Chapter Twenty-Five
Serenya
I woke with a gasp, pain tearing through my abdomen. I was drenched in sweat, the blankets sticking to me, and someone had started a bonfire in my abdomen.
Not again.
Kael’s silver eyes caught the light from my kethra as they opened, his hands tightening on me.
After we had returned from the fungus gardens we’d had dinner and then he’d brought me to bed, tucking me in and insisting I rest. I’d demanded he lay with me, hoping for more kisses and a repeat of the other night, but he’d kept his pants on and stayed above the blankets, offering nothing more than cuddles and his purr.
Somehow, it had been more intimate than having his mouth between my legs.
“What’s wrong?”
He blinked and sat up, running his hands over my arms and searching my body with his eyes.
“Th—The fever. The pain. It’s back. Something’s wrong, it’s not supposed to come back!”
His kethra slowly brightened, helping me see better. I knew he had no issues with the dim light, but I could barely tell the difference between his dark skin and the blankets we laid on.
I still saw when his lips spread into a grin, my amber glow making the tips of his teeth flash before he pulled me closer and pressed his face to my neck. He drew in a deep breath and groaned, the sound making me shudder as my nipples pebbled.
My belly tensed in another cramp, wetness seeping between my thighs.
“Kael!”
“It’s okay, veyrari. It’s your trehvyr.”
My mind was fuzzy from the fever and the pain, and for some reason I wanted to rub myself all over Kael’s exposed chest, so it took a moment to remember what that word meant.
Heat.
I was going into heat.
“Saed said…”
I trailed off, unable to recall exactly what he’d said as I panted.
I wriggled to get the blankets off me, slipping out of Kael’s hold even though I didn’t want him to stop touching me. When even pushing the covers down wasn’t good enough to settle the irritation making my skin crawl, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood.
“Saed said your heat was close. And now it is here. I’ll call for the Karzhari.”
I spun around, one hand clutching my belly as I ran the other through my hair.
“But… I’m not ready!”
I was breathing too fast, my heart beat fluttering in my throat. The scent in the room coated my tongue, making my mouth water and my stomach roil at the same time.
I backed away from the bed until my calves hit the storage benches lining the walls. I plopped down, fingers curling over the edge, hanging on as a wave of dizziness that had the room rocking rolled through me.
Kael was kneeling in front of me when I managed to peel my eyelids open again. I didn’t remember closing them, but the nausea twisting in my belly said it might be better to close them again.
“It is okay, veyrari. I am here. The Karzhari will take you to the River Caverns to cool down, then when your body is ready, they will take you to the Bonding Hall. I will await you there.”
A whine spilled from my throat, high-pitched and needy. I’d never been one to whine before, but the noises came from me without thought.
“I want you. Not them.”
My tone was petulant even to my own ears, but I couldn’t help it. Something fluttered in my chest, my stomach was rebelling, and I’d never had such terrible cramps. I wanted to curl up on the red blanket he had said was mine and forget the world existed, not go walking through all of Korvashan.
“Veyrari, I cannot remain with you. I would dishonor us both by claiming you unwitnessed before the Horns sound. We must do this right.”
I let out a little sob of frustration and pain, fingers tightening on the cushion beneath me, but I nodded. I knew we had to follow the Morraki tradition for his people to view his claim as valid, otherwise it wouldn’t help the alliance.
“Be strong for me. If you can do this, I will finally be able to claim you. The bond will tie us together, and none will ever be able to separate us.”
I choked back another sob as I leaned into the palm cupping my cheek.
He felt cool to me again instead of radiating warmth like he usually did, and having his skin pressed to mine was soothing.
His kethra were radiant, sweeping over his muscular body, and tracing them with my eyes only made more wetness spill from between my legs.
“It’s so messy.”
He ducked his head, but I still saw his shoulders shaking with a silent laugh. When he got himself under control he leaned in and brushed his lips over mine but pulled away before I could open my mouth.
“I can’t, shael. I’ll never let you go if we start. I must call the Karzhari.”
Groaning I nodded, letting my head hang as I held onto the bench. Either the room was moving, or I was swaying, but either way, I was at risk of toppling to the floor.
Kael was already across the room, taking his communicator from his belt, when my murky thoughts wrapped around the new word he’d used.
