Erun (Scifi Alien Romance) (The Ujal Book 4) (6 page)

“Someone may claim her as mate,”
he’d replied
.

“Not if you claim her—convert her—first.”

Claim and convert her. She would be an Ujal female, with an Ujal daughter. More than most had. More than he’d ever allowed himself to dream.

Faim cleared his throat. “Vanessa, your youngling is very ill.”

A single tear slid down her cheek and he wanted to snap the male’s neck for upsetting her. “What’s wrong? What can be done to help her?”

Faim paused, his brow furrowed and then Sece pushed forward. “Oh, you are taking too long and frightening her.” She nudged her
sire
aside and focused on Vanessa. “Her body is having difficulty accepting the change at such a late date. Ujal younglings are born within the seas and are immediately exposed to their home. We do not believe that was the case with Tabby.”

“The patient’s name is Tabitha.”

Sece spun and glared at her
sire
. “Her family and friends call her Tabby. You always tell me to ensure I make the patient as comfortable as possible. Which means the mother—”

“
She
is not the patient.
She
is merely—”

Erun did not like the obvious sneer in Faim’s voice. “Merely what?” He withdrew from Vanessa and rose to his full height. He crossed his arms over his chest and flexed his muscles in an obvious show of strength. Erun was only second to Rhal by a small margin and it seemed the doctor forgot that fact. “Merely. What.”

Faim swallowed hard and Niax slowly stepped forward. “Erun…”

“No,” he hissed. “I want to know what this doctor who took both human and Ujal vows to help others, believes Vanessa to be.” He moved toward Faim. “And if your words are anything but complimentary to her, I will—”

“She stole an Ujal child. She allowed the youngling to end up in this shape. We are lucky she is not
dead
due to this human and we will be even luckier if she recovers.”

A harsh sob came from behind him and he ached to reach for Vanessa. He did not imagine his touch would be welcome… yet. For now he could remove any stress from her life. That included Faim.

Erun looked to Sece. “Can you provide care for Vanessa and the youngling?”

Sece straightened her shoulders, throwing off the mantle of her
sire’s
youngling and stared him in the eye. “Of course.”

He looked to Faim. “Then you can leave.”

“I am—”

“A caregiver who is prejudiced against my ma—” She was not his mate even as the desire for her to be his grew with every passing second. “You are prejudiced against Vanessa. I have given her enough worry with my past behavior. Now that the truth is revealed, she does not need more. She is the
dam
to an Ujal youngling and deserves to be treated with the respect and care as any other female.
You
do not wish to do so at this time. Therefore, you will remove yourself.” Erun towered over Faim and waited for the older doctor to make his own decisions. But even if he apologized and determined he’d like to remain, Erun would not allow him to treat Tabby. The more he spoke, the angrier he became and he felt the urge to do the male harm.

Faim glared. “The principessa will hear of this.”

“Will she hear that you treated her
very best friend in the whole universe
with contempt? She knows of my mistakes. How will she feel about yours now that the truth of how Tabby ended up with Vanessa is known?” he countered.

The doctor had no response and merely spun on his heel and left the room. With his absence, the tension immediately dropped, and Erun returned to Vanessa. But instead of allowing the bed to separate them, he went to her side. He did as he’d seen Tave, Rhal, and Vados do many times before. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her against his body. They often did this when comforting their females and showing affection. Erun wished to do both. So he did.

“I… see.” Sece’s gaze bounced between him and Vanessa. Then she shook her head and glanced at her datapad. “Okay,” the young female was constantly picking up human slang. He should speak with her and see if he could learn some as well. He wanted Vanessa to be comfortable with him. “Due to Tabby’s delayed exposure to the sea, her body is attempting to catch up. Unfortunately the exposure came quickly instead of gradually. Her genetic material is in flux. It is something similar to what Rhal’s mate Cara experienced, though different because she is naturally Ujal.”

Vanessa trembled but remained silent. So Erun stepped in and asked questions where Nessa could not. “What does that mean for Tabby?”

