6. Forming the Bond
Chapter 6
Forming the Bond
Bellator
B ellator clutched their queen as she pressed her face into him. Hopefully the way his chest still heaved from the pleasure she’d given him didn’t disturb her. He completely sympathized with Phara collapsing after cleaning their queen. It felt like he’d run around the entire mountain. Bellator closed his eyes and attempted to get himself under control, except that only heightened the lingering jolts of pleasure, the sensation of her warm, soft skin against his, and the scent of her desire permeating the air.
He’d seen pecus stags mount mares in their territory, but never witnessed what the queen had done to him among the fauna. She wrapped her lips around his sex and took his seed into her body. There were no words to describe the sheer ecstasy of it. He nearly changed form, fluxing, when he peaked. His sex jerked, threatening to grow hard again at the mere memory. She had honored him by consuming his essence, and he’d never felt more complete or happy in his life. Bellator hugged their queen tight as hope for the future overwhelmed him.
“Our queen accepts us!” Artifex whispered reverently as he stroked their queen’s silky dark mane. His voice was a mix of happiness and awe.
Phara made some incoherent comment, but it sounded like he agreed. Their consort alpha was clearly still reeling. The three alphas and handful of betas grinned. For some it was unrestrained, and others it was a thoughtful smile, but everyone was happy. It was understandable they would all react differently. This was a sudden yet wondrous change that affected their whole hive.
Bellator felt the same as his brethren. Unadulterated joy filled him as he looked at the queen resting on his chest. Though in the back of his mind, a new kind of weight descended on his shoulders. It was an immense responsibility caring for a queen so delicate that she had no camouflage, no claws, and blunt herbivore teeth. But she was utterly adorable with her silky mane, soft skin, and lush curves. All these things and more incited his instinct to protect her, and it didn’t feel like a burden at all.
It is my honor, my queen. Pride filled him to bursting.
Phara
Phara’s mind was still swirling in a sea of euphoria as he lay utterly spent beside Bellator, one hand draped over their new queen. He hardly had the wherewithal to clean their queen before collapsing. His seed had left him in such powerful surges, he was certain it took his life force with it. Artifex was right. They’d done it! The queen had accepted and bonded with him. Overwhelmed with pride, Phara attempted to agree as he panted.
“We found our queen and she accepted us!” Galis, one of his consort betas, exuberantly declared.
Their queen startled, shuddering on Bellator’s chest. Phara cringed, his hand pausing mid-stroke on her dark mane. In their excitement they’d awoken their queen. Their stunning queen lifted her head from Bellator’s chest and slowly looked around. She surveyed Bellator, Artifex, and the betas, before landing on Phara. Her expression wasn’t a happy one. He’d witnessed and memorized her happy smile when they’d shared food with her. She wasn’t afraid, either. He’d scented her fear when they first arrived. He tasted the air just to confirm there was no hint of fear. If anything, she appeared lost.
She is lost, imbecile! She fell from the sky in a mechanical egg. He didn’t know how queens traveled, but he had a feeling fiery meteor showers weren't standard.
“You are safe,” he reiterated, resuming his gentle caress and making the vibrato that soothed her before.
Her round brown eyes flared wider. He was learning her expressions and that wasn’t a good one. Phara’s worry doubled.
Blight, he cursed and instantly stopped purring. Please don’t change your mind about accepting our hive.
“That is you speaking to me, right?” their queen asked him in her twittering voice.
Shock reverberated through Phara that he suddenly understood their queen. Her question wasn’t what he expected, though. He honestly thought she might reject him. Phara glanced at his brethren. From their expressions they noticed the change, too.
He focused on their queen again. “Yes. That was me. I like your vocalizations. They remind me of the little birds.”
The queen blinked at him and he realized his compliment was superfluous. Except he didn’t regret saying it; the twittering sounds she made were adorable.
“How? You’re not moving your mouth or making noise, but I hear you in my head.” The queen’s eyes grew even rounder as she panned all of them.
Phara considered the question for a moment.
That is curious. Not the way he communicated; speaking telepathically was the Vorto way. How can I communicate with our queen now? he wondered, equally intrigued.
