Razar (The Mating Games series Book 1) (2 page)

The silence didn’t bother her. The time to reflect on life and sort out things in her mind was never a bad thing. When she got home she would beat the shit out of her sister, Narcissi. Once that was done she would feel better and find a way to start a new life. Once she had gotten out of the military, they wouldn’t take her back again. That door was closed before she left Earth. Maybe it was wrong to blame her sister but as the oldest, Narcissi could have tried to come up with something she could do herself. If she was so beautiful and desirable, she should have found someone of means to marry.

Okay, that type of thinking would have meant she was being as bad as Narcissi. It didn’t matter because she planned on beating these guys and claiming her free trip home. Lista was a fighter and she had worked her way up to Captain at the young age of twenty-four. Once she made it home, she would build a new life and work herself up the ladder of success in a new business.

Chapter 2

Razar

He remembered looking at the females as they each got off the ship and checked in. They didn’t know they were on camera for the interested males to watch. It had been a surprise how lovely and desirable all the females had been but none of them really looked tough. There had been a rumor that since this planet had been a penal unit, Earth would only allow the toughest hardened criminal types to be sent here. Everyone believed it since the other two planets refused to send any females at all.

If these females were tough or hardened criminals he’d eat his boots. The funny thing was they’d been ready to accept those kinds of women just to have a mate and some of the guys, those that formed mating groups of two or more, actually seemed to like the idea. Some of those rough ass guys needed a female equally rough. There were none in this group of potential mates so far. A female stepped off the ship and Razar held his breath and rubbed the pain in his chest. She walked like a warrior, but she looked like a dream. This one would be a challenge, but she would be his.

A mating group of three next to him started to chatter. They’d best not be looking at his woman. Thank the goddess they weren’t. Those males were staring at another tough Earth female. Maybe not a warrior, but tough nevertheless. That woman was also beautiful even if not as beautiful as his. Their woman had red hair and he’d heard a lot of rumors and conjecture about red headed humans and their dispositions. Enough that it made him glad his female’s hair looked like burnished gold. Her figure was voluptuous but he could tell she was physically fit. She still looked soft like he preferred his women to be.

His experience with the opposite sex wasn’t huge, his planet had never had more than one female to nine males. That left the males to share, use their hands or whatever other tools were handy, find females of other races, or a few had turned to males. He had no problem with doing that but none of them appealed to him sexually. They were all too much like him, hairy, hard bodied, and with a huge cock they wanted to stick somewhere. That just wasn’t his thing, he wanted to do the sticking.

Now that he’d found his female, he needed to prepare because he had a feeling she planned to give him a run for his money. He would have three days to get his equipment together and make the needed arrangements. Today, the new arrivals would rest but starting first thing in the morning they would get their implants so they could understand most known languages and their physicals so they could be brought up to optimum health. Once that was done they would start their lessons about this world and the males on it.

They would learn what they needed to survive not only in the desert but anywhere on the planet. The females would learn all about the ritual of the mate hunt and the other mating games. Everything that they needed to know about should be taught to them. Two days would be given over to learning but the third night they would be allowed to pack a backpack with what they needed for survival or to evade the males that hunted them. They would not be given lasers guns or other weapons of that sort because if they got frightened, they might shoot their prospective mate or mates.

Razar had considered sharing his mate with one of his brothers but he found he resisted the notion. He could always do so later, but he didn’t think he’d want to do that. Although he loved them dearly, let them find their own mates. Razar’s parents had both been banished to the penal colony for complaining about the royal house and their treatment of the common folk. They had lived a long time and their lives might not have been filled with the luxuries of the old planet until recently, but they had adjusted and raised their boys with love.

He would be the first to mate and his mother was looking forward to grandbabies. She dropped hints often so he was glad she would be appeased soon. He’d better get to work if he wanted to ensure that he would indeed get his mate. First, he arranged to take an extended leave from work. Next, he went shopping for the things he’d need for the hunt. Water would be set out for the hunters and the prey, but he’d need a bottle for carrying water between water sources or maybe two just in case some went dry. The ritual he had to go through at the temple only took a couple hours, thankfully, and he came back home and got back to his preparation. He packed food, special field meals like those taken by soldiers or hunters. It was good that he had comfortable well-worn clothing and boots already at home broke in for hiking which was a hobby of his.

That night he went to bed so excited he didn’t think he’d sleep at all but somehow he did. He woke to pounding on the door and opened it to find his brother Travlr waiting for him. “I’ve heard you’re in the hunt.” His brother smiled big and looked so happy.

“Maybe.”

“Did you think about forming a mating group?”

“I thought about it but decided not to.”

“I can’t blame you but that’s okay. In three months I’ll give it a shot. Don’t know that I’ll form a group either.” Travlr smiled and smacked Razar on the back. “Good luck!” Travlr headed out the door at a brisk pace. Razar liked the fact that his brother was always joyful. Nothing ever got him down long and he hoped he’d never see the day anything would.

Now that he was up, he dressed for the desert and he went to drive along the route from the release center to the check in station the females had to get to in order to be allowed to leave. For the terrain, he would take a small two seater hover car. Driving along the path, he could see where the workers were already setting out the large tanks that would be filled with water the night before. He explored the area pretty well and only a few animals would need to be avoided. Hopefully, all the noise and the presence of so many unknown creatures in their territory would make these predators go into hiding.

Razar would make arrangements with someone to be on call so that when he captured his mate they could be picked up. She would want a bath and a good meal after spending time in the desert. It would be his honor to make her life the best it could be. In two days, he would set off on her trail and hopefully he would be the only hunter after her. Even the thought of another thinking to take her from him was more than he could bear.

