by Kylie Gold
Never in my years had I experienced such a magnetism to another Navani. Romantic love had always been a foreign concept to me, never once feeling any sort of emotional connection with anyone that wasn’t my family. And while I didn’t think I loved her then, I had a strong feeling I was going to grow to love her. The thought was a little scary. I was not at all prepared for those types of emotions, but I knew they would be coming.
It caused a certain kind of panic to set into my bones. I couldn’t mate with a human, I couldn’t claim a human, I couldn’t have anything to do with this human. But I had already mated with her, part of the damage was already done. But no one would find out about it, I didn’t think. Maybe the best thing would be to suppress any trace of feelings I had for her and pretend as though it never happened. But looking at her sultry face as she slept wasn’t helping, urges already arising just from the sight of her. I needed distance between the two of us as I sorted my thoughts.
Kicking my legs over the side of the bed, I rubbed my face and stood. Standing, I grabbed my shorts from the floor and slid them on before turning and grabbing my necklace from the bedside table. Putting on my shoes, I then walked through the room and towards the door. My men needed me. Over a third of my army had been killed in yesterday’s attack, guilt still sitting heavily on my chest. I had led them to slaughter, the least I could do was help them heal. Walking out the door, I headed for the medical tents we had set up last night for all of the wounded survivors. A third had died, and half of the remaining men were injured. Forty cots were set up in massive tents, each holding a Navani man praying for his life.
Walking into the tent, I looked around, a small weight being relieved from my chest as I saw a few of them already sitting up. Good, some of them were healing. I walked to the lead doctor, an elderly woman named Lowa, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, “I’ve come to lend my hand,” I spoke softly. I knew most of the women were angered with me for leading so many of our people to their deaths, but I truly just wanted to make it right.
“You know, you remind me of your older brother,” Lowa spoke to me.,. Her red skin had become less vibrant with age, leaving her skin an almost brown color, her once navy blue hair was now a light welkin blue. “He was always so passionate, but so stubborn and reckless,” she sighed to me, making my heart ping painfully. “But,” she continued, “You have your mother’s caring spirit.” My father, mother, and brother had all gone west to help other tribes thrive; many of the surrounding tribes had dwindled down to next to nothing from the war, and so they were going about to help build them back up and fight back against the humans. I was left to run and protect our village. Right then, I didn’t feel as though I protected anyone, though. “Grab those wraps over there and start redressing soiled bandages,” Lowa called to me.
Relief settled in on me, glad she was willing to let me help. I walked over to a sack hanging from one of the posts of the tent and grabbed a handful of the stripped linens and a jar of disinfectant before I began to walk towards the first injured warrior. He had lost an arm from an explosion, the poor man knocked out cold from the pain, a sweat on his forehead. Carefully, I unwrapped the stump before grabbing the disinfectant and pouring it onto a clean piece of linen. As gingerly as I could, I blotted the fresh stitches to clean the blood away. The man’s face winced into a pained expression, but his eyes remained closed. I dried it with another clean piece, and then wrapped with a few pieces before tying it off.
I moved patient to patient, getting lost in the work. All I wanted to do was help my men, to make up for the injustice I had caused them and their families. If only I had listened to Julia… I just had been so hell-bent on attacking that barrack, needing the humans to know that we were not a tribe to be messed with; and I hadn’t trusted her, thinking she just didn’t want any more human lives lost in the crossfire. All my mind could focus on at that point was what would have happened if I would have listened to Julia. Thirty Navani lives wouldn’t have been lost, and forty more wouldn’t be injured. But, what other plan would I have made? I wouldn’t have just let the humans get away with attacking our neighbor… I tried not to dwell on it, knowing it was already done, but I was just torturing myself.
