“Soon I deliver payment.” Khor checks the vials, all still secure. “They'll wait until I leave. Then they'll come for you.”
“I'll be ready.”
“You have your weapons?”
I touch my pack where five different deaths hide. “I have them.”
“Good. Because when they come, they won't expect violence from you. They think human females are weak. Prove them wrong.”
That night, we don't sleep. Just wait. Listening to them circle in the darkness. Tomorrow, Khor leaves for the checkpoint. Tomorrow, they make their move.
Fifteen days until the portal opens.
Fifteen days to survive what's coming.
MARA
DAY 16 - DAWN
They spent the night circling our den like scavengers. I could hear them out there, testing boundaries, seeing how close they could get before Khor would react. He didn't react. Just lay beside me, tail wrapped around my waist, letting them exhaust themselves with posturing.
The sun finally rises, painting the volcanic rock in shades of orange and red. Khor stretches, his spines extending fully before settling back against his scales. “They're children.” His claws scrape against stone as he stands. “Let them play their games.”
But I can smell his aggression building. The way his scales have darkened from crimson to something closer to dried blood. The way his spines stay partially extended even in sleep. He's controlling himself, but barely.
We emerge from the den to find the damage.
They've marked everything. Every rock, every tree, every flat surface within a hundred feet of our den carries their scent. Vek's citrus-and-ozone smell dominates, but three others mix with it. They pissed on our territory markers. Scraped their claws over Khor's warning signs. Made sure we'd wake to the insult.
Khor crouches beside one mark, running his claws through the scored stone. The grinding sound makes my teeth ache. “Juvenile.” He stands, brushes dust from his hands with sharp, dismissive movements. “Like pups thinking they're warriors.”
I step over a puddle of their marking fluid, nose wrinkling at the acrid smell. “Will you remark everything?”
His tail lashes once, sending small stones scattering. “Yes.” He turns to me, pupils dilating slightly. “And you'll help.”
The way he says it makes my body respond immediately. That constant readiness the tonic ensures, but focused now on something specific. I know what remarking means. What he'll need to do to make the scents strong enough to cover theirs.
He starts at the den entrance. Marks it with his own scent first, the pheromones so thick I can taste them. Then he turns to me.
“Here. Against the stone.”
Not a request. I position myself against the den entrance, hands braced on stone still cool from night. He enters me from behind without preparation. Doesn't need any. I'm always wet for him now, body trained to respond to his proximity alone.
The breeding is violent. Purposeful. Each thrust drives me harder against the stone, leaving my scent mixed with his. When he comes, he pulls out immediately, letting his seed splash visibly on the ground. Marking. Claiming. Making sure anyone who approaches will know exactly what happened here.
“Next marker.”
We work our way around the territory. Every place they marked, we mark stronger. By the third location, my legs shake. By the fifth, I can barely stand. But he doesn't stop. Can't stop. This is necessary. This is survival.
The young hunters watch from the ridges. I can see them sometimes, shadows against the morning sun. They're learningthat their provocation has consequences. That Khor won't simply accept their challenge to his territory.
By midday, we've covered half the territory. My body is bruised from being pressed against various surfaces. My cunt is so sensitive that even walking hurts. But Khor isn't finished.
“The main marker. The one at the territory border.”
It's a natural pillar of volcanic stone, twisted into a spiral by ancient heat. The most important marker, visible from miles away. They've covered it completely with their scents, even climbed to the top to mark high.
Khor lifts me. Not gently. Presses my back against the pillar and enters me while holding my full weight. My legs wrap around him by instinct, ankles locking behind his back.
