How To Save Your Human Invader (Coveted Bonds #2)

1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

~Kitari~

I pursued the creature through the trees as it flitted in and out of sight. The kalao was large and old, grizzled fur hanging from its neck, its huge, flicking ears ragged. Still, it moved with a stealthy grace in its long limbs.

My feet sank into the soft ground with each bounding step, the footfalls of my companion a quiet echo somewhere behind me.

Slipping between the sharp points like water, the kalao broke into a glade of barbed vines. I pulled to a stop and caught a fleeting glimpse of its hide as it disappeared into the undergrowth. I paused to allow my partner to catch up.

“You are getting slower,” I said as Arcay the Second appeared through the foliage and stopped beside me, his gilded spear tipped towards the ground. Unlike mine, his white hair was somehow still immaculately braided. I picked a leaf out of the wild black mess on my head and flicked it away. “Settling down must have taken your edge off, too much lying around with your omega.”

He shot me an unamused look and I grinned back. We both knew that my jab was untrue; he was keeping a slower pace to allow me to enjoy my temporary freedom. It was a gesture I appreciated; it felt good to be out in the jungle, free of responsibilities. But I liked to tease him about his mate, it seemed only fair when he had received such a coveted gift from the universe.

Two years ago, he had stumbled upon the rarest of treasures entirely by accident; an unclaimed omega. No one knew why Aldar omegas stopped being born, or if they ever would be again. Due to their ability to form soul bonds with alphas, and because of the sheer chemical pleasure they brought, they were highly prized. To some, they were a symbol of luxury and status. Personally, I could not think of a greater joy in life than to love and be loved so entirely. And Arcay had that with Clay, the human pilot. So I teased in the knowledge that he was happy having the very thing I craved.

“Kitari, your father has asked me to speak to you—“

“Was Clay surprised by your gift?” I interrupted.

On our last hunt, Arcay had been agonizing over what to give Clay for their ‘ani-versary’— an odd human tradition of celebrating the date they first mated, which was starting to catch on amongst mated couples in Amalya. According to Clay, it was their second.

That coaxed a small smile from Arcay. The only one who could get a full smile was Clay himself. “It is difficult to surprise him. He knows when I am up to something, and he managed to…” Arcay cleared his throat. “Force the truth out of me. But he did enjoy my gift, yes.”

I wondered what methods Clay could have used to break someone as robust as Arcay. He must have excellent negotiation skills.

Arcay stiffened suddenly and cleared his throat, shifting his stance. A pained expression crossed his face, and his skin darkened to a deeper purple.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“I am fine. Clay is…attempting to distract me.”

Whatever Clay was doing to distract him, it was working. Arcay closed his eyes as his face darkened further, before he shook his head once, as if arguing with himself. Drawing in a long breath, he opened his eyes and smoothed his expression into his usual scowl.

“Your father has requested I speak to you about—“

“Tarro said he will be returning to his duties.”

Arcay swatted at a chittra that landed on his arm. “That is good news. I am glad he is healed. Now—“

“What happened to him on the ship? What did Ulgar do?”

“You know I cannot tell you.”

“Yes ‘for the good of everyone.’ ”

“You do not need to say it with that tone, it is for the good of everyone,“ Arcay said. “Now I need to talk to you about your—“

I pulled my spear from the ground. “Come, before we lose the trail.”

And I set off again before he could complete his sentence. I did not want to talk about my father. I wanted to enjoy the hunt unburdened. But this time Arcay did not lag behind me, instead he put his long legs to good use and kept an easy pace.

“Kitari you cannot avoid it forever. Your father just wants what is best for you. He wants you to consider the position.”

It did not seem I would be able to escape this conversation, as much as I desired it. “Would you consider it?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said, but the hesitation was just slightly too long to be the truth.

Of course he would not, he was an alpha. Why would he consider a position that was fit for a beta? So then why should I?

“He is not concerned with what is best for me, he is concerned with taking any joy out of my life.”

I knew exactly what my father would say to that. He would say it was my ‘duty.’ But converting outdated records for the archives? It was a safe, tedious job. Why couldn’t a beta do it? My place as an alpha was to be out in the world as a guard, a hunter, or a warrior, not shut away in the depths of some old building. Duty was nothing but a cage. I craved so much more. I deserved so much more.

The creature came into view ahead. It had slowed its pace, believing the hunt was off. Now it looked up sharply as I came into view and it bounded away again.

“That is not true, Kitari,” Arcay persisted. “Be reasonable. He simply wants what is best—“

A tremble in the air. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I pulled to a sudden halt. Arcay shot past, then jogged back to me.

“You are giving up?” he asked. “Maybe you are the one losing your edge.”

I scanned the trees around us, searching for what I had sensed. Something had sent a shiver down my spine. Was it the first spark of an electrical storm? It was the season, the heat rising and the sky low. If so, we would have to return to Amalya immediately, before the charges building in the air sought out the closest thing to strike. But it had not felt entirely like that.

“What is it?” Arcay asked, frowning and looking around.

Then there was a sudden shift in pressure overhead, and we both looked up. Whatever it was was blocked by the trees. All at once, the pressure became a vibration on my skin and grew to a noise so deep it was more a rumble than a sound. It passed up my feet, through my bones, and to the tips of my ears, making the point of my spear thrum.

“What was that?”

“It felt like a ship passing, but none I know of. We should return to Amalya and inform the high—Kitari!”

I buried my spear in the ground and launched myself up into the nearest tree, using branches to vault through the leaves on the twisted trunk until I broke through the canopy into dazzling sunlight.

At first, I could not see anything, the sky appeared to be clear. The deep rumble seemed to have passed over and moved away, but then the slightest movement caught my eye. In the distance, a smear passed across the sky and dipped below the mountains, warping everything behind it like a pool of water.

I stared. I had never seen anything like it before. It was beautiful, in a way.

Arcay hissed beside me. I had not heard him pursue me.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A concealed ship,” Arcay said.

I stared as it continued to move away. Our ships did not conceal themselves, which meant these were outsiders. Aliens.

“We should track it,” I said.

Arcay made a noise in his throat. “No. That is too dangerous, we do not know who they are. We must return and tell Jursin. Come.”

“You far outpace me, Arcay. You go on ahead, I will follow behind.”

Arcay narrowed his eyes. We had known each other for a long time.

“Are you lying?” he asked directly.

“No, Arani .”

It was not technically a lie. I would meet him there, eventually.

He held my eyes for a moment. “Do not track the ship. Do not go anywhere else. Come as fast as you can.”

I bowed my head obediently. “Go.”

We descended, and by the time I reached the ground, Arcay was already gone.

The vibration was faint now, only just on the edge of discernibility, but it was enough. Arcay had taught me to hunt well.

I turned away from the direction of home and slipped away.