Out of the Ashes (Maji 1)

I heard her father’s deep chuckle follow us into the hall, and just before the servants closed the double doors, a growl mixed with a moan sounded, and it left no doubt as to what the king and queen were up to.

“The servants left there in a hurry,” I joked.

“They have to,” Surkah grumbled. “Ealra is not the planet for such behaviour.”

I raised a brow. “For sex?”

“For public sex,” she explained. “You aren’t allowed to engage in such activities here without penalty. My parents rule our people, but they still abide by our laws. They have sex where they like, but they have the dignity to clear the room first.”

I nodded. “Understandable.”

“Females wouldn’t care if someone saw her share sex, but the males would. A male would fight any male who so much as looked at a female he was sharing sex with. Even if she wasn’t his mate, he would be as possessive as if she was during sex … dominance can be very annoying.”

I snorted. “A race where all males are alphas … What can possibly go wrong?”

“What does alpha mean?” Surkah questioned.

“The male in control, the boss.”

Surkah chuckled. “All our males are dominant to their females, but not all are, as you say, alpha by nature. The trade workers and farm goers are harmless, and they rarely fight but can be vicious when pushed. It’s the warriors, like Mikoh and Kol, who are the true alphas. They fight all the time just because they can.”

“Sounds dreamy,” I replied sarcastically.

Surkah grunted but didn’t speak further. I followed her up two flights of stairs and down four hallways to two large, white double doors.

“This is Kol’s wing and now your wing, too. It has two living quarters, twenty sleeping quarters, six cleansing rooms, multiple storage units, and one very large high-tech kitchen.”

I felt like I swallowed my tongue.

“Why so many rooms?” I quizzed.

“For your family,” Surkah replied, her tone relaying a hint of ‘duh’ to it.

“I really doubt I’ll be able to fill up all those bedrooms with children. Human women can’t pop out that many kids without physical problems.”

“These wings were built when all my brothers were infants, and they were expected to take Maji female as mates. You don’t have to fill all the rooms with offspring, but a few would be nice.”

“That’s a relief,” I muttered.

“Go,” Surkah said, nudging me forward. “Go freshen up and get fed. The kitchen is stocked with food for your use, but until you learn how to cook our meals, a servant will come to prepare any meal you desire when you call for them. The call system on the wall—there is one in every room—takes care of it. You hold your palm on it, and someone will come to aid you.”

I nodded. “I’m sure I can handle that.”

Surkah smiled weakly. “I see will you this eve at the feast.”

“Hey,” I said, stopping her before she turned away. “What’s wrong?”

“I am fine,” she said, forcing a smile that I could see through.

“Surkah,” I said, giving her a knowing look. “Talk to me.”

She sighed. “I dread my punishment from my father because he consults Mikoh on it, and I know that male will advise my father with a punishment that will displease me.”

I wickedly grinned. “Go talk to Mikoh before your father does. Sweeten him up a little, and maybe he will go easy on you with the punishment.”

Surkah’s brows raised. “That’s … a good idea.”

“I’m not just a pretty face,” I teased.

Surkah laughed and hugged me before she turned away to go in search of Mikoh with a spring in her step. I pulled open one of the large doors to Kol’s and my wing with a surprisingly amount of ease. It was wooden and heavy but easy to open and close, which I liked. When I closed it behind me and found myself in a new hallway, I couldn’t help but smile. The décor was plain and simple but beautiful. Plants and flowers filled stunning pots arranged in all the rooms around the wing, and there were lots of them, which excited me greatly.

The different colours made everything just pop.

I navigated around the wing, found out what was behind each door, and when I found what was obviously Kol’s and my room, I smiled. The last time he was in here, before he left on his mission on the Ebony, he was a single male and had no idea I was about to barrel into his life. It reminded me that it only took something small to make a huge impact on your life. With a spring in my step, I found the high-tech kitchen last, and just as I was about to call someone to come and show me how to prepare a simple meal, a growl from behind me brought me to an immediate halt.

I slowly, very fucking slowly, turned around, and when I saw nothing at my head height, I looked down and nearly shit myself as fear gripped me in its clutch.

“Nice li-little mo-monster,” I stammered, holding my hands in front of me.

On the floor before me was a blue little creature with its head tilted to the side as it watched me. When it blinked, I took in just how big its golden eyes were. They were huge, and the longer I stared, the longer they remained unblinking.

“You … you just stay away from me,” I whispered. “Okay?”

