Chapter 2
Tahk
My mate watched me in the battle ring. I felt her bright eyes run up and down every hard-earned divot of my build. My spine prickled, and my member hardened fast and painfully. Huktbores, I needed her. The mating rage had been plaguing me for sunrings. Dahk suffered when denied from their mate. Or so I had been told. I was prepared for the initial mating rage. History of our species prepared me. But this? I had not anticipated the severe effects of the loss of her attentions. I was not at such a loss of control as before. But I was barely holding back. I stayed up all eve, quarreling with myself, wanting to rip away her door, take her from the bed she hid away in, and toss her down and mount her. I would make her beg. She would writhe beneath me, pleading for release. I would make her suffer for denying me. Then I would reward her for the gift of her tight canal.
Syn chuckled and swiped a blade at my flank. I barely avoided the blow. “My lord, you are distracted by your luscious mate’s presence. “Borv, I believe we have a shot at taking the Commander out, now.”
Borv answered the insufferable novice with a kick to my back. I gripped his heel bone and twisted. Borv grunted as he landed face down on the floor. “Do not underestimate him,” he coughed and flipped back to his clawed feet. “He is distracted, but now we are at greater risk. He will perform more efficiently to win back her favor.”
“Hmm. What say you, Wohn?” Syn twirled a dagger through his claws and grinned. “Can he focus on the threat, or will he allow the scent of her need defeat him?”
Wohn charged me from behind. His claws gripped the base of my wings and twisted. I roared and lunged for him, my claws clasping his own wings and tossing him through the air. He landed with a smack against the wall. Wheezing, he laughed, “I say he is still our Commander for good reason. His skill is unparalleled, but his Pythe draws the attention of every virile male near her. Perhaps she will aid us with the hunger she incites.”
My gaze hazed with fury. Syn guffawed and backed away before I could tear him limb from limb. “But that would do the opposite! He is enraged, now. Protect your manhood elder, or you shall lose it.”
“Look at her. She is strange, yes, but enticing with her exotic curves.” Borv flashed fang and dove at me, his claws gleaming.
I stabbed him with my own and kicked his legs out from beneath him. He groaned clutching his bloody arm.
Syn’s grin split his face as he helped Borv from the floor. “Yes, she would lure the most controlled of Dahk. Perhaps we should aid her this eve. She must be suffering all alone in her rooms, without a mate to slake her need.”
I roared and charged at him. He spun and lifted a staff tipped in Guhuvin steel. Barely raising it in time to block my blows. My breathing grew erratic, wrath coating my senses. They spoke of my mate as if she were theirs for the taking. She was not. No other would have her but me. Ever.
Wohn met my next attack with one of his own, and Borv charged again from the side, syn now using his staff to attack rather than defend. My clawed heel dug into the unforgiving floor, grounding me as I fought off the barrage of attacks. Borv landed again face down, and Syn blocked my next blow to his face, countering it with a hit to my chest.
Wohn grinned and ducked my swipe, spinning away and lunging back from me. “A female such as that surely needs the attentions of more than one mere Dahk. It would take the three of us to sate her. Then she would be ruined for the Commander. Worth it. But his rage? I would not wish to be the center of it after.”
“Cowardly, old warrior.” Syn chortled and whacked me across the thigh. “To hold that supple backside would be worth the pain.” I gritted my fangs and pummeled him in the stomach. He coughed and backed away.
“Her honied scent surely indicates how sweet she would taste.” Borv dove on my back and wrapped his arm around my neck. I snarled and grasped his horns, flipping him over me and on to his back. Lunging on top of him, I dealt a hard blow to his face. Twice. And then once more.
Syn took his place holding my arm back and crowing in my ear. “Look at him! He is enraged. So little provocation and he has left his rear unprotected.” I flared my wings to push him off. He grunted but held on tight. “Would it be this easy to restrain you once you witnessed your Pythe―bare and well sated in my bed?”
I howled my fury and lunged backward, throwing us both to the ground. Syn wheezed a laugh and rolled as I spun to face him. I stood and stomped towards him, lifting the young male by his neck. My claws punctured hide. And I hurled him at Wohn who was barely able to charge me through his own laughter. The two males collided and fell in a tangle of limbs.
“Foolish, Syn.” Borv drew his short swords. The steel whining. “It will not be your bed, but mine.” He grinned wickedly and slashed. I ducked and drew my own sword. Sword met sword, the steel crashing together.
The three together parried against me, insufferable grins on each of their faces. “Enough,” I thundered. “She is mine.”
“Is she?” Syn slashed at my wing. I roared, my neck straining from the effort. My face flushed with rage. I swiped his left flank and ducked, lashing my sword from the right, cutting across his chest. Syn stumbled back and looked to the shallow cut, wiping a claw through the thin stream of blood. “Finally, my lord. Training this morn was very dull.” He lifted his sword and lunged back towards me. “We thought you were losing your edge.” The others grinned as well and attacked as one.
