Branded (7 page)

Chapter
Ten

“I
did not see a slave collar on the human female when I was at your pod last,”
Stellan
said.

“Because
she isn’t my slave, and will never be such,”
Tolcan
responded.

Stellan
nodded, and the scent of his
acceptance was pretty startling, especially so soon after
Tolcan
had made the declaration.

“Are
you sure you want to do this?”
Stellan
asked,
his concern clear in his voice and his expression.
Although Rogues did not fear things, especially not of the Enforcer class,
there was a very distinct concern over something that shouldn’t be done, and
what
Tolcan
was going to do was something he probably
shouldn’t do.

“I’m
sure,”
Tolcan
said and stared at Redon, who came in
the stalls with three human slaves in tow, one of them Jayce. The humans were
shackled with thin
Hulla
wire, a special type of
woven string that was thin, but stronger than even metal when tied in a braid.

“This
is about that female you took into your pod, isn’t it?”
Stellan
asked. There was no curiosity in his voice, but also no accusation.

It
had been a week’s time since he’d brought Greta to his home, and although she
was still very much tentative around him, there were small interactions she
initiated. He wouldn’t take her until she was fully willing, until she came to
him, thus proving that he was here for her, not as a master, but as an equal,
as a mate. Helping this human male she had friendly affection for would help
her trust him further.

But
he couldn’t help the memory of what he’d done with her, what he’d
done
to her, just days before. Tasting,
touching, and getting her off had been the single most intense experience of
his life. Making her come, tasting her flavor slide down his throat made him
frenzied for her. Even now he was getting hard just thinking about her, and
remembering the taste of her.

“I
can smell your desire for the human. You need to rein it in before others sense
it,”
Stellan
said.

Tolcan
waved off the advice from his
second in command, even if the other male was right. He needed to calm himself,
but if someone smelled the arousal he had, and figured it was because of his
human female, and what he was about to do was because of that as well, things
would not end well. “I need to offer a deal to Redon,”
Tolcan
said. He was doing this for his woman, for Greta, and this was going against
everything that he was brought up to believe.

“Look
at me,”
Stellan
said.

Tolcan
looked at the other male. He
trusted the Rogue, trusted him with his life, with the knowledge that he wanted
to have Greta as his mate, even if
Tolcan
hadn’t told
him specifically that.
Stellan
could sense it,
Tolcan
knew, because the truth was
Tolcan
was being sloppy with his desire, wasn’t shielding his feelings for the female
like he should.

He
pushed his arousal down, his desires and needs for the woman that had changed
something monumental in him and she’d never realized it, and moved toward
Redon. When he was a few feet away Jayce looked up, his eyes widening slightly
when he clearly recognized him, and then he narrowed them. He lunged toward
Tolcan
, and
Tolcan
lifted his brow
in surprise, and also appreciation. This male was coming after him because of
what
Tolcan
had done, of
who
he had taken.

“You
motherfucker,” Jayce said in English, and although
Tolcan
knew a translator had been implanted in the human, the male was speaking his
native tongue. “You took her. You took my Greta.”

That
had his amusement fading, a growl leaving
Tolcan
, and
had him moving closer. He growled low again, but bit his tongue, knowing he
would do no good by correcting the human on the fact Greta wasn’t his. Greta
was
Tolcan’s
,
would always be
Tolcan’s
, and not this human, or any
other male,
could
change that.

Redon
turned, scanned
Tolcan
, than saluted him as was
customary for any Rogue to do in front of an Enforcer. He tugged on the
Hulla
cord around Jayce’s neck, causing the human to jerk
back. But the murderous rage was still in Jayce’s face, still burning brightly
in his eyes, and there was a part of
Tolcan
that had
to admire the fact this human was not showing any fear.

“Enforcer,
is this slave bothering you?” Redon said. “I can have him punished back at my
estate.”

“Not
necessary,”
Tolcan
said, and turned his focus off of
Jayce and to Redon. He made sure to keep everything stable so the Rogue didn’t
pick up on the fact he knew Jayce, aside from capturing him.
“Although
I am interested in purchasing this male, if you’d be willing to sell him.”
Tolcan
had never even owned a slave before, let alone
had a mate, but thinking about Greta, wanting her happy, happy with
him
, made him want to do things out of
character.

Redon
stared at
Tolcan
then looked at Jayce. “I just
recently acquired this slave and paid a handsome price for him, too. I would
like to keep him around my estate as he is one of the stronger males I have.”

Tolcan
suspected Redon wouldn’t be willing
to sell the human, but the first step was asking to buy. The next would be
challenging a
Dukka
, but judging by the male’s
stature, the fact he was overweight, had no military training, and
Tolcan
would have no trouble defeating a Rogue male such as
Redon, it was clear it would be an easy fight.

“So,
you are not willing to sell the male to me?”
Tolcan
asked again, stared at Redon, hoping that he was seeing that he was serious
about this, but already sensing the male wouldn’t budge.

“As
I’ve said, Enforcer, I’ve just newly acquired him, and would like to use him
for labor.” Redon pulled his cord, having Jayce jerked away from
Tolcan
. He stared at the human, watched the rage cover the
male’s face, and couldn’t help but feel that pride again. This male was
physically weaker, easily someone
Tolcan
or any Rogue
could defeat, but he didn’t care. He was willing to fight for what he wanted,
and that was Greta. That latter thought had his nails curving slightly into
claws, the wild, primitive beast in him rising up. Although a Rogue did not
physically change completely, they were more volatile in nature, had to be if
they were to survive.

