I pressed my thighs together and tried to think past the need clawing at my insides. I was supposed to survive thirty days. Thirty days of this, of wanting something I couldn't have, of fighting my own body's demands. And he was right. I already knew I couldn't do this alone.
That knowledge sat in my chest like a stone, cold and certain despite the heat, and I hated how much it terrified me.
DRAV
I'd been waiting on the high ridge for eighteen hours when the portal finally opened.
The Consortium always gave exactly that much notice. Enough time to clear the major predators from the upper territories, enough time to prepare the caves and check my supplies. Not enough time to think about what might go wrong, about how this could be my last chance before the unbonded sickness killed me. My wing membranes had thinned enough that I could see blood vessels through them when the light hit right. My core temperature had dropped three degrees below what was healthy for my species. Another season without a mate and I'd be dead. The unbonded sickness didn't offer second chances.
Fifteen females had come through that portal over the years. Seven died before I could reach them. Environmental hazards, falls, one taken by a cliff wyrm before I even knew she'd arrived. Five made it through testing but refused the bond at the end, chose to go home damaged instead of staying. Three others were stolen by younger males with faster wings and fewer scruples about courtship protocols.
The gateway snapped open right on schedule, and I watched from my perch with my wings folded tight against my back. She stepped through at midday when the heat was worst, when the tonic would hit her system hardest. Strategic timing on the Consortium's part. They wanted us to succeed because successful bondings meant they could charge more for the next season's slots.
The cliff sang the moment her feet touched stone.
Every copper-green vein in my territory lit up bright, brighter than I'd ever seen them glow. The obsidian itself pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat, and I felt it echo through me. The cliff recognized her before I'd even moved, accepted her as compatible, claimed her as mine. The rock didn't lie. If the veins lit up this bright, she was genetically perfect for bonding.
I launched from the ridge and circled high enough that she wouldn't see me clearly yet. I needed to observe first, to assess what I was working with. The last three females had been weak. Broken by the tonic in days, unable to adapt to the environment, ultimately too damaged to accept transformation. I needed to know if this one would be different.
She pressed herself back against the cliff face, which was smart. Staying close to solid ground instead of panicking about the void on either side. Good instincts. Her hand found one of the glowing veins and she flinched hard when she touched it, gasping loud enough that I heard it from this distance. She felt the electromagnetic pulse that most humans couldn't perceive. Another sign of compatibility.
Then her scent hit me even through the wind and distance.
The preparation tonic made her fertile in a way that human females normally weren't. Ready, receptive, biologically restructured to accept alien seed. But underneath the artificial chemistry I could smell her natural scent. Sweet salt musk and something else, something distinctly hers. The combinationmade my breeding cock emerge immediately, hard and aching in a way I hadn't felt in two years.
Mine.
Every cell in my body recognized the truth of it. Perfect genetic match. If I bred her, the offspring would be strong and viable. If I bonded her, the transformation would take easily. If I claimed her, she'd restore my body temperature, heal my wing membranes, give me back the strength I'd been losing for two seasons.
But I forced myself to circle higher instead of diving straight down to take her. I needed to watch how she moved, how she thought, whether she'd be capable of enduring the aftermath. She was assessing her situation now, checking her gear, looking for routes and options. Mapping the territory instead of just panicking. Good. The last two had just sat on the ledge crying for hours.
I dove.
The maneuver was calculated to trigger her fear response without actually endangering her. I needed to see if she'd freeze or run or fight, needed to understand what kind of person was hidden inside that tonic-soaked body. I dropped fast, wings folded tight, and opened them ten feet above her head. The wind from my sudden stop hit her hard enough that she stumbled, but she didn't fall and she didn't scream. Just pressed back against the cliff and held her ground while her eyes tracked my movement with sharp focus.
And I saw the moment her pupils dilated, saw her recognize what I was offering even if her conscious mind didn't understand yet. Breeding, claiming, transformation. Her body knew what mine was and wanted it despite her fear.
I pulled up and flew past close enough to scent her properly. The smell of her arousal was immediate and overwhelming. She was soaked, ready, and the tonic had restructured her chemistryperfectly. She'd accept my seed easily, her body would welcome the transformation, the bond would take without complications. Everything about her said compatible, viable, mine.
I flew around the cliff face and forced myself to stay away, to circle at a distance and just watch. She sat on that ledge for hours, fighting her own body's demands. The tonic was hitting her hard, I could tell from how she moved, how she kept pressing her thighs together, how her breathing stayed fast and shallow even when nothing was threatening her.
She lasted until evening before she started climbing. Good form, confident movements, testing each handhold twice before committing her weight. She found the territory marks I'd carved into the stone, and her body responded to each one. She had to stop and breathe through arousal spikes that made her hands shake.
Perfect.
She reached the cave as darkness fell, and I watched from a thermal high above as she discovered the supplies I'd left there. Furs, water, dried food. Everything she'd need to survive. Then I watched her back away from the furs when she realized they were saturated with my scent, watched her try to sleep on bare stone instead.
She lasted two hours before her body won that fight. She crawled to the furs and buried her face in them, breathing deep, and her hand slid between her legs before she could stop herself. I settled at the cave entrance to watch, far enough away to maintain courtship distance. The rules were clear. No touching without verbal consent, or the bond wouldn't take properly. If I bred her before she asked, before she chose, her body might accept the seed but it would reject the transformation. Her back would split open and the wings wouldn't grow right and she'd die screaming over three weeks.
So I stayed at the entrance and watched her touch herself desperately. Three orgasms, maybe four, judging by her breathing and the sounds she made. Weak orgasms that did nothing except make her more desperate because the tonic had already restructured her responses. Her own touch wouldn't satisfy her anymore. She needed mine specifically.
When she finally stopped, exhausted and still unsatisfied, I spoke from the darkness.
I kept my distance and explained what would happen next. Told her the tonic would get worse, that she'd eventually beg for relief, that they all did. Told her I'd breed her when she asked properly, when she was ready, when her body and mind were aligned enough that the transformation wouldn't kill her.
Her body's response was immediate. Fresh arousal scent, breathing change, pupils blown wide even in the darkness. She wanted what I was describing even as she hated wanting it.
I left before I lost control and touched her. Launched from the cave and flew to the highest peak in my territory, needing the distance and the cold air to clear my head. My breeding cock was still hard, had been hard since I'd scented her, and I stopped. I needed to turn around. I needed to grab her.
