Page 47 of Rescuing Mara

“YOU DIDN’T MEAN TO?” she yells.

“NO!” I yell back. Then, I take a calming breath to steady myself.

“No, I didn’t mean to. Ananta gave me this transmitter before O’Rec saved me. Which was part of her plan, by the way. Since we met on that moon, she knew I was your mate, O’Rec. Her goal is to kill every last Arracate to make her father proud. He is so hung up on the death of his son, and he wants to erase the Arracate from existence.” I pause.

“My whole life has been a lie; I was told you would use me as a sex slave, that Arracate Warriors abuse females and only act like they are good while they secretly just fill their pockets.” Tears are streaming down my face as I turn towards O’Rec.

“I have been with the Sternotheri for my entire life; I was raised with hate, raised to hate you. But you, O’Rec, you showed me different. You showed me that love was possible. I was tethered to Ananta by the strongest iron chains, and bit by bit, you weakened those chains until you broke them completely. I know it was wrong to go in here with the intention to betray you, but I would never. I would never have betrayed you.”

“My mind was made up on Novarron; I chose you O’Rec. I will always choose you. Please give me the chance to prove myself. I did NOT activate the tracker; I panicked when it was missing. It must have fallen out of my pocket, and the magnetic blast...”

I furiously wipe at my tears, absently noticing there’s blood mixed with them from where I hit my head in the crash.

“Please…” Turning from a shocked O’Rec to an astonished Lauren. “Please believe me. I would never activate the tracker, and I would never betray you like this.”

Lauren is crying as well. I take a step toward O’Rec, but my entire body fights me because I don’t want to give him the opportunity to recoil. He doesn’t, so I take another step.

Suddenly, I feel overwhelmed with sadness and heartbreak. It paralyzes me. One look at O’Rec confirms that he feels it, too. Even at this moment, which feels like the darkest of my life, he finds a way to give me hope.

“I love you.” I softly tell him, still crying. A full-body sob leaves me, and he is on me in a heartbeat. Pulling me in, holding me close.

“We will fix this, my mate,” he whispers into my hair, and I let my tears run free.

CHAPTER30

Mara

Lauren’s sobbing makes us break apart, and I go to her.

“I’m so sorry, Lauren.” I say as new tears form, and I blink them away. She just sobs some more, so I take the last few steps that separate her and pull her in for a hug. She hugs me back fiercely, and my heart makes a little stutter of relief.

“Thank you.” I cry, and we both start bawling. When we finally calm down, Lauren huffs.

“I’m still angry at you. You should have talked to me, told me your doubts and fears.”

I answer with a sad smile. “I didn’t know there was another way for people to react besides assault and abuse. That's all I’ve known until I came here.”

Lauren pulls me back for another short hug, and I feel sadness flowing through my bond with O’Rec. The latter clearing his throat.

“We have approximately seven hours until the next storm and no idea when the Sternotheri will arrive. Come, we should go to the Mess Hall, have some tea, and make a plan.”

He ushers us into the Mess Hall and sits us down. He then takes charge of the tea and the plan since Lauren and I are too overwhelmed to think rationally.

“Marra, what was the original plan you had with Ananta? Tell me every detail so we know how best to handle them when they arrive.”

He squeezes my hand, and I straighten my shoulders and tell the whole story.

“The High Commander wants to find your secret home. They know there’s a place where you’ve found refuge. Ananta wants to find it and destroy it. She believed you would take me there. My task was to play the dutiful mate, submit to you, and activate the tracker once you took me to your home so she could find it. She’s probably beside herself with joy right now and will be very, very angry when she finds out the mission failed. Which she will blame me for.”

O’Rec nods. “We should let her take me then.”

“NO!” I shout, adding to my words by standing up. “No, O’Rec, she’ll kill you.”

“There is no other option, my star.”

“No!” I cry out, wiping furiously at my tear-stained face.

“It is the only way,” he repeats. “There is too much at stake. You and L’Ren need to stay hidden so that you can shut down and reboot the ship until D’Var and T’Rak get here. I have a tracker implanted that is invisible to Sternotheri scans, so I trust them to come after me. It is my duty to stay alive until then.”

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