Claimed (16 page)

“Father, we have never stopped our females from contacting their families if they want to. You are taking away one of Tina’s basic rights as a mate.” Sorvar’s fingers dug into her waist, his anger burning in her chest along with her own.

“Are you questioning me, Sorvar? You forget your place. I am king, and I make the rules. If you continue, I will outlaw mating with humans and sentence this pathetic creature to death for cursing my son. I see and know what she has done to you, and it is unnatural. It is a disgrace to the might of Morgath. I will not have more of this inferior species on my planet contaminating my people.”

If spittle could have flung from the king, Tina was sure it would have, he spoke with such vehemence. Venom filled his tone and seared along her skin. Did he have to be such an arrogant tyrannical asshole? What did he think he was going to achieve by threatening her? All he would do was make Sorvar angry, then he’d have to deal with Sorvar’s primal side.

Sorvar growled louder this time and pulled Tina behind him with one hand wrapped around her arm. “You will have to kill me first before I let you lay a hand on Tina.”

Tina peeked around Sorvar just in time to hear the king reply, “Do you think that will stop me? I lost my son the day you bit that reeking piece of garbage. Killing you would only be a mercy.”

What the hell? What was he going on about? Sorvar was right here. Tina shook her head. She didn’t understand some people. The way their minds worked was just strange.

“Father, you cannot mean that!” Sedric said, rushing through the broken door.

“Stay out of this, Sedric,” the king commanded.

“No—”

“Sedric, this is not your fight,” Sorvar barked.

“Brother—”

“No!”

Sorvar growled so loud, it hurt Tina’s ears. His anger burned in her chest, scorching her from the inside. “Sedric, I was the one who took a human mate. I was the one who made the decision to choose a species we have never mated with before. It was my choice to take the risks, and I decided the benefits outweighed those risks. Tina has already proven her value as a mate by conceiving not one but three young, and even if she only ever bore me one child, I would love her anyway because she is more to me than just a breeder. Brother, this is not your fight. This is between father and me.”

Sedric shook his head. “Sorvar, you are wrong. It is not only your fight. It is the fight of every male who has seen your Tina and wants a human mate of their own. Not all of us see females as simply a way to halt the decline of our species. Young are the bonus, not the goal. I see what you have with your mate, Brother, and I want that as well. It is our fight, and I will stand beside you to the very end.”

Tina could feel Sorvar’s shock as it rang inside her, like a bell vibrating after it had tolled. But it was nothing compared to the vicious growl that came from Sorvar’s father.

“It is nobody’s fight. There is no fight!” The medical room shook as the king thundered. He swung his arm out in a slashing gesture. “I forbid you to mate a human, Sedric. I will have no more of this pathetic species contaminating my warriors. Look at your brother and tell me he is not weak. Where are his claws? His skin is so thin that one slice and he would be dead. I will hear no more of this. The human is banned from communicating with her people or anyone else from the Coalition. Bavric, you will not divulge any medical details to her. You will not see her unless she needs medical attention. If you do, I will have you executed. I do not care if she dies and takes her wretched young with her. Sorvar, I do not want to see this pathetic excuse for a female, ever. She is confined to your quarters unless she requires medical attention. She is a disgrace to my people, and I will not have her parading around inciting my males.”

Chapter Eleven

Sorvar growled, the deep rumble echoing through the room as his father turned and stormed out. He let go of Tina, his hands balling into fists as he stepped after his father, his low growl rising towards a roar. He would kill his father for this. Damn the consequences, no female deserved to be treated this way. His father had stripped almost all of Tina’s rights from her, making her less than even the most pathetic animal on their planet.

He was at the ruined door, heat boiling inside him, his primal side wanting to rip out of him, when Sedric’s voice drew him up short.

“Sorvar!”

“What?” He whipped around to glare at Sedric.

His brother nodded towards something behind him, but didn’t say a word. Sorvar turned, and his heart clenched at the sight before him. How had he missed this?

