Chapter 7Berus

Chapter 7

Berus

Berus scented her the moment he stepped into the greenroom. A moment later, Cami's pretty face popped out from behind a leaf.

Berus grinned at her, but instead of smiling back, her eyes went wide, and she ducked back behind the greenery. Shit . It must be the fangs. He'd have to remember that Cami, having only been in the Dominion, still feared his kind.

"I'm not quite ready for your help yet, but I'm almost done," Delaney said.

"I will wait. I'm supposed to watch the recording of the sparring match and study Rehden's fighting style in case I need to fight him at the port." Berus took a seat on the bench and pulled out his comm.

He'd always loved this greenroom. It reminded him of the jungles that bordered the base of the mountains near his childhood home. It wasn't quite the same—the jungles were more humid and less comfortable—but it was close enough.

He missed his home on Tal, but knew he'd never see it again. There was nothing left for him there anyway. His two brothers had joined the military, same as him. One was dead, and the other was still loyal to the Dominion. His sire had died in the mines shortly before Berus had left the Dominion with Ulrek, and his mother had disappeared soon thereafter.

But just because there was nothing left to tie him to his old home didn't mean he didn't miss it. Being in the greenroom reminded him of playing in the jungle as children with his brothers before they'd understood just how poor their family was and what a burden three young growing males had been on their parents.

As he pulled up the recording on his comm, Berus sensed movement behind him. Cami had come out from hiding. He ignored her, not wanting to give her a reason to scurry away, and started to review the sparring match.

He watched Ulrek toy with his opponent, approaching him from different angles just to see how he would react, drawing out the fight. Berus memorized and cataloged the way the other male fought. Rehden clearly had some training, but not much. He was sloppy and would be an easy opponent. But it wouldn't be the first time a male feigned lack of experience to trick his enemies. After all, that was what Ulrek was doing right now.

Cami's delicious scent wafted into his nose, and Berus realized she was watching the screen over his shoulder. Berus paused the recording and turned to face her. She immediately tried to back away, and Berus could hear her heart rate increase. He reached out and stopped her before she could fall right into a planting bed. Her heel caught on the edge anyway. She gasped as she lost her footing, but Berus reached over to gather her into his arms.

"I got you." He sat her down on the bench next to him and kept an arm around her so she couldn't panic and try to run again. "Sit with me. We'll watch it together."

He lowered the screen so it was between them and restarted the video.

Cami sat ramrod straight next to him, and he put a hand on her lower back, rubbing it in small circles. Eventually, she started to relax a bit, even leaning into him to get a better look at the screen.

She smelled of the cleansers Tahra used, but her natural scent filtered through. Berus surreptitiously inhaled, enjoying the exotic fragrance. Her scent smelled perfect here amongst the earthy, lush greenery. Berus had to force his attention back to the screen.

Ulrek, having spent enough time toying with the male, started to fight in earnest. Realizing this, Rehden, too, stepped up his game. Aha. The male was indeed better trained than he'd let them believe at first.

Next to him, Cami gasped every time Ulrek got a good hit in, which made Berus frown. Did Cami worry about Rehden? Just because she wanted to get away from him, it didn't necessarily mean she didn't also feel something for the other male.

"They are wearing caps over the claws of their feet to prevent injuries," Berus said soothingly. "It is required when sparring. No one will be hurt or maimed."

"It's just so vicious and real." She inhaled sharply again, this time when Rehden got a punch in on Ulrek.

So, her reaction was to the violence, not out of worry for her current owner. Good.

"It is how we practice." Berus wondered if Cami realized her hand was gripping his thigh as she watched the fight. He wasn't going to alert her.

After Ulrek let his opponent get a few hits on him and pin him temporarily for a fraction of a second, he ended the fight by landing several good punches on Rehden, making his nose spurt with blood, and then pinning him to the mat with his claw-capped feet. If it had been a real fight, that move would have ended with his claws inside the other male's belly.

