by Belle Harper
He grunted again and I got to work. It was hard to remove the face as he had damaged it a lot.
“Did you hit this with a rock?” I asked, as I finally popped the lid to the internal components.
“I used the same rock they made us mine. It is hard, but not hard enough.” I nodded. Aket was a hard rock but the metals they used to make the trackers, or any of the tech equipment, was made by a stronger metal. One that was practically indestructible.
“Almost done,” I let him know. Then the tracker dropped free from his ankle. He rubbed it before jumping up on his feet.
“What is your name?” he asked. I smiled up at him as I placed everything back in my bag.
“I am K’Tem. And you are?” I asked in return. He smiled at me, as he touched his injured neck and rubbed his chest.
“I am Sanza. I thank you, K’Tem. I owe you a debt.” And with that, he ran away. I called after him to come with me, but he called out behind him.
“We are not safe together.” And it was true, but I didn’t want him to be alone out here. His world was much different than that of Aarzyn.
I threw the tracker towards the mines and ran towards Clan Wolf.
Jessica, I am coming, my love.
Chapter Eleven
Jessica
I woke up, my head throbbing and my eyes unfocused. I couldn’t see much around me. Was I in a hut? I reached for the back of my head and I felt it was sticky. Did I hit my head on something?
“Koh?” I croaked out, my throat dry and scratchy from not drinking enough water. A shadow moved closer to my face; I tried to focus on it by rubbing my eyes. It was large and purple, but I could tell it wasn't Koh. My body didn't react the same way; if anything, this Aashi male in front of me had my body screaming to run.
“Koh is not here, my mate. We will mate bond now. You will be ours, and you will return to Clan Ariaan.” My heart started racing. I knew who that was, he hadn't returned to his clan lands. He had kidnapped me. I started to panic. Were they going to rape me? I thought all the males here were supposed to be sweet and caring towards females. Well, all of them seemed to be except for the males that came from Clan Ariaan.
“I will not mate bond you, Bezen. I do not want you as a mate, so let me go now. All of Clan Wolf will kill you, all of you.” He just laughed, as if my words meant nothing but empty threats. He grabbed my wrist and pinned it above my head.
“They will not come for you. You are ours, as promised by the M’Mori. You do not get to leave.”
I looked around the small hut, trying to find any of the males that would take pity on me, but they all just looked at me with hungry eyes. This wasn't good.
“Help,” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Maybe we were still close to that clearing and Koh would hear me.
“Shut up now, female.” I felt the sting on my cheek before I realized what had just happened. He had slapped me.
“Mother fucker, you will pay for that. I had done the nice thing of letting you go free. You promised to return to Clan Ariaan. They wanted to kill you. I thought that was a little bit harsh, but now I've changed my mind. I'm really fucking over this shit. If any more males tell me what the fuck I'm going to do, you’re all dead. I will kill you. When you're least expecting it, I will be there. I am tired of feeling sorry for myself for the position I’m now in. This is not my fault, it is all of yours. This time, I am in charge, and you're all dead to me.”
They all laughed. They may be empty threats right now, but as soon as I had some means of hurting them… breaking free, I would do it. The thing about breaking free was they always seemed to be able to track me. I wonder if they were like bloodhounds back on Earth and could track my scent.
“You will not get far from us, you are small and weak, female. You will mate bond with all of us now. You have the duty to have our kits.”
I started laughing. I didn't know why. It wasn't funny. Just that, here I was, once again, in a situation I didn't want to be in. I had only just started feeling happy speaking to Koh, glad that I had the girls and their friendships. Things I was lacking back at home. And these guys seem to think I was a breeding machine and going to pop out their babies. Yet, I was laughing. Had I gone insane?
Probably.
They all removed their little loin cloths, their raging, hard cocks in their hands. Fuck this shit. I wasn’t going to be raped here on some alien planet. I kicked out and hit one right in the dick; he let out a loud wail as he fell backwards and the hut came apart.
