Branded (9 page)

“This
is what being with my kind is all about, Greta, what it means to be claimed by
a Rogue.” He didn’t know why he was talking, or even how in the fuck he was
able to form words as he plowed in and out of her. He should have gone slow,
eased her body into taking his, but she was so ready to be fucked by him. “You
are not a slave, not a concubine to me.
You.
Are.
Mine.” He pushed inside of her cunt and pulled back
out. “You’re my mate, female.” He did this more forcefully each time, but he
was so lost in the feel of his woman that he couldn’t control himself. The
rippling of her orgasm moving along his cock was his breaking point.

Roaring
out and curling his fingers into her side, he slammed into her once more. His
balls slapped against her clit, and he pumped his cum into her, filling her to
the point their combined fluids slipped down her inner thighs.
Tolcan
couldn’t help himself. He slapped her ass over and
over again, loving when the flesh reddened and shook from the force. She moaned
for more.

He
groaned roughly, and when he was sated leaned down and kissed the center of her
damp back. But he wasn’t nearly done. He ran his incisors over the tender flesh
of her neck, and without warning pierced her throat, but she’d tilted her head
at the last minute, an act of surrender in his culture that had him grunting.

The
metallic flavor of her blood coated his tongue, but he let his saliva seep into
her bloodstream. His scent moved through her body, and he felt intense pleasure
all over again that she was his fully.

She
breathed heavily, her body coated in a light sheen of sweat.

He
pulled out of her with a disappointed exhale and lay beside her. He immediately
pulled her into his arms. She wasn’t asleep, but he felt her exhaustion as if
it were his own. He already couldn’t get enough, and knew he never would
either.

Pulling
her closer, he wrapped his arms around her, kissed the top of her head, and for
the first time in his life felt content and completed. He hadn’t known that
claiming Greta would cause the wall that had been around him to break apart …
but only for her. He hadn’t realized that this was the feeling that would be
inside of him when he found his mate.

She
curled her hand around his bicep. What a strange and wondrous thing to care
about someone, especially the species that he’d been trained to hate and
destroy. She was perfect, and all his. Nothing and no one would change that.

Chapter
Thirteen

Greta
was nervous, frightened, but hoped things worked out the way they planned. Of
course the plan hadn’t been anything but
Tolcan
contacting the Royals from his pod. She’d stayed hidden, but she’d heard them
regardless. Hearing
Tolcan
risk everything for her,
for what she desperately needed to happen, made her feel this softness toward
him.

Yes,
they’d had sex, her first time even, and the fact she wore his mark, his brand
he’d called it, made her feel like she belonged. It was strange thinking of it
like that, thinking that she was marked by her enemy species, but she couldn’t
help but feel that. She also found herself touching the twin marks on her neck,
running her fingers along the redness that wouldn’t go away from around the puncture
marks, and knew this signified something very great with the Rogues.

She
knew humans shouldn’t have any kind of marking like this one on them, because
Rogue and human
matings
were forbidden.

They
now stood in a large arena,
Tolcan
in the center, and
the one named Redon, the Rogue who owned Jayce, standing a few feet away. She
knew Redon wasn’t fighting, because apparently on earth the Rogues had changed
their traditional rules. Now, with the Royals changing the rules, a Rogue that
was challenged in a
Dukka
could hire a much stronger,
fiercer fighter, and that was what Redon had done. The male that stepped
forward to fight
Tolcan
was just as big as
Tolcan
, but didn’t have the bands of being an enforcer.

She
scanned the crowd, looked over where Redon was standing, and her heart raced
when she saw Jayce amongst the slaves shackled together. He watched her, this
comforting smile on his face, and she knew he was trying to make her not be
afraid. Did he really know what was happening? Did he know
Tolcan
was helping her, that he was risking everything to save Jayce because she
asked? What would he think when he knew
Tolcan
and
she were together, that she cared for the Rogue, wanted him as her own, and had
slept with him?

Did
she even care what anyone thought, even Jayce? No, she didn’t, because this
felt right. She loved Jayce like a brother, but she hoped he saw she was happy
and that
Tolcan
wasn’t like the other males out there
trying to extinguish their kind. At least he wasn’t anymore.

