by S. E. Smith
Finally, his dragon groaned. Look beneath.
“You’re beginning to sound as bad as Carmen. What the hell does that mean?” Cree growled, before Carmen’s muffled shout reached him.
Spinning, he slapped his palm against the control panel. He squeezed through the opening in the doors as soon as there was enough room. His hand clenched the knife at his waist as he scanned the room, stopping on Carmen and Mel’s bent figures as they knelt next to Cal’s body.
*.*.*
Melina straightened when she heard the doors open. She looked wearily through the door of the office-slash-bedroom. She had been cleaning up some. Now that Hobbler was no longer on board for her to take care of, she didn’t have much to do.
She desperately missed the Pactor. She knew it was important to get it moved. With the steady supply of food, Hobbler had outgrown the bay they were in. She had cried for two days after the baby Pactor was shipped off to the D’stroyer and to her new home.
A sad smile curved her lips when she remembered the exchange. She had met Ariel Hamm and knew immediately that Hobbler was going to be totally spoiled rotten.
“Oh my God, she’s so cute!” Ariel had breathed loudly when she first came into the repair bay. “Mandra is going to love her… eventually.”
Melina had giggled. Carmen had made a point of bringing her sister into the repair bay alone. Creon, Ha’ven, and Vox had gone over to the D’stroyer to see Mandra who was still recovering from his wounds.
“She is very affectionate,” Melina had told Ariel. “She loves to play with anything she can get her trunk on. Oh, and she likes to touch you or be touched. It has been hard on her being cooped up.”
“We have a huge place with lots of room up in the mountains. Asim, an older warrior, helps take care of the place. We have all kinds of animals there now,” Ariel assured her. “Hobbler will have a huge area and lots and lots of toys and attention.”
They had talked for a while longer before Ha’ven notified them that the modified transport for Hobbler was ready. Melina had hugged Ariel and thanked her for giving the growing Pactor a chance to live a happy and healthy life. It wasn’t until the doors closed behind them and she realized just how empty the repair seemed that it sunk in that another thing she loved had been taken away from her. That was when the tears came.
She had eventually sunk so low that she had moved back into the office area just so she could hear her granddad’s snores to help remind her that she wasn’t totally alone.
All the extra time on her hands had also given her more time to think about the differences between her, Cree and Calo. She bit her lip as the familiar pain that rushed through her whenever she thought of them pierced her. She wished she was brave enough to ask Carmen questions like how to fix her hair and how to make herself more attractive so that maybe, just maybe, she could feel like a woman instead of the boy everyone else thought she was.
She listened as Carmen spoke to her grandfather. They were heading back toward Earth now. There had been another battle and she knew Ariel’s mate had been hurt. Carmen assured her that he would survive. Carmen also mentioned that they were returning to Earth for several reasons.
“I have some unfinished business there,” Carmen had explained quietly. “Also, several of the warriors had remained behind in the hopes of finding their mates.”
“That’s… good,” Melina had muttered.
“Melina, sometimes going back helps you realize that home is truly where the heart is,” Carmen said softly, placing her hand on Melina’s arm when she started to turn away.
“My grandfather wants to return home to the farm,” Melina replied in a choked voice. “My heart will be in Georgia, with him and our friends there. It is time I focused on my future.”
Melina looked through the door at her Gramps. Worry darkened her eyes and creased her brow. He hadn’t been feeling well the last couple of weeks. He actually seemed worse the closer they got to Earth.
She had tried to talk him into going to see Doc Tandor, but he refused, saying he just had a little bug and would be fine in a few days. Personally, she thought he wouldn’t go because he worried about what would happen to her if he left her alone for too long. She smoothed the covers over his bed before she stepped out of the office.
“Hi, Carmen,” Melina said quietly, glancing at the doors with a haunted expression darkening her eyes. “How are you doing? Have you talked to the girls that took you back at the spaceport?”