The next two days passed quickly as he rested, studied up on all things Earth so he could make his mate more comfortable, and reviewed facts on the desert area where he would hunt her. In the morning, he would go to check in for the hunt. He hoped tomorrow night he would have her home with him. If she was cagey, she might last until the next day. Razar was excited as he went to bed with all his hopes and dreams ready to come true with just a small hunt in the way.

Up at dawn and dressed, he ate a filling breakfast and drank some crue which was the Mazlan answer to coffee and tea. He’d met some human males that hadn’t liked it much. They had said it was like sludge or liquefied coffee grounds. Razar didn’t care, he loved the stuff but if his female wanted coffee, he’d get it for her. He’d heard humans threw away the grounds but he’d liquefy them to see if it really tasted like crue. If it did, he’d just drink coffee grounds instead.

It was time to go and he rode to the check in station to receive his tracker. If anything went wrong, he could signal an official who would come and pick him or him and his mate if she was with him, up. It would not be his first choice, but he would call them in an emergency. He parked at the station, checked in, received his tracker, and headed out. The weather was beautiful at that moment but it wouldn’t last long. Already it was warming by several degrees every minute. In an hour, the heat would be uncomfortable.

He’d noticed some of the hunters dressed up like they were going to a party. Maybe they already knew their mate wouldn’t run, he knew his would. A good hunt was nothing to avoid, just as long as he caught her before the time was up. It was hard to imagine any way she could escape him. The females were given a four hour lead, but he saw some of them milling around just waiting for their mates to take them. He counted twenty three females that hadn’t moved from where they were led four hours ago.

That meant twenty nine had at least gone for a walk. Razar heard the laughter of males as they grabbed their mates. Some of the females screamed like they were scared. Were they playing? If they were truly scared, would they not at least have run? Razar sped up, he had caught a whiff of his mate and he could tell she was moving faster than he was. It was clear she was taking this whole running thing seriously so he’d best do the same. Once he caught her it would be all the sweeter. He doubled his pace and he was moving fast now. His focus was set on the signs and scents she left behind and it was his hope he would catch her by sundown. That’s when the temperature reversed and a chill wind swept through the desert.

Ahead he saw the first water stop and as he got closer he pulled out his bottles. One was empty so he filled it, drank some more, and topped it off. There was a facility set up for hunters and prey to relieve themselves. On Earth, they called them outhouses. He didn’t know why because they were more like a room or a shed than a house. Once he was done, he headed down the trail once more.

At some point, he noticed her path had shifted towards the mountains and her pace increased. It was clear she wanted to escape him. She would challenge him but in the end he would claim her. He tried to put himself in her place claimed by a stranger on a world unknown to him. It made him wonder why anyone would take such a chance to become a mate and he would ask her when he captured her. The path was now running along the mountains and he heard the animal sounds of shifted hunters.

It was something he was unwilling to do at this point even though it was clear she was better at evading than he’d originally thought. He was closing the distance and her lead was less than half what it had been.

Chapter 3

Running

It was damn cold now, probably the coldest point in the night. It was darker than she’d expected it to be in the light of two nearly full moons. The sky was beautiful but as alien as it could be with none of the stars that had been in her familiar night sky. There were two moons and another planet close enough to see and how they all stayed so near without being drawn to each other she didn’t know. She also saw some kind of colorful gaseous field in this sky that looked like a child had tried to paint it. It would be easy to get lost in examining it and forget that she needed to focus on evading capture.

Deep in the pit of her stomach she knew a hunter was drawing nearer. He hadn’t settled down for the night either because he was intent on catching her. She was intent on getting away but he had the home field advantage. This whole desert was the playing field and this was a game she wanted, no, needed to win. Had she been able to settle down for the night, this mountain ridge seemed to contain a series of caves each one slightly bigger than the one ahead of it.

Under different circumstances, she would have loved to have explored them. Right now even taking seconds to look into them was using up her flashlight batteries and probably calling attention to her but she was looking for something although her conscious mind couldn’t say what. Maybe a place to hide from the danger stalking her. A hunter was after her, maybe two, but were they both potential mates or was one a true predator looking for food?

There was no choice but to continue on at the fastest pace she could set. She would be relieved when daylight came and chased away the cold and the damnable shadows that made her jump at every turn. Before her only worry was being mated, now it was being eaten. A growl echoed through the cavern she had stopped to look in, whatever it was had gained on her and would catch her soon. Lista picked up her pace to heroic speeds, but she knew deep down it wouldn’t be enough. Whatever tracked her now was faster, stronger, and scarier than she’d ever thought of being and could even take out her would be mates without a thought.

Lista started running, there was no longer a choice. A roar tore through the night and it wasn’t far away. There was a cavern ahead and she hoped it was the one she was searching for. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a male. Her potential future husband, no doubt.

“Wait up! I’ll protect you.” The male waved his hands to draw her attention but he’d best be worrying about himself since he stood between her and a hungry beast.

She slipped in the cave. Even if her way out wasn’t in here, it would save her from having to watch the male get eaten. Lista found an opening but she had to take off her backpack to fit through. It took a couple minutes but she was ready.

“Wait for me.” A male voice called. She looked up horrified as she saw a huge catlike creature reminiscent of an oversized lion only blue, stalking the male.

“Watch out!” she yelled as she slipped through the hole in the rocks pulling her backpack through after her. There was no way the giant lion would manage to get through here. The man would have his work cut out for him but he was kitty chow, even now. Lista felt a shaft of sadness with a touch of guilt but without a better weapon, she would have just sacrificed herself for nothing.