Page 14 of The First Alpha on the Planet
From a device integrated into what looked like an earring, a faint beeping emanated, and he blinked as a small windowopened before his eyes. “Can you send Noel and Vil out? I’m not understanding something and I don’t wish to be rude.”
The screen flickered and went out before he glanced at me, his tail doing some strange motion that must have been annoyance? No, my tail flickered when I was annoyed… Apology?
I crossed my arms and waited as Noel and Vil exited the building, strolling at their own pace. And against all odds, Vil had gottenbigger. The gravity on the planet was slightly more than Mater Terra standard, but his muscles strained at his scales, his jaw more defined and by some measure, he seemed taller, as if his posture had straightened.
I sneered and waited for mockery, frozen in place as they approached, clothed in the native standard. Noel too appeared to have changed, his legs leaner, posture less rigid. Scent was sweeter, too, not like Vil’s leathery, sweaty scent that made my spine prickle.
“Roan?” Vil tilted his head and glanced me up and down. “I have to say, it’s an improvement.”
“And?” I snapped, my upper lip curling as my tail tip flickered.
“And what? You’re an attractive omega. Soft colors. Bicolored. Darker hair. All the signs of fertility. You’re an ideal specimen, really.” Noel glanced at Zurok who slapped his tail against the ground with growing frustration.
“Noel…” Zurok sighed, tail flicking in frustration.
“I’ve said something socially incorrect once again?” Noel’s tail did a sort of inquisitive curl.
“I don’t think he identifies as an omega, and I was trying to broach that with tact that you seem to lack!” Zurok swore under his breath with something involving feet that my chip couldn’t translate for me.
“What do you mean, omega? I was made from Raziel.” A pit of unease twisted my stomach.
“That means little other than he was your blood contributor. Did Terrans not have three gene donors, too?”
“Two, with their bearer functioning as bothbanaandota.” The terminology translated out to beta and omega parents, for me as Noel spoke.
“Oh. So, you do not identify as alpha?” Zurok did the question thing with his tail again.
“I don’t identify as anything. How the fuck am I omega? Progenitors’ sake! Our sake…” The drawn-out trip over, with me wanting to bottom made sense. At least it felt good. Still, my face twisted. “Well, what does this mean?”
“It means that you should avoid any threesomes unless you want to lay an egg if you go into season. And fair warning, the hormones in the air are nuts.” Vil laughed and pulled Noel into his side.
“How are you avoiding it, then?” I glanced at Noel, who shrugged.
“He didn’t.” Vil grinned wide, his bright teeth sharp and predatory.
“Wedidn’t.” Noel glanced at Vil, who reached over to rub a hand over Noel’s chest and stomach.
I glanced down and didn’t notice anything different, but then again, I’d not seen him pregnant the first time, only been the cause of his early delivery. I rested a hand over my chest as that painful realization hit me.
Vil’s face darkened as the same emotion flickered in his gaze. “We did what we had to do.”
“Honestly, as long as the shell is formed, it’s safe. I mean, even then, there’re other steps Naleucians used to take when using artificial wombs.” Zurok’s gaze focused on me as if ableto read my mind. The momentary shock wore off as my tail spasmed, reminding me that the appendage betrayed me.
“I’m going to go speak to your men,” Noel said, circumnavigating me with a flat expression. “I’ll decide if they’re fit.”
I turned to watch him march toward my vessel and tensed.
“Do you not trust your crew?” Zurok watched as Noel loped off aimlessly, not a single indication of fear in his posture.
“No, I’m surprised you trust them enough to let Noel—” I flinched as Vil interrupted me.
“Roan. You’re eighty years younger than me. You were shown the videos.”
Of course, I had been shown videos of the first Progenitor soldier. The one the Naleucians left. We all had. He’d been the equivalent of throwing a helicopter made of razor blades into a battlefield. “Of the soldier, N0—”
A disconnect had formed in my brain between the Noel I’d seen treasuring his egg and the little one that came to be. The weak creature after surgery, who stared at me with empty eyes. The Progenitor we had been searching for, dreading to find him again for fear of his anger at what we’d done to him. “You.”
Vil nodded once, and my gaze slid off toward where Noel had gone to. He could handle himself, I was certain. Vil puffed up, chest taut with pride.
