“Where have you been? Why didn’t you contact us after you landed?”
“Could we talk about this somewhere private?” People were starting to gather around them, and she didn’t need the grapevine spreading what she had to say to him.
“Of course.” Without releasing her, Marsel steered her through the crowd and out into the hall. “We’ll go to my office. The power is out, so we’ll need to take the stairs.”
All over the ship, people milled about, chatting, passing out emergency rations, tending to children. She couldn’t imagine what the crash had been like for the little ones. The door to Marsel’s office had to be pried open, and she found herself giggling at the effort he put into it. She imagined Zuran and Olan could have easily ripped it from the wall if they needed to.
“So? What happened after we lost contact with you? Everything had been going as planned, and the connection was severed. We tried bringing the ship closer to the planet, but there must have been a miscalculation. The power was drained, and we ended up having to pull an emergency landing.”
“Right, I have a theory about that, actually.”
“Care to share it?” He waved her toward a chair in front of his desk, taking a seat opposite her.
“Well,” She plopped down into the soft faux leather chair, nearly groaning at how comfortable it felt beneath her. “I’m thinking X9 gives off major electromagnetic pulses, and that’s why none of the electronic equipment can function here.”
“It would make sense.” He nodded, his brows furrowing as he sat back in his seat. “How did you survive so long down here with none of your equipment working? Even the old school compasses are going nuts.”
“I stayed in the ship for the most part. Rationed my supplies, tried to conserve what little bit I had with me.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t too bad until I ran out and had to decide between starving to death on the ship or risking my life on the planet to find something to eat.”
“You were very brave, Sam.”
Sam? He had never called her that before. “Uh, sure. Thanks, Marsel.” She twisted the fabric of the dress she wore. “That sort of brings me to where the whole situation gets really interesting. When I finally left the ship, I was discovered by a species I assume is native to the planet.”
“An animal?”
“Well, those too, but no. These are sentient beings.”
Marsel set forward, his jaw setting. “Aliens?”
“Well, if you want to get technical, we’re the aliens in this situation.”
The chair creaked loudly beneath him as Marsel stood, raking his fingers through his short hair. “Are they anything like our friends back on Venora?”
“Not really. They call themselves Seyton. From what little I got to experience they aren’t bad people. They seem peaceful.”
A laugh burst from Marsel’s mouth, but it wasn't the cheerful one she was used to. This one dripped with hatred. “They told you this? That they are peaceful?” The look in his eyes caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. “You could communicate with these aliens?” At her nod, he frowned. “I thought you said all electronics would malfunction? If the translators are working then maybe it’s these people screwing with our systems.”
“What? These people don’t have any tech themselves, Marsel. How could they possibly do that? Besides, the translators are made organically now. Didn’t you pay attention in the med bay when it was given to you?”
The man huffed, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling, “Sam, darling, these are things I figured I would never need to know.”
So much for that. “I’m telling you, the Seyton aren’t bad. A little different, but I think we could benefit from a good relationship with them.”
“Hah! Relationships with aliens? The only things humans get from that are hybrid children. We’ve lost enough women to aliens who wished to help us.” The disgust in his voice had her chin lifting.
“It wasn’t only women the Venium valued. Many men left too.” He didn’t acknowledge her. “Marsel.”
His eyes snapped up to her face and he smiled softly. “I’m sorry, kitten. This is a subject close to my heart.” He reached out a hand to caress her chin, and she had to stop herself from recoiling. “Forgive me?”
There was something in those whispered words that soured her stomach and made it hard to speak, so she just nodded. Warm lips pressed against her forehead, and this time she couldn’t help the jolt of surprise. “I, um, I brought some of them with me.”
The smile slipped from his face slowly. “Back here? To the ship?”
“No, not to the ship. I asked them to stay in the forest. I didn’t want to cause any sort of panic.”
He nodded slowly, lips pursing as he thought. “How many of them are waiting for you to return?”
“Two. Do you think you’d be willing to speak with them? Olan was sent on behalf of his chieftess to represent their people.”
“Of course, kitten.” Both the smile and the ridiculous pet name were back, and she wasn’t thrilled by either. “I’d be happy to do almost anything you ask.”
Samantha couldn’t put her finger on it, but something in the air had changed, and she wasn’t sure it was for the best for the humans or the Seyton. Gods help them.
7
Olan
Olan shoved his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth across the dark terrain. He had put on a brave face and let her go on her own, back to her people, trusting that she would return. The more he clung to her, he’d noticed, the more distance she desired to put between them. His bride was teaching him each day that she was not going to bend to the way of his people simply because he desired her to do so. Honestly, he was finding he rather liked her rebellious nature. Almost losing her to the pack of carneras had nearly destroyed him and had almost certainly shaved solars off of his life.
“You should have let me go! It is my job as a hunter to protect!” Zuran snarled angrily.
“You’re experiencing a high amount of breeding heat, aren’t you?”
Zuran stilled as he cut his gaze to Olan. “What?”
