Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Bayzon
The glow of their personal crystals fade as my brothers and their Brides retreat into the thinning mist. The sound of their footsteps disappears, and it’s just the two of us.
Alone in the vast cavern, surrounded by hundreds of sleeping Xylan who have no idea what we are doing, with the white mist curling around us like a blessing from the old gods.
I force myself to release her hand.
The loss of contact is physically painful.
My body screams at me to grab her again, to never let go.
But I grit my teeth and push through it because there are words that must be spoken.
Traditions that must be honored. “Now,” I growl.
“Now I will claim you in the ways of old.” I stand, not bothering to hide my enormous erection tenting my pants anymore.
Naomi stands and watches as I strip off my jacket and shirt and kick aside my pants. My clothes are in a pile on the floor. The crystal left in my pocket gives just enough light to allow my human to see shapes and outlines.
I gaze down at my own cock which I cannot believe is so very large. I’ve never seen it like this and I’m dizzy with need. Seed is already leaking out the slit on the tip, ready to impregnate my Bride.
“You’re so big,” she gasps.
I reach down and give my throbbing erection a few rough strokes.
“Oh my gods.” She kicks off her fancy shoes and stands proud and ready in her black gown, the mask gone and her dark hair loose and flowing over her shoulders.
Meanwhile, I’m naked in the glowing mist. All the other Xylan remain passed out and the white haze floats over their still forms. This makes our claiming intimate and private as if it’s only the two of us in the main cavern.
“The claiming is an ancient ritual,” I tell her, my voice rough and barely recognizable.
“A recreation of the hunt our ancestors performed on Chronos, before we became civilized. Before we had laws, ceremonies and testing.” I step closer, until I’m looming over her, until I can feel the heat radiating from her small body.
“Tonight, you are my prey. And I am the hunter who will catch you.”
She swallows hard, but she doesn’t look afraid. She looks... excited.
“The rules are simple,” I continue, my voice dropping to a growl. “You run. I chase. You fight. I claim.” I lean down until my lips brush her ear. “You’ve already honored me by agreeing to this. But if you want to truly honor me... make me work for it.”
Her breath hitches. “I can do that.”
“Good.” I pull the glowing crystal from the pile of my discarded clothes and press it into her palm.
The light illuminates her beautiful and determined face.
“This will give you enough light to navigate. The tunnels are extensive. On this level there are storage rooms, offices, the med lab. Hide well, my Bride. Because when I find you...” I let the threat hang in the air.
She takes the crystal from my hand. Our fingers brush, and we both shudder at the contact.
“How long is my head start?”
“First, I will repeat the words of the ancients. Then I will tell you to run. After that, you will have enough time, but not that long. Until I can no longer resist following.” Already, every muscle in my body is coiled tight, ready to spring.
The ancient phrasing of a claiming, in the ways of old, easily flows from my lips.
The words I’ve always known and expected to say one day to my chosen Bride pass easily, nothing forgotten.
Speaking these to Naomi is the proudest moment of my life.
Finally, I reach the end of the words of claiming that all males say to their Brides.
And I give the last order, which starts everything.
“Run,” I growl.
She looks up at me, her eyes glittering in the crystal light. “Run?”
“Run.”
And she turns and sprints out of the cavern, leaping over bodies. Soon she’s out the open doors and into the main tunnel. The soft glow of the crystal bounces off the walls as she disappears into the darkness. From there she will have access to a network of tunnels and offices, just on this level.
I wait, pacing like a caged animal, but giving her the time she needs. I count my heartbeats.
One. Two. Three.
Each second feels like an eternity.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve.
The scent of her lingers in the air, calling to me, taunting me. My cock throbs with every pulse of my heart. Seed drips onto the floor. The need is becoming unbearable.
Twenty. Twenty-one.
Her footsteps fade down the tunnel. She’s fast for a human. Good. I want her to make this difficult.
Thirty.
The mist continues to thin around me. Sleeping Xylan snore in the silence. Somewhere, a glass rolls across the floor. The eclipse continues to hold the world in darkness.
Forty.
I can’t wait any longer.
