Chapter 21 OliviaJulia
TWENTY-ONE
OLIVIA OR JULIA
Krellix
I am aware the moment Benjamin fails to keep up with the pace and breaks our natural formation.
One I do not like because it separates me from Julia more than I wish to be.
More than is safe. But that same separation has also been a reprieve from the insistent, instinctual need to grab her to me and take her to a nest that does not exist. To kiss, knot, and coax her into submission as I fill her body with my seed.
It does not matter if it is safe or there are others nearby, my animal instincts do not care about novelties like that.
All they care about is getting her under me, wrapping her in my tail, and sinking inside of her again.
Keeping her in my arms until I have had enough of her—which, I fear, I never will.
I spent half the night within her, tormented with pain and bliss, my prick stretching and expanding, pulling my skin taut with pain while her sheathe held me in comfort.
Cushioned, warm, and firm, her body eased the worst of my strain, massaging the ache in my shaft even while enduring her own in the process.
I have never been in a more vulnerable position.
As I have been doing every second since she woke this morning, I push the thoughts of her and what I want to do to her out before they have time to fester and grow.
Yet, they are festering and growing anyway.
Soon, we will be at the encampment. A place I will not be able to go. A place where I will have to let her leave me to be back with her people, that’s outside of my reach, my sight…
Because, like me, she does not want a mate. Our reasons might be different but the outcome is the same.
“Krellix?” A small voice says up at me.
I peer down at the young female, Olivia, her eyes wide with nerves. She always looks at me this way and I wish she would not.
“I need a moment to myself,” she breathes, her voice so soft I barely hear it.
I do not need to see her face to know she is afraid of me.
I can smell it. Past the blood, the sweat, the smoke, musk, dirt and grime.
It is unsettling, though I have tried to ignore it the past few days.
I do not like that this young female fears me.
There is already too much here for her to be afraid of.
I do not like it when any human female is afraid, ever.
“A sssshort rest,” I call over my shoulder as I nod down at her.
I hear the jog of Benjamin’s feet as he catches up, meaning Julia will be shortly behind.
“Sorry,” he huffs, “I got distracted.”
I am already carrying Olivia away, searching for a safe space for her needs.
And not wanting us to linger here any longer than is necessary, I waste no time.
While it might be safe for them when it comes to encountering most other humans, that does not extend to me.
And with so many recent naga tracks criss-crossing throughout the forest, they are still in danger too.
We can be ambushed with unwanted company at any time.
We nagas are not all rational. There is fresh blood in the breeze amongst the smoke and exhaust. There are nagas here that may have attacked the humans stranded—for whatever reason—or may have kidnapped them. For the obvious one.
And I have not tested my appearance in front of a strange human since killing those soldiers between Vagan and Zaku’s territories, and the ones with me now, who certainly would not have let me help them without Julia's intervention.
If I come upon soldiers from the encampment, they may attempt to kill me on the spot.
But I must try. It will be useful knowledge. If nothing else, Zaku and the others will want to know if our enemies are still our enemies, or if tides have changed. If I bring back any intel, that piece will be of the utmost importance.
Locating a fairly tight section of brush that will give Olivia enough privacy for her business, I shift her gently in my arms. Placing her between a mossy log and a tree with low-hanging branches, I give her my lower tail to use to help adjust herself, coiling the thinner section under her arms until she is seated comfortably.
“I will return to the others and send Julia to help you move your clothes.” For some reason, my cheeks burn once the words leave me.
“Thank you for your help but no need. I think I’ll be fine from here. Just come back in a couple of minutes.”
She pulls her leg inward and I give her a nod, unwinding my tail and moving away. “I will give you privacy but I will remain near so that you are ssssafe.”
“Okay.”
Her voice is tremulous but I do not dwell on it. I cannot alleviate her fear of me despite how much I dislike it. Nor should I. She should be afraid. Her fear will keep her safe.
Julia is not afraid enough and it is a problem. I did not need to make the other females fear me, they were already scared enough at first. But her? I have only seen her afraid once.
That day I found her with a hurt foot, hiding, her gun gripped in her hand, her eyes and aim locking directly on me when I appeared in front of her.
It was by pure chance I found her. She had done a good job covering her scent with dirt, obscuring her tracks, and being quiet. I could have passed her right by.
Her fear had startled me. She had not been afraid of me upon our first meeting. Suspicious, yes, but I had sensed no fright. But it was the fear I scented that gave her position away.
Once our eyes had met, panic flashed in hers but then it was gone.
She had heard me coming but had not seen that it was me.
Her only fear was that she was about to be abducted, to lose her freedom.
Back then I had not realized how dangerous her fearlessness would be, and because of that, I have had no choice but to try and make her understand how easily her precious life might be snuffed out.
