Corr's Forgiveness (Chaetdorian Mates Book 1) Read online

  “What are you doing?” he snapped, taking long strides towards her.

  “Attempting to wake myself up. I don’t like this dream, this nightmare, and I want to wake up now.” She sounded like a little girl in that moment but she didn’t care. She was scared.

  “You are not asleep, human. But if you wish for that to be the case, I can easily knock you out. Yes, I think that is the best course of action.”

  He was insane!

  Panicking she scrambled backwards, moving as quickly as she possibly could in order to get away from the hulking male striding towards her. Her heart was pounding violently against her ribcage, about ready to burst out of her chest. Tears formed in her eyes, making it near impossible to see.

  All males were the same. Human. Alien. It didn’t matter, they were all insane.

  “There is no escaping your fate.”

  Suddenly her back came up against something solid, stopping her from escaping any further. When that something moved slightly she gazed up, her breath catching in her throat. Eyes that seemed to be filled with starlight met hers. Eyes that belonged to the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life. “Wow.”

  As she continued to gaze upon him, her head feeling light and the world spinning around her, she heard him growl in his deep, intoxicating voice, "No, there is not.” Then darkness descended upon her world.

  Chapter 6

  Corr wasn't sure what it was exactly, but something about the way two of his tribe were acting worried him. It had been a long time since he'd seen a lot of them, so maybe it was just that their time upon the earth had changed them in some ways, but he didn't think so. He would talk to Teks about it next time he had the chance. When that chance would be though, he had no idea. Take-off was scheduled for shortly after sunset and he had plenty of stuff to keep him busy until then. Mostly avoiding deck seven.

  Torq had arrived with the human volunteers that morning and a feeding schedule had quickly been set up so everyone that needed to feed did so before take-off. Corr's feeding slot had been a few hours ago, not that he had gone. If it wasn't for the fact that cutting off blood from his diet suddenly could result in him never getting his markings back, he would be quite happy to never see a human ever again. But that wasn't going to happen, so for now he was just avoiding the inevitable. Only problem was, he was running out of things to do.

  Turning the corner, he was surprised to find Dekon standing guard outside the control deck. It was standard procedure when on a voyage for a guard to be stationed at the door, but with the ship still grounded and all hands needed to launch on time, he shouldn't have been there. Dekon was also one of his warriors - one whose behaviour Corr had been worrying about - and he knew he was meant to be at the other side of the ship, helping load the supplies.

  "Explain yourself," Corr demanded, coming to a stop before him.

  "On guard duty, Chaer," was his immediate response, but there was no respect in his voice.

  Chaer was the title given to each tribe leader. Corr was the Warrior Chaer. Torq, the Slayer Chaer. And Teks, the techno Chaer.

  "I can see that, but I wish to know why? You are meant to be with the others loading the last of the supplies."

  Anger and something else flared in Dekon’s eyes momentarily before he got himself under control and schooled his expression.

  "Return to you scheduled duties, now."

  As Corr watched the warrior leave, he had a feeling that they may be leaving this planet with one less Chaetdorian than planned. Something wasn't right with Dekon, or his brother for that matter. It had been Sekon that had been worrying him the most over the past day. Lack of respect and increased aggression had been shown by both males, but more so by elder brother.

  It couldn’t be, could it?

  Shaking away the thought, he entered the code upon the door. As the door shimmied out of existence, allowing him access, he froze. He couldn't believe what he was seeing… or what he was sensing.

  Having never felt the mating urge that came with finding your mate he couldn’t be sure, but he was almost positive that the woman before him with panic and fear in her eyes was his mate.

  His mate. His true half, here after all this time. She was beautiful. Beautiful and… terrified. Shuffling her way across the floor as quickly as she could. What was wrong?

  Forcing himself to look away from the woman he had waited his entire life to meet, the human woman that he had long expected to never find, he found the reason for her fear. Sekon, with his fangs on full display, was making his way towards her… to feed.

  "There is no escaping your fate.”

  Sprinting across the room, Corr came up behind her, his eyes trained on Sekon. She was his. No one would touch her but him. Turning his gaze to meet hers, he was met with the most shocking blue eyes. “Wow,” she gasped.

  Sekon was right. There was no escaping her fate. She was his, and by his side she would stay… forever. "No, there is not," he whispered as she began to sag, her eyes rolling back into her head. He quickly scooped her up into his arms, holding her close and as tightly as he could without hurting her. She was his and nothing could or would ever change that.

  "What the hell!" Sekon growled, crouching down as if to attack.

  "This one is mine," he snarled. Sekon would have to be insane to attack a male in the beginnings of the mating urge. Though, Corr had a feeling that was exactly the case.

  "She is mine. I need her. Blood… Body…. Mine. Mine. Mine,” the male started repeating over and over again. There really was something wrong here, something not quite right with his fellow Warrior. He could see it in the male’s eyes. There was a madness there, a hunger. The humans, both male and female, had come to the ship as volunteers in order to help return the Chaetdorians to their nature state. Not to be taken advantage of like this bastard was planning. What had happened to him?

