Out of the Ashes (Maji 1)

“Everything seems drastic to you,” Mikoh joked.

That was true.

We all watched as Dash kissed Isa’s exposed neck, and it made me smile.

“He forgives her,” I said.

“You’re learning,” Mikoh teased.

I waited for Isa to let go of Dash, but she would not remove her body from his, and it made him and the males close by laugh.

“What’s funny?” I asked Mikoh.

“My sister will not let go because she fears he seeks the company of a willing female.”

“Why the hell would she think that?” I asked, my shock not going amiss. “He just let her hit him and cause a big scene, and he forgave her for it.”

“She made him angry with her behaviour, and when a male is angry, he either relieves his tension with his fists or between a female’s thighs.”

I felt heat stain my cheeks.

“Will he seek a female?” I asked, willing my face to return to its normal colour.

Mikoh shook his head, seemingly unaware that I was so embarrassed at the turn in the conversation.

“Not while he has an intended. Isa is just young and cannot help her fear.”

“I’d help her and your mama kick his ass if he did seek another woman, though. Respectable human women don’t play that cheating game; we hunt for blood if a man does us wrong.”

Mikoh blinked down at me. “That’s nice to know.”

I grinned and looked back at the couple.

“Is she gonna cling to him much longer?”

“Just until she feels the tension leave Dash. He may be smiling and stroking her back affectionately, but Isa can sense, scent, and feel the tension in his body from their fight. She will remain as close to him as she can until he is calm and her fear of him seeking a female is gone.”

“It’s sad that she feels the need to do that, though. Does she not trust him?”

“She does, but this reaction is her instinct, and we cannot help instinct. In her mind, she is aware that Dash is a respectable male, but her instinct is telling her to keep her intended close until his rage passes so he cannot impregnate another female. They have not mated and sealed their bond yet, so the possibility that Dash could stray lingers in Isa’s subconscious. This is nature.”

“This is so weird is what it is!”

Mikoh laughed loudly, and it drew the attention of his family, who beamed and headed his and Surkah’s way. I moved back with Kol and Nero to give them some privacy while they greeted one another.

“Are you ready to meet my parents?” Kol murmured in my ear.

I looked from Mikoh’s family up at Kol and simply nodded. I was ready … I thought I was, at least. As long as nothing as dramatic as just what happened with Mikoh’s family happened when I met the king and queen, I’d be happier.

Shit, I thought. I’d better start praying.

“Don’t ask me why, but I thought Ealra would be very different.”

“What kind of different?” Surkah quizzed.

“Like caveman kind of different.”

My sister-in-mate frowned. “What does that mean?”

I swallowed and gripped the arms that were around my waist a little tighter. I was sitting on Kol’s lap as he, myself, Mikoh, Nero, Killi, and Surkah travelled to the palace. I had never been in a car, truck, or any kind of vehicle back on Earth, but I had seen more than a few battered military vehicles and old, burned out cars in my time, and none of them resembled the vehicle I was currently in. It had the build of a truck but was shaped like an advanced car … just a fucking huge one. Seat belts were also not a thing on Ealra. Instead, when you sat in a seat, it closed in around you and fit perfectly to your shape, locking you in place.

Yeah, the car seats fucking moved.

I refused to sit in one even though everyone explained to me that the seats weren’t alive, but the design was for passenger and driver safety during a possible collision. They ‘released’ you when the vehicle engine switched off or when you pressed and held a button on the side of the seat. I explained what a seat belt was, but no one paid me any attention because their system worked perfectly fine for them. They didn’t see a need to change it … so I decided to sit on Kol’s lap as we drove to the palace.

Nero drove the car, and he nearly gave me a heart attack at least four times, which is a reflection on his driving skills.

“Nova,” Surkah said, recapturing my attention.

“Huh?”

“What does caveman mean?”

“Caveman?” I repeated, confused.

“You said you thought Ealra would be ‘caveman type of different.’”

