Unwelcome

by Annalise Alexis

“Ren. What did you do?” Avoiding my question, he moves back in for a kiss and I wiggle out of his embrace. “Where is he?”

  “Below deck, in the cargo hold.”

  “The cargo hold! You’re kidding right? Tell me you didn’t throw that old man down there and leave him.”

  “I did not. Ragar was tasked with securing the male. That is the safest place.”

  Irritated he intentionally hid the captain’s whereabouts from me, I stalk out of Naya’s room and head toward the kitchen. “Where is it?” I ask, glaring at Ren.

  “Where is what, Skara?” Ren leans back on the wall near the drink dispensers and crosses his arms.

  “Don’t play dumb with me. Where’s the door to the cargo hold? I want him out of there now.”

  All eyes are on me. Even Leandra hovers near, staring at me wide-eyed from behind her bowl while she chews her food. Ren takes his time strutting over to the small area located between the navigation room and the lounge.

  Iana places a timid hand on my shoulder. “He is alive, Aciana. I can hear his heart beating.” I appreciate her attempt to soothe me, but seriously? They’re keeping him down there like a caged animal? He’s a human, not a pet.

  “He is a prisoner. He will remain below.”

  Son of a—Ren’s standing on top of a square shaped hatch inlaid in the floor. Sneaky little shit’s trying to hide it from me. “Please move.” I straighten to my full height, squaring my shoulders and puffing out my chest. Damn it, he’s going to listen to me. It doesn’t feel right to leave the captain down there. He’s just a lost old man desperate to find his granddaughter.

  “He stays.” Ren studies the hard lines of my face before trying to compromise. “But I will agree to unbind him.”

  My body tenses. “Unbind him? So, you stuck him down there and tied him up as well? He saved my life!”

  “Yes, my Aciana. That is why he still lives.”

  The other males grunt in response as Ren steps off the camouflaged door and opens it.

  I press my lips together and tighten my fists. “I’m going with you. I want to see him for myself.”

  “No. You are untrained in combat. It is not safe. I will go down and question him.”

  I ignore his demand and try to push my way past him. He plants his feet, blocking my way.

  “I’m going with you. You don’t like it? Train me. The females should be taught to defend themselves anyway.”

  Ren’s holds his breath, clenching his jaw. Silence blankets the room until he exhales in a huff. “We have discussed this. The females have no need to fight. As males, it is our duty to serve and protect our females.”

  “Yeah? And what if you can’t? What if what happened to me, happens to them? I only survived because of whatever that stuff—”

  “Lumin,” he interrupts, already knowing what I wanted to say. Are we that couple that finishes each other’s sentences now? I hope not.

  “Lumin. Whatever. If I didn’t randomly start oozing it, I would have died. Or even worse...” My heart races, and Ren’s eyes darken as the memory of that thing sucking on my fingers flashes through my mind. He can’t argue. Not really. He wasn’t there, and he knows it.

  “And what happened when the Inokine surprise attacked you? You had to send the females ahead of the males, right? That's how we all met?” I look around the room at Amina, Iana, and the other Illusians I’ve grown to love. “What would have happened if the Inokine had anticipated you doing that and were waiting for them when they showed up?”

  Several growls echo through the room, and the females avert their eyes. My attempt at helping has gone to hell, and my verbal diarrhea keeps making things worse. Ren is way past irritated and headed for angry, and the Illusian males look ready to combust. I should shut up and try to save face but I can’t. This is too important.

  Something has to change. Ren continues to stand silently. I don’t need to access our bond to know he’s seething.

  “You all feel this way?” he asks, scanning from one female to the next. Most of them look like they would rather be anywhere else. Illaria is quick to answer, taking advantage of Ren’s conflicting emotions about me.

  “I do not. I feel very safe with you, Acia. I know you will protect me.” Her big lavender eyes tilt down as she blinks rapid fire, trying her best to look submissive. Ren lets his gaze linger on her long enough to piss me off, then returns his attention to me. Without saying a word, he steps back giving me space to enter through the hidden opening. A hot burst of guilt rises up, and my heart squeezes at the look of disappointment written all over his face. Why does everything have to be about honor? Can’t something just be common sense?

