Mended and Marked

Chapter Six - Cahress

I shouldn't grab her, but her retreat kickstarts my feral instincts to catch and claim.

After filling my lungs and expelling the trapped air on a slow breath, I release her ankle, both surprised and relieved when she doesn't move after I let her go. She turns frightened eyes over her shoulder at me, wary confusion filling her expression.

"Sorry, little mama. It was a reflex, nothing more. I won't hurt you."

"But, you're—" her eyes flick downward before she yanks them back to my face, "You, um... you won't..."

"I've never hurt an omega before, and I don't plan to start now. My mother would skin me alive."

"Your mother would do what?"

"It's an expression. She'd make my life miserable."

"Oh... Where is your mother?"

The tremor in her voice sends electricity through my veins. I want her to shake when I touch her, but not because she's scared.

I want her trembling and needy under me, so ready for my cock she can't help but beg. For the first time since adolescence, my control nearly fails me. I ignore the lifting of my ruff as electricity tingles up and down my spine, glad when my suit limits the thick fluff from expanding. The pinching discomfort, along with the abrasive material of my underpants on my hard cock, distracts me enough to keep me in the moment.

"My mother pilots the second largest craft in our fleet, so she's in orbit."

"Really? In orbit of this planet?"

Her eyes look everywhere but at me. Strain tightens her expression.

I sigh and dig my fingers into my thighs to stop myself from pulling her back into my lap.

"Duri, this position hurts you. Either come back to the comfort of my arms or join the others."

Her pupils shrink and shoulders tighten, but she doesn't move. Confusion creases her brow as she stares directly into my soul.

"You won't hurt me, no matter my choice?"

"I won't."

A few agonizing heartbeats later, she sits back on her heels and braces her palm on the cave floor. I swallow my disappointment as she tries to stand.

Her gasp of pain pulls me forward. I grab her hand as she lifts it from the jagged stone, irrational fury demanding I rage at the piece of rock and pulverize it to dust as I turn her hand over. Dark liquid wells up from two new puncture marks on her palm.

Before she reacts, I unzip a pocket on my vest and yank out a sterilized packet of medicated gauze. Ripping open the plastic with my teeth, I wrap her hand, ensuring the ointment covers the new wounds, before using my thumb to apply pressure.

The visual of her delicate palm engulfed by my much bigger thumb makes me pause.

Very few sentient beings are larger than I, but the sheer size difference between us seems insurmountable.

It's probably for the best she's already claimed.

I bury my disappointment and help her to her feet.

The ease with which I forget her pregnancy concerns me for less than a second before my basal needs demand I care for her. I guide her to the group of omegas and help her sit, glaring at the cold, uneven stone for being so unforgiving, and place the water bag beside her before stepping out of the circle of light.

Thret appears at my side, the shape of his bony plates so similar to the surrounding stone I struggle to pick out his form despite my acute vision. When he scowls and taps his earpiece, I reach up and swap mine to a lower frequency.