“Why don’t we just build a raft and travel by the river? Wouldn’t it be a lot quicker and easier than walking through all this?” she said as she waved a hand with a small grimace of distaste.
Kaede chuckled. “You do not care for our lovely swamp?”
“I’m sure it would be grand if I could paddle through it rather than walking in it, all close and personal. At least now there are trees to provide some semblance of a firm surface to stand on when possible. But seriously, why not a raft?”
He shook his head, all trace of his teasing vanishing.
“No, Frahnkee. Although the murol families often travel by boat, it is a very dangerous undertaking for the two of us alone. We would be a tempting target for many predators. The largest live in the deepest waters of the swamps. I would not trust such a voyage without at least an experienced murol at my side.”
She made a small disappointed noise but didn’t argue further with him. She fell into step beside him with customary watchful silence. Despite the few words they exchanged during the day, he enjoyed her company. As he did her enthusiasm for learning about the swamp itself, even if she found little pleasure in it. As they passed the tall stalks of the minskit plant, nearly as large as she was tall, it instantly captivated her. He drew her attention to the large, waxy, conical flowers that drooped from it. Perhaps he wanted her to love the swamp as he did, in at least some small way.
“The swamp is not so terrible when you see sights such as this. This is the minskit. See the flowers—do you smell them? That deep, sweetened musk scent is treasured by perfumers in various sectors of the universe.”
“That is minskit?” she asked with disbelief. With a sharp cry of pleasure, she embraced him before rushing over to the plant. “Kaede, you’re a lifesaver!”
He watched with confusion when she crouched in front of it and carefully brushed away the muddy soil from the massive root system of the plant. The muck sloshed between her fingers, but she took no mind of it. Her entire focus was on her task. She didn’t seem to care that water continued to rush in where she’d vacated the muddy soil. Taking her knife, she gently snipped several minor roots, leaving the main root ball unmolested before sifting the watery mud around it again.
He cocked his head curiously.
“What do you need minskit root for?”
She tapped her throat.
“For my throat and lungs. I had an unfortunate experience when attacked by a Tajii pirate. My lungs and throat were seared, but this stuff has been helping. I am supposed to smoke this stuff nightly for another couple of months but with everything that’s happened since landing on Agraadax, I haven’t had my treatment.”
He pulled out a small empty vial from a side compartment of his pack and handed it to her. He’d brought it in case he needed to collect bait, but he had a half-dozen more vials still that he could use. It was important that she store the root.
“Put it in this to keep it fresh. It will be more potent and soothe damaged tissue quicker than the dried medicines that they give offworld.”
She flashed a grateful smile at him and accepted the metal vial. With small, deft fingers, she pulled off the lid and slid the roots inside with a little tinkling sound. She corked it and gave it a good shake to make sure nothing would get dislodged before sliding it into her pack.
“Thanks, Kaede. That is really going to help...” her words dropped away as she watched him still.
Kaede froze, his spines bristling with awareness just as he felt something move closer toward Frahnkee. He shoved her behind him with a growl just as the bushes rattled and a large Arobi burst through them.
With a savage snarl, Kaede threw himself at the interloper, venom filling his spines and glands. The Arobi attempted to skirt around him, his lips peeled back from long, lethal fangs, but Kaede was not intimidated. He felt sympathy for the mind-warped creature no doubt sent after them with a master close by. He spun around, bracing himself as he swung his claws forward. His tail unwrapped from around his waist and snapped like a whip, cutting the male’s face with its sharp tip before winding around his neck. He wasn’t able to rip the male off his feet, but he held him tight as he approached, determined to deliver a killing blow before whatever male who controlled him came to retrieve the pitiful creature.
The howls of the Arobi pack filled the air and Kaede cursed. Of course, it wouldn’t be alone.
“Kaede, wait! Don’t hurt him!”
He shook his head at Frahnkee.
“I know you feel sympathy for this creature. I do as well. But we must dispatch him before his owner comes.”
