Chapter 27Berus

Chapter 27

Berus

"Shit, man! You just totally fucked up our mission!" Dex threw Berus a frustrated look that crossed species.

"Sorry." Berus knew he was distracted.

Dex started to remove the sensors from his arms and legs. "You're no fun when you're moping over a girl."

"I'm not moping." He was totally moping.

"Fine. You're sulking. Is that better?"

"No."

"Anyway, I'm done. I'm not going to redo that stupid mission because you can't focus." Dex picked up the disinfectant spray and spritzed down his equipment. "Why the hell did you let her go if you like her so much? I thought you Talleans were supposed to know what you want."

"We are all different." Berus didn't want to talk about Cami. Not when he was already missing her so much.

He started removing his gear as well. He and Dex had hogged the training simulator for long enough. Days, in fact. Emil and Tuhror weren't happy about it, but Ulrek must have said something to them or given them something to do because they had stopped showing up after the first day.

"You're still an idiot for letting her go."

Frustrated, Berus growled. "What do you know? Humans can't experience a mate bond."

"No, but we can fall in love."

"It's different."

"Fine, so we don't literally go crazy if the other person doesn't love us back, but some people come close. And just because there isn't a bond to stop us from cheating doesn't mean some people don't stay loyal to each other for life. Are you saying Delaney's love isn't as strong as Ulrek's mate bond?"

Berus knew better than to answer, especially since they were still standing inside the training simulator, and it was recording every word. He wouldn't want that kind of speculation to get back to Ulrek.

But Dex was right. Humans weren't all that different when it came to things like mating and love. It was why the two species were compatible.

Berus quickly cleaned his gear and stepped out of the trainer before lowering his voice and telling his friend the truth.

"I'm not trying to avoid a mate bond. I already formed one with her back on New Rhea. I'm letting her go because I know it's what she wants. And I know what I want, which is her happiness."

Berus did not miss the utter look of shock and disgust on his friend's face.

"What the fuck , Berus!" Dex hissed, grabbing him by the arm. "Does Ulrek know?"

Berus looked around warily. "Hush. Not so loud," he whispered. "And no. You are the first person I've told."

"You can't hide that from the crew!" Dex was a little quieter now. "It affects everyone. You too. You can't deny a mate bond. I'm human, and I know that. People go crazy. They lose their shit." Dex narrowed his eyes at Berus. "It's already happening, isn't it? When was the last time you slept?"

Berus didn't reply. He hadn't been sleeping. At all.

"Have you even been eating?" Dex didn't let Berus answer. "You haven't. And here I thought the sudden muscle loss, hollow cheeks, sunken eyes, and slow-ass reflexes were residual effects of the poison." His friend was pacing the corridor in agitation now. "Fuck."

Berus had never seen Dex so worried. He was usually the most easy-going person on the crew. This was why Berus spent so much time with him, despite their mental disparity.

"You can't keep this to yourself and suffer through it alone. You have to tell someone."

"I have. I told you."

"I mean our captain."

"I can't. I told Ulrek I'm trying to avoid a mate bond. If he knew the truth, he'd turn the ship around and order me to go after her."

"And he'd be right. Why the hell are you so scared of this mate bond, anyway? What's so terrible about bonding with her? She's not a bad catch at all. Very pretty, and if you weren't so obviously interested, I would have gone for her myself."

That had Berus growling, and Dex put his hands up.

"Hey now! I ain't going to poach. Humans have a saying, bros before hoes."

"Do not call her that," Berus growled. He knew humans meant "ho" as an insult.

"Relax, it's just a saying. It just means that friendships are more important. But perhaps there should be a caveat to it. Bros before hoes unless she's your mate . Then, you're an idiot to let her go. Which you are."

"I was not hired for my brains."

"Fuck off. Your brain works just as well as any of ours. You might not want a mate, but you have one. Deal with it."

"I do want her as a mate. I want her so much. I'm happy it happened, but I know she isn't."

"Did she actually say that to you? I honestly can't imagine her turning you down. Not after the way she stayed at your side when you were healing. I had to practically beg her to sleep. Cami really likes you."

"She didn't say it to me. I overheard her talking to Delaney and Roxy. She said that after Rehden, a mate bond was the last thing she needed."

Dex looked at him in a way that made Berus feel truly slow of intellect. "Well duh! Of course she'd say that! What else would she think after what she went through with that jackass? She didn't mean it for you." Dex shook his head wildly. "You know what, I take back what I said about your brain working. Just for this, you're a dumbass! Cami likes you. A lot! She tried to hide her hurt from everyone when you were ignoring her, but it was so obvious. Everyone on the freaking ship saw it but you."

