Dekon: Fated Mate Alien Romance (Mated to the Alien Book 10) Read online

  He hadn't told her to move, so she kept still. It was the wrong choice. The soldiers scattered, and one chose her hallway.

  He turned the corner and spotted her. Her heart sank as a cruel smile bloomed on his face.

  Shit.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Deke saw red when he rushed back and spotted Manda in danger. His claws were already out and he was ready to tear the attacker limb from limb.

  Slowly.

  He wanted it to hurt.

  No one hurt his mate. And they certainly didn't get to live if they tried.

  He was ready to jump in when Manda lashed out, using her elbows and knees and moving quicker than he'd ever seen. She managed to get out of the attacker's grip and Deke used the opportunity to finish him off once she'd extricated herself.

  He wouldn't call it a haze of bloodlust, but there was definitely exhilaration in his veins as the attacker dropped to the ground. And followed closely by that feeling was a twinge of shame. He could kill without a thought. Without remorse. And the only thing that made him pause was the idea that Manda would think less of him.

  He looked over to her, and her gaze was darting between the still attacker on the floor, and Deke where he stood, claws bared, ready to fight again if he had to. Was someone else coming? He didn't know. Maybe once they were in the comm station he would have a better idea.

  "Do you have to kill them?" Manda asked.

  "Killing is easier than maiming. It's hard to leave someone alive and make sure they don't get back up." Maybe that was too honest, but it was the truth and he'd learned it the hard way.

  Manda shuddered. "Try not to kill." She said it softly, almost too hard to hear over the workings of the station.

  Deke couldn't promise that. He wanted to promise her everything, but they were in the midst of battle. And that darkness that lived within him knew it would be false. He was a killer now. It came almost as naturally as breathing.

  And Manda seemed to realize that he wasn't going to make that promise. "We should keep moving," she said.

  The rest of the way to the comm station was uneventful. Deke didn't know if the attacking forces were spread thin or concentrated somewhere else, but he was thankful for this break.

  He used the codes that Amri had given him to get them into the station and to call up the comm screen.

  "Is it busted?" Manda asked.

  He nodded for her to come closer. "I'm not sure. Do you have any idea how this stuff works?" He had a basic idea of how to fix broken things on a space station and how to shoot a blaster, but he'd never been someone who needed to boost a comm signal.

  Manda studied the screen for several seconds. Something loud blasted somewhere deep in the station and she flinched. He placed a hand on her back to give her some kind of comfort and she leaned into him.

  Then she leaned forward and punched several buttons on the control panel. "Hope this works."

  They waited, neither quite daring to breathe. The comm screen went blank and Manda cursed. And then she cursed again. He didn't know she could curse that much.

  Then it lit back up. "Yes! I am good," she said in triumph.

  He wanted to kiss her. It wasn't the same throbbing need that came from their earlier kiss; he wanted to kiss her in celebration. But he held himself back. Now was not the time.

  An alien appeared on the screen, and Deke didn't think it was one of the ones attacking them. The video was fuzzy and the sound garbled, but they were able to talk.

  "This is the Temple of Peace," said Manda, bouncing from foot to foot. "We're under attack."

  "Affirmative," said the alien with professional detachment. "Security forces en route. Standby for support."

  "I don't know how long this line will stay open," Manda said. She glanced up at Deke as if he had some way to know.

  "Irrelevant," said the alien. Then the screen went black, as if the alien had cut it off.

  Manda sagged against the console. "You did good," he told her.

  "Is that it? One sentence and they cut off communication?" She didn't look happy about it.

  "No doubt they don't want to get intercepted by the attacking forces. We know help's coming." Deke looked around the room. It was the most secure location yet. He didn't know how long it would take for backup to arrive, and he hated to think of what those attackers could do in the meantime. He knew what he had to do. And he knew his mate wasn't going to like it. "I need to go help," he said.

  Manda straightened. "Already? Okay, let's go." She squared her shoulders and looked ready to take on an army.

  Deke was proud. And terrified. And a bit turned on. But he couldn't let her get hurt. "Just me. You stay here where it's safe. If any other residents of the Temple try to get in, let them. Try and keep as many people safe from attackers as possible. You need to stay here."

  "I don't want you going out there," she said. She reached out and grabbed his arm. "I know I'm not a fighter. I know that's not my background, but help is coming. We can just wait here and be safe."

  "We won't be safe until all of those attackers are taken care of." He didn't say dead. But if he had his way, they would be.

  He was ready for more of a fight. He and Manda had just found each other--she'd found him, really--and now he was trying to leave again. This story didn't end well for either of them the last time. "I promise I'll come back. A few hours at the most and then we'll be back together."

  "You better mean it. I'm not waiting this time. If you disappear I'm going to find you."

  And that made him smile again. So many smiles in one day despite the situation. "I promise."

  ***

  Manda watched Deke, looking for some sign that she could convince him not to go. They were safe in this comm station. Safe enough, anyway. She could see the darkness in his eyes, could see the fight calling to him. She wanted to be at his side, to keep him anchored.

