Chapter 6

Gaelec

I didn’t know how to feel about my human. As all the women of her species, Ophelia was rather tiny. She was clearly fragile and seemed easily frazzled. She was the exact opposite of our Queens and huntresses. But that difference also applied to her personality and behavior.

My mate seemed really nice.

I perceived no deception in the awe she expressed towards me. My chest still warmed at the deluge of compliments she showered me with. Without boasting, I could say with confidence that I was an attractive male by my people’s standards. More than once, our females complimented my appearance. However, with Ophelia, it felt different… not objectifying.

And that made me feel quite guilty for not sharing a similar awe where she was concerned. The kind words I shared with her about her hair, face, and freckles had been honest. But that was the extent of it. The rest of her appearance would take quite a bit of getting used to. Obviously, I had seen humans before. After all, a few humans served their sentences with me on Molvi. But they had all been men, and I never thought of them in romantic terms.

I always found the humans’ straight legs strange not to mention limiting. The three segments of our digitigrade legs allowed us to run faster, jump higher, and better absorb the impact of high falls. Ophelia didn’t possess a tail, fur, or whiskers. Her small, rounded ears couldn’t rotate like ours to better identify the location where sounds emanated from. Her pointy nose looked like it wanted to run away from her face. When we kissed at the end of our wedding, it bumped against mine, making that experience even weirder.

The thought of that kiss had another wave of unease surging deep within. I couldn’t label it as unpleasant, but it didn’t feature high on my list of most delightful experiences. It felt odd to press one’s mouth to someone else’s. Just remembering how it tickled my nose and whiskers made me want to sneeze. Sure, with time, I believed I could grow used to it. I couldn’t tell whether I would ever develop a taste for it, but if it was something my mate enjoyed—and I strongly suspected she did—I would find a way to adapt.

But kissing was the least of my concerns where physical contact with my mate was concerned.

On top of looking into human culture to better prepare for Ophelia’s arrival, I obviously investigated human anatomy. My initial shock at seeing their female had a miniature cock above their slit quickly gave way to confusion once I realized it was actually their clitoris. Our females possessed one as well, but it was located inside their slit, which made a lot more sense. This way, it was automatically stimulated through penetration.

Out of curiosity, I checked the human males’ reproductive organs to see if maybe they had an additional appendage or bump near the base of their cock or on their pelvic area meant specifically to cater to that external clitoris. But there was nothing. In fact, their shaft didn’t even possess our spikes that enhanced our females’ pleasure on top of being highly erogenous for us.

So why in the world had human females anatomically evolved in such an irrational fashion? Or was it the males who had somehow evolved the wrong way that they weren’t designed to guarantee their females’ satisfaction?

Further research confirmed that men needed to actively work on stimulating their women instead of it being passively taken care of during coupling. I also discovered that I wouldn’t be able to trigger my mate’s ovulation simply through penetration, as was the case with our females. Human women ovulated on a preset timeline instead of almost on demand with Nazhrals.

That had been the good news out of all of this. Us getting pregnant on our first night would not be ideal. We needed a bit of time to get to know each other first but especially to sort out our situation. I wanted cubs. My entire life, I’d always felt a strong paternal instinct.

But do I want to have my offspring here?

What I read about human family units blew my mind. All genders were afforded the same opportunities. Unlike us, human parents didn’t sever the ties with their male offspring after casting them out. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to have my sire by my side through my teenage years and into adulthood. Would I have made different choices with his guidance?

Assuming we went ahead and remained here with our cubs, would the Matriarchs accept them? Would they even fit with the Pride?

I had too many questions and uncertainties about our couple and our future. A part of me wondered if I made the right decision embarking on this journey when I already had so much to juggle. But another figured now was in fact the perfect timing as it could help guide some of the decisions I needed to take anyway in the upcoming days.

As I began our descent into the village, I stole a discreet glance at my mate. She was feasting her eyes on the beauty of the landscape. No, I couldn’t say that I was physically drawn to her, but something about Ophelia felt good.

It was the way she looked at me with sincere admiration. The way her skin colored whenever she was shy. But it was especially that moment she touched her face when I compared her freckles to Luen that shifted something inside me. The self-deprecating way she poked at herself stirred my protective instincts. Seeing her so deeply moved by my words, and the joy it brought to her made me feel good. Her grateful smile and the way it lit up her face could become addictive.

Even as that thought crossed my mind, a shudder coursed through me.

Nazhral females could be so callous and manipulative. Were human females the same? Could Ophelia be playing me right now?

