The Alliance - 10. Keeping Slaves

He wanted the creature. And it terrified him.

Lian stood against the bed, calves pressing into the side of the bed. He wanted to back up further as the monster faced him, but at the same time, he wanted to embrace the furry beast that stared at him in a mixture of revulsion and lust.

Those topaz eyes were on full display as Itumak bent over Lian. The beast pushed Lian over, strangely gentle for his size. Straddling the Daknar, Itumak’s rod pressed against Lian’s gut.

Furry hands scratched at his waist, the creature trying to pull at Lian’s loincloth. Lian tore at his cloth uncertainly. This was the being meant for him, and his master. Lian should be ecstatic about this, shouldn’t he?

But the Daknar felt that something was wrong. They were doing this wrong. Still, this was his master, and he didn’t have any choice in this.

His loincloth fell away, his own pink rod slapping his stomach beside Itumak’s.

The monster who was his chosen suddenly flipped the Daknar over. Itumak’s dick slipped between Lian’s cheeks, rubbing up and down furiously as the shape changer humped him. He couldn’t move far before hitting the base of the Daknar’s tail, but it was far enough.

Lian moaned quietly at the feeling, his hands moving back to touch his assailant. Stronger hands grabbed his wrists, pinning them over his head as Itumak lay on top of the reptile.

“Neya, voin siado eyn weirlen…” the changer said, his breath hot against Lian’s neck.

A tongue ran up Lian’s neck, making the Daknar shiver. Itumak suddenly thrust against him, the head of his dick slamming against Lian’s hole. The Daknar tensed, fighting the intrusion, and Itumak withdrew just as quickly as he had appeared, never breaching the ring.

“Galaran…” the changer groaned, humping Lian again. “Eim eto erl ey…”

“Make me yours…” Lian hissed.

Where did that come from? This wasn’t like him. Lian had never been interested in being dominated.

All thought was driven from his mind as Itumak thrust again, hot seed spilling out over Lian’s ass. The changer lay on the Daknar, panting quietly.

“Hed eim…?” he muttered quietly.

Peeling himself off of Lian, Itumak stood up, staring at the lizard. Lian could still see the lust in his eyes, but it was shadowed by sorrow, the changer lowering his head in shame.

“Leim me san,” he whispered.

Did he want Lian to leave? The Daknar watched the beast as he moved around him, heading for the door. A hand shot out, stopping Lian before he could reach the door.

“Rehun,” Itumak said in his gravelly voice.

Come.

Aaron could hear everything. Worse, he could smell everything. Maybe he shouldn’t be laying just outside the room, but he wanted to give Itumak some privacy. Who knew when Mateio would return to talk with them? At the moment the Faro was locked in his cockpit, searching for nearby planets.

No, Aaron could hear his footsteps on the stairs, coming toward the cabins. He stood and walked in the direction of the Faro, stopping him in front of the kitchen.

“I found a planet,” Mateio said, standing in front of the werewolf. “We’re two hours away from it, and I can fix the gravity pod. I’m going to let Itumak know.”

Aaron growled quietly at the Faro, shaking his head.

“What? What’s going on?”

The cabin door opened behind them, Aaron spotting Itumak and Lian stepping into the hall as he turned his head. Both were naked and Itumak led Lian toward the bathroom, vanishing into the other room. Aaron could smell the shame washing off the other werewolf.

“Oh,” Mateio mumbled. “I… We’ll have to set up a rule I guess. No nudity in the main body of the ship.”

Aaron chuffed, nudging the Faro’s chest with his nose.

“Yeah, I’m going to follow that rule too,” Mateio said, looking down at the wolf.

His hand cautiously reached out, running over Aaron’s head. The werewolf let out a sigh at the touch, his eyes closing. This was heaven, blissful heaven.

“You feel so rough. I like it,” Mateio whispered, stroking the wolf.

Aaron stepped forward, rubbing his snout against the Faro’s arm. His scent was rubbing over the fox and the idea of it was making the wolf unbelievably happy. Maybe this wasn’t the way he was supposed to claim his mate, but now everyone would know Mateio was his.

Unable to resist, Aaron licked the side of Mateio’s head, the Faro laughing as he wiped drool off his face.

