The Warrior's Pet (Cadi Warriors Book 1)

by Stephanie West

  "Daimio" The engineer greeted him looking excited.

  "Do you have good news?" Kagan asked although he had a feeling it was unnecessary.

  "I do. We were successful making the device Giselle described." Tytus reported. "It was easier than expected. The difficulty came in concentrating the pulse, but we've got that nailed down."

  Giselle clapped happily.

  "And how do we protect our own comms when this pulse is unleashed?" Kagan asked.

  "Your little female is a wealth of information." Tytus looked at Giselle in admiration. "We've constructed a ferreting cage."

  "Faraday Cage." Giselle corrected. "And I only explained the principle from what I'd heard back home, you actually turned my babble into something." Giselle praised the warrior.

  Tytus soaked it up. "Thank you." He bowed. "We have shielded the garage where we've stored the rota and other transports. Each fighting unit will need to store their communicators in one of these boxes."

  Kagan look at the simple metal lined crate. Kagan could hardly believe such a simple thing could protect their equipment. Then again he couldn't understand how a burst of electricity could be used to kill the electronic guts of their enemy's equipment. Science was a wonder.

  "We will need a signal to let everyone know when it's safe to get their equipment back out." Tytus said.

  "It will need to be something Vigdis' army won't recognize." Kagan considered.

  "How about an animal call or something." Giselle suggested.

  Kagan grinned then tilted back his head and bellowed out a feral roar.

  Giselle's eyes widened as she stumbled back. Everyone on the field stopped and looked at Kagan. In the stunned quiet a responding roar could be heard deep in the forest.

  "You beast you nearly made me deaf." Giselle swatted his chest. "I think I heard your mate calling for you in the woods." She teased.

  "My pet thinks she's funny." Kagan said to Tytus who smiled back.

  Giselle patted Kagan's chest where she'd walloped him. Kagan lifted her other hand and looked at her wrist. Giselle kept it bound, but the swelling had decreased and it was nearly healed like the rest of her injuries. The fact she had them in the first place still pissed him off.

  "Don't go growling, it's almost healed." Giselle insisted.

  The only thing that kept Kagan from going after Bram was the knowledge that Dagaa had given him to Stone, so the Toufik now had a servant at their disposal. Much like the majority of the Cadi warriors, the Toufik males did not like the idea that Bram had harmed a female. They were working the male like a dog.

  "I think we found our signal."

  Tytus nodded then took off to finish his part in the upcoming production. And the battle certainly was going to be a production, a carefully scripted play where Kagan's warriors led the Scelus Cadi army around by their tails.

  The way his warriors were adapting to such drastic variations in battle tactics made Kagan smile. The males were actually excited about the prospect of doing something so different. Even the Toufik males seemed to be standing taller. Kagan couldn't help but look at Giselle like she was some sort of miracle.

  "The things you have shown us." Kagan pulled Giselle close. "I am amazed."

  "Stop. I really haven't done anything. It's just a handful of ideas that are different." Giselle insisted.

  "Maybe, but it's that difference, it's you that has opened our eyes to things we did not see before. That is something extraordinary."

  Kagan watched Giselle's eyes mist and the pulse in her throat flutter.

  "Kagan I don't know what to say." Giselle rested her head against his chest.

  "Well I need you to go get cleaned up." Kagan encouraged as he looked at Giselle. She had a smudge of dirt on her cheek and forehead, and her hair was in disarray. "Tonight there will be a special celebration, we will honor the dead and ask for strength come tomorrow."

  "Oh the funeral. I almost forgot." Giselle said as she looked down at herself. "I'm filthy."

  "I like you dirty." Kagan rubbed his hand across the dirt on her cheek.

  "Yeah, you do." Giselle winked and then sauntered off. Her ass swayed in that seductive way that made Kagan want to growl and nip at it.

  Kagan walked over to the funeral pyre to find the monk. Ismat was praying over the dead as the last of the bodies were placed upon the bier.

  "Have you prayed over what we discussed?" Kagan asked.

  "Yes and I think that the Goddess Kali will find your sacrifice acceptable." Ismat replied.

