The Breed Series 1: Breed

The memory of my mother still lingered as I woke up.

My senses became hyperaware of my surroundings. I could hear the booming sound of thunder, and the fall of hard rain. There was a calming smell encircling me like a protective cocoon. It was everywhere.

Lime. Mint. Wet wood.

Scents coming from a planet I had never even known.

Earth.

A place I had dreamt about my whole life. The home of my ancestors. A planet I never thought I’d actually see. But how did I recognize the smell? How could I place it?

And then I remembered.

My mother said that when I landed, it was entirely possible certain scents or sights would trigger moments of deep cellular recognition, something due to the merging of animal and human Soul Particles all those years ago. I would innately know my surroundings. I would remember things I had never even laid eyes on. At the time, I could not comprehend her words, but now, in this moment, I finally understood.

My eyelids still felt heavy, but I could finally focus on my surroundings. I was stretched out on my back and could hear the crackle of a fire, the smell of wood burning—and pine. That calming smell of pine, I would etch into my memory forever.

I looked up and stared at the orange colored rocks that were a mere four or perhaps five feet above my head. The shadows from the flames of the fire danced against the crevices as I took in slow breaths. I was lying next to the fire he had probably started, with a large brown jacket covering most of my body.

“You’re back,” a voice broke through the silence.

I looked up and saw a boy. No, a man.

He was athletic and muscular, his chest broad, his arms long and sinewy. Even sitting, I could tell he was extraordinarily tall. His dark amber colored hair was shoulder length and held back by a black leather tie. His cheeks were high and angular, his nose shapely.

I remembered him. I remembered seeing his Shadow.

He was also the first male human I had ever seen. And though I had been thoroughly educated on the opposite sex, I was still navigating through unchartered territory, and I needed a second to process. To move energy through my body. It was only extreme emotion which caused a Breed to flicker. Extreme. I could feel the tingling sensation in my forehead move over my face, but I reminded myself who I was. How strong my people were. I would not betray them.

Arcana.

My Shadow was exactly that, something to remain in the dark. Hidden. Forever.

“Where am I?” I asked slowly, even though I had an idea where I might have crashed.

“OM,” his voice was low, powerful, and sounded like a rumble coming from deep within his chest. “You crashed in Kingdom OM.”

It was his eyes that should have given him away. They were more than just human. They glittered savagely with the ferocity of the greatest cat from the lore he descended from.

The irony was not lost on me.

Here I was, in the home of the Other Mammals, the Breed who masterminded the Cetacean Massacre—singe handedly responsible for the annihilation of my people.

Or so they believed.

“You fell from the sky,” he stated the obvious as his speculative gaze searched my face for answers.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I don’t know how, but I lost control of the pod.”

I sat up slowly so I wouldn’t feel so helpless lying down.

“Where are you from?” He pressed on. “Which Kingdom?”

I could see the good in him. As a Cetacean, I could read people’s auras. All living creatures had an electromagnetic field surrounding their bodies, emanating an energy which resided in their heart and soul. His was deep blue with gold, telling me he was honest and had good judgment. I thought about telling him the truth. A part of me would have enjoyed seeing the shock on his face, but there was too much at stake.

He was still OM.

The motto the Elders had drilled into us before we embarked on our journey was Mission First. Survival of our Breed was all that mattered.

“There are only three to choose from,” his voice was hard, his eyes narrowing distrustfully. “Kingdom B. Kingdom R. Kingdom A. Since I know unequivocally you are not OM.”

“At one time there were five,” the words came out before I could stop them.

He leaned away from my body, looking at me in surprise.

“The Cetaceans have been extinct for over two hundred years.”

His words angered me, and I gave him a cold smile. “Because of you. You Other Mammals. The architects of yet another human caused extinction.”

His eyes narrowed at my tone.

“Every other Kingdom participated.”

“Out of fear incited by your ancestors.” I was barely treading water, injured and at his mercy, yet here I was unable to stop myself from lashing out. But my anger was tempered. I would not allow it to control me.

“The Cetaceans were genetically superior to the rest of the breeds,” his voice was arrogant. “They posed a great danger to our survival.”

“Survival?” I knew from my history lessons what his argument would be.

“They could reproduce. They had a greater intellect. They would have continued to grow exponentially, and who knows what would have come of it. The greater their numbers, the greater their power,” he spoke as though he was talking to a child. “It was either the Cetaceans extinction or our own.”

He stared down at me, his size and presence—the memory of his Shadow—dominating my space. “Stop avoiding the question,” his voice was unforgiving. “Tell me what Kingdom you come from.”

