The Ilia's Lovers - Chapter Thirty-Four

Being in a vehicle of any kind annoyed Kerrok. It always had. On Sehn, if a person had to travel anywhere that couldn’t be reached on foot, it often wasn’t important enough to make the effort. Kerrok had long mocked other species reliance on modes of transport. Now he would be as reliant on them as these Amarans were if he found himself bonded to this female.

“You will do this for your people, Kerrok. We need the strength Amarans lend us. We need their favour. You are not the first to sacrifice to ensure we keep those ties strong.”

Kerrok rattled off several expletives. In the front compartment the pilot almost turned his head to look at him.

Vrok off!

Kerrok gritted his teeth at the swear word. The Amarans had infected their entire culture. They even used Amaran swear words now as well as their own and while it never bothered Kerrok before, now he resented the influence.

Hundreds of years ago, when Sehn were still quite new to the galaxy, Cealin came to one of their colony worlds and stole some of their people. It rocked the Sehn, and they built ties with Cealin’s enemies, Amarans, to help protect themselves from anything like that happening again. Recently, the Sehn were told by the Tessans that those Sehn were used to change humans they had stolen from their world, making them part Sehn. It made sense to them, they had always felt an affinity for the Protectorate males and it made them happy to know they were related to them.

But the Cealin’s actions had far reaching consequences for Sehn culture. Again, it hadn’t bothered Kerrok until he dragged out of the temperate rainforests of his home, given orders to try and bond to a human, and shoved onto a ship to take him to Ket’Kitara.

The Kuyon flying ship headed to the coast, the water rising on the horizon to greet him.

Bonded to a human.

Bonded to an official lover of the Amaran Ilan.

The first one didn’t bother him. Sehn didn’t practice slavery, and humans had been bonded to Sehn in the past. Human females were of a size with Sehn females and just as defenceless as them. The thought of having a human mate made little difference to Kerrok. The thought that if he bonded to this female, he would have to share her with others.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Kerrok looked down and saw orange blood tapping on his highly polished boots. Looking at his hands, he realised his claws were sunk into the palms of his hands.

Kivosh!

Kerrok pulled the claws watching his skin catch on the naturally serrated edges and grabbed his bag which sat on the seat behind him, looking for something to mop up the blood. One of his tops made the ultimate sacrifice and when he was done, he pressed his palms into the fabric to staunch the bleeding.

Kivosh havari!

This was a nightmare. His only hope was that he didn’t bond to the female and could return home.

The flying thing came to a stop, hovering above a landing platform in the sea before descending.

As they landed, he saw the Amaran Ilan and his adalan lover waiting on the beach to receive him.

Voja, help me through this.

As soon as the flying vehicle landed, Kerrok bounded out, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking down the pier towards the Ilan.

“I don’t want to vrokking be here. I don’t want this human as my mate. I will not share my mate.”

The Ilan and his lover looked at one another.

“Please, feel free to be candid,” the Ilan replied.

Sarcasm. I hate sarcasm.

Kerrok just stared at them.

“Well, this is going to be fun,” the adalan said. “Shall we go inside and talk?”

Kerrok gritted his teeth once more, feeling his fangs bite into the lower flesh of his mouth and followed the two Amarans into the lavish house.

The room they entered was huge with stone floors. A staircase stood to one side, curved and elegant and utterly absent in Sehn buildings. Not only did they not build up, but it would prevent disabled Sehn from being able to access the upper floors of this dwelling, Kerrok rankled at the thought of such an exclusionary piece of architecture. Wasn’t a building meant to service those dwelling within? There were several seating areas, some single chairs with side tables, a seat in front of an old dark wood desk, as well as the straight seats that could sit many that always confused the Sehn. Why not just use Dissa cushions? Many could sit on one, cross legged, facing one another. Trays of food could be placed in the centre for eating and drinks.

Instead of heading to one of the seating areas in, what Kerrok realised was the hallway, the Ilan and his lover led him down a couple of steps, again with the exclusionary architecture, and into one of the many doorways that led off what, on Sehn, would be the central meeting place of the clatch. Kerrok thought of his clatch, his community. If he kept gritting his teeth, he’d break them, he realised, forcing his jaw muscles loose.

