Chapter Twelve
Serenya
I sucked in a deep breath and pushed the button to open the door. Kael was standing where I’d left him, as if he hadn’t taken a breath the whole time I was in what I was still determined to call a bathroom.
“Kael, I need to see the doctor. The one who gave me the injection.”
It took everything in me to keep from quivering as I made the demand.
The moment the words left my mouth I knew I sounded like I was overreacting, maybe even being slightly unreasonable, and it had been drilled into me not to cause problems, but I was standing in a stranger’s bathroom, clutching damp underwear I couldn’t explain, and panicking over a body that wasn’t functioning normally.
Kael didn’t flinch. He tilted his head slightly, pupils narrowing before his kethra flared faintly along the ridges on his neck and collarbone.
“You are not hurt.”
“You don’t know that!”
My eyes widened at my tone, and I lifted a trembling hand to cover my lips. I didn’t speak to people like that, but I needed answers.
There must have been something on my face, or maybe the way I was shaking, because he gave a sharp nod and reached for his comm without arguing further. A few quiet words in Morraki followed, and within minutes we were walking down the corridor toward the lift.
“The doctor who gave you the serum remained on Earth, but the Qy’shaeuhl accompanying us helped develop it, and he is familiar with Human biology. We can speak with him.”
Kael’s long legs meant I was almost jogging to keep up, and each step sent a jolt through my spine that spiked my headache like someone was hitting it with a pickaxe, but I pinched my lips and refused to complain. He was giving me what I wanted, and I was grateful.
The lift was silent besides my heavy breathing, and I’d have been embarrassed over it if I hadn’t been distracted by other concerns.
It was a short ride down two levels, and the door slid open to a hallway that was less militaristic than the one outside Kael’s quarters, with low lights and soft, layered textures that absorbed the hum of the ship.
Saed stood outside one of the doors, hands loosely folded in front of him, his feathered head tilting as we drew closer.
His large, luminous eyes blinked slowly as he turned and tipped his head to the side to look down at me.
The movement always threw me, reminding me of a bird eyeing a bug before he ate it.
“Serenya.”
His voice was melodic and calm, as though his vocal cords produced multiple notes at once, and for a moment I was almost distracted by the thought of what his kind would sound like if they sang.
“Kael said you are concerned.”
Reminded why we’d rushed down, I nodded and tried to shove my thoughts into some semblance of order.
“Things are happening to me that I don’t understand. I know the doctor tried to explain prior to the injection, but…”
I trailed off, but he seemed to understand the issue.
“There were other things on your mind then, and now that it’s real, you have questions.”
He turned and walked to a place where the hallway widened, motioning for me to sit on the long bench against the wall. He waited until I complied before settling on a cushion beside the bench, his legs folding in a way that had me wincing and trying to get a better look at how they bent like that.
Kael moved to stand beside me, arms folded, but silent. I would have been more comfortable without him looming over me, but the questions were too pressing for me to avoid simply because he might hear.
“Describe your concern.”
I took a breath, then another, finding the courage I needed to speak.
“I… thought I was bleeding. That my period had started. I went to the bathroom, but it wasn’t blood. It was… something else. Clear. Sweet-smelling. And I’ve been having cramps since last night, some so strong they steal my breath even after taking pain meds.”
His head dipped in a quick nod.
“The clear fluid is slick. An expected side effect, and something you will become familiar with. The omega transformation changes glandular function, sensory priority, and reproductive signaling. Your body will create it when it anticipates lubrication may be needed.”
My cheeks burned, and I glanced back at Kael, who hadn’t so much as shifted his tail.
The word slick made my stomach flip with a hot, embarrassing twist I didn’t want to examine with two males focused on me.
Saed hadn’t flinched at the question, and between the two of them, it made me feel as if embarrassment was a strictly Human emotion.
Or maybe a me emotion, since my father lacked it as well.
“So, there’s nothing wrong? It’s not an infection, or a sign that the injection isn’t doing what it was meant to?”
“No. To the contrary, it means it is completing its purpose.”
I breathed out, trying to calm my heart rate. The throb in my head eased as the stress faded, but my middle still ached.
“And the pain?”
“Adaptive stress. Your body is going through a metamorphosis, but unlike caterpillars, you do not get to sleep through the changes. Your reproductive organs have been asked to change, and your hormones must rebalance to a new norm.”
He made it sound so much nicer than it felt.
“How much worse will it get?”
Saed blinked again, his head tilting the opposite direction. It was disconcerting considering he’d just compared me to a caterpillar, which were eaten by birds.
“That depends on how much you resist.”
That answer was not comforting. If there was a medal for resisting the demands of my body, I’d have multiple golds to hang on the walls.
“What does it mean to be an omega? I understand the injection added genes, but Isolde said something about going into heat? Like… Like a dog?”
Saed’s head pulled back in a way I didn’t think would be possible for a Human. The action had a feeling of disgust, but nothing about his expression or tone changed.
“The canines on your planet do go through heat, as do many other creatures on your planet, and others.
It is simply a different reproductive cycle than what Humans typically have.
Instead of releasing an egg each month and then shedding your uterine lining if no fertilized egg implants, the process will be a bit slower.
“At the beginning of your heat, you will feel feverish, similar to what you feel now. You will have cramps, become hypersensitive, and you will have the urge to nest. You will also produce slick during this time as your body prepares itself. The process of creating a safe, comfortable nest for breeding will trigger the release of an egg, at which time you will be ready for your mate.”
