Xenophon's point of view
I feel a pull in my chest as I leave Morgan behind for the first time since we had consummated our bond. It was a dread like feeling, but I knew I had to finish my task in order to assure the safety of not just her, but our unborn child now too.
"Xenophon," Thaneous stops me just before we exit the seating area.
"What is it, cousin?" I ask as I face him and his face grows dark.
"I know she's your mate, but I will warn you... If you are to ever sever your bond, I will be the one to take her away from you," he warns me. I give him a low growl.
"I would never do such a thing. She's carrying my child too. I would be a fool to do anything to sever such a precious bond," I state. I was being truthful. I felt awful just leaving Morgan alone on the ship with my brothers, I certainly would never do anything to void our connection.
"I appreciate your concern for my mate though," I finally say after a moment of tension. "I'm sure if anything were to happen to me, she would be safe with you," I state. Thaneous's normal smirk returns. I knew just the feeling he had shared with Morgan, and though it was no longer a viable connection, I was sure he would never forget the pull to her. I was in a sense grateful that she had someone else to look out for her in the case that I could not.
"Take care of her," he gives a last warning before he walks out ahead of me. Thane had always been close to our family while we were growing up. We'd especially been close having been born less than a year apart. We had grown up together and since our parents always worked closely together, we were always together as a result. I, however, was trained to be the next king of the kingdom while he trained to be the best of the royal guard.
"What are you doing to tell the commander?" Thane asks me as we walk through the stark white halls.
"Just what he needs to know, that the four of us are leaving as soon as possible. He doesn't need to know why, but if he asks I'll tell him we have things to take care of back home," I explain to Thane.
"That works."
Thaneous was a cocky but simple man. He knew when to speak and when to bite his tongue. Growing up around the crown guard made him this way I would assume. Had I not had several siblings, I would have made him my second in command and the next heir if something were to happen to me. He was wise despite his jests and occasionally snarky attitude, which made him very valuable to the guard and the kingdom as a whole.
We take quick strides to get to the command center where the overseeing officer would likely be found. The hallways were fairly vacant, most of the men being out on duty at this time of day. Any men we did pass would bow in respect or nod to us as we made our way through the base.
We enter the center, an all white office like room. As we suspected, the commander in charge was seated at the head desk. He was an older dyspherian, someone I had seen several times growing up at the center of the kingdom. Since I was just a teenager, I'd been tasked to follow my father to all his meetings and learn just how to care for our people. It was here that I'd seen this commander several times.
"Prince Xenophon, to what do I owe the honor of a visit from the Dracus heir?" The commander stands and bows before me in a formal manner.
"I've simply come to inform you we will be leaving immediately," I state flatly.
"I thought you weren't due to leave for another couple days. Is everything alright, your highness?" The commander asks.
"Everything is fine. My brothers and I just wanted to get back to the kingdom in a timely manner as we have things to attend to upon our return. Thaneous is coming along with us as our personal guard as well," I explain. He doesn't argue, but it is clear he knows something was amiss. Nonetheless, he bows again and offers an official, fake smile.
"Very well. Have a safe travel home, your highness. You as well, sir Thaneous," the commander says, giving a nod to us. We offer a nod before we turn and take our leave.
"Prince Xenophon," the commander calls after me. I pause and turn back, looking over my shoulder at the officer.
"Yes?"
"There were three humans in your area we exterminated today. How was this overlooked by the prince of the Dracus Kingdom?" He asks suspiciously.
I feel my chest tighten with anger. It wasn't often that someone dared to speak against one of the royals, much less accusing one of not doing their job properly. Of course, I knew he was right, and that I had indeed been the one to let the humans live, but I was certainly not going to let him continue being suspicious of this.
"Humans are smarter than you'd think. They were probably hiding," I say, turning back and facing him. I take several strides until I'm directly in front of him. I'm several inches taller than the older man and I emit a powerful aura as I let out a warning growl.
"Never question me, or anyone in my family again, commander. I will have your title wiped if I hear anything suggestive to my loyalty to the throne about or any of my kin again understood? Know your place," I snarl out in a low, deep tone. I had to show him my dominance as I had been taught to from being raised to be the next king.
