by Isabel Wroth
Alec drew in a deep breath, her nostrils twitching when she caught the unmistakable scent of desire as it wafted from Loro.
The Record’s Keeper assigned to teach Alec and the children about Sarazen culture stood on her other side, arms folded over her lean chest, her gaze fixated on the spectacle about to take place.
“Should I be jealous to know you find my mate so appealing, Loro?” Alec drawled.
Loro immediately flushed, but didn’t bother to deny her attraction. “Jealousy implies you have something to lose, and we all know your mate is devoted to you.
“Rest assured, it is not your mate I find so appealing. My beast is aroused by the impending bloodshed.”
Alec opened her mouth to say something else, but couldn’t get the words out when she saw Kalix make his move.
He charged forward like he had wings, in a way she hadn’t seen him move yet. So fast, he was almost a blur.
Blood arched through the air as Kalix cut a bloody swath through his opponents. He lashed out and bodies were tossed up and away like sacks of dirty laundry.
Wherever he went, warriors littered the ground in his wake. In a matter of minutes, twenty-nine challengers became fifteen, then eight, then five, then two.
Realizing how quickly Kalix had defeated the others, the remaining two decided to work together to try and bring Kalix down, but even that wasn’t enough.
“I would brace yourself for what will come after the fight is over,” A’tarey warned, hissing with every other warrior in the arena when Kalix drove his fist into one of the remaining challenger’s throats, the crunching sound his trachea made almost audible over the cheering crowd.
“Brace myself?” Alec asked, leaning forward to watch Kalix and his last opponent circling one another on the blood soaked sand.
“Commander Kalix has given himself over to his beast, and when they triumph here, he and the beast will both need soothing before he can regain total control.”
It was the way A’tarey said ‘soothing’ that clued her in, but she was too busy watching her mate kick ass to really worry about it.
She winced when the final challenger went low, tackling Kalix to the ground, only to find himself grappling with a warrior thus far unmatched and unbeaten.
It was over so fast, for a moment Alec didn’t understand why the entire stadium had gone silent. Kalix stood, gleaming with sweat, covered in sand and blood, his chest heaving.
“I AM KALIX, LAST OF THE GRAYMIST CLAN! I SERVE THE SARAZEN PRIDE WITH HONOR! I SERVE MY ASHO, MY MATE, WITH HONOR! I WAS CHOSEN BY THE ASHO TO GOVERN THIS PLANET, AND UNTIL SUCH TIME AS HE FINDS ME UNFIT, THIS TERRITORY. IS. MINE!”
Alec felt the stone beneath her ass tremble in the wake of Kalix’s roar. “IS THERE ANYONE ELSE WHO DARES CHALLENGE ME?!”
He turned slowly with his arms spread wide, master of all he surveyed, standing victorious above those who had failed to overtake him, giving one last chance to anyone who wished to make their challenge known.
Not even the wind dared to raise its voice.
The echo of his declaration had barely begun to fade, when every warrior in the stadium leapt to their feet and answered his claim with a resounding, Rou, Rou, ROU!
Kalix looked up to where she still sat, his expression fierce, the animal staring out at her from the vibrancy of his purple eyes. Alec’s insides twisted with lust, melting in readiness for what she was sure to be a violently delicious claiming.
~Downstairs. Now.
*****
Kalix could feel his beast in every pore, every hair follicle, his skin stretched so tight he worried if he took too deep a breath it would split open and out would pour the monster inside him fighting to be set free. The battle hadn’t been to best the others.
It had been the struggle, the control it took to damage, to defeat his challengers but not kill them.
He had their scents in his nose, their blood on his skin, and more than anything he wanted to taste their deaths. Feel skin and bone give way to his claws as he ripped them apart, taste the hot spray of their blood in his mouth.
Blood. Hunger. Rage. Need. So much need.
Kalix twitched and jumped, skating the edge of bloodlust, and every step he took, every breath was another irritation.
