooklyn looked ready… and I was not going to miss this. I looked over to the screen K’Tem was holding and watched as the blue circles appeared… there was only three. What the? I looked over to Brooklyn’s belly then down to the screen.
“Is that right?” Jessica pointed to the screen. I was just as confused. That couldn’t be right she was so much bigger than the rest of us and Luna was having triplets.
“That is right.” K’Tem answered her
“Congrats girl, you’re having twins.” I could see the expression on her face was confusion and relief. Makee hugged her and she squealed loudly.
Once all the excitement had died down, we sat back down and waited. We were waiting for the clan members, who went to tell the other clans of us moving and the poison water shit. And well I hoped we were also waiting for Sanza to return.
“The blue male is back.” My translator picked up an Aashi speaking. I sat up, Marin helped me to my feet and I called out “Where?” where was he? I wanted to punch him for leaving me and I wanted kiss him and hold him tight.
I started to run towards where the male pointed, I saw my big blue guy and… was that. Holy shit.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carub
I watched the face of Elle, she looked to Sanza and it was like I had given her the moon. But she didn’t know that I had, she looked at Sanza like that. Not me. She rushed him, her small frame wrapping her arms around him and speaking many words very quickly. Too fast for the translator to pick them all up. Her mates were there too, smiling and talking to Sanza.
He held her back. Pulling her face away from his body and looking down to her. He bent and kissed her and everyone made sounds, the Aashi and the females. She was choosing him right in front of everyone.
When they pulled away, I didn’t know what to do, would she want to hug me? Kiss me? I wished for all those things but most of all I wished she would say my name again. That would mean everything to me.
“You…” She had a huge smile on her face but I wasn’t sure if that was for Sanza or me. But she didn’t say my name, she didn’t remember me… “Carub.”
She recognized me, she knew who I was. My heart started to race as she stepped back from Sanza’s arms and stood in front of me. I was full of excitement as I grabbed my tail and showed her it was now healed. It was no longer straight, it had a small knot at the end that had healed on a small angle. But I could use it, I had used it to track Sanza and return him.
Which was hard when I didn’t speak his language, something I didn’t think of until I was already chasing him. He was faster than any other males. He didn’t speak Aashi either. The only word we both knew was “Elle.” And “Stop.” But I only suspected he knew that because I had said it so many times to him.
She reached out and took my tail in her hands, the males around me gasped as she ran her finger down over the knot and looked up at me. She was so small compared to my large size. I was only a few inches shorter than Sanza, but I had never been this close to her while standing, to see how much bigger I was. Her scent alone had my cock hard, but now that she stroked my tail it was leaking seed.
“Wow, this healed really well.” She looked up at me, her eyes so big and dark. I nodded not knowing what to say, now that I could understand her, she would understand me.
“Elle.” I whispered as she stroked my tail again and I closed my eyes, loving the way it felt. My heart swelled with hope that she would see me as a mate. Someone who could protect her, and make her smile.
“Let’s give Elle and her… guys some privacy everyone.” The female with the alien mate called out. Her hair was just like the twin suns which were shining down on us now, just as it did every day. But today was different. Today was the day I asked Elle to choose me as her mate. Bond with her and join her mates in protecting her. Forever and always.
Elle spoke with Sanza for a while, alone. I sat with Marin and Zurcov.
“So, tell me Carub? How did Elle fix your tail? I had never seen you before and we keep a close eye on our mate.” Marin asked, I could tell he was concerned with the fact he didn’t know this.
“When you were looking for Clan Wolf.” I replied, I didn’t want to lie to him, I wanted to see he was lacking in protection for Elle. She was curious and caring. She could be taken by any male if she wasn’t careful. I didn’t want that to happen to her. But it just proved they weren’t as good as they wanted to be, I knew they wanted her to have a large warrior as a mate. And I hoped they saw that in me.
“You could have taken her.” Zurcov was upset, and so he should be. I watched as his fists clenched, but I was fine with him wanting to hit me. I’d broken past their barriers to where I knew she was the most vulnerable and she had healed my tail and learnt my name.
“I didn’t wish to take her from you, I was only drawn to her. Her scent calls to me like no other and I wish to be surrounded by her. You are her mates, I would never do anything to hurt her. I only wished to protect her.”
They both watched me for a moment before speaking with each other. I saw the female Hadley with her mates, the one who attacked me to prove himself.
“You.” he pointed to me, I lowered my gaze as Marin moved between us.
“This is the male that got too close to us, I attacked him to keep him away and he still came close to your mate.” He sounded surprised that I would still attempt to come close. I was worried Marin and Zurcov wouldn’t accept me, which would then make it hard to convince Elle to accept me as her chosen mate if her first mates didn’t.
“This is the male you attacked that night. You broke his tail and our Elle healed him. Others had been closer and I believed you misjudged him and you chose him to prove a point.” Marin defended me against the male.
The male grunted and turned on his heel. His mate yelled at him for breaking my tail. I didn’t wish to cause a fight but when Marin looked back at me, he smiled.
“I assume you didn’t just follow us, but also protected Elle from harm?” He asked. I nodded and he thanked me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Elle
It had been a week, and I was starting to learn more about Sanza. I was taking it slow because I felt like if I rushed this, and he took off again… well I just wanted to be sure. I had told him I was pregnant. He already knew. I laughed then, of course he knew, I was pretty active with my mates. Not so much right now, I had been a little more reserved after Jessica had called me out.
“Carub?” I called out to the large Aashi. He was so cute still. And a little bashful. He came to me and stood there a moment looking down at me and fuck… he was hot. And the kink in his tail was probably the hottest thing about him. I liked knowing that I’d helped heal him, and it’d worked. He lowered himself to his knees and I smiled.
“Yes, Elle? Can I help you?” he was always very happy to help me. He had asked me if I would consider choosing him as a mate on the day Sanza had returned— well Carub had really returned him, he’d stopped
him from doing something stupid.
“Yes, I was wondering if you wanted to cook with me?” I hadn’t been over to cook yet and I was wanting to help more… plus I was getting too horny just hanging out with my mates all day… every day. We had moved so far now. The males had returned from the clans after warning them. They didn’t think they would move, but then we’d heard that Taanin were on the move. So, I hoped that if they were, more would follow. I didn’t want the Aashi people dying out, I wanted them to be safe.
I held my hand out to Carub and he took it in his, he was very gentle. I’d noticed he was always worried about his size around me and would lower himself to my height or below so as to not make me feel so intimated. When he stood, I took him to where they were cooking the meat for feast day… the planet Hetaa was in the sky and so it was time to feast and be happy.
There was a fire where they cooked the meat for the feast. At first, I thought I would be hot next to the fire. But the suns had gone down and I was starting to feel a little cold so I walked up and held out my hands to warm them. The males there stared at me, so before I made them feel uncomfortable with me here, I said hello.
“Hello.” I greeted them all, I watched as they froze and stopped what they were doing, then ever so slowly their tails moved swiftly behind them. I smiled and I swore one of them blushed, he looked darker purple now.
“Hello, I am Xell.” One of the males spoke up. I looked over at him, his hair was short. He was bigger than my mates, but I had started to feel a little safer here with the bigger guys. Especially with the way Carub treated me. As long as they weren’t anything like the assholes that came with Jessica. I was starting to notice that most of them were more like gentle giants.
I sat down on the grass and watched as they cooked the meat. I wasn’t like the other girls. I knew where meat came from. I didn’t shy away from it. These animals gave their life so we could eat. So, I was fine with watching them removing the hide and wait up…