"I'll... I'll do it," I said, gritting my teeth. "I'll become a warrior, as long as you spare Casey."
"I'm sorry," the alpha said with a sly, toothy smirk, "I don't believe I know who you're referring to."
"I'll become a warrior if you spare..." I wracked my brain. "...if you spare 997295."
"Better. It seems our good captain was right about you having at least one trait we look for in a warrior. Loyalty." Chuckling, she turned to the servant. "This won't be needed after all. You're disimissed."
I let out a long breath, though Lartara's grip on my shoulder didn't relax. The servant looked a bit disappointed, but nodded quietly before departing.
"Now," the alpha said, "let's take this as a teachable moment. 992014 has held out longer than either of you. When next you see her, she's going to be wearing one of our uniforms. She did this for you," she grins with a pointed look to Casey. "You'd do well to remember that."
Casey looked over to me as if it'd be the last time. She might have been right, as I wasn't going to get out of this human.
"It'll be alright, Casey," I said to try to reassure her.
"Tch," the alpha snorted. "We'll have to make sure the captain breaks you of that habit."
"She'll be trained as well as everyone under me," Lartara said. "You know that."
"Then you know my expectations," the alpha answered. "Take her to the barracks. I don't want to see her again until she's in a uniform."
Lartara gave a clipped nod and hauled me up from my seat. Gripping my bound hands, she marched me out of the room.
Once we were in the hallway, safely away from even the sensitive ears of Lycothans, she hissed in my ear.
"That was dangerous what you just pulled."
"The alpha got what she wanted, didn't she?"
"I don't even know if that's what she wanted. Alphas are hard to read."
"Well excuse me for enjoying one last little bit of freedom."
"This isn't about you. More's on the line here. What you did for Casey is a good start, though."
There it was again. That strange softness from her. It quieted me up quick, and I didn't say another word on the way to the barracks.
The barracks were far less formal than what I'd grown used to in the facility. By the sounds of the whoops and laughter they were just as segregated as the cell blocks, only female voices carrying to the entrance. One might have guessed it was to maintain discipline, but what I was hearing inside certainly didn't sound anything of the sort. Lartara led me through blocks of lockers, the musky scent of Lycothans sharp in the air. Many of them were ending a recent shift, hunched by their lockers and stripping off their uniforms without a hint of shame.
"Well well," came a husky voice as I passed, "the Captain's got herself a new friend."
"Finally made her decision," Lartara said over her shoulder. "Means you don't have to be the newbie alone, Eira."
Eira... Emily. I froze in my tracks, slowly turning to look. Quiet, small, Emily. Librarian Emily. I could still see hints of her in this... this valkyrie before me. She was a good two feet taller, her uniform already hanging in the locker behind her, pale skin faintly glistening with sweat, pulled supple and taut over steely muscle. She'd already cut her hair in the fashion of the other warriors, her sides shaven and a wild, defiant plume of brown dangling down, streaked with silver, to drape over her jutting breast. Her nipples dark against that unblemished swell. Against all my better judgement I couldn't help but stare, a flush coming to my cheeks as my gaze traveled downwards, to long-nailed, almost clawed fingers perched on her hips, as if to draw attention to the trail of hair that wound down from her navel into a musky jungle between her legs, wreathing wine-dark netherlips that clearly weren't human. Not anymore. I swallowed hard.
"Now now, don't be shy," she chuckled. "I don't bite..." she said with a toothy grin, leaning in close to me, "...at least not on the first date."
"I'd say to keep it in your pants Eira, but that ship's already sailed," Lartara said, pushing her away from me.
"Right, right, Captain's gotta have all the fun," Eira laughed. "Still I'm sure she'll... shape up. Show her a good time, yeah?"
"I'll do my duty," Lartara said, leading me on.
My tour through Valhalla continued, more of the warriors looking me over as I passed, but sharp glares from Lartara keeping them in line.
"You'll get used to the girls," she said as we reached the end of the line. "Just locker room talk, you know?"
I nodded quietly. Locker room talk on steroids. I could only imagine the sorts of hormones that were going through the barracks.
"We've got... some time," she said. "Before I have to change you. You could spend it with the girls, but... I don't know if I'd recommend that to a human. I've got the only private quarters here. That's where we'll... you know," she mumbled with a flush rising to her cheeks, "but we can also just talk there."
I leaned up against the edge of the lockers, nervously rubbing my hands through my short-cropped red hair. I had a decision to make, and I wasn't sure how rational I was in this musk-tinged, raucous place.