Chapter 19
Vytln
The load up and launch of the Humility away from Cort-Valla was quick and practiced.
Vytln had remained inside throughout the process so as not to be seen.
Meanwhile, the others had gone through the familiar loading and take off process like nothing was unusual.
They gave no hint that they knew Kldyn was there, for doubtlessly, he’d be watching them.
Tanin had sent the twins, Sorbet and Tebros, to tail Kldyn while they were on the station, but they otherwise behaved normally.
There were too many peacekeepers around monitoring the supply run for anyone to do anything – either them, or Kldyn.
And until Kldyn proved himself a viable threat, Tanin wouldn’t really do anything about him.
They couldn’t just go around murdering everything they disliked, no matter how convenient it might be. It would be a risk to their freedom. And that, suddenly, seemed like a much bigger threat than it had even just a few days ago.
There was no doubt in Vytln’s mind as to why.
“Do you plan to keep your female in your trap at all times?” Trove asked, snickering as the two worked together to load one of the supply crates.
Trove was a domini, which meant he was an annoying, overconfident, talkative, camouflaging fluffhead who had more bravery than brains.
He himself was an excellent marksman. He did decently well at hand-to-hand combat, but he’d had his claws removed many years ago.
The nail beds were still scared and rough from it.
Domini used their claws a lot in fighting and, without them, he was weakened considerably and so relied heavily on his weapon.
He was also an oversexed idiot who enjoyed being a pain in the iretz.
“I don’t keep her in there all the time,” Vytln grumbled, using the controller on the storage crane on the ceiling to maneuver the crate into place on the hover that Trove was controlling.
They’d reached orbit of the planet Sinval and were in rotation with all the other supply ships.
Their starship was too big to safely descend onto a planet, especially a large one with strong gravity.
So, each crate had to be loaded onto landing shuttles.
The shuttles were only large enough to carry one or two crates at a time as the crates were so big.
The Coalition had an entire army of landing shuttles doing nothing but coming up and going back down on a near constant rotation.
Tanin had all of them helping since they needed all hands to get everything done.
The entire storage room had been de-pressurized and the air sucked out so they could open the main loading doors.
They were all dressed in their envirosuits, the artificial gravity still on allowing them to walk around freely without needing to worry about the vacuum of the black.
The landing shuttles would approach and back up to the open door.
Sorbet and Tebros would hook onto their back and make sure they remained lined up.
Then, Rok – the four armed behemoth male – would work with Tanin to attach the crate to the flat platform on the back.
Once it was stable and locked, the twins would detach and the shuttle would fly off.
Another would then, almost immediately, take its place for the next crate.
On the bridge, Sway was coordinating with the shuttle pilots to keep things moving while Alred maintained their position in orbit.
All of them were working together. There were many delivery ships, all doing the same.
All of them mismatched and old. Delivery companies like theirs, willing to take on the extra risk for the extra credz.
The peacekeepers had this entire process moving like a well-oiled machine.
Even Vytln admired how smoothly it was running.
He didn't like that he was partnered with Trove on loading duty, but he probably would have complained about being with any of his crew. Not for any particular reason except that he was down here and not up with his female.
They weren’t letting the females help with this. They’d probably be fine in their envirosuits, but there was something horrific and nerve wrecking about the idea of their females being exposed to open space, even in their suits.
This was dangerous. The artificial gravity was on, and they all had magtech on their boots that would keep them grounded even if it wasn’t, but it would just take one accident, one slip, and they’d be out of the ship.
And it didn't seem like they were moving, but orbit was incredibly fast. And dangerous.
The open maw of the main doors looked down on a planet whose entire surface had been ravaged by fire. It was dark and desolate and scarred. A nightmare scape that was all that remained of a destroyed world.
No. Their females were not allowed in here while that door was open. They’d decided to instead all head to his workroom and chat with Haven. Specifically, because he refused to let her out yet.
