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“That’s not enough,” Striker said. “What if something goes wrong?”

“You’re doubting our abilities to fight off a troop of lazy, slow moving Gente?” Ash said.

Striker sucked in a deep breath. There were some of the best Apexian fighters on board this ship, but something could still fuck up. And if it did, Wren would be in the middle of it. He could lose her. He scrubbed a hand down his face, trying to get his feelings under control.

“Striker, this will work.” Wren gently touched his arm.

He jerked away, turned, and stormed out of the room. No one was listening to him. Why was it so hard to understand that this was the dumbest idea in the galaxy?

“Hey, wait up,” Blaze said, Eden beside him. He slapped Striker on the shoulder. “Listen, I get it.”

“You don’t. No one back there does. Everyone is making out this’ll be an easy task, and the women are expendable.”

“More like you’re worried that Wren could be expendable,” Blaze said.

“Which she isn’t. None of us are,” Eden said. “We’re the smarts to your muscles.”

Striker huffed out a breath and strode along the corridor.

Blaze and Eden remained by his side.

“Wren’s vulnerable. This is too big a risk,” he said.

“We’ve got her back,” Eden said. “And I’ll be there. I can whip butt with the best of them. This is a solid plan.”

Striker was angry at himself for losing control of his temper, but Wren was acting like it was no big deal to be offered up to the Gente. He’d seen them in action dozens of times. They were space scum.

“If they lay one finger on her, I’ll tear their ship apart,” he said.

Eden chuckled. “You aliens always underestimate us.”

Blaze slid a glance her way. “We don’t.”

“Yep, you do. I remember the first time we all met. You made jokes about how small we were and how easy we’d be to break. It was a running theme until Wren punched Striker in the arm so hard it went numb.”

“Huh, you remember that?” Striker said.

“It was funny,” Blaze said. “You stopped teasing Wren over her size after that punch.”

“Every alien is the same the first time they make contact with Humans. They think we’re nothing special. And that’ll be the Gentes’ mistake. They won’t think we’ll double-cross them. They’ll think we’re too terrified to do anything other than bow to their every command. Their second mistake, and this will be the one that shoots them straight between the eyes if they mess us around, is that they won’t know about our awesome Apexian support team,” Eden said. “You guys gets super protective if we’re ever in trouble.”

“You think we’re awesome?” Blaze grinned at her.

Eden winked at him. “Always and forever.”

Striker scowled. They made it look so easy. Why couldn’t it be so simple between him and Wren? Why did she have to be so star damned stubborn about this? He’d give her anything else. He’d even follow her damned rules but not this.

“I know this is hard, but we have to do it,” Blaze said. “You can be there in case it all kicks off, or you can sit this one out. I know what I’d rather do if I had someone I cared about going up against the Gente.”

Striker gritted his teeth but nodded. “I’m in.” And he wouldn’t leave Wren’s side for a second. Whatever happened, he’d be there to make sure she was safe.

Chapter 14

Wren paced from one side of the cockpit to the other. It was a small space, and she managed thirty steps before she had to turn and retrace her steps.

“Quit it, will you,” Eden said. “You’re making me jittery.”

“They should have responded by now,” she said. “What do they need to think about? This is a great deal. Three of us for the animals.”