Chapter 9

Terrek

U

nease had me stand up and move to Darah's side as the ship was hailed by the planet Gias. I trust Darah and her plan, but I cannot bear to lose her now; everyone at this point was a danger in my mind. Whatever we face, it will be together.

"I am Darah of Earth. I come in peace. I come as an ambassador of the Goddess Harmony."

She stood tall in front of the camera monitor, allowing Gias to see her as she greeted them. She left the ship unshielded, unarmed, and utterly open to attack. A stunningly beautiful woman with red eyes appeared on the viewing screen. Stern-looking and serious. Something inside my gut stirred.

"Fuck!" I said in an exhaled whisper. That red-eye-female was our mate bond. I recognized her.

"You will follow our escort ships to port, and we will greet you at the dock. If you arm your weapons, we will eliminate you." The red-eyed female warned.

Darah just smiled. "Understood. See you at the dock."

Darah glanced at me, silently questioning my "Fuck!" remark.

I just shook his head and mouthed, "Later."

"Okay, buddy, you got some explaining to do later," she said.

The Gias red-eyed female had no horns, her dark red hair was pulled back in a tight knot on her head, I craved to see her hair fall loose. I wanted to see more of her but viewing screen only showed her face and the dark collar of her uniform. Her alluring face highlighted her bright red eyes. The Gods saw fit to pair me with two gorgeous pale skinned aliens.

Darah flew her stolen ship as we followed the two mean-looking crafts that flew next to us, the viewing screen showing us the angles and storing the information on the systems of the ship. As the AI examined the crafts, I watched with curiosity. I thought this ship was terrifying with its scanning and the God's powers.

The escort craft has weapon's that moved on every part of the surface that faced us a show of force. This had me worried. The Gia's battleships were intense and intimidating.

The blackness of the craft was so dark it faded in and out of view. As one flew circles around us, scanning our craft, the weapons retreated to the surface and came out whenever the craft changed positions as it scanned. The craft seemed huge on the viewing screen.

The two intimidating ships escorted us through the laser weapons grid surrounding the planet. We saw a docking station hovering like a satellite above the planet's atmosphere. Darah landed like an expert in the space station bay.

We left Candy to guard Andromeda's door as Darah and I exited our craft to greet the soldiers waiting on the dock. A line of battle-ready figures cloaked in head-to-foot-black military gear stood as a show of force to greet us. I raised my empty hands, following Darah's movements.

The vacuum of space sat peacefully behind us. The interior was metallic and the ships and droids seemed organized. The air was crisp and clean, but the grouping of warriors had me on alert.

Hello, I come in peace,? Darah said in greeting.

She smiled a friendly smile. I moved in front of her and growled a warning. They don?t seem too friendly to me.

"It's okay, Terrek let me by." She insisted as she took steps to stand next to me.

I reluctantly allowed her to stand tall next to me. It's not the best position for me to defend her. I just wanted my Darah to be happy.

A tall female moved through the small army of beings before us. They parted a path as she came forward to meet us. This is the lady that was on the monitor. Our mate. Her eyes scanned my mate and then ,they roamed over me assessing us.

Her stern face flickered with a slight look of recognition and shock. Our new mate understood that she was our fated mate. I gave her a knowing smile. Our new mate recovered quickly and regained her warrior stare. When her eyes met Darah's again, she spoke.

"Why have you come?" She asked firmly.

"Hello, I am Darah of Earth, from another universe far away. This is my mate Terrek of Laverian. We have come because I was asked to by the Goddess Harmony. I want to show you something." Darah said.

Darah offered her a tablet with the logged information.

"This has information that shows how the Kanenites have been harvesting and selling slaves taken from class two and three planets that go unnoticed. Also, you will see that Gias is on the scheduled next to be harvest. You will be attacked soon. We came to warn you and ask for your assistance to help us rescue the people of Laverian." Darah explained as she handed it over.

A vast machine started to scan our ship that was parked behind us. The invisible atmosphere shield protected us from the space outside the port.

That would have been mesmerizing if I wasn't so worried for Darah's safety.

"I go where Darah goes." I demanded.

I hoped our new mate was a worthy soul. All these devices made me uneasy. These Gias soldiers were not friendly.

"Come." The red-eyed female with dark red braided hair demanded as she turned and walked to a door on the dock. I couldn't help but admire her ass as she walked ahead of us. I could not let this female distract me. I struggled to ignore my need to embrace this new female.

Darah and I followed the lady to the door. A scanning laser washed over Darah and I and beeped green. We were allowed to enter through the door, and we continued to follow the tall, fiercely sexy lady. She ushered us into a small waiting area. We sat in black chairs while two armed guards watched us.

"Stay here until I return." The woman simply said.

She looked me up and down and then scanned her eyes over Darah. She momentarily lost her stern expression again and hunger bled into her eyes. She seemed to catch herself and quickly resumed her hard disposition as she turned and left us to wait without another word.

"She seems cool like a cucumber," Darah said as she rolled her eyes.

"I am not sure I expected such a cold greeting. Plus, I have a strange urge to follow that female. Is she another alien that secretes pheromones to lure prey in?" Darah asked quietly to me.

"I don't trust this place," I said with a growl eyeing the two guards.