She was still unclaimed. She wasn’t his mate yet. If she was out, if she was walking around not bound by his arms, then it was like she had escaped. And he couldn’t allow that. Not when he was so close to taking her.
But he didn't mind the females coming to visit her. That seemed normal and natural and right. He wanted them to get along, in fact. Those three were already crew. Once Haven became his, she’d be part of the crew as well.
And such was the way of females, they enjoyed gathering and chatting and tending to their young together.
Grace and Garnet were both gravid already. Haven would be soon as well.
Vytln had given up the foolish notion of not claiming her.
He’d stopped fighting the idea that she wouldn’t be his.
He only needed to wait for her to be ready.
And until then, he’d keep her either in his arms or in his trap.
Once he had his wylp in her belly, she could go wherever she wanted.
She’d be drawn helplessly back to his nest at the end of the day anyway.
He was more than comfortable with that idea. And he knew Haven didn't mind being in his nest. She only asked to come out when he was with her. Otherwise, she was happy in there, tinkering with whatever project he passed her.
But he didn't want to deal with his crew mocking him about it. Which was quite obviously what Trove was doing. He was being deliberately annoying on purpose.
“First Tanin, then Sway, now you.” Trove snickered. “It seems everyone is falling.”
“You might be next.”
“Nonsense,” Trove laughed.
Vytln grumbled but didn’t try to continue the conversation. He didn’t want to be here at all. He wanted to be with Haven.
“I know it won’t be me,” Trove smirked. “I won’t be one to fall.
Maybe the twins through? They seem to be whispering about it more and more lately.
Maybe they feel the call to find their own mate.
Or Rok. Rok would definitely want a mate for himself.
Oh, no! Alred! You see how he dotes on Goldie.
Someone should remind him he’s not real. ”
A tiny, yellow spark appeared in front of Trove’s mask and turned into a rude gesture. It was quick, gone in a flash, but it was proof that Alred was listening, and he didn't appreciate the assessment. He might be an AI, but he was still a sapient person. And one who was, indeed, focused on Goldie.
But Vytln didn't care about any of that.
He just wanted to finish his job and get back to Haven.
He wanted to try putting her in chains. To make sure they didn't hurt her.
To make sure she was open to them. Not the full binding, but he wanted to see his seed lashed across her skin again.
The bright glow of his cum on her dark skin was vekting beautiful.
He didn't think he’d be able to sleep until he knew what it looked like on her belly, on her tits, on her face.
On her drippy little cunt.
His cocks throbbed, eager for him to continue following that train of thought. But he forced himself to shove those mental images away. He had to focus on the task at hand. The sooner they finished unloading, the sooner he could get back to Haven.
And they could go to their next job and get away from his brother.
While the twins were trailing Kldyn, they’d also been gathering information on why he was here and what he might be doing.
Kldyn had signed up one of the family starships to make this same delivery run.
They must have either falsified the crew IDs, bribed the peacekeepers to look the other way, or both.
If Vytln’s original name would have forbidden them from making this delivery, Kldyn’s would as well.
And any of their cousins or associates would similarly have been flagged.
The twins weren’t able to get the answer to that question. But they did figure out that Kldyn had signed their ship up to go on this run at the last moment. After the comm he’d had with Tanin. Which meant he was definitely trying to hunt Vytln down.
There were three scheduled deliveries on this run.
Once they completed the third, they’d have completed their contract and they could get away.
The entire supply run was supposed to deliver enough to make sure the entire planet – what little remained of its population – had enough to last them for a full planetary year.
That meant a lot of ships delivering a lot of crates on a near constant schedule for the next tenday or more.
Already, there was a ship lined up to take the Humility’s place in orbit once they finished dropping their load.
Then, he could spend the rest of the time with Haven since he couldn’t help with loading up at the station. No, he’d instead pass those marks with his mate. Forgetting his past. Forging something new for his future. Hopefully planting a wylp in her belly and binding her to him forevermore.
That thought almost made dealing with Trove bearable.
Almost