“More.” I had more essence, more to offer this female. Her heartbeat steadied as I held her, the flow of blood slowed, but did not stop. I lifted my head, tried to reach her, bite her, give her everything.
“Don’t fucking touch her.” Henry lifted his ion pistol and fired again, the blast burning through my shoulder.
I ground my teeth and refused to release her. I could not let her go. Would not. I held her as the sound of boots pounded in the corridor, as Henry turned to welcome more of his people, more humans here to take her from me.
“Captain, he bit her.”
A human I assumed was their leader crouched down next to us and looked from my mate to me. When he reached out to touch her bloodied armor, I rumbled a warning. He sighed but withdrew his hand.
I held my mate as everything faded to black.
3
Mikos, Battleship Karter, Sector 437
“How is he doing, Doctor?”A deep, commanding voice spoke softly. Had I not been fighting my way to consciousness to protect my female, I would not have heard a single word of the conversation flowing around me. She was here, somewhere. Hurt. I could sense her. Smell her. Alive. She was alive and had been injured. She was probably in pain. She needed me.
“Honestly, I don’t know how he made it back to the ship.” The doctor’s voice was female and confused. “I grew up hearing stories about our Forsian cousins, but I’ve never seen anything like this. He should have been dead before ReCon found him. Giving Breanna his essence further strained his system. Although, it did save her life.” Her deep sigh implied she did not approve of my choice. I didn’t fucking care. I’d do it again a thousand times over.
The doctor called me cousin. She must be an Atlan female. Astra Legion’s spies kept tabs on all the senior officers in Battlegroup Karter. The only Atlan female on board serving inBattlegroup Karter’s medical staff was Doctor Moor. Her mate was a respected, high-ranking Warlord. I allowed some of the tension to leave my body. As an Atlan, she would know I had chosen a mate. She would understand what Breanna Parks meant to me and keep her safe.
“Why did he bite me?”
My pulse pounded. That voice belonged to my mate. Was she healed?
“Oh, no. You woke him up. Look at those vitals.” Doctor Moor walked over to stand next to the ReGen pod and looked down through the translucent lid, right into my wide-open eyes. She shook her head. “You’re not supposed to be awake for another fourteen hours, friend.”
Anotherfourteen hours? “How long?”
She sighed and checked the display screen on the side of my pod, her long, dark hair temporarily obscured my view of her face. “Nine hours and seventeen minutes. Not long enough.”
I lifted my hand and pressed my palm flat against the transparent cover. “Release me.”
The doctor titled her head and stared at me for what felt like hours, her dark eyes considering. I said the one word necessary for her to understand exactly how serious I was about getting the fuck out of this pod. “Mate.”
“All right. Don’t break anything.” She turned to speak to someone over her shoulder. “Better get the commander down here. We’re about to have a situation.”
I assumed she was speaking about Commander Karter, although I couldn’t be sure. I was in his sector of space when I’d been captured by the Hive. I didn’t believe they’d taken me far. Doctor Moor’s presence provided further confirmation of my location.
The doctor deactivated the healing pod. The moment the energy ceased flowing to my battered body, a fog of painengulfed me. Nothing like before, but enough that I recognized the truth of the doctor’s words. I needed more time to heal.
Time I did not have, not with my mate unprotected and possibly suffering the ill-effects of my bite. I wasn’t sure how long it would take the poison of my hybrid essence to affect her, but I knew it wouldn’t be long, especially if I had already been unconscious for at least nine hours since injecting her.
The moment the lid fully retracted, I swung my legs over the side of the ReGen Pod’s small bed and stood to find four humans and the doctor staring at me like I’d grown two heads. The doctor stood between me and the humans and handed me a pair of pants in medical green. I would not complain. Green was Astra Legion’s color, and I didn’t want to stand here naked in case I couldn’t control my body’s reaction to the female. My female. “I am Mikos of Astra Legion.” Partially clothed, I stepped around the doctor to face the humans.
“Fangs pretty much gave you away.” The male who spoke stood in front of Henry and Breanna, the front leg of a human tripod. I recognized him as the captain who came into my cell right before I lost consciousness. Another male I did not recognize stood, fully armed and watching me, near the door. He was large, for a human, his stance that of an experienced fighter. His skin looked pale, sickly, and his head was a strange red I had never seen before. Not surprising, as I had not met many humans. I spoke to their leader.
“I require transport to Zenith immediately, with Breanna Parks.”
“Not happening.” The male standing between me and my mate crossed his arms over his chest, completely unaffected by my demand. I noted the captain’s insignia on his uniform, as well as the mark designation for ReCon, team Three. Once more grateful for Astra’s intelligence network, I knew I spoke to Breanna’s commanding officer, Captain Seth Mills of Earth.
“Captain Mills, I must take Breanna Parks to Rogue 5 immediately. Her life is in danger.”
“What are you talking about? I feel fine. Thanks to you.” Breanna pointed at the ReGen pod behind me. “And a few hours in a pod.”
“My bite healed your flesh, but over time, my essence is lethal. The antidote is on Rogue 5. This is not the right time in our orbital cycle for transport. We will need to travel by ship and leave at once.” I ignored everyone in the room but the female I needed to convince. I would remove her from this ship by force, if necessary, and kill anyone who tried to stop me. Although, in my weakened condition, I could not be sure of my success. I did not know how many Atlan Warlords might be on board, nor how quickly they would mount an organized defense. Far better to reason with her, if possible.
If not? It was a good day to die.
