Gron's Fated

by V. C. Lancaster

“You see?” he said.

  “I do. Tell me how you found her, Gron,” Grasta said, her voice serious.

  Gron knew this was the most important part. He had to speak for both of them, and Ruth’s life might depend on how Grasta felt when he was finished. So he told her everything. He started with being taken from the forest when he had gone out on his own, finding himself in that hard room with no idea how he had got there, being left entirely alone for what must have been days, being fed the same thing every day by a race of tiny green people. He told Grasta how he had fought them and how they had burned him with sticks. It sounded crazy.

  Then he told them of when Ruth had been dropped into the cell. How she had first been wearing coverings like she was now, how she had screamed when she saw him, how he had done his best not to scare her. He told Grasta how she had looked for a weakness in the room, burning her hand on the bars that covered the top. He felt his shame as he recounted his failure to protect her from that. Gron explained how she had refused to eat until he ate with her, and she had shared food with him after that.

  The others all listened, riveted to his tale, none of them eating as he told of how the other race had come into the cell and he had again failed to protect her when they forced her to the floor and took her coverings. He had been at his lowest then, only to wake to find her crawling into his arms. He let Grasta know that he had tried to remain faithful to her and resist the Bond forming, but he made it clear that he did not feel guilty over that part of his story. The situation was as it was, and privately, he was glad, so glad that Ruth had taken him as a mate.

  Gron told them of their escape into the strange forest, how he had tried to build a platform for them and how his body had primed for her. How they had mated in that cave, and struggled to feed themselves. How he had pricked his arm on the venomous tree and descended into a fever while she stayed with him and stroked his hair and talked and talked as if she was keeping him alive by doing so.

  He couldn’t explain how they had returned to this forest, right outside the tribe’s village. All he knew was that he had woken up there with Ruth, who was wearing new coverings and had a bag with food and water. He then described how Kranu, Troii and Drenz had found them and forced them back to the village on Kranu’s insistence. After that, the story became public knowledge. Grasta herself had witnessed the scene their arrival had caused.

  Silence followed Gron’s narrative. Ruth had paid close attention as Gron had spoke at length, but had not interrupted. Now she lay her hand on his arm, stroking the fur, and he squeezed her hand to reassure her again.

  “Quite a tale, Gron,” said Grasta, starting to eat again. “It’s incredible, if it is true. I can see why some might not believe it. And Kranu, do you want to state your concerns here?”

  Every head turned to face Gron’s older brother and he cleared his throat. Another male might be nervous, but Kranu had waited too long for such a moment for that. “My concern is that the Queen is not able to communicate her desires, her wishes. We know nothing about her. We have no way of asking her if Gron speaks the truth, if she is with him by choice. He could have found her out in the forest and stolen her for himself.”

  There was a palpable shift in the atmosphere in the tribe at that statement. The idea of a male stealing a Queen away was... Death would not be penalty enough. It was sick.

  “She could be with him out of fear, she could be confused. She is small too, how do we know she is even mature? Her scent is not on him. I thought only of protecting the Queen when I brought her to you for judgement,” Kranu finished.

  “That is a lie and you know it! You are jealous of Gron! You think because you are the older and he the younger that you should have everything and he nothing, you have always been this way, Kranu!” answered Brur furiously. “You cannot understand the pain it will cause to separate them.”

  The males around them looked ill, like they had a sour taste in their mouths. Gryla looked ready to beat Kranu into submission. The truth Kranu suggested was monstrous. If Gron had done as his brother said, it would go down in legend as the tribe’s greatest evil.

  Grasta looked serene compared to the others around her, a bad sign. “The crimes you accuse your brother of are serious indeed, Kranu. Have you any proof?”

  “No, but does he? Ask him where is his proof?” Kranu retorted, just missing crossing into a tone of voice that would have been disrespectful to the tribe’s Queen.