These guys had no idea how to make a good hut. Not like Koh, and I was glad for it. I just needed to destroy this hut; it would help me get some more space. Maybe a branch I could use as a spear? Fuck, where were their spears? I needed to get ahold of one.
“You will stop, now. Mate bond us.” Bezen held his hands wide and stared at me… as if he were waiting for me to touch him. Back up. Wait up. Did he even have a clue how to mate? The girls had said most of their guys didn’t have a clue at all. He cocked his head to me, then to his cock.
“I just mated that one.” I couldn’t remember his name and I didn’t give a shit. Kicking him in the cock was the best feeling. The others made strangled sounds.
“Why did you choose him to be your first and favorite mate?” He looked confused now, and I realized he really had no clue.
“Because he isn’t mean. Would you like me to mate bond you now?” I asked, trying to hide the wicked grin on my face. His brows furrowed, but he nodded.
“Yes. I was to be first and favorite, but I wish to be second now. Mate bond me, mate.”
He didn’t have to ask twice. I pulled my leg back as far as I could and slammed the heel of my foot into his junk. He cupped it and listed to the side.
“That was harder than you did to Exoa.” He looked over to the other male who looked like he got kicked in the balls and had no idea why he wanted this mate bond if this was what it felt like.
“You wanted to be first, and you have to be very hard to make sure you get the first mate marks. That is what you wanted, yes? I could do it to someone else if you don’t want it anymore.”
Bezen shook his head. “No, I wished to be first. I didn’t know that was how. I’m grateful you have chosen me in this way, Jee-see-ka. I will be a good mate to you. Once you mate bond the others, we can be on our way to Clan Ariaan.”
I shook my head.
“I will feel too tired to leave after I mate bond. I will need a day’s rest, food, and water before I am to move. I am in heat now. And I don’t want to do anything that would hurt our kits.”
They all nodded, agreeing that I was to stay here, the other three coming forward so I could kick them in the nuts… What dickheads.
I smiled in what they thought was happiness for them to be mate bonded.
I smiled because there was nothing better than your kidnappers thinking they were fucking while I kicked them in the dicks.
Please find me, Koh. Please come find me, I prayed.
Chapter Twelve
Tomlee
When Koh came screaming back into camp, I stood from where I was still stripping leaves. I was hoping that Jee-seka would return to make blankets with me, but she was too smart, this female. She knew what Brooklyn had done in leaving her with me to make blankets together.
I tried to say the words that would make her happiest, but they must not have sounded the way I hoped. I used many English words and I seemed to upset her as she had left. Then she left with Koh. What did he say to her? I wished to spend time with her as he did, but I didn’t have the same skills.
This was my rest day. I protected the clan most other days, this was why Brooklyn had arranged this for the day. I had brought many foods with me so I could offer her food and water, but she left.
I stood up and ran closer to Koh, as did most males. He was holding the foot coverings of Jee-seka in his lower hands, and he was breathing heavily.
“I was sleeping, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, and Jee-seka is gone. She
left her coverings and I found some blood nearby. I tried to track her but I couldn’t find her scent. It was as if she just disappeared.”
The clan was alive with males rushing for their spears. We would go out and find her. She wouldn’t have walked away. Many were yelling; Brooklyn was crying loudly.
“It’s my fault. I was being pushy and she left because of me,” she cried out as Evzyn and Makee wrapped her in a hug. She sobbed between them.
“It’s not your fault, Brooklyn. We will find her.” Rion stood tall with his spear. Daku came and had the chaos of the males stop. Many respected him, he was a great leader in times of need.
“Every warrior, form a group of five. I need one group to stay here in case this is a diversion to take the other females.” One of the newer females, Hadley, gasped.
“I believe the males were the Chosen from Clan Ariaan, the ones we let go at Jee-seka’s order. The females have great hearts and are very forgiving, but not all males are respectful. And I believe these are who we will be tracking. I will lead with Koh, and when we arrive at the last place she was seen, we will all spread out. We will find her and return her to her home, here in Clan Wolf.”
