Bay's Mercenary [Unearthly World Book 1] (17 page)

Zane was told he
had at one time had an umbilical cord. Zane was amazed, but sure enough, after
searching his fur under the bare oval patch, he found a belly button. The idea
was astounding. He never even knew
Draven
had one. At
one time, Zane had been attached to his mother; Bay was right,
Vala
must have grieved over the loss of each son. How sad
for her, but Zane couldn’t imagine life without
Draven
.

After Finn had
handed him his baby daughter, Zane refused to part with her. The child looked
so miniscule in his arms, he was afraid to put her down. He couldn’t bring himself
to expose her to the open emptiness of the vast room when she was so helpless.
Draven
had been three times her size when Zane first found
him, and Zane had thought he was tiny.

Standing there,
Zane felt so many emotions. The babe was naked, yet warm in the safety of his
gentle embrace, pressed against his furry chest. She had two perfect eyebrows
like her mother, except the babe’s were fine white lines. She was also bald,
except for the stunning thick patch of black hair on her head hanging to her
shoulders. On either side, white
streaks
,a
quarter finger in width, went from the sides of her hair to the tips.

The babe was
staring at him with startling eyes. The insides were black like Bay’s—she had
called them pupils, surrounded by intense red. She had to be the most beautiful
child in the universe.
She
…the
thought almost dropped Zane to his knees. The
Zargonnii
mother kept the female of their species; without the females, the males
wouldn’t survive. The females were stronger, they offered more protection. What
if something tried to harm his infant?

After that
thought, the fiercest emotion took hold of Zane. His body grew into battle
mode. He felt his entire body grow and stretch, and for a moment it was
painful; it was like feeling the growth spurts of youth as his body expanded
larger than previously. Zane felt stronger than he ever had in his life. He
felt stronger than when he battled the female
Zargonnii
and won. Ten
cyron
could invade his home, and Zane
knew without a doubt he could kill every one of them.

Why? How?

Zane studied his
babe. She possessed no telltale wrinkles of the
Zargonnii
;
she would never grow into battle mode. Her perfect fingernails were black,
perhaps they would get longer, time would tell. She had no teeth—none. She was
even more helpless than her tiny mother.

“I feel it too,”
Finn said and Zane noticed him staring oddly at him.

“She’s
defenseless.” Zane thought he should feel more concern; oddly, he didn’t.

“Look at you,”
Finn said.

Zane wondered at
Finn’s odd stare. Finn suddenly grew to battle mode and Zane’s eyes widened in
disbelief. Finn, a large male
Zargonnii
, was bigger
than he had ever seen him, his body also changed as though he had hit a
youthful growth spurt. Zane went to his mirror and gasped. He was also larger
now. His teeth were bigger and
sharper,
his claws were
two inches longer; he was as big as some female
Zargonnii
.
What a warrior I am.
Though Finn had
grown as well, it seemed miniscule compared to Zane. He was no longer the
smallest warrior he had ever seen. Zane turned to look at the doctor.

“What’s
happening?”

“I’m uncertain,
but just smelling the female child makes me feel insanely protective and she’s
not even mine.” The doctor looked just as stumped. “Females are necessary for
our survival; perhaps that is why the mother is so large.”

“I wonder what
this means for our planet,” Zane muttered.

“I’m uncertain
about the planet as a whole, but in this area I can feel a change. Every male
Zargonnii
is aware of this female child; I’ve never felt
more aware of my fellow warriors. The radius is large. I can also sense a
bangore
that had been approaching is now slinking off in
fear. The power of protective male pheromones is thick in the air. Your babe is
with her mother, and she is staying with her mother. Bay can’t defend her on
this planet like our females can. That means the job is yours; only, your
responsibility has empowered every male
Zargonnii
near her.

“Your babe is a
wonder, my friend.
An absolute wonder.
Do you realize
what this means? If our males mate with human females we are the stronger sex;
we need to be, to protect our offspring.
We
can protect our offspring.”

“What does that
mean to
Zargonnii
females?”

“I don’t know.
There are many males who will want a human female, but many will also be drawn
to the mating fight. You can’t mate-fight a human female, you’d kill her.”

Zane cuddled the
baby closer. “She can’t mate-fight either. She’s too tiny.”

The doctor
chuckled. “Just because she has no wrinkles doesn’t mean she won’t grow. We get
our ability to grow in height from our mothers; this child’s mother is human.”
Finn moved closer and ran a finger across the babe’s satin skin. “Her skin is
like her mother’s; it will stretch as she gets older.”

“She has no
teeth,” Zane said and worriedly stuck his finger in her mouth to examine her
gums. The babe immediately latched on and began sucking.”

“Perhaps human
females are born with no teeth. Bay’s breasts seem vulnerable.”

True.

“I’m afraid to put
her down.” It wasn’t exactly the truth—Zane never wanted to let her go.

“During the first
month of our lives, female
Zargonnii
mothers never
put their male offspring down. It’s too dangerous. You are remembering your
first month. It’s why our parting with our mothers is so traumatic to us; it’s
the first time we haven’t been in her arms.”

“I slept with
Draven
the first two years of his life.”

“This child may
grow faster. From what Bay has said
,
Earth had twelve
months in a year, four seasons. We have six seasons, four months in each. So
for every
Zargonnii
year you are, you are actually
two Earth years.”

“I know, first I
thought I had a thing for my pet, then Bay tells me her age and I thought I was
mating a child, until she explained the differences in our seasons and time. I
was mortified. Even though I’m fifty-two in Earth years, I’m twenty-six in
Zargonnii
years and her age.”

“We still have a
lot to learn about human females.”

