Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Trunk
The question hangs in the air between us.
I could lie or deflect, buying myself more time to figure out how to handle this. But I’ve never lied to her and I’m not going to start now.
“Yes.”
Her breath catches. She sits up fully, the covers pooling around her waist. “Yes? Since when?”
I force myself to sit up too and face her properly. This conversation deserves that much. “Since the med lab. The moment the tech said your fertility was restored, I inhaled. And your scent was different.” I hold her gaze. “You’re compatible. You’re my Bride.”
“But you told me I wasn’t.” Her brow furrows. “On the path that night, you said—”
“I told you the truth then as I knew it. You weren’t compatible, according to your scent. I believe your infertility was masking the bond markers.” I take a breath. “You were always mine. Your body just couldn’t tell me.”
She’s quiet, processing this. Her fingers twist in the dark fabric of the covers.
“I was confused from the moment you arrived,” I continue.
“I scented you and the answer was no. But everything else said yes. I felt protective towards you and I soon realized I didn’t want you to leave.
And I wanted to be near you constantly.” I shake my head.
“Xylan don’t feel this way about females who aren’t their mates. It made no sense.”
“So you were... stuck?”
“Caught between two truths. My nose said no. Everything else said yes.” I meet her eyes. “It was maddening.”
She tilts her head, studying me in the soft blue glow of my crystal. “And now you know.”
“Now I know. I could always scent your arousal, though.”
“You... you could smell my...?” She sucks in a sharp breath. “Oh no. Oh gods.”
“Every time we were close. Every time you looked at me.” I can’t help the small smile that tugs at my mouth. “Even when I slept on your floor.”
She groans and covers her face with her gloved hands. “This is the most embarrassing moment of my life. I thought I was being so subtle.”
“You were not subtle.”
“I was! I was very subtle!”
I grin. “You were not. But do not worry. I was flattered that a female of your obvious worth would want to pleasure mate with a Xylan who’d said he didn’t trust journalists.”
“I’m going to die.” She falls back against the pillows dramatically. “I’m going to die right here in your bed. From embarrassment.”
“Please don’t. I’ve only just found you.”
She peeks at me through her fingers. “You’re enjoying this.”
“Very much.”
She lowers her hands and looks at me seriously, all traces of humor gone from her face.
“So what happens now that we know that you want me and I want you? What happens next?”
I sober immediately. This is the part that matters.
“Well, right now I remain dormant. Even though your scent lights up my protective instincts, I cannot become enflamed until we clasp bare hands. And when this occurs, the claiming fever starts. It’s immediate. There’s no stopping it once it begins.”
“What does enflamed mean…?”
“Awakened.” I pause, choosing my words carefully.
“All Xylan are celibate until they clasp hands with their confirmed mate. But once we touch — bare skin to bare skin — the mating hormones will flood my body and I will need to claim you immediately. The fever is overwhelming. Primal. I won’t be fully in control. ”
She swallows hard. “Will you accidentally hurt me?”
“Never.” The word comes out fierce. Absolute. “It makes me desperate for you, not violent toward you. But I need you to understand what claiming means.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s an ancient ritual. A recreation of the mating hunt our ancestors performed on Chronos, before we became civilized.
We still perform this hunt all the time, it is basically equivalent to a human wedding ceremony.
But instead I will invoke the ancient language and I will tell you to run and I will chase you and hunt you down.
Your job will be to fight and make it hard for me to claim you.
“I fight?”
“The longer you evade me, the more you resist, the more honor you bring to us both.” I pause. “Naomi broke Chief’s arm during their claiming. He still brags about it.”
Her eyes go wide. “She broke his arm?”
“Dropped a heavy door on it. Snapped the bone.” I can’t help the pride in my voice. “Males display their wounds from a claiming. Scars. Broken bones. Bite marks. If you can hurt me, you should.”
“That’s...” She shakes her head slowly. “That’s not at all what I expected.”
“The other Brides say it’s terrifying and thrilling at the same time. The adrenaline, the instinct to run and hide and fight. And when I catch you — and I will catch you — you’ll want me to claim you. The pheromones will make sure of that.”
“And then?”
“Then I mark you as mine. We mate.” I force myself to say the rest. “And you will likely conceive immediately. The claiming is designed for breeding. That’s why scenting is tied to fertility.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“I want you to be my bride, but I also need to know this is what you really want. That’s why didn’t say anything at first when I realized the scent was confirmed at the med lab. You’d just discovered that you could conceive. And you were probably still thinking you were returning to New Earth.”
She nods, her expression serious.
“You need to know everything about what mating with me entails. Right now I have scented you and yes, it would be very difficult for me if you left and went back to your life on New Earth, but it is something I could handle. We haven’t yet clasped hands and mated.
But if you did decide to leave after that, I would literally die.
Before taking part in a claiming ceremony with me you need to know that Xylan mate for life. There is no divorce.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that before, that’s there’s no divorce in your species.”
“And you will become pregnant immediately. You just learned today that you can have offspring. Do you want to be a mother?”
Her eyes widen. “That’s a good point. Just yesterday I was thinking that I’d never be able to become pregnant and now you’re saying if we had sex I’ll be pregnant right away.”
“Do you want to have children?”
“I do. I really do. I was hoping that one day I’d find a husband who wanted to adopt. I just…I thought that was like a minimum of five years in my future, not right this second,” she smiles.
