Page 15 of Rescuing Mara

“Wooow, honey, what’s happening here? Why aren’t you dressed?” she asks, looking at me.

“I thought I was his mate and that I have to mate him now?”

“Please,” the warrior peeps out in a strangled voice.

The female lets out a laugh. “All in due time, honey, all in due time. O’Rec, you can go, I’ve got this.

Relief floods the room as he almost runs towards the door.

“You should get dressed first,” the female says.

I nod and put my shirt back on. She sits on the side of the bed and extends her hand.

“I’m Lauren,” she says.

I look at her hand, then at her. “I’m Mara. What are you doing with your hand?”

She gives me a curious look. “How old were you when you were taken from earth?”

Earth… Now, there’s a word I haven’t heard in a long, long time. I give Lauren a wry smile.

“I have been Ananta’s slave since I was a little girl. Sometimes she talked about me being a weird human from earth, but I’m afraid I don’t know much about my life before I came to live with the Sternotheri.”

Lauren represses a shudder. “Well, you’re safe now. Thank God O’Rec got you out. You were so badly beaten, you were bleeding internally.”

This time, I can’t mask the sharp inhale. Bleeding internally? She wouldn’t…. Would she?

“No, that can’t be right.” I shake my head in denial.

“I’m so sorry,” Lauren says, grabbing both my hands in hers. “But you’re okay now. O’Rec gave you a healing injection and Nano technology to restore previous damage in your body.”

A tear escapes my eyes at the betrayal I feel. Why would Ananata hurt me so much?

“You are safe now,” Lauren repeats. Mistaking the reason for my tears.

“Thank you.” I say. She chats on, but my mind is elsewhere. The betrayal is cutting through me like a knife, while at the same time, my brain is telling me she must have had a reason. She always has a reason.

“Sorry, I spaced out. What were you saying?” I interrupt her so that I can put a stop to my thoughts.

“Are you hungry?” She smiles. “We have a mess hall where we can eat, and you can meet my D’Var and our captain T’Rak.

I fumble with my clothes and force out the words. “I don’t know…”

“You don’t know if you’re hungry?” Lauren blinks.

“No?”

“Well, you never know until you try, and I have made an excellent root pie if I say so myself.” She stands and walks towards the door.

“Are you coming?”

I guess… I am.

CHAPTER12

Mara

Lauren leads me through a hallway toward sliding doors that open automatically when she steps close. They open into a wide-open space. It must be the control room because three big males are occupying three big chairs facing an enormous control station with a big screen.

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