“See if you can put them off until after the merge,” Solan finally said.
“Easier said than done,” I laughed. “I don’t know about you, but we have some very strong-willed females.”
Solan returned my chuckle. “I know the feeling. Right now Sienna is lobbying for a claiming as soon as the tribes merge. She’s got everyone it a tizzy over it, though I suspect it’s more to help Arlynn find her mate.”
Another wave of guilt rolled through me. “I’m sorry about that, Solan. If I’d known Thrane was going to turn her, I wouldn’t have left to find you.”
“It’s not your fault, Markon. You did your best to warn me. Besides, she was planning to accept the bite anyway. She’s just worried that Thrane’s bite is somehow preventing her from finding her mate.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I balked. The Warg transformational bite couldn’t be manipulated like that.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling her. She’s stopped asking, but I know the concern still lingers.”
“Still, a claiming might be a good idea. Think about it, what if several matches are made between the tribes? It would only strengthen us as a united tribe.”
Hope coursed through my veins that one of those matches would be between Natalie and me. I didn’t dare speak the thought aloud, though.
“Solan, I’ve been curious…”
“Yes?”
“How did you…um, what did it feel like before Sienna accepted the bite? Before you felt the mate bond?”
“If you’re asking if I knew she was my mate before she transformed, I didn’t. Not really. I hoped, but it wasn’t until I sank my fangs into her neck that I knew.”
“So you were thunderstruck.”
“Exactly. The lucky few who didn’t need to wait for a claiming to know we were destined for one another.”
“But before that?”
He smiled softly as he stared into the water, a man in the deepest throes of love. “There was a strong attraction, like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Not even remotely as intense as after she changed, but stronger than with anyone else.”
“What did it feel like, this attraction?”
“Hmm, well, it was strange and uncomfortable. Kind of like gas.”
I barked out a laugh that eased some of my tension.
“But it was also exciting and terrifying at the same time. I didn’t know which way was up. I wanted her, that much I knew, but I had no idea if she wanted me. At least with female Wargs, you can sense their desire on a cellular level. But with these Terrans…”
He shook his head and chuckled. Turning to me, he gave me another penetrating look.
“Why do you ask, Markon?”
My face flamed red. “No reason.”
I pretended to have a coughing fit in hopes it would hide my discomfort but he laughed at me anyway.
“Sure,” he said, slapping me on the back again, this time much harder. “Whatever you say.”
17
Natalie
Where the hell is he?
I’d been searching for Markon for hours, but he was nowhere to be found. No one in the village had seen him, and he hadn’t left word of where he was going with anyone, including Rikor, who wasn’t too happy when I woke him and Teema up at the buttcrack of dawn.
“He goes off sometimes,” he groused, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “He’ll be back.” Without another surly word, he flicked the door closed in my face.
Rude.
I tried to keep myself busy by retesting several samples, but my mind kept returning to the idea that had kept me up all night. Besides, retesting wouldn’t do any good. We’d tested everything we could find and were no further along than when we came here. It was hopeless.
I couldn’t just sit here any longer. Jumping up, I nearly knocked over the little bouquet of flowers Markon had brought me the day before. For a moment, I allowed my growing feelings for Markon to peek out of their airtight compartment in my heart. Peace settled my jittery nerves as I traced the edge of the crisp orange leaves, touched by his thoughtfulness.
Jorek had seemed unfazed by the overtly romantic gesture, which was a bit of a relief. After he found me making out with Markon, I worried he’d be upset. But the next morning, he was his normal, practical self. Whatever I thought might have been between us must not have ever been there in the first place.
My emotions were still a swirling mass of confusion, but I knew one thing: I liked Markon. Really liked him. A lot. And I was pretty sure he liked me, as much as those assholes back at the Training Center would have laughed at the idea of anyone being attracted to me. At the very least, he wanted me.
My thoughts were interrupted by a short blur running past the small window. Teema and Rikor’s little boy, Krit, came tearing into the lab. The kid seemed to run everywhere, which was funny but also exhausting to watch.
“He’s back! Markon’s back! Mother told me to tell you.” Before I could open my mouth to thank him, he was gone.
I ran out of the hut and slammed face-first into rock hard man-chest. Strong arms caught me before I could bounce backward and fall. I was grateful for it, because if I hadn’t fallen over from the collision, Markon’s very distinctive scent would have made my knees buckle.
“I heard you were looking for me,” he said as he set me on my feet again.
I hadn’t been this close to him since our little mini tryst, and his effect on me was no less dizzying. My brain called my body all sorts of names for betraying me in such an irrational manner. I had work to do, and I didn’t have time to muck about acting all lovesick over Markon.
“I did…I was…I mean…”
I shook the love-fuzzies from my head and took a second to gather my decidedly unscientific thoughts. I caught his gaze and smiled.
“I have an idea.”
Three hours later, I had a team of Wargs sifting through the looted wreckage of our old shuttle, and Teema and I were on our way to the pool with clean water. Not alone, of course, but our bodyguards in front and behind us were busy chattering about the possible merge with the Valley tribe, paying no attention to our conversation.
