Free The Breed by EL Anders Page A

the male to breed her.”
    “Yes, that’s true,” Sylvia confirmed. “But
here’s the fascinating thing—after the male breeds her, if she gets
pregnant, two eggs are fertilized. Always and only two.”
    “So Breeders always have twins?” I asked
blankly.
    “Not exactly. You see, the first egg is
always male. The female carries him to term while her body holds on
to the other egg—keeping it in a kind of biological stasis. Then,
when her son is around one and a half years old, the second egg is
allowed to come out of stasis and gestate. That egg is
always a female.”
    “That is weird,” I admitted. “But at
least she knows what to expect.”
    “Lexie,” she said softly. “I don’t think you
quite understand what I’m getting at. The male and female—the
sister and brother—stay together for life. They’re a mated pair—a breeding pair.”
    “What?” I yelped. “Are you telling me that
my—I mean her—the female Breeder—she…she…her predestined mate is
her brother?”
    “That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” she
said grimly. “I don’t know why you wanted this information, Lexie
but after I read some of the other traits of a female Breeder in
heat I…I thought you ought to know.”
    I felt numb all over. “Thanks Sylvia,” I
said. “I…I really need to go now. There’s something I have to
do.”
    “Of course,” she said. “We can talk about it
more over tea and coffee later this week.”
    “Sure,” I said automatically. “I’ll see you
then. Thanks again.”
    And then I hung up the phone, feeling hollow
inside.
* * * * *
    “You…you…” My voice was shaking so much I
could barely speak. I stared at Lukas with genuine horror. “You let
me believe—”
    “I let you believe what you wanted to
believe.” His eyes were hard. “What you needed to believe.
Please, Lexie—”
    “You’re my brother!” I exploded, pointing a
finger at him. “You really are my actual, biological brother.”
    “Yes.” He nodded, not trying to deny it.
Somehow the calm despair on his face made things worse.
    “You told me we were adopted…stolen…”
    “We were,” he said harshly. “But I never told
you we were taken from different parents. You made that
little assumption yourself.”
    “But you let me!” I accused. “You led me
on—”
    “Because we need each other,” he
interrupted. “I know how you were raised—what we both were raised
to believe. But believe me, Lexie, Earth taboos don’t apply to
us—they’ll only kill us.”
    “I don’t buy that for a minute,” I snapped.
“I don’t buy any of your bullshit anymore, Lukas.”
    His eyes went suddenly soft and sad. “Lexie,
please. I know we went farther than you meant to, but—”
    “Farther than I meant to?” I laughed harshly.
“You were fucking me, Lukas. And I…I was letting you.
Letting my own brother fuck me.” I put a hand to my head, feeling
dizzy and ill. “God, I can’t believe it. What’s wrong with me?”
    “You’re in heat,” he said simply. “And you
need me. Your body needs mine. It doesn’t matter how we were raised
or how you think of me—sooner or later you’re going to have to
listen to your body and not your stupid conscious.”
    “Oh, so now I’m stupid for not wanting to
commit incest with you?” I demanded.
    He frowned. “I didn’t say you were
stupid—just the things you’ve been taught. Let me guess what’s
going on in your head right now—it’s probably all the crap you
learned from Mom. ‘Be ladylike. Don’t cross your legs at the knee.
Don’t spit in public dear, it’s not good breeding…’”
    “And letting you fuck me is good
breeding?”
    Lukas smirked but his eyes were hard. “In a
way, you could say it is. Or it would be if you’d let me finish.
You’re going to have to soon, you know.”
    “Or what?” I snapped?
    Lukas’ face was suddenly deadly serious. “Or
you’ll die, Lexie,” he said softly. “What your body needs it can
only get