Kattlyn

 

“Then what do you mean?” My heart pounded, a wave of dizziness washed over me. He denied me. My true mate didn’t want me. Oh gods, I couldn’t breathe. This was worse than never finding him. To be rejected . . .

When he’d left the dining hall, I tried to give him privacy. I really did. But after keeping my distance last night, I just couldn’t resist any longer. It was easy to follow his exotic scent. It called to me. Everything was going well until I told him. Until I kissed him. And he rejected me . . .

“I mean that you shouldn’t kiss me.” Kiss, that’s what the others called it. And he didn’t want me to kiss him. Did my touch repel him as well? Like touching a smoldering hot ember, I jerked back.

He held the power to destroy me, and at that moment it felt like his fist squeezed my heart until it crumbled into a million pieces. I’d never forget this day. Never forget how the suns warmed my face from a cloudless sky. The smell of the forest, the decaying leaves. The smell of confusion and irritation that wafted from my mate when he denied me.

No male would make me grovel or beg for his attention. No matter how bad I wanted to. I straightened my spine and held my shoulders back.

With no inflection in my voice, I inclined my head slightly and said in a proper voice, “Sorry to have bothered you.” And then I turned and casually walked away. At least I hoped it looked casual. I had to force my legs to move one tortuous step at a time, my heart shattering with every step. I’d seen the other Humans cry and knew if it were possible, right now I’d shed a barrel of tears.

“Kattlyn?”

I stopped, glanced over my shoulder hoping he would say it was all a mistake. Come back to me. But he didn’t. He didn’t say anything. He just stood there with his eyebrows pulled close together. I sucked in a ragged breath. He was letting me go.

My hands trembled as I watched my steps, one foot at a time. I wasn’t in any hurry; I was just trying to squash the pain.

In the distance, I spotted Sydney sitting on the bench, Chloe sitting cross-legged on the ground.

“Hi.” Sydney threw up her hand and waved.

My pain was slowly turning to anger. I ignored her. When I made it to the garden, I plopped down in a heap on the ground.

Chloe took one look and said, “Uh oh, what’s wrong?”

“I finally met my true mate, but I just do not understand you Humans.”

“Hey,” Sydney scoffed, “don’t put us all in the same category. And are you talking about Alan?” A slow smile started to form and I cut her off.

“Did you not deny my brother?”

“He denied me first!”

“That’s not how I heard it,” I said haughtily. If Sydney didn’t know I was in a bad mood, she did now.

Sydney rolled her eyes and with her own haughty voice, she said, “I don’t care how you heard it, that’s what happened.”

“Really.” Not really a question, more like an accusation.

“Yes, really. Before I had a translator, Takkeo, Jakke, and Rikker showed up at my quarters. Instantly, I was drawn to Jakke. Do you know what he did?”

I’d never heard this part of the story. Only that Sydney had left when she found out about the consorts. “What?”

“He left.”

“He did?” My irritation turned to curious confusion.

“Yes. It was about a week later when Takkeo and I went to the dining hall. I didn’t know I was in heat as Jakke called it, and without a word, he threw me over his shoulder and carted me to his quarters.”

“So you didn’t deny him?”

“You mean when he told me he accidentally mated me?” Sydney raised one eyebrow.

My shoulders relaxed a little. Maybe Alan wasn’t denying me. Maybe all males reacted this way. Turning to face Chloe, who was quietly listening, I asked, “Did Dazz deny you?”

“No. At least I don’t think so.” She scrunched her nose as she tried to recall. “He did tell me about the consorts.”

“What did you do?” Sydney almost squealed the words. “Knowing you, I bet it was something good.”

“I think I’d had too much Fire’s Breath, so I charged over and kissed his friend. Dazz about lost his mind but I wanted him to know how I would feel.”

“A good kiss or a peck on the lips?” Sydney was leaning forward, listening intently.

“A good kiss, even though my stomach revolted.”

Sydney leaned back, crossed her arms and smiled. “Good. I’m sure he deserved it.”

“I don’t understand. This attitude is so different than ours.”

Sydney stared me in the eyes. Her voice was matter of fact. “Look, honey. You are the woman . . . female. You have the vajayjay and that gives you the power.”

She still wasn’t making any sense. “The vajayjay?”

“Yes. Vajayjay, vagina, your female bits.”

Now I understood, but only to a certain point. “But how does that give me power?”

“Are you serious?”

I hung my head and sighed. Sometimes it felt like Sydney talked in riddles, and she constantly confused Azziarin culture with Earth’s. “Yes, I’m serious. I don’t understand what that has to do with power.”

