Breaking Bonds: An Alien Romance Adventure

Chapter Thirteen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"I don't know what to do about him." Zekekiel paced his office. The sun was setting and the breeze coming through the open windows was beginning to cool, but his temper wasn't, "I can't have this, Aleroth."

His best friend sat relaxed in the chair at his desk. His face was swollen on the left side, but he hadn't told Zeke how and why it happened, only that it was Maevelin who'd done it, "He needs to go," he said with a little too much grit in his voice.

"Did he touch her? Did he get close to her?"

Roth nodded slightly, staring at the small drive he held in his hands, "I caught it on the monitors. He kissed her, but nothing more. At least not yet."

"I can't have this," Zeke pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. This was too much for him right now. Maevelin had always been a good girl, always kept her head down and never fucked up like this. And what a damn fuck up, "He's a Turnish for God's sake."

Before Turnix Beta had been destroyed, the Turnish and the Tallek had always been friendly, took their political alliance seriously, and they'd never had any problems. That wasn't the problem, though. The problem was their sexual appetites, their need to bond and seal themselves to a female, and this particular one would bind himself to Maevelin. That couldn't happen. She was his.

Maevelin had always been special, he'd seen the wisdom in her eyes the moment he found her. She was special to him. He had plans for her, plans that went far beyond her place here in his home, and that could all be ruined if she bonded to this male.

"I tried to kill him," Roth said dryly. Zeke snapped his head in his direction, and his friend finally looked up from the device, "I even told her if I didn't, then you would. I hoped it would break her down a little, make her see that this couldn't be."

"Why would you do that?"

Roth shrugged and tossed the drive to the table. He stood and eyed Zeke who'd stopped pacing at the earlier admission, "I don't like him."

"Why? What has he done?" Zeke's mind was reeling, thinking of everything the Turnish could have done to his Maevelin, "Has he hurt her? Has he done something to her that would warrant such an action from you or myself?"

"No."

Zeke stood straighter and taller. He clasped his arms behind his back and studied his friend. It didn't take much to know what was going on, "Legally, the male is hers. The laws of the galaxy hold firm here, the Tallek making most of those laws ourselves. She bought and paid for him with her own credits, maybe some of my own, but that isn't the point," Zeke cleared his throat, "He could come in handy."

Roth narrowed his eyes, "How so?"

Zeke motioned his head to the tiny device on the desk, "That has extremely valuable information on it. Information I have been looking for," he paused, the pain in his chest tightening, "a long time.

Roth nodded his head in acknowledgement. His friend knew, knew the deep dark parts of Zeke's story, and he understood what that meant.

"I fear what will happen when they bond." Zeke said, "It is... inevitable."

"I can take care of the problem, Zeke. All you have to do is give me the order."

Zeke slammed his fist down on the desk, "I will not have my friend be made a murderer! Not for a slave, not for anyone!" He tried to take a calming breath, but right now, it was too much. Everything was too much all the time. Too many emotions inside him for a Tallek. They were supposed to be cold, distant, emotionless. He never could be that, but he wore the mask well enough to fool everyone around him. His insides burst to be free of the mask, to show them all as they came so he didn't have to be so bottled up, so he could be free for once in his life. "Maeve is old enough to make her own choices. The Turnish was her choice."

"She's a slave, sir." Roth gritted out again, "Your slave. You can make her do whatever you want. That's what they're for."

"Get out." Zeke was done with this conversation for the evening. He was done having people around he needed to hide from. He needed solace, even from his best friend, "We'll talk about it more tomorrow."

"They could be bonded by then," Roth rushed out, "It could be too late to step in and stop it!"

"Then it will be too late!" Zeke hissed, "Leave before I regret my next choice."

Roth nodded his head stiffly and brushed past Zeke as he left the office. Once he heard the front door slam, he was finally able to breathe.

He hated when they fought about Maevelin. They'd been doing it since she'd gotten older, gotten more beautiful with each passing day, and it infuriated him. Roth needed to hold himself back better, mask himself better, his face and his actions betrayed him. Roth wanted Maevelin so badly he could hardly stand it, and it had been painfully obvious for years. It left a sour taste in Zeke's mouth.

Maevelin wasn't a slave, not to him. Maevelin was his... pride, his joy, everything he ever wanted after everything had been taken from him. Zeke looked at the drive that sat on his desk. The pain that little metal device held inside it would be too much for him right now, and there was one thing that could quell that hurt.

A smiling black haired beauty, but he would deny himself comfort as always. He wasn't ready. The time wasn't right.