Chapter Two
Kael
If I had wanted entertainment, I would have stayed on Morrakan and watched the Veyr’vokkar. At least the risk of death made it interesting. Of all the compromises I’d made for the alliance, the farce of the Selection Gala was the one I despised most.
The stench of artificial perfumes and politics choked the rooftop like smoke from a dung fire. Gaudy lights dangled above the Humans, reflected off the glass on two sides, unable to disguise the reality of what this was.
They had turned giving us a choice in who we selected into a party, as if handing over their females as leverage was something to be celebrated.
It was more like an auction. Trading flesh for protection. Fake smiles hiding veiled ambitions.
It was revolting.
But I had agreed to it. For Morrakan, I would endure.
Earth needed my warriors and my ships, and we needed proof we could trust Humans.
The obvious answer had been to take their females as mates, so the Humans wouldn’t be as quick to turn from their vows.
Having some of their own at risk should help keep them loyal when the immediacy of their need was relieved.
The solution to there being no Human omegas had already been provided thanks to my Kethral, Nyrel, and the Human, Mara Keene. The proof that the serum they created worked was in the luth’rein they shared.
But which councilor would convince us to relieve them of their daughter and bring a potential spy into our home?
Ten Human women in jewel-bright outfits moved amidst the press of black suits as offerings, pretending their participation was voluntary. No one offers to accept genetic mutation and an arranged mating. Not without incentive.
Or pressure.
They dressed it up in ridiculous fabrics and what they called music, but everyone knew what was at stake.
Three women would be chosen to be taken from their family, altered into omegas, and bound to one of us.
To leave everything they knew behind, for a stranger and a promise, claimed for eternity by what they called an alien.
But that wasn’t my problem.
I stood at the end of the balcony flanked by Rhydek and Jorath, both alphas who’d yet to mate, and had agreed to this sacrifice.
Claiming an omega opened a warrior to weakness, and it was something many avoided, but this was for the good of all Morrak.
I was doing my part to secure the alliance by taking the most dangerous candidate for myself.
My gaze swept over the crowd, seizing on a flash of bright red. Had she selected her outfit in an attempt to catch my attention by matching my kethra, or was it simply coincidence?
I huffed, lips peeling back in something other than a smile.
Serenya Hale, daughter of the man most likely to betray the alliance, couldn’t be innocent.
I had reviewed her file before leaving the Zeydrassk.
Everything had been included, from her education to her social profile and political ties.
Either she was a sacrifice thrown to the beasts her father hoped to tame, or bait meant to lure us into complacency so she could learn things we hadn’t shared.
I couldn’t risk her in another Morraki’s hands. If she meant to infiltrate or manipulate one of us, she could try it with me. General Hale was a vocal part of the United Earth Council, which meant I needed leverage on him, so his daughter would be mine.
I wasn’t sure if it was a bonus that her clothing hugged generous curves, wide hips promising fertility. Humans seemed to place lower value on females with better breeding structure, but the Morrak knew what it took to weather a heat cycle and have the best chance of our seed taking root.
She had a body that made me curious to explore it, although her posture suggested she was uncomfortable.
Her poised smile and composed interactions might have hid it from others, but the practiced motions were easy to spot when you were familiar with how people moved in the height of passion.
Rage or lust, they both revealed the truth of someone.
Her skin was pale in comparison to mine and the rest of the Morrak, but it was a few shades darker than many of the Humans surrounding us.
Her dark hair had a reddish tone to the brown that would make my kethra look good on her.
She was appealing despite not being Morraki, but I planned to treat her like a rival until the bond was locked in place between us and I knew otherwise.
But for the Gala, I had to play along. Had to act like I was what Humans called civilized. We’d set out the rules of the game, but the pieces were just coming into play, and the outcome was yet to be determined.
I didn’t like having to tie ourselves to Human mates, but it was the only chance for us to get what we really needed. The Qy’shaeuhl would not help us directly, but Humans could be our bridge.
The three Qy’shaeuhl representatives who had attended the alliance meetings moved amidst the crowd, their slim limbs and pale feathers making them easy to spot amongst the Humans.
The initial idea of joining our species’ may have come from a misguided Human quoting Earth’s past, but it was one of the Qy’shaeuhl who had encouraged the idea and made it possible.
I watched the male who’d been the most involved. The one set to come back to Morrakan with us when we took the females. He appeared just as aloof as the others, but Nyrel had informed me of how invested Saed had been in the development of the serum, and his own suspicions regarding the Qy’shaeuhl.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Rhydek’s voice was rougher than usual, barely more than a growl, but I couldn’t fault him.
I considered myself lucky he’d agreed when I asked him to be amongst the first to choose a Human mate, especially since he’d vowed never to claim an omega after the one he’d promised himself to had died.