“If he doesn’t do what you say, you can withhold sex or find someone else.”

With a flick of my wrist, I dismissed her comment. “It doesn’t work that way with Azziarins.”

“Why not?”

I snorted in an unfemale way and shook my head in irritation, but Sydney pressed. “Really, why not?”

I smashed my lips into a grim line. I didn’t want to say something condescending or insult her intelligence. I settled with, “Has it been so long that you don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

I huffed out an irritated breath. “You . . .” I punctuated the word, “can have young any time and with anyone you want. I cannot. If some male sinks his teeth into my neck, I am tethered to him for life. And if I choose to leave him, I will live a lonely life because no other male will have me.”

“Oh, yeah.” Sydney grimaced. “Sorry.” After an uncomfortable silence, her eyes widened. “Wait, how can you mate Alan? He doesn’t have fangs.”

Looking into the distance but not seeing anything, I shrugged. “I do not know.”  The gods would not send me a mate if there wasn’t a way.  I had to believe that.

“Yeah, because Jussin is determined to mate you.”

I never replied to that comment about Jussin, but she was right. I knew when Alan turned up Human that there would be problems. I didn’t know how to get around them. Alan’s teeth were dull and flat, and the first male to bite my neck could lay claim to me, and Father would oblige.

Maybe.

What a mess.

“Do you think Jussin would . . .”

“Mate me without my consent? Yes.”

Both Chloe and Sydney turned incredulous eyes on me.

“That would be rape!”

I glanced over at Chloe’s grimly set mouth and angry eyes. “Except my father has already arranged this mating.”

“You need to see Rikker. Maybe he can find a solution for you and Alan.”

I shared Sydney’s concern, but I just didn’t know if there was a viable solution. But surely the gods would not give me a true mate without a way to make it work.

“Maybe.” It’s something I hadn’t considered. If Rikker could find a way for me and Alan to be together, to stay together without constant worry, it would be a dream come true. But there was still one problem. “Alan does not want me.”

“Why would you say that?” Sydney asked. “What did he say exactly?”

“He said he had a lot to figure out.”

“Oh, honey, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want you, it just means that he’s a typical man and doesn’t know what to do with himself on this new planet. Give him some time.”

But how much time? And how much time did I have before everything came crashing down? My brothers never had the customary ceremony, but I was the only princess and it was expected.

“You know what you could do?”

I glanced up at Sydney. Waiting. “You could make him jealous. I bet that would speed things up.”

“Jealous?”

“Yep. Flirt with other males in front of Alan. That’ll get his attention.”

I stared back at the forest. I wasn’t interested in making Alan jealous. I wanted him to want me as much as I wanted him.

I pushed up from the ground. “See you later.”

“Where are you going?”

I shrugged and walked away. I couldn’t face anyone right now so I decided to head to the market.

There was plenty of fresh fruit to eat as I meandered from stall to stall. Consumed with thoughts of Alan, I almost didn’t hear him speak.

“What are you doing here all alone?”

I spun around and grinned. “Takkeo! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

He grinned back. “I decided to take a little time for myself today. What about you?”

“Trying to escape.”

He looked amused. “Any luck?”

I blew out a long breath. “No.”

He must have seen the conflict in my eyes, maybe noticed the sadness on my face. Whatever the reason, he said, “Let us go to the eatery for second meal. We can talk.”

Takkeo was the oddball. Being the youngest, he didn’t really fit in with the older brothers, and Risshi and I were always close. Looking at Takkeo now, he looked older, more mature. His muscles were bigger and he no longer looked like a half-grown youngling.

After we took our seats, Takkeo’s face softened. “Tell me, sister, what has caused that look in your eyes.”

I pondered on how much to reveal to Takkeo before settling on the heart of the problem. “I do not want to mate with Jussin. Not now, not ever.”

“Then don’t.”

“You would go against Father?”

He shrugged. “Probably.”

“Really?”

“I can’t really explain it, but when I was on Earth and Sydney took me in”—he shook his head and smiled— “that tiny female helped me survive. She gave me almost all of her food. And then Aydan showed up with an entire family . . .”

I grinned at my brother. He looked smitten. “What is that look on your face?”

Takkeo chuckled. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with the two sisters, Cassidy and Belle. Their family dynamics are much different than ours.”

“How so?”

I had seen them from a distance at times but never really interacted with them. Most of my time was spent with Sydney, Chloe, and Krista, the ones at the castle.

