The Alien Commander's Surrogate

Episode Twelve

Hillary

I'm not sure why I had Ghantlan take me here, but while he'd listed off various aspects of the enormous Trenzian ship, something about the sparring pits had struck my interest. Maybe I was just a red-blooded woman, or maybe there was something in the back of my mind that I needed to see the Trenzian's in motion again. Doing what they did best.

I almost knew that there was no way an Alpha Commander would remain in charge without also being the best fighter in the pits too.

Ghantlan had wavered at first, unsure of my request, but he'd finally broken down when I promised to let him take me to the dining hall shortly after. By the relief on his face, I assumed that Salex had made him promise to feed me at some point.

And while hunger was slowly coming back after my interrupted hypersleep, the need to get to these pits, to see...something...was stronger than everything else.

We'd gotten here just in time to see Salex pin another huge Trenzian male to the floor. They snarled at each other, but their words weren't understandable from where we stood in the stands.

"Have you seen enough, Hillary?" Ghantlan says quietly from my side. The warrior is quite a lot bigger than I had anticipated, seeing how young I had initially put him on, but now that we were standing side by side, he was easily a foot taller than me. My neck clenched a little as I strained to look up at him.

"Does he always win?"

Ghantlan doesn't hesitate. "Always."

I sighed, my mind feeling more hazy than before I stare down into the mats where Salex now stands alone. "Can I talk to him?"

"He would prefer you not."

A surprising pang of disappointment hits me in my gut. "Really? He said that?"

Ghantlan doesn't meet my eyes as he guides me back down a short stair and to the main level of the sparring and exercise facilities. He doesn't need to say anything though, I know he's telling me the truth.

I rubbed my hands over my arms, goosebumps covering my skin even though I didn't feel a change of temperature. Ghantlan was guiding us down a part of the hall when he was stopped by another male. Even without his shirt on, I could tell the newcomer must've held rank the way Ghantlan stopped and then stiffened.

The smell of sweat surrounded me, making me uneasy. Deep under my subconscious, instincts I was only now becoming familiar with shouted at me.

An unsafe male.

I needed to run.

I should let this warrior protect me while my mate comes for me.

Protect the baby.

The only problem in this whole equation was the fact that I didn't have a mate coming. I had an enormous teenage bodyguard, a grumpy alpha commander who wanted nothing to do with me, and this newcomer, who might have been attractive if it weren't for the anger that rolled off him in waves.

"Alpha Commander allowed you to bring his surrogate here?" The newcomer said, his voice a rough dark scrape. Ghantlan's stance widened, blocking even more of me from his gaze.

"Back off, Bayes, I'm performing my task more than adequately."

Bayes, the new cover must've been called, laughed. "By bringing a viable half-claimed female into a pit of testosterone? Well done."

My temper went off, and I stepped around Ghantlan's tree trunk of a leg. "Ghantlan is more than capable of protecting me anywhere on this vessel. And if by chance he couldn't, then I am more than capable of handling myself."

Bayes blinked at me, almost stepping back as I pushed between them. "I–I."

"What?"

"I only meant to protect you, it can be dangerous on board."

I narrowed my eyes up at him, "You meant to humiliate him, and by proxy me." I ignored the wide-eyed expression on Bayes's face, turning to face Ghantlan. "I'm ready to go now."

Ghantlan's face was almost as confused as Bayes's but nevertheless, he opened an arm wide and gestured the direction we needed to go towards the dining hall. As soon as we were out of earshot, Ghantlan leaned down, his mouth barely moving as he whispered quietly, "Thank you, hillary."

I bumped his shoulder with my own, although it was closer to my shoulder bumping his elbow. But the gesture must've meant the same thing here as it did on Earth since Ghantlan bumped me every so slightly back before resuming our path once more.

I was starving.

***

Authors note:

What do you think? Is Bayes a good guy or a bad guy?

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