Universal Auction

Chapter 11- Anxiety

I have work and stuff tomorrow, so I'll just leave you guys with the chapter 😂 enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments below!-A.B.

Theo's POV

To say I was nervous was an understatement. I was petrified.

The shower I had taken felt amazing, it was the first time I'd felt human in a while (I know, ironic on and alien planet, in alien shower, using alien shampoo). Being by myself gave me time too think also though. Why am I trusting Vel so easily? Vel seems nice, and none of the have done anything to indicate malicious intentions,but after everything that's happened, I'm still not sure I want to put too much blind trust in these guys. And I'm not too sure how I feel about having little machines in my ears that they have control of, something about it reminded me too much of something from "Suicide Squad". That, and that they got me from that place where they were obviously putting me on display to sell me.

What if this is all some crazy way of making me trust them, and then they turn around and use that trust against me?

I tried to put that train of thought away, but it kept inching back with a vengeance. After I got out of the shower and put on the clothes left for me, we began our walk to the dining area. With all these thoughts going through my head, it gave me an uneasiness that made my stomach churn horribly. Add in the fact that Vel's hand never left my back, almost as if he didn't want me to run away or anything, I was pretty sure I was going vomit up whatever was left in my stomach.

And sure enough, I did.

As soon as the Vel opened the door To the dining room, and I saw all set of their eyes on me, the contents of my stomach made contact with the shiny alien flooring.

I vaguely heard the screeching of chairs being shoved, and I felt Vel's hands lighting gripping my arms to keep me balanced as all of the food I had eaten earlier evacuated my stomach.

The slight burn in the back of my throat was nothing compared to embarrassment I felt take hold of my entire body. I had already shed a few tears while throwing up, but I felt more welling behind my eyes. The knowledge that these aliens are gunna se me as pathetic and gross and useless made me wanna risk just taking a run for it now.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice spoke, breaking through my panic. I blinked through my tear-fogged eyes to come face to face with another alien. This one had curlier hair, and I remember him feeding me food the other day.

"I-i am so sorry, I'll clean it up, I'll-" I sputtered off, my heart thumping so hard it was nearly deafening. But the alien cut me off by touching my cheek gentle.

"We don't care about that, are you okay?" He said. There was no anger in his voice, and a quick glance showed concern in all their eyes.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing if these aliens are just gunna use me anyway, what's the point in trying to keep this up?

"Why did you buy me?" I ask. There was clear confusing on all their faces, but still I continued, "That place, they were selling me. And now I'm here. I know you didn't just but me for no reason, so what is it? A slave? Sex? Are you gunna eat me? Do you guys some sick kick out of befriending your food first?" I was definitely crying now. I could feel myself shaking. It probable wasn't my best idea to out the aliens on their bs, now they had reason to keep being nice to me.

But before I could say anything else stupid, the alien in front of me wrapped his arms around me tightly. I inhaled a breathe sharply from the shock, but was pleasantly surprised by the sweet aroma that accompanied it. I felt myself release the tension building in my body.

"I don't know where you came up with all these wild thoughts, but they were clearly troubling you greatly. I am glad you spoke them, or else you might have given yourself a heart attack." The one hugging me said, squeezing just a little tighter, but I didn't mind.

"Nadi, Zek, why don't you take Theo to go get cleaned up, I need to speak with Vel for a moment." Mal said. Okay, so now I had all of their names, that's helpful.

"Your name is Theo?" The one hugging me, Nadi, said, releasing me a little to make eye contact. He began grinning with the knowledge of my name, and again, I got less nervous around him. "Come along Theo, we can talk as we go. Zek, you coming?" He turned to ask, the man behind him, Zek, who had been mostly quiet, came to walk beside us. I felt our fingers brush when walking, and a pleasant chill ran through them. I had no idea what they meant, but I felt, for some reason, no anxiety at all anymore.

Mal's POV

I watched my brothers and my mate, Theo, walk down the hall, when they were far enough away, I turned to Vel to address about the situation.

"How long were you away from him?" I ask sternly. Not being around your mates when the bond is forming can make you anxious and paranoid, especially if your body is changing like Theo's is. But for him to come up with the notion that we might eat him?

"No more that twenty minutes. He showered then came right back out, there's no way this was because of the bond." Vel stated.

"There's no way it couldn't be!" I whisper shouted, not knowing if they could possible hear us from down the hall. "But only twenty minutes shouldn't be long enough for him to feel any strain on the bond. At least not enough to cause the fear that we might actually eat him."

"Could it just be because he's Terran and still that afraid of us?" Vel, said, saddened by the thought of our mate being that scared of us naturally.

"It's possible, but I doubt it. The only thing I can think of is that his bond is forming quickly, and he already has hormones kicking him." I said.

"Hormones? It usually takes a couple weeks for those to become active. Could he really be that far ahead?" Said Vel.

"We have never seen a Terran go through the mating change before, There's bound to be some variables in his race."

Vel mulled over the thought I had just stated. "Then what should we do?"

"Be around him, hopefully at least two of us at a time, at least until his hormones balance out, and pray that his first heat doesn't come before he's ready."

Thoughts on chapters having more than one POV? 🤔 let me know what you think! Hope you enjoyed!-A.B.

*Next morning note* I went through and fixed as many grammar errors I could find 😅 and as a kid who threw up a lot when I got nervous, I can honestly say this has happened to me several times (no aliens, just throwing up lol.) Yes, it's beyond embarrassing, and yes, the urge to just run seems like a reasonable option 😳 )

I was sure I was gunna puke on my college dean the other day, so I thought "what if that happened to Theo?" 🙃 (just thought I'd share the chapter inspiration.)