He’d been so overwhelmed by her intoxicating scent and the need to mount her, he hadn’t even questioned why he didn’t understand her. He’d never known a queen, perhaps females had their own language. They certainly had their own intoxicating scent and luscious form.
“We are already bonding as a hive,” Bellator chimed in with an explanation.
“That must be the reason,” Phara agreed with his fellow alpha. Bonding with their queen was monumental. There was an exchange of hormones, emotions, and bodily fluid. That had to be the reason they understood each other now. “I do feel changed, my queen.”
“Oooh, there’s that word again.” Their queen rolled off Bellator and warily panned them again, her breath coming out faster.
Clearly their explanation for why they could now understand each other didn’t sit well with her. He wished he had a better answer, but his people had forgotten a great deal about the queens since the Blight.
“What word?” Artifex helped her sit up.
“Queen! As in royalty, leader of all the people?!” she panted. “I’m no queen. I’m anything but.”
It was such an odd thing to say. She very plainly was a queen. He scented the proof and still tasted it on his tongue. He’d even buried himself in her channel.
Suddenly it occurred to Phara, she wasn’t speaking about her physiology. She was talking about her new life as part of their hive. He’d never considered how a queen might feel, because he never expected to find one.
Well, it’s time to think about your queen! he admonished himself.
In the few tales that had been passed down through the generations, he knew his queen mother had emerged in the Nemus Hive. It was why the Nemus were their allies. As the stories told, a queen must leave her hive. She could not bear the hatchlings of her brethren; the young didn’t form right. Leaving all that she knew had to be hard, though. He’d lived his whole life in the mountains and couldn’t imagine living elsewhere. As hard as that must have been, he doubted his mother had the traumatic voyage his queen had in getting here.
Besides violently leaving her hive, she was also transitioning into a bonded queen, the same as he had gone from a single to a bonded consort alpha. This had to be very overwhelming and frightening for her.
“All will be well.” Phara smiled encouragingly at the anxious female. “I know this is new for you. It is new for us, too. We haven’t had a queen in four generations.” He gestured to the other two alphas.
Their queen still looked confused, blinking her brown and white eyes at him.
“We found your damaged egg. We know there was an accident as you traveled with your hive. You never need to fear that again. I will trade my life to assure your safety.” Bellator bowed down as he made the vow.
“And I will care for your every need. You will never want for anything,” Artifex solemnly added.
“And I will hold you close, so you won’t miss your old hive as much,” Phara promised, taking her tiny hands in his.
Despite their oath, rain began falling from their queen’s eyes, tearing him up inside.
“Please, my queen,” Phara begged as he pulled her into his arms. “All will be well. You are safe.” He didn’t know what else to say.
“I can’t believe all this,” their little queen sobbed. “You found me, healed me, fed me, and now you want to protect and care for me.” She buried her face against his chest as the rain continued to fall from her eyes.
His queen was hurting. Often over the years he’d suffered deeply as he questioned his purpose in the hive, so he understood that deep pain that had nothing to do with physical injuries. The only thing that had gotten him through was his hive, so he did as he promised and held their queen close.
“All will be well, precious one,” he crooned as he rubbed her back.
Artifex
Artifex worriedly looked on as their queen sobbed against Phara’s chest. Her strident sounds made him ache.
“I thought we said the right things.” Artifex looked toward Bellator who was equally distressed.
Their queen pulled away from Phara and turned to them. “You said the right things. It just hurts because no one back home ever said those things. No one except my mother and my sister even cared. When bad things happened to me, my brother and father were certain it was my fault. If I wasn’t already cast out, they would have locked me up for what we just did,” she said the last part softly then visibly shuddered.
Anger overwhelmed Artifex. “The males of your hive abused you?!” He couldn’t fathom such a thing.
“No one will do anything to you for becoming our queen!” Bellator relayed with a growl.
“You are ours now.” Phara’s arms tightened around her.
“What does that mean?!” Her lyrical voice became strident. “Thank you for helping me, but I don’t understand what is going on. I’m not a queen.” Their queen spoke faster as she panicked.