“This
Dukka
was challenged by Enforcer
Tolcan
.
Redon, the challenged, has decided to use Earth rules and acquire his champion against
the Enforcer. Taking Redon’s place is Wayward the Undefeated.”

God,
that didn’t sound good. Although she knew how powerful
Tolcan
was, she also could see the hatred on
Wayward’s
face,
saw the scars lining his chest, and even the old, dried blood on the leather
pants he wore. Did he wear the same clothing when he was fighting? Was it a
ritual for him? Greta found it disturbing in every sense of the word.

The
crowd was gathered in seats all around them, raised high so they were looking
down. There was a large electronic screen in the center of the two rows, and a
group of Rogues dressed in jewels and strange clothing were on the screen
watching.

Those
must be the Royals.

Tolcan
had wanted her to stay at the
pod, demanded it even, but she’d told him Jayce was her family. She was also
Tolcan’s
mate, and she wanted to be there for both of them,
to see this through. Now she stood amongst other Rogues and their slaves,
having to wear a collared shirt so her marking wasn’t shown. She was worried
about that, and feared what would happen if it was seen.

She
glanced away from
Tolcan
and Jayce and looked at the
Rogue men and woman standing just feet from her.
Tolcan
had told her to wear the standard concubine attire, which
was
a collared shirt and a long skirt. She was covered from neck to ankle, but the
attire signified she was less than the Rogues, higher than the breeding stock,
but still not worthy. She hated it, hated what it signified, but she also knew
the safety aspect of having it on if she really wanted to come out here. She
wanted to stay alive, didn’t want to cause trouble, and didn’t want
Tolcan
to get in trouble because of what they’d both done.

The
looks she got from the Rogues were disgust, hatred, and downright venom. But
she knew she wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms, not even if she was a
“concubine” for a Rogue.

She
looked around the crowd again, trying to see any other humans that had been with
her when she’d been in the cave. But aside from Jayce she didn’t see anyone
familiar. The humans that were chained to their so-called masters looked sad,
weak, and like they wanted to just end everything.

Greta
couldn’t fault them for feeling like things were over, because it was, in a
sense. That was why the humans were fighting so hard to not let the Rogues
continue to rule them, and that was why Greta wanted things to change. She saw
that change in
Tolcan
as well, knew that he was
seeing things differently. Although she didn’t know how this all came about, or
how her emotions for him had changed so dramatically and drastically in such a
short time, she had needed to rely on her gut to survive. That’s what she was
doing now; that’s what she
had
to do.

****

Tolcan
was prepared, had been prepared
since he knew what he wanted out of his life. He looked at
Greta,
saw her standing amongst the human slaves and their Rogue owners, and he felt
his rage grow. He didn’t want her here, didn’t want her seeing this, or being
put in danger, but she was stubborn, strong in her own right, and he knew she
had to make sure things went as planned.

Although
fighting Redon would have been easy, too easy in fact, with the Rogues adopting
the new laws where a
Dukka
didn’t have to be fought
by the challenger and the challenged, it made for a very interesting fight.

Tolcan
stared at Wayward, a male he
knew well, and one that he’d fought beside in war many times.

This
fight was until the death or unless someone surrendered.
Tolcan
had never surrendered. He knew Wayward had never surrendered either, and so it
looked like this would be a bloody fight.

There
were no preamble announcements. There was just a raise of one of the Royals’
hands, and the
Dukka
commenced.
Tolcan
swung his sword with a mighty roar, barely missing Wayward. The other Rogue was
prepared though, was a skilled fighter, and it didn’t take long before they
were sparring with each other. They
clanged
their
swords together, dodged the hits, and soon the sweat and dirt covered their
bodies. They had advancements in weaponry, but for a
Dukka
,
swords, arrows, even daggers and axes were the only things allowed.

The
crowd was silent, as was normal for a
Dukka
, as the
onlookers watched, waiting to see who would come out victorious. It was about
concentration and focus. This was about the fighters, about who would win and
who would have shame on them.
Tolcan
swung out again,
his blade slicing into
Wayward’s
chest. The other
Rogue grinned, but there was no amusement in it. He lifted his hand and ran a
finger over the cut, smearing the blood.