  Grasta shifted her gaze to Gron and Ruth. “I see nothing in her that suggests she is afraid of him, or does not care for him. She cowers against him, hides from us behind his back. She eats from his hand, and he has shown us that she speaks another tongue. She is here among his people, whom she cannot understand. I suspect she would leave if Gron was not vitally important to her. She is different from us, yes, in her face, and I see no pelt, and no tail. This might account for her size. I have never seen one who looks like her, but her chest looks ready to feed her offspring. She could be an adult of her own kind. But her behaviour is not that of a Queen. She is docile and submissive. She may well be young, or lost somehow.”

  A ripple went through the tension in the air, and Gron stiffened. The time may be coming to fight, or to take Ruth and run.

  “I do not believe Gron would do the things you have suggested, Kranu. Before he was lost, he was one of us. We all know him here. He has always been a good male. And if he was going to abduct a young Queen as you say, where would he even find this strange one? Why would he choose a Queen that is smaller than he, that is different from his kind? If it was his choice, it makes no sense, unless he was truly desperate. She cannot be a true Queen to him. So, her strangeness is the best evidence that his story is true. She clearly comes from another place.

  “But you ask for proof, so let us have proof. Everyone here accepts that only a mature Queen can prime a male’s body for mating. If Gron’s story is true, and he has primed for her and they have mated, then she is mature and they have Bonded and none of us here can separate them. Agreed?” Grasta cast her eyes over her tribe.

  There was a rumble of consent throughout. Kranu mumbled along unhappily.

  Grasta faced Ruth and Gron again, announcing, “Then, let us test their Bond.”

  Chapter 6

  Ruth was getting used to having no idea what was going on. Gron had made some gestures she had interpreted as wanting her to speak so the alpha could hear her, which she responded to by thinking out loud about why he would want her to talk when no one could understand her. It seemed to be the right thing to do though, and after that, Gron had talked uninterrupted for a long time, everyone paying very close attention. Ruth used the time to eat, unobserved for once. The food wasn’t bad. She hadn’t been sure, to start off with, knowing that any one thing might prove to be poison to humans, but so far so good.

  A lot of it could have passed for fruit back on Earth. She wasn’t too keen on the leaves everyone seemed to be tucking into, they were just leaves after all, but she made herself finish one before moving on. Her favourite thing so far was a small pale yellow thing the shape of a squashed ping pong ball. It was more filling than the fruit, with a squishy, spongy consistency. She was going to need a few of these things if she was going to feel full. She also noticed there was no meat, or at least nothing she recognised as meat, which surprised her given the Gandry’s massive fangs.

  The atmosphere of the group was tense, and she wasn’t so clueless as to think they weren’t talking about her and Gron. They’d created a real stir by coming here, probably because she was an alien, and a female to boot which was apparently a big deal for these guys. Ruth knew they were probably discussing her fate. Given how tense Gron was, he was probably trying to talk them into being nice. She didn’t want to think too much about what the alternative would be. Surely they wouldn’t kill her? And if they kicked her out, Gron could probably still sneak out and visit her, teach her how to survive on this planet. And if not, well, she told herself she’d been prepared for
that. This was his home, his family. She wouldn’t expect him to leave that behind for her.

  If she had the chance to go back to Earth without him... She didn’t think about it. No point in making that decision when it wasn’t necessary, it wouldn’t amount to anything anyway. She was never going back to Earth. T’Lax might be able to take her, but he wouldn’t bother. If she wanted to leave Gron, she was on her own. Good thing she didn’t want to leave him then. Like it or not, her home was with the Gandry now.

  Gron continued to speak, his language an unintelligible rumble to her, an endless rolling tide of growls and grunts she couldn’t even separate into individual words. She had to listen hard just to pick out her name the way they pronounced it. Ruth gave up listening and looked at the people around her. They sat opposite the massive eight-foot alpha female, the woman who would probably be the one to kill her if that’s what they decided to do. Seated around this woman were a few males, one with the same string of wooden beads as the two who had greeted Gron when they had first arrived.

