One Big Bite by Michele Mills

5

Cannibal had allowed the female a whole week of solitude.

This was plenty. It was now time for them to meet.

He stepped farther in the cave and was struck yet again by the fact that none of the Illibrium seemed to be fading as a result of her presence. Each time he arrived, the crystals sparkled, letting him know they were healthy and happy. His own personal crystal continued to shine and send waves of peace and contentment whenever he stepped into three-oh-four.

He had to meet this female of whom the crystals so greatly approved. Illibrium never remained this content around non-Xylan.

Today he was determined to visually confirm the female’s safety before he left for the evening. He’d already called for her name twice as he entered the mine and the workstation today and no response. He traversed deeper into the cave and heard the patter of running feet. He exhaled. She wasn’t going to like this inspection, but it had to be done. He wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight without knowing if she was in danger or not.

Cannibal clicked on his head lamp and strode deeper into the shaft than ever before, following where the sound of her boots crunching on dirt led. He’d studied the map of this mine and knew a spring was located in the far back of the mine. He suspected this was where she went to hide from him. This source of fresh water had to be the reason she was in this particular mine in the first place. None of the other abandoned mine shafts, on any level, had a source of fresh water. How had she known this ahead of time? Was this an employee of the mine, hiding for some reason?

Eventually he found a fork in the shaft and turned to the right because he knew that was where the spring was located. Soon he stopped at the edge of a glowing pool of fresh water. Heh, he hadn’t been here in years. He’d forgotten how nice this cavern was. He stood next to the tinkling pool and crossed his arms. “Female,” he yelled out, “I know you’re hiding back here. Come out so we can speak.”

“Leave me alone,” she shouted.

He grinned and turned around in a circle, his head lamp scanning the darkness but not landing on the source. Her voice was pleasant, and she spoke Xylan with a slight accent, confirming she wasn’t his own species. She had to have a translator chip. This mystery deepened. “Where are you?” he asked. And more importantly, “What species are you?”

“I’m human,” she admitted, her voice emitting from behind a rocky outcrop. “And I’m not coming out until I know you’re not here to take me away. I don’t want to leave. I need to stay.”

“No, I’m not here to make you leave the mine. You can stay if you like. I just need to confirm your safety. And…you’re human? How did a human get into this shaft undetected? Are you a new employee?”

“A new employee?” she mused. “Well, not really…”

He sighed with exasperation. Talking to this female as she cowered behind a rock was ridiculous. “Come out so we can see each other. I need to confirm that you aren’t hurt.”

“No,” she answered with a sharp tone, “you’ll report me to the guards.”

“No, I won’t. I haven’t reported you yet, why would I do so now? I’ve noted that the Illibrium glows brighter with you near, so you are no harm to the crystals or our production. I haven’t told my brothers that you’re here and that I’m feeding you. It’s just our secret so far.”

She was quiet for a moment then answered, “Don’t laugh, but…I think that the Illibrium likes me. I think they told me to come here.”

“Heh…interesting.”

“I don’t have Illibrium madness. What I’m saying is true. I saw a crystal mid-transport while I was on Omega 9 and it planted the idea in my mind to come here. I followed the suggestions until I ended up here in this mine shaft and then I stopped running because this was where they wanted me.”

“Omega 9?” He glanced around at the brightness of the Illibrium imbedded in the walls and again visually rated their growth and decided the crystals did like her very much. This human was good for the mine. If she could cause Illibrium to grow faster, she was going to be a favorite with his brothers and with Minecorp. The company might even pay her to stay near the Illibrium and those royal pigment assholes in admin would fall all over themselves, finding ways to thank her for increasing profits.

Another growl rumbled in his chest.

She’s mine.

“What’s wrong? Why are you growling?”

“Nothing…it’s nothing.” Why was he thinking that this female was his? She was just a human being he was assisting because of their shared love of good food. That was all. “Come out here so I can see you. I will check on your safety and then I will leave you alone again.”

“No. You’ll turn me in.”

He exhaled. “I already told you I won’t. You are good for the mine, so you can stay.”

