Wexxon the Great Alien Warrior - Juno Wells Page 0,26

“For other warriors, it’s their arms or their shoulders or their knees. For me? It’s been an internal enemy, for as far back as I can remember.”

Wexxon then paused for a moment as he looked up at me, something serious clearly on his mind. “Could you have done it?”

“Could I have done what?”

“Killed your brother for the sake of his own honor,” he clarified. “Do you think that I…made the right choice?”

“Who cares what I think about it, Wexxon?”

“I deeply care what you think about everything, my little warrior,” he replied. “I never want to be seen as weak in your eyes.”

“You’re not weak for loving your brother and wanting him to live.” I answered the question before I let out a loud sigh. “And no. I don’t think I could’ve done it. I never had any brothers or sisters, but the thought of having to kill someone I loved, like my mom or my dad—”

“Someone you loved?” Wexxon pressed, his eyes still resting on my expression. “Did something happen with your parents to change your affections?”

“They died,” I murmured as my eyes broke away from his gaze.

“How?”

“In an apartment fire,” I continued, trying my best to keep myself from sobbing at the memory. “I…wasn’t home that night. I was studying for this big test when I was in high school, so I asked the librarian if I could sleep in one of the library’s study rooms. And she let me have the key for the night. So…that was that.”

Wexxon reached a hand across the table, covering my palm with his own. “I am certain your parents were grateful that you were not home when they perished, that your life was preserved.”

Yeah, right.

Some life.

I’d managed to get kidnapped and then impregnated by an alien, all within a matter of days.

I kept my inner thoughts to myself as I turned the question back around on Wexxon. “What about you? Where are your parents now?”

“Where your parents are, too.” He offered me a somber smile. “They died when I was very young.”

“What happened to them?”

“They perished on an exploration,” Wexxon explained. “They were space travelers, the both of them. They desired so much more than Xelxar, so much more than our traditions and our ways. And one day, while they were scanning the galaxy…their ship was besieged by meteors.”

“Oh my God, Wexxon.” My face fell, as a lump formed in my throat. “I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. You did not cause their deaths,” he replied before he went on. “Although their deaths did leave my brother and me orphaned on Xelxar. And without anywhere else to go, we were forced to join in on the arena. Training was the only way we could eat. It was the only way we could make a name for ourselves, too.”

“…Is there a way out?” I whispered the question as I watched Wexxon bring both his hands back down toward the stove, using a cooking utensil to move a piece of meat around the pan. “Is there some future where you don’t have to fight in the arena anymore?”

“Are you asking if I’m ready to retire?” He smirked. “Is that what you want from me already, my little warrior? Are you truly that unsatisfied with your housing?”

“It’s not that. It’s just…” I struggled to come up with the perfect response. “I don’t know. I just think it’s sort of a job hazard, the fact that you could die every time you leave the house.”

“Anyone could die anytime they leave their home,” he shot right back. “But only a few of us will die with glory to our names.”

“Glory or not, you’ll still be dead, Wexxon.”

“Then it’s better to die with glory.” Wexxon lightly chuckled before he went on. “Besides, it’s not just about what I want anymore. The warrior who controls the arena controls Xelxar, too. And until the people demand a different champion, I will not be the one to let them down.”

“But what about our child, Wexxon—”

“Here. Try this,” Wexxon interrupted my response as he held a cooked piece of meat up toward my lips. “It’s taken from the side of a Firing Plonont.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a creature before,” I admitted then I took the meat onto my tongue, soon chewing it and swallowing it down.

Oh.

Oh.

I smiled to myself as I pinpointed the taste of the meat. “That tastes just like a cheeseburger.”

“A cheeseburger?”

“It’s a very popular dish back on Earth.” I smiled again. “I never