Another thought that tortured my mind as I helped dress the men’s wounds, was the thought of Julia. I was certain by that point that she was my mate, not at all feeling the ongoing attraction I felt with her ever before in my life. Part of me completely resisted the idea, telling myself that I felt that way because she and her body were there when I was at my lowest point. I had been able to indulge in pleasure to forget for just a night that I had just killed so many of my men because I had been so thickheaded. That side of me was repulsed by the thought of her being my mate, and told myself that I was just copying Dracon. But there was something real underneath it all, I just couldn’t comprehend what it was with part of my body completely resisting the notion. Julia was something special, and I knew it wasn’t just coincidence that someone like her had been the target of our kidnapping mission.
Being so wrapped in my thoughts, the early afternoon snuck up on me, several hours passing of me helping the wounded men. I gave a sigh and figured I should go prepare a meal for Julia and I, since I hadn’t been there to serve breakfast. I stood from the cot I was kneeling next to. Walking up to Lowa, I once again reached for her softly, “I’m going to go have lunch. I’ll be back once I’m done.”
Lowa gave a nod and looked to me, her lilac eyes piercing into mine, “You are a wonderful leader to sacrifice your time to help your men in their time of need.” My heart felt lifted by her words, glad to be doing the right thing.
I gave her a nod, “I will return.”
I turned and headed out of the tent, walking back home to my hut. I ran a hand through my hair as I pushed the door open. Walking in and closing the door, I looked about for Julia, wanting her to be ready to eat so that I could hurry back to the men; already I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that would take place over lunch. I was certain she would want to talk about the previous day, and nothing that had taken place that day I was ready to talk about. She wasn’t in the communal area, so I walked back into the living area and looked about. She wasn’t in the bed or in her cot. Moving to the bathroom door, I gave a knock, “Julia?” I called in there. I gave another knock, but there was no answer. I pushed the door open to find it empty. My eyes widened and heart plummeted. Where was she?
I raced back through the hut, looking in the blankets of the bed and glancing around at every corner of the rooms as though she was just going to pop out of nowhere and still be in the hut. But she was nowhere to be found. Julia was gone.
13
Julia
I watched from the comfort of the blankets as Nova climbed out of bed. He dressed himself and left without muttering a single word to me, leaving me dazed and confused; had I done something wrong? A sigh escaped my lips as I laid in the now empty bed. My sex was tender from the intense throes of passion from the previous night; it was as if I could still feel his cock pressing into the walls of my sex. Our bodies just melded so perfectly together. Last night was easily the best night I’d ever had—never had something felt so pleasurable or right. My mind was clouded with thoughts of Nova and his body, wondering if he had felt anything remotely similar.
I shouldn’t think about him that way. He was a Navani and I was human, and if anything ever came out of what had happened, it just simply wouldn’t work out. Besides, Nova was only keeping me there to be a bargaining chip in his war against the humans. Once he got what wanted, what would stop him from killing me? He and his men had killed time and time again before me. My death would just be another tally in the grand total of humans killed on Shaviro. I doubt he would feel any kind of remorse for my death.
Yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about how perfect last night had been; the way our bodies moved in sync and how wonderfully his lips felt against mine. If I closed my eyes, I could still picture the night before per
fectly. The feeling of his body on mine was lingering, even though he was gone. In all my years, I had never had a lover leave such an impression on me. I had never been one to really date, but when a male suitor did find himself in my bed, the experience had only ever been mediocre to say the most. But with Nova…
I needed to get out of here; before I let my feelings for him completely cloud my judgement. There was no way I could have anything to do with him or his tribe, I would only wind up dead. I started planning to leave, not knowing how in the world I would get out of there. I got to my feet and began dressing hastily; if I was going to get out of there before Nova returned, I needed to get going. Moving over to the window, I peeked out to see if the coast was clear. There wasn’t a soul in my line of sight. My mind began to wonder as to where all of the Navani people were exactly and if it had anything to do with the attack the day before, but I quickly shook the thoughts away. It didn’t matter where they were, as long as they weren’t in sight of Nova’s hut so I could escape. I began slowly making my way over to the only door that led to the outside world. My stomach was in my throat as I gently nudged the door open.