  Sighing, I ignore the rest of the room and focus on the male that owns my heart. “I’m not saying you can’t defend me, us—whomever, but at some point, our survival is going to be dependent on our own ability to fend off an attacker. There’s nothing wrong with a backup plan, Ren, especially now that we know my race is involved.”

  I realize my mistake the second those words fly out of my mouth.

  What have I done?

  Ren respected my request to wait before we told the others what he found during his interrogation of Sterling’s men. And I just let loose with a truth bomb at the worst time. Emotions are already high over training the females, and now they’re all about to find out how involved my kind really are. A sudden rush of terror floods me. I panic, looking to Ren for help.

  “What do you mean, Ajayla?” Amina steps forward, inching closer to me protectively.

  “Acia?” Sol turns to Ren.

  “Yes, Ajayla, whatever do you mean? Please do tell us.” My ears burn at the accusation in Illaria’s voice and the confident sneer that pulls at her lips. I’m about two seconds away from strangling her.

  Luckily, Dreya speaks up before I can do something stupid. “Watch your tone, Illaria. We know the human general was involved with the invasion. There is no cause for your disrespect.”

  Illaria struts closer to Ren and me. I hold up a hand to silence Ren before he tries to scold her. I want to hear what the uppity bitch has to say.

  “Is Dreya right? That is as far as your involvement goes?”

  I swallow as the entire room focuses on me. Leandra pushes past Ari and Tao to stand at my side. Ragar follows close behind. “I…” I try to get the words out to explain, to give some sort of a reason for my hesitance, but Illaria refuses to give me the chance.

  “I knew you manipulated Aren into mating you, but I never thought you would kill your own kind to bed hi—”

  A blur shoots past me, and a loud smack breaks the awkward silence in the room. When my eyes finally catch up, Naya is towering over Illaria—hand drawn back like she’s ready to slap her again. “Hold your tongue, girl. Your disrespect will no longer be tolerated.” Rising to her full height, Naya glares at Illaria, then looks to me and gestures for me to continue. I suck in a deep breath.

  Oh, thank God. Okay. I can do this.

  “Enough,” Ren commands. “You will forgive me, Skara.” A full-blown recap of everything he showed me in private before we left barrels through my mind—and from the reaction of the others in the room, over the bond to them all. He must have held back with me that night, because what he just sent is violence in real time. Every gasp, cry, and sensation of pain is magnified. He intentionally drove those human soldiers to the brink of insanity before he pried them apart.

  I double over and retch until the images finally come to a stop. A chorus of growls churn through the room and not a second later, Nexx, Tor, Orion, Ari, and Tao drop to their knees. They strain against Ren’s gifts as he holds them in place.

  Ren snarls, “You will control your thoughts. My mate had nothing to do with the treachery you were shown. We have all been misguided in our notion that the Inokine were acting alone. It is now clear that multiple humans working for the Universal Community are involved.”

  “Acia, no disrespect, but was I mistaken in seeing that Xen is still ali
ve?” Amina asks quietly.

  “He lives. The Inokine and the humans used the Haug to wipe his memories. He does not know who, or what he is. That is how they neutralized him and successfully kidnapped his charges.

  “And they tried to do something similar to you?” Sol asks as he moves stand beside Ren, further separating us from the males still pinned to the floor.

  “Yes. That is why I severed the bond. If I had been taken, they could have used my gifts to manipulate you all.”

  “They were planning to take Liral?” Dreya grinds out each syllable as if it’s hard to form the words.

  “Yes. I do not know for what purpose. Only that the general attempted to negotiate with the Inokine to keep the child for himself. I suspect he had plans to raise him as a war slave. Forced to fight, breed, and do his bidding.”

  Dreya’s gaze cuts to the room where Liral is sleeping peacefully, and then to me. “You put down the filth that killed Naya and tried to steal my boy?”

  My lips flatten into a thin line. “I did.” She left out the part where they tried to rape and kill me.

