Chapter 13

I sat on the couch, anxious—a normal state of existence for me. I was meeting my mentor for the first time. Kal had already left to see Pimtimzol. He’d touched my cheek for the barest moment when he said goodbye. He’d been doing that more often the last couple of days, and I didn’t stop him for reasons I refused to think about.

Lucy chittered at the paper-thin screen. Kal had brought the TV-sized screen home yesterday so we could watch shows together. Once Kal had heard about cat TV, he’d been playing birds and fish for Lucy. She was extremely excited about this new change and leaped at the TV or screamed when it was off.

A shrill beep sounded, and I stood, balling my hands in my hoodie pockets. In walked an alien who was taller than me or Kal, with swampy green skin the same texture as leather, yellow eyes, and a jutting jaw. They wore a tight brown vest, allowing me to see the black tattoos swirling up their bulging arms. They were muscular to the extreme; Urgg would put the buffest bodybuilder to shame.

“You’re Prince Kalvoxrencol’s mate?” Urgg asked, their voice smooth, yet halting.

“That’s me. You’re Urgg?” I asked.

Lucy took one look at our guest, hissed, and ran off, darting into my bedroom.

“That’s an interesting creature. Friendly like,” they commented, sitting on the couch.

“It’s my cat, Lucy. Kal let me bring her when he abducted me.”

Urgg guffawed, smacking their wide thigh. “It”s an unfortunate word choice, but I don’t think you can call it anything else.”

“Not really.” Pressure tightened my chest and sweat made my palms slick. I peeked at the open doorway of my bedroom. Safety sat right out of reach, though Urgg didn’t seem to be a bad sort of person. I took a deep breath and tried to be honest. Urgg was here to help. “It’s all been a lot.”

“I can imagine.” Urgg’s stubby fingers scratched their arm with blunt nails, catching on the leather and beaded armband they wore. “I was properly courted, but I’m not from an unsanctioned planet.”

“And he couldn’t reveal himself to me?” I asked, my voice deepening. “He had to kidnap me?”

With a pat on my arm that sent me rocking, they said, “Prince Kalvoxrencol couldn’t do anything else. The Coalition doesn’t allow fraternization with underdeveloped planets. The most you can do is take samples. Some humans have been taken for examination, but their memories are always wiped when they’re returned.”

“So you abduct people?” Maybe all those crackpots weren’t actually crackpots? What a terrifying thought.

“Not me personally or my species, but others, yes. Actually, funny tale. There’s this planet, Vveek, whose goddess resembles a tarantula. They traveled for years to your planet on a sacred pilgrimage in search of these mythical creatures. When they found Earth, they took a number of tarantulas as well as other spiders to populate their planet. In fact, there’s an illegal trade on spiders from your planet that the Vveki have been trying to end because they view all spiders as children of their goddess.”

I was still reeling from the fact aliens abducted people for samples to worry about spiders in space, though that wasn”t great either. “So,” I started, “he couldn’t talk to me or see if I even wanted to go with him because of this coalition?”

“The Drakcol Empire is a part of the Coalition of Planets, and they won’t go against the regulations. Even if they weren’t, we don’t socialize with unsanctioned planets.”

“Why? With all this technology, you could solve so many problems. Or do you not want to change our evolutionary path?”

“No one cares about that. Like at all,” Urgg said, grunting in what sounded like amusement. “And yes, we could solve some problems, but in the past when people have contacted unsanctioned planets, it hasn’t ended well. You usually want weapons and won’t share resources. One time, a people destroyed the entire planet trying to kill an enemy country. Most of the time, it’s a pain in the ass for little reward.”

Urgg made it sound like humans were irrational animals, though I doubted they meant it that way. “So he had to take me?” I persisted.

“He did,” Urgg said, giving me another bruising pat. “Once the Crystal reveals their soulmate, the drakcol has to complete the journey. They meet, court their intended for as long as it takes, bind together, and return home to reaffirm the bond or break it apart.

“There are other things, like you two can’t talk or see each other once you’ve decided to be bound and between the actual binding, a weird leftover tradition. Also, you can’t be too far from each other. I think it’s to keep the intended from fleeing, personally. Apparently, the link used to be no more than an…” I didn’t understand the measurement they specified, but NAID supplied three yards and two inches in my mind. “That changed, thank the gorgg.”

God, rock, and, oddly enough, goat rushed through my thoughts.

“After the bond is reaffirmed, you still can’t be too far away from each other because of the genetic link. Crystal-bound drakcol mates can also mind-speak.”

“NAID mentioned that, but she wasn’t exactly clear on how it works.”

“I’m not sure either. The mind-to-mind thing doesn’t work for me and Talvax. Most other species can’t because of brain chemistry or something.”

“Ah.”

“All in all, that’s it,” Urgg finished.

“It’s a lot.”

“When Talvax showed up to court me, I was flummoxed. Why would she want me?” they asked, gesturing to themselves. “It was odd, overwhelming, and scary. She kept going on and on about this crystal and being soulmates. Honestly, I thought she was a nutter and tried to avoid her like she had a transmittable disease. But we had weeks of courting before we actually decided to be together.”

“But you love her?” I asked, then gaped at my bluntness.

Urgg grinned, exposing their thick teeth and two small tusks that curled over their top lip. They smacked my arm, and I grimaced.

“No need to be upset. I do love her. She’s my soulmate. I was skeptical at first. Barbarus,” they said, and the words barbarian, warrior, and orc sounded in my mind, “don’t believe in soulmates or glowing crystals, but the weird rock was right. Talvax and I belong together.”

“I’m struggling with that part, I guess. I want to go home when this is all over,” I confessed.

“That’s your right. And if that’s what you need to do at the end, you should.”

“You’re not going to convince me to stay?”

