Her Alien Priest by Michele Mills
Cabal
Ireturn to the monastery, ready to perform a Bound Declaration ceremony with my lovely female.
I miss her desperately.
It took a whole moon cycle to cancel my vows and prove the need for Westmore’s restoration. The Cardinal had left Salo to retire on her own home planet and the council was in dead lock over her replacement. No matter how many doors I knocked on, everyone was too busy to take my case. Finally, a new Cardinal was announced and I was able to meet with this male and put forth my case. Just this morning my vows were nullified on the altar at Minos and my evidence of Westmore’s patron god accepted. And I immediately raced home.
I land at Westmore in a hovercraft I rented because time is of the essence.
Lorelei hasn’t seen or heard from me in a month and meanwhile I’ve devolved into a raging beast due to the constant denial of her touch and luscious scent. My hungry eyes scan the courtyard for the familiar swish of her robe and the delicate sound of her human voice, but she isn’t here to greet me and I’m instantly worried. She had to have heard the windy arrival of the hovercraft.
I pound down the ramp and burst inside the sanctuary. “Lorelei?” No answer. I race upstairs and step inside her cell. Then I open my bedroom door and walk inside. I circle around, confused. And scared. “Lorelei!” I bellow.
A group of nervous Creekan pilgrims show up in the doorway.
“Where’s Lorelei?” I growl.
“You’re speaking?”
“The High Priest of Westmore is back and he’s speaking!”
“He’s asking about Trainee Hastings.”
“Where is she?” I demand. I sniff the air. Then I pick up my pillow and inhale deeply. She has been sleeping in my room and I can smell two distinct trails of pheromones. My Bound, as well as the offspring she carries. My chest swells with pride. “My Bound is pregnant,” I inform them. “I must find Lorelei and my offspring.”
“Oh my gods, Trainee Hastings is your mate? That is so precious. And she’s pregnant with your offspring? Well, at least that explains why she was throwing up this morning.”
I quietly stare at the crowd of wide-eyed pilgrims because I’m still not used to talking. All I want to know is where she is. Why is this so difficult?
Someone coughs nervously. “I…I saw guards arrive. They took her away.”
I clench my jaw. Why didn’t they say this first? “Guards took her? Where? Where did they take her to?” And why didn’t any of them stop her abduction?
“I’m sorry, I don’t know where they went.”
“Oh dear, I didn’t even know she’d left. I thought she was in the garden or praying and I hadn’t seen her yet. Oh no, this is awful.”
Useless. They are useless. Smoke wafts from my nostrils. I brush past the group and march down the hall.
“I know where they took her,” a deep voice rings out.
I turn to see a large Creekan male approaching. He has the bearing of former military. “Three guards took her less than an hour ago,” he reports, “they arrived in a military transport vehicle with the order’s insignia. They snapped her in restraints and pushed her into their vehicle and she was gone. I was unable to follow but I did write down their vehicle code and I’ve been using my military tablet to triangulate their destination. She’s being taken to the Wailing Winds nunnery in the frozen tundra.”
The crowd in the hallway grows quiet. We all know what that means, and it isn’t good. That place is notorious for their dispassionate adherence to scripture and their passion for poverty, pain and penance. I must save Lorelei from their clutches. “Come with me,” I tell the male. “We will use your tablet to find her exact location.”
And we race out together for the hovercraft.
I am going to save her and our offspring.
One hourlater we land on a vast field of permafrost, next to a monastery that looks as cheerful as a maximum-security prison.
I step out of the hovercraft, ready to grab my female and go. “I’m not here to negotiate or barter. They will release her or pay the consequences,” I tell the Creekan as I hand him a blaster.
“Understood,” he grins.
An older Gravian nun in a white robe opens the door to their sanctuary. Head Nun Underwood looks kindly and peaceful, but I know that’s a lie. I’ve encountered her before on Minos and she’s a force to be reckoned with. “Firestone,” she greets with a flat affect.
