Page 48 of Coveted

Regis didn’t stop as he called his answer over his shoulder.

“I’m going to check on my family. I’ll be back when I’m sure they’re okay.”

Her heart clenched again, lips popping open. She hadn’t realized Regis had family in the Camp and didn’t know how he’d held himself together to get the others to help. It said a lot about the alpha that he’d done his job before going off in search of his loved ones.

Alana watched him as he broke into a jog toward the buildings scattered beyond the clearing. Part of her was anxious at being left on her own, and she worried about Vax and the fate of the people who’d been hurt in the accident, but she turned her thoughts away from that as she looked around.

If someone didn’t know where this Camp was, she doubted they’d be able to find it from above. Trees with dark red leaves and black trunks rose into the sky, even the shortest twice as tall as the hopper. From what she could see, it looked like the Camp had been built around the forest instead of clearing the trees away to make room for it, and considering Farcon 1 had been colonized by Earth, it made sense. Not many knew more about the problems caused by destroying nature than their parent planet.

Stepping off the ship, Alana was surprised by the firmness of the ground beneath her foot, expecting the give of the soil on Libeqor. It was like she was still walking on the ship, and when she leaned down to run her fingers over the short, burnt orange vegetation, she realized it was some sort of moss type plant with stone beneath.

She marveled at the soft feel of it before straightening. She didn’t want Vax upset with her for not staying on the ship, so she didn’t wander any further than the tip of the wing, but she let herself walk around, studying the view.

The Camp buildings she could see were low and sturdy looking, built from the black wood of the forest, and would haveblended in if they didn’t have small lights strung around the edge of the roofs. There were only a couple that had two floors, and she saw people coming and going from them, so she didn’t think those were homes.

There were medium-sized bushes scattered between the buildings, with tiny orange leaves that danced in the breeze, and a smaller type whose leaves were a blood red shading to pink on the tips. Her fingers itched to inspect them closer. The vegetation was so bright and vivid, and Alana couldn’t help wondering what kinds of flowers would grow on the mountain slopes beneath the shade of the trees. It was so different from Libeqor, and while she wished they were at the Camp for a different reason, she was glad to have gotten to see it in person.

Alana paced around the hopper a few times until she was sure she’d seen everything she could. The breeze was refreshing after so long cooped up on ships, so she decided to sit outside as she waited for the men to return, but the shadows beneath the trees grew longer, bringing an early twilight to the Camp with still no sign of her alpha.

The lights around the buildings burned brighter, and she marveled at the sight. They created a soft glow that made the Camp look ethereal, the different types of people walking around adding to the impression, and she was so caught up in the sight she almost missed the figure approaching from the path up the mountain.

Vax’s cinnamon cocoa scent tickled her nose, twined with an acrid stench that made her want to sneeze. She rose from where she sat as him and Regis moved into the light spilling from the open door of the hopper, concern growing when she took in Vax’s state.

His previously crisp teal shirt was wrinkled and streaked with black, two tears in the fabric visible on his chest. His rich darkskin was hidden beneath a layer of dust, and he let out a cough as he stopped in front of her.

Regis continued past, striding onto the ship in the same state he’d left it, and it wasn’t until another shadow stepped into the light that she realized more people followed them.

Two more bodies carried on stretchers, one small but alert, while the larger one was quiet and still.

Her worry came rushing back, and she reached out to touch Vax’s arm beside a scrape that extended from his wrist to elbow. He’d been gone for hours and returned looking like some of the injured they’d transported.

“What happened?”

“I’m sorry I was gone for so long. They were trapped, and we had to get them out.”

Her breath caught as she raised her eyes to his. Weariness was written across his face.

“Just the two of them?”

He grimaced, turning to look at the people leaving the hopper with empty stretchers.

“We weren’t fast enough for the other. His family will take care of him now.”

Ache spreading in her chest, Alana stepped closer to Vax, sliding her arms beneath his, wrapping them around his waist as she squeezed him in a hug. It was instinctual to offer him comfort when she knew what he’d lost in a similar situation, and she found herself purring before she realized what she was doing.

Vax had stiffened when she leaned into him, but as she kept her purr steady, he softened against her, his arms moving to hold her in return.

“I’m sorry. Is there anything we can do for them?” she whispered against his chest.

She’d been thinking of assisting with whatever ritual the miner’s family believed in for the deceased, so when Vax suddenly growled, she jerked away, her purr freezing in her throat.

“We can find who’s responsible and see that they’re punished.”

Vax’s black eyes made his expression more terrifying when she looked up at him. She shivered, hairs rising along her arms and the back of her neck at the fury radiating off him, and she couldn’t help the way her body slicked to appease the angry alpha before her.

Vax had let her pull away from their hug, but he still held her hand, and he tugged her onto the ship, his rumble echoing in the hall along with his footsteps. He stopped to check that the two injured miners had been strapped onto the bed in the suite before bringing her along to the cockpit with him.

“We’re clear. Let’s get back,” he said as he dropped into the copilot’s seat, dragging her into his lap.

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