by Regine Abel
Aleina’s gaze hardened and her jaw clenched, making my stomach knot even more with a surge of anxiety.
“You are on the mother ship,” she hissed through her teeth. “A bit of discomfort for you and your child is nothing in comparison to the thousands of lives you could save once Amalia takes control of the Revenant. With her ability, she can access all of Gruuk’s codes and the location of every fortress. You two could start the movement to free us all!”
Blood rushed in my ears with a deafening roar. My vision blurred, and I pressed my palm against the wall for support. I understood all too well what she said. My innards twisted and cold sweat broke over my skin. Taking a step back, I looked away from her, wishing someone would come for us and rescue me from this uncomfortable situation.
Aleina gripped me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at her, her nails digging into my flesh.
That’s going to leave a bruise.
I winced in pain and averted my eyes, unable to withstand her penetrating gaze.
“If you do not help us, we are all going to die slaves. Chances are, Gruuk will sell your next child. And the Goddess forbid I conceive this season. We both know what will happen to her. What do you think awaits Amalia in a few years? How do you think she will feel knowing you could have spared her what I’m about to face?”
I didn’t need to hear this—wasn’t ready to handle it. There would be plenty of time later. Tearing my arms out of her grasp, I hugged my midsection.
“Listen, I’m really happy to see you again, and I wish we could just catch up like two sisters,” I said, hating the trembling of my voice. “This stuff is not me. I’m no hero. You make it sound so simple, but you don’t know Gruuk like I do. If we fail—and we will fail—can you imagine what he will do to us? To Mama? I’m sorry, but I can’t… won’t do it.”
Then, ever the coward, I ran.
The disappointment in her eyes burned deep, further fueling my shame. A heavy weight crushed my lungs, making it hard to breathe. I rejoined the others to keep Aleina from cornering me again, and I needed a distraction to help me regain my composure. I offered my services to the Elders to help prepare the meal. Aleina’s hard stare pierced through my soul as she observed from a distance, back and shoulders stiff.
For years, I had dreamt of a reunion with one of my siblings. It finally happened and I mucked it up in minutes. Why couldn’t I ever do anything right? I hated being the weak one, the pathetic daughter everyone tolerated because they had to. My mother didn’t really know what to do with me. She loved me—maternal duty demanded it—but she didn’t understand my personality. My father had wanted nothing to do with me. Aside from my kinetic skill, Gruuk thought of me as a waste of oxygen. My own daughter had chosen him over me in her time of crisis.
Why couldn’t everyone just accept me the way I was?
Eryon does.
My Eryon. The thought of my mate felt like a balm on my aching heart. No one made me feel as loved and worthy as he did. He accepted me with all my flaws and made me feel perfect in spite of it.
Goddess, please let him be here…
After a while, my baby sister joined us. Although a little stiff, Aleina steered clear of that unpleasant topic, keeping to random generalities. The other Veredians gave us odd looks, sensing the unexpected tension between long-lost siblings.
We set the table and the children gathered, too happy to run away from their lessons. The food, although delicious, remained stuck in my throat. My sister also toyed with her food, averting her eyes every time I caught her observing me as if trying to solve a mystery or a challenging puzzle. Even the sisters cast furtive glances at us, the obvious tension failing to lift despite my neighbor launching into an animated conversation about the traditional Veredian dance lesson they would teach the children later that day.
By the time we finished eating, I had squashed any illusions Aleina might have had about me. At least, her eyes didn’t contain the disdain that Master Gruuk’s did when he looked at me. But the sad resignation there hurt just as much. Sooner than later, my daughter would also look at me that way.
As we cleaned up, butterflies fluttered in my stomach in a mix of anticipation and fear. If they paired me with a male other than Eryon, I would lose it. Even though, over the years, the Sisters all agreed the Korletheans treated them well—at least as well as can be for those under the effects of Dalyria—the thought of another male touching me made my skin crawl. Worse still, to merely imagine accepting someone other than my mate inside my body made me nauseous. For a moment, muscles contracted painfully, and the room spun.
Goddess almighty! What’s happening?
I leaned against the wall for support, taking in deep breaths to regain my bearings. One of the Sisters approached me with a concerned look on her face. I waved her away as the discomfort subsided. It dawned on me that I had likely experienced what that other Korlethean often felt. What was his name again? Fab… Fo… Febus! Yes, Febus. The true-mated male who required Dalyria every time as ‘cheating’ on his mate with these forced breeding caused him physical pain.
Does Eryon go through this every time?
I crushed the unpleasant thought as soon as it popped in my mind. The last thing I needed was pondering on what Eryon had to do during our months apart.
The chime rang and the Elders led us across the common area, assigning each of the Veredians in their season to one of the private rooms. After eighteen, I lost count of how many of us were there. To my relief, Aleina stood two doors down from me. Even though the rooms were soundproof, having my baby sister in the one right next to mine while doing the deed would have been too awkward.
The beep of the security lock releasing echoed through the room just as the Elders finished herding the children into the dorms. I stretched my neck to look at the Korletheans entering under heavy escorts, my eyes flicking this way and that, searching for my soulmate.
