by Erin Raegan
I could barely look at him as I waited for his answer.
He looked away and scrubbed at his face. “She is the only other.”
I nodded and looked everywhere but at him, shifting on my feet. Now what? “How many mates do you want?” I choked on the words as they came out, bile rising.
“How many?” he asked, shocked.
“Yeah, your dad has seven. How many are you planning on mating?”
“Bahyly,” he murmured dejectedly and stepped toward me. I backed away, and he stopped. He clenched his jaw and looked at his feet. “Mates are often matched by a Dahk’s First Father.”
“First Father?” He had more than one dad? I thought Olynth had said our threesome wasn’t normal.
“It is a title of honor. I have only one father.” Fihk fisted his hands. “Yitira was chosen for me. She journeyed with me to Earth so I may court her.”
Wow, okay. He was courting her. Why did that hurt so much? I blinked away stupid, stupid tears. I would not cry in front of him.
He continued, his eyes flashing with frustration. “Another has not been chosen for me and will not be unless I express interest.”
Was I going to have to sit by while another female caught his eye? Was I supposed to be okay with him looking elsewhere? I didn’t know if I could do this. I shook my head in disbelief. I could barely even think about sharing him with her, let alone more.
But there was no getting out of this mating. I was his Pythe, and he would be in pain if I refused him. He could die if it went on too long. And this was their culture. Did I even have a choice?
“I need some time,” I said numbly. “I’ll get over it. I just need some time.”
“I do not like seeing you this way.” He stalked to me, wrapped his arms around me, and nuzzled my neck while I turned to stone.
His arms had been on her. On her naked body. And would be again. It made me sick. But I was the alien here. I was the one in the wrong. I couldn’t ask him to change his entire way of life for me. I had to remember that.
“I will dismiss her,” he blurted into my neck. “I do not like you in pain. I will send her away.”
Hearing him say that felt too good. If I didn’t accept this one, this female, I wouldn’t be able to ever accept any others.
I stepped away and shook my head. “No, I’ll get over it. I’ll see you later okay?”
Looking at my boots, I backed away. That was not how I saw this going when I donned them. I’d had grand plans of marching in here and demanding he be mine, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t break up their relationship because I was jealous.
I had no right to be.
“Bahyly,” he growled and reached for me.
“Later, boss. I promise.”
I turned and fled the room like the coward I was. I got all the way to the end of the hall and around the corner and fell back against the wall. I slid down and shoved my face into my knees, growling and digging my fingers into the back of my head to stem the tears. Arms circled me and lifted me from the floor.
“I’m okay,” I gasped into Olynth’s chest, but he growled and hushed me.
I had to be.
Chapter 25
Fihk
I stalked down the hall to meet with Ignyt. I needed a distraction from the pain on my mate’s face. Tahk had been informative on the mating customs of the humans. I only wished I had known of them before I forced my mate to bear witness to my courtship with Yitira. I would have spared her had I known.
The Dahk female meant nothing to me. She had been matched by our First Fathers. I knew she felt very little for me, and ending our courtship so early in its progress would not be impertinent, but I did not know how to handle the situation. I feared my immediate dismissal would not be taken well by Bahyly. She’d looked so fierce as she told me she would come to terms on her own.
I had never seen a braver and more selfless act.
It was also proof her feelings for me had grown. Otherwise she would not have reacted in such a way to my attentions being given to another. She would not show such great emotion if she felt nothing for me. But I could not injure her pride. I felt that would damage our mating far greater.
She struggled with her joint mating between Olynth and me. Her guilt would not allow her to demand my faithfulness.
I would have to approach the situation more delicately. But I did not know how.
Ignyt stood in the prison in the bowels of the ship. His brethren, Hylg and Ohta, stood on either side of Jirt.
“What have you learned?” I asked Ignyt.
“Aryx ordered them to find and enlist those loyal to their cause amongst the commander’s army. They would allow the Vitat to be defeated before engaging those loyal to Tahk, destroying the human army, then enslaving the surviving humans.”
“That is all? What of the Juldo?”
“Klando broke quickly and claims Aryx met with the Juldo Master in secret.” Ignyt looked at Jirt. “This one refuses to spill his secrets. But I will break him.” He grinned menacingly at the bloodied council member.
I grabbed Jirt by the horn and pulled back his head. “What do the Juldo plan?”
He looked back at me dazedly. His face was battered, and his fangs had been torn from his mouth. His lifeblood dripped from his mouth as he chuckled.
“Do they come here?” I shook his head. “Answer me. Your king will have your wings.”
“He is no king,” he spat. “Aryx would have had him slaughtered with the commander had the assassin not killed him.”
“The Juldo Master had him killed,” I growled. “He had no intention to honor his agreement with Aryx. Why do you still hold his secrets?”
Jirt glared at me.
I tsked. “Ignyt.”
The male stepped up with a blade and sliced the claw from the tip of Jirt’s wing. He howled in agony.
“You have nothing to keep you loyal to a dead king,” I snarled. “The humans will be protected, the Juldo will not enslave them, and the Dahk will protect them.”
