by Octavia Kore
Brega’s upper lip pulled over her teeth in a nasty sneer as her focus shifted to Jun, but she wasn’t about to let this bitch intimidate her, especially not after what Brin had told her about his mother.
With her chin high in the air, Jun stared her down. She’d dealt with people giving her these looks since the moment she set foot in America. She was an immigrant, a foreigner, and many people had looked at her exactly the way Brega was: like she wasn’t good enough, like she didn’t belong.
“What is this foolishness, Ruvator? This thing isn’t Venium,” she huffed as her fushori began to pulse a deep purple. “It is weak and small. Shameful.” She spit at their feet. “This is not your mate.”
Jun clutched her belly. “I might be small, but I’ve handled some pretty big things lately. You don’t scare me.”
Caly snorted, slapping her hand over her mouth when Brega glared. “I like her, Brin.”
“You would let this farce continue?” Brega demanded, turning on Caly, who positioned herself behind Brin. “You would surrender your mate so easily to this ugly little thing? Where is your honor? Have you no shame?”
This had gone on long enough. “You’re one to talk about honor and shame. Aren’t you the same woman who allowed her child to be abused, to be scarred? You did nothing to protect him.”
Brega didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. “It’s obvious to me now that we stopped his training too early. He’s failed himself, and now he’s failed my line.”
“That’s enough, Brega,” Brin hissed as his tail wrapped around Jun’s waist, tugging her back as if he were afraid she might lunge at the woman in front of her. “You will show my mate respect or you will not speak at all.”
Although there was movement all around them, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see that Amanda and Oshen had arrived on the surface. Her best friend’s belly was swollen, much larger than her own small bump. That hadn’t taken very long.
You’re one to talk Juna, she smirked at herself and tugged on Brin’s arm.
“Deal with her shit later, Brin. Come on!” The guards shouted after them, but no one tried to stop them as they raced toward their friends. Finally, she might just be able to speak to people who could help. “Amanda! Hey, Fishboy! Someone who will fucking listen!”
Oshen was an ambassador. Maybe he would be able to do something about Nuzal and the others being detained.
“Fishboy, I need your help…” Her eyes moved over their familiar faces, more grateful than she could ever explain to be seeing them again, but when she came to the massive mauve figure just behind Amanda, Jun paused. He was Grutex. She’d thought Nuzal was tall, but this guy must have had him by a few inches. “The rumors are true then? Venium have teamed up with the Grutex?”
Was this why they had taken Nuzal? Were they going to turn around and return him to the Kaia?
“She called you Fishboy.” Brin laughed as he reached them, his tail wrapping possessively around Jun’s calf.
Amanda grinned at her. “No, they haven’t. This is my mate, Zar.”
At least there was that weight off of her. It seemed Amanda’s imaginary friend was real. “Shut up, Glowworm.” She glared at him over her shoulder before turning back to their friends. “Oshen, something is wrong.”
Amanda’s worried eyes searched her face, but this was something she needed Oshen for.
“Tell me what is going on.”
God, she really hoped she could trust him. “Well, here’s the short version: we were kidnapped. We escaped. Now we’re here, and your people have detained some of our people.” She hated feeling like she was pitting the people against one another, but their group of humans had been through too much already and she couldn’t just let them go without knowing they and Nuzal were safe. Crossing her arms over her chest, Jun tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. “And you’re going to help me get them back.”
“You were missing?” Oshen turned toward the woman she hadn’t noticed standing off to the side. “You knew, didn’t you, Fyn?”
Jun didn’t know who Fyn was, but it didn't matter to her right now. All she wanted to do was get to her mate and check on her people.
“We did not want to worry Amanda and risk her losing the pups,” Fyn replied.
“Uh, Jun, someone is escaping.”
Jun followed Amanda’s gaze over her shoulder and mentally sighed as she saw Esme dart away from the landing pad and head of the cover of the forest. “Goddamn it! That infuriating woman! I don’t have time for this.” Esme was one of her people too, but Jun was trying her best to focus on the ones who had been taken from them.
“What is it?” Amanda asked.
“She doesn’t trust us because my other mate is one of the Grutex scientists.” She shook her head.
“A what?!” Amanda’s eyes widened as she stared at Jun.
“No time to explain. He’s in trouble.” As much as she’d love to be able to just sit down and relax and tell Amanda what had been going on with her for the last couple months, or share the news of her baby with her best friend, Jun wanted to get this all sorted out first. The longer she and Brin and their baby were away from Nuzal, the more agitated she became.
“Don’t think you’re getting away without telling me, Junafer. When this is cleared up, I want the entire story,” Amanda warned.
Another woman, this one not entirely Venium judging by the look of her, stepped forward. “I’ll get a search party together and join in myself.” As much as she hated to admit it, she was glad Esme would be someone else’s problem for a little while.
“We need to speak with the council,” Brin told Oshen. “The humans are in danger and something needs to be done, now.”
“What about the others?” Jun wanted to know as she watched them return to the Grutex ship. Telisa raised her hand in the air, smiling as she disappeared through the large cargo doors.
