Page 14 of Star Crossed Delta

MAK

‘ W here the fokk did the sachem come from?’

Mak prowled into the Signet boardroom, his boots striking the floor hard.

Santi, lounging against the far console with a mug of black kahawa , gave him a slow, sardonic smile. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be lying beside your wife right now, Commander?’

Mak’s glare cut through the room like a blade.

For a breath, the temperature shifted.

His power surged, golden sparks flickering at the edge of his vision. ‘ Nada . And I probably never will.’

‘Shame,’ Santi drawled, unflinching. ‘She’s a beauty. The kind that grows on you.’

Mak took a step toward him, shoulders squared, chest tight with fury.

For a second, it appeared like they’d clash across the room.

Until Kaal moved first, intercepting with a quiet, firm hand on Mak’s shoulder, steady as a mountain.

‘Enough,’ Xander growled, his voice the crack of thunder in a storm.

His alpha wolf power surged in flames behind his eyes. ‘Omega, stand down. He’s bleeding. Don’t poke the wound.’

Santi held his hands up in surrender. ‘Sorry, cabrón , my bad.’

Mak stood down, dragging in a breath through his teeth. The fire in his chest wouldn’t dim, but he forced himself back.

He pulled up a chair and fell into it, shoulders bowed, soul despondent.

‘I’m raw,’ he rasped, more honest than he’d been in a long time. ‘I got a replacement bride, a spare part swapped in because the real one ran away.’

His bitterness was evident in the hoarse reverb of his timbre.

Silence fell, heavy with the unspoken empathy from his hermanos .

Xander let it sit for a beat, then raised a chin while crossing his hands over his chest.

‘Brother, we hope you and your wife resolve this rift and find every happiness, whether together or otherwise. We are disappointed in how shit played out, but also, we protect our own and give each other the privacy to work out their path within the pack.’

He sliced his eyes at Santi. ‘What’s intimate stays personal. No jokes. No digs. Respect the man’s war before the fight finds us all.’

The alpha leader’s gaze swept the room, steady, absolute. ‘But now we move on. The Sombra was breached. Where from, how, and why in hell didn’t we see that sachem coming till it nearly tore the dome apart?’

Miral shifted in her chair, shadows under her dark eyes. ‘I was off the ball, capitán . Too mired in wedding planning chaos. I let security drift. That’s on me.’

She tapped her wrist console, casting a schematic over the table.

‘I did some digging and found that the creature must have latched onto the undercarriage of a visitor’s ship, masked by their shields.

Slipped past our scans and detached in Hangar Three.

From there, it crawled the ventilation shafts and climbed into the cabling hoists above the dome before it attacked. ’

Xander’s jaw ticked. ‘Whose ship?’

‘The Lisade skiff.’

Kaal frowned. ‘You think they knew?’

‘Unknown.’ Miral’s voice remained flat, clinical. ‘It could’ve snagged on during their jump into our secure perimeter. Or hitched a ride when they slowed for docking.’

‘Or someone let it on,’ Santi muttered.

Mak’s rasp cut through. ‘Why would the Lisades attack their own at a wedding?’

Xander shook his head once. ‘We could argue motive all night, but it won’t matter unless we catch the beast first.’

Miral nodded. ‘I backtracked its chem-trail to a dense asteroid field, about two hours away at half thrusters.’

Mak flexed his fingers, hunger for the hunt burning through his rage. ‘Let’s roll.’

Xander cracked a rare smile. ‘That’s the Mak I know.’

Kaal pulled his jacket on, Zev chambered a fresh clip, and Santi tossed his empty to-go mug into the recycler.

The pack was moving.

The void was shrouded as Mak’s gunship, the última Lykos, approached the space rock belt.

Outside, a series of sleek Signet Corvettes sliced through the cosmos alongside his craft.

From within the vast, impenetrable sea of darkness emerged a web of shimmering rocks that drifted across the vastness of space, their edges jagged and sharp, like the teeth of some forgotten beast.

‘You good?’ Mak asked his brother from the helm.

Kaal jerked his chin. ‘ Naam . You?’

‘No rest for the weary.’

They still hadn’t taken to their beds since the wedding; they had work to do.

The stealthed Signet Corvette’s engine slowed as it reached the rendezvous point.

Miral’s dulcet tone sounded over neural comms. ‘I’ve narrowed down the heat signatures to a large rock with what appears to be a hollow center.’

Beside Mak, Kaal twisted to Kelam, Asa, and Melashan, three of the best Sauvage strong men, in the back seats. ‘Suit up.’

