Chapter Ten
Kael
I stood still, watching her sleep. Seeing how her body relaxed when she didn’t know another was there. How she looked when she wasn’t guarded.
She shouldn’t be alone. Not with the way her body was changing in ways she still didn’t seem to understand. Nyrel assured me there was minimal danger with the new serum, but minimal wasn’t zero.
My warriors had already left, taking her things with them to the Zeydrassk. I should have followed them out, but I couldn’t leave her there like that. She could roll off the padded seat, and the floor was hard.
I was slipping my arms beneath her before I made the conscious decision to move her. She stirred, murmuring something with a frown, but she didn’t wake.
Her weight in my arms was oddly comforting as I moved through her home. She was still warm but not as hot as when I’d cupped her cheek before, which was a relief. I didn’t think Humans were meant to get that warm.
Her room was empty now, except for her nest, but her scent still filled the space.
Soon my quarters would smell the same, but the fruitiness would overlay the rich musk of an omega.
Already there were hints of it coming from her skin, and I was tempted to bury my nose in her neck to see if it would be more potent there.
There was one place I knew would smell even stronger, but the thought of putting my face there had my groin tightening and my kethra burning brighter.
My tail flicked back the bedding, and I carefully laid her on the soft mattress. I tucked the thin sheet over her but left the heavier one folded down to her waist so she wouldn’t overheat while she slept.
For a moment I stood beside the bed, watching the rise and fall of her chest. She wasn’t Morraki, but I was still drawn to her, and with the shifting of her scent, the pull would only grow stronger.
I had to guard against the distraction, because there were those who would use the excuse to challenge me for my position.
But she would be mine, whether either of us were ready or not.
Mine to keep.
Mine to protect.
I turned away but paused in the doorway, looking back once more. I should have left already. I had duties waiting aboard the Zeydrassk. Status reports to check, orders to issue, preparations to make…
But I lingered like an untried warrior with his claws caught in a crack.
Serenya dreamed on, unaware there was a predator watching her. She looked so innocent I found it hard to hold to the idea of her being an enemy. She would be my mate, but it was starting to feel less like a strategic choice, and more like an inevitability.
And that frightened me more than I’d admit, even to myself.
I didn’t know how things would turn out.
I would guard her. Claim her. Use her if I had to.
But I couldn’t afford to let her become my weakness. Not when even the stars could turn against us, and it was my duty to keep my people safe.
I would bond her, but I didn’t know if I could let her in.
“Sleep well, veyrari. It may be the last chance you have.”
I left with my murmur still echoing in her empty room.
Outside, night had taken over. Clouds had rolled in, increasing the moisture in the air, but for once it didn’t make me itch. It almost felt like the River Caverns back home, and I wondered what Serenya would think when she saw them.
When I returned for her in the morning, she would no longer belong to this place.
Would she miss it?
The trip back to the Zeydrassk was a blur, and I could hardly focus as I checked the ship’s readiness reports.
The trip from Earth to Morrakan wasn’t long, only six drazh, but in the depths of space none could afford to be unprepared.
An inconvenience planet-side could become a catastrophe in the Zeyd, and even though we’d stocked enough for the round trip before leaving Morrakan, I wouldn’t risk leaving a safe planet without being sure there was nothing we needed.
By the time I made it to my quarters I’d forgotten all about having Serenya’s things brought there, so when the door slid open and I was hit with her scent, I was momentarily confused. It wasn’t strong, but it was there, and the surprise made my kethra flutter in response.
I stood on the threshold, hesitant to move further. The containers of her things were stacked neatly in the corner, safely attached to the wall in case the Zeydrassk lost gravity, but they felt like a threat, nonetheless.
Not to my safety, but to my sanity.
How was I going to sleep with her scent in my room?
It was then that how unprepared I still was hit me. If her Human scent and containers of her personal things were threatening my sleep, what would having her in my quarters do?
Tightening my control, I stepped into the room and let the door slide shut behind me. I was Torvakai, I could handle sharing quarters with a female. Even one who was becoming an omega.