I throw back my head and let out a thunderous roar that echoes through the entire mine. The sound bounces off crystal-studded walls and disappears into the darkness where my Bride is hiding.
The chase starts now.
Adrenaline flows through my veins, allowing me additional strength. I race after my female, following her trajectory out of the cavern and I’m running down the tunnel. The stone floor is cold beneath my bare feet, but I barely notice. Every nerve in my body is focused on one objective.
I inhale and listen for the sound of her breaths or for the scent trail of her pheromones. It’s still pitch black, the Dark Moon still in full force. I have my night vision, but humans cannot see in the dark. She has only the small crystal I gave her, which means I should be able to spot the glow.
But I see nothing.
Clever female. She must be hiding it against her body, muffling the light.
I go right and search a few rooms and find nothing. Empty chairs. Abandoned equipment. The lingering scent of Illibrium dust. But no Naomi.
I pause at a junction where two tunnels meet, my chest heaving. Not from exertion, I could run for hours without tiring, but from the sheer overwhelming need pounding through my body. My cock aches. My fangs throb. Every instinct screams at me to find her, claim her, fill her with my seed.
I close my eyes and inhale deeply, filtering through the layers of scent. Illibrium. Industrial metal. The tang of the retreating mist. And underneath it all... there. The faintest trace of her arousal, sweet and intoxicating.
She went left.
I exit and run back the way I came, passing the entrance to the cavern and going in the opposite direction.
The tunnel here is wider, lined with doorways leading to various offices and workrooms. Emergency lighting flickers dimly along the baseboards, not enough for a human to see by, but enough to cast strange shadows that dance across the walls.
Is she in the lift?
The med labs?
The admin offices?
She could be anywhere and I’m impressed at her resourcefulness. I truly am having trouble finding her. She’s never been here before and she’s running in utter darkness, but my female manages to make this hard for me. And I’m delighted.
A sound. Faint, barely perceptible. The soft scrape of fabric against stone.
I freeze, every muscle tensing. It came from ahead, around the next corner.
Is she there? Or is my desperate mind playing tricks on me?
I move forward slowly now, stalking rather than running.
My claws extend, clicking softly against the stone floor.
A predator on the hunt. My ancestors did this in the great forests of Chronos, chasing their mates through ancient trees and over moss-covered ground.
I do it here, in the tunnels of Timbur, surrounded by Illibrium crystal and mining equipment.
The tradition endures.
I sniff the air, reverting to more animal than Xylan. And that’s when I catch her trail. A growl rumbles in my chest. She’s hiding in a storage room.
The scent is stronger here, concentrated. She’s been in this spot for at least a minute, maybe two. Enough time for her pheromones to saturate the air. I can almost taste her on my tongue.
I approach the door slowly, savoring the moment. She must be able to hear my footsteps, my heavy breathing. Is she pressed against the wall, heart pounding? Is she looking for another way out?
I toss open the door.
“No,” she screams.
Naomi crouches behind a stack of supply crates, the crystal clutched to her chest. Her eyes are wild, her chest heaving. She looks beautiful and fierce.
And then she slips under my arm and she’s running again.
I let out a roar of approval. Yes. Fight me. Make me earn this.
I follow around a corner, so close, almost touching her. The tunnel narrows here, leading to one of the auxiliary med labs. My arm is out in front of me, claws reaching for the flutter of her dark hair, and that’s when she does something I don’t expect.
She slams her hand on the shutting mechanism for the heavy lab door.
The door crashes down directly onto my outstretched arm.
And we both hear the snap of my broken bone.
I pull my arm back and the door shuts between us.
Pain explodes through my left side, sharp and blinding.
I stagger back, clutching my arm. The bone is broken.
I can feel the jagged edges grinding together beneath my skin.
Agony radiates from my wrist to my shoulder.
My vision swims. I gaze down in shock at my worthless arm, intense pain radiating through the left side of my body.
I look up at her and meet her wide eyes through the small window of the closed door.
This tiny human managed to break my arm.
She’s staring at me, her hand pressed to her mouth. “Oh gods. Oh gods, Bayzon, I didn’t mean to — I mean, I did, but—”
I grin. It’s a nasty break and hurts like hell. And it’s perfect.