Dynah Battleship, Fourth Quadrant, Andromeda Galaxy.

Zogan

"You do realize that you're going to rub away the lining on your horn if you keep that up?" Mya plopped into a chair beside Zogan.

He'd been rubbing at it, it dutifully pulsed with pain, he was beyond stressed. He looked at his mate and a small smile twisted his mouth.

She was clothed in warrior wear, the solid black and cobalt blue lined combat suit, gloves, and boots. All of which was completed with his family's crest woven into the fabric and boldly placed on her left chest. They weren't to be mated until this mission was completed but he'd be damned if he couldn't let the universe know that he'd been granted the gift of finding his mate. Her hair pulled away from her face with a high plaited braid that hung over her shoulder.

She looked at him, thoroughly amused. He was not, his gut had not settled even when they'd decided on the course of actions to be taken when they arrived at the Zon hive-quarters. It had taken two solars since Mya's passing of the trial for Ravanna to come up with a plan that he'd finally approved of.

The single-minded beasts lived in a large structure that orbited the remains of their destroyed home planet. Inside was dark and insidious and the thought of Mya entering it sent every warning bell inside of him pealing at their loudest strengths. He would be nearby but sometimes being nearby was not enough. His horn pulsed again, spiked pains running through it. Cursing he leaned back into his chair.

"It cannot be rubbed away Esaie." He used his special name for her, it did not have a translation in her earth language so he'd had to explain to her as best he could that it meant that she was his gift, his love, his equal and so much more. He reached for her pulling her onto his lap. She came willingly.

"What bothers you babe?"

His head cocked at the strange name that she'd taken to calling him, he still did not understand why they called loved ones after a youngling on earth.

"You know, but we promised to not speak of it anymore... to avoid any fights."

"Ahhh... I see."

She looked down at him from her perch. She started rubbing at his horn slowly, knowing fully well that if she did it would take his mind elsewhere, she could touch him anywhere and it would distract him, ferociously. One hand roamed into his hair and tangled in his locs while she leaned down to take his lip between hers and run her tongue over it lazily. She was cunning, this one.

"Aishh! What is wrong with your quarters? Must you desecrate every room within the ship?" Nezerra exclaimed as she stalked into the ship council room.

Zogan glared at her, pupils narrowing into tiny slits, but Mya laughed loudly and slapped his chest, "That is something we plan to do, yes." She wiggled her brow bone, the rows of hairs on them dancing from the gesture.

She hopped down from his lap leaving him feeling bereft and his cock twitched at the abandonment. Mya grinned, knowing exactly what she had caused, and he groaned, shifting in his seat. He'd truly come into the council room to go over the plans they'd made and to check the latest hologram projections they'd procured from their allies, of the hive-quarters. He'd been checking to ensure that passageways were where they were supposed to be including exits incase anything went wrong. But he'd been fully prepared to please her against the table despite his duties.

"Does everything look good?" Nezerra asked as she pulled up a chair beside him looking over the projections that sprang out from the table before them.

The room was darkened with only the light from the transparent screens filling the room. He knew Mya could only see the screens, bare outlines, and his glowing eyes but he could see everything perfectly, the walls, the floors and even his and Mya's kyeets that lay slumbering in the corner. He'd realized to his horror that human eyesight was not as good as his species'. It had been yet another thing for him to worry about.

He remembered when he'd walked into Mya's rooms to discover the Fyre kyeet sleeping on her bed. Of course, it awoke as he stepped inside. He'd drawn his curved blade; it was his favorite one almost as long as his forearm. The kyeet pounced on top of him knocking him to the ground. Its tail lashed around his arm squeezing with enough force to almost break his heavy bones.

He knew of the Fyre kyeet but had never seen one before. He only knew that to see one meant death, they were not kind or friendly. They were the most devastating of the kyeet species and notoriously known for having no interest in seeking out life companions among the Kozan.