“What if you’re lying?”

“Female, why would I lie to you? I’ve been feeding you for the last week. I know you’ve been watching me and decided you can trust me already. I can sense it. You ate my lunches. There are eight of us on this crew and you singled out my lunches to eat and you watched only me. Then, when I made extra for you, you took only yours and left food behind for me to eat. I know you are a noble being because you always made sure I was fed too. You must feel comfortable with me if you singled me out. Come out so we can meet. I need to be assured of your safety.”

“Well,” she sniffed, “well, okay. That’s sweet of you to say. Okay.”

And then he heard footsteps and turned toward the sound.

The female put a hand in front of her face. “The light is so bright. Can you turn it off?”

Cannibal turned off his head light. He remembered learning from his brothers’ human mates that humans were night blind. It suddenly struck him as comical that he was meeting another human female on Timbur. How was this possible? This was historically a Xylan mining operation and how were there so many humans here? The other miners and staff were beginning to joke that the Fever Brothers were all “human lovers.”

It wasn’t true—was it?

She used her odd human hands with the extra appendage to switch on a lantern she’d brought. She sat it down on the ground next to the spring and stood up again. And then he was finally able to study her. A combination of the light from the lantern, the ambience of the crystals and his own night vision all came together to one stunning realization. Her beauty was staggering. The human’s smooth features were exotic and yet her skin gleamed with a healthy glow that all Xylan coveted. “Y…you’re a female of royal pigment,” he stuttered like a fool. In fact, she might have the deepest pigment he’d ever seen on a female.

“Hmm? Royal pigment?” Her smooth brow furrowed. “They said that too at intake. I wasn’t really paying attention. I saw in my research that Xylan are divided into two castes, royal pigment and Margol. But isn’t royal pigment a Xylan designation? I’m human so I can’t be this royal pigment all of you are talking about…”

Oh hell. This changed everything. “You’re dark as ancient night, therefore a ‘female of royal pigment,’” he confirmed. “I am required to provide immediate assistance to females of royal pigment. It is the law.”

She tiled her head to the side, “But I’m human…”

“Yes, human…” She was human, but of royal pigment? Royal fucking pigment. “A female of royal pigment has a special status in Xylan society.” He was expected to place his honor before hers. Normally he’d find himself resentful of having to do this archaic duty towards a complete stranger. But, in this instance he realized he wasn’t annoyed. He’d been helping her already, hadn’t he? “How did you get this far without a Xylan already offering assistance?” he asked. “You arrived off planet and got past intake and made your way here and no one had yet offered?”

“Well…” She shrugged. “They were super nice to me at intake. I was surprised at how nice they were considering they weren’t prepared for my arrival. The guard said they were taking me to the CEO and that a judge was also being brought in because they didn’t understand what to do with me? But I managed to escape and make my way up here. This mine shaft is where the crystals were directing me to go, so I got away from the guards and entered a lift and came to this level. I don’t quite understand how I haven’t been found yet. You’d think they could just view the security footage and track me down, but no one has been here except for you.”

Cannibal’s claws fisted at the thought of her being left with the CEO of Timbur operations, Grytel of Thirty-Nine, who was still unmated. That royal pigment male would’ve been all too happy for the opportunity to place his honor before hers and request mating compatibility testing with her. The Margol guards who’d met her in the transporter station must’ve each been mated and decided to let the bosses at the top decide who would offer their honor. And then she escaped from them before it had been accomplished. Good. “What is your name?” he growled.

“Oh sorry, my name is, uh, Sara Setmayer…I heard them call you Cannibal?”

“Sara…” She was lying to him. This name didn’t sound right to his own ears. “My real name is Gorzan of Forty-Five.” he offered. “My crew name is Cannibal.”

“I know, I heard you when you told me when you first came to the cave. I also heard the other miners yelling your name. I didn’t realize it was your nickname. Why do they call you Cannibal?”

“Because I’m a voracious eater and they think I’ll eat anything.”

“Anything?” She grinned.

