Alien Barbarians' Mate Read online

  Arh groaned aloud—it was clear he truly felt uneasy about telling Mikaela about the triad ceremony. He knew she wouldn’t agree to it but perhaps she could be persuaded if we presented it in a way that seemed less intrusive.

  Arh stepped forward and pointed to the stick in Mikaela’s hand. He wiggled his three fingers before her and she handed it over to him.

  I watched as he began to draw—some distance away from her own drawing—and seemed to do so with a skill I hadn’t expected from him. He drew out several people and a female. I instantly knew he was illustrating the process of the triad selection ceremony.

  She perked her brow and pursed her lips, glancing toward me as she processed the drawing. As her eyes met with mine, I instantly recognized that she understood what was being presented to her, but I was not so convinced the expression on her face was one of happiness. If anything, it resembled utter confusion.

  Scar stepped forward and tilted his head.

  “I think Dey is right—she does understand, but I do not think she is going to react as rashly as you first presumed, Arh,” he explained.

  Arh watched as Mikaela walked closer and knelt downward, her fingers seemed to hover over the female image and she looked up at Arh as she pointed toward herself.

  “Me?” she asked. Arh perked a brow—his eyes darting toward mine instantly.

  “What does ‘me’ mean?” he asked.

  I sighed, recalling the few words that Dew and Ella had told me.

  “She knows that is her. ‘Me’ means myself,” I explained casually. “She recognizes what she sees, Arh.”

  “There’s something I haven’t fully come forth on,” Arh said, glancing away as if he had something to hide.

  “What is that?” Scar asked.

  “I threatened to kill Funi should he force Mikaela’s banishment from the tribe—which he implied he would do if she did not partake in our customs. This is what I have no way of conveying to her, and I am sure you both understand what it means,” he explained.

  My eyes widened, as did Scar’s, and we both took to the knee in reverence of the honorable place that Arh had placed himself by risking his life for the betterment of a female—any female.

  Arh now had respect from me that I hadn’t expected—just as equally as I hadn’t his obvious artistic talents.

  Perhaps, like so many others, I had misjudged Veruka’s son. Indeed, it appeared that a part of his mother truly did inhabit him, much to my delighted shock.

  Eleven

  Mikaela

  I immediately spotted myself in Arh’s drawing, and given what I had discussed with Ella in the past it didn’t take much for me to figure out exactly what he was trying to tell me.

  They wanted me to become a part of their tribe. I had sensed that from the moment I met Arh, but somehow it seemed like now they wanted me connected somehow, and I was fully certain that was the last thing I wanted.

  I wanted to go back home to my apartment. I wanted to sit in my big ass comfy queen-sized bed with my silky sheets, eat some good food like hamburgers and pizza, and watch TV. You know, be a normal everyday human!

  But what I wanted didn’t seem to matter, and that was what infuriated me most. I wasn’t just some person who went along with what others wanted.

  That was precisely why I had left home early, at a very young age. I didn’t want to be controlled. I was determined to make it on my own and without the burdens of having to answer to or appease someone else.

  There wasn’t anybody who ever seemed to want to appease me, so why should I be this person who wasted time doing what other people wanted?

  Never did make sense to me—the need some people had for validation. But it seemed to be a problem I was fortunate not to inherit. Which had always been perfectly fine by me.

  I mean, sure I suffered by not having friends but with the state of the world, the quality of people meant I was better off just having man’s, or in my case Woman’s Best Friend—Tremor.

  I pursed my lips as I knelt down by the drawing Arh had made and something innately told me what it was. I pointed to myself and sighed.

  “Me?” I asked, hoping one of them would understand what I was saying.

  Scar muttered something incoherently—almost beneath his breath and Dey quickly murmured a response.

  I stood up then, crossing my arms over my chest casually as I tilted my head. I was still very confused, but I could tell they were talking about me. Something had to give and I sighed as I said, “Ella.”

  I knew they would understand that I wanted Ella to be brought here to translate exactly what was going on. It was both necessary and crucial, with what I was considering.

  Dey nodded and they began to shuffle around—Arh stepping forward and lifting a torch—as if we were all about to begin some great procession to the home cave of Ella so I could demand a translation meeting in the middle of the night.

  This was just another reason why I wished I was back on Earth where it was as simple as picking up a cellphone or shooting a message!

  This traipsing through the underbrush in the middle of the night crap was getting old—and quickly, but I didn’t like what was presented to me. Not the drawings or the awkward tension I had noted between both Arh and Dey earlier.

  I wondered if all they saw me as was a breeding ground—the possibility of having somewhere to stick their pricks. That sent a jolt of anger through my veins like an injection of adrenaline straight into my body.

  It was infuriating but I knew better than to be reactionary at this point. I needed to be on good terms with the purples. I had actually begun to enjoy the time with Veruka and the many great foods that Arh constantly brought me as gifts—which I now knew they totally were.

  It became clear that he supplied an allotment of meat to every member of the tribe, but he always gave me the best cutlets no matter where they came from.

