Selas's Salvation

by Pearl Tate

  “Okay, Jack. Question and answer time… I suggest you hurry. I suspect we’ll have company here shortly.” I’ve been feeling Selas move further away, and that makes sense if he had to go back and get out of the dome at the spacecraft access point.

  “Yeah, yeah. Okay.” Jack’s gaze sweeps out over the other men in the area. “I think our biggest question and concern is whether you’ve been sent by the council on Quasar? Are you really another species and from another planet?”

  “How am I supposed to prove something like that? I mean, you guys are going to have to have a little blind faith here. You can look at me and see the physical differences between us, but I don’t know if there’s really a way to perfectly confirm I’m telling the truth, right?”

  The men nod in front of me. “Your hair, the follicles, they’re different?”

  Pushing a hand into my curls, I nod. “Yeah. We don’t have control over our hair like you guys… this… is pretty much it. It blows in the wind, and I can style it, but it won’t do it on its own. Not anything like yours.”

  “And you’re smaller than Quasar females. Are all your females as small as you?” The man who asks is one of the smallest I’ve seen, but he’s still over six feet tall. Probably six and a half feet, and he looks older than many of the others.

  I’m five six without my curls, so very average. “I’m really in the middle size. Just like you seem to have variations in size, we do too. But even the tallest women I’ve ever seen are smaller than you.”

  There’s a murmur among them at this statement. Comments about how Quasar females are never that small. They seem pretty convinced I’m different already.

  “Haven’t any of you taken a trip into the dome to see the mates already here?” I’m curious why these kinds of basic questions haven’t been answered already? Supposedly, from what I’ve been told by the others, the dome is easy to get into now as long as you’re willing to submit to a security check looking for weapons and anything strange—like bomb making material since they did have that chaos in the last little while.

  “I have!” It’s the youngest looking kid that answers. “But, I didn’t see anything. Everyone I spoke to said they don’t come out. It’s like they’re hiding them, and we’re all worried it’s because it really is a trick, like Benard said.” When he pauses, and it doesn’t look like he’ll continue, I can’t help but prod.

  “What does Benard say about us… human females?” My eyebrows go up as I smile and wiggle them. They seem to be lightening up. We don’t have much time left. Selas is getting closer by the second, but if he can keep his shit together, he’ll see this is what we should be doing regularly. In a more controlled setting, of course, so these guys don’t feel the need to try and steal a woman to talk to.

  “He says you aren’t mates. That you’re Quasarian genetic experiments to try and have more females on the planet. Breeders that will populate this planet along with males from Quasar, because the harems are getting so large.”

  “Well, I’m not really sure how to prove we’re mates. You might be able to see some of my mating marks up on my neck here?” Lifting my hair, I spin in a circle slowly, but not so slow I’m leaving my back to them long. I hear a collective gasp and know they’ve seen them. Good enough.

  “There’s more, but I’m not unfastening my suit to show you.” Smirking, a few of them call out, “Why not?” and “Come on.” Such typical males.

  Facing them again, I try to explain what I do know. “One of the ways I knew Selas was my mate, was I could sense him. I knew where he was on the planet, you know? And right now, he’s on his way here.” I point to the rock ground at our feet. “He can find me no matter where I end up. So, when he shows, stay calm and don’t fight, but that’s another way I can prove we’re mates…”

  The same guys calls out, “Benard believes they won’t want us breeding with you. Many of us have genetic defects, and that’s why we’re here to begin with . He thinks they have plans to kill us all here shortly…”

  Movement from the right has me watching as another man’s head pops over the side of the embankment, and a line of more men follow him, beginning to circle around the perimeter surrounding us all. It doesn’t take the gasps and moans from the others I’ve been talking to, for me to figure out these are the bad guys.

  They’re armed with weapons. Knives, spears, and a sling too, are in their hands as they crouch along the edge of the rocky surface. The guys I’ve been speaking with are panicking in front of me, but I know my best bet is to stay calm. Selas is already losing it enough for the both of us. I can feel it through our bond.