Blustering with irritation, the human stumbled forward over a log.
“That’s not what I mean, you idiot. He’s on my team. That’s Exeri. He’s with me.”
Her words slowly penetrated his mind, and then were followed by a wave of fury. She was recognizing a claim of the other male on her. Kaede did not accept that. They had ormari between them. If she belonged to any male, she was his.
The Arobi in his grasp taunted him with a grin.
“Yes, Kaede, release me. She is under my protection.”
Kaede roared and yanked the male closer with a savage fury.
“Kaede, let him go!” There was a second of silence, and then, “Where the fuck did your tail come from?”
Startled that he had, in fact, exposed his tail, Kaede unwound it from the Arobi and stepped away from him. However, he made certain to place his body between the other male and Frahnkee. Kaede was not going to permit him any closer to the female. The Arobi’s eyes narrowed. He glanced around Kaede’s girth and called out to Frahnkee.
“Frankiee, come over here. Away from the Agraak.”
The pack boiled out from the brush, surrounding Kaede as their alpha moved toward Frahnkee. Kaede growled with promised retribution if the other male dared to touch her. The alpha grinned at the threat, utterly unconcerned. Frahnkee balled up her fist and punched the male in the shoulder.
“Fucking hell, Exeri. What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack. Leave Kaede alone. He’s out here protecting me.”
The male, Exeri, flicked his tail dismissively in Kaede’s direction.
“You do not need this male. We will take care of you. We always have each other’s back, yes? We are pack.”
Frahnkee raised one hand to her forehead and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“Yes. Our squads protect each other. We are pack,” she hissed. “But Kaede is part of my pack now, at least for the time being. So call your pack off.”
Exeri growled, his tail lashing.
“I do not understand this, Frankiee. You have us. You do not need this male. You stink of him, and it disturbs me. We will care for you and take you in among us. Even your squad follows us to add protection.” He stretched his claws out toward her, making Kaede buzz his spines. The other male didn’t even turn his attention toward him. “You are ours, our female. Our pack claims you,” Exeri stated in a low voice. “I can satisfy you in place of this male as is my right.”
“Do not think to touch her or remove her from my protection, Arobi,” Kaede snarled, his tail whipping around him, the sharp tip eager to slice anyone who dared to get close enough.
Exeri returned the snarl, his long ears lying flat against his skull.
“Knock it off, both of you!” Frahnkee snapped. “I don’t belong to anyone. Exeri, we are pack, yes, but I am not yours. You cannot claim me for no reason.”
The Arobi whipped around, a look of confusion descending over him.
“You are ours. You are the only female in our aligned packs; therefore, you are naturally the one we chose for our mate. You fall to our keeping as is the way of the Arobi to draw in the female who walks by choice with their pack. We give you our protection, and we will continue to protect you and our young. It is the Arobi way,” he reiterated as his distress visibly increased.
“That’s, uh, sweet and all, but no. I’m not going to mate you just because I am the firs
t convenient female near you.”
“You would mate this Agraak instead?” he demanded angrily.
Frahnkee moved her hands to her hips and glowered.
“I’m not in a hurry to mate anyone. Other than that, what is between Kaede and me is no one else’s business. We will work it out ourselves.”
With an angry bellow, the Arobi leaped the short distance, landing solidly on Kaede where he was penned in by the rest of the pack. The impact sent them to the ground and Kaede’s tail snapped as he tried to gain purchase against his assailant. Exeri, however, was smart enough not to touch his exposed skin directly. Using the impenetrable skin on the bottom of his feet and palms, the Arobi struck, his claws seeking to sink into Kaede’s flesh in his lust to spill Agraak blood. It was unfortunate that Exeri carefully avoided his spines. Skewering the male on their tip would have solved all of Kaede’s problems, even if Frahnkee didn’t like it.