Evette and her sister, Hanine, were two Marastin Dow women that had kidnapped Carmen the day they met for lunch on the Spaceport. Zuk had told them what happened a few days after the incident when he came to visit.
Melina had wondered what happened to the two women and the two human men, Ben and Aaron Cooper, which had been with them. It turned out that Hanine’s ‘husband’ Aaron Cooper had been severely injured when they escaped the warship they had been on. Evette and Hanine were looking for a doctor when they saw Carmen. They thought since she was a human like their husbands, she would know how to heal Aaron.
Melina walked over to sit near her grandfather. She hoped that Carmen didn’t notice the dark shadows under her eyes. Ever since she found out they were only days away from returning to Earth, she hadn’t been able to sleep very well.
“Yes, I stopped on my way down here,” Carmen replied with a worried smile, glancing from Melina to Cal.
“That’s wonderful,” Melina commented after Carmen related what the women were up to. “I was able to listen in to some of their conversations. Ben and Aaron were from Kansas. They worked on one of the big farms out there,” she added with a tight smile before turning her attention to her grandfather. “Gramps, why don’t you go lie down for a while? I think you should get the doc to come look at you. You weren’t feeling good last night either.”
“I don’t need no doctor, but I think I will go lie down for a while,” Cal said with a grimace as he slowly rose to his feet. “Carmen, you stay and take care of my granddaughter. She needs some girl time.”
“I will, Cal,” Carmen said. “I hope you feel better.”
“Thanks.” He paused as he turned to look down at Melina. “I love you, girl. Don’t you ever forget that,” he said, brushing his fingers over her hair.
“I won’t, Gramps,” Melina promised as she stood up to help him when he swayed.
As she took a step toward him, he suddenly stiffened and grabbed at his chest. Melina barely had time to grab him before he collapsed to the floor. Her cry of fear echoed loudly in the repair bay.
“Gramps!” Melina cried out as she frantically rolled him over onto his back and pressed her shaking fingers to his neck. “Carmen, he’s not breathing! Gramps!”
Melina’s heart thundered as she tried to think of the CPR course that she took when she started babysitting years ago. She looked up in panic when she couldn’t remember! It has been so long ago and she had never used it. She watched as Carmen took over.
“Breathe when I tell you,” Carmen ordered as she began doing chest compressions.
Melina vaguely heard the doors to the repair bay open and Cree’s deep, melodious tone as he spoke in a quick, calm voice to someone. Her eyes remained glued on her grandfather’s face. The shaking grew worse when his eyes opened to stare sightlessly up at the ceiling.
She leaned over and whispered frantically in his ear. She didn’t care who heard her. Panic and grief were tearing her apart.
“Please, Gramps, don’t leave me,” she desperately begged. “Please don’t leave me here alone. We’re going to be home soon. We’ll go back to the farm. I’ll do the cooking and cleaning, and we can go visit mommy, daddy, and grandma’s graves on Sundays after church. It will be just like before. I bet that old hound dog is still coming around looking for scraps. Please, please, please, don’t leave me.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked up at Cree. “Please help me,” she whispered, brokenly. “Please make him better.”
Her hands sh
ook as she ran her fingers gently over her grandfather’s withered cheeks. Everything inside her was willing him to wake up and say it was all a mistake. That he wasn’t going to leave her alone as she feared.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please, help me.”
*.*.*
Cree glanced up as the soft, trembling voice struck him. It was so faint at first, he thought he had imagined it. His eyes widened in disbelief as he took in the pale, heart shaped face staring back at him. He recognized the vivid green eyes, but this was the first time he had really had an unobstructed view of Mel’s face.
Look beneath. The words haunted him as he realized what his symbiot, dragon and Carmen had been trying to tell him. Look beneath.
His eyes roamed over the dark curls that tumbled over Mel’s shoulders and down her back. He stared into the stunning green eyes filled with desperate fear and pleading and knew he was totally lost.
Look beneath, his dragon whispered. You will see our true mate.