“They’ll be safe here for the time being. We can speak with my sire about finding them more comfortable accommodations.” Oshen jerked his head toward one of the sleek buildings along the shore. “Let’s go before we have to share a pod with the General.”
Once they were inside, Brin guided her through the sliding doors of the pod that would take them to the domes, but Jun couldn’t focus on anything outside of the windows during their descent knowing Nuzal might be in danger with the Venium. She bounced her leg and chewed her lip as Brin tried his best to calm her. Couldn’t these things go any faster?
“I don’t know if the council will be much help.” Oshen grimaced, placing his hand on Amanda’s distended belly. “They certainly weren’t willing to help when Amanda was taken on the surface by the Grutex who stalked her on Earth.”
“They wouldn’t help?” Jun asked with a frown. “What exactly is their job?”
Oshen shrugged. “She isn’t Venium. You’re going to be fighting an uphill battle with these council members.”
“I’m going to strangle every last one of them,” she growled.
Amanda laughed, reaching out to lay a hand on Jun’s arm. “It’s all right. They found me just in time.”
Oshen told them the story of his transformation into the mythical allasso creature and about how after he’d been fortunate enough to be able to reach through his family on his comm so that they could help them escape Zar’s village and find Amanda, who had been taken by the Grutex they’d seen years ago in the streets.
Jun had questions, many of them, but she’d save them. Right now, she had an entire council to fight.
Chapter 35
Jun
There were guards outside the doors to the massive building Oshen brought them to, but Jun didn’t give them a chance to react. She burst through the doors, not bothering to wait for Oshen or Brin. Jun stormed down the hallway and into a great open room where Venium, both male and female, were seated. The space reminded her of the floor of the Senate.
“What’s going on here? Who are you?�
�� one of the older men demanded, thumping his fists on the table in front of him. “We are in the middle of an emergency meeting!”
“I apologize for the interruption, councilman,” Oshen stepped in behind her, trying to appease the man. “I’m afraid this issue is rather important and pertains to the arrival of the human refugees.”
“What impeccable timing,” Brega sneered as she entered the room, her gaze locked on Jun as she moved around their small group. “How lucky for you that the council was already convening.”
Jun watched as Brega took a seat among the others and struggled to control the urge to roll her eyes. Brin hadn’t mentioned much about what his mother did now, but she knew she was in the military, a General, actually. Maybe her rank afforded her a position here.
“When will my mate be released?” Jun demanded.
Brega grinned. “I thought my son was your mate.”
“Brin and Nuzal are my mates, and I want him released. Now.”
“What makes you think you can come in here and make demands of this council?” the alien man sitting at the head table asked.
“Two of your people crashed on our planet. I tended to one of them and took the other, at great personal risk, I might add. I was almost killed by the Grutex because of this, and then when I tried to help your people by going to my government officials, I was kidnapped and brought to a Grutex lab, where I spent a fucking month being tested on just to find out that I have alien DNA inside of me. It might surprise you to know that I happen to also be Venium. We escaped that lab with Nuzal’s help, and when we finally make it back here where we think we’ll be safe, you all take not only my mate, but also the survivors. These poor people have endured so much trauma, have been physically and mentally changed, and you’re doing nothing but adding to it!”
“As… sad as your story is, none of that sounds like a problem for this council.”
“We didn’t warn Earth just to turn our backs on them now!” Jun screamed, her frustration mounting with each passing moment.
“Warn Earth? We did no such thing,” the councilman sneered.
“You didn’t, but I did,” Brin glared at the council. “They needed to know Galactic Law, so I took over where Oshen left off.”
“Ah, yes, Ambassador Oshen,” the man at the head sneered as his eyes moved to Amanda’s mate. “He left his station to bring back an alien female he claims is his mate and on top of that, he asks us to believe this Grutex and his lies! Havacker, your story is beginning to sound shockingly similar.”
“You lied to us. There is a Sanctus female statue in the middle of Zar’s village. She is Una.” Jun could hear the distress in Oshen’s voice.
“That is a lie! They lie!” the councilman yelled.
“We have no reason to lie,” Amanda’s Grutex mate growled.
Amanda grabbed Oshen’s shirt and let out a pained cry. “I think the babies are coming.”
Jun glanced over her shoulder as they rushed from the room, wanting to go and be with Amanda, but she knew she was safe and taken care of. Her labor might take hours, but Jun didn’t plan on subjecting herself to hours of conversation with these fools.
“Perhaps now we’ll see the proof of this mating,” one of the women spoke up. “I will not believe these claims until I can see the proof with my eyes.”
“You act like it’s impossible, but you heard Jun. She’s my mate.” He wrapped his arms around her and placed his hand on her stomach.
Brega’s eyes narrowed. “She’s with pup?”
“Yes.”
“A Venium pup?”
Brin stiffened. “No.”
“See!” Brega stood from her chair and slammed her hand down on the table. “They are all liars! She carries the offspring of the Grutex!”
“She will never carry a Venium pup!” Brin snarled. “The Grutex in the lab made sure of that when I was sterilized.”