  He’s gotten progressively more high-strung the longer we’ve been apart, despite the fact that I’ve stayed nice and serene the entire time. Breathing deep, relaxing, and keeping a positive outlook are all part of my training over the years. The last couple weeks on the ship traveling, I’ve only perfected it more.

  In fact, if anything, I’m excited. What are the odds that this would come together so perfectly. The only thing that’d make it better is if Benard himself was here…

  “Benard!” Jack’s eyes are saucer-wide as he watches the last male coming over the edge. “What… we… how did you know?” His eyes flicker to me, and I know he’s worried about selling me out.

  “There’s a tracking beacon in the dome piercing device, idiot! We’ve known where you are the entire time, and it has another alarm when you use it to penetrate the dome.” Scoffing, Benard’s face is evil as he begins to laugh along with the others who arrived with him.

  Taking a step forward draws all eyes to me as I cock my head, studying him. I haven’t met that many of these guys yet, but this is the first one I’ve seen that borders on being overweight. “Benard… I’m so glad you made it.”

  His eyebrows shoot into the air at my words before he throws back his head and laughs like an evil villain in a comic cartoon. They must be idiots if they don’t know I can be tracked. They have to know… right?

  “We don’t have much time. Grab her and get her underground immediately.” Benard points at me and makes a circular motion with his arms as the men who came up before him with weapons start moving toward us.

  Oh no. Over my dead fucking body. “Why’s that, Benard?” Everyone freezes as I call out to him personally. “Why do I need to get underground if I’m a plant from the council? A genetic experiment to lure you all into one place on Dactyles?”

  Ignoring what I’m saying, he starts moving back toward the edge, becoming more agitated as his men hesitate. “Don’t listen to her. Just grab her and come on!”

  The men I was speaking with cringe, either dropping down to the ground further if they were sitting or trying to scramble away while the armed men are hitting them out of the way, knocking them into each other.

  Jack has moved further away from me as I step forward, waiting for the first of them to finally get within reach. “It’s because I am an Earth female mated to one of the Quasarian men!” Without looking at him, I keep my ready stance, waiting…

  A few men look between me and Benard, but most continue to move forward as the men I was originally talking to part like the Red Sea. The first idiot that lunges at me has a wooden spear that doesn’t survive my first hit. It snaps pathetically, and the follow-through breaks his jaw. I immediately swing in a circle, twisting my jo over my head to make contact with a man closing in on the other side of me with a sheathed knife on his hip that he didn’t even bother pulling out! They must want me alive?

  After this, they all try to lunge as I dodge their arms, sweeping their feet out from under them and making my way closer to Benard. The coward has retreated further down the edge, ready to drop to where they all came up.

  When I hear a crash, I have too much going on to look. But the roar… the roar I recognize since my name’s in there too!

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  - Selas

  Running toward the space dock, I don’t slow until I’m at the door of the craf
t where Travek is poking his head out. “Ready?”

  Grabbing the whining male from the others who carried him, I push his ass up in front of me, following Travek to the front. I’m pleased to see the craft is already loaded with males armed and ready to help. Two seats are vacant in the front, so I shove my prisoner into one and settle next to him.

  A scuffle breaks out behind me and shouts of “Maley? Maley?” have me turning to see Cordon the medic pushing into the front. “Maley, that is you! Is Jack…?” He glances at me and then back at Maley, the stupid male who thought he could put his hands on my mate.

  “He’s my prisoner, Cordon. He tried to hurt my mate, and she broke his leg.” I can’t help the smug smile that comes over my face. Thankfully, Travek is already taking off while Cordon begins to poke at Maley’s lower leg experimentally.”

  “Jack?” Cordon’s whisper to Maley is discrete, but I’d have to be a fool not to hear him.

