“Good then that you are mated to Xexis, as he is above that. As is the Korzavic.” He jabbed her back, lightly.
She scoffed but let the subject fall.Hopefully he’s right.She didn’t want to be crushed if he was wrong. “Your Anglo-saxis is good.”
“Thank you, Quagmor’s is best, but we were educated together. I often cheated off his homework, especially after cheating off Xexis got me reprimanded.” He puffed out his chest, smiling happily into the belly of the ship. Aphrodite sputtered, hands flying to her mouth. Snapping to look at him, she found him chuckling under his breath. He glanced at her from the side of his eyes, “Joking, mostly.”
“So, you and Xexis are like best friends?” She cocked her head.
“Xexis, Quagmor, and I all were born under the same moon. We are friends. Unfortunately, Quagmor is mated, and therefore, with his mate. Unlike me.” Reevar frowned, his pincers flicking with disdain.
“Oh! So, is that why you, Grooug, and Kiefgr are a pack? You’re all unmated?” Twisting to face him, she watched his pincers unhappily wiggle. He frowned, but she could tell it wasn’t aimed at her. It was at the thought.
He huffed, “We used to be a mighty pack, Kiefgr as Xexis’ training youngling, Quagmor, Grooug, and I, we were unstoppable.”
“Then some mate got in the way of your man pack,” Aphrodite teased.
“It is tradition to leave the pack and hunt as a pair with your mate.” He shrugged his mighty shoulders. Even in only his flight suit pants and a vest-like robe, Xexis’ pack were massive fighters. Reevar turned to her with a softer expression. “I only hope to understand one day.”
“Even if it splits up the stag pack?” She cocked a brow.
“The male deer?” He scrunched his face.
Snorting, she shook her head, “Never mind, it’s a context thing. Stag, in this sense is like a boys only pack, or for you, friends only pack. No mates in the way of friends.”
“Hmm,” Reevar hummed, mulling over the word. They stood in somber silence, watching the scientists finish up their reports or feeding things in cages. When Reevar spoke up again, it stung deep in her chest. “You are not out here because you are worried about the Korzavic.”
She inhaled sharply. “I kind of am.”
“What mostly are you?” He cocked his head slightly in question.
“My people,” she sighed, folding. “I can’t wrap my head around why they would announce to my people that I’ve been stolen by Xexis, and cause mass panic of aliens stealing people, when they could just go to the Council and demand for my safe return.”
“What do your people stand to gain if we are painted as thieves and monsters?” Reevar’s face was stone once more, eyes scanning the lab of people.
Aphrodite furrowed her brows, tapping her fingers against the rail again. “I am not sure. I assume there’s some sort of penalty in the Council for harming other species without cause.”
“As there is for trespassing.”
Aphrodite’s blood ran cold. “Reevar?” He turned to face her completely. “Was my scout shuttle trespassing in that quadrant?”
“It is a community quadrant; nothing lives there but the minerals and resources. The Xinti, the gatherers, come through and gather the minerals and metals when it is time to reap them. Like crops and plants. Leaving healthy growth behind. They are the ones with the seeds.”
Aphrodite hugged her torso, pressing her back into the railing. “And my people would have known that, would have known about that place being off limits, right?”
“You did not know?” Reevar furrowed his heavy brows, stepping from the rail. He stood directly in front of her. Aphrodite stared up at him. Pinched brow and scowl plastered to her lips. He studied her face before his shoulders lay back in shock. “Why did you go there if you did not know?”
“I didn’t even know about the Council; all of this is new information to me,” she snarled, pushing off the rail. Reevar lurched to stop her, but she stormed down the halls. The steady explosion of lights turned into angry sparks on the sensors. Reevar called her by her title, but she was too angry.Why did they go there? Because we were fucking told to!It would be just like humans to send researchers to harness and scrape around, report back tothe station. That way the humans knew what was truly there. Or worse…she couldn’t even fathom the vile or worse.
Her drone understood her intention, floating in front of her. Bobbing in the air, the drone raced back to Xexis’ chamber. Aphrodite tried not to break out into a run. She came to the door, fists trembling. It hissed open, flooding the room with the dull glow of the hallway lights. Sensors lit up curiously under her feet as she stomped to the bedside. She snatched her offline data pad and snapped the battery back in. Before she could turn to leave Xexis to his sleep, a warm palm snatched up the waistband of her leggings. Aphrodite was yanked back into bed.
She yelped, flying through the air before promptly skipping across the bed like a stone over water. Xexis tucked her in under the blanket and snuggled her close. “My mate does not get to leave me twice.”
Aphrodite wheezed, trying to wiggle free of his tightening grip. In the end, he was too strong. She relented and lay limp in his arms. The door hissed shut. Darkness swallowed her whole and left her in the warm arms of her mate.
“I didn’t mean to leave you,” she whispered, “I was just…” she trailed off.
“I know how burdened you are, and that your beautiful mind is still working a puzzle. But it is sleeping hours, and I rest better with my mate in my arms.” His sleepy, grumbling voice was balm to her heart. The data pad was left under the pillow. Shifting, she twisted in his arms to face him. Aphrodite tossed an arm over his ribs and snuggled into his chest. He engulfed her in his embrace.
“Xexis,” she whispered, resting her head to his collar. Firm like a rock under warm skin, she stroked him to feel the velvet.He grunted, clearly slipping from consciousness. She breathed, “My mate.”