  There were also children with them, and Ruth tried not to stare. Two boys and a girl, she’d place their ages at around nine, seven and three years old, with the girl as the middle child. They were adorable, looking just like human children except for the same differences all the Gandry had. Thin tails, dark brown fur decorating their bodies in patches, rounded teeth that sat forward in their faces and flat noses above them, large dark eyes. It was a little uncomfortable that they were naked too, but at least it wasn’t obvious when they were seated. The youngest one occasionally got a helping hand from the adult sitting next to him, the male with the beads, while the girl was openly staring at Ruth. She ignored it, since everyone was staring and children stare on Earth too.

  Looking around surreptitiously, Ruth saw that they were the only children present, so she guessed only the alpha had breeding rights. Of course, the only other female in the tribe was the older one who had attacked Gron and was now sitting next to him. That whole group had formed around them after they had sat down, with the male who had manhandled her sitting on her other side, which she was not happy about. He had brought her some fruit earlier and done some bowing, which she guessed was an apology, but still. She wouldn’t forget it that easily, and would be keeping her eye on that guy.

  Sitting a few people down from Ruth on her side, after Gron, the female, a stern and surly looking male with greying fur and one of the necklaces, and that male who had met them in the forest and antagonised Gron, Ruth could just catch glimpses of a male who looked to be younger than everyone else. She placed his age at maybe eighteen or nineteen. He was probably only a few inches taller than her, though it was tough to tell when he was sitting down, but he had a much thinner frame than the adult Gandry, more human in his proportions. If he was still growing, it looked like the breadth of the species was one of the last things to come in. It was almost jarring to see someone the size and shape of a human after so long.

  All in all, Ruth would guess that there were about thirty Gandry in the tribe. She tried to imagine what that life would be like, with only two females. The males further away seemed to be getting on okay though, she thought she spotted a few comments being passed between individuals, and wondered if they were friends. It was hard to tell, with no one smiling or laughing. She’d have to try to teach Gron to smile, or she might go crazy. She’d have to make an effort to learn a bit more of their language too, if she was going to spend the rest of her life here. T’Lax had said their translators didn’t work on Gandry, but Ruth figured she could at least master “Yes” and “No”, “Food”, “Water”, that kind of thing. She should start with some names though. Maybe they wouldn’t kill her if she introduced herself and showed that she was a friendly person willing to learn.

  Gron stopped talking, the tension in the air thick. Ruth stroked his arm in solidarity, hoping he understood that she appreciated what he was doing for her, or what she assumed he was doing for her. He squeezed her hand in return, so she guessed they were on the same page.

  The alpha said something. She didn’t sound happy. Then the attention shifted to the male from the forest sitting two people down from Gron. He rattled something off, including Gron’s name, until the male sitting next to Ruth suddenly snapped something out that sounded like a vicious retort. Ruth was not oblivious to the expressions of the people around her. Whatever they were hearing, they didn’t like it. They looked disgusted, furious. All except the alpha, whose expression was carefully controlled. She commented and received a reply, then turned her focus to Ruth, who tried not to squirm or avert her gaze as the alpha spoke, gesturing towards her.

  Gron exchanged comments with the alpha, clearly about Ruth as he kept looking at her and touching her as if to reassure her or himself. Then Grasta stood up, and appeared to order up the male closest to her without the beads, the younger looking one who had been sitting next to the little girl. He stepped up to the alpha who pressed her body into his, and then made very obvious “Watch this” expressions at Ruth, accompanied by pointing to get her message across.

  Ruth didn’t know what was about to happen, but she didn’t expect to like it. The male didn’t seem uncomfortable at all to be apparently on display, but Ruth couldn’t think of anything the alpha would want to show her. This day had just been one shock after another, no reason to think this would be any different.

  The alpha stood to the side of the male who stood facing Ruth, but he turned his face to the alpha, who nuzzled his cheek and neck affectionately. Okay, so they were an item. The alpha’s hand went behind the male’s back, low down, and stayed there, apparently doing something. Her other hand stroked over the male’s stomach and side, and he rumbled softly.