"As far as that woman, no Darah, that is not a deceptive feeling. She will be important to us, Darah. I will wait calmly with you and see how this turns out," I said softly so only she could hear.

"Is this about that "Fuck!" comment earlier?" she asked.

"Yes, later will be a better time for an explanation." I said as I noticed the soldiers and the scanning machines watching us and our every action.

"Okay."

"The Goddess Harmony sent me here, so I was going to trust that. I wonder what you sensed about the red-eyed female that would make you feel she would be significant. Important how?" Darah asked.

"I need you to trust me, too. I will speak to you about that privately." My gaze fell on the two guards. I looked at all the scanning lenses that targeted us and the guards as my silent plea for her to realize we were not having a private moment.

"Oh, I see." Darah whispered to me.

"I can't believe they have us sitting here just waiting," Darah said with a pout.

"I am here with you." I pulled her hand to my mouth and gave her a gentle kiss.

We both relaxed a bit as we waited. Darah almost dozed off on my shoulder when the red-eyed female returned.

"Hello, Darah. I see you have found some troubling acts of treason that we need to address." The Gias female announced.

I looked at my new bond mate, wondering when she would reveal herself to us with acknowledgment of our bond.

Darah sensed something too, I could smell her arousal and saw the hunger in eyes as she gazed at the red-eyed beauty. I don't think Earthlings have the same sensations of recognition when meeting a fated mate as we do. What would be the best way to approach this situation? I know it is rare for my people to have more than one bond mate. But it is known to happen occasionally.

I never imagined myself with this luck. Harmony, her Goddess, indeed blessed Darah. I will defend and love her wherever she goes. If this sexy, Gias's female is as fierce as she seems , Darah will be very protected indeed. I needed to provide and protect both these fascinating women.

"We are on the outer atmosphere docking port, a heavily guarded entry point before you can get to the surface. We will take you both to the transport pod now so we can travel down to the planet's surface." Our new bond mate explained.

This ship was an oval shape, not nearly as intimidating as the escort fighter ships were. This craft was seamless and smooth. The shiny black surface opened and a ramp laid out before us. My mind was trying to understand what I was seeing.

"How can the surface move with no hinges or seams?" I had asked.

"We have the most elaborate updated technology and resources available to build the best defense system the universe has to offer." Our new mate stated as we settled in our transport seats. Her voice ebbed in my ears like a velvet purr.

"May I ask your name?" Darah asked interrupting our future mate before she was able to explain more. The two guards came in and strapped themselves to the wall in front of us.

"We are going to the planet to our council hall. You will be interrogated and determined worthy or not." The female flatly said as she buckled herself and stared in front of her, not looking our way.

"I guess not." Darah said, as she looked at me with a spark of anger in her eyes.

"On Gias and in general the galaxtic empires require everyone to prove worthiness before we welcome them. This is common knowledge. Since the two of you do not seem to know this yet. I will explain only that much, even though it is not usually done. If you are deemed worthy only then will I speak with you freely." Our mate said in a whisper with her sexy eyes locked on the wall behind us.

"I am eager to stand worthy," I said confidently.

The woman's brow raised. She was intrigued by us as she tried to stay stern.

"Is this why you refuse to tell us your name? Darah asked.

"When you are deemed worthy, I will tell you, my name." She said softly.

Darah shrugged, "Well, okay then." She said as we landed.

My chest tightened eagerly, I needed to learn the name of this female too. I held Darah's hand as we made the quick walk to get to the council hall.

A huge, tall building stood before us I had to look all the way up in order to glimpse the light reddish sky. The building was white with the smooth surface like the craft. It seemed like it was made of one solid seamless glass, a dark glass that was not reflective.

"It's hotter than Satan's hell cat." Darah said as she pulled against her collar and pulled her arm sleaves up when we exited the craft.

We were escorted into the building as the seamless glass opened allowing us entry only to become solid the moment, we all were inside. The floor was smooth and grey. I could not tell if it was stone or some alien element unknown to me. The walls were grand with a design that was framing many weapons.

"Yes, it is much cooler inside here." Darah said with relief. I reached out to take her hand.

There was a viewing screen that had a show of many different flying crafts that flashed one by one showing off its armor and weapons. We followed our warrior woman down a bright hall that had many more weapons on display.

She opened a door and took us past many open seats. At the front of this large open room, she asked us to sit in these big chairs that sat in display before a raised seating area.

I looked at Darah, her brave face fell briefly and I saw the fear she tried to hide. She made eye contact and I tried to tell her without words how proud I was of her and I was here whatever we face. We were locked down in place. I growled in protest, my nature wanting to resist the bindings.

"We will be fine." Darah tried to soothe me.

I am feeling a bit claustrophobic myself.? She softly took a deep breath.

I did not like her discomfort, but I knew she wanted me to play nice for now. I certainly did not want to fight when first meeting our new mate.

We were facing a raised panel. A group of females walked in and took seats. By my count, twelve females sat staring down at us. The red-eyed female that brought us here stood off by the wall next to the armed guards.

The leader was older, intimidating, and gorgeous all at the same time, her red hair highlighted with gray, her red eyes piercing and missing nothing in her hard evaluating gaze. She took the center seat and spoke directly in front of us.

Test the newcomers now.? She demanded as machines came out of our chairs and probed us. A suction of some kind was applied to my forehead, and everything went dark.