Page 16 of Her Alien Prince
My wings whipped out, the tips fluttering in their own kind of warning. His words rattled me, and my body reacted before I could think clearly. Who was he to Mabel to know what she deserves? Who was he to decide I could not give her everything a mate could desire? Both of my hearts pounded in my chest like I was standing before my queen, the obvious disdain and disappointment clear in her eyes that I was not a female heir.
I've trained my expressions to remain neutral, cold, and I looked down my nose at him with practiced boredom.
"For the sake of peace between our planets, I should hope you'll have a change of attitude towards my efforts of claiming a mate."
"I've already taken care of that. You'll have your mate, and you can be on your way."
I lifted a brow. "Is that so? And how did you manage this?" With the way Mabel rushed off, I hardly thought persuading her to give me more time to prove our compatibility would be as easy as having some guard play match maker. And he had clearly said she wasn't speaking to him, so his claim was not convincing.
"Mabel will inform Luan that she's to give you a tarnpul offering at the ceremony's mate matching. You will be given one-on-one time with Luan to secure your political mating. Seduce her, and then leave. It shouldn't be difficult for you. I'm well aware that if you and Luan are compatible that your spray will induce mating, instead of a nap."
I laughed. "You think I'd risk making Luan faint in front of the whole mating assembly?"
Gaven didn’t know that I had already confirmed Luan’s compatibility before I even set foot on this planet. My musk would induce mating pheromones. There were no doubts about that. She had consumed my nectar many times, and Chief Ong had assured me that she preferred my nectar to all others, even going so far as to request it often during trades. We were compatible.
"It isn't a risk if Luan's loh are activated," he countered with a determination which made me bristle. His efforts were not self-less, he was purposefully shoving an opportunity I couldn't refuse within my grasp to keep me from Mabel. He knew I'd have to make the attempt, for the sake of avoiding a war not even the Almder realized was already waiting impatiently upon her own moon, where I'd left Commander Li-aq. I had to gain Luan's cooperation, regardless of my obsession with the delicious Mabel.
I grunted my temporary agreement with this plan, but only because, if Gaven was to be believed, it relied on Mabel telling Luan to gift me a piece of tarnpul jewelry at the opening ceremony. Would Mabel stake her claim, keeping this information to herself? Grinning, the smile reached my eyes as I watched the scheming Gaven. Perhaps, I would make my final decision at the ceremony. If Luan gifts me with her tarnpul, I'll know whether Mabel harbors any feelings for me, or not. If she is truly my kansa, then giving another female permission to claim me would require great effort.
I would have to accept her decision.
"You need a mate that will provide spawn, Luan is who you need," he said, trying to convince me further. Was he suggesting that Mabel was incapable? That was not what I gathered from our previous discussion. She merely needed a different method of carrying her spawn to term, from her interest in kantos sacks this was normal for any krelin mate.
She was not krelin, I reminded myself, estrelds didn't need such things. What I didn't need was some other male telling me what I needed, or didn't, for that matter.
"And what is it that Mabel needs?" I stepped forward, my wings still extended. Gaven was a strong warrior not to flinch at my approach. If I wasn't at odds with him, I'd have considered him the kind of warrior I'd like at my side come war, or otherwise.
"Someone to care about her best interests. I'll find another way of getting her the larva sack she wanted from you, but her life is more important than being a brood-herglat for the clan. She is smart and will bring great achievements to the clan regardless of her mating status."
"For someone trying to dissuade me from mating with her, you are doing a remarkably abysmal job. Sounds to me like you're not listening to what she wants from a mate."
"She wants a family, and it doesn't matter to me how we achieve that as long as she's alive. We could both transfer to the offspring training facility, where there are plenty of spawn who grew up just like she did. She could give them the same experience Almder and Luan provided for her. Family doesn't start and end with blood."
Gaven's impassioned speech was moving, but not in the way he probably hoped for. Most would hear his words as they were intended, a declaration of his affections, and an obvious sign that most would not measure up to such claims of commitment and back off. For me, all he did was affirm the compassion of the woman we both held esteem for, and highlighted a need for some kind of change in the way the estrelds currently conducted their spawn training if she was denied this basic need of familial bonding.
I understood the ache of rejection, of never measuring up, and the absence of what my queen could never give me. My only saving grace was in the warriors that followed my command. There, I had respect, and though not entirely the same, a bond like no other. And I could give her a bond that would surpass even that.
It was something I've always craved but held no real hope of obtaining. A kansa mate bond. I swear, I could hear her thoughts in my head. That she was inside of my very soul, but it was so quick, so fleeting, that I could have imagined it. Perhaps, it was simply that I wished for it to be real, and dreamed it to be, if only for a moment.
There was a job to be done. A duty to be fulfilled. Even if she was my kansa mate... I was required to mate with Luan, for the sake of both our species.
I nodded to Gaven. "I will approach Luan for her tarnpul offering, you may guard me from outside of my accommodations, unless you'd like to stay while I relieve myself?"
Given the mask over his face it was hard to tell, but Gaven wasn't amiable to the idea of being audience to such things. He quickly turned his back, and reminded me, with his voice echoing off the sliding door as he approached to leave, "I've already submitted my request to be sired with Mabel prior to your involvement, and it was accepted. Our bonding ceremony will take place after the off-worlders are dismissed."
"Not during the mating ceremony then, when your moons are most auspicious?" I questioned, knowing full well that most estrelds would prefer to mate while conditions were optimal, and radiation was plentiful. It was my way of stabbing a bit of uncertainty into his claims, because she certainly didn't act engaged with another while I massaged her inner most walls as they clamped down around my fingers.
My cock grew hard once more at the thought, and I was thankful Gaven was facing the opened exit as to not instigate him into attacking me. I would not back down from a Kloaph Rite, if he challenged, and I had no doubts I would win, even if it meant dislodging his gasmask to spray him with my musk once more. By Krelis law, I would have every claim to take Mabel to the Kai Mountain Oasis to convince her to accept me as my mate. In ancient times, kidnapping our mates after a Kloaph Rite was part of the mating ceremony, and a warrior would not return until every egg was fertilized by our victorious seed.
I was not so barbaric as to expect I'd be able to kidnap Mabel to Krelis to claim her, but the idea that she'd come willingly was making my cock swell with need. Perhaps she'd even be excited to run and hide within the cave's tunnels so I could chase her down by our bond alone. Gripping my length, I closed my eyes, and imagined her smile, as she glanced over her shoulder with a wink before her hips swayed with her excitement to see how fast I could find her and claim her as mine.
She'd call out my name, then leave a trail of her garments on the stone floor, until all there was left was our bond to follow. It didn't matter if it was all concocted in my mind, the affection I saw in those seductive green eyes of hers was enough to undo me. My seed wasted at my feet was evidence enough that if nothing else, my trip to estreldez had indeed triggered my mating glands, and if it could be done for me, perhaps not all was lost for the hive.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Mabel
WHEN I CLOSEDmy eyes to sleep, all I could see was the inside of a cave carved from yellow-orange stone that had a faint glow to it. I was running through the corridors, getting lost in the maze, glancing over my shoulder as I went. It should have been terrifying, not knowing where I was, and this intense knowledge that I was being chased, but I was smiling. Like the whole thing was part of a game of some sort. Then I'd wake up.
