Chapter 16 Gnnar
I blinked up at the familiar rock and metal ceiling of our stronghold. My head hurt, and there was a dull ache everywhere. I reached over to find the flask of water I usually kept by my bedside, but my arms could not move.
What the fuck?
I looked around. I wasn’t in my quarters but in one of our ship’s infirmaries instead. Vostak stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.
“Welcome back, Gnnar.”
“What’s going on? Why am I restrained?”
“Do you remember anything?” he asked, handing me a flask.
I chugged down the cold liquid as I reviewed my memories. The last thing I remembered was trying to decide whether to take the risk and fly across the grasslands and the channel to reach the safety of our continent. No. There was more. There were the robohounds and the drone. But that was it. I didn’t remember getting rescued or arriving at the stronghold.
But I did remember an overwhelming sense of rage mixed in with a bit of fear like I had to fight or I would die.
“Dana. Where is she? Did she get her translator yet?” I needed to tell her that she was my mate. That part I remembered.
“She did. She told us everything she could about your adventure. You are lucky Dana thought fast and held on to you, using your rut to distract you so Sami could tranq your ass. She’s brave.”
She was. But what was this about Sami tranquilizing me? Why couldn’t I remember that?
“I don’t remember any of it. What happened?”
Vostak recounted the story.
“We found a chemical in your system that we couldn’t recognize. It matched the chemical in the dart. It must be a new Exotech creation.” Exotech Pharmaceutical was the sister company to Exotech Robotics, the people who created the robohounds and Harbingers.
“And they decided to test it on me?” Was that why they wanted to transfer me to the other facility?
“That is one possibility. The surveillance drone hovered over you after you disabled the robohound.”
“Researchers watching to see what happened?” I guessed.
“That was our conclusion as well. You didn’t wake until you were already inside the transport. You were not yourself. Didn’t respond to your name. According to Sami and Macey, you calmed only when Dana was touching you, but even then, you flung her off you, and she hit the side of the shuttle.”
My eyes grew wide. “Is she hurt?”
“She is unharmed. There are a few bruises, but she insists they were from before. She even mentioned several times that she was sure you wouldn’t hurt her. ”
“I would not,” I said vehemently.
“I know. You are a good male. Annoying sometimes, especially when it comes to showing off your marksmanship. But still good.”
I grinned. “You’re just jealous I’m a better shot.”
Vostak snorted. “But I’m a faster fighter.”
“Whatever makes you feel better.”
“Dana suggested that they might have been hoping that you’d attack her after you were dosed, and the other humans tend to agree. The Nova Vitans know we are nearing a rut. We are prone to violence at this time, and if they could prove that rutting Kadrixans were dangerous, attacking human females, it would justify an attack on us.”
Fuck! Every Kadrixan and human here knew that Nova Vita was trying to find every possible reason to justify an all-out assault on Ellaston and the stronghold. If they manufactured a scene with Kadrixans attacking humans, they could swoop in under the pretense of “helping liberate” Ellaston from crazed monsters.
“They don’t know the chemical works on us yet. The drone didn’t catch any footage of your reaction. Dana gift-wrapped it in a blanket and offered it as a ‘present’ to the people of Ellaston. And they dropped the drone and the robohound a little way outside the stronghold before flying in. They are going to leak the news that your retrieval had gone to plan with no incidents.”
That was for the best.
“Now, why the hell were you anywhere near that transport?”
Fuck. The moment I’d been dreading. I sheepishly admitted that I was hoping to meet more females. But I didn’t admit that Dana was my mate. Not yet.
I wanted Dana to be the second person to know, and not Vostak. I still thought of Krxare as our Champion and Vostak as his head general, even though they’d both insisted that we were no longer military and stepped down. Technically, he was right. We were civilians now; which was why we re-elected Krxare as our leader the very first chance we could. Vostak was now our head of security.
“Where is Krxare?” I asked. Usually, he liked to be present for something like this, though ever since finding his mate, he’d learned to delegate more of his tasks.
“The rut hit him early. He is with his mate.”
“So I’m not the only one who experienced an early rut.”
