Chapter 5

felt water pouring into my mouth.

"Drink, female!" Terrek pleaded in a soft, deep tone. I sat up, spitting out a mouthful of water."Woah, what the hell!" I choked out.Being waterboarded awake was a shock. I opened my eyes

and felt my head zap with dizziness. It took me a minute to focus on my vision. We were in a cave, and it was dark, lit only by a small fire. I was sitting on a bed made of furs. I saw Terrek kneeling before me, waving my pink water bottle at me.

"Give me a minute." I had held up my hand to stop him from pestering me."Thank the Gods, I was worried if you did not get substances, you would perish." The man was concerned.Confused, I sat up and looked around."What is that awful smell?" I mumbled as I saw Candy chowing down on a pile of fish."Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!" I said, shocked that he looked twice the size he was the last time I saw my fur baby friend.Candy stopped eating when he noticed me. Candy happily bounced up to me, knocking me back down on my fur bed. He started to purr and licked my face enthusiastically."Ewe, fish breath. Yeah, yeah, I love you too." I giggled.I had pushed the medium dog-sized cotton candy ball off me. I was patting him on his head, his fur not as puffy anymore. I began petting his big rabbit-like ears. He was transforming into a predator-looking beast. I was beginning to see why Terrek would be scared of Candy. Not me, though. I felt nothing but a sense of family and affection from Candy."Go finish your dinner. Gross." I had encouraged as I wiped Candy's drool off my cheek."How long was I asleep for?" I asked, feeling dazed by Candy being so big."What is your name, female?"Terrek asked, shoving my water bottle at me. I grabbed the water and took a long swig of it. I was looking at Terrek staring at me with his sexy black eyes.I wiped my mouth and smiled."Darah Davis, it's nice to meet you, Terrek." I reached out my right hand to shake Terrek's hand.He gently placed his giant hand on mine. He held onto my hand longer than a handshake required and said."Darah Davis." In a low, sexy purr that made my whole body react to him. His nostrils flared, and hunger bled into his black eyes.I wanted to kiss his lips to see how it would feel. When suddenly, hunger pains cramped my gut, and all I could think about was food.How long was I asleep?? I groaned."Two rotations," Terrek said with concern.Here, eat this.? He handed me a wooden bowl of fishy soup."Thanks." I took the bowl so hungry I didn't care that it looked and smelled disgusting.I drank the soup, trying not to gag. I held my nose shut, hoping it would help, but it didn't."I am sorry, but that was disgusting," I complained. Terrek laughed."I know, however, Prill fish is the only meat source available on the planet. The Kanenites have harvested all our sustainability."Tears brimmed his eyes. He cleared his throat to continue."I am sorry you became my bond mate when death is upon us. I can offer you no future here. You, me, and the Chetaht will die in weeks."Terrek, my sad demon, it will be okay, you'll see." Can I have some hot water, please?" Terrek looked confused as cute wrinkles furrowed his brows."Darah, you realize I am not this demon male you speak of. I am your destined bond, mate.I rubbed my ears. Maybe my understanding of universal languages was off because Terrek had just declared I was now his wife. Bond mate means soulmate. It would equal marriage on Earth."Do you not have bond mates in your world? I have never known anyone who does not know of bond mates. Their soul's bond when mates meet for the first time in a destined everlasting bond. Usually, a bonding is celebrated quickly. The need to mate and seal our souls together is strong, and the consummation of being bond mates creates a love that can never be severed." Terrek explained with pleading dark eyes.He stiffly poured hot water into a clay cup and handed it to me. I felt a vibe of hurt and jealous emotions rolling off of him."Look, Terrek, I like you. I don't understand the destined mate bond. But if you want to date, I will consider it. I am attracted to you. I don't think I am much of a partner for anyone. My family died. I am no longer on my home planet. I haven't had a moment to deal with this since I arrived here." I dug through my pack, looking for my tea as I rambled. Adrenaline was pounding in my heart.My confusing emotions swirled. My body and soul were wrapped in a wave of happiness when Terrek said I was his bond mate. I needed to embrace him and kiss him all over. I also had a logical reaction that told me there was no way I would marry this guy at first sight. I don't even know him."I understand now that I am no longer on Earth, my home. My head cannot come up with this on its own. Between a Goddess humming in my ears and the spaceship. Those devices downloaded everything that I needed to know about commanding a spacecraft. Well, call me convinced. I am no longer on Earth."I poured my tea into my cup of hot water. Terrek just watched me, fascinated."You are a sexy horned man, Terrek, unlike any male I have ever known. Earthlings don't have horns and purple skin on Earth, my home planet. I am just trying to make sense of everything so strange to me." I said.My grief over my family settled into the forefront of my heart again. I prayed that Terrek would understand my need to take all this slow."I am not a boyfriend. I am your bond mate. I am loyal to you. And unless we have other destine mates, it is you and I from here on out." Terrek said matter of fact.I took a sip of my tea and watched Terrek. He was serious about this."On Earth, people meet and get to know one another. If there is mutual attraction, they date. If things go well, they might marry and have a family. Sometimes, it goes wrong, and they get divorced. We don't have fated mates. Some people claim they are soul mates, but I don't believe in soul mates." I drank more tea as I assessed Terrek and his reaction."Go wrong and get divorced. What does this mean?" Terrek asked."You know, separate and find other people to love instead."I read my leaves at the bottom of my mug, stars, nothing but stars again."Bond mates cannot separate and love any other that is not a destined bond mate. How can Earth people be certain of their future and family if they do this divorce thing? How can they deny the gods will? Before birth, we have a chosen fated mate to share our souls with our bond mates. It is the core of our life to discover our love." Terrek was baffled by my Earth custom."We will work