Athen: Warlord Brides (Warriors of Etlon Book 1)

by Abigail Myst

  “This is not what I had in mind.” Odette stared hard at the vid screen, as if that would change her stubborn husband’s decision to plant every female on the planet on a small island, literally halfway around the world.

  “I could not in good faith keep my own mate with me while demanding the others were sent away. Besides, it’s the perfect spot. The Suhlik will never be interested in such a remote and poorly defended location.”

  The location was roughing it, that was sure. The Mahdfel had been quite efficient, setting up cots and replicators inside the large cave that would hide it from the Suhlik sensors. All the tech would be kept inside. The rest of the island was a mermaid’s paradise built out of tide pools and tropical plants.

  The first few days had felt like a vacation, but over a week into their exile, the novelty was beginning to wear off. Odette was lucky. Athen had provided her with the ingredients to make a substantial quantity of the most effective Suhlik melting liquid. She’d even managed to set up a production line of sorts with the women who wanted to help.

  There were some that only wanted to sun themselves in the tropical heat, but most of the women were used to being productive. They finagled a grand total of three rifles off their spouses, and took turns watching the skies. The most militant of the wives was named Jane. She took over the defensive plan, taught those interested how to disassemble and clean the rifles, and was now offering a twice daily class in self defense. She obviously didn’t believe that a woman’s Mahdfel was all the protection she’d ever need.

  “We’re going to need some more barrels and supplies,” Odette prompted her husband. They’d set up a vid connection that they could use at any time, but Athen had put up a rotating schedule in order to assure equal access. He, of course, put himself at the bottom of the rotation, meaning Odette hadn’t spoken with her husband for ten days.

  “Replicate what you can. I’ll see if I can get a supply run out there in a few days.”

  “You could come yourself.” Odette said, knowing that Athen would not consider it. He always put himself last, which meant he put her last too. She understood, she really did. It was just hard.

  “How is my son?”

  Odette put her hands over her belly. There was hardly even more than a curve, but she was now more aware that she was producing new life than she had ever been. Her priorities reordered themselves. Odette was now not so sure she wanted to raise a baby on such a rugged island. None of the other wives had more than a passing knowledge of childbirth.

  “Your son is fine, but your wife misses you.”

  “It will be over soon, my life.”

  “You are so sweet,” she said, only half sarcastically.

  In the background, all hell broke loose. Alarms blared out a warning. With only a slight nod, Athen blinked off the screen.

  “Athen!”

  But it was too late. The Suhlik had come and there would be nothing more to do but wait. Odette took a deep breath. Should she tell the other wives or simply wait for the damage report? Better to wait, she decided, and save them the pain of worrying about being a widow so early in their marriage.

  Odette stepped out of the cave. A hum started in the distance and as it got closer, she knew there was something off about it. This was not a Mahdfel ship, slow and low in its engine tone. It was higher, more frantic. Jane noticed it too.

  “Incoming!” Jane screamed. She let off one pulse of the rifle. Wives screamed and scattered.

  “Into the water!” Odette yelled. “They can’t swim! Into the water!” She could only hope that the other women had the sense to hide, to dive into the water and hide among the sea inlets where the Suhlik would not go. She, on the other hand, had work to do.

  Odette turned on her heels and grabbed the device that they had been working on. It was halfway between a bug sprayer and a fire extinguisher. Just yesterday, they’d gotten it to shoot SDS ten feet. The ladies had to call the liquid something, so when Paula had insisted that Suhlik Death Spray was an appropriate nomer, a name which Odette shortened to SDS. She didn’t like to ponder that she’d invented a Death Spray the way the other women seemed to enthusiastically discuss the topic. She had a hard time squishing a bug, much less developing a WMD.

  But she had to protect or destroy her research, because in the hands of the Suhlik, it would be disastrous. They had tucked the four barrels of SDS into the back of the cave. Jane had insisted they take precautions, even though the Mahdfel seemed quite sure the Suhlik wouldn’t attack their little island. Odette left the production line in place. The only thing she had to truly destroy was the hard drive. It would be no big loss, as it had backed up its content not ten minutes before when the vid link had been activated. That’s probably what had clued the Suhlik in to their location.

  Great. Of course, it was her conversation with her husband that had led to their discovery. Odette popped the drive out of its slot and tucked it into the back of her waistband. Now all she had to do was get it to one of the many tide pools and chuck it in. Mahdfel built or not, electronics hated sea water.