A charming dimple formed in her right cheek. And after he’d claimed he’d eat “anything” why did an image of his head between her thighs suddenly surface? He didn’t answer her question and instead stated with a gruff voice, “I don’t want you to call me Cannibal though. I want you to use my real name, Gorzan.”

“Oh, is that what everyone else calls you?”

“No.” Only his mother had ever called him by his true name. But for some reason it was important that this human used his birth name. Eventually she’d feel comfortable enough to give him her real name too. “But you will call me by the name I was born with.”

“Okay…Gorzan. I will use your real name, as long as you promise to call me…Sara.”

He nodded although he was never going to use that fake name. “Female, now that I know you are a female of royal pigment, this changes everything.”

“Why? What does it matter?” She stepped closer and he noticed she wasn’t wearing the gloves of the unmated. But he was, thank gods. She bit her full lip. “Does this mean you have to turn me in now because you think I’m this royal pigment? Are you going to hand me over to the CEO?”

Never, never would he hand her over to Grytel, the asshole who was part of the group responsible for Daxon’s expulsion. Technically, he should give her to another Xylan of royal pigment because it was only proper. Cannibal knew that because he was Margol he wasn’t considered worthy enough to give his honor to her if there was another unmated male of royal pigment in the vicinity. But…a nagging resentment burned in his chest at the very idea of giving responsibility of protecting this female to another. He should be relieved to be able to transfer his responsibility to another male, but he wasn’t. At all. “No, that’s not what I meant.” He rubbed a claw over his face and blew out a breath. “How is this even possible, that you’re royal pigment?” he questioned. “I know other humans and none of them are royal pigment. I didn’t know humans had such an array of pigment options.”

“You mean the different shades of our skin? Yeah, it is unusual, isn’t it? None of the other species in the four sectors have as many differences as humans. I’ve learned that our original planet had a lot of micro-climates so humans evolved with different pigment levels due to how close or distant we lived to the equator and we’re still like that on New Earth, even though the climate there as a whole is semi-arid. New Earth isn’t actually our home planet, but we can’t ever go back to our real home planet.”

He was having trouble paying attention to her words because this close, her tantalizing scent filled his lungs. And suddenly he felt the need to test her scent. Up to this point he’d only had tantalizing glimpses, but now he could fully assess… He leaned forward and inhaled. And her pheromones immediately seared his lungs and lit up his receptors.

“No,” he blurted out.

Suddenly he knew why he’d been so possessive around this female. A red alert blazed in his brain: This human of royal pigment was his future Bride. His whole life he’d wondered if he’d ever meet his mate. This mine and the surrounding outpost were a small community, a village of workers and support staff, and since he was born and raised here, he’d had occasion to scent all the unmated females on Timbur already. He wasn’t sure if his other brothers had been as diligent as he was, systematically checking the scent of other females. He was certain that Heavy and Scar, for instance, had no interest in taking a mate. Many of his brothers were content with living unmated in the compound. It was true that since he and his unmated brothers were not enflamed, they didn’t know what they were missing. It was not difficult to deny an attraction they never felt. Other mated couples appeared happy—his brothers were perfect models of this—but this still did not nudge Cannibal’s brothers towards wanting to take on the extra work of discovering their mate. They were content as they were. But Cannibal had always wished for offspring. He had a secret wish to teach his line how to cook too. He wanted children to nourish and a mate to feed. But he’d begun to think he’d never meet his Bride within the closed community on Timbur. But she was standing before him.

“No? What do you mean? I don’t understand. Are you saying you think I can go back to my home planet? I assure you I can’t. We’re blocked by the Rare Indigenous Species Act.”