Cree reached out to catch a tear the coursed down his mate’s cheek. He noticed the slight tremble of his hand as he moved to touch her for the first time. Everything began falling into place. All the pieces to the puzzle that he had not seen. The forest… Carmen’s words that had been more of a riddle than a sentence suddenly made perfect sense, as did her statement that humans were not always what they appeared to be.
“I… There is nothing that can be done to save him,” he whispered as his finger hovered a breath away from her skin. “He is gone.”
Compassion filled him when she jerked away from him before he could touch her. Hatred, pain, grief, and despair burned in her vivid green eyes, but the emotion he recognized the most was the fear… fear of being alone.
He rose as she did. They stood staring at each other. Her gaze begging him to help her. The agony and despair were like the claws of a dragon ripping through his flesh. He knew there was nothing that could be done. The old man’s heart had given out. He had moved to the next realm where he would no longer hurt.
“No! You don’t want to help him,” Melina whispered, shaking her head in denial as she gazed down at her grandfather. “I’ve seen what your gold creatures can do. They could save him if you told it to.”
“No, Mel…” Cree replied in a low, soothing voice filled with resignation. “Even our symbiots cannot heal what age has wrought.”
He reached out as a low wounded cry built until it echoed through the repair bay. His fingers clenched into a helpless fist as she turned and fled to the solitude of the crates. Pain twisted his features as he realized what he had almost given up.
The doors opened again as Tandor and several other medical staff rushed in. Cree didn’t turn. There was nothing that could be done for the old man. His only focus, his only purpose now, was to help and protect his mate. She was alone.
No, she will never be alone again, he thought as he stared into the darkened slit where Mel’s loud sobs could be heard. Brother, I need you. Our mate needs you.
Cree vaguely heard Creon talking to Carmen. Tandor confirmed what he already knew, the old man’s heart had given out. He turned when he heard Tandor say he would see to the boy.
“Woman,” Cree corrected in a quiet voice. He turned his eyes back to the crates before he glanced back with quiet resolve at Creon and Tandor. “The boy is a woman. What is her name?” he asked, staring at Carmen.
“Melina,” Carmen replied softly. “I’ll stay with her. She shouldn’t be left alone.”
“Melina,” Cree breathed under his breath as the door opened and his brother walked in. He looked at Calo. “Her name is Melina.”
Calo’s stride slowed as Cree’s words washed through him. His eyes immediately went to the crates where only an occasional whimper could be heard. His face tightened in concern and resolve. He looked at his brother and nodded once. They were in agreement. They would take over the care and protection of their mate so that she would know that she was not alone.
Chapter 16
Melina leaned against the wall in the shower unit and let the fine mist dampen her skin. She rubbed her cheek against the slick surface and closed her eyes as depression settled over her as she thought of the outer room. There wasn’t much left in it. She had taken most of grandfather’s few belongings back into the narrow area in the center of the crates the night he died.
Her eyes felt heavy from all the crying. It had been a little over a week since he had passed away and the pain and grief were just as powerful as it had been that day. She knew Carmen was worried about her. Her friendship with the other woman had deepened over the last month. Still, she preferred to just be left alone to deal with her grief and try to come to terms with what her future would hold.
Even that seemed insurmountable to deal with at the moment. Pain wracked her as she remembered Cree and Calo trying to stay with her. They had spoken quietly to her, promising her that she would never be alone.
“Why?” She whispered brokenly as she caressed the golden pendant hanging from her neck. The three dragons on it warmed to her touch, as if trying to comfort her. “Why? We were almost home.”
She slowly turned off the shower and stepped out. There was no mirror so she didn’t have to worry about how she looked. She quickly dressed in the new clothes that Carmen had brought to her.
She had made Carmen promise to not let anyone else into the repair bay. Tandor had come by several times, as had Zuk and the original guard. It would appear that word was spreading that the deranged ‘boy’ was instead a human female.
