Feral Series IV: Feral Fallout

by Skhye Moncrief

  M'yote caught me.

  Almost too carefully. As if the display had been planned.

  Sol strode toward the door, slammed his palm down on the lock's video pad, stepped across the threshold, and shot us a peeved stare. “You all make yourselves at home until I feel up to throwing your asses out of my personal quarters. Because when I return, that's exactly what I'm doing if anyone gives me the slightest complaint."

  The door slammed tight.

  Somebody say something. Anything. But only Flonn moved to place the tray on Sol's desk. I guess we'd had our little scuffle to set the ground rules for roomies. And only Sol got to make the rules.

  "If it's your child, Flonn, there is little chance of it surviving your huv'ria's pregnancy where you've housed your soul at the bottom of compound. Think logically. Move your huv'ria back into your quarters and take her when necessary to mate with her Prall mates.” Rom's plea abruptly quieted.

  "Father, this is the perfect opportunity to worm into the King's confidence and skirt him and M'yote away to Prall with my huv'ria. I can become part of the high King's clan. Monitor the King's actions. And learn if Theone knows the coordinates to the colony."

  "You haven't thought this plan through. How will you convince them to leave with you? And more so, how do you expect them to believe you've just changed allegiances?"

  I can act. “We'll escape using The Savior. It will look like a freak occurrence. And I will save them during the escape. I will appear to be the one who saves them all."

  "What do you hope to achieve from this venture? A name for yourself?"

  As always, age made a person insulting. “I thought working off-world to acquire information crucial to the !Dakos would please you. All my efforts would protect our rights to our colony."

  "Solid argument, Flonn. But you are so young. You think with your instincts. Not with your head. I only see you working to save your huv'ria."

  How could he not see the logic behind my planting myself for the greater good of all !Dakos? “You only see what you want to see, Father. My plan benefits both you and I."

  "Do what you must to make it work then. I do not wish to be humiliated by another son with dreams of starting a family so young. Be cautious. Always think of your people when forced to choose between your head and your heart."

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  Cybernetics... “offers a method for the scientific treatment of the system in which complexity is outstanding and too important to be ignored.” ~W. Ross Ashby

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  Chapter Fourteen

  "I hate lying to Flonn,” I spoke directly into the shell of M'yote's ear as hot water pelted our skins.

  He caressed me gently with his tingling washboard abs pressed against my ribs. “Say what must be said,” he murmured and planted kisses on my cheek. “He will be our only chance to bolt for your ship. We need him to think you're dying. Think of the baby."

  Wrank's child. Oh, what a mess this mission twisted into. “And Wrank?"

  "If you want a fourth mate, we'll go for him. But only after we've freed ourselves from this prison. Until then, our goal is to escape."

  "Alright. Sol is happy with this plan?"

  "It's his plan. Just like punching me this morning."

  Fine. Thanks for letting me in on the strategy. But I wasn't about to dump my !Dakos warrior anywhere if Sol got a wild hair to ditch his ass in space or on a planet. Flonn had a heart. And even if he didn't think so, I could tell there was a soul hidden deeply inside his heart. I just had to jiggle it out of him. I'll be damned if I was going to use him and toss him aside. Not after he tried to save me when I was ill.

  "Flonn,” Theone whispered where she stood beside my chair.

  The lights barely glowed at ten percent so the others could sleep even though my !Dakos warrior's vision operated almost as well at night as infrared vision.

  Why did she want to speak now? She should be sleeping. So should I. I hadn't slept since speaking to my father after Solvun had wandered off to play cards with other inmates. Rom left me with one thought. What would I do if something happened to my soul? Or her child? Would I be strong enough to do my father's bidding? I had to serve the !Dakos. Even if pretending to be the Prall nobles social brother. I'd have my huv'ria then. Yes, she was the only thing important now.

  "Flonn.” She poked my upper arm carefully.

  Probably thought she would frighten me out of a sleep. But my brain had adjusted to her smell, voice, and touch. I'd never hurt her.

  What did she want? I opened my eyes.