I immediately felt ashamed for unfairly suspecting her. Nothing in her actions or body language even remotely hinted at deception. However, the past twelve years taught me to trust no one.

As I settled the shuttle on the landing pad, I cast a worried glance at my woman. I hated that I wasn’t bringing her home to a warm welcome, but potentially to some rude and brutal rejection.

“Ophelia, before we settle home, I must take you before the Matriarchs for their blessing,” I said cautiously.

Judging by the instant worry that settled over her alien features, I did a terrible job of hiding my own concerns.

“What if they don’t want me?” she asked, her eyes flicking between mine.

“They cannot banish you without banishing me first,” I said in a reassuring tone. “I’m in good standing with the Pride, so it would surprise me if that happened. But should that be the case, we will go to the city and then decide where we want to settle going forward.”

Her shoulders slouched, and she looked at me with a guilty expression. “I’m so sorry!”

“No, my mate!” I said firmly. “You have nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong. Regardless of your presence, I already had many decisions to make about my future. There’s a reason I pushed for you to come swiftly once I agreed to go through with this. As my decisions will also impact you and our lives together, it is best that you be involved in the process. After all, we’re soulmates.”

“Yes, we are,” she replied, a timid smile blossoming on her lips. “Then I guess the timing is perfect. So… you believe that we are, then?”

The nervousness with which she asked that question, and the glimmer of hope in her stunning green eyes made me realize she needed some reassurance from me. I had not shown much enthusiasm about us since her arrival. I needed to do a better job of making it clear to her that once I committed to something, I didn’t renege on it. In our wedding vows, I pledged to be by her side through thick and thin, and I never broke my word.

“Yes, Ophelia. Kayog is never wrong. Therefore, I believe we’re soulmates, even though we do not know each other yet. Whatever the future holds, we’ll see it through together.”

She beamed at me in a way that once again hit me straight in the heart. She was truly adorable when she smiled like that.

I shut down the engine, hopped out of the shuttle, and circled around it to help my mate down. Naturally, many members of the Pride conveniently happened to be loitering nearby instead of working as they should be. They ogled my mate in a less-than-subtle fashion. I wanted to hiss and roar at them for such rudeness. At the same time, I couldn’t blame them for it.

For our members, Ophelia was a true oddity, especially for our females. Off-worlders never came here, and our people hardly ever traveled. Nazhral females only spent time outside of the village to hunt in the neighboring forests. Our Alpha—and on extremely rare occasions our Matriarchs—were pretty much the only people who occasionally went to the city to acquire new equipment, find upgrades for the village, or perform other administrative tasks I had no idea about.

Males who went on missions, and the few who moved to the city naturally would have met off-worlders in the flesh, but probably never a woman. That she was a female made it even more extraordinary—not to say scandalous—as no outsider females were normally ever allowed in a Pride, unless they came warring to take over the village.

So yes, as much as their behavior infuriated me, I could understand. If, like them, I’d only seen a human on screen in vidplays and documentaries, I too would want to get an eyeful in the flesh.

Clenching my teeth, I quickly led my female to the Great Hall. To my pleasant surprise, Ophelia seemed completely unfazed and unbothered by the intense scrutiny she was subjected to. It dawned on me then that, having worked as a missionary with countless primitive species—she’d likely been in a similar situation more than once with her being a curiosity among the people.

This stoicism could prove quite beneficial once she stood before the Matriarchs.

My stomach knotted with apprehension as we stepped into the building. To my dismay, many of the people outside followed us within. It was all the more infuriating that I couldn’t do a thing about it. Only the Matriarchs could kick them out, if they so chose.

As we made our way towards the dais, the crowd quietly took a seat on the side benches lining the left and right walls of the front area of the room. But I paid them no mind, too focused on the people sitting on the dais and on each side. On top of the three Matriarchs, all the huntresses had taken their seat on the left and right sides of the semi-octagonal section at the front. That included the seething Oluina, and a gleeful Moriak right at the edge of the huntresses’ section. Ylis’s curious and amused expression gave me hope.

I shifted my attention to Rozel, our Head Matriarch. As I feared, she looked unimpressed as she slowly examined Ophelia from top to bottom.

“So that’s the female you are shunning our Queens for?” Rozel snarled in lieu of a greeting.

I immediately bristled at the contempt audible in her voice as she continued to glare at my mate.

“I didn’t shun anyone!” I snapped.

She shifted her gaze to me, anger burning in her eyes. “You refused them all!”

