3013: AFTERLIFE: A 3013 Novella

Chapter 2

Vadis Kesski didn’t know what the hell was happening to him. Reduced to a primitive state, the only thing he understood was the driving need to reach the female with light streaming from her hands.

Stars, she was beautiful, lovely in ways he had only read about. Her long, ebony hair was plaited down her back, but a few strands had come loose to cling wetly to her angelic face. Elongated ears were heavily adorned with silver cuffs and delicate chains, while eyes the color of pure amethyst widened with alarm at his approach.

She needn’t to be afraid of him, though. He would never harm her, and he would destroy anyone else who tried.

Petite and compact, she wore a black tunic with a high collar that glittered with silver inlays. A shiny leather-like material stretched over her slender legs, the hems disappearing into a pair of stone-gray boots that laced up to her knees. The ensemble didn’t do justice to her figure, and Vadis had the nearly uncontrollable urge to rip the offending garment from her body.

First, though, he had to reach her.

He heard shouted commands for him to halt, but the guards’ voices were only a nuisance, like the buzzing of Reemian sandflies. They reached for him, their hands scrabbling over his arms and shoulders, but in his new form, their attempts to restrain him were futile.

Easily breaking free, he threw his arms wide, tossing the guards several feet away as if they weighed nothing. Once they were dispatched, he spared them no more thought as he sprinted toward the female, toward the only thing in his life that suddenly had any meaning.

Everyone else appeared stunned into inaction, paralyzed by his aggressive approach. All except for his female. Oh, and she was definitely his.

Lowering her hands, she brought down the barrier that had been blocking the storm so that rain soaked them once more. Then she took up a defensive stance, her legs shoulder-width apart with one slightly in front of the other. She didn’t retreat. She didn’t reach for a weapon.

The female simply stared at him with a defiant smirk.

The moment he reached her, he threw his arms out in front of him, intending to grab her, but he encountered only empty air. His momentum carried him forward a few staggering steps before he could right himself, and he spun around, searching for the tiny elf.

She stood directly behind him with that sexy smile as she lifted her hand, palm inward, and bent her fingers in the universal gesture for “bring it on.”

Intrigued and somewhat aroused by the challenge, he lunged for her again. This time, she didn’t disappear. Instead, she dropped to one knee and swung her other leg out to sweep his feet from under him.

He crashed to the ground with a pained grunt, rolled through the deepening puddle, and sprang to his feet again. Before he could orientate himself, however, the female was on him, perched atop his shoulders with her thighs wrapped around his head and her fingertips pressed to his temples.

Despite being a fraction of his size and strength, she completely owned him, and in that moment, he fell just a little bit in love.

“Enough,” she snapped, her voice rising over the din of noise in the docking bay.

It didn’t even occur to him to disobey. Careful not to dislodge her, he lowered himself to the floor and rested his hands atop his thighs.

“What is your name, Krytos?”

“Vadis Kesski.”

The female grunted as she performed a graceful flip off his shoulders to land on her feet in front of him. “I am Captain Tirallarah Meadowlark of Xenthian. You may call me Tira.”

“Tira.” A name almost as beautiful as her.

Security rushed forward then, shouting a litany of curses at him. Vadis didn’t react or try to defend himself. He would accept whatever consequences they had planned for him, just as long as they didn’t touch his elf.

Tira, it seemed, had other ideas. She spun to face the guards, her hand held in front of her, and shoved them back with a wave of magic.

“You will not touch my soulmate.”

Soulmate? He probably should have been more surprised by that than he was, but honestly, it answered a few questions. Namely, it explained why he’d been prepared to annihilate everyone in the docking bay to get to her.

Ever since the Alliance had become aware of the existence of Xenthian, he had studied every piece of information he could find about its people. He knew they, like some other races, had fated mates. Their partners were chosen for them by the gods, the ancestors, or whatever higher power they believed in.

He likened it to the mating rituals of the D’Aire, in that the Xenon were a largely coupled society who rarely entered into polygamous matings.

On the surface, it might not seem like they had much in common. In Krytos culture, it wasn’t uncommon for two, three, or even more males to share a female. That didn’t make them any less committed or protective of their mate, though. In fact, he would dare to say that the Krytos were some of the most territorial in the known universe.

And right then, he was feeling pretty fucking territorial.

He didn’t like the way the guards eyed his mate, or how they barked orders at her. In fact, he had the violent urge to beat some damn respect into them. Luckily for them, Tira appeared to have the situation well in hand.

“Quiet.”

All three officers stopped speaking at once, and the widening of their eyes told Vadis their silence hadn’t been by choice. He dipped his head in approval.

“Better.” She lowered her hand, bringing down the barrier that had separated their two groups. “Now, it has been a long journey. I am tired, wet, and hungry.” She turned to Vadis with an arched brow. “I believe something was mentioned about accommodations?”

“Sher sivi elis.”