Once I had the door opened wide enough to stick my head out, I scoped from left to right, making sure that no one was around. Satisfied that I was alone, I emerged from his dwelling just one step at a time. My eyes were wild as I scanned about the village, watching for any Navani. My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest, completely terrified of someone spotting me. In order to keep my focus on the mission ahead, I began to inch around the exterior of the hut, heading towards the back of it to keep out of sight. I kept telling myself I had to keep moving, no matter what, I had to keep moving. My eyes looked around the corner as I made my way to the side of the hut—behind his hut was thick jungle, but it was about five hundred feet away from where I stood. There was a small clearing behind his hut that I would have to cross in order to get into the safety of the jungle. I would have to be fast about it, not wanting anyone to spot me as I crossed the clearing. My body stayed pressed against the wood of Nova’s hut as I made my way to the very end of it. Once to the clearing, I looked both ways to ensure no one was lingering behind the huts. Then, I propelled myself forward as fast as I could in order to get into the jungle; my heart was in my throat as my nerves got the best of me.
The sound of my footfalls almost silenced upon entering the jungle. The ground was just soft enough for a quiet escape, but firm enough not to suck me in. Sweat immediately began to form on my brow, I had forgotten just how humid and hot the jungle was. The air was so thick with moisture that it felt like a heavy blanket. As much as the heat persuaded me to slow down, I had to keep my pace steady—I needed to put as much distance between myself and that hut as I could. The fear of being caught would serve as my motivation to keep running.
Various hues of blue and purple were the backdrop for my escape attempt. While it was not my first time in the jungle, it was the first time I was able to take in the scenery. The foliage on Shaviro was much more vivid than anything we had on the other colony planets. Back home the plant life consisted of different shades of green with occasional hues of yellow and brown. I wasn’t used to seeing such brilliant cerulean and lilac floral life. One flower in particular was roughly the size of a honeydew melon, blossoms covering the trees like ivy. The petals were a deep indigo around the edges and faded into a lighter periwinkle as they reached the plum colored center. If I hadn’t been running for my life I would have stopped to pick some to take home with me.
The deeper I got into the wilderness, the hotter the atmosphere became. To my left, just on the opposite side of a low lying bush, I saw a small family of capybara like creatures grazing. Their heather-gray fur was dotted with drops of dew. The young offspring intently watched as their mother drank from a large leaf that was housing a small pool of water that had dripped off one of the trees that towered above. The nature there was enchanting, I found myself completely enthralled by it. But my feet continued to carry me deep into the jungle, uncaring where I was heading. I would eventually find a human somewhere, the planet really wasn’t very large.
It felt like hours had passed. My throat had started to grow drier with each passing moment. Stopping at the nearest tree, I was delighted to see that the branches were covered in bowl-like leaves. Each one of them was filled with rainwater. I pulled one of the lower lying branches down to my mouth and tipped a leaf toward me so that I could take a drink. The third leaf-full of water had finally been enough to quench my thirst. I stood with my back against the smooth lapis colored bark of the tree. My intention wasn’t to take a long break, but my legs were begging me for a short rest.
A shrill cry echoed through the jungle and instantly ripped me from my all too abrupt moment of peace. My heart pounded in my ears as I began to panic. I pushed off from the tree and sprinted in the opposite direction that the cry had come from. What if I got caught? What would Nova do to me? What would the warrior who captures me do with me? Would Nova order them to kill me on contact? All of these questions kept bombarding my thoughts as my anxiety grew. I couldn’t allow myself to slow down, no matter how much my legs protested.
Fueled by adrenaline, I forced myself to run harder and harder. I couldn’t allow myself to get caught. The longing to return to the normalcy of my colony pushed me to keep going. Thoughts of Nova and the night before tried to plant themselves at the forefront of my mind as I ran, but I tried to suppress them the best I could. Being leverage for a Navani leader in a war against humans was not how I wanted to live out the rest of my days. I missed my home and the mundane routine I had established for myself. The fierce craving to return to my simple life and the urge to be far away from the insanity of Shaviro was carrying me further and further away from my pursuers.