“I just got home after twelve years on Molvi,” I retorted, exasperated that she would force me to rehash the same thing all over again. “I’m trying to find my bearings, not to compete with other males for the Queens’ attentions.”

“Are our females not worth competing for?” Rozel argued.

I barely repressed the urge to roll my eyes and took a deep breath to keep my cool. “Obviously, the females of the Nevian Pride deserve every honor. But like with every hunt, rushing at the first enticing sound only gets you killed. I wanted to take my time and assess my situation.”

“And yet you rushed to the human,” Oluina interjected with a disdainful gesture towards my mate.

I cast a glance towards Ophelia, concerned by how such aggressive behavior was affecting her. To my utter relief, she was observing the situation with phenomenal stoicism. I could only pray she would not make any outburst that could complicate matters further. I silently berated myself for not preparing her better for the fierce opposition we might face. But then, never in a million years would I have expected this level of rage.

“I didn’t rush to anyone or anything,” I replied in a controlled voice. “I wasn’t looking for a mate. Fate brought Ophelia to me when I least expected it.”

“Semantics!” Oluina spat out. “You still took her, an off-worlder, while shunning the rest of us!”

“She’s my soulmate!” I snapped. “ You never were, and never will be!”

I flinched inwardly to have allowed my anger to get the best of me. Humiliating her publicly was the last thing we needed. Oluina recoiled while multiple muffled gasps resonated in the room. She bared her fangs at me, and a low growl rose from her throat.”

A single hard stare from her mother sufficed to silence her. Rozel then shifted her attention back to me, her own anger almost palpable.

“I already explained how this union came to be,” I continued in a reasonable tone, this time addressing the Head Matriarch directly. “The Temern reached out to me unsolicited. Kayog Voln is never wrong. Even here in the Prides, his reputation precedes him.”

“Be that as it may, you’re a Stellig,” Rozel said dismissively. “It is unfathomable for one such as you to waste your seed on her .”

The need to extrude my claws burned my fingertips. Who would have thought someone could put so much contempt in a single word? The fury I felt at their disrespect towards my female had my blood boiling. But for Ophelia’s sake, I needed to keep a cool head. For the first time, I genuinely worried. I never expected things to get this ugly. Although it occurred rarely, huntresses were known to slaughter any person they deemed a traitor to the Pride or a threat to its stability. And right now, both the Head Matriarch and Head Huntress seemed to be entertaining that thought.

“My seed would not be wasted on my mate,” I said calmly. “I did my research before entering into this union. Although humans and Nazhrals are compatible, our genes are dominant. Any offspring she and I have will exclusively possess Nazhral traits.”

“Whatever the case may be, the human is not welcome here,” Oluina hissed. “The only Queens allowed in a Pride are blood relatives.”

“My Ophelia isn’t trying to be a Queen,” I countered in a clipped tone before looking back at the Matriarch. “Frankly, I do not understand what all of this is about. When I first informed you of the good fortune that befell me, you agreed to allow my mate to stay here at least for the remainder of my grace period. Granted, you did so with much reluctance, but you nonetheless agreed to it. I wouldn’t have brought her otherwise. So what is this all about?”

“And then what? What happens at the end of your grace period if we still feel she’s unwelcomed?”

“Then if you banish my mate, I shall leave with her,” I said matter-of-factly.

This time, loud gasps—some of them shocked, others outraged—resonated through the room. Moriak looked on the verge of having an orgasm he was so enjoying the spectacle, whereas Oluina seemed ready to commit murder.

“You would abandon your Pride for a human?!” Rozel asked in a dangerously low voice.

“I would leave any place where my soulmate is not wanted. You, better than anyone, know what a rare gift it is among our people to find the other half of our souls,” I said in a reasonable tone. “It would be a crime against the Gods to turn my back on Ophelia.”

“Then leave now!” Oluina hissed.

“That is not your call to make,” Ylis interjected in an icy tone. “We honor that mate bond. As Gaelec said, too few people receive such a blessing. Would you dare spit in the face of the Gods after they bestowed it upon one of us? So long as they contribute their fair share, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t stay.”

I could have hugged her right this instant. Her words resonated well with the rest of the Pride as a few people nodded and whispered their agreement.

“Her? Contribute?” Oluina exclaimed in disbelief. “That thing can’t hunt!”

“Careful, Oluina,” I hissed in a low voice, while taking a threatening step forward. “You do not disrespect my mate.”

“Or what?” she demanded in a provoking tone. “You will attack me?”

Ophelia gently ran her palm over my upper arm in an appeasing gesture. Obviously, I would never attack a female. However, that soft touch both calmed me in a way I never expected, but also shamed me that I would have allowed Oluina’s taunting to get under my skin.

