A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (2 page)

The young lion shielded his mate with his body and scanned his surroundings. He would allow no one to harm her. Crimson blood splattered everything in the room. Sev’s eyes grew. His heart pounded in his chest. Where did all the blood come from? He immediately rose to his knees, expelling himself from his lover’s form. He grabbed her wrist and was about to pull her from his bed when the hairs on his nape stood upright. He paused.

Sev’s gaze traveled down to his chest and thighs. To his horror, his torso was painted in red. A numbing chill entered his core. He forced his attention back to the female in his bed. His breath left him. For the first time, he saw his lover’s slender form. Blood bathed it completely.

Death ensnared his soul when Sev realized the blood seeped from deep gashes on her body. He shook his head in denial. She was his lover. His mate. She was the only female who had shared his body. His bed. His dreams.

“No!” Sev’s eyes shot wide open. His breathing was ragged. He stared, unfocused, at the morning sky for a few minutes before he forced himself to sit up in bed.

His body shivered. Sev pulled his knees to his chest and placed his sweat-covered face in his shaking hands. His lungs felt like they were on fire. A sad ache took hold of his heart.

What had happened? Why was she killed? How could a moment in heaven turn into a horrible nightmare? What did it all mean?

Sea Base Ten

Sea-anan Empire

In another sector of space, a silver Starfighter swerved before spiraling downward. It glided through space more smoothly than an ordinary Starship, and its enhanced computer system made it superior in accuracy. It made a sharp turnabout and returned fire at the alien vessel pursuing it.

Areo McCall squinted through the left side window of the cockpit, at the exploding enemy warship. She felt satisfied. A blinding light suddenly enveloped that sector of space. Once it dimmed, she scanned the area it came from. What she searched for was no longer there. An overwhelming sorrow consumed her at the destruction of space station Sea Base Ten.

So many men and women had been lost. The inconceivable tortures those innocent children endured before they were slaughtered would forever torment her. Areo blinked rapidly so her tears would not distort her vision. How could it have happened? How could it be that
her
warriors would turn their backs on peace?

Areo veered and dodged another attack. “This is for all those innocent babies,” she said, retaliating on the enemy ship with a heartfelt vengeance.

She glanced at her multiple injuries. Without medical attention, she would eventually die. Already, light-headedness from loss of blood was upon her. However, being a Seacat descendant, she gritted her teeth, bore the pain, and forged onward.

Areo counted the Starfighters that assisted her. Only three out of seven hundred remained. Another bolt of intense pain seared her soul. Areo swore the one who gave the order to attack Sea Base Ten would pay with his life.

Her train of thought was broken when her twin brother, Mathew, sailed his ship alongside hers on the right. His anxious voice boomed through her helmet’s communicator.

“Areo! You, Bobby, John, and I are the last four remaining. We need to lure the rest of these aircrafts away from those Starships. Are you all right? Can you make it?”

Areo glanced at her brother’s ship and hoped her voice would sound strong and positive. “Let’s show them what we Seacats are made of.”

Bob’s Starfighter pulled up beside her on the left. John flew above her. Her dear brothers surrounded her. They always protected her. Her heart filled with love for them.

Mathew’s voice sounded refortified.
“John, you flip. Bob, go left. I’ll go right. Areo, down the middle. Break!”

The ships opened up like a flower. They executed the tactical maneuver flawlessly. Their feline ancestors would be proud of them, even if they were hybrids and considered an abomination by those of pureblood.

Areo spotted an enemy vessel swooping down on her twin brother’s ship. Her heart thumped in her chest. She opened her mouth to warn him, but nothing came out.

“Mathew, look out! Above you!”
shouted her eldest brother, John, into his helmet’s communicator.

With little time to spare, Areo watched Mathew’s ship swiftly evade the incoming laser missiles by entering a gyrating nosedive. He turned his ship about like the expert fighter pilot he was and glided into position directly behind the vessel, opening fire. The warship exploded into an array of bright lights. Areo released her breath.

Bob’s anxious words expressed what she felt.
“That was a close one, bro. Stay frosty, will ya!”

“
I hear you, Sparky. Thanks, Piscean,”
replied Mathew, using Bob’s and John’s code names.

“Thank me later, little brother. Stay alert,”
returned John.

Areo spotted the final White Star carrying civilians disappearing into the darkness of space. “That was the last ship, you guys. It’s time we leave this nightmare.”

“All right then, pick a dance partner, people. Lead them in the opposite direction from our fleeing ships,”
instructed John.
“Lead them as
far away as you can. Then, if possible, you know what to do with them. Afterward, head immediately for Sea Base Five.”

The airwaves went silent. Areo could tell he was trying not to cry.

“Please, be careful you three. I love you.”

Areo’s heart twisted in pain at her brother’s whispered words. Theirs was a close-knit family where blood was not the only connection.

“We love you too, brother,” she replied for herself and her two siblings.

She nervously bit her bottom lip and watched John’s Starfighter fly away. Only one of the enemy battleships followed him. Bob said his good-bye and was next to fly off. Mathew’s sigh of relief brought her attention back to the situation at hand.

“Good. Only one decided to follow him. That leaves three for us, sis.”

