CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

 

 

- Bren

I am panicking as they pull Hannah from my arms and they tell me that there must be a mating challenge. I have no fucking idea what that is. If it wasn’t for my brother being there, which I’m sure they knew, I would have killed them right then. What I do know is that I would be within my rights.

“Bren, listen to my words. You must do this now. If not, the challenge will always have to happen. They won’t let this go.” Matthias’s familiar voice breaks through my haze of anger and panic and the relief that he is alright and there to help, makes me hesitate.

Everything was going well until we landed. Not a hint of any issues and I thought we were just going to meet my brother. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. “It will be fine, Bren. He says it won’t be long.” Hannah’s voice is growing faint and my brother grabs my arm and pulls me into a room to make me focus.

“Here, Bren. Right here. On me.” Grabbing my head, he tries to pull me down to his height and lock our eyes. “Damn, you’ve gotten taller. That’s impressive. Breathe.”

Focusing on his voice, I breathe in fast before exhaling heavily. “What is it? What is the mate challenge?”

“Vina Likana’s last ditch attempt to prove this is not real. She’s extremely angry.”

Now I am too. “Well it’s real but I want to know what they plan for us to do for the challenge.” Matthias is still pulling me towards him, making me maintain eye contact and taking long, deep, slow breaths, trying to get me to do the same.

He pauses as I start to echo his behavior. “I’ve managed to find most of the archives but haven’t read everything yet. In the past, if there was a question about the pairing or a dispute in the family, they could issue a mate challenge to test the bond. I honestly hadn’t gotten into it enough to find out exactly what they may do to you. But it’s fine. Right?”

“Yes, of course the bond is good. But she’s human and doesn’t have the same instincts and she can be hurt. She’s small and defenseless.” Running my hands through my wild hair, that’s now floating all around my head, I try to smooth it as I breath off my tension. Matthias keeps breathing with me for a few more inhales, trying to slow me down.

“We will deal with it as it comes. I’ll help you. Don’t panic yet. That’s what they want. The more you panic, the more you won’t think straight and can potentially be tricked.”

Handing me a glass of water, he settles into a chair in the small room he’s pulled me into. “Sit. Try to relax. You don’t want her freaking out where ever she is—which is probably right next door.”

As I take the glass and sit down, I realize that this has all been very carefully choreographed. Before I can think too much about what that might mean, the door swings open and Vina walks in. She’s livid. Red faced, she glances around the room stiffly before her eyes land on me.

“Matthias, leave us.” My obedient brother doesn’t question her. I’m sure she has her way of punishing her committed who step out of line. He’s never talked about it, but I know he’s very unhappy.

As soon as the door shuts, she crosses the room quickly to rip at my shirt. “Let me see these markings that make you mated!” Tearing the neckline, she rubs her fingers across one of my mating marks and down my chest, trying to see if they will come off. Her touch makes my skin crawl as her aggressive hands stroke over me, rubbing and touching. The markings deepen, some blacken and red rises up next to them. A sure sign that they aren’t just some coloring in my skin, chemically altered as Hannah originally thought and called tattoos.

She isn’t deterred. “What game is this you are trying to play. Why?” Her hands continue traveling down my chest, and she quickly grasps my manhood and strokes me. All my life I’ve been groomed to please her, but now I can confidently claim she will never have me. As I step away from her grasping reach, she continues to rail, almost screaming. “Am I so hateful? So horrible and ugly? What does this human have that I don’t?”

I laugh with derision in my tone. For the first time, I realize I’m now her height. She no longer towers over me. She isn’t stronger than me or larger than me. I can defend myself. “She’s kind and loving. Gentle and she’s mine. Mine and mine alone. You wouldn’t understand and I’m not going to bother to explain any more.” She doesn’t follow me as I move further away from her.

I think she’s shocked that I answered and didn’t just defer to her. As she starts to visibly shake, her hands curl into fists. “Well, we’ll see! I’ll see if this is actually a true mating, and so will the rest of the planet. It may be a mating on your side but she doesn’t know how to make it a mating that will help you both survive. So, we’ll see!”

Vina practically runs to the door and flings it open, yelling, “Change and let’s go!” Waving to a pile of clothes on a small table near the entrance, she adds, “You better hurry because I’ll be back shortly to get you and we will leave whether you are ready or not.”

Even though I hate the promised garb I see sitting in her colors near the door for me, I realize it is better than having Hannah see me in this torn flight suit. I change quickly and am relieved to see that the ceremonial sash is missing. My mating marks are prominently displayed and are deep with color from my anger.

Matthias pops his head in and waves me out with one arm. His eyebrows are raised, questioningly even as his eyes look over my mating marks. Mouthing, “What did you do?” He smirks as I walk past him and out. There are a couple other males on each side of us. Not that they could stop me if I really wanted to get away. But the point is, I need to just get this over with.

The fact that Vina could punish Matthias for the rest of his life over this isn’t lost on me. He deserves to live in some peace, even if he’ll never be happy.