Your Scent Has Changed

There was silence in the audience room as Zua'the stared at Da'kea. He had heard a lot of stories about the other male, stories that talked about how honorable he was. How he was one of the best hunters and peacekeepers that the Saalistaja had.

But despite all that, Zua'the knew he would never contact him again.

"Don't worry about her," said Midnight, raising his head as she looked at his older brother. "It takes some of them longer to process what happened to them than others. But eventually, she will want to go back to her own kind."

Axis cocked his head to the side and looked at the other male. They might have a father in common, but that was the extent of their bond. And given how the two of them felt about that male…

He wouldn't be crushed if he never saw Midnight again.

"Where she wants to go, we'll take her," grunted He'dtaalh as he went to stand beside Zua'the. The three males stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking even the sight of the bedroom from the other three. "But she has told us that she doesn't want us speaking to you, and we will honor that."

"Fine," sighed Da'kea. "We have enough on our plate that we don't need to worry about some female that thinks she knows best. Make sure she has furs. Even if she isn't nesting, she will want furs."

"Don't call it nesting; it had a negative connotation to it," interjected Tha'juen, the male with the dragon helmet.

"Don't make any decisions for her. The females of her race hate that more than anything," spoke Midnight, looking at his older brother as he instructed him how to care for his mate.

"Other males will react to your mate. If they do, then you must accept them," added Da'kea, looking around at the other males.

"She has to accept any male that reacts to her?" murmured Axis, his eyebrows raised. "Define react."

"Normally, a male that is compatible with an Ethawainian will have their genetic code re-written in order to display the most optimal traits of his species," started Tha'juen just as a fourth male appeared on their end.

"You can see it better in some species than others. It is almost like they become more compatible with the female," grunted the fourth male. While he looked like Ye'tab, a male that Zua'the had met many rotations ago, he had clearly undergone some changes of his own.

"And if the male reacts, then he automatically becomes her mate?" pressed Axis, a look of confusion on his face as he turned to He'dtaalh.

"Yes," nodded Ye'tab. "Since almost every male that has ever met our mate has had a reaction, we have taken to keeping her away from all other males."

"Unless they are mated to another human, of course," admitted Tha'juen.

Zua'the, He'dtaalh, and Axis looked at each other. "Sure," grunted Axis before ending the communications.

"Do they really think that?" he asked, looking at the two much larger males. "They can't be that dumb…"

He'dtaalh took in a deep breath, filling up his lungs before shaking his entire body like he was trying to get rid of something unpleasant.

"I honestly don't know," shrugged Zua'the, starting to make himself comfortable in the audience room. His mate was here, and there was nothing that would get him to leave. "But I am pretty sure that the female can reject them."

"Ariel rejected Nai'dqa pretty spectacularly," agreed He'dtaalh, going over to one of the longer couches and lying down on it. If no one else was leaving, then he would stay here as well.

"And he did react to her," smirked Axis, opening the door to the bedroom and strolling inside. "Have a good night," he continued right before he shut and locked the door behind him.

-----

The next morning came way too soon for me. I groaned as I rolled over, practically falling off Ba'dqeel's chest.

He caught me at the last minute and settled me back down, but as comfortable as he was, I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep until I used the washroom.

"Are you okay?" murmured a voice to my side, and I looked over to see Axis lying on the bed beside us. He didn't look all that comfortable. He had maybe two feet of room on his side of the bed, and his entire pillow was covered in fluff balls.

But it meant a lot to me that he stayed beside me all night long despite his discomfort.

"Washroom," I grunted, the word catching in my throat. My mouth was dry, and my stomach rumbled, cramping up hard every time I tried to move.

Collapsing back on Ba'dqeel's chest, I panted through the pain.

When was the last time I had eaten anything? Really, beyond the sustenance bars that the fluff balls had given me yesterday… I think it had been weeks without food.

I scoffed at the idea. I think that when God allowed me to be abducted by aliens, he gave me the ability to survive without food as well. There was no way on Earth I could go so long without food or water.

There was another sharp, shooting bolt of pain in my stomach, and I doubled over on myself.

"Hirini?" murmured Ba'dqeel, his hand caressing up and down my back soothingly. "Are you okay?"

I was about to open my mouth to tell him I needed the washroom and food, but Axis was faster than me.

He picked me up off of Ba'dqeel's chest and rushed me out the door, barely taking time to unlock it. Barreling toward the washroom, he ignored the shouts and protests from the other males in the room.

"Your scent has changed," he growled low, his muscles becoming bigger and more strained as he fought to keep his teeth covered.

Rushing into the bathroom, he smacked the button for the shower and let the chemical cleaner rinse us all. While it cleaned us inside and out, much to my bladder's relief, there was nothing I hated more than to be covered in this scent. It was like a combination of Mr. Clean and bleach.

This was what the pleasure station used to hose me down when clients started to complain about my smell.

My eyes had to remain closed as the chemicals poured over my head, and I started having flashbacks to the pleasure station.

I opened my mouth, not caring about the foam, and let out a blood-curdling scream.