Below the debris of rocks and slowly rotating boulders was their mark, hiding in the chaos of twisting space.

The sachem had come from within this detritus.

‘Ten minutes out,’ Kaal muttered, checking the dashboard and glancing at Mak.

‘Make sure everyone knows the plan. We get in, we get out, no delays, no mistakes,’ Mak growled.

His brother gave a curt nod, speaking into his comm. ‘Eyes sharp, boys. We hit fast, take what’s ours, and we’re gone before the sun thinks about rising. I’m taking the lead, even though Mak would have it otherwise.’

Mak shrugged.

Fokk , he had a right to face whatever had decided to mar his wedding, him, and was insistent to see where these sachem fokkers were coming from.

The tension in the ship was thick, not with fear but with focused intensity. Every man here knew his role, his place. They’d done this before; this wasn’t just a raid. It was a message.

The airlock doors opened. They moved swiftly, exiting the gunship.

Kaal and Mak had Signet gear on, but they went without helmets, tapping into their spectral power as they stepped into the vacuum of space in near-perfect synchronization.

The rest of the Signet pack followed: Boaz, Zev, and Santi, from their respective ships.

They flew through the black, dipping and weaving around jagged boulders, the chilly asteroid atmosphere pressing against their suits.

Their mag boots landed with a whisper, locking into grav mode as they moved fast, the tension in the air palpable.

They reached a hidden opening, a fissure five men wide that seemed to go down into the hollow rock.

Mak’s voice cut through their neural link. ‘Eyes peeled. Weapons hot.’

The team braced itself for what lay ahead.

The entrance resembled a tunnel, old and warped.

They drew their firearms in synchronized precision.

Kaal jerked his chin at Asa. ‘Keep it clean. They won’t know what hit them.’

They kept a quick clip, moving fast and staying in the shadows.

Dressed head to toe in black, their movements were swift and purposeful.

The cold bite of the vacuum mixed with the quiet pulse of adrenaline surging through Mak.

Their armor shifted to a dull, inky hue to avoid reflecting the shimmering lights of the asteroid tunnel.

Mak’s lycan senses soon picked up breathable air as they shimmered through an energy barrier that Miral hacked.

The other side reeked of an ambiance thick with fetid humidity and an acrid, burnt flesh odor.

Ahead, nestled in the ruins of a crumbled atrium, they spotted their target: a secret, dilapidated station.

A crooked, flickering sign, its alien runes distorted by years of neglect, was suspended over the door.

Crude cackles and the clinking of bottles emanated from within.

This is it, murmured Kaal via their neural link.

How many? Mak asked Kaal.

His brother’s eyes gleamed at him before he shut them for a beat.

He reached his hands to both temples, fanned his fingers over his brow, and tapped into his prescient dire-sight gift.

Moments later, he shook his head and opened his eyes. A dozen.

He raised a hand, signaling the team to fan out.

Based on his foresight, he gestured to them where to aim.

They moved with silent precision, taking primacy around the structure.

Asa and Melashan, in their capacity as snipers armed with laser-powered rifles, positioned themselves on a crumbling ledge.

Below, the rest crouched in the shadows, weapons vibrating, primed for the assault.

Kaal’s voice came through the comms: ‘On my mark. We take them alive if we can. They might lead us to their masters.’

A single nod passed through the squad.

‘Mark.’

The doors to the station exploded inward as the warriors surged in, their shields shimmering as they swept through the entryway.

It led into what appeared to be a combined mess hall, meeting area, and club lounge.

The sachem inside roared in fury, their twisted forms snapping as they unsheathed their weaponized claws.

The room erupted into chaos.

Bolts of violet lasers lanced through the air.

Tables and chairs shattered as the deranged creatures fought with savage desperation, their talons raking against the force field in a futile attempt to break through.

One guard vaulted over a counter, slamming a kinetic net onto a sachem’s chest. Another fired a precise shot that neutralized a second target, sending them crumpling to the floor.

A third unhinged monster screeched and lunged at Mak, but he sidestepped with practiced ease, delivering a disabling energy pulse to its core.

When it kept swiping at him, he lashed out with his incisors. His fanged tips slid into its brow, and he sucked its soul out with a hiss.

The sensation hit him like a tidal wave, crashing over all senses and drowning him in its depth.

An electric surge exploded through his veins, igniting each nerve with an intensity that left him gasping. It was as if he had tapped into an aura of darkened existence, siphoning raw, unfiltered, warped potency searing through him like molten fire.

His mind stretched to encompass sensations and thoughts that were not his.

