Warriors of Phaeton: Dathrow (Bridal Pact)

by Leora Gonzales

  Pixie recognized the look Hannah cast her way as she drew closer to the pair. Yep, she was one stressed-out chick on the brink of a meltdown. “So…should I call you Hannah or would you rather I go with one of the more creative names I’ve heard from my dear sister?” Pixie smiled as she delivered the question. Humor had always been the best way to make someone relax and it seemed to be working.

  “I think it would be best if we stuck to Hannah for right now,” came a soft reply along with a firm handshake.

  “Are you sure? I can tell you right now that she has a way with words that sometimes leaves even me speechless.” Pixie gave a grin when she caught the wink Behyr tossed her way. It seemed Mr. Muscles had figured out what she was up to.

  “The last name she called me was twat-something… I’m pretty sure we can stick with Hannah.” With a gorgeous smile and her eyes no longer showing the sadness they had before, Hannah jumped when Poppy yelled out from behind Pixie.

  “It was twatwaffle. And according to you, I didn’t say it out loud to your face so it doesn’t count.”

  At Poppy’s yell, the women all started giggling. Val doubled over, laughing freely at the conversation that seemed to be getting more and more ridiculous. “Stop you guys. I’m gonna pee my pants.”

  At the thought of being further entertained, Pixie told the group, “Twatwaffle is nothing. It’s when she calls someone a cuntnugget you’d better watch out.”

  “True,” was the only word Poppy could get out around the mouthful of floor popcorn she was currently shoveling into her face.

  At that point the entire group broke out into giggles with the exception of Behyr, who contributed some low chuckles once he saw Hannah was smiling and laughing. As Val rushed to the bathroom to check and see if she’d “dribbled” or not, they heard the familiar tone at the door, indicating someone was about to enter.

  When Dathrow walked in, he gave her a sexy grin. Pixie’s first instinct was to jump into Dathrow’s arms as she’d seen Poppy do with Wheaton on previous occasions. Her anger at being left alone, however, came to the forefront before she gave in to that impulse.

  “Where the fuck have you been?” Hands on her hips, Pixie tapped her foot, waiting for an answer.

  “Hello to you too.” Dathrow smirked at her obvious annoyance.

  “You don’t just sex someone up and wait until they fall asleep to disappear, Dath. It’s rude.” Not minding that everyone in the room was listening to her as if watching one of their favorite soap operas, Pixie waited for his answer.

  Dathrow hooked his arm around her waist and pulled Pixie’s stiff body against his. “I received a message that was urgent.” Tapping her nose with his finger, he smiled when she turned her head away as if she was pouting. “I actually did try to wake you. You swatted at me and told me to ‘go the fuck away’.”

  As their friends laughed at their exchange, Pixie glanced around the room before rolling her eyes at Dathrow. “I guess that sounds like something I would do. You’re forgiven…but don’t leave again without a note or something in the future.”

  “I did leave you a message. Apparently I need to show you again how to check them from your cuff.” Raising her arm up to her face, he tapped the blinking blue light.

  “Oops?” was the only thing that Pixie could say as she grinned shamefacedly at Dathrow and relaxed into his hold.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dathrow hadn’t been alone when he arrived at Poppy’s apartment. Accompanying him were some warriors Pixie recalled seeing in the rec room but who had not yet been introduced to her.

  “I am Hudson and this is Finch.” The tallest warrior moved forward to shake the women’s hands. Hudson had dreadlocks similar to Behyr’s, but they were shoulder length instead of down his back. Finch on the other hand looked incredibly similar to Dathrow. If she didn’t know better, she would say they were brothers.

  Noticing Pixie was staring at Finch, Dathrow rumbled low in his chest. “Is there a reason why you are staring at Finch the way you stare at me?” he whispered into her ear.

  “You two look like you could be twins… Is he related to you?”

  Finch chose that moment to enter the conversation. “Pixie, we are all born from cloning technology. From my medical files, I know that Dathrow and I share more genetic markers than most. So yes, when it comes down to it, we were most likely cloned from similar DNA around the same time period. It was not until we were assigned to the ship that we met. We were raised in different training houses.”

  Poppy raised her hand as if she were in school before asking, “How is it that some of you look like you could be super warriors and others are puny?”

  “Puny? I’ve not seen anyone that would qualify as puny, sis.” Pixie gave a laugh.

  “Well then you obviously didn’t see Demascus. That guy was much shorter and seemed almost weak compared to our guys and his hair was thinning.”

  “Let us all sit and get comfortable,” Hudson suggested as he held out his arm to gesture the ladies ahead of him onto the couches.

  At that moment, Val walked out of the bathroom and stopped in her tracks. “What the hell? When did this become a party?”

  As the men introduced themselves again, Dathrow pulled Pixie onto his lap on the couch. “I missed you, sweet one.”

  “I missed you too, Dath. Now shush, I wanna hear about cloning 101.”