"Y-yes your highness. I apologize for my words. Safe travels," he squirms beneath my gaze before he walks away quickly, returning to a room behind a closed door. I hear an amused chuckle come from behind me.
"Nice work, Xeno. I'd almost forgotten your ability to intimidate like that. Now that you've got the commander pissing his drawers, let's get back on task, ey?" Thane smirks from the doorway with another chuckle.
"Let's go," I grumble as I storm away, walking past Thane in the process. All I wanted was to get back to my female and off this damn planet so we could keep her safe from these idiots. I knew I would have to have a conversation with my father about the treatment of the humans, but it was something I'd have to do another time. For now, I was only looking to get my mate to safety.
We take half the time to get back to the ship, long speedy strides hauling us quickly back. As soon as I get there, the door opens and reveals my mate, looking up at me with beautiful, emerald like eyes. The smile on her face when I return melts my heart, making my own lips curl up as well. I feel all the tension from the previous moments fade and she's all that I can focus on once more.
"I missed you," she says, taking small steps over to me before she puts her small arms around my waist and hugs me. I take her into my arms welcomingly, holding her close as I kiss the top of her head.
Morgan's point of view
I feel saddened as I watch Xenophon and Thane leave the ship, wanting nothing more than to be in Xen's arms.
"They won't be long," Zeek reassures me, noticing my longing looks towards the door.
"Morgan. May I?" Zor steps forward, looking down to refer to my lower stomach.
"Of course! You don't have to ask! You are its uncle after all," I say with a warm smile. A smile grew on his face as he nods before crouching down before me. He gently places his hands on my lower tummy before he leans in and places an ear to it.
"The child is healthy. I will be able to determine gender in a few weeks," he states as he stands back up.
"A few weeks? Isn't that too soon?" I question, confused but excited at the news.
"Not for a dyspherian child. As I said earlier, our offspring grow much quicker than a human's. It may be slowed due to your genetics, but I would say it should be fully developed and ready to birth in a matter of five to six months," he explains. His words always seem so formal, but now that a small smile graces his lips, he seems much less intimidating.
I offer another, larger smile and I throw my arms around him for a hug. It was obvious that Zor had a soft spot that appeared to be this child. He hesitates for a moment, but he soon wraps his arms around me, returning the hug. I was grateful my child would have these two alien men for uncles. I was sure Zeek would be the highlight of the child's day someday with his goofy ways and Zor would always be there to watch over them.
We break our hug after a few moments, but I'm immediately grabbed and hugged by Zeek instead.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help it! I just wanted to be part of the love!" He cries out and I let out a burst of laughter. I hug him in return, soaking in his heat as I'd always done Xenophon.
"You're lucky I'm a hugger," I say to Zeek.
"The best hugger! I almost wish I had a human connection too so I could have these squishy hugs all the time!" He admits.
"Okay, Zeek. Enough smothering the poor human," Zor pulls his brother off of me, leaving me chuckling at the two.
It's not long after that as Zeek promised, Xenophon and Thane return..
"I missed you," I confess to him. I immediately walk to Xenophon, grabbing him in a tight hug and looking up at his beautiful purple eyes. He wraps his arms around me and places a kiss on top of my head.
"I wasn't gone long," he chuckles. "But I missed you too. More than you know," he says to me, but I shake my head.
"I definitely missed you more," I insist, but our loving banter is interrupted by Thane clearing his throat.
"Alright. Well, you two love birds relax. I'm going up to man the weapons and lookout. Let's get this ship off the ground," he says with a firm nod. Nobody else got a word in before he opens the hatch above the cockpit and climbs up into the darkness, closing the door behind him.
"Let's go, Zeek. We've got no time to waste," Zor says to his twin. Zeek was the first to go to the controls and begin preparing for our departure while Zor turns back to me. "Take care of my niece or nephew, and yourself. There might be some rough patches, so be sure to strap in. Xenophon will assist you I'm sure," Zor says with a faint smile.
"All ready for take off. You ready Zor?" Zeek calls back.
