by Octavia Kore
Soon she would have two of her own, but her hands itched to soothe the little one. She stepped forward at the same time as the red-eyed male.
“Oshen.” He nodded toward her mate, who wore a wide, excited smile before he turned his attention to her again. “Daughter and son of my heart.” His head bowed as if to show them the greatest respect. “I am proud and so very honored to have you both here on this day.”
His attention on her seemed to draw every eye in the courtyard directly to their small group. All at once, every voice in the crowd gave a loud shout. “Happy Shower Day!”
“Shower day?” Amanda turned to Nyissa with a questioning arch of her brow. She knew Oshen’s mother had to be behind this.
“Is this not what your people call it?” She frowned, her hands going to her hips. “I spent a lot of time in the viewing room looking up how humans celebrated bringing a new pup into the world…” Her lip quivered. “Did I get it wrong?”
“No, not wrong!” Amanda looked around, swallowing dryly. “It’s perfect.”
She had never thought that Oshen’s mother would set up a whole baby shower for her, especially with everything that was currently going on. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful, but she was starting to feel overwhelmed. When they began introducing the family and friends who had gathered, it didn’t do anything to calm her nerves. The only thing that made her feel like she wasn’t adrift in this sea of new faces alone was the fact that Zar looked just as lost as she felt.
There was no way on Earth—or Venora for that matter—that she was going to remember any of these names or even their faces. She knew the baby was Ina from Oshen’s stories, and his father introduced himself as Calder. Then there was Vac, Nalah, Kolt, and Dolass… or was it Solass? Lief, Luz, and Evafyn she had met the day before. Amanda thought back to the day she saw the family photo in Oshen’s room on the ship and smiled. She hadn’t been wrong when she had told him she wasn’t going to be able to remember.
“Don’t worry, Amanda. You will learn us all with time.” Evafyn put a comforting hand on her arm. “We understand and will remind you when you need it. None of us will hold a forgotten or mixed up name against you.” She looked so much like her mother, but her fushori glowed a softer yellow than Oshen’s. “Even we sometimes get confused.”
Arms wrapped around Amanda from behind, and when she looked over her shoulder, she wasn’t surprised to find Ky grinning like a fool.
“You made it.” Amanda turned to throw her arms around the taller female.
“Of course I did. I could not just leave you with my arrogant brother.” Ky laughed before pulling away. “Come now, tell me you are well.”
“I will be.” Amanda sighed as she allowed herself to be pulled away with Ky from all of the commotion.
“Who was he?”
It took Amanda only a moment to realize what she meant. “He was a Grutex who followed me from Earth.”
“Why follow you all the way here?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged, her fingers playing nervously with the material of her dress. “He said he could feel me. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I think it must be in the same way Zar has described.”
“That makes some sense, actually.”
“How so?”
“The Sanctus were able to read the minds of others. This is why it is assumed they were taken away. These were the children who most closely resembled Una. Those who share this trait normally have a small part of the original ability. They can connect with their mates and others who share it.” Ky frowned. “There have been stories of such people going mad when they cannot find the ones they connect with. Zar was lucky to have you. We had feared for him, feared he had finally gone mad when he confessed that he was seeing a goddess.”
“What do you mean?”
“Zar found you before he went insane, but can you imagine what it must be like to never find the one you are connecting with or someone who shares the same ability? I imagine after a lifetime of having not found this person that when he found you, someone who had a bond with another like him, he broke. Perhaps he latched onto you because he feared he might never find what he was actually looking for.”
Amanda sighed again. It was just another sad layer to Xuvri’s story.
“Go, have fun. Enjoy your new family. You deserve it.” Ky gently pushed Amanda back to the party. “We will catch up more later.”
The “little party,” as Nyissa called it, was going better than she had expected. His family had welcomed her and Zar with open arms and they all seemed to be very happy for her and the promise of not just one new baby, but two. All wished her and her “pups” good health. Oshen’s maternal grandmother, Cassya, was one of her favorite relatives so far. She looked to be barely older than Nyissa and was so straightforward that she left little room for worry.
“May I rub your belly for luck?” Cassya smiled, an eyelid twitching as if she was exerting great effort to not move her hand. “I read in many Earth cultures that it is considered rude to touch, but here, it is considered the closest one can get to the gods outside of a triad,” she said as she looked at Zar with a grin.
Amanda laughed. “Of course. Feel free to give them a rub whenever you want.”
“Gia!” she quickly scolded when Amanda forgot to use the term for grandmother. But the woman’s face held nothing but warmth as her light blue fushori lit with obvious pleasure. Her hand reached out to caress Amanda’s stomach reverently as she began to mumble words that Amanda couldn’t even hope to understand. Cassya’s hand moved in circular motions as she spoke, crossing over her abdomen at the end of each sentence.
Oshen spoke up beside her in a gentle whisper. “She is asking that the Goddess Una and her mates, Ven and Nim, watch over you. That they give you as many blessings as they have bestowed Daya, and place over you all of the protection that is within their power. She prays that the moon gods will shine their light on our mating.”