Jirt grinned his bloodied, fangless smile. “They are coming. You are across the universe, too far from your king, with an army divided. You will perish, and the Juldo will have what they seek.”
“Why?” I roared. “Why the humans?”
Silence.
I nodded, and Ignyt slashed another claw. Jirt screamed and jerked against his restraints.
Jirt gasped and slouched forward. “For the same reasons you protect them. The human females will birth an army. An army none will be able to defeat. The Juldo Master will take your weak human mate and breed her while you watch.”
“The Juldo cannot conceive.” I snarled and shoved a claw into the gash in his thigh.
“N-not true.” He sobbed. “The assassins are born.”
I cursed.
Juldo assassins.
Shadow Born.
The one thought to have assassinated King Aryx was believed to be the last of his kind.
“If it is true”—Ignyt flashed his fangs— “they will raise an army of Shadow Born.”
“We cannot allow that to happen,” Ohta growled.
The Juldo once, long ago, had had an army of Shadow Born. They were few, but they decimated armies as if they were thousands. Only their own were able to defeat them. The previous Juldo Master would not unleash their unspeakable might on the universe and destroyed them. But his successor had no such reservations. Such an army in his hands would be devastating.
Jirt cackled. “They’re coming. You cannot stop them.”
“Continue. They are not to have food or water.” I turned to the door. “If they speak of anything else, comm me immediately.”
Ignyt nodded and turned back to Jirt, grinning. His blades spun in his hands and slashed.
The door closed behind me, cutting off Jirt’s cry of agony.
I did not believe the Juldo Master would make a move so bold with the Kilbus Lord here. He would not have the might to defeat both our armies. But I could
not risk it. The King and Tahk needed to be notified.
I lifted my hand to the comm in my hima, and comm’d Olynth. “How is she?”
“She is with her brother and the other humans.” He paused. “She feels guilt.”
“I know,” I growled as I climbed back to the command deck. “She cannot ask for my loyalty as she struggles with her own between us.”
“It does not matter. I would not touch another.”
I stopped, shocked. His voice betrayed his anger toward me. “I do not want another! I have not mated with Yitira since I met Bahyly. I have not even spoken to her since she was in my room earlier.”
“She believes you were with the female while we were at the human camp.”
“I barely slept. I did nothing but lead the Dahk to war,” I roared.
“She does not know this. She is conflicted with what she feels for each of us.”
“I must speak with the king,” I spat. I was frustrated. I needed to speak with her. “The Juldo plan to raise more Shadow Born using the humans as vessels.”
I did not know how a Shadow Born was conceived, but clearly that was how they gained their name. It made me wonder what species was used to birth them in the past.
“I will speak to her,” he said.
I could not ask that of him. He had his own struggles with our mating, as did I. “No, I know you do not wish to speak for me. I will see her before she retires.”
“Very well.”
I clicked off and headed to comm the king. We would be signing some sort of treaty with the humans in the morn, and I wanted Bahyly with me. A symbol for both of our species. Our new union. But I could not ask her to come with me if she still despaired.
Nor I could leave her on Dahk One without my leadership. I believed all those loyal to Aryx and his dark cause had left to attack the human compounds and their own brethren, but I could not risk leaving her among possible remaining enemies.
Tahk could not believe his army had turned, but he was interrogating the king’s council, those who were loyal to Aryx, to see if any knew who those Dahk may be. The number was small, but I could never have anticipated there would be any who would turn against their own.
Several Kilbus had volunteered to search the minds of my Dahk, but it would be useless. Not all were as weak-minded as Wyvr. Most minds were too strong to read, a fact I’d taken pride in. Now it was a frustration. If they could be read, I would be able to find the traitors and eliminate them before any harm came to either the humans or my Dahk.
I was leading them blind, and I feared I would not see the next threat before it was too late.
Chapter 26
Bailey
We had dinner in the Great Hall again, each of us feeding Bobo little pieces from our plates as his owner stuffed his own face. I had never seen such a little man eat so much before.
“Peyton was mighty pissed too, girly.” Colt was talking after Nate had blurted about Fihk’s other mate to the whole table. I was flushed from the embarrassment of having my drama thrown out there for all to see and a whole lot of anger that I was caught in a place I couldn’t find my way out of. “But she gave him what for.”
“What did she do?” Star asked shyly.
Colt grinned and waggled his brows. “She strapped on her chastity belt and used those feminine wiles.”
Nick choked on a bite of food and scowled at Colt.
“And she let loose them waterworks.” Colt sighed. “Ain’t nothin’ worse than a woman bawlin’.” He glanced at my sore red eyes with a look of pure male disgust.
I flicked a piece of orange Dahk “broccoli” at him. He grumbled and wiped it off his nose.
“I’m sure it will work out,” Linda said and patted my shoulder. “If he loves you, he will see sense and devote himself to you.”
I looked at her, horrified. Ford chuckled, and Colt guffawed. Love? I didn’t know about that. Right? My feelings were huge, so big they crippled me and filled me at the same time, but I hadn’t ever loved anyone other than Nathan.
Not ever.
I couldn’t expect Fihk or Olynth to love me if I wasn’t even sure I could love them back. Plus, we barely knew each other.
