Pursued by Presley Hall
1
Nadia
A tiny littlehand grips my finger, squeezing with a surprising amount of force as the owner of the hand coos, wriggling in my arms.
“She’s such a sweet baby,” I murmur, looking up at Rose.
The blonde woman smiles at me. “Thank you. Tordax and I are head over heels in love with her. I wouldn’t have thought it would be possible to love anyone as much as I love my mate, but this little one has us both wrapped around her little finger.”
She chuckles, and the other women gathered around us laugh too.
We all stopped by Rose and Tordax’s house this morning to say hello to the newest addition to Kalix’s population, their daughter Sana. I was the last to have Sana handed to me, although I was honestly a bit nervous to hold her. I don’t know anything about babies—especially not half-alien, half-human ones.
But Sana looks at me with a happy, trusting expression, her blue eyes wide. She’s beautiful, even though she doesn’t look like any other baby I’ve ever seen. Her skin has a silver sheen to it, and she has tiny, nubby horns on her head. But her eyes and nose and mouth are just like her mother’s.
She’s the perfect blend of Kalixian and human.
Everyone was beyond excited when Rose went into labor. Sana is the hope of an entire planet, the evidence that the Kalixian race will grow and remain strong despite everything that’s been done to them in the past. Nearly all of their females were wiped out by a virus unleashed by the Orkun, and the ones who remain are past child-bearing age, so this adorable little baby represents a future that once seemed impossible.
“You’re good with babies,” Rose adds with a grin, relaxing back into the cushions of the curved sofa-like chair she’s sitting in.
I blush at that, handing Sana back as Rose sits forward, holding her arms out to take her daughter. I’ve never thought much about babies. I’m only twenty, and the possibility of having children has always seemed very far in my future, even before I was abducted, rescued, and then taken to another—albeit safer—alien planet.
Now, the concept both seems incredibly far off and weirdly close. I can’t imagine being a mother, but if I were to be chosen as the Irisa of one of the warriors here, I imagine it wouldn’t take me long to have a baby on the way.
The thought makes me flush even redder, and I dip my head so that no one will see. Fortunately, everyone is too busy crowding around Rose, cooing over the baby and talking happily among themselves. Harper, who’s sitting next to Rose, comments on how ready she is to have her baby, her hand resting on her now-massive bump. No one notices my embarrassment over the thought of mating with one of the strong, virile warriors that I see walking around Jocia every day.
But even my surprise at my own thoughts can’t keep me from hoping that it might happen, just a little.
I see how the warriors who are mated treat the women that have been chosen for them by fate. How they practically worship them, loving them unconditionally and completely. It would be nice to have someone who felt that way about me.
It feels strange to think about, though. Sometimes I still can’t even believe that I’m here, on an alien planet with a few dozen women who also came from Earth, also abducted and rescued and brought here by the Kalixian warriors. And not only that, but the next generation is already here, with more on the way. Harper’s due date is literally any day now, and Autumn and Emma won’t be far behind.
But no matter how unbelievable it all feels sometimes, at least we’re all safe here, which is more than we ever could’ve hoped for if we’d remained with our Orkun captors. That terrifying time feels far enough in the rearview mirror now that I can think about it without the intense horror I used to feel, but I still shiver at the memory.
If we’d been left with the Orkun as their brides, we’d all probably be pregnant by now, forced into an awful breeding ceremony and kept as broodmares and pleasure slaves for their warlords.
“I think Malav wants a boy,” Harper confides, breaking me out of my thoughts. Her hazel eyes shine with happiness as she wiggles the little girl’s toes. “But I want a girl just like Sana. I mean, of course I’ll be happy with whatever, as long as he or she is healthy,” she adds quickly, laughing. “But a daughter would be so nice.”
“I’m sure if you have a boy to start with, Malav will have you knocked up again in no time,” Jade points out dryly, smirking at Harper, who blushes immediately.
We all know it’s true, though. None of the warriors can keep their hands off their women. We’ve all heard the stories about the initial mating lust, when the Kalixians and their Irisas can barely stop to come out of their rooms or eat, constantly aroused and desperate for one another. But even though it eventually slows down to a manageable level, there’s no sign that the affection or desire for each other ever really goes away.
Even months later, Tordax’s eyes still glow when he looks at Rose, and he’s always touching her whenever I see them together—his hand in hers, or on her waist, or protectively holding her close to him. The same goes for Malav, Sorsir, Brele, and the other men. Even Tycran, the once notorious monk of the Alpha Force who vowed he’d never sleep with anyone, can’t stop touching Lucy. He’s still slightly more restrained than the others, but even if they’re not touching, the way he looks at the pretty blonde woman could melt steel.
Deep down, I can’t help longing for that—that kind of love and devotion. Now that we’ve had time to settle in on Kalix, now that the fear of the abduction and the anxiety of our time stranded on Wauru has passed, I can think about my future. And I want a chance to reinvent myself here, to leave my old self behind and start a fresh, new life. One that might even include a handsome warrior who wants me as his Irisa.
The problem is that my sister Brielle is so protective, I don’t know if I’ll ever have the space to make that happen. Even if someone did want me, I wouldn’t put it past Brielle to tell them to fuck off, just because she’d be so worried about me. She’s seen as well as I have how real the bond is, and how much the warriors love their Irisas. But she still seems skeptical.
Not for the other women, of course. Just when it comes to me.
Her little sister.
As if cued by my thoughts, I hear Brielle speak up across from me. “We should probably head back to our pod,” she says, brushing her hands over her flowing wraparound skirt. “I’m starting to get hungry for lunch.”