The itch of the blood and sand drying on his flesh, the seconds it took for the warriors in his path to lower their eyes, the howling cries of the prisoners above him in the stadium, the distance between him and the only possible thing that could soothe the savagery boiling inside him, all of it made it that much harder to regain control.
His senses heightened from combat, Kalix could taste the sensuality of his mate’s heat. A trail of syrupy sweet spoor, driving his beast to hunt her down, to claim her over and over until her screams of pleasured satisfaction rose above everything else, drowning out the thunderous din.
He followed Alec’s scent through the catacombs, his nose lifted to the air, tracking back and forth with ease.
Kalix ducked into one of the holding cells, his gaze searching through the darkness, his beast’s eyes identifying a small pile of clothing, still warm from Alec’s skin.
His claws tore the fabric as he lifted it to his face, his lips curving into a snarl, his jaw almost misshapen from how large his fangs had grown.
His mate was clever, perfuming an empty room with her clothes to disguise her true hiding place. She was making him hunt her, but his beast was in no mood to be toyed with.
His lungs filled with a breath needed to roar, but before so much as a hiss could pass his lips, she dropped to the floor from a niche hidden in the shadows of the ceiling.
Her eyes flashed in the darkness, her beast staring back at him, head low and her lips curled in sensual invitation.
A constant string of growling purrs rattled in his chest, his body quaking with the force of his beast having gone wild with lust inside him.
Alec couldn’t know what she was doing to him, turning away from him, blatantly slapping at him with a challenge of her own.
Her palms flattened against the nearest wall, her back to him, glancing at him over her shoulder, her chin tucked down to try and hide her smile, taunting him with the excitement shining so obviously in her eyes.
Kalix was on her faster than he could take his next breath.
His chest hit her back hard enough to force her flat against the cold stone, her hiss ignored as he raked his fingertips down her sides, his claws dangerously whispering along her skin.
She moaned softly for him, shivering even as she relaxed and surrendered to him, the scent of her arousal so thick he could feel it on his hyper-sensitized flesh.
Kalix wanted to reassure her even in this state of madness he would never hurt her, but she tipped her hips back, her rump grinding intently against his groin and every thought but one fled his mind.
Breed. Hard.
He had little control left, and it took all of it to keep his teeth from meeting around a mouthful of her skin.
There would be no tenderness for her, not yet, not until the monster was sated and his dominance proven beyond all doubt, and how she had chosen to receive him only served to drive him past what sanity he had left.
His cock throbbed like an open wound, angry and hot, hard enough he could have fucked a hole through the stone wall he had his mate pressed against.
He ripped at the material swathed around his hips even as he kicked her feet wider apart, unable to keep from biting at her shoulders, her nape, sucking her tender flesh into his mouth to leave his mark behind.
His entire body rippled with awareness, the scent of her need intensifying to the point where every breath Kalix took pushed him farther and farther down a path he was frightened to travel, yet had no choice.
Alec tilted her hips back even farther, opening herself to the press of his shaft between her thighs, her arousal dripped from inside her, coating his cock in thick, creamy fluids... all the assurance his beast required.
*****
~
Alec, answer me. Now.
Alec moaned softly, her body protesting the languid stretch she made, a dreadful ache making itself known between her thighs. She felt bruised, battered, and sore, like she’d been in some kind of fight.
~Open your eyes. Look at me, mate.
Kalix. Mm. She and her beast both gave an appreciative purr.
Memories rose and fell in gentle waves, the sight of her mate covered in blood and sand, standing tall and proud with his arms spread wide.
The challenge. The... oh... the vaults.
Her eyelids felt so heavy, she could just barely crack them open, but it was enough to see Kalix’s insanely worried expression as he leaned over her, stroking her hair back from her face with a trembling hand.
She tried to smile, but her face hurt, her lips throbbing as though swollen and when she swallowed even her throat hurt.
She found she didn’t care at all, reaching up with leaden arms to hug his shoulders and draw him back down to her, needing his warmth to make the ache go away.