The moment Kaede was back on his feet, he lunged at the other male, hissing angrily through the hollow passages between his venom sacks in his throat. He considered spitting his venom and blinding his opponent but resisted the impulse. Instead, he rattled his spines in warning as his tail snapped through the air. Though he wouldn’t kill him or grievously injure him for Frahnkee’s sake, he wasn’t above causing the male a little—or significantly more—pain for his daring.
The rest of the pack broke apart, circling them loosely. Territorial skirmishes were nothing new to an Arobi pack. Kaede had heard of instances were young packmates would fight amongst themselves for days at a time in order to establish an alpha. The rest of the pack must have seen this as a contest between two alphas for mating rights and were content to wait it out.
An Arobi alpha was a dangerous opponent. He couldn’t afford to divert his attention from his opponent, not even when four males pushed through the bushes. Their voices were loud, and their boots made loud sucking sounds in the mud to announce their presence.
“Well, what the fuck is going on here?” a male human drawled with amusement.
“Interesting. Looks like a dominance battle,” a deeper voice replied with the distinct dialect tones of a Teril.
“Agreed, brother,” rumbled another Teril.
The males were standing outside of Kaede’s field of vision. He had no idea how many there were behind him, or what threat they might pose.
“Damn, Martins, when did you get tits? I had no idea you were a chick. If I had known, I would have volunteered to be your bunkmate. This look is definitely an improvement.”
He knew that the words should not have provoked him. He had no true claim on Frahnkee other than his duty which he refused to relinquish to the arrogant Arobi facing him. Instead of behaving rationally, Kaede was driven by pure instinct. All that registered to his base nature was that the male was expressing interest in Kaede’s ormar-bonded female.
With a furious bellow, he snapped his tail hard enough at Exeri at just the right moment to send the male flying into the nearby brush. Kaede continued the movement of his body, turning until he faced the intruding males.
The males looked tired. They would be no real challenge against Kaede’s strength. He was better rested. He was stronger. Perhaps not stronger than a fresh Teril, but he had little doubt he could take an exhausted male down. He raced forward with a snarl, his spines extended around him like a violent halo and his tail snapping dangerously from side to side behind him. His instincts overrode his reason and they were demanding that he protect his female from the males that had come upon them uninvited.
His eyes glinted with satisfaction as they reached for their weapons in turn, fully prepared to fight him off. His chest swelled with pleasure. His female would see his victorious battle, his primal mind crooned.
A sharp reverberation of a blaster sounded from the side, as a plasma ray hit the ground in front of him. Coming to a stop, his spines rattling, Kaede turned and looked upon the fierce face of his female. Her brow was drawn low over her eyes and her weapon was still pointed at him. With a purr of approval at her ferocity, he stalked toward his female. She did not run nor did she threaten him further. Instead, she turned her weapon on the Arobi.
“Enough is enough, boys,” she snarled.
Chapter 17
Frankie lowered her pistol and scowled. Kaede at least seemed to be coming to his senses. Not that she was any happier with his possessive bullshit. She narrowed her eyes at him, just so that he knew that shit wasn’t going to fly with her. It didn’t have quite the reaction she intended. He met her gaze head-on without the slightest bit of remorse.
Instead, his eyes flicked with thinly veiled warning at the males that she’d spent at the very least the last several months with, others she’d been with since she’d signed on as a fresh recruit. There was no mistaking the fact that he was staking his claim. It was a bit concerning, given that they both had agreed that nothing would be able to come of the ormar between them.
Exeri eyed her cautiously as he emerged from the bushes where Kaede had tossed him, his ears flat with ill humor. At least she had his attention now. Respectfully, with a sort of formal stiffness, he inclined his head her way. She returned the gesture. There would be no further argument from that quarter.
Rodriguez stood from the crouch he’d dropped into at Kaede’s attack and retracted his helmet once more. With a flourish, he holstered his plasma pistol.
“What the fuck?” he snapped. “Do you have a magic pussy or something, Martins? Because this shit is ridiculous.”
Kaede stepped forward, an aggressive hum from his spines matching the rattling growl in his throat.
