Page 8 of Rescuing Red

Giving the guard a nod of thanks, Blaide turned back to his ragtag group.

“Are you staying or moving on?” he asked, looking around at weary faces.

The group looked between themselves before the man carrying his child cleared his throat and spoke.

“We have family on Treag Prime. We’ll catch the next available transport.”

Blaide nodded. Despite how busy the transports were, he would’ve made the same decision if he had little ones to care for. The Krantor rarely attacked refugees fleeing the planets they took, so leaving should still be safe. There was no way to know which group of soldiers would reach the city first, theirs or the enemy’s, and Blaide knew how dangerous the city would get if the attack went on for long.

Most of the others muttered the same plans, with only one of the group saying they planned to stay. Wishing his little group the best of luck once they assured him they were fine to get to the station alone, Blaide turned toward the building the guard had indicated and led the lone beta male who’d remained to the check-in kiosk.

As he waited for the man to finish his transaction and receive his room card, the same scent from the gate hit Blaide once again. A soft growl rolled from his chest before he could stop it, his body responding to his instincts despite the weariness pulling at him from only one hour of sleep in two days.

Cutting off the sound when the beta turned startled eyes to him, Blaide cleared his throat and ran a hand through his ruff to settle the hair.

“Sorry. Tired,” was all he could manage as an excuse.

The man gave him a weak smile before saying his thanks and heading to the lift. Ignoring the throbbing trapped inside his pants, Blaide typed his own information into the kiosk, takingthe flimsy card that popped out after he paid. Too impatient to wait for the elevator, he turned to the stairs but almost changed his mind at the thought of climbing to the tenth floor after walking so far already.

Ignoring the protests of his body, he gritted his teeth and charged forward, refusing to acknowledge the twinges telling him he wasn’t familiar with that much exertion any longer. His lungs burned with the need to gulp for air by the time he reached his floor, but he held himself to slow, steady pulls of air.

Air once again filled with milk and honey.

The growl that left him then was deeper, the call of an alpha, and he cut it off with a curse. No one needed to be startled awake by his noise, much less these people who were worried about their futures. Shaking his head, he held his breath until he found his assigned room and pushed inside.

It was barely large enough for the single bed wedged into the corner. A screen hung above the foot of the mattress, with a small closet space opposite beside a door leading to a tinier bathroom. Grunting, Blaide decided he didn’t care how small it was. Tossing his pack onto the floor of the closet, he dropped his body to the sheets, flopping back and falling asleep before he’d even kicked off his boots.

Chapter 5

Liz

Rolling over yet again, Liz sighed and decided she should just get up. The sun had yet to rise, and she hadn’t gotten into the hotel room until long past sunset, but even though her entire body ached for sleep, she just couldn’t settle. Between worrying for her nana and feeling guilty about not reaching out to her mother, she’d tossed and turned for the few hours she’d been lying down.

Add in the worms she felt crawling in her belly from the interaction with the pristine alpha, and she wanted to vomit. She flashed from cold to hot, embarrassment over how she’d probably overreacted warring with the unease he’d caused her. No matter how handsome he’d been, she couldn’t ignore how her instincts had screamed at her to get away as fast as possible.

Maybe she was getting sick? The last time she traveled through space, she’d needed a few days to recover, but she didn’t have time to be sick right now. She needed to find her nana before the enemy attacked Jun’gale.

Sitting up and rubbing her arms, she couldn’t figure out why the room still felt so warm, especially since she’d already changed the thermostat twice. After pushing the sheet off her legs, she stood and wobbled to the window. Not wanting to ruffle the curtains, she used one finger to push open a small peephole at the edge and peeked out.

The sky showed some brightening, but the sun hadn’t risen above the horizon yet. From her vantage point, she could see how busy the streets were below, and despite there being much less of a crowd than the previous night, there were still many people scurrying around.

Instincts called her eyes to the right, and for a moment she fought the sensation, wanting to study the blockade. When she finally gave in and swept her gaze to the walkway on the outside of her building, she startled. A humongous shadow flashed out of view, too quick for her to discern what, or who, it could have been.

The window shook as the door next to hers shut behind the dark shape. The creature was enormous. Mountainous.

And it was staying in the room right next to hers.

The worms in her belly morphed into snakes, tumbling over each other and unsettling her so much she dropped the curtain and darted to the tiny bathroom. Holding her stomach while she bent over the toilet, Liz breathed through her nose and fought the ridiculous sensations roiling through her insides.

As the air conditioning unit kicked on yet again, the most tantalizing perfume filled her nostrils and sent the oddest sense of calm spreading through her. Like fire and pines, the wild perfume caused a soothing heat to invade her chest, which settled into her belly and spread to her extremities.

Dropping her arm, she moved away from the toilet and turned on the sink. After splashing cold water on her face and using the towel to dry, she looked at her tired reflection.

Determination filled her. The face staring back at her held the same tilted eyes as her nana, and even though their coloring was different, she used the reminder to bolster her courage. She’d get dressed, check out, then try the blockade again. She wouldn’t stop until they let her through.

Tossing the towel back over the rack, Liz shuffled into the tiny bedroom and paused. As she picked up her shirt, her eyelids drooped and her arm grew heavier. She looked at the crumpled bedding and blinked, realizing that no matter how much she wanted to rush back out to find her nana, she’d never make it anywhere if she fell asleep the moment she stopped moving.

With a sigh, she dropped her shirt and crawled back onto the bed. As her head settled onto the lumpy little pillow, the calm that had filled her intensified until she couldn’t even lift her arm to pull the blanket over her.

---