~Hi. She turned her head so she could rub her cheek against his, feeling his whiskers rasp against her tender skin.
~I was beginning to worry I had irreparably damaged you.
Alec could feel the heaviness of his worry, see it in the fine lines of strain around his eyes.
Awareness began to seep in, realizing she lay on a soft, narrow bed in a blindingly white room. A room with no windows she could immediately see, and scanning equipment stretched overhead.
~Where are we?
~A private room in the prison infirmary.
~Infirmary? Why?
Kalix’s jaw turned to granite beneath her lips, a muscle above his brow ticking while he carefully levered himself up to look directly down at her. ~I lost control. I allowed my beast to brutalize you after the challenge.
Brutalize her? She felt raw inside, but the lingering pleasure, the memories of how amazingly intense it had been to be with Kalix without his mighty control, made the ache absolutely worth the pain.
It had been just like the first dream he had shared with her. His fantasy of taking her from behind at the breeding festival now brought to life, it had been every bit as frenzied as Alec imagined.
It had been the first image that had come to mind when she had dropped down from the ceiling, the shyness and uncertainty she had woken with so many weeks ago after sharing his desire filled vision, utterly obliterated.
Her body had ached for his possession, her own beast absolutely willing to submit, knowing together they could soothe the rage of their mate.
The scent of his cat had been overwhelming, the mix of their enemies’ blood and the added rasp of sand between them only heightened her arousal.
It was the smell of victory, of conquest, and apparently just the thing to drive Alec and her beast both crazy with lust.
~That’s not exactly how I remember things happening. You were definitely out of control, but I don’t feel brutalized. Sore, but not brutalized.
Kalix looked skeptical, even when she brushed her lips across his and scraped her nails through the wealth of soft curls at his nape, he didn’t relax at all.
~I didn’t get to tell you, seeing as how we were otherwise occupied, you were magnificent out there.
I think it’s wrong of me to be so bloodthirsty, but it turned me on so hard to watch you throw those warriors to the dirt, one by one. Like they were children’s toys.
~Alec... I can smell how badly you hurt. I feel it.
She managed to lift one shoulder, not bothering to try and tell him she wasn’t in pain. ~I’m fine, thought I wouldn’t say no to a few tubes of regeneration gel.
~A submersion chamber is being filled for you as we speak. I vow to you, I will never again allow myself to be so out of control with you. You were afraid.
Afraid of him? Of his beast? Not hardly.
~I’ve hurt worse than this, and while I admit I wasn’t fully aware what it meant for you to have given over to your beast, I knew he wasn’t going to be gentle.
I wasn’t afraid of you, or him. I was afraid of how intense the pleasure was. I thought I knew what that word meant, but uh, you sure proved me wrong.
Kalix was shocked, evident not just in the explosion of disbelief through their bond, but there in the astonished look on his face.
It was kind of cute. She might have laughed if her belly wasn’t so sore from all the ecstatic contractions.
~I’ll be disappointed if you never trust me with your cat again.
Kalix looked like he would have responded, but a brisk knock sounded on the door and a muffled voice announced the regeneration gel had been charged and was ready for her.
Her mate scooped her up before she could do more than blink, his long strides carrying them into another sterile looking room, this one with glass tubs full of pink goop.
Kalix ordered the medic to turn around, whipping the blanket off of her as soon as the other male obeyed and despite her squeal of disgust, sat her down in the warm, slimy-feeling gel and pushed until she was submerged up to her chin.
She would much rather have had a hot bath and Kalix’s hands applying the gel than have the thick weight pressing down all around her, but he was insistent she stay put.
“How long do I have to be in here?” she ventured aloud, curling her lip as air popped up to the surface in obscene bubbles.
Kalix sank his arm into the gel to keep her from crawling out, smearing a thin film across her face and over her lips. “As long as it takes to ensure you are healed.”
~Spread your legs for me, love.
