Chapter Four
Serenya
My life had been hijacked, and I still didn’t understand how, or if I would ever be able to get control back.
Shiny metal doors closed behind us with an echo that seemed far too final.
The white walls were bare of the decorations and luxury of the rest of the North American Alliance building, but I was too busy trying to keep up with my father’s stride to pay much attention to our surroundings.
My ankle throbbed, and I’d barely been able to throw on a pair of slacks with a blouse and drag a brush through my hair before he’d been pounding on my door, telling me it was time to leave.
“What kind of injection?”
Every question I’d asked since being hustled into the waiting SUV had started with What or Why, and none had been answered to my satisfaction.
A growing sense of dread sat heavy in my belly, and I was on the verge of hysterics.
Only my father’s hand on my lower back kept me moving, propelling me towards whatever he had planned.
I was still reeling from being told Commander Draevahn had chosen me, but the clinical feel of the bare white hall my father had rushed me into had new worries stealing my focus.
I’d thought perhaps he’d meant a dress appointment, or a meeting with the commander.
A medical appointment hadn’t crossed my mind, and his flippant, “Oh, you need an injection,” as we entered the medical wing of the building had alarm bells overriding every other thought.
“All the chosen women have to get it. It’s nothing to worry about, it’s been tested.”
His words were less than reassuring, but he kept speaking, not giving me the chance to get another question out.
“This is an honor, Serenya, and you should be happy to have been chosen by the leader of the Morrak. Nothing you ever do will be as important as this. You’ll be remembered as one of the first women to secure the alliance that will save Humanity.”
“But…”
My heart sank. Not only was it the fresh stab over how I’d done nothing but disappoint him, but the fact that he was practically laying the fate of Earth on my shoulders.
Everything was happening too fast.
I knew Earth was in crisis. Famine and starvation were rampant, the news talked about little else, but how was an alliance with the Morrak going to save us? And why did they want Human brides? What exactly was Earth getting in return?
My father’s vagueness and haste made me certain there was something he hadn’t told me.
Even if the Morrak wanted to marry Humans to assure the alliance, for whatever their reasons, why was it happening like this?
Why were they picking someone the day after meeting them, with less interaction than I’d had with the shop assistant who sold me the dress for the gala, and with no consideration for my feelings?
How could that set anyone up for a good relationship, much less a lasting alliance?
I wanted to put my foot down and demand answers, but when I was pushed into a small room filled with the murmur of voices, I knew I wasn’t going to get them. At least, not from my father.
My eyes were immediately drawn to Commander Draevahn standing to one side of the room.
My soon-to-be-husband, if my father had his way.
His dark skin and darker uniform made him and the other two Morraki stand out in the white-drenched room, their markings their only points of color.
Even the other people present were pale skinned and dressed in mostly light colors, making the warriors look like storm clouds waiting on the horizon, their markings like colored lightning.
My stomach flipped when the commander’s attention landed on me, goosebumps breaking out along my arms as his markings flared brighter for a heartbeat.
There was no reason for him to have chosen me other than because of my father, so the flicker of attraction I inexplicably felt was unwelcome.
This was nothing more than politics to him, and his choice had nothing to do with me, nor was it what I wanted.
I was still thinking of pressing my father for more information, but a short woman wearing a lab coat entered from a door on the opposite side of the room, her lips tugging up when she spotted me.
“Oh good, you’re all here now. It’s better to do the presentation once and get all the questions out of the way together.”
My lips parted and I was tempted to blurt my lingering concerns into the sudden hush her arrival brought, but she seemed to be offering what I wanted. I could only hope she was going to give us more than my father’s evasive answers.
“Come, take a seat, and we’ll get started.”
I scanned the other people as I moved forward on autopilot, surprised when a set of merry green eyes flashed back at me from the row ahead of the one I entered.
Isolde grinned, giving me a thumbs up before the woman next to her leaned closer and drew her attention away.
The woman’s profile looked enough like Isolde for me to think she was a relative.
