Nikhil(58)

"Just as others have disliked me because of my larger size."

"That is ridiculous! No one would ever consider you large."

"Maybe not in your universe, but in mine, there are those that think a female beautiful only if they are this size." She gestured to her current body size.

"For Goddess sake why? Is food so scarce on your planet?"

"No, for most it is plentiful, and those are the ones that view thin as beautiful."

"Your Earth is very strange, Mackenzie."

"No stranger than yours that judges you for being too big, Nikhil. You are perfect just the way you are. The way the Goddess intended you to be." Sliding back from him, she sat up and gave him a steamy look. "So, are you going to finish getting me out of this shirt? Or do I have to do it myself?"





Chapter Eleven


Parlan stood alone on the wall, his eyes angrily scanning the barren landscape on its other side. He couldn't believe he'd been assigned here.

To the wall!

Especially on Pontus.

There was no life on Pontus. No one that would attack. No one that needed defending. At least, no one that deserved to be. Those survivors surely didn't. If they were stupid enough, weak enough, to be caught by the Zaludians, then they deserved whatever they got.

Apparently, General Treyvon Rayner didn't feel the same way, and all because of that female. The one that Nikhil seemed to think was his True Mate. Which was impossible! She wasn't even Kaliszian! Reaching to his belt, he ripped off his comm and contacted the one person he knew would understand.

"Parlan...” the husky voice answered. "Where are you? Tell me you're on Crurn."

"Don't I wish. No, I'm stuck on Pontus. Walking a wall!"

"Walking a wall?!!" The disbelief he heard was satisfying. "Whatever for? You are Elite Warrior Parlan Spada!"

"Exactly! I knew you would understand."

"Rayner put you on the wall?"

"Yes," he hissed.

"Whatever for?"

"Because of a female."

"A female!" The female on the other end screeched.

"Calm down. She isn't Kaliszian. She's one of the Zaludian survivors we found in the mines."

"Zaludian... you...”

"She isn't Zaludian either. You haven't heard this yet?"

"Heard what?"

"In the last mine, we discovered a previously unknown species that calls themselves humans. There was a female among them. Nikhil discovered her and has claimed her as his True Mate."

"What!"

"I can't believe you haven't heard any of this."

"I've been... traveling. How long ago were they discovered?"

"Day before yesterday."

"But I thought...”

"Thought what?"

"Nothing. So you found them in a mine. Were there any Zaludian survivors?"

"No, they all died like the vermin they are."

"Why are you calling me, Parlan?" she demanded.

"I just wanted someone to vent to. That... human female... slapped me, for no reason, and when I would have retaliated, Rayner assigned me to the wall."

"Rayner never did have any loyalty to his own people, but I guess that's to be expected with who his ancestor is."

"Agreed."

"He needs to be reminded that he is not truly one of us, that he is not worthy of being one of us."

"He does," Parlan readily agreed.

"So does Nikhil. That he would think a female not Kaliszian could be his True Mate!" The rage in the other voice grew. "Impossible!"

"She wears his bead," he informed her.

"She does?" Now the voice quieted and turned speculative.

"Yes, I've seen it myself."

"How... committed are you to making everyone see Rayner and Nikhil the way we do?"

"As if that were possible. Rayner has Liron's ear, always has, and Nikhil...”

"Is now vulnerable."

"Nikhil?!! Vulnerable?!! Have you forgotten his size? He's never vulnerable."

"He is now. If another is wearing his True Mate bead."

"What...”

"Do I have to explain everything to you, Parlan?"

Parlan was silent for several moments, his mind racing. "But I thought that was a myth."

"Don't you think it would be worth finding out?"

"What do you need me to do?"

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Nikhil pushed himself up to his knees, his eyes glowing as he gripped the edge of Mackenzie's covering and ripped it over her head before tossing it aside. All he wanted was to claim his Mackenzie, but he couldn't stop his breath from catching at what his actions had revealed.

How could he have forgotten the severity of what she had recently survived and thought only of his own desires? While the bruises on her face and body had faded, the treatments she'd received had yet to restore her to full health. She had only had three meals and hadn't finished the last because her system still wasn't used to normal quantities.