  I noticed he even gave me better pieces than the cuts he provided for his mother, Dey, Scar, and even himself to eat. This was one of the first things I really noticed that set him apart from everyone else.

  I did really like Scar’s stews—they rivaled some of the best soup and sandwich joints in New York—but the meats that Arh gave me could have easily cost well over twenty-five to thirty dollars just for one regular sized cut in the finest upscale restaurant.

  This wasn’t something anybody had ever done for me before, and I often joked that it would be the man who realized food was the way to my heart who would actually capture it.

  Funny thing was, I never imagined that man would be seven feet tall, entirely purple, and unable to speak the same language.

  Call me crazy, but I was still hoping I would wake up and find that this was all just one big elaborate dream, a nightmare, that I could forget—or maybe draft my first crazy novel out of.

  The reality, however, was cruel and seemed to be showing me daily that it just wasn’t going to happen.

  At least I had Tremor though—right?

  I watched as Dey held out his hand to me, a cue that he wanted me to follow along, which I was already doing. Just then a voice called out behind us, and we spun around to see the shadow of Veruka standing at the opening of her home cave.

  I sighed, and waited for Arh or whomever, to address her, still unsure of what to say. I knew that I had to get Ella to interpret—sooner rather than later—and here was yet another delay. Just the thing I needed.

  Somehow or another there would be a breakthrough today. I was not about to give up on. One way or another, I was going to find out why they were all behaving as they did. I was intent on it.

  Once I set my mind on something I never gave up—unless I was absolutely forced to do so. Typically, however, I got my way. It was just something I did. And this—this would be no different.

  Arh

  “Mother?” I asked as he looked up at my mother, my eyes affixing to hers as I stood near Mikaela.

  “What has happened that nobody has yet told me?” she
asked.

  I pursed my lips nervously and gave a light sigh. Though my mother had been there to present Mikaela to the council, the second part of the conversation that I’d just told Scar and Dey had been between myself, Otoro, and Funi only.

  “The Council demands that Mikaela take part in her triad selection ceremony immediately. They have demanded she do so with the repercussions of banishment should she chose not to,” I explained.

  “It seems as if you are displeased by this. I should think you would be glad for it,” Veruka remarked. “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “Mikaela has asked to be taken to see Ella, again,” I said, with some emphasis at the end of my sentence.

  I wondered what it was about Karr’s home cave that she liked so much, and decided then it must’ve merely been Ella’s ability to translate for her that she liked so much.

  I couldn’t be sure though—and the last thing I wanted to do was make assumptions about what she really wanted. It made me feel insecure and suspicious—two feelings I hated to have reside within me, and yet they were.

  “What else has happened, son?” Veruka asked as she began walking toward us.

  “I threatened to end Funi’s life if he should pursue any sort of banishment against Mikaela, and I meant every word of it,” I confessed.

  In my mind, there was no reason I should lie to my mother, though I knew innately she would warn against my foolishness—as she had always done.

  I also knew I had stood for what I believed in. Another trait she had taught me, which aided me in scaling to the heights of being the tribe’s best hunter. I cherished my mother’s wisdom and I hoped that by now she knew that.

  “I will not attempt to dissuade you from your beliefs, Arh. I raised you to be a fierce warrior and a grand hunter. And that you have become. But I will warn you that you must exercise caution and employ wisdom at every turn. You must consider what is best for the female above yourself. Do you understand?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I understand perfectly what I have brought upon myself, mother. I would never think differently about this. I made my decision and I will stand by it, and yes the welfare of the female is what I believe is best.”

  I sighed before continuing, “Funi did not like Ella and he does not seem to like Mikaela either. He is using his influence to force her decision. It does not sit well with me, Mother. I worry about how she is going to react to this news—how she might further endanger herself aside from the ways she clearly already has.”

  All the other females would have happily agreed to the custom, but that was because they were raised to do so. To expect these females from another planet to agree willingly was something that we had taken for granted. They were clearly sentient and, while sometimes foolish, very smart as well.

  “Indeed, I can understand those concerns. You should take her to Ella so she may converse with her. It may ease the blow of such news,” Veruka advised, smiling briefly as she turned to return to the home cave. “And continue to be wise,” she muttered as she disappeared through the cave mouth.

  I sighed and glanced back at Scar.

  “Lead the way?” I asked, feeling as if I wanted to be closer to Mikaela during the walk rather than at the head of it for once.

  Dey stood at Mikaela’s left side and I walked back toward the two of them as Scar brushed past me. He took a torch of his own and began walking down the footpath that connected our meadow with that of the tribal cave and all our Eilahasan neighbors.

  As I approached, Dey seemed to move from Mikaela’s side, providing me ample opportunity to be closer to her.

  “No, don’t flee. I want to try to talk to her while we are walking to Karr’s cave,” I explained.

  “Okay,” Dey agreed—surprising because of the tone he had first taken with me earlier.

  I sniffed the air slightly, more habitually than anything, but I ensured that I checked the scent signatures just in case. I didn’t detect anything and therefore, continued on with my stride.

  “You understood that the word she said meant me. I am curious to learn what else you can say in her tongue,” I said.

