Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
“Normally I would agree. As you know, the Kindred consider any male who takes a female against her will to be the worst kind of criminal. But in your case, I think we need to consider the mitigating circumstances.”
Rax got the guilty, miserable look on his face again.
“I can’t be treated differently just because of what I am.”
“Let me examine the girl—Breenah—and see what she has to say,” Olivia suggested. “Let’s get all the facts before we start making decisions.”
“I agree with you, mate-of-my-kin,” Sylvan said formally. He turned back to the viewscreen. “We’ll meet you at the Docking Bay, Commander Rax. Sylvan out.”
This command darkened the viewscreen and any other protests the Wulven Kindred might have made. Sylvan didn’t want to jump to any conclusions—he needed to give this matter careful consideration before he decided what to do.
“Poor guy—he looks really upset,” Olivia remarked, as they left his office and headed for the Docking Bay. “If he was a human male, I don’t know if I’d believe him, but I know how the Kindred feel about hurting females.”
“He’s asking to be punished for something the Beast inside him did,” Sylvan remarked as they walked swiftly down the long metal corridor that led to the Docking Bay. He had to shorten his stride a little so that the much-shorter Olivia could keep up. Not that the mate-of-his-kin was small by human standards, but Kindred males were at least twenty percent larger that human males, which made him much bigger than her, with a considerably longer stride.
“As far as I can tell, the Wulven Kindred aren’t so much werewolves as they have a Jekyll and Hyde type situation going on,” Olivia remarked. “Where the main part of their personality is kind and sweet but the other part that they keep locked inside is ruthless about getting what it wants.”
“Exactly—and what it wants is either sex or blood.” Sylvan had studied Earth mythologies extensively so he understood her reference. “Unless a female can tame the Beast inside them, the ‘Hyde’ part can be absolutely merciless.”
“Do they know what’s going on when their Beast comes out?” Olivia asked.
Sylvan made a non-committal gesture.
“It depends. Some tribes of Wulven Kindred are unaware of what happens when their Beast comes out, but some are able to watch everything that is happening, while being unable to stop it. I think Rax is the latter kind.”
“Poor guy,” Olivia said, her gray eyes filled with sympathy. “To have to watch yourself hurting the woman you love and not being able to stop it…” She shook her head. “That must be a special kind of Hell.”
“Especially for a Kindred warrior,” Sylvan agreed. His people valued and revered females—the idea of hurting or forcing a female went against everything they stood for—against the values ingrained in their very DNA.
They had reached the Docking Bay by this time—the landing area where all the scouting ships and shuttles were parked. It was a vast, echoing chamber with rows and rows of gleaming silver craft as far as the eye could see. Above was the darkness of space—the Docking Bay was protected by an atmosphere bubble which allowed ships to fly in and out without the loss of any of the Mother Ship’s atmosphere.
“Look—here comes a ship.” Olivia pointed up at the silver craft descending through the bubble. “That must be Rax.”
“That’s him all right—I recognize the markings on the ship,” Sylvan said grimly. “I’d like a full report as soon as you examine the female Rax’s Beast savaged,” he told her. “And I need to know what she says, so if you can get her talking, that would be great.”
“I’ll give you a full report as soon as I can,” Olivia promised.
“Thank you, Olivia.” Sylvan squeezed her arm gratefully. “I know she’ll be in good hands with you.” He trusted his sister-in-law’s judgment and medical skills implicitly.
They would get to the bottom of this and then he would have to make a difficult decision about what to do with Rax.
TWENTY
BREENAH
Breenah woke feeling hazy and disorientated. She was wearing a long blue robe-type garment which was made of a wasteful amount of fabric. Why, it even covered her breasts and sex and fell past her knees! Wherever she was, there was clearly no fabric shortage here.
She looked around the unfamiliar room with its gleaming fixtures and cool, sterile atmosphere and at first she couldn’t remember where she was. Where was the dormitory with its white walls and rows and rows of cots? Why was she in a strange bed which was tilted halfway up in a little room with a single door instead of the wide double doors they had on nearly every room in the Compound?
Where am I? she wondered. What’s going on?
She wasn’t upset, though—just confused. Slowly, little bits and pieces began to come back to her. She had vague memories of Rax carrying her tenderly in his arms down long metal corridors and a kind woman with long blonde hair and gray eyes taking care of her. A woman who had breasts like her own—full and prominent—though they were covered with the cloth of some kind of uniform and the white coat she wore over it.