Chapter 5

FIVE

Lorna

"Don't come near me," he growled, his voice strained.

And of course, I wanted to listen. I followed rules. I was a good girl. But my body didn't seem to understand. I felt hot all over. My breasts ached and my nipples were hard peaks. My stomach cramped as a slick fluid leaked from my pussy down my inner thighs. I couldn't stop staring at his cock. Something told me that I could seek relief there. That it would be all right if I could just…

" Don't ," he spat as his heels slammed into the ceiling floor, like they wanted to walk to me, but he was held back by his arms locked in the bars.

I went very still as I braced on my hands and knees, naked, with the remains of my clothes in tatters on the floor. I swallowed thickly and tried to breathe through my mouth as the scent in the air made me dizzy.

He threw his head back, neck muscles straining, and I curled up in a ball, my forehead to the dirt floor, as I waited for the nausea to pass. At least, I hoped it passed.

I couldn't be sure how long we remained in silence about ten feet away from each other, no longer separated by bars, but yet still unable to connect.

Finally, his voice rumbled like gravel in the quiet. "I'm sorry."

I glanced up to find him slumped against the bars of his cell. He still gripped the bars, but his body appeared less tense. His cock, however, was an angry purple. I was still dizzy, and my stomach rolled, but I took a shuffling crawl toward him.

"No," he whispered in agony. "Please don't come closer."

I wanted to cuddle in his fur. I wanted some physical reassurance that we were okay. "Why not?"

His paws curled around the bars, and his head hung low as if in defeat. "I can't be sure because this has never happened to me, but I think I'm in a rut." I blinked at him in astonishment, and he gave me a sardonic lift of his lip that might have been a half grin. "It's not like I've ever had a mate before."

"I'm confused." I grabbed at the remains of my clothes and did the best to cover my chest and between my legs. He seemed relieved. "I don't understand who you are or what we are."

His eyes met mine, and he looked so tired. Even through the short fur on his face, I could see lines of fatigue. He'd let me sleep, but had he gotten any rest?

"I don't know how much time they'll give us, so I'll try to be quick. My father was a Drixonian from planet Corin. He was abducted and was used to breed me and my brothers. We don't know what eggs were used, but we believe our captors altered animal genetics from Earth to make us."

"A wolf," I whispered.

That grin again that showed fang. "I think so."

"But what… why are you here? How did you find me outside?"

"We've been watching this area for a while ever since we learned that human women had been stolen from Earth and brought here."

"But… at the risk of offending you… why do you care?"

His lips peeled back from his fangs in a terrifying expression that I was coming to realize was meant to be a smile. "Because I'm a Drixonian. She is all . And Queen would never allow us to ignore suffering."

"Who's Queen?"

"Our mother."

"But—"

"She didn't birth us, yet she's our mother. She's human. Like you."

A picture was starting to take shape, and while I was glad Queen had a son like Whitten, I didn't like where this was going. "So this has been happening for a while? Women being abducted from Earth?"

His tail thumped the ground. "Centuries, as Queen would say. Since before you were born."

My lips parted on a gasp. "What do they want with us?"

"I wasn't sure. Queen had been used as a mother. But now…" he glanced at the cell door. "I think they are using you as breeders."

" Breeders ?" My shriek made him wince. My stomach lurched. I was going to hurl. Sweat broke out on my upper lip, and I swiped at the salty drops with my tongue. I glanced down at wrists, at the gold markings there. "Did they do this?"

He shook his head, and his ears seemed to wilt. "Normally our loks appearing would be cause for celebration. It means we are compatible. Fated mates. Meant to be together. You can feel me in your mind, right?"

The sandy jaws. They always seemed to respond to his emotions. "Yes."

"I can feel you too. This is a blessing from Fatas. But right now, it's being used as a weapon against us."

Again, the picture was coming into focus for me. "You are going into a rut to…" I swallowed. "Mate me."

"Yes, and your body is responding with a heat. I can smell you."

I pressed the remains of my clothes between my legs and felt a flush rise up my neck. "I'm human, I'm not... I don't go into heat like a cat."

"The loks change everything. You'll crave me like I crave you."

I rubbed at my wrists. I wanted to argue with him, but how could I? If these marks could appear on my wrists, then was my body chemistry reacting strongly to an alien really that far out of the realm of possibility?

"So they want us to breed," my voice spoke in halting tones.

"We must resist. We're mates. Cora-eternals. The chance of us creating offspring is greater because of that. And if you get pregnant—" His voice cut off on a choke. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "They will not allow us to be a family."

I pressed on my stomach. I'd always wanted children. I loved them, which was why I'd chosen my profession. I wanted a partner. A family. A community. Playdates at the park. Pool parties. Baby showers. But not this. I didn't want this.

"Lorna," Whitten rasped.

It was the first time he'd said my name. My head jerked up, and our eyes met. "Whitten."

"If we were somewhere safe, I'd be at your side. I'd hold you. I'd ease the ache of your heat and take you over and over again until you were dazed with pleasure." My stomach cramped, and I curled my fingers into the dirt floor. "But as much as I want to do that, I can't right now. We need to be smart, my mate. We'll get through this."

He seemed in pain again. His legs shook. His cock leaked, and his shoulders bulged with the effort to maintain his grip on the bars.

I had to help too. And even though it took more willpower than I thought I had, I turned my back to him and crawled to the far side of my cell. I covered myself with my clothing scraps and forced myself not to look at him. Normally the sight of a cock like his would send me screaming, but now all I could think about was how full I'd feel when he drove it inside of me.

Shit, I was making this worse.

"What are you doing?" He spoke through gritted teeth. I opened my eyes to find his body straining. "Your smell is…" He panted, saliva dripping from his long tongue as it lolled out of the side of his mouth.