  Ruth was so busy watching their faces, that she didn’t notice what was going on down below. When the alpha stopped and stepped away, pointing for Ruth to look at the male’s crotch, she did it without thinking, then wished she hadn’t. The male was hard, though it didn’t seem to be bothering him any.

  Ruth quickly looked away. What the hell? What the hell, what the hell, what the hell... What the hell was she supposed to take away from this? What was the point in that display?

  Ruth felt her cheeks heat up from second-hand embarrassment. She didn’t like where this was going. Her eyes were probably like saucers as she stared at the ground. Okay, so the alpha had given her mate a boner that she had wanted Ruth to see. Maybe she was endorsing Ruth’s relationship with Gron in a weird way? Like “Now you have a male, you’re going to need to know how to do this”? Did she think they hadn’t already covered that?

  The alpha bent over the male on her other side, putting a hand on his shoulder and nuzzling into his cheek, rumbling soft words to him as if she was apologising or teasing him. He brushed his cheek against hers in response and it seemed she was forgiven.

  Ruth felt Gron take her hand. She should probably stop freaking out. No one else was. This must be some cultural thing. Fine. She managed to look at him, though she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t shocked. His thumb stroked over her knuckles. He was worried about her. He was always worried about her. She needed to start pulling her own weight and calm down.

  The alpha spoke again, and then Gron started getting slowly to his feet, trying to coax her up too.

  Oh no.

  As in, no.

  Hell, no. Not happening.

  She looked at him, openly appalled, and snatched her hands out of his, folding her arms tightly and tucking her hands against her ribs. If giving your man a public boner was their cultural thing, she wouldn’t judge them, but Ruth was not one for public groping. What she and Gron did was private. She had to think it was special. If she turned it into some kind of performance, some kind of gimmick, it would be tainted.

  Gron didn’t pursue it, but he looked hurt. Her expression softened involuntarily. She didn’t want to hurt him or make him think she was rejecting him, but she just couldn’t get all up on him in front of thirty giant judge-y aliens who we
re deciding whether to keep her or not. She had to draw a line, she couldn’t let a precedent be set. Today it was tail hand-jobs, tomorrow, who knows? It could be anything. She had to make them understand she was never going to put on a show for them.

  The alpha crossed over the table-like spread of food in one massive step, clearing it easily to stand beside them. She really was huge, making Ruth feel like a mouse next to an elephant. Ruth didn’t let that intimidate her. Yes, the alpha could squish her, tear her apart, kill her any number of ways if she was as strong as she looked, but that would be an extreme reaction to her refusal to get Gron warmed up.

  The alpha spoke to Gron, and some of the others from their side of the table joined in, especially Dickbag from the forest, who Ruth was starting to suspect was picking a particular bone that was at the centre of all this. Ruth just folded herself up tighter, letting her face do the talking. They could forget it.

  She watched as the alpha said something else, and Gron reluctantly moved away from Ruth, straightening up but keeping his eyes on her. The alpha stood a little too close to Gron, and Ruth narrowed her eyes.

  Bitch better not.

  She saw her hand reach for Gron’s tail, his expression braced for something unpleasant, and she shot to her feet. Before she knew what she had done, she had slapped the alpha’s hand away and thrust herself between her and Gron, using her other hand to push him away, putting some space between them.

  “Don’t fucking touch him,” she said. This woman could crush her but she couldn’t understand her so Ruth could at least say what she liked.

  The alpha seemed intrigued by this reaction, and a ripple went through the spectators. Ruth sensed what she had done was probably a big no-no, but so was the alpha putting her hands on Ruth’s man.

  Gron came up behind her, curling around her in that way he had of almost touching her everywhere, making her feel enveloped, while really not touching her very much at all. Ruth didn’t dare take her eyes off the alpha to look at him and see if he was scared of what she’d done or pleased.