The Xarcarik Chronicles: Cralen

Chapter 2

Cralen cursed to himself as he pulled Kinzie down the hallway. He'd never meant to take her like that. It felt like a punch to his gut when he saw her, standing naked in front of the dresser, and then she'd turned around and his world shook. He'd heard stories that the mating call would override every other logical piece of his mind, but he'd never believed it.

Meaning only to call out to her, to comfort her, he'd lowered his helmet. And then her scent hit him. To say it was a mind-altering drug was an understatement. Before he knew what he was doing, he lowered the rest of his armor and grabbed her. Feeling her body pressed against his was sheer bliss. The soft texture of her skin, her lips, her taste, drove him out of his mind.

And now, because of the delay, he risked losing his mate a mere hour after finding her. Cralen glanced over his shoulder at the tiny woman. He tried to ignore the glare the small brown-eyed beauty leveled at him. He would be pissed with him too. As much as he wanted to let her arm go, and trust her to make it to his ship on her own, she'd already proven she would try to escape the first chance she got. The last time had been close. She almost made it to a hallway he was too big to follow her down when he'd caught her wrist. The woman was surprisingly fast. Then again, the small ones usually were.

They were trotting, his ship in view with the ramp open, when they heard another explosion and the ground shook. On pure instinct, Cralen scooped Kinzie into his arms and ran for everything he was worth. Only one thing would make that kind of explosion. The last atmospheric generator.

In seconds the remaining atmosphere would mix with the nitrogen on the moon's surface and create a boiling mass which would wipe out any life in its path. Cralen was a yard away from the entry to the ship when the proximity alarms in his helm screeched to life. He threw Kinzie into the safety of the ship, one of his men catching her, as the boiling liquid nitrogen overtook him. He saw her scream and hold her hand towards him, trying to wiggle away from the man holding her, but her small stature was no match for the large warrior. Thank the Gods.

One heartbeat, two, and his suit beeped as it adjusted to the cold outside. This is what it was made for, and the reason the Federation would give their left testicle to get their hands on one. From prillix gas to molten varillium, the suit could withstand any temperature, any environment, any weapon. With one final beep, he could move again.

Cralen took a last look around the base and sighed. They never meant to destroy it. How were they going to explain this to command? Wonderful.

He entered the ship, holding his hands in the air to stop Kinzie from checking on him. His suit needed to regulate before she could touch it, or she'd burn her delicate hands. Those delicious little hands which had, very recently, driven him insane when they wrapped around his cock with such demand.

Cursing again, Cralen reminded himself it was the pheromones which caused them to mate so quickly and with such abandon. He should have resisted. He should have controlled himself. He should have kept his goddamn helm on. Should, should, should.

Releasing his helm, he moved into the bay as the ramp closed behind him. Cralen stopped and looked around in surprise. There must be at least a dozen human women gathered there, and an equal number of shocked Xarcariks.

"What is going on?" he asked Traylek, the team leader in charge of this mission.

Traylek pushed a temporary cochlear translator into his hand. "Fourteen mates, including yours. This is for her. They don't understand our language."

Cralen's mouth dropped as he looked around again. That number was unheard of. Staggering. The chance of a male finding his mate among their people was about one in eight. It didn't seem bad, but their population had fallen from ten billion plus to just over one, and continued to decline. If things didn't improve, the Federation wouldn't need to try to eradicate them, nature would do it for the bastards.

He looked around for Kinzie. She was holed up in a corner with a group of the other women, whispering and looking over her shoulder at them. When he approached, they all went quiet. Tugging on her arm, he pulled her towards him and caressed her face. Her eyes narrowed in distrust, but she didn't pull away. He saw her take a deep breath, and her eyes fluttered. She leaned closer, tilting her head towards him. Cralen wanted nothing more than to press his lips against hers, to lose himself to the feelings she elicited inside of him, but he knew if he started, he wouldn't be able to stop and this wasn't the place. Instead, he popped the device in her ear.

"What the hell?" Kinzie reared back, covering the side of her head with her hand.

"It's a translator. I don't speak much common-"

"I noticed," her lips twitched.

"And this way," he continued, ignoring the interruption. "We can speak and hear in our own languages, but the translator interprets the other."

"Wonderful, because we have a few questions." She crossed her arms over her chest and widened her stance. The other women in the group came to stand behind her. It seemed she was the leader of their small band. Cralen looked behind him for backup, but only met amused stares from his comrades.

"Such as?"

"Why did you attack our base?"

Cralen glanced at Traylek, who nodded. "We're looking for a specific man. Dr. MAC."

"Hah!" barked one of the women, separate from the group. The tall, muscular redhead was leaning against the wall with one foot propped on it. She had her hands tucked into her pockets. "That's... that's just great." Several of the women shared glances. Cralen's eyes narrowed.

"There is no man on our base called Dr. MAC," Kinzie answered. There was something in the way she said it which he didn't trust.

"I can't believe you fell for those rumors. How dense can you be?" Cralen was starting to dislike the redhead.

"I'm sorry?" Traylek asked, turning to the woman. A warning growl sounded from the shadows next to her. Cralen cringed. Of course the mouthy chit would be mated to the silent berserker.

"No one knows the locations of all the Federation kryperium mines. Not even the Generals in charge of the mining projects," she grinned. "I assume that's what you heard though. Some asshole started a rumor that a Dr. MAC knew said information. It caught fire, reached your superiors, and that's why you're here to find some non-existent person. Well, tough luck. You can drop us off at the next outpost." The woman rolled her eyes, but not before he saw the look she gave Kinzie. His mate knew something she wasn't sharing. Interesting.

"Then we will go to the source of the rumors," Traylek replied.

"Great." Kinzie drug out the word. "You're wasting your time. They really aren't true."

"Any why are you so sure?" Cralen asked her.

The redhead answered, "Because we worked with the guy who started them. He got kicked off the project and took his revenge by starting this shit. He knew they would call us before a tribunal to testify, and he wanted to ruin our careers." All the women in the bay looked pissed. Some were muttering under their breaths.

Traylek nodded, "So, you know who we're looking for. Even better." The transport gave a shuddering thump as it docked into the larger warship. "Give the women a tour of the crew quarters and show them where they will be staying." He left first, one of the few men not partnered with a woman. Cralen's chest hurt for him.

Holding his hand out to Kinzie, he nodded towards the ramp. She kept her arms crossed as she passed him, and he let his arm drop. So far they were off to a fantastic start.