We fought for many more spins. Until blood dripped to the floor and sweat coated our vision. After, I heaved in the center of the ring, my frame burning from the strain of the fight. Borv hunched over, catching his own breath. Wohn lay groaning on the floor, panting from a blow to the gut. Syn sighed cheerfully and leaned on his sword. “Now that was a match, my lord.”
My rage was still all-consuming. “You thought to provoke me?” I snarled. Syn was young but had risen in the ranks quickly. He was agile and fast. His frame lean. He had more fight left in him, his breathing even, unlike his mentors. I would take him alone and wipe that insufferable smirk off his face. I lifted my sword and glared.
“We worried our Commander was growing soft.” He lifted his own sword again, answering my challenge.
“Don’t.” Borv huffed and stood straight, wavering on his feet. “Syn, you cannot take him alone. You will shame yourself.”
Syn grinned at the wise Dahk. “You think me so untried? Perhaps, but I cannot refuse our Commander.” He swung, but Wohn grasped his arm, staying him.
“No,” Wohn wheezed a chuckle. “You are young yet, Syn. A fierce warrior in your own right, but not even Olynth could take him after we’ve worked him into such a rage.”
“Let the fledgling go,” I growled at my Lieutenant flyer. Borv sighed and shook his head. “I cannot let you kill him, my lord. He is one of our finest rapiers. We need him alive.”
“I will not kill him,” I lied. The Dahk would die for thinking he could take my mate. As would the others.
Borv snorted. “I do not believe you.”
“Tahk,” Wohn called and glanced at the balcony I had avoided since first catching her scent. “Your mate has left. Did we not ease the rage plaguing you?”
I sighed. They had. I knew they intended to get me so worked up I released it in battle, rather than hunting her down. The rage I felt now was not of the need to mate. It was of their words. It had worked. But only for a time. I looked at the young Syn with frustration. “Rest, youngling. You will meet my challenge alone tomorrow morn.”
The fool grinned at Wohn. The older Dahk sighed and looked away. “I will mourn you, my foolish friend.”
Borv chuckled and slapped Syn on the shoulder. “Do not look so smug, Syn. He will not be so fatigued then. You will not last a spin.”
The two left with a bow, heckling each other.
“He is young and eager,” Wohn said thoughtfully. “But a skilled warrior. He will be a great asset under your Command.”
“He will.” I scowled at my old friend. “Do not think I will forget your own arrogant words.”
Wohn hooted. “Ah, but the look on your face, Commander. It was too easy.” He sobered and looked at the emptying balustrade. “Had we not distracted you, she would have found herself mounted in front of the entire crew.”
I sighed. I would have gone to her, had I not been so unfocused by their taunts. She smelled of need so strong it nearly plunged me into mindless lust. But my mate was very angry with me. With good reason. “Still, I will make you regret it.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Wohn looked entirely too eager to face me again in the ring. The Dahk was much older than I, having served the previous Commander when I rose. He became a mentor and confidant. I would have had him on my Council had he not refused. He was at the age of leaving my command but was not ready until the Juldo were annihilated. He still fought like that of a Dahk half his age, so as long as he wished it, he would have a place under my command.
Dahk lived long lives. Four times than that of my mate's species. Her own life would be prolonged as my mate, though I had yet to give her my lifeblood. The rites would need to be performed first. And I worried how such an act would change her. She would be the first Pythen mate to change as she was the first Pythe of another species. Gryo would look into it once we arrived on Home World, though he was confident it would not harm her in any way. Not that she would allow such an act.
I sighed again as Wohn left. I was now alone. The room cleared out. We would arrive on Home World tomorrow eve. My House and that of my First Father would be waiting. A celebration planned, but there would not be much to celebrate. My mate refused me. She withheld her affections. My House would not understand, and I dreaded the explanations.
The first true Pythen mating in millennia and she could not stand the sight of me. It would not be understood when they saw her hatred. I worried about her, and how she would be disparaged. But I knew telling her of this would only be seen as an act to force her surrender.
I missed my sweet, yula. Her light was dull. All joy gone, when it took so long to get her to feel any at all while her planet was attacked. I knew she worried for her humans, her mam more than all. Fihk swore to find her, but even I had to admit it was a hopeless endeavor. Not only were the chances of her mam’s survival so low, but the odds of locating her were bleak. I would have loved nothing more than to do all I could to find her for my mate.
But, my King had died.
Assassinated in his own rooms.