  But it wasn't some craving for violence that had him running towards the fight. She understood that. It was what made her grab onto his shirt and pull him close. She kissed him with all of the emotion in her heart and forced herself to pull back before it got out of hand. "I'm not done with you yet." It was half promise, half threat.

  Deke took a deep breath, and she was pretty sure he was pulling in her scent, memorizing every bit of her.

  If he came back, he wouldn't need the memory. She would be at his side. But she didn't call him out on it. It had been a long four years for both of them.

  He yanked himself away and went. Manda locked the door behind him and had to take ten deep breaths to keep from screaming in fear.

  Now she was alone again, and in danger. She didn't know how long she would be stuck here or if something might happen that would make her need to leave. She pulled up the comm screen again and played with the buttons until she could tap into the security videos.

  It was bad. She spotted at least a dozen soldier guys and they seemed hell-bent on getting into a room deep in the station.

  She didn't know what was in there, but she didn't want them to get access, whatever it was. She watched for several minutes and found a switch that let her listen in to what they were saying.

  "We're almost in!" One of the soldier guys yelled in triumph.

  "Be careful. The gold in there will melt under high heat."

  The first soldier guy scoffed. "Never would have thought a place like this would be storing a king's ransom in gold."

  "Yeah," the other guy agreed. "But who would come looking for it?"

  So that was what this whole attack was about? Stealing some gold? Manda wanted to hurt them even more. They were killing people for something as insignificant as that? She switched the station. Watching them drill through a safe wouldn't solve anything.

  She found another dozen holding a large group of residents captive in the cafeteria. The sound stopped working and she couldn't remember what buttons she'd used to get it to play for the guys near the safe.

  And then there were a few hand
fuls of soldier guys stalking the hallways.

  Where had they come from? How were there so many of them? What did they want with the Temple of Peace?

  She wanted to know. She turned back to the video of where the soldiers were clustered just as they took out some kind of torch and started applying it to the door.

  What was that room? Was it life support? She couldn't find a map that would tell her.

  Manda watched with a sick sense of dread as they burned through the metal and got the door off its hinges. She didn't know how long it took, but it must have taken a while. Finally they got in.

  It wasn't life support. At least, she didn't think it was. Two of the soldiers went in the room and a moment later, they came out carrying medium-sized crates.

  Then another two went in and got identical crates. They kept coming in and out and stacked the crates onto a pallet that was just barely in the frame of the video.

  A robbery? Was that what this was about? She didn't know if the Temple of Peace contained any riches, but it looked like it might.

  Well, that was a reason. After all of the trauma of the day it felt almost anticlimactic. But maybe if they were just robbing the place they would go away without hurting anyone else.

  Manda flipped through the cameras once more, looking for Deke. She found him with Amri and Ryff, all of them holding blasters and stalking the hallways.

  That was her mate right there. Her body tingled when she looked at him. He was all hers. Or he would be as soon as she could get him alone. She'd never realized the want could go so deep, but it did. Deeper and deeper every minute.

  She didn't care that he'd changed. She didn't care that there was a new darkness within him. He was all hers and that was what mattered.

  "Oh no..." The words burst out of her. Three soldiers came around the corner and started shooting at Ryff, Amri, and Deke. Ryff went down at first blaster shot but Amri and Deke returned fire.

  The fight didn't take long. Amri and Deke were plenty of a match for the attackers. But Manda's heart still hurt to watch it.

  Once the soldiers went down, Amri and Deke turned to Ryff, who was already starting to stir. At least they hadn't managed to kill him.

  Then the big screen went blank again.

  "No, no, no." She needed to watch, needed to know what was going on.

  But then the fuzzy video came back, and the alien she'd spoken to some time ago appeared on the screen.

  "Support forces imminent. Prepare."

  "What? Prepare how?" Manda didn't hear the alien's response. The station shook as if something huge had impacted with it. Then all the lights went out.

  Then her body seized up and she fell, and consciousness was ripped away from her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Wake up."

  Deke's head ached and the words echoed around strangely. He managed to get his eyes open, even if it felt like he was lifting a huge weight. Amri stood over him and offered a hand up. He ignored it and rolled to his feet.

  "What happened?" His voice was groggy, nothing like the alert soldier he was supposed to be. Every motion felt like he was moving through some thick substance. He was in no state to fight.

  She backed up, giving him room to get to his feet. "Knockout ray. Outside security has it programmed to render everyone but station security unconscious in the event they're needed. Perfectly safe."

  His pounding head didn't believe that. "The attackers?"

  "Detained."

  Good. That was good. "Manda?" He'd regretted leaving her almost as soon as he walked away, but he knew it was the right choice.

  "Don't know where your girl is," Amri admitted.

  "My mate."

  "What?"

  "She's my mate," Deke corrected. And that got him moving. He had to find her.

  "Non-staff are being cleared out," she said before he could walk away. "Internal investigation and cleaning procedures. They're going to be providing transport."