It took him a moment for his head to clear enough to feel her. The shock she had felt during the conversation with his father and brother was easy to ignore when he was furious with his father, but as his concern for his mate banked his rage, he started to feel Tina’s deeper emotions.

She stood as still as a statue, her arms limp by her side, her wings slumped. The green fire that was always in her eyes was gone. The dull almost lifeless stare he received from her sent a spurt of alarm through him.

He turned, walking the few steps to her, and pulled her against him with a hand around the back of her neck. “
Pavri.
”

Tina stood in his arms, unresisting, but also unresponsive. He wrapped her in his arms and his wings, cocooning them in warmth.
It will be all right, Tina. I promised you, you would get your dream, and I didn’t lie.

She shook her head against him and her sigh brushed against the bare skin of his chest. “Okay, Sorvar.” Her voice, soft and flat, cracked a fissure in his heart.

She didn’t believe him, had lost all hope. He could feel her disappointment, a heavy weight sitting inside him, like the weights they strapped to their chests to strengthen their flight muscles.

“I will fix this, Tina. I promise you. Please,
pavri,
do not give up. You cannot give up.” He couldn’t stand to see her like this.

“Prince Sorvar, I would never betray King Nardoc or disobey a direct order, but this is a very delicate situation. Tina and your young are going to be the first occurrence of the combining of Morgath and Human genetic material. They need to be monitored closely to ensure they are all safe,” Bavric said. The medic’s wings fluttered before he snapped them back into place.

Sorvar ground his teeth together, forcing down a growl. He didn’t need Bavric stating the obvious, and he didn’t need the medic to remind Tina of the situation she was in, which, if the sharp stab of pain that ripped through him was any indication, he’d just done.

“Yes, I know all that, Bavric, but by forbidding Tina to attend visits and also help you understand human physiology, my father has left us in a difficult position. There has to be some way we can work around it, but I will need some time to come up with a solution that doesn’t put everyone’s lives in danger.”

Sedric cleared his throat. “How much information would Tina be able to give Bavric? Unless she is a medic as well, she probably only has rudimentary knowledge of the human body.”

Now wasn’t the time to be amused, but Sorvar couldn’t help the bitter chuckle that broke from his throat. “Tina is a medic. She is our resident expert on humans and human physiology. If she and Bavric can work together, we should be able to see her and the babies through this safely.” There had to be some way they could share information without being together. There had to be some way they could work around his father.

Sedric stared back at him, his eyes wide. “Tina’s a medic?”

Sorvar wanted to growl at his brother. Wasn’t that what he just said? “Yes, she was working in the Medical centre on Deranti when I claimed her as my mate. She is a fully qualified doctor on Earth and has three months training from the Coalition’s Medical program as well.”

“Sorvar,” Sedric said, his gaze on Bavric. He turned back to look at them. “We can work around Father. I have always been the son who did what Father said, what he wanted. I never questioned his decisions or disagreed with him, but I believe he is wrong. I have long wanted to be a medic, and father would not permit it. I think it is time I did what I wanted and went after my dreams the way you have gone after yours.”

Sorvar’s rage died down to a far gentler heat as he stared at his brother. “You never said anything.”

Sedric looked away. “I know. I told Father years ago that I wanted to train with Bavric, but he insisted I pursue other avenues of study. Bavric can teach me, and I can talk to Tina and relay the information back to Bavric. He can show me how to monitor and check Tina, and together we can make sure she and your young come through this safely.”

A spark of something flared inside Sorvar, and he looked down at Tina to find her staring up at him with a glimmer of hope shining in her eyes.

She turned to Sedric. “Will you teach me all the things you learn from Bavric? The more I know about how this process works, the better I will be at knowing if something is going wrong. I can’t help you if I am ignorant.”

Sedric lifted his gaze from her to look at him, and Sorvar could see the question and the hesitation in his eyes. They would be risking a lot if they did this. They were risking their father’s fury and possible punishment if he found out. In the worst case, they could all end up dead.

