Chapter Eight
Kael
The silence of the Zeydrassk was a balm to the frayed edges of my restraint. There, away from the cloying humidity of Earth and the stifling proximity of Human politics, I could breathe.
The bulkheads hummed with the familiar power cycling through the zeyr’kahr. Calming. Reliable. Trusted.
Not like her.
Not like Serenya.
I hadn’t meant to storm out of the clinic, but it was that or let slip how important it was that the serum work.
Having a failure in the first three women who received the injection was bad.
There was enough resistance to the alliance with Earth that taking women of importance as mates was the only option to build trust between us, and a strike so early was a blow I’d have rather not had to deal with.
Still, the other two had succeeded. It was clear in the DNA results, even if their scents were only just starting to sweeten. There would be two Human omegas, and the alliance could proceed.
But irritation prickled under my skin as I crossed from the shuttle to the Zeydrassk, my boots striking the gangway with more force than necessary. Rhydek trailed behind me, his silence louder than words.
The door hissed shut once Jorath crossed, sealing the chill of space back where it belonged. For a long moment no one spoke as we strode through the Zeydrassk, but Rhydek had never been the type to remain silent for the sake of ease.
“Claiming that female would have been a dravh. She was a liability. The Winds spared me.”
I turned slightly, catching the flare of his kethra and the way his lip curled. He didn’t mean to be cruel, he’d only agreed to the arrangement because I’d asked it of him, but if I hadn’t known him for so long I might have believed the harshness of his tone.
“You’re the one who chose her.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, tail lashing before he got it under control.
“I didn’t realize she would always be so loud. And… chaotic. She has no discipline.”
His eyes narrowed as he dropped his arm.
“And she talked about our anatomy as if she were already in heat.”
My brow rose. A short silence stretched between us before he huffed and looked away.
“I know it’s necessary, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be glad to have dodged this vey’korr. We cannot afford weakness of any kind.”
I hummed and turned toward the central lift.
I couldn’t argue with him. I had made the choice to take the daughter of our most likely enemy as my mate, and it could end up leading to my demise.
I didn’t think she could kill me herself, but if she shared things she shouldn’t, or simply made me appear weak in any way, she would be the reason for my death.
Rhydek followed me to the bridge, our footfalls echoing around us, before asking the obvious question.
“You’re still going to claim the other? The Shara’venn’s spawn?”
I didn’t answer at first. I couldn’t fault him for calling the general an oath breaker when the man showed every sign of being one.
What had made sense strategically was being complicated by the way I responded to Serenya, and she couldn’t even produce omega pheromones yet.
If she was already able to distract me, she would be dangerous once her biology called to mine.
“The test was positive,” I said at last. “She’s becoming an omega, so the bond will take. Having control of General Hale’s luthra is the best option to keep him loyal to the alliance.”
Rhydek grunted. He didn’t need to say aloud what we had both seen.
That Hale might be ruthless enough to sacrifice his only child.
“The way you stormed off is unlike you. What made you lose your composure?”
Her.
I couldn’t admit that though. Rhydek was my Torashkar, my thyrran, and I trusted him, but a warrior never admitted weakness.
“This alliance is important. A failure this early will cause more distrust in the process. We need fully bonded omegas to assure trust, and just two of them isn’t going to do that.”
Rhydek was silent as I took my place in the center of the bridge and pulled up reports from while we were gone. My warriors were well trained, and nothing was likely to happen while we remained in orbit around Earth, but that didn’t mean I could be lax in my duties. Getting complacent cost lives.
“A full bond requires trust and acceptance on both sides. Do you really think that’s possible?”
My teeth ached from the way my jaw flexed at his question, and I almost lashed my tail. It was a question I’d asked myself many times since the idea of taking Humans as mates had been proposed.
Mara and Nyrel had proven it was possible, but there had never been any distrust between them. They had been united in a goal before she foolishly injected herself with the test serum, so it was natural that they’d come together and bonded.
But could I come to trust Serenya enough for the bond to complete? It wasn’t as simple as knotting and biting an omega. That was a claim, it was how the bond began, but the omega had to return the bite, and both had to accept the tie between their souls.
