Page 15

Mia paced in her office, rubbing the headache burgeoning in her temples. After a mere three days of rest, Zoran had returned to work, citing unavoidable duty. Though she’d gone back to work the same day, it had taken her another two days to shake free of the memories of him unconscious and bleeding before she could concentrate. In her absence, the mated humans had retreated to their new jutjil , where they’d likely be more effective anyway.

It's not like she was getting anything done.

She dropped her tablet on her desk and glared at the paper scattered across it. Requests for help littered her local inbox. People dropped by her office at all hours, human and Xeruvian alike, seeking her advice. Her own work had been completely abandoned, both the research interrupted by her kidnapping and the work she was attempting to do here. The work she wanted to do. She was being pulled in too many directions to be effective at any one.

Jyrak knocked on the door and let herself in, her gaze taking in Mia’s pinched expression, the mess on her desk, and the hole Mia was wearing in the flooring. “You asked to see me?”

Mia flopped down in her chair, scowling. “I’m drowning here.”

“There is water?”

“Oh, my God,” Mia groaned. “No. It’s a figure of—never mind. I need help, desperately. This,” she waved her hands helplessly, “is not my forte. I’m a glorified botanist, not an administrator. My research is suffering. We need to organize pretty much everything. I need an assistant or, no. I need someone to take all of this over so I can focus on something besides answering emails.”

Jyrak slipped all the way into the office and silently closed the door. “You wish to abdicate your duty to the clan?”

“Not when you put it like that,” Mia muttered, frowning.

“What other way is there to put it?”

“I don’t know what I can say other than what I already have. I’m a scientist. We need an administrator. I know this falls to me because Zoran’s a warlord—”

“If I may,” Jyrak said. “Lord Zoran is but one warlord. Such rank, like the rank of warrior, is earned through devoted practice and skill in the sacred art of Ky’Lota. I am a warrior, not because of my husband’s skill and rank, but because of my own. Thus is Lord Zoran a warlord, a rank beyond warrior that takes many years and devotion to completing difficult tasks to earn. Many warlords live within this jutji , though none is as skilled and ferocious as your mate.”

“Then why me?”

“Because he is the clan warlord .” When Mia continued to stare helplessly at her, Jyrak added, “The clan’s protector, a direct descendant of its founder. Our leader. Through him, this duty falls to you, this and others.”

“And others.” Mia dropped her face into her palms. “Don’t you get it? I’m not cut out for this. I have no training. Isn’t there anyone else who can do the admin work? Someone who can oversee the science, coordinate the research, something? Whoever did it before I came along.”

“You wish to return these duties to Mother Alara?”

Mia ignored the careful way Jyrak worded her question. “Yes! Absolutely. Do you think she’d be willing to take over the administration again and teach me how to do it?”

“Ah. You wish for a sensei .”

“And an assistant. One or two assistants who’d be willing to help all of us handle some of the administrative tasks.” Mia leaned forward and selected a list she’d been compiling. “Like this. I need someone who can figure out how to set up communications with Earth—”

“Such was done during the voyage to your home planet.”

“Really? I had no idea. How do I even—” Mia held up a hand, forestalling her own question. “Do you see now why I need help? Just look at this list.”

Jyrak glanced down at it and frowned. “I cannot understand your written language.”

“Exactly! Imagine having to save your mate when you can’t read the labels on the medicine he needs.”

“Yet did you show courage and ingenuity in saving him.”

Ha. Mia was wise to that trick. Zoran used it on her all the time.

“I will relay a request to my brother,” Jyrak continued, “asking him to connect our devices to the communications relay so as to facilitate contact between humans and Earth.”

“Not just humans,” Mia corrected. “You Xeruvians, too. I want my mother to look at the research your people did into the virus that claimed your fertility. She used to study these things. I think her input might be helpful.”

“But the virus was natural! What could your mother determine that we could not?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. I just have this feeling that there’s more to the story than what I’ve read. And I want to stop leaning on you so heavily.”

Jyrak stiffened into an almost militaristic stance. “Have I served you so poorly?”

“You’ve been a godsend, which is exactly why I want you to help me find an assistant who isn’t also a full-blown researcher. I want you to be able to focus on your own research again.”

“I see.”

“Good. Then you’ll stop making me feel guilty about shoving all the admin work onto more capable shoulders.” Jyrak snorted, and Mia grinned. “Can you set up a meeting for me? I’d like to discuss a few things with the other humans, all of them, as well as the Xeruvian scientists who work in this jutji . Call them all in. Make it as soon as possible, ok? We have a lot of work to do.”

