Free Torq's Acceptance (Chaetdorian Mates Book 2) by E.M Reders Page A

feel..."
    "No. Don't you dare. Every time we plan to get together lately, you back out. You have to move on. You have to re-join the world, Alice. A life hidden away in the shadows is not a life at all."
    But it was safe, free of pain and suffering. Or at least, it was supposed to be, but if anything, she was still in pain, still suffering. And on top of all that, she was lonely.
    "When are you thinking about doing this?" she asked reluctantly.
    "Next Wednesday. It's not a main night so it shouldn't be too busy.”
    At hearing the day she planned, a sudden sense of dread curled in Alice's stomach, though, she didn't know why.
    She had always been like this, had always gotten a sick sense whenever something bad was going to happen. She called it her danger radar. It didn’t tend to work for herself and her love life, but whenever her friends were in danger, she knew about it. Not that any of them listened when she warned them.
    "I'm not sure Wednesday is such a great choice," she said, hoping her friend would heed her warning… but, sadly not.
    "Well that's the night we're doing it, so you better be there. Anyways, got to call the others now. Talk to you later. Bye." The line went dead.
    Sighing heavily, Alice tried to relax and watch her program, but the dread in her heart just wouldn't go away. Something bad was going to befall her friends if they went out of that night. She knew it. The question was would she be with them when it did?

Chapter 2
     
    It was always the same. Same routine, day in, day out.
    Hand out orders. Do his patrol. Hit the workout room. Meet with Teks. Rest.
    After centuries of it, Torq was bored.
    He was a Chaetdorian and Chaer, the leader of his tribe. His life was meant to be spent protecting his brothers while they searched for their mates. Then, once all were mated and they returned home, fighting in wars to protect their planet from invasions.
    But that wasn't possible now.
    Their planet was gone, destroyed, and they were stuck, stranded upon the Earth, mateless.
    Not that Torq was looking for a mate. He didn't deserve one.
    The Chaetdorian race were all male and made up of three tribes. Warriors, Technos and Slayers. Each tribe could be identified by the tribal markings that covered the top half of their bodies. The Warriors had black. Technos had silver. And Slayers had red. Red like the blood they spilt.
    A killer, that was what being a Slayer meant. Torq was born to kill and he did it easily, with little if no remorse. A male like that did not deserve the precious gift of a mate. At least, that was Torq's opinion.
    After handing over his patrol to one of his tribe, Torq made his way through the tunnels back to the ship. After they had crashed upon the Earth many centuries ago, they’d built this bunker and maze of tunnels to hide in while the Technos did everything they could to repair ship. And it had worked, mostly. A few stray humans had found their way down here a time or two, but they had swiftly been dealt with.
    Torq was used to exiting the tunnels he patrolled to find the Technos working on everything but the ship as humankind was not advanced enough to have the things they needed to repair it, but today was different. There was so much activity that Torq didn't know where to look.
    Both Technos and Warriors were running about... packing? 
    No, he would not get his hopes up. But still?
    Racing forward, he decided to skip his daily workout and seek out Teks instantly.
    He found him on the command deck, his eyes glued to the star charts before him as he relayed orders to the males gathered around him.
    "Torq, just in time," his commander and friend said when he noticed his approach.
    "In time for what? What's going on?"
    "We're leaving," a warrior stated, smile wide.
    "For real?" So many times they'd thought they had been close to finishing the ship and leaving this planet, and every time they had been left disappointed.
    "Yes. Hex just called up from the engine deck with the news.