tipped breasts shaking with her every breath.
Chel collapsed next to her, exhausted and wrung out in the best of ways.
Reaching across Lacey’s damp body, he pulled the sheet over them so it could absorb their sweat and clean them off as they relaxed. The soft material felt better than usual as it fell over his body, and Gwarnon gave him an almost drunk looking smile from Lacey’s other side as he leaned up on one arm. Chel reached out and cupped the back of his blood brother’s neck, then leaned forward and kissed him, careful not to crush their precious alyah between them.
“No more,” Lacey mumbled. “Stop being sexy.”
Laughing, Chel did a quick evaluation of her and found that she was feeling good but was also very tired. No surprise considering she’d just gone through her transformation and had been well loved by her mates. Pride swelled his chest as he looked down at Lacey, smoothing her soft blonde curls back and marveling at their texture. Everything felt…better.
“Do you feel that?” he asked Gwarnon on their mental link
“Feel what?” his blood brother replied. “Bliss? Yes, I feel it.”
“Yes, bliss, but something else as well. Everything feels better somehow. The bed more comfortable, the sheets more enjoyable. Even the very air I breathe somehow feels better.”
Gwarnon nodded in understanding before replying on their link, “This is another step in the completion the bonded men are always talking about. It will be even better after we have our bonding ceremony.”
“When Lacey awakens, we will give her the new crystal implant. As much as I would like to hide her away, we do not have that luxury. The time of the Baladium draws near, and I pray the Lord of Life is rooting for our bride.”
Chel gripped Gwarnon’s hand tight as they watched the large screen above the arena in the Baladium, his fear for Lacey so thick, he nearly choked on it.
Seated in a special viewing area of the Baladium’s stadium, Gwarnon and Chel, along with Cormac and Nosa, all watched the battle taking place in the arena below. Chel currently switched his view between the live action before them and the different views available via his crystal implant. Those watching the Baladium games wanted to see every scream, every tear, every drop of blood spilled on the killing floor, so he had plenty of views to choose from.
The one he currently watched was Lacey screaming as a lizard jumped out of a hole in the volcanic rock.
But even though he hated to see his alyah gritting her teeth in pain from the bite, his real fear was the battle ahead.
Somehow, by some cruel twist of fate or sadistic plot on the Baladium’s behalf, Roxy and Lacey had been paired against the Hive in their final round, and the setting was the volcanic Fields of Gidien.
The moment Chel and the rest of the Warriors realized their women would be fighting the Hive, one on one, they’d all gone deadly silent.
Chel switched the view to the Hive members, his skin crawling as they made their way across the dangerous volcanic landscape to the area where the weapons were. Both the humans and the Hive had to face the same challenges, and Chel had nearly passed out when Lacey almost got crushed by a flaming boulder erupting from the lake of lava in the center of the pit. Unlike the NevShoo ship, this lava was real and could easily kill his beloved.
The women sustained more and more injuries as they made their way around the treacherous lava lake, each wound slowing them down until they moved at nearly a crawl. Lacey’s leg was injured, and even with their accelerated healing, he could tell each step was painful for them to take. He’d always known his alyah was tough, but watching her walk on what appeared to be a broken ankle elevated his respect for her to a whole new level.
“Come on,” Nosa growled, “Keep going. Faster. They are going to beat you to the weapons if you do not hurry, my alyah. Faster.”
Chel ignored him, his entire focus on the injured women as they fought to get to the weapons first, but they were going to be too late.
His stomach sank and darkness washed through them as he knew, without a doubt, he was about to watch his Matriarch die.
“No!” screamed Gwarnon, a cry echoed by all the men as the Hive approached the weapon filled table.
He braced himself, waiting for the moment when