Alec didn’t think to disobey, though she did glance at the medic to find him thankfully still standing there with his back turned.
She bit into her cheek, her lashes fluttering in undeniable pleasure when Kalix cupped his hand around her pussy, his fingers moving in a tender massage to ensure the restorative went to work on the swollen tissues.
Carefully, one bare centimeter at a time he pushed a gel-coated digit inside her, the stern line of his lips giving the smallest quirk when her head fell back on the rim of the tank with a sigh.
“Where are the kids?” she asked, her lashes falling shut as the heat of the fluid turned into soothing tingles, aches and pains fading away with each breath.
“A’tarey and the guards have taken them back to the fortress.”
“Good.” Seeing he was still tense and feeling guilty for having pleasured her senseless with his out of control beast, Alec stirred her fingers in the goop and sought to distract him.
“Did you know they made bets with their guards on the individual contenders and how long they would last against you?”
Kalix blinked, fighting his grin despite the fact she could feel his amusement. “What was the bet?”
“The kids bartered good behavior for hunting lessons. If their bet fell through, they promised not to give their guard any grief for a certain number of days.
“If they won, the guard has to teach them how to evade a Sarazen cat. Half the kids lost, the other half start their training next week.
“Which means half the trouble for the guards for a week or two, until the kids figure out how to make themselves invisible. I don’t know what A’tarey and the others were thinking.”
His laugh boomed throughout the medical wing, head thrown back, the strong cords in his throat working as he shook with mirth. There was pride in his grin, sparkling in his eyes, banishing the shadows of his concerns.
“You’ve taught them to be ruthless and cunning, no doubt they will master their lessons quickly.”
It was a compliment, but it didn’t exactly sound like one.
*****
Once the gel had done its work, Kalix helped her out of the tank, carrying her to the nearest enzyme wash to meticulously make sure not a single trace of it remained on her skin.
Someone had recovered her boots from the vaults, but apparently her clothes were toast. Unsuitable to ever be worn again, Kalix said, the tops o
f his ears turning pink.
She was given a one shouldered white gown to wear, which she put on and immediately caught the unfiltered thought from Kalix, that he loved the way she looked in the dress.
Alec hadn’t worn but two dresses in her entire life, and this one made number two. It felt weird to have so much material around her legs, hampering her ability to reach the blades hidden in her boots.
Her ability to move quickly if necessary. Under the amused, heated gaze of her mate, Alec popped her claws out and made two slits in the gauzy fabric from thighs to ankles. There. Now she definitely had access to her weapons.
“Is something wrong with your mate’s garments, Asha?” the medic who had attended them hustled over to hover, looking at the tears Alec had made in the long skirt of the dress.
Kalix snagged her hand, giving the medic a tight shake of his head. “No, Tor. My mate is unused to the confines of a gown. Please give my thanks to your female for her graciousness.”
Alec suddenly realized she must be wearing another woman’s dress. Tor’s mate’s dress, actually, that she’d just shredded.
“I don’t feel comfortable being unable to get to my weapons.”
Tor attempted to appear as though he understood, wishing them well before he scurried away, leaving Alec to tug at her earlobe self-consciously, glancing up to see the smirk having curled Kalix’s lips.
“How do I go about replacing a borrowed dress I’ve apparently just ruined?” Alec asked him.
He pressed a kiss to her temple, a thrill chasing down her spine, not having realized that spot beside the corner of her eye could be so sensitive.
Kalix must have noticed her reaction, lingering there to rub his lips back and forth in whisper soft kisses, surrounding her with his heat, with the soft rumbling purrs that vibrated through her, as though in that moment he and his beast both wanted to reassure her, perhaps remind her of his ability to be gentle and tender with her.
She fought to keep from utterly melting, but he always did this. If their bed play had been even remotely close to being rough, for hours afterward Kalix touched or kissed her like she would shatter any moment.
Cuddling her affectionately, like the beast within was urging him to reward her, maybe praise her for having withstood his erotic violence.
