Page 13 of Rescuing Mara

When we exit the ship and step foot on the space station, I feel a tightness in my chest. My body starts shaking, and my heartbeat starts racing. This… this feels wrong, I can’t leave Ananta, but she commanded me… And this male…

My mind feels like a storm filled with conflicting thoughts. I start breathing rapidly, my head is throbbing, and my heart feels like it’s going to explode. I look up at him with wide-open eyes. “Help…” I breathe out weakly before my panic overwhelms me, and I lose consciousness again.

CHAPTER10

O’Rec

Icurse when I feel my mate’s body going limp in my arms. D’Var turns around, a concerned look on his face.

“How is she doing?”he asks me through our link.

“I do not know. She is injured, but I do not think that is the reason she has lost consciousness.”

Our bond hums with understanding. D’Var has been through a similar experience when he first met L’Ren. She was not very trusting towards us, and it appears like my mate suffers from a similar sort of anxiety she was going through - her elevated heart rate, the spike in her fear. I wrinkle my nose just thinking about how it soured her sweet, sweet scent. I adjust her form in my arms so I can better support her head. I need to focus on getting her safely to our ship and then getting the hell out of this space station.

We hurry towards the ship, encountering almost nobody in our way.

“It is too silent here. I do not trust it,”T’Rak tells us.“We must stay very alert.”

I breathe in deeply, centering myself in my Warrior Calm and focusing on nothing but the task at hand. I do not sense anything apart from us and the occasional passerby. The Sternotheri's lack of reaction gives me an eerie feeling. The station feels way too quiet, and a pit of dread forms in my stomach when we turn the last corner toward the docking station, where our ship is waiting for us.

It is there, just like we left it. I breathe in deep, but I do not smell anything. The air is dry and stale, but not even a hint of other species than us. Certainly not the foul stench of Sternotheri. I follow T’Rak and D’Var towards the door to the airlock, watching warily as they unlock and enter the ship.

I quickly follow them. The doors slide close behind me, and everything appears as it should. I clutch my mate to my chest as I run a quick diagnostic on the access pad. D’Var hurries towards his mate in the secret hiding place, and T’Rak rushes to Command to get us going as soon as possible. When my diagnostic is complete, giving us the all-clear, I stalk towards Control.

“L’Ren alright?”I ask D’Var.

“Perfect,”he responds, joy seeping through the bond.

“We are all clear to go then.”

“You can use the course I plotted before we arrived here,” I tell T’Rak. “It is taking us to Novarron but with a clever detour. If somebody is following us, we will know long before we get anywhere near the planet.”

I look down at my beautiful mate. She does not look good, and we need to go to the medical bay now.

“I am taking her to medical; she cannot wait any longer.”

He growls something in return before pushing the controls. I spin on my heels and rush us to the medical bay, which is just on the right after the door to the other hallway.

The gurney is ready for use, and slowly, ever so slowly, I lower my fragile mate on the soft bench. She looks so tiny on it. Worry overflows within me, and I quickly turn toward the scanner.

The scanner is in the midst of processing her injuries when the door opens, and I hear L’Ren’s soft voice.

“Can I come in?”

“Please do, I could use an expert’s opinion.”

She gives me a tense smile, quickly rushing towards me and gasping when she sees my mate lying unconscious.

“Oh… O’Rec,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry…”

At that same time, the results of the scans show up, and we both turn to study them.

“There,” she points at a bright red spot on the scan of her head. “It looks like something is wrong with her brain.”

My jaw tenses and I grit my teeth. “She is bleeding.”

“Yes,” L’Ren nods before pointing towards her side. “Are those internal bleeds?”

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