I nod and start to rise, knowing better than to argue. Brielle always means well, but once she decides on something, it’s very hard to convince her otherwise. And I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all of this, anyway. It’s hard not to think about mates and children and how uncertain my future is when I’m surrounded by so many women who are happy and secure in theirs now.
“We should all get going,” Lucy says. “We don’t want to wear you out.”
“Thank you for coming to visit.” Rose beams up at us, her blue eyes warm. She starts to stand too, but Jade and Autumn both shake their heads at her, waving for her to sit down.
“Don’t get up!”
They speak in chorus with several of the others, and Rose sits back down, laughing, as Harper slowly starts to heave herself to her feet.
“Oh, by the way,” Cora says in her soft voice, pausing as we all start to file out. “Some of us are going to watch the men train tomorrow. Brielle, Nadia, you should come! We’ve never seen either of you out there. It’s really interesting to watch. And who knows who you might meet.”
She winks at us both. I blush again, but Brielle remains nonplussed, even as I perk up and look at her encouragingly. I kind of want to go. I’m curious to see how the warriors fight, and a couple hours spent watching muscled, sweaty men train doesn’t sound half bad to me.
“Uh… we’ll see,” Brielle says vaguely, hustling me out of the door. She doesn’t say anything else about it, plainly evading the invitation, and my heart sinks a little. My sister seems content to stay on the outskirts of everything, not rejecting the Kalixians’ kindness or their willingness to include us, but not throwing herself into it the way many of the women have. Despite how long we’ve been here, she still has the same reticence that many of the women who were recently rescued from the slave auction on Nierra have.
Even as we walk home, her overprotectiveness is obvious. She always walks just a little ahead of me, as if she’s unconsciously trying to shield me, and when a Kalixian warrior who’s nearly a foot taller than either of us comes down the street without paying much attention to where he’s going, Brielle gently grasps my elbow, tugging me out of the way as if I don’t see him myself.
I stifle an exasperated sigh, not wanting to upset her. I know she’s just trying to help. She’s always just trying to help. But now more than ever, I can’t help but chafe at it.
“Maybe we should go to the arena tomorrow,” I suggest hesitantly, picking up my pace a little. “It sounds fun. I’d like to see the men train. And I want to get to know the other women better. If we keep turning down invitations to do things, then we won’t ever really make friends.”
Today’s excursion to have tea with Rose and see the baby was the first time Brielle has accepted an invitation in weeks. Before that, the last time she agreed to something was a lunch, with just the women, as always. If the warriors are likely to be around—including at things like festivals or palace events—she’s very hesitant to accept.
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Brielle says. I expected that answer, but my heart still sinks even lower. “I know they’re trustworthy,” she adds before I can say anything. “At least, as far as I can tell so far. But going to see them fight? I don’t know. I think it’s too violent for you, Nadia. It might bring up bad memories. I told you this back on Wauru, when you wanted to see them fight in the gladiator rings there. It’s just not a good idea.”
I don’t say anything, but I grimace inwardly, keeping my face expressionless. I don’t want to get into a fight with Brielle. I know she’s just trying to be a good sister, and besides, arguing with her is usually pointless. She was a paralegal back on Earth, and before our father died and she took custody of me, she’d been thinking about going to law school. She would have been good at it, too. She knows how to make a point, and she hangs on like a bulldog when she thinks she’s right.
She wasn’t always quite this intense in her protectiveness. But after that awful night when she found me with blood running down my cheeks and arms after a bad fight with my ex… things have never been quite the same after that.
Brielle never said I told you so to my face, or blamed what had happened on my poor judgement, but I can’t help thinking she feels that way. She hated my modeling, worrying constantly about photographers taking advantage of me. She worried about ballet giving me an eating disorder, that it would hurt my body, and that men in the industry would mistreat me.
Everything I wanted to do, she worried about.
And since I went ahead and did some of those things anyway, I can’t help but feel that her overprotectiveness now is her way of making sure I don’t have the opportunity to make those same mistakes again.
Sometimes it feels like she’ll always see me as her abused little sister, the girl who was stupid enough to trust a man who promised her the world. And I can’t help but resent that perception a bit. The other women who were abducted all got a chance to reinvent themselves on this strange new planet, to leave everything bad in their lives behind on Earth and start fresh with people who don’t know who they were before.
But I’m still stuck in the past.
Screw that,I decide suddenly. I want to go watch the warriors tomorrow. And I’m going to at least try to convince Brielle that I’m right, for a change.
I open my mouth to argue, but before I can say anything, the sound of a ship entering the atmosphere drowns out anything I might say. As it flies overhead, I glance upward, and I’m startled to see that it looks very different than the normal Kalixian ships. For a second, my stomach clenches with worry.
Are we being attacked again?
I still vividly remember the battle that ensued when the Orkun invaded. While the men went to fight off their ships, we all hid in the temple, but several Orkun found us anyway. If not for Emma’s bravery and the bravery of the Elders, our lives could’ve ended that day.
But no one around me seems alarmed by this new ship. Instead, the Kalixians on the street have halted, talking excitedly among themselves and pointing upward as the ship circles over the city. It swoops downward and up again, spiraling through the sky.
Whoever is flying the ship is… showing off?
I can’t help but laugh a little at the obvious flourish of it. Whoever the pilot is, they clearly enjoy making an entrance.
The strange looking vessel disappears over the horizon as it heads toward the docking bay, but the buzz of conversation around us continues, everyone turning to gaze in the direction that it went. I can’t help but feel curious. The warriors’ excitement is infectious, and I cock my head a little, straining to pick up bits and pieces of information from the snatches of conversation I hear.
A Kalixian named Zatir, who everyone thought was lost, is apparently alive.
And the ship is his.
He’s back.
