As soon as the door closed behind her, Jessie realized her mistake. She was on an alien ship, full of huge virile men, traveling to God knows where dressed in nothing more than her form fitting uniform. She didn’t know the exact way back to the cabin, but she wasn’t about to go back into the room with Looch. “They’re due this? What the fuck? I’ll give you what you’re due!” Jessie whispered. Jessie needed time to think. He’d hurt her; she was no one’s trophy to be won and displayed.
Rolling her eyes, Jessie thought, “This has to be the first human-alien walk of shame.” She’ll just have to improvise and find her way. Jessie started down the hall, determined to find her way. She walked the corridors surprised she hadn’t passed anyone. Just as the thought had flitted through her mind, Jessie heard a harsh voice behind her. “Where are you going female?”
A small startled gasp came from Jessie’s mouth before she could recall it. Jessie whirled around shrieking, “You scared me!”
“I’ll ask again little female. Where are you going?”
This man’s stance and tone brooked no argument. The guy was huge, but there again so were all the rest of Arenian men. Jessie finally found her voice. “I’m looking for Commander Looch and Master Healer Leigh’s cabin.”
The man had an almost sinister gleam in his eyes when he smirked at her. Gazing at her appearance a little longer than necessary he finally barked out “I thought it was you. I watched your little demonstration with the other scrawny female. Why are you separated from Looch and Leigh?”
“Don’t you mean Commander Looch and Master Healer Leigh?” Jessie spurted out before she could think better of it.
“Of course your highness.” The man said with a sarcastic tone and a bow. Jessie looked at the man and took in his appearance. He was dressed in what looked to be formal military attire. There wasn’t one thing pointing to his age, but Jessie could tell from the worn look on his face he was older. She guessed by his appearance he was a higher-ranking member of their military but had no idea why he was a jackass to her.
“I didn’t mean to get off on the wrong foot here, but I’m just wondering how to get back to their cabin?” Jessie stated firmly.
“I am Councilman Heloc, and I meant no offense. It’s just; not many females would walk down an Arenian exploration ship full of unbonded males and your arousal scenting the air like a Cheerian whore.”
“What the fuck?” Jessie thought. She didn’t know what this guy’s problem was, but if he wanted a fight, she’d give him one. “Look buddy. I’m not in the mood for your shit. Looch will be here anytime to take me back to his cabin. So if you don’t want to get into trouble, I suggest you leave me alone.”
“What you don’t realize feeble female is he’s not coming for you. He has had his conquest with you and is already walking back to his cabin. You’re nothing to him, woman. Your race isn’t strong like our Arenian females. Our females are truly exquisite specimens, not the likes of you. You’re pitiful excuses for females. We should enslave you all to do our bidding.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are? Looch and Leigh would never allow that. In fact, I’ll love watching them kick your ass for even suggesting it.” Jessie was pissed, but she knew she couldn’t defend herself with her emotions controlling her actions. She had to calm down. Clearing her thoughts, she took a deep breath and counted one, two, three. Held her breath one, two, three, four. Exhale one, two, three, four, five. Jessie then took a fighting stance.
“Looch and Leigh’s fathers agreed this was their last expedition and when they arrived back on Arenia empty-handed, they would be bonded to my daughter Zara. Instead, Looch couldn’t keep his dick out of you.” Heloc said with a snarl. “My Zara was perfect for them. She comes from a prominent family, she was raised for Arenian males and knows her place, she knows the Arenian ways of society and would bare many babes for Looch and Leigh.”
“Is that what Zara wants or you? You’re no better than the Earthmen with MEDS except they had an excuse. Way to whore out your daughter.” Jessie flipped right back to Heloc.
“You’ll pay for such insolence.” Is all Heloc said before lunging towards her.
Jessie anticipated his move, blocked his advance, kneed him in the stomach, and somehow moved around him to face his back.
Heloc sputtered just a bit out of surprise of her knee connecting with his stomach. He immediately turned around to be met with a foot straight to his nose.
