Page 5 of K'Vella

"Who's Via?" I ask, as though that's the most important part about what Sloane said.

"The Straxion who helped me with my pleasure crew paperwork," Sloane says in a tone that tells me this is supposed to be information I somehow already know. When I blink one long, exasperated blink, Sloane sighs and adds more. "Don't tell anyone, but she might also do some illegal things to help women looking for help in certain situations."

My voice is hard when I ask, "Are we kidnapping a female?"

There are plenty of things I can let slide, but we just rescued a kidnapped human woman who was meant to be sent off to act as a sexual slave on another planet.

"K'Vella is voluntarily coming onto this ship." Sloane glares at me like she can't believe I'd ask her about the willingness of the female she's bringing on to help me with my rut. Her glare only lasts a second before a more sheepish look takes its place. "There may be something she needs from you, though."

"K'Vella isn't a Rytharian name," I say, pressing my lips into a tight line. I don't know what species the name hails from, but I know for certain it's not from my species. "What could she need from me?"

"She's not Rytharian." Sloane bites her lip before convincing herself to continue. "She needs someone to impregnate her."

I swallow another purr because I can't let Sloane know I have no problems with that at all. I should, and if my rut wasn't so close, maybe I would. But it's hard-wired into Rytharians to procreate. It's why we go through heats and ruts and have large families. There's nothing that calls to my base instincts quite like being asked to impregnate a female.

I'm about to ask more questions when the door to the navigation pit slides open. Phial's standing there, holding his blaster and feathers high on his head and lifting against the fabric of his shirt all the way down his back.

"Are we expecting guests?" he asks, waving the blaster toward the airlock, where another ship has just appeared out of nowhere, close enough to dock with us.

"Sloane?" I bark her name in question as I move toward the ship's controls. I move over to our comm transmitter and scan for any open channels. When I find one, I click on it. "This is Holoth Lossblonthrow of the Jolly Folly. Who's attempting to board our ship?"

A response comes in almost immediately. "Stupid name for a ship!" Someone in the background, away from the comm transmitter, calls out before a grunt sounds, probably the same male being hit. He's not wrong, but I wasn't around when the ship was named, and I'm not about to tell Essa that her naming skills are awful.

"This is Ixor Scorlandasa of Fortune's Favor. You should know my sister Via." The male who speaks through the comm sounds much more respectful than the male who called our ship name dumb. "We're requesting to board your ship. The female we gave passage to didn't take to the jump very well. Do you have a medic?"

"I'm comming Essa, now," Sloane says, her eyes going wide as she pulls her comm out and starts typing on it.

"We're alerting her now," I say into the comm. I try to tell my heart that it doesn't need to attempt to come out of my chest right this instant. The growl in my throat is less willing to cooperate. "Initiating docking."

"Heard," Ixor responds with one word, and I see his airlock starting to move along with ours. That's where our communication ends.

I move toward the airlock, my hand on my blaster as I wait for the connection. I won't feel safe until I see these males for myself. Even then, I kind of want to tell Sloane how foolish all of this was. She's trusting near-strangers because someone she kind of knows told her she could help with my rut.

It's ridiculous, and I would be more upset if not for the fact that I know Sloane's only doing it because she cares so much for everyone on this ship. Apparently, that includes caring about me getting a female to sate my desire with during my rut.

Phial seems just as restless as me. He at least returns his blaster to its holster instead of holding it. The airlock clicks into place, and then we wait a few more moments to ensure the air's pressurized on both sides.

When the door finally clicks open, Essa comes barging into the nav pit. Her hair's a mess, and her horns are still wrapped up like she was taking a nap on the couch. Sloane helps her with the covering as the airlock swings open and reveals our guests. The four males are covered in glittering jewelry, making it clear exactly what they are without using too much brain power.

"Fucking pirates, Sloane," I growl at her without taking my eyes off the male standing in front of the others. He keeps his hands on his blasters as he takes in the scene they just entered.

"Space pirates?" Sloane gasps as she tries to run over to get a better look. Essa wraps a hand around her bicep and her tail around her ankle to keep Sloane from getting too close.

The male up front frowns at the accusation before responding to Sloane. "We prefer time pirates."

There's a snort of laughter behind him before a younger male steps around him and enters our ship. He doesn't seem to care about the tension surrounding us as we try to make sure none of us are enemies. I growl low in my throat as the younger male walks over to me.

"Careful, Kor," Ixor calls out to the younger male.

"I heard you got someone with a slave collar here?" Kor asks, looking around the room and then back at me when he doesn't see any of us with collars. He shifts the pack on his back and gives me an expectant look. "You want it off her, or is she getting used to it?"

Phial's teeth snap hard as he bares them in the other male's direction. Kor smiles and moves over to Phial. "You the one I need to talk to? Show me to her." He shifts his pack again, this time grabbing some of his chains around his neck and pulling them to the side, revealing his own scars from a slave collar. "I'll make sure she's not in physical pain anymore. Up to you for the rest of it."

Phial turns his gaze to me, a soft, imploring look. I give him a nod, letting him know it's probably safe. And if it's not, Phial's good with a blaster.

As he shows Kor out of the navigation pit, Jovi and Alik finally make themselves present. Neither one of them seems to understand what's going on, so it doesn't surprise me when they push Sloane behind them and pull their blasters.

"We have a common friend," Ixor says, holding his hands up in a sign that he's not a threat. His rings glitter in the light, making it seem even more ridiculous how far we've strayed from our initial mission of stopping a smuggler. Now, we're practically working with a different kind. "Our sister said you had a problem, and it just so happens one of her friends has the solution."

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