“I’ve been trying to figure out what is wrong with you, what has changed since you brought Samantha into the village. You’re starting to go mad.” Zuran shook his head, huffing. “I can see it.” He kept his words gentle, not wanting to upset the other male. Succumbing to breeding heat was an unfortunate part of life for hunters.
“You have no idea what you’re speaking about. I’m fine.”
“Liar.” So much for keeping it gentle, he chastised himself. “You are almost fully in the grips of it.” The end of his tail gently came up to touch the hunter’s shoulder. “This is why you want my bride.”
A growl tore through the air, and Zuran moved faster than Olan had anticipated, snatching him by the tail and yanking him forward so that they stood chest to chest. Zuran had always been the slightest bit taller, but the way the madness had taken over his body, he seemed to grow in height. Teeth bared, the hunter growled, “It is not the reason I want her! I want her because I love her!”
Olan’s heart clenched painfully in his chest, and he looked at the male in sympathy. By the All Mother, he didn’t wish to see the pain that swam in Zuran’s eyes. Just as he opened his mouth to speak there was a rustling of branches and a loud thud as something heavy hit the ground behind him. Spinning quickly, Olan prepared himself for a confrontation, but instead, his eyes landed on the Seyton female sprawled in the dirt.
“Asa?” Her wings were in disarray, hair tangled around her horns, and her tail caught up and twisted within a few of her once carefully done braids. The sight was far more comical than he should have found it, and he tried his best to choke down the laughter that bubbled up within him.
“Sweet All Mother! The two of you are supposed to be on alert! Can you not keep your voices down?” She hissed, her ears lying flat against her head in what he was positive was acute embarrassment.
Olan bit the sides of c
heeks to keep from grinning, but the laughter died on his tongue the moment he looked at Zuran. The male was in a defensive posture, his tail coming around his side, the deadly blade fully extended. The darker male’s body was taut and humming with his lightning. Before Asa had a chance to notice the offense, Olan placed himself in front of Zuran, blocking her view. Threatening Ama’s second in command was a sure way to end the hunter, and Olan wasn’t through with him. Asa ran the single male’s village when Ama was needed elsewhere. Mated families could choose to live in either village, but it was dangerous to have unmated females around hunters who could so easily lose control. “We weren’t expecting you.”
“I’d imagine you weren’t.” A rather undignified snort from the female had a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Standing up as gracefully as she could, she brushed the dirt from her body before tucking her wings behind her, which seemed a little difficult with all of the twigs and leaves poking out from between feathers.
“Why are you here?” Zuran growled, his tail thrashing behind Olan.
“It isn’t your place to question what I do, hunter,” she snarled, her ears twitching and lightning cracking along her body. The current caused her wings to fluff up, the debris from her fall igniting and producing small whiffs of smoke before they turned to ash.
“No, of course it is not our place.” Olan murmured, his head bowed respectfully. “I’m sure Zuran only meant to ask what we could help you with.”
The hunter growled, but instead of continuing the confrontation, he turned to pace away.
The female’s ruffled feathers started to lay flat, her eyes softening toward him. He noticed the way her body naturally turned in his direction, and she began to calm down, her whole demeanor becoming much more approachable. The sparks of her electricity settled as she wrapped her own tail around her right ankle, ears flickering in an almost playful manner. “Ama asked that I follow you and make sure the humans are not a threat. I will report back to her with whatever I find when I fly over.” She looked down at her feet, shuffling them slightly before mumbling, “I just got a little caught up in the tree.”
His eyes crinkled as a chuckle burst from his lips. “I can see that,” leaning forward, he plucked a twig from her wings that had managed not to go up in flames. “As of right now, there is no update. Samantha has asked that we stay here and wait for her. So far, these aliens seem to be either very peaceful or very naive. There is only one guard posted outside of the rock, the thing Samantha calls a ship. No one has come or gone since we arrived. They don’t seem like much of a threat.”
“Even the most innocent looking beast can be deadly if you turn your back on it,” Asa warned.
“Ah, like you?” The words brought a smile to her face. “Surely you are needed more within the village with Ama leaving for the festival soon? Zuran and I are more than capable of dealing with the aliens and reporting back. I can’t imagine it will take us long to handle this situation.”
“Well,” Asa glanced around, her lips pursing as she thought. “Alright, but I expect your report the moment you return to the village. If neither of you are back before Ama leaves, I will personally come find you.”
“You have nothing to worry about.” Olan dipped his head and watched as Asa’s wings extended before she gave a few mighty downward strokes, lifting herself into the air high above them.
“Well, at least she treated one of us like we were more than an animal.” Zuran’s words were laced with disgust.
“Excuse me?” He watched as the hunter brushed at the blade on his tail. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
With a heavy sigh, Olan crouched down and watched Zuran. “You know something? I don’t understand you.”
“Of course you don’t! No breeder ever could. You all can do no wrong. You are perfect.”
