by Tigertalez
He and his father shared a mixed look of confusion and amusement. He felt it in his heart, that these small human females were going to change more than his mating status, and he wasn’t at all afraid of it. He looked forward to it.
Chapter Fourteen
Juno grew more nervous while she watched the ground grow farther away, as their transport rose higher and higher into Earth’s atmosphere. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and now she was no longer single. In fact, she now legally belonged to an alien, for better or worse, and all that. The thought had terrified her from the moment she realized her number was drawn, and the fear hadn’t diminished since then. As she watched the atmosphere thin and darken, she felt queasy. Everything had felt a bit surreal until now—now, reality was hitting her hard.
A large flutter in her stomach caused her to press her hand against it to keep it from emptying. A warm hand gently rested on top of her other hand and lightly squeezed. The now familiar voice of her mate rumbled quietly next to her ear.
“Easy, little mate. See? It is over now. It was just the artificial gravity kicking on as we pulled free from Earth’s gravity.”
Juno pulled her eyes away from the small window long enough to look around at the other girls. They were all holding their stomachs, too.
She gave Tasid a small smile before looking back out the side window. There was much more than just empty blackness to see, and it fascinated her. She saw satellites and some floating debris. The moon was shining bright—but she couldn’t see either the ship or the construction site that were supposed to be there. Their transportation craft flew around a familiar ship. It was the one they’d first seen on the news, not that long ago.
And yet it feels like it was much, much longer ago, she thought.
“It is important that our next priority is to order a new ship,” Tasid told her. “I am glad I hadn’t gotten around to it yet, because I would very much like for you to help me choose one. Will you help me with that?”
Juno looked at him with surprise. “Uh, sure, that sounds fun.” She didn’t say it, but she was surprised and grateful he included her in something so important. Maybe I’m not going to be just a baby-maker. Maybe I’ll actually mean something to him. He did say my happiness was important to him. Could he actually mean it?
Their craft aimed for a small opening on the back side. As they came around and started their approach, Juno could see farther away a massive sized space station that looked more like a ship, and was about as big as Tasid’s ship. Around it were several other ships, some smaller, while others much larger than their new space station. Several much smaller ships were surrounding them.
“That vessel is the new space station,” Tasid pointed out. “It’s only temporary until a more permanent and appropriate one can be made. Those ships around the new space station belong to other ambassadors, emissaries, and dignitaries.”
She nodded in response as he continued. “Most will leave right after the ceremonies are complete. The smallest ships circling about are talons, fighter ships.”
Juno’s view was obscured when their transport slowly passed through a large, glowing force shield into an expansive landing hangar of some kind.
“This ship isn’t meant for anything serious, so it only has two transports and a small wing of talons,” Tasid said. “Once we get a new ship, we will have a much larger crew. As you may have overheard, many of the new crew are already here, but have no suitable accommodations.”
“I remember, but I didn’t understand why they couldn’t stay in the space station.”
“Though we still control the space station, its objectives and priorities are different from ours. They are mainly to protect the planet and the space belonging to it, as well as to keep order with all of the visiting peoples, while our ship is a consulate. Its purpose is to help and provide Earth with everything else. Because of our influence and purpose on Earth, we are a key target to any attack, so we need our own private militia and fleet of talons.”
The vessel landed so flawlessly that Juno didn’t even know they had completely landed. A large sliding door in the hangar rolled opened, releasing a large number of males of different races, rushing towards them. She watched them immediately line up in rows, all around them.
“Do not be afraid of them,” Tasid said reassuringly. He probably saw how tense she got when she witnessed it. “They are here to formally greet the successful mated males and their new mates, you more than the others. You are now in charge of them, to some degree.”
Juno’s head whipped around, and she stared at him in shock. “That’s supposed to ease my fear?”
Tasid had the audacity to chuckle as he helped her up out of her seat. “Most females would enjoy having many males at her command. You do not?”
“No. It means their lives are dependent on me.”
“Relax, girly,” Jeri said. “You’ve done just fine with us. Remember what I told you back at the apartment?”
Juno thought Jeri was joking, but when she looked back at her, she saw she was serious. She searched her memory and immediately thought about when she had been pushed down and hurt. It was what Jeri had told her, after she had finished with her shower, and sat on the couch to be bandaged up. You are our gravitational center. The common link that binds us. And our anchor. We know we can rely on you to give us order when there is chaos.
Juno wanted to argue. This wasn’t just the four of them any longer. As the large door on the shuttle opened, and she looked around at the sea of smiling faces, she couldn’t have felt the significance of that more acutely. She also noticed two other races among them that she hadn’t seen before. One of them, in particular, made her nearly turn and run back into the shuttle. Trust in her new mate was the only thing keeping her by his side. She focused, instead, on the male at the bottom of the ramp, pointedly awaiting them. She suddenly forgot about the other races and was caught up in admiring the male’s beauty.
“Wow, look at those colors. They are so beautiful,” Juno breathed out.
“Prettier than a macaw,” Jeri said from right behind her.
“And I thought the greens, blues, and purples on the other Nanstrahi males were stunning,” Benny said.