  Dey seemed to match my pace, and with Mikaela between us and Scar at the front of us we walked in a small group.

  “I want to ask her if she understands the triad ceremony to start with and see what we can do from there,” I explained.

  Dey bit into his lip nervously and pursed his mouth.

  “I’m not sure, Arh. I only know a handful of their words. Ella would be better suited to tell her what you need to be said. I’m not confident I can convey the gravity of this,” he said.

  It was just as I feared and I sighed in discontentment. Why did it seem like everything had gone perfectly for Ella and her triad where communicating was concerned but just the opposite seemed to always happen to me?

  Even when I did try talking it out—I couldn’t. The whole thing seemed impossible and I knew that going down this footpath to Ella’s all the time wasn’t going to help forever—nor did I want to continue it forever.

  “That was what I was afraid of. I’m not sure how this is all going to work—if at all,” I acknowledged.

  “We’re nearly there,” Scar said as we crossed onto the path that led into Karr’s home cave meadow. “The stench of monlas is high, as always,” he muttered.

  I chuckled. It was entirely true and was one of the reasons I never understood why Karr adamantly continued fishing for them when we had more ground food than we could ever truly hunt. Thousands upon thousands of herd animals and beasts roamed our lands and yet Karr insisted the fish was necessary.

  It was good, I knew, but I still found it foolish to inhabit the lake—with its carnivorous worms and beasts that none of us fully understood ourselves. It was uncharted territory, and for that alone, I felt it unwise to even go near it. Which meant, I never did.

  And yet, here I was surrounded by that horrid smell as we entered the meadow’s space.

  Dey

  As we came into the meadow that belonged to Karr, the smell of the fish hit my nostrils instantly.

  As much as I wanted to leave, I knew I couldn’t. Arh was right to be concerned about how the female would react to the news the council had given, but now that we stood in the meadow I knew it wouldn’t be long until we all knew exactly what she had to say—or at least how she would react.

  We approached the home cave, and almost instantly Karr appeared in the entrance.

  “What are you all doing here, now?” he asked, glancing around with a confused expression.

  I stepped forward first, knowing that Arh and Karr had never gotten along well, and since Dew now lived in the cave I had more than enough cause to appear there. He was my brother, after all.

  “Mikaela needs to speak with Ella. We need you to interpret what the council had to say so that Mikaela is aware of their ruling,” I explained.

  Karr perked a brow.

  “Ella!” he called as he turned to glance back within the cave.

  I smiled as the familiar face of my younger brother appeared next to him.

  “Brother, what brings you so late?” Dew asked curiously.

  I leaned forward and connected hands with him, a forward nod given as I pulled him close and hugged him briefly.

  “They need to speak to Ella. Apparently, the council has made a ruling regarding Mikaela and they want Ella to explain it to her,” Karr interjected, an unpleasantness lining his tone as he spoke.

  “I apologize for coming to call upon your mate so late and while she is in such a delicate condition. But she is the same species as Mikaela and the only person here who can actually fluently speak her tongue,” I reminded him.

  “What is going on?” Ella asked as soon as she came to the cave entrance.

  Mikaela stepped up suddenly, pushing her way between us as she came face-to-face with Ella.

  “That’s what I was hoping you would help me find out. Think you could translate?” Mikaela asked.

&n
bsp; I didn’t understand what was being said, but the few words I did catch made it clear that Mikaela wasn’t going to beat around the bush. She wanted answers and she obviously wanted them now. I sighed as the two females began to speak.

  “Okay.”

  Ella began explaining to Karr what Mikaela said as he, in turn, told her what he knew.

  “I must explain some things,” Arh said, stepping forward—albeit a bit too close to Ella. Karr stepped up immediately.

  “My mate does not like you, Arh—you intimidate her and you know this. It may be best if you allow Dey to explain more, or step back and I shall explain to her after you tell me your piece,” Karr warned.

  Arh groaned. “After everything that has happened now, Karr, I would never bring harm to your pregnant mate. It would be a violation of the many lessons my mother raised me to respect. Surely, you hold me to being a man of my honor, of my word?” Arh asked.

  Karr lifted his head and turned toward Ella. He spoke to her for a moment and then waved toward Arh as if cuing him to continue speaking.

  “The council wants her to partake in a triad,” Arh stated.

  “Mikaela, remember what I told you about my mates?” Ella asked.

  “You mean the fact that here women choose three males and cohabitate with them? Yeah, I kind of noticed that was how you wound up in your position,” Mikaela said.

  “I know you do not approve of my decisions, Mikaela, but you did come here for my help. Didn’t you?” Ella asked.

  “Yes, but what does the triad ceremonies have to do with me?” Mikaela asked.

  I sighed and shifted my gaze toward Arh who interjected suddenly.

  “Karr, you must tell her that the council is insisting she participate or else she will be considered a burden on the tribe. Their ruling was she participates or else she faces banishment. I have already warned Funi of what shall happen to him if she is, indeed, banned from the cave systems. I do not see how any Eilahasan male could even consider such a thing,” Arh admitted.