Page 24 of Mated in the Stars
Ak’kel’s eyes darkened as he studied the human with his hands bound behind his back kneeling before him. Leaning in, his voice cut through the air like a blade, "I saw her logs before she drugged and kicked me off her ship. She’s been here many times. Likely, you’re a friend, at the very least a trusted acquaintance."
Derek’s lips curled into a smile, his teeth still coated in his blood. "Sounds like her." The male sounded proud.
Ak'kel growled deep in his throat, not enjoying the pride the other male had in his mate. Without any hesitation, Ak’kel slammed his fist into Derek’s face again, the sickening crack of bone echoing through the room.
Derek groaned when his head snapped back again. Then he gasped as he righted himself and sucked in a shaky breath before turning to once again glare at Ak’kel. "Fuck you." His eyes looked swollen from the beating, his cheek puffy on one side.
Ak'kel grinned, a cold feral expression. "You can end this,” he murmured, almost coaxing, “by just telling me where she’s going next. Think," Ak’kel reasoned, "with the time I've wasted here, she's probably well on her way to a completely different stop."
Ak’kel watched as the other man clenched his jaw. He saw the wheels spinning behind Derek’s eyes, weighing his options and the truth in Ak’kel’s words.
After a few tense moments, Derek heaved a sigh, his shoulders sagging, and let his head hang until his chin rested on his chest. "More than likely there are two spots she'd head to after visiting me. One would be a space port where she could get more supplies, and one would be a gas giant that might hide her ship from anyone passing by."
"Which would she be more likely to visit?" Ak’kel asked as one of his men, who stood within the room, re-laid the information to their bridge crew. They’d be quick on finding the nearest space port and red giant.
"The space station, The Orion." Derek muttered in defeat.
"And the name of the gas giant?" Ak’kel felt certain he knew of which Derek spoke of, but he wanted to be sure. If Sarawasn’t at the space station, he needed to know exactly which red giant he referred to so they could find her.
"X-03934." Derek whispered.
"Thank you for the information." Ak'kel nodded, a slow faint smile turning the corners of his mouth. He turned smoothly on a booted heel and ordered, "Kill him."
"Wait!" Derek cried out, his voice cracking. "You said if I give you this information you'd release me!"
Ak’kel paused at the door, and glanced back at the man still on his knees. "I believe I said you could end it all by giving me the information I sought.” He informed Derek coldly. “And my man here, is about to do just that." He gestured briefly to the other Vrak’rir male standing within the room. Then he turned and left the room as Derek hurled insults his way. The door slid closed with a soft whoosh.
"You've got the coordinates for the space port?" Ak’kel used his com to contact the bridge.
"Got them." Drax responded from the bridge. "We will head to the space port while another of your ships heads to the gas giant. This way we can get more space covered faster."
"Good." Ak’kel smiled. His second in command was efficient and reliable, the best man he could have ever hired. "Keep me updated on our progress. I want to be the first to know when we arrive."
He headed straight to his room. Once he arrived, he closed his eyes and sighed. His mate had been on the forefront of his mind. Which didn’t surprise him one bit. As a Vrak’rir, mates were life. Without knowing she was safe, he would never be able to rest completely.
Right as Ak’kel grabbed aflumdropfrom a bowl on a table and popped a sweet, tangy bite into his mouth his comm buzzed sharply.
"What is it?" Ak’kel asked with a sharp snap to his voice. There was no possible way they’d arrived.
"Sir," his second-in-command replied quickly, his voice always respectful, "I know you want to chase down your mate, but we just received some intel on Haldon and his mate. Figured you might wish to know."
Ak’kel’s jaw clenched at the mention of his rival, his treat completely forgotten. The sweet taste of his bite offlumdropbittering on his tongue as frustration simmered inside him. "What is the situation?" So much for losing himself in thoughts of his mate.
"Seems Haldon and his mate have worked out their issues. They've taken back an outpost you claimed while he was imprisoned, and now they're headed over to a planet you took from him."
As much as he'd love to put Haldon back in his place and settle a score, but he couldn't deny his instinct to get his mate back. He needed her. Now. He’d heard all about Haldon resisting his mate, but Ak’kel wasn’t the same. They might have a lot of similarities, but for Ak’kel, his mate would always come first.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low and fierce. “We can deal with Haldon in a later. First, we seek out my mate. Then we will deal with Haldon.”
Chapter 8
A day later, they arrived at the spaceport. An aging and battered port run by humans. Good. Humans were easier to threaten than other species, especially now, with the human government embroiled in a war. They wouldn't spare many, if any, troops on some insignificant, rundown, civilian-owned spaceport. Poor thing looked ready to collapse in on itself. Rusted metal ready to give in to the vacuum of space and suck its occupants into space. The true definition of a rust bucket.
Ak’kel sneered at the battered structure. He may have teased his mate about how her ship looked, but honestly, her vessel looked better than this decrepit mess.
"Patch us through." Ak'kel instructed his bridge crew.
"They’re already hailing us." One of his bridge crew informed him as his console beeped up at him.