  “Your brother and Tee took the mate, Karen…” Maley’s eyes flicker to me at his words, and I turn my glare on him purposefully. “…we only wanted to speak with her. There are others that don’t believe it’s safe in the dome. Benard scares everyone with his doom talk of the fake mates who are really council spies.”

  I’m trying not to listen, because I want to kill both males—Jack included. “Why’s your brother not in the dome?” I can’t help grinding out as this Maley character explains their weak logic.

  They should have come to us. We’ve never made the mates accessible exactly… but maybe Karen’s right—the communication issue is a bigger deal than we realized.

  Cordon doesn’t look up. Instead, he continues to apply compresses to the swollen skin on Maley’s shin. “He left years ago and never shared exactly why. But the couple times I’ve been able to meet with him outside the dome, I could tell he’s scared.” His eyes lift to meet mine. “Petrified, even. I have to go get a splint.”

  When he gets up quickly, moving away, I concentrate on breathing and feeling what I sense from Karen. She’s fairly calm, although I can feel her tension ramping up. Something has her worried.

  “Selas! We should be close. Which way?” Travek glances back while I spring from the seat where I never bothered to use the restraining devices.

  “Left.” Travek angles hard, and I hear curses and shifting behind us.

  “Who is that?” Pointing down below, I realize it’s one of ours. “Sorry, never mind.”

  “Yes, that’s as far as the teams got so far. Are we getting close? Does that look like it?” Travek points futher out and I see a few breaks in the trees. Right as I do, I feel Karen’s fear ramp up.

  Okay, it might not be fear, but I’m learning that my mate doesn’t fear much. In fact, it almost feels like excitement. Could she have seen us coming?

  “Yes. That’s it. Circle it slowly. I’ll go out the cargo release hatch from below.”

  “No! Fuck, no. Selas, that looks like stone. You could break a leg jumping out.” Travek’s already losing altitude, almost skimming the trees silently.

  “Then get closer!” I’m already passing the small food prep area, squeezing by males in full gear as I work my way into the cargo hold.

  Everyone backs away as I open the hatch in the cargo floor to drop into the storage area underneath. Doubled over, I look up and yell, “Tell Travek I’m ready when he is!”

  The retractable doors slide open to expose a square of empty space in front of me. My breath is choked back in my throat as I see the ground rushing up and the small area we’re hovering over scattered with men. It’s easy to see Karen, her back to a rock face as she fights against three males armed with wooden spears.

  Roaring my rage that they dare try to hurt her, I surrender to the red haze descending in my vision as I throw myself feet first out into space. The last thing I remember is my body crashing into the ground.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  - Karen

  I know it’s Selas running toward me, but I don’t look up. I’m too busy avoiding two men who don’t stop trying to get past my defenses until three more loud bangs go off. When they look back, I look too.

  Travek, Remus, and Bren have dropped onto the rocky hill around me, and the men attacking me pause, swinging around to watch at the dust settles. Coughing fills the air as Selas comes within feet of me, leaping over the distance. Static tingling zaps around us, creating an audible crackling as a tube of blue slides around Selas. At the same time, a humongous alien ship materializes in the sky above. The light of the sun is blocked out as it solidifies just like a magic trick above us in the sky!

  Suddenly, it’s eerily quiet except for occasional coughing from the men still recovering from the dust. My eyes aren’t the only ones watering. Glancing around, I realize everyone’s looking up at the sky with the same shock I feel. The hairs on my skin prick up as if there’s an electrical storm nearby.

  “Hi there, brothers! Looks like I’m just in time!” Another familiar looking man has materialized in the very center of the now crowded rocky ledge, and as I see Remus and Travek run to hug him, it dawns on me who it is. Sol… which means—that’s the Ashen’s ship! Holy fucking cow!

  Glancing around, Selas is a foot away, pounding on his circular enclosure frantically, but everyone else, is silent. All the men that were coming after me a few seconds ago are slack-jawed, staring into space in front of them. Not even up to the sky at the huge ass ship hovering over us.