“ He won’t, but his champion will,” Ylis replied in a way that made it clear she would gladly answer the challenge.

A sliver of fear flashed through Oluina’s eyes. I had not seen Ylis in action since my return. But I remembered how insanely talented she was before my arrest. I could only imagine how much more formidable she became over the years. With her being younger than her cousin, Ylis had a good chance of getting the upper hand. Losing to another huntress would be a devastating blow to Oluina’s standing.

“No female attacks other females in the Pride, whether physically or verbally. You have crossed that line many times already,” Ylis said sternly.

“She’s not of our blood. She is not one of ours!” Oluina exclaimed in outrage, her tone making it clear it should be self-evident.

“Ophelia is one of ours until such a day as Gaelec leaves or is expelled,” Ylis retorted in a tone that brooked no argument. “He still has the remainder of his grace period for us to decide what to do with his case and hers.”

“Ylis is correct,” Rozel said stiffly, visibly eager to calm things down before they deteriorated further.

Having her favorite daughter and Head Huntress possibly be dethroned by her younger cousin was the last thing she wanted or needed. She turned her attention to my mate, her eyes cold and resentful.

“You have not made your case, human. Have you no tongue?” Rozel asked.

My heart skipped a beat as I waited to see how she would respond.

“I do, Matriarch,” Ophelia responded in a polite voice with an appropriate level of deference. “However, as I had not been officially invited to speak, I decided to hold my peace. I wouldn’t presume that I was allowed such a right or to act in a way that might be deemed disrespectful.”

“Your mere presence here is disrespectful,” Oluina hissed.

I growled again, only for Ophelia to once more soothingly rub my upper arm.

“You’re upset that such a fine male as my Gaelec is off the market,” Ophelia said in a reasonable but firm tone. “I get that. In your stead, I would be as well. But I would respect the fact that he found his soulmate. I will not apologize for existing or for being the one that Fate meant for him.”

Oluina huffed and opened her mouth to spew more nonsense. However, her mother raising her palm in an arresting gesture silenced her. Taking this as a sign that she was not to be interrupted, my mate pursued her response.

But my mind remained stuck on the way she claimed me by calling me her Gaelec. How could something so simple feel so wonderful?

“When I approached Kayog, I never imagined that the other half of me would turn out to be a Nazhral, just like there is no question Gaelec never pictured himself with a human. Given a choice, I’m sure he would have picked one of you instead. But Fate chose us for each other. I won’t spit on that blessing.”

A few more people nodded and muttered their agreement with her statement. While their opinions ultimately didn’t matter as the decision rested in the hands of the Matriarchs, their support would undoubtedly help tip the balance in our favor.

“The concerns you expressed, Head Huntress Oluina, are quite valid. Gaelec himself mentioned them,” Ophelia continued in the same calm and eloquent fashion. “I can’t hunt, and I’m nowhere near as fast or strong as any of you. But I also have no ambition to compete or attempt to replace you. I just want to lead a happy and prosperous life with my husband.”

She paused to glance at me with that same air of wonder that did the funniest thing to me. She smiled, and I found myself instinctively responding in kind. She turned her head back to look at Rozel, who was staring at us with pinched lips laced with a begrudging air of resignation.

“So while I may not be able to contribute the way your females normally do, I have much to offer from my many travels across the galaxy. I have a broad range of experiences, extensive knowledge in multiple crafts, I’m not afraid of hard work, and I’m eager to learn. I just hope that you will give me that chance after Gaelec’s remaining grace period is over. If not, I will respect your judgment. I crossed half the galaxy to be with Gaelec. Wherever he goes, whatever he decides, I’ll follow and support him. As per the human vows we exchanged, I chose him for better or for worse, until death do us part. So whether here or elsewhere, I will stand by him.”

A wave of affection swelled in my heart for my mate. In my entire existence, no one so steadfastly stood by me. I didn’t know this woman, and yet everyone with eyes and ears could see and hear the sincerity of her words.

“Well then, Ophelia, you and your mate will have two weeks to prove yourselves,” Rozel said in a clipped tone.

She waved her hand in a dismissive fashion, indicating the audience was at an end. I didn’t have to be told twice. As offended as I felt by the callousness with which my mate had been received and then sent away, I was simply relieved the worst had been averted.

Still, today’s events confirmed I had much thinking to do and serious decisions to make. My new priority was the welfare and safety of my mate. I no longer felt confident she could find it here.