I felt him before I saw him, the familiar tingle spreading through me. Tears pricked my eyes while a silly grin split my face. My already pounding heart raced a bit more in my impatience to touch Eryon again, to be held by him, to feel safe and unconditionally loved despite my many weaknesses.
The Korletheans lined up before their chosen female. With much difficulty, I tore my eyes away from my mate and glanced at the male who stood before Aleina. Handsome, as Korletheans often were, he looked at her with an apologetic expression. She lifted her chin, not in defiance, but as a sign she would face this challenge with her head high—this would not defeat her.
Goddess, how I envy her strength.
* * *
Eryon knew how to make me feel special and cherished. I didn’t understand what he saw in me. Sometimes, I wondered if his only interest came from that mystical Tuning that made him love me. Even if it were the case though, I didn’t care. He made me happy, and my life had too few of such moments.
As per our routine, our first reunion at the start of each new season contained little conversation, but plenty of moaning and skin to skin action.
Today, after a few passionate rounds, the need to sate our craving for each other was put on hold when Eryon noticed I was upset. With a great deal of shame, I confessed to him what had happened with Aleina. To my relief, his eyes held no condemnation for my cowardice. They shone with affection and understanding, lifting the pressure that had been weighing down on my shoulders.
Goddess, how I love him…
Not wanting to ruin our reunion with sad thoughts, I begged him to make me forget everything but us.
He was happy to oblige.
Eryon loved to dominate, and I loved to submit to him. He enjoyed torturing me in the most pleasurable ways, as he was now. His tongue lavished my core, fluttered over my folds but snubbed my swollen little nub that begged for attention.
“Please…” I begged, lifting my pelvis.
His hand on my hip pushed me back down. I wiggled and his eyes snapped up to mine with a stern warning. My hands fisting the blanket,
I stilled, feeling tormented, excited, and incredibly naughty. Part of me wanted to disobey on purpose to make him show his dominance further and punish me for misbehaving. I licked my lips, considering moving again while he continued to tease me.
Taking the choice from me, Eryon blew on my little nub while his fingers traced the markings along my legs. I cried out, my back arching so violently, I feared it would snap. His lips latched onto my clit, making me fall apart. I screamed his name as rapture swept me away.
Panting, I swallowed painfully, my throat slightly raw from voicing too much bliss. Eryon climbed on top of me, a smug smile on his face. His warm, lean, and firm body settled over mine. I loved the feel of his weight on me, both trapping me and keeping me safe. Despite the slight soreness from our multiple romps over the past hour, my inner walls clenched in anticipation.
However, Eryon wasn’t done toying with me. Tilting my head to the side, he slowly tongued the markings along my neck, making me shudder. I stifled a moan and slipped my fingers through the long curtain of his hair. Lips moving towards my breast, Eryon made as if to suck a nipple into his mouth when he froze.
As the seconds ticked by, his complete stillness creeped me out. I shifted below him, hoping to elicit a reaction. His shaft softened, but the rest of him remained unmoving.
“Eryon?”
His light grey eyes had darkened and taken on a faraway look.
Is he having a vision?
As a Seer, Eryon received them unbidden. He could try to call forth a vision about a specific person, but if one came, it revealed a completely random moment in their future. In all our years together, I had never witnessed it happening. But what if it was something else? My pulse raced as all kinds of terrible scenarios ran through my mind.
Eryon’s eyelids fluttered, his gaze regaining focus on me. He smiled with a tinge of embarrassment. Trying to play it off as if the sight of him zoning out hadn’t freaked me out, I frowned in false outrage.
“Your visions are rather rude, you know?”
His face heated further, and he averted his eyes with blatant discomfort. Worry slammed right back into me.
What’s going on?
“Did you foresee something bad? You were having a vision, right?”
Eryon rolled off of me and lay on his side. I turned to face him. His soft fingers brushed the hair off my face.
He sighed. “No, Sevina. I wasn’t having a vision.”
I frowned, confused. He eyed me warily while his jaw worked, trying to find the right words. My anxiety levels rose… again.
“I felt the birth of my daughter,” he whispered, studying my reaction. “Her soul called to mine to form the paternal bond.”
An invisible vise clutched my throat, stealing the breath from me. I stared at him, disbelieving before pulling away and drawing the blankets to cover my nudity.
“You’re thinking about your daughter with some other female while lying with me?”
Eryon grabbed the blanket, preventing me from wrapping it around myself.
“It’s not like that, Sareema. My daughter was born seconds ago. The minute Korlethean newborns draw their first breath, they seek to bond with their father, especially if they were deprived of his presence during the pregnancy. I knew the minute Amalia entered this world because she reached out to me.”
I couldn’t think, hurt and confusion battering my mind. The blanket slipped from my fingers, and I didn’t resist when Eryon pulled me back into his arms.
“Our offspring need the connection with their sire. Without it, their psi abilities won’t activate. In some more extreme cases, their higher cerebral functions will not fully develop. For pure-blooded Korletheans, the father’s involvement during pregnancy is even more intense. The burden isn’t exclusive to the mother but shared by both parents.”