  "The humans have been assigned living quarters upon deck seven and are not permitted access to any other parts of the ship.” Never mind what Sekon had been planning for his mate, he had broken major rules in the process. “Does Teks know of this?" Corr was in no doubt that he didn't.

  Instead of answering the question Sekon rose up from his aggressive stance and began to pace back and forth. With him obviously distracted Corr typed a few commands into the control panel beside him with his free hand. The Warrior needed containing until they knew what was wrong with him. And his mate needed to be kept as far away from the troubled male as possible… and all other males for that matter.

  Chapter 7

  When Teks walked in, followed closely by Torq and a pair from his tribe, Sekon was still pacing, though he seemed to be getting more and more aggravated by the moment. This didn’t look good.

  While Corr had been waiting he'd begun to think back to his teachings on the home world, especially to what he had learnt about Chaetdorians that never found their mates. The madness his teachers had called it.

  The Chaetdorians were a male only race and could only reproduce with their true halves. If a male failed to find his mate he would slowly go mad, twisted in the mind. Corr had never met anyone with the madness himself, but he had heard the horror stories of those that had needed to be taken out when they became a danger to both themselves and others. The ones that had attacked innocent beings in their insane quest to find what was missing from their lives… their mate. And he had a really bad feeling that he was seeing his first victim of the madness now.

  "What’s wrong?" Jepa asked, stepping up beside him and gazing down at the beauty in his arms. When a growl escaped Corr’s throat the Slayer raised a brow.

  "It is Sekon that is the problem. I found him in here about to attack my..." he paused, gazing down in wonderment at the miracle in his arms, "my mate."

  "Your mate?" Torq gasped, stepping forward for a closer look and receiving his own growl. "She's your mate? You're sure?"

  He couldn't blame his friend for his disbelief. No Chaetdorian had found their mate among the humans
their entire time trapped upon Earth. Now just as they were about to leave, his just happened to be one of the humans that had volunteered to join and feed them on their journey. Corr wasn’t sure how he felt about that. One thing was clear; she would be feeding no one but him from now on.

  "I’m positive."

  "Then take care of your mate, brother,” Teks said. “You have been granted a precious gift. Treasure her." The sadness is his friends eyes gave away how much he too had longed for his mate. When they had first set out on their quest, none of them had any clue that it would have taken so long before the first mate was found. Corr was the first. He just hoped that he wouldn’t be the last.

  As he made to move, Teks gripped his shoulder to stop him. “She is not one of the volunteers," he growled, swinging around to look at Torq. "What the fuck is she doing here?"

  Corr saw a small flicker of doubt flash in the Torq’s eyes, before his face set in determination. "A small group of women saw us while we were out. I made the decision to bring them aboard."

  "You did what! Are you crazy? We can't just go kidnapping a bunch of humans. All the humans I sent you after had been carefully researched and vetted beforehand to make sure they knew what to expect and that they would not be missed and searched for by others. All of them have said goodbye to their human lives and are happy with the direction they are now headed. Now you go and pull this? You know the rules. If a human was to see you, you’re to take care of it."

  Take care of it! This woman was his mate. Corr understood Teks' dilemma, but at that moment, he could not be more grateful to his friend for doing something so out of character. He had never known Torq to spare a life.

  "You have no idea what you have done," Teks growled, indicating for Jepa and Hecto to take Sekon into custody.

  Something must have happened. Torq never failed to kill. He was the leader of the Slayers for a reason. He was lethal.

  "You are responsible for this. Any problems these human women cause will be upon your head."

  Corr had never seen Teks so angry. It would be a stressful journey for all of them till he calmed down. Problem was, whenever Teks did get hot under the collar, he stayed that way for months.

  When Teks was gone and Sekon dragged out of the room behind him, Corr turned back to Torq, only to find the male staring at the door to the transporter that led to the holding bays. That must have been where he had left the women. If Teks hadn’t yet known about them, they obviously hadn’t been taken to the other humans upon deck seven. "What really happened?"

  Pulling his eyes back to him, Torq let the facade drop. They had been friends, brothers, all of their lives. "There was a male… He was going to hurt… It doesn’t matter. I couldn't go through with it, and in a moment of madness I said to bring them with us." Looking down at the human female in his arms, a very rare smile pulled at Torq’s lips. “But I am glad that I did.”

  So am I.

  With promises of keeping him informed on the state of Sekon’s mind, he made his way back through the ship to his quarters. His mate wouldn’t be returning to the holding bay. He would take her to his quarters and explain everything to her once she awoke. If she was anything but human, he wouldn't have to explain that they were mates, that he was not human, or the fact that they were just hours away from leaving the only world she had ever known and departing into the vastness of space.

  No, she had to belong to the only race in the known galaxies that was completely and utterly clueless. He didn’t think he would be enjoying his mating moon anytime soon. He was a little worried about how his mate would react to the news. The first humans he had met, the only ones to ever see him in his true form, had been the ones that killed his brother. Would she react with the same horror that they had?

