And in the middle of it all, I sit with my Bride in my lap, our hands still clasped, my body burning with a need I’ve never experienced.
My brothers curse and argue amongst themselves. The human Brides join in, alarmed and concerned.
I bare my fangs and growl in response while Naomi whimpers in my arms.
“It’s a confirmed testing. He’s enflamed and she’s in need,” Scar declares. “There’s nothing we can do to stop this now.”
“True.”
“No, not true,” a female voice challenges, “the scales of Xylan law say that she always has a choice.”
Scar sighs. “Human, she is right that you do have a choice because your biology differs from ours. You need to make a choice, quick,” he tells my Bride. “You can either perform the ceremony with Bayzon right now in the mine. Or we can all jump him, knock him out and we can get you off the planet right away. Do you want to be his Bride or not?”
My claws dig into her hips. I force myself to wait for her response.
Naomi lifts her head, her eyes blinking at the light of the personal crystals. “I want to be Bayzon’s Bride,” she confirms. “This was an accident but still consensual.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Wait, Naomi, I want to make sure you know what you’re saying yes to. You need to know what will happen right now,” a female voice shouts out. “Claiming means that right now, we will leave. Bayzon will chase you through the mines, throw you to the ground and have rough sex with you and get you pregnant right away. Tomorrow morning you will wake up, pregnant and married. And you will legally be his mate for the rest of his life. There is no divorce. I’m worried for you because you just arrived and met him only this evening and maybe you’re not ready for this. It’s happening so fast...”
“And during the claiming you’ll need to fight him off to make it good for him,” Trunk adds. “A broken bone is preferable.”
I grunt in agreement.
“Thank you for your concern.” My mate tightens her free arm around my neck and rests her head on my chest. Her ass continues to mindlessly grind into my crotch because she needs relief as much as I do. “I know. And it’s true that we just met but this is right. Now or later makes no difference. I want this claiming.”
And that’s when I know I love her. She’s human and it’s true that the pheromones affect her and cause her to want me, but not in the same way as for a Xylan. She could leave, recover and manage to forget all about me. Meanwhile, I would go insane. But according to Xylan law, she has the right to choose. And I’m grateful and proud that in such a short time, she chose me.
“Naomi.” Leah’s voice cuts through the fog of desire. “Are you sure? I brought you here. If something happens to you because of me?—”
“Leah.” My Bride’s voice is stronger now, more certain. “You brought me here to start a new life. This is me, starting it. I know what I’m doing.”
There’s a moment of silence. Then Leah laughs, a sound somewhere between joy and disbelief. “Okay. Okay, then. Welcome to the family, I guess. Officially.”
“About damn time Chief found someone,” Rook mutters. “I was starting to think he’d be brooding in corners forever.”
“I do not brood,” I snarl, though the effect is somewhat ruined by the fact that I’m currently clutching my Bride like a lifeline and can barely form coherent thoughts.
“You absolutely brood,” multiple voices respond in unison.
Naomi laughs against my chest, and even through the haze of desire, I find myself smiling. This is my annoying family and now she’s part of it.
“Human, you will be allowed a head start. Then the chase begins and it will be you and him. We’ll leave immediately so you two can do this in private, here in the tunnels of the mine.”
“Good luck,” a female voice says.
Chapter Eight
Bayzon
The glow of their personal crystals fade as my brothers and their Brides retreat into the thinning mist. The sound of their footsteps disappears, and it’s just the two of us. Alone in the vast cavern, surrounded by hundreds of sleeping Xylan who have no idea what we are doing, with the white mist curling around us like a blessing from the old gods.
I force myself to release her hand.
The loss of contact is physically painful. My body screams at me to grab her again, to never let go. But I grit my teeth and push through it because there are words that must be spoken. Traditions that must be honored. “Now,” I growl. “Now I will claim you in the ways of old.” I stand, not bothering to hide my enormous erection tenting my pants anymore.
Naomi stands and watches as I strip off my jacket and shirt and kick aside my pants. My clothes are in a pile on the floor. The crystal left in my pocket gives just enough light to allow my human to see shapes and outlines.