Its elongated fangs were exposed – inches from his face and he placed his arm against its neck pushing the beast back. It was strong. Saliva dripped onto his face and his pupils enlarged in horror as blue flames flicked to life along its spine. Electricity crackled in the air causing his scales to sharpen and harden, seeking to protect him from the threat. His knife arm was still in the grasp of the beast's tail and the other firmly hooked under its chin trying to keep it from biting off his face.

Where was Mya? did this thing eat her? His panicked thoughts raced across his mind as his eyes wildly scanned the room for her, any sign of her. His hearts stuttered; his claws elongated until they became sharp points. He was going to rip out this beast's throat. The same throat that now glowed with a blue light as fire came rushing up its maw, it was about to burn him to a crisp.

"What the fuck!" came Mya's voice and they both froze, turning slowly to look at her.

She stood arms on hips; her body draped in a lush open robe. Her hair was wrapped into a soaked bun. Beads of water dripped down her bronze legs. "Why are you trying to kill each other? Stop it!"

The kyeet sat back and looked away guiltily.

A Fyre Kyeet that looked guilty? What in the heavens?! Zogan sat up, hand still tightly gripping his blade, and looked between Mya and the kyeet, the kyeet who was all innocence now, tail whipping slowly on the plush floors.

"Mya, why is there a fyre kyeet in your room?"

She sighed and stalked over, "She found me in the forest... she saved my life." She pulled off her robe and stood naked in the room, "We are bonded now."

Zogan's kyeet, Zar burst into the room then, his growling growing to a crescendo – he was ready to fight to the death for Zogan, who then placed a steadying hand on Zar's head letting him know that all was well. Zar was smaller than the kyeet who now looked at him curiously. She was a female, Zogan remembered as he replayed Mya's words. The females were much larger than the males.

"Excuse me? What? It found you in the forest?" he asked, finally putting away his knife and settling into a crouch position. He still did not fully trust the fyre kyeet regardless of what Mya said. He'd grown up on warnings of them and he did not forget.

"Yes, I was almost killed until she came along, she saved me, and we've been together ever since!"

She smiled and hugged her kyeet around its broad back, or tried to, her arms were too short to go completely around. She barely came up to its stomach. The kyeet purred and its scaled tail wrapped gently around Mya.

Zogan shook his head trying to clear his gift that had begun to descend during their tumble and stood, "Did you give her a name?"

Zar still stood rigidly at his side scenting the air - deciding whether to trust the newcomer or not, especially since he'd scented its earlier aggression towards his bonded.

"Artemisia, Art for short because she's a queeeen!" Mya left the room to go into her dressing area.

Artemisia chortled and stalked over to the bed and settled into it, blazing eyes still on Zogan and Zar. Zogan narrowed his eyes, "You better take good care of her Artemisia."

The kyeet blew a ring of bright blue fire towards him then, he jumped back hastily but the fire was not hot to burn only offering a pleasant heat. Artemisia looked amused and simply closed her eyes to settle into sleep. Zar whined and took a step towards her causing one eye to snap open. She puffed smoke out of her nostrils and Zar trotted over and settled at her side. Zogan snarled softly, it seemed he was the only one out of the circle, already abandoned by his faithful Zar.

"Everything's fine." said Mya from next to him in the council room.

He looked up coming out of his reverie. "Everything is good, right where it should be according to our logistics team."

Nezerra nodded eyes still on the changing holograms before them. "We will succeed Zogan. You've never doubted us, and we've never given you a reason to, don't start now." Though Nezerra's words were soft they held a strong promise.

He nodded slowly, he trusted them all, but inwar things did not always go as planned and he also knew that he would be driven mad if he lost Mya. He did not want to voice his heavy thoughts, so he stayed silent.

Nezerra stood clasping Mya's hand, "Training time, and not the kind that involves you two alone, together in every room."

Zogan cracked a smile at that and watched as his sister led Mya out of the room. He sat staring at the layouts before him not really seeing them. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice when Mya sneaked back in and looked up in surprise as she leaned down to kiss him deeply on the mouth.

"I love you, and we will be fine."

His hearts eased a bit at that. He hoped it was true. He had two rotations to convince himself of it.