  Kagan sighed in relief. Tonight he would go before Kali and the Cadi people and show them just what he was willing to sacrifice to officially bond with Giselle.

  Giselle

  Somewhere between Kagan prying golden bars apart to save her from a tyrant and him telling her she was his Giselle had fallen in love with the big warrior. Giselle sat in the bath smiling as she tried to decide when exactly it had happened. Was it when the man insisted Sabin not know his people rejected him, or was it when he bathed her injuries tenderly?

  Giselle smiled as she shaved her legs, making sure everything was tidy downstairs. Kagan had found the little strip of hair intriguing. Apparently Cadi females went au natural. Giselle showed him the benefits of a tidier bush though she garnered more of those benefits as Kagan wedged his face between her thighs.

  Giselle realized she was daydreaming as she looked down at her pruney fingers. This evening though called a celebration would be the formal funeral for the poor Cadi of Nazario. Come tomorrow this time they would meet Vigdis and his Scelus Cadi army.

  Giselle got out of the tub before the water turned completely cold and put on a blue skirt and top that had been salvaged from one of the many abandoned row houses. The door flew open and Sabin came racing in giggling, followed by Rahela's little girl who was close to his age.

  "I'm going to start locking that door." Giselle mumbled barely pulling her skirt on in time.

  Giselle really didn't mind their bubbly interruption. It was good to see Sabin playing with children his own age instead of marching around like a little man. She worried the boy's life was filled with a few too many adult experiences lately. He had come with Kagan's army when they left the pass. Thankfully Jolana, Grainne's mate, had taken to the boy and was happy to watch him with the other children even though he was a child of the enemy. Sabin still gravitated towards Dagaa or Kagan if they were around, mimicking them. It was cute.

  "I beat you." Sabin declared.

  "I'm not a warrior!" Fera pouted since Sabin had run faster.

  Giselle shook her head. "Fera I'm sure you have things you are better at than Sabin. That's what makes people neat. It would be no fun if everyone was good at running and no one was good at tumbling." Giselle did a somersault despite wearing a skirt, making the children giggle.

  "I'm supposed to bring you to dinner." Sabin laughed.

  "Alright lets go." Giselle smiled as she readjusted her skirt.

  The trio walked outside the city walls. Giselle looked around at the entire army and Toufik gathered on the open field. It was overwhelming to see them all in one place. The children brought Giselle up front where Kagan sat on a blanket near a large bonfire. Kagan rose to greet her. Dagaa, Ismat, Cyprian and others Giselle was most familiar with sat close. Food was served and there was much chatter.

  On the opposite end of the field the funeral pyre still raged. No one was ignorant of that fact or what was coming tomorrow, yet the air was still filled with happy sounds. Everyone was in positive spirits.

  "So everything is ready." Giselle sighed and leaned into Kagan.

  "Yes." He wrapped his arms around her handing Giselle a cup. "Tonight we will honor the dead."

  Giselle nodded as she took a sip of something like wine. It wasn't unpalatable like the harsh liquor that had knocked her off her feet.

  "Then there will be another ceremony." Kagan smiled down at her looking dark and sexy. "I will address Kali and beg for two favors."

  "A
nd what is that?" Giselle asked.

  "Success for my people tomorrow and you."

  Giselle stared for a moment taking in Kagan's words.

  "What do you mean?" Giselle asked her stomach fluttering.

  "I think you know my little mate. You agreed to have me. Now before my people and the Goddess we will be bonded." Kagan grinned proudly.

  "I don't know what to do. I don't want to screw up." Giselle said nervously. She couldn't believe this would be her wedding and she hadn't even known. "I should've fixed my hair nicer." Giselle reached up horrified she'd been wallowing on the floor less than an hour ago.

  "You are gorgeous. All you need to do is say yes when asked." Kagan kissed her forehead before getting up.

  "Vidya Cadi!" Kagan bellowed his voice carrying over the entire field. "Let us honor our fallen brethren."

  Ismat got up and moved in front of the bonfire.

  "Venerable Kali we come before you today to thank you for all the blessings you have seen fit to shower upon your people. We are saddened that so many of your children have crossed over sooner that we were willing to let them go, but all things come to pass according to your plan. And though we are loathe for our loved ones to leave us we know that they are in a better place by your side."

