The Alien’s Reward by Luna Kingsley
Chapter 4
Vah’all
“Four females,”Kraal says once we step into the room. “Stux’an will be pleased. Let’s give them the language implants and return to Bahem.”
“Two of them look to have significant injuries,” I say, concerned with their appearances. “We need to treat them before worrying about the implants.”
“Kraal is correct,” Drocrek says. “We must not linger in case someone discovers us.”
The women stare with wide, frightened eyes. Stux’an gave permission for Kraal to bring language transmitters along in case we discovered more females and had the opportunity to bring them back to the sky island. A decision has yet to be made about the fate of the females, but Stux’an has at least given permission for them to be brought back. Instead of just keeping the one, he decided we needed to make sure we took all the females and destroyed the rest of the ship, thus reducing the chance that anyone would come looking for the lost women.
Knowing we’re running out of time, I take my female’s chin between my fingers and tilt her head so the back of her ear is exposed. As soon as I press the flat silver disk against her skin, it becomes activated, the sharp prongs piercing her skin and locking into place.
She jumps in my arms, trying to pull away. I release her as she rubs her ear in the place where the language transmitter has now attached itself. “I apologize,” I say, waiting for the moment where she realizes she has the ability to have my words translated into her language. “This will help us understand one another.”
She continues to stare at me with distrust while rubbing her sore ear. “Can you understand me?” she asks.
“English,” Drocrek says, confirming the language she speaks.
“Yes, I understand you.” We’re already equipped with language translators that can translate hundreds of languages. This is the first time I’ve ever heard English before, though, so it is going to take some getting used to. Just like it will take time for the females to adjust to hearing the translation. “We’re going to give them medical attention and then leave this place.”
“Will you take us to Nedruinia? They’re expecting us.” The female who speaks is bleeding from her temple from a wide gash. Her skin is pale, tinted a sickly green and she struggles to keep her eyes open. “We need medical assistance.”
Kraal steps forward, determined to do what needs to be done so we can get out of here before anyone sees us. He attaches the language translator behind her ear and she barely reacts. Then Kraal covers the wound on her head with a film of healing plaster. “Any other wounds that need to be dealt with now?” he asks.
She moves her arm away from her waist showing another deep cut across her torso. “Oh, Maren!” my female says. “You must be in so much pain.”
“We’ve been putting pressure on it, and we wrapped it with gauze, but we’re cut off from the medical bay. We don’t have the supplies we need,” another female says.
Kraal works quickly. While he begins to apply the healing plaster, I speak quietly with Drocrek. “We’ll take them directly to medical when we return. Their wounds have gone untreated for too long.”
Kraal treats the women who have been stuck in this room while implanting them all with the translators. Finally, we’re ready to leave the ship. The women don’t trust us but they’re weak and injured so they don’t fight us when we lift them and carry them through the dark hallways. My female is the only one who walks. She may not like it, but she won’t leave the others behind.
I pass the female called Maren to Kraal so he’s carrying two. “Take them and go. I’ll destroy what is left of the ship and follow after.”
“What do you mean destroy the ship?” Kraal and Drocrek carry the three females away from us before lifting straight into the air, disappearing into the cloud layer. That leaves me with my female who has regained her strength and her fire since I saved her from the wreckage.
I’m not used to answering to anyone besides the alphas…certainly not a tiny female who I’ve saved from death multiple times now. “We cannot leave any evidence of your ship or of those destroyed. Our existence remains a secret. It would be very bad for my kind if anyone were to decide to search for you.”
I remove the cylindrical-shaped devices from my waist and press the red button in the center. As soon as I throw the explosives into the ship, I grab onto her and lift us both into the clouds. We’re far enough away that the explosion doesn’t affect us, but we can still hear it loud and clear. Pieces of the ship blast apart, throwing metal and other objects a wide radius from the crash site. All that’s left are the pieces that continue to burn.
We don’t linger for long. The sound of the explosion could draw the unwanted attention we’ve been trying to avoid. “Time to go.” Clutching her tightly, I extend my wings as I power us through the layer of clouds. We burst through to the other side, the familiar sight of my home floating in the sky in front of us a reassuring sight. The steady pulse beating from the core instantly re-energizes me.
“Holy shit,” my female says. She’s clinging to me but she’s staring around in awe, her mouth opening and closing like she can’t decide on what to say. “Holy shit! This can’t be real.”
It excites me that she appears to have forgotten momentarily what I did to her ship and her crew. Instead, she’s distracted by her new surroundings, and this works in my favor. Because she intrigues me and arouses me. I’ve never seen a female like her before and I want to learn everything there is to know about her. I find myself fantasizing about tasting her skin again or twisting my fingers in her hair. It has been too long since I’ve had a female in my bed, and I want to feel her under me. I want to know what it would feel like to push inside of her soft heat while our bodies become one.
But these fantasies will be impossible while she looks at me like she wants to hurt me and then run from me. Of course, she thinks I’m a monster. Why wouldn’t she after what I did to those warriors from her ship? Somehow, I need to find a way to make her understand.
“This is where you live?” she asks.
We’ve reached the city now and I’m trying to decide if I take her to the medical center so she can be with her crewmates or if I should take her directly to Stux’an. I already know which one will make her happy, but I also know which one will make my alpha happy. “It is. And if things go well, this will be your home now too.”
I make my decision to fly directly to the military base and check in with Stux’an. He’ll want an update and if I want him to agree to allow these females to remain on Bameh, the last thing I need to do is piss him off.
I land, still holding her in my arms, striding inside while my heart pounds with a strange irregularity as all eyes focus on me and my female. The overwhelming desire to keep her a secret again rushes in. Now everyone will see her and know she exists.
She’s grown quiet again, her uncertainty radiating off her in waves. Even my usually confident demeanor is more subdued because this initial meeting between Stux’an and my female will establish how things will proceed. “What is your name?” I ask suddenly, needing to know before I present her to my alpha. I’ve grown tired of referring to her as “my female” in my head.
“Sarah,” she says.
This name is agreeable. Even with her torn pants, blood-stained clothing and dirt-smeared skin, this name seems fitting. “I am Vah’all.” It’s important to me that we’ve at least exchanged this basic information about each other before we stand before Stux’an. I want her to know the name of the Dhevieth warrior who saved her when I was supposed to do the opposite. I want to be her comfort in this new, strange place and I want to protect her and fight for her until the others agree that she be allowed to remain.
“So,” Stux’an says, surprising me out of my thoughts. He’s standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for our arrival when we step off the elevator. “This is the female you were ready to risk everything for.”
Stux’an is an alpha so whatever he decides today will be the final word on the matter. If in the end he decides having the four females on the sky island causes too much of a risk to our kind, that will be the end of it.
“Bring her along, Vah’all. The rest of the council wants to have a look at her.”
Sarah looks like she’d prefer to turn around and run, but I don’t give her the option. With my hand on the back of her neck, we follow Stux’an down the hall.