“He looks like a phoenix, don’t you think?” Maggie asked.
“I’d say that’s a fitting comparison, Maggie,” Kaycee answered.
They reached the bottom of the ramp, and Juno noticed the male’s embarrassment. He almost looked shamed, to her. Her brow knit with an expression of concern.
“What’s a phoenix?” she heard Yebiri ask.
“It’s a mythological firebird,” Kaycee answered. “Trust me, it’s a huge compliment.”
Juno couldn’t have agreed more. His wings looked like fire, with the bright red, oranges, and yellows, and she could see an iridescent hint of purple and pink in places, and his eyes were the color of lilac. He was tall and very well built. She couldn’t understand why he looked so self-conscious or confused.
Tasid began the introduction. “Horo, this is my mate, Juno. Juno, this is the male who runs the ship when I and Errim are sleeping, or off ship.”
Horo slightly bowed. “Welcome, Lady Juno.” He motioned for six males to step forward.
“These are the males Sharrow ordered assigned to your protection detail,” he told her.
Juno tensed considerably and plastered herself against Tasid’s side, but she tried not to show it. One looked like a giant black rock golem, but he wasn’t as intimidating as the one standing next to him.
Sharrow stepped forward to introduce them. Interestingly enough, he kept Jeri by his side as he did.
“I have chosen one male from each of the races on this ship. The captain of your guard is Yewma.”
Sharrow indicated a purple male with blue wings, who then stepped forward and slightly bowed his head.
“The others are Zada, Nahsee, and Vessa.”
The Nanstrahi, Malastant, and Larent males each stepped forward and gave the same g
reeting to their new charge.
Tasid introduce the final two. He began by pointing at the large black rock-like race. “That is Krog. His race is called the Craigor. The other is Creeleek. His race is the Morm’baree.”
“Holy tarantulas,” Jeri said.
The … male? … looked to be a cross between a tarantula and a praying mantis. It had ten big furry legs and a large hairy spider butt, and on his arms, shiny, sharp black mandibles, and he had many eyes on slug-like stems, protruding up from his small triangular head. Juno had to focus on trying to not freak out. Not trusting her voice, she gave a slight wave.
“I am sorry if their presence is a shock to you,” Tasid said, sounding apologetic, “but we felt it was necessary to not yet introduce them. Your people rioted, killing tens of thousands, just by seeing our spaceship approaching Earth. We felt it would be best to only introduce some of the more relatable races first. Especially concerning the Morm’baree, after we witnessed humans’ reactions to similar creatures that you have on Earth.”
“Cool,” Jeri said, smiling up at the tall Morm’baree. “Can you crawl up walls?”
Juno heard chitters, but thanks to her translator implant, she understood them.
“Yes. You are not afraid of me?” it asked.
Jeri shook her head. “Not really. Not all humans are afraid of spiders. There are even some who devote their lives to studying them. And besides, if you were a danger, I am sure none of the males here would have let you near us, let alone being assigned to protect one of us. I’m cool with you.”
Creeleek tapped his mandibles rapidly together and chittered again. “I am pleased your temperature is in acceptance of me. I greatly feared a negative reaction.”
“The Morm’baree are an extremely peaceful and caring race,” Tasid explained, “and Craigor have protection instincts that rival most. We know they are very noble races, but…”
“We get it,” Juno cut in, feeling woefully guilty. “There is already so much to accept and take in, and you wanted us to make a more unprejudiced judgment of them.”
Tasid nodded. “Especially since we heard what many humans think of aliens. Most are driven by fear from your own preconceived concepts.”
I will never look at a tarantula the same ever again, Juno thought to herself. She took in a deep breath, then let it out, giving Creeleek a smile.
“I will be honored to have you as one of my guards,” she told him.
****
Tasid was relieved the introductions went so well. He could tell Juno was afraid, but even so, she overcame it. Tasid held his head up proudly. His mate was a good female, worthy to command so many males. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her how many of his males had held off mating, to wait and see what human females were like, before making such a commitment. But with her and her sisters as examples, he knew they were perfect representatives, and he would more than likely be swarmed with males requesting to be placed in the very next mating ceremony.
Tasid was too eager to get her to his quarters so they could complete their bond, to want to linger any longer, but he needed to get a report from Horo first. From the way the other mated males acted, they were just as eager.
“Your report, Horo?”
Horo’s brows rose. “In a hurry, are you?” A smile tugged on his lips.
Tasid heard snickers from his other officers, including the males behind him. Tasid growled.
Horo schooled his features. “Only a few issues with keeping the private ships of the dignitaries in line, but otherwise all is going well. The personal effects for all of the new mates have already been brought to the ship. For the mated males already on the ship, their females’ effects are already placed in their rooms. We are waiting for the new crewmembers who took mates to arrive, before we move their females’ effects.”
“And the preparations I tasked you to do?”
“Temporary living spaces are nearly completely set up, as you requested, though I will say it was more than difficult to accomplish on such short notice. Many of the crew who are going to be staying with the alliance didn’t want to give up their private rooms, but I have been successful with convincing them, so long as it is for a short—and I do mean short—period of time.”
