Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
SLAVIC
In a fog, I find myself standing over the breeding nest in the corner, a pale and yet brightly colored human female, staring up at me with huge, brown eyes. I have no idea how long I stand there looking down at her when I hear my comm unit go off and Bikar yelling something about swarm ships approaching. All my mind can comprehend is the female lying in front of me. I have found my mate.
My eyes roam across her tiny form, logging all of her injuries, and I growl, wishing now that I had made them suffer a little longer. She is trembling all over, but unlike Kallen , she seems alert. When I lean closer, she does her best to scoot away holding her puny little hand out, like she is trying to stop me. I make myself soften my voice as I effortlessly break the chain holding her. Her eyes get large at witnessing my strength and she whimpers, curling into herself when I step closer.
“ Be at ease little one, no harm will befall you in my arms.”
“ Ok , Big and Ugly . Thanks for snapping that chain, but I have no clue what you’re saying.”
Tilting my head, I try to figure out how to reassure her while the spikes on my spine quiver as I ache to have her in my arms. Especially since I am fighting the urge to simply grab her and hide her away from all others until she wears my mark. A loud bang hitting the side of the ship’s hull takes the choice from me. Then Bikar’s voice practically screams over the speakers.
“ Get your frackin’ asses back on the ship, NOW ! If we don’t leave in the next tick, we don’t leave! Slavic , I don’t know what has your attention on that deck but wrap it up.”
The more voices she hears the more terrified she becomes, and I know there is no way to coax her to come to me on her own. Stepping inside the nest, I stoop down and gently pull her up tight against me. My spines quiver and for a moment, I feel as if I’m suffocating as my mating collar burns its way up my neck, marking me for all to see. In all my rotations, I never dreamed this could happen. At first, I am so wrapped up in the sensation of having her in my arms and what this means, that I do not notice her struggling weakly against my much larger frame. A sob leaves her lips and with the last of her strength she hits my chest and then points to one of the nests.
“ Please , if we’re going somewhere, get my sister. I can’t leave without her.” Her words are so soft that it takes a moment for my translator to pick them up.
Looking around, I do not see but one other female in a nest. Quickly and without letting go of her, I lean down, checking the pulse of the female laying there, but it’s obvious she is dead. Turning , I show her that there are no others in the room, but instead of this giving her comfort, she wilts.
“ The green girl said she was there, why would she lie to me?” The pain in her eyes makes my hearts hurt. A single tear flows down her cheek, and I reach up, wiping it away.
“ Little one, we will find your sister if she is still alive. I give you my word.”
The hopelessness in her gaze almost crushes me when she shakes her head. “ I don’t know what those growls mean, big guy and it doesn’t matter anyway, not if she’s gone.”
I do not know how to comfort her, nor do I know if her sister was actually here at one point. Her nest was so high she more than likely would not have seen Einar take the other female.
“ Slavic , MOVE !”
Bikar’s words have me running down the corridor with her tucked in close so that I do not accidentally hurt her worse than she already is. Sliding on the bloody deck, I am grateful that Bikar can operate the shuttle remotely and it is already turned to exit the ship.
Stepping in, I arrange her on my lap while the hatch seals and the straps lock us in the seat together. She has stopped fighting completely and this worries me. Pushing the matted hair off her pale face, I lean down slightly to make sure she is still breathing, grateful, when I can feel her breath across my cheek. “ Bikar , I have my hands full, get me the frack out of here.”
“ Neither you nor Einar are making this easy on me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to fly both shuttles and the Zenith at once while we are on the run? I had better not hear you bitching later about how rough the ride was.”
Before I can respond, the shuttle accelerates so quickly I am pinned against the seat. Something warm running down my side has me pulling my precious package away from me slightly. Only to be horrified when I see her inner essence running freely down her chest onto mine. Looking up through the viewer, I don’t see the Zenith on the horizon anywhere.
“ Bikar , I need to get back to the Zenith as quickly as possible. Where are you taking me?”
