Page 105 of Akur

Glancing over his shoulder, his gaze settled on the female still resting on the sleeping cushion. Yes. Everything was possible.

For even he had a mate.

Pulling up the ship’s scanners proved useless. The equipment wasn’t enough for long-range detection. The Tasqals could be right on top of them and they wouldn’t know until—

The ship shuddered, lights blinking in and out.

Oh, qrak.

His digits scraped against the console as he braced himself. A low, ominous hum coursed through the ship—a sound that hadn’t been there before.

Behind him, Kon-stahns bolted upright, her eyes wild, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps.

“What—” she started, voice hoarse.

“Stay down!” He didn’t mean to snarl, but his instincts were screaming, his nefre twitching uncontrollably. His fingers flew over the controls, trying to stabilize the ship.

“What’s happening?” she demanded, her voice stronger now. Closer, too, as if she’d risen.

“Pursuit vessels,” he muttered. “Tasqal warships. They’re here.”

“Oh, shit.” She was by his side now, peering out the viewscreen, wild eyes shifting but seeing nothing—just like he couldn’t see them butknewthey were there. “How did they find us?”

“Not sure. Maybe they were tracking this vessel all along.” The ship bucked again, a low boom resonating through the hull. His gaze flicked to the scanner, narrowing.

“That…what was that? That wasn’t a hit, was it?” Kon-stahns’ digits clenched into fists.

“Proximity charges.” His brow tightened. “They’re trying to slow us down.”

“To catch us,” Kon-stahns whispered. Her gaze skipped to the readouts on the console nearby her. “They’re not firing because they don’t want to blow us out into space. They want us alive.”

He grunted, shook his head. “No, bright eyes. They want you alive. It’s always been you. I’ll die before—”

Her jaw tightened. “Not an option. And they’re not getting me either.”

Grunting, his lips shifted into a grin. “Right. You’re mine.”

Their gazes locked as her cheeks changed color, almost going red like when he was in heat and his nefre burned with the fire of a thousand suns.

“I’m not letting them take you.”

Gaze not shifting from his, she jerked her chin to her chest in silent affirmation.

This vessel wasn’t built for combat or speed—it was a cargo ship, stripped down and barely functional. The shields were minimal, the weapons nonexistent or completely drained. They were as vulnerable as hatchlings.

“Can we jump?” she asked.

“No such luck, bright eyes. This ship isn’t made for that.”

“Fuck.” She ran a hand through her brown filaments. “We have to lose them somehow.”

As another pulse hit the ship, his jaw clenched. “There is a way.”

“Do it.”

He grunted a laugh in his throat. “You do not know—”

“I trust you.”

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