Chapter 2

Rane

The burn of the heated viti liquor scorched down Rane’s throat as he tossed back the shot. He had to clench his teeth to keep from immediately spitting it back up. His tongue, his throat, his stomach all protested this drink. Viti liquor was the strongest stuff in the known galaxy. A single shot was more than most grown males could handle. Some got sick off that alone.

It was a challenge, and Rane couldn’t resist. Not because of the challenge. It was the people who gave him the shot, who stared at him, who cheered at him to do it. A crowd of people that demanded hedonistic satisfaction.

He couldn’t tell them no. He drank the dangerous shot.

Rane slammed the glass back onto the table. The bar was tense, the surrounding crowd of watchers stared with wide eyes in gleeful anticipation.

He had his eyes clenched closed, hand wrapped so tight around the glass he feared it might shatter, but kind of hoped it did. If there were glass shards embedded in his flesh, maybe it would distract from the horrible burn in his throat.

It took three tries, and nearly throwing up everything he’d already had to this point, to successfully swallow the drink. His abdomen immediately clenched in protest; his body completely sure that he must have just forced down some vile poison. The reflex to purge the system was as hard to resist as the burn.

But he fought past that too and with a roar of triumph, threw his fists in the air. The crowd he’d gathered cheered, roaring and stomping and clapping, as they rushed him. The sultry female with slick, golden fur who dared him to do it purred in pleasure as two of her four arms wrapped around him, her body undulating against his, promising a reward later.

Rane could barely keep standing. He leaned onto the male at his other side to keep from falling over. The drink hit hard and it hit fast. The world had already been spinning from the drinks he’d consumed before, but the viti liquor made the ground tilt and sway like he was bobbing up and down in water. It was absolutely nauseating, not at all helped by the fact that his vision suddenly doubled and there were two males he was leaning against and a female with an uncountable number of arms stroking him, promising wicked delights he was no longer capable of understanding.

Rane had no idea who these people were. He’d been brought to this bar to drink and to have a good time and his loud, fun attitude had drawn them to him. Best friends for a few hours. Mates for a night. He wouldn’t remember any of their names or faces come morning, but right now there was no one closer to him in the world.

Another drink was shoved into his hand. He didn’t know what this one was, he didn’t care if it was another viti shot – though two would definitely put him on the ground, if not kill him outright. He tossed it back, unconcerned and uncaring.

It wasn’t a viti shot – more’s the pity. Instead, it was something with a sweet, smoky flavor that immediately made all the colors seem brighter, the contrast of the world sharper.

He’d tasted a lot of different drinks tonight, from a lot of different planets. This bar was popular for being a hub of alien liquors and alien patrons. He would pay for his carelessness later, but right now it didn’t matter. The world was more vibrant, the people were funnier, his body was relaxed and unpained.

For a little while, he could just be and not have any damn worries.

Rane lost track of the night after that.

There were some flashes of memory here and there.

He vaguely recalled pissing in a corner of the bar and getting into a fistfight with the owner. He somewhat remembered hanging onto his new, temporary friends as they carried him to a different bar. He thought that maybe he got into a beauty contest with two other males as they posed for their females, but maybe that was just him posing and making a fool of himself alone.

At some point, he must have left that bar too, because that’s not where he was when he opened his eyes this morning. Or afternoon. Whatever time it was. He didn’t know; he didn’t care. He wasn’t even confused by the unfamiliar surroundings.

His head was pounding, his body was heavy, his eyes were aching and watering, and his stomach was locked up like he was mid puke, though nothing was happening. He felt horrible. And he was aware, once again, of the bruises and pains covering his body.

A single night of freedom, but he paid for it, with interest, the next day.

He groaned, turning over in the unfamiliar bed. He lifted his impossibly heavy head. His scalp was sore, like someone had been yanking at his crest feathers. Looking down, the mystery was solved when he saw the four-armed female from last night. He didn’t know her name, he didn’t really care, he certainly didn’t remember fucking her.

But he supposed he must have. He was nude, and so was she. But there was no afterglow of satisfaction like he’d come recently. There was nothing dried on her fur or between her legs that he could see. Maybe he made her come. Hopefully. He doubted he’d come. Not with how hollow he felt now.

Or maybe he had, and that’s why he felt hollow.

Who knew? Who cared?

