“I never asked to be leader. The moment we left Kadri, we ceased to be military. I have no rank over you. Go lead yourself.” I rolled on the bed, turning my back to him.
“Why? So you can mope in here by yourself for a year until your mate returns?”
“If she returns."
“I guess you never got her note.”
Note. What note? That had me turning back to face him. “What are you talking about?”
Vostak ducked under a string of lights and stepped into my nest. He leaned against the rock wall. “Cozy. The construction lights set on low really do add some atmosphere. We’ll need to get more made. I don't think we have enough lights for everyone to keep them in their nests.”
“Are you going to tell me about the note, or are you here to critique my decorating skills?”
Vostak chuckled, and I resisted the temptation to go punch him. “I don’t know the contents of the note, only that it exists. Rrak’s mate talked to Clara before she left. She promised Tasha she’d be back next year.”
“She was unhappy here.”
Vostak erupted in laughter, and this time I almost got out of the cocoon I’d made for myself to show his face my fist. “Do you really believe that?”
I didn't want to. I wanted to believe her other words, the ones said to me while cuddling in our nest.
“Also, our females seem to be worried about certain weapons pointed at the stronghold. It seems Clara mentioned them before she left. Maybe we should do something to ease their fears. You know we have nothing to worry about, and I know, but they are needlessly concerned.”
Those weapons. The colony officials wouldn't use them unless they wanted to destroy the entire continent out of spite. Our treaty prevented them from hunting and mining here. They were greedy, however, and if they used the weapons, they’d forfeit the very bounty they sought.
However, if our females were worried, we should attempt to neutralize the threat. I sighed. Was that why she’d left? Because of the weapons aimed at us? No. That didn’t make sense.
“Send a team to investigate and see if there is a way for us to remove the danger without exposing ourselves.”
It was time for us to neutralize the threat on this planet and put our females at ease. We knew the warheads were not kept anywhere near their colony. They weren’t even on their continent. They had a secret base on an island off the coast.
“I’ll get right on that,” Vostak said, with that annoying grin. Then he stepped off the ledge and disappeared, dropping down the cliff face.
I pushed myself out of our mating bed and stomped over to the ledge, dropping down after him in search of this note he’d spoken of.
I found it on the bed of my quarters inside the stronghold. If I’d gone there instead of to mope in our nest, I’d have found it the first night after she’d left. It was written in her language, so I scanned the letter to have it translated.
The letter started out with the words she’d asked me to remember. The words that had sounded so perfect to my ears. The ones that told me how happy she was and how much she wanted to stay.
Then came her reason for leaving. Her brother was missing—dead, according to the fact that his id number, and therefore his contact number, had been given to a newborn. But a call to his friend had assured her he was still alive. She’d gone back to the colony to solve the mystery and find her brother.
Lying to the representative had been the only way to ensure she got back into the colony. She worried I wouldn’t allow her to leave to uncover the truth about her brother, and she was correct. I’d never have let her go back if it weren’t for the contract with the human colony.
She also worried I’d look for him in her stead, putting the delicate treaty between our people at risk. She mentioned the weapons pointed at our stronghold and how she worried for the friends she’d made here, and for me.
She ended by begging me not to do anything that might put myself or her friends at risk and promising that she’d make her way back to me as soon as she could.
Silly mate; did she not know that I was a Kadrixan Warrior? I was unafraid of the bullets in their guns. I was going after her, treaty or not.
I opened my wardrobe and pulled out the specially-fitted body armor that hadn’t seen much action as of late. Then, with my armor and weapons on, I headed to our shuttles.
“Where are you going?” Trsak shouted as I passed.
“To find my mate.”
Chapter 24: Clara
I brought the pillow over my head and cursed the incessant knocking at the door. The sun was barely up, and I'd gotten next to no sleep last night. I was exhausted, and the last thing I needed was someone knocking at six in the fucking morning.