A Lost Kitten (26 page)

“You are so beautiful.”

Thank you
, she mouthed.

John stared at Jasira, wishing she were alive. He swallowed. He could not go on wishing for something that would never happen. He had to stop being ungrateful and selfish. He had come extremely close to living a life without knowing if his soulmate existed. At least Jasira was there with him. He could smell her. He could feel her presence. He could feel her touch. That was better than not feeling her at all.

Life would have been so different if he had not returned to Surreal with Bogdan; if Daehog had not attacked Sea Base Ten; if he had died in the crash. John switched his attention to his lap. His life before the attack was not the best, or the easiest, but it was good for the most part. His family’s love saw him through the hard times as well as the good. Still, John had never felt whole.

No feline felt complete until they united with their soulmate. Jasira sat next to him. John lifted his sights to hers. After so many years of searching, he had found his soulmate.

He inhaled Jasira’s scent and reached out to touch her cheek. His fingers went through her face. Jasira’s features grew sad. John clenched his jaw. Jasira caressed his cheek. John felt her fingers. He swallowed. It was not how he planned. But it never was. Only one thing was for certain—he had a soulmate.

“Bogdan told me you can’t leave Surreal or you’ll disappear. Is that true?”

Jasira pressed her lips together and sadly nodded.

“Your soul is linked to the planet’s core energy?”

She nodded.

“Jasira…you know my empire is under attack, right?”

Jasira nodded.

“I was going to ask you to come with me. Now that I know you’ll disappear…” John averted his face while he searched for the right words. “What I’m trying to say,” he continued, looking at her, “is that I have to go.” He saw her frown and quickly added, “I’ll be back. If this is the only place you can exist, then this is the only place I want to live.”

Jasira affectionately cupped his cheek.

John kissed the palm of her hand. “I love you. I’ll never leave you.” He held her gaze. “And if I die, we’ll be together.”

Alarmed, Jasira quickly framed his face with her hands and shook her head, mouthing
no
repeatedly.

John read the panic in her eyes. “Relax. I’m just saying, if it happens—” But Jasira’s fingers stopped him from continuing. John pulled his head away. “All right, I’ll stop. But do you understand what I’m saying? I have to go to war. I have to leave you. But I’ll be back. I promise.”

Jasira embraced him. John closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair. At times like this one, Jasira felt extremely real. The last thing John wanted to do was leave his soulmate, but he was left with no other choice. He had a responsibility to his family, to his warriors, and to the empire.

“I have something to ask of you,” he said. Jasira’s arms slackened, her gaze questioning him. “The Oceanans, my mother’s race, believe that their God, Onssa, divides one soul and places each half into different beings. When the two beings mate and their souls match, their spirits fuse back into one essence. Their union results in a mark, a cluster of cuts, placed upon the recipients’ body during their final—” John hesitated. He realized he had never seen Jasira orgasm before. He was unsure if she could. “Well…in the end.”

Jasira smiled.

“For the woman, the cuts are below the waist. For the man, above it. The location of the scar is left up to the soul to decide.” John licked his lips. “You know how I’m always tearing up the bed and sheets and leaving claw marks on the walls and furniture?”

Jasira nodded with a smile.

“My soul recognizes you as its other half. It’s trying to mark you. Make you my wife. But because I can’t touch you, it’s marking everything else.” John tapped the mattress next to him.

Jasira craned her neck and saw the torn sheets and mattress he was pointing at.

“Do you understand me so far?”

She nodded.

“Since you’re not a feline, you don’t feel this incredible urge—this necessity to mark me.” John raised his hand. “But that’s okay. My father is human. He never got that urge, either. What he did do was take a knife and mark my mother.”

John scooted to the opposite side of the bed. He got off and went to his boots by the door. He pulled out his knife from the secret sheath and brought the knife to Jasira.

“I want you to do the same.”

Jasira stood from the bed.

“I want you to pick a place anywhere above my waist and cut me no less than three times.”

Jasira shook her head no.

“Jasira, listen to me!” John’s voice was firm. He was determined to make Jasira understand; this was extremely important to him. “By Oceanan law, the cuts are needed to prove we are married. If you were alive, I would have marked you by now.” He pointed to himself. “I have no marks. I’m going to war. I don’t want to leave your side without making our marriage legal. Right now, it isn’t, Jasira. We’re not married under any law. But three or more simple cuts will change that. I’ll be your husband. Don’t you want to marry me?”

Jasira stomped her foot.

“You don’t want to marry me?”

Jasira punched John’s bicep. Her action made him chuckle. “All right, then.” He sobered. “This is the only way, sweetheart.” He held the handle out for her to take. “I want you as my wife. Mark me your husband, Jasira.”

Jasira regarded the knife without touching it.

“Mark me your husband.”

With a grimace, Jasira reached for the knife. She hesitated before taking it from John’s grasp. She silently begged him with her eyes not to make her do it.

“I want this, Jasira. I’ve waited all my life for this mark. Remember, it’s not just a mark. It’s a soulscar. The feline’s matrimonial band, placed on their body by their soulmate. You are my soulmate. I want to bear your soulscar.” John stood tall. “Please.”

Jasira gave in. She circled John twice, scanning his upper body.

“Anywhere above the waist, my love.” John closed his eyes. “Let your soul decide.”

John knew where Jasira stood. His pounding heart thumped harder. His breathing was fast and shallow. Perspiration developed over his body. The anticipation was killing him.

Jasira raised the blade to John’s chest. With the initial cut on John’s right pectoral, a door thrust open in John’s core. A searing blast of energy rushed throughout his body. With every cut Jasira made, a new wave of energy washed over him. His soul felt alive. Freed. Bursting with energy. After the fourth cut, John heard the knife clank on the floor.