“I like this playful side,” he said, scratching behind Aaron’s ear.

Moaning quietly, the wolf sat, his leg starting to thump as he tried to help Mateio reach the perfect spot. At one time, his elven side would have been ashamed of the display, but he had come to terms with his wolf years ago. There wasn’t anything he could do to change it.

“I guess I’ll let them have their shower. I’m not happy with the idea of having a slave on my ship,” Mateio sighed, looking in the direction of the bathroom.

Aaron huffed in agreement. But it had been the easiest way for Itumak to be with his mate. He knew the neko wouldn’t keep the Daknar as a slave.

Itumak motioned for Lian to turn under the water. His hand reached out, scrubbing the base of Lian’s tail. The scales felt strange under his skin, cool to the touch even under the warm water. Itumak wondered if the Daknar could even feel the water.

“I am sorry for taking you the way I did,” he said as he washed the remnants of his essence off the reptile.

Lian couldn’t understand him, he was almost certain of that, but Itumak hoped the feeling would still reach the Daknar.

Lian still wouldn’t look at Itumak, perhaps from fear of being punished. It was something the werewolf would have to break him of, but at the moment he had no way to tell the Daknar to stop.

“Can you talk to me?” he asked.

Lian made no attempt to do so. He didn’t understand.

“Talk,” Itumak said, miming sound coming from his mouth.

“Igaol?”

Shit, he didn’t understand the Daknar’s speech either. Was his translator broken? No, he understood Mateio.

“Igaol? What is igaol?”

The Daknar repeated the word in confusion, but this time Itumak understood the meaning behind it. Talk.

“Yes, igaol,” he nodded quickly.

“Seo esan talk?”

Itumak kept nodding. Talk. Speak. Let me hear the voice of my mate. He reached out, gently raising the Daknar’s chin again. His hands shocked the werewolf. He knew he had been changed, but just how much was rather disturbing.

“Othari you?”

Lian blinked as he looked into Itumak’s eyes almost fearfully.

“I want you to look at me. You don’t have to fear me Lian.”

The werewolf’s hand ran down Lian’s back gently, a hand of soap washing the scales. He had fallen for this alien, he knew, and there was nothing in this universe that he would not do to keep his mate safe.

“I look you?”

“Yes,” Itumak smiled.

He was learning the language, or rather, his translator was finally picking up the language now that Lian was speaking. The werewolf hoped the Daknar would keep talking. It would be rather hard to have a mate who wouldn’t speak.

Mateio looked out the cockpit of the ship, spotting the large moon they would be landing on. He wasn’t certain it would have the correct gravity to change the werewolves back. They might have to remain in their current forms until Mateio could fix the gravity pod.

A small smile appeared on Mateio’s face as he thought that might take a while. It faded as he realised he had no right to waste time. An entire planet was counting on Aaron- and now him- to save them.

He liked Aaron in this form though. Maybe he could convince the elf to wear it more often.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Mateio started the ship’s engines once more, allowing the reverse thrusters to slow them down as the ship neared the unnamed planet.

“Reinard, turn the HUD on.”

“HUD on.”

Lines appeared on the window of the ship, showing the trajectory the ship was taking.

“Calculate the best landing trajectory.”

A green line appeared on the window, just slightly off from the yellow line that showed the ship’s current path. Mateio adjusted the ship, waiting until they were on the correct path before standing. It would take twenty minutes for them to reach the atmosphere at this rate, the fastest speed Mateio was willing to fly at this close to a planet.

Reaching over, the fox’s hand hovered over the gravity controls. He suddenly got a mental image of a wolf floating through the ship and chuckled.

No, he couldn’t do that to Aaron. The gravity would stay on longer. At least until they reached the planet’s gravitational pull.

The ship rocked as they entered the atmosphere and Mateio shut off the gravity. He guided the vessel through the planet winds, setting down gently on the edge of a canyon. With a quiet sigh, Mateio powered down the ship, stepping out of the cockpit.

They were on an alien planet.

Itumak’s eyes scanned the horizon, the yellowish air thick around the ship. He had finally been able to switch back to his neko form, Lian relaxing slightly as the werewolf vanished. Now he stood on his own, staring out the window in his cabin.