Blinking, trying to clear his eyes, Rane rested his arm on his bent knee as he looked around. He’d been brought to a hotel room, apparently. Not even a good one. There was another bed in here, with another couple splayed out on top of the sheets. Also naked. Also unknown to him. Though, at least, that male had more fun than him, judging by the dried cum on the sheets and the female.

When he looked down, he noticed three more pairs of legs on the floor. Also nude, though admittedly, he couldn’t see anything above their knees.

Had he been part of an orgy? Or was it a sex in the same area situation?

Didn’t know.

Still didn’t care.

Rane let out a long sigh as he rubbed his neck. Gritting his teeth as he avoided the urge to puke. His mouth was dry, but also tasted horrible.

What time was it?

How long would it take to get back home?

Did it even matter?

No, he decided a moment later, looking at the window that was covered in a heavy, blackout curtain that kept out all but a sliver of daylight.

He sat there for a while. Waiting for his head and body to stop hurting. Thinking he should probably get some water but being unwilling to move. Or unable, because he was worried that moving would mean he lost the fight with his stomach, and he’d upend the contents all over the floor. Or himself.

Did he have practice today?

Did that matter?

He let out a long breath, looking around at the messy room again. There were empty and half empty bottles of various liquors everywhere. One of the males on the floor let out a long fart as he turned over. No one else moved. The air was stale and stank. He was hungry and dehydrated.

Maybe he could just leave.

What if he walked out the door, went to the spaceport, and just left?

He’d be stopped by the authorities and returned home for trying to leave the planet without permission, that’s what would happen.

What time did the bars reopen? Maybe he could just lay down and wait to get up until then. Maybe the new friends he didn’t know would go with him. Likely not. These kinds of relationships weren’t made to last beyond a few days, at the very most.

But that was fine. He could make some new temporary friends. Go to a new bar. Drink until all these pains and aches and discomforts faded and he was lost again.

End up losing another night.

End up fucking another nameless female without even the satisfaction of actually coming.

Maybe take two viti shots and seeing if that really would kill him.

A male could dream.

He closed his eyes. Ready to do just that. To lay down and waste another day in this seemingly never ending life.

Loud, pounding footsteps outside in the hall made them open again.

He frowned at the door, confused. Typically, people were quiet in hotels. Or maybe it was just so late in the day that no one cared.

The female on the other bed opened her eyes, groaning in pain, awaked by the noise.

Rane was unmoving, because he knew those bootsteps.

He’d heard them chasing after him for most of his life. Hard not to recognize when they were closing in on him again.

He didn’t even move. Just sat there and waited. Nothing was going to change regardless of what he did anyway.

Even when the door was forcibly opened from the outside, sliding out of sight thanks to the override key, he remained motionless. One of the males on the floor shot up, but the two ratchi standing in the doorway didn’t care about anyone else.

They advanced on him, and Rane didn’t even try to fight. He didn’t help either. He was a puppet as the two, large males grabbed him by the arms and yanked him off the bed, towards the door. Unconcerned about his nudity, his dignity, his consent.

His temporary friends called out in outrage, one of the males on the ground grunted as he was suddenly shoved aside. Rane didn’t even look their way. He was limp, legs dragging, as the ratchi duo pulled him from the room and out into the hallway.

They were huge compared to him, and Rane was no small male himself. Orza had dark blue scales, a few sharp teeth that constantly poked out of the lips of his snout, and yellow quills and eyes. Kirs had dark green scales, was missing one of the three fingers on his left hand, and also had yellow eyes and quills, only in a slightly darker shade.

They had been hired shortly after Rane went through puberty and it became obvious that his previous bodyguards weren’t going to be big enough anymore. He rarely heard them talk, he never knew them to do anything except scowl, and he only knew their names because he’d heard his mother use them when she ordered them around.

Because they were only officially his bodyguards. In reality, they were his mother’s tools.

Rane’s expression was carefully blank, unaffected and uncaring, like this wasn’t happening, when the duo dragged him through the lobby of the inexpensive hotel and outside, right to where a large crowd of reporters and paparazzi were waiting. Immediately, combots flashed and people shouted questions. No one cared that his cock was out and uncovered or that he was being so roughly handled.

Rane was a show. This was just another unfortunate incident of him being caught in a compromising position. It was only newsworthy because the public loved keeping track of his various misadventures and judging him for them.

He could hear their gossip now.