“No…I meant…” He shook his head and stepped away, pacing in front of the pool. This situation was growing more difficult by the nanco. He had the unusual ability to be able to scent his mate, prior to clasping of hands. All of the Fever Brothers possessed this rare trait. He knew that this female was his prior to clasping claws, but how was he ever going to be able to make this female his Bride? He was Margol and she was royal pigment. Lines were kept pure on Chronos as well as among all Xylan living elsewhere in the four sectors. It didn’t matter that he was an Illibrium miner or that she was human, this wasn’t a barrier to their joining. She was royal pigment and those elitist assholes in charge of the mines who considered Cannibal a “half-color” would never let him clasp hands with her. They wouldn’t care that denying him meant he’d never find another mate or that he’d be left without offspring. And if he did clasp hands with her, it could be annulled, because Margol and royal pigment were not allowed to mate per the Scales of Xylan Law. And again, not a single Judge would care if he died from madness due to the separation from his mate after the physical bonding.

It is the Law.

“Gorzan? What’s wrong?”

He stared her lovely, exotic features. Her dark hair was braided thicker than his own and shaped along the side of her head. Her lips were full, and her hips looked wide enough to easily birth his offspring. She had no ridges on her forehead and only blunt teeth and lacked claws, but she had to be fierce in order to have made her way to the Illibrium mine.

Despite knowing this female was his future Bride, his body remained dormant. He felt drawn to her, but he would not become inflamed unless he clasped her bare hand during a testing ceremony. And that was when he came to his final decision—no other male but Gorzan of Forty-Five would place his honor before hers. He was this female’s protector as well as her future mate. One day he would be able to ask her to perform testing of mating compatibility with him—as soon as he managed to find a legal loophole that would allow this. But until then, he would be the male who had placed his honor before hers. This tie would be legally recognized under the Scales of Xylan Law as the first step in his obligations toward this female. Even though he was Margol, he was unmated, and he was the first to approach her and therefore, this was his duty. This would at least give her protection and tie them together with his vow. He would at least have this.

He clenched his jaw and strode back to her with determination in his two hearts. He bent down on one knee before her, fisted his right claw and beat it against his chest, bowed his head and intoned, “Female, I formally place your honor before mine. How may I be of assistance?”

“Gorzan, what are you doing? Why are you on the ground? What does ‘placing your honor before mine’ mean? You need to get up. Here, let me help you stand back up.” She reached out a hand, as if to offer that they clasp palms?

He rocked back on his knees. Was she offering her hand to test? “Are you offering your hand to me to test mating compatibility?” he choked.

She blinked and looked down at her bare palm. “What? No, I’m just trying to help you stand back up. It’s…it’s something humans do? I’m offering you a helping hand to get you up off the ground, that is all. Did I do something wrong?”

Heh. What if she’d done this to the CEO? This poor female could’ve been accidentally performing compatibility with Grytel of Thirty-Nine. Which would have proven false, but still Cannibal did not want his female’s hand touching any other male until he had legally claimed her. Although Cannibal would’ve enjoyed watching that male’s expression of stark disappointment when he realized this female wasn’t his Bride. “Female, among my species,” he explained, “clasping of bare hands among the unmated is an offer of testing for mating compatibility. My species finds their mates through the clasping of claws. This is how we know if we are mates. I will find my Bride and claim her after the clasping of claws finds a match.”

She jerked her hand back. “Oh gods, no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any harm. I just thought I was helping. What is this ‘placing your honor before mine’ thing?”

He stood up. “I formally let you know that I am giving you my protection. I would lay down my life before yours if necessary. You are now my responsibility as long as you are in my vicinity.”

“Oh, thank you? You were helping me already, so this means you’ll keep helping me? But I just want to reiterate, I’m not leaving this mine shaft,” she said. “The Illibrium wanted me here, so I’m staying.”

“Then I’m staying too. I’m going to move in with you and spend my nights here,” he decided.

“What? You’re going to spend the night in this cave? I thought you said you’d confirm that I was safe and then leave.”

“That was before I found out you were of royal pigment and before I placed my honor before yours.” And before he’d discovered she was his future Bride. He reached forward and placed his gloved claws on her clothed shoulders and met her steady gaze. She was so small and delicate. Protecting her would be his privilege. “I’m going to leave for a while to get more food and I’ll return. I will sleep here at the entrance of the cave each night to keep you protected.”

Her mouth dropped open with surprise.

He turned and strode out of the mine, determined to keep her safe.