  Hudson stood in the front of the group as if he were a teacher while he went over the pros and cons of their previous reproductive practices. “Within the last twenty years we have slowed down our production of new warriors. What had been a small numbers of weaker clones was becoming more and more frequent. Over the last century, the Phaeton race used different strands of DNA and frozen embryos that were harvested prior to the last female passing. When we realized that our efforts were creating subpar results more and more often, the process was eventually stopped so we could focus entirely on finding new females who were compatible. Some of the warriors who were born are the product of us using females who could not carry our offspring but were able to be fertilized by our sperm. In those cases the females were paid for their donations and we used the cloning centers to bring the children to term, much like we had done when using our own embryos.”

  “I don’t get it,” Pixie interrupted. “I thought that the reason you came to Earth was because we were the only option. Why not just keep buying eggs?”

  “First, the species we were dealing with was not creating ideal results. Yes, we were increasing our population but we were also still dealing with warriors who did not maintain our strengths from previous generations. Our DNA was simply too different. We also were unable to modify the technology to produce females. The system would essentially sustain us for a short period of time, but with no female births we would have no end in sight. The council realized it needed a new option that would be viable from conception all the way through birth. A race who carries DNA so similar that we could reproduce naturally with the ability to possibly produce females,” Hudson explained.

  “But how are you sure we can have baby girls?” Poppy asked, rubbing her baby belly.

  “Because it has happened already,” Finch answered.

  “What? You’re having a girl and you didn’t tell me?” Pixie yelled at Poppy as Poppy shook her head in denial.

  “No, we don’t know what we’re having yet! I promise!” Poppy denied.

  “Not you, Poppy. We have had two females born of Earth women,” Hudson announced, before all hell broke loose.

  All of the women were asking questions at the same time while the men had their hands up to try to calm them all down. Pixie was the one to finally get everyone quiet, using a sharp whistle she generally reserved for baseball games when her favorite players bent over.

  “Okay, we apparently all want to know what the fuck that means. Ladies, calm down so we can hear them out.” Giving the men a pointed glare that no doubt expressed her desire for them to hurry up with the explanation, s
he folded her hands in her lap.

  Hudson cleared his throat before speaking. “Approximately two years ago we came across an auction in the Pleasure Sector during a trading mission. Normally, when there is an auction, we see livestock to purchase but the crowd had grown unstable, which led us to believe there was a possibility an illegal item was for sale.”

  “Illegal?” Val asked.

  “Certain technologies are prohibited to some races. It would be the equivalent of a country trying to buy a nuclear weapon. We have agreements with other planetary systems and part of our duty as a superpower is to monitor the purchase and sale of weapons and other items,” Dathrow explained while he rubbed Pixie’s back in a soothing motion. He’d apparently noticed she’d tensed up and not relaxed since the beginning of the conversation.

  “So, as I was saying, the crowd had grown to proportions not expected for a mere livestock sale. As the mission group got closer, they noticed that two Earth women were the ones being sold.” Before the women could react, Hudson put up his hand to calm them down. “We were familiar with your race but had not planned on making contact yet. This gave us an opportunity to learn more without alerting your government to our existence.”

  “So you just bought them?” Hannah’s voice was soft. When Pixie glanced at her she could tell Hannah’s mind was working quickly to absorb what was being said.

  “Actually, we confiscated them. Human specimens were forbidden to be sold or traded.”

  “Human specimens? Do you mean people, asshat?” Pixie was prepared to jump off Dathrow’s lap and wrap her hands around Hudson’s neck at his statement. The only thing saving him from a slow strangling was the grip Dathrow had on her hips.

  “I did not mean it that way,” he quickly apologized. “Our interaction with your kind had been very limited until that day. The women were quickly removed from the Pleasure Sector and taken to our ship. One required medication for an illness that she had received from a scratch, but other than that, they were healthy. After they were cared for, we realized that we could not return them and expect to keep our existence a secret.”

  The women took a moment to themselves before Val asked, “So, what happened to them?”

  “The council members who were present on the ship decided to take them to Phaeton Home and broach the situation with the entire council. Traveling the distance would take some time and the women were sequestered on the ship for their own protection. After a few weeks in our care we realized they had bonded with two of our warriors. During their initial medical exams, we had an idea that they were similar enough to us to reproduce but we wanted to see if it could happen naturally, so the decision was made to let nature take its course.”

  “How could you not have told me this?” Poppy asked Wheaton, whose lap she occupied.

  “It was considered high-level clearance until recently,” he explained with a face that Pixie translated as “please don’t kill me”.

  “So they’re happy and have girl babies?” Hannah asked impatiently, wanting to hear the end of the story.

  “The answer is yes and no. One of the women died during childbirth along with her unborn child. The other delivered successfully and has a beautiful baby girl with her warrior.”

  “Wait, she died?” Poppy was now worriedly rubbing her stomach, casting looks at Wheaton.

  “Poppy, there is no need to be worried. The baby was too large and she was on a shuttle without medical attention when she went into early labor. By the time she was able to get to a med center, it was too late. We will not make the same mistake with you or any of the new brides who are pregnant.” Wheaton placed his hand on hers to calm the obviously nervous movement.

  “For some reason that doesn’t make me feel better,” Poppy murmured.

  Pixie sat quietly for a moment before she realized that the warriors had finished speaking and were not going to elaborate on the subject any further.