"Good luck with his driving," Zor chuckles and turns away, headed for the cockpit to join his brother.
"Ready to leave Earth?" Xenophon asks me, rubbing my back. I take a deep breathe and sigh out.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I say. I was honestly freaking out, having never even flown in an airplane before. I wasn't scared of heights, nor was I scared of the actual travel. I was nervous about the entire situation, taking off, making it to their planet, and then having to be hidden away until it was safe there, all while pregnant.
"It'll be fine. Zor and Zeek are good pilots. Let's get you seated and I'll take care of your safety restraints," Xenophon smiles at me.
"Where will we be sitting?" I ask, not noticing any other seating with any sort of straps.
"The cockpit behind my brothers. Those seats will be the safest during the take off. Once we're out of orbit, we can move back to the rest of the ship," he explains, placing a hand on my lower back and guiding me to the front.
Zor is to the left while Zeek is to the right, both fastening their straps over their shoulders. Xenophon seats me closer to Zor while he takes the seat beside me to the right. Without saying anything, he quickly locks me in before doing the same for himself.
"You ready up there Thane?" Zeek says as he pushes a button. A moment later, Thane's voice returns from the small speaker.
"Ready whenever you are," Thane replies. The twins turn in their seats and look back to Xenophon and I.
"She may want this," Zeek hands Xen an empty bucket. "You never know how rough it can get," he comments. Xenophon nods, taking the bucket from his brother.
"Good thinking," Xen agrees as he hands me the metal pale.
"Is everyone locked in?" Zor asks.
"Yes," Xen answers.
"Initiating," Zor says and a strange whirling sound surrounds us.
"Sit back, hold on tight," Zeek says.
The ship begins to spin until it faces away from the base. A large glass door I'd not noticed before lifts up, preparing for us to take off. The actual lift off took just seconds, and immediately my stomach began to turn.
Taking off was absolutely horrible. As soon as the ship began to move, I began to let everything I had inside of me out. Xenophon kept his chair turned towards me as he held my hair with one hand, steadying my bucket with the other. I was confident part of the reason was due to my lack of travel, having not been on even a boat, and tossing a new pregnancy on top of it was stomach turning.
Thankfully, the mate bond did its job and having Xenophon's touch seemed to calm my upset stomach. Even just the simplest skin contact would ease my churning insides.
After around ten minutes and puking over a dozen times, the ride smoothes out as we left the atmosphere and began the space travel.
"Xenophon. I think we should take a few days out of our fastest traveling capability. I know this will slow our arrival but it might be best to get Morgan used to space travel at a slower speed first," Zor suggests.
"Good thinking, brother. What will our projected arrival time be?" Xen asks.
"Normally we'd be there in two weeks. Given the slower speed for a few days, I'd say we should be there in an extra two days," Zor guesses.
"Excellent. I'm going to take Morgan to the bed to rest for a while," Xen informs his brothers before he unbuckles and stands. He takes my bucket from me, setting it to the side and undoing my restraints. He takes my hand and as I stand he steadies me.
"I've got you," he reassures me, keeping a hand in mine and one on my hip as I take a shaky step. He walks us out of the cockpit area and to the back room where I'd seen a bed. He nods toward the bed, signaling for me to climb in. I do as he instructs, climbing onto the bed before I pull the soft blanket back up. It feels like the softest, silky material I'd ever felt, but it had a weighted feeling to it. Xenophon doesn't get under the blanket, but he sits beside me in the bed.
"How are you feeling?" He asks, giving me a sympathetic look.
"I've been better," I admit with a small laugh.
"It will get easier as the days go on," he assures. "You should try to get some rest. I'll prepare something for you to eat when you wake," he smiles at me.
"Are you leaving me?" I blurt out. He chuckles and gently rubs my cheek.
"I won't be far, my love. If you need, there's a restroom behind that door," he tells me before he leans down and plants a kiss on my lips. His hand moves from my cheek to my belly, an affectionate look graces his features.
"I love you both," he says softly, looking back to me with red eyes.
