Page 22 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
“You’re tethered to a…human?”
I hesitated. “The connection’s weak.” My fingers wove through the fluffy tip of my tail, where I played with it idly. “But I’ve also…healed him.”
Bonic hissed. His disappointment swooshed through me like a spiral of water down a drain. Technically, my father should have been the alpha in the familyprotecting me, but his disappointment over my omega designation and quick abandonment after learning of it had left that role to Bonic.
“Makee,” Bonic said, voice softer, his judgment tempered.
I swallowed the knot in my throat while my tail enclosed me in a hug. “What do I do now?”
Bonic cleared his throat. His rational demeanor returned along with his strong instincts to care and provide for an omega, especially one related to him. “I need to investigate whether there are cases of Lornians and humans with tethers and determine if a complete bond is possible.” The way his keyboard keys whirred in the background, I could visualize him already delegating tasks to his team. “You’ll be the first to know, Makee. In the meantime, stay away from the human, and the Lizzard too.” He directed his staff in the background to investigate. No matter the time of rotation, there was always someone on duty. “Call me if anything unusualhappens. We shall speak again soon.” The dead line hummed in my ear.
I snorted. “Unusual?” My new and improved life occurred on a planet surrounded by species I’d never mingled with. A place where I slept in a slapdash hovel on the good nights and on the bad ones, fended off unknown creatures in the wastelands. And I planned out my days to avoid alpha males. Most days, my credit icon blinked red. I snorted again. “Unusual is my usual.”
My tail wrapped around me tighter. With all his resources, my brother would find out if a full bond with a human was possible.
I forced positive thoughts into my head: a contract with the enforcers, graneth puffs, pale green eyes… I nestled into my furs. Come new week, my accommodations would improve tenfold. With a temporary tether, I didn’t have to think about a true bond yet. And a true bond with a human had to be impossible. No matter how much I longed to touch Geo’s sweet, round stomach. Before sleep took hold, I imagined my head lying on top of it like a pillow.
The graneth puff I’d eaten for breakfast was spread before me on a box deep with crumbs. I’d woken so nervous I couldn’t force any more down. At D’ovey’s bakery, end-of-rotation clearance rates proved irresistible to me most days, and a dozen graneth puffs sat in a greasy bag on the same box. My broken-legged chair wobbled beneath me as I twitched with nerves and elation. Geo would be here any moment. My dwelling’s construction started today.
My tether pulsed—Geo was close. I brushed the crumbs off my jumpsuit, then ran my fingers through my mane, hurriedly braiding it.
Were humans and Lornians even sexually compatible? My tail swayed behind me as the low grumbles and reverberating chuckles of Geo’s Rock Dweller crew approached.
JayJay boomed, “Morning, Makir.” He drank from a travel jar then set it on my workbench.
A couple of Rock Dwellers stood outside, chatting. “Did you see him trying to pull his shirt over his stomach earlier?”
One of them chuckled, the sound like one of my torque drills. “Then he stormed over to JayJay and demanded he feed him only vegetables?”
JayJay’s lips tipped up before he shouted for his crew. “Tino, Sully, get in here.”
“Happy Morning, JayJay.” I nodded and introduced myself to the other Rock Dwellers. My space turned infinitesimal as it filled with their massive gray bodies. Still, the human whose tug zinged through my tether, tickling my awareness, was nowhere to be seen.
“Wonder why boss man wants to throw both crews, JayJay and himself, at this job,” Tino, whose name I’d just learned, said to Sully. Like JayJay, both were large, appeared to be hairless, and had shiny gray heads. Sully peered around my room, eyes skipping from my nest to my crate to the gaps in my wall.
The tether pulled tight just before Geo pushed through my door, his pale green eyes fixed on mine. Now that he was in my line of sight, the tether grew slack. Bonic had told me a complete bond relaxed when mates shared the same space, and long-distance separation physically hurt, especially after the mating ceremony. The tether urged togetherness. Although the zing had dulled, the tension remained weighed down by the intensity of his stare.
In three…two…one, and right on cue, Geo sucked in his belly and puffed out his chest. Great, now the next sun would be spent torturing myself over what it could mean. His broad shoulders supported a thick neck, and his short-sleeved shirt clung to his muscles in a way that outlined every round bulge.
His blocky pectorals appeared to pulse.
Why did he always suck in his belly?
The small space grew warm, and the scent of summer fields filled my lungs. My thoughts sloshed around like soup.
“Boss man?” JayJay cleared his throat. A grin curled his upper lip as he watched Geo, mesmerized by my swaying tail—stupid, impulsive tail. Geo’s cheeks pinked, and he pushed out his chest even farther before he barked a series of orders without even a hello.
“Clear all this out. We need to pour a solid foundation.” He pointed to the bits of furniture and equipment strewn about. “Tino, work with Makir. Discuss how he built that low wall. See if we can work it into the design. I like it. When you’re done, I want JayJay and Makir together on lamar installation. The rest of you—with me. We’re getting the framework up and a goddamn secure door on this place by the end of the day if it kills me.” He sucked in another gut-holding breath.
Geo pumped out alpha pheromones that wreaked havoc on my mind. Adding a compliment to boot? I was in shambles. Who cared if it had been buried among gruff orders? He’d said he liked my wall. I pressed the heel of my hand over my heart. It took everything in my power to not stand at attention and salute before I scrambled to do what I was told.
“Sully, careful with Makir’s bedding,” Geo snapped. “Never mind, I’ll take care of it.”
Geo stomped over to my nest and proceeded to fold and stack all my pelts and wrap them in a neat bundle with the utmost care. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the scent. The distraction softened his belly, and his relaxed stomach squeezed through the gaps in the sides of his overalls. My heart melted a little. I wanted to squish his soft flesh.
The rotation passed in a whirlwind of activity. It shouldn’t have surprised me what five behemoth Rock Dwellers, a human on a mission and a Lornian could accomplish in such a short time, but it did. They built my walls in Lornian fashion, mixing Tern’s soil, the tall, rain-soaked grass I’d dried and water into sturdy walls. Except, on Lorne, you would never catch sight of a pink wall, and mine were undeniably pink. They interspersed the circular walls with thick split logs, and lamar filled the small, round holes where wall met roof. The lamar honeycombed the entire back wall facing the courtyard, and streams of warm sunlight cascaded through.
I stood in a beam of sunlight with my hands clasped over my chest and lifted my chin. The importance of the moment swelled in my chest.