“ If you had been paying attention, you would be aware that several large, and I mean big ass swarm ships appeared out of thin air. I had to separate us in order to deflect their fighters. However , I am holding the Zenith back just a little bit trying to get them slightly closer to us before I blow the Velgriddix ship we just relieved of its cargo and crew.”
Before I can say a word one way or another, a bright flash appears all around the shuttle, and for a moment, I am blinded. When the ship starts to tilt, I realize that Bikar has lost remote control. Grabbing hold of the console, I immediately switch it to manual. The inner area of the shuttle is only set up for one person, so this makes it awkward to reach everything with my little human in my arms.
“ Bikar , can you hear me?”
“ Yes , head toward the asteroid belt and find a place to hang out. I am kind of busy back here.”
“ Confirmed .”
A shuddered breath has me looking down at the female in my lap, my heart breaking at the shape she is in. I need to get this shuttle somewhere safe and see if the medical aids were restocked.
Taking one hand, I pull her up closer to my neck so that I can feel her breathing as I maneuver us through the asteroids. My thoughts are chaotic as I am being torn in two. Everything in me demands I stop what I am doing and tend to my mate. But the rational part, the one that is barely hanging on knows that is not possible right now.
“ Little female I need you to survive. Up until the moment you were placed in front of me, I was willing to go into the afterlife at any time, but now all I want is a future with you.”
Her fingers twitch where they are laying on my chest and I nuzzle the top of her head, hating the smell of those bugs on her. Never in all my existence did I ever dream I would be excited to see a random group of asteroids appear, but I steer toward them like I am headed home. ‘ Home ’, I am not sure where that is now.
It takes me longer than I wanted to find one that is stable and not spinning wildly through the open space around us. I ping my location to Bikar as I notice he has blocked all conversations in or out for reasons unknown to me right now.
The moment I set the shuttle down and anchor it securely, I hit the lever for the chair to move as far back as possible. Making sure not to jostle her around too much, I start going through the compartments. Relief hits me full force when I see the medical container tucked safely in its assigned spot.
“ Thank you Einar , for being so organized.”
Yanking it open, I suddenly stop as I realize I have no real knowledge on how to treat her. What if I end up doing more harm than good? I almost hit the communicator, only to stop myself short before hitting the button. I cannot risk my brothers just because I am scared. That’s when I realize I am shaking all over. I can only imagine the amount of teasing I would be getting right now if they could see me.
A small groan pops me out of my wandering thoughts, but what can I do? Pushing everything around inside the case, I discard most of it, until the only things left are a few bandages and some cleansing foam. Glancing down at her, I surely will not hurt her worse by cleaning the wounds I can see. This helps motivate me as I push through all the emotions I am feeling right now.
What I would prefer to be doing is annihilating every being that has ever harmed her. Rage a war and destroy their entire race with her name bursting from my lips, so they would know who was avenging her. Instead , I am struggling to find a way to save her. Because if I lose her, they will have to put me down as well. My soul is now tethered to this fragile female, and I do not even know her name.
Finding some antiseptic wipes and a few bandages, I start on her shoulder, as it seems to be the one leaking the most. She is so small I am terrified just the slightest pressure will break her. Gently , I try to remove the leaf from her skin, but part of it is dried and sticking to her. I have never felt so helpless, ever, and even though I will deny it if asked, I almost cry out in relief when Bikar’s voice sounds throughout the shuttle.
“ Slavic , I have your location. Release your anchors and strap in. I am going to grab you on the way through.”
“ Thank the Gods ,” I mumble before gathering her close again. “ Bikar , did Einar return to the ship safely?”
“ He did, and has been in medical, ranting and raging, unlike anything I have ever witnessed before from him. I have tried to speak to him several times, but whoever is in there with him has all his attention. His assistance could have helped me evade the swarm ships quicker, but he would not leave the med bay.”
“ I am assuming you were effective in evading them?”
“ Do you doubt me, brother?”
“ Not in the slightest.”
“ I am coming in hot, so make sure you are secure.”
“ We are.”
“ We ? Frack , I can tell things are no longer going to be boring around here. Just to give you a heads up, Falon and Murgul brought more on board than just cargo.”