It’s Not Safe

The conversation was immediately cut off the moment I entered the room, but that didn't matter. I had heard enough.

Pulling back my shoulders, I took in a deep breath and walked forward. I didn't personally know the three males on the communications device, but that didn't mean I didn't know of them. "Which one are you?" I asked, looking directly at the male in the center of the video.

He was wearing a helmet that covered his entire face and had what looked like thick silver dreadlocks coming out the back. His was one of the faces that stared at me as I lay on my back, looking up at the ceiling of Lucifer's med lab.

Walking around the chair that Ba'dqeel was sitting in, I sat down on his lap, looking like a child on the knee of an adult. He wrapped his free arm around me, bringing me in closer to his chest.

My eyes never left the screen with three of my nightmares on it. But why was this the first time I was noticing just how much Midnight looked like Axis.

Not saying a word, I looked over at Axis.

"He is my little brother," grunted the werewolf, not looking so happy at that fact right now. I guess the brother they had been talking about in the trade station was the same one that I knew.

Midnight hummed, and I flinched.

I wasn't sure why Lucifer had done what he had done, nor did I really care. But something inside of me wanted to both hide in fear and scream in rage at the three males.

But since I wasn't about to let Lucifer win, I refused to do either one.

"We will not be going to your home world," I said slowly, proud that my voice didn't tremble nearly as much as my hands were. "I am not sure why my males called you, but I can assure you, they will never contact you again."

"What is your name, Sweet One?" purred Midnight, and I wanted to snarl at him. How dare he call me the same nickname that my husband did? How dare he stand there like he and his weren't responsible for what happened to me?

Bai Mei Xing, their mate… the light in their darkness…

I shut down the thoughts intruding in my head. I didn't have any right to blame her for what happened to me or the deaths of the other human females. I didn't have any right to blame her ship for going on a rampage against the other L-series ships. I didn't have the right to blame Jun Li for backing Lucifer into a corner.

I didn't have the right…

But holy fucking hell… did I ever.

Trying to control my breathing and the tears that were threatening to escape, I laid my head on Ba'dqeel's chest as I stared at the male who had yet to answer my question.

"I am Da'kea," he said at last as if reading my thoughts. "And it wouldn't be the Saalistaja home world. This place is a paradise for your species. It has everything that you could possibly want, including other human females."

I didn't respond; I just looked at him blankly from the safety of Ba'dqeel's arms.

"The universe isn't a safe place for you right now," interjected the third male. His armor looked almost dragon-like as I stared into the slits in his helmet for his eyes.

It took a moment for his words to process before I burst out laughing. He was telling me that like I had no idea just how horrible the universe could be. Like I hadn't been living in hell while he and his family had been building an entire world just for themselves.

"Thank you," I said through gritted teeth. The phrase 'keep sweet' flashed in my head as I tried not to bow my head in submission. I refused to keep sweet. I refused to obey. "But I am well aware of just how dangerous this place is for a human female."

"But you are more than just a human female," grunted the male in the middle while Midnight looked at me pityingly, like I was too dumb or innocent to understand what was going on around me. "You are an Ethawainian."

I felt Ba'dqeel stiffen under me and even the rest of the males in the room seemed to tense as they stared at the screen in front of us.

"Not possible," I assured him. "Those tests were run over a year ago, and they came back negative."

"You are attracting males," replied Midnight, his face never changing. At that moment, there was nothing I wanted to do more than punch that look off his face. It was like he was blaming me for males not being able to resist my charms.

I didn't want to have any fucking charms.

I snorted at that. "Yeah," I nodded, my face twisting in a sneer. "I've never really had a problem with that."

It wasn't vanity that made me say it. In fact, I don't think that there was a bigger insult to me than to say I attracted males. I attracted the Prophet to me at the age of 13. I attracted my husband to me at the age of 14 to the point where he asked the Prophet for my hand in marriage. I attracted all the men in the compound to me to the point they were calling me Jezebel.

Hell, even after marriage, the Prophet had given my 'services' to those men who had greatly pleased him.

Because of my hair, and the way I looked, I was thought of as a whore before I even knew what that term meant.

And that was only the human males.

I let out a dry chuckle as I closed my eyes, listening to the drumming down of Ba'dqeel's heart, letting it drift me off to sleep.

----

Ba'dqeel gave Zua'the a sharp look before rising to his feet and bringing the female back into the bedroom. This time, instead of leaving her alone, he laid down first, settling her on his chest.

Within seconds, he could feel the brush of fur against his skin. Looking down, he watched two of the katutxoa covering his mate in her fur before going to sleep on his bed.

Refusing to move an inch just in case the parasites chose to attack him, he drifted off to sleep, the scent of his mate surrounding him.