Page 23 of Mated in the Stars
"Well, be safe." Derek patted her on the shoulder before turning to his men. With a loud clap of his hands, he joined them in sorting through the rest of the junk. "We have less than an hour boys! Let's see what we can't buy off, Miss Sara."
Miss Sara. She rolled her eyes. The name made her sound so innocent and young. Which she was not. She wasn't as bad as Ak’kel, but she'd killed people when needed. She'd given the order plenty of times to destroy a ship. Normally they were attacked first but there'd be a couple of times she'd started a firefight.
Derek sifted through as much as he could and by the time the hour was up, Sara walked away with a few more credits to their name. It wasn't a whole lot, but it was better than nothing. And even though she got the feeling Derek may have slipped a few extra credits in there, she didn't say anything. She and her crew would need them so who was she to say no.
And now they ran.
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The space junkyard came into view, stretched out in front of them. A twirling maze of twisted metal and spacecraft parts. Ak’kel’s eyes narrowed on the scene before them as a scowl darkened his features.
"Is the ship here?" He asked.
One of his men leaned over their console examining the readouts. "Negative, but they can't be too far ahead of us. We detected their engine signature.”
"Then let's make this quick then." Ak'kel growled, clenching his jaw as his claws itched to dig into someone. Anyone. "I want to find my runaway mate."
"We could bypass this junk yard and try to surmise where she's gone." One of his men suggested.
"No." Ak’kel shook his head after a cold glance at his man. "I'd rather stay here to interrogate the shipyard workers. We have better chance of finding her next stop from this junkyard than chasing her blindly around the vastness that is space."
"I agree." His second, Drax, stepped forward. "From the data you downloaded from her ship, she appears to be a frequent visitor here. They may have a good idea of where she goes from here."
A surge of satisfaction flickered through Ak’kel at the prospect of capturing his unwilling mate. The idea of her being so close yet so far away irritated him more than he wanted to admit. Why did mates have to be so stubborn? If she'd been a Vrak’rir, she’d have tackled him to the ground, her lush body pressing up against his rock hard one, and then she’d have guided his cock inside her. Humans sadly didn't react that way. They needed… courtship, or so said his mate.
Ak’kel had needed to look that word up. It simply didn’t translate. Courtship wasn’t needed in a mated species. Not until they’d become space faring apparently. Now he needed to cut flowers and buy chocolates for her. Assuming he could trust the information he’d gathered. Though from what he’d read, flowers held meaning, a red rose was a symbol of love while a yellow carnation could mean rejection.
It seemed so much more complicated than matehood. He felt a touch of sympathy for the human males who had to navigate this courtship. Then there were the many words humans had for courtship, dating, flirting, fiancés, seduction, etc.
The communications console crackled to life.
"The junkyard is hailing us." One of the men announced.
"Tell them to expect us to board. Any resistance will be met with aggression." Ak’kel felt no need to sugar coat it. He'd rather tell them up front of his intentions and let them decide how they wanted to proceed.
It only took them a few minutes to send back a response.
"We have a green light to proceed."
Ak’kel snorted lightly, with a roll of his eyes. "Like we needed it." He growled under his breath. Sometimes it irritated him to let people think they were the ones to decide their fate. There was no decision here. There was only ever one choice.... the one he chose for them. But whatever made them happy and compliant. It was all that really mattered in the end.
"Take us in and prepare to dock with them. Then find the junk yard boss and bring him to me."
The man inclined his head and swiftly strode off the bridge, his footsteps echoing on the metal floor. Ak’kel smiled. He could taste victory. The game of chase was coming to a close.
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"I won't tell you." Derek spat, blood spraying from his split lips, and splattering across the toes of Ak'kel's boots. The majority of it missed the mark and splattered onto the metal floor with a sickening squelch.
Ak’kel glanced down at the bloody mess, and his lips pulled back in a silent snarl. His sharp eyes zipped back up to the human male seated before him. The Derek’s eyes flashed with defiance despite his battered face. If Ak’kel wasn’t so eager to find his mate, he might find this human male’s resistance to telling him anything impressive.
Without a word, Ak’kel’s hand whipped out with a lethal precision, and his fist slammed into human male’s face. The impact snapped the Derek's head back violently, blood gushing immediately from his nose, little red droplets flying across the wall behind him.
The male sagged, his chin landing on his chest as he groaned in pain. Then Derek raised his head, his eyes narrowing with renewed defiance as he met Ak’kel’s eyes. Blood trickled down his face from his nose, and then he bared his bloody teeth at Ak’kel.
"Where has she gone?" Ak’kel demanded again, voice low and dangerous, a clear threat.
"What makes you think I'd know anything?" Derek ground out before spitting another bloody glob of spit onto the floor. “Do you honestly think I’d betray her?”