It had grown quiet in the past few moments. I no longer heard the thunder of feet hitting the ground in the distance. Perhaps whoever let out that cry hadn’t seen me. No matter whether they did or didn’t, I kept running as hard as I could; my heart pounding and breathing in heavy pants. I could taste the freedom on my tongue as the daylight from the edge of the forest came into view—perhaps a human camp would be in that clearing. The sight of the light was persuading me to run faster, the muscles in my calves screaming at me to stop as I pushed them to run further. I was just a few yards from my freedom, when I was suddenly jerked off my feet. Two strong arms wrapped around my torso and I was pulled backwards.
14
Nova
In a moment of sheer panic and ignorance, I had found Dran and shaken him, asking who had removed the human from my hut. If I wouldn’t have acted so hastily and actually collected myself, I could have deducted that no one had taken her. Firstly, no one went into my hut without my consent, period; and secondly, everyone was distracted by the wounded warriors from the attacks the day before. Julia had gotten out on her own, and now Dran had gathered a search party to find and bring her back. While that should have given me relief, it didn’t. They would rough her up and possibly beat her to an inch of death. I shouldn’t have cared about that—I should have only cared that she was returned to me. But the thought of her being hurt so badly, again… it made me sick to my stomach. Her wounds had just started to heal up, she didn’t need more.
Once the search party departed for the jungle between the tribe and Harp, I went back to my hut to try and figure out the direction she most likely would have gone. Trying to reenact the scene, I slowly stepped out of the door and looked around the village before me as I tried to think like a human. Well, I wouldn’t have risked running across the path to the jungle which led directly towards Harp; crossing would have been too risky. I looked around and began to walk around the hut. Going to the end, I glanced at the alleyway behind my hut and the others. It wasn’t very wide and it wouldn’t have been too troublesome to cross. She had to have headed in that direction. Without another thought, I ran into the jungle.
My feet hardly hit the ground as I ran with speed and grace, trying
to catch up to wherever she was as fast as I could. Once the search party realized she wasn’t in the jungle leading to Harp, they would come in this direction. I had to find her before they caught on, but luckily that could take several hours. Surely with her small stature, she couldn’t have traveled too far. But as it seemed, she had actually gotten quite far out, not being able to reach her even within an hour. It shocked and impressed me; she was proving to be much more capable of things than I thought humans were.
I tried to keep as linear as possible, only moving to weave through obstacles like trees and massive rocks. If she ever planned to get out of the jungle, going straight was probably the way she believed to get out, that she would eventually run into someone. Little did she know, more brethren tribes were scattered throughout the jungle. If she stumbled onto one of those before she found humans or I found her, she would be killed; there was no doubt in my mind about that. Just as I approached the top of a hill, looking down at the jungle waiting for me, I spotted a pale white figure in the distance resting against a tree. Julia. “JULIA!” I called at the top of my lungs before running full speed towards her. But as I ran after her, I noticed she was running again as well. I groaned internally and ran as hard as I could in her direction. At least I had spotted her, there was no way the human could outrun me, even the faster humans I had encountered were slower than the average Navani.
After about five minutes, I knew I was closing in on her. However, she had been running from something, and I didn’t want her to run from me if I tried to approach her. Once I knew I was within a considerate distance, I eased my footsteps and moved to the left, staying hidden between trees as I continued to follow her with ease. After a couple of minutes of laying low, she seemed to notice that there was no one behind her, continuously looking behind her. I knew surprising her would be the only way to actually grab her and be able to calm her down so that she would actually stop and talk to me. So I jogged ahead a bit, still keeping silent. Once she caught up and passed me, I jumped out from the trees and grabbed her from behind. My arms wrapped around her torso and lifted her into the air. One arm then left her ribs and clasped that hand over her mouth as she tried to scream. “Relax, it’s Nova,” I breathed to her. I could feel her muscles tense, making my brow crease. Why was she afraid of it being me? Out of all the people that could have grabbed her, I would have thought I would be the one she would be the least afraid of. “I’ll uncover your mouth if you won’t scream. Are you going to scream?” There was a pause, but then she shook her head no so I peeled my hand away.