Jessie knew when to run and when to fight. She knew she couldn’t overpower Heloc but, she had speed on her side. She turned to run, but Heloc stuck his foot out blindly and happened to trip her. She landed hard on the metal floor. She shot back up as quickly as possible, but Heloc was already on her. He grabbed her by the upper arm and with his other hand backhanded her. Jessie would have fallen, but Heloc’s hold on her arm was too tight. “Quit moving, and I’ll make your death quick.” Heloc spit from his mouth.
Jessie took her knee and rammed it as hard as she could into the side of the man’s thigh. He lost his grip on her and dropped down to one knee in pain. She took his stunned pain to her advantage and while he was down she grabbed the back of his head and slammed her knee into his face. Heloc fell back on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a control panel. She ran to it and started pushing buttons. “Help me!” is all Jessie blurted out before she was viciously grabbed from behind by her hair and thrown across the corridor. She smacked her head on the wall and fell with her back to the floor seeing stars.
She looked up to see blood trickling down Heloc’s nose. “Stupid female. No one will save you. You’ll die here and now!” As he reached for her, Jessie brought her legs up and used his forward momentum to propel him over the top of her. Heloc landed on his back, with a thud, knocking the air from him. Jessie quickly turned around wrapped one leg around his throat and tucked it behind her other leg creating a reverse triangle choke hold on Heloc. She even grabbed her leg with her left hand to tighten the grip and make sure Heloc couldn’t break the hold. Heloc struggled and flailed, but Jessie never let him break the hold.
Leigh came racing down the long corridor towards Jessie; concern etched on his face. He could smell the stench of Jessie’s fear. “Is that councilman Heloc?” Leigh thought. Leigh was just about to reach them when Heloc pulled out his tractin and blindly jabbed Jessie’s leg with it. Jessie screamed in pain but still didn’t break her hold on Heloc. Leigh growled as he jumped on Heloc grabbing the tractin from him and buried it into Heloc’s chest and twisting the blade.
After a moment Leigh breathed, “He’s dead. You can let go.” Leigh’s voice didn’t even register with Jessie, and she didn’t release her legs she wasn’t even looking at Leigh. She just kept her eyes screwed shut and pulled her leg tight. “Jessie! Let go. You’re safe now.” Leigh said while he gently brushed the back of his knuckles lightly against Jessie’s cheek.
With Leigh’s touch, Jessie jerked back and wailed, “No! Stop! Not again. I – I can’t, I can’t do this again.”
Leigh knew Jessie was lost in her mind. As gently as he could, he shook Jessie trying to bring her out of her shock. “It’s me, Leigh. Please, my ayah. Come back to me. You’re safe.” Leigh heard the stomping of boots of the warriors who were running to their aid. Leigh gently gathered Jessie in his arms. He asked the first warrior to bring a blanket to him, so he could cover his ayah. Once she was covered, Leigh sat there and rocked her. “You’re safe Jessie. Come back to me, my sweet ayah. Come back to me.” Leigh whispered in her ear. He needed to get Jessie’s wounds tended to, but he was too afraid to move for fear it would set her off in a panic again. He asked one of the warriors for a handheld healing unit and ran the unit over Jessie’s leg healing the majority of it.
Leigh sat there on the floor for many moments just rocking Jessie. Looch came running towards them, shock evident on his face. “What in all Molinka has happened?” Was Looch’s only thought. When Looch reached the scene, Leigh put his hand up to halt any movements towards Jessie. “She’s lost in her mind Looch. She needs some time. Give her some time.” Leigh said softly.
“Commander, I have vid of the situation. I’m unsure of what councilman Heloc was doing. The vid is very disturbing. For a female, your Jessie’s skills as a warrior are unparalleled.” Gade stated with a bit of pride.
Looch grabbed the handheld vid out of Gade’s hands and watched the horrific scene unfold. When Looch had spoken to councilman Heloc several days ago, he knew the councilman was outraged with them but had no idea he’d go this far to try and secure his daughter’s future. Zara’s mother was killed by an unknown assailant several years ago at the winter palace. Since then Zara’s fathers have poured all their efforts into Zara. Zara was beautiful, but there was always a haunted look in her eyes and an overwhelming shyness Looch and Leigh couldn’t put their finger on.
