Page 33 of A Monster's Light
It was common for Kadrixan males denied by their true mates to go crazy. Many had to be locked up for the safety of everyone else.
“She has not. Dana doesn’t know she’s my mate. She had no translator during our escape, and I have not found her to tell her. She has not rejected me.”
“Then congratulations.”
“She also has not yet agreed to be my mate. My chest aches when I think of her, and it feels so tight I cannot breathe.”
“That is love,” Krxare said. “It comes with the mate bond. You’ll get used to it.”
“Sounds more like a heart condition to me,” Grtirr huffed. “I’m glad I’m not afflicted.”
Krxare chuckled, opening the cell of the warship’s brig. “You’ll change your tune when you meet your mate.”
Grtirr scowled in response.
“You have your entire life to convince her, Gnnar. You are a good warrior and a good male. She is an intelligent female. I have no doubt you will succeed.” Krxare turned back to Grtirr. “Do you need anything else to start isolating a cure for the berserker chemical?”
Sami and Macey had started referring to it by that name, and it stuck. They’d explained that Berserkers in old-Earth mythology were warriors who fought in a trance-like state of fury.
“No. Gnnar’s body had already started producing an enzyme to neutralize it. My guess is that future doses would need to be exponentially larger for it to work on him. Controlled exposure to a weakened form of the chemical can give Kadrixans resistance to it.”
“Will that work on the humans?” Krxare’s mate, Clara, was the sister of one of Ellaston’s founders. He had good reason to protect the humans.
“No. Clearly, this chemical was originally produced for use on human enemies. But I can make a serum containing the enzyme I took from Gnnar to help jumpstart the breakdown of the chemical in those affected.”
“Good. Get on that after your rut. Everything you need is at your disposal.” Krxare then motioned for me to follow him. “Let’s find her so you can stop being a menace.”
We stepped into his office, and he made an announcement asking Dana to come by as soon as possible. Before long, there was a knock on his office door. I found knocking to be astrange human custom; I didn’t understand why they didn’t just announce they were here. There was more information in a voice than a knock.
Krxare opened his door from his desk, and I turned to face it, excited and relieved that I’d finally see her again.
But it wasn’t Dana who walked in.
“Hey, Krxare,” she said with a cheery wave.
Wait. I knew her! Judy? Julie? Yes. Julie. She spent a lot of time with Krxare’s mate. I’d even seen her around the stronghold in my search for Dana. Her hair was messy, but she had a rosy glow on her face that told me the last warrior she’d spent time with treated her well and put her needs first. When she spotted me in the chair her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned back to Krxare.
“I know you’re expecting Dana, but she’s not here. She decided to skip the rest of the rut.” She eyed me up and down. “I told her that she’d already done her share. She’s in Ellaston.”
“I will go find her.” I stood.
“Now, wait just one minute. You spent days with her,” she accused.
“I did,” I said, amused. “And I wish to spend the rest of my rut with her.”
“Are you trying to force a mate bond? I thought that wasn’t allowed here.”
“It isn’t. Dana is my mate. I would’ve fallen to the ground for her if I hadn’t been lying down.”
Her mouth rounded into a little O. “She’s your mate! That’s so exciting! No wonder she looked at all the other warriors like they were chopped liver.”
I frowned. Was that a good or bad thing? Kadrixans considered liver a delicacy, but we found many of the human females did not like it.
As if reading my mind, she said, “She wasn’t interested in them.”
“Now you know where she is. Good luck, warrior.” Krxare dismissed us both and stood, eager to head back up to his nest to be with his mate.
As we walked out of the commander’s office, Julie turned to me.