Jyrak bowed her head, then turned to leave. She had her hand on the door when she said, “You are not as incapable as you believe. Even with the mating instinct riding him, Lord Zoran would not have placed you in positions of power if he could not trust you to honor our people.”

Mia had no idea how to respond to that. Jyrak didn’t give her a chance to anyway. The other woman slipped out of the office as quietly as she’d entered, leaving Mia to her lists and scattered thoughts.

Zoran knocked politely on the underground biology lab where specimens were stored for later study. Ryven Korlis opened it immediately, stepping back with a respectful nod for Zoran to enter.

Zoran studied the young warlord surreptitiously. Ryven was perhaps a decade younger, not quite grown into his full height and breadth, but already a respected warrior in his own right, by fang and claw. He had earned the warlord rank just prior to the Council finalizing plans to approach the humans, and thus also earned a permanent position within the jutji ’s security forces as well as a berth on their first mission to Earth. Who better to make such journeys than their brightest future?

Who better to search out the truth of the vyirkolen attack?

Ryven’s younger sister lounged in the corner of the chilly room, her impudent gaze bold on him.

Zoran ignored her. Raelka might possess some small talent in the sciences, but she remained a child, barely of an age to conduct the work Alara had assigned to her. An impudent, unruly child. Perhaps Mia could mold Ryven’s sister into an adult worthy of the clan.

To Ryven, Zoran said, “The vyirkolen ?”

Ryven strode to a table where the creature lay prone. “We have not been able to ascertain whether it was brought here recently or if it was part of a pack that eluded our warriors after the final Var’Kolite war.”

Zoran’s hand tightened into a fist at his side as he stared dispassionately at the predator. “Was there a tracking device? Any sign someone directed it from afar?”

“No, my lord. The search continues for its mate, if indeed it has one.”

“They always traveled in pairs,” Zoran murmured.

“Then we shall be doubly cautious.”

“I commend your zeal, as does my mate.”

Raelka’s teeth gritted together.

Zoran ignored her. “Tell me what you have discovered of this vyirkolen .”

Ryven launched into a detailed summary of the creature’s wounds, its size, the strength of its venom.

“You were lucky to survive that scratch,” Ryven said grimly. “If your mate had acted any slower, if she had not been so prompt to inject you with the antivenom, the consequences could have been dire. Thank the Fates we still carry it in our medical kits.”

“Thank the Fates my mate’s curiosity drove her to study the conveyance’s controls, else we might still be stranded on the old fort road.”

Ryven touched the middle fingers of his right hand to his forehead, mouth, and chest, then lifted his hand to the heavens. “The Fates bestowed a great blessing upon you when they led you to her.”

Raelka jumped to her feet. “It is no great blessing to be saddled with a weak little human who can’t even tie her shinsek’uk properly.”

Zoran stiffened and stared down at the female as Ryven rounded on his sister and hissed a warning to her.

Raelka sniffed and flounced back, her arms once again crossed over her chest.

Ryven bowed low to Zoran. “Apologies, my lord. Raelka stopped by to deliver a message from our parents. I should have dismissed her prior to our meeting.”

“The apology is not yours to make,” Zoran said coldly. “Since Raelka is young and has only just now come of age, I will allow her this one outburst. However, should she speak of my mate or the other humans in such a tone again, I shall have no recourse but to banish her.”

“No!” Raelka gasped.

Ryven’s jaw worked as his teeth ground together. “Perhaps it would be wise to remove her from the science center now, my lord, before she stirs trouble among her betters.”

“Perhaps,” Zoran agreed. “But that decision lies solely with my mate. If Raelka can humble herself before the humans, perhaps Lady Kerus will allow her to remain in her current position.”

Ryven bowed again. “Yes, my lord.”

“Peace be unto you, Ryven.”

“And unto you.”

Zoran pivoted away before his irritation prodded him to render punishment to Ryven’s sister in his mate’s stead.

As the door closed slowly behind him, he heard Ryven hissing another warning at his sister.

“I escaped the burning fever,” Raelka responded savagely. “I may still be fertile. He should have looked first to me for his mate, as should the unmated warriors who betrayed our females by sniffing among the humans for their mates.”

The blunt statement infuriated Zoran. Quietly, he slipped to the side and pressed a hand against the door, holding it slightly open.

“Do not be stupid, brat,” Ryven replied, as coldly as Zoran had earlier. “If you were meant for him or any of the others, you would be mated now. No male’s mating instinct rose for you, Raelka, and none will so long as you behave as a child.”

