Sho'ta inclined his head slightly so that his hair fell in front of his eyes, helping to disguise how he was studying their surroundings and captors. As much as he wanted to unleash his full fury on their captors for daring to lay their hands on him and his mate, he kept reminding himself that they were here for a reason.

One of the guards chose that moment to shove Z'shi roughly and Sho'ta started to snarl, cut off by a quiet hiss from the other male. It was their signal to remain calm and he hauled back his instincts with effort, curling his hands into fists, causing the cuffs on his wrists to clink.

They had been captured on purpose to help dismantle this trafficking ring from the inside. Every time they had tried to hunt it down from the outside, the traffickers had disappeared, all traces of their presence wiped clean as if they'd never existed in the first place. Since they were growing increasingly bold, he and Z'shi had volunteered to be captured. They knew it was risky when they volunteered for the mission, but they couldn't allow sentients to keep suffering or ending up in fighting rings because of this space trash.

He and Z'shi had studied every last scrap of information available before heading out. However, there had been no mention in any of the documents that they used Rhéni for guards and enforcers. Their thick exoskeleton made it nearly impossible to take them down without at least three to four highly trained peacekeepers for each Rhéni. Even going for joints was risky odds at the very best. So they needed to bide their time and gather as much intel as possible before activating their rescue beacons, since they would have no way of getting information out to their waiting allies.

Hearing a quiet crackle as one of the guards activated their baton in a menacing warning, Sho'ta allowed his growl to die away. Since they were undercover, they had to leave behind anything and everything that could possibly mark them as peacekeepers, including their uniforms and gear. If either of them took a hit from the stun batons, they could be down for nons, not to mention that they could even end up with permanent nerve damage where they didn't have any protection from electroshock. Although he could make peace with having to retire from injuries received in the field, he didn't want to leave Z'shi vulnerable or force him to face the same fate.

The only mild consolation that he had was that the guards probably wouldn't injure them too severely, since they were most likely marked for the illegal fighting rings. Because while Z'shi was pretty enough to be considered a novelty or a plaything for some rich degenerate, there was no mistaking that Sho'ta looked both scruffy and dangerous.

As if reading his thoughts, the head guard smirked maliciously at him. "Look at you, being all calm after taking out three of our men during capture. Thought you were tough drekk, didn't you, fighting those dock scum."

Z'shi gave a derisive whistle but held his tongue, something that Sho'ta was glad for. His mate was a kind soul but he had a sharp tongue and could verbally flay sentients with very little effort. But at least it made sense about the group that had captured them. Their attackers had been very poorly trained and they would've taken them all down if they hadn't been certain that they worked for the men they had been truly hunting.

Sho'ta scoffed, drawing their attention off of the Raptora. "If you can even call that a fight. Take these cuffs off and you'll see what a truly angry Pantera can do."

He didn't expect them to take him up on his offer, otherwise he would've never made it. They simply saw them as objects, possessions that would bring them wealth, not as a fellow sentient. His belief was reinforced by the raucous laughter that erupted from all of the guards at his words.

The head guard's smirk deepened, the glint in his eye turning malicious. "It's a good thing you're destined for the rings and not the slave market. Not much brains there, thinking that antagonizing us is a good idea. Still, you were bonuses anyway, we'd already collected all of our marked cargo. So it's no loss if something should happen to you before we reach the meetup point."

Dread curled in the pit of Sho'ta's stomach. Whatever these Rhéni were planning, it was nothing good. Especially with the pair of them cuffed and with none of their gear, they were in a dangerous situation. All they needed to do was survive until these goons reached the meetup spot and then activate the beacon. However, it sounded like his big mouth had just managed to do the opposite of what he intended and land them in a world of hurt.

One of the underlings protested, "Surely you can't be thinking..."

The head guard backhanded them so hard that they flew across the corridor and slammed into the wall on the other side. "That's exactly what I'm thinking."

One of the guards to the very back dared speak up, their distance from the aggressive guard was probably the only thing giving them enough courage to speak. "But you know how much the Boss hates loss of profit of any kind. He's already furious that they killed the last sentient placed in their cell. If it weren't for the sum they'll undoubtedly bring in the arena, he probably would've killed them already."

Drekk, drekk, drekk. This was getting worse by the tick. What sort of sentient could they possibly be thinking of throwing them in with? He and Z'shi had training but he didn't want to give it away this early in the game.

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The head guard just shrugged. "If the Terran does end up eliminating these two, it will only increase their reputation as a fighter anyway. And we don't even have to mention these two if they don't survive. They were bonuses anyway, so their deaths would be no loss. Now, quit wasting time and throw them in with the Terran and get to your stations. We're undocking in twenty-two clicks and I want us to be ready the moment our slot opens. Understand?"

The Rhéni practically tripped over themselves agreeing and the head guard gave a derisive snort before striding away, leaving them to their fate.

