Page 15 of A Monster’s Future

The big broody alien warrior’s expression was unreadable, but his tail twitched, the tip curling just slightly. But it was his position that had my heart pounding out of my chest. He was on his knees, one hand still touching my thigh.

Right then, I knew. I just knew, like it was there in black and white. I was his mate. But that was impossible, right? He’d touched me so many times before. I felt it then, his pheromones sinking into my skin right through the thin Vokiren-woven fabric of the leggings. The air was thick with it. Made just for me. Outside of the rut, Kadrixan males could only produce these pheromones for their mates. It was undeniable proof. As if his kneeling there, still as a statue, hadn’t been enough.

Not all Kadrixan warriors find their mates through love at first touch, but many did, sinking to their knees in front of their mates. It was the reason why we often shook the hands of Kadrixan warriors when meeting them for the first time. It wasn’t really like a human-style handshake, but more like a way to determine if they were the right one.

Of course, this wasn’t the only way; sometimes bonds formed after spending time, like a rut, together. But I hadn’t spent any time with Grtirr. I’d been avoiding him just as much as he’d been avoiding me.

“Julie.”

His voice was low and rough, sending a jolt of heat through me to pool at my belly. I felt out of control, unsteady, like the entire galaxy had shifted around me.

“No.” I backed away, breaking the contact between us. “No. That’s impossible.”

I met his eyes and saw the truth immediately. I was his mate. And he had known.

No. This couldn’t be. I couldn’t be his mate! Grtirr, the bossy, infuriating, overbearing medic who’d spent years acting like I was a child needing to be coddled, could not possibly be my mate.

I did what any coward would do. I ran.

Chapter 8: Grtirr

“I did not know Julie was on this mission until I saw her in front of the ship,” I said, pressing my forehead to the cool metal of the ship’s walls. “I thought I’d have time away from her.”

Trsak and Ashtrr had dragged my useless and shocked self back through the door and to the bridge, if only to avoid the many pairs of human eyes in the mess hall.

“Julie?” Ashtrr choked out as he paced the room. “You were avoiding Julie?”

Then the other warrior male started laughing, and I glared at him. I finally had control of my body again, but the entire ship had already witnessed the moment the bond solidified. There was no avoiding or hiding it now.

“The good thing is that we will no longer need to monitor you. You were telling the truth.” Trsak looked up from the screen. I was certain he was relaying everything that had happened to Krxare. By the time I returned to the stronghold, all the important people would know I’d been rejected by my mate.

“Shouldn’t we watch him harder now?” Ashtrr asked.

He was referring to the fact that rejected males often go crazy without their mates.

I smacked him hard in the arm with the back of my hand. “It takes time. I’m not going to turn murderous in a day.”

“He’ll be fine for the mission,” Trsak said. “And Julie being part of it is perfect. By the time we get back to Vokira, you two will be properly mated.”

Ashtrr harrumphed. “Did you see her reaction? What in the Sarkis star were you thinking, antagonizing the female you knew was your mate?”

“I wasn’t trying to antagonize her,” I said through gritted teeth. “I was trying to protect her.”

When Julie had first arrived at the stronghold, she had been so weak and pale. She had been sick back at Nova Vita, and while the human doctors had cured her kidney infection, they had done nothing to ensure that her body and organs were functioning properly again. It hadn’t been a simple infection either; she had gone septic, the infection entering her blood. Both her kidneys and her stomach had stopped functioning for a short while.

She had also been malnourished, her body lacking the essential vitamins and minerals necessary to thrive. According to the English translations, she was low in vitamin D, A, and K, magnesium, and several of the B vitamins.

I’d known from the very first moment I’d touched her that she was mine. But I hadn’t wanted a human mate, so I’d done everything I could to care for her instead. At first she was very thankful for the meal plan I had created for her, along with reminders sent to her device to take the special blend of vitamins I’d concocted especially for her.

Julie had even scented of lust around me, touching me whenever she thanked me, her hands lingering longer on me than needed. It had been the sweetest torture, and I’d allowed it the first few times. But after that one close call where I was certain I was starting to produce the mating pheromones, I hadn’t let her touch me.

She was obviously hurt. She didn’t know that it was because I was doing everything I could to avoid the mate bond. The nullvein roots only worked so much, and I hadn’t wanted to test it.

Soon, Julie started to avoid me, only visiting the medbay when she had to for her checkups. She also grew bored with the strict meals and became angry when the food replicators refused to make anything else for her.

And then there was the midday vitamin alert. She thought it was automated, but it wasn’t. They hadn’t been since her screening showed that her vitamin and mineral levels were healthy and sufficient, and I’d reduced the dosage to maintenance levels. I sent those to her daily, and they were often the only interaction we’d have.

I was too embarrassed to let my brother warriors know how badly I’d fucked this up.