Chapter 6 | Rex

Chapter 6

Rex

It was earlier than usual when Drova started booting patrons out the door to close up shop. That was never a good sign; it meant he was about to run a closed-door illegal gambling game. Invite-only, and for high-stakes players. It would draw out some of his shadier, nastier contacts, and fear for my little stray filled me. If one of those males caught sight of her, they would try to take her, no questions asked. An unaccompanied human on the streets? Free pickings for those with no morals.

I rushed through my final routine and, for once, didn’t do the usual prep or throw out the trash. No time. I had to get my female out of that alley, and I had no clue if she was willing to follow me to safety. She thought she was safe hiding behind those bins, and she had been, so far. But this particular clientele wouldn’t want to use the front door. That alley was about to become busy, and some aliens had a really good sense of smell.

My hands were shaking when I flung a cloak around my shoulders and tucked a cleaver into my belt. I didn’t want to fight if I could avoid it, but I would defend her if it came to that. She was under my protection, and I knew I would have felt that way even if she were not my mate. Nobody deserved to be treated the way they treated humans on many inhabited worlds in the Zeta Quadrant.

I knew a thing or two about slavery; having been a gladiator myself. I would not allow that kind of thing to go on right beneath my nose. I should have realized what a sleazeball Drova was, and that he’d stoop that low. I failed Jenny, but I wasn’t going to fail my mate.

My boss ducked his head into my kitchen just as I was about to leave, barking at me to leave the door unlocked, confirming my suspicions. I signed an affirmative, but he didn’t stay to watch and I ducked outside. The cold, icy air of the desert night slapped me in the face when I went from the warm kitchen to the cold alley, and my worry for my female increased. So far, the nights had been mild, especially last night, but the weather had taken a turn. It made the skies pretty, but the stone streets were deadly beneath all the glimmering stars and the many ships leaving port at all hours.

I searched the dark area behind the row of bins immediately. Relieved when my female stuck her head out, and gave me an inquisitive look. She wasn’t scared of me, but I didn’t like how carelessly she’d assumed it would be me and had given herself away. If I couldn’t convince her to follow me home, she’d be easy pickings for one of Drova’s acquaintances.

For the first time, I was going to have to rush her into doing something. Getting her to enter my kitchen that afternoon had already felt like an impossible victory; how could I convince her to follow me? I started by gesturing with my hand. The “follow me” signal was fairly universal; even people who knew no sign language used it, across many species.

She stared at my hand, her green eyes catching the light spilling through the back window, her face pale and dirt-streaked. Still so very pretty and dainty, with a soft mouth and a hint of pink to her pale skin. Her lips had turned dark, bluish, and I didn’t like that. Humans weren’t color-changing, not like the spots on my face.

I gestured again, giving my best warning look, and nodded at the bar’s back windows and down the alley. Come with me, please. It’s not safe. But even if I gestured all that, she wouldn’t be able to understand. Her eyes had grown wider as she looked at me, flapping an arm like an idiot, trying to get her to follow. This wasn’t helping. I needed to offer something, entice her. But how?

It was the noise coming from the other end of the alley that made her jerk back. I winced, fearing that she’d crawl into a ball back there and not come out again. I’d have to resort to more desperate actions, and I dreaded the moment. If I had to grab her and throw her over my shoulder, all that trust I’d been building with her would be gone in an instant. I would do it, though, if left with no other choice.

My female was braver than that, smarter too. When the noise came again, coalescing into the sound of male voices and footsteps, she got to her feet and sidled around the side of the bins my way. Yes, good girl! Follow me! I nodded urgently and turned on my boot to start walking. Maybe if she saw that I didn’t intend to grab her, she’d feel safer following me.

The sound of her quick, hurried shuffles behind me made me suppress a shudder of relief. Yes, it was working. I dared to glance over my shoulder, watching her as she darted from one pool of shadow to the next, carefully searching her surroundings. She was sticking close, though—close enough that hints of her scent were drifting to me. It was masked by a layer of sweat and grime, but I could still pick out the more delicate, feminine notes.

A corner, and another, and I lowered my shoulders. We were out of the danger zone, no longer in sight of Drova’s guests. But any minute she spent on the streets outside was still a risk; anyone could see her and decide to go after her. I needed to get her under my full protection, and soon.

When the room I rented in a small boarding house came into sight, it was tempting to pick up the pace. I didn’t want to spook her and lose her, so I didn’t. I rented the room on the corner, which was the only unit with its own door. I paid extra for it, and some days that seemed like a silly expense, but today I was grateful. It meant we could circumvent the lobby, the hallway with doors, and the eyes of any curious tenants.

She was watching me from the shadows of a nearby house when I stopped in front of my door, no longer moving or getting closer, a suspicious look on her face. I unlocked my door with slow, unhurried moves, even though my heart was pounding with urgency. My next-door neighbor often got home late too, and the Rhico dockworker would take one look at my female and probably decide she was too good an opportunity to miss out on. There was no way I’d let him get his grubby, gray paws on her.

The open door was not inviting. My home was cold after being empty all day, and I had only the bare necessities anyway. I didn’t own much because I didn’t need much. It was not the kind of home a male used to lure his mate to, not the kind of home a male could be proud of.

I couldn’t see the green of her eyes in this darkness, but I imagined it was there when we locked gazes. Then I gestured with my hands, moving them through the fluid, two-handed motions that made up the sign language I’d learned after my injury. I didn’t want to draw attention to my imperfections, but I tapped my throat, exposing the knot of scars there—anything to help her understand that I had no voice since my last fight, that I wanted to explain things to her, but that I couldn’t.

The spots on my face had turned a ghastly white the longer this took, and I feared, at one point, that she was going to turn around to go back to the alley. It was my neighbor’s return that did the trick. His loud, plodding footsteps spooked her, and she darted toward the only safety she’d experienced of late—me. She slipped past my side, into my open door in a rush, and a sense of deep satisfaction washed through me.

She trusted me. She was in my home now. From here on out, things were going to be different. I'd take very good care of her.