Wayward
came forward, swung his sword out, and barely missed taking off
Tolcan’s
arm. They went at it again for another ten
minutes, both men bleeding from various cuts on their body, sweat covering
them, dirt moving around them, and the only sound was of their heavy breathing
and metal clanging against each other.

“All
of this for a slave?” Wayward said in a voice low enough only
Tolcan
could hear.

He
didn’t bother responding, just swung out and cut Wayward in the stomach. The
male roared out, came after
Tolcan
, and the two fell
to the ground.

They
grappled, threw punches until blood sprayed out, bones sounded like they broke,
and the rage consumed
Tolcan
. He roared out, tossed
Wayward
back, and slammed his fist into the other male’s
face. A tooth flew out of
Wayward’s
mouth, and rage
covered the Rogue’s expression.

Tolcan
only thought of Greta, only
thought of finishing this so she would be happy. He grabbed his sword again
when Wayward turned his head and spit out a mouthful of blood.

“You’re
a fucking human lover, and because of that, because you disgrace the very Rogue
species, I’ll take great pleasure in killing you.”

Tolcan
gritted his teeth, swung out,
and brought the blade of his sword right through
Wayward’s
belly. The Rogue fell to his knees, looked right at
Tolcan
,
and started gurgling blood.
Tolcan
moved forward,
bent at the knees, and grinned. “I am a human lover, and that ‘slave’ over
there is my mate, my female.”

Wayward
narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak
Tolcan
grabbed a dagger attached at his hip, and brought it across
Wayward’s
throat.
Tolcan
felt the hot rush of blood splatter on
him as
Wayward’s
life-force spilled out and covered
Tolcan
.

Tolcan
slowly stood and looked at the
crowd. They were emotionless, yet the humans looked aghast. He looked at
Greta,
saw her eyes wide, her fear tangible in the air. She
took a step forward, thought better of it, and stayed still. A Rogue female saw
the motion Greta made and moved toward his mate. Her brows knitted, and she
moved closer to Greta. Everything next happened in slow motion. The Rogue
female pulled Greta toward her, the collar of his mate’s shirt coming down. The
Rogue female gasped, pointed to Greta’s neck, and started shouting out.

“She
wears a brand,” she shouted out, grabbed the collar, and tugged the collar down
so hard the shirt ripped. The Rogue pointed to the twin marks on her throat,
and Greta tried to pull away, but the Rogue held her tighter.

Everything
went faster now, so fast
Tolcan
now felt as if he
were going in slow motion. He moved forward, but guards suddenly swarmed him.
He had his sword in hand, and without thinking, just focusing of getting to his
female and protecting her,
Tolcan
started swinging
his sword out.

When
the soldiers started going toward Greta
Tolcan
roared
out, seeing red, needing to be with Greta, to protect her. The crowd went
crazy, moving out of the arena, away from the danger. He was in Enforcer mode
now, not caring who he took down, because anyone coming toward him was an
obstruction in getting to his mate. He heard a scuffle beside him, and saw
Jayce trying to fight with Redon. Even overweight and older, Redon was still
stronger than a prime human male, and Jayce was no match. The chain around
Jayce’s neck stopped him from struggling much, and Redon kept jerking the
chain, twisting Jayce off balance.

Without
thinking,
Tolcan
brought his sword down, right
through the
Hulla
chain, breaking it in two. “Come
on,” he shouted, and tossed a dagger toward Jayce, even if it came down to it
and a Rogue caught Jayce the human would be fucked. At least Jayce was smart,
because he took off toward
Tolcan
, and both of them
went over to Greta.
Tolcan
cut down any soldier
coming after them, and knew he was never going to be able to be with his people
again. He’d killed soldiers, Rogue soldiers, and that was an offense punishable
by death. That wasn’t also including he’d mated Greta, and his people would
never accept that, not with how they ran their species now.

They
reached Greta, and he sliced his blade through the solider that came forward,
intent on taking her from
Tolcan
. He cut the Rogue
down, felt blood splatter over his face, and turned to look behind him. Bodies
lined the ground, Rogues, high-ranking Rogues in fact. His death sentence had
just been signed, and so had Jayce and Greta’s. They had to run, had to hide,
because they’d be hunted, tracked, and killed.

He
had to protect her, because nothing and no one would take this from her. No one
would take Greta from him, not unless they were ready to take their last
breath.