Terran (Breeder) by Cara Bristol

shattered on the cobblestones.
    “Anika!” He stared at his sire’s female offspring. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been at a Breeder Containment Facility. Then he’d gotten the good news she’d been purchased.
    Anika gaped as if she could not believe her eyes. “Commander?” she whispered.
    He glanced around to see if anyone had heard the address. It appeared not. “What are you doing here?” he asked and released her arm. He had visited her at the BCF when he could, but a couple of years had passed since he’d laid eyes upon her. She had matured, her countenance speaking of wisdom earned of experience. He found it difficult to reconcile this tall, serious-faced adult female with the child who’d climbed onto his lap and begged for romantic tales of fertile young breeders purchased by brave alpha warriors. Of the honor in producing many alpha sons.
    “My beta decided we would join the Enclave.”
    “Your beta?” His voice rose. “An alpha did not purchase you?”
    She lifted her chin in a defiant manner that reminded him of Tara. “Jergan was a guard at the BCF.”
    Marlix shook his head in dismay. Another example of a world gone awry. He used to slip the Director of the BCF an extra stipend to ensure Anika would be well fed and presented to the wealthiest and most powerful alphas. Instead his sire’s female offspring had been acquired by a male of lower status. “This is not acceptable.”
    “It does not have to be agreeable to you. It is favorable to me and to Jergan.”
    “You are at the Enclave!” He still could not believe it.
    “So are you.”
    “I have my reasons.” As soon as he figured out what to do about Tara and retreated from the Enclave, he would rectify this miscarriage and have Anika’s purchase rescinded, send her to a BCF in his own province, and try to find an alpha who would take her now that she’d been the breeder of a beta.
    With narrowed eyes, Anika scrutinized him, taking in his hooded alpha uniform, his lack of insignia. The Enclave guard had demanded their rings, but no Alpha ever surrendered the symbol of his status. They were buried with it. Of course, the rings had been fake because he and Urazi already had stripped themselves of their identification. That had been the beginning of the end of his ordered world.
    No. The end had begun when he’d compromised his principles by venturing into the Bazaar to buy several bolts of composite cloth.
    Anika leaned close and lowered her voice. “Blood unites us. If that were not so, I would have already heralded the village. I do not comprehend what stratagem you pursue. We do not follow Protocol to its fullest extent, as you are aware. But I suspect the Enclave Council of Founding Sires would be interested to know of your presence.” She shifted her gaze to the tall flogging posts at the edge of the village center. “See that you do not give me cause to alert them.” Before he could recover from the shock of being threatened by a female , she stepped over her shattered ewer and sauntered away.
    Marlix stalked back to where Urazi waited. His beta glanced at his face, handed him the water container, and said, “I am told there is a place where, for a fraction of gilia, one may take respite from one’s troubles.”
    “Take me there,” Marlix answered.
    They’d heard the raucous burst of cheer from the Beast’s Head Alerina before they located the tiny tavern. Laughter poured into the narrow alley. As they drew near, Marlix detected an unfamiliar yeasty smell, welcoming rather than unpleasant, but the higher-pitched female voices punctuating the din caused him to falter.
    Females . The genesis of his troubles. Had he not always believed that nature would have been better served if their race could have been propagated without involving the inferior sex? Though it pained him to admit it, even to himself, his race had more evolutionary advancements to make.
    “I do not—”
    “Give it a chance,” Urazi