Amanda nearly jumped when the woman bent down and pressed her forehead to her stomach. “May the gods see fit to bestow mercy on you and ease your sickness so that you may enjoy the lives you are forming.” Cassya pulled back, standing as she leaned her forehead against Amanda’s as if closing the prayer. “I will try to travel to the mainland and search for the plant my own gia used for sickness. Perhaps it will help you as well, my little daughter.”
“Oh no, please don’t trouble yourself, Gia.” Her eyes burned with tears that she couldn’t hold in.
Cassya’s hand cupped her cheek as Oshen wrapped his tail around her leg. “You are a delight. I am glad my grandpup found such a worthy mate.”
“Thank you for everything, Gia.”
Her heart felt so full. This was where she was meant to be.
Chapter 34
Oshen
The early morning light that filtered down through the dome and into his room woke Oshen. He knew that this was artificial light and not really the sun since they lived so far beneath the surface of the Okeanos, but he still reveled in its warmth. He turned his face to look at Amanda, who was curled up between both him and Zar, sleeping soundly.
Her hair was tangled around her face, her lashes brushing her cheeks as her mouth hung open just slightly. The cutest little sounds came from her in her sleep, making his heart flutter. She was his everything. Seeing her wrapped protectively in his bondmates arms made his kokoras swell with need.
His beast rumbled within him as Oshen ran his hand up her thigh. A moan fell from her lips as she turned onto her back, causing her breasts to spill from the shirt she had insisted on wearing. He had never been so glad that they were able to retrieve her luggage from the crash site. He ran his hand up her body and slowly down her arms until he grasped her wrists, pinning them above her head.
A gasp caught in her throat as her blue eyes flew open, looking up at him with unabashed desire. Mine. His hips pushed against hers, grinding steadily as her scent grew more potent from the delicious friction. Her k
nees closed against his hips when he tried to pull back. He felt the bed dip gently, but paid no mind as he leaned down to nip at the top of her exposed breast.
“Oshen,” she whimpered.
Hands gripped his hips, pulling him back against the heat of a hard, throbbing kokoras. Fangs pricked at the skin on his nape, causing a shiver to run through his body.
“Good morning,” Zar growled against his ear.
His own kokoras swelled almost painfully as his bondmate pressed himself into him from behind, reaching around to grab the swollen base of his mating glands. Oshen ran his tail up Zar’s thigh before wrapping it around the male’s hard member. The other male reached around Oshen’s hip, his claws extending from his nail beds so he could shred the thin shorts she wore. She giggled, watching as they worked together to toss aside the fabric.
“Take her, Oshen,” Zar said. “Show her she belongs to us.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. As Zar lined the tip of his cock up with her soaking slit, Oshen pushed forward slowly. He wanted her to feel every ridge, to need more, and to beg for his glands. Pulling back from her breast to meet her eyes as he watched the pleasure wash over her face. Ours. Always ours.
Zar moved his hands to either side of Oshen’s hips again, pulling him back before pressing him forward into Amanda. The sweet pain of Zar’s fangs sliding into the flesh of Oshen’s shoulder only made his need spike, and he thrust his hips forward, harder into their mate. The nudge of the vibrating cock against his ass spurred his desire.
Yes. Take me, the beast growled, making its lust for his bondmate known. His claws extended, and the skin on his hands began to darken. Goddess help me. Now was not the time to shift. Oshen closed his eyes, trying his best to concentrate on Amanda as he moved within her and his bondmate as Zar pressed against his back.
“Do you want me, Oshen?” Zar asked, his breath warm against the back of Oshen’s neck.
“Yes,” he growled, pistoning his hips faster as excitement coursed through him.
“Oh gods, yes,” Amanda whimpered, a grin spreading across her face as she panted beneath him.
“Not yet,” Zar teased, pulling away from Oshen as he slipped from the bed.
He moved up next to Amanda, pressing the tip of his kokoras against her cheek. Oshen watched as she turned her head and eagerly opened her mouth for him. The sight of his bondmate sliding into her tight mouth nearly had him spilling inside her warm walls. The beast pushed against him, willing Oshen to let him rise to the surface, but he couldn’t afford to lose control. Already, he could feel his teeth elongating within his mouth and the sting as the spines poked through the skin of his back. Oshen moved her wrists into his left hand, sliding his right down to steady her hip so he could thrust harder against her. He pulled back before pummeling into her channel again. His head filled with the sound of their hearts beating in thunderous roars as one, pleasure shared equally between them as they loved one another.
With a whimper, his mate arched beneath him, her mouth sucking their bondmate as both males worked themselves into her. Oshen plunged deep, his mating glands swelling painfully as they slipped into her tight cunt, locking him in place.
Then he felt it, the rippling of her walls as her orgasm hit, clamping down on his kokoras as she cried out around Zar. His bondmate pulled out of her mouth, moving behind Oshen as he grabbed him around the middle and pressed his smaller stem into his body. Zar’s kokoras rubbed between his and Amanda’s bodies, sliding through the slick they had created. He worked himself faster in and out of Oshen as an explosion of pleasure was ripped from him.
