Page 23 of A Mate for Vasek (Tallean Mercenaries #11)

Dawn

Cami was wrong. Vasek never did ask her.

He did, however, make sure she got set up at the compound. She now had an official ID number, which was recognized throughout the outer planets. It meant she could now collect her own credits and be her own person.

Dawn hadn’t realized just how important that was until it happened. She’d been so happy and grateful that she’d thrown her arms around him. But Vasek had shoved her away, like she’d burnt him with her touch. He’d apologized after, saying something like it was his fault and not hers, then ran off.

Dawn couldn’t believe it. All the way at the butt-end of the galaxy, and she got the “it’s not you, it’s me” spiel from a freaking alien? Unbelievable!

Roxy, Cami, their mates, and Dex had taken her out to celebrate her newfound freedom afterward, and Dawn had done her best to pretend she was happy when it felt like her heart had been torn apart.

But what the fuck had she been expecting anyway? Vasek had said from the beginning that he didn’t want to keep her. Just because they spent some time together and did the horizontal tango didn’t mean he’d change his mind.

It fucking hurt, and she had nothing to blame but her dumb, stupid heart.

But Dawn wasn’t the best actress, and she was sure they all knew something was wrong. To their credit, no one said anything.

The next day, she started her new job working in the medical facility.

Luckily, Ulkin didn’t remind Dawn of Vasek at all, and his medical wing was nothing like Vasek’s shuttle.

The older Tallean asked her several times about Vasek, but when Dawn didn’t reply as enthusiastically as he had hoped, he stopped.

The other day, when Cami had come to pick her up after work so they could hang out, Berus and Ulkin had talked.

She couldn’t help overhearing Vasek’s name and the words “curse” and “mating.” They also mentioned someone named Ranek.

They tried not to look at her too obviously, but she felt their eyes anyway.

Dawn didn’t know why the fuck she still cared. She forced herself to focus on work. But managing Ulkin’s medical wing wasn’t really a challenge as it was so well run already, much like the rest of the stronghold.

The compound itself was so much bigger than Dawn ever thought it could be.

For some reason, she’d imagined it to be much smaller, maybe a few buildings, walled in and almost prison-like.

Instead, the stronghold was huge and sprawling, with its own shops, restaurants, and bars, almost like a little town inside a city.

And if it wasn’t for her new friends, she would’ve gotten lost already.

Half of the stronghold was indoors, but every building was linked by gorgeous, well-kept gardens.

They’d kept many of the more mature trees that had been here before, building around them, and they used the others to furnish the dwellings.

The décor throughout the compound had a rustic ski lodge feel, with heavy wood furniture and hunting trophies of alien beasts.

And despite everything being oversized, it still felt warm and cozy.

It was a beautiful amalgamation of nature and technology.

Everywhere she went, Dawn kept hoping she’d turn the corner and bump into a certain sexy medic. She never did.

“The plasma is coming in tomorrow, right before the big party,” she said as Ulkin walked into the office. He’d been waiting on that since yesterday, and the shippers got held up by pirates.

Ugh! Why was it always pirates?

“I’ll receive the shipment. You just get ready for the celebration. You young folks need to have more fun.” Ulkin was more excited about her going to the party than she was.

Cami was already waiting for her outside the med bay. “Ready for the baths?”

Dawn had heard all about the public baths on Reka 5 but hadn’t known that the compound had a small version of one as well.

It was fun, and kind of a big ego boost to have all eyes on them, like they were fresh meat.

At least until Berus and Dex showed up, both naked as the day they were born, and all the male eyes looked away.

No one dared look in Cami’s direction too long with the bear of a Tallean marking his territory.

And Dawn guessed they automatically thought she was with Dex.

Dawn didn’t mind. She wasn’t up for hunting for a bed partner anyway.

Occasionally though, she felt eyes on her, but when she turned there wouldn’t be anyone.

She was still butt-naked when a tall, suave-looking stranger approached their oversized private tub.

“Hey! It’s the male of the hour!” Dex exclaimed. “How’s it feel to be the ultimate supreme ruler for another year, Kean?”

Kean? The Tallean male was well-muscled but lean.

He had his dark, wiry hair tied back off his face and wore an almost playful grin that showed the tips of his fangs.

He looked like he was ready for a GQ shoot.

This was Kean? The big, scary drug lord she’d heard about for so long? He didn’t look that scary.

But then again, he was currently totally naked and unarmed, aside from the eight talons of his feet, which were currently capped with dark shiny wax. Kotch had used something like that for his claws too.

Dawn’s eyes drifted back up to his face, and on their way, accidentally passed over his crotch. She’d gotten used to nudity, but only if she didn’t look too closely. She quickly looked to the right and realized there was a petite human woman hanging onto Kean’s arm.

That was right! Kean was mated to a human. What was her name? Sarah.

For some reason, when the humans back in New Rhea talked about her, they always assumed her to be a supermodel or something. Sarah looked like just any other woman. She had thick brown hair, big, kind eyes, and a friendly smile.

Just as they finished their introductions, Lana showed up. But… what the fuck? That wasn’t Uzzar with her. She was plastered to a Tallean in his prime, who oozed power. Unlike Kean, whose good looks were universal and conventional, this male had a more rugged appeal. He also looked very familiar.

Dawn had a feeling she should know who this male was, but all she was thinking at the moment was that Lana was stepping out on Uzzar! In front of everyone! And she wasn’t even trying to hide it!