“Perfect? We are far from it.” Olan laughed humorously, turning just in time to see Zuran’s fist as it slammed into his face. The pain radiated across his cheek and jaw, ripping an anguished snarl from his throat as he fell backward on his tail. Don’t respond with violence, he told himself. Getting caught up in the other male’s emotions wouldn’t do either of them any good, so he merely sat where he was as a bladed tail wrapped tightly around one of his arms.
“You are accepted, celebrated. You are able to intermingle with the females, with the other members of our tribe without being looked down upon, without being treated as if you were nothing!”
Frustration tore through Olan. He didn’t doubt that breeders were treated better than the hunters of their tribe, but his life wasn’t all Zuran thought it was. “You have no idea what I deal with.”
“Oh, forgive me, you have so much to deal with. Being embraced by the people around you, being wanted. You have the opportunity to have a family.”
“Yes, and I’m not able to leave the village, not able to explore the forest whenever I wish. I lack the freedom that you have.” Olan shook his head. “You still have not learned, have you?”
Anxiety coursed through Olan as he walked toward the central forest. It was almost time for him to enter his agmari. The thought that he would be deemed a hunter or a breeder soon made his hands shake and he tried to hide it by rubbing his palms along his sides. A tail curled around his and he was pulled into the side of the other young male.
“We’ll be alright. We always are.” Zuran assured him, throwing a lanky arm over his shoulders.
“You only say that because you know that you will be the best breeder any female has ever had,” he smiled at his best friend, knowing that this male would one day make an amazing father.
“Me? I doubt that.”
“How could you? Just last summer you saved my life.” They both winced at the memory of Olan’s brush with death. He’d been incredibly lucky to have Zuran there that day to pull him back from the edge of the cliff when he’d fallen and been too weak to climb back up himself. They had been nearly inseparable since that moment, and he was thankful he had his best friend next to him now to share one of the most important moments of their lives. Together they walked into the clearing, choosing agmari blooms that grew side by side.
Olan stepped up into his bud and turned back to see that Zuran was still outside of his, staring into the open center. “Aren’t you getting in?”
“I don’t want to be a hunter, Olan. I don’t want to be infertile.” The fear in his eyes was something Olan had never seen before.
“You are the most worthy male I’ve ever met. There is no reason the All Mother would choose to make you a hunter.” He smiled, urging his friend on. “Get in! You have nothing to worry about.”
The bud had closed up around them, encasing the males within, transforming them. When the buds opened, revealing his friend’s changed body, he had regretted his words. Zuran looked down at himself and gasped. Where he had once been bright white, he was now a deep black. A hunter. His best friend’s dreams of becoming a breeder, of having a family of his own, were over. Confusion was written all over his face as he turned wide white eyes on him. “You’re a breeder.” Zuran had muttered, before his face went completely blank.
Olan had known at that moment, all those solars ago, that their lives would never be the same. They had once been as close as brothers, but their relationship had slowly dwindled over the solars. Zuran had left the village to engage in the hunts, and he had found a job within its borders helping to prepare bride dresses. Once upon a time, he had imagined that he and Zuran would prepare their brides’ dresses together, but that hadn’t come to pass. Maybe that was why he had chosen the silky black material for her. It reminded him of Zuran’s hair and skin, the way it looked against the twin suns. As much as he hated to admit it, he missed his friend more than anything, the loss of that friendship still caused his heart to ache.
8
Zuran
“You still have not learned, have you?”
Rage clouded his vision, filled his mind as he stared at the m
an who had once been his closest friend. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the pull of the breeding heat. The flames of his desire licked at his loins, causing him to suffer through intense dreams that had him waking up covered in sweat and other bodily fluids. He was growing more aggressive, to the point that even he noticed. The more he dealt with the unfairness of his life, the worse the feelings became.
It’s not fair! His mind screamed. Olan got what you wanted. Rationally, Zuran knew that his longtime friend had no part in his transformation, but he had been so jealous that he had found it hard to even look at the other male. Samantha had been the only being, besides his fellow hunters, to treat him as an equal, to see his worth beyond his looks, but she had left and still hadn’t returned.
“What haven’t I learned, Olan. Please, enlighten me.” He knew he was pushing the male, that he should let this go, but the anger coursing through him wouldn’t allow it.
“There is nothing more I wish to say to you.”
“Ah, there he is. The spoiled kit who gets anything he wishes for.”
Olan rolled his eyes, reclining back on his elbows. “Zuran…” the other male warned, but Zuran didn’t care to heed it.
“Too good to converse with the hunter, huh? I don’t deserve the same respect as you and your ilk. Not worthy to be in your presence, not worthy to live among you. Not worthy of your friendship.”
“You have done it to yourself!” Olan yelled, jumping to his feet. “You make it so damned hard to approach you that no one even tries anymore! That I don’t try anymore!”
The words stilled Zuran, the anger and resentment cooling within him for the moment. Was he really so unapproachable? Had the self-hatred he carried around inside of him been the thing getting in the way of their friendship this entire time? Almost every interaction over the last few days had wound up the same, with him becoming defensive and aggressive. He had anticipated mistreatment, prejudice, and had reacted negatively without even being provoked in most cases.
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