Immersed deep in his own pleasure, Zar clung to Oshen, pounding into him with total abandon. Oshen gritted his teeth, the beast hissing and growling in pleasure as he felt himself spill into Amanda just as Zar grunted and pressed against his backside, bathing the outside of her cunt in his warm seed as he came between them.
“You are both mine,” Zar whispered, his hand gripping Oshen’s braids so that he could turn his face for a firm, but gentle kiss.
The beast within him purred with satisfaction. Yes.
“You seem to be doing well,” Oshen commented as he looked down at Vog.
“The sooner the healers let me out of this bed, the better,” Vog said, annoyance flashing across his face. “I have things to see to.”
“Like what?”
“Like explaining to the council why we took a human female from Earth before speaking with their government first.” Vog’s frown deepened. “As an ambassador, that was supposed to be your job.”
Oshen felt there was more he wasn’t being told, but after years of serving with the commander he knew better than to prod.
“Amanda was in danger. We could not leave her on the planet.”
“They won’t care about that Oshen.”
“Earth’s government or our council?” he asked, arms crossing over his chest.
“Both, most likely. You know how this all works, ambassador.” He added when Oshen grunted. “This wasn’t your first assignment. You were well aware of what could happen when you took the female without any communication with–”
“There was a deranged male after her. You didn’t see what he did to the other human female he had taken!”
“Lower your voice, Ambassador,” Vog warned.
“Amanda is my mate,” Oshen said once he had collected himself. “I was not going to leave her as a captive, no matter what you all think.”
“I never said I disagreed with your actions.”
Oshen stared at the commander for a moment before shaking his head. “You are the most impossible being I have ever met in my life.”
The other male shrugged his shoulder. “Have you found your mate’s little beast?”
“Hades?” Oshen shook his head. “No. We saw no signs of him on the beach or in the woods.”
“We should look again.”
“We?” Oshen asked.
“You. I meant you should look for him,” Vog amended, his eyes refusing to meet Oshen’s.
“Of course. You have important matters to attend to, after all.”
Oshen excused himself when the healer arrived to change Vog’s bandages. He stopped in with Brom, Amanda’s healer, to confirm his mate’s next appointment before leaving the building and heading home.
As frustrating as Commander Vog could be, he had been right about one thing: Hades needed to be found, and soon.
The cat had already been out in the wild for over a week. Amanda missed him and would burst into tears anytime she saw something small and fluffy within the dome. His gills flared in annoyance as he walked through the door of his family home.
“Zar,” he growled as he pushed his way into his personal quarters. The sight of his mates curled around one another on the bed made him want to forget about everything so that he could join them. His little gynaika was so beautiful when she slept.
“You are going to wake her,” Zar whispered, his large hand caressing her belly.
“I’m sorry.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I have an idea for a mating gift.”
His bondmate slowly untangled himself from Amanda, climbing out of bed. Oshen led him out into the hall, his eyes going bright.
“What is your idea?”
“We are going to find Hades.”
Finding the ball of fluff was a lot easier said than done, he realized. They had practically scanned all of Venora in search of the little beast, but they hadn’t found even the smallest clue as to where he might be. Oshen stared into the distance, his eyes roaming over every tree, bush, and small rock. Rubbing at his neck as his skin prickled, Oshen darted a glance behind him. He had the strangest feeling he was being followed.
“What did you say the beast looks like again?” Zar asked, ducking his head into a small, hollow log.
“Like a tigeara, but smaller. He is about the size of one of their cubs.”
He nodded in agreement before he turned to Oshen with a smile. “Good luck on yo
ur hunt today.”
“To you as well.” Oshen laughed, watching as his bondmate departed, following him with his eyes until he was just out of sight before continuing on for the day. With any luck, they would be able to find the elusive cat soon, or he hoped so anyway. His patience was starting to wear thin. This felt like the one thing he and Zar could do for their female to bring her a little happiness. They hadn’t been able to get through to Earth since returning to the dome so he couldn’t even reunite her with Jun. At least the time he had spent looking for Amanda on the mainland had been useful during this hunt.
If only he had thought to put a tracker on the beast before leaving Earth. That would be the first thing he did when he recovered him.
One uur passed before he heard the sounds of someone, or something, coming toward him. Oshen braced himself, extending his claws as he scanned the area.
“Oshen!”
He frowned, tilting his head at the sound of Zar’s voice.
“Oshen! I found him!”
Oshen groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. The male had already brought him more than one animal over the course of their search that looked nothing like the cat. The thought that he could be bringing another such beast did not excite him in the least.
“Are you sure this time?”
“I am sure,” Gulzar said, panting as he pushed through the brush.
Like before, this wasn’t Amanda’s cat he held; it was something much, much worse. Gulzar stood with a tigeara cub trapped in his big hands. The little black and gray beast was clawing and biting at Zar’s arms, trying its best to get free as it hissed its displeasure. The only thing they could be grateful for was that the outer fangs, which were the strongest, had yet to grow in. The little creature was gumming his arm to death. Deep gouges lined his flesh from where the cub’s claws had dug in.