“Not my job. My purpose is to support you through this no matter what you choose. I also want to let you know, anything you say when we meet will stay between us. I won’t even tell Talvax.”

“Thanks.”

“Certainly.”

“I have a question.”

“Go ahead,” Urgg said, slapping my arm, which made me contain a groan. I was going to be bruised by the end of this.

“Kal says we”re mates, but he also says not all drakcol seek the Crystal, so how does it work?”

They scrubbed their hair as their black tongue wetted their lips. “I’m not a drakcol, so this is not my area of expertise, but they have two types of mates, chosen and bound. Chosen mates are when a drakcol picks a person to spend their life with. Bound mates are when the Crystal chooses a soulmate and binds the two together.

“They mate for life?” I asked. Pimtimzol had said as much.

“Yes.”

“My species doesn’t.”

“Nor mine, but I chose to remain with Talvax. She is the love of my life, and she believed me when I promised to stay loyal to her.”

“I have another question,” I said.

“Go ahead.”

“This whole warrior soul thing. I’m not a warrior. I don’t even play sports.”

“That wasn’t a question, at least not in my language.”

“How can I be a warrior soul?”

“I’m a baker and I have a warrior soul. Why wouldn’t you?” they said, slapping me again.

I managed to refrain from commenting on their copious muscles. It was clear why Urgg was a warrior soul.

They must have sensed my hesitation because they continued, “People come in all shapes and sizes with different skills. My brother mated with a drakcol as well. He’s huge, scary, and has yet to find a tavern he won’t brawl in, but he’s a creative soul. He likes to make things, foster things, and create art. Personally, I don’t believe in this soul-type crap. It’s a drakcol thing and limiting. People are more than one thing, but it’s what they believe.”

“I’m no warrior.”

Urgg grunted. “It means you’re protective. You would fight before you would flee. Your warrior soul can mean whatever you want, or you can join me on the its bunk shit pile.”

NAID had a very hard time translating whatever that metaphor was.

Fight before fleeing? I scoffed. All I did was flee. “Horseshit.”

“What the fuck is a horse?”

The meeting didn’t continue much longer. When Urgg left, they invited me to visit their bakery on the fifth floor near the starboard hull.

After a few minutes of silence, Lucy poked her head out of the room and squeaked at me. She rarely meowed, but rather, made high-pitched chirps.

“It’s okay. Everyone’s gone.”

For all her craziness, Lucy was not very brave, especially with people.

I held her close as my mind circled the conversation. Nope. I shut down any thought of Urgg”s words and turned on a cooking show. About halfway through my second episode, Kal walked in. He smiled at me, but it was his small one, which made me immediately miss his beaming grin.

“How did it go?” he asked.

“Fine.”

Kal settled behind me, sitting with his back against the arm of the backless couch. For once, Lucy didn’t abandon me. He reached over to pet her as he watched the show. When the episode ended, he said, “I don’t understand.”

“What?”

“They bake things, and you like watching.”

“It’s a cooking competition. They’re trying to see who’s the best baker.”

“Why?”

I faltered. “Because they are.”

“It makes no sense.” Kal lifted his hands, palm up.

“I like it. It’s relaxing.”

His tail hooked around my wrist, and I didn’t even react—the action had become too normal to bother me. Kal hovered over me. A tingle started in my chest, spreading to my limbs. I liked his eyes. They looked like glittering amethysts.

“Do you want to do an experience?” he asked.

“You don’t want to watch my baking show?”

“No.”

I hesitated. The people-pleaser part of me wanted to say yes because he obviously wanted to go. But I didn’t want to. I was tired. Meeting new people always exhausted me.

“Can we not go today?” I asked, trying to keep my voice strong, but it came out soft. Worry prickled down my spine as I braced for the inevitable yelling.

“Sure.”

“Are you mad?” I asked. He wasn’t going to berate me or call me names?

“No, why would I be?”

Shrugging, I didn’t answer. He touched my cheek, his claws scraping against my skin, making me shiver at the prickly feeling. His fingers skated down my neck to my arm, and I winced.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

Kal touched my arm again, and I tried not to, but I flinched. He began to tug on my sleeve. “Kal,” I started, but he continued, tail whipping.

“Something is wrong.”

He could not get my sleeve up far enough, so he started to help me sit up, upsetting Lucy. He frantically yanked on my hoodie, unable to get it off. I removed it. I was wearing a simple red t-shirt so he easily saw the dark bruise on my arm.

Kal gently touched the deep purple mark as he snarled, “Who hurt you?”

His tone made my breath harshen and sent a shock straight to my dick. When I got control of my sudden burst of, well a feeling I did not want to acknowledge, I said, “They didn’t mean to.”

“Who did it?” Kal asked, his voice deep and rough.

“Urgg, but they didn’t mean to. It was meant to be comforting pats,” I explained.

His expression calmed, and his fingers continued to trace the bruise right above my elbow. “Why didn’t you tell them to stop?”

I shrugged.

“You couldn’t get the words out?”

“Pain’s not supposed to bother men.” I’d always wanted to be a man’s man like my grandfather. Smoking. Drinking. Not crying. Not feeling or expressing anything. My grandfather had tried to instill that mentality in me with his fists. It hadn’t worked.

As an adult, I recognized how unhealthy that was, but I couldn’t easily change the patterns carved into my mind.

Kal caught my chin. “Pain affects everyone. Tell Urgg next time. I don’t like you hurting.”

A star burst in my chest. “I will.”

“Now, let’s watch this baking show, and I will try to figure it out, though I might read at the same time.”

I turned toward the TV while Kal snagged a book from the shelf before settling behind me. His steady presence pressed into my side, and I snuggled closer, enjoying the warmth I was coming to expect.