Page 7 of Guardian's Destiny

“What about your family?” Zoe asked softly. “Do you remember them?”

I clenched my jaw. “The Ohrurs are my family.” The words came out stiff and rehearsed. For the first time, I wasn’t sure if I believed them.

"What about your dreams?" Zaarek asked. "Did you ever see what's chasing you?"

I shook my head. "No, but I'm not dreaming about being chased that much anymore. I dream of a small city, others… like us. Most of all, it’s a feeling of peacefulness and belonging."

"Yes, I've had that too," Raasla surprisingly admitted.

"This is good. Really good, keep going." Nock encouraged.

We all turned on him, "You better not be streaming this."

Nock turned to Zaarek. "You said I can make a stream."

Zaarek wiped his hand over his forehead. "Not live. You'll have to wait until this is all cleared."

"Absolutely," Nock nodded eagerly. Too eagerly. I didn't trust the Kred. Suddenly, he leaned forward toward me and whispered, "Don't worry, big guy, you'll get there too. We're here for you. Always."

I stared at the Kred, his hand on my arm. Strangely, it didn't feel as bad as I would have thought.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. This is growth for you. I’m proud.” He patted me on the back like I was some pet who had just learned to sit on command.

I shoved his hand off me, resisting the urge to pick him up and remove him from the room.

"How can someone so small be so annoying?"

“I try,” Nock said with a wink, clearly pleased with himself. “It’s a gift, really.”

The tension in the room cracked slightly, and a few of the others shook their heads. I looked around at them—Zaarek, Raasla, Tharaax, Nova, Zoe, Hannah, Luph, and even Nock. They had every reason to hate me, to distrust me, but they didn’t. They kept pushing, not just to convince me, but because theyactually cared. The realization hit me like a slow burn, seeping under my skin. For so long, I had been a soldier, a weapon for the Ohrurs. I had never belonged, not really. Not until now.

I exhaled heavily. "Alright," I said, the word feeling heavier than I expected. "Let’s say you're right about all of this. About the Ohrurs, about why they turned on us. If they see us as a threat because of these mating marks, if they’re afraid of what it means… then what’s our next move?"

Zaarek’s eyes flickered with something—approval, maybe. "We fight. We protect what’s ours. We find others like us, and we make sure they don’t go through what we did."

I nodded slowly. The hesitation was still there, but it was dimming, replaced by a sense of purpose. A cause that, for once, made me feel like my own person. And there was something else. Something I hadn't considered until now. I had never given a thought to having or finding a mate. The notion had never entered my mind. Working as a Space Guardian, it would have been impossible. I enjoyed sex as much as the next male, but seeing the others with their mates, watching them day in and day out? It made me think—a lot. There was so much more to their bond than love or sex. It showed in the way they looked at each other. Even when angry words flew, there was never a doubt about the depths of their relationship. It made me curious and a little envious. I wouldn't have minded finding something like that.

"Then I’m in," I said, surprising even myself.

Nock let out a loud cheer, throwing his arms up. "Oh, this is great! Someone write this down. Vraax has officially defected. I mean, unofficially, but still, I say we celebrate. We could get some drinks? No? Just me?"

I rolled my eyes, but this time, I didn’t shove him away.

Maybe, just maybe, I had found where I was meant to be. But beneath the humor, the truth still sat as heavy as the questionsburning inside me. Who were we? Where did we come from? Why had we been working for the Ohrurs? What had they done to us? To Darlam?

SLOANE

The metal wallsof the crawlspace were narrow and suffocating. They seemed to be pressing in on me from all sides. After being stuck inside the space station's walls for over a week, I felt disgusting. Washing up in the restroom I liked to use didn't help with my sweat-drenched and filthy clothing, but it was better than nothing. That and the water being drinkable had kept me alive so far, but I wasn't sure how much longer I could make it.

Thanks to my broken ankle, I had no idea how to get off this station. Now and then, I managed to scavenge some food from the food court, but those occasions were rare and few in between. The station was open twenty-four seven and so was the food-court, always filled with people, at all hours of the day and night. The few times I snuck in and snatched something off a forgotten plate were small miracles.

Today looked like it was going to be another day without food as I made my way back to the restroom. Crawling was easier than trying to walk, but neither was very pleasant. Still, I had to try to find a way off this station. That was why I checked the conference rooms and communication stations every day to see if I could get in and comm the Emperor.

Heavy footsteps below me made me pause. I knew that gait; it belonged to the GTU soldiers patrolling the corridors, still looking for me. I didn't think they would be able to hear me above them, but why take a risk?

It wasn't my first rodeo being stuck in an impossible situation, but this time, the odds were truly stacked against me. Not only could I not try to blend in with the crowd below—because I was human—but my broken ankle would make it impossible for me to run or, let's be honest, even walk. Being one of the only humans on a space station was daunting, to say the least. There was no one I could call for backup unless I wanted to provoke an incident between the GTU and the Imperial Forces. That was still an option, but only if everything else failed.

The boots below me made some noise again, telling me they were finally moving on, and so did I. I clenched my teeth because dragging my ankle wasn't the most pleasant thing in the universe. At least it wasn't far from here to my hiding spot. I didn't like hanging out there during the day when the bathroom was a regular ant's nest of coming and going, but I was close to the end of my endurance and pretty sure I was running a fever. I needed to replace the bandage on my ankle to give it a break—no pun intended. Which throbbed constantly now. During the last hours, it had developed a pulse all on its own. It was a good thing that I had learned to push pain away from a young age. There was nothing my dad abhorred more than tears.

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