“Underwood,” I answer. “I am here to take Trainee Hastings back with me to Westmore.”
“Cabal,” Lorelei yells out. “Cabal, is that you? I’m here.”
I glance over the nun’s shoulder and see that Lorelei has been busy peeling the largest pile of potatoes I’ve ever seen. She’s been here for barely an hour and they’ve already put her to work? These nuns are crazy.
A row of Gravian guards circles us from behind.
I bare my fangs. A deep growl rumbles in my throat.
The Creekan male powers up his blaster. “I’ve got this,” he tells me.
Fire churns in my chest and black smoke wafts from my nostrils. “I’m ready to burn this place to the ground,” I warn Underwood.
The Head Nun of Wailing Winds frowns. “This human is here to serve out her penance. You cannot stop this.”
“I can stop this, and I will. She leaves with me now.”
A crowd of nuns and other trainees serving their penance gather in the sanctuary behind the Head Nun. Underwood narrows her dark eyes at me and lifts her chin, “You have no legal say as to her placement.”
“I do. She is my Bound.”
A snort of derision leaves her lips, “She can’t be your Bound, you are living under vows of silence and celibacy. This is impossible. You shouldn’t even be speaking right now.”
There are nods of agreement from the crowd.
They think they’ve got me boxed. Heh. I will prove them wrong. “My vows were nullified today on the main altar at Minos,” I declare loudly, for all to hear, “retroactive to one moon cycle ago, therefore I am free to speak for this female. I declare her a noble being and her penance unnecessary.”
There is a general gasp of surprise from all in attendance.
“Prove it,” Underwood challenges. She steps aside and gestures for me to enter. “Prove to me that she is your Bound.”
The crowd parts and I step over to my female. I pull her up from her seat and she drops the peeler and more potatoes tumble out of her lap. She’s still wearing a simple brown robe and she’s even more beautiful than I remember. I know how thick and curvy her figure is under all that fabric and I can hardly wait to get her home and strip her naked. I’m going to kick all of our visitors out of the monastery and declare us closed for a whole week while we stay in bed and fuck.
“I’m pregnant,” she tells me, tears streaming down her soft face. “Cabal, you’re going to be a father.”
I fall to the ground before her and place my claws on her hips and kiss her stomach through the thick fabric. “I love you,” I breathe.
“You are my heart,” she answers.
I remain on bended knee and ask her in front of witnesses what all Hyrrokin ask their mates, “Lorelei Hastings,” I loudly proclaim. “I declare today in front of these witnesses and in front of all the multigods that you are not only my best friend, but the female I want to spend the rest of my days with. You are humble, honorable and hard-working and I love you more than life itself. Will you do me the honor of becoming my Bound? Will you remain at Westmore with me and work there by my side, restoring the monastery and communing with the gods? Will you continue to bear my offspring and become the mother of future Firestones?”
Her blue eyes shine bright and she grabs my claw and raises her voice for the crowd to hear, “Cabal Firestone, I am lucky to have found a male who loves me exactly as I am and who treats me with respect. I love you more than life itself and I thank the gods for bringing you into my life. I ask you in return…will you do me the honor of becoming my husband and the father of my offspring?”
“Yes. Always yes.” I stand and sweep her into my arms and kiss her thoroughly in front of everyone, so they know she is mine and I am hers and that I am taking her home. Today.
The assembled nuns and guards clap and cheer for us. There are even a few whistles of encouragement.
Head Nun Underwood cracks a smile.
I sweep Lorelei Firestone into my arms and carry her out of the nunnery.
As we enter the hovercraft to leave, I shake the claw of the Creekan who helped me and I try to introduce him to my Bound. “Thank you…uh…uh…” Guilt washes through me as I realize I never once asked this male’s name.
He grins and slaps me on the shoulder. “Trax,” he answers. “My name is Trax. And I was happy to help. I wish you both well.”
And then I take my bound back to our monastery and I worship her body.
Again and again.
Until days turn into time.
