The higher they went, the more the pressure in the cabin increased.
“Genet, switch on the pressure minimizing latch.” Erak could hear the hiss of the inner pressure being equalized.
The cockpit went from minimally uncomfortable to leveling within a few seconds. Then the inky darkness started became brighter with the illumination of the stars. Once they were in space and stabilized, Erak and his brothers set the craft on autopilot.
Erak stood and stared out the front windows. Great vastness was right in front of them, and it never got old for him to see this sight. They programmed their destination for Hete’kkia, a planet that flourished with healthy, viable females, and the planet his kind had found mates on for centuries.
Although there were plenty of planets that had females, only a select few held ones that had compatible DNA to carry the offspring of his species. Hete’kkia happened to have a ratio of five to one, females outnumbering the male gender.
They were humanoid and were compatible in every way with the Aktulla warriors. It was the most logical place to go to first. The planet was one of the smaller ones in their galaxy and lays on the outer recesses of the galaxy.
Erak unhooked the harness around his chest and was about to stand when a warning signal sounded. Bringing up the holographic map of the ship, he saw there was some sort of life force stationed in the cargo dock.
He swiped his finger across the screen and brought up the thermal heat activated monitor. The life force was humanoid, that much he could tell from the shape of the form.
“Looks like we have a stowaway,” Erak said. Although the creature appeared human in nature, there were creatures that may appear humanoid but were anything but.
It wasn’t unusual for a Lerra lizard, or even a Nura beast to crawl onto the ship in search of food, and those particular beings were vicious despite their human-like appearance. He had his Tonna gun strapped to his thigh and his sword between his shoulder blades.
The long, forged piece of metal was barbaric and hadn’t been used in a millennium by any other advanced race, but it was quick, effective, and there was nothing better to an Aktulla male than feeling the power it wielded as their enemy was taken down.
He made his way down into the very bowels of the ship. With one hand on his gun, he used the other to enter the security code for the cargo dock. The door slid to the side, disappearing into the wall, and allowed him an unobstructed view of the storage dock.
The temperature was several degrees lower than the main part of the ship, just enough to chill the skin. Standing at the entrance, he stayed absolutely still and inhaled deeply, letting his attuned senses tell him what his machinery couldn’t.
The main scents were of their freshly bought food and water supply. When silence and still air surrounded him, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply once more, and that was when he caught the scent of blood.
Eyes still closed and senses wide open, he waited. The metallic scent was not of a wild humanoid animal but of a human female.
Mine.
That one word slammed into him over and over again, and a primal urge to go to her vibrated through him like nothing he had ever felt before. like nothing he had ever felt. He knew her scent and that mingled with a tangy smell, and despite his need to go to Luna and make sure she was okay, he couldn’t help that his dick instantly became hard.
The sound of her faint beating heart pierced his mind, and he opened his eyes. Her heartbeat came from where several large drum barrels sat against the side of the ship. Once he reached the edge of the barrels, Erak could make out two small, tattered shoes.
There was still no movement from her, and a panic the likes of which he had never felt assaulted him. Erak had never felt fear before, but it was like a living entity inside of him. He grew tense and quickly moved closer to her, feeling this territorial emotion grow within him like another warrior.
He wanted to kill the being who dared harm her, who put their hands on her. When he was close enough that he could see her small, huddled body on the hard, cold floor, his heart squeezed painfully in his chest.
“Fallina.”
The endearment fell from his lips on its own accord. She was his mate, and a pang of sorrow, regret, and self-hatred filled him. All it had taken was that first scent of her blood to wake up the instinct within him, that one thing inside all Aktulla males when they found their mate.
Her face and body—fuck, she was so battered. “Fallina.” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. She was alive but growing weaker by the second.
Someone or something had beaten the shit out of his mate, and a red haze covered his vision, pushing away all other emotions.
He wanted blood on his body, blood from the one who dared harm what was his, spraying forth from the creature who dared laid their hands on what was his.
Mine.
His feelings for her from the moment he saw her, the way he wanted to kill for her, protect her, and mate with her the likes as he had never felt made him realize she wasn’t just a female he wanted to fuck. She was his female and, most likely, his brothers’ also by the way they acted toward her.
Once they smelled her blood, they would know without a doubt she was theirs, as well. She was their mate, that one female that would bear his offspring and be his other half.
Half of her face was swollen to the point that one of her eyes was closed shut. A large, ugly colored bruise marred one side of her face.
Scrapes and cuts littered her legs and arms, and on her inner forearm was a deep wound that was steadily seeping blood.