“Oh, right,” I said, remembering our conversation before I spaced out about the vehicle. “Caveman is just something primitive … I never expected Ealra to be so technologically advanced, which is dumb considering you picked me up on a craft like the Ebony, and you have comm things in your heads and can do all these other cool things, but yeah, I didn’t think your home would be so wonderful. Ealra is very different to what I thought it would be.”

“Is that a good thing?” Surkah asked.

An awesome thing.

I nodded. “Yes, it is … I’m just going to have so much to learn.”

Kol kissed the back of my head. “I will show and teach you everything you need to know. Do not fret, shiva. All will be well.”

I sucked in a breath and squeezed Kol’s arms to what I knew would be the point of pain when Nero suddenly lurched to the left then centre, and the vehicle went just as quickly.

“A pest ridden makiv was in the roadway!” he announced, cursing up a storm in the driver’s seat.

I didn’t know what a makiv was, and I didn’t want to know either.

“How long left?” I asked, hoping to get out of the vehicle soon.

“A few more minutes, shiva,” Kol cooed.

Everyone suddenly began speaking about grass and flowers and outfits, and in the back of my head, I knew Kol had told them through their comms to discuss those things. I guessed he was trying to take my mind off the drive. I appreciated what everyone was trying to do, but the more they spoke, the worse it made me feel. I felt like the space we were in was getting smaller by the minute, and my stomach began to churn. This continued for a few more minutes until the vehicle came to a sudden stop.

“I need to get out,” I croaked.

Killi, who was closest to the sliding door on my side, pushed it open for me. He even held out his hand to aid me in stepping out of the vehicle, but I ignored his hand as I surged forward, just wanting to get out into the open air. I tripped over my own two feet and fell to the hard ground and hit it shoulder first with a resounding thud. I heard Kol roar, but I ignored him, and the pain in my shoulder as I flipped myself over, got to my hands and knees, and without warning, puked up my stomach contents.

Hands were all over me then, and there was a lot of growling going on, and even a whine or two. I focused on nothing other than calming myself enough to control my stomach. For a minute or so, I continued to heave, but when nothing came up, I sat back on my heels, and without meaning to, I whimpered out loud.

“I h-hate being s-sick.” I sniffled and turned to Kol, who was on his knees next to me.

He gathered me up into his arms, got to his feet, and moved away from my puke puddle. He whispered sweet words into my ear as he lifted me up and set me on the bonnet of the death vehicle that I would never be getting inside again.

He brushed my hair back from my face and growled when he examined my shoulder. I winced when he grazed it with his finger. I looked down and saw I had scraped off a layer or two of skin, and blood dotted the minor wound.

“Don’t touch it.” I winced. “It hurts.”

Kol looked so distraught as if my arm was hanging off instead of just being grazed.

“Surkah, heal her.”

Before I could open my mouth, Surkah was in front of me with her hands on my shoulder, and her eyes closed. I felt the mo

st awesome sensation of relaxation come over me and noticed an arm suddenly hooked around my back, keeping me upright. I opened my eyes when Surkah removed her hands, and I looked down to my now untouched shoulder.

“That is so amazing!” I exclaimed. “Seriously, that is never going to not be the best thing ever!”

Surkah snorted, and so did Mikoh while Nero and Killi chuckled. Kol, who was to my left with his arm around me, moved back in front of me, and without releasing me, he visually examined my arm and nodded in approval.

“Thank you, sister.”

“My pleasure,” she replied.

Now that I wasn’t freaking out or hurt, I groaned loudly and allowed my head to fall forward onto Kol’s thick shoulder.

“I am so freaking mortified!” I stated. “I just got sick in front of all of you.”

“Do not feel embarrassment for being sick,” Kol scowled. “It could not be helped.”

I felt the heat on my face as I lifted my head and stared into Kol’s eyes.

“I could handle being aboard the Ebony, warping trillions of light years through space, but one journey in a car on steroids and I’m sick? That is embarrassing.”

“It is not!” he argued.

“If it was Surkah, you would say it was, and you’d laugh, too,” I pointed out.