I looked to my left, where one of the five control panels was located at shoulder level. The pods were built for Styx warriors, which explained why Abby’s control panel was located over her head. She would not be able to see the controls to activate them.

Not acceptable. I would update Styx on this design flaw. What if he, Blade and his human mate, Harper, were here? The controls would be out of reach for his mate as well. What if Styx and Blade were injured and unable to function? No, this would not do at all.

I studied the data on my panel and frowned. “The pod will take us to the nearest known outpost or habitable planet. In this case, it is Latiri 4, a planet that has seen many Coalition-Hive battles.”

“So we are landing in a war zone?”

“I don’t know. Things have been quiet there for a few weeks, but I am not part of the Coalition. I do not know what kind of Hive activity is in the area. That would be Commander Karter’s problem.”

“Who’s he?”

“He is the Prillon Commander of the closest Coalition Battle group. Karter is a warrior with honor. His warriors monitor this sector of space.” I grinned as I remembered something that might ease my mate’s fears. “His mate is a human female as well.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Can I meet her?”

“No.”

“What? Why not?” Her fear was gone, replaced with the defiance and fire I much preferred.

“I am an outlaw, mate. A criminal and a smuggler. We do not visit Coalition battleships for entertainment.”

Abby

Well, that sucked. One of the few human women out in space, and I wouldn’t get to meet her because my mate happened to be a bad guy. “Will they kill you or something?”

“I don’t believe so. Styx is normally the one to deal with any Coalition contact.”

“But will this Commander Karter know you’re a spy or whatever?”

Cormac finally turned away from the blinking panel near his shoulder and looked at me. “I am not a spy.”

“Then what are you? What did you do to earn an Interstellar Bride? Warden Egara said you had to have helped the Coalition with something.”

His yellow eyes darkened to a deep gold, and I immediately remembered this man was an alien. He didn’t play by human rules. Probably didn’t give two shits about what I thought was right or wrong. He had his own code. Sure would be nice to know what rules he did follow.

“We are smugglers, mate, but we are not without honor. The leader of our legion, Styx, is also my adopted brother. As a general rule, we do not interfere with the business of other legions unless provoked. However, we do support the Coalition’s fight against the Hive.”

“I don’t understand.”