Page 12 of Healing Creek (Arena Dogs #3)

Chapter Eight

Creek strode through the halls, answering a summons to the pack’s makeshift command center. Mercury had established it in a security station within shouting distance of the ship’s bridge. It was a place they could talk freely while monitoring the ship and its mix of trusted and confined crew.

Being near the bridge meant they could also get there quickly if they were needed. As he walked in, he passed Knock and Samantha. After sorting out the crew, commanding them from the bridge had become Samantha’s responsibility.

The Dogs greeted him with a soft chorus of barks, and he returned the greeting.

Jupiter smiled, wide mouthed and showing his deadly canines—an odd expression to see after weeks of the man’s scowls in the slave hold.

Jupiter’s human mate, Feeona, was also in the room with the Dogs.

The woman looked very different than when they’d met.

Her sexy black dress and thigh high boots had been replaced with serviceable black pants and a pullover.

With her thick mahogany braid, caramel skin and warm brown eyes she didn’t need the fancy clothes and exotic makeup to draw the eye.

It was good to see that these men had mates they could trust. Despite having been enslaved by humans at Roma, Creek had no particular hatred of the species.

They were all part human after all, or so he’d been told.

It was humans from the resistance who’d freed him from Roma.

And after his experience at Haven, the resistance base, he knew he no more belonged among his own kind than with the humans.

He fit in nowhere. He wondered if these Dogs and their mates would fit in at Haven better than he had.

All the Arena Dog males were present. Most sat around a table in sturdy mismatched chairs that had been dragged in from all over the ship. Jupiter sat next to Feeona and on his other side, Seneca, the most exotic of the bunch, sat loose limbed as if he’d been poured into his chair.

Mercury, their steely-eyed leader, stood at the de facto head of the table.

Diablo, his second, leaned a hip against a control panel along one wall.

Carn, the largest of all of them, sat relaxed at the opposite side of the table.

All three had the typical look of Dogs from House Owens, with shoulder length dark hair and bronze skin.

Mercury spoke first. “You’re looking more rested. How is the female?”

He was really asking how his task to get her to reveal her secrets was going. “I left her in the med-bay.”

“That could be useful,” Jupiter offered.

Creek shrugged. “She hopes to leave the ship as soon as possible, so don’t count on it lasting.”

Mercury frowned. Disappointed that her skills would be lost or that he had no more information to give?

“I will speak with her again soon.” Creek held Mercury’s gaze. “But I still feel she is no danger to us.”

“Come and sit, brother. We have much to discuss.” Mercury clasped his shoulder.

Creek was grateful for the strength of the Dog’s grasp, despite the flash of pain in the abused joint. The jolt of it covered his stunned longing at being called brother. They had no way of knowing it was his first time hearing it.

Feeona stood to empty a chair for him. “I need to go prep the Hawley .” The Hawley was her ship. She smoothed a hand over Jupiter’s recently shorn hair as she moved away.

With Feeona’s departure, that left him alone with the five males of Mercury’s pack. Knots twisted in his stomach. What did they want to speak with him about? As Creek sat, Mercury settled into the seat at the head of the table and Diablo took the chair to his right.

“First,” said Mercury. “I want to thank you for your help communicating with the Dreat. Their cooperation has been critical in making this ship a safe place for all our mates.”

Creek dipped his head to the pack leader in acknowledgement. Such a small thing needed no thanks.

“The humans that were prisoners alongside you and Jupiter are also a big help, but most of them wish to leave the ship as soon as possible. We’ve asked them to help with the port authorities when the slaver’s crew are offloaded at Chromocan Station.

We’ll need them since none of us have any standing with the Alliance government. ”

Creek frowned. “Your mates—”

Mercury shook his head. “Grand Owens managed to undermine both Samantha and Feeona’s standing with Earth Alliance. Legally, we are still property of Roma,” he spat the last words, full of disgust. “So, we will all need to stay well out of sight.”

“And leave the vicinity of the station as quickly as possible,” Diablo added.

Mercury huffed a sound of agreement. “We won’t even be docking with the station. We have plenty of fuel. And fortunately, the shuttle we used to board this ship will be adequate to transport all the prisoners and the other humans in one trip.”

Mercury leaned forward and tilted his head. “We’d like you to speak to the Dreat and encourage them to stay aboard until we can get them across the border. They’re no safer in Alliance territory than we are.”

“I’m sure they’ll agree.” The Dreat he’d been traveling with had no homes to return to.

The alpha leaned back. “Good. We could use their continued help keeping an eye on the remaining crew until we can replace them.”

“Replace them?” It sounded like a good idea though he had no idea how they could go about it.

