Page 129 of I'm Not Your Pet

He’d been handling the chemicals. Chemicals that emitted a soft glow, even in the pitch black. I worried that he’d been hurt—startled by the light going out. Vaguely, I could see the Sahrk-ish shape of his body in the back corner of the room, and I pulled Briar along with me, toward it.

I understood Roark in a new way now. The unknown sunk its icy fingers inside my chest, slicing through my heart as I waited with bated breath to see what would happen next. Pirates were aboard. I knew that. The safety systems wouldn’t have been activated if they weren’t.

Roark.

Roark has to be so scared?—

“Huu-goh,” Ushuu answered, sounding panicked. I’d never heard him like this. And the thought made me ache.

“Are you hurt?” I confirmed, still approaching, but keeping my voice quiet enough I hoped no one would hear.

“N-no.” Ushuu was shaking. I hadn’t noticed from far away, but as I reached him, laying a hand on his shoulder I could feel him quake.

Roark had told me that he had lost his mate just like this.

The thought made me ache to pull him into a tight embrace. To soothe his fears.

But for a moment my mind…my mind was selfishly on my own mate. On my Roark. Who was on the other side of the ship, currently, and probably freaking the fuck out. With the lights off, there was no way for him to check the security cameras to ensure our safety. The glow from the fuel was enough to illuminate the vague shapes of things, but not nearly bright enough for the cameras to pick up.

With my ears buzzing, I managed to find Ushuu’s hand in the dark. It was icy cold, his fingers limp as I pulled him away from the dangerous half of the room and toward the corner least visible from the hallway. He went willingly, and Briar was silent as he helped me lower Ushuu to the floor. When I touched him, even his head fin was icy. Stroking my fingers soothingly over it, I tried to figure out what to do next.

Only…my options became increasingly limited when I heard something out in the hall.

There were footsteps approaching, slow and steady.

Maybe it’s Roark?

My first thought was hopeful, the steady thud of the feet were as heavy as his, after all.

But…somehow I knew it wasn’t him. My gut—the same gut that had told me what was about to go down before it had happened—knew the truth.

The lab was located nearer to the cargo bay than the helm where Roark spent most of his time. I was grateful. So fucking grateful, because if the danger was near me it was far,faraway from him. I loved him to bits, but I knew his weakness.

If he thought I was out here unprotected—like I was—I knew there was nothing that would stop him from plowing through the pirates without a thought to get to me.

Which…could result in casualty.

Casualties I knew he didn’t want to happen.

He was a planner. He always had been. Serious to a fault, and hard to ruffle. But if there was one thing his reaction to me running from him at the auction had taught me, it was that I was his exception. Roark was the most rational person in the world—except when it came to me.

Which meant it was up to me to fix this. To stay safe. And to join him?—

I wanted to tell him that things were alright.

But I couldn’t.

It was an empty promise.

“It’s okay,” I whispered quietly to Ushuu as we waited in darkness.

“Shut up,” Briar snapped at me, his voice as icy as Ushuu’s surface was.

Thud, thud, thud—the footsteps in the hallway grew louder the closer they came.

Please, please, please pass by us.

Please, please, please?—

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