“While you’re thinking about that, there’s something else that is very important to consider.
If you decide to mate with me, you’ll have to remain with me on Timbur for the rest of my lifespan.
We could leave occasionally on vacations, but I cannot ever relocate and take a job elsewhere.
My fever bond with the Illibrium crystals is permanent.
Breaking it is possible but traumatic, basically every miner’s worst nightmare.
My oldest brother was forced out and had to break his bond and leave his personal crystal behind, which was terrible.
If you become my Bride, you will live here permanently.
And I would hope that you would agree to living here, in this compound, with my family. ”
She bites her lip. “And what about my career?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s something else I was planning on finding out about before mentioning all of this to you.
I don’t have a solution yet, but I will.
Leah mentioned they need someone to document the mine’s processes.
Roxy works with the IHO on their healthcare initiatives.
There might be options for you, helping with these projects.
” I force myself to say it, even though it costs me, “But I can’t promise you the life you had before. I understand if that’s not enough.”
She’s quiet for a long moment. I can practically see her mind working, turning everything over.
“So let me make sure I understand,” she says slowly. “If I clasp your hand, I’m agreeing to marriage forever, no divorce, instant pregnancy, living on Timbur permanently, giving up my apartment in Singapore, never going back to my old life, and being chased through... where exactly?”
“Most likely the jungle here on Timbur, or in a holo suite that will hold a recreation of the original forest on Chronos.”
“Being chased through a forest by a seven-foot alien who wants to—” She cuts herself off, her cheeks flushing again. “And I’m supposed to fight you. And probably lose.”
“You will definitely lose,” I agree. “But you’ll make me work for it.”
“And everyone will know? Your family?”
“The claiming is usually recorded. It’s legally required for the mating to be binding under the Scales of Xylan Law.” I watch her face carefully. “But the human Brides have... opted out of the traditional viewing party.”
Her eyes go wide. “There’s a viewing party?”
“Xylans watchs the bride fight back, it’s considered a glorious moment. Leah explained to everyone that humans find this embarrassing.”
“Leah is a saint.”
“Ines.”
She looks at me.
“I want you to stay.” I keep my voice steady, even though my hearts are pounding.
“I want you to be my Bride. But this is your choice. I will not force you. If you decide this isn’t what you want, I will let you go and I will not ever bother you again and allow you to carry on with your life as you see fit.
” It costs me everything to say it. My claws flex inside my gloves.
Every instinct screams at me to grab her, hold her, never let her leave.
But she deserves the choice.
“I’m not an easy male,” I admit. “I’m gruff. I often say the wrong things. I’ve spent my whole life in this mine with my brothers and I don’t know how to be... soft. I can’t promise I’ll be good at this.”
“At what?”
“At being your mate. At making you happy.” I look down at my gloved hands. “But I would try. Every day. I would try.”
She’s quiet for a beat and then she responds, “I’ve been alone for a long time.
You need to know that my parents are gone and my siblings are scattered across different planets.
My best friend Ana died and I never really let anyone else in after that.
” She takes a shaky breath. “If I left I’d be going back to an empty apartment in Singapore to eat dinner alone and wonder why I’m working so hard when there’s no one to share it with. ”
“Ines—”
“Let me finish.” She holds up a hand. “Tonight your family fed me bone broth. They made me drink recovery blend. Jana made pancakes because she remembered I said they were my favorite.” Her voice cracks slightly.
“I got stabbed today and they all fussed over me like I mattered. Like I belonged.” She looks at me with watery eyes.
“I spent years telling myself I was fine being alone. I really do love my career. But…I was so lonely, Texon. And I didn’t even let myself admit it. ”
She reaches out and takes my gloved hand in hers.
“I want this,” she says. “I’ve spent the last several days interviewing and talking with everyone you care about and learning your job and meeting your family. I want not only you, but your family too and Timbur.”
She squeezes my hand and exhales. “I would love waking up in this bed every morning with you. I want to be a mother and have your offspring. I want to grow old here with beings who actually show up for each other. And I do not mind at all, about leaving my job back on New Earth.”
“Ines, are you certain?”
“Yes. I’m ninety-nine percent certain I can figure out some sort of remote position with one of the news services in the four sectors.” She meets my eyes steadily. “So yes. I’ll be your Bride. I’ll clasp your hand and let you chase me and probably fail to break any of your bones, but I’ll try.”
Something hot blossoms in my chest. Joy. Relief. Fierce, overwhelming possession.
Her eyes are shining in the crystal light.
I want to tear off the gloves right now. Clasp her bare hand and then start the chase. My claws flex inside the thin green fabric. My whole body strains toward her. The need is almost unbearable. But I can’t. Not yet.
“The danger isn’t over. Beings tried to kill you today. We have to wait for this.”
She’s quiet for a moment. I can see her thinking it through, can see the moment she accepts the logic of it. “You’re right. We have to wait until things calm down and everyone feels safe and then we can do our romantic ceremony.”
“Until Kryzon is dealt with.” I hold her gaze. “Then I will claim you properly.”
We lie back down, side by side. Closer now than before. I reach over and take her hand. Gloved fingers intertwining with gloved fingers. Two layers of fabric keeping us from the fever.
“Texon?”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad it’s you.”
A smile widens across my features. “It was always you, Ines.”