Page 53 of A Redemption for Ulrek

“You have a genuinely terrified look on your face,” Sarah said, suddenly serious. “Do you need help? We can get you somewhere safe if you need us to.”

Chrissy put a hand up. “Hold on a second. I’m not sure keeping Ulrek away from the one he believes to be his mate is a good idea. You saw what happened when they tried to keep Zharor from me. And Ulrek’s even crazier than him.”

“We have rules here at the compound,” Sarah said. “Females are protected, and no one can force us to do anything we don’t want. Not even Ulrek. I don’t care how scary he is.”

Delaney didn’t want to stir up any trouble. “No, no. It’s not like that. He’s not locking me up and making me his sex slave. That part is totally consensual.”

“But?” Chrissy waved her hand, encouraging Delaney to explain herself.

Delaney sighed. “I just came out of one crappy relationship. I’m not ready for another. And plus, it’sUlrek.They call him Ulrek the Horrible on Reka 5. He captained the ship that stole people from Earth. I can’t have a relationship with him.” Delaney looked around, realizing she was getting loud, but they were still alone. “I mean I know I have shitty taste in men, but this is going too far.”

“Do you like him?” Chrissy asked.

“No.” Such a lie. “Maybe…okay, yes. I do, okay? But I feel so guilty about it.”

“Because he’s Ulrek?” Sarah sent her a sympathetic look.

“One hundred percent because he’s Ulrek. It feels like I’m betraying Earth.”

“Man, that’s tough,” Chrissy said. “But ultimately, you’re not. He switched sides years ago. And denying yourself won’t change history.” She had a point.

“He isn’t the tyrant I thought he was,” Delaney admitted. “And hedidfeed my asshole ex to a coilbeast. But that still doesn’t mean it’s right.”

Sarah’s mouth fell open. “Wait. He didwhatnow?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time.”

Chrissy nodded, her eyes wide. “So do I.”

Delaney drank more of her joulka and told them about getting kidnapped by Craig and Eric only to find out they were helping bounty hunters who were looking for Ulrek, and then having their time at Reka 5 cut short.

“I wonder if that’s why Kean was looking up the whereabouts of Gritarr,” Sarah mused.

“That’s the guy who sent the two bounty hunters,” Delaney said.

“Interesting.” Sarah leaned back in her seat. “He was Ulrek’s second-in-command back on theStellar Fortuneand betrayed him bigtime. The guy’s been after his bounty for years now.”

“Weren’t the boys talking for a while about luring him out into the open and just offing him?” Chrissy asked.

“Yup. I guess the plan is back on the table. I bet that’s what they’re discussing right now.”

Sarah’s comm buzzed on the table, and she glanced at it quickly. “It’s the guys. They’re heading back.” She squared a look at Delaney. “Last chance for us to whisk you away to your own room, if that’s what you want.”

Didshe want to keep hiding from Ulrek? Now that Delaney knew he thought of her as his mate, it changed things. Talleans only had one mate. And if Ulrek thought that was her, then that was it.

Claiming someone was a mate was a huge thing. Like, life-changing huge. It was like proposing, except if the person said no, the one doing the claiming slowly—or not so slowly—went crazy from the rejection. If she really wanted Ulrek to suffer for his past, she could just keep denying him. Some rejected mates literally died from the heartbreak. She could destroy him just by telling him no.

Here lies Ulrek the Horrible, slayed by a broken heart.

She might have started out hating him, but she didn’t anymore. Hadn’t for a while, if she was honest. And every time she told him that she hated him, she’d really meant something else. But she wasn’t ready to be his mate. Nope.

“I never forgave him, and a part of me feels like I never could. The other Tallean males on his ship had been on theStellar Fortunetoo, but I don’t feel animosity towards them. I even consider Berus a friend, and he was the one with the blaster, physically corralling people into the pen.” Delaney huffed out a breath, glad to finally put all her thoughts into words. “I’ve talked to them all, and in my head, I don’t see them as evil. I know ‘just following orders’ isn’t an excuse, but at the same time, I see them as real people who were raised with different beliefs that they had to overcome. They deserve another chance. But with Ulrek.” She spread her hands.

“It’s because he was the captain,” Sarah said. “And infamous. And he acts like a jerk sometimes. It’s easy to focus all the blame on him. But Dominion captains don’t make decisions. When the Favored tells them to jump, they ask how high.”

“Yeah, I get that now. But I still can’t just forgive him because he said sorry.”

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