"We love you too," I smile back. He kisses me once more before he turns and dims the lights, letting the door close behind him as he retreats back to his brothers. I'm left in almost total darkness, which I was honestly grateful for because I'd always liked sleeping without lights. I hold my stomach as a wave of nausea flows over me, but thankfully it was nowhere near as bad as it was during take off. I assumed this was just pregnancy nausea.
I lay back and turn to look at the small, circular window that showed the space outside of the ship. It was like something out of the movies, the stars flying past at an incredible speed. Somehow I find this soothing and it doesn't take long for me to drift to sleep watching the twinkling lights fly by.
When I wake, I'm still in the darkness of the bedroom. I sit up and stretch my limbs out. Seconds later, Zeek appears in the doorway, turning the brightness of the light up.
"Hi Mo! How are you doing? Xenophon said he thought you'd woken up but he was busy cooking so I came to check on you," Zeek rambles as he closes the door behind him. I can't help but giggle at the extraterrestrial.
"I'm doing better, Zee," I smile at him and he plops down at the end of the bed.
"Are you excited to see my planet?" He smiles with excitement.
"Of course!"
"You are going to love it! We have lots of food and adventures and scenery and I'm going to take you to sooo many places," he says, his excitement pouring off every word.
"I can't wait to go with you to see it all and try all the new things you show me," I say, a genuine smile plastered on my face. Then, the smile fades from my lips when a thought pops into my head.
"Zeek. Can I ask you a serious question?"
"Of course! You can ask me anything!" He replies with a chipper, warm voice.
"Do you think my baby will be happier on your planet than on Earth?" I wonder, and he stops for a moment to ponder my question.
"Well, I didn't get a very long chance to experience and explore Earth. I assume Dysphera will be the safer option for both of you though. I know how my people treat yours on Earth, anyway," he says, his smile dropping and a slight guilty look crosses his features. "Mo, I hope you know no matter what happens, we will always take care of you and the baby. You are both family now, and we have to stay together!" He tells me, his toothy smile returning once more.
"I hope the baby doesn't grow up isolated and disliked because they're half human," I comment.
"Don't worry. They're royal blood too. I'm sure they will be respected and loved no matter what," he reassures me.
"I hope so. You'll have to help me learn how to raise a Dyspherian child," I giggle and Zeek gasps with delight.
"Of course! I will make sure that child has as much fun as any other child from my planet!" He promises.
"Do you think your other family will like me?" I ask nervously.
"I promise they will. My family are all as welcoming as we are. Axa, my sister, will be so excited to have a new girl in the family and especially a new baby coming," he smiles.
The door opens to reveal Xenophon, a small smile already on his face. Zeek wastes no time in getting up and letting Xen take his place, offering his typical smile as he turns and leaves us alone.
"How are you feeling?" Xen asks me.
"Better," I smile at him.
"Good. I'm glad to hear it. Are you hungry?"
"Maybe a bit," I confess with a shy smile. He stands from the end of the bed, leaving for just a moment. He returns to the room with a tray of strange looking food in his hand. He makes his way to the top of the bed and he sits down beside me.
"What's that?" I question.
"This is food from my planet. It's simple food we usually take for traveling. I assure you, the food on Dysphera is much better tasting," he explains. He points to a cut of meat that appears similar to a steak.
"This is meat from a wild animal on our planet. It's called derian. I suppose it's similar to what you call venison or deer," he explains before he points to the next item. "This is a kerib. These are all various animal meats," he tells me. It looked like a kebab, shy of the meat looking totally different than that you'd find on earth. Some of the meat was a strange blueish color while the other was an unappealing orange. Thankfully, it did all appear to be cooked despite the off-putting colors. Still, I furrow my eyebrows at the sight.
"W-what kind of meat? Is it... still... you know? Fresh?" I ask, looking at the colors of the strange meat. Xenophon laughs, clearly amused by my questioning the freshness of his bizarre meats on a stick.
"Of course it is still fresh. There's some of the derian meat. The blue meat is from a flying lizard called a syan. The orange is from a capina, which is a small furry creature. And the last bit, the darkest red, is dyphian," he explains, pointing to each one.
"What's a dyphian?" I ask, noting that it was the one he hadn't explained.
