Kept From the Deep: Venora Mates Book Two

by Octavia Kore

  Being a good mate to Jun and Brin had been hard enough, but now he would have offspring to look after. How was he going to be any better at this? Jun and Brin both bore the scars of their mating with him, and the fact that this thrilled instead of repulsing him should have made him feel ashamed, shouldn’t it? Nuzal closed his eyes, remembering the way Brin had pressed his claws into his chest, asking to be marked.

  His fingers flexed against his thighs, claws scraping against his plates, and he opened his eyes to watch his female move through the gathered humans. She hadn’t been upset like he thought she might be after finding out about the little life growing inside of her. There had been fear and trepidation in her eyes, but there had been no sign of the disgust or horror he had prepared himself for.

  “So, what do we do now?” she’d asked, looking between him and Brin. “Is there a way we can check on the baby?”

  “The ship is only equipped with a basic scanner, but we should be able to use it to assess the offspring’s health.” They’d brought some of the equipment up from the medbay before leaving the planet in the event one of the humans required care after waking, and he’d been relieved that he wouldn’t have to leave her to retrieve the scanner.

  Brin helped Jun up onto one of the service tables while Nuzal turned on the handheld scanner. When she was ready, he passed it over her body, from head to toe and back up again. It recorded her vitals, listing them one by one so that they scrolled over the scanner’s screen.

  Nuzal reset the device, this time moving it only over the small bulge of her lower abdomen. Many of the readings were off since the device wasn’t normally used for things of this nature, but there was one feature they didn’t use too often. He tapped an icon on the screen, and a moment later the whoosh of their offspring's heartbeat filled the room.

  “Is that the baby?” Jun had asked, her eyes brimming with tears as they widened.

  Nuzal couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat, so he nodded his head instead.

  “Should their heart beat so fast?” Brin asked, leaning over to frown at the scanner. “It might be wrong. Check again.”

  “It’s reading the heart rate, Brin. It can’t be wrong.” Nuzal shook his head.

  “It’s perfect,” he heard Jun whisper. She stared at them for a moment before pushing herself up and swinging her legs over the side of the table. “We should wake the others before we get any closer to Venora.” He heard her sniffle as she swiped at the gathering tears.

  Their little female had spent the remainder of the cycle waking the others from their cryopods and helping them deal with the unfortunate effects the cryosleep seemed to have on the human body. There hadn’t been much time at all to figure out what this new development meant for them, but the way he caught her cupping her stomach when she thought no one was looking gave him hope.

  Nuzal was standing at the gazer when Jun stepped up beside him. She peered in, pushing up onto her tiptoes for a better view.

  “Is that Venora?” she asked as they neared the planet. “It’s beautiful.”

  He nearly jumped out of his plating when he felt the warmth of her palm come to rest against his hip. She hadn’t touched him with such ease in a long time, and he froze, afraid she might move away if he brought the contact to her attention.

  “Very beautiful,” Brin murmured, coming up behind them. “I think this is happiest I’ve ever been to see this place.”

  Nuzal watched him trail the back of his finger down the side of Jun’s neck and over her shoulder. His fingers itched with the desire to touch her in the same way, but she hadn’t spoken a word about her feelings toward them and, after the kiss he’d stolen before they’d left the planet, he didn’t want to push her too far. Simply having her touch him was enough for now.

  “Oh, God,” Jun mumbled, slapping her other hand over her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut.

  Nuzal began to rattle for her, pushing air through his chest as he crouched down in front of her. He felt Jun stiffen when he clutched her thigh, and regret shot through him as he cut off the noise. Expecting to find her annoyed with his actions, Nuzal pulled back and looked up into her face. Instead, she stared down at him, her hand smoothing over her stomach as her mouth dropped open.

  “Don’t stop. Make the noise again.”

  He glanced questioningly at Brin, who only shrugged his shoulders as he kneeled next to him in front of Jun. The rattling purr he’d used to calm her when she was in pain or had been afraid had never made her react like this. Nuzal took a deep breath and forced the air through the chest as he’d done a moment ago, blinking in surprise when she gasped.

  “Wait!” She grabbed each of their hands, placing them side by side on her abdomen. “Again, Nuzal.”

  When he did it this time, he felt something flutter against his palm. It was the smallest of movements, something he might not have even noticed if he wasn’t paying attention. From the wide-eyed look on Brin’s face, Nuzal assumed he’d felt it as well.

  “The baby likes it.” Jun reached out, brushing one hand over his cheek as the other gripped Brin’s shoulder.

  Nuzal closed his eyes and nuzzled against her hand, rattling for their offspring, who continued to move. Never in any of his previous lives had he experienced something as amazing as this.

  “I don’t mean to intrude, Master, but we’ll be within range of Venora’s sensors soon.”

  Brin cleared his throat as he pulled his hand away and stood. “Thank you, Nyissa.”

  “Do you think they’ll give us a hard time because of the ship?” Jun asked him.

  “Most likely. We might be allies with the Grutex, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be suspicious if one of their troop transport ships showed up out of nowhere.”

  Nuzal’s rattle trailed off, and he turned toward Brin with a grimace. “Are you sure they’ll be safe there?”

