Running a hand down his face Torak groaned. These female warriors were going to be the death of them all. He had to figure out a way to find River and make her understand there was no changing his claim on her. He wouldn’t change it even if he could. He had to admit a small part of him was impressed at her ability to disarm him. It didn’t mean he would let it happen again, just that he was proud of having a strong female as his mate. Their offspring would be strong, he thought with a grin.
“What are you grinning about?” Manota asked disgruntled. “I thought you were mad at the female.”
Torak grinned, “You have to admit life will be interesting with three such strong warrior women. Just think of how strong our offspring will be.”
“Yeah well, I just don’t know if I will survive long enough to create them.” Jazin muttered.
River’s knees were killing her. She had crawled through what seemed like a ton small vents off the main ones looking from Jo and Star. She had finally found Star on the level below the one she had been taken too.
“Star.” River called softly. The room was dim with only a small light shining from the bathroom. “Star, are you awake?”
“River? What are you doing in the vent?” Star asked puzzled looking up from the bed at River who was gazing down at her through the grill.
“I, uh, I kind-of beat Torak up and he, uh, kind-of got upset about it.” River whispered back down at Star.
“You beat up the captain of the ship?” Star gasped before she started laughing. “Oh River, what did he do to deserve that?”
“He said he claimed me or some such nonsense. You remember Billy Myers?” River whispered.
“Oh no, he didn’t pull a Billy Myers, did he?” Star asked laughing.
“Yeah, he did.” River laughed back resting her chin on the edge of the vent. “I told him to take it back and he said no, so I decked him.”
Star laughed so hard she had tears running down her cheeks. “Oh River, that’s priceless.”
Sobering up she looked up at River from where she laid on the bed, “River, I don’t think they are going to take us home. Jazin won’t let me see Jo either. He said they were going to keep us apart for a while until we learn to behave like females. I’m scared, River.”
River looked down on Star. “Come on. It’s time to find Jo and figure out how to get out of here. This is the last time we trust any guys.”
Star looked up at River and nodded uncertainly. “How are we going to get out of this one?”
River reached down and grabbed Star’s hand pulling her up into the vent next to her. “Who knows?” River said with a grin. “As long as we’re together again, who cares! Now come on, let’s go find Jo. Maybe she’ll have an idea and some food!”
Star grinned back. Maybe all they needed to do was show a bunch of macho males who was really the boss, she thought. It might be fun this time. Star pulled the vent grill closed and started crawling behind River.
The girls had been in the ventilation system for three days moving from level to level driving the men nuts. The vents were too small for the men to get into and the girls were too smart to stay in any one place long enough to get caught. They now had a new challenge. Torak, Manota, and Jazin had stationed men in the larger emergency tubes in an effort to catch the girls.
Manota poured over the schematics to the ship while Jazin paced back and forth. Torak sat at the table in the conference room with his head between his hands growling in frustration. They were supposed to be on Kassis tomorrow. He had no idea how he was going to explain his missing mate and her two friends to the council members who had requested they be presented to the assembly.
“Any luck?” Jazin growled frustrated. He had been livid when he had gone to check on Star only to find her missing. When he had sounded the alarm, Manota had gone to check on Jo only to find her missing as well. They had been taunted by the females over the last three days with food, clothing, and blankets mysteriously disappearing from different rooms around the ship. Torak had been so concerned, he had posted additional guards to their weapons storage and even had men stationed in the emergency access tubes. They had found nothing, nothing but some haunting laughter that echo throughout the ship and told them absolutely nothing. At this point, he was ready to pull his hair out.
Swearing loudly he stood up. “Where in the hell are they?”
River looked down at the men through the vent grill. All three looked exhausted. It was weird but she almost felt sorry for them. River couldn’t take her eyes off of Torak. He was so damn handsome it almost hurt to look at him. She was smart enough to know she wanted him in a way she had never wanted another man before. She just didn’t like the way he had claimed her without asking her. She wanted to be romanced, not claimed like a car. She wanted to get to know him, not be told she was his. She wanted…him, just in a way she could handle. She also had to come to terms with what it would mean to belong to him. She knew if she made the decision to accept him she would never see Earth again and she wasn’t sure she was ready to take that jump. To never see her home, her friends, her world…she needed time to make that kind of decision.