“But it is not fair! She is a filthy, mewling human , unworthy to be mated to a Xeruvian.” A slap cracked against flesh, and the girl whimpered, “It should have been me.”

“Foolish girl,” Ryven hissed. “You are no more than a grain of sand in Lady Kerus’s shoe. Never shame our family again with your petty hatred.”

Zoran gently closed the door and stalked away. So. The girl had aligned her voice with his opposition. No doubt Mia had already observed the girl’s recalcitrant behavior and taken measures to correct it. He was tempted to interfere, but no. This was his mate’s domain. If Raelka’s behavior became intrusive, he would step in. Until then, Mia must handle the child as she saw fit.

With that decision made, he strode up the stairs to the science center’s main level and sought out his mate among the researchers diligently tackling the many problems his people faced.

Zoran found Mia in her office, discussing various matters with his mother and Jyrak Kael. The entrance remained open. Loath to disturb her, curious as to the work she had chosen to undertake, he hovered just beyond the threshold, listening.

“Your reasoning is clear, my daughter,” Alara said. “Perhaps we should discard our assumptions and reinvestigate the earthquakes and the infertility plague.”

Zoran stiffened, surprised. Mia had chosen to reopen the investigation into the disasters that had ultimately led to their mating? For what purpose?

Mia hummed under her breath. “I can’t speak to the earthquakes, but the way the pathogen spread seems weird to me. Its focus was too specific. Most natural pathogens don’t work that way, from my understanding.”

“Such is our experience as well,” Jyrak said, then bit off a rare curse. “Why did we not question this when we first investigated the matter?”

“Shock?” Mia said. “Grief?”

“Indeed.” A pause, then Alara sighed. “Have you spoken to Thorian about direct communications with Earth? I should like to discuss this matter with Mia’s mother, given her experience with such pathogens.”

Zoran’s surprise gave way to the first stirring of anger. He had specifically cautioned Thorian against allowing the human females to contact their Earth families. The women must be given adequate time to come to terms with their new status as citizens of Zephyria, to understand that they could never return to their former homes.

He would never let Mia go. Had he not explained this to her? Did she even now dare to defy him?

Had she been using her fellow scientists to help her escape?

Jyrak grunted. “He says it is a simple request, yet does he delay the doing.”

“Men,” Mia said sagely, drawing mild humor from her companions.

“It will be done,” Alara assured her. “Your mother is a valuable resource. I welcome the opportunity to speak with her, one scientist to another.”

“She’ll be ecstatic to hear from you.” Mia hesitated a moment. “Are you sure you don’t mind stepping back into an administrative role here?”

Zoran’s temper broke, washing over him in a wave of furious rage. He stepped into the room and snarled, “What is this?”

Mia startled and whirled around, her expression bright and welcoming. “Zoran! We didn’t see you standing there.”

Alara and Jyrak exchanged a concerned glance, then Alara said, “Jyrak, would you contact the organizer of the upcoming festival in my stead and assure that it progresses well?”

Jyrak immediately dropped her head in a sharp, respectful bow. “Yes, milady.” She shot an unreadable look at Mia as she hurried out.

Mia’s smile had faded. “Is something wrong? Did you get bad news about the vyirkolen ?”

Before Zoran could snap at her, Alara clasped her hands behind her back. “All will be as it should, my daughter.”

“Ok,” Mia said, drawing the word out slowly.

Alara pivoted toward Zoran, her expression hard. “Do not assume, my son, when you have not all the answers.”

She marched away, closing the door quietly behind herself.

Zoran reached over and locked it, ensuring privacy. None would dare interrupt his next actions, on pain of facing his wrath.

Mia glanced at the door, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Ok, now you’re scaring me. What’s wrong, Zoran?”

“What is wrong?” His voice was deceptively quiet as he stalked toward her. “My mate plots against me, then asks what is wrong?”

“N-no,” Mia said, shaking her head as she stepped away from him. “Where did you get a crazy idea like that?”

“You wish to contact Earth, though I have expressly forbidden it. You wish to return there when I have declared Zephyria to be your home. You have abdicated a position afforded you because you are my mate and responsible for the wellbeing of our clan!”

The final words came out in a roar. Mia flinched and held out a hand, as if to placate him. “You’ve got it all wrong, Zoran. If you’d let me explain—”

“Enough!” he growled. “Sit down.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Her quiet words snapped whatever tenuous control remained within him. He leapt forward, crowding her until she dropped into her chair, and leaned into her, his face nearly touching hers.

“Lift your tunic,” he commanded, his voice a sharp whip.