“You will not refer to Frahnkee in such a way,” he hissed.
Frankie snapped her attention back to her Agraak protector, momentarily awed by the sound. It was wholly different than any other sound that he’d made during their short acquaintance and seemed in direct response to her squad’s arrival. That was when she noticed the small inflated bulges at either side of his neck where his venom sacs were located. The skin was stretched tight over them, giving them a pale peridot hue in sharp contrast to the rest of his pigmentation.
He hissed again as Rodriguez stepped closer, and she watched in fascination as they seemed to tighten as he expelled the sound. The venom sacks were constricting his airway. It was a warning sound, rather than an idle threat. She snapped her gaze to Rodriguez and waved him back.
“Rodriguez, back up until Kaede has completely calmed down. The last thing you need is a face full of venom if you keep antagonizing him like that. As for your question, it’s not an answer you are likely to ever find out.”
Borth chuckled as he walked forward, shouldering his massive rifle, and slapped the smaller human on the back. Although it was a light, friendly strike, it still sent Rodriguez stumbling forward.
“Ro’rig’ez, cease baiting the Agraak. Although it would be most entertaining trying to put you back together again after the male tears you apart, I cannot guarantee you would enjoy the experience.”
“Likely not survive it,” Grish snorted out from beside his brother.
Rodriguez scowled at both males and rubbed his shoulder absently. He muttered something under his breath but otherwise kept his comments to himself, much to Frankie’s relief.
Her eyes slid back over to Kaede who stared calmly back at her, his venom sacks finally deflated. At her raised eyebrow, he frowned.
“Are you done now?”
“So long as these males do not seek to undermine my authority here when it comes to your safety and do not disrespect you in my hearing, then I am well.”
She heaved a sigh.
“Okay. We’re going to have to have a discussion about that later, in private.”
He raised his heavy brows questioningly, but she turned away from him to give her attention to her squad.
“How did you guys get out here? I was told that everyone not captured was hidden away in different parts of the city. I wasn’t even sure if you had made it to
a sanctuary.”
Grish cracked his thick neck and chuffed.
“They would have liked to capture us, but it is not so easy,” he rumbled, his lips parting to show his massive, sharp teeth. “Terils are difficult to snare. Most species are too puny.” His deep chuckle filled the forest. He was indeed massive. Just shy of eight feet in height, he was built like a tank...a well-armored tank with small horns protectively studding his face, plating over his chest and abs, and a halo of horns trailing a path down his back to his tail. Teril armor had to be specifically altered to adjust to their anatomy, though some argued that Terils likely didn’t need it, with all the natural plating they carried over much of their bodies. Varying in hues from sandstone to mahogany, they also had the benefit of being able to blend in among various environments.
“Most of us made it to the sanctuary. Some of our smaller brethren, they were not so lucky.” His beige horn-studded face dropped with sympathy.
“But not our Mi’yar,” Borth laughed, gesturing to the grinning sapphire Edoka standing beneath a clump of trees less than a yard away.
“Of course not,” Frankie laughed. Even Emagul, who loathed entering into wooded areas where his wings easily got trapped, was present, though currently pulling his wing from a clump of brush. “That doesn’t explain how you got here.”
“We followed them,” Rodriguez offered, hooking a thumb at the Arobi.
“Arobi are superior trackers,” Kaede offered. “If we had been less fortunate in escaping Aminae as we did, and the authorities found out, we would not have made it far once the warriors descended with the Arobi packs.”
Frankie shuddered. As acquainted as she was with the Arobi squad she called her friends, she didn’t want to think of just how fast it would’ve been over if Arobi packs were sent out after them. A pack under the control of an Agraak would be an unpleasant way to meet her end.
“Yeah,” Rodriguez drawled. “Exeri said he was leaving to hunt you out, and the rest of us—well, we decided to tag along. So, what’s the game plan now?” he asked as he stretched his arms out over his head.
Heart of the Agraak Page 12