“You are female, a queen,” Phara explained.
Phara cast them a pleading gaze, but they couldn’t help the consort alpha. There was no way to simplify the information any further. Artifex grimaced, wondering if the refectio had completely healed her head.
“So, because I’m female, I’m a queen?” she questioned slowly as her gaze dubiously panned them.
“Yes,” Artifex confirmed, while eyeing her as critically as she was studying them.
Maybe the queen needs another treatment with the machine.
“And because you found me and brought me here, I’m part of your hive now?” She looked between them.
Artifex considered the question. She had good cause to question that logic. If they found a Vorto male from another hive wandering their territory, they would instantly assume the male was either a messenger or a habitual rule breaker. And it was highly unlikely they’d take in an outcast.
“Yes,” Bellator answered as Artifex was still thinking about the question.
The legionnaire alpha was probably right. Queens were rare even before the Blight, so they would’ve taken her in without questions.
“What about, um, what about th-the sex?” Their queen’s cheeks darkened as she scrutinized them, particularly Phara and Bellator, the males who’d pierced her with their sex.
“Did no one teach you about sex, either?” Galis bluntly asked their queen, his head cocking to one side.
Artifex rubbed his face in agitation. Of the three consort betas, Galis was the most impetuous, saying whatever was on his mind. There were gentler ways to ask the question.
A sudden noise burst out of their queen that sounded like the bark of a fero cub. It was a shocking sound, so it had to be a sound of surprise.
He could understand why she might be shocked. The consort alpha that raised Phara and the other consorts had lost hope. He never taught them about sex and bonding. Phara had to figure it out watching the fauna, and shared it with the rest of the hive. But perhaps their queen didn’t know at all how males and females fit together. If that was the case their bonding would’ve been doubly shocking.
Or maybe our queen does know the proper bonding customs and we fouled it up. Artifex groaned, feeling like that was probably the answer.
The servitor alpha that taught him had done a better job than Phara’s, so at least he knew there needed to be a Bonding Feast, which was in progress. Sadly, though, that was the extent of his instruction pertaining to queens. He couldn’t blame the former chief servitor, there hadn’t been a queen in generations, but there was a lot that went into keeping the hive running. Artifex’s days were very busy with lessons in building, cooking, farming and the like. But clearly more information on queens should have been passed down.
Worriedly Artifex looked at his fellow alphas as their queen continued to make the barking sound.
“My queen?” Phara stroked her back, hoping to console her.
“I’m sorry,” their queen snorted as she stopped shaking.
“No need to apologize. Are you well?” Artifex asked, his gaze again going to her head where the injury had been.
“I’m okay,” she made the snorting sound again. “I guess you don’t laugh when something is funny.”
“We do.” Bellator gestured from himself to Phara. “Artifex doesn’t.” The legionnaire alpha waved at him.
Surprised by the comment, Phara hissed in amusement. It ended up being the perfect demonstration, albeit at his expense. It wasn’t that he didn’t laugh. His sense of humor was different, a little more scathing.
“You make a breathy hissing sound.” Their queen’s mouth curved into a smile, showing off her adorable blunt teeth.
He loved the expression she made when she was happy, and now that he knew what her laughter sounded like, he could definitely get addicted to that, too.
“I guess we do,” Phara replied. “What about the sex question made you laugh?”
“Did Phara’s sex performance amuse you?” Artifex had to interject.
Phara’s head whipped toward him, his mouth hanging open in shock.
“You must forgive Phara, he has no clue what he’s doing,” Bellator piled on, turning the tables on the consort alpha.
Phara spun toward Bellator and glared. They were going to hear about this later.
“No!” their queen declared and started laughing again as she made the happy face.
Pride filled Artifex that they succeeded in making their queen laugh again. She’d been stunned by what happened today, they all were, but instead of rejecting them she was laughing. The sense of satisfaction coursing through him was better than when he unblocked the hive’s subterranean canal, repaired the light grid, and finished his first hunt all combined. Artifex smiled. For once, everything felt right.