  She smiled at me through the shadows, holding the wisp of a blanket I'd brought earlier with the !Dakos silver pants and shirt she now wore. “May I sit with you?"

  Of course. Although, she seemed determined to bend to Sol's will and sleep in the bed with the King earlier. I shifted my arms to the hard arm rests, even though they were uncomfortable. I hadn't rested my arms there for hours. A little time now won't hurt anything.

  She settled atop my lap, sideways where she could lean one side of her body into my chest. “I missed you,” she whispered and pulled a blanket over herself. “Is it alright if I sleep with you?” She tilted her head up and softly kissed my neck.

  A shiver raced through my body.

  Down to my groin.

  This was madness. The bastard King snored soundly in his bed. While my soul teetered on my lap.

  But she desired to be with me. From that I knew I'd made the best choice in caring for her needs. In plotting a way to take her off Treusch. Whatever came of the feigned escape would come. I'd still be with her. Had to be with her. Father was right. I was operating on instinct instead of logic.

  She tucked her nose into my neck and yawned. “Wish we had another bed you and I could crawl into. I don't like you sitting alone all night in this damned chair."

  "!Dakos warriors are used to being alone, huv'ria.” I planted a kiss on her warm forehead.

  "Well, so is Sol. I can sleep with you as much as I sleep with him."

  "Yes, you can.” I snaked my arms around my soul. “Now, rest."

  Solvun stood beside his brother in the shadows of his bedchamber.

  "Look at them,” M'yote said in mindspeak to me as we tried to keep quiet and watch Flonn holding Theone. “She didn't have to sleep in that chair with him."

  Since the prison walls were built to block mindspeak, I spoke freely to my brother. “She told him she missed him. That he had every right to sleep in the bed too."

  "She's acting. Her job was to infiltrate facilities and cultures back on her home world. She does her job as smoothly as you command the masses of Prall, the other prisoners, and the enemy."

  Damn his insinuation. “She is not acting in bed with me!"

  "I do not think she acts in bed with any of us. And it's Flonn's turn to mate. So prepare yourself for his !Dakos pheromones setting off their mating frenzy."

  "How can you expect me to just stand by and watch him fuck her? She can't be doing so of her own volition. It's his pheromones that make her spread her legs. We should be saving her from him."

  "Stop, Solvun. She's here to save you. To return you to your rightful throne so our people will stop bickering. I don't think there's anything we can do about her and Flonn. Accept they are part of our clan now."

  "I do. We'll kill him though."

  "Why am I not surprised that's your solution?"

  I just glared at my brother's arched blue brow through the shadows. Sleeping with him would have been nicer if Theone had been wedged between us. Instead, I get to wake to my annoyingly asinine brother's face.

  "You know you can't do that,” M'yote snapped. "She defended him before you shared your plan with either of us. We know now she will protect him as much as she protects us. And you know it's her choice to defend Flonn. You must prepare yourself to accept your D'ena's choice."

  "The Prall King will not take a !Dakos warrior as a bed mate."
>
  "Think, brother. What could be more perfect than accepting a token member from our enemy's culture into our clan? With this singular boon, we could change the future of our planet. Bring peace to Prall by uniting the clans and ending the war between Treusch and Prall."

  "You're such a humanist. Why don't you just heal both worlds and let us be done with the matter? I've spent three-hundred Gods-be-damned years buried beneath this planet's surface hoping you'd finally change your mind. Now is an excellent time. We can save our D'ena from !Dakos pheromones in the process."

  "There is no saving her from pheromones, Solvun. Flonn's nanites have marked her. Stop dreaming about changing the impossible. Embrace the embraceable."

  "Easy to say. We've despised !Dakos for over a millennium. Sought ways to destroy them for just as long. We can't just throw our arms wide and hug them. They'd slice off our balls and cram them down our throats. Look what they did to Prall in the early days when we refused to hand over our women?"

  "I look at Flonn with Theo and wonder if the younger !Dakos warriors have changed."

  "You've lost your ability to reason."