He opened his eyes and viewed his wife gripping her stomach through glowing brown eyes. “Thank you.”

That evening after dinner, the men took their drinks and gathered in the great room while the women cleaned up the dishes. Mira and her grandparents went upstairs to feed and bathe Ekin and Florin.

John sat on the sofa to the left side of the fireplace. “So, when will your ships arrive?”

Kenner sat on the second sofa across from John. “The Space Guardians assigned to retrieve us will be here in about seven lunar cycles.”

John jolted upright, dislodging his translator. “Seven months!” he exclaimed. He picked up the device from his lap and secured it around his ear again. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Asher sat next to John. “It takes time to travel from point A to point B.”

“Yeah, but seven months?” John glanced back at Kenner. His features pleaded with Kenner to tell him differently. “I’ve been away for eighteen months. Another seven months for your ships to get here, then lord knows how many months to get to Sea Base Nine—I’ll be away for another year!”

“I understand,” said Kenner sympathetically. “I’m sorry, but this war has our fleet stretched to their limits.”

“How fast are your ships?”

“The fastest around,” answered Asher. “Warp speed ten.”

John dropped back into the sofa. “Damn it! That’s why.”

“Why what?” Andros chose the seat beside his father.

“Why it takes your ships so long to travel from point A to point B. I was hoping your ships were as fast as our White Stars.”

Gorwin took the single seat opposite the fireplace. “They are not?”

John’s features twisted in a grimace. “No.”

Sirius sat in the second single seat, to Gorwin’s right. “How fast are your ships?”

“Our White Stars travel at hyperspeed.”

“Hyperspeed!” the Guardians exclaimed.

“That’s not possible,” disputed Asher.

Gorwin calmly took a sip of his drink. “No one in Medlothian history has been able to tap into a power supply that would enable a ship to travel that fast.”

John figured Gorwin’s piercing stare was meant to make him admit he was lying.

“Not to mention, the ship’s outer layer would have to withstand the velocity and duration of the flight,” added Kenner.

“The White Stars have all those capabilities. Hyperspeed allows us to cut travel time in half.”

Andros sat forward, leaning his forearms on his knees. He regarded John with keen interest. “How did you get your hands on these ships?”

“We created them with the help of an ancient race called Mage.”

“We have heard of them,” spoke Gorwin. “They are the oldest race known—older than us Medlothians.” He touched his temple with two fingers. “They have very powerful minds.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“That would explain the outer shell, but where did you get the power supply?” inquired Andros.

“That was discovered and invented by my family. It’s a family secret.” John smiled.

The others protested, insisting that John tell them.

“Sorry, guys. If I tell you, then I will have to kill you.”

They protested more. John laughed. He would not give in. Nor would he tell them that his family had discovered yet another power source that allowed their personal vehicles and the royal starship to fly even faster. A speed they called overdrive.

To change the subject, John asked, “Does your first stop have to be Oceanica? I was hoping we could go all the way to Sea Base Nine.”

“We have to check on your race,” informed Kenner.

John quickly grew serious. “Not my race.”

Kenner’s features displayed his confusion. “You are half feline.”

“Because of my mother,” clarified John. “That doesn’t make me an Oceanan. I’m a Sea-anan. There’s a difference.”

Asher eyed John from over the rim of his cup. “How’s that?”

“Sea-anans believe everyone is created equal. Oceanans are purists, and they believe they are the superior race.”

“You are kidding me,” Bogdan said.

“I kid you not.” John drank his tea. “The Oceanans aren’t that friendly to those who aren’t felines.”

Kenner stared at him. “I don’t believe you. Sev has been a good friend to the Space Guardians.”

“Of course. Sev isn’t like the others.”

“I don’t understand,” Sirius said. “Your mother is an Oceanan. How did you become a Sea-anan instead of an Oceanan?”

“Long story short—King Oren was prejudice and my mother wasn’t.”

“You told me your father was not a feline,” inserted Bogdan.

“That’s where Oren’s prejudice came into play.”

Asher paused in drinking his drink. “Are you serious?”

John inhaled deeply, nodding. This part of his childhood, he did not like to remember. “Yes. My mother married a man from Earth. We were alienated because of it. Even exiled for a while.”

Gorwin finished his drink and placed his glass back on the table. “What happened to change their minds?”

“My mother, Uncle Challen, and other felines who sided with them agreed to live a false life as Seacats to keep the peace amongst the citizens. After Oceana’s destruction, we created a new life on different planets—first Aaren, then Laaren. We went back to Earth and rejoined our friends and family there. We kept many of the feline traditions and incorporated them with Earth’s traditions. We made modifications and improvements where needed.” John pointed to his insignia.

“That explains why
you
are different,” Asher commented. “But Sev is not like the others. Why is that?”

“My Uncle Challen adopted Sev’s mother, Karla, when she was three. Later, she died during childbirth. After Sev turned two, he spent more time with my family than he did at the castle. I’m glad to hear he survived. My mother will be happy when I tell her.”

“She’ll be more happy if we make sure he’s all right before we head to Sea Base Nine,” remarked Andros.

Gorwin nodded. “We failed to help him the last time his felines were attacked. We don’t want to fail him again, even knowing his felines are as you say.”

“Thanks.”

“Why are you thanking me?” Gorwin smirked. “I thought you had no loyalties to your mother’s race?”

“I don’t. But my uncle died trying to keep Sev alive. I would hate for his efforts to go in vain.” John tilted his head sideways. “Besides, Sev
is
Karla’s son.”

“Your relative,” spoke Asher and Andros together.

John dipped his head once. “My cousin.”

“You will get to meet our sister Kahilee,” Asher piped in happily. “We have not seen her since her last visit, a year ago.”