Mated by Twilight (True Match)

Chapter 31

Tillos

“A what ?” Tillos frowned, staring at Corvidair.

The Twilight Troupe didn’t have any officially trained medical staff on board. They didn’t really need one as the medscanner and mediring they possessed had an auto function on it that could fix minor maladies without supervision. If there was something serious, it could induce stasis until they could get the person to a proper medical facility. Corvidair had at least half the cast and crew, including himself, trained on how to use their machine just in case.

But neither twin was among their number, so they’d commed Corvidair because they knew he would answer quickly. Tillos had just been thinking that he could learn it as well when Corvidair told them what was wrong and why their female had bled.

A hymen.

He’d never heard the word before. It was a uniquely human word added to the Standard specifically for human females that had never had sex before. It was a small piece of skin within their sheaths that tore with sex – or sometimes by accident just through living life. It was very fragile. It served no purpose but to just be there and tear the first time she was penetrated.

And that’s why Leah had cried out when he entered her. It wasn’t just the surprise of the unfamiliar, as he had assumed when he did it. It was the pain of being broken. And the blood that had so terrified them had been minor and had already stopped by the time they got her here. The mediring could fix the minor trauma of her first time easily – and it was – but the tearing thing had been something Leah knew would happen.

But she didn’t tell them.

And now she was lying there in a stupor, a small smile on her face, listening to them purr, blinking slowly as she stared at the gently pulsing light of the mediring.

“It’s apparently a thing,” Corvidair frowned. “She’ll be fine. It’s not damaging to her. Why weren’t you more careful?”

“We didn’t know,” Sollit growled between his teeth.

“Corvidair, can we have some privacy?” Tillos asked. The mediring would continue its program without him being there.

The captain was snickering as he left the room. Tillos and Sollit shared a look before focusing on their mate.

Their mate now.

Because they’d had sex with her and thus sealed the bond. Tillos could feel it forming. Theirs was a slow sort of connection, not snapped into place in one singular moment like some other species. But as it grew, his devotion and dedication to his female would as well.

And knowing that she’d let them hurt her made him angry.

At the same time, he and Sollit ceased their purrs, now that they knew they could do so safely.

It took a moment for Leah to come out of it. She blinked a few times as the fogginess in her eyes faded and her muscles tensed up. Her face turned bright red, and she made a face.

“You two-!” She cut herself off with a wordless sound of mortification, slapping her hands over her face, trying to hide.

Now that they weren’t purring her into a state of relaxation, she was embarrassed.

“Leah,” Sollit started sternly, giving her a look. “Did you forget to tell us something?”

Her fingers parted, allowing her to peek out at them.

“Did you really have to drag me all the way here for something like this? There were people in the halls! They probably think I’m dying with how you two were reacting!”

“We were terrified,” Tillos took her wrists and pulled them away from her bright red face. “Why did you not tell us?”

“You knew you two were the first people I’ve been with!”

“But we did not know taking you would make you bleed,” Sollit said, clutching his heart. “I thought we had seriously hurt you. If you knew this would happen, why didn’t you warn us?”

“I thought you would know!”

“How could we know that?” Tillos shook his head. “Our females do not have this hymen. What kind of horrible body part is this?”

“It’s like a purity thing,” she mumbled.

“Purity thing?” Sollit cocked his head.

“Yeah. You know. Well, actually,” she frowned. “I guess you wouldn’t. Erm, in my family’s religion, a woman’s hymen is important. It’s meant to show our husband that no other man has touched us before. That we’re still pure.”

“That’s not a biological purpose,” Tillos frowned.

“Oh. It’s not, huh? Er, I don’t really know its biological purpose though. If it even has one. I think it’s something that’s just there .”

“I’m confused about the religious aspect,” Sollit interjected. “What does purity have to do with not having sex?”

“Well, that’s just how our religion worked. You could only have sex with your husband. Er, your mate. If you have sex with someone else, it made you impure.”

“Okay,” Sollit nodded along. “That makes sense. I guess? I’ve seen other species do something like that. I mean, it’s not something our people believe in. But I meant more like… why does your purity have to be attached to your pain and blood?”

“Oh, that.” She shrugged. “It’s just part of being a woman. That and our periods. It’s part of our punishment for being involved with sin and the fall of man.”

“Huh?” Tillos frowned.

“I don’t get it,” Sollit shook his head.

“It’s… nothing important,” she mumbled, resting her hands on her belly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I guess, I just assumed that you would know. That it was a universal thing.”

“No,” Sollit said.

“Not at all,” Tillos said.

She chuckled, giving them a small smile.

“What’s a period?” Sollit asked.

“Erm,” her face flushed again. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a female thing.”

“Yeah, well, so was the hymen, apparently,” Tillos frowned at her.

She rolled her lips into her mouth, biting them like she was embarrassed.

Sollit chuckled. “You know what, it’s fine.”

“Sollit,” Tillos gave him a look.

“It is,” he insisted. “She can keep her feminine secrets. Just so long as it isn’t something that makes you bleed too, alright, Leah?”

Her eyes widened. Her jaw tightened as she bit harder on her lips.

“Leah?” Tillos started, narrowing his eyes. “It’s not something that will make you bleed, right?”

“It’s a normal bodily function!” She yelled.

“What bleeds as a normal bodily function!?” He yelled back, getting more panicked.