  "He's so careful with her. It's as if the younger warriors think like a !Dakos warrior living without nanites giving him immortality. Maybe the answer for any cyborg is to find a way to live free of nanite intervention? And what if Theo wants to be with him, Solvun? Can you tell her no? She's the most sacred thing to us. E'na incarnate. Can you refuse your Goddess’ wishes?"

  If the answer meant saving Prall over one !Dakos warrior, yes. “I don't need to answer that question."

  "Since she can't read your mind, know you'll have to soon."

  Wearing my new pants and shirt fashioned from !Dakos silver fabric would have one lovely benefit. I could kick butt if any of the prisoners got a wild hair to bother me. But kicking butt wasn't going to do anything to liberate my mates and I from this hellhole. Time to pretend to be sick. To convince Flonn some medicine existed out there. But what? I shook out the pants and thrust a foot into one leg.

  Just purge, Theo. Stick a finger down your throat and puke your guts out. Or lose all the hard work already invested in escape up to this point. M'yote using taunts to get Sol off me after sex like their bitter sibling rival raged was good. But wouldn't get us out of the prison walls. I thrust my other foot inside the smooth silver pants and wriggled the stretchy fabric up to my waist.

  M'yote proved as accommodating as the !Dakos fabric. He badgered Sol into a fist fight, then explained to me in the shower how they were working from a territorialism angle to maintain the sibling rivalry effect. Priceless. Truly amazing they'd just jumped right in and helped me on our escape plan without my knowing.

  But I found poor Flonn staring. Calculating. My poor almost-innocent Flonn. Did !Dakos warriors fight among themselves like he'd witnessed the Pralls do? Probably not given the way he'd watched M'yote and Sol go at it. Maybe Flonn's childhood had things about it that we all needed to cozy up to. Like rational thought? I squirmed into my stretchy silver long-sleeved shirt.

  Warmth. Thank the stars and my big !Dakos warrior. He really was starting to look adorable when I wasn't sucked into his kiss by those delectable pheromones. So, I had to keep my three mates bickering. And I had to make myself puke. What a girl did to survive...

  "Let's go, D'ena,” Sol called.

  Dinner. Yes. Food. The way they worked me sexually in sharing, I would need to eat what a man ate to keep up my strength. I followed Sol's broad bare shoulders through the door.

  Flonn looked like an odd one-winged guardian angel with his sword jutting out from behind his shoulder where he walked at my heels. I wasn't certain where M'yote was. But I doubted he'd be left behind. He'd grown a little territorial of me. In a way I almost missed. Like he really thought I had to have his touch often. The poor guy remained two steps away.

  And he was so sweet when we nestled in each other's arms within that starry cloud. The way the light made his blue skin glow. Skin-to-skin with him was like a day at the spa. All my worries slipped away. And there was nothing but his soft lips and gentle voice. No problem with his watchdog attitude. I liked having him nearby.

  We cleared the mess hall's doorway.

  Not the disgusting smell of food.

  My stomach churned.

  Please, universe. Please! Make my body kick in, and spare me sticking a finger down my throat to feign illness.

  M'yote stepped to my side. “Why have you stopped, Theo?"

  Sol turned to stare at me. Flonn halted at my other elbow. All my mates wore big creases in their brows.

  "I'm just not feeling well.” No lie. Saved by the universe and my good old genes when I was forced to feign illness. Geesh. Nobody back home would believe I welcomed morning sickness.

  M'yote pressed a glove-cloaked hand against my lower back. “Come. Sit. I'll wait with you while the others eat."

  "Lead the way.” I flicked a weak smile. After all, the more people who witnessed my bad reaction to food, the better. Surely the inability to keep food down would convince Flonn he had to go to extreme measures to save his soul. That's if his true intent was to save me. And nothing he'd done had suggested otherwise.

  M'yote led me to a seat at a table and descended beside me to block anyone from casually claiming a spot at my side. Still, the extraterrestrial wolves pushed in, shoving the cool air away, leaving their heated moist breath to swim around my head.

  Or was that the room spinning?

  "D'ena?” M'yote asked, wrapping a supportive arm around my back.

  A male yelled for Flonn.

  The crowd pressed in closer.