The Reemian—Kazir Corith, according to the manifest—spoke just loud enough to be heard over the downpour. Vadis thought he might be speaking Reemesa. His tone also sounded complimentary, but since the archaic language wasn’t programmed into the language converters, he didn’t know what the male had said.

The D’Aire hybrid next to him, however, smiled and nodded. “That, she is.”

Vadis growled at the appreciative stares aimed at his female, but before he could gain his feet, her small, delicate hand landed on his shoulder.

“Quarters?” she pressed.

She was offering him the honor of caring for her, and that knowledge was enough to tame some of his jealousy.

“Of course, daka. There is a transport waiting just outside.”

Her sculpted eyebrows drew together. “I have no translation for that word. What is daka?”

The language converters were implanted to aid communication between the races, but they all had words and phrases without proper translations. Some were simply the names of plants and animals from their home worlds. Others were more abstract, like endearments, curses, and idioms.

Daka was one of those endearments that had no direct translation in any of the known languages. The best way he knew to describe it was the embodiment of ownership. Not in a materialistic or derogatory way, though. It was a term of reverence, of near worship, reserved for the one who owned him, heart, body, mind, and soul.

“It means you are…mine.”

This seemed to appease her because she relaxed her tense posture and nodded. “As you are mine. Though, I admit I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or not.”

He wasn’t offended, and he didn’t take her statement personally. Rocking back on his heels, he pushed to his feet and approached her cautiously, keeping his movements slow and controlled as he reached out to touch her cheek.

“That’s okay, Captain. I consider it my privilege to convince you.”

Great galaxies, she was so small, made even more diminutive by his sudden and supernatural growth. Even in battle form, he had never been this massive, and worse, he was stuck. As his anger ebbed and his need abated, he should have been able to revert to his normal appearance, but for whatever reason, that wasn’t happening.

Maybe it was a side-effect of the Xenon magic. It was the only logical explanation he could come up with. Either way, he hoped the change proved temporary. Being the size of a fucking battle cruiser for the rest of his life would make things a lot more difficult for him.

On the other hand, it would also allow him to better protect his mate. Taking that into consideration, he couldn’t be too upset about his unnatural conversion.

Placing his hand in the center of her back, he began leading her across the docking bay. They made it to the halfway point before they were stopped when the D’Aire male called Tira’s name.

“What?” she demanded as she spun to face him, slinging water from the end of her braid.

“Congratulations on your mating, Captain. I’ll see you tomorrow.” One side of his mouth slipped into a knowing smirk when Vadis growled. “Or not.”

Tired of the interruptions and impatient to have his mate alone, Vadis swung the female into his arms, cradling her protectively as he hurried them out of the bay. Of course, Tira had no intentions of cooperating with him.

“Put me down!” She smacked her hand against the center of his chest. “Now.”

“We’re almost there.”

“Now,” she repeated.

“The shuttle—”

But she was gone, vanishing from his arms, only to reappear outside of the hangar doors. Both hands rested on her hips, and a dark scowl twisted her features.

She was still the loveliest thing he had ever seen.

“I think we need to establish some boundaries,” she said once he had caught up to her. “You are my soulmate. As such, I couldn’t reject you, even if I wanted to, if for no other reason than self-preservation.”

“Xenons can’t be away from their mates for long periods of time without suffering physical pain and illness,” he recited dutifully from his research.

Tira studied him for a long moment before dipping her head. “That is correct.”

He smiled. Perhaps he should have been offended, but he wasn’t. They had just met, and she obviously didn’t trust him yet. He had promised to convince her otherwise, and until he made good on that vow, it was reasonable for her to be cautious.

“I recognize the connection,” she continued. “I feel the pull to be near you, and I’m sure it will only deepen the longer we are together.” She held her hand up to halt anything he might have said. “I still have misgivings, however, and until that changes, you will refrain from touching me without permission.”

He wouldn’t lie and say it would be easy, not when every cell in his body craved her closeness. Yet, he knew without hesitation that he would honor her wishes.

“I can agree to that.”

Tira nodded again. “You also mustn’t act like a koompah and growl at everyone who makes eye contact with me.”

Ah, so his display of possessiveness hadn’t gone unnoticed. She had simply chosen not to comment on it at the time.

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.” It was a subconscious reaction, instinctual and automatic.

“Very well,” she conceded.

“But what exactly is a koompah?” From context clues, he could only assume it didn’t mean anything good.

Her brow furrowed, and she pursed her lips. A few seconds later, the expression cleared, and her eyes brightened with understanding.

“Early primitive beings from Xenon history.”

Yeah, that was what he’d thought. “Again, I’ll try.”

A quiet sigh spilled from her pink lips, and she shuffled a little closer to place her hand on his chest. Instead of a slap like before, this time, it was a much more tender gesture.

“As will I, but I don’t believe it will be easy for either of us.”

It would take effort and focus to control his natural instincts, but being with Tira was as easy as breathing. Instead of debating her, however, he placed his hand over hers and gently squeezed her fingers.

“Nothing worth having ever is.”