The two that had come around the most, though, were Cree and Calo. She was having a hard enough time dealing with life right now. She didn’t have the energy to deal with her feelings toward them on top of everything else.
Melina paused as she heard voices outside of the office. She closed her eyes as pain spiraled through her. The sound of Calo’s husky voice wrapped around her. Her fingers instinctively moved to the pendant again and she stroked the dragons with trembling fingers.
“No,” Carmen was saying in a stern, firm voice. “Don’t make me have to kick your asses!”
“Lady Carmen, please,” Calo pleaded. “You do not understand. She is our mate.”
“Don’t you think she has enough to deal with? She just lost her last family member, she is about to return home after being gone for the past four years, and you think having not one, but two mates is supposed to help her feel better?” Carmen’s exasperated voice asked.
“We have no choice,” Cree’s deep voice growled. “She has us now. We will care for her.”
“No,” Melina said softly from the doorway. “I want you to leave me alone. I’m taking Gramps back so he can be with grandma and my folks. I’m going home.”
She stared back at both men, ignoring the pain that was sweeping through her. She owed it to her grandfather to return him home. He wanted to be buried next to her grandmother and she would make sure his final wish was carried out.
“Melina, you are our mate. We have claimed you,” Cree said as his eyes moved over the gold wrapped around her wrists and the pendant of the dragons hanging from her neck.
“Our dragons and our symbiots have claimed you, as well. You are our true mate,” Calo added, taking a step closer to her.
“No,” she said as she shook her head in denial. She looked at both men briefly before she bowed her head so they couldn’t see the pain in her eyes. “I’m going home and will forget this ever happened to me. I’ll live my life back home in Georgia. I can’t be your mate.”
“Melina,” Cree and Calo protested at the same time.
Sobs built inside her as she fought for control. Unable to deal with her grief and them at the same time. She shook her head before she turned and ran to the only place that she knew where she would be left alone. The sounds of Cree and Calo’s loud roars echoed through the room behind her.
She collapsed on the blankets piled on the floor and reached for the Teddy Bear. Pulling it close, she closed her eye
s and willed the pain to stop. Shuddering sobs tore from her throat as she listened to Carmen talk to Cree and Calo.
“Give her time,” Carmen warned both men. “She needs to bury her grandfather. Give her that before you do anything. Give her time to say good-bye.”
“What if…” Calo asked hoarsely.
“She needs closure,” Carmen interrupted. “We have to say good-bye and accept there is no going back, only forward. Trust me. I’m speaking from experience.”
It was Cree’s husky promise that made her breath catch in her throat. He spoke the words loud enough for her to hear. The resolve in it told her that they were not giving up.
“Just know this,” Cree vowed passionately. “She will not be remaining on her world when we leave.”
*.*.*
Cree waited outside of the Command room for Creon to exit. He fingered the knife at his waist as his eyes roamed the bridge of the Horizon. He knew that Creon expected him and Calo to go down to the planet with him and Carmen.
Have you asked him yet? Calo’s impatient voice demanded in his head.
No, he is still talking with his brothers, Cree replied, rubbing his thumb over the carving on the handle of the knife. He should be done shortly. How is she?
Quiet. Withdrawn. Carmen has been with her the last hour. Our symbiots are with her as well.
He is finished, Cree said, breaking off as the door opened and Creon stepped out.
“Lord Creon, I wish to speak with you,” Cree said formerly.
Creon’s eyes widened at Cree’s formal address and the tense expression on his face. Worry creased his brow as he thought something might have happened to Carmen. That thought eased as he ran his hand over the symbiot on his wrist and he felt Carmen’s swift reassurance.
“What is it?” Creon asked as he walked toward the doors leading off the bridge.
“My brother and I wish to escort Melina down to the planet,” Cree stated tersely.
Creon paused outside the lift and folded his arms across his chest. He studied Cree intensely for several seconds. He knew from his conversations with Carmen why the brothers wanted to escort Melina down. He also knew that they would not leave her there.