Looch was at a loss as to what to tell Zara, and her other father Cerin about the councilman’s disgraceful act and the fact he’s now dead and Leigh had killed him. His priority was Jessie. Looch looked at Jessie who was on the floor, curled into Leigh’s arms with a blank look on her face and a shaking violently. Leigh was rocking her as a mother would rock a babe. Leigh was speaking softly into her ear placing light kisses on her head.
Looch slowly strolled up to Leigh and Jessie. He bent down and gently brushed the back of this knuckles against her cheek. Her cheek was cold. “Let me, my brother.” Looch stated before gently taking her from Leigh’s arms and cradling her in his own.
The warrior’s cleared a path and stood at attention out of respect for Jessie. Leigh rose from the floor and walked side by side with Looch towards the healing bay. “I’m frightened, Leigh. I’ve failed her. This time I think she’s too broken to come back to us and it’s all my fault.”
“This isn’t your fault Looch. Let us get her to the healing ward to fix the superficial wounds. The rest of the healing will take some time.”
When they reached the healing ward, Looch reluctantly placed Jessie on the unit. The unit dwarfed her slight frame. She looked so haunted. Leigh rushed around to gather the things he needed and finally sedated her, giving her time to heal her mind. Leigh then started the healing process to take care of wounds the handheld didn’t cover. Leigh then turned to Looch, “I scent Jessie has coupled with you brother. Why do you say you’ve failed her?”
“She’s upset with me. It’s why she left my comfort. I practically threw her into that maniac’s clutches.” Looch said flatly.
“You couldn’t have known the councilman was angered enough to do this to any female. He had to of known we’d have found out who killed our ayah. What was he thinking? Wait. What do you mean she’s upset with you?”
“She insists love can only be achieved between one woman and one man. She likes you, Leigh. She regrets our coupling. She does not want to be ours.”
Leigh gently squeezed Looch’s shoulder, “Looch, I know in truth she does not regret your coupling. You have scented her arousal these past days. She desires you as she desires me. It’s confusing and foreign to her. She’s conflicted on how she perceives herself and what’s acceptable behavior in the eyes of her peer’s. She wouldn’t do anything she did not want to do. This is all new to her. Give her time, brother.”
Looch gave a curt nod, and they both looked wistfully at a sedated Jessie.
~~~~~~~~
Jessie woke several hours later and could hear the hushed voices around her. She just didn’t want to acknowledge them. She was done, just…done. Just when she thought everything would get back to normal, as normal as it can be on an alien ship, some guy rips the rug out from underneath her. If this was how things would go, then she should have stayed on Earth. At least she was have been prepared for some jackass attacking her. Why should she be everyone’s savior? Maybe she needed to worry about saving herself. She’d kept everyone safe so far. She’d done her duty. Who was taking care of her? She just didn’t give a crap anymore. Every time things started to look up someone was there to beating her back down. Every time she felt safe, some man had to screw it up. Jessie had felt safe at home when MEDS hit until she had to kill her loving father, then she thought she and her friends were safe up at the ranch until Mac had tried to kill her; lastly, she was safe with Looch until Heloc tried to kill her for being with Looch. She just couldn’t take it if Looch or Leigh betrayed her. Jessie curled onto her side away from the prying eyes.
“Jessie, thank God, you’re finally awake.” Riley shrieked.
Jessie didn’t say anything. She didn’t move a muscle.
“Jessie, it’s me, Riley. Come on sweetheart say something. You’re freaking me out.”
Jessie again did nothing. Riley gently touched her shoulder. Jessie pulled her shoulder from Riley’s grasp. Riley scooted away from Jessie and marched straight over to Looch poking him in the chest with her index finger all the while shouting at him, “What did you do to her?”
Looch’s top lip came up in a snarl. “Stop Riley. I’d never do anything to her. We told you the situation which transpired. Would you like to see vid of the heinous crime against her?”