But as the second highest ranking Morraki, I needed him to appear as committed to the union with Earth as I was.
He stomped off around the edge of the crowd, his head and shoulders well above the Humans he passed.
Even without our enhanced senses, the Humans could feel his irritation and made way for him, many sending furtive glances at his back.
I had no reason to think he needed someone to guard his blind side when his tail was held stiff and ready behind him, my Torashkar experienced enough to catch someone trying to sneak up on him when they were as clumsy as Humans.
I spared a glance for Jorath, the younger Morraki’s kethra pulsing with his discomfort, his tail twitching.
He was newly appointed to his position and had never interacted with Humans before, but he’d been the only other warrior I could convince in the short time I had between the agreement to the alliance and this foolishness.
The trip home and back would have taken too long, and the others with me of the proper rank were already mated or too old.
“No fighting, Jorath. They are not Morraki, so ignore any slights. Speak to the females in colored wrappings, then you may think over your selection until the meeting tomorrow, but the one in red is mine.”
I’d briefed him on how Humans behaved, but the reminder felt necessary. Humans were disrespectful almost every time their lips parted, and I didn’t need bloodshed making the alliance more complicated.
His fist thumped against his chest as he lowered his head in acknowledgement, the pulsing of his kethra evening out until most wouldn’t notice. Our control of our kethra was a matter of pride, and I expected more of a warrior in his position, but I chose to ignore his shortcomings for the moment.
Leaving the corner, I strode through the center of the balcony, watching as the Humans parted before me as if I was one of the ships in their harbor. I’d seen the sunlight sparkling on the water as we landed, the expanse sending shivers down my spine.
There was no reason for water that deep or vast on the surface of a planet.
Pushing aside those thoughts, I focused on the crowd around me. Most offered the grimace they called a smile, showing me their teeth as if that was meant to soothe.
How did they not know that from a stranger, the show of teeth was a threat?
I wasn’t surprised when General Hale moved to intercept, Serenya on his arm.
“Commander Draevahn, let me introduce my daughter, Serenya.”
Commander wasn’t the proper term, Torvakai was more than just the head of the military, but it was what I allowed the Humans to call me.
Serenya’s head tipped back to meet my gaze. Her soft smile might have convinced a Human she was happy to see them, but her blue eyes, a much lighter shade than her father’s, didn’t reflect the emotion. There was something deep within them, a swirling darkness, that she couldn’t quite hide.
“Commander, it’s a pleasure.”
She held her small hand out toward me, and it took a moment to remember the Human habit of clasping palms in greeting.
Folding my fingers around hers, I was struck by the softness of her skin, and how delicate the bones were within her child-sized hand. Worried I might break her, I was careful of the pressure I used as I gripped her cool flesh.
Would these women even survive being rutted by one of us?
My kethra flickered for a heartbeat at the thought, but I abandoned the question, ignoring the way my body reacted to hers. Nyrel and Mara had made it work, so it had to be possible, although some of the smaller females might be in danger if they were chosen.
I dipped my head as I withdrew my hand, watching her gaze crawl over my ridges.
I’d seen Humans with stranger things on their heads, and most seemed more fixated on our tails, but I didn’t miss the tiny crease that appeared between her brows before disappearing almost fast enough to make me think I’d imagined it.
Perhaps she didn’t like the differences between us.
For some reason that made my tail twitch with the need to lash back and forth.
“Miss Hale. What do you think of the Gala?”
I needed her to speak more to get a read on her, and I couldn’t do that with simple greetings. I wanted to know how she thought.
“Oh, it’s lovely. Such a nice view from up here.”
I knew she was intelligent from her schooling information, so the bland answer was disappointing. Either she was trying to fool me into thinking she was simple, or she lacked personality.
“I mean about the reason for it. How do you feel about becoming the mate of a Morraki?”
The slow widening of her eyes and the way her expression went blank almost convinced me she hadn’t known her purpose here, but what type of man would parade his daughter before potential males without her knowledge?
My focus turned to the man at her side, his proud stance one I could almost approve, but the lines on his face seemed to grow deeper, and the way Serenya’s skin blanched around his hand on her arm told me his grip had tightened.
“It’s—Uh…”
She let out a shaky breath as she tried to come up with a response. I could hear her swallow, her weak Human scent growing sharper, teasing me with the sweetness of some type of fruit beneath the bitterness of stress.
Her eyes didn’t move to her father, but I had the feeling she was hoping he’d come to her rescue. His silence left her to fend for herself, and I waited as she tried to formulate a response.
Perhaps she really hadn’t known she was on offer tonight, but her ignorance, real or performed, made her dangerous.