  Giselle listened as Ismat blessed the dead similar to funerals back home. Kagan held her close as one Cadi after another came forward and spoke heart rending words about their family and friends. Giselle found herself in tears even though she didn't know a single one of the deceased. She knew the survivors and felt their pain. Giselle couldn't help but mourn for her own loved ones, her parents, sisters and the friends she'd never gotten a chance to say goodbye to and would never see again.

  There were several minutes of quiet reflection. When Giselle opened her eyes Kagan was absent as well as several of the other males she knew. She looked around but didn't see him nearby. The air thrummed with anticipation of what was to come next. Everyone was silent, expectant, even the children. Giselle knew Kagan planned to claim her in front of his people but she had no idea what that would entail. It was nerve racking.

  Suddenly close to a hundred warrior marched out into the clearing. Their faces were painted similar to the tattoos many of them wore on their bare chests. The warriors wore their long black hair loose. The men stood several rows deep facing the crowd but centered on Giselle.

  The boom of a bass drum resounded and the warriors in unison squatted in a wide kneed stance. Giselle sucked in a deep breath staring in awe. One warrior started to chant in time with the slowly building thud. Giselle recognized that it was Dagaa despite the fearsome painted on mask. Charcoal rimmed his eyes and the black lines on his chin made him look like he was snarling.

  The rest of the men took up the chant as they stomped then pounded their chests in time with the drum. The warriors performed a mock fight that reminded Giselle of the Haka dance the Maori of New Zealand would do. Giselle's heart was in her throat as the men moved in unison. The sonorous drum beat burrowed its way into her psyche, till Giselle felt like it was an extension of her soul, pulsing and swelling in intensity then just as suddenly it stopped. The men knelt on one knee, splayed their arms wide and roared to the heavens.

  The group parted and from behind the fire Kagan approached. He was nude all but a scrap of fabric covering his manhood. Kagan presented an imposing silhouette with the blazing bonfire at his back, his black hair whipping in the breeze. He silently surveyed his people looking every bit the foreboding warrior king. When Kagan's liquid obsidian gaze fell upon her, it flared with passion and purpose. Giselle shivered as goosebumps rose up on her skin.

  "Tonight our Daimio offers up to Kali a sacrifice." Ismat bellowed. "May his people and the Goddess find it worthy."

  Giselle watched in horror as Ismat pulled a brand from the fire. It glowed white hot as Ismat pressed it to Kagan's chest. Giselle gasped but Kagan barely grimaced, staring stoically at her as his flesh sizzled and charred. When Ismat pulled the metal away from Kagan's chest there was an ornately shaped welt. Ismat reached out and ground a palm full of black powdered paint into the raw mark. Ismat repeated the horrific process and Giselle was ready to jump up and intercede.

  Grainne placed a hand on her shoulder.

  "Do not, it would shame him." Grainne shook his head.

  Giselle sat uncomfortably, tears streaming down her cheeks as the swirling pattern took shape across Kagan's chest connecting the designs from one bicep to the other. The sweat poured down his body as he gritted his teeth. The pain had to be unbearable. Kagan was doing this for her. Giselle wished she could read the ornate script to understand the sentiment behind the writing.

  Numerous pairs of eyes were on Giselle, looking from her to Kagan in awe. Many of the Cadi nodded as the expanse of Kagan's flesh was covered. Kagan already had more warrior's ink than most of the males because of who he was and all the battles he'd been in, but this added exponentially to the living artwork. It was as stunning as it was disturbing to watch the design unfold and blend with the rest. To think her warrior had suffered this to gain inch upon agonizing inch of the marks that told the story of his life.

  In the middle, over Kagan's heart, the design turned into a recognizable pattern. Giselle gasped as she saw her name take shape. That was why Kagan had asked her to write it down in her own language. The sneaky crazy sweet bastard. Giselle tried but couldn't repress her sob. He didn't need to do this for her.

  Kagan's gaze was on Giselle the entire time, never veering away. A dozen emotions passed between them, respect, desire, trust and adoration. But what superseded all of it was love. Ismat was right Kali worked in mysterious ways. Giselle had crossed the entire universe in order to find her prince charming, and here he was sacrificing himself to prove to his people that she was worthy.

