Page 31 of K'Vella

"And you told me you're too hot, yes?"

"I am."

"Okay, last question, and I know it's personal. Are you producing slick?"

Phial grabs the blaster at his hip and has to forcefully stop himself from drawing it on me. I keep my eyes on him, making him aware that this isn't something I'm enjoying talking about. I'd much rather be in bed with K'Vella than talking about the symptoms of heat with Phial and Avery.

"I don't want to!" Avery screams again.

I raise the volume of my purr, trying to keep it loud enough that she can hear it over her crying and hoping she can feel the vibrations inside herself. It'll help to calm her and ease the pain she's probably starting to feel.

"When did this start?" I ask Phial, who looks on the verge of going on a murder spree and starting with me.

"Maybe fifteen minutes before I came to get you," he says, hand still on his blaster like he's not quite sure if he's going to pull it or not.

"Good, then it just started," I say as Phial's bedroom door slides open.

Essa has her pack of supplies thrown over her shoulder, and K'Vella is right behind her. There's a pained expression on her face when she looks at me. My brows furrow, and I tilt my head to the side, not quite sure what has her distraught.

"What just started?" Essa asks as she sets her pack on Phial's dresser and starts going through her supplies to get stuff out.

"Her heat," I say, keeping my voice as neutral as possible because we know very well that Avery went through her last heat only a month ago, right before we rescued her from the smugglers.

Phial turns on his heels, his hands going up to his head like he wants to rip his feathers from his scales. Essa gives me a bewildered expression that morphs into one of sorrow for Avery.

"We have maybe a day before she's really in the thick of it." I turn toward the glass dome. "Avery, how did you get through the previous times this happened to you?"

"Please, no, please don't make me." Avery's crying is quiet, but her voice breaks each of us a little when she speaks.

I try to purr louder, but I don't think I have it in me. It would be best if we were next to one another for my purring to truly help her, and even better if we could find a male to mate her. He'd have an even stronger connection to her.

"How'd you get through it before, Avery?" I ask again. "We need to know how to best take care of you."

The previous male who had her said his client didn't like them using the smuggled goods, so Avery was untouched in that way,even if she was experimented on. Not being assisted through her heat would be another type of torture added to everything else.

"The collar," Avery says, her voice sounding distant, like her mind has checked out. "They made it so I couldn't move. They said I cried too much."

And if that doesn't piss everyone in the room off enough to get our minds off any other personal grievances. Phial touches the side of the dome with both hands flat against the glass. His face is a mixture of horror, pain, and sadness. Essa looks as angry as she was when she found out who K'Vella's sister is. This time, she seems able to control herself. Even K'Vella is picking up the room's atmosphere and is standing solemnly in the doorway with a grim expression.

"Okay." I nod, realizing that no one here has ever dealt with a female in heat. I have by the barest of metrics only because I grew up in a society where it was common.

From a young age, I was taught the difference between males and females of our kind. When I finally matured enough to take part in our traditions, I learned how difficult heats could be on unmated females. Our responsibility as Rytharian males is to help the smaller of our kind not suffer as best we can.

"Has the Intergalactic Alliance offered us anything?" I ask.

"Not that I know of, and I saw Alik right before I went to bed," Essa says. Now that she knows she can't help Avery, she starts to put everything back in her pack.

"Fuck," I mutter under my breath.

I don't want to go back home. The last time I was there, I did something awful. I had plans of never returning, but I won't let my friend suffer. Not when there's a chance I can help her.

"Essa, go tell Jovi and Alik we're making a jump. Phial, get her dressed in something, anything." I grab his shoulder and lean my head in close to his. I hate what I need to tell him, but Rytharians scent match, and I need him to know there's a chanceAvery could scent match someone on my planet. "Prepare yourself to lose her if her sense of smell was altered."

I expect some pushback from Phial, but he gives me a stoic nod and moves towards his dresser, rummaging for something to dress Avery in.

"K'Vella, come with me. You'll have to act as second." I grab her lower left hand as I leave the room and all but drag her down to the navigation pit with me. "I'm really sorry all of this is happening."

"You purred for her," K'Vella says, more to herself than to me. In fact, it's so quiet I think she didn't want to voice it at all.

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