“She’s worth it,”
Zane said and glanced from the babe to Bay.

Bay was waking.
Her gaze settled onto Zane and Finn. She gasped. “What is it? What’s wrong? Why
are you
both ready to battle, is someone attacking?
Zane, you’re huge, I mean huger than normal huge.”

“Nothing is
wrong.” Zane hurried to reassure her. Zane went and sat beside Bay on their
bed. Bay reached for their daughter and it was all Zane could do to let her go.
He settled himself closer instead. “Having a female babe has changed my battle
mode, it’s in overdrive—so
is
Finn’s, and every other
male
Zargonnii
within miles of here.”

“Why?”

“Because
the baby depends on us as a community to protect her.
We are warriors; we battle together and yet live alone. It’s like
we’ve just entered into the biggest battle of our lives,” Finn told Bay.

The babe made a
sound and twisted her neck towards her mother. Bay brought her to her nipple
and the infant latched on. Finn watched, completely entranced until Zane arched
his eyebrow at him. Smiling sheepishly, Finn left.

“She has some
grip,” Bay muttered.

“And no teeth,”
Zane said with worry. He too watched, filled with amazement. He had never seen
an infant nurse. The tiny sucking and swallowing sounds were like the hum of
life.

Bay chuckled.
“Human babies are born, normally, without teeth. They’ll develop in a few
months.”

Zane felt relief;
Draven
had teeth when Zane found him. “She’s beautiful.” He
ran a large hand over his daughter’s forehead. “What will you call her?”

“Why don’t you
name her?” Bay suggested.

“Me?”

“Sure, why not.
She’s yours too.”

Zane sat and
thought for a moment. He had never thought in his life to be naming a female
child; he had never thought in his life to be caring for his own infant
daughter. He was already in love with the tiny babe. Again, Zane was astounded;
Bay and he had actually
made
love
happen. He was looking at her.

“Luna.”

“Luna,” Bay said
musingly. “I like the name.”

“It was my
mother’s name.”

“It means moon.”

Zane smiled
cheekily. “Well, she does mean a whole world to me.”

Draven
poked his head into the room.
“Can I come in?”

“Come and meet
your little sister,” Bay said.

The baby had
stopped nursing and was sound asleep.
Draven
crept
closer. Zane understood his hesitance; males were never supposed to go near a
female baby. It meant certain death; it was instinct to steer clear. But in his
childlike innocence, he was too curious; it was one of the reasons it was safer
for males to stay away from females—curiosity.
Draven
climbed onto the bed; he seemed stunned when Bay pulled him closer and
encouraged him to hold Luna. Zane watched anxiously;
Draven
would never hurt the babe, but he wondered…

Draven
shifted the tiny female into
his arms, closer to his fur. Like Zane, the boy began to grow in size.
Draven
was big to begin with, but Zane was impressed. So
was Bay. This was no normal growth spurt for his son; this new warrior battle
mode was exceedingly powerful for one so young.

“Well, my
goodness, you really are a
big
brother,” Bay said.

“I feel like I
could beat up a
cyron
!”
Draven
studied his long black nails for only seconds before turning his attention back
to his baby sister.

Zane wondered if
Draven
could take on a
cyron
. A
warrior could scent the extent of his opponent and though only a child,
Draven
would be a formidable adversary. It seemed Luna had
the same effect on males of any age. Zane’s village wouldn’t need the
protection of the
Zargonnii
females any longer. Zane
reached to take Luna, and for a moment,
Draven
seemed
reluctant to part with her. Zane chuckled; it was more than likely this little
female would be held her entire first month and perhaps beyond.

Finn returned to
the room; his expression was a cross between annoyance and amusement. “There is
a line outside of male warriors who want to see the first female
Zargonnii
baby of their lives.”

“She is half-
Zargonnii
,” Bay corrected. “And she’s sleeping. Tell the
warriors they’ll have lots of chances to visit next week—one at a time.”

“Alright, but they
need something—a name, perhaps?”

“Tell them her
name is Luna,” Zane said with pride, “and tell them to go into the backyard and
I’ll hold her up to the window.” Bay arched an eyebrow. “Bay, I know she’s only
a few minutes old, but if I were out there feeling what I feel, it would be
killing me to not even see what every fiber of my being is demanding I
protect.”

“Well, wrap her in
a blanket.”

Zane wrapped Luna
in a warm blanket, and with
Draven
at his side, he
went to the window. Just holding a newborn was something all
Zargonnii
males never thought to do, and there was a
collective sigh from the warriors when Zane shifted Luna so they could see her
tiny face. When Zane
unwrapped
her blanket, every male
in his backyard grew to an extended height, so much so they began spilling from
the area and some ended up on top of the fence. Powerful male protective
pheromones hung in the air. This was a new beginning for their species.

Luna began
wiggling in the cool air, and Zane settled her closer to his warm chest. He
sighed in contentment. Finn came over and slapped him on the back.

“Titus has heard
what’s happened,” Finn said and chuckled. “I wonder how Bay would feel about
traveling. If every warrior grows bigger with the scent of a female child they
need to protect, we’ll be invincible.”

“Do you wonder if
that’s why our females keep our female offspring from us?” Zane asked. “Do you
think they know we will be just as protective and dangerous?”

“That’s a thought.
I always assumed it was because females grow so much larger, they protected us
from themselves. Maybe it’s her Earth human half that causes this to happen.”

“I worry about
having sons with Bay,” Zane admitted. “What if they’re born like
Luna—defenseless and vulnerable; what if they can’t grow into battle? You said
it yourself; we get our battle mode from our mother. What if he never grows
powerful enough to be a warrior?”