All the males cheered and everyone started moving at once. I ran to Koh; I wanted to be with him. I believed he reacted to Jee-seka’s scent the same as me and I wanted to ask him now.
“Tomlee,” Koh greeted me. You could see the worry and stress on his face.
“I do not blame you, friend. This was not of your doing. You feel strongly for Jee-seka, yes?” I asked. He nodded.
“Her scent calls to me. I had heard the other mated males speak of this and I never thought it was true, that only they wished for it, but it is true. My cock leaks seed whenever I smell her. I am glad my body chose such a strong female to be drawn to, but my heart is sad that she doesn’t wish to take another mate.”
I understood his feelings as they were the same as mine.
“I, too, am affected by her scent. I find myself wanting to be near her at all times, but she doesn’t want me. I have offered to be her friend and I don’t think she wishes for that also. I am unsure on what to do next. But now is not the time for this; now we must go and save her.” I grasped Koh’s shoulder and he led us to where he was last with Jee-seka.
Once we were in the clearing, Daku sent us all out in different directions. Koh stayed with me. Vallyn and Apak were with us too, as Daku stayed behind in the clearing.
“Do you think we could smell her if she touched a tree? Or the grass?” I asked Koh, but I was curious on Vallyn’s answer too. He made a sound.
“You are affected by her scent, like I am of my Luna?” We both looked to Vallyn and he smiled when Koh and I answered yes together.
“That is very good. You could smell her. I find even if I am far from Luna, I can still tell where she is. This will be a good advantage, one the chosen males from Ariaan didn’t expect.”
We climbed the trees and travelled through them faster than I ever had before, looking for any signs of where she might have gone. Koh travelled closer to the ground in case she wasn’t taken through the trees. They were from Clan Ariaan where most clan warriors traveled on foot. They didn’t realize we were built for the trees.
I heard the call from Koh and we froze. What had he found? I looked around me. Where was she? I couldn’t sense her… but I could sense someone else. Someone not Aashi by the way they moved on the ground. They were loud and didn’t know where to place their feet to be quiet.
“Jee-seka?” I called out. I didn’t want to waste any time if it was her. But as I descended the tree in my haste, I heard Koh call out, “Intruder alert,” in the English words we were taught. This was not my Jee-seka. It was a M’Mori.
“Hello, I am K’Tem. Jessica is my fated mate.” He held his hands up to show he was unarmed, but I didn’t care. I held my spear out to him. Apak watched him warily from the lower branch beside me.
“Jessica, you call. Where she? You, Jessica, mates?” he asked in Aashi, though his words were not all correct, he did use our words. He thought we were her mates?
Vallyn stepped forward. “Are you the male she has been crying for? The one who she is mated to before she came here to Aarzyn?”
I heard something from his backpack, like the translators the females wore, talking to him. It must be his translator. Ah, he might not know all our words, only some. This was good for us.
“Yes, Jessica is my fated mate.” He nodded. I pointed to his bag.
“Turn off, we must not be heard.” The M’Mori male nodded and quickly turned off his translation device.
“Why did you ask him to do that?” Apak asked as he dropped from the tree. I was surprised he had made it this far, he was very old male with a head of black hair. He mostly stayed around in the main camp and cooked food for the clan.
“I wished for him to not understand all our words. I want to make sure we can trust him, that this is who Jee-seka was looking for. Koh and I wish to also be her mate and this male, he’s the one she has been waiting for. Now he is here, I want to give him to her. She will be very happy, but also, I worry that now he is here she won’t have time to choose more mates. I believe I’m her mate, fated, just like he is.”
“Me too, but maybe he has tools in his backpack that will help us find her and get her back from the chosen males who took her against her will,” Koh added.
The M’Mori, K’Tem, made a strangled sound. He spoke many words in a language I didn’t know. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a strange looking device.
When he spoke into it again, I realized that he understood our words better than I thought.
