28. Chapter 28

For a split second, I thought Hazel worked with those crazy ones and ambushed me in the alley. But that would be so dumb.

And the next moment, I'm holding Hazel's hand, my mate's hand.

This is wild, but I'm not complaining.

I have never imagined I'd have a mate who isn't a uzain. There's no telling what species she might be, but still, I thought she would be a uzain.

Maybe after seeing Vrek and his mate, I should have considered otherwise.

Hazel is perfect for me. I hope I'm as perfect to her, too.

The alley is quiet, with only the noise of our breath. My horns are humming with joy. If I could, I'd make sure Hazel knows how much I care about her and love her. But before we got kicked out of the space station, I'd behave myself.

Maybe that's a mate bond in me or some ancient urge that has been there inside every uzain's heart, I want her at once. My cock is so fucking hard that it's not fun to walk.

Not to mention... I don't want anyone to see that.

I take a breath, fighting to calm myself. There'll be time for that. I'll have a lot of time with Hazel.

There are a lot of beings in the marketplace, crowding the path, making it hard to be quick. There should be time before the spaceship depart, so there's no hurry. But when I could be doing something else with Hazel aside from walking, I want to be back already.

There are all kinds of scents in the air. Food, alcohol, some weird creatures the beings sell, and maybe leather of some kind. That day, the fateful day when I met Hazel, the space station smelled like this too. And here we are.

I take a deep breath, but having to slow down when a transport ship passes through and is unloading, takes up precious space in the street.

Hazel chuckles. "Come on. I have short legs. You look like you are in a hurry or something is chasing you."

I slow down even more for her to follow. "I don't mean to. But when your tiny soft hand is here, it is hard to stop myself."

Her cheeks light up with a beautiful pink. "Shut up!"

"I'm not ashamed to let everyone know you're my mate."

She punches my chest with her cute hand, doing nothing but pleasing me and tickling me. "Stop it. No one else is interested in that."

Maybe. But I don't care. I just want to be happy with her. It shouldn't be that hard, but life has its way of making me second-guess everything.

Hopefully, the world for her is simpler. I'll make sure I don't die in some kind of fight.

It takes a while before we make it through the marketplace, back to the street that leads to the parking lot.

A lot fewer beings are around, which is good news.

"Phew." She lets out a breath. "All the tall ones there are clouding the air."

"Is it?" I don't feel anything special, but given the difference in our height, maybe her experience is very different.

She nods. "Yeah, a tall one like you won't understand. I hate how humans are on the shorter end."

"I'd say you're a good size to hug and carry around."

"Geez, carry around, as if I'm an item or something."

I huff at that. "Yeah, just an item that annoys me to no end."

She pauses and I hurry to stop. Did I say something wrong? Is it that bad?

Her eyes widen, and she points ahead. Her mouth opens, but no words come out of her.

She isn't pointing at me, so I follow her finger.

The parking lot looks fine with spaceships, what's the...

Wait...

She blinks. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"I suppose so..."

The parking lot is fine, only... the uzain battleship is gone.

Hazel asks, "Are you sure this is the right parking lot? Are there two sides or more?"

I look at the marking on the ceiling. We are in the right place. These are the same walls and the same other spaceships parked there. "I think... we are in the right spot."

"But... Did they leave without you?"

"I..." My heart pounds in my chest. All of a sudden, I'm rooted to the floor, not knowing what to do.

Our spaceship is huge and there's no way both Hazel and I can't see it at the entrance.

At the same time, there's no reason they would depart without me.

I pull out my phone, checking the message from the captain again. There is the departing time and we aren't even there yet. Why did they depart early?

And...

If I was a warrior uzain, I guess I could understand if they somehow forget about me. But... I'm the coach and I would have been the one counting and making sure everyone's onboard.

Yet...

I scowl. "Wait... I think I know what's up."

"Yes?" Her eyes light up. Maybe she is equally confused and feeling helpless when things go wrong yet again. Poor her.

"It is the captain. He knows we aren't on the spaceship. He planned to leave us here."

"What?" She stares at me as if I've grown another pair of horns. "Why would he do something like that?"

"So he won't have me around. He has been hating how you're here and my mate, not his."

"Are you sure about that? Isn't it... a bit too much?"

I don't understand what that means either. What will the others on the spaceship think about that? Like... I'm the one leaving with her and refusing to get back to the spaceship?

I squeeze her hand. "It's not that far-fetched. He never liked me."

"Why? He doesn't like you Before you even argue and fight with him?"

"No captain likes to have a coach there watching over him. This captain is a bit newer, in terms of captains. He is an experienced warrior, but commanding a battleship is another thing. I guess he wants to do whatever he wants now."

"How bad will it be?"

"Despite his hopes and dreams, when he reports back to the base ship, they will send someone else to watch over him. He can hate it, but until he clocks in enough, there will be a coach whose job is to watch over him. Then, there will still be a coach to help, and partly monitor, just in case."

She sighs. "I hope it isn't my problem. I don't want to get you into trouble. What if he tells them you're the one leaving on your own? Then you kind of failed as the coach."

"I suppose it will be the case." And with her as my mate now, good luck getting the base camp to forgive me. The captain is the one kidnapping her, but then... "I'm not sure."

"Can you get into contact with the base camp? Maybe you should notify them before the captain does."

"There's no way we can make it quicker. I don't have any means to contact anyone back there. The only way is from the dashboard on the battleship."

She scowls at me. "No way, you have a phone. Call them."

"Except it isn't that easy. The base camp has to stay safely away from the Empire and its minions, not to mention some other parties that may be hired to attack it. The only secured way is through the battleships, which is the only way."

"So... What does this mean? What are we going to do?"

I wish I knew. "I have no clue. Maybe... maybe we may as well go to the space station you used to live. And..."

Now, I feel like a bad mate. We don't have a spaceship; I don't have a lot of money with me, and... I have no idea what I can do.

I rub my horns, trying to come up with something. There has to be a way to get out of this stupidity.

Hazel asks, "Will the base camp look for you?"

"May or may not. I wish they would, but... The universe is vast."

"But the captain is going to report, and they will know you're likely here."

"That's if they believe that I'm going to stay here."

She sighs and her shoulders slump. "I guess you're right."

I hold her cheek. I hate to see her upset. "Look, this is a space station. Uzains will come. Maybe we will run into another fleet, then we can get in touch with the base camp and figure it out."

She lifts her brows at me. "Maybe we'll be lucky. But... Do you plan to stay here? When... I have nothing. We can't even get a hotel room."

"Yeah... I feel like a failure. I have some coins, but it won't last us for long." I wrap my arms around her, holding her close to me. If I let go, maybe she will happily leave. Who will want such a useless mate who can't even provide a place to stay for the night? "Maybe I can find something to do here that will bring in more coins."

She pats my back. "It's okay, we'll figure it out. It can't be that bad."

I hope she is right.