“No!” Maith vehemently shook his head. “Never say that again.”
Gnaw lowered his gaze.
Maith suddenly grabbed him by the sides of his head, forcing him to look into his eyes. “You are nothing like him. Nothing. Wipe that assumption from your mind. That’s an order. You helped that female to survive. There was no choice. You made the intelligent choice of protecting her and keeping you both alive until we could retrieve you.” He eased his hold and softened his voice. “The female demanded your compliance. She was also intelligent.”
His tense body relaxed a little. Maith would always be honest with him. “Will Roth and Drak see it that way?”
“They will.”
The certainty in his tone helped Gnaw breathe easier. He reached up and clasped his grouping brother’s hands, giving them a squeeze.
Maith released him. “You need to eat. It will help you feel more normal and stronger. I wish I could send you for rest but the humans won’t have patience.”
“Is there any way for you to learn of Darla’s condition and mental state?”
“I will ask Abby to find out.”
He would have answers soon. Abby was a fierce human female, one of their grouping, now that she was with Drak, and no other humans would stop her from achieving a goal. “I also need to know who hired her to work on this ship. It’s a male. I want his name.”
Maith cocked his head in silent question.
“Darla was desperate to get her sister off their home world to protect her from bad males. Radison leaders are forcing some of their female population to work at brothels. They are given no choice, taken from their families forever. Someone on Defcon Red took advantage of Darla’s desperation to protect Becky. The male in charge of hiring workers wants use of Darla’s body as repayment.” A low rumble started in his chest. “I will not allow him to touch her.”
Anger glinted in his grouping brother’s eyes. “It is best if you don’t threaten any humans until the investigation is over. Drak and I will find and speak to this male.”
“Make certain he knows she’s protected.”
“You have my vow.”
That was good enough for Gnaw. None of his kind were tolerant of males taking advantage of vulnerable females in need of help.
Maith backed out of the bathroom, and he followed him. The door to their home on Defcon Red opened, the other two males in his grouping returning with food. The smell of meat had him growling with hunger.
They sat at the table where Abby had insisted they eat all their meals and Gnaw dug in. He felt Roth’s intense gaze on him but the male patiently waited for him to fill his belly first. Once the hunger pains faded, he took a sip of a nutrient drink, and began to tell his story from the moment he’d stepped onboard the shuttle.
They listened, not interrupting him. Gnaw noticed no censure on their features. There were moments, though, where he glimpsed anger from them as he detailed his and Darla’s treatment by the Elth. He finally finished his story with the moment he’d been reunited with Roth, while the human team kept him trapped inside that room.
Then he went quiet, waiting for his grouping leader to say something.
“I am proud of you, Gnaw.”
Roth’s words surprised him.
“You did what you had to in order to keep the females safe. The Elth killed all the males.”
“I copulated with Darla.”
“She lives. Your instincts would have demanded you to fight to the death, getting her killed in retaliation from the enemy, and more of the females would have died as you continued fighting. It took strength and courage to set aside your rage to make the smart decisions you did. That female was in no danger from you, Gnaw. This Darla sounds as if she was very aware of that when she asked you to comply and stripped bare.”
“She was desperate,” Gnaw rasped.
Roth nodded. “She was also rational, and she knew the best way to survive was to stall for time by complying with your captor’s demands. The both of you did that together. You worked as a grouping would. It is why you both live. I am proud of you. Fighting has always come easy for you. Patience and plotting has not. You did well.”
Gnaw felt choked up, and he dropped his gaze, staring at the rest of the food on his plate. He swallowed hard and gave a nod. “I owe that female. She was the one to calm me when I wanted to rage.”
“We all owe that female,” Roth murmured. “You’re back with us safely. We couldn’t lose you.”
He looked up, nodding at his grouping brothers. They were a family. “I am glad to be here.”
* * * * * *
“Man, that was a pain in the ass. Doctor Kane is going to chew my ass big time later. Don’t worry about it, though. She might be the chief of medicine but she can’t fire me. Not a lot of people stay in my specialty field. They crack under the pressure within four years, from what I’ve noticed.” Dr. Brick sighed.
Darla openly took in the large room as she listened to Dr. Brick talk. It looked mostly like a lab with tons of computers, medical equipment, and two desks. There was also one med bed. It was behind a long counter filled with different kinds of strange microscopes that came from the ceiling.
Dr. Brick turned to face her, after putting on a white coat. “It’s okay to speak freely in here. I disabled the cameras when I was given this space. We’re in the clear.” She reached up and tapped the temple near her bright blue eye. “This baby isn’t just to help my vision. I can detect
