3. Rake

Chapter 3

Rake

T he human I purchased as my mate arrived much earlier than expected.

Luckily, I wasn't caught out working on the range but was still in the barn when the message flashed across my screen. I glanced around, thinking of the duties that needed to be accomplished today and decided that yes, now was a good time to go. The others could pick up my slack. I yelled out to Lorn, the ranch manager, that I was leaving, got in my vehicle and drove all the way into town.

For the entire drive I kept thinking about this female.

I enjoy her unusual name.

There was picture of her on the site. She'd looked almost angry, with her arms crossed and her blue eyes flashing a challenge. Entirely different from the other females of a variety of species who were offering themselves as mates. This is why she stood out to me.

Hyrrokin think humans are exotic and attractive, and their features are pleasing to us in general. It has already been established that our two species are mating compatible. But this female is more beautiful than any human I've ever seen. There were a few other human females offering themselves for sale on the mail order bride site, but they seemed frail and almost unhealthy. Stella is small but her frame looked powerful enough to withstand my Hyrrokin lust. Her golden follicles that fall from the top of her head are glorious. The flecks of brown spots on her cheeks and arms are adorable.

When I arrived, I turned onto the main street in town and saw her from a distance, calmly sitting on a bench. When I got closer and pulled up to the platform, I was astounded by her beauty.

I quickly learned that she carries a human offspring in her womb. This must be why she is looking for a mate. Humans are very odd in that they can have many different mates during their lifetimes. Amongst the Hyrrokin, if she were carrying my offspring, she'd immediately be my mate for life. The biological father of this offspring must be dead or gone and she needs someone else to raise her child. The legality of this will be odd, but I suspect if we go to the courthouse together and I declare the offspring mine - If I adopt it in utero before it is born, then we can still legally be bound.

Strangely, the fact that her scent trail combines with that of a human offspring doesn't cause me to deny her. It is not off-putting. Instead, it enriches her scent. I still find her extremely sexually attractive.

And her own arousal for me is thick in the air.

I had no idea if I'd be attracted to the human I'd purchased and I am pleased to discover that in fact I quickly find her more fuckable than any female I've ever encountered. I am ready to take her to bed right away.

One day, I can fill her up with my own offspring and meanwhile we can raise her fully human child together on Tarvos.

Stella now sits beside me in my vehicle with a wide smile on her face.

I start down the street. Other Hyrrokin stare and whisper. I don't bother to slow down and introduce her or tell the story of who she is and why I've brought her to Tarvos. They'll find out soon enough. I'm not embarrassed that I purchased a female to be my mate, but I do hate being the source of gossip, but it can't be helped. I am pleased that she is beside me.

"We will go to the courthouse soon enough and I will make you both mine," I inform her as I drive through town, clarifying what I'd said earlier.

"Aren't we already married?"

"That was for human legality and to clear the way through immigration so you could transport here. But you need to be legally bound to me on Tarvos in order to stay beyond one moon cycle, so we will walk to the courthouse together as soon as possible to make this legal."

"Maybe I don't want to stay past one moon cycle."

I glance over at her. "Didn't you sign up for this because you needed somewhere to live and raise your child?"

She shifts in her seat. "Not really. I'm a strange case. Like I tried to explain before, I'm here because I was kicked out of my community and they sent me here, as sort of penance for what I'd done."

I turn a corner and head toward the outskirts of town. "Are you a criminal?"

"No," she chuckles. "No, of course not. Although some might say that I'm a criminal, but I'm a person who fights for the rights of other beings to be treated equally, so I believe that makes me a hero and not a criminal."

"Have you left a mate behind and are in hiding?"

"No, that's not the problem either," she laughs. "This pregnancy was the result of a one-night mistake. This wasn't supposed to happen. The biological father is long gone and back to his military career somewhere out there in the four sectors."

"He was a pleasure mate?"

"I wouldn't even call it that. He was nice enough, but the pleasure wasn't as great as you'd think. Don't worry about that. I'll never see him again. Not because he's terrible and left me behind or anything; he was a nice man. But because we barely knew each other and he's busy living his life."

I let out another grunt. I will show her the meaning of true pleasure. "You feel this offspring you carry is a mistake?"