A sparring match wasn't a real fight, but Berus had still gathered enough intel on Rehden's fighting style. He was sure that the male wouldn't give up Cami easily. Especially since Ulrek had offered to purchase Cami for a very good price, but Rehden had refused.

"Ulrek said he got him good," Delaney said, dumping more substrate into a growing pile. Her apron had earned a few more smudges.

"He did," Berus agreed. "I believe he has a broken nose and a bruised ego."

"Rehden has a temper." Cami sounded worried. She looked down at her hand, realized it was on Berus's thigh, and snatched it away. "What if he takes this as an insult and causes trouble? And what if he suspects our plan?"

"Don't worry," Delaney said. "We're watching him. Small injuries are common during training. Plus, it's Ulrek . I mean, he has a reputation to uphold."

"When I came here just now, the two were enjoying some Rhean spirits together," Berus said. "That will smooth things over. I'm sure he doesn't suspect a thing." He gave her shoulders a light squeeze before looking up at Delaney. "Is the substrate ready?"

"Yup! It's all here on the tarp. You just have to get it over to the fire pit in the food production labs across the hall. I'll take it from there." She turned to Cami. "I'm done here for the day after this. Did you want me to walk you back to your room?"

Cami hesitated. "I kind of like it in here. May I stay for a bit longer?"

"Sure. Did you eat yet?"

"Yes. Roxy came by with food. Thank you."

"Okay. If you need one of us to walk you back or distract Rehden, just comm us."

Cami frowned. "Oh. Um. How do I do that?"

Berus got to work gathering the substrate and moving it over to the lab across the hall as Delaney taught Cami how to use the ship's comm system.

With all the substrate in the kiln, Delaney set it to disinfect. Then they got a message from Dex warning them that Rehden was roaming the ship looking for Cami, since he'd stopped by her room again but she still hadn't answered.

"I will stay here with her," Berus said.

"Thanks. I'll put a lock on the greenroom door to prevent anyone who isn't crew from getting in," Delaney said.

She left to find her mate, and Berus returned to the greenroom. He found Cami with her eyes closed, just sitting there. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

Her eyes popped open, and upon seeing him, she made a soft squeak of surprise before instantly looking down at her feet, the remains of her slave training kicking in.

Berus frowned at her reaction. "There is no need for that. You may look at me directly."

"Yes, sir." But she didn't lift her eyes.

Fear radiated off her, fear that hadn't been there when Delaney was around. Was that because they were alone now?

"You are scared. There is no need to be. I won't hurt you. Rehden is looking for you."

Cami stiffened again. "You said he'd been drinking?"

Did something happen before? "I told Delaney I'd stay with you," Berus said firmly. "Has Rehden hurt you before when he was drunk?"

Cami hesitated but eventually said, "Yes. But not just drunk. When he's angry, too." Her hand instinctively flew to her forehead.

"Let me see." Berus took her gently by the jaw, tipped her face up to his, then brushed the hair off her forehead.

There, half-hidden by her hair, was a scar.

"This is old. He only stole you recently."

"Yes, but the merchant had been lending me out to Rehden for some time, since he was getting bored of me."

She didn't offer more, and Berus didn't pry. He'd find out what happened eventually, but today, the only goal was to prove to her that he could be trusted.

She ventured a look directly at him. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but… You remind me of Dominion soldiers."

So that was why her slave training had kicked in, and why she was frightened of him. "Probably because I was one for many years. But I'm not anymore. You can relax."

She did, just a little. "Thank you for carrying me to the ship. I don't think I could've run fast enough."

Berus smiled, making a point not to show too much of his fangs.

The ship's comm system beeped, and their navigator, Emil, came on. "We're leaving for New Rhea now. The bounty hunter ship went right by us. Idiots didn't suspect a thing. But getting out of this asteroid field is going to be a doozy. I suggest everyone sit their asses down and strap the fuck in."