Luna’s Alien Mates

Chapter 8

----Axoh----

The air inside the clearing had grown thick, heavy with the weight of what had just transpired. Axoh’s chest tightened as he watched Nezyn’s broad hand snap the delicate communicator into pieces. That small device had been Luna’s fragile thread to understanding their world, her only bridge across the gulf of language that separated her from them. To destroy it wasn’t just cruel—it was a declaration. A claim.

Axoh’s gut twisted. A female deserved respect. Luna deserved more than this. Nezyn might have been chosen first among the five males, but respect could not be forced, and claiming her through fear was no victory. His gaze flickered toward Nvaa, kind, steady Nvaa, whose quiet strength had been evident from the beginning. If only Luna had reached for him first. Axoh knew, deep down, Nvaa would have treated her with the gentleness she deserved.

But fate—or perhaps desperation—had led Luna’s hand to Nezyn.

“Axoh, whhata fuk goowin on?” Luna’s broken words made his head snap toward her. Her voice carried confusion and something deeper, a trembling that reached inside his ribs and pulled hard. She couldn’t understand their language anymore. Nezyn had taken that from her too.

He tried to make it simple, gesturing between them. “Luna, Nezyn… mate.”

Her wide eyes blazed with panic. She shook her head violently, her voice sharp and trembling. “No mate. No Nezyn!”

Her finger stabbed the air toward Axoh, then back to Nezyn, her meaning clear—she wanted him to be her voice, to protect her truth.

Every male in the circle stilled, their breaths caught in the heavy silence. Only Axoh and Vallyn understood her human words. And it fell to Axoh, her Takxe, to speak. She had been kind to him when few had bothered, her laughter once softening his own hardened spirit. He could not abandon her now.

“What does my female say, weak Takxe?” Nezyn’s demand cracked through the silence like a whip.

Axoh’s throat tightened. He hated this—hated that he had to be the one to deliver her rejection, hated that he had to feed Nezyn’s pride with truth that would enrage him. But loyalty ran deeper than fear.

“She says…” Axoh swallowed hard, bracing himself. “She says she does not wish to mate. She says, ‘no, mate Nezyn.’”

For a heartbeat, the world froze. Then Nezyn’s four arms exploded outward, rage bursting from him like wildfire. Axoh barely had time to raise his own before the first blow struck. Pain lit his vision white, stars scattering across his sight as Nezyn pummeled him again and again.

Luna’s scream pierced the chaos. She flung herself toward him, her small hands grasping, her voice breaking with terror. Her cries burned into Axoh’s ears even as Nezyn’s fists crashed down.

“Stop this at once!” Nvaa’s command roared through the crowd. He seized Nezyn’s lower arm, while Vallyn leapt to his side, grappling with the other. Together, they tore Nezyn back, straining against his unhinged fury.

Axoh staggered to his feet, blood warm at the corner of his lip. His vision swam, but through the blur, his eyes found her. Luna stood trembling, her wide eyes darting, searching for safety. She reached toward him as if pulled by instinct. The moment their gazes locked, his chest squeezed painfully. She was afraid, but her fear wasn’t of him.

Then she bolted.

“No!” Nezyn’s roar shook the clearing as he lunged after her, his powerful form cutting through the trees.

Axoh’s heart plummeted. Luna. His Luna. He wanted her laughter back, the light she had unknowingly brought into their dark world. She had changed something in him, something he hadn’t even realized was there until he saw it slipping away into Nezyn’s grasp.

Her scream echoed through the forest, desperate, strangled with words only Axoh and Vallyn could understand. Her voice trembled with human syllables, fragmented but clear enough to pierce his heart. She was still reaching for them, for him, even as Nezyn hoisted her over his shoulder like a prize.

By the time they returned to Clan land, the sky had shifted, shadows stretching long as males gathered, cheering Nezyn’s triumph. Their voices rose in celebration, blind to the truth. To them, this was victory. To Axoh, it was theft.

Nezyn strutted forward, chest puffed, Luna pressed close beneath his arm. She whimpered when he clasped her hand too tightly, her body jerking with a small cry before falling into a subdued silence. He was holding her as though she were a possession, not a mate.

Nvaa drifted close to Axoh, his smile fixed for the crowd, but his low words carried steel. “I do not approve of Nezyn’s ways. I will speak to the queen at once. Even if I am stripped of my place, I will not allow him to treat her this way.”

Axoh’s throat burned. Gratitude swelled inside him, though he kept his expression blank. Nvaa’s courage gave him hope. Perhaps Luna would not be silenced forever.

Inside the great meeting hut, Queen Fraryn’s towering form dominated the space. Her gaze swept over Luna, calculating. Axoh longed to go to her, to shield her small form against his chest, but protocol bound him. A Takxe had limits, even when his heart ached with the need to protect.

“Queen Fraryn, this is my female Luna,” Nezyn declared, bowing low. “She has chosen me first and favorite among your chosen males.”

Luna stood frozen, her body stiff, her silence screaming louder than any words.

The queen’s voice rang deep and steady. “Welcome, female Luna, to Clan Zaali. A hut has been prepared for you and your chosen after the Ceremony of Touch. There, you may take them as true mates.”

Panic tore through Axoh’s chest. He glanced for Nvaa, desperate for him to speak, but Komn restrained him, dragging him back. No one would hear Luna’s truth—not if Nezyn had his way.

A fire lit in Axoh’s veins. Rules be damned. He could not stay silent.

He threw himself to the floor before the queen, his braid whipping as the room gasped. “My queen, female Luna has begged to speak to you. Nezyn destroyed her communicator so you would not hear her voice.”

A hand fisted in his braid, dragging him roughly aside. Pain sparked at his scalp, but Luna’s cry cut deeper. She called his name, her panic raw.

Nezyn’s sneer dripped venom. “Lies. Axoh says this only because Luna no longer wishes him as Takxe. She desires a high-born, not low-born filth.”

The queen’s eyes narrowed. “Female Luna, do you wish to speak of the males chosen for you? Or to request a new Takxe?”

Luna’s chest heaved. She looked wildly around, her gaze catching Axoh’s, pleading, before she forced her trembling lips to shape broken words. “Lee… do nut… waannt Nezyn… as mi mate.”

The hut erupted in stunned silence.

Fraryn’s brow furrowed. “I do not understand your tongue, female Luna. Without our words, I must rely on Nezyn’s claim.”

“No!” Nvaa finally tore free, shouting across the hall. “Queen, Axoh speaks truth!”

Chaos erupted. Guards pinned Nvaa to the ground as Luna screamed, wrenching against Nezyn’s hold. The air crackled with fury, desperation, and the undeniable pull of a bond neither the queen nor Nezyn could understand.

And Axoh, bleeding and battered, could only watch as the fragile thread of hope threatened to snap.