Page 43 of Her Alien Warrior
"What do you expect me to do about it?"
"Ah," he hesitated, "He is banned from going near you of his own accord. Commander Tensel has issued a challenge, and all warriors will not act against his orders."
"Get on with it!" I was already standing, with the sheet held up against my chest, ready to storm the station. I'd tie this fabric like a toga if I had to. My feet touched the cold metal of the floor, and normally I'd shriek at the sudden temperature change, but I was burning up, and it took all of my will power to not leave without any direction or plan. I wasn't sure why I was so agitated, but the only thing on my mind was finding Sou-el and seeing him.
What would I say to him when I did see him? I wasn't sure, but I guessed I'd start with trying to explain that I didn't mean to give the offering to someone else? That he should move on, and find another mate that wouldn't betray him? Why was he so set on me being his mate when we hardly knew each other? Every mom instinct in me wanted to protect him and remind him that lust and attraction were not the same thing as love, or forever. I should know. He needed to leave here and regain his honor in his tribe.
"Right, yes. If you were to find him yourself and claim him as your mate, then the tribe would accept that he had every right to defend you by dueling Commander Tensel."
"He dueled?"
"If the commander wasn't merciful, Sou-el would have died in that battle. It was foolish to challenge a warrior far beyond his skill to defeat."
"I don't understand, are you saying he picked a fight and lost? Because of me?"
Tortured between flattered and pissed off, both feelings warred for dominance within me. I'd never had anyone fight for me, but also it was stupid to get hurt for no reason. My fistsclenched at my side and I understood the dilemma he must have gone through while faced with Tensel, because in that moment I didn't know whether I wanted to punch him for getting hurt, or yell at him. Use my words, or physically shake sense into him.
"Sou-el will be upset that I have told you, since it is not endearing to a mate to lose a duel, but if you truly are his mate, you will not leave him because of his failure."
"Where is he?" I was done talking to someone else about what was a conversation I needed to have with Sou-el himself.
"That's the issue, really. He is not to interact with anyone associated with you. Not even I know exactly where he is this past week. All I know is he is likely in one of the Blue District observation rooms. Though for him, it is more like a cage, as his only option to leave that room is to leave the planet. I would be informed if he left, as I have followed every mission of his since we were spawn together."
I smiled at that. "You're his best friend."
"His brother," he corrected, but I was beginning to understand that the term was used more as a term of closeness than of biological relation. They looked nothing alike.
"So, you have no idea where he is, and I'm supposed to find him?"
"That is what I am saying," he affirmed.
I lifted a brow and I asked curiously, "You've had a week and haven't found him." I'm assuming as his brother he's been searching for him.
He appeared offended that Ieven insinuated he might not have. "I do not trust the medic units in his room to keep him safe in my absence."
"Then how am I supposed to do what you haven't?"
"You are his mate," he said like that explained everything.
"Right…" I pressed my lips together to stop myself from arguing with him.
"That is the challenge given to him by Commander Tensel. If you are indeed his mate then you will find him by instinct. I'm to give you his blood if you wish to prove the bond. I have samples that were collected before he was taken away. That is all I have to offer."
"I'm human," I insisted he was mistaken. "What you're asking is ridiculous. We aren't like dogs that can sniff some blood and find something. I could eat a bloody steak and not be able to hunt down the cow that it came from!" My feet were moving to the door before I could think about it. Adjusting the sheet around myself, I rolled it and pulled it under my arms and around my neck like I used to with a sarong at the beach. Where were my clothes? I sighed resting my hand on the wall, and I felt a click. Blinking, I glanced up and spotted that as I removed my hand, a storage pocket was revealed, and it was cold with a bio-controlled lock. Medic Cenkal was behind me and placed his hand on the lock.
It opened, and several vials of blood were stored in there.
He said nothing, buthe didn't have to. There was an unsaid understanding that both of us were wondering if I was indeed like a dog, hunting my mate. He took a step back and didn't pick out the one that would be Sou-el's, fully expecting that I could find it myself, even with all the vials labeled in an alien language. My mouth was dry, and my fingers twitched. This was silly, I wasn't going to find his blood this way.
I wasn't his mate, right?
But the longer I stared at only one vial in particular, the more my doubts crumbled into a strange desire for it to be true. I reached for it, holding it in my hands with curiosity. Was this his blood? I didn't know for certain, but what if it was?
Medic Cenkal held out a contraption that looked like a gun with an empty slot for the vial.
"Is this his?" I asked him with wonder. The vial clicked in, and I knew I was supposed to inject it. I'd seen these before when I was being evaluated for the exchange, and again when Cenkal took blood samples for my bathing compatibility.
"I'm not allowed to verify or deny anything, or I risk the results of the experiment. There are multiple warrior samples in that storage unit. One of which, is indeed Sou-el's, but there is also Commander Tensel's sample in there as well. By my honor, and Sou-el's, I cannot say more. It was already a risk to tell you what I have about Sou-el's choice to stay on planet, and his duel for you."
