The Breeder
"Mana, are you ready to learn your role? You're 18 today." Mother said from the front room of our hut. I pulled my shining blond hair back in a leather strap and looked into the polished mirror, my blue eyes glowing excitedly.
"Yes, Momma! When do we go to the altar to find out? When will the great Horxan tell us my fate?" I asked her, bouncing into the front room and taking the hot pancake stuffed with cheese and meat from her hand and biting into it happily. She smiled at me and patted my shoulder.
"Go now child. They are waiting for you at the altar." mother said and I gasped in surprise, a messenger must have come while I was getting ready. I scarfed down my breakfast and adjusted my blue cotton dress and spun in front of my mother.
"Do I look okay?" I asked nervously, we rarely got to meet the Horxan, our governing species here on Gamma 6. Only females colonized this planet and we were often chosen as Breeders for our masters.
"You are beautiful, my daughter, now go. They do not appreciate tardiness." she said and ushered me out the door. I giggled and ran off toward the town reflecting on what I might get chosen to be. I could be a cook, a teacher, a nurse, a shaman, even...a Breeder. I shivered at the thought of carrying Horxan eggs, or an even greater honor. To carry our leader Avanti's eggs, to be round with that Horxan's breeding would be glorious. I giggled excitedly at the thought.
I would get to live a luxurious life as a Breeder, a life as the mate of a well respected Horxan. Maybe even love and a family. I knew that Horxan often didn't care deeply for their mates. However I knew that Avanti was a noble and just being, he had cared for Gamma 6 for many years. We had never had an invasion or an attack of human men here.
I snapped out of my fantasy about our great leader to look up at the altar and see the glorious Horxan himself. His canine head swung around to look at me and he smiled as I studied him. Canine and goat features combined with writhing tentacles to create the incredible Horxan. Wolf-like head and rams horns, with a humanoid body and goats legs. They had wolf tails and their backs were covered in tentacles to hold down prey.
Avanti was a stunning black, with curling white rams horns and fierce orange eyes with square pupils. He motioned me forward and I went nervously, Avanti rarely came from the City to do these placement ceremonies. Usually only for military personnel. I walked up the steps and stood before him, nerves making me tremble as I looked up at him.
"Mana Dreamchaser. Your place in this world will be at my side. As my personal Breeder. You will have two days to gather your things before I come to gather you." Avanti announced and I stared at him in shock as a realization that my fantasy was coming true.
"Yes, my leader. A great honor you have blessed me with." I whispered, bowing my head in reverence. Avanti smiled showing his sharp teeth, then leaned down and whispered.
"Our breeding will be incredible, my little sunray." He licked over my neck with his long wet tongue and I shivered in anticipation. He sniffed me and chuckled. "Good, you should be excited that I chose you." he said before he moved away from me and the ship above us let loose a beam of light that caused him to vanish. I blushed as I felt the excitement sliding between my lower lips, as I thought of him using that long tongue down in my secret place.
Mother cried when I told her of my role, but I didn't understand her distress. My hope had been that she would be happy for me, that I had been chosen for a great honor. Then she sat me down and explained the breeding process to me. I know she was trying to scare me, but I only got more excited. Even as she told me how I would be held down and the eggs would be forced into my womb, then the beast would mate me till they were fertilized. I patted her hand and kissed her cheek before going to my room and starting to pack, ready for my new life with Avanti.
The two days passed with my mother in a state of melancholy and try as I might I couldn't cheer her. Her mood only soured more when Avanti showed up at our door to collect me. Mother stood between us as I brought my bag and chest forward to go with him.
"Swear you won't rape her!" My mother shouted at the great leader. I looked at her in shock, she couldn't talk to him like that. Our kind had been killed for lesser transgressions. Avanti raised a brow at her and snarled.
"You are the sunray's creator? I won't kill you because it would displease my little sunray. However I do as I please. You do not command me human." Avanti said and pushed her aside before grabbing my chest and lifting it easily.
"We are leaving, you will follow closely, little sunshine." He said and I ran after him glancing back at my mother who collapsed sobbing. A small wave of concern washed over me at her reactions. Would Avanti really hurt me just to plant his eggs? I frowned and ran to catch up with my new mate, unsure of what the future held for me now that I was taking the first steps into it.
"Stop fidgeting, little sunray. You need to be still for the beam to grab you." Avanti scolded me and I stood still next to him. He towered over me, this close I could see that one of his horns was broken and he had a scar over his eye on that same side. There was a sudden purple light around us and my stomach dropped and my vision went black for a second. Then I was standing in Avanti's ship, I stumbled as a wave of dizziness washed over me and strong clawed hands held me up as my legs gave out.
"Careful now, my mate. That first trip is rough, but you did better than some soldiers I've seen." Avanti said and I smiled proudly up at him, happy to have earned some praise. He took my hand and guided me through the ship to the cockpit where he settled me into the passenger seat and he sat behind the controls.
"I will take you to your new home, then I will assess you for mating. You are not in breeding heat yet, but I can still mate you and fill you with my seed. Mark you as mine." Avanti growled something clearly on his mind, I whimpered and he glanced at me.
"Do not be afraid, most females find mating with me to be quite...euphoric." He said with a laugh and I felt a pang in my chest, he had chosen me, but I wasn't his first choice.
"Am I just to be a tool, a vessel and nothing more?" I asked and Avanti looked at me in surprise, then he looked away with a slight look of guilt crossing his face.