Page 22 of Her Alien Prince
Thankfully, Luan assured me she would be fine on her own, but the way she dismissed our conversation as yet another interview disheartened me. I pulled away from our embrace, and my training to remain neutral no matter what any mate prospect said kicked in. Many times I doubted whether Luan truly believed we were friends, and a pain throbbed through my chest. If that's all she wanted from me, then I would gladly give that to her.
"What did you feel when your mating loh came out?" The question would never be added to the interview records, not when Almder had already removed me from my advisor duties to the M.R. team, but I needed to know.
"My nerves were on fire, and my shoulders burned. The thought repeated in my head, 'mine'."
I nodded, my heart breaking into shards of irreparable slivers. A mask of indifference plastered on my face as Luan stood to leave. Not daring to meet her eyes once more, I stared into the water, turning my attention away from her as her feet padded away. The rustling of the Retreating Wop plant indicating that she was gone. A sob croaked from my throat.
She would mate with him, I thought with dread.
I'd heard this description before, and it always resulted in a successful pairing. My back seared with pain, and I lunged forward to potentially fall into the water. The dirt crumbled in my fisted hands as I sought some kind of purchase to alleviate my firing nerves. I bit my lip as I ground out a muffled cry. Eyes squeezed shut, I eased them open as I felt a pull at my shoulders that felt less like frying flesh, and more like I'd stretched out the kink that had been hurting me to begin with.
What stared back at me had my jaw dropping.
I flexed, and watched in awe as green veined wings flapped. They sparkled in the water, and I didn't know if that was merely the reflection of the moon's rays or a hallucination brought on by the heat and pain. I didn't dare reach behind me to reassure myself of my sanity. They weren't anything like Luan's jeweled-looking loh, they were leathery... iridescent... with sharp claw-like spikes on the ends.
Slapping my hands to my mouth to cover a gasp, I sucked in air to hold my breath.
One of my parents was... a krelin?
No one could see me like this, I panicked. Blinking my eyes, I willed them to go back inside of my back loh, from which they emerged. Any estreld could retract their back loh on command, but I wasn’t any estreld, and these weren’t traditional mating loh either. Squinting from one eye, I saw that did nothing. Panting, or more like hyperventilating, I tried to relax my shoulders, and they folded against each other like I'd seen Trent do. Turning to my side, I saw a ripple in the water where my wings were and I shifted to see the wings again. They were just like his... disappearing with the reflection of light when they were closed, but it was merely an illusion of the eyes. If I couldn't control myself, then I'd reveal what I was.
Tears trickled down my cheeks. Luan would look at me differently. I had to see Elder Ezra, immediately. Or I could convince Luan to take me with her on her journey off world. I stayed in my little oasis away from the problems I would have to face from this new realization, building up the courage to confront them.
CHAPTER TEN
Trent
THE CONNECTION WITHmy kansa mate buzzed in my blood, a sharp jolt in my mind told me she was under some kind of distress that made me pace the garden waiting for her. Luan would meet here soon, and I worried that this distress she felt would affect her acceptance of wishing to mate with me. I tried to distract myself with the flora, taking a knee to smell the sweet aroma that reminded me of Mabel's juices on my fingers. Quickly, I shook my head to rid myself of the thought. I was here for Luan, and I didn't wish to create more barriers to my kansa bond. Everything in me wanted to feel her in my mind and have her trust me with her thoughts.
"You like the blackpul rose algae?" Luan's voice asked cautiously from behind.
Not wishing to frighten her, I kept my wings folded. For other krelin warriors it was a display of power, and a way of attracting our mates, but Luan wasn't krelin. I had to keep that fact in mind and respect our differences, if she was going to accept me. I turned at a lazy pace. "It's sweeter than Krel Nectar. I like it very much."
But it wasn’t sweeter than Mabel, I closed my eyes to the thought.
Luan rambled on about the bitterness of the algae before it flowered, but quickly added that regardless they smelled nice. An anxious energy consumed me that muddled my mind and I pushed past it to show Luan how compatible we were. I smiled, and tried to charm her with seduction, "I can only think of a few things sweeter." Mabel flashed within my mind once again, and I felt my cock harden from the memory of her taste. Was this my fate? Constantly pushing against my mate bond with Luan because I was foolish enough to touch, to taste another.
She shifted uncomfortably, and a distasteful tang bittered my mouth, making me think I should switch into a more diplomatic approach. The flirtation didn’t sit right with me when all I thought of was Mabel. There was still a very real possibility that Luan only gave me her tarnpul offering because Mabel asked it of her.
With a curt nod, she gripped her skirts and took a strong step forward. It was nice to see she wasn't afraid of me, but that was to be expected from a future leader of her clan. "Have you been sent here to discuss trade?" Luan beat me to the conversation switch, confirming she didn't feel comfortable with our arrangement.
I kept my tone pleasant, on the edge of teasing, since it was well known one-on-ones during the mating ceremony were notorious for fooling around to see how the couple responded to one another. I hoped it would disarm this coldness I felt from her. "I've been sent to assess other assets that might be agreeable to Krelis."
I grinned at her hesitation after the mention of assets, we both knew it had to do with mates. Many of my warriors would gladly see if estrelds would form bonds with them, and I was proof it was possible.
No, I corrected, we were proof.
The muscle in my cheek twitched from smiling, it was forced, and though I'd been told my smile was hard to resist, I hadn't been in need of this tactic for many cycles. I could only hope it was still as charming as it once was, though I doubted my own assurances with the way she flinched.
"You wish for more krelins to participate in our mating ceremonies?"
Ah, her hesitancy was about logistics then. Was she testing to see if krelins were amenable to coming to Estreldez for mating, instead of our traditional abduction rituals? Or perhaps, was she concerned about whether krelins actually found estrelds attractive without having wings to speak of, or scales? I nodded, her concern was valid, but I've seen the strength of estrelds, and she was a perfect queen they would follow given she had wings, ones of magnificent fierceness.
"Your females are strong, and our males are fertile when their glands are activated by your radiation. With more men than there are fertile females. Our female warriors are without wings, a sign of carrying fertile eggs for spawning," I explained. These were all facts we both should know. The hive was strong, but we would not be for long if we do not find a new queen, one who is not bent on sending more of our warriors into war when we cannot possibly recoup from the loss.
Her body leaned back, instinctively showing her intentions to flee, or at least the need she felt to extricate herself from my presence. The krelin's and estreld's mating facts were not enough so I continued, keeping my tone soft, "Our warriors are harsh," I admitted with agreement, "they spend their time defending our trade, our planet, and fighting outlaws without the comforts of a clan to soften them."
It was possible Luan did not know of how much Krelis defended Estreldez as much as we did our own planet. Countless times we've stopped King Sylve from coming too close to this sector, and enslaving our hive, or that of estreld's clans. It was natural for my warriors to feel used, and unappreciated when they are treated so abrasively by estrelds during trades. Some of them became disgruntled and sought to receive their own reparations for their efforts by increasing their own take before handing over agreed upon goods. It wasn't ideal, and there was a way to mitigate these circumstances.