out our communication skills later. Other destined mates? I am not sure I understand you and this bond mate's business. Let's shelf this discussion for later. Right now, we need to steal a ship and save ourselves." I said as I packed up my bag."Can I keep this mug? I asked as I placed it in my pack, wrapped in my dirty clothes. I secured it in the grocery bag and tucked it in my backpack.The humming in my ears made me want to move faster. Time was running out."No! Darah! We are not going near the Kanenites. I will not have you harmed or taken. It is too dangerous. We will die, and I just got you. At least let us live out what time we have left without making me watch you get stolen from me." Terrek was adamant."I've been through way too much shit to starve and die on a strange planet." I snapped.I grabbed my guitar and left the cave with my Candy at my side and a broody Terrek following."I decided I would get myself together and make my family proud. I owe them that. I will live my best life for their sake. So, we will steal that ship and figure out how to find a way to live. I wasn't educated by that device to sit here and starve." Terrek insisted on carrying my pack and guitar.Terrek looked proud. He stood tall and bowed his head in respect for me."Spoken like a true Laverian, we will die fighting." He said proudly."I will follow you, Darah, my mate.Terrek insisted on carrying me again, "Darah, it will be faster, and I can be stealthy if you allow me to carry you.""I can keep pace. I don't need you to caveman carry me." I started to move, not giving him a chance to argue.Candy stalked close by, stealthy and silent. I didn't think I would travel so quietly. I heard every crunch echo loudly and cringed as Terrek raised his brow with a look that said I told you so."I will fight by your side, my Darah if we live through it. I will show you how to move silently through the woods. I will teach you all I know."I smiled at the big man, my fear kicking in the closer we got to the spaceship. The incessant humming in my ear drove me to do this. Rationally, this is just reckless.It was turning dark, and the Kanenites gathered in rows of attention in front of the open docking ramp."They do this before they are about to leave the planet," Terrek whispered.I reached into my bag and grabbed the device that the educator taught me would sedate them in masses as a way of capturing slaves without resistance. I turned the device on and walked up behind the tiny men."Howdy, guys!" I said as an introduction.I tried to zap the lot of them. But I messed up because the stasis beam, I needed did not engage."Shit!" That was not good!The aliens were stunned momentarily by my presence, and then chaos broke out as they rushed at me. Candy pounced on the closest male to me. These guys moved like ninjas.Candy quickly tore through two of them. Terrek was in the fray as they swarmed him. He was tossing them and breaking a few like they were twigs. I heard the cracking of bones and the cries of pain from the Kanenites as Terrek and Candy brutally fought back, trying to keep me between them. The copper smell coming from the dark blue blood of the spacemen had my stomach churned. A few aliens exited the ramp, pulling their devices off their hips.Time to get this right. I had taken my device up and watched my finger hit the stasis button.This time, they all fell into stasis, floating in invisible bubbles. Damn, that felt satisfying. I walked past them and went up the ramp. Terrek and Candy followed me. "Darah, I am glad you used the tool before these Kanenites. I thought we would be zapped and stolen for sure," Terrek said with relief.He looked at Candy with respect instead of fear. "Good boy, for keeping our Darah safe." Terrek praised. He spoke with admiration as we walked into our first spaceship together. A hallway that was white and lit up and greeted us. My backpack and guitar case seemed unscathed, hanging off Terrek's back. I sighed, grateful and surprised after that violent fight.I followed the hallway and passed the doors that looked like an elevator. The humming in my ear led me to head straight for the one at the end of the hall. There was a keypad. I entered the sequence code that was educated into my mind, The door slid open.I walked into the command station of the craft. Three spacemen looked at us with wide eyes. Terrek roared and attacked, taking out the two men that charged me. My fur ball pounced on the third spaceman and brutally ripped open that guy's neck. I swallowed bile at the sight of the blue blood. My sweet fur ball can pack a punch."Gross!" I said as I went to examine the control panel. I reset the whole system to recognize myself as commander. This was the most exciting thing I have ever done and the most overwhelmingly violent thing. My stomach was still rolling over the gore of it all.I scanned the craft for lifeforms and saw prill fish and life pods in the storage cargo area. Spacemen in a sleeping quarter were scheduled for the next shift. The rest of the spacemen had been outside for final formation and count before taking off. I sent a wake-up call with orders for them to report to cargo for a stasis failure response.I sealed the handful of men into the cargo and placed them in a stasis hold using the ship's AI security droids. I had them secured with the other spacemen that I had collected outside. Then, I moved them into a holding storage compartment. This was similar to playing a video game.I secured all doors and sealed us in for space travel. I hovered our new spacecraft over the pond with the waterfall and remotely sent the prill fish back into the pond from which they had been stolen. I took us up, out into space, and turned on the view monitor to see the magnificent display of Laverian and its ringed moons.Terrek dropped to his knees and watched in wonderment. This was the coolest thing I ever did. Candy hissed and cowered in a corner. I was blown away. I managed to steal and fly this spaceship. The craft tried to auto-pilot and fly us to a pre-determined course. I used my new knowledge to override the command.I hovered outside the atmosphere of the planet Laverian. This moment felt magical. I looked at Terrek, and he was feeling it, too. Candy quickly adjusted and seemed to calm down. I examined the panel readings, learned about this ship's layout, and reworked the system. I cloaked my ship from outsiders. I saw logs indicating the location of a port for the slavery trade. I took note. That had to be important. Maybe we could rescue Terrek's tribe.