Leigh interjected, “Both of you stop it. Jessie is what matters now. She has had horrific things happen to her, you all have. She just needs more time.”
~~~~~~~~
Two weeks later... Riley, Teagan, and Marie had all taken turns sitting and talking to Jessie. Teagan of course never said anything but was there by her side all the same. Looch and Leigh never left Jessie’s side either, also taking turns talking with Jessie. Looch spent most of his time apologizing for not being there for her. Leigh took a subtler approach and spoke in soft tones willing her to come back to them.
Jessie continued to retreat into her mind and stare at the wall. She didn’t talk to anyone. She knew her friends were concerned but was too wrapped up in her own world to care. The only comfort which came was when Teagan sat a picture of Jessie’s parents on the side table for Jessie to look at. Her parents were in an embrace, smiling at the camera like fools in love. Teagan as always said nothing but just sat by Jessie’s side. Although Jessie didn’t say a word to Teagan, she gave her a simple nod as a lone tear streamed down her cheek.
Leigh had noticed the exchange between the two. He carefully went to Jessie’s bedside picking up the picture to look at it and spoke softly, “I assume these are your parents. They must’ve been beautiful people to raise a female like you. Kind, forgiving, and the heart of a lion as you Earthlings would say. Although I’m not sure what a lion is.” Leigh sighed, “Looch just informed me we have arrived at Arenia. We will be trans-boarding to smaller ships to offload the Earth females onto the planet.”
Just then Looch came to the healing ward to hopefully see some progress with Jessie. He was so worried as her health had deteriorated because she’d barely eat and drink. Looch and Leigh took turns feeding her meals even though she’d only eat a few bites. Looch was indeed hopeful when he saw Leigh talking to Jessie, and she had a tear running down her face. Although it broke Looch’s heart to see her tears, something…anything would be better than the last two weeks of nothingness in her eyes. Looch could hear his brother explaining we had arrived at their home world. Teagan saw the concern in Looch and Leigh’s eyes and knowing they had Jessie’s best interested at heart; she decided to make a retreat to her cabin with her friends.
“We have parents too, and they are very eager to meet you, especially our mother. She’d given up hope of us finding love, so she’s eager to know who has caught our attention and who our ayah is.” Leigh said with a smile. “We’re going to offload all the women and get them settled for now. It may take a couple of Earth days to complete the entire process as there are a lot of females to get settled. We won’t leave your side, but when the task is complete, we will bring you down to the surface to stay in our home. All your friends will be coming to our home as well. We will be moving you to another healing ward, so you may look upon our planet. We hope you find it as beautiful as we do.”
For the first time in two weeks, Leigh saw some spark of recognition in Jessie’s eyes. She even was as bold to give Leigh a small nod of her head. It was ever so slight; Leigh feared he imagined it. “Would you like to walk or would you like me to carry you?”
Jessie didn’t acknowledge his or anyone’s presence, she just threw back the blanket and slowly placed her bare feet on the ground. Looch starred at her in awe. Their sweet warrior was coming back to them. Jessie stood and wavered for just a moment and righted herself all the while staring at the floor.
“This won’t do.” Thought Looch. “Jessie, I…” Looch said while taking several steps towards her.
Leigh pressed his hand to Looch’s chest to halt his actions. “Not now brother. Jessie, I want you to follow me to the other room. Can you do that for me?” Again her nod was so slight Leigh almost missed it.
They walked slowly to the door then down the hall to the other room with the big floor to ceiling window. Jessie finally looked up to see the gorgeous blue planet. It had three moons rotating around it and one sun. There was a bed by the window, and she didn’t even wait for Leigh to lead her to it. She slowly walked to the bed, crawled into it and turned on her side to look at the fascinating site before her.
As they all three sat there and looked at the planet’s beauty for what seemed to be hours, Looch spoke quietly to Leigh. “Mother and fathers insist on coming aboard. They won’t wait as I’ve asked. Our fathers are furious councilman Heloc is dead and that we won’t bond with Zara. They had an agreement with Zara’s fathers to bond her. They are demanding we bond with Zara and forget about this Earth female.”