‘ Did you hear? Rane was caught being dragged from a hotel by his bodyguards again! ’

‘ Yeah, his cock was just out, flopping in the wind. ’

‘ He doesn’t have a shred of shame for his indecency. I feel so bad for his long-suffering mother. ’

Rane didn’t respond to the yelling, the combot flashes, the crowd. He remained limp as Orza took his full weight and Kirs stepped ahead to open the door on the hover. The windows were at least tinted, so when Orza pressed the button to shut it again, he was hidden. But not before everyone got plenty of shots of his ass, his balls, his taint, all spread out from the way Orza tossed him.

The two ratchi males moved to the front of the hover and got into the driving and navigation seats. A pilot compartment separated from the passenger cabin. For privacy, since this brand of hover was made for the wealthy and powerful who might not want to involve their pilots with their business or who might just want to be separated from the help.

It meant that Rane had a brief moment of peace. His head was still pounding, his mouth was still dry and tasted bad. He wasn’t concerned for his comfort any more than they were concerned for his dignity. He just let it pass, lying where they tossed him across the furthest seats, one leg dangling down, the other up and bent, exposing himself completely.

It didn’t even really matter. He didn’t care at all.

Maybe he had once. When this first happened. Probably a few times afterwards too. Now? His cock was hardly a secret. There were sex toy shops making replicas of it based off photos.

Now you too can be fucked by Rane el Elffa, famous trikballer and bad boy extraordinaire! Comes in a range of colors with a flared base for your safety, adaptable to suction or mounts as you please!

That was a real ad he saw once.

And the fact that he felt nothing except resignation upon realizing what he was seeing probably should have bothered him more.

It didn’t.

Who cared?

The flight home was mercifully long. He hadn’t realized how far from the manor he’d managed to wander last night. He hoped he gave the mismatched twins a workout trying to track him down. At least it meant he had more time before he had to face the inevitable.

But all too soon, it came to an end. He wasn’t looking outside. He didn’t see his large, sprawling home – bought by his own money and turned into a prison with his own money. He just felt the hover coming to a halt.

Then, the door was swinging up and out of the way. One of the ratchi grabbed his ankles and yanked him out just as unceremoniously as they had shoved him in. And once again, he was being carried, limp and unconcerned, up the wide steps towards the manor home.

It was a beautiful place. The underlying architecture was in a very classical style, all white marble and stunning archways. But he didn’t really care for the way it had been decorated. Most of the furniture was made of wicker, the colors all muted beige and brown.

His mother’s taste was as dull as his responses, but she didn’t care for his opinion. Nor did she need his permission.

Orza and Kirs dragged him into the foyer, up the sweeping steps, down the hall, towards his mother’s office. He heard her long before he saw her.

“…doing the best I can,” she said, her voice filled with heartache and fortitude. “He’s a good boy underneath it all, I know he is… Yes… Oh, no! I love him dearly. Nothing would ever change that. I just… I hope he can overcome this. That he can be better… Thank you so much! Thank you! Yes. Yes, goodbye.”

Rane was tossed again. Thrown into a pile on the floor, right at his mother’s feet.

A pair of long, thin feet turned into a pair of long, thin legs, hidden from the knee up by a brown skirt that somehow perfectly matched the downy brown feathers covering her entire body. Elffa was everything a properly bred telfay female should aspire to be.

And she sneered down at her son with a triumphant smirk.

“You really are making this too easy, Rane,” she chuckled, all the warmth and worry gone from her voice. Replaced instead with disdain and smug superiority.

Rane pushed himself up, sitting with one leg straight, the other bent at the knee. Still unconcerned about his nudity. It wasn’t the first time his mother had seen him naked. She had orchestrated the first time herself, so she was probably used to it by now. If he thought his mother capable of experiencing emotions like disgust or shame, he might be concerned.

But no. The only thing Elffa wanted was wealth and power. And Rane was her ticket to both. Having him exposed and vulnerable was just her way of making that happen.

“You two: Go,” she ordered the ratchi males who left without a word.

She didn’t bother to watch them leave. She knew they obeyed her unquestioningly. She had already turned from Rane and was walking around the large, white desk that absolutely dwarfed her. It had been made for a male, which meant it was too large for a female. Telfay females were smaller in stature, size, and weight compared to their male counterparts. But Elffa wouldn’t care. What mattered to her was that the desk was expensive, and it represented something she loved.

Taking power from him.

She said nothing as she sat down, spreading her hands over the surface. Positively glowing with malevolent self-satisfaction. It was not a look that boded well for Rane, but he kept his expression impassive as he forced himself to stand.