Areo did not answer. She was running a diagnostic scan on her ship. The results appeared on the dashboard’s small monitor. She punched in several buttons to recheck what she saw. Her lips thinned. The ship was in perfect working condition. Its only issue was that it lacked the fuel needed to reach Sea Base Five, located seven and a half months away.

Mathew’s worried voice boomed inside her helmet.
“Areo? Areo! Is everything all right?”

“Huh? Oh…yeah. Everything is fine.”
I guess the maintenance crew didn’t get a chance to refuel this ship. It figures.

She sighed and looked out the window. She saw no reason to worry her twin. Mathew had enough to concern himself with. He smoothly aligned his ship beside her. It reminded Areo of a graceful bird of prey.

“OK, then. Let’s divide these three and head back to the Aligned Worlds headquarters. We need to notify the alliance about Daehog and his plans. There’s no time to waste. You go down and I’ll go up. And, Areo, I love you. Be careful out there.”

Areo’s fingers tightened around the steering lever. “I love you too, Mathew. Onssa bless and good luck.”

They broke, and their ships sliced through the twinkling stars. Areo whispered a prayer to her god, Onssa. As her ship came full
circle, she searched for her brother’s vessel. Only one ship pursued her twin. In her opinion, Mathew was a fantastic pilot, but in a small ship against a huge warship, his odds were better if he had only one to deal with.

Her shoulders slouched. Knowing her odds were zero to none, Areo pushed the accelerator lever higher and zoomed forward. She led her enemies in a merry game of follow the leader with no clue where she was headed. It did not matter; she knew she would not be returning home. However, she did care about dodging her enemies’ fire long enough to lure them out of Sea-anan territory.

An explosion of light went off near the right side of the cockpit. The vibrations caused the ship to shake.

“Blast it!” Areo’s lips pulled back.
OK, then, we need to take this up a notch.
She accelerated to maximum warp speed.

Her pursuers seemed to have lost interest. Set on making them hate her as much as she hated them, Areo turned her ship around and gave them a reason to fight. She released a barrage of laser fire and homing missiles, each with a specific destination—the main engines, the guns, and the bridge. She swerved and dove between the two warships. She was the fly they could not swat. Her desired outcome came after several passes.

The darkness of space lit up when one of the ships exploded. Areo’s blood-smeared face glowed. She had never been more proud of her brothers Bob and Alan or her sisters Angelica and Flora. They had taken the best technology of each known alien race, made dramatic improvements to it, and had created a superior technology of their own.

Areo saw the remaining ship picking up speed. She quickly turned her ship around and headed straight into the unknown.

Areo jolted awake. It was getting harder for her to stay conscious. She tried to check the time, but her vision was blurry. She blinked several times and squinted again at the digital display. For two days, she had flown her ship in a straight path. Areo leaned
her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes. She wondered why she had bothered to do so. She had never traveled to this part of space. Therefore, it made no difference in which direction she went. She would still be where she was now. Lost.

There was a heavy weight at her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. She believed the end was close. A distant beep called her attention. Areo forced her eyes to focus on the monitor as a map appeared on the screen. She first saw a small red blinking light at the bottom of the screen, indicating an enemy ship. Then a yellow light appeared in the upper left-hand corner. The long-range scanners had detected a planet nearby.

Areo made her choice immediately. In all honesty, she had no choice. She was a Seacat, expected to fight until the death. This sort of tenacity was what made the Seacats fearsome warriors. And even though her bloodline was impure, Areo still considered herself a Seacat.

With her target locked in her ship’s computer, Areo changed direction and began her assault. This time it was harder. Longer. It was difficult to concentrate with the cobwebs in her head, and impossible to see clearly with her failing eyesight. Luckily, being born of mixed heritage had its privileges like preternatural senses. Areo utilized hers and managed to destroy the enemy ship.

Once the deed was done, Areo turned her ship around and headed for the alien planet. Within two hours, she could see the green orb in the distance. Her engines began to sputter. She shut them down and sent a Mayday signal. She prayed the planet’s inhabitants were friendly, for she did not want her body blasted out of the sky.

On the planet’s surface, Sev was sitting in the control room in front of a giant, blank monitor. His thoughts were not on his citizens or on the planet’s safety. Two days had passed since his wretched nightmare, and he could not get it out of his mind. His phantom lover had not returned since that morning. His heart ached for her. His body longed for hers. Each night his soul searched for hers and cried out in anguish when it could not find its mate.

It was difficult to believe the emptiness he felt since her disappearance. It had never occurred to Sev how much he had looked forward to seeing her, to being with her, until she was gone.

He covered his face while his cruel mind relived joyful walks through a park, picnics on a beach, and flights through the heavens on a Starship. It all seemed so real. Sev had awakened many times feeling unsure if the life he led in his dreams was the real realm and the world without her was in fact the false one.

Sev’s stomach tightened at the possibility of never again experiencing those intimate moments. At the same time, he feared for his sanity. How could a person become so attached to a faceless being? He knew of no woman who could arouse such devotion in him. Many had tried, but he had never felt inclined to pursue any courtship. He was set on waiting for the right feline to become his queen. He had never guessed that ‘the one’ would be a ghostly creation of his imagination.