I am grateful she remained inside Zaku’s home for as long as she did.
Her safety is the most important thing to me and if it means letting her return to her people, I will do it. A life of loneliness is still better than death. I will not have her hurt or die on my account when I have no safe place to take her.
“I’m done.”
I cock my head in Olivia’s direction, coiling my tail under me to return to her, only to find her lifting the side of her shirt and fiddling with the banded cloth covering her wound. She winces but does not drop her shirt as I near. Instead, she peers up at me.
“Am I going to die?” she asks, her brow wrinkling deeply.
I freeze, taken aback by her question. Sliding my gaze over her, I take a moment to search her form.
I lean away to look at the partially bloody cloth covering the wound under her arm, noticing some of it is fresh.
Peering back at her masked-face and worried eyes, I shift my hand forward towards her bandages and wait for her to answer my unspoken one.
The nod she gives me is unexpectedly sharp.
Careful with my touch, I wrap my tailtip around her arm to support her as she slowly holds up the side of her shirt higher. I lean forward until my face is hovering next to her wound at the crux of her armpit. I close my eyes and release a deep, rumbling hiss, hoping it might help relax her.
Faster than normal, her heartbeat jumps, but swiftly dulls back to a slower tempo due to the weakness of her wounded body. Not strong by any measure, but the consistency of its pattering has me switching my focus to her veins, which barely thrum from blood loss.
Inhaling her scent deep into me, I focus on it to the exclusion of all others.
Pulling away, I gently uncoil my tail from Olivia’s arm and let her rest it at her side. Her shirt lowers with it. “Have you been hurt elsewhere that is not known to me?” My eyes shift to her legs, her shoes, then back to her mask.
She wears a loose black shirt that Julia had loaned her this morning and a pair of blue pants.
Besides grass stains at the knees, they have been kept mostly clean.
She is lighter in coloring, like Daisy or Laura, but with dirty blonde hair rather than straight blonde.
Her hair falls flat against her cheeks to round out around her jaw and chin.
Lanks of it are matted together, tousled about her ears.
Nothing about her looks healthy, but none of the females, except maybe Celeste, had a dissimilar appearance upon their arrival.
Most had all been so pale it was like they had never been in the presence of the sun. Which, I know now, they never really had, not even Shelby or Julia.
“My arm aches but it’s getting better,” Olivia says.
“You do not smell sick nor smell infected. Yet,” I answer her initial inquiry. “You sound weak because you are weak. But that will change once you will see those who can tend to you. You will get better.”
She tilts her head and frowns up at me. “What makes you say that? How do you know I’ll get better?”
“Because I plan to make sure of it.”
She side-eyes me, checking me over, her eyes hooding tiredly.
I have accepted her fear of me and I do not plan to try and change that, but that does not mean I will not help her get back to her people and to those who can heal her.
Even if it puts me in increased danger. If the humans cannot save her, then I will seek out Azsote and his female or bargain for access to Zaku’s pod. It is the right thing to do.
And it is what Julia would want.
“I lost my aunt on the ship.”
I hesitate and stare at her before speaking. “I have lost my family too.”
“You kind of remind me of her.” She takes a long breath, and winces the entire way through it. “She was also self-sacrificing.” She takes another, long, slow breath.
Self-sacrificing?
“It’s what ultimately got her killed, I think. I feel like I can barely breathe.” She draws in another heavy breath, flinching inwardly as she begins to release it. “It hurts. I miss her.”
I frown down at her, noticing how her hand cups the side of her torso. “What is wrong?”
She wheezes and shakes, leaning to the side. “I can barely breathe,” she repeats, then sputters into a coughing fit. I slip my tail around her back to keep her from falling on her side. “Krellix—”
I lean in to seize her mask with my hands, yanking it down. “Breathe,” I order, hissing down at her, frantically searching for the source of what is making it difficult for her.
She starts sobbing and I draw back in alarm as she clutches her chest, her wheezing sharpening, quickening, sending her into a panicked state as she curls up onto her side on the ground.
I pull my tail back, ready to turn to get Julia, but hesitate and chance hauling the young female back into my embrace, taking her with me.
Her crying deepens but she does not fight me as I quickly return to the others.
My eyes move over the two males as I come upon them with speed. “You must run or be left behind,” I growl out. I look for Julia, but do not spot her around any of the nearby trees or bushes. “She is lossssing her breath,” I warn, speeding past them.
Where is Julia?
Quinton rushes to my side. One look at Olivia has him cursing. “Shit. Go!” He runs alongside me for a few paces, branches slapping against him. “She’s going to die if she doesn’t get to a doctor!”
I thrash my tail in frustration, picking up speed.
“Go!” he shouts, tripping. “It could be her lungs.”
I race for the encampment without looking back.