“Yes, I will tell you everything I learn, Tina. We will be Bavric’s students together,” Sedric replied.

Warmth slowly started to seep through Sorvar, quickly turning into bubbles in his chest as Tina’s excitement grew. She buried her face in his chest for a minute, before she ripped out of his arms, rushed over to Sedric, and threw herself into his arms.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chanted as Sedric stared down at her looking like he wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do.

Sorvar felt like hugging his brother as well. Sedric had just given Tina something he hadn’t been able to give her, but had desperately wanted to. His brother had made his mate a very happy female, if the bubbles filling his chest were any indication of her feelings.

“So,” Tina said as she pulled back from Sedric. “That’s one problem sorted. What about the other one?”

“What other problem?” Sedric looked at him, and Sorvar could almost hear what his response was going to be when he found out.

“Tina suggested Bavric monitor us while we have sex to make sure we don’t hurt the babies. We were discussing logistics when Father arrived,” he replied.

Sedric nodded as if what he’d said made perfect sense. “That seems logical. So when are you going to get started? I can help Bavric, and he can start teaching me about Tina’s changed physiology and how it differs from before her change.”

He turned to look at Bavric who was standing quietly on the other side of the room. Sorvar realised in all of their scheming and plotting they had not asked his family’s medic if he would take Sedric as his student and earn the wrath of their father—not to mention what would happen if their father found out Sedric was relaying information to Tina and teaching her everything Bavric taught him.

“Bavric, this is all dependent on you. It will be your life in danger as well if we go ahead with this. I can offer you my protection for helping us, but there will be many who will see what you do as disloyalty.” Sorvar would kill them if they hurt his friend, but Bavric would still be dead.

A flash of something twisted his stomach into a knot as heat crept into his cheeks. Sorvar looked at Tina to see her cheeks stained pink.

Pavri?

She lifted her gaze to meet his, and his breath caught at the emotion he saw in her eyes.
We can’t ask Bavric to do this, Sorvar. We need him to help with the delivery and everything that comes after. I have no idea how to look after eggs or how to make sure the hatchlings are healthy.

Before Sorvar could respond to Tina, Bavric said, “I understand the risks, my Prince. I feel strongly that King Nardoc has reacted emotionally instead of with the calm logic we know him for. It is also my belief, if we are to ever become a member of the Coalition, we need to choose mates from different species than the ones we do now, and we need to treat these new species with the utmost care and respect, just as we do with the females we already take.”

“Bavric, you are not just my medic, you are also my friend. I will not see you killed because you feel honour bound to help.” Sorvar stared at his friend, wanting him to know how serious he was.

Bavric’s wings rustled behind him. “I do not feel honour bound. Prince Sedric is not the only male who wants a human female as a mate. The more we can learn about them, the easier we can make the transitions and breeding process, and I am just as eager to learn about the humans as Tina is to learn about us.”

Sorvar stared back at Bavric, trying to gauge whether his friend was being honest. When he was satisfied he gave a brisk nod and turned to Tina. “Are you ready to do this,
pavri?
”

She whipped around from looking at Bavric to gaze back at him with eyes blown so wide, he almost laughed, but he couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face.

“Now? You want to do this
now?
”

Is there any reason to wait? You were as desperate as I only a short while ago, pavri. Has that changed?
Desperate was a mild description of what he had felt. Starving was far better and he could feel that same need starting to build in his gut.

Sorvar, I swear to God, if you keep laughing at me, I’ll never sleep with you again.

Even in his head, her voice held a distinct growl, and instead of making him contrite or whatever else she was intending to make him feel, Sorvar laughed. He swept forward, scooped her up, and planted her backside on the Medical bed.

She let out a little sound of shock and gripped his upper arms with her soft little hands.

Sorvar, I don’t think I can do this.

He lifted her face up to him with a gentle finger under her chin.
Do you trust me, Tina?