  Eyes. Blurring eyes. Big grins. Another round of here's my penis. No more. Please, no more!

  The room spun the other way.

  "Theo, what is it?” M'yote begged.

  Morning sickness of another kind? Alien-induced. Maybe the problem was something caused by a mixture of their damned nanites? All I could do was hold my roiling gut.

  "Take her back to the room."

  Swung into the air, I landed in a mass of supple iron. But dared not open my eyes.

  Vertigo? Maybe. Puking vertigo. Yep. This is Satan's Hell with a bloody plank. The sharks are fighting over who gets the juiciest bite. And I'm just whirling around in an insane whirlpool heading for the biggest set of teeth.

  "What happened, huv'ria?"

  My Flonn. “Sick. The smells of food made me sick.” Most likely.

  "You are breeding. You must have nourishment."

  Nice reasoning. Not the sick girl's fault. “I didn't tell my body to react this way."

  The clack of running boots caught up to us. “What happened, Theo?” M'yote demanded.

  "Sick. The room spun. Not good.” I so don't want to repeat everything for Sol. “Explain to Sol."

  "He's bringing food,” M'yote added.

  My gut heaved.

  I slammed a hand over my mouth and gulped.

  Miraculously, my clothing and !Dakos transport were spared a bile shower. But I'd die if I couldn't eat.

  At the room, M'yote drew the covers back on the bed. Flonn carefully placed me on the sheets. Each yanked off a boot.

  They worked together well. “So, my health helps you both find common ground?"

  They shot each other a wary gaze.

  Together to save me. “Is it so bad you both can find similarities in your lives?” Because both of them made me happy. Really. They did. And I intended on taking all three mates with me when we left. Sol could rule Prall. And Flonn and M'yote could keep me company. After all, they got along well.

  The door squeaked, producing Sol and a stack of covered trays.

  The faintest odor along the line of fried eggs found my nose.

  My gut began curling.

  More like somersaulting with four-inch stiletto heels. Oh no. “No food,” I groaned. “Not here.” And I slammed down onto the bed, burying my head with a pillow.

  Sol waited outside his personal quarters w
ith the trays of food as the other warriors attempted to join him. This illness is anything but healed, he thought. Why?

  The door fell inward.

  M'yote and Flonn stepped into the corridor.

  "We must do something,” M'yote said. “She couldn't even sit up. And she hadn't vomited at all.” He shot a disturbed glance at Flonn and I, then stared at the food. “The odor of food set her symptoms off in the mess hall."

  "As it did when Solvun entered with more. No food in the room with my huv'ria,” Flonn blurted.

  "Well, my D'ena needs to eat,” I snarled up the few inches at the stoic !Dakos warrior.

  "Do not treat me like a machine when I can think like both of you.” He grabbed the trays and glared at me. “We eat in the mess hall. We should try bringing her something simple and odorless to eat to help her find nourishment."

  "Flonn is correct,” M'yote agreed. “Let us think more carefully. Think, Solvun. We must do what is best for Theone. Not pounce at each other when we should be helping her recover from her illness."

  My gaze met my brother's and slid to his hand. “You can heal her."

  "I don't know enough about her species to even know she's ill, Solvun. Both of you eat in the mess hall while I discuss her condition with her. I'm not about to heal a woman who has no need of it. I could do something far worse to her in the process. I wouldn't want to be responsible for ending her pregnancy. Now go.” M'yote thrust his chin down the corridor.

  If he did anything to hurt my child... “Don't do anything foolish, little brother.” Like injure my Goddess. Death wouldn't come quickly enough for any fool who did. I opened the door for M'yote and walked off with a !Dakos warrior guarding my ass.

  M'yote settled on the bed beside the mounded blankets and pillow under which Theo laid quietly. “They've gone to eat with the inmates, Theo."

  The blankets rustled, and the pillow shifted, producing the palest white crinkled mass of hair swirling around a face full of harmonious starkissed features and her silver shirt. Her pale-blue eyes resonated with the poise she always had as if she'd regained the composure she'd lost from her bouts with illness.