“It means measured interactions with the seas over the coming days and weeks. We will begin treating various parts of her body, allowing her skin to become acclimated with her scales. It will take a few weeks,” Sece’s face was overcome with pity, “and be painful.”

Vanessa slumped against him and he tightened his hold, speaking when she could not. “Is there anything that can be done to lessen Tabby’s suffering?”

Sece shook her head and then froze, her eyes flicking from him to Vanessa. “There is one thing, but it will be difficult.”

Vanessa straightened. “Anything. I don’t care. Whatever has to be done. I’ll do it. I’ll pay to have it done. I don’t care.”

If her tears and actions did not tell him so, those few words further proved her devotion to Tabitha.

“It is no small thing, Vanessa. You must think carefully before you agree.”

She shook her head. “I would die for her, Sece. I would
die
for this child.”

Sece nodded. “Ujal younglings are comforted by their
dams.
You are the
dam
of her heart, but not by blood. She reacted to you when you touched her during her time of need, but that will not always be the case as she transitions fully. If you were to become Ujal, your presence as an Ujal
dam
would further lessen her pain. It’s not just a matter of comforting her body with your hands, but her soul with yours. The soul of the sea.”

“How? When can it be done? What do I need to do?” Her response was immediate and it filled his heart with pride.

Sece hesitated but finally voiced the true method of conversion. “If you had a mate, you would simply engage in mating which would convert you.”

“You mean sex.”

“Yes,” Sece confirmed. “The exchange of genetic material with your mate through sex. Any other Ujal would not result in a transition. It would have to be your mate.”

“I don’t have a mate, so what else can be done?”

“If we had time, we could search the Intergalactic Mating Agency’s database for a match, but that assumes your match submitted his genetic material.” Sece nibbled her lower lip. “Our other option is that a donor’s genetic material can be stripped of the markers that would tie you to him. It would be pure of his identifying chromosomes and leave pure Ujal cells behind. It would then be altered so that it became compatible with your own DNA.”

Sece furrowed her brow in concentration. “It would trick the blood into believing you were part of a mated pair and then transform you to Ujal without the mate-to-mate connection. Mated without a mate.” The female sighed. “The drawback is… You won’t be able to connect with another Ujal male. I do not believe you will ever be able to take a mate. The method isn’t traditional and is untested. It is nothing more than an educated guess. You may be alone forever, Vanessa.”

“No,” she shook her head. “I’ll never be alone. I have Tabitha.” Vanessa took a breath and released it slowly. “Okay, do you know of an Ujal male who would donate? Who will help me?”

“I will.” A deep voice near the wall reminded Erun there was another male in the room.

Niax
.

“No.” Erun’s harsh word was overlaid with Sece’s hiss.

Niax shrugged, his attention on Sece. “What does it matter,
Sece
? You do not wish for our mating and this could help another. What reason do you have for denying me? I would not be mating Nessa, I would be helping her.”

The tension within the small space rose, the male and female staring at one another and he wondered if the very air would burst into flames.

“You
will not
donate genetic material,” Sece growled, her scales fluttering beneath her skin, expressing her fury.

“Why?”

“Because…”

“
Why?
”

There was more between the two than Erun knew and he truthfully did not care to know why the anger snapped through the air. He only cared about Vanessa and Tabitha.

“
I
will donate.” He overrode their continued argument.

The couple turned to him while Vanessa stiffened in his hold and attempted to pull away.

He would not allow it.

Sece was the first to shake out of her shock. “I don’t know what that will do to her.”

“Then take a sample and figure it out.” He hated being questioned.

“Erun, after all the alterations…”

“Tabby is comforted by my touch. Even as I argued and was furious with her
dam
, she wanted me. I am Ujal,” —
barely in most Ujals’ opinions—
“and believe it will be fine.” Sece continued to look skeptical. “It will be enough, Sece. I know this.” He extended his free arm. “Take the sample.”

