Page 14 of Mated in the Stars
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At the feel of the first jolt. Ak'kel smiled. It was the kind of shaking that rattled the bones in his body. It was anunmistakable sign that the ship was under attack. His men had received the distress call he’d sent out. They’d probably already been in the area after his ship had been destroyed by Haldon, searching for him. Too bad the human woman hadn’t thought to search inside his body.
Rising from his cot, he caught himself on a wall of his cell as the ship lurched around him. The vessel shuddered violently, the metal groaned and protested the attack like a live animal. Ak’kel grimaced. This rust bucket might fall into pieces if his men weren't careful with their shots. It’d be slightly ironic if his men killed him after he survived Haldon.
It didn't take long for Ak’kel to hear plasma shots and boots running around outside the brig. His smile widened. He almost felt sorry for the human woman who captained this vessel. How could she have known she had one of the deadliest aliens aboard her ship?
Suddenly, the brig door opened with a hiss, revealing a heavily armed Vrak’rir in the doorway. Drax entered the brig, hefting a plasma pistol in one hand before holstering it at his hip with a practiced ease.
“Ak’kel!" Drax called out. His gaze fell on Ak’kel before he glanced back at the door. "How did you end up the captive of the humans?"
"They saved me from asphyxiating to death." Ak’kel replied.
"Ha!" Drax laughed with a snort. "You die? I'd eat my shoes if it ever happened." Drax turned his attention to the console in front of him, fingers flying over the simplistic controls. "You always manage to cheat death."
"Some day it will get me." Ak’kel murmured, a flicker of weariness passing over his face, too fast for Drax to catch. His luck would run out one of these days. "Now hurry up and releaseme.” Ak’kel growled low as anticipation filled him. “I promised to rip the captain's head from her shoulders."
"One moment." Drax mumbled as he continued to focus his attention on the console in front of him. When he couldn't figure it out, he pulled a small device from his pocket and attached it to the console. With a small spark of blue lights, the force field in front of Ak'kel dissolved with a crackle.
Ak'kel strode out of the cell, stretching out his limbs. "Feels good to be free." He said cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders.
"Here," Drax passed Ak'kel one of his plasma pistols.
Ak’kel gladly accepted the weapon, the weight familiar and comforting to him.
"The men have probably reached the bridge by now.” Drax informed him. “So, if you want the honor of killing this captain, we best get up there."
"You know the way?” Ak’kel asked.
Drax nodded firmly. "Downloaded the schematics of the ship. Follow me." He said as they exited the brig.
They stepped into the corridor, a couple of human bodies laid sprawled right outside the door. Dark pools of blood soaked the flooring around their bodies. Ak’kel stepped over them without a flicker of remorse. They deserved what they got. No one took Ak’kel Drokenal prisoner and lived. Even if they had saved him from the debris field. If they'd released him the moment he'd awakened, he may have considered sparing them. He wasn't completely heartless after all.
A faint sweet scent ticketed his nose, catching him mid-step, and Ak’kel paused in the corridor. It almost smelled like faint traces offlumdrops. Something his grandmother would bake when him when he’d a bad day as a child. It was a comforting smell, and one that confused him. Why would he smell flumdropson a human ship?
"What is it?" Drax asked as he noticed Ak'kel standing in the hall motionless.
"Nothing." Ak'kel replied as he shook his head. Maybe one of the men Drax had brought on board had recently eaten aflumdrop. "Let’s get to the bridge before the honor of killing the captain is stolen from me."
"This way." Drax gestured ahead of them before he led Ak’kel through the ship.
Signs of the recent fight were all around them. Char marks scorched the walls where random plasma shots had landed. And then there were the bodies and blood. The corridors of the ship looked like a war zone. The fighting hadn't gone well for the captain’s crew. So far, he hadn’t noticed any of his crew lying dead in the corridors.
They arrived at the bridge, and the scent offlumdropssmelled even stronger. Ak’kel growled low in his throat before the door to the bridge slid open with a hiss. Walking in, he quickly took in the scene before him. The bridge crew kneeled before his men. A few laid on the ground dead, plasma shots having seared through their skulls in a clean merciless shot.
Then Ak'kel watched as one of his men stepped up behind the female captain. When the man raised his plasma pistol to her head, Ak’kel barked," Stop!"
The man hesitated, his head whipping up. When his eyes landed on Ak’kel, he pulled back his hand, aiming the plasma pistol towards the ceiling.
Ak'kel's eyes fell back to the woman kneeling on the floor, and his eyes greedily took her in. She was striking, her eyes glaring daggers at every single Vrak’rir aboard her bridge. If he gave her a knife, he had no doubt she’d come up swinging. Inhaling, his chest expanded and her scent flooded him. She smelled like home and fresh bakedflumdrops.
Mine.
Ak'kel's instinct roared to life inside him.
A day every Vrak’rir waited for eagerly.
A mate.
