Chapter 275: Keeping An Eye On Them
The Saalistaja Elder scoffed, but Da’kea went back to ignoring him, choosing instead to smooth down my hair that he messed up with his tusks.
I stared at the other male, refusing to take my eyes off of him for a single second. He didn’t get to act that way. Not when Da’kea admitted that they were friends.
"It’s okay," muttered my mate, too low for the Elder to hear him. "If I can’t get through to him, then you can just kill him. I promise."
I grunted, but didn’t say anything. I would let Da’kea handle this one however he wanted. I trusted that he knew best.
"You’ll have to forgive my mate, Athadodh; she can be a bit overprotective," chuckled Da’kea as if the unpleasantness of before never happened. I snugged deeper into his chest, letting his scent calm me down and put me to sleep.
----
Da’kea was holding on to his temper the best that he could; however, his restraint would not last long.
He felt Mei Xing relax in his arms and quickly fall asleep. Her trust in him alone was enough to reign in his desire to reach through the screen in front of him and rip the other male’s head off.
Taking in a deep breath, he tilted his head back and forth, trying to relax some of the tense muscles. Hearing someone he had considered to be a good friend threaten to hunt his mate made him more than a bit testy.
But as Mei Xing suggested, let him come. They would see whose head hung in a kill room.
Athadodh said nothing, but the sneer on his face spoke volumes.
"You are one of the most desirable males of our tribe," said Athadodh, completely changing the subject. "I have been approached by Ai’to several times now demanding your service. You owe her another offspring."
"I don’t owe her shit," sneered Da’kea keeping his voice low enough that it wouldn’t disturb his mate. "It was her daughter that issued a challenge. She lost. It is really that simple."
"And yet the killer of your only female offspring is lying in your lap right now. Something no honorable female would ever do," replied the other male with a sneer of his own.
"You don’t get to comment on what my mate does or does not do," answered Da’kea with a shake of his head.
"And that is another mark against you! You are not allowed to claim a mate! Our species is dying out. There have been no pregnancies for the past decade! You need to contribute."
"Have you ever considered that we don’t have any new offspring because the goddess has determined that we don’t deserve them?" asked Da’kea, cocking his head to the side. He had such high hopes for this meeting, for the future of his species. And now he was literally watching it go down the drain.
"We are the most honorable species in the known universe," snapped Athadodh. "We have done nothing to deserve a punishment from the Goddess."
Now it was Da’kea’s turn to sneer at the other male’s words. How could he not see? Offsprings were gifts of the Goddess. If they were not having any, it could only mean that it was because the Goddess was upset with them. It was really that simple.
"Then we must agree to disagree. I have been claimed by a mate. That status is one of the most important ones in our laws. There is nothing higher. I am no longer available to submit to another female. Everything that I am and have is dedicated to my mate," stated Da’kea, and with a wave of his hand, he dismissed the subject.
"I have initiated this communication to let you know that the Alliance has fallen," Da’kea continued like he hadn’t just rocked the other male’s world with his news.
"What? How?" demanded the Saalistaja Elder.
"My mate," came the reply, but Da’kea didn’t bother to expand on it.
"She needs to die."
"Then I invite you to come and try your hand at it," sneered Da’kea, his eyes narrowing at the threat to his mate.
Athadodh leaned back in his chair as he studied the male he had grown up with. He was serious.
"The Alliance has been committing atrocities against my mate and her species. They deserve to die for how they treated the females." Da’kea
"The Alliance wouldn’t do anything as questionable as you suggested," replied Athadodh with a shrug of his shoulders. "And if they did. I am sure that it is for a good reason."
Da’kea’s hand hovered over his wrist unit, about to send off all the evidence that Jun Li had collected so he could prove to his friend what had happened.
So that Dawn-Marie would have some closure.
But now he wasn’t so sure.
What would happen if the Saalistaja thought to pick up where the Alliance left off?
As Athadodh said, they hadn’t had any new offspring in over ten planetary revolutions. That is a pretty good incentive for them to find a previously unknown planet and take the females for their own benefit.
Da’kea dropped his arm and didn’t say anything. His mate was right. People could justify anything and everything when it came to the ’greater good’. He would not let his female experience that torture again.
"I will give you the same statement that my mate has given the Sisalik and the Dryadalis: keep your nose clean and out of everyone’s business. You don’t have the right to control how others live. The Alliance is dead. If you try and revive them, then you can experience the same thing. And, my old friend, I can guarantee you that you would not like the consequences."
Da’kea looked up at the camera, and Jun Li cut out the feed.
"You didn’t give him the information," stated Jun Li, and Da’kea simply shrugged his shoulders lightly so as not to disturb his mate. "I think you did the right thing. I will be in their systems from here on out, keeping an eye on them. Hopefully, they don’t do anything stupid."
Da’kea’s eyes went wide when he heard the AI’s statement. However, he didn’t say anything, only nodded his head.
The Alliance might be gone, but Jun Li would be around to make sure that no one overstepped their bounds.