She flinched again, then jerked her head to the side in the human equivalent of a negative. “Not when you’re like this.”

“When I am like what, mate? Explain to me what I am.”

“Angry.”

A low laugh rumbled out of him, and for the first time he saw true fear in her gaze.

Good. She understood him well now.

Casually, he reached down and flicked a claw through the waistband of her breeches, ripping the cloth away from her womanly folds. She wore human underwear, the same pair she had worn the day he found her, and that infuriated him all the more.

Did she cling to her past so fiercely then?

Without a thought for the consequences, he shredded it, leaving her skin unmarked and whole despite his fury. A part of him whispered, Protect her .

And he would, always, even with the mating frenzy riding him so hard, it was all he could do not to claim her then and there.

Yet now must he impart a different lesson, one of a warrior to his defiant mate.

She trembled, though she did not cover herself, and the warm scent of her burgeoning arousal teased his nostrils. “What are you doing?”

“Whatever I wish, mate .” He met her gaze then, let her see the turmoil raging within him, the turmoil she had created with her defiance. “Do not cry out.”

He fell upon her then, lashing his tongue across the sweet bud between her thighs, driving her into a swift orgasm. Her thighs trembled against his face, and she held one hand to her mouth, stifling her gasps.

He rumbled his pleasure at her compliance as he ran his fangs along her unmarked thigh. Soon , he assured himself, then tested her readiness with one finger, careful even in his frenzy not to cut her fragile skin. Her tight little channel dripped for him, and he nearly purred at finding her so.

“Good girl,” he whispered hoarsely.

A strangled groan issued from her throat, pleasing him all the more. Such restraint his mate demonstrated.

He added a second finger to the first and delved within her, seeking her inner pleasure zone, stretching her until she shook and squirmed under his touch. Her second orgasm pulsed unexpectedly against his fingers, surprising him in its intensity. With his fingers still buried deep in her pussy, he shoved his fangs into her thigh. She jerked against him, then moaned helplessly, quietly as he had commanded her. And when he had marked her satisfactorily, he sucked her clit into his mouth and drove her into a third frantic orgasm.

Before it had completely faded, he withdrew from her, unfastened his shinsek’uk , and shoved his breeches down, baring the hard, demanding length of his erection.

Her eyes widened as she took it in, though she remained silent and quivering, still gripped by the ecstasy he had given her.

He leaned forward and pressed the tip of his cock to her opening. “Do you trust me?”

She nodded once.

“What am I to you?” he demanded harshly.

Her hand slowly dropped to her lap, trembling against her torn clothing. “My mate.”

He slid his hand under her hair and clasped her slender nape, drawing her forward until their noses touched and he could draw her breath into his mouth, and give her his in return. “I will never let you go, Mia. Not even death will loosen my hold on you.”

“I know,” she whispered.

The mating frenzy abated abruptly, though he ached to bury himself in her, to feel her hands on his skin, to have her love him as he was coming to love her.

Was his wish so impossible?

He released her, stood, and tidied his clothing, then walked out of her office, closing the door quietly behind him to preserve her dignity.

The outer room had been deserted. Zoran stalked through it and outside without encountering a single soul.

His mother stood beside his conveyance, her sword drawn, her posture ready.

“How dare you!” she said, furiously. “How dare you attack your mate in such a manner!”

He scoffed. “There was no attack, mother. Mia remains unharmed save for one additional mating mark.”

“Given in punishment. You defile your mating bond out of your own fear.”

“I defile nothing!” he roared. “She is my mate, mine , given to me by the Fates, and she dares plot her escape?”

“She dares nothing, child. If you had but listened—”

“I heard enough.”

“You heard nothing!” she shouted. “Mia has pledged her loyalty to you. She has openly claimed you as her mate. What more can you demand of her?”

“She has not accepted me fully. Until she has, I cannot allow her—”

It was her turn to scoff. “ Allow . As if you have any say in what she does! My son, my son. Have I not taught you better? Do you not understand that you force her at your own folly?”

He glanced away, suddenly ashamed of his behavior, of losing control of his own baser instincts and allowing the frenzy to overtake him. “I used no force.”

“Did you not?” Sighing, she relaxed her stance and sheathed her sword at her back. “Perhaps you should ask your mate to relay the conversation she held with me and Jyrak before passing judgment upon her.”

Zoran nodded tightly. “If you so wish it.”

“I wish many things, my son, yet do the Fates deny me. In this, at least, I hope they find favor.”

She stalked away without waiting for his rejoinder.

Zoran stared after her long after she’d disappeared.