The room they entered was smaller, but still big. Much bigger than any Sehn would be comfortable with. The room was covered with intricately carved grey and taupe wood, ceiling and walls, though the floor was black tiles covered with thick luxurious rugs. There was one huge seating area, the straight, what was it called, couch, gave lots of seating across the U shape. There were also two chairs set across from them, in the same space. Another piece, that looked more like a dissa cushion sat in the middle, but instead of it being free to sit upon, it had a display on it, making it clear that despite the upholstering upon it, it was not for seating. Kerrok doubted he’d even be able to set his feel upon it. Behind it, was a large oval table surrounded by chairs which sat on its own rug. There were two chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, one over the seating area, the other over the dining area.

Tall windows allowed light to spill into the warm room from two walls with wall lights set between them and on the rest of the walls, which matched the chandeliers.

Sehn weren’t ascetic. They liked their comforts, but this was all beyond the extreme of what any person needed and this was the problem with the galaxy. People took without need and left others without.

Sehn were deeply communal people who believed in putting the good of the community before themselves. Hoarding wealth and excessive displays of wealth was antithetical to everything his people valued. If one of them was destitute, it only damaged the fabric of their society to allow them to remain that way. Not only mentally, seeing the person like that and the person themselves suffering it, but physically, for their health, emotionally, for everyone’s sense of belonging and community as well as socially, if that person were forced to steal to survive. To Sehn, a member of their world forced to steal was a failure of society, not the individual Sehn. Kerrok deeply loved his world and their sense of empathy. Everything about Amara clashed with his beliefs and this house and the wealth, luxury and the things it meant for those in society without made him want to run. Run home to his clatch where true wealth lay, in community, in support, and in home.

“Please, sit.”

The Ilan and his lover were sitting on the couch, so Kerrok dropped his bag on the floor, stuffed his top back inside and dropped into one of the individual seats.

“We have a few metri before Lady Franklin comes back and you can see if you feel the pull of the bond.”

Kerrok felt pressure build in his hukura, his throat closing, the urge to growl and release the pressure surging through him. He opened his throat and took in a deep breath.

“I do not want to bond to this female,” he said, his hukura vibrating in his chest and adding a threatening growl to his words.

Oddly, the Ilan grinned.

“What?” Kerrok growled, his hukura vibrating louder now so the word came out as a full on growl.

“Your hukura growl reminds me of my Adi, shouting at the kitchen staff to prepare my vamma’s food,” the Ilan said, his grin widening.

“You called your mother’s Sehn lover Adi?”

The Ilan’s grin widened, and he nodded.

“He used to oversee your mother’s food?”

“To ensure she wasn’t poisoned. He ate everything she ate before she ate it and oversaw the making of every meal. He didn’t trust anyone, my Adi.”

“And you would go with him?”

“I adored my Adi,” the Ilan said without shame or embarrassment. “I adored all my parent’s, even those I shared no blood with. It was the home my Davvi ran, that we were all a family. Sometimes, I would follow Adi around so closely he’d say ‘Hadda, I’ll trip and break a horn. Stay off my heel.” The Ilan barked out a laugh and the adalan beside him laughed along.

“I remember Dellon telling me that story,” he said.

“My Adi used to say the same thing to me,” Kerrok admitted, suppressing a smile at the memory and at the thought that he shared that experience with this alien.

“You’re a warrior?” the Ilan asked.

The interview has begun.

“A warrior, but mostly a hunter.”

Dahnus nodded.

“We have places where you can hunt. Creatures, predators, my Adi considered worthy of his skills. And there is nothing wrong with your Unterus glands? The receiver, and the producer?”

“They were checked before I left.” Kerrok grabbed his bag and pulled out the tablet he’d been given and handed it to Dahnus. “That has everything about me. My mating profile, my Unterus glands. A full medical check. My service, both as a warrior and a hunter. My Clatch, my history. I believe it even has my vrokking school grades.”

The Ilan barked another laugh.

“Thank minister Natys for me. Very thorough. One might say, excessively so.”

Kerrok huffed a laugh in agreement.

“The only things I care about is if your Unterus glands work and if you bond to Elaine, the rest we can work out. I know Adi’s transition to the palace was difficult.”

Kerrok sat forward in his seat.

“Transition. Transition? You mean sitting quietly in a room while you vrok my mate? I don’t want that. I don’t want to share my mate.”

“And if Lady Franklin is your mate, what about what she wants?”

Kerrok sat back. He had no idea what to say. From what little he knew of humans; they didn’t share their mates either. A Sehn female was also as possessive of her mate as he was of her and more importantly, neither one could abide the touch of another once bonded. Obviously, other Sehn had done this before Kerrok, but none of them had ever, would ever share their experience and so for Kerrok, he had no frame of reference for this.