"Oh no, I shouldn't have said it that way. Sorry. I meant a mistake at first. I did not set out to become pregnant. I wasn't in the frame of mind for that, nor did I have a partner. I thought I was on birth control, but it didn't work and this pregnancy was an accident. But I quickly decided it was a happy accident. Like I said, the biological father isn't around and I don't even know how to get a hold of him. I assume he wouldn't be thrilled to find out about this; he seemed like the type who was going to spend his life in action and adventure in the stars and on various planets. He wasn't the settle-down-and-build-a-family type. I can do this on my own though. I'm okay."

"You are not doing this on your own. You are both mine," I remind her.

"We'll see. I have one month to decide."

I grin, enjoying the challenge of her spirited personality. I can tell already she will not be boring. I find myself wanting to converse, which is unusual. "You are staying though for at least one month?"

Her lips twitch. "Maybe."

A puff of white smoke escapes my nostrils.

Finally, we drive beyond the last row of housing and begin to leave Fire Creek behind and enter open countryside.

She glances back and comments, "Everyone in town was staring at me. If I decide to remain, is it going to be difficult for you, having a human as your mate?"

"It's true that there are very few humans that live on this planet."

"But I'm not the only human?"

"No, there are a few other humans living in this community already."

"Oh, really? How many?"

I think for a moment. "Two. There are two other humans."

"Why are they here? Are they working on Tarvos?"

"Two females have arrived as mates."

She blinks. "So other Hyrrokin have bought human wives too?"

"No, I was the only one who purchased a mail-order bride."

She purses her lips. "Why couldn't you just marry a Hyrrokin female who is local? Why do you have to pay to get a mate so far away who isn't even of your own species? Is something wrong with you?"

I grunt again. "I see your point. You deserve an answer. Just like I deserve the entire truth about why you were sent here. You deserve to know why I would purchase a mate."

"Exactly."

I continue driving down the long road that winds through the surrounding countryside and eventually will lead to my ranch. "I made this purchase because I'm tired of living alone. I want to remain in these wildlands my entire lifespan and work the ranch land that my family has worked for generations. But it is difficult to find females that want to remain out here, where there is a lack of civilization."

"What about the women who already live here? The ones you grew up with?"

"None of them are my mates."

"You dated?"

"Yes, I've had many pleasure mates over the years and I've already established that none of the females out here are my future bound, so I needed to widen my search area."

"You had to widen your search area to outside of your planet and to another species? I mean, was that really necessary?"

I chuckle again because I find her bold and delightful. So far, she appears entirely honest and transparent and wants that type of relationship with others. There's a fire, a heat in my veins and a sense of comfort and easiness that causes me to assess that she's indeed my future bound, so I am willing to tell her everything. "I am the oldest son and have two younger brothers, but I gave up my inheritance to the main family ranch to my younger brother. This is because that role fits his personality. Sten is better at socializing and making deals with other Hyrrokin politicians and heads of business, which is a large part of the job when you oversee the main ranch that represents the Flagstones. He enjoys that position, while I would consider it torture. And then our father was able to purchase more land from a distant cousin who passed with no heirs. He bought the land and then partitioned it off. I got my own land to start a new ranch, and my middle brother did too."

She smiles at me. "That's a really a big deal that you passed on that ranch to your youngest brother. Not many beings would give away such a powerful position because they knew it wasn't right for them and better for someone else."

"I made the decision because it was sensible. Sten, my brother, was pleased because he'd been basically doing the job of acting as my father's main heir anyways. It all worked out in the end."

"You're not upset though, at getting a lesser ranch, even though you are the eldest?"

"No. And it doesn't ever feel that I'm getting something less. Instead, it's something that's right, which gives me peace of mind. I have built my own ranch house by hand."

"The house you live in…you built it yourself? Really?"

I glance over at my animated, sexy female, her follicles blowing gently in the breeze as we travel down the road. It is literally difficult for me to keep my gaze away from the curve of her luscious breasts. "Yes. It's not as huge or spectacular as the Flagstone ranch main house. And it's also not as big as my other brother's ranch house. Thorn hired an architect and a construction company to come out and build for him. Mine is crafted by hand. Very similar to the house that my friend, Burl built, only a little better in that I have done much more detailed work. I also happen to have a few ranch hands who have some amazing craft skills so we've added flames almost like a Heimdall installation on ancient lodges."

