by Stone, Layla
Pax stepped forward, and they were face to face. Pax’s eyes were red, a symptom of his untapped rage. “Are you really getting in my face because, last time I checked, I run all reconnaissance missions. So, if anyone is setting boundaries, it will be me.”
“I outrank you.”
“On the Garna. But not during a recon mission,” Pax spat back.
“Especially during a mission,” Yon stepped closer.
The door opened, and Ansel was suddenly there, looking at her. “Come with me. If they fight it out, you could get hurt.”
Yelena moved forward but stopped when Yon shot out a hand in front of her face. She paused. Yon told Pax, “You step off this ship, and I’ll leave you here.”
“You’re still an uptight bastard,” Pax countered. “And you and I both know you’re not leaving me. But if you do, I swear to Seth I will get back on the Garna and rip the flesh off your bones.”
Yon grabbed Yelena’s wrist and moved past Pax. She regarded Ansel, mentally asking, What do I do?
The answer came to her mind from whom she assumed was Sci. A picture of her following Yon to the bridge. The image winked out. Taking the instruction, she didn’t fight as she followed the massive male out of the galley, then down the hall and up a few stairs to the bridge of the transporter.
Inside the bridge, she saw two seats, and two screens. One had a map on it—a navigation screen. The other was black with alerts and messages—a Minky screen. One monitor showed another vessel taking off. It must have been the ship that had brought Yon.
“Take a seat.”
She did, making sure to keep her hands in her lap. Beside her, Yon powered up the ship, and she immediately felt the hum. Then he tapped the two screens, setting up his profile on the Minky.
Yon grabbed the controls and pulled up. Without him explaining, she knew that he was lifting off the planet. She felt bad that Pax and Ansel weren’t going to be able to return to the lab to gather more information.
The Minky screen pinged. It was a message from Pax.
YOU SCUM-SUCKING BASTARD.
Yon snorted before deleting it. His large hand moved back to the navigation screen and selected a blue dot. He entered a code she didn’t understand. A second later, there was a line and numbers next to it.
Yelena felt out of her element.
“I was reading that the lab that turned you into a Flourg was on that planet. Was it hard to be there?”
Yelena hadn’t expected him to bring that up, but she did answer. “Yes, a little bit. But not as bad as it could have been.”
Yon paid attention to the screen, tapping and bringing up new logs. It looked very complex. A few minutes went by, and he finally sat back, both hands on the controls. “Do I still intimidate you in a good way?”
She didn’t understand if he was trying to be funny or not. “If I’m not on your bad side, then yes, you intimidate me in a good way.”
He peered over. “You wouldn’t be here if you were on my bad side.”
Looking down at her hands, she wondered what that all entailed. He’d said she wasn’t on his bad side. But he spoke again before she could ask about that. “And now I can watch you take the test.”
For some reason, that made her chuckle lightly. She pulled out her Minky pad. The screen for Cami’s family was still active. She stared at it, wondering what she should tell them.
“Hey,” Yon said as he grabbed her arm with a gentle squeeze. “I’ll make you a deal. Don’t think about that conversation until it’s time to make the call, and I’ll be there to support you. But until then, no illumia in the bridge. Or our room.”
She turned. “Our room?”
He gave a look. “You really think I’m sleeping in a room with anyone else? Or that I’d let you?”
That was…new.
He turned back to the screens and checked something. Yon didn’t look back at her when he said, “Do you have a problem staying in a room with me?”
Her insides shook with nervous excitement. “No.”
His head nodded once. “Good.” He released her hand and added, “Now, take the damn test so I can turn it in.”
Minimizing the Federation search window, she pulled up her messages and took the exam. She had to think hard on some of the questions, but when it was over, she felt confident about the answers. Saving the test and sending it to Yon, she put the Minky pad away.
Yon could see her in his periphery. “I’ll check them before I send it.”
“Okay.”
He didn’t respond, and the room grew silent, but to her surprise, it didn’t feel awkward. The air was still warm, and she felt her shoulders relax. Several moments passed, and she decided that she wanted to know more about him. But instead of asking a question, she said, “I can see in the dark.”
Yon stopped looking at the screen, surprise evident in his wide eyes. “You can see in the dark?”
“All female Alluses can see in the dark.”
“That’s a useful skill. Why would only females get to see in the dark, though?”
It was common knowledge that males from her planet didn’t like that they couldn’t see in the dark. “I don’t know, but females are also the only ones who have illumia.”
Yon snorted. “Your race seems to favor one gender.”
“Allus males are known for being great warriors. They shouldn’t need the extra help.”
To that, she heard him snort.
19
Confessions
Yon snorted when he heard that all Allus males were warriors. Ruefully, he told her, “I doubt that.”
“But they’re all strong.”
Again, he countered her argument. “Strength has nothing to do with being a warrior.”
“What’s your definition of a warrior?”
Yon thought about it for a moment. He knew what his definition of an honorable Yunkin male was, but not all those things would describe a warrior. Not wanting to rush his answer, he took time to sort through the list of characteristics he would give to a male that he would classify as a warrior.