“That word scare you, girl?” Colt croaked around his laugh.
I guessed my green face and crazy eyes tipped him off. “Mind your own business, grandpa.” I tossed another piece of the tiny orange trees at him.
“You looooooove him,” Nate sang.
I flicked a piece at him. “You too, dodo.”
Nathan filled his spoon with something chunky and flung it at me. I gaped at him, my face dripping. Olynth chuckled.
I turned toward Olynth slowly, amazed at hearing his laugh for the first time. It was low and dark but sexy. I grinned, grabbed a handful of brown mash, and smeared his cheek with it. His eyes flashed and filled with mischief. He bent and licked my nose clean. My breath caught. He ensnared my eyes with a heated look, then he poured his cup of stinky green goop over my head.
The table erupted in laughter.
I stood and glared at them all. “You think that’s funny?”
Hands were filled, and aim was taken.
“Fire!” Colt shouted and launched fistfuls of food at everyone.
We all reciprocated as the entire occupants of the Great Hall gawked at us in horror. But they couldn’t escape. Poorly aimed mounds of food whacked against the faces and chests of our spectators.
Olynth picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder then marched to the end of the table. He laid me down across it and shoved handfuls of food down my shirt as I howled with laughter. Bobo barked and jumped on the table, licking the food from my face and arms. I twisted to get away from the excited dog and cried out as my stomach wound cramped. My head spun as Olynth pulled me up and cradled me.
Olynth nodded to Gunnor as he carried me from the room amidst flying food. The stoic Dahk stood still and unaffected as food exploded against his face and chest. I cackled and pointed at him as we left. He glared at me but stayed, watching Nathan.
I was still chuckling when Olynth rinsed me off in the shower, drenching my clothes.
“Look at you,” he purred and rubbed his hands down my chest, squeezing and caressing.
“Look at you,” I purred back and smoothed my hand down the front of his pants and the steel beneath them.
He growled and stripped us both.
We were making out on the bed, buck naked, when Fihk walked in. I sat up and covered myself with the sheet, eyeing him warily. Olynth made a frustrated sound and sat up behind me, his legs braced on either side of me and his hands on my hips. Fihk watched a moment before he kneeled on the end of the bed and crawled up to me. Olynth leaned back against the head of the bed, and I sat back against him as Fihk knelt over me, his hands braced outside Olynth’s thighs.
“I passed Gunnor leading young Nahythahn into his room,” Fihk murmured and looked down at my lips. “He was wearing the remainder of his meal.”
I reluctantly smiled.
“I have just come to bid you good rest.”
I looked down at his chest and fiddled with the sheet covering me.
“I want to tell you something. Will you hear me?” I nodded and bit my lip as he tilted my chin up with a knuckle. His hand moved up and curved around my jaw. “I had not been given the gift of you, sweets. I did not know such a beautiful creature would become mine and that she would lay claim to me.”
“I know, boss.” I did. I understood he’d had no idea I existed when he entered into a relationship with Yitira.
“What you do not know”—he kissed the hollow of my throat softly, thankfully ignoring my shiver— “is that I desire no other but my Pythe.” I opened my mouth, but he shushed me with a nip at my lips. “I did not know I would feel this way until she presented herself to me in this room before you. I had not seen nor spoken to her since I left to search for Mother Lyndah.”
“Really?” I asked, my voice squeaking. He hadn’t been banging h
er while I missed him?
He grinned affectionately. “Really. A Pythen mating is very different from a matched mating. I have spoken to my commander, and he found this same trouble within his own mating upon arriving on Home World. In the time of the Old King, a Pythe and Pythen were mated and did not share. It was rare for a Pythen to mate another and did not become part of our culture until such bonds became scarce and eventually no more.”
“It’s still rare though.” I looked away. I knew he was expected to have multiple mates. I didn’t want to put demands on him he couldn’t or didn’t want to uphold.
“Yes, and Tahk has received much derision for his choice to keep his Pythe and his Pythe alone. But you are experiencing the demands of our bonds. Peyton experienced the same thing and could not think of her Pythe taking another without great pain. I will not be the cause of this pain in you.”
“But―”
He kissed me firmly. “I do not want her. Do not deny me my right to please you and vow myself to you as I wish nothing more than to do.”
“Are you sure?” I asked weakly. I wanted this so badly, but I hated how I felt like all my girly feelings were making him feel pushed into it. He would resent me later.
Olynth nuzzled my neck and licked a long line up to my jaw. Fihk watched, clear jealousy in his eyes.
I looked at Fihk pointedly. “See! How can I expect you both to be with only me when I can’t give you the same?”
“You are a gift,” Fihk murmured and nuzzled the other side of my neck. “I could never resent my Pythe. I have never experienced such joy as I did the moment you were chosen for me.”
I chuckled. “You didn’t look happy, boss. You looked pretty pissed.”
“Beneath the mating rage,” he murmured and nipped at me. “I was humbled. I knew your bravery. Your beauty. I knew you were a treasure, and I was honored to have been chosen.”
Olynth moved his hand down my belly and cupped me boldly. “There is no other for either of us but you.”
