Chapter 2 Grtirr
I stared at the empty shelf where the last bundle of nullvein roots should have been.
The kukees had been thorough. The inside of my supply cabinet was a wreck of shredded packaging and scattered and half-chewed roots.
That had been my last bundle, and it would’ve made enough of the mating bond suppression medication to last me another Vokiren year.
I sifted through the mess, salvaging what little usable root remained.
This was my fault. I should’ve stored it better.
I’d known the kukees—the tiny, furry creatures that acted as our mountain’s trash disposal system—had a taste for the bittersweet root.
What medicinal properties it held for the native Vokiren creatures, I didn’t know.
But for us Kadrixans? It was the only thing keeping unwanted mate bonds at bay.
I’d kept it in my personal quarters instead of the medical bay for a reason. Too many warriors came and went from that space, and I didn’t want to risk anyone recognizing it and asking questions I didn’t want to answer. No one here knew I was taking it. And I intended to keep it that way.
Exiled from Kadri and forced to start over on an alien planet, most of the warriors here would welcome a mate bond with a human female.
After all, with the discovery of a human colony here on Vokira, our lives had been spared.
Not only were human females physically compatible for our yearly ruts, but they were also biological matches.
Many millennia ago, a lost and desperate contingent of Kadrixan warriors had found Earth and descended upon a primitive world, seizing women from its villages to sate their rut.
According to the history books, they eventually returned to Kadri with their human mates, integrating them into our society.
Traces of those unions still linger in our bloodlines.
This was further confirmed when we made contact with humans again here and discovered that the Kadrixan form, complete with our wings and horns, had become indelibly woven into human art and mythology.
They called us their “demons.” And now, fate had delivered humans to us once more, arriving just in time to spare my brothers and me from destroying ourselves, overcome by the insanity of a female-less rut.
But in my head, I’d always planned to return to Kadri one day.
So, while I partook in sex during the rut just enough to keep myself sane and not a danger to my own people, I made sure to keep the liaisons short and detached, treating it like the necessity it was.
I didn’t even remember some of their names.
My plan had been failproof for the first few years.
But then she had arrived. Julie. Beautiful, mouthy Julie.
That snarky female was the reason I was now desperately collecting every fragment of the usable root I could, even if it was pre-chewed by the stronghold’s furry residents.
If I hadn’t already been on the suppressant when she’d first entered my infirmary, I was sure that she’d have had me on my knees, stricken by an unwanted bond mate the moment I’d touched her.
The problem was, I hadn’t realized at the time. In fact, I hadn’t truly started suspecting she was my mate until last spring. Apparently, I’d developed a resistance to the nullvein and had needed to up my dosage.
Certain that I’d salvaged all I could of the precious root, I placed it on the scale.
Fuck! There just wasn’t enough. The resulting tincture would keep my hormones in check for ten Vokiren days at the very most. If I planted the seeds today, it would take the plants at least forty-five Vokiren days to start building their finger-like tubers.
There had to be a way for me to avoid Julie in the meantime.
I wrapped the salvaged roots up, properly this time, before stepping out of my quarters.
Gray, brown, and white fur immediately caught my attention. A kukee sat in the middle of the hallway, its tiny paws clutching a half-chewed nullvein root like a stolen treasure. Its large, expressive eyes were wide and unrepentant. I crouched slowly, extending a hand.
It didn’t even move. Instead, it tilted its head, whiskers twitching, and took another bite out of the root, chewing loudly as if daring me to take its meal. Then slowly, deliberately, it spat out the fibrous pieces it couldn’t eat right at my feet.
“You little…”
I lunged for it, and it shoved the rest of the root into its mouth and scampered off, its tail flicking in what I chose to interpret as a final act of defiance. It dove back into the walls through one of the slit-like holes designed right into our corridors for the tiny creatures.
I blew out a breath, glad that no one was here to witness me losing to a kukee. Not that I would ever hurt the tiny creature anyway. Maybe it didn’t want a mate either. How could I fault it?
I made my way down the stronghold’s corridor toward the hydroponics lab, following the line of lights that illuminated the hallways of rock and metal. The air was more humid in the lab, and thick with the scent of all the species that had never quite taken to Vokira’s climate and soil.
Racks stretched toward the ceiling, their shelves lined with trays of nutrient-rich water and pods of plants.
Each section was controlled for temperature, humidity, and nutrient flow.
I headed straight to the far wall, which was reserved for medicinal species.
The pods were a different color so that no one could mistake the medicinal plants for regular foods or herbs.
I located an empty section and retrieved the nullvein seeds from storage. It wasn’t long before the seeds were planted and the section of pods was programmed to maintain optimal conditions for the plant’s lifecycle.