“Funny thing is, if they’d let me be a scientist, I would have gone wherever they wanted. They could have called me fat and ugly and defective all day long. If I had a lab, I would have been a happy girl.”
“Would you really have been, though? Happy?”
I glanced over at my new friend, who looked skeptical. I thought for a moment, really thought about her question.
“Maybe not happy, but I would have been satisfied. I really didn’t know what ‘happy’ meant at the Center.”
“And now you do?”
A warning flashed in my head at the glint in Teema’s eyes. “Well, more than I did there,” I conceded carefully. I didn’t want to give her any ammunition. For what, I wasn’t sure, but she was clearly fishing.
“Are you looking forward to transforming into a Warg?”
My brain scurried to play catch-up with the sudden change of topic.
“I think it’ll be fascinating, certainly. I hope I’ll keep my faculties enough to remember every sensation. Might make an interesting paper someday.”
Teema frowned. “No, I mean, are you excited? You’ll eventually find your fated mate once you accept the bite.”
I tried not to laugh. I didn’t want to insult her.
“I’m sorry, Teema, but I don’t believe all that fated mate stuff.” I almost said something else which definitely would have offended her.
“What’s not to believe? It just is.”
“I know the concept is an integral part of your entire society’s paradigm, but I dunno. It seems like cheating to me.”
“Cheating?” she snorted.
“Of course. I mean, why bother getting to know someone and falling in love with them when fate will pick your partner for you? And what if you can’t stand the guy? What then?”
“That’s never happened, to my knowledge.”
“Okay, but what if, for example, I transform and boom! Strabo is my fated mate. He tried to attack me, yet I have to be bound to him forever? Not gonna happen.”
“Well, to be honest, the bite has rarely been administered in recent years so I don’t really know. It used to happen more frequently, when the alien inter— sorry, Terrans. When they ventured into the forest more, there were more transformed Wargs, at least from the stories I’ve heard. All I know is that, for the Warg-born, once you find your fated, your entire existence elevates to something you’ve never imagined.”
I shrugged. “Sure, sure. But after a lifetime of being told I was worthless and unwantable, I want someone to fall in love with who I am, not because some fairy tale custom tells them they should. How else would I know he truly loved me? I mean, the real me?”
Naturally, my mind drifted to the intense physical attraction between Markon and me. As flattered as I was by it, for this thing to progress, I needed to know he was drawn to me for more than just my body. Or because I was simply a novelty.
“Here we are,” Teema said, drawing me out of my troubled thoughts.
The stream was narrow at this point, and the deep pool crystal clear. It also lay slightly uphill from the village. Under my direction, the eight of us used primitive trowels and machetes to hack a shallow groove in the forest floor that led straight back to the village.
It took a couple of hours, which happily kept my mind off my failure on the fertility front, and prevented Teema from trying to talk me into believing in fated mates. By the time we arrived in the village, all the supplies I’d hoped were in the shuttle’s remains were laid out next to the tribe’s cistern.
When Markon approached, my heart fluttered in my chest and my palms got sweaty. My training told me that it was simply my body reacting to a rush of adrenaline, a dash of dopamine and a dollop of serotonin. Perfectly logical. But now that I was experiencing it all, I understood perfectly why everyone attaches some metaphysical meaning to it. It certainly felt otherworldly. Thank goodness my cheeks were already pink from exertion, or Markon might have noticed how they flushed when he caught my gaze.
“Well, what do you think?” I asked.
Excitement lit up his entire face. He truly wanted only the best for his tribe, but I’m sure setting up a water pump system under his watch would be a nice feather in his cap as the new alpha.
“It’s perfect.” His grin knocked the wind out of me, and his praise wrapped around me like a cozy, cuddly blanket.
“Then it’s ready whenever you are,” I said.
“Dump the tank,” he called to several men waiting by the cistern.
Strabo stepped forward, his ever-present scowl etched on his face.
“Are you sure about this? You know I spent a lot of time lugging it all, bucket by bucket.”
I leaned over to Teema and whispered, “Strabo was in charge of collecting the water? No surprise that he was too lazy to bother finding the clean stuff.”
She hid a snicker behind her hand.
“Do it, Strabo,” Markon growled.
The man groused but obeyed, helping three other burly men tip the cistern until a river of beige water flowed downhill.
“Now begins a new chapter in Hill life,” Markon shouted to the gathered crowd. “Natalie will oversee this entire project, and I expect every one of you to follow her direction.”
He glanced at me over his shoulder and smiled softly, setting my heart to thumping again. I sensed Teema watching me but I couldn’t break free from the tractor beam of his gaze.
“Consider her one of us now.”
18
Markon
I hadn’t seen my tribe so excited and motivated in months, maybe years. Probably not since my father passed on to join the Elders of the Warg in the Great Beyond and Thrane became alpha.
Not that he was a bad alpha, but his constant preparations for war with the Valley broke down the morale of the tribe. Everyone lived on edge, just waiting for an attack, their fear and hatred of our cousins deepening and twisting into something darker and uglier than it had ever been before.