“It’s hard to explain. Riley takes care of them and the twins. She makes them mind, but they still laugh with each other. There is no duty, only happiness. It’s easy to see that Riley doesn’t care what her sisters do in life as long as they are happy.”

“I would have liked to see Earth.”

“I would have liked to have seen it before the Tureis attacked.”

The worker set food down in front of us. “Will that be all?”

Takkeo nodded at the male. “Yes. Thank you.”

As we ate in silence, I thought about what Takkeo had said. But what could I do about it? After swallowing another bite of food, I put my utensil down and looked at my brother. “What would you do if you were me? You know it’s tradition for the female to be mated off.”

“If Father is insisting on going through with it, and it’s not what you want, refuse.”

“How well do you think that went?”

“You’ve already tried?”

“Yes.”

“How about staying with Risshi? He won’t tell anyone you’re there.”

Excellent idea. Now if I could talk Alan into going out there with me . . . I knew Risshi would help us, but what about Krista? In my heart, I didn’t think Alan would just disappear without telling his sister. Would he?

I didn’t see Alan again that standard day, and after spending a restless night tossing and turning, I threw off the bedcovers and headed down for first meal. The ache in my chest intensified and I needed to see him, talk to him, somehow convince him that we were meant to be together.

As soon as I entered the room, my gaze snapped to the chair next to his sister. Empty. My gut clenched with disappointment. As I slid into my normal chair, I tried to sound casual when I asked Krista, “Where’s your brother?”

She shrugged. “He didn’t answer when I knocked.”

“Do you think he is all right?”

“I think so. He just needs a little time to adjust.”

My heart thumped hard and I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sit there. I pushed up from the table. I needed to find Alan, be near him, feel his warm skin under my touch.

“Are you leaving already?” Kollin sounded concerned.

“I’m not really that hungry.” I spun around and headed for the door, not giving him a chance to ask any more questions. Now, if I were Alan, where would I go? Not knowing much about him, I headed outside toward the forest, hoping to find him in the same spot as the standard day before. He seemed to like it there.

He wasn’t there.

The ache inside my chest intensified as I searched around the castle.

Nothing.

Others greeted me with a smile as I walked toward the crowded market, hoping that maybe he’d stumbled upon it by accident. It was unlikely, but I was running out of options.

Standing in the center of the crowded market, I turned circles looking for him as others passed by. Some smiled and some looked at me like I had lost my mind. That was possible, but I didn’t care. I just needed to find him. How hard could it be to spot one Human male in a market full of Azziarins?

I didn’t see him anywhere. My shoulders slumped in defeat and I decided to search the castle grounds one more time, but as I started in the direction of the castle, someone called out.

“Princess Kattlyn!”

I stopped abruptly and turned to see who had called my name. A female I didn’t recognize came rushing over. She was dressed in a nice black sundress, one of Sydney’s more popular designs. Her face was delicate, but her eyes were alive with . . .

“May I help you?”

With a defiant stance, the female said, “I am Vanna.”

Ahh . . . now I understood the fire in her eyes. That and her anger-laced voice told me everything I needed to know.

“It is nice to meet you, Vanna.”

Vanna shifted from one foot to the other and then back again. I stood still, waiting for her to get the courage to say what she needed to say.

“I am in love with Jussin.”

I stared at Vanna and wanted to smile. She was brave to tell me this face to face, especially with the arranged mating. She had guts even though she was clearly nervous. All I could do right now is relieve her worry. At least a little.

“And he is in love with you.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “He told you this?”

“Yes. He was very honest with me about it.”

She deflated a little. “No offense, but I don’t want you around him. Although he is very adamant about his young being part of the royal family.” Sorrow passed across her face, and I understood perfectly.

It also confirmed my suspicions about Jussin. What kind of male would deny the female he loved the chance to have his offspring for his own personal ambitions?

I debated internally about how much to tell Vanna. On one hand, I should keep my plan to myself, just in case Vanna accidently let it slip. But on the other hand, I had a sense of what heartache felt like, and I didn’t like causing Vanna more pain than necessary. Placing one hand on her shoulder, I held her gaze. “I do not wish to mate Jussin. Hold tight. I have a plan.”

Hope flared in her eyes and she nodded vigorously. “Thank you.”  

“Do not thank me yet. There are many obstacles in the way.”

Wide-eyed and energetic, she said, “If I can be of help, please, just ask.”

“I will.” I dropped my hand from her shoulder and headed away from the market. I needed to find Alan.