Brega’s head whipped around, and the purple lights of her fushori glittered against her black skin. “Sterilized?” Her eyes widened in shock before she spun toward the head of the council. “I demand retribution! My line… they’ve destroyed my line!”
“If the council had allowed Commander Vog to assist the humans, then this might have never happened! It is your inaction that caused this.”
“So what, you plan to raise this creature as your own?” Brega huffed.
“Any pup born of my mate through our triad is mine. Calder and Nyissa proved to me long ago that a pup doesn’t need to come from me to be loved by me.”
Brega ignored Brin’s words. She starred at Jun in a way that made her incredibly uncomfortable. “Perhaps this isn’t so bad, councilmembers.”
The calculating look in her eyes had Jun reaching for the plasma weapon at her hip. The Venium on the surface hadn’t even thought to make sure they weren’t armed.
“We can train the Grutex’s offspring, raise it to become one of our warriors.”
Without a conscious thought, Jun pulled the weapon up, aiming it at Brin’s mother as she snarled. “You’ll never get anywhere near my child.” Brega narrowed her eyes. “I swear, I’ll kill you!”
Brin
He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to adequately describe what it did to him to see Jun face down Brega, but he knew he couldn’t let her continue. Brin knew that his people looked at her and saw a small, defenseless alien, but he knew she was far stronger than she seemed. His little mate had taken on a Grutex, not just once, but twice, and she’d defended Nuzal against the beast in the forest, but she’d never been up against anyone like Brega.
The female’s laugh echoed through the chamber, and she smiled as the head of the council banged his hands on the table. “That is enough!”
“She threatened my baby!” Jun yelled.
“Listen to me Shayfia.” Brin crouched in front of her. “None of them are ever going to hurt this pup, do you hear? I’d give my life to make sure they’re safe.”
The Head of the Council sighed. “We’ve heard enough for one sol. We will meet again in two soli time to make a decision once we have discussed all the information you’ve brought forward.”
“There’s a senator from Earth here among the survivors. She is a representative of their people,” Brin told them.
The Head nodded. “We will see that she is brought in.”
“And what about Nuzal?”
“The Grutex? He is unharmed and resting in a cell.” Brega waved her hand dismissively. “As for the other humans, they may stay aboard the ship. Guards will be stationed outside to ensure their safety, and food and water will be provided to them. I assume this will be satisfactory to your human mate?”
“It would be satisfactory if you jumped off the nearest cliff,” his little mate grumbled as she took his hand and pulled him toward the hall. “Let’s get out of here. I’m about to be an aunt, and I want to be there in case Amanda needs me.”
“There will be no healing anyone, Shayfia.” His growl echoed through the chamber. When Jun didn’t answer, he narrowed his eyes and scooped her up into his arms. “I mean it, you fierce little thing. We can’t risk it.”
Jun pressed a hand against her belly and the other against his chest. “My first priority is our baby. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this little one.”
Chapter 36
Jun
Amanda was a mom.
Jun had watched in amazement as her best friend brought two new little lives into the world. They’d come out screaming and flailing their little arms and legs, and they were absolutely perfect.
Oshen’s siblings burst into the room, faces full of excitement as they greeted the newest members of their large family. A pang of sadness moved through her chest as she thought about how much her own family would love her baby. She glanced around the room, looking for an escape as tears began to fill her eyes.
It had been a long night and an even longer morning. Amanda had struggled through a long labor, but Oshen, Zar, and Nyissa had been there to h
elp her through it. With a quick look over her shoulder to make sure no one was going to come after her, Jun slipped out the door and made her way down the stairs to the entry of the home. There was a seating area right off of it, and she plopped down into one of the huge cushioned loungers, stretching out her legs as she scrubbed her hands over her face.
Everything that had happened within the last day or so came rushing back to her and she couldn’t stop the tears as they slid down her cheeks. She was overwhelmed and while she was over the moon to see Amanda again, Jun found herself wishing her mama and papa were there for her. By now they would have known something was wrong. She’d never gone more than a day without speaking to them, and already two months, at the very least, had passed. Maybe even four if Amanda’s pregnancy was anything to go by. They would be worried and thinking that the worst had happened to her, that she was dead or that she’d been abducted. Well, she had, but they would have no way of knowing.
Once they freed Nuzal, Jun swore she was going to figure out some way to get in contact with them. Even if it was just to let them know that she was alive. A door upstairs opened and closed quietly, and Jun waited to see if it was Brin coming down to seek her out.
The healer who had tended to Amanda during the birth of the twins stepped lightly down the stairs, his eyes focused on the comm projection on his forearm as he hit the entry floor and made his way to the front door of the home. This was her chance to get some of her questions answered.
“Excuse me! Sir?” Jun jumped up out of the lounger, scrambling toward the door as it began to close. “Wait!”
His head whipped around, and he stumbled to a halt, turning to stare at her as she raced toward him. “Can I help you?”
“God, I hope so,” she mumbled. “I, uh, I have some questions and I thought I might be able to ask you since you’re already here.”
