Nebula Book 1: His Breeder
21

After the failure that was Xixulo, her dating became increasingly difficult. She met seven additional men, and every single one was a disaster. They were either too boring, too creepy, too awkward, or too old.

When things became tense, she put her dating life on pause. Layla’s mysterious appearance, Lamara’s worsening morning sickness, and Terra’s uncontrollable crying, was driving her up the wall. She was worried for the girls and tried to help however possible.

With every day that passed, their paranoia became worse. Everyone looked over their shoulders and spaced out more often. Nebula found herself standing closer to the men, and to her frustration, thinking about Akdronis. She hardly saw him nowadays, and a sick part of her missed him.

No one was ready for when the actual day arrived. Early in the morning, Vrox rushed all the women into the highest point of the pyramid. It physically hurt him to leave them. She sent a silent prayer to whichever god was listening. After Vrox stood up for her, he went from being her friend to her brother. He was going to lead his men to this war, and she hoped with everything in her that he returned in one piece.

The room became a tomb after Vrox left, full of silence and dread. Kira refused to stop looking out the window. Nebula didn’t have the backbone to face the tension, so she just sat and prayed for the best.

She shut her eyes tight when the sound of metal clanking and men roaring washed through the field. When she heard Lamara gag, she grabbed her hand and rubbed her stomach with the other.

“Feeling sick?” she whispered.

Lamara nodded. Truth be told, Nebula felt sick too.

“It’s going to be okay,” Nebula promised. She moved a hand to Layla’s knee and cupped it supportingly.

Even if all of Vrox’s men fell, she would stand up for the women. She knew nothing about fighting and was too chicken to look outside, but she would claw and bite anyone that threatened the females. They were precious, especially Kira and Lamara.

When Wo’ton visited, Ni’ev let him into the room. Things went bad fast after that. Before Nebula could even process it, the council member pulled a knife on Kira and started snarling demands. The brothers guarding the room could only watch in horror and stand back as he kidnapped Kira.

Nebula followed, desperate to pluck Terra out of the situation.

Ni’ev tried to hold her back, but she pushed past him and begged Wo’ton to give Terra to her. Surely, the man wouldn’t want to hurt the baby, right?

She was proven wrong when Wo’ton ignored her pleas and sent Terra flying. A figure jumped and caught her, landing with a horrible snap.

Ak saved her, but it cost him a leg.

Everything de-escalated after that. Kira managed to escape the clutches of the insane elder, and Vrox captured the traitors. She looked for Ak, but she lost him within the mess of bodies.

Her worry caught fire. She was glad that Kira and Terra were alright, but she didn’t want anything to happen to Ak, either.

It took hours of pacing the room before she finally got word back. He was safe. In a world of pain, but safe. She sighed her relief. There were a few casualties– four dead men and many injured, but the worst of the storm seemed to have passed.

She asked Kira if she was alright one thousand times that night. Vrox and Kira needed some time alone, so they slept in their bedroom, but Nebula, Layla, and Lamara made cots and slept together in the common room. They stared at the entrance with fear for most of the night. Although it was guarded by three men and dozens more that surrounded the pyramid, the day’s events left them traumatized.

Terra slept through the night, and everyone was grateful today. It was awful hearing her cry and not being able to do anything about it.

The war with Wo’ton was over.

Nebula’s war, however, had just begun.

– • –

Six months later.

“They guys are back!” Lamara called out.

Kira grinned. “They are? Oh, I have to go say hi!”

She looked down at her chest, where two hungry Ezronian princesses tugged away. She frowned. “Hurry up, Terra!” She looked at her other breast. “Come on, Ran. If you can use those chubby cheeks to cry at three in the morning, then you can suck faster that that.”

Nebula chuckled. “Be patient.”

“You try to be patient while having these suckers hanging off your boobs all day. I still can’t believe Vrox gave me two of them at once. Two! That crazy–”

Vrox entered the room and kneeled beside her. “Greetings, High Mother.” He kissed her and then bent to kiss his babies. “Hello princesses.”

And just like that, Kira was starry-eyed and ready to give him a third baby.

Nebula chuckled and left the room.

“You try to be patient while having these suckers hanging off your boobs all day.”

It hurt being reminded that after six months; she was still single and baby-less. She knew Kira didn’t mean any harm by her words, though, so she wasn’t angry.

She dated seventy men over six months. Many of the men were kind, but they found her rock collecting hobbies strange instead of endearing. They didn’t seem interested in her life on Earth, either. The questions varied from– why are your breasts large? To: why don’t you like uncooked meat? They saw her as an odd novelty, not a person they could connect with.

She did meet one nice guy– Hercu. He knew a lot about Ezron’s geography, so they often talked the evenings away about science. She couldn’t see him as more than a friend, though. He had a wife and a daughter before The Vanishing took them away. When she asked him why he agreed to date her, he that his wife would have wanted him to move on and be happy again.

Walking outside, she waved at Ni’ev and Draekon. They left six months ago in search of women and Xulor, but it looked like they came back empty-handed. While they were gone, they missed the birth of Ran and Lamara and Kyros’ adorable son.

The journey seemed to have been rough on them. Their faces were bearded and their bodies scratched up.

They jogged up the steps, naked and apparently forgetful about the women’s shyness. When Lamara turned the corner, they chased her down and shouted a thousand greetings to the baby. Kyros and Lamara had to fight the two men for their son.

Nebula crossed her arms and watched the spectacle with a grin on her face.

“Excuse me.”

Her back arched, recognizing that voice. She turned around to face Akdronis. “Uh… yeah?”

He blinked. “You are in the way.”

“Oh, sorry.”

She moved aside, and he walked away without a further word. Vee hopped out of the bag he was carrying over his shoulder, a book in his little jaws. She picked it up and was just about to call out for him when she noticed that one page was sticking out. She tugged it out and stared at her reflection.

It was a drawing of her.