Chapter 8

Paige

A nger bubbles inside me. I’m not a troublemaker. I was fighting for my life.

And I’m not his.

I puff out my chest and am seconds away from tearing into this arrogant alien when the leathers covering the archway move and another male steps inside. He’s the same one from yesterday, the first one I saw other than Varek.

He’s not as tall as Varek but he’s still way bigger than any human I’ve seen.

They have similar builds. Strong, lean. Muscles ripple and flex with each of their graceful movements.

“Draxel,” Varek says. “Do you have news?”

Draxel? I watch as he bows his head like a sign of respect for my captor. He doesn’t have glowing marks on his chest like Varek does. Does that mean he doesn’t have a mate?

I shake myself for the thought. I need to get a grip. As soon as I get the opportunity to escape, I’m taking it. Learning the ways of the Vruts is not high on my priority list.

Draxel nods. “There are more females.” He eyes me and then looks back to Varek waiting for a response.

My legs nearly give out.

Is he talking about…

“How many?”

“Five.”

The air surges from my lungs. No.

Draxel found the other women. Varek must have ordered him to go back and explore the ship. Now that the Vruts know they exist, and that they are basically sitting ducks waiting to be kidnapped. It’s only a matter of time before Varek and Draxel make their move.

Cristina’s terrified face flashes in my mind. And Melina, is she okay? Draxel says there are five women, so she must be alive, right? With her injuries, she’s probably in no condition to fight back.

And Ryan would do nothing but fight back.

Draxel stays silent as if waiting for an order from Varek. I have to do something. I didn’t let myself get taken just for the other women to get taken a day later. And none of this makes sense. No, Varek hasn’t hurt me, but he hasn’t let me go either. Maybe I’m only unharmed because he thinks we’re mates.

The other women might not be so… lucky.

My stomach hardens as tears threaten to well up.

“No,” I mumble, unable to form a coherent thought.

Varek’s brows lift as he gazes at me, folding his long arms across his chest.

“No?”

I meet his eyes, clinging to the way he’s watching me like he’s dying to hear my next words. It’s the only thing tethering me to this moment as the world feels like it’s spinning out of control.

“Please,” I say, my body moving on its own. I walk across the room to Varek and stop a foot from him, looking almost straight up at those big amber eyes. “Don’t go after them.”

He cocks his head.

“Leave them alone. Leave them at the ship.”

Draxel grumbles something behind me but Varek lifts a hand to stop him. “Go on, mate.”

I shake my head, the tears brimming my eyes as I imagine the chaos of the Vruts attacking the ship, dragging out the other women. I can hear them screaming—terrified. There’s a chance that after I was taken, they were able to get in contact with control on Earth. Maybe a rescue team is already on the way. They just need time.

“We’re not supposed to be here. Our ship was sucked through a wormhole. We were scared and some of us were injured. Please, don’t go after them.”

Varek’s jaw clenches hard as he stares down at me.

“Leave them out there. Protect them. I’m begging you.”

His eyes narrow. “You are begging me?”

I huff. He’s being smug. Throwing it in my face that he holds the power. He’s held the power since the moment he tore open the door to the damn ship. But yes, I’m begging him.

“Yes,” I admit.

“Why?”

Emotion chokes my voice as I wait until I know that I can get my words out without making a fool of myself. I’m worried about them, but it’s only because deep down, I’m terrified too. I’m waiting for the moment I’m going to wake up from this nightmare and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.

I gather myself and answer him. “I don’t want more of your kind to take them like you took me,” my voice shakes. “I want them to be safe.”

The muscles in Varek’s shoulders bunch as his nostrils flare. He looks above my head and barks at Draxel to get out. The other male quickly obeys.

A bead of sweat slides down my spine at the anger in his voice. Varek crowds me, backing me up until I hit the rocky wall. I suck in a deep breath and try to make myself small but he’s right there, towering over me and pinning me to the wall with his body.

“Mate,” he growls. “You want me to consider your request when you offend me?”

“Offend you?” I ask. “How? I just—”

“You think of me as some monster who stole you away. I saved you. Brought you back to my people to heal you. Shelter you. And you believe this to be a grave error?”

The anger slices through his voice as he fumes in front of me. The patterns on his chest flare bright. I shut my eyes from the light but he grips my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

“Answer me.”

“I never wanted this!” The words tumble out of me. “I didn’t choose this. I don’t have the stupid glows or whatever. I’m a human! Things don’t work the same for me. So yeah, this was all a grave error.”

Varek’s jaw clenches, his grip on my chin tightening but still not painful. He shakes his head. “And yet you ask a favor of me? Beg me?”

“Yes,” I breathe. “Please. Don’t put them through what you are putting me through.”

Varek leans in close, his face inches from mine. He’s all around me and I’ve never felt smaller. Less powerful.

“If this is your wish, then I will grant it, mate. But under a condition.”

My heart is pounding in my chest, but I cling to the flare of hope.

“Never,” he growls, “you will never consider me your captor again.”

His lips twitch as he watches me.

“You will never call me as such.”

Varek’s throat bobs as his grip on me loosens, his rough fingers brushing across my cheek. He tenderly touches me from temple to collarbone, his brows knitting with something I haven’t seen in him before.

Not anger. Not confusion.

Pain?

My chest tightens. The luminescence glows as he touches me, a soft green I’m beginning to find enchanting. With him this close, his scent is all I can process. Rain and spice.

Maybe he’s not the monster I want to make him to be. He sure doesn’t seem to want to be called one.

But I think about what he’s really asking. He doesn’t want me to call him my captor, but that’s what he is. I didn’t choose this, he did. I’m here against my will. But his request isn’t just about the technicality of names—captor and captive—Varek wants me to try and accept him. He wants me to open my heart to whatever bond he thinks there is between us.

Can I?

Do I have it in me?

I hesitantly meet his gaze, looking at him through a different lens. He’s… handsome. Not in the traditional, human sense, but there is something beautiful—alluring—about him.

He’s been kind, hasn’t he?

And if this mate bond is as much of an honor as he says, then I won’t be in danger with him, right?

I bite the inside of my cheek.

“Okay,” I whisper.

Varek nods, his eyes searching mine. “Then I will honor your request. Draxel,” Varek barks out for the other male.

Draxel joins us again, waiting for his orders.

“Take provisions to the women. Food, water. Leave it outside the ship and do not approach. Keep me updated on their movements and do not speak of this.”

Draxel stills for a second. He blinks back at Varek and opens his mouth as if about to disobey, but nods instead. He leaves us alone again and I finally feel like I can breathe.

Varek glides his rough fingers across my cheek again and a little shiver rolls down my spine.

He smirks as if he saw the way my body responded to his touch. “Now. It’s time for that bath.”