The alien jiggled. “We shall take you as well.”
A roar ripped out of Kalvoxrencol, and he shoved Seth behind him. “You are not taking my mate anywhere.”
“He does not belong here, and we shall return him.”
Kalvoxrencol snarled something unintelligible. Dontilvynsan, Monqilcolnen, and Serlotminden moved to his side, and I wasa moment behind them. Seth was one of us. No one was taking him. Also, Kalvoxrencol and Seth were genetically linked; they couldn’t go too far from each other without suffering fatal consequences.
Seth pushed out from behind Kalvoxrencol, ignoring his grasping hands. Staring straight at Tatas, Seth said, “I do belong. I’m mated to Kal and he is mine. I have no interest in leaving.”
“I suppose you can make up your own mind, but I believe your hive shall miss you,” Tatas said.
“Hive?” Seth asked.
Caleb turned to Tatas. “We don’t have hives like boobaas. We have families.”
They tilted. “I do not understand that word.”
“We are born to a group of people who care for us until we reach maturity,” Seth said. “I’m grown. Kal is my family. My hive, I guess.”
Tatas tilted again. “You are an odd species.”
Kalvoxrencol’s low growl was drowned out by mine. Humans were perfectly fine. My Caleb wasn’t odd. Well, not that odd… Alright humans were odd, but I wouldn’t allow anyone to insult them.
Seth covered Kalvoxrencol’s mouth and asked, “Are you going to accept the drakcol’s offer of friendship?”
“Perhaps.”
“Tatas, you said you wanted to be friends,” Caleb said.
“The drakcol are a more aggressive people than I thought. Boobaas are not violent.”
“Neither are we,” Kalvoxrencol said. “But you threatened what is ours. Seth is my husband and mate, and you tried to take him away.”
Tatas’s colors swirled. “What are these words?”
Caleb pointed at them. “They fuck.”
Seth turned bright red, while a snicker came out of my lips at his direct response.
“Copulation?” Tatas asked.
“Yep,” Caleb said.
“Hmm. Drakcol and humans are odd. Perhaps you do belong here, Seth. Boobaas do not copulate. We split. The resulting puddle is mixed with the Great Ooze to forge a new hive member.”
Arms around Seth, Kalvoxrencol said, “We copulate and are very protective of our mates.”
“How interesting. Boobaas do not interact with many species. Our planet is not in phase with yours. It was quite a mistake that landed us here and our ship is damaged. Perhaps friendship is not possible.”
“The offer will stand,” Kalvoxrencol said. “If you mean us no harm, you and your kind may remain in Drakcon space and fix your ship.”
Tatas replied, “We shall accept your offer to fix our ship. Once repairs are complete, we shall leave.”
“Caleb,” I said, “come back now.” I was done having him away from my side. Every instinct in my body demanded he return to where I could see him. Caleb was mine, and I needed him here.
“Aye aye, Sunshine,” he said, lifting his hand to his forehead and performing that gesture I didn’t understand again. “Well, Tatas, it was nice to meet you.” He started to slide through the floor. “Hate to peep and run, but home is calling.”
I signaled Monqilcolnen to come with me, but Tatas spoke, stopping me. “No.” They grabbed Caleb around the wrist and dragged him up. His face scrunched as he fought their hold.
