The thought of what we shared. She wishes to hide it.
My ears flatten at the realization and that thrum of pleasure that was building within me dies.
Adee’ra is ashamed of what we shared.
“Everybody knows?”
Ga’Var sniffs again. “Everyone that came in contact with my womb mate knows he’s been feasting on suu’ci and now they are wondering if the other female is seeking a mate too. Now, everyone is wondering—”
I growl, stopping the words in his throat. “Enough. Why did you come here? I left you on the bridge.”
Ga’Var doesn’t pull his gaze away from Adee’ra even though he is speaking to me.
There is disappointment in his eyes.
“We are in trouble,” he says.
I wait for him to go on, impatience making my ba’clan rise a little.
“We have spotted a Scrit.”
Silence falls in the room.
“How far?”
Ga’Var clicks the distance and I bristle again.
It is close. Close enough to see if we go and stand on the bridge.
“We don’t have enough power for another beam,” he says.
“I know that. Even still, we cannot attack another Scrit. Not yet. We have killed two Gryken. That should sate the crew’s need for blood for a few days. We need to set up a base first.”
“Affirmative.”
“We have to stay cloaked.”
“Affirmative.”
I bristle again. He is being difficult.
“Then why did you come here? Do not engage.”
Ga’Var turns to me then and I finally see the extent of the anger and jealousy in his eyes.
“We have no choice. We have to do something. The Scrit is scanning.”
The air freezes between us and through the corner of my eye, I notice He’rox moving toward Adee’ra.
She does not retreat.
Instead, I notice her symbiotes bristle.
They are ready to attack if she chooses to—even if she chooses not to. They do not trust He’rox now after his little stunt.
Still, I growl at He’rox and he stops in his tracks.
“A node has died nearby. Of course, they are scanning,” he says. “Gryken don’t just die. We know this.”
“That doesn’t mean they will detect us,” I say. My voice deepens in anger as I speak to him and I click a warning tone too low for Adee’ra to hear.
Don’t you rekking go any closer to her or you will lose one of your limbs.
He pauses. Watching me.
“But…” Ga’Var says.
I growl once more, this time at my womb mate.
I know what he is suggesting.
If we do not do something, the Scrit will realize what happened to the node sooner or later and it will inform the others. We are not ready for such a situation
“We can keep it here,” He’rox suggests as if reading our minds and I glance his way. His tentacles are almost shivering with glee.
“Keep it here?” Ga’Var almost roars at him and from the corner of my eyes, I can see Adee’ra glancing from one of us to the other in confusion.
“That would mean capturing it alive. No one is that stupid.” Ga’Var looks my way for support in his statement but I cannot provide it.
He’rox is correct.
If it sends a signal to the hive mind, we can squash our hopes for a quiet, calculated, attack.
We have to capture the thing.
Ga’Var’s hackles rise as he steps toward me, his lips pulling back but they fall in the next second.
I don’t understand why until I sense Adee’ra standing in front of me.
She is staring up at him with a look I’ve seen in those wide eyes of hers before.
Resilience.
“I’m with, Fer’ro,” she says and I don’t know what emotion I should feel.
“This is my planet. Earth is the only home we humans know. If we have to catch one of these fuckers to allow you guys to do your thing, then we’ll have to catch one of these fuckers,” she says.
We are all taken back for a moment because none of us say a word.
She just suggested the Gryken mating with us…with them.
Fuckers.
The horror she must have seen while stuck in the Scrit’s belly.
Images from Edooria flash in my head.
I know what she experienced. What she saw.
It fuels the same hatred I feel for the Gryken that emanates from her now.
But then she says something that makes my blood organ halt.
“Tell me what needs to be done. I want to help.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
ADIRA
I walk toward the door before any of the males can protest because I can feel it on the tips of their tongues that they are about to tell me no.
That I should stay in the safety of Fer’ro’s quarters.
That I should sit back and watch how this plays out.
No.
I refuse to.
I had family.
Friends.
A life.
Lived on a beautiful planet I took for granted.
That’s all gone now because of those bastards walking the surface, destroying everything.
The door slides open as soon as my ba’clan interact with it and I step into the corridor.
It is dim, as it was when I first entered the ship, and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust.
I head in one direction without knowing where I am going.
I’ll find the bridge somehow.
I want to see this thing.
I don’t know where this bravery is coming from. I don’t know if it’s the now constant, comforting pulse of the ba’clan against my skin, but I feel the most empowered that I’ve felt since this whole ordeal began.
I feel like I have the chance to fight this thing.
Footsteps sound behind me, almost silent, and I know the three males follow.
I am in the lead and as we come upon a set of Vullan, they stop in their tracks and stand to the side as we pass.
My heart flutters in my chest.
I can feel their eyes on me.
The question in their gazes.
The only thing I wear are the ba’clan and I get now what Fer’ro said about them.
They feel like they are a part of me—an extension of myself.
As if I can now do things I couldn’t before.
We are coming up on an intersection of corridors and my steps falter.
“Left,” Fer’ro says.
I jerk my chin in a nod and continue in the direction he indicated.
We pass more Vullan.
More confused stares.
No one says a thing.
Or, if they do speak, I cannot hear.
It’s not long before I come upon a flat black wall.
It looks like a dead end.
Fer’ro finally steps forward. His hand hovers above the wall as he looks down at me.
Our gazes lock and I have to swallow hard.
There’s a lot we need to talk about and as his gaze slips over my face to fall on my lips, images of him between my legs spring up like a jack-in-the-box.
I have to pull my gaze away.
I can’t think about that now.
Especially since I now know they can smell my arousal.
I’m a vet. Was a vet.
Such an idea isn’t alien to me…or strange…
Lots of animals are scent-based.
It’s just that…such a small difference between us highlights that these beings, the Vullan, are nothing like us humans.
An opening materializes and like a bell rang, everyone on the bridge turns to look our way.
It’s a vast room with a flat black control panel at the front.