“Where is Jessica? Who has taken her? Oh no, I will call my brother. He can find her, he was tracking her to Clan Wolf. But did she leave today? Do you think she has gone far?”
“She was taken by the Chosen from Clan Ariaan. She didn’t choose them as mates and she came to Clan Wolf in the hopes we could help her find you at the Goddess Arena. But now you have found us. And you say you can find her?”
He nodded as he started to do things on his device. It was making sounds and then I heard a strange voice on the other end.
“My brother is tracking her now. He says to go north and closer to the mines. They have her very close there. I do not like this at all. There are bad males in the mines.”
I didn’t like the sound of this either. I ran after K’Tem. He was already proving to be a better mate than I ever would. But as long as Jee-seka was safe, that was all that mattered.
Chapter Thirteen
Jessica
God, these guys were dumbasses. Now I just needed to figure out how to make them lead me back to Clan Wolf.
“Oh, first mate?” I called out in a sweet voice. It was so strange how he thought I went from wanting to kill them to mate bonding them. Bezen appeared at the hut’s door.
“Yes, my bonded female?” The smile on his face made me chuckle. I tried to hide it, but it was hard.
“I need to go pee, but this is a special one. After bonding, males are not to see this, it is how I get with kits,” I lied my ass off. I needed him not to look at me while I went, then snuck off. I was thinking being naked might help, but I wasn’t about to start running naked through here when I wasn’t sure how they were tracking me.
“Oh, I am not sure of this. I have never heard of this urinate for kits before.” Fuck… ah.
“It’s a human custom. I must go and pee. The heat is getting stronger. It is how our females get with kit. I can mate bond you again if you want before I pee. After, I am not to touch a male at all or I will lose the kits.” I could see the worry now on his face, buying it. Come on, dickhead, you think me kicking you in the balls was mating? Let’s believe I need a secret time to pee.
“Mate bonding again isn’t needed, mate. Our females only mate bond when in heat once, and I am very happy to have been your first male.” I was disappointed at that. I wanted to kick him in the nuts one more ti
me for fun. “But I do not wish to harm our kits. We will not touch you or come to where you do your special urination.”
I nodded and stood up. Moving outside the hut, I realized there were more white trees here. And the flowers were white.
“You must all look that way while I go find the right spot. It may take a while, but I will tell you when it is over. Then we all will have kits.” The guys were really happy and fell for it.
I walked away. When I got too far, Bezen called out that I needed to stop. I didn’t want to push him so I started to dig a hole, singing some Dolly Parton while doing it so they knew I was still here. Hoping to lull them into thinking I was still here long after I was gone.
I slowed down my singing, then made sounds that made me seem like I was still there. I paused for a while and I heard Bezen call out my name. I made a sound again and he seemed content with that. I slowly backed up. I picked up a small rock and threw it towards the hole. Backed up more… and almost screamed when I saw a blue looking dude just staring at me. I froze.
Fuck, what the hell? He had two arms, two legs, and no tails. This guy wasn’t Aashi, that was for sure. His blue eyes were piercing and we both locked on to each other. God, what was worse? Being kidnapped by him or Bezen?
Bezen chose that time to call out. The male’s eyes darted towards them, then back to me. I was shaking and I felt like I was going to throw up. What the hell was I doing? I should run back to Bezen. There were five of them and only one of him. He picked up a rock and threw it to where I just had. I didn’t know what to think.
His eyes scrunched up as if he was really studying me. “Jee-seka,” Bezen called out loudly and my stupid translator chose then to pick it up. Alerting him that I was not as close to where I said I was.
The blue male seemed stunned, and I took that moment to run. Fuck this shit. Fuck them all. I ran as fast as I could, my bare feet stepping on some sharp rocks and I didn’t care. I was getting away from all of this. I was going to run back and tell Koh that I never wanted to go into the woods again. That I would be happy to stay with him back at my hut. I wanted to get to know him, maybe one day take him as a mate if K’Tem didn’t arrive.