“It has to be.”
Rhydek grunted, tapping on his own console before turning to me.
“So why did you run off and leave your future mate as soon as she found out her entire life as well as her body was changing?”
All the thoughts in my head slowed to a stop as I stared at my Torashkar. Many looked at him and saw only the scarred beast he portrayed. Few were confronted with his depth of understanding beyond strategy.
Or, perhaps this too was strategy, and I’d just weakened my position.
“Vorresh take it.”
Rhydek’s laugh followed me out the door as I retraced my steps to the shuttle. I doubted Serenya would still be at the NAA building, but I had to find her.
***
The lights of the Human city had stretched like kethra beneath the shuttle’s path, but it lacked the warmth of a living thing.
From above, during the day, Earth could almost match Morrakan, but that was where the similarities ended.
The air was too damp and cold, the buildings too jutting and alien.
They didn’t build from the natural stone except for a few select structures, nor did they build for camouflage and defense.
There was no reason behind it. No memories stored in the stone with blood.
Still, I was there, chasing a female I had chosen because she made the best hostage, and I, the best captor.
The shuttle settled on the pad outside General Hale’s dwelling.
I’d spent enough time in the training barracks above Korvashan, and then in space, to be comfortable in open areas, but most Morraki would find sleeping above ground in a dwelling with so many windows impossible.
It left one feeling exposed and vulnerable.
I exited the vehicle, scenting the air on reflex, searching for threats. There were none other than the rot that came with wood kept damp too long.
The structure before me was excessive for the home of only one family.
Especially when the family consisted of a single man and his only child.
Many households could have fit within its walls, but Humans did not live in communities the way the Morrak did.
They preferred individual structures, separating themselves from their neighbors.
Something else Serenya was going to have to adjust to.
I climbed the steps to the door, approving the use of stone even if it was likely a facade. It took me a moment of searching before I located the datapad on the wall to announce my presence.
For a man who seemed to flaunt his power, I found it odd that I was left waiting, and stranger still that when the door finally opened, it was Serenya’s pale blue eyes that stared out to meet mine.
“Commander Draevahn?”
Her tan skin was flushed, hair unbound, with bits of it plastered to her flesh with sweat. The flutter at her throat exposed her racing pulse, and her chest rose far too rapidly for typical Human breathing patterns.
I was no stranger to hard work and how the body responded when in use, but she was supposed to be resting.
“Kael. My mate should use my name, not my title.”
She blinked rapidly, still clinging to the door as if she needed its support. My frown deepened, and she seemed to realize she was still staring and hadn’t welcomed me to her hearth.
Sucking in a deep breath, she straightened and swallowed before dipping her head in acknowledgment.
“I’m sorry, I hadn’t been given your full name. Please, come in.”
A growl built in my chest, but I held it in. It wasn’t her fault I hadn’t introduced myself properly, nor that I was irritated by circumstances beyond her control.
I stepped through the doorway, once again testing the air. The naturally sweet scent she’d had before was growing stronger, but it was marred by a thick, cloying tinge that stuck in the back of my throat.
Glancing around the entryway, I listened for the sound of others.
There were plain brown containers of some kind stacked at the bottom of a staircase that rose to the second floor, but otherwise the space was surprisingly bare, and I doubted a Human could be silent enough within the echoing space for me to miss unless they were sleeping somewhere near the edges of the home.
“Are you alone?”
Serenya’s expression remained the same, but her posture shifted, something in her eyes warning me I’d made her wary.
Were Humans so primitive and untrustworthy that females were in danger alone with a male?
The thought was revolting and only made me more certain the species as a whole was untrustworthy.
“My father had to attend some last-minute meetings before we leave tomorrow. He’ll be home shortly.”
I had a feeling she wasn’t being truthful, but a lie told to protect oneself could be overlooked.
Rolling my shoulders, I tried to settle myself so I could retain control of my kethra and my wayward tail. It wouldn’t do to scare her more when I’d already caught the bitterness of fear in her scent when the failure had been announced.