Dumala went on another hunt, to procure a large and impressive skull for her. He said that would be back in a week, so when she was brought into a room sooner than that, Nicole had her suspicions. It was that other male again, with green skin. She backed away from his advances. She should have told Dumala about him when she had the chance.

He circled her, "Who is the male that sees you so often without mating you? Is his name Dumala?"

"Yea."

He backed her into a corner, "He is very interested in you."

Nicole glared at him, not understanding why he was there or why he was asking about Dumala, but she didn't like it.

He grabbed a legnth of leather chord from his belt and said, "Hold out your hands."

She reluctantly lifted her hands, and he tied her wrist together. She lowered her eyes as he hooked a finger under the chord and pulled her foreward. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she knew it wasn't anything good. She drug her feet as he led her to the front of the building. The amber-eyed yautja was there, with mandibles tucked close to her face.

He was leading Nicole to the door, and she panicked, "Me'cre!"

The owner looked at her, but said, "Go with him."

Her heart caved as the stranger shoved her out of the door and walked her away from the brothel.

The trophy he had collected was from a tall beast that walked on its strong arms with its legs tucked up to its chest. Its tail provided balance and could whip around and do great damage. It used it legs to leap into the air, as well as punch out at foes and potentially knock them unconscious. It was not a sentient being, but it was not a dumb animal either. It knew when it was being hunted, and it reacted violently, but Dumala had won in the end.

He proudly returned to the brothel, only for the owner to stand in front of him with a machete in her fist. His first reaction to an angry female was to purr. Me'cre had always seemed like a level and reasonable female. He steadily continued to purr, and took off his wrist blades. He tossed it over to her, and she lowered the machete.

"Your ooman has been sold."

Dumala stopped purring. His hands clenched into tight fists at his sides, understanding why she had the machete. "I would have paid for her!"

She tilted her hips casually, but lifted the machete blade up, "I know, but I owed a favor. I couldn't hold onto her."

His voice was dark as he demanded, "Who?"

"I know you will go after her, so I won't say who it was."

He stepped closer, growling, and her stance shifted defensively as he said, "She had a valuable translator."

"I know that's not what you ready care about. Still, they left money to re-emberse you for it. They were impressed with its quality."

"I don't want money. I want the translator back."

"You would have to go see her new owner..." she understood why he insisted on getting the translator.

"I want my property back, thus you have to tell me who purchased her."

"She was purchased for the Rekk clan, as a gift to one of the three royal sons."

Dumala grabbed his wrist blades off the floor and left. The Rekk clan was a rival of the Secra clan that Dumala had been born into. He didn't belong to the Secra clan any longer, but he still despised all of the Rekk clan members-and now they had Nicole. She was sweet and innocent, and his thoughts turned bitter as he wondered what a prince could want with an ooman. He growled darkly, thinking maybe if he killed a Rekk royal that his former clan might take him back.

The green-skined yautja brought her to a different male.

H

e was apparently a prince, but he really didn't act like it to her. He looked young, skinny for a yautja, with slightly red tinged skin. He paced around the room in boredom as Nicole sat in his bed, a pelt wrapped tighlty around her as it it was her own skin. Hours passed and he hardly looked at her, until he received a message. It said a visitor was coming to speak to him about stolen property, and suddenly the prince looked to her.

"You are so docile, I'm afraid this may be a bit difficult, but I need you to look distressed."

Nicole scowled at him, thinking he was crazy. The male suddenly lept onto the bed and yanked the pelt away. He thrust his hand around her neck, and roared until her ears rang and tears sprang to her eyes. Her chest was heaving as he intentionally scratched his nails down her chest, and her hips. Burning red lines formed in her skin, but didn't really bleed.

Finally, Nicole slapped him and he stilled. His mandibles twitched slightly and her eyes widened with fear. She tried to scramble away from him, but he wrestled to keep her in the bed with him. Before he could do any more harm though, there was heavy pounding at the door. The prince tapped his wrist controls and Nicole turned to see Dumala step into the room.

He let a menacing growl, seeing Nicole on the bed trapped under a male.

The young male mocked him, "You really do admire this ooman, don't you?"

"I'd like to have her back. I will purchase her from you, for any sum."

"I have money."

"Then I will challenge you for her."

"Your skill is above mine, thus you cannot fight me for her."

"I will have her." Dumala pressed.

The male acted as though Dumala was not a threat, "Do you want to know what I plan to do with her?"

Dumala let out a low growl.

"I wish to fuck all of her holes until her skin is raw, and then hunt and kill her while she is still exhausted from the hours of use."

Nicole trembled and went pale as she heard the words. Dumala's eyes glanced down at her sadly, knowing that he had no leverage. He didn't want to loose her, but to kill a prince would mark him a badblood even if the Secra clan was thrilled about the prince's death. Money couldn't free her, and he couldn't challenge the male for her. He knew only one more option.

Dumala slowly lowered to his knees, showing submission and defeat, "Name any price."

The male gathered Nicole into his lap, "I had been casually looking for an ooman servant, and this one was perfect. However, the female said that she could not be sold because of you, the lost warrior. So I saw an opportunity. I'll happily give you back your ooman if you agree to become my sentry, a full time body guard."

"You already have guards."

"I find them lacking. Now, do you agree?"

"If Nicole is allowed to live in the house with me as my mate, then yes."

"Great. You start first thing tomorrow morning."

As soon as his grip on Nicole loosened, she twisted around to bite down on one of his dreds. The male gave a howl of pain, and Nicole let go as soon as she felt liquid enter her mouth. She scrambled away before he could retaliate, spit out his bright green blood onto the floor, and wiped her mouth. She hadn't severed the sensitive strand, but the pain would not be subtle. If the prince left it to heal naturally, the bite mark would likely scar.

Dumala trilled, proud of Nicole. He grabbed her shoulders to steer her away from the prince and took her back to his house. Preparations had to be made, and his belongings needed to be packed. With Nicole's help, things would go faster. He started gathering storage bins and laying them in the middle of the floor. He'd pack all of his electronic devices and junk first and have them delivered to the new residence.

As a full time body guard, he would live at the royal families house. He would eat when the prince ate, bathe when he bathed, and sleep when he slept. Other members of the sentry would be positioned as extras during delicate times, like as they slept, or during ceremonies. Still, Dumala would act as the main protector, and would be expected to wake up at night at any noises, and constantly be on high alert. He suspected that if he failed his job, Nicole's life would be threatened.

He carelessly started stuffing delicate machine parts into the bins, knowing that he wound be protecting an enemy. He was so absorbed in his grim thoughts that he had dismissed Nicole. She was on her knees, tediously trying to sort his piles of junk into different storage bins. Dumala went over, scooped her up into his arms, and carried her into his bathroom. She had shallow scratches all down the front of her body from that dishonorable male.

He gently set her down on her feet and opened the cabinet hidden in the wall where he kept his medical supplies. He came back with the the tin container of enzyme cream, and dipped his claws in the opaque substance. A soon as he applied it to her skin, the wounds faded away. He rubbed the excess cream between his fingers, but it would stay slick until it soaked in or was washed off. It would be a perfect lubricant for sex, and Dumala's chest rumbled with a purr, pleased with the sudden idea.