  Remus jogs over, pointing at Selas. “You can go inside and calm him down.”

  “Inside that tube? What is it?” I’m baffled by the thing. And why Selas?

  “It’s just a force field the Ashen threw over him so he didn’t kill anyone. As you can see, they’ve control of all the unmated males now… so perfect timing. But you’ll be able to walk in there and calm him, and it’ll shut down once he’s coherent. I recommend you go soon.”

  Following his gaze, I see that Selas hasn’t calmed—at all! He’s going to hurt himself if he doesn’t chill out. Pressing my hand lightly on the cylinder, it tingles and gives under my hand. Selas immediately grabs me, yanking my body inside quickly before pulling me up and into his arms.

  My jo clatters to the stone ground as I wrap my arms and legs around him, and our lips crash together. He’s ferocious in his attack on my body, plundering my mouth with his tongue. If this is his punishment for taking off with Jack, I can’t see the downside.

  The electrical charge all around us has my hairs standing on end, goose bumps covering me everywhere, making my skin sensitive. Digging my hands into his hair, I surrender to the magnetic attraction between us as he holds me against the side of this strange, cylinder enclosure. The waves of energy running up and down my spine only add to the sensations he’s already inspiring in my body.

  My legs spread until my thighs are touching each side of the tube. He cups my ass and grinds me against his cock that’s still trapped, but extremely hard in his pants. When his mouth pulls away, he licks and nibbles down my jaw to my neck as my head drops back at an odd angle. My eyes crack open, and all I can see is his hair, swirling around us. But I know I really need to stop this show we’re putting on for everyone.

  “Selas?” My voice is weak from the way he’s plying my body as I feel his hard length rubbing against me just perfectly. I’m so close… so close. If I don’t stop him soon, he’s going to make me orgasm in front of all these men. Right here. Right now. “Selas… Selas, please… stop.”

  He freezes around me. His arms tighten as his fingers loosen on my ass. Lifting his head, his beautiful eyes lock onto mine, blinking furiously. His brows furrow in confusion before his gaze flits over my shoulder and slowly tracks around and then up.

  “It’s the Ashen. They’ve arrived, and that’s why we’re in here. I think you lost it for a couple minutes.” My whisper seems to sink in as his eyes close, and his forehead meets mine.

  “I’m so relieved you’re okay.” His breath puffs across my skin as he lets out a g
rateful sigh. When his eyes open, he pulls back, cocking his head to the side. “I don’t want to talk about your poor decision-making skills right now, but this’ll definitely be something we revisit later in our room.”

  What? He’s sliding me down the cylinder and right as my feet hit the ground, it disappears from my back. Shoving me behind him, he looks around at the men frozen in place. They do look funny.

  “Welcome back, Selas! Although, I do think everyone was enjoying the show.” Murmurs are picking up around us as Bren points toward the most obvious stares. “We got Benard!” His finger stops on the man half down the side of the embankment. Only his head and upper chest are showing as he clings to the rock face frozen. There’s no expression on his face at all, but he doesn’t move a muscle or even blink.

  “I don’t understand?” Selas turns in a circle, looking at all the bad guys, but I’m more interested in what’s caught my eye on the man, Jack, who brought me out here. He’s still standing by the rock face where we both faced off against Benard’s men. I wasn’t able to see where he went, but it’s clear he didn’t abandon me.

  Right now, he’s rubbing his chest, and it’s evident why. They’re faint, but he’s definitely getting mating marks. He doesn’t even notice me striding over to take a closer look. It’s creepy to walk by the blank faces of the men standing around that I was fighting with moments before. A childish part of me wants to go around and kick each of them in the nuts!

  I overhear Sol and Bren explaining to Selas how the Ashen have taken control of the minds of the unmated males, and that makes sense. Lisa and Jo-Anne told me what a big deal it was to the Ashen when they ended up mated to Travek and Remus, that they didn’t interfere. Thank god they did in this situation.