“Kingdom…” my voice wavered. Lie, Siren. Speak. “I’m from Kingdom B.”

From my studies of Earth, I knew each Kingdom kept to themselves and hardly ever mingled with one another. In fact, it was rare they even set eyes on someone of a different Breed. There were pacts and laws in place, and each Breed settled far apart from the others. This system had worked for hundreds of years. It made my cover story easy to believe, because the odds were an OM had never seen someone from Kingdom B before in their life.

He eyed me warily, then moved fast and leaned in close to smell my hair, my neck, my very essence. I knew what he was doing. As an Other Mammal, his senses were as heightened as those of the great beasts when they roamed the Earth.

My heartrate picked up. What if he could tell I was lying? We had not prepared for this.

“Are there more of you?” His voice was curious as he leaned back.

I shook my head and tried to inch as far away from him as I could.

“No,” I lied. “Just me.”

Moving in close again, he loomed over my face. His eyes took on an iridescent golden hue, becoming almost hypnotic—like he was trying to trap his prey.

“What are you?” he asked.

“I just told you. I’m from Kingdom B. You…you know what I am.”

“What is your name?” He went on, daring me to break his enigmatic gaze.

“Siren,” I replied truthfully.

“Siren.” My name rolled off his tongue as if he were tasting something fine for the first time. “My name is Aedan, and I am the leader of Kingdom OM.”

I tried to cover my surprise. Judging from his looks, he couldn’t be much older than I was, and I had just turned seventeen.

“I saw you crash,” he told me. “It’s a miracle you survived. “

“How long have I been sleeping?” I asked as I hugged my knees to my chest.

“Two days.”

My eyes widened in shock. I had been unable to communicate with the others for two days. They probably assumed I died in the crash. They would have been alerted through their monitors in their pods, and when I didn’t contact them…

“And you were here the entire time…” I began.

“I would never leave an injured female unattended,” Aedan’s voice was harsh. “And…I had to make sure you were alone and this wasn’t a trap.”

“A trap?” I was confused.

“From Kingdom R,” he explained.

The Reptiles. The most dangerous of all breeds.

“Are you at odds?” I asked quickly. The last data we collected from Earth was over twenty-five years ago, and at the time, there had been no reports of unrest between Kingdoms.

Aedan gave me a curt smile. “More like war,” he said.

“War?” I knew my voice sounded unsure.

“The quiet kind,” Aedan said. “One no one in the future will even know we took part in.”

I wondered why he was telling me this. How could he know he could trust me? More than that, I wondered why the young leader of OM was alone on the land—seemingly unprotected—unless there were soldiers on guard outside the cave, awaiting his command.

I allowed myself to focus on the energy surrounding the cave. I felt nothing. Given the sensory skills Cetaceans possessed, if any soldiers were close, I would be able to feel their presence a few hundred feet around me.

“So where are we now?” I asked Aedan, processing his words, relieved there were no signs of life other than our own.

“In the caves of the Ancient Dwellers,” he said. Or as Earth once called them, cavemen—the original humans to have inhabited the planet.

“When you have some of your strength back we’ll leave for my home, where I’ll get you to our med lab.”

My stomach clenched at the thought of stepping foot in OM’s capitol. “I don’t need your med lab,” my voice was strong. “I just need to get home—to Kingdom B.”

“You’re injured,” Aedan’s eyes narrowed. “You can barely walk.”

“I’m getting my strength back,” I began calmly, controlling all the emotions going on inside me. “And I’m grateful for all you’ve done for me, but if you just take me to the border—”

“I’m not taking you to Kingdom B.”

“You don’t have to,” I said quickly. “I just need my maps, and I can find my own way—”

“As I said, you’re coming with me to Larsa, the capital of OM.”

I could feel the color leave my face.

“There’s no need. If you just take me to my pod—” I implored.

“That is not going to happen, Siren,” Aedan’s voice was tense.

My body grew hot in fear as I stared at his impassive face. I could only imagine what my fate would be. Images of the Cetacean Massacre flashed through my mind.

“Please,” I said to him, trying to reason. “I can’t come with you.”

“You will,” he said coldly. “You crashed in my Kingdom, illegally trespassing on OM land. You could be a spy. I will not put my people at risk.”

“I am not a spy.” I spat out. My anger and indignance for him and his kind returning.

“And I’m to take your word for it?” he returned forcefully. “An unknown Breed, who fell from a pod in the sky? Do you know what will happen if I find out you are lying to me? If I find out you are putting any of my people in danger?”

I could only nod.

An invisible line had just been drawn.

“For your sake, I hope you’re telling me the truth,” Aedan said.