Free Hybrid's Love by Seraphina Donavan

When they had managed to get far
enough away from the station, Kyr entered another series of
commands and the shuttle’s speed increased with enough force to
push Wren back in her seat. She knew they were being pursued, but
the other ships, if the little blinking dots on the display were
any indication, could not keep up.
    “This shuttle has been custom designed for
retrieval and recon,” he explained. “It’s intended purpose has
always been rescue missions which could require swift getaways.
Their are few ships in the galaxy that can compare with speed, and
none in Sector F9.”
    “How do you know this?”
    “Because I designed this ship myself. I had
to petition the council for permission as it was perceived as a
possible threat to their authority. It would seem they were correct
in fearing it.”
    “So, the Commander is part of the
council?”
    “He works for them, ruling the neutral zone
in their stead. But he is not the ultimate power. There are others
to whom he must answer.”
    “And can they be trusted?” Wren asked as she
surveyed the fading blips on the screen in front of them.
    Kyr was quiet for a moment before he
answered. “At this point, I fear no one can be trusted. By slipping
away from the Commander, and by leaving Sector F9 without
appropriate clearance, we have made ourselves fugitives of the Core
7 Alliance. But it is necessary if he is guilty of the things you
suggested. We have to get the VID file that Amri gave us to them,
and that is not going to be easy.”
    “I imagine that the Commander has many
powerful allies... and those three Aldacyians are not the only ones
who will be looking for us.”
    “It will take them a few hours at least to
get the secondary airlock up and running. By that time, we’ll be
well away in another quadrant, but you are right. There are others
and this ship is very identifiable... If all goes well, Lexian
should be able to meet us in about twelve hours. We just need to
lay low until then.”
    Wren settled back into her seat. “You lead,
Kyr, and I’ll follow.”
    Kyr’s smile was dark and lacking humor. It
wasn’t as if he’d given her much choice. For the first time, he’d
begun to wonder if perhaps Wren wouldn’t have been better off on
Earth. Since he’d brought her aboard the ship, they’d faced nothing
but danger. He couldn’t help but feel responsible. He could have
protected her from the Aldacyians, helped her hide, kept her safe
on Earth. Instead he took her away from everything she had known
and he recognized that he’d done it because he didn’t want to give
her any other options. It had been subconscious, but still he could
see now what had prompted that thought process.
    “Do you want to go back, Wren?”
    “To Sector F9?”
    “No. To Earth.”
    Wren noted the strange mood that had settled
over him. “I didn’t think that was an option.”
    “I didn’t either. But I think that’s simply
because I didn’t want it to be. If you want to go back, I can make
it safe for you there.... New identity, new location, but it can be
done.”
    “Would you be with me?” she asked.
    He couldn’t. Not for a long time, if ever. He
had a responsibility to the other Sentinels, to help them find
their mates and hopefully not screw it up as badly as he had. “Not
at first. Once the others have been found and my duties to the Core
Alliance have been fulfilled, perhaps.”
    Did she want to go back? No, Wren thought.
She didn’t have anything to go back to, nothing but a job she
hated, a family that had locked her up in one mental hospital after
another. She could stay with Kyr, with the only person who had ever
made her feel accepted and valued, or she could go back to her
nothing existence. Another thought occurred to her then, one that
left her feeling hollow and weak. “Do you want me to go back?”
    “No. Never. But I don’t want you to stay just
because you think you have to.”
    Wren unbuckled the harness and rose from her
seat. She