Page 30 of Saving Lauren

The next two hours pass quickly, we are preparing ourselves in silence. The ship is continuously scanning while we arm ourselves to maximum capacity. We are all in full warrior mode now, centered from within. The mating bond is pulling at me, I reassure it we will be with our mate soon.

I join T’Rak and O’Rec at command when we have a visual of the Sternotheri ship. It is as ugly as the Sternotheri. It is round, bulky and the outside resembles the scales these fuckers have on their back.

“Is it not cloaked?” I ask O’Rec and he grins.

“They think it is, but I have a little program that messes with their tech. When we are close enough, I will launch a tiny bot that will also wreak havoc on their security system without them even knowing.”

We are close enough to scan for lifeforms, I feel a tightness inside my gut when the scans come up. O’Rec’s smile is feral.

“There are six Sternotheri, all in the front part of the ship. This should be fun.”

“L’Ren?” I growl and he pushes some other buttons.

“She is down in the belly of the ship, no other lifeforms near her.”

We wait while O’Rec shoots his little bot-missile and just as soon as it hits their ship, data is coming in.

“We wait for the map,” T’Rak commands. “We transfer it to our wrist comps and then we enter them.”

We hook ourselves to the Sternotheri ship, it takes but a few moments before we are ready to enter. My heart beats a steady drum, while we wait for the airlock to connect and the bots to break their hull.

I smile a deadly smile. They will be dead before they know what hit them.

CHAPTER 16

Lauren

Ihave no idea how much time passed. The darkness is making me disoriented and the pain in my leg is messing with my mind.

I sob, it hurts so bad. Is this it? The point where I am finally done? The point where Yalix finally breaks me? I had my happily ever after in my hand, I had hope, but he took it all away when these creatures took me. I’m afraid things will be getting even worse than they were before. So maybe it’s safer to just give up.

But then something tugs deep inside of me as I think of D’Var. My mate, the one who said he would always protect me. It all comes down to it now. Do I give up? Give up on him? Or do I choose to believe in the connection we made. I remember the sparks of him I felt inside of me, I know that I am his fated mate. And would he give up on his fated mate? No, I don’t think so. These sparks, this tug… Could this be the mating bond? The bond that D’Var keeps talking about?

D’Var has called me his warrior; it’s time to be a warrior right now. I call on the feeling deep inside me, channel the bond with all my strength, all the faith D’Var has in me and I think about a meditation exercise I once did on earth.

I breathe in, not too deep, because of the stench the aliens have left behind, and I look into myself. I feel something flickering deep inside my locked-up heart. I envision a small fire. It’s smoldering, like somebody has tried to put it out, but missed the last sparks. I reach for those sparks. I need to light my fire. I have been through hell more times than I can count in the past years, and I am still here. They did not break me. D’Var called me his warrior and he was right. I am strong. I am resilient and I am not going to let these fucking aliens win.

I push myself up to stand, without even noticing and I scream. I scream out all of my pain, all of my frustration. I am absolutely infuriated. How did they DARE! How did they dare to take me, to take all they did from me. I will not go back to that psychotic Yalix. I will not. I am certain D’Var will come for me, but I have to be prepared to save myself. I am no damsel.

When I am done screaming, the fire inside of me is burning high and I smile. I am still surrounded by darkness, but I am confident I can think of a plan to escape.

I try to recall my surroundings. Earlier when they were here and the lights were on I didn’t pay close attention, I am cursing myself. I need to know what my prison looks like, maybe see if I can find some kind of weapon.

So I straighten my shoulders. Given the darkness I’ll have to use my hands as eyes. I take a step, but immediately my leg buckles under me. I grit my teeth and push through the pain. I let the pain channel my anger and my determination and I manage to hobble to the bars on the side of my cell.

I start at the bottom and go as high as I can reach, but the bars are all made of a thick metal. I meticulously touch every bar from bottom to top and work my way around, until I am at the other side of the cell. I sigh, nothing to be found.

Maybe I can find something in the neighboring cell? I carefully get to my knees, hissing with the pain my leg is giving me but again I push it away. I have to focus on getting out. I try to reach through the bars and search the ground in the other cell, but I can’t reach very far like this. My only other option is to lie on the ground and try to reach as far as I can. It’s not very appealing, but I can’t think of anything else to do. So, I suck it up and I go for it.

I imagine the picture I make, lying on my belly in the middle of the cell, slowly shuffling my body around to be mindful of my leg, trying to reach as far as I can into the other cell. It is exhausting, but I am determined to not give up.

I am at the corner of the front and the right barred wall, when my fingers touch something. I yelp, because I truly did not expect this mission to be successful. Carefully I plaster myself against the bar and try to get a hold of the thing I am touching. It’s smooth, but not as cold as the metal bars. I try to get a grip and I let out a huff and a groan and then I manage to hook my middle finger around something and slide it towards me. I am now gripping the object and pull it towards me. I push myself up when it’s partly inside and then I sit for a moment, resting my back against the bars. I am exhausted, but I also feel victorious.

After I catch my breath for a bit, I pull in the object, and it is something long. It’s almost half my size and completely smooth. I can just get my hand around it, I do my best to examine it in the dark, though my night vision isn't very good. The top and bottom are more rounded, and it looks like there’s some sort of bulge on it, but I can’t quite place the shape. It’s sturdy though and I think I can use it as a weapon.

I pull myself up against the bars and test the stick thing on the ground. It’s also an excellent crutch so I use it to return to the back wall of the cell, sliding down against the wall to the floor. I close my eyes to rest, hope for the strength to kick some alien ass.

A noise startles me awake, I must have drifted off to sleep. I quickly open my eyes and I feel alert this time. I feel the bond burning inside of me, I feel angry. I dig into it to give me strength.

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