Page 73 of Rebel Fates

Serrat raises an eyebrow at me. “All three of us decided long ago in the unlikely event we found an omega that we would never take her without her complete willingness and without the influence of a heat. Also, each of us had to agree to mate her. However, we currently might not be in our right minds.” Serrat huffs, his emotions riding close to the surface. “I don’t want to coerce either you or her.”

That doesn’t mean his nature doesn’t want to do exactly that.

“Even after what we saw when our people were torn apart by the culling…,” I say, unable to finish. I don’t want to think about the day that I felt the pain of losing my pack—even if they never truly felt like home to me. It would be soul destroying if I were to mate and then lose Gemma, since I’m sure now she is my fated. “But I need her too.”

“The Syndicate sure knew what they were doing when they did that. How to ruin an entire population.” Zeek sounds like he has given into his haunting memories. His parents were murdered during the cull. The leaders of our home world and most of our females are gone.

Our once great numbers as a diverse species have now dwindled. With only a few females alive, we’ve had to share within packs. But sharing a mate was common before the culling. Now, most males create what the three of us did. We banded together and helped each other satisfy our needs.

It had worked fine until now. Until Gemma.

But I don’t think our animals will be satisfied any longer with our arrangement.

“What if she doesn’t want us?” Zeek asks.

Serrat growls, “We need tofindher first. Rescue her. Then we’ll worry about the rest.”

I had contacted all my resources earlier, and was about to give up when an old acquaintance pinged me back.

Horton’s message came through: “What do you need?”

I respond immediately, “Do you know anything about someone who goes by Crax or flies a Black Mobia?”

“I’ve heard whispers. Unknown affiliation. Likely rouge.”

“Species?”

“Unknown.”

“Crimes or dealings?” I ask.

“I’ve heard he buys high end equipment. Mostly science or medical.”

Now, I’m concerned. He might want to experiment on an omega. Learn how to replicate their unique physique. And Gemma’s strange case would be perfect to see if he could create more omegas on demand.

I breathe in to calm myself before I ask, “Any known slave trade dealings?”

“Not sure about that. Why?”

“We are hunting a human female that was sold at Malan space station yesterday.”

“A bounty?”

“Confidential.” It isn’t a lie. We want it to remainoursecret.

“Sure. Well, I haven’t heard that Crax trades slaves, but I wouldn’t hear much about that since I don’t deal with living product.”

“What are Crax’s known locations?” I ask.

“I heard Kelion Sector.”

“That’s a rough neighborhood.” I wonder why he hides out there. Only the worst criminals frequent that sector. If he hasn’t been known to have criminal dealings, then he must want some secrecy. Even what passes as the law won’t harass the locals there.

“Anything else on him?” I prompt.

“That’s it.”

I sign off and turn to Serrat and Zeek. “Kelion Sector is our best bet. You get anything more?”

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