Nebula Book 1: His Breeder
12

He saw the walls of the camp up ahead– walls that meant prison for him, but freedom for Nebula. His greed made him hesitate. He knew that the second he entered the camp, Nebula would become her own woman. She wouldn’t be his anymore.

Although his honor was now in tethers and there was nothing he could do to repair it, he wanted to keep Nebula’s smile alive. She deserved it after everything he put her through.

It was that thought alone that made him walk forward. This time, he didn’t care about his stealth. He had no one to run from. He was coming home.

“Open the gates,” he muttered half-heartedly, knowing that whoever was guarding would recognize him.

A shocked Kyros stood at the open gates. Without offering Ak a final look, Nebula scrambled away and left him with his disappointed brother.

“Kira!” she yelled.

Ak could only watch her go. Something strange happened in his chest, the discomfort competing with the pain he had in his head.

When he walked deeper into the camp, his brothers started appearing one after another. Vrox, in a fit of rage, approached with fists swinging. Ak was eager to accept his challenge. He needed someone to take his anger out on. When Draekon separated them, he nearly attacked him too.

“Enough,” Draekon boomed.

“He attacked first!”

“You kidnapped my woman!” Vrox counted.

They began to haul arguments, only pausing when Kira interjected. “Stop, all of you! I need to talk to Nebula and make sure she is alright, so please calm down.”

“Of course she is alright,” Ak countered. “I let nothing happen to her.”

“Really?” Kira sassed. “So attempted rape qualifies as nothing?”

Someone jumped on Ak, and he fought blindly before finally getting separated again.

“Go,” Ni’ev spat with a push to his chest. “I can barely stand to look at you. How could you do this to our parents?”

Leave? Leave where? His brothers were his only family, and his obsession with Nebula wouldn’t give him peace. He had to know if she was safe and unclaimed at all times. The idea of being left in the dark nearly drove him insane.

He paced left and right, giving Kira time to reunite with Nebula. Kyros returned to patrolling duty, but he could tell that the rest of the men kept a close eye on him.

A few minutes later, he hunted the women down. “Nebula,” he called out from the entrance of Vrox’s cave. He knew that the women were safely inside.

Nebula let out a long string of English, sounding upset.

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Kira announced.

“She must sleep,” Ak insisted. “She is tired.”

“She’ll sleep here with me.”

“No. She will not sleep in another man’s dwelling.”

“She’s not yours, Akdronis! She is her own woman. Get it through your thick skull!”

Before he could slip another word in, Rokan appeared by his side. Ak was ready to combust with frustration.

He left the women alone and continued his pacing. Later that night, he managed to convince Kira to let Nebula sleep in his bed. He couldn’t go near her, but it calmed him to know that she wasn’t in another man’s home.

The others had a plan to relocate to The Ruins, but he couldn’t focus enough to contribute ideas. He was lost in his thoughts day and night. All he could do was burn with jealousy whenever Vrox touched Kira and she welcomed his touch.

When he discovered that Nebula gained the ability to speak Ezronian the same mysterious way that Kira did, he felt both blessed and cursed. He could understand her words now, but he couldn’t talk to her. All he could do was creep in corners and watch her talk with Kira and their pet pufil(i).

Every day, he powered through his duties, eager to have more free time just so he could watch her.

She was his illness and his cure all in one. He was obsessed.

“Tie those tighter,” he heard Rokan instruct Draekon.

Today, the group was scheduled to leave camp and head for The Ruins. They would leave everything behind and dive into the unknown.

Like his brothers, Ak felt ready to let go.

He watched from a distance as his brothers, Kira, Nebula, and their animals walk through the gates. He planned on following them soon, but he had one last thing to do in the camp.

He walked to the dead campfire and sparked it back into life. With the sound of receding footsteps in the distance, he unraveled the plants in his clenched fists. He set the ends on fire. Then, he pulled the smoking plant to his face and inhaled the smoke. The process was repeated until he was disoriented and hallucinating.

No one was around to watch his breakdown, and that made the experience all the more potent. At one point, his stomach began to hurt. He could only writhe on the dirt as the poison crawled further south. It ripped through his intestines, reaching for his source of lifegiving.

One of his claws broke from how roughly he scratched at the dirt. Everything hurt. It was as if his body was rejecting his soul.

By the time the poison ran its course, he was exhausted.

“That was stupid of you to do.”

He struggled to sit up. “What are you doing here? You should be with the others,” he croaked.

“I came back when I noticed that you were not following. It has only been a few minutes. The others are nearby,” Kyros replied.

“You should not have come back, and you should not have spied on me.”

“I did not intervene. I left you alone because I knew this is what you wanted. I must say this, though– do you realize that this condition will not restore your honor. Once an Ezronian loses his honor, it is with the fates. The damage has been done.”

“I know this, Kyros. You do not need to lecture me.” He stared at the embers of the fire. “Do not tell the others of what happened here today.”

Kyros’ eyes dropped to the loincloth that covered Ak’s lap, before flickering back to his face. “I was not planning to. It is your story, not mine.”

Ak stood up. With a final look at the campfire, he staggered toward the gates.

Kyros was silent beside him.

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