The female stepped forward, digging in her pocket, and finally withdrew a hypo. She paused when she was within reach. “Even if this is an acceptable solution, you must get her agreement. You must explain your genetic deficiencies and I can’t guarantee I will be able to strip enough identifiers from your material. Her genetics will still feel mated, but she will feel mated to
you
. She would always yearn for your touch, Erun. Then there’s the legal requirements for being a ‘real’ mate.”

She said the words as if the idea of being tied to Vanessa was unwanted. He would like for her to feel mated to him. He would also like to make love to her to make their mating legal as well.

But he could not argue with her statement about his genetic
deficiencies
. Some Ujal believed him deficient. Others celebrated his alterations due to his performance in the sphere. It depended on whether credits were exchanged via bets.

“Her options are to take another’s genetic material via injection that will leave her alone for the rest of her days or mine through injection, which may inadvertently mate us. I know this. I will explain about my past and I will secure her permission. As for Ujal laws, we’ll cross that water when we come to it.” He did not know how, but he would. Vanessa remained silent through the exchanges and he knew there would be explanations the moment they were alone once more. The hypo did not hurt as it drew his blood for analysis.

“Her transition will at least solve Tave and Rina’s problems,” Niax muttered.

“What problems?” Vanessa found her voice.

Niax winced. “It is nothing.”

“Niax…” he warned. If Vanessa asked a question, he would see it answered. Through any means necessary.

Niax sighed. “The events of the morning were witnessed by many. You snatched a human youngling from sure death while others viewed it as your attempt to steal her. Then later, you were seen running through the streets with that same child, her
dam
racing after her. Unfortunately, the child now had scales and a tail. Humans are up in arms about a human female either stealing an Ujal child or having her child kidnapped while the Ujal are furious that a human female somehow kidnapped an Ujal child.” Niax focused on Erun. “You are viewed as a hero by some of our kind.”

There was a first time for everything.

“What…” Vanessa’s voice trembled.

Erun lowered his head, mimicking his rulers once more, and he nuzzled her head. “All will be well. Tave and Rina will solve these issues. We will transition you to Ujal and will make Tabby well.”

“Possibly,” Sece interjected.

He glared at the female, but she did not cower. If anything, a new strength filled her. “Definitely. There is no other outcome.”

Vanessa squirmed in his arms and he loosened his grip. Her bright eyes met his, hope and confusion filling her gaze. “I know I keep saying this, but you don’t even
like
me. Why would you…”

“I more than like you, Vanessa. And as soon as we are alone,” he turned a glare to the couple, “we will speak of this.”

Erun more than liked her. She shook her head. Only hours had passed. From morning to evening she was transformed from disgusted by him to… something else. Something she couldn’t identify.

“Can you…” she tore her attention from Erun and focused on Sece. “Can you give us a minute? Is she okay the way she is now? Without medical supervision? I just…” She shook her head and rubbed her temple. “I just need a second to grasp all of this.”

“Of course,” Sece tilted her head in acknowledgment and then turned to exit the room. But not before she snatched Niax’s arm and dragged him behind her.

Then she was alone with Erun. The second the doors slid shut, she ducked out of his embrace and traveled to the other side of the bed, fighting to put distance between them. She’d been tossed from one extreme to another and she just needed to
think
for a second.

“Vanessa…” His voice was different. It no longer held the rough, frustrated edge. Now it was softer. Still firm, but layered with a blanket of gentleness that unnerved her.

“I…” She reached for Tabby, stroking her small hand, centering herself before she spoke. “I think you need to sit down and tell me what makes you different, why you changed your mind, and if there will be any… expectations if you do this.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, fingers trembling. “God, Rina must be dealing with a shit storm out there.”

“Do not worry about others.”

“It’s all connected though. Rina is dealing with problems I caused.” She rubbed her temple. “I should talk to her. See how we can spin this. Get the media focusing on someone else.” She snapped her eyes to him. “Are there any new human-Ujal mates that are pregnant? I hate to throw them under the hovobus, but it’d help calm some of the—”

He was next to her in a blink, his large, warm hands tugging her fingers from the bridge of her nose. “You will not think of others. Only yourself and Tabby.”