  “Then it does not matter what the other humans have done. You may have my life, Aciana.” She steps forward and kneels down in front of me, palms up.

  Rhia moves beside her. “You helped save my son. I, too, am with you.”

  Iana’s gaze falls on Orion. She rubs her tiny baby bump, then kneels on the floor next to Rhia. “I as well, Aciana.”

  “Fools, can you not see her—” Illaria grips her throat mid-sentence. Her eyes widen and she mouths her words but she doesn’t make a peep. Ren silenced her by stealing her voice. It’s about damn time someone shut her up. One glance from Ren and Naya drags Illaria out by her hair. My eyes burn with unshed tears as I help the three females back to their feet and return to my spot beside Ren.

  He releases the males. “You five get the fuck out of my sight. Ragar, stand guard.” Ren’s lip curls in disgust as he jerks his thumb toward the hidden compartment then turns to me. “Do not touch him.” Without another word, Ren descends the stairs. Avoiding any lingering glares, I keep my eyes trained on the floor and follow him.

  Chapter Five

  Jayla

  My temples pound as I clear the last step and squeeze my way past Ren. What a disaster. There are so many emotions tumbling around in my brain. Worry. Frustration. Anger. But worst of all, guilt. Guilt over what I said and how I said it. Hell, I feel guilty just being human at this point.

  I can’t see the captain in the dim light, so I tiptoe carefully, worried I’ll step on him. When my eyes adjust, I curse. He’s on his side with his hands and feet hogtied together.

  “See, he is alive. Let us be done with this foolishness.”

  I glare at Ren. The captain can’t be younger than sixty and has been stuck in the same position for the last twelve hours at least. Space has a funny way of disguising time, and I haven’t bothered to look at my watch. My conscience is screaming at me. I don’t know the man. He could be a sadistic serial killer, but seeing him lying there in a puddle of his own piss just isn’t okay with me. Maybe I’ve a soft spot for grandfathers, but damn, I would kill someone if they’d done that to mine.

  “Give me your knife,” I demand, getting close enough to see Ren’s thick eyebrows furrow in disapproval. He sighs and uses the barb of his second finger to slice through the cord restraining the captain. The man's feet flop to the floor with a loud thud. His eyes are swollen from tears, his mouth cracked and dry. If Ren left him tied up, then I have to assume he hasn’t had anything to eat or drink since before we left. Lying on the floor next to him, careful to avoid his pee, I try to assess his mental status. His lack of response when Ren cut him free has me worried he’s in some sort of dissociative fugue state.

  “Hey, are you all right?” I ask, close enough to hear his breath falter.

  “Jordie? Is that you?”

  My heart drops knowing he’s mistaken me for his granddaughter. Like I need another reason to cry. “No. It’s Jayla. The girl you saved on the ship. I’ve come to check on you.”

  He opens his eyes and frowns at me. “No, you’re not my Jordie. My Jordie girl is gone.”

  “We need to get you up. You can’t just lie here. We need your help to find her.”

  His voice cracks, and a fresh wave of tears drips down his face. “You can’t. No one can. Not without Sterling. He was my last chance.”

  “We found your smuggler friend and we’re headed there now. If you could just get up, maybe Ren and the others would let you shower and change. You have to be hungry.”

  He groans loudly and smacks his forehead on the ground. “You don’t know what they’re doing to her. What they’ve done. Cruel, filthy monsters. I can’t stand it, can’t stand the thought of what she’s going through.”

  I can relate. When I saw Xandria’s legs, I felt for her, couldn’t imagine how close she’d come to being ravaged by those things. Then after almost experiencing it myself…

  I need to find them.

  “That’s why we have to save her, to get her out of there. Ren has people going through the same thing. That’s why he was so rough with you. We have to figure out where they are, and we need your help.”

  The captain begins sobbing loudly. “It’s my fault they took her. I used to work the docks at Station J near Pluto. We served as the mid-way point for large freighters going to and from Earth. Most of the cargo I inspected contained trade goods, food, and things of that nature. But I started noticing the logs weren’t filled out correctly and decided to check it out. I found the first shipment of girls two weeks into my search and reported it to my boss. They fired me for it. After that, I used my savings and spent my time tracking the slave traders, thinking I was doing good and helping save some lives. I was such an idiot. They found out who I was after I intercepted several of their fake manifests and called in a tip for the girls’ locations.”