Although Eryon had no choice in the matter, having the reality of him sleeping with other females thrown in my face like this hurt. No, it angered me. Jealousy and a sense of betrayal clawed at me.
“Who’s the mother?”
He flinched, whether at the bitterness of my voice or at the question itself, the Goddess only knew.
“I’m not sure.”
I snorted. “You fuck that many Sisters that you can’t guess?”
He stiffened, his jaw clenching. Hard eyes boring into mine, he didn’t answer.
Way to be petty, girl.
Yeah, I was being unfair and bitchy, but it hurt. I pinched my lips and looked away from him, my hands clasped in front of me. The feel of his warm, naked skin against mine made my skin crawl. I resisted the urge to pull out of his embrace again.
“How many children do you have?” I asked. “How many?” I snapped when he didn’t answer.
“Eight,” Eryon said through his teeth.
My jaw dropped. “You’ve got eight daughters?!”
That was more than I could handle. I tore myself out of his arms.
“Don’t!” I snapped, pointing a threatening finger at him when he tried to hold me again. “You’ve impregnated eight other Veredians?”
“No, Sevina. I’ve got six Veredian daughters: Amalia, the one who just entered this world, a pair of twins and two other girls. As for the remaining two children, they are my twin sons with my former Korlethean mate before my abduction.”
Prickly tears welled in my eyes. I shook my head at him in denial, while reaching for my slave dress.
Eryon rose from the bed, heedless of his nudity.
“You know none of this is my choice. I have not betrayed you!”
“Yes, Eryon. I know it’s not your choice. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. How would you feel if I told you I’d given birth to six daughters from five different males?”
His generous lips hardened into a thin line, his hands fisting by his side.
“Exactly,” I said, wiping angry tears off my face. “I just need some spa—”
The intercom beeped, interrupting me.
“You have thirty minutes remaining to submit your blood samples. Please proceed immediately.”
“Motherfucking son of a Guldan whore!” Eryon cussed, glaring at the device.
I gave him a wan smile while placing my wrist against the analyzer to submit my sample.
“Here’s a little tidbit your paternal bond won’t tell you,” I said to him over my shoulder. “At eleven, Amalia loves to swear, just like you.”
Grabbing my sandals, I opened the door and walked out without sparing him another look.
CHAPTER 8
Eryon
Brooding, I sat in the corner of the spacious living area reserved for the males. My irritation grew exponentially under Kilian’s constant furtive glances at me. Four long painful months waiting to see my mate again, and our reunion had gone to shit. Of course, I understood her pain. The thought of another male touching her made my claws ache. Chances were, had our roles been reversed, I would have lost it even more than she did. That didn’t solve anything though.
Kilian looked at me again.
“What the fuck do you want?” I shouted in exasperation.
He recoiled, a frown marring his forehead. After a slight hesitation, he rose to his feet.
“Will you walk with me?” he asked, gesturing towards the dining area.
My stomach dropped. When a Seer asked to speak in private, it rarely boded well. I stood and followed him under the watchful eyes of our brethren.
Unlike the smaller fortress where Sevina and I used to meet, this one provided far more comfortable accommodations for the males. Instead of a small cell with benches and a single fresher for an average of twelve males, this fortress could be compared to a luxury hotel with three complete freshers and a spacious dorm. We crossed the large living area where most of our brothers sat on cushioned couches reading on closed circuit datapads. Near them, the others watched an animated debate between the hosts of some entertainment show on the vidscreens. One of the new Korletheans I didn’t know stood in the otherwise empty dinin
g area, consulting the menus from the three well-stocked food replicators.
Kilian led me to the furthest corner of the kitchen. He gestured with his hand for me to sit at one of the tables, then pulled up a chair for himself. I complied, bracing myself for the terrible news that would inevitably follow.
“You’ve had a new vision?” I asked without preamble.
He nodded.
“You will conceive your second child with your mate this season.”
My heart soared and tightened at the same time. Another child with my soulmate… The Goddess couldn’t grant us a greater blessing. Even though I would not get to know her for another decade, our second daughter would embody the strengthening of our love in spite of adversity. It also relieved me as, each year we failed to conceive, the threat of the Guldans pairing us with different partners increased. Since we were true-mated, this guaranteed us another five-year reprieve at the very least.
“That’s great news,” I said, wanting to smile but his solemn expression kept me from it.
Something will go wrong.
I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. “She will miscarry?”
An unfortunate but frequent occurrence with Veredian pregnancies.
“No,” Kilian said. “She will carry to term and go through labor. You may recall that I had predicted it when Xevius debated whether or not to proceed with her assassination, as per the Quorum’s mandate.”
I nodded. Yes, I remembered that day all too well. Having chosen to spare his target, the assassin had achieved what none of us had managed in decades of captivity. Within the first year of his capture, Xevius escaped, the Goddess only knew how. One minute he was there, the next he could never be found again.
“Except, back then, I only told you the first half of the vision. There was no point burdening you with something that wouldn’t happen for another decade.”
My heart seized, sharp stabbing pain shredding it to pieces. Acid filled my lungs, making each breath excruciating. I shook my head in denial, knowing what words would follow.