  Giselle couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up and approached Kagan and Ismat. The monk looked at her in surprise and paused. Giselle ran her hand over Kagan's cheek then rose up on her tip toes and kissed her warrior. Giselle took Kagan's hand and gripped him tight as Ismat finished the intense design.

  "Can you spell Kagan's name with those?" Giselle asked as she looked at the various brands.

  Ismat nodded.

  "Where would you like me to wear your mark?" Giselle asked Kagan.

  Kagan looked unsure but Giselle smiled and nodded as she squeezed his hand. If he could cover so much of his body for her, then she could bear to have his name inscribed on her flesh.

  Kagan ran his hand on her shoulder opposite her rose tattoo. Giselle nodded and presented her shoulder to Ismat. Kagan gripped both of her hands as Ismat set the first of the brands against her flesh. Giselle clenched her jaw against the searing pain but didn't cry out.

  The crowd gasped but Kagan just looked at her with pride. Giselle focused on him as Ismat worked. The pain shifted into the background till all she could see and feel was Kagan.

  "I love you." She mouthed the words.

  "I love you too my beautiful warrior." Kagan said as he kissed the tears from her cheeks.

  "Kali, Vidya Cadi" Ismat called out to the Goddess and the people with a loud solemn voice. "Let none who witnesses the sacrifice of this pair forget what they are willing to do for their people, or for each other." Ismat looked at the people in the crowd. "Kagan quo Rordan it takes a great sacrifice to take a bonded, and an even greater sacrifice to take one that many would see a unworthy. Yet I say to you all that it is not what is on the outside that is a measure of worth. Never have I known a female who so embodied our Goddess. Who else but Kali could cross two such paths and unite them as one." Ismat smiled at Giselle and Kagan as they stood hand in hand. "I would ask if you two accept this bond until the day that Kali takes you into her bosom, but I think the conjugo mark and warrior's ink is all the answer we need. May your bond be blessed."

  With those words the Cadi people roared out a chant and pounded the earth. Giselle smiled at their boisterous proclamation to her union with their le
ader. Kagan grinned then swept Giselle off her feet and quickly headed towards the manor.

  Kagan made it to their room in record time, not even breathless from the near run. Giselle giggled at her eager mate. The thought had her instantly giddy. She was married, mated, bonded!

  Giselle looked at Kagan as he set her down beside the bed and walked over to grab something from his bag. The muscles of his back, ass and thighs rippled and flexed deliciously.

  Giselle never pictured that she'd be married to such a specimen of masculinity. Yes Kagan was an alien, that she'd never ever fathomed, but that aside the man was built like a brick shit-house. Giselle always imagined she'd marry some soft nerdy professor type, descent enough abs to get her in the mood, but not holy shit hot. She viewed herself as more of an academic, with an okay but far from model perfect body.

  Kagan was not only stunningly handsome with a body to die for but he was intelligent, brave and honorable. He had that sexy muscular vee at his hips that pointed down like an arrow to his manhood. Giselle wanted to run her fingers along the trail of hair that led from Kagan's washboard stomach down, down, down.

  Giselle shook her head. It was almost too much to believe. Surely at any moment she would wake up from the unreal dream.

  Kagan swaggered towards her. He looked Giselle up and down with appreciation, a triumphant glint in his eyes. Her warrior was set on claiming his prize.

  "Turn around." Kagan instructed in his deep sexy voice.

  Giselle turned her back though she was reluctant to look away from his piercing gaze. You never turn your back on a predator, and boy did she feel like prey. Just being alone with Kagan was enough to tip her over the edge. Her nipples were hard, her stomach fluttered, and she felt her core go slick.

  A cool soothing gel touched her back and Giselle jumped.

  "Easy. Does it hurt brave little one?" There was a hitch in Kagan's voice.

  Giselle glanced over her shoulder. A moment ago Kagan was savage and sexy, but now there was an element of humility in the way her stared down at her shoulder. Kagan's ebony eyes rose to meet hers. Kagan didn't shut away his emotions. He let them pour through. What she saw reflected there shook Giselle to her very core.