The New King needed to be on Home World to prevent a global strike not only from the Juldo but of our own. Uthyf’s hold on the crown was faltering. He was an heir but had King Aryx had any younglings he would have only held the crown until they came of age. Now Uthyf must fight politics and greed to keep it. He was the Old King’s, Third Mate’s son. He was first in line, but his Kingship was at risk of being challenged. Earthside, he would have no hope of holding it. He needed to return immediately, and he was not safe traveling alone. As his Commander, I was his shield. No other could have escorted him.
I wronged my Pythe. I was not so fool-minded as to have not seen that. But what could I have done differently? Leave her? Never.
I could not be parted from her, and not because of a mating rage. No. My Pehytohn had my heart. I could not bear to leave her so far from me. In danger. No, I did what was necessary for her safety and that of my Dahk. But she would not have me explain my actions. She would not even give me her beautiful eyes. She held silent, not a word spoken in my presence since leaving.
And I was a Commander. My pride held me from begging on my knees as I had often wished to do in my weakest moments. No. She would need to bend in this. In time she would come around to see it my way. And then I would do all I could to make amends. Upon arriving on Home World, she would take the head of my House and I would honor her above any other.
Determined, I left to check the ship’s trajectory. The faster we arrived, the faster I could welcome my mate to her new home. I had not gotten but a few steps from the door before Filiya crept from the shadows.
“My lord,” she bowed deeply, baring her delicate horns for my eye. I looked away. Her wiles were not welcome at this hour. Or any other.
“What is it?” I walked through the halls. Her hind claws gracefully clicked along the stone floor as she followed.
“I wish to serve you,” she purred, running a hand down my arm. She had been taking more and more liberties these last sunrings. I was also at fault, for I did not push her away when my mate was near. I was a prideful Dahk, but that did not mean I could not sink so low as to tempt my ill-tempered mate’s jealousies. It had not worked. She turned further from me when she observed Filiya’s attentions. Now I would have to deal with the consequences of such spineless actions.
“Not now.” I would not rush from a female. I kept my stride even.
“This eve, then?”
“No.”
She huffed and pouted. her thin lips wrinkling. It was not adorable on the Dahk female as it was on my human. Her lush lips tempted me with every movement. But when they pursed for my kyss? I nearly groaned at the dream. This female looked angry and bitter as she did so. I crossed my arms when she reached for me.
She growled and rushed in front of me. “I’ve warmed your bed more than any other before that, that human, took you away. Now you will not have me!”
I rubbed my face furiously. This conversation was tiring. I had first reacted to her scorn of my mate with fury. When that did not work, I simply ignored her. But every day my mate withdrew further from me, this female thought to tempt me closer. It was true, she did attend me before Pehytohn, but I did not have the slightest desire for her now.
“I grow weary of this, Filiya. Leave me.”
“I will have my place in your House as you have promised!” She stomped her heel with the temper of a dahkling. How had this wretched female ever tempted me to invite her into my House? It would not happen now. I must have been mad.
“As I have said before, there is no longer a place in my House for you,” I growled and turned to walk the other way. I would take the back stairwell to escape this.
A high screech echoed down the halls. I stiffened. This behavior would not be tolerated much longer. I should have demanded she return to Dahk One with Fihk.
“You think your Pythe,” she spat heatedly, “will enter your House with your consorts? Have you given no thought to the practice of human mating? She will not have you now, but when she must share your bed with Nonya and Alyn? Your precious Pythe will not stomach the sight of you.” She laughed humorlessly. “You will lose her then, and I will not have you.” With that, she stomped away.
I had given it some thought. Human matings were typically between pairs, one male and female alone. As Veeveen and Hyctoor were. But that was not the Dahk way. Offspring were so precious, so difficult to conceive, males fewer and fewer as we left to battle our enemies in the stars. A Dahk took a female for his First Mate, and then a Second, Third and even some cases a Fourth. I had one mate. My Pythe. But that did not mean I did not have Consorts. In fact, Nonya was to be my First Mate upon pushing back the Juldo. It would not have been for some sunspins, but she knew as well as I that she was to be chosen. I had thought my mating to Pehytohn would bring strong emotions from my First Mother, but I was a truly arrogant male not to have considered my consorts’ feelings. Nonya would demand to be taken as Second immediately, at the very least.
My consorts would not be happy. But they would learn their place or be removed from my House. I should have taken the time to explain to my human mate, but even then, I was worried she would pull away from me. Now I could not, for she would not listen, and if she did? She would never have me again. I smashed my palms into the wall. This was a mess. I would need to have my First Mother interfere. She could gentle Pehytohn to the ways of the Dahk.
I continued to the command deck. I would comm mam now, so she was prepared. All would be well.
But if so, why did I feel this deep ache in my gut? This dread?
I could not dwell on it any longer. Uthyf would need me by his side these next few sunrings.
Then I would woo my mate again and gain her affection and teasing once more.