  Ren growls in warning as I wipe the tears from the captain’s eyes.

  “They killed my son and took my granddaughter. They were all I had left after my Ann died, and now, I’ve lost them too. She’s going through hell because of me. Just please, miss, let me die.”

  Then get your shit together and help her!

  “Okay, sure. I’ll let you die. But just so you know, they won’t let her go that easily. They will keep her alive by any means necessary. Force feed her, beat her into submission—whatever—so they can breed her. You go right ahead and rest while she’s chained up somewhere, suffering.” Getting to my feet, I head toward Ren, hoping my brutish words strike a chord. The captain has to find the will to live, and it’s obvious he isn’t going to do it for himself.

  Before I even make it to the stairs, he clears his throat. “Wait.”

  Ren and Ragar loom over the captain outside the bathroom like they’re ready to pounce on him at a moment’s notice.

  “I can’t believe you talked him into letting the guy shower. You know Ragar almost killed him, right?” Tiny blue droplets slosh onto the table as Leandra haphazardly stirs the tea Amina taught her to make. Her blond hair is tied up, and she’s wearing the same pair of black sweats she had on the day we left.

  I lean closer, enjoying the notes of rosemary and mint from her cup. “I know, and I realize they do things a certain way for a reason, I just struggle when it comes to stuff like this. He saved my life.”

  “I’m still pissed I missed that. He really used a revolver to kill an Inokine? Like with a real bullet?”

  “Yep.” A chill skitters down my spine. I’ll never forget the smell of that thing’s breath, or how close it got to my face. I don’t want to think about what could have happened if the old man hadn’t been there. I’m sure Ren would have stepped in, but what if…

  I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the memories. “Ren won’t admit it, but I think that’s ultimately why he let him out. That, and I pestered him until he gave in.”

  Leandra laughs and sips her tea. She grimaces, then
blows to cool it. “You two are definitely made for each other. Both stubborn as hell. I swear there’s never a dull moment around you.” Leandra’s eyes light up, and she slaps the table. “While we’re on the subject, who were the two chicks going at it? The one with the red eyes came out of nowhere.”

  “That’s Naya. It’s her job to take care of all the females, and in Illaria’s case, keep them in line. Don’t get me started on Illaria though; she’s been after Ren since before I even came into the picture.”

  “I can see that. Just watching her big eyes fluttering around like she was having a seizure made me want to slap the look off her face. Glad someone actually did it.” Leandra’s voice trails off as she stares in Ragar’s direction. “You think they’ll let the captain stay up here?”

  “There’s no way in hell that would fly. In case you haven’t noticed, they don’t allow any males near their females. It’s like a death sentence.”

  “Wow. Dating must be tough, huh?”

  The steam rising off her tea billows toward me. “Seriously, that smells amazing. Give it here.” I motion toward the cup, and she hands it over. The first sip burns my tongue, and Leandra raises a brow.

  “See? Stubborn.”

  “Ugh. Whatever. Illusians don’t date. They spend their whole lives waiting for one person to mate with.”

  “So, wait…you’re telling me, tall, ripped, and broody over there is a virgin?” Her eyes widen in surprise, and her gaze lands on the hard ridges of Ragar’s muscular arms. Leandra and I are a lot alike. Neither of us can count our sexual partners on one hand.

  Eh, maybe not even two.

  “I guess. Ren never really mentioned it, but after talking to the females, that’s what it sounds like.” I can practically see the wheels turning in her mind at the thought of Ragar never having been touched. It feels wrong to look at him like that, but Ren, on the other hand…there are so many dirty things we’ve yet to try. What is that male doing to me? After the clusterfuck of emotional turmoil tonight’s botched reveal caused, sex is the last thing that should be on my mind. A pulse of desire ripples through our bond, and I can feel Ren looking at me. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.