  Deke didn't care. He had to find Manda. He left Amri to her work. His job helping her was over.

  His first destination was the comm station where he'd left Manda, but it was empty. He ran through the halls for several minutes before realizing she had only one other place to go. Their room.

  She had to be confused. She might be in pain. He needed to be with her.

  He was right. She was sitting on the bed when he found her, and Deke's whole body relaxed at once when he saw her. "You're okay." He sank back against the door and drank her in with his eyes.

  "I'm okay." She gave him a reassuring smile. "Ponta found me, explained the knockout ray. That's handy."

  She was taking it better than anyone could be expected to. He wished he could give her more time to recover. "They're evacuating the Temple. Pack your bag."

  "Can they just kick us off like that?" she asked, though she stood up to gather her things. She didn't have much of a bag to pack.

  Though Deke had been traveling for a lot longer, he didn't have much stuff either. It took him less than ten minutes to get everything into his bag. "Why not?"

  "You paid to be here," she pointed out.

  "They're refunding the money. And I don't really care about that." This place was going to fill with bad memories soon and he didn't want Manda there when it happened. She'd been through enough in her life. She needed to be someplace that was safe. She needed to go back to Earth.

  But he didn't know how to convince her that it was time to go.

  "They have a shuttle taking us to a transportation hub in a few hours," he said. The alert had appeared on his communicator while he was running around looking for Manda. "You can get back to Earth from there."

  "We," she corrected.

  "What?" Deke didn't follow.

  She sat back down on the bed and leaned forward, bracing her hands on the mattress as if prepared for a fight. "We can go back to Earth. It's time to go home."

  Home. That was a joke.

  He'd lived on Earth for a matter of months before leaving. If there was any place in the galaxy that he might be able to call home, it was Honora Station, and he was happy to not go back there.

  "What's that look?" she asked.

  "No look." Deke didn't want to fight about this.

  "Braxtyn and Shayn and all of them miss you," she said. "I'm not saying you have to stay there forever. But right now is the perfect opportunity to go back." She sounded ready to fight. She wanted him back on Earth and she wasn't taking no for an answer.

  How could he? They would see how much he'd changed. Maybe Manda could accept him like this, but she, too, had only known him for a few months before he left. She hadn't grown up with him. She hadn't really known the man he used to be. Shayn and Braxtyn knew everything about him. They would spot the differences the second he showed up. "You should go back," he said. "It's safe for you there."

  Manda narrowed her eyes. "I don't think you get it. I'm going where you're going. You're going where I'm going. And I think it's time for you to face your family."

  He wanted to argue. There were a thousand arguments he could make, he was sure. So why couldn't he come up with one of them now? He plopped down onto the other side of the bed, not to be near to her, but because his legs couldn't quite hold him anymore. "It's--I--" he needed an explanation, something that made him seem logical. Something that didn't make him seem weak. But what came out was, "I'm not ready."

  Manda reached out and took his hand. "I know what it's like to go back to a place after you're sure that it won't ever be right again. It's the hardest thing you can do. But I've got experience with this. You just protected me from the bad guys here. Let me help you with this. Let me take you home to your family."

  Earth might have not been home, but his family was. And Manda had a life back there.

  He might have made some sounds about separating now that they had to leave, but he hadn't ever truly believed it. She'd crossed the galaxy to find him. He could feel deep in his soul that she was his denya.

/>   He couldn't walk away again.

  But what would his family think when he got back? Would they see his scars? Would they see the invisible blood that stained his hands?

  How long could he last there? He didn't know. He was scared to find out.

  But he had Manda now. He had to hope that with her at his side he could handle stepping back into his own life.

  They headed to the transport about an hour later. Deke recognized some of the passengers, but he hadn't been on the station long enough to make friends, not that he made many friends these days. He passed by a purple alien with a scar running down his cheek who was almost as big as the attackers at the station.

  Was that the same alien he'd seen wearing body armor the other day? He looked like he could be one of the attackers.

  But station security had identified them all.

  Deke was ready to fight, his blood pumping and adrenaline driving him. But there was no way one of the attackers had been let go.

  The alien looked at him for a moment, but there was no recognition in his gaze. He didn't seem to care about Deke or Manda at all.

  Probably for the best.

  He gripped Manda's hand tight. He was going home.

  This could be the worst decision of his life.

  ***

  It took a few hours to get to the transport hub and then Manda and Deke were on a ship bound for Earth. It would take over a week to get there. Luckily they had private quarters.

  Manda was determined to fuck.

  Okay, maybe she should have used more flowery language. She wanted to make love. She wanted to seal the bond between them. She wanted to feel Deke's body pressed tight against hers and sleep in bed with him all through the night.

  She wanted him. That was it. But she wasn't sure that he was ready.

  Physically? Yeah, she was pretty sure he would be into it. But she feared that he was just about ready to take off running without looking back.

  Again.

  She'd already almost lost him twice. And now all she could think about was the fact that he would die in two years if they didn't seal the bond between them. She couldn't let that happen.