Cami had been hurting? He hadn't known, because he'd been hiding in the training simulator day and night. When Dex had gone out to sleep or eat, he'd stayed behind, failing mission after mission because he couldn't focus.

"Fuck!"

"It's not too late. We'll turn the ship around."

"The crew's already had three detours, first to rescue Roxy and Ckzarr, then New Rhea and Reka 5. They're not going to be happy about another delay."

"Ugh, you're right. Especially Gavin and Kirek. They really want to get their hands on those old abandoned mechs."

Those robotic suits were the reason Roxy and Ckzarr had ended up on that mining planet in the first place. Pirates had used the technology as a lure. The two had fallen for it and gotten trapped in a preprogrammed shuttle. But now that the trap had been sprung, and the crew knew to look for more, they planned on salvaging and claiming the old robotic warriors. The ancient Dominion ship they were on would also fetch a good price itself at the market.

Considering the damage their little pit stop at New Rhea had done to the transport, they could use those extra credits. That had Berus thinking of the other vehicles on the ship.

"I will take one of the shuttles," Berus decided. "We are not too far from Reka 5. It's nothing the shuttles couldn't handle."

Dex brightened. "Hey, that would work. Go to the shuttle bay. I'll give you time to undock before telling Ulrek. You know, ask for forgiveness instead of permission and all that good shit."

"Thank you, my friend."

"No problem."

Berus arrived at the shuttle bay with hope roaring in his chest. His hopes were dashed, however, when none of the shuttles would respond to him. They wouldn't even open their doors. It was as if they didn't recognize him as a member of the crew anymore. What the fuck?

He tried entering the code into the ship's system to unlock the shuttles and allow undocking, but that was rejected as well.

The screen flashed, and Tuhror's face appeared. "Ha! I knew locking those shuttles was a good idea. We were wondering how long it was going take for you realize you'd fucked up."

The Revenge 's second-in-command and pilot didn't look upset at all. Rather, he looked amused. Berus was not.

"Why have I been locked out?" he demanded, not caring that Tuhror was technically his superior.

"Why are you stealing a shuttle?" Tuhror countered.

Ulrek stepped into view on screen. "We thought you might decide to ‘borrow' one of the shuttles, and we can't have that. We are linking up soon with Trenton's personal craft. He's bringing in our newest hire. You need to be here to meet her and welcome her to the New Horizon . If you still want to take one of these shuttles afterward, come find me."

They'd hired someone new? Berus had no idea, and he didn't much care. He didn't want to stay here to welcome them on board; he wanted to get to Cami.

"Don't even think about it, Berus. You won't be able to bribe anyone to help you. I already warned them. And Dex"—the screen shifted to show an abashed Dex waving his fingers at him—"just had his shuttle privileges revoked as of right now."

"Hey, no fair! I wasn't going to—"

"Then it wouldn't matter now, would it?" Tuhror asked mildly.

That shut Dex up.

"Now get your ass to that common room," Ulrek said. "That's an order. Trenton's shuttle is within range."

The screen went blank and was replaced by a general announcement telling everyone to get down to the common room to meet the newest member of their team.

Frustration filled him. Berus didn't care about this new hire. The only person he wanted to see was Cami. He needed to make things right with her. He needed to apologize for hurting her. If she didn't want a mate, he'd spend the rest of his life trying to change her mind. Because she was his, and he was hers, and there was nothing in the universe that could change that.

But he was unable to do anything about it. He couldn't even rebel by locking himself in the training simulator because that was now off limits to him too. In fact, the only place that wasn't locked was the common room.

He was one of the first ones there, but only in body. In his mind, he was imagining all the ways he would make it up to her. He also had horrible visions of her finding someone better at Reka 5 and not being interested in him anymore. What if Cami only liked him because he was one of the first people to be kind to her after leaving Earth? She'd find plenty of friendly males on the colony, both human and Tallean.

He missed her so much that he could smell her scent like she was still here.

At first, he was sure it was a hallucination. He must be further down the road to insanity from a denied mate bond than he realized, because it was getting stronger. No. That couldn't possibly be a hallucination. It was too real. Too strong.

Berus snapped to attention, his eyes fixed on the corridor leading to the ship's entrance. He heard her greeting Ulrek before he saw her.

The sound of her voice called to him, and then his feet were moving on their own accord, taking him across the common room.