"Nothing you ever want to encounter," he says, his facial expression turning stern.
"Is it scary?" I wonder.
"You could say that. I've had plenty of encounters, but I'm also twice the size in height as one. You, however, wouldn't fair so well in a tussle with one," he chuckles before turning back to the other food he'd brought. He shows me something that resembled a green potato chip they called a wep crisp. Apparently it was a traditional snack and one of Zeek's favorites. The last bit of food he'd prepared looked just like a simple vegetable soup.
"What's this?" I point to the black bowl.
"Neyop. It's like what you call... soup, I believe. It's just broth and plants from our home," he explains and I respond with a nod. I nervously look over the food, unsure of how my stomach would handle the new meats and plants before me.
"Go on, try some. You're probably the first human to have dyspherian food," he comments.
"Alright," I suck in a deep breath.
I look over what's before me and I settle on trying the stick of meats first. The first bite was the red, deer looking meat. Thankfully, it does taste similar to the venison I'd grown up eating. The next was the blue meat, but I power through and find it resembles chicken in flavor. The orange meat was my least favorite, but seemed to have a bland chicken or turkey flavor. The last one I tried was the dyphian's dark red meat, which I'm grateful that it tastes like pork. I eat up the meats, sharing bites with Xenophon while we ate in silence, exchanging loving smiles occasionally.
I make my way to the soup like substance, now excited to try it after enjoying the other parts of the meal so well. I lift the bowl and take a sip and an explosion of flavor fills my mouth as the delicious broth passes my lips.
"Oh my god! That's so flavorful!" I complement Xenophon's cooking.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it. I hope to be able to cook more for you when we arrive on our planet," he smiles.
Once we'd finished our meal, he took the dishes and placed them into a sink like area where they disappeared into the wall where I assume they'd go somewhere to be washed. He returns shortly after, once again closing the door behind him. He climbs beside me once more, this time laying back and I don't hesitate to move over to him, resting my head on his chest.
I let a smile creep onto my face as I enjoy the embrace. We remain like this for several minutes before Xen moves a hand to my lower stomach. After a moment, he smiles.
"Baby is happy and healthy," he tells me. "Have you ever thought about baby names before?" He wonders.
"Of course. I've always wanted a family of my own," I smile up at him. I pull my eyebrows together as I ponder where the name should originate. "Xen, do you think we should give them a human or a dyspherian name?" I ask, letting my hand rest on my tummy.
"Whatever you'd like, my love. You should probably talk to my mother and sister about such things, or even Thane's mother, my aunt. I'm sure they'd love to give some options for you," he suggests with a warm smile. I lean back against him and he runs his long fingers through my hair.
"How long has it been since we left?" I ask.
"Eight earth hours. Maybe more," he replies softly, continuing to stroke my head.
"I'm feeling tired again. Would you join me for a nap?" I ask him. He chuckles from beneath me with a rumble.
"I would love to, but I should check up on my brother's and Thaneous. You should get more rest. I'm sure you need to catch up on plenty from sleeping outside for days," he says. I give him a nod as he climbs off the bed. He leans over and kisses me gently on the lips, a kiss I gladly repay, before he stands and leaves the room, dimming the light for me once more.
I lay ion the bed for a few moments, letting my mind wander across all of the insanity that's happened in the last week. How could I have started out a hiking trip with my friends after college and ended up pregnant in an alien's space ship? I rub my belly with one of my hands, allowing the connection between Xenophon and I take hold. It gives me a comfort like nothing else, letting me know he is close and I will be protected at all costs.
This miraculous connection was such an intense feeling. It was more than I'm sure most humans would ever feel for another. Soulmates was the closest comparison I could make. I remember those fiery sparks that ignite whenever Xenophon touches me, or the tumbles my stomach does when he was near. Not to mention he was godly handsome.
The moment before my sleep came, I stop to think of the miracles I'd encountered lately, rather than the tragedies. There was a new life growing inside me, a union of two beings from distant galaxies. This life would take me on adventures like no other, I was already sure of that. The last thing I think before darkness overtakes me was how my world had shifted, and how much I loved Xenophon and this baby.