“What is shale?”
My panting didn’t help my pronunciation of the foreign vowels. I knew it wasn’t the flakey rock the word sounded like in English, unless Kael was colling me a stone.
My thoughts wove in and out, circling until they made no sense, so when he answered, I’d almost forgotten what I’d asked.
“Shah-elle. It means beloved mate.”
I gulped, meeting his eyes as mine stung. I longed for him to come closer, to come back to me, but he edged towards the door. His pupils were narrowed to thin lines, and his nostrils flared each time he drew in a breath, and there was no way I could miss the bulge in the front of his pants.
“I will see you in the Bonding Hall, Serenya. Kiren’ra.”
My breathing hitched when the door closed between us and I let my head hang again.
My skin was burning and itchy, my throat was dry, and cramps kept rolling through my belly, continuously pushing out slick until there was a steady drip of it from the edge of the cushion to the stone floor.
There was an urge to get up and do something, but my limbs already trembled as if they were too weak to move.
I couldn’t tell how long I sat like that, trying to remember my training, a breathing exercise, anything to help me cope, but my mind kept drifting from the thoughts I tried to hold.
The burning of my skin would draw my attention, then the bright flashes of my kethra, and then the smokey pepper scent of Kael would make me moan.
The steady drip of my slick made me twitch with the desire to end the sound, but the pain would steal my strength before I could rise, and nausea would have me doubling over.
The whisper of the door sliding open pulled me out of the fog, my chest vibrating as I raised my head. It wasn’t as deep as Kael’s, but there was nothing else to call the sound I made as a woman entered the room, other than a growl.
“Calm, Serenya. Remember me? I am here to help.”
I focused, recognizing the younger Karzhari who had held my hands and helped me understand the ceremony I was about to go through. I cut off the growl with a cough, embarrassed.
“It is time to prepare for your alpha. Drink this, and you will feel better for a time.”
She held out what looked like a clay jar. I tried to reach for it, but my hand shook and my arm barely obeyed the command to rise.
The Karzhari moved closer, kneeling in front of me. I’d forgotten I was naked until I stared down at the floor and realized her knees were almost in the puddle of slick that had dripped from me.
“Oh, God. I can’t do this.”
She glanced down as I covered my face, another sob threatening to break free. A gentle touch pulled my hand away so I was forced to see her smiling at me, but it didn’t ease my misery.
“You will be the fifth omega I have helped during their trehvyr, plus I have had my own. We all think that in the beginning, but you can. There is no shame in the zharin your body produces. It is a sign of your body’s readiness.
Of your vitality and fertility. Many alphas would beg to lick it from the stone. ”
I stared at her, trying to breathe through the pain. My whole body ached and my brain was moving slow, and I just wanted to go back to the way I was before.
“I’m not sure that makes me feel better.”
She smiled wider as she let out a quiet laugh.
“It will feel better once it is all over. This will stop the pain for a time.”
She held up the bottle again and I sighed. I tried to take it from her, but it almost slipped from my grasp, so she helped me raise it to my lips.
The first swallow was briny and reminded me of the way seaweed smelled. There was a bitterness to it when I let it sit in my mouth, but the more I swallowed, the more I craved it.
I drained the bottle, tipping it back to get every drop, then making a questioning sound when nothing more spilled into my mouth. I already felt strength returning to my limbs, and I wanted more.
“See? Your body craves your alpha’s seed, and the… I don’t know the word in Common.”
She looked down as if she’d find it written on the floor before raising her eyes back to mine.
“Special plants? We dry and grind them, and then mix it with his offering, and it stops the cramps for a time.”
I stared at her, trying to process what she was saying. She couldn’t mean what I thought she meant.
“I just drank Kael’s cum?”
She tipped her head, somehow still maintaining her serene smile as if there was nothing wrong with what she was implying.
“His seed.”
When I continued to stare, her brow furrowed.
“His… release?”
I drew in a shuddering breath.
“Yeah. His cum. You mixed herbs in his cum, and I drank it.”
Nodding to myself, I looked back down at the puddle of slick on the stones. Why that seemed to be the oddest thing to have happened yet didn’t make sense, but she was right. The cramps had stopped, and my head was clearer, though the flow of fluid from my core hadn’t slowed.
“Do you think you can stand and walk?”