Growling, I stormed toward the arrogant male and slapped the cocky smirk off his face. His eyes widened on impact as his head snapped to the side, the smack filling the room. Ignoring the delayed sting, I shook my hand to regain feeling as I held myself back from hitting the frax one more time.
“You took me away from not only the love and safety of my clan but from my children! How dare you walk in here and demand my help when you have been such an ishing frax to me! I don’t know who you are, and quite frankly, I don’t care, because I am not going to stoop to your level.”
Turning away from my cyan stalker, I addressed the room. “If you know so much about me, then you should know that I was born from a test tube, raised in an illegal research vessel, and tortured for years before I was rescued by my mates. You stole me from the very males who scouted space for me, took me in, and gave me a voice. You took me away from my children, who will grow up without both of their parents if I am not returned soon.”
I whirled around to advance on Xenak again. “Why would I want to help someone who has done nothing but be a pain in my frax? And for what—your brother’s life? I don’t know you and I certainly don’t owe you anything.”
“No, you don’t owe me anything, but you are here now,” Xenak mocked, rubbing his cheek. “If you want to return to your luxurious life, then you must save my brother’s life first. Simple as that. You cannot escape without my help, so stop wasting both of our time and just do what I exhausted resources and worked tirelessly to get you here for.”
“How can I trust you after everything you’ve done?”
“I guess you will have to take a chance and see.” Xenak cocked his head to the side, studying me. “Let me know when you come to your senses.”
“Commander Xenak, even if she agreed right now, she just woke up,” Zyxel advised, slithering next to me. I didn’t miss how his tail loosely encircled the floor around me as if creating a short protective wall between his leader and me. “My patient needs more time to fully recover before she attempts anything.”
Xenak eyed the crimson male for a moment before stepping away.
“If you believe it is too soon for her to wake my brother, then I trust your judgment.” His cyan gaze met mine and he smirked. “But know that every day you waste here is another day you spend apart from your clan. For the sake of your conscience, I hope they survive.”
I slumped in defeat, unable to form a reply. Tears pricked my eyes as I watched him exit through the sliding door. He gave me a slight wave without looking back as if he knew he had already won.
“Vowels. How many days have we been together?”
“About forty days, your time.”
I didn’t have much time left before my mates started feeling the effects of our separation—if they hadn’t already. It was a gamble to hold out and wait for someone to find me.
If Kaede could find me twice, he could do it again. This time he had the help of his sisters.
“How far can you sense people around us?”
“I can sense all the lifeforms on this asteroid, but I’m incapable of picking up their thoughts unless you touch them. That is how most of my abilities work.”
“Let me know whenever Xenak comes near. I don’t want to be alone with that male if I can help it.”
“Understood,” Vowels replied, his calm mental voice like a soothing balm to my nerves as I processed what had just happened. “That male is useless against you now that you have me. He and Celyze have both tried to communicate with you. While Celyze stopped after two unsuccessful attempts, Xenak kept trying to pierce my shield to reach you, to no avail. He finally stopped after you slapped him, but I believe I will be able to defend you if he tries anything, even if he catches you alone.”
“You really won’t try to save Commander Ryzen?” Tori murmured gently. “You aren’t curious to even see him? There has to be a reason the Stars led us to you.”
“They have a sick sense of humor, Tori.” I looked over my shoulder, eyeing the female embracing Celyze with envy. While she could seek comfort from someone she loved, I had been torn away from mine. “Instead of asking me to come here, he kidnapped me after accusing me of working with your enemies and getting mad when I didn’t know what he was talking about. Over the years, I was taught that I was nothing but property to my masters and as long as I behaved, I was rewarded. Just when I thought things were finally going right for me, my freedom was stolen and I was thrust back into the same nightmare. Tori, he just threatened my children’s wellbeing and my mates’ lives. If this isn’t some cosmic joke at my expense, then I don’t know what it is.”
“He’s not such a bad guy—”
“My children, Tori,” I snapped. “What did my children do to deserve losing their parents?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but no words emerged.
Reaching for my ear, I checked to see if my communicator was still missing—it was. Its spot was completely healed, with no scar remaining.
Glancing at the crimson male, I studied Zyxel’s face and