Leigh nodded slowly. “I understand. Once mother sees Jessie she’ll fall in love with her and convince our fathers otherwise. I just wish we had more time to bring her out of her shell.”
Just then the door whooshed open. There stood their mother the Queen with a sympathetic look in her eyes and their fathers with stern features etched on their faces. “My sons, you did not tell me your female was ill. What’s wrong with her? Will she recover?” Queen Maya Aren spoke first after looking at the small framed female in the bed staring at the planet.
Leigh jumped up first to greet his mother. Kissing her on the cheek, Leigh explained what Jessie had been through in the last several months. King Raiden spoke first being the burly man he was. His voice boomed so everyone could hear, “Do you two intend to take a savage as your ayah? No respectable female fights. I’ll not tolerate such insolence from you two.”
Leigh who was usually the level-headed one of the brothers lost it and started yelling right back at his father. “Do not disrespect our ayah! You of all people should know any female is a precious gift and should be cherished. Goddess! All you care about is your legacy being carried on!”
“How dare you!” Raiden’s voice boomed while taking a step towards to Leigh.
“Enough!” Maya shouted. Slightly nodding towards Jessie, “You are scaring her.”
Everyone turned to see Jessie huddled on the floor in the corner by the window with her arms wrapped around her knees rocking herself. Her blank expression was back. Leigh and Looch took a step towards her only to be cut off by their mother. “Please. Let me try.” Although she was dressed in a full royal gown, their mother slowly walked towards Jessie, then inched herself on the floor directly in front of her. “My sweet child, my name is Queen Maya Aren. I am Looch and Leigh’s mother. I’d like to help you. Can you tell me your name?”
Although Jessie would love to be oblivious to what was going on around her, she wasn’t. When these huge men and woman came into the room and started yelling all she could do is curl up into a little ball and rock herself. Her mom used to rock her when she was a little girl, and it felt good. It was one of those comfort things she never forgot. Jessie realized everyone was quiet now and an older regal woman was on the floor with her. She was asking her something. She struggled to pull herself from her thoughts and concentrate on what this woman was saying.
Leigh made a motion towards his mother. “Mother she can’t sp…”
“J-Jessie.” Jessie softly muttered.
Queen Maya was shocked this frightened female was speaking but spoke to her in a manner that it’s every day a queen crawled around on the floor. “Well Jessie, it seems you’ve captured my sons’ hearts. Leigh and Looch talk very highly of you. They say you fight like a warrior. That is amazing child. I do hope you can show me sometime.” Jessie just nodded as Maya continued with a more authoritative tone. “You see Jessie I’m concerned if you don’t pull yourself from this frame of mind soon, you may never. If you’re as strong a female as my sons’ claim you to be, you’ll stop this foolish nonsense. Do you understand me, Jessie?”
Jessie was beside herself. The woman in front of Jessie was a no nonsense type of woman. She was telling her in no uncertain terms what her mother would have told her. Suck it up buttercup is always what her mom would say to her when things weren’t going her way. God, she missed her mom. Jessie lunged at Queen Maya and hugged her. Everyone in the room gasped when the queen fell back on her behind with a sobbing Jessie in her arms.
“My dear sweet child it will be all right. You’ll see.” Queen Maya stroked Jessie’s hair and gently rocked her. After several minutes, her crying subsided, and Queen Maya spoke softly to her. “My dear, we can’t have you looking like this when you come to our home. I’ve brought you a traditional Arenian wardrobe and several stylists to help you look better and in turn probably feel better. Will you do me the honor to help you get ready?”
Jessie liked Queen Maya and immediately couldn’t believe Looch and Leigh had such a caring mother. “Wait. Did you say you were Queen Maya Aren? That would mean Looch and Leigh are princes.” She squeaked as she flipped her gaze towards them both.
Looch and Leigh both had a sheepish look on their faces but were more stunned Jessie was talking and scolding them. Looch looked at Leigh and smiled. “It looks like our sweet warrior has emerged from her cocoon.”