Quickly pushing the drums out of the way to get to her, Erak reached out and ran his finger along the smooth, uninjured part of her face. “Luna, can you hear me?” There was no response. “Luna?”
He scooped her up as gently as he could, knowing he needed to get her to the infirmary and have Genet examine her. No doubt, his brothers would realize she was their mate as soon as the scent of her blood called to them.
When she was safely in his arms, her head lolled to the side.
“It’s okay, love. I’ve got you.” She was so very tiny compared to his species that he held her tighter, feeling possessiveness and need claiming him.
He needed to protect her, nurse her back to health, and show Luna she was his. He would allow nothing to hurt her again. He would break bones, tear flesh, and destroy anything and anyone who attempted to take what was his, and she was his, irrevocably.
He lifted his hand and pushed her auburn hair away from her face. Nausea settled heavy in his gut, and he got an up-close view of the wounds that marred her beautiful face.
Raw fury raged through him as he thought about the creature that did this to her. He moved quickly out of the cargo dock and up into the cockpit. Her wounds needed to be tended to immediately.
“Genet. Raimi. I need your help,” Erak said, his voice a booming bark that would alert them to the fact he was barely holding on to his primal instincts.
He strode with purposeful strides into the infirmary. The steel examination table sat in the center of the sterile room with an overheard light hung right above it.
There had been too many times to count when either he or one of his brothers had been upon that table getting one of their many wounds tended to.
Aside from the exam table, there were several storage lockers that held all state-of-the-art medical equipment that they would need.
A sanitation room was to his right and a monitor that would allow them to see internal injuries to his left.
“Genet, she has injuries all over, but I don’t know if any of them are life-threatening.” The gash on her arm worried him the most, but then again, the swelling in her face told him she had been hit many times.
Did she have internal injuries? Thank the heavens, Genet had been trained for situations like this. All Erak had was some battlefield medical training, but it was mainly the kind that was “patch it up and get back out there fighting”.
Gently laying her down on table, Erak took a step back to allow Genet look her over. While his brother examined her, he looked over his shoulder and saw Raimi staring at her with the same intensity he felt when he looked at Luna.
He could sense the realization that Luna was all of theirs, but their expressions were stoic, their focus solely on their mate.
Yes, there was no doubt his brothers, as well as he, were royally ensnared when it came to their human. And to think they were about to just leave her on that fucking toxic planet.
A shudder worked through him at that thought.
Genet started murmuring low things, but Erak and Raimi heard him. They were soft words about never letting her get harmed again, about protecting her, and fighting for her to the death.
It was the same things he had said to her. It was the things a males said to their female, and that was exactly what she was. Erak wanted her right next to him in his bed, curled against him, so he could make sure she was safe, but that wouldn’t go over too well with Genet or Raimi.
Until she healed and they could explain to her what she was to them, he would set up quarters close to theirs. “Raimi, can you gather linens for her?”
“Erak, she’s our—”
He stopped Raimi from continuing by lifting his hand up. “I know, but let’s focus on getting her well. After that, we can discuss the fact we just found our mate, almost left her on that fucking planet, and that some motherfucker nearly took her from us.” He curled his hands into fists and vowed that the bastard better be dead or he’d die at his hands.
Raimi’s jaw clenched, but he nodded and turned to leave the room. He noticed Genet watching him. “She really is ours, Erak.”
It wasn’t a question, but there was certainly awe in his brother’s voice. Erak nodded but didn’t trust his voice. He was still barely leashing in his inner rage at her state.
“What the fuck happened?” Genet turned back around and started running his fingers over her body.
Genet was inspecting every single one of her wounds, measuring them, and deciding how to treat them.
“I don’t know, and we won’t until she is well enough to tell us.”
Genet gave a sharp nod but didn’t take his eyes off of Luna. In the next second, Genet was moving quickly and efficiently. He brought the x-ray machine over and scanned her whole body.
Her clothing was removed so he could really examine her, but it was done with a tenderness that Erak had never seen from his brother.