I began to back out of the kitchen carefully, but the little monster followed me with its feet pattering against the floor. I sucked in a breath when it opened its mouth and sharp, pointy teeth were revealed. Teeth that would shred my flesh to pieces with one bite. That was just about all I could take. I turned and fled from the kitchen, bolted down the hallway of our wing, flung open the double doors, and sprinted out while screaming fucking murder.

I looked over my shoulders and saw the little monster was chasing me, and it was fast.

“Get away!” I screeched.

I flew past servants who were waving at me and shouting for me to stop, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. Not while the little blue monster of death was hot on my heels. I barely slowed down enough to turn a corner, and I unintentionally skidded into a wall, smacking my shoulder against it. I yelped with pain but didn’t stop to assess my arm because I could hear the laboured breathing and growling coming closer.

The little blue bastard was still coming after me.

“Kol!” I hollered. “Kol!”

Kol! I screamed for him in my mind. Help me!

Nova?! His voice sounded in my head. What is it? Where are you?

It was odd, but I assumed the reason his voice didn’t sound very clear was because I wasn’t close to him. The mental thing only worked when we were close to one another, and right now, Kol was farther away from me than I would have liked.

Hallway. Near our wing. It’s after me!

I’m coming, his voice shouted in my head, and he sounded louder now. What’s after you?

A monster!

I’m coming, Shiva. I’m coming.

I kept running and screaming until I came to a huge set of double doors. I flung myself at them, and they burst open and slammed against the walls with a resounding boom. I skidded into a hallway I had never seen before and cried with relief when I saw door fling open at the other end of the hallway, and Kol was sprinting through them towards me.

“Kol!” I roared. “Help me!”

He was already running towards me, but my roar made him run even faster. When he realised I wasn’t slowing down, he slowed down, opened his arms, and caught me with a grunt when I jumped on him.

“It’s going to eat me!”

“What is?” he panted, and I heard the worry in his tone.

“A monster!” I cried. “It was in the kitchen, and it chased me!”

Kol tried to calm me down, but when I looked over my shoulder and saw the very monster pattering up the hallway towards us, I nearly had a heart attack.

“There it is!” I screeched and clung to Kol for dear life.

His entire body tensed, and he turned in the direction of the monster. A whole five seconds passed by befor

e I realised he wasn’t tense anymore but was vibrating instead. I pulled back from my death hold on him and found he was … laughing. I frowned at him when his laughter became audible. I noticed what I didn’t notice before. Other Maji were in the huge hallway/gigantic room, and they were laughing too, though they had the decency to try to conceal it. I struggled against Kol, who set me down on the ground when I realised I was the source of amusement.

I shoved his broad chest with both hands.

“You want to tell me what the hell you find so damn funny?”

“You’re … scared … of … Tosha.”

Kol was laughing so hard he could barely speak.

I glared at him. “What the hell is a Tosha?”

“This is Tosha.”

I turned in the direction of Surkah when she spoke, but when I saw she was holding the vicious monster in her arms like it was a baby, I screeched once more and sprung back onto Kol, who was laughing so hard I thought he would cease breathing altogether. I clung to him like a spider monkey, an extinct species on Earth, and squeezed my eyes shut. I held my breath and waited to feel some sort of agonising pain, but instead, I felt my bare shoulder being … licked.

“It’s tasting me first!” I cried into Kol’s chest.

The licking stopped after a moment, but the laughter filled the room did not. I swallowed when it dawned on me that if the monster was really a flesh eater, no one would be laughing their heads off.

“It’s not a flesh-eating monster, is it?” I whispered to Kol, keeping my face securely tucked under his chin.

He gave me a tight hug.

“No, shiva, she isn’t a flesh-eating monster.”

She.

I didn’t speak, thick embarrassment clogged up my throat and prevented me from doing so. Without a word, I turned and quickly began to walk away from Surkah, Kol, the still chuckling Maji, and the not really flesh-eating monster. I picked up my pace to a soft jog to get away from the laughter, but I was scooped up into the air instead.

“Did not be embarrassed, shiva.” Kol softly chuckled against my ear. “You were not aware that Tosha was harmless. I should have informed you that she is my pet.”

“Yes, you should have.” I wiggled in his arms.

He continued to chortle as he lowered me back to the ground. “You’re upset.”

“I’m mortified,” I corrected. “And I was scared. Everything is new to me, and I really thought it would kill me or at least bite a chunk out of me.”

“She won’t bite you; Tosha is a kit.”

“What the hell is a kit?”

“A species of small tamed animal. They are just little pets who sleep a lot, eat a lot, and can be a bit mean from time to time if you don’t scratch their underbelly.”