Memories flashed behind his eyes, fragmented and frenzied, images of locations he’d never visited, faces twisted in fear and fury, voices overlapping in a cacophony of despair and rage.

A bitter terror flared, mingled with the acridity of hatred.

Its corrupted and distorted essence poured into him, a vile stream that both repelled and enticed. The rush was intoxicating and overwhelming, filling the hollow places inside him with dark, potent energy.

His heart pounded, each beat reverberating through his chest as if it might burst from the sheer strain of the power coursing through him.

The air was denser as if the atmosphere was bending to the pressure of his will.

Yet, amid the exhilaration, there was a gnawing chill, a creeping sense of utter loss and despair.

As he drained its essence, its resistance faltered, its life force dwindling into a feeble whisper before it was silenced altogether.

With a final shuddering breath, he let go, his body trembling from the aftershock.

His mind buzzed, thoughts racing in a chaotic dance, intoxicated by the power he’d seized.

And still, beneath the rush, a flicker of unease took root, whispering that some things, once ripped away, could never be returned.

He came to his senses, for the encounter had only transpired in seconds.

Around him, the fight raged, but the Signet and Sauvage warriors’ training and coordination proved superior.

Within moments, the station was secured, and a quartet of sachem, still alive, lay immobilized, trapped in glowing restraints.

In the chaos, one figure emerged from the shadows at the back: a small, unassuming, mousy-haired man with wiry limbs and a nervous, darting gaze.

He wore a tattered coat, and his hands twitched at his sides.

‘Hello,’ he murmured, shoulders bowed, attempting to make himself appear slight and insignificant.

Yet his eyes darted across the room, brimming with cunning malice.

Mak at once sensed an unusual amount of power emanating from him.

‘Drop the act, stranger. You’re more than you seem.’

He turned his dead eyes to Mak. ‘Ah, the ?ar himself, a venator and hunter of souls.’

‘ Fokk precious! You and your companions are an audacity of gargoyles and a caper of mutants who invaded my wedding and assaulted my guests. You don’t deserve to walk free.’

‘Says who?’

Kaal stepped forward, his weapon leveled. ‘All of us, controller. Surrender.’

The man chuckled, a soft, eerie sound that chilled the room. ‘Me? Never.’

His eyes began to glow as he spoke, his voice deepening into a guttural snarl.

His body convulsed, and in a flash, he transformed.

Twisted wings of pure power erupted from his back, and his slight frame grew grotesque, his limbs elongating unnaturally.

The man, now a sachem himself, let out a bone-rattling scream before launching into the air.

Laser bolts rained down from his claws, forcing their men, including Mak, to scatter.

Mak narrowly dodged a blast that obliterated a wall section behind him.

‘Take him down!’ he barked, raising his wrist shield and rising to face off with the controller.

Melashan and Asa fired grappling lines, wrapping them around the sachem ’s appendages.

He thrashed, tearing one line free, but the other held firm.

Kaal activated a hovering barrier, which enveloped the sachem mid-flight and trapped him in a shimmering jade sphere.

The creature howled, slamming against the barrier with his claws, but the buckler survived the frantic onslaught.

Mak prowled forward, his weapon trained on the writhing figure. ‘You’re going to talk. Who gave the word to attack the Sauvage clan? Who’s behind the fokkin ’ orders?’

The entity snarled, his distorted face twisting into a grotesque leer. ‘You think this ends here? Do you think you can stop us? You have no idea what’s coming.’

Kaal leaned closer, his voice ice-cold. ‘Then enlighten me.’

Silence hung in the air, broken only by the whir of a force field.

With a snarl, the sachem whispered: ‘We are the Codex of Nightshade. We will prevail!’

The sachem’s grin widened as a glow began emanating from its thorax, growing brighter with each passing second.

‘Get back!’ Mak shouted, throwing up his shield.

The creature let out a final, chilling laugh before his body imploded in a violent burst of energy, the internal device within him obliterating his form.

The shockwave shook the room, taking out the shackled sachem with it. They too exploded as the Sauvage crew ducked, their armored suits and shields absorbing the brunt of the blast.

When the dust settled, all that remained of the beasts were charred marks on the floor.

Kaal and Mak exchanged grim looks.

‘Miral, you got all that he spewed about Codex and Nightshade?’ Mak grated.

‘ Naam ,’ she intoned. ‘Already on it. I’ll see what I can find.’

‘I sense a reckoning and not just from the catacombs of hell itself. Hunt down what you can, and do it fast,’ Mak snarled.

‘Consider it done.’