Yelena turned in her seat, pulling one leg up to her chest. Facing in his direction, she placed her chin on her knee and waited. It was an improper sitting position, but Yon decided not to comment. “Warriors have the ability to move past their fear and pain and overcome insurmountable obstacles. They have a unique mindset that pushes the body to endure longer and to perceive dangers long before they present themselves. They aren’t half-hearted in their pursuits. They are dedicated and loyal to whatever drives them.”
“That describes every male I’ve ever known growing up.”
Yon snorted again. “And how many did you know?”
“A lot. Twenty, almost twenty-two males that lived in the mountain town I grew up in.”
“I think what you’re referring to is not a warrior mindset but a savage one.”
Her nose crinkled. “They weren’t savages.”
“How much technology did you grow up with?”
She looked away, dropping her knee and facing forward. “I didn’t see a spaceship until the day I was kidnapped.”
Her comment was an abrupt topic change, but Yon took the bait. “How did it happen?”
He watched her exhale, and it was almost like she was getting smaller. “I didn’t know what it was. All I saw was something large and grey flying over the trees. I followed it. Found it later that afternoon. Tall, red, metal-looking people were walking around. When they saw me, they invited me in…and—”
“And, you followed.” Yon finished her sentence. “Not very smart.”
Yelena shrugged a single shoulder. He probably could have left out the not-so-smart comment. She would have figured that out on her own. Changing topics, he asked, “You said you were kidnapped at twenty-seven years old. But did you have a mate or a male that you were interested in mating with?”
Yelena didn’t speak for a few seconds. “No.”
“At what age do Allus females usuall
y mate?”
Yelena pulled her loose hair behind her ear, and he could see a slight flush. “Early. At least from where I’m from. If I had been mated, I probably wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”
“Why weren’t you?”
She shrugged. “Where I’m from, Allus males leave their homes at sixteen to find a place to live and build a home for their future family. It takes two years, according to my father, for males to figure out the area and get a routine set up so he can provide for a mate.”
Checking the navigation screen out of habit, Yon said, “Go on.”
“When a male is ready, he will go looking for a mate. Females leave home at eighteen. Mostly, it’s advised to look for the strongest male who can provide. In my case, my father had taught me how to live in the mountains. How to find food, stay warm, and know which water sources were safe to drink. So, I didn’t leave home looking for the first male who had warm food.”
“And no one tried to mate with you?” She was beautiful and sweet, and any male would be an idiot not to notice. So he’d assumed that others had tried.
She made a noise in the back of her throat before saying, “Five males offered to mate with me.”
Five? “Why did you turn them down?” He had to know. For himself and to understand her better.
Yelena reached around her neck and pulled her hair to the side. “I wasn’t attracted to them.”
“Explain that.”
She didn’t answer right away. He started to feel a thrum in his blood.
“I always hoped that when I met my mate, I would know it the second I saw him. That I would feel drawn to him.”
Yon took that in and analyzed it. “Is that normal? For Alluses to know their mates on sight?”
She looked down quickly. “No.”
Was she a dreamer? Did she have this fantasy mate in her mind? One that he would have to contend with? Before he could respond, she asked, “How do Yunkins mate? Do you wait until you’re a certain age? Do you know your mates on sight?”
Yon should have known the topic would turn back on him. “Yunkins marry. Mostly, the pairings are arranged by the couple’s parents, or they can be set up by high-ranking officers in the Federation. And there is no set age. But from what I saw, marriage didn’t happen for males until ninety or a hundred years old. Females were married as young as seventy.”
“Oh, do you think they will arrange a marriage for you?” Yon was pleased with the little hitch in her voice as she asked the question. It sounded like she was hopeful that he would say no. Unfortunately, he couldn’t lie.
“I had a wife.”
Her face fell, the same way it had in her room when all the happiness was ripped out of her.
“I’m sorry to hear that. What happened? How long ago did she die?”
He shook his head. “She didn’t pass. I got a divorce less than twenty-four hours after we married.”
Her mouth opened. “Why?”
Yon didn’t like talking about his ex-wife. It brought back memories that curdled his stomach. “I’m not from Yunkin. As you saw, I’m half Red Demon. So, I considered it an honor to be approached by a captain asking if I would marry his daughter. I agreed, met her once, and a month later, we were married. That night, we spent doing what you do when you marry. The next morning while I was sleeping, my ex-wife slipped out of the bed. When I woke up, I found her in another room talking to her father, telling him that she wanted to go home. That I was a Red Demon and made her do things she didn’t want to do.”
Yelena’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth when she spoke. “Oh, no.”
Finishing the story, Yon said, “I walked in and told both her and her father that if she didn’t want to be married, then I would divorce her. I made sure all the paperwork was done in under five hours. I walked out of my home and headed straight to the admiral council because, by then, my ex-wife’s father was bringing me up on charges for being dishonorable because I didn’t disclose that I was half Red Demon.” Yon took a breath and finished. “The courts exiled me from Yunkin but allowed me to continue serving in the Federation as a commander because I had a perfect record, and there was no law that said I had to disclose my heritage. So, not only can I never go back to my homeworld, but I can’t be promoted, and I can’t marry either. At least another Yunkin.”
