18. Chapter 18

Isit on a bench in the training field. No one is going to be here for another while. I will have time to enjoy my stew.

The potato is amazing. The stew itself is great. I like how spicy it is without covering up the meaty taste. Hazel has magical hands. These aren't doughnuts, but I'm enjoying it. Maybe humans all have a way with food.

I lift the bowl, enjoying some more. Maybe this will be even better with a piece of bread or rice. I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth in my stomach.

Hazel annoys me. Her cute pussy tasted so great. But she left me with my cock complaining, hard, and almost unbearable. Maybe I should have asked more directly, but I don't want to make her uncomfortable.

She is such a professional when she cooks. It will be great if she will stay here and cook for us. I want to enjoy this all the time. Maybe if we have the right ingredients, she can make the fishballs again.

I can't help a grin spreading on my face. I can't be happier to have met her.

But at the same time, I doubt she wants to be here. Our spaceship won't stop until we reach the destination, which will be another space station so we can drop off what we got. By that time, I'll have to do as I promised; to let her go, freely.

It will cause issues with the captain. He won't be happy to know she fled. But he won't be able to do anything. The space station will be a bit too big for him to look for Hazel. Even if he sends all the uzains, it still won't be enough.

And... I'll never see Hazel again.

It hurts more than I imagined. I put the bowl to the side before I will drop it. Am I not a good mate? I think I've made myself clear. But maybe she thinks that's for the act; to convince other uzains, which isn't wrong either.

But I want to be with her. She makes my horns buzz and takes my breath away when she is around.

But she doesn't belong here. She has never wanted to be here.

If I care about her and want her to be happy, I'll have to let her go.

I pick up the bowl again, finishing the content before it gets cold.

My cock is still hard from thinking about her. She is more than someone who can please me, but... How do I let her know about that? Will she care?

I head to the storage room, pulling out the punching bags and their stands. Maybe I can begin preparing for another session.

Dragging around the obstacles and tools needed for the training session sends me panting for air and sweaty. I take a breath, dragging a sled out of the storage room. Maybe this is what I need to get my mind off Hazel's soft body for a while.

I take a breath into my stomach, dragging the sled with more weight piled on. This will force my mind to focus on my legs instead of thinking about silly stuff.

Or so I thought.

I grunt and drop the rope, but I stumble when I take steps back to slow down. Fuck... I end up on my ass, which is better than a sprained ankle, but still dumb.

No one else is here. I'm here behind the closed door. This may be the safest place I can be in on the spaceship other than my own room.

What's Hazel doing?

Is she eating? Deep in her thoughts? Trying to figure out how to get away from me?

I rub my horn, trying to calm myself. Maybe she just needs more time to get used to her situation.

Her pussy is so sweet with her juices. And she sends warmth into my stomach even when she isn't here.

If only there were things I could do to show her that... maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for her to stay and be my mate.

The door opens, interrupting my thoughts. I should stand and figure out who that is, but I don't care about that enough to move.

"Zil, what are you doing on the ground?" It is the captain and he lifts his brows at me with a sneer. He must still be mad at me. If it is about Hazel, I don't care. If I cared, I wouldn't have helped her away from the whip.

I nod, but can't find the motivation to stand even though I should. One, I should do that to greet the captain. Two, I don't need more attention from him, and I don't need to anger him even more. but...

The captain comes over and eyes me up and down. "Training on your own?"

I nod. "Yes, figured I'll do some before the next session starts."

He tilts his head to the side. "Fine, it looks like you've been working out."

I suppose so. I'm sweating enough to make that clear.

He folds his arms. "Look, how's that female?"

"Fine? Alive."

"Time to give her back."

"What?" I scowl at that. Hazel is mine and we established that when we fought.

The captain hisses back, showing off his horns that are at best on par with mine. "Just because you got away that day doesn't mean you are going to always get away with that. I'm the rules on this spaceship."

I push against the floor and stand. "I've already told you she's my mate. No one is taking her away from me."

He snickers. "That's not how this works. She is going to be my mate. I took her from the space station."

"Yes, away from a friendly one. Who knows whether they are tracking us down to look for her? That can be bad for all the uzains."

"Whatever you say. She is mine. I'm the captain."

I straighten and flex my horns. "Are you sure about that? She's happy with me."

"But she hasn't confirmed you're her mate, either. You are the one claiming. It's not how it works."

"She didn't agree to be your mate." I hiss back at him. Technically, he isn't wrong, but I'm not going to run with that. "And you know I won. She's mine."

The captain sneers with his teeth out. "No, you didn't. I only let you go at that time to stop wasting my time."

"Or say, you are trying for a rematch."

"If that's what you'd like to think." He growls at me and I hiss back. I'm not going to be intimidated just because he is the captain.

Before I know it, we have the practice weapons in our hands and are moving to the center of the training field. If he isn't convinced of his defeat, I can do that again. I can beat him every time if he needs a reminder here and then.

I'm about to announce the start of our fight when someone else shouts from the door.

"Captain, so glad I found you here."

I lower my weapon, and so does the captain. Both of us look at the entrance to the training field. Who is the uzain who interrupts us?

It is one of the uzains who I don't care for at this moment. More importantly...

Hazel is standing right next to that uzain. What is happening? She stares at us with wide eyes. If I'm seeing it right, she is shaking. Is she nervous seeing the captain and I with weapons at each other and about to fight?

The captain grunts. "Don't you see I'm here doing serious things?"

"I'm sorry, but the base camp is awaiting a callback, so I figured..."

The captain sneers and drops his weapon onto the floor. "Fine, I'm heading there now." He storms out of the training field, not without glaring at me another time.

The uzain interrupting us remains in his spot. Hazel hurries to my side. She asks, "What's happening? It looks like you are trying to murder each other."

I'm not sure whether I should tell her what happened. She may be able to guess, but... Last time, we switched to a language that she may not know, so...

"Nothing. We are just doing some training."

She lifts her brows. "Are you sure about that? If it is just training, there's no need to glare at each other like that. The captain wouldn't have been that mad when we came here."

"Why are you here?" I don't want to talk about my potential fight with the captain. I'm going to handle that like a strong male. I'm going to win and prove to everyone that I'm the one capable of being Hazel's mate.

She looks at the uzain who is still at the door, seemingly confused. "I ran into him when I wandered around, trying to figure out where to go. I asked for the training field and he led me here, saying he was heading here too."

I nod at that uzain. He looks around as if making sure I can't be talking to someone else. He finally comes over. "Coach."

"So, you are here."

"Yes, I was looking for the captain."

Maybe that's real and he isn't here to break up the fight. "I understand. When is your training session?"

"Um... Not now?"

"Then get back to your shift."

"Sure, sorry about it. I don't mean to interrupt anything."

I shrug. I don't mind. Punishing the captain for even thinking about taking Hazel away from me can wait. "It's okay. The captain and I can finish our business later."

He nods and hurries to leave. I narrow my eyes on him. If Hazel thinks that the captain and I are trying to murder each other, maybe this uzain will think that way too. We don't have rules against uzains talking to each other. When there is a full ship of all the uzains with nothing better to do when there are no battles going on, news travels quicker than anyone can imagine.