Today, as I toured the construction zone, the mood was jubilant. We were building something, after all, instead of hiding away day after day. We were moving forward, not waiting for pain and death.
“What should I do with this thing?” Chayma called out.
I couldn’t stop myself from watching the way Natalie’s hips swayed as she strode over to the woman. When she bent at the waist to inspect what Chayma was holding, I nearly lost my mind with lust.
“Oh, that’s the solar panel I was looking for. Good job, Chayma!”
The woman glowed with pride and shot me a smug glance that said, See, we’re not so useless. I tipped my head in acknowledgement because they weren’t. In fact, the females were working just as hard as the males, no doubt eager to prove their value. The council still wasn’t ready to train them to fight, though. Truth be told, neither was I.
Natalie glanced around her as she and Chayma struggled to lift the flat, black rectangle. She skimmed over me twice before realizing all the other men were doing her bidding by connecting bumble root tubes to the stream.
I ached for her to look at me, but she’d barely glanced in my direction since coming back from her scouting expedition with Teema. After she’d come to me with her idea, I’d hoped the awkwardness between us would ease, but it seemed to grow worse.
Finally, her gaze settled on me. “Markon,” she said with a sigh, “could you give us a hand, please?”
Anything for you, I thought before I knew it. Stupid thought. She probably didn’t even want me anymore. Probably chose Jorek.
My beast snarled at the idea. As much as it appealed to my baser instincts, murdering the Valley tribe’s scientist probably wouldn’t make it any easier to merge the two tribes.
“Here, let me.” I hoisted the panel over my head with ease, making sure my muscles bulged impressively. “Where to?”
Chayma turned her head quickly, but not before I saw her smirk. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter. I didn’t care. My focus was on Natalie’s blushing cheeks and her tempting flesh. My cock twitched under my silk wrap and there was nothing I could do to hide it — not that I would have tried. I wanted her to know how sexy she was.
Natalie flushed bright red and averted her eyes, pointing in the direction she wanted the piece of equipment. I set it on a platform some men had built under her direction and she lashed it down. A beam of sunlight shone down directly on its shimmery blackness.
“That will supply energy to the batteries,” she said, tapping her bare toe on a box secured under the panel. A vision of me nibbling on that toe caused me to swallow a sudden flood of saliva. “The magnesium-graphene supermicrocapacitor batteries will power the micro-carbon filtration pump so all the water that goes into the cistern will be drinkable. No boiling necessary.”
A thin layer of sweat glimmered on her brow and the scent of it nearly drove me wild. But as much as my body craved hers, I couldn’t get over her cleverness, despite the fact that I had no idea what she just said.
“Natalie, you’re amazing,” I breathed. She tensed next to me but a smile touched her lips. “We’ve lived for generations on this Hill, pulling buckets of water from the stream, and over the course of a day, you’ve made life in the village a hundred times easier.”
“She really is something special, isn’t she, Markon?” Chayma said, wearing that same smirk.
“I couldn’t agree more.” I beamed. Let the women gossip, thinking they knew some secret. They were wrong. There was no secret, and I had no intention of hiding my interest in Natalie any longer.
“Dammit!”
The hoarse shout drew our attention.
Water sprayed in a fan from the connection between two bumble root tubes. A handful of men stood around it, just watching it leak everywhere.
“Told you this would happen,” sneered one of them.
My bl
ood boiled that he would behave so rudely, but before I could take a step forward to reprimand him, Strabo stalked over.
“Why don’t you shut your mouth and help me fix it, then,” he growled.
The other man ducked his head and reluctantly stabilized the joint while Strabo applied a thick layer of sealant brewed from the pitch and needles of the forest trees. When Strabo stood, he sought out Natalie’s gaze and gave her a curt nod. She smiled back.
“Well, it looks like you have a new friend,” Chayma said, nudging Natalie with her shoulder.
“He’s been very helpful,” she replied, flicking her gaze over to my bare chest and away just as quickly. “I…uh, I better go check on the pipe,” she finally muttered, and hurried off.
I leaned against the solar panel platform and watched her as she checked on everyone’s progress. Now that they’d come to know her, they all seemed to genuinely like her. Of course, they didn’t always understand what she was talking about when she broke into technical jargon — neither did I — but she eventually learned how to explain in a way Wargs could understand. Not once did she sound condescending.
A movement to my left caught my eye. Jorek. And he was approaching Natalie. A low rumble started deep in my belly. Chayma took a step away, eyeing me warily, before scuttling off to help with the project — or just to get out of biting range of her annoyed alpha.
The blood pounded in my ears so loudly that I couldn’t hear anything they said to each other. When he touched her shoulder, my fangs pushed farther out of from my gums. I caught the glance she shot me, but it didn’t soothe my irritation. If I stayed here one more second, the peacefulness of my reign as alpha would end in bloodshed.
Spinning on my heel, I stalked off toward the commons. Images of her smiling up at Jorek, of his fingers on her skin, of their heads pressed together over their lab instrument. They flickered in my mind’s eye over and over until I was seething.
Markon's Claim: A SciFi Shifter Romance (The Last Alphas of Thracos Book 2) Page 9