  “Jun and the pup will be safer there than any other place I know.”

  Even knowing Brin was right didn’t calm the sense of foreboding he felt. They needed to be here, needed to establish an alliance between the Venium and the humans so that his mate’s people would be safe, but he didn’t want to trust anyone else with his offspring. Would the Venium turn on them? What if they saw this pregnancy as an opportunity? He knew his own people wouldn’t have wasted anytime poking and prodding her. They would have taken Jun and destroyed her. The little life she carried now wouldn’t have even had a chance.

  “I don’t like this, Brin.” Nuzal’s xines writhed. “I don’t know if we can trust them.”

  “No one is going to touch her, Nuzal. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, and neither would my family.”

  “I’ll be fine, Nuzal.” Jun’s hand brushed over the top of his head, trailing between his upper and lower sets of eyes, and down the side of his face. “We’ll be okay.”

  “We’re receiving a communication request from Venora, Master.”

  “Send it through to the comm, Nyissa.”

  “This is Venora Air and Space Control. Identify yourself and state your business.”

  “My name is Havacker Ruvator Machit. I’m requesting permission to enter the atmosphere and land on the surface.”

  Ruvator? Nuzal had never heard either of his mates mention the name before. Brin shot him a look that said he’d fill him in later.

  “One moment.” There was a prolonged silence from the other end of the comm. Nuzal imagined there were hurried conversations going on within the room.

  “Havacker Ruvator,” came a different voice. “I’m going to need you to provide further identification and the reason for your presence on a Grutex troop transport.”

  Brin responded with a series of numbers, as well as the names of his commanding officers from his last duty assignment. “The ship was taken from a Grutex space station and is currently carrying human refugees rescued from that facility.”

  More silence and then, “Identity confirmed, Havacker. Your request to enter the atmosphere and land ha
s been granted, with restrictions. Please lower your shields and disable your weapons system. You will receive instructions for a guided landing, and a team will be waiting for you on the surface to escort the refugees into the dome.”

  Nuzal leaned forward, pressing his face against Jun’s stomach and rattled softly as Brin spoke with Telisa to let her know what was about to happen. Inside his mate’s womb, their offspring moved, fluttering against his face as he nuzzled closer. For this one moment, Nuzal let himself feel at peace. There was going to be chaos, and he wanted to take the memory of this with him so that he could deal with what was to come.

  When the humans were secured and ready, Brin began the landing process, following the instructions given to him by his people. True to their word, a team was waiting for them on the surface. They were boarded almost immediately, and the first of the Venium team to come across Nuzal stopped short and aimed his weapon at his chest.

  “You could have mentioned there was a Grutex on board,” the male growled. “I’m required to take you into custody,” he told Nuzal.

  “Wait a minute.” Jun clutched at his arm as he tried to move her behind himself. “He’s with us.”

  The male pulled out a set of cuffs from his pockets and stepped forward. “I’m under strict orders––”

  “Please, he’s not with the Grutex.” Her hands were pressed against his stomach and she tried her best to push him back. Her eyes pleaded with him as she inserted herself between him and the Venium. “Nuzal…”

  “Step aside.” When Jun only shook her head, Nuzal stroked his hand down her hair and rattled. “Do as you’re told, little one. You have someone to look after.”

  “Are you going to come willingly, or are we going to have trouble?”

  “Brin!” Jun shouted as Nuzal allowed himself to be cuffed.

  Resisting would only make things harder on him and his mates, and Nuzal knew they were already going to have a fight on their hands. The other Venium began to sort through the humans, taking those who had been unfortunate enough to develop physical characteristics during their awakening. Roman was among the ten or so who were selected, and his body seemed to vibrate with his barely checked anger.

  “Who ordered this?” Brin asked, his jaw clenched tight as he glared down at Nuzal’s cuffed wrists.

  “General Brega has ordered the detention of all suspicious individuals. The General is waiting for you at the pod reception center.”

  Brin mumbled curses under his breath as they began to guide Nuzal and the awakened humans out of the ship.

  “We’ll figure this out, Nuzal!” he heard Jun shout as Brin continued to argue.

  This was necessary, he knew it, but the beast within him, the one who had taken his mates that day in the forest snarled, hating that they were so far from him. This is the last time, he heard the voice growl. This will be the last time they are taken from me.

  Chapter 34

  Jun

  Fucking aliens!

  Jun was getting tired of them always storming in and taking things over. Her fingers twitched, and she entertained the idea of pulling the plasma weapon from her hip and shooting the Venium who kept throwing her dirty looks.

  “Let’s not start off with violence, okay?” Telisa murmured, as if she read Jun’s mind. She watched Nuzal and a few of their people being marched out of the ship and onto the landing pad. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her foot was tapping out an angry rhythm. “I know we’d do the same on Earth—hell, probably something even worse—but I don’t like it.”

  “The rest of you,” one of the Venium called as he stepped up to the front of them. “Exit in an orderly fashion. You will be escorted down to the dome where you will receive further instructions.”