“I can’t do this,” Kerrok said, snagging his bag as he stood.

“Kerrok, please—”

“Sorry I’m back early, I wasn’t feeling…”

Kerrok turned.

An Amaran female and a Zenin male stood either side of her. She’d gone quiet, hesitant, eyes like the sky outside watched him warily, then moved to the Ilan and his lover.

“I wasn’t feeling up to it,” she finished. “I’m sorry for intruding, I’ll—”

“Why don’t you join us, Elaine,” the Ilan said.

There was a moment where Kerrok could see that this female wanted to leave. Kerrok willed her to do just that. Leave. Go away and take this feeling with you. At the same time, the thought of her leaving filled him with panic.

The female, Elaine. Lady Franklin, rallied and smiled, walking into the room and stepping neatly into the arms of the Ilan who placed a kiss on her lips, watching Kerrok carefully as he did. When she was done with the Ilan she kissed the lover and then sat between the two of them. The Amaran female and the Zenin also walked in, sitting on the couch and watching him.

It would take more than them to stop them if he lost his mind and tried to steal the female. Not that he would. For a Sehn male, the needs of his female were guide to all things in life.

Dahnus signalled for Kerrok to sit and without any idea what else to do, he sat, dropping his bag.

“What happened to your hands?” the female said, standing and walking over to him.

Kerrok looked down at the punctures in his skin.

“Nothing. I damaged myself.”

“We need a first aid kit,” the female said. “A med kit—”

“I’ll get it,” the Amaran female said, standing.

The female in the meantime sunk to her knees before him and without asking, took his hands in hers.

Voja, help me!

“These look nasty. The skin is torn. My god, look at your nails. They’re serrated.”

“They’re more effective weapons that way,” Kerrok heard himself say.

“You dug your nails into your palm. Who pissed you off that much?”

Kerrok laughed.

“My superiors. They ordered me to do something I didn’t want to do. You should not be doing this, I can go to a—”

“Nonsense, I’m a trained first aider.”

“I don’t know what that means?” Kerrok said. “Are you a medic? A doctor?”

“No. I’m steps down the ladder from that. It means I’m trained to give initial aid. Treat wounds. Assess, resuscitation, splints, and how to help without doing more damage until actual medical professionals arrive. Basic triage. Help who you can, kind of thing.”

She looked up at him then, her nectar skin-tinged pink with embarrassment. Her eyes so blue it put the tropical waters outside to shame.

“Amara should institute that. Perhaps we can talk to the humans about how to do it before we leave tomorrow,” the Ilan said.

“Got it. What do you need, Elaine.” The Amaran female approached them

“That nano bandage thing that closes wounds.”

“Here.”

“I don’t need this. This is a small wound. It will heal.”

“But why wait when Amaran medicine is so good?”

Even as she spoke the female peeled the bandage apart and slapped it on one palm.

“You can reuse it,” the Amaran female said.

“Oh, awesome.” The female peeled the bandage off his wounds and placed it on the other side.

“Are you in any pain?”

Kerrok shook his head.

“I am fine,” he whispered.

She smiled at him, with full lips, white blunt teeth. Her face lit up. Sunshine and beauty watched him.

“I can’t do this,” Kerrok said, standing, careful not to brush against her, or topple her over. “I cannot, will not lie to her.” He said, looking at the Ilan.

“Kerrok,” the Ilan said, obviously lowering his voice into a feeble attempt at a growl.

Kerrok growled in response. Low, loud, ferocious. It rattled through the house.

Everyone stood, including her. His mate.

“Lie about what?” she asked him directly.

“They are… have recruited me to be your lover. Him too,” he said, pointing at the Zenin.

She stared at him for a moment, then blinked, and for a few moments, those long lashes blinked over and over before she took a step away. Away from him, away from them.

“What?”

This time she turned and looked at the Ilan directly who threw Kerrok a dirty look before turning to her.

“It is for your safety, silla. After Farim, I won’t risk you.”

“So, you just what, hire some lovers for me, without consulting me?”

Her voice was so small. So betrayed.

“I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop when we were dealing with Paydin. I kept thinking, they won’t want me now I found someone who’s bonded to me. I kept waiting for a chat. But that wasn’t happening, was it? Because you were happy. That’s why you’re going out of your way to find a new prebond for him.”

“Payden Keldar was a remarkable find. None of the other Kuyon I interviewed felt the bond. Thanesh has a candidate to be his new prebond.”