“Hey, boss!” Dex waved to the couple.

The two turned to them, smiling, and started toward their tub. No one seemed to care that Lana was with another man. In fact, they were welcoming them in.

What the hell was going on here?

“Oh! You poor thing!” Cami said, giving Dawn a hug. “You must be so confused.”

It was strange to feel another naked body slide up against her, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“Oh, right! We never did explain that part to her, did we?” Dex asked.

None of this was making sense.

Lana slapped her palm to her forehead. “You’re right. Our bad.” She looked up at the Tallean next to her.

Kean, unaware of her utter confusion, moved over to make room for the couple. “Ulrek, my friend. Nice of you to join us.”

Ulrek! That was why he looked so familiar!

He was Ulrek, the ex-Dominion captain who so famously switched sides to fight for and live in the outer planets.

It was all coming together now. Of course he was!

Ulrek had a half-human crew. The New Horizon had a half-human crew.

Ulrek was mated to a human. Uzzar was mated to a human.

And didn’t Cami say that if any crew could get to Earth, it would be theirs?

Dawn had been so dumb. Uzzar was Ulrek! Duh! The New Horizon was the infamous stolen Dominion warship Revenge.

“I apologize for deceiving you, female.” Ulrek’s voice was slightly different from Uzzar's, but it was definitely the same person. “We were unsure if you were an agent working for Morad. Morad knows me as Uzzar, and the New Horizon recently purchased a shipment from Kotch.”

Dawn suddenly remembered it. “You did! I remember it now. That’s why you looked so familiar.” He’d come in with two other Tallean males, no humans.

“And I’m Delaney, not Lana. We really should’ve told you once Vasek confirmed you were running from Morad, not working for him.”

“It’s okay. I understand.”

But now that Vasek had been mentioned, Dawn couldn’t stop hoping he’d show up and join them too.

She tried to follow the conversation as Dex and Berus went on about some crazy cool mech suits they’d recovered, and Cami, Delaney, and Sarah talked about the all-new, Earth-style amusement park they were building on Reka 5.

Ulrek and Kean occasionally spoke in hushed tones, but generally just relaxed.

Dawn felt a little like a sore thumb, but tried to enjoy herself. She kept feeling like someone was watching her, but there was never anyone there. If someone was, she was sure the others, especially the Tallean males, would’ve noticed as well and said something.

At the end of the evening, Dex offered to walk her to the room she shared with a Tallean named Danka. Danka was an orphaned teenager who’d taken Roxy’s old job after she’d gotten hired by the New Horizon .

It didn’t feel like Dex was coming onto her, more like he was making sure she got home alright. She wondered if the fact that she was heartbroken for a medic who clearly didn’t care about her was that obvious.

“Vhast and I will come pick you up for tomorrow's big celebration,” Dex said at her door. “You better be all dolled up and ready to party.”

***

Dawn woke to a buzzing from her door. Danka got to it before she did. A young Tallean male stood with a soft package draped over his arms.

“It’s for Dawn.”

“That’s me.” Dawn reached out to take the package from him, surprised by how heavy it was. “I wasn’t expecting anything.”

But the male’s attention wasn’t on her anymore. It was on Danka, and it was full of boyish admiration. Oh-ho! Dawn’s little roommate had a not-so-secret admirer. And from the sudden way she was fussing with her already straight and perfectly styled hair, she was interested.

Dawn wasn’t great with guessing ages, especially with Talleans, but these two must be teenagers. The boy mumbled something about seeing Danka at the party and made a break for it.

“I thought Tallean males are supposed to be aggressive and not shy when it came to females,” Dawn said.

“Oh, he will be,” Danka said quite self-assuredly. “If he doesn’t shape up, he’s not getting a chance.”

Dawn grinned. Young Tallean males were expected to be just on this side of too pushy when it came to pursuing the opposite sex, and the females were sometimes just as energetic when on the prowl. It was just a different culture.

And there was the crux of it. Vasek hadn’t pursued her like that at all.

That alone told her enough. He’d done the literal opposite.

The only reason they’d ended up sleeping together was because they’d been hiding together, like some form of mild trauma bonding.

Or maybe it was because she was just there and convenient.

“What’s in the package?” Danka asked, peering over her shoulder.

“No clue.”

They opened it together, and Danka let out a girly squeal. “It’s beautiful!”

It was a dress. Except it wasn’t the stiff, jewel-encrusted evening wear with indecently high slit that was common in the Tallean culture.

Sometimes, Tallean evening wear skipped a skirt completely and had something resembling a jeweled belt that barely covered the essentials, and a thong.

This dress looked more like Earth-style evening wear, except the bodice was bejeweled very thoroughly in a Tallean style.

The skirt was flowy and flared out past her knees.

But it had a series of slits so high that it came with a pair of matching underwear just in case.

There was a note attached to it from the crew of the New Horizon .

“You can borrow this for the party. Have fun! From the crew of the Revenge ,” she read out loud.

“Oooh, you know the crew of the Revenge ?” Danka’s eyes were wide and sparkling.

Dawn looked down at the note in her hand, and there, at the bottom in a pretty cursive, were the words, Go knock ‘em out! – Cami.

You know what? She was! She was going to knock ‘em out. Screw sitting around moping over a stupid medic who didn’t care about her. She was going to waltz into that party looking like a million bucks and have the time of her life!