She grins. "I don't know what a Heimdall is, but that sounds amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've done. But…what does any of this have to do with you purchasing a mail-order bride or why there are two other human women out here who have married Hyrrokin?"

I continue to explain. "I'm the oldest Flagstone brother of this generation and yet the middle brother is now mated to a human and has an offspring, and Burl, one of my closest friends since childhood, has a human bride too."

"Oh, both of the human women in this community are married, one to your brother and the other to your friend. So, you saw it happen up close. That's why you wanted a human too?"

"It's why I decided to consider a human as well as a Hyrrokin, instead of looking for a mate only amongst my own species. I could see from their couplings that our two species pair well together. When I was on the mail-order bride site I saw many different species but I filtered the choices to Hyrrokin and human. I was surprised to see a few Hyrrokin females and there and there were also many human females. But I saw your picture and chose you."

She gasps. "They put my picture up? Oh my gosh, I bet it was my mug shot. How embarrassing."

"I liked that picture. It's why I chose you and no one else."

"Oh, well then… thank you?"

We are both quiet for a moment and I continue to drive. Then she asks, "So tell me, how did two humans end up living in the wildlands on Tarvos?"

"My brother's situation was the oddest because he ran into his bound randomly in the jungle on his property. She was running from the Hyrrokin mafia who had kidnapped her."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. Thorn found her and protected her. And they realized in the process that they were mates and so she never left. The danger has now long passed and we kept her safe. Thorn and Mica had a vow ceremony and went to the courthouse together and now they have a half-human, half-Hyrrokin offspring. There are several other humans on our planet too who have done the same and so this is not completely foreign."

"There are other humans living on the planet besides the two that live here locally?"

"Yes, I believe most of them are in our main city, but it is still a small group. No more than fifteen humans on the entire planet. But through Mica and Lucy I've learned they are a tight-knit group that keep in touch."

"Oh, the names of the two local humans are Mica and Lucy? That's nice."

"I will introduce you to them soon after you get settled."

"Hmm."

"Because my brother had a human bride, I became used to humans. Burl, who is our friend, but also Thorn's ranch manager, went on one of those dating sites and found his human bride. He's the one who gave me the idea that I could do this too. I'm at a time of life where I am ready to settle down, but again, where I live is very remote. Not many females want to live in such a remote area. I decided to directly ask for a mail-order bride."

She waves a delicate hand in the air. "I still don't understand why you couldn't find someone from your own planet without needing to purchase a mate. Did you say that you own your own house and land? Isn't that something that would make you desirable to other females? And…and you seem handsome and nice. I don't understand."

A glow of pride enters my chest. "As I said earlier, I've already pleasure mated with, or at least befriended and spent time with, all the available females in the county. None of them are my future bound. This means that I would have to find a female from one of the cities to come and live in the wilderness with me. This is easier said than done."

"It's really that hard? How is that possible? It's gorgeous out here. I've only seen a little of this land and it looks like a permanent vacation spot."

"It's extremely remote. It will take an hour just for us to drive from town to my ranch. We can't drive directly to the next biggest town; we have to drive four hours to a port and then take a ferry overnight to the nearest city. We only recently installed that transporter disk and we all have to pay the normal price to use it, even I paid to transport you here."

"Well, that does explain things better. It would be difficult for a lot of beings to live in such a remote location. You'd need to find someone who would want that type of life too."

"Yes, I wanted a mate who would want to live with me out here and to start a family. This was my number one criteria. I explained all of this when I purchased you. I thought this was something you already knew and had agreed to."

"Sorry, I didn't. The town council are the ones who posted that profile for me and most likely the mayor was the one who responded and took your currency."

We both remain quiet for a moment.

"I find myself troubled and disappointed by the idea that you were tricked into this arrangement. I thought this was something that both I and the female I purchased were freely eager to pursue."

"Thank you for saying that. And even though this isn't something I specifically agreed to, when I got into your vehicle I was letting you know that I'm on board with trying this out."

I let out a grunt of approval.

"I have to admit that I don't know very much about your species and I apologize for that," she says. "I would have done all my homework if I'd known I was coming to Tarvos. When I arrived the staff were very kind about my initial freak out reaction in the transporter station."

"Yes," I chuckle. "We know that not only humans but many other species in the four sectors consider our appearance very off-putting."

"Scary," she says. "In fact, terrifying."

"It is nonsensical, but we use this irrational fear to our advantage in battle."