Even though he was still in pain from last night. Even though he just wanted to go find some water and a shower. He kept himself composed and unaffected as he crossed his arms and looked at her, waiting for whatever brought about that look this time.

Maybe she’d just gotten a new brand deal and was excited about the credz it would bring. Or maybe she’d dreamt up some grand new humiliation or him.

Whatever it was, Rane wouldn’t give her anything. He refused to grant her the satisfaction of knowing she got to him.

“I’ve got good news for you,” she finally started, putting her elbows on the desk and resting her chin on her folded hands.

Rane didn’t respond. He just waited. If he was lucky, that meant that it was a brand deal.

“You are a useless, worthless, lazy son,” she said so sweetly, so happily. “I saw the reports this morning. An orgy? I can’t believe you were dragged out of an orgy. It’s just delicious. You looked like you were on drugs when they were pulling you out too.”

Nothing.

Say nothing. Have nothing on his face. Give her nothing.

Really, what more humiliation could she heap on him that he hadn’t already experienced?

She sighed. “Unfortunately, it seems to have worked a little too well. That was Sal I was just talking to.”

Sal? What did the captain want from his mother?

“They’re thinking of kicking you off the team,” she said bluntly.

Rane stilled. The words were hardly a surprise. He knew the team had been getting increasingly angry with him. The wild nights, the unreliability, the carelessness could only be forgiven so long as he made up for it with victories in the sphere.

And while they had won the last few games, it had been entirely too close. There was no doubt that was his fault as well. Rane was the lead striker. It was his job to be decisive and direct and fast. None of which had been happening.

No, that wasn’t unusual. He rather expected that.

What surprised him was his own reaction to the news.

He felt… relieved?

Rane loved trikball. He had been playing for as long as he could remember. He started in the youth leagues as a youngling, graduated to minor leagues after school, then helped found his team to join the major league shortly thereafter.

They were a great team. Six males that he considered great friends. Playing with them had once been the greatest joy of his life. He got paid to play his favorite game with his favorite people in the champion leagues of trikball. It was a dream most could only fantasize over, that many chased but never claimed. But he did it!

The threat of loss should have been devastating. He should be enraged, despondent, over the very idea of losing all that.

But if it was done, if he was no longer Rane the famous trikballer, then he would finally be able to deprive his mother of something. Take this from her.

Maybe he could be free.

Something must have shown on his face, despite his determination to remain stoic, because Elffa smirked at him.

“Oh, don’t worry, Rane,” she snickered. “I’m not going to let you lose your place that easily. Your monna is always going to take care of you.”

Those words sent dread swirling through his veins.

He’d heard them before. They never meant anything good for him.

“I figured this might happen,” she said, sitting back in the wide chair. “There’s only so long that people will tolerate your kind of behavior, especially when it begins affecting your performance. I’m surprised it took this long, actually. You really are a phenomenal player. But you’ve been missing practice and making sloppy mistakes on gameday.”

Yeah, he didn’t care anymore. What was even the point?

“Fortunately, I planned for this,” she smiled.

Rane hated that look on her face, what it could mean. He didn’t know how much more she could take from him though. She already claimed everything. From his credz to his life to his very dignity. What else could she possibly take away?

“I found your mate,” she declared, smugly satisfied.

Rane’s heart skipped a beat, then dropped straight to his feet.

“No, you didn’t,” he said, though the protest wasn’t nearly as strong as it should be.

Because he’d heard of females being triggered by the sight of their males on camera. It wasn’t that common, and sometimes a female needed to actually see a male in person, a recording or photo wasn’t good enough, but not always. Really good cameras could sometimes be enough to trigger their mating instincts.

If his female had seen him and come to his mother…

He wanted to puke. Because if he was mated, if he had a female tied to him that way, it would be just another method his mother had to control him.

“Do you remember,” Elffa started calmly, “a while ago I had you do that medical scan? The one that was very uncomfortable, and you asked me what kind of scan it was?”

“And then you injected me with something that made me pass out and I woke up behind a dumpster with a paparazzi taking pictures of me with vomit on myself? Yeah, I remember,” Rane said, losing his battle to keep her from knowing how much what she did bothered him.

“Exactly,” she smiled, shameless over her own actions. “Well, that wasn’t actually a medical scan. I lied. It was a True Match scan.”

“A… A what?”