I shed my korrvek and tossed myself on the bed that had seemed more than large enough for me, but entirely too small for the thought of sharing it with Serenya.
I knew sleeping in the same bed was something both Human and Morraki pairs practiced, but were there other things she might expect that I was unaware of?
Would she find issue with the other expectations for omegas in the home?
I tried to silence the questions.
Ignore the part of me imagining her stretched along my side, tangled in the sheets.
I tried to sleep, but failed.
Instead, I rose and fetched a datapad, deciding to research the questions circling my mind.
While Humans and the Morrak required similar oxygen levels, most of Earth was cooler and more humid than Morrakan.
Since certain locations did reach equivalent temperatures I knew she could adjust to my planet, but she wouldn’t be comfortable with it at first, and with her already ill, I didn’t want to tax her system more than necessary.
A two-point increase in humidity, and a four-point decrease in temperature, was close to the local climate, so I adjusted the settings in my quarters.
I could alter them as we traveled to give her an easier transition, and I forwarded the information to Zeydvenai Jorath so he could do the same for the woman he had chosen.
The information we had in our archives about Humans was limited, and nothing I could find answered my other questions.
I was tempted to order one of the Artoks to find a way to connect with Earth’s information system, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to learn would be available in Common.
I could understand some English, but reading it was another matter.
I gave up once I realized it was almost time to return for Serenya. Giving my quarters one last check, to be sure of what, I wasn’t certain, I left to find my Zeydakai so we could begin our journey home as soon as the Humans and Saed were aboard.
I ended up checking the Qy’shaeuhl’s preferred climate and adjusting the room prepared for him as well before boarding the shuttle to the NAA building.
It wouldn’t have occurred to me prior to my concern for Serenya, but perhaps the extra touch would gain favor with the other race.
They were the reason behind the alliance with Humans after all, which was what I reminded myself of as we rode down to Earth’s surface once again.
How long would it take before I could make requests of them the way humans did?
Would they forgive us our prior transgressions and provide the information we sought if we protected their pets?
Grimacing, I also reminded myself we had to stop thinking of Humans that way.
One was now my korravalryn, and I would be the standard for how to treat her and the ones who came after.
Three women had never been considered enough to assure trust, but we’d agreed to give this set three vhelar to adjust and bond before holding another Selection Gala.
With only two now, I worried that was too long.
I wanted to grimace over that as well but resisted since I wouldn’t be the one searching for a mate at the next one. I would already have a korravai by then, claimed and bonded.
The alpha part of me stirred at the thought and the knowledge that I was getting closer to Serenya.
The party traveling with us would be waiting at the NAA building, and while I could have remained on the Zeydrassk for them to arrive, I hadn’t liked the thought of her leaving Earth for what she likely thought was the last time without someone there for support.
General Hale certainly didn’t count after the interaction I’d seen in the clinic and the fact that he’d left her alone when she was ill and in pain. It was no longer his duty anyway since I’d chosen her, and she’d accepted being my korravalryn by receiving the injection.
By Morraki custom, we were promised, only waiting for her heat to seal it with a claim. I’d told her she was my responsibility, and it was true.
Jorath had followed my lead, taking the shuttle to Earth to escort his female aboard, but Rhydek had remained behind.
Jorath was less nervous than he’d been on the prior trips down, but I could still feel his tension, and it added to my own stress over what state Serenya would be in when the doors opened.
“The females are still transitioning, so their scent will be in flux for a few more days, but it will be right by the time we reach Morrakan. They may be feverish and act oddly. Be sure yours remains hydrated and reach out to Saed if she seems too uncomfortable.”
I’d already sent the orders with the climate parameters while I couldn’t sleep, but it settled us both for me to repeat them.
Jorath was newly appointed as Zeydvenai of the Zeydrassk, a coveted position, and while he wasn’t an untried warrior, he was still young, and having clear orders to follow soothed a warrior’s eth.
“Understood, Torvakai.”