A flash of red at the corner of my eye caught my attention, but when I glanced at Kael, he was still staring down the hall.
“All of this will be instinctive. Your thoughts and worries will fall away, and your only focus will be doing what feels right in the moment. You don’t have to fear it.”
I huffed, finding it highly unlikely that my mind would just shut off and I wouldn’t be worrying about something.
The feathers around Saed’s eyes shifted, giving the impression that he was smiling.
I asked more questions about the differences of being an omega, and he answered them all with that same quiet patience.
By the end of it, I didn’t necessarily like what I’d learned, but I understood enough to be comfortable with what was happening to me.
Saed rose as I did, his limbs unfolding in a way mine would never be capable of. He inclined his head toward Kael, and then to me.
“The journey ahead is not meant to be walked alone. You must look past the known to survive the unknown.”
My brows wrinkled but I had to wait for the sudden yawn that overtook me to pass before I could question him.
“Is that a Qy’shaeuhl proverb?”
Saed’s head tilted again in that odd, birdlike way.
“No. That was for you.”
I was still blinking at his back when Kael softly brushed his fingers along my arm to cup my elbow.
“Are you satisfied?”
I wasn’t sure how he knew satisfied was a better word than happy, but it fit.
“Yes.”
His eyes flashed as I adjusted our arms until mine was slipped through his the way he’d walked me from the NAA building only two days earlier. It seemed like more time should have passed considering my entire life had changed.
Something touched the back of my knee and I flinched, turning to look over my shoulder, but the only thing behind us was Kael’s tail.
When I glanced up at him he kept his face angled forward, but his markings were definitely glowing brighter than usual, as if the touch had been accidental and he was embarrassed about it.
“What do you call these?”
I had no idea what possessed me to reach up and run my fingers along the markings on the side of his neck, but it made him stop mid-step, the glow flaring as he made a coughing sound. It took him a second to resume walking, still looking ahead instead of at me.
“They are kethra. Soul fire.”
“Kethra.”
I repeated the word, enjoying the soft sound of it.
“I like that. Why are they called soul fire?”
I caught him looking at me from the corner of his eye as we entered the lift. He had to type in a code to get it moving back to the top level.
“They are a reflection of the fire that burns within us. They… reveal strong emotions.”
My brows rose as I considered what that meant. His kethra were usually a steady crimson, so when they brightened, that meant he was feeling something? I’d seen them change several times, but what had he been feeling?
I remained silent as we returned to his quarters, the door hissing shut behind us. I yawned again, the dull throb of my headache reminding me it was there, and that I was exhausted from a restless night.
A night where I’d woken in my bed despite falling asleep on the couch.
Kael walked me to the partial wall dividing the bedroom from the living area, but stopped before crossing the threshold. I looked up at him to find him staring back, his eyes moving as if he was studying my face, searching for something.
“I do not want you worried, but there is something Saed did not mention, nor do I recall Doctor Keene revealing.”
The happy warmth that had bloomed in my chest poofed out of existence, a chill working through my limbs in its place. Rarely did something that began with, ‘Don’t worry,’ turn out well.
I tried to laugh off my growing fear.
“Don’t tell me I’m going to grow ridges or a tail. They look good on you, but I don’t think I can handle that.”
Kael’s brow rose, one corner of his lips lifting along with it.
“No, veyrari, you will not be blessed with a tail or ridges.”
I let out the breath I’d held but was still braced for what he said next.
“But you will have soul fire of your own. Mara’s kethra bloomed shortly after her injection and then changed to match Nyrel’s when he claimed her, so yours should come before we reach Morrakan.”
My lips parted as I waited for him to deliver something more devastating, but when all he did was watch me, the tension slowly bled from my muscles. I let out a laugh, shaking my head.
“So, I’m going to glow?”
The sound that came from him was suspiciously close to a chuckle, and I narrowed my eyes as he took a step away.
“You’re going to shine like a sun at the Zha’Khorr Valryn, veyrari. But you should rest now. I’ll be here when you wake.”
I hadn’t realized there was a button on the wall like there was for the little bathroom until the opening between us closed, and I was left staring at a spread of smooth brown metal.
I looked down at my arms, studying the golden tan of my skin as I tried to imagine streaks of kethra on it. The Morrak I had seen all seemed to sport different colors, so what color would mine be before they changed to Kael’s red hue?
I hadn’t missed the part about how the markings changed when the woman was claimed, even if I didn’t know who Mara was. And while I didn’t understand the part of what he’d said about the sun, it still sent a shiver down my spine that coiled in my pelvis.
Yawning again, I let my arm drop and turned to the bed. It was a bit higher off the ground than I was used to, which made sense with Kael’s longer legs, and it was a little awkward to crawl onto, but whatever they used as a mattress was soft, cradling my body and immediately easing the aches.
When I pulled the blanket over my legs I was hit with a wave of the spice and campfire smoke scent, making my mouth water and causing another cramp.
I whined as I pressed my hand to my belly and I thought I felt fresh dampness in my panties, but I couldn’t convince my body to move after finally being horizontal.
Assuring myself it would be fine and I could search for fresh clothing once I had a little nap, I gave up resisting the urge to close my eyes and snuggled into the pillows, letting sleep take me.