Another pair sat in the same row as them, auburn hair all I could see of the two women, but I didn’t miss how my father placed his hand on the older woman’s shoulder and murmured, “Morning, Councilor,” as we shuffled behind them and took the seats in the middle of the row.
Commander Draevahn and the other two Morraki with him remained standing along the wall to our left.
The massive scarred one who I believed was the general Isolde had referred to stared over our heads, arms crossed in front of his thick chest, his tail flicking with what seemed like irritation.
If he was who chose Isolde, I was worried for her, because he seemed just as unhappy as I with what was happening.
The third appeared younger now that I could get a better look at him than I had at the gala.
His markings were more orange than his commander’s, and his eyes were the same copper red as the markings, making me shiver when they flicked toward me before returning to the door.
He was poised as if waiting for an attack, his entire body stiff as we waited for the doctor to begin.
I ignored the fact that the commander’s focus was locked on me. I could see him from the corner of my eye, his form imposing, staring. His body was as stiff as the younger warrior’s, but the tip of his tail stuck out to the side, barely twitching back and forth.
Pulling all my attention to the woman standing in front of us, I held my breath, trying to prepare myself for anything.
“Thank you all for coming today. I’m Doctor Mara Keene. I’ll be brief, but I can answer any questions once I explain what the injection does.”
I didn’t know if I was the only one trembling as the doctor started to speak, but my shock grew the longer I listened.
“The serum is a targeted genetic modifier designed to add the omega genes found in the Morrak, to our Human DNA. It was developed jointly by Kethral Nyrel Veyrahn, our Qy’shaeuhl representative Saed, and myself, based on the hormonal and physiological differences observed in Morraki omegas.
It works by enhancing specific glands already found in Humans, activating scent receptors that are usually suppressed, and altering hormone cycles to more closely resemble their omegas, while also laying the groundwork for bonding compatibility with an alpha. ”
Half the words went over my head, the only ones that stuck being genetic modification.
“Translation being, it will send us into heat like a dog, and the big dudes won’t be able to resist biting us.”
Isolde sounded far too excited for what was coming out of her mouth, but at least she spoke in clearer terms. Still, my head was spinning at the idea that this doctor was saying she was about to alter my DNA and change my reproductive process.
Dr. Keene smiled tightly at Isolde, but her nod was an affirmative.
“In simpler terms, yes. Your biochemistry will change over the next few weeks to make you compatible with the Morraki alphas and their ability to claim omegas as their mates. There may be temporary side effects from the injection, but the biological change is permanent. You don’t have to worry about reverting and losing the bond, that is quite literally, impossible. ”
The room was growing fuzzy around the edges, the doctor’s voice sounding farther away. Heat cycles… alphas… omegas… I was trying to process the information, but it wasn’t making sense.
The younger auburn-haired woman I assumed was the third candidate leaned forward.
“What side effects, exactly?”
“Headaches, fatigue, fever, nausea, abdominal pain, heightened sensitivity, and, umm, increased secretions, and… desire.”
The doctor paused before delivering the last part, Isolde’s snicker following in the otherwise silent room. I had a feeling that if the doctor’s skin wasn’t darker than mine, her cheeks would have been pink.
Taking a breath, she looked at each of us who had been chosen, growing serious again.
“There can be an early false heat flare within the first week, but it’s brief, and your body won’t be ready for bonding yet.
The initial side effects will peak about three days after injection, then taper away.
Your actual heat should begin two to three weeks after the injection, and that is when your alpha will claim you. ”
Claim.
Not court. Not even marry.
Claim. Like a piece of property.
There wasn’t enough oxygen in the room.
I looked from Isolde to the other woman supposed to be receiving this injection, neither of them showing the level of panic I felt.
Even a glance at my father and the other Humans in the room showed nothing more than a slight frown from the woman with Isolde, and the three Morraki didn’t seem concerned either.
This was for real, and their calm said I was the only one who had walked into this blind.