Forty-five days. I had to survive for forty-five days without seeing Julie.
I was halfway to the training room to work off some steam when I ran into Krxare and Vostak, who seemed rather stressed. I asked why, hoping it wasn’t news of another attack from Nova Vita.
“One of the warriors who was supposed to accompany Mark and several humans from Ellaston to the ore negotiation on the human space station tomorrow got himself… injured this morning,” Krxare explained.
I frowned. “No warriors have visited any of the infirmaries today.”
We had six medical bays in total and six medics, one for each of the warships we managed to commandeer when we were exiled. As the most senior medic, I received reports for all of them. We had several injured humans, but no Kadrixans.
Vostak and Krxare exchanged looks.
“The warrior may be attempting to heal naturally. The rash is not life-threatening, but it may prevent his armor from fitting properly.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line, trying to stay serious.
Earlier today, I’d received a report about a human female covered in a rash after sharing sex in a bed of noxious but very common weeds.
The female had required medication to control her histamines.
I’d assumed it was a human male, because a Kadrixan warrior would’ve recognized the plants and avoided the patch altogether.
No wonder he had not gone to any of the infirmaries.
I’d already known about the upcoming trade mission to Halcyon Station, but I hadn’t realized they planned on bringing more Kadrixan warriors with them.
When we first arrived on Vokira, we’d built the stronghold right into the side of the mountain, hiding our six warships within. In the process, we’d removed quite a bit of the precious ore. Originally, we’d traded the ore with Nova Vita in exchange for willing females for our yearly rut.
Nova Vita had turned around and resold the ore to several Earth-based companies at a profit.
Our treaty had fallen through after only three years since we’d decided to harbor several Nova Vitan fugitives, one of whom was the brother of Krxare’s mate.
That was how we ended up with a human settlement right inside our protective shield system.
Now, one of those companies, Vossell Industries, had decided to contact Ellaston directly for the ore. Technically, we owned the ore, not Ellaston. But we also believed that as Ellaston grew, it would attract more females to join them, which would benefit us in the end.
“I can replace him,” I volunteered, a plan hatching in my head.
If I were at the human space station, then I wouldn’t be here and couldn’t accidentally bump into Julie. Then, when I returned from the trip, I could take the final dose of the medication and it should last until the nullvein plants were mature enough to use. It was perfect.
The two males looked at my medic robes. But they both knew that under the long garments, I’d kept myself in perfect shape.
I sparred and trained with both often. It wasn’t my abilities that confused them, but the fact that I’d volunteered at all.
It wasn’t the kind of mission that usually interested me.
“It is something different for me to do,” I continued, trying not to sound suspicious. “And I would like to see this space station.”
“We do have five other medics and few injuries, and many warriors could operate the medbeds for basic use.” Vostak looked to our champion.
Krxare had dissolved our detachment when we arrived here, and we were no longer military, but many of us still insisted on tradition and re-elected him as our leader.
I might have lived more rotations around Kadri’s sun, but Krxare had made much harder decisions than I’d ever had to make.
One such decision had exiled our entire army unit, but it had saved countless innocent lives.
Given the chance, I’d stand behind his choice again.
“We are supposed to look like guards only,” Krxare said slowly as we stepped out into the valley. “Nothing more. The goal is to make them think the humans hired us as muscle.”
I’d been following the two without thought and hadn’t realized we were heading outside, instead of to the indoor training area.
I froze, my awareness suddenly extending out to find a certain human female with hair the color of the morning sun.
She wasn’t here today, and a part of me was relieved, but another part was extremely disappointed.
I forced my attention back to Krxare.
“The other humans must believe that Ellaston is in control of themselves and us, and not the other way around.” Krxare glared at Vostak. “Many of the warriors would make bad candidates for the trip.”
Vostak would have trouble deferring to any human who wasn’t his mate, even if it were just for show.
We approached the training arena, and still, there were no signs of Julie.
Usually, she spent a lot of time hanging out with Clara and her other friends at the nearby swimming pond, especially on beautiful days like today.
The large umbrella they usually put up to protect them from the sun was there, but she was not.
“Grtirr can do that,” Vostak said. “He’ll make a great candidate. And without the robe, he looks like just another soldier.”
“The job is yours,” Krxare said. “It will be good to have a medic along anyway. I’ll catch you up while we train.”
We stopped at the edge of the training ring. The warrior pinned at the center slapped his hand on the ground three times, and the winner released him.
“Who’s next?” he asked.
Vostak gave me a shove.
Sure. Why not? Now that I had a plan to survive the next little while without the bond suppressant, I could actually focus on training. I shrugged off my robes, revealing the form-fitting pants and sleeveless top I wore underneath, and stepped into the ring.