  “Why do I feel like we’ve been lied to?” Pixie asked the group. “I mean, you had human women and are just now deciding to tell us about them? What about their families? How did they get snatched in the first place? Is there more there you aren’t telling us about?”

  Dathrow rumbled low in his chest, his irritation with being called a liar obvious. “From what we have learned, they were kidnapped in an attempt to be sold along with other forbidden items in the trade centers. Maisey, the bride who survived, was able to tell us that she had been drugged and could not identify who her abductors were. She knew that she was taken while working at her ranch in Texas only because it is the last thing she remembers. The other female who was taken was apparently her friend who had been visiting on vacation. They were shuttled to a trade center almost immediately before being sold to the Pleasure Sector and placed in an auction. We really only know what happened after the time our warriors discovered them.”

  Hudson pulled over a kitchen chair from the nook in the corner and sat in front of everyone. “We were unable to talk about her situation until recently. Your government knows that we have her and she is happy. It was one of the first items we disclosed when reaching the Bridal Pact agreement. She had no family to go back to other than the workers who helped her run the ranch.”

  “So why tell us this now?” Hannah wondered out loud.

  “Maisey wants to be able to meet the human brides. She has been lonely with only her mate and child to keep her company and has said on more than one occasion she will ‘start blowing shit up’ if she has to sit still much longer.” Hudson chuckled as he ended his sentence, his eyes dancing with mirth. “I have tried to keep her occupied as much as possible but my wife is headstrong.”

  “You’re her husband?” Val, who had been fairly quiet up to this point, asked out loud.

  “I am,” Hudson responded, the pride in his voice obvious. “I was leading the mission in the Pleasure Sector where she was rescued. Our daughter, Tempest, is not only beautiful but also healthy and a handful just like her mother.”

  The love in his voice was obvious as he spoke of his little girl. Pixie smiled at the man as he seemed to relax just mentioning his family.

  “So when can we meet her?” Poppy was now practically bouncing on Wheaton’s knee in excitement.

  “Calm down, Tigger.” Pixie laughed at her sister. “We don’t want to overwhelm her like a pack of rabid Chihuahuas.”

  “She is anxious to meet you as well, Poppy,” Hudson told her. “In fact, she is anxious to meet all of you,” he said, glancing around the group of women. “I wanted to meet you first and explain our situation before I brought her here. Maisey carries guilt for what has happened.” Pausing, as if he needed to think of his words carefully, Hudson waited a moment before speaking again. “She was the first bride. When our government started taking measures to approach Earth…she was torn. From what I gather, she understands the purpose of our actions but still feels as though it may have been better to leave your planet oblivious to our existence.”

  “But why? It’s not like we were snatched out of our beds…we all signed up for this, knowing exactly what we were getting into,” Val argued, obviously not understanding Maisey’s reluctance.

  “The Phaetons have enemies, enemies who are very dangerous and could use Earth as a bargaining strategy to start a war. Once we claimed it under our protection, our intentions for breeding were leaked to those who would no doubt wipe out the planet to stop us,” Hudson explained.

  Wheaton rested his chin on the top of Poppy’s head as he snuggled her into his lap. “Our influence and power has been getting weaker in the years that our race has struggled with breeding. Some enemies were simply waiting for us to show those weaknesses before they struck. Now that we have Earth as an option…well, let us just say that those enemies have not received this information with anything other than threats.”

  “It was one of the reasons why we made a move when we did. Maisey and our daughter were spotted during a trade mission. And, once it was made known to others that w
e not only found a species that we could breed with, but also have a healthy daughter already, our protection of her home planet became the first step in securing our future.”

  As Hudson explained everything, it started to make more and more sense to Pixie. Of course Earth would need protection. From what Pixie could tell, the warriors were more than able to handle the obligation, especially since their future relied on the safety of their potential brides.

  Hannah, who had been mostly quiet this entire time, stood up and started pacing.

  “Hannah? You doing okay?” Poppy asked, concerned for her friend.

  “Sorry.” She cast a smile of apology their way. “I tend to move around when I’m thinking…and you have to admit, this is a lot to take in.” Realizing she still had everyone staring at her, she changed the subject. “So when can we meet your wife?”

  “Soon, I promise.” Casting a teasing grin at Dathrow, Hudson added, “I believe you are still in the trial period. I assumed you would want your bride to yourself for a few days before she was distracted by my family.”

  As Pixie sputtered a protest, Dathrow nodded at Hudson. “I would appreciate that. I believe my bride is still angry over my departure after our activities today, so giving us a few days alone would be helpful.”

  Nodding to the men in the room, Dathrow stood up with Pixie still in his lap. Carrying her with him, he shouted behind him, “We will be busy for a while. Please keep the council occupied while I tend to my bride.”

  “Wait…what…” Pixie’s voice trailed off, stunned at being toted around as if she was as light as a feather.

  Wheaton was full-out laughing as Dathrow moved swiftly out the door with Pixie still in his arms. As they moved, Pixie could hear her sister making noises of protest but the swishing of the door silenced them as it shut.

  “Um, hello? Do I not get a say in this? What if I wanted to meet her today?” Pixie asked, miffed that the decision wasn’t in her hands.