Page 32 of Bound (Gladiators of the Gryn #3)

RYCH

This whole place puts me on edge. Even the knowledge the Sarkarnii occasionally use it as a base doesn’t help. Those scaly vrexers don’t care where they stop, just as long as they can shift, eat, and are not bothered whilst doing those two things.

And very few species would ever bother a Sarkarnii without good cause. Not unless they want to be flame grilled.

Same for the Gryn, save for the occasional suicidal Habosu. I should be proud of what we are, but my need to protect my mate, to keep Chrissie from the violence and death—it is overwhelming.

As is my need to nest for her. I wanted to last night but couldn’t procure anything to decorate the room in which we stayed in the short time we were there. My whole being feels like I’m being spun dry with the need to show her what a good male I am.

How beautiful a nest I can build.

If I don’t get a chance soon, I have concerns I might lose my Chrissie to another male. Concerns I know are irrational, but I can’t control them.

I set my wings and try to concentrate on what the Voltes is saying. It is something about food, which is good. At least I can feed my mate, even if I cannot nest for her.

“Sit.” Red points at a table which is reminiscent of those in the dining hall of the dome. Long and large, with bench seats.

Chrissie perches on one side, and I fold up my wings to sit next to her.

“What do you think?” she asks me. “Where are we going to go if we can’t stay here?”

I growl under my breath. “We will stay here. I am not having you lacking in your rest because of some pathetic Habosu.”

“I don’t want you to get into trouble,” Chrissie says.

“My little mate, I am trouble,” I growl.

I’m rewarded by the scent of her arousal, something else which makes me want to nest. I pluck at the fabric covering the table, enjoying how it feels under my claws and consider if it would make a good nest.

“All Gryn are trouble,” Red says, carrying two huge platters with ease from the back of her establishment. They steam, and the smell of meat surrounds us. “Gladiators are the worst.”

Chrissie slips her hand into my feathers, and I feel my jaw weaken.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she says. “I think you just need to know how to handle them.”

Red smiles, showing her white fangs as she puts down the food in front of us. My stomach makes a growling sound to rival any I might consciously make in my throat.

“Feeding and care of Gryn warriors,” Chrissie says. “Something I’m getting good at.”

Her fingers go deeper, and all I can think about is nesting, putting Chrissie in my nest and mating with her until she grows ripe and round.

“Okay, you can stay here tonight.” Red’s voice penetrates my haze. “Not in this place. You can come to my home.”

“We can?”

“I think you’ve demonstrated he’s dwelling trained,” Red says with a snort.

I growl at her. “I am perfectly trained, in all forms of combat and death.” I rattle my feathers.

“Good,” Chrissie says. “Red has some wood which needs chopping.”

It appears there has been an entire conversation I’ve missed. But given I got the opportunity to think about nests, I’m prepared to let it go.

The Voltes has brought plenty of meat, and having made sure my little mate has sufficient, I waste no time in consuming the rest. My appetite is almost as bottomless as Blayn’s today.

When we’re finished, Red takes us out of the back and through some winding streets until we arrive in front of a building built out of solid stone and which seems to be without doors or windows.

“Looks like a cell,” I growl.

“That’s because it is,” Red says. “And you’re going in it, Gryn, along with your little mate. Not only do we not want Gryn in our town, but there’s a price on your head.”

I thrust out my wings, but the planet tips on its axis and I find I can’t stand.

“Paraxio!” The word is like a poison. The one drug I can’t metabolize quickly.

“!” Chrissie cries, as she’s grabbed around the shoulders by the Habosu from earlier.

“We’ll get plenty of credits for these two.” He laughs nastily.

“I told you.” Red smiles, her eyes glittering with menace. “Put him in the cell. I’ll take her back to mine. Her continuing existence is an incentive for the Gryn to behave himself, and her continuing health will please the Loxzian.”

The paraxio rolls through my system. It must have been in the meat I was given as Chrissie seems unaffected.

I curse myself for this situation. Just because one place showed a kindness, I let my guard down. Red kicks me in the chest, and I go sprawling on my back, unable to help myself. She relieves me of my weapon and inspects it carefully.

“Good Haaluxian steel.” She puts a foot on my throat. “I think I’ll keep this, Gryn.”

“The Sarkarnii?”

“You think a place like this would welcome creatures like those?” She cackles. “Those marks were made by my own kind, Gryn. And I’m in need of an upgrade. The credits I will get for you will come in handy.”

She grabs hold of Chrissie, making her cry out in pain.

My entire body goes rigid.

“Do not hurt my mate,” I snarl out.

“Or what, you’re going to drool at me?” Red retorts and the Habosu laughs, reaching down to grab a wing.

“I warned you,” I respond, flicking the Habosu into the wall, which he hits with a loud crack. “I am trained in all forms of combat.” I flip to my feet and catch Red under her chin with my other wing. She releases Chrissie in alarm, and I pull her away. “And death.”

I spear the Voltes’ body with my claws and heave her over my head, spinning her away from us before I pull my mate into my arms, and with a clumsy running start, I pull us both into the air and away from Szar.