Chapter 18
MarIK turned back around and found OrIN pointing his weapon at him.
“I saved your life OrIN — now you plan to end mine?”
“You betrayed me! I gave you my trust, the honored position as my commander, and you betrayed me. For what? An alien female?”
“You betrayed our people and dishonored all of us by making a deal with the Morins. I don’t understand that. You were furious over the Katierans when you thought they were the ones making a deal with the Morins, yet you turn around and do the exact same.”
MarIK and OrIN circled each other. OrIN was a good warrior. MarIK had helped train him — which meant that MarIK knew his weaknesses, too. OrIN always protected his left side, where he had suffered an injury as a child that had never healed quite right.
OrIN lunged forward, punched him in the stomach, and tried to kick his knee, but MarIK was ready for that. He stepped back and avoided the kick.
“Did you share sex with the female? I bet you did. How did she convince you to turn your back on your friends?”
He didn’t respond to the taunts about Sharon. “I have known for a long time now that following you was a mistake. You took advantage of my grieving and manipulated me, just as you manipulated every other warrior who chose to follow you.”
“You agreed with me about the Earth females. What changed your mind?”
“I met one of those females and realized that they aren’t a threat to our people, but our salvation.” He punched OrIN in the jaw and ducked when the male tried to punch him back.
OrIN spit blood to the ground. “I should have known you were the one to help StrykER escape. I was too trusting.”
“You were blinded by your need for power and vengeance. What you were willing to do to get what you wanted was a disgrace to our beliefs and needed to be stopped.”
“Do you think that female will take the place of your dead mate? You didn’t deserve the first one, much less a second one. You are not worthy of having a mate!”
Before he met Sharon, MarIK had thought that very thing. That he didn’t deserve a mate and that he wasn’t worthy. Now, he still wasn’t sure he was worthy of Sharon, but he was determined to be worthy of her if she agreed to be his mate.
OrIN lunged at him and knocked them both down to the ground. They wrestled and punched each other. One of OrIN’s loyal warriors came over to try to pull MarIK off, which only gave OrIN the opening he needed to lay a few heavy punches to MarIK’s midsection. Before OrIN could build up too much momentum, MarIK drew his knees up and kicked the other male in the chest. MarIK stood up as quickly as he could. OrIN, still reeling from the impact of MarIK’s kick and bleeding profusely from cuts on his face, tried to jump on MarIK’s back, but MarIK threw him off.
MarIK turned quickly and hammered Orin’s left side. OrIN fell to his knees, clutching his side. MarIK elbowed him in the back and brought his own body weight down on OrIN. It knocked the wind out of OrIN and he hit his face on the floor hard, cracking his lip and splitting it open.
“Surrender, OrIN. I don’t want to have to kill you.”
OrIN spit the blood out of his mouth and glared up at MarIK. “I won’t surrender, ever.” He smiled as he saw his warriors circle around them. “Kill MarIK!”
MarIK looked as the warriors divided up. A handful that still followed OrIN began preparing to attack, then the warriors who backed him up gathered together and clearly outnumbered the group of loyal followers. OrIN’s warriors looked at the other warriors and then at OrIN, each showing hesitance about making any decisive move. They must have decided that OrIN wasn’t worth dying for, because they all turned and ran.
“Get back here, traitors!” OrIN yelled, furious that his warriors were abandoning him.
MarIK looked at the remaining warriors. All of them were worse for the wear of this trip. Some could barely stand, but were using their strength to keep upright. None of them pointed their weapons at MarIK. It shouldn’t have surprised him that these males he trained would show their loyalty to him instead of OrIN — but it still did. He was also filled with pride that they chose to stand up to OrIN and protect their honor. They were good males.
Behind them, he saw his team coming in with Katieran warriors. They had come back for him. The sight made him feel a great amount of emotion. Clearing his throat, he looked down at the pathetic male before him.
“You’re done, OrIN. You are going to answer for your crimes against the Katieran nation.” He motioned for several warriors to bind OrIN. He turned to face his team and the Katierans. “Did Sharon make it okay? Was she treated?”
“She is recovering fast and demanding we bring you back to her.”
MarIK smiled, knowing how feisty she could be. That was his female and he couldn’t wait to be with her again. Goddess, how quickly his heart had been stolen by one tiny female with amazing eyes.
Lieutenant RosET approached and the Katierans raised their weapons. MarIK stood between them and held up his hands. “Don’t fire on these males. They helped me fight off the Morins and capture OrIN.”
He turned to RosET. “What happened with the Morins?”
“I’m sorry, Commander, they got away.”
“Do any of our warriors know the coordinates of our transport or the Morin transport?”
RosET shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I can ask them again. What will happen to us?”
MarIK looked over at the Katierans. “I’m not sure, but the fact that we captured OrIN to hand him over should aid in whatever the Katieran council will decide.”
The Katieran and Kiljorn warriors spent the next hour securing the trading post. A crew left with a group of prisoners, including OrIN, to be questioned on board the transport and then taken to Kiljor to be further questioned by StrykER.
MarIK and his team were also taken into custody. He knew that they would have a lot to answer for, and it was frustrating because all he wanted was to return to Sharon. Now he realized that it might be quite a while before he was allowed to see her. He had to face questioning and then the Katieran council. Hopefully, his punishment wouldn’t keep him from Sharon too long. He wasn’t sure that he could take that. It worried him again that he had not claimed her. Other males would want her and if their separation lasted too long, would she turn to another?