“True Match. Oh, you might not have heard of it since it’s not really a bar or club conversation topic. They’re a matchmating service. They do a subspace level scan to find and match you to your mate without ever meeting them. Isn’t that handy?”

She sounded so delighted, like someone had promised her a treat. It was sickening how well she was able to fake a sound of innocence.

“I will not mate her,” he said firmly. Decisively.

“And this is the best part here: she’s human ,” Elffa continued like he hadn’t spoken. She let out a laugh of excitement. “I couldn’t have planned that better. I mean, I hoped she was going to be some backwards idiot I could control, but a human? It’s like a work of providence.”

“I will not mate her,” Rane repeated, his belly roiling with unease and fear.

“A mate is just what you need. With a mate, we have a reason to stop all your wild parties, but I still get to maintain control over you. Because a human? There’s no way the tribunal will agree that she’s a good enough guardian for you. And if they do? Well, we both know I have a way of fixing that, don’t we?”

She smiled at him. So sweetly threatening. But Rane could see the path of destruction laid out before him like an attack plan on the trikball court.

Rane was an adult by age. But his mother maintained control over him by painting him as a wild, out of control young male who couldn’t be reasonably expected to take care of himself. Therefore, he could do nothing without her permission, legally.

If he was to take a mate, in the normal course of things, his guardianship should be transferred to her instead. And maybe he’d have a chance to get out of this.

But if she was human, there was no way the tribunals would agree that she would be someone capable of guardianship. She was an alien. She would have no idea how laws and traditions worked on Levtiram. His mother could then argue that his guardianship should be maintained, and in fact that his mate also be put under her guardianship for her own good. It could be argued that she needed to take care of both of them. And his long, documented history of being out of control would only help her argument.

And then adding on top of it her being human ? Humans were not only not a full member species of the Coalition, they were still bound to their homeworld, not yet having perfected space travel. She wouldn’t have an idea how anything worked, which was another point in his mother’s favor. But the fact that humans were considered rather uncouth and even barbaric by telfay standards meant that no one would ever take her seriously.

Elffa was right. She couldn’t have planned that better.

But Rane at least had control over this.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re matched,” he said, fighting back against the nausea induced panic. “Even if she sees me and I trigger her, which we cannot guarantee if she is human, it will mean nothing if I do not bite her. And I will not.”

“You will,” Elffa said calmly, unconcerned by his defiance. “I’m not giving you a choice.”

“I will rip my teeth out before I ever give you a chance to do this.”

Elffa just laughed, tossing back her head. “You’re so adorably dramatic, Rane. You’re also too late. I’m telling you this now because you can’t stop it. She’s already on her way here.”

“No.”

“Oh, yes. She left her home planet two days ago, in fact. She’s traveling to Holotulle where she’ll transfer ships, and then she’ll be on her way here. Her landing is scheduled for five days from now. Isn’t that exciting?”

“I will not!”

“Once she arrives, you’ll go pick her up from the station. It will cause quite a stir in the media, I think. I wonder, will people envy or pity her? I imagine she’ll be excited once she realizes she mated a famous, wealthy trikballer either way. Don’t you?”

“You cannot make me!” Rane’s fists were clenched tight, shaking with rage and tension.

His mother stood, slowly coming around the desk. And though she was a full head shorter than him, she was intimidating. Dangerous.

“Sweet, dumb, little Rane,” she chuckled. “I can. And you will. And once you’re mated, I won’t have any reason to put you through these little humiliations anymore. You can focus back on practice and the game, and I will control your mate and any younglings you have. I think that should be a tight enough leash, don’t you?”

Rane tasted blood in his mouth from how hard he was clenching his teeth. Because he could see the impending, ultimate victory in her eyes.

Because if Rane wasn’t considered a legal adult, and if his mate was not granted the status of a legal adult by the tribunal, then they certainly wouldn’t be allowed to be parents to their own young. That would instead default to their nearest, legal adult relative.

His mother.

She would control his young, his mate, him, so completely he wouldn’t be able to escape her grasp until he was cold and dead.

“Look forward to meeting her,” Elffa laughed, patting his arm. “And do put some pants on. The show is over.”

I’ve already won, he could practically hear her saying as she left the room, laughing. Leaving him there in the middle of the office, hating her.

No.

She couldn’t make him mate this female.

In fact, he was going to make sure that this female didn’t want to mate him at all. And that was something he could absolutely control.