Itumak’s wolf was satisfied for the moment. It wasn’t the best mating, but it was a mating nonetheless. The neko shook his head at the thought. He wasn’t going to turn Lian into a werewolf. Not while the Daknar was his slave. But he couldn’t free the alien. Lian might try to kill them all.

A muffled curse drew the neko from his thoughts. Itumak stepped out of the cabin, seeing Mateio on a ladder down the hall. The fox was staring down the ladder, a frown on his face.

“Is everything okay?” Itumak asked.

Mateio tensed, his head turning rapidly. Itumak reached out, steadying the swaying ladder.

“Um, yeah. I just dropped a tool. Can you get it for me please?” Mateio asked.

“Sure.”

Itumak walked down the staircase, finding the base of the ladder on the lower floor of the ship. A wrench lay near the ladder and the neko picked it up, returning to the fox.

“Did you find out what was wrong with the gravity?” he asked, handing the wrench back to Mateio.

“Yes, there’s a bolt loose, it’s messing up the vibrations,” Mateio replied, tightening the offending bolt. “I’m going to take a day, make sure everything on the ship is working. I should have done this at the last station, but we are in a hurry.”

“We won’t be doing anything if the ship kills us all,” Itumak said. “Do you know where Aaron is?”

“I’m in here Itumak!” the elf called from the kitchen.

Leaving Mateio to his work, Itumak made his way to the kitchen, finding Aaron eating a salad.

“Here, try this,” Aaron said, holding out a fork.

Frowning, Itumak stabbed into a piece of lettuce, bringing it to his mouth. It tasted amazing, but he wasn’t here for food.

Well, maybe a little food would be nice.

Aaron passed his plate to the neko, Itumak frowning.

“I can get my own-”

“Sit,” Aaron said with a tight smile. “I need to get back in the habit of doing things for myself.”

“You never lost that habit,” Itumak sighed.

A second plate appeared on the table, Aaron sitting again.

“So tell me. What is life like as a mated wolf?”

“I did not mate him,” Itumak scowled.

“I know you didn’t.” Aaron soothed the werewolf. “You wouldn’t risk him becoming a wolf, just like I won’t risk Mateio if he and I decide to be together.”

“I don’t think he’s eaten since we got on the ship,” Itumak said quietly. “Am I so bad that he is trying to starve himself?”

“Did you give him permission to eat?”

Itumak blinked.

“Why would I…”

Realisation shot through him like a rocket.

“He’s a slave Itumak. That is what you signed up for. You have to take care of him,” Aaron laughed mirthlessly.

Itumak stood up, his eyes lowered.

“May I?”

Aaron waved him off, trusting the neko would return in a few minutes.

The cabin opened, startling Lian. The dragon shot out of the bed, standing straight with his head lowered. The neko was wearing shoes, he noted. Where did he find shoes?

“I eto you to eguln,” the neko said quietly. “You nelavu eaten zi gelu anag the orin.”

It was so confusing, having to fill in the blanks in the language of his master. Still, the Daknar was grateful he could understand the little he did.

His breath caught as he remembered he had put his loincloth back on. The alien hadn’t told him to do that.

“You edar.”

Lian flinched at the words, though the tone was not aggressive.

“I will not hurt you,” the two-soul said gently. “I am areun you are dressed. Are you hungry?”

At the idea of food Lian’s stomach let out a loud gurgle. He hadn’t eaten in days, since the slaves on the station had been thrown a handful of bread.

Itumak smiled slightly, holding out a hand. Lian flinched again, and the hand was removed.

“Fergela me. I didn’t mela to malar you. Come.”

The Daknar followed the alien down the hall, stepping into a room with the other alien that looked like him. The sharp scent of merlo filled the room and Lian hesitated as his master spoke to the alien.

A third plate appeared on the table, adding to the scent.

“Seta. Eat,” his master smiled.

Lian took a deep breath. He was being murdered then. There was nothing he could do to stop what was about to happen.

Sitting at the table beside his master, Lian nearly gagged at the scent of the poison on the plants they wanted him to eat. He held back though, picking up the utensil beside his plate.

‘Forgive me Thaelin.’

Stabbing into the plant on the plate, Lian took a bite of the food.