  Bearing the sprayer, Odette emerged from the cave. Hovering above them was a golden ship, small, but beautiful. She didn’t have much time to stare, because to her right, a Suhlik stood there, his shiny armor reflecting like tiny golden mirrors in the sun. His claws were around Jane’s neck, her feet lifted a foot off the ground and her knife glancing uselessly against the Suhlik’s scales.

  In the back of her head, Odette knew that it was highly possible that the lizard would snap Jane’s neck no matter what action she took. Perhaps that’s why she felt free to press the button on the top of the sprayer to pump it up to pressure and then let loose a steady stream of SDS directly at the Suhlik’s head.

  If a lizard could look surprised, this one did. At first, it was just a stare but as the SDS began to sizzle and wilt his armor, it hissed. Jane turned it into a gurgle, finally managing to embed her knife in his throat. She clung onto it as the Suhlik fell to the ground, gasping for air amongst the blood bubbling into his lungs and his armor melting soggy tan mess.

  “Ha!” Jane shouted and stood, holding her knife triumphantly. “Next!”

  As if on cue, another Suhlik jumped down from the cliff above, although he looked ready for an attack. Mere instinct caused Odette to hose him down. He lunged but took a force rifle blast in the back. He stumbled a moment, regaining his footing before another blast hit him from above. This time, his armor was soft enough to send him to his knees.

  Jane finished him off. Paula stood up from her position on the cliff above.

  “See? Who needs a-”

  Paula didn’t get to finish her phrase. A third Suhlik came up from behind her, a few slashes of his claws and then she fell.. She landed next to the two dead Suhlik, the light gone from her eyes..

  Rage and pain filled Odette. She heard a warcry and thought at first it was her own, but then spotted Jane trying to climb up the vine covered side of the cliff to follow. That was not good. He’d kill her before she ever got to her feet.

  “Jane!”

  “Hose me down!”

  “Jane, wait, let him-”

  “That bastard’s going to run! Hose me down. I’mma gonna give that fucker a hug!”

  “I have no idea how long it will stay potent on your skin!”

  “Let’s find out!”

  Jane was clearly not backing down. Odette began to spray her from top to bottom as she maneuvered her way up the wall. When she got to the top, she turned and held her hands out. The sprayer just reached her. Once doused, Jane grabbed the rifle and disappeared out of sight.

  Odette headed to the left where there was a longer, yet easier path up to the top of the cliff and the backside of the island.

  “Odette?” a timid voice called from the bushes.

  “Stay hidden. Jane’s got this.”

  She didn’t stop for a reply. She simply headed for the spot where the ship was parked. What she planned to do there, Odette wasn’t sur
e, but if news got out that the weapon was here, they’d all be dead in a few hours, SDS or no.

  When Odette made the clearing, the sense of rage fueled her back up when she saw Jane lying motionless next to the Suhlik. He was trying to wipe himself down, snarl hissing the whole time. The door to the craft was still closed. It was possible he hadn’t had time to call for help.

  Jane’s hand twitched and began to slowly creep towards her knife. She’d never be able to overpower the Suhlik without some sort of distraction.

  “Hey, Mr. Lizard Hissy Face! Got a present for you!” She let loose a stream. Odette was still to far away to hit him, but it was the distraction Jane needed to scoop up her knife, roll over, and stab the creature in his back.

  “I’d say that this experiment rates as partially successful. Maybe a C+,” Jane said as she gave the dead Suhlik a kick.

  “You are one hell of a badass, Jane,” Odette said.

  Jane just winked. “I know.”

  The whine of engines this time was Mahdfel.

  “I don’t think they’re gonna like that their females defended themselves,” Jane said.

  “Meh. It wasn’t a good day to die.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Athen

  It felt good to be covered in the blood of his enemies, but it felt better to lay his eyes upon Odette and to see that she had escaped any injury. The fear that had run through him when he realized a scout ship had landed on the island was nearly paralyzing but the Suhlik pouring into camp had left him no time to worry. He had been too busy relying on the muscle memory built into the Mahdfel DNA to think much about Odette and the son that she carried.

  Etlon had only lost one warrior that day. Athen had heard his cry from across the compound. It was the heart wrenching cry of one who had all hope torn from his heart. Blee had roared again and then plunged himself into a tight cluster of Suhlik cowards who had formed to protect themselves from the slashing knives of the Mahdfel. He had taken nearly all of them down before one landed a lucky shot and nearly severed his head.

