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Drekk made the mistake of turning his head towards his mate.

Ryen swore. “What the hell happened to your eyes?” He didn’t step back, as he should have. Instead he leaned closer. “You look just like—”

“Stay back.” Drekk had a sudden urge to bite Ryen hard. Excitement and hunger feeding one another, wanting appeasement. Fuck.

“It’s okay, Drekk. I think I know what’s wrong with you.”

“Shit. I have to go.” Because the notion of bending Ryen over and fucking him until he couldn’t walk felt like the right thing to do. To bite him until he tasted blood, then mingle it with Ryen’s seed thrilled him past his controls.

The thermal image of Ryen faded, replaced by bands of carnal hunger that caused Ryen to stand out in the bland room. Colour flared, scent intensified and his arousal caused Drekk to double over. If Ryen took another step closer he’d hurt him oh so good.

He had to leave.

“I’ll call you when I can. Focus on tonight, it’s important.” Fangs pierced his gums. “Let Rafe know you need a ride home.” Drekk teleported away before he’d finished his sentence.

Not knowing where to go, he sent himself to the fringes of the Eron Forest, where the wild land met dangerous jungle. There, away from everyone, Drekk succumbed to his body’s demands. He tore off his clothes and screamed in anger and pain at his loss. Ryen was gone, and the loneliness ripped Drekk from reality.

Animal needs roared and without thinking about it, Drekk shapeshifted and bounded after prey. Blood, meat and bone. A feast to quell the gnawing hunger. After that, he would claim his mate the right way. He howled as he ran, scaring the wildlife into the shadows.

Chapter Ten

Ryen sat with Rafe and Erin, wondering what to do. He wanted to go after Drekk but had no idea where to look. The drun had taken off like a shot, fear and desire radiating from him in waves of extremes. Still caught in wainu, Ryen had felt his lover’s lingering emotions, the greatest of which had been terror for Ryen.

“Drekk’s going through a rough patch,” Rafe said. An understatement. “He’s had moments before, but nothing like this. I’m not sure what set him off.” But the look he gave Ryen suggested he knew more than he was saying.

“I don’t know where to look.” Pissed that Drekk had left, Ryen smashed his hand through Rafe’s table. “Oh shit. I’m sorry.” Ryen stood. “I should go.”

“No,” Rafe and Erin said at the same time.

Ryen rolled his eyes. “It’s okay. I’m not going to decimate the population of Tekar. I’m going back to Drekk’s.” To my home. He needed to work a few things out.

“I’ll take you,” Erin offered before Rafe could say anything. She kissed Rafe’s cheek.

“I’ll be back soon.”

In the rover, she mimicked Drekk’s voice and altered her forefinger’s print to access the drive feature of the vehicle.

“I could have done that,” Ryen said.

“So you lifted Drekk’s prints already?”

Damn. “No. Just his voice. How do you have it?”

“I stole his rover once. Funny story. So what’s going on with you and Drekk?” she asked as she manoeuvred the vehicle towards Drekk’s dwelling.

“I don’t know.”

“You had sex with him.”

“Yeah, I know. I was there.”

“A male,” Erin reiterated. “I thought you liked women.”

“I do.” And he did. Thoughts of Glaia, however, didn’t turn him on. Even a good-looking guy like Rafe did nothing for Ryen. He didn’t want anyone else but his lover, his master. “There’s just something about Drekk.”

“Yeah, I felt it too before I met Rafe. Drekk made me uncomfortable.” He gets me uncomfortably hard, Ryen wanted to say. Instead, he asked, “Are you happy, Erin?”

“More happy than I’ve ever been in my life.”

“Because of Rafe?”

“Because I’m free to love Rafe or whoever I want to love. I chose Rafe. Or rather, he chose me when we mated.”

“So you didn’t want him at first?”

“I desired him, yes. But I wasn’t sure about the rest. Love is such a foreign emotion for us. Trusting another...it doesn’t come easy. And Rafe’s Xema. I didn’t know about our own Xema heritage, not with so much other crap inside us. But when a Xema takes another Xema, it’s for keeps. I’ll never want another with Rafe around.” Ryen had a thought. “I’m Xema too, aren’t I?”

“Yeah. So’s Anin. That and a half dozen other aggressive species accounts for your bossiness.”

He couldn’t help grinning. “I’m no more bossy than Drekk.” My part-Ebrellion lover.

And isn’t that a kick? Bad enough to be a Creation the System feared. The Ebrellions were even worse, technologically advanced warriors the System had little defence against. No wonder Ryen hadn’t been able to stop himself from falling in love.

Yeah. That’s why you want Drekk. Because he’s a shapeshifting, teleporting alien who fucks you into a stupor. That’s it.

“What aren’t you saying?” Erin asked doggedly. “You love Drekk, don’t you? I can see it on your face when you look at him.”

“So you’re an expert on love?”

“Why can’t you admit you love him?”

“Why can’t he?” Ryen retorted. “I know I’m a hothead, but I’m learning to settle down and think before ripping a guy’s head off.” Erin snorted. “Drekk makes me feel something other than pain and duty. I’m not sure he feels the same. That wainu is one thing. I’d hoped he felt something more, especially the way he looks at me sometimes... What?”

“Did you say wainu?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. That’s a Xema love thing for sure.” Erin laughed as they pulled up to Drekk’s house.

Ryen didn’t want to talk about this with his sister, but he wanted so badly to understand Drekk he’d do anything he could to learn more. “What do you mean?” Erin turned to face him. “Wainu is that blissful plane you share with that special person after sharing sex. But it only occurs between a Xema and his or her potential mate.” Drekk had mentioned the same. Hell, he and Drekk had shared wainu a number of times. “So does it let you feel what the other person feels? Do you share a deep connection as if you’re one person?”

Erin narrowed her eyes. “You do after you’ve been mated.” Ryen stilled. “Mated how?”

“In the regular way I suppose.” Erin flushed. “Anin is much better than I am at talking about sex. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “When a Xema male mates, he has to achieve climax in his lover’s body. Three times he’ll mark his mate. Then you feel this intense connection, even when the wainu’s not there.”

“Son of a bitch.” Ryen was stunned. Drekk had marked him, mated with him, and he hadn’t known. For a moment he saw red. Lies, deceit, hidden agendas... Then he recalled Drekk’s passion, the well of love Ryen felt from the male every time they fucked before holding each other afterwards.

“Ryen?”

“The mating. It can’t be faked, can it? Does the bond lead to emotional ties, or just physical ones?”

“I don’t know. Rafe might. But what I do know is that Drekk had a special interest in you from the very first. He wouldn’t let me see you until he thought it was best for you. And according to Rafe, his best buddy is falling for some drun who probably won’t appreciate what he’s got.”

Ryen tried to absorb it all. He tamped his exhilaration at thoughts of being tied to Drekk. The male had lied to him, after all. Then again, Drekk wasn’t himself, not since he’d encountered the Ebrellions.