He
sensed
Stellan
moving up to him, but his second in
command didn’t speak. He was a smart male for keeping his mouth shut. Redon
turned and left the market, and
Tolcan
watched them
the entire time, knowing what he had to do next.

“Come
on, I think we need to talk about this,
Tolcan
,”
Stellan
said.

Tolcan
looked at the other male, sensed
the genuine need to help, and nodded. They left the market, walked past the
stalls, and headed back to his home. If he was going to talk about this with
Stellan
he was going to do it in front of Greta so she knew
he was serious about what he’d told her.

****

Greta
stared out the pod window in the living area, watched as the Rogue males walked
around with their harem of females, stared at the overly masculine Rogue
females that had their own human males, most likely as sex slaves as well, and
felt this twinge of gratefulness and guilt. She was grateful that she’d been
taken by a male that didn’t want to use her like the others were being used,
like nothing more than cattle and meat. But
Tolcan
had been almost … human in his capacity to give her space, time, letting her
adjust to this situation. She shouldn’t have to adjust, because she shouldn’t
even be in this situation, but considering the things that could have happened
to her, she was grateful in a sense.

“You’ll
have to go through the Royals if you want to do a
Dukka
,
Tolcan
.”

Greta
looked behind her, saw
Tolcan
and the one named
Stellan
sitting closely, their heads downcast and their
expressions fierce. Greta remembered the one named
Stellan
being in the cave, taking her people away. A part of her still hated these men,
hated everything they stood for, but slowly she realized they were different
from what she’d seen from other Rogues. In fact they were willing to do a
Dukka
, which
Tolcan
had explained
was a fight between two Rogues to claim the other’s “property”. This whole
situation was insane, crazy in every sense of the word, but Greta wasn’t going
to fight these men, not when they were willing to help her get at least one of
the members from her camp back.

“I
know, and I doubt they will deny me,”
Tolcan
said.
“I’ve served them since I was able to hold a weapon.”

“Redon
won’t accept the
Dukka
,
Tolcan
.”

Tolcan
looked at
Stellan
.
“If he denies he forfeits.”

Stellan
shook his head. “You know on
earth the rules are different.”

“What
does that mean?” Greta asked
,
the first time she’d
spoken since the two Rogues had come through that pod door an hour before. They
both looked at her, their expressions void of emotions. These males were
proving
she
, and the humans in her camp in general,
didn’t know much about these aliens.

Yes,
most of them were brutal, evil creatures that sought to destroy her kind, to
take over her world, and to degrade humans. She hated them, had hated them
since she knew what was going on in her world.

But
things were different now. She felt different, and her mind was being opened to
the possibilities that just like humans, there were Rogues that didn’t fit the
mold.

“On
our home world there are challenges called
Dukkas
. If
a Rogue doesn’t want to sell their property, a Rogue can challenge them in a
Dukka
. It’s a fight that will have the victor claiming what
wasn’t originally for sale.”

“And
this is a to the death kind of fight?” Greta asked, assuming the worst with
Rogues.

“At
times, but in some cases the male that is being defeated will surrender,”
Stellan
said. “When that happens not only are they the
loser of the
Dukka
, they are also shamed by being
weak. Surrender doesn’t happen often among our kind.”

She
smoothed her hands over her pants, thought about what he said and pictured the
fights they spoke of. She saw brutal fighting, blood, flesh being cut, and
bones being broken. Although these aliens had superior technology, she also
heard their style of fighting was barbaric, primitive. Greta knew there were
many things she didn’t know about them, about their world and culture. This was
one of the things she’d never heard of, and it frightened her. It frightened
her that this male, her captor, and the Rogue she was starting to become close
with, even have these strange feelings for, was willing to do this for her just
because she’d asked.

“So
someone could die because of this fight?” she said, looking between the two
towering, massively built men. “You could die doing this for me?” She addressed
Tolcan
now, and as the silence stretched on,
Stellan
cleared his throat.

“I’ll
be going now.
Tolcan
,”
Stellan
looked at
Tolcan
then turned toward her. “Female.” He
nodded to her.

“Greta,”
Tolcan
said. “Her name is Greta.”
Tolcan
stood and stared at
Stellan
, this challenge in his
expression.

“Greta,”
Stellan
said, looked at her again, nodded, and let
himself
out. The silence once again stretched out.

“You’d
do this for me, risk your life,
risk
everything, to
help Jayce?”

He
nodded.

“But why?”
She felt like she’d asked this
question a million times, or maybe she’d just thought about it so much it felt
like she’d been screaming it out loud.

“Why?”
he asked and stepped closer.

Greta
nodded, swallowed the lump that was in her throat, and didn’t move.

She’d
been fighting these emotions for
Tolcan
since she
realized he was different. And every time she slept alone, heard him in the
other
room,
and knowing that, wanting her like he
clearly did, it had to be hard for him as well, Greta realized that her life
wasn’t so bad here. She wasn’t made to be a slave, wasn’t required to clean up
after him, to cook for him, or be his sex slave. All those humans that were not
in her situation, that were tortured, taken, degraded, broke her heart. She
wanted to be stronger, fight for them until she couldn’t fight any longer, not
live in this little bubble of a twisted reality.