Page 19 of Pandora: Alien Games

Hassym

I left the area where Ashok played with Pan-doh–rah. Ugh, even her name annoyed me. Over the last two days, I did my best to avoid her. I walked toward our weapons corner, a space that had an array of weapons and a climbing wall. I ascended to the top of the stone wall. Sweat ran down my back, but I needed to reach that zone when I don’t give a fuck about Pandora anymore. Fuck. Even here I thought about her body, about the way her round chest moved up and down when she breathed. Her chest felt soft, like two sacks filled with sand. Ugh.

My fingers slipped and I fell off the wall, landing in a crouched position. As I plummeted, I pulled my curved sword from my belt and imagined fighting someone. Anyone. The need to spill blood was overwhelming. It was a deep desire that made me want to sink the steel deep into flesh. Hard and fast.

Did I hate Pandora? I wanted to. Yet, at the same time, I had an uncontrollable desire to press her against this stone wall, have her feel the edgy rocks against her back and my hard cock rutting her, filling her.

“You look absent, brother,” Edoo called out to me, his two fighting sticks turning and twisting.

“Are you challenging me?”

“Yes!”

I jumped up and twisted in mid-air, landing in front of Edoo, both of my swords drawn and ready to fight. His hands moved fast, but my swords where ready to cut and maim. Neither of us held back.

Eddo swung the left fighting stick and slammed it into my upper right thigh. Hard. A bolt of pain shot through my body. I showed my fangs and moved toward Edoo, fast and without holding back. I swung my sword. The blade touched his upper arm and sliced through his skin. Drops of blood dripped from his flesh.

“Is it the way you want to play?” he asked, his fangs bared and ready to kill.

Edoo moved fast. His fighting sticks made humming sounds as they flashed through the air, followed by clanging as my swords struck the sticks. It all became a terrible blur. I jumped, hit, and scratched, my eyes constantly focused on the target—Edoo. For a moment, I was back in the Arena, fighting for my life, desperate to survive, wanting to be the best. The cheers of the crowd sounded in my mind. I was high on the lust of the kill. I cut and sliced, moved and slashed. Eventually, I knocked Edoo down and dropped my knees on his chest, both swords against his throat.

“Woah, bro. Try not to behead me, please.”

I through the swords aside and ran away toward the pool in the center of the oasis. Ashok and Pandora swam and played in the water. I threw myself in like a splatter bomb. The cool water surrounded me. I swam under the surface, enjoying the way the suns filtered through the blue water. I always got the feeling I can catch the rays of the suns inside the water. Today more than ever, I needed the warmth and comfort to cleanse my soul of my emotional conflict.

Edoo

Pandora has been with us only a few days, and I’m astonished she gets along best with Ashok. My brother’s, my pack, my family are the most important thing for me. Now I find myself jealous if one of my brothers spends time with her or makes her laugh.

Ramy holds his distance, as always. He’s obsessed with his bow and arrows. He once even designed and built his own bow, and over time has gotten better at building the perfect bow. He could hit a Rash while riding on the back of a Ren and speeding over the dunes of the desert. Ramy gave Pandora the least attention.

Eray was always making sweet snacks for her. Pandora enjoyed sweet things and she always had the biggest smile for him each time he brought her a new, tasty delicacy.

“Edoo, walk with me,” Ramy called to me. You obey your alpha, always. There is no question. In all honesty, I loved and admired my older brother. He was a smart and fair leader.

“Talk to me, little brother.”

“What would you like to talk about, Ramy?”

Ramy stopped and looked me straight in the eyes. He was a bit taller than me. “Pan-doh-rah, she is so… playful,” he said with a smile.

I nodded and we kept walking.

“I didn’t allow either of your brothers to claim her because you’re the one who found her. But if she makes her choice, I won’t be able to stop them.”

“Understand.”

Ramy put one hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure? Do you understand?”

“I… there’s nothing going on between me and her. She’s free.”

“Edoo, your pride is hurting you. There’s no reason for you to be upset. We treated her like prey when we found her. The only one who was kind to her was Ashok. If Hassym got his way, she would have been in chains.”

“I should have brought her here. It’s my mistake. I should have never left her alone and got my bounty from the Caliph.”

“Each of us makes mistakes. But a mistake can be fixed. Take your chance. The female fell from the sky in front of you. That’s a sign from the Gods.”

I nodded.

---