Yelena swallowed. “I thought you were recently promoted.”
Not exactly where he’d thought she would take the conversation. And it almost pricked his temper that she was focused on his status. “I was. But no increase in rank, just a better job title.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She was silent, and that bothered him. He wanted to know what she was thinking in regards to him never being able to marry again. “What are you thinking?”
“She shouldn’t have said those things about you.”
“I don’t care about what she said. She was a spoiled brat. What else are you thinking?”
“I feel sad that you can’t have another wife.”
“I don’t want another wife.”
He watched as she curled forward, putting her forearms on her thighs. “I understand.” Her voice was heavy with emotion, and he was almost undone by the depth of her sadness. “You can’t trust females after what your wife did?”
Realizing that she’d taken his comment wrong, he clarified. “I don’t want a wife like I had before. A marriage that was arranged. I want to choose a partner for myself.”
Her face pinched as she sat back, but she didn’t turn her head in his direction. As irritating as her shyness was, her silence was worse.
“I am never going to have a wife, but I plan to have a mate.” Although he hadn’t really put much thought into it until recently.
“But mating is for life. You can’t undo it later.”
“I wouldn’t make that choice lightly. I would know if she and I were solid before I took her as a mate.”
Yelena huffed slightly. “Mating isn’t like that. It’s a physical bond between two people that draws them in and makes it impossible to be without each other. You’re making it sound like you’d wait years getting to know someone before you accepted them.”
She was a dreamer because everything she said sounded fantastical. “Taking a life mate should be made with purpose, not impulse. I would never make an impulsive decision. I would think it out, analyze the situation, and then decide.”
She nodded, but she didn’t reply. He had a feeling that she didn’t agree with him but decided not to discuss it further, which bothered him. She needed to learn to speak up for herself. He didn’t like weakness. “Do you agree with me?”
“No,” she said without hesitation. “But I hope you find the right mate one day.”
Yon internally rolled his eyes. Sometimes, her politeness grated on his nerves.
* * *
It had been almost an hour, and neither of them had spoken. Yon looked over the flight path and saw that there was a break in the trajectory where there was nothing between two solar systems. A perfect opportunity to get some food and use the cleaner before the next six hours of the journey.
He put the transporter in autopilot, unbelted himself from the chair, and stood up. “Are you hungry?”
Sitting back and keeping her hands in her lap, Yelena answered, “Yes.”
Yon waited for her to get up, then touched the small of her back. He noticed a small jerk as if she didn’t like his hand there. Or maybe he was reading too much into things. He dropped his hand and wondered if she’d taken their conversation personally. Thinking that he wasn’t interested in her as a mate. Which, to be honest, was still something he was debating because there were a lot of things that bothered him about her, and…he was not easy to get along with.
If she couldn’t deal with his personality, they would never work.
In the galley, Yelena walked over to grab a bag of water and then took a seat at the table. Her eyes still looked dull, and it seemed like she was there in body but not in mi
nd. Though it wasn’t like she was thinking hard, he had seen that face before. No, this was different.
“Did you want reheated food packs or a nutrient bar?” he asked, loudly to get her attention.
“Food packs. The one with the roots and meat,” she answered, but her eyes didn’t change.
“Got it.” Yon turned around and grabbed four of the stew packs and heated them up. Then he grabbed two water packets and brought them to the table. At first, she looked at all the food with puckered eyebrows.
“I’ll eat whatever you don’t finish.”
The side of her lip twitched before she reached over to grab a food pack. He had already opened his and was spooning out the contents. “How much do you usually eat?” she asked.
“Enough to fill me up.” He waited to see if she could open the seal on the prepackaged meal before taking it from her hands and doing it himself.
Before eating anything, she took a water package and pulled at the seal. He gave her two tries, then grabbed it, ripped it open, and handed it back to her.
“Thank you.”
Reluctantly, he had to also admit that he liked her politeness—at least on more occasions than not. “You’re welcome.”
Yelena guzzled the first water packet before she picked the stew back up.
“What does your kind usually eat?” he asked.
With a mouth full of food, he waited until she finished. “I grew up in the mountains, so we ate roots and meat. Sometimes, fruits on vines and sweet flowers.”
Yon could picture Yelena walking a mountain trail barefoot and being totally comfortable that way. Her dark black eyes looking at the trees and thick brush, and a permanent smile on her face. She was a little mountain savage, and he wondered how long it would be before she left the ship now that nothing was keeping her there. She wasn’t a Flourg anymore. Her skin didn’t glow, and she wasn’t in any danger of being kidnapped and used for her unique attributes. His thoughts funneled down until he was sure she would leave one day. Yon didn’t know why he knew that, but he did.
“What did you grow up eating?” Yelena asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.