  Shaking away the thought, he entered his quarters and laid his precious mate down upon the bed before gazing around what would be their home for the foreseeable future. It was large enough for them both… just, but it was no luxury suite. Four plain white walls, self-cleaning padded floor, light box ceiling and a bed. That was all that was visible. The walls had hidden compartments for storage of clothing, weapons, etc. The only panel visible was the one that led to the cleaning unit. Luckily this ship was designed for mated couples. If it hadn’t been, the room would have been a hell of a lot smaller. And after spending so long on earth he was a little worried about what she would think to her new surroundings. Human housing was so much larger than this, even the so-called box rooms he had seen during his time there were bigger.

  Leaning down, he brushed a kiss across her brow and headed for a cleansing. He didn’t want his first proper meeting with his mate to be while he was still covered with sweat and grime. It had been a long and busy day and he wanted to be fresh and ready for when his mate awoke.

  Chapter 8

  For the second time in she didn't know how long, Nora woke up in a strange and unfamiliar place. This time though, she was not laid upon an uncomfortably hard, cold floor but upon a bed, a nice soft bed that smelt amazing if she was honest. She took advantage of her location and stretched. Her back coming up off the covers as she did her best to rid herself of the stiffness she had felt since the last time she had awoke. She would have to have words with these kidnappers about the room they had stuck her and her friends in.

  Her friends, she thought, bolting up from the bed. How could she have forgotten them?

  Oh yeah, she kind of got a little side-tracked. What with being dragged into some weird kind of elevator, then terrified and almost attacked by some insane man with fangs.

  Raising from the bed, she looked around the room. There was nothing, nothing except the bed and two doors exiting the room. Guessing the one with the strange panel beside it was her main exit out of the room she decided to try that first. Nothing. She pushed, pulled, everything. She even spent a few minutes randomly tapping at the panel, but nothing upon it made sense to her and she eventually gave up.

  Deciding she had exhausted that escape route she moved on to the other door. She was shocked when it vanished upon her approach. Then she was practically gasping for breath when she saw what was inside.

  Oh My!

  Stood right before her was the most ripped, tight, perfect arse she had ever seen, attached to the most fantastic back and thighs too. Hell, it was all...Wow! And having said body dripping wet and soapy just made it even hotter.

  As she stood there, practically drooling, she must have made a noise, as suddenly she was face to face with one wet and highly aroused man. A man with dark mesmerising eyes filled with starlight, the same eyes she had a vague memory of seeing before.

  "I... I... Sorry," she mumbled at a loss of what to say. What did you say to an alien upon walking in on him naked? She had no clue.

  Spinning quickly she made to flee, only to freeze when his arms wrapped around her, pulling her back against him, the large evidence of his arousal pressing into her back. "You do not need to apologise for looking at what is yours," he whispered, nuzzling her neck. Her head dropping back against his chest as her body relaxing in his hold.

  What was wrong with her? A complete stranger, who had kidnapped her and her friends against their will, had his naked body pressed against her, including his very erect cock, and she wasn't running for the hills? Quite the opposite in fact. What she wanted to do more than anything was strip away her own clothing and rub her naked body against his. And that was just for starters.

  "What do you mean, 'what's mine'?" she gasped as he ran his tongue up her neck and nibbled the lobe of her ear.

  "You are my mate, my true half. I am yours, as you are mine."

  “I don’t understand.” She was confused. Everything was moving way too fast.

  Pulling from his hold she turned to face him, only to cover her eyes with her hand as her face burned. Somehow she had forgotten that he was naked. “Maybe you can answer a few of my questions? Like how I ended up here, in what I can only assume is your room? But maybe you could put some clothes
on first?”

  ***

  Corr couldn’t help but laugh at his mate’s reaction to his nudeness, nor could he forget the feel of her lush curves. He couldn’t wait to get her naked and under him. But she was right, they needed to talk. They knew nothing about each other. Hell, he didn’t even know her name, nor she his.

  He quickly grabbed some sweats from behind one of the hidden panels and covered his erection that he doubted would be going away anytime soon.

  “You can uncover your eyes now,” he said, doing his best not to laugh. She was beautiful when she blushed. Got him thinking how far the blush went.

  Removing her hand from her eyes she turned to face him. “Thank you,” she said with a small smile before her eyes widened and she quickly covered them once again.

  Looking down, he laughed at the large bulge tenting his sweats. “Take it as a complement.”

  Taking her hand, he led her over to the bed and sat her down beside him. He longed to kiss her, to lay her down upon the sheets and feast upon her body. But he didn't. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm his raging hormones. Mating would come later, now was the time for talking.

  “What do you want to know?” he asked. A moment later he was bombarded with so many questions, one after another, that he didn’t know where to start.

  “Where am I? What are you? Who are you? Where are my friends? Why am I here? Who was that guy?” She kept on going.

  “That is a lot of questions,” he said, laughing. “And I will do my best to answer them all, I promise. But first, I have one for you… What is your name?” He didn’t care about anything else. She was his mate, the perfect female meant especially for him, he didn’t need to know anything else but what to call her.

  “Nora.”

  Nora. Such a beautiful and perfect name for his true half. “And I am Corr.”