Sho'ta shot Z'shi a hard look, a question in his eyes. Did they want to risk this?

They could always activate their beacons immediately, the signal that things had gone extremely wrong and that they needed an immediate rescue. Sure, it could probably tip their hand to the ringleaders that someone was investigating their business, but better to be alive to take them down than to die at the hands of an aggressive and unreasonable sentient.

After the briefest of hesitations, Z'shi shook his head ever so slightly in denial, his feathers fluffing up a little until his wings looked bigger than normal. Although there was fear in his gaze, there was also determination. They had known the risks when they signed up and he was determined to see this through.

Biting back a sigh as the guards roughly herded them down the corridor, Sho'ta did his best to calm and center himself. He needed to be prepared to fight for their lives if necessary. It would be hard, considering their restraints and that neither of them had ever met a Terran in person, but he would accept no other outcome.

No matter what happened, he and Z'shi were making it home from this mission, no matter what it took.

X

Hearing the heavy tread of guards making their way down the corridor, Kira curled up tighter in the corner of her cell, praying that they would pass her by.

It had been two months, almost three now, since she had been kidnapped from Earth. From Terra, as the aliens seemed to call it. Because she had been raised in New Haven, she had never learned any alien speech, so she'd had no way to communicate with her captors or know what they wanted of her. She didn't even know why she'd been kidnapped in the first place.

She'd always thought that the Elders' warnings of bad children being kidnapped by aliens were just manipulation tactics to keep children from acting out. After all, she had been in and out of the woods around the town dozens if not hundreds of times throughout her childhood without anything happening. So why, on the day when she had decided to leave New Haven, had they decided to take her?

If she hadn't been so certain of the Elders' fear and hatred for aliens and all things concerning them, she would've almost said that they arranged for her to be taken. But surely, that was just paranoia speaking, right?

However, since she'd woken up in a metal cage, nothing made sense anymore. She wasn't even sure of the passage of time anymore, just keeping track of the light and dark cycles and doing her best to keep from drawing attention to herself.

She had tried, at first, to communicate with her captors. She wanted desperately to know what had happened to her, where they were taking her, and what her fate was to be. But every time she had dared to open her mouth or tried to ask questions had resulted in a beating, so she had learned to keep her mouth shut. She had heard other prisoners speaking, so it wasn't that they didn't permit prisoners to talk. But for some reason, she was not permitted to speak or make any noise.

As it was, although she had never put up a fight and done her best to appear non-threatening, something about her terrified the others desperately. None of the occupants of the nearby cells would look at her or acknowledge her presence. She had hoped, as time passed and the occupants of the other cells had changed, that one of them would talk to her, explain what was going on. But all of them took one look at her, turned an interesting shade of color depending on their skin tone, and then proceeded to ignore her like how the villagers would occasionally shun a person to bring their behavior back into line.

However, she had come to learn that that was a good reaction. She had been surprised when another being had been placed into the same cell as her. They had been nearly twice as tall as her with four arms instead of two and sharp, pointed teeth. Still, she had learned during her time spent watching from her cell that aliens came in all shapes and sizes, many of them peaceful and even meek. Maybe this one would be willing to try and communicate with her.

That wasn't what happened. As soon as the cell door had closed and locked behind it, the alien had sprinted for her, their face twisted up in a murderous expression. Before she could even comprehend what was going on, its hands were around her throat and it was strangling her.

Desperate to breathe and wanting to put distance between them, she had done her best to thrash and pound on its chest to try and get space. One of her hits was higher and it hit the alien in the throat. The alien had made an odd wheezing sound, staggering back and clutching at its throat.

She watched, horrified, as its eyes rolled back in its head as it slowly collapsed to the floor. Its chest rose twice more before it stopped breathing entirely.

She had tried to scream for help, but couldn't get any noise out of her bruised throat. Even banging on the bars hadn't brought anyone to see what the commotion was. The other aliens huddled in the back of their cells, staring at her like she was some sort of monster. She hadn't meant to kill them, she had just wanted them to stop hurting her.

She ended up spending an entire light and dark cycle sharing a cell with a corpse before the guards dragged the body out of the cell. It had scarred her deeply and she hadn't made a sound since.

The only small mercy she had received was that no other alien had been placed in with her. However, fear and nausea curled in her gut as the sounds moved closer to her cell. She had the nasty feeling that her luck had run out and that another alien would be shoved into her cell. Would this one try to kill her too?

She didn't want to kill to have to survive. All she had ever wanted was to be free to sing. Why was that such a crime? What had she done to deserve this?

Hearing the steps stop in front of the cell, she knew that her fears were founded and that she was out of time.

Burying her face in her knees, she tried not to hyperventilate as a tear trailed down her face. She needed to pull herself together, decide whether or not she would protect herself if this alien should choose to attack her. But she didn't want to fight anyone! She just wanted to be left alone, was that too much to ask for?

Hearing the cell door creak open, she knew she was out of time.