“No. It must be the mild winter and warmer spring this year. Almost half of us are feeling it early.”
Which, in a way, could be a good thing. A staggered rut meant a longer but less chaotic rutting period as there would always be some warriors around still with their wits about them.
“What about you? You look clearheaded.” Which must either mean his heat hadn’t arrived or that he’d recently sated it with his mate. Penelope might know where Dana was.
“It’s here. I just came from my nest. Penelope is there waiting for me. It’s about time you woke up. I want to get back to my mate. I enjoy my ruts now that I’ve found her. That was until I had to come down here to watch your ugly mug. You’ve been out for a whole day, and we’ve been taking shifts guarding you. The first time you woke, you were still gunning for a fight, so they knocked you out again. We had the medical bed monitor you and keep you sedated until all traces of the foreign chemical were gone.”
An entire day!
“Still have an urge to rampage?” Vostak asked, a smirk showing on his face. “Or run off and find females when there are plenty of females here?”
I snorted. There was only one female I wanted now. “I feel as good as new,” I lied. “Where is Dana?”
“Somewhere in the stronghold.” Vostak released me from the restraints. “I believe she decided to stay for the rut. She was with Penelope before I took my mate to our nest.”
The thought of her with another warrior had me feeling on edge. Maybe I still had an urge to rampage, but I didn’t say it out loud lest Vostak decide I was a risk.
“Go get some rest. You need to heal. The robohound got you good.”
I huffed. “I’ve had worse training injuries. You should see the hound.”
By the time I was finally allowed to leave the infirmary, all I could think about was my mate. I hadn’t wanted to give it away that she was my mate just yet, so I hadn’t asked more about her. I followed my nose instead. I could smell her everywhere.
But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find her. I even went inside the female dormitories, even though we weren’t technically supposed to be in there unless invited. She wasn’t there.
Could she, even now, be in another warrior’s quarters cooling his heat? What if she triggered the mating bond of another warrior? Until she was fully claimed as my mate, that was still possible.
Jealousy, an emotion I was unfamiliar with, had me snarling and drawing the attention of several females. But they were used to snarling warriors during the rutting season. Not wanting one of them to come over and offer to “help” me, I quickly left.
I tried to recall the name of the friend she’d been looking for but came up blank.
A feeling of despair set in, which was completely irrational because I’d only been away from her for a single day. I had to control these crazy, unfamiliar feelings. I had to keep myself busy, so I thought of my nest. If I couldn’t find her, then I’d busy myself building her the perfect nest so I’d be ready to fly her there and impress her the first chance I got.
We were super lucky that the mountains here on Vokira had so many caves and crevices for us to claim as nests. On Kadri, it was common for nest locations to be highly sought after and even fought over. With naturally formed aeries in short supply, many males on Kadri had to be happy with commercially made ones.
And while my nest on Kadri hadn’t been the largest or on the best peak, I’d filled it with all manners of treasures. It was more than respectable, something I wouldn’t hesitate to show to my mate when I found her.
My nest here was the opposite. It was high up in the mountains and in an ideal location, unreachable by predators, and with a beautiful view of the valley below. But my entire life savings, which had filled my nest on Kadri, was missing.
Instead, I’d filled it with natural wonders. There were shiny gems and glittery ore, furs from beasts I’d hunted, and soft fabrics I’d procured from the native Vokirens. I’d also made sure it was comfortable and had everything we needed to survive the rut together, including a well-stocked food replicator.
I’d even traded with Trjun for his handmade furniture. His blaster now had every upgrade known in the galaxy, and I had a sturdy bed and table with matching chairs, one of which was made human-style to accommodate their strange knees.
I’d been told by many warriors that displays of weapons would not impress our mates, but I’d made room for my collection anyway. I wanted to show her that I had the tools to protect her from anything.
But despite everything I’d done, it still didn’t feel like enough.
The thought dragged me further down the spiral. The heat was unrelenting, and my skin itched. Every face that was not Dana’s irritated me, and by the time I bumped into a warrior coming around the corner, I was ready to start a fight.