Right, I had to do my part here, and that didn't include scenting the cell with my pheromones. "How about I tell you very unsexy things about me?"

One of his ears twitched. "To make me find you less attractive?"

"Yes."

"I don't think anything you say will make me want you less."

I laughed. "Oh buddy, I got loads of stories. Ready?"

His muscles lost some of their tension. "Ready."

So I told him about the time in college when I threw up red Jell-O shots all over someone's kitchen. I told him I was a terrible cook and burned toast. I showed him the scar on my head that I got from running into a stop sign… while walking. I told him all my faults and embarrassing stories that I could think of. I expected him to look at me differently, but instead his eyes twinkled like stars when he looked at me, and his chest would rumble with an affectionate laugh.

Finally, I threw up my heads. "This isn't working. You're supposed to be turned off. I'm bad with money! I'm in debt!"

He shrugged. "You don't need currency here."

I glared. "You're not helping."

"Your stories were amusing."

"Embarrassing."

"Cute."

I eyed him. "What's wrong with you? You don't get out enough. I'm hardly a catch."

"A catch ?"

I bit my lip as I tried to find an analogy. "A good mate."

"I think you're a perfect mate."

"That's because your Fatas or whatever gave us these loks. But this isn't love born out of affection and respect for each other."

He cocked his head. "You don't respect me?" His voice held no heat, only curiosity.

I frowned, because I hadn't meant it that way. "I absolutely respect you. You nearly died to save me. You said you've been watching this place to help us women." I smiled. "You let me sleep on your tail."

His eyes crinkled. "And I respect you ever since you slammed that blade into the Dayloes's foot."

"Is that what you call them?" I blushed. "I did do that."

"And you sang to me. You stayed awake so I wouldn't wake alone. I know enough about you, Lorna. Fatas chooses for a reason."

It wasn't that I didn't know good men. My father was the best man I had ever met. I dated my high school sweetheart for almost ten years until we broke it off amicably. We were still friends even now that he was married with two kids. But no one, not anyone, looked at me the way Whitten did. Even as his body urged him to want me physically, he paid attention to what I did. He cared. I fumbled with what to say in response as my fingers twisted in the scraps of my clothes. I swallowed. "Oh. Well, thanks."

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked.

I was already getting the impression he would always check in on how I was doing. I was a priority for him. That thought filled my belly with warmth, overriding the dulling cramps. "I'm feeling okay. Are you?"

He nodded. "I can't smell you as strongly. But I think we must continue to remain separate."

But we weren't alone. We weren't in control. "What will they do to us? Can they force us?"

His fangs dug into his lower lip, and he paused a beat before he answered. "No."

He sounded sure, but I didn't understand how he could be so sure. Still, I didn't press. While we had the time, I wanted to get to know him. "Can you tell me more about yourself? Your brothers? Do they all look like you?"

"No, our mothers were all different. For example, Eleric has wings. Bastian has hooves. There are five of us. Well, six of us, but we have been searching for our sixth brother since we escaped."

"Escaped?"

His body relaxed as he told me about how the four-legged aliens which he called Xaberians had held his father captive. But his father fell in love with Queen, and together they escaped and started a new life, building a protected home they called Akoma. "You'll like it there," he insisted. "Queen grows crops and pretty blooms. Because she's human, we're more familiar with Earth customs than any other species on this planet. And now with my brothers' mates, she has more help."

If my ears could perk up, they would have. "Your brothers have mates?"

"Two of them, Bastian and Lynix. Human mates who were transported like you were. Plus a young boy. A teenager he's called, who the Xaberians mistook for his twin sister. He's the one who told us about this underground compound."

I dropped the clothes covering me in shock, but quickly pulled them back up when his eyes flashed, and his body tensed. "So in Akoma are your brothers, Queen, and two more human women ?" I suddenly felt a whole lot less alone, and also comforted in the fact that two women were safe. After the carnage I witnessed in the arena, I had been in mourning.

"Yes, and they are preparing for more. Our intention has always been to rescue more females."

I pulled my lips between my teeth as my gut churned. "I guess I should tell you how I made it up there." I pointed upward. At least, I was pretty sure the surface was up.

"Yes, I'd like to know that. You were injured. Did they think you were dead? How were you hurt?"

I explained everything that had happened since we'd been sucked into this underground hellhole, using all the words in my vocabulary to describe the horror of what had happened in the arena. The suffering. The choosing .

By the time I finished talking, Whitten's expression had gone dark. His lips were peeled back from his teeth, but this wasn't a smile as a growl rumbled from his chest. He'd let go of the bars now and sat in a crouch with his tail swishing the dirt behind him with agitation. "Fleck," he spat. He rubbed his face with a rough paw and his ears were pinned back. "I worried about this."

"What do you think they are doing with the women who win ?" I made air quotes, which he looked at curiously. Feeling kind of dumb, I lowered my hands. "What will those women be chosen for?"

He exhaled. "I think they are choosing the strongest women to use as breeders. They want new soldiers, and they'll use our offspring in the war for control of the galaxy."

I felt my face drain of color. A chill settled over my skin, and a shudder slithered down my spine. "They want to use our children? But why?"

Whitten remained in his crouch. "The Xaberians are slow breeders. Very slow. They live for a long time. And the Drixonians are famed warriors. While we aren't full Drixonian, we have many Drixonian qualities, and some of the characteristics we gained from our mothers only enhance our skills."

"But where are the rest of the Drixonians? They would protect you, right?"

Slowly, very slowly, he shook his head, and his entire body seemed to droop, even his ears. His tail gave one final swish before falling still. "No," he said in a near whisper. "Because the remaining Drixonians alive are planets away, and they have their own battles for survival."