Her face crumpled. Kerrok closed his eyes for a moment against the pain which he felt stabbing into his heart.

“I don’t… I can’t… Dahnus, humans aren’t like Amarans. We don’t take on multiple lovers.”

“I know, silla. But you must understand. Nothing can happen to you. Silla,” the Ilan stepped forward, and she stepped back. Hurt flashed across the Ilan’s face but he stopped advancing. “If something happened to you, Hadith and I… we couldn’t…”

“So, you just call in a bunch of guys without consulting me.”

This time, the human shouted, though she wrapped her arms around her at the same time. Kerrok got the impression she was hold herself together. More than anything, he wanted to walk over to her and pull her into his arms, and he could see the Zenin, the Ilan and his lover all felt the same way.

Vrok!

“For your safety. Payden Keldar is a decorated warrior. The Kuyon Thanesh is sending, Chorin Hadal is an officer in the Protectorate. Radiin here has skin that hardens and can protect you from projectile weapons as well as bladed and blunt weapons. Kerrok is Sehn, once he mates with you his body will produce anti venoms, poisons and toxins his body will tailor specifically for you that he will be able to infuse directly into your blood with a single bite.”

Well, two bites.

“I understand your angry with me, Silla, but I will do anything to keep you safe, including give up time with you to spend with your lovers so that you are safe.”

“And I get no choice in the matter? Well so much for Amaran consent culture,” she spat back. “Well no. I’m not doing it.”

“You have no choice, Elaine,” The Ilan said walking around the table Kerrok thought should be a dissa cushion.

“Like hell I don’t.”

“Radiin. Are you bonded to Elaine.”

The Zenin shifted uncomfortably.

“Yes. My hormone profile is now locked to hers.”

The Ilan looked at Kerrok expectantly.

Kerrok wanted to enact violence against this male. Bloody, awful violence.

“I am already bonded to her,” he said, his hukura adding vibration to his words.

The female. Her. Elaine, looked from him to the Zenin, Radiin, and then to the three Amarans in the room.

“They can never bond to another now. If you reject them, they will always be alone. It’s the same for Payden. Unless you want to leave him in cryo for the rest of time, your only choice is to accept him and Chorin.”

Elaine stared at Dahnus, her eyes widening, her mouth dropping open as she stared at him. “All so neatly wrapped up,” she whispered, before she pursed her lips into a pout that trembled with the force of her anger and the betrayal she felt.

“All behind my back.”

“I couldn’t give you the chance to come up with a countermeasure,” the Ilan replied. “I need you to be safe, Silla. I need you to be safe. A few weeks ago, assassins tried to kill you. I need you to be safe. You came to us from the lab of a madman who did horrific things to you. I. Need. You. To. Be. Safe. The family of that madman are still demanding you are turned over to them for punishment and I have a team of specialists constantly blocking the IGC and my own vrokking government from handing you over for crimes of which you are completely innocent. I NEED YOU TO BE SAFE.”

The roar filled the room, leaving silence in its wake.

Elaine swallowed.

“I need you to be safe, Silla. I need you to take these males as your lovers so that your safety is their entire focus because every moment you are out of my sight I am out of my mind with fear. I cannot function knowing how much danger you are in, Silla.”

Tears were pouring from Elaine’s eyes, but she was completely silent as she listened to him.

Kerrok let out a breath. For the first time he understood where this male was coming from.

“How close are the IGC to getting me?” she asked finally.

“It doesn’t matter—”

“It matters to me, I want to know.”

The Ilan took a few steps towards her and shook his head.

“The moment my government passes any law to hand you over, I will unilaterally take us out of the IGC. Do you see, Silla? Do you see how important you are to us? My people have worked for centuries to try and make it what we envisioned it to be. I have worked my whole life with the goal of making it a better organisation that champions the rights of all. But I will walk away from all of that in a moment to keep you safe. But we won’t have to because the moment you mate with Kerrok or Radiin or Payden and Chorin, the moment your bond with them is secure, they will have to stop pursuing you. They cannot take a bond mate from a bonding species it was one of the earliest laws Amarans put before the IGC when we helped found it.”

Elaine closed her eyes and the Ilan took that opportunity to walk over to her and touch her.

“Don’t,” she snapped, stepping away. She shook her head and opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before taking in a breath. “Just… You could have come to me at any time. You could have talked to me at any time.”

With that, Elaine walked away.