  Brin moved up beside her as guards took up position on either side of the group, corralling them out onto the landing and into the bright light of Venora’s sun. She turned to him with an accusatory glare. “You just let them take him?”

  “We had no choice, Shayfia,” he growled in frustration. “If we had fought them someone may have been injured, or worse. Your people need their help, and it would have won us no favors.”

  She absolutely hated that he was right about this. Nuzal had gone peacefully, proving to them that he wasn’t a threat, but all of this was making her uneasy. She heard Telisa trying to calm some of the others, whispering encouraging words as they huddled closer. They were scared, and she couldn’t blame them. While they knew and mostly trusted Brin, these Venium weren’t as friendly and inviting as her mate.

  “It’s all right. You heard him, we’re just going to head down into the dome. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  “What about the others?” Jun heard someone ask from somewhere at the back of the group. “Where are they taking them?”

  “We’re going to sort this out, I promise. They were just taken as a precaution,” Brin assured her. Once they were out of the shadow of the ship, Jun realized that there were many more Venium than the ones who had boarded the vessel. They were gathered around one side, weapons slung over their shoulders as they moved around and between the other ships on the nearby pads.

  A shout went up and the guard leading them halted, instructing them to wait as the ones flanking them stood at attention. There was a ripple among the soldiers as they began to move, parting like the Red Sea. Jun felt Brin’s growl rumble through him as he pulled her close to his side, glaring at the woman who stepped forward.

  Deep purple eyes locked on Brin the moment she turned toward the group. The woman’s long white hair was braided into rows that hung loose down her back and swung around her hips as she stalked over to them. There was an air about this woman that told Jun she wasn’t to be toyed with, that she was in charge here.

  She stopped in front of them, a humorless grin spreading across her dark face. “Ruvator.”

  Brin’s hold on Jun tightened. “Brega.”

  Brega? Jun’s eyes darted between them as the tension began to build. This was Brin’s mother, the woman who had basically abandoned him to his abusive father.

  “Explain this,” She gestured toward the Grutex ship at their backs.

  “Oh, you want to know about this?” Brin raised a brow ridge and looked over his shoulder. “It’s an interesting story, but it’s one that will be told before the council. After all, it’s the duty of every Venium to ensure the safety of our people, isn’t that right?”

  Brega sneered as she stepped closer, taking in the sight of him, completely ignoring Jun who was tucked under his arm. Brin’s tail twitched against her leg and his fushori pulsed as the lights raced along his body. She’d seen him agitated before, even furious when the Grutex had taken her for the blood draw, but this level of icy anger and barely restrained hatred was something new.

  If Jun hadn’t already hated the woman because of what she did to Brin, she would have hated her just for the air of superiority alone. Brega reached out her hand toward Brin’s face to slide a finger over the fushori on his cheek before shoving his face away with a growl.

  “I thought you might have grown out of your disappointing behavior, but I can see that was foolish of me. You stand before your dam with no control over yourself.”

  Jun felt her jaw drop and her eyes widen as she stared up at Brega in disbelief. She tried to step forward, wanted to ask her who the hell she thought she was treating her mate that way, but Brin slid her behind his body.

  “You will not put your hands on me, Brega.”

  Her throaty laughter filled the air. “Oh, Ruvator, I’ll do far worse––“

  “Brin!”

  Jun ducked around Brin’s body just in time to watch as a woman with skin as white as a polished pearl threw herself into her mate’s arms. Her tail wrapped around his upper thigh and she pressed her black lips to his cheek. Humans and Venium all around her began to murmur, but that faded into the background as she narrowed her eyes on them.

  “I’ve missed you so much. It’s wonderful
to have him home, isn’t it, General?” The woman cupped his cheek. “It’s never easy being away from your mate.”

  “Oh, hell no,” Telisa whispered next to her.

  Brin jerked his head away as he looked down at Jun, his eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and shock. His body was stiff and filled with tension as he placed his hands on the women’s hips, trying to dislodge her.

  “Caly,” he grunted when she tightened her grip around his neck. “This isn’t necessary.”

  “Of course it is! I’ve missed you. Didn’t you miss me?” She tried to press her lips to his, but Brin shook his head.

  “Ang landi talaga,” Jun muttered under her breath as she crossed her arms. What a flirt, and with her mate no less.

  Caly’s brow ridges furrowed as she glanced down at Jun. “What’s a flirt?”

  “That’s too nice of a word for what I’m seeing,” Telisa murmured.

  A month or two ago, the sight of another woman wrapped around Brin might not have made her feel anything at all, but now, after everything they had been through and knowing what he was to her, Jun fought back the urge to resort to violence.

  He finally managed to loosen her grasp and reached out to Jun, pulling her into his side. He had the audacity to take the woman’s hand and smile at her as his thumb brushed Jun’s arm. “Jun, this is my friend, Calypsi. Caly, this is my mate, Jun.”

  He’d said it with such pride that she almost forgot to be annoyed with him. Almost. Jun knew Brin belonged with her and Nuzal, that they had nothing to worry about when it came to anyone else, but that didn’t stop the little green monster from trying to insert itself. It also didn’t mean she wanted to see some other woman, friend or not, climb her mate like a hot, glowing tree.