She rolls her eyes. "Good thing they put a universal translator in me before I left New Earth. At least they did that, so I've been able to talk to everyone."

I nod and quietly continue driving through the verdant green countryside, with a smile on my face, imagining what it must've been like when Stella arrived in our transporter station and met the staff.

"Is there anything you think I need to know right away about the Hyrrokin?" she asks. "Anything that you think will help me to acclimate quicker?"

I think for a second. "Do you understand that we also flash flame?"

"What do you mean? You can create fire?"

"Yes, we breathe fire."

"Fire can come out of your mouth?"

"I will show you," I say then, while I'm driving, I open my mouth and burst out a tiny flash flame.

She gasps with surprise. "How often do you do that?"

I shrug. "Almost every day there seems to be a reason. Maybe if I laugh too much a burst of flame escapes. Or if I want to get one of the beasts to move quicker, I might burst out a tiny flame. I might char my food before I eat or use it to start a fire. Also, we will use it against each other playfully, or in real battle."

"Even the Hyrrokin children can flash flame?"

"Yes, they must learn early how to safely control their flame. At first, they puff smoke, but they are proud the moment they grow into their ability to flame."

"Wow."

"The good news is that half-Hyrrokin and half-human offspring are born with the ability to flash flame, so they are not entirely defenseless."

She swallows and looks at me. "And now all I can think about is how you purchased me, thinking you were getting someone to start a long-term relationship with and most importantly to start a family. You thought with me you'd get a half Hyrrokin, half human child."

"Yes," I agree. "That's what I eventually want."

"You purchased me because you wanted this to be real. But the more I think about this, the more I feel bad that you got someone who wasn't what you wanted. First, I'm not an actual mail order bride, I was instead forced into this. And to make matters worse, you wanted a mate that you could have children with and then I show up instead, already pregnant with another man's baby. A human baby who will never flash flame. I feel bad that I'm not here in the normal way. And I keep saying that I'm only thinking about this and might leave at the end of the month, another indication I'm not a real mail order bride. And…" She turns and looks at me with an earnest gaze. "I'm not saying this because I want to get away from you. I promise I really like spending time with you and I think…I think you're handsome and a nice man. A woman would be lucky to have you. I'm saying this because I really am concerned that you got a bad deal. I think in order to fix this so you are not stuck with a situation that's all wrong for you, we should stop the vehicle right now, turn around and go back. You can return me and get your money back and do this all over again and get a different bride who doesn't have the baggage I've brought. And I can go back to New Earth and move in with my mom. You can get back on the mail order bride site and purchase a different bride who hopefully will be a better fit."

I quietly think about her generous offer as I continue to drive towards my ranch.

She remains quiet too.

Finally, I grunt and take a deep breath and then respond, "Thank you for your offer but I have decided that you are mine. My body likes your scent and the scent trail of the offspring you carry. When I said that you are mine, that you were both mine, I didn't say that lightly. I made my decision already on the platform when I first saw you. And you warned me then about your personality and about the offspring that you carry. You've already done your due diligence and let me know how this is problematic. I still want you despite that. Again, I appreciate your offer and that you are thinking of me, but in reality your warning and offer to be returned just confirms for me that I made the correct decision."

She throws her hands up. "Well, later it cannot be said that I did not try to warn you about what you're getting yourself into."

"You did."

"You still want to try and make a life with me, even though we've barely met? I was fired from my teaching job because the entire community hated me after an accident that happened at my last protest at city hall. I'm not a real mail-order bride but instead was sent here under duress. And, worst of all, I'm arriving pregnant with a fully human baby that isn't yours but you're willing to raise as if it were yours?"

"Yup."

She laughs. "Amazing." Stella then visibly changes. Her shoulders soften. A wide smile brightens her face. My female leans back comfortably into her seat and places a hand over her lower stomach.

And I listen quietly as she regales me with interesting stories of her life and work for the last three years on New Earth, in what sounds like a disorganized multigod religious zealot community. They had strange laws that sound highly archaic and she lived amongst humans who obviously did not understand her value.

She was wasted there.

I glance over at her beautiful, animated features. Stella is small and does not have horns, fangs or claws, nor can she flash flame, which is sad. But I believe that once I earn her love, she is the type who would fight to the death for me and for our children. She would be ferocious in her love for us.

I smile and keep driving.