Page 29 of A Monster's Light
“I would not,” I said vehemently.
“I know. You are a good male. Annoying sometimes, especially when it comes to showing off your marksmanship. But still good.”
I grinned. “You’re just jealous I’m a better shot.”
Vostak snorted. “But I’m a faster fighter.”
“Whatever makes you feel better.”
“Dana suggested that they might have been hoping that you’d attack her after you were dosed, and the other humans tend to agree. The Nova Vitans know we are nearing a rut. We are prone to violence at this time, and if they could prove that rutting Kadrixans were dangerous, attacking human females, it would justify an attack on us.”
Fuck! Every Kadrixan and human here knew that Nova Vita was trying to find every possible reason to justify an all-out assault on Ellaston and the stronghold. If they manufactured a scene with Kadrixans attacking humans, they could swoop in under the pretense of “helping liberate” Ellaston from crazed monsters.
“They don’t know the chemical works on us yet. The drone didn’t catch any footage of your reaction. Dana gift-wrapped it in a blanket and offered it as a ‘present’ to the people of Ellaston. And they dropped the drone and the robohound a little way outside the stronghold before flying in. They are going to leak the news that your retrieval had gone to plan with no incidents.”
That was for the best.
“Now, why the hell were you anywhere near that transport?”
Fuck. The moment I’d been dreading. I sheepishly admitted that I was hoping to meet more females. But I didn’t admit that Dana was my mate. Not yet.
I wanted Dana to be the second person to know, and not Vostak. I still thought of Krxare as our Champion and Vostak as his head general, even though they’d both insisted that we were no longer military and stepped down. Technically, he was right. We were civilians now; which was why we re-elected Krxare as our leader the very first chance we could. Vostak was now our head of security.
“Where is Krxare?” I asked. Usually, he liked to be present for something like this, though ever since finding his mate, he’d learned to delegate more of his tasks.
“The rut hit him early. He is with his mate.”
“So I’m not the only one who experienced an early rut.”
“No. It must be the mild winter and warmer spring this year. Almost half of us are feeling it early.”
Which, in a way, could be a good thing. A staggered rut meant a longer but less chaotic rutting period as there would always be some warriors around still with their wits about them.
“What about you? You look clearheaded.” Which must either mean his heat hadn’t arrived or that he’d recently sated it with his mate. Penelope might know where Dana was.
“It’s here. I just came from my nest. Penelope is there waiting for me. It’s about time you woke up. I want to get back to my mate. I enjoy my ruts now that I’ve found her. That was until I had to come down here to watch your ugly mug. You’ve been out for a whole day, and we’ve been taking shifts guarding you. The first time you woke, you were still gunning for a fight, so they knocked you out again. We had the medical bed monitor you andkeep you sedated until all traces of the foreign chemical were gone.”
An entire day!
“Still have an urge to rampage?” Vostak asked, a smirk showing on his face. “Or run off and find females when there are plenty of females here?”
I snorted. There was only one female I wanted now. “I feel as good as new,” I lied. “Where is Dana?”
“Somewhere in the stronghold.” Vostak released me from the restraints. “I believe she decided to stay for the rut. She was with Penelope before I took my mate to our nest.”
The thought of her with another warrior had me feeling on edge. Maybe I still had an urge to rampage, but I didn’t say it out loud lest Vostak decide I was a risk.
“Go get some rest. You need to heal. The robohound got you good.”
I huffed. “I’ve had worse training injuries. You should see the hound.”
By the time I was finally allowed to leave the infirmary, all I could think about was my mate. I hadn’t wanted to give it away that she was my mate just yet, so I hadn’t asked more about her. I followed my nose instead. I could smell her everywhere.
But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find her. I even went inside the female dormitories, even though we weren’t technically supposed to be in there unless invited. She wasn’t there.
Could she, even now, be in another warrior’s quarters cooling his heat? What if she triggered the mating bond of anotherwarrior? Until she was fully claimed as my mate, that was still possible.
Jealousy, an emotion I was unfamiliar with, had me snarling and drawing the attention of several females. But they were used to snarling warriors during the rutting season. Not wanting one of them to come over and offer to “help” me, I quickly left.
