“I’m offended that you doubt me,” Celyze hissed as he struggled to stand up, tucking his wings firmly behind him. “Communication was the first thing I tried. She must have a royal defensive ability because her mental shields are too strong for me to penetrate, even at this distance. That’s why I tried to touch her. I hoped that if she allowed me to heal her, I could slip past her shields without resistance.” He stood and turned to the side, backing slowly away as he kept an eye on the distraught female. He released the grip on his loincloth once he stood beside us. “In the meantime, it’s pointless for me to waste time and energy trying to get through to her.”
“If our Cosmic Soul is unable to get close to her, how do you suggest we convince her that we mean no harm?” Celyze slumped his shoulders as Auro shot me a glance. “The Vhalxt want us to breed with her. She won’t let any of us get close. If we can’t figure out how to earn her trust, then we might as well serve ourselves to the Vhalxt on a platter, because there’s no way I’m going to force myself on her.”
I stood with wings flaring, not caring how it looked. I would challenge and fight Auro if needed. We were going to die. I might as well die fighting as an honorable male.
“No one is going to force himself on her,” Auro hissed. “I won’t allow it.”
“After what she just did to me, I’m afraid to even try.” Celyze shivered. “Who knows what else she would do to me? I know I don’t want to lose a wing . . . or all of them.”
“Ellwo! Urg buw bogung tuo ebmura meh bur nak?”
We all turned toward the female the Stars had led into our path.
Was she a beauty? Not extraordinarily, but if you looked underneath the rough exterior, she was pretty. In a different time and place, cleaned and pampered in her natural habitat, I may have mustered the courage to speak to her, perhaps even court her. I could almost picture her sunbathing in the sands along a shore, surrounded by her clan folk.
But what royal would want to bond with a mere commoner?
I didn’t own a hive nest tucked away in some mountain or a lifedome space station. Outside these walls, I was just the Weapons Master of a modified trade spacecraft, manned by a three-member crew.
In here, I was nothing but a stud to a broodmare for a species that wanted to eat us as a delicacy.
“What do you need me to do to get through to her?” I asked Celyze, studying the female’s behavior as she stared at my wings in wonder. “If I hold her down, would you be able to tap into her mental shields?”
“I thought you said that you didn’t want to force yourself on her?” Auro accused, leaping to his feet. “What made you change your mind?”
“I am not going to mate her!” I growled, stepping closer. “Not in a comet tail’s chance! But if we can find a way to communicate and explain the situation to her . . . ”
“Then what? Tell her what the Vhalxt’s plans are for us?” Auro mocked, his emerald eyes hardened. “Go ahead, and good fortune to you both.”
“Are you releasing your claim on her already? Is that it?”
“None of us has a claim on her,” Celyze barked. “She didn’t give herself to us freely, and even if she did, would you all be willing to share?”
Willing? Who was willing to share their female with another? With several others?
Once a male Swynemi’s triggered his body to produce fertile sperm, he was mated for life to the female he first spilled his essence into. Both of the newly mated Swynemi would slowly gain each other’s secondary coloring, proving to the universe that they were claimed.
If somehow by the Stars’ will we all survived this, none of us would ever take another mate. I was willing to accept that sacrifice if it meant we would come out of this unscathed. My crew brothers had been by my side for many cycles. I would just have to get used to the idea of mating this female and not being her only one.
Shame filled me.
Here I was, pondering my future with her as my mate, and I didn’t even know her name.
What was I doing?
“Celyze.” I locked eyes with my future. If we were going to make it out of here alive, I would have to act now. “What did the Stars tell you about our test?”
“We will face great adversity. How we act during that time will determine whether we will be saved.”
“Saved how?” Auro asked in disbelief. I could see the skepticism written all over his face. “Who will save us?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I hissed. “As long as the four of us escape this black hole unharmed, I am willing to endure whatever test the universe wants to throw at me.” I shot a glance at our Cosmic Soul. “Are you ready to attempt to communicate with her?”
“The sooner, the better.” An uneasiness settled over his movements as he hovered a hand nearby his manhood, subconsciously protecting himself from being hit again. “If I am to heal her wounds and tend to her wings, I should do it now, before she suffers permanent damage or scarring. I won’t be able to live with myself if I do not help her while I still can.”
A royal with scars? That would crush her. Royal Swynemi were revered and pampered for their beauty and unique abilities. Whoever wasn’t born the precious dark onyx that made all the females swoon, or the elegant, creamy opal which all the males wanted to protect, hoped they were at least blessed with the chance to bear a Cosmic Soul offspring.
It was rare for a royal to mate with a commoner; classes were kept strictly separate. Cosmic Souls rarely mated at all, since their loyalty was tied to the universe. Yet if they did choose a mate, the mate was usually royal. After all, who would want to bond with the ungifted?
That was why I had left the safety of being planetside and joined Auro on his business ventures. In the wide expanse of space, no one could judge me for my lack of gifts.
“Then let me subdue her,” I commanded as I lowered my wings, pulling them tightly against my back. It would be foolish to keep them flared and in harm's way. Who knew what she would do to me once I began. “Once you spot a good opportunity, dart in and heal her. We may not have another chance, and even if we did, she definitely wouldn’t trust us to get close.”
“Affirmative. Just . . . ” He sighed, shifting his wings. “Be careful.”
“You think I can’t do it?” I smirked at the sapphire male. “Let me prove to you why I am our crew’s Weapons Master.”
“Because there wasn’t anyone else available,” Auro muttered.
I glared at our captain. “I don’t see you coming up with a better plan.”
“I was going to wait it out and let her come to us.” He shrugged. “Allow her to come to terms with the situation and calm down. Hopefully, when she comes to her senses, she’ll understand that we are not her enemy—just stuck in this miserable situation with her.”
“That would be a lovely plan if we knew the Vhalxt’s timeline for us, but we don’t.” Spreading my arms, I slowly advanced toward the distraught female, who backed herself into a corner in fear. ”And who knows what other notorious ideas they have in store for us.”
As I stepped closer, our female shrank farther and farther away from me.
“Zuit uck!” she hissed as she kicked at me. “Ai zed zuit uck!”