“Good. Arrange for the new crewmembers to move in immediately, and I expect them to report to me in the morning, with their mates, if they have one.”
Tasid waited for acknowledgement before swiftly escorting Juno out of the landing bay. He ignored the smothered sounds of amusement he heard coming from behind.
As they made their way through the ship, he was aware of Errim and the others not far behind them. However, the closer they got to his quarters, the tenser his mate became. Worry began to eat at him.
Perhaps rushing her is scaring her too much. All of this is so new for her. If her worries continue to increase, I may not be able to bed her right away. Tasid wanted to kick his own backside. He reached down with one of his hands to rub her back, as he trilled some more.
“I enjoyed holding you. Would you like it if I carried you?” He asked.
Juno glanced back before she looked up at him and nodded. Relief flooded him. He quickly wrapped his lower arms around her, picking her up, then secured her with his guardian wings. She breathed out a sigh, and he felt her body go limp in his arms. Tasid felt pride with her reaction to him.
After reaching his quarters, he secured the door, then opened his wings, but he continued to hold her.
“This is our room, for now. As you can see,” Tasid pointed to the boxes stacked up against one wall, “your things are already here. It is obvious there isn’t a lot of room for them right now, but when we get the new ship, you can completely unpack and settle in. Through that door,” he continued, pointing in the direction of an open doorway, “is what you call a bathroom. Before we do anything else, I need to show you how to use it. I understand it works a little bit differently from what you are used to.”
Still holding her, he stepped into the smaller room, and began to explain things to her. “That seat there, works much like your toilets, but doesn’t use water. Water is too precious of a resource. When you are done, you press this button to scan your soiled body parts to clean them. When you stand up, a lid covers the device, and a special fluid—which is easily made—washes it away. The fluid also helps break down the waste, and there is a facility that recycles it for other purposes.”
Tasid pointed to a stall on the other side of the room. “You can cleanse your body in this space right here.” He tapped on a button, and a holo-screen appeared, floating in front of him. “From this, you can choose the body scan, which will cleanse your entire body, or if you feel the need for liquid to flow down your body, which I sometimes do, you can choose that option. You can also adjust the temperature and pressure and even the amount of time it’s on. The fluid that comes out is the same kind that washes away your waste. Its properties can make you sick if you ingest too much of it, so do not drink it in.”
Tasid paused to let Juno process, and he hoped retain, the information he just shared with her. But with so much she had had to adapt to and learn in the last couple weeks, he expected he would have to repeat things until she got used to them.
A growl rumbled through her stomach. He was startled, but hid it when his mate’s creamy skin pinked.
“Sorry,” she said quietly.
“What was that?”
“My stomach. It means I’m hungry.”
Tasid’s eyes widened. “Fire-stars! I’m a terrible mate. I am starving you. Please, little mate, forgive me. I’ll get you something right away.”
“I’m hungry, but it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like I don’t have weight I couldn’t lose.”
Tasid growled. “You are perfect how you are. You cannot afford to lose any weight.”
Tasid brought up a screen and connected to the galley. One of the cooks responded. “Yes, sir?”
“My mate is hungry. I have negle
cted to feed her. Do you have anything for her?”
“Yes, sir. We were able to procure a great deal of food from Little Blue, for the humans. We haven’t learned much about the foodstuffs, but we have learned some of the more simple recipes and prepared them. Will that be sufficient?”
Tasid looked at his mate. She shrugged at him, then looked back at the cook. “What do you have?”
Thirty minutes later, his mate was enjoying tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. She encouraged him to try them and obviously enjoyed feeding him a taste. He didn’t much care for the soup, which to him looked too much like blood, but the sandwich wasn’t too bad. After she was finished, he noticed how droopy her eyes were getting, and he knew she deserved her rest. He sighed internally with disappointment. It was bad enough that he neglected to feed her, so he wasn’t about to let his own selfish desires interfere with her other needs.
He took off his clothes and helped her strip, then tucked his new little mate into their bed, and curled around her, content to just hold her … for now. Very shortly, he heard a slight snore coming from Juno. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her scent, thankful that he had done the right thing.
She has had many bad experiences lately, and many are associated with me, he thought. I will need to be patient with her. A smile slowly spread across his face. Perhaps I can use this time to plan the pleasures I will give her, to associate with me. None of which, however, helped to alleviate his erection, which rubbed against her warm, bare skin.
****
Juno opened her blurry eyes and blinked several times as she looked at her unfamiliar surroundings. Her hazy thoughts tried to process where she was. Heat surrounded her, and she soon began to realize there was something hard pressing along the seam of her butt. Her memories of the previous day returned suddenly, and she realized exactly what was poking at her, and whose it was.
Him! He caught me, and now I belong to him!
Her heart sped up with excitement as she began to process the previous day’s events. She’d been caught by the one alien that she had been secretly obsessing over since she first saw him on TV. Sure, she’d seen others of his race, and certainly appreciated the beauty of the other races, but for some reason, Tasid was the one she felt drawn to. It was why she’d chosen the Zori race when she was given the option. But she never believed she would actually have been caught by him.
