Page 67 of Fated to the Dragon Warlord

“It is true.”

“The Veseli are no more,” Dante says, his left eye twitching. “I destroyed their last ship.”

Trust any of them, back when we worked together, like a fleet.

“Then you clearly did not,” Driok growls at him.

There’s a further shimmering, and Dexx appears, picking at his teeth.

“Nevver,” I snarl. “You broke the accords by coming into my sector.”

“And you are a liar, Darax,” Dexx retorts. “There are more females, females which could be our mates. You have them, and you are keeping them from us.”

All the warlords glare at me. I know Kerra wanted the females to have a choice, but the Veseli are not just back but hereon Vorostor and capable of breaching our ships, something they wouldn’t have risked when they were prevalent in the galaxy.

“There are females. We only recently found them, and they are, or they were, still acclimatizing to their situation.”

“The rut has made you go soft in the head,” Dalox says, his voice low and dangerous.

“This choice was mine with the blessing of my mate as the females are of her species. We have not had compatible females since we came to this galaxy. They needed protection.”

“And who is to say we couldn’t have protected them?” Dexx snarls. “You will pay for this, Darax.”

“And you need to fight the Veseli alongside the rest of us.” Dante faces him. “They have not gone as we thought, and they dare to enter another warlord’s sector.” He curls up his fists, his entire body shaking with rage.

Dante has never done confrontation well. Things normally explode. He normally explodes, and it is never, ever pretty. Dante has to be the dirtiest fighter ever to have been part of a Sarkarnii battle fleet.

I’d be grateful for his support if it wasn’t likely to get me killed.

“Darax should have informed us about the females, but his rut has left him misguided. He did as we all might have done in his situation,” Dalox rasps. “Sheathed our cocks as well as thinking with them.”

Driok and Dexx glare at him. Dante remains shaking with anger, the concept disappearing over his head. I doubt he will ever mate. I’m not sure he’s capable.

“My mind is the clearest it’s ever been,” I respond. “I will contact you with any further information I have once my investigation is concluded and to determine the next best course of action.”

I terminate the comm, and each of the holo forms disappears slowly, leaving me with a tight feeling in my chest. I tap my claws on the arm of my seat, the tips burying themselves deep in the metal.

“We are continuing the search for your brother, Lord Darax,” Dalat says quietly. “I did not think you wanted the warlords to know.”

“Deus?” A cold set of claws encloses my insides. “Do we have any intel on where he is?”

“We believe he has not yet left theSilver Star, Lord Darax.”

I’m out of my seat, out of the control room, and struggling to contain my ship as I race back to the female quarters, unlocking the doors and bursting inside.

It is empty. One symbol is carved into the wall.

Revenge.

KERRA

“Struggle again, and I will cut you,” the huge Sarkarnii snarls at me.

I’m thrown over his shoulder like a sack. He has weird horny protuberances on his shoulders which are digging in.

“You can threaten me all you like, but you’re not making this easy for either of us,” I snarl back. “You’re lumpy.”

I’m plucked from his shoulder in a single movement which sees me being flung across the passage, where I land on my arse with a thump, jarring my coccyx, and to my annoyance, I release a cry of pain.

---