“Yes, Samantha has some connections, but we are also hoping the resistance will be able to help.”

Creek’s gut twisted.

“Jupiter tells me you have some experience with the resistance.”

“I don’t recall ever saying that.” His gaze slid to his old slave hold companion.

“You got off Roma the same way as we did,” Jupiter paraphrased. “Unless, like us, you never made it to the resistance stronghold.”

“I made it there.”

Jupiter’s eyebrows lifted. “But you didn’t stay?”

“No.” He hoped the definitive answer would convey that he didn’t wish to talk about his experience there. It had not been the right place for him, but he didn’t wish to speak against the people who’d freed him. He had been the problem, not them.

Jupiter let the topic drop, but Mercury did not. “Is there any reason we shouldn’t seek them out?”

“No,” said Creek. “They have freed many of our kind.”

“What can you tell us about them?”

Creek sighed and leaned back in his chair. “They call their base Haven. There are around forty free Arena Dogs there.” He saw the faces fall around the table.

“So few?” Seneca spoke for the first time.

Mercury’s silver eyes were full of grief. “We’d hoped more of those who’ve fallen in the arena had been saved."

It was how many had been rescued without alerting Roma. Dogs pronounced dead sometimes were snuck out when they made miraculous recoveries.

“Could they be somewhere else,” Seneca asked.

“As far as I know, I am the only Dog who’s ever left Haven.” Creek fisted his hands letting the pain of it quell his own grief. “There are also about two dozen humans there. The facility is set into a ravine and the Dogs there have freedom so long as they follow the rules.”

Diablo folded his arms over his chest. “Whose rules?”

“The founder of the resistance is a human female. She’s mated to one of us and they lead together.

Her name is Eve, and he’s called Max. He’s the oldest Dog I’ve ever seen.

” Creek thought of the Dog with gray at his temples and a hint of lines in his face.

“I believe he’s been free for many years.

Eve has connections to Roma that have allowed her to place humans friendly to their cause within the company. ”

Diablo scooted his chair back, stood, and paced to the nearest wall, body tight with tension.

“We have experience with the resistance’s agents.

” Regret colored Mercury’s voice. “One of their medics gave her life to help us escape. We had to leave many behind—humans and Dogs. We all owe our lives to the resistance, but I don’t think we can afford to do things their way, if so few have been rescued. ”

Diablo growled as he continued to pace. “And we’re told they’ve been at it for ten years.”

Mercury slammed a fist on the table. “Too many of our people are dying or suffering every day.”

“Agreed. I—” Creek wanted to tell them how much he regretted every Dog’s life he’d ended in his years of fighting for their cruel masters, but he refused to make excuses.

Excuses only served to lessen the value of those lost lives, as if there were any worthy excuses.

Their eyes studied him waiting for what he would say.

“I agree. All Dogs should be free, the sooner the better.”

“It’s time the masters begin to die.” Diablo’s baritone rumbled with anger. “Instead of good Dogs who want only to protect their brothers and sisters.”

“Thanks to our mates we now have allies, resources—” Mercury began.

“And victories,” added Carn. “We freed my mate from the kennels and staged a rescue in the middle of the arena. Now we’ve taken the ship they wanted to destroy. Perhaps this will inspire the resistance to take a more aggressive stance on freeing our people.”

Mercury nodded then leveled his gaze at Creek. “I would be glad to have you at my side when we meet Eve and Max.”

Creek hesitated. He should warn Mercury that having him at his side could be more hinderance than help, but it had not been the leadership of the resistance that had not wanted him there. “I’d be proud to stand with you.”

“Good.” Mercury barked softly with satisfaction. “Now that’s settled, you should get back to the female. I don’t want any surprises from her.”

Creek thought of gentle Grace. An image of folding her into his arms flashed through his mind.

Why did he feel so protective? A lone Dog was no protector for a female.

A female needed the protection of a pack and this one had a pack of her own with such a large family.

But they had not done a good job of protecting her. He nodded to Mercury and stood.

Jupiter’s chair squeaked under his weight as he too pushed away from the table and stood to walk with him. They made it through the door to the corridor where they had a moment of privacy.

“Mercury is a wise leader. You can trust him.” His eyes seem to be pleading with something more unsaid between them.

Creek nodded.

Jupiter clasped his shoulder gently. “My mates and I must leave soon to fulfill a promise they made, but we will meet the ship at the resistance base. If I do not see you again before we leave, walk free and be safe until we meet again.”

Creek watched him turn and walk back to the pack. Could he truly call these Dog’s brothers? He wasn’t sure, but he thought with some hope, he could at least call Jupiter a friend. And that was something he’d never had before.