  When he saw Paula, laid ever so gently next to Blee, Athen knew that the strength of their bond had told Blee halfway across the planet that she was dead. A look at Odette, so grave next to her companion, Jane, a warrior in her own right, and Athen knew he would have done the same if it had been Odette that had been lost.

  Athen opened his arms and she came to him. She didn’t even protest when he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to his module. Odette did however have objections to laying with him.

  “Shower. You are covered in-” She balked at actually saying it, but no matter. She was right. He led them to the shower and she slapped his hands away when he tried to assist her out of her clothes. “I’m gonna have to burn this outfit.” Athen stepped into the stream and let her disrobe herself. A moment later she joined him, using her hands to bathe him. Athen used his hands for other tasks.

  “How many did you kill today, warrior?”

  Athen grinned as his hand plucked at her nipple then skimmed down the curve of her hips to pull her closer. “More than my fair share.”

  “Of course you did.” He could not tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Athen didn’t care.

  “They will not be back. We proved it a trap, and Mahdfel ships in orbit tell me they wiped out a full score of ships.”

  “A great victory.”

  “Yes,” he said quietly.

  “You don’t sound excited.”

  “Oh, I am excited. Can’t you see?”

  Odette rolled her eyes but grabbed his jutting cock.

  “A little hard to miss. You Mahdfel only have two things on the brain. Sex and violence.” Despite her words, her hands were working themselves along the length of him. Soon he would need to be inside her.

  “No. I have been thinking. Noven 90 has no human doctors. No midwives, and uh,” Athen stuttered as her fingers stroked his tip.

  “Yes?”

  “We shall return to Etlon until our son is born, and recruit a medical staff to deal with what is sure to be a rash of sons soon to follow.”

  Odette stopped and looked up at him. Athen loved the fire in her eyes.

  “You had better be done with talk of leaving me on Etlon.”

  “I could no sooner part with you than-”

  “Your cock?”

  Athen laughed. “Yes, my life. That too.”

  “I’d rather you put it to good use,” Odette quipped. She looked up at him with false sad eyes.

  “Here?”

  “Right here.”

  Athen stepped between her thighs and lifted her. With one swift stroke, he filled her wet heat. Odette clutched at his back as he claimed her against the wall. He felt her reaching her pleasure, tightening in waves around him. Another thrust and he let out a shout as he felt his own release spiral through him.

  Athen dried them off and then tucked them into bed, Odette firmly curled up against him.

  “There is only one problem with this plan,” Athen said after a long moment of silent contemplation.

  “What’s that?”

  “My father will insist that Kave is left in charge.”

  Thank you for reading!

  I hope you enjoyed Athen. Kave is up next but not until the fall. He’s just going to have to wait a hot minute. Until then, if you enjoyed the story, please leave a review.

  Here’s a bit Kave to get you started:

  Being in charge was not nearly as fun as being second in command. In fact, Kave would say it bordered on sucked, as the Terran females were so fond of saying. When his warlord Athen had insisted on traveling home to Etlon where his son could be born in safety, Kave had secretly rejoiced at being left behind in charge.

  He had since rethought that original glee. He had no free time, and taking off into the jungle for a little peace and quiet was no longer an option.

  Every single Terran female had a demand, and they all knew that he was a sucker. The moment one of them looked up at him with their sad blue, green, or brown eyes, he gave in. He needed a buffer. He needed his own little Terran to step in and lay down the law.

  He was definitely in need. His loins ached with it, especially since every single warrior on Noven 90 had been mated, loudly and often, while he, the one who had brought all of their good fortune by mating off their commander, still remained without his own.

  Goru entered the command center with a silly grin on his face. Kave even thought he heard the wisp of a hum trail off as Goru spotted Kave and got back to being serious.

  “Been feeding your mate again?”

  Goru’s mate was plump and round and having a grand time with her new adoring husband. Goru’s smile was all the affirmative Kave needed.

  “I would have thought you’d be busy too by now,” Goru said as he sat down at the monitor to start his shift.

  “With what? Not going to mate with myself,” Kave spat out bitterly.

  Goru stared at him blankly for a moment, the panic building on his green skin.

  “But didn’t you get the message? She arrived three days ago.”

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