A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (23 page)

An hour later, Areo noticed Sev had fallen asleep, so she went to clean off. She dressed in Sea-anan warrior clothes: a blouse, slacks, and a pair of leather boots, all in black. She exited the room on soundless feet and went to the bridge.

Upon entering the bridge, she spotted her cousins standing by the ship’s main window staring at each other. It seemed they did not want their conversation overheard by anyone. They were speaking telepathically.

“We have a problem,” she announced.

The brothers paused in their silent discussion to look at her.

“You think?” replied Arnold sarcastically.

“We need to turn this ship around.”

The brothers shared a puzzled look.

“Why?” asked Mike.

“And where to?” inquired Arnold.

“Back to Oceanica.”

They shared another glance. Arnold narrowed his gray eyes at her. “Why?”

“Yes, why? I thought everything was the way you wanted it to be,” replied Mike.

“It’s not.” Areo fixed her sights on the floor. “Sev is on board. I think he feels obligated to me and has left his people without weighing the consequences properly. He’s a good man. His heart is in the right place. But I can’t let him do this. The others won’t appreciate being abandoned by their king. I don’t want him to suffer any repercussions because of me. That’s why we have to turn back. He can’t leave his people or those who live on Oceanica that depend on him for protection and peace.”

“Sev is on board, and you didn’t know this?”

Areo looked Arnold in the eyes. “No, Arnold, I didn’t. Do you think I would have allowed him to board if I knew he was trying to return with us?”

Mike dipped his head and walked away. Arnold spared him an “I told you so” glower.

“So that’s why you snuck away this morning.”

Belatedly, Areo picked up his scent. Spinning around, her eyes collided with copper steel. “Sev.”

“You had no intention of staying with me…ever. Even after we—”

“Stop it, Sev! You know damn well that isn’t true! I never would have considered leaving you if I been accepted by your kind.” Areo scrambled to find the right words. “I never would have left you.” Her eyes closed. “I would have always been with you in spirit.”

“In spirit?” Sev’s face twisted in anger. “In spirit! Do you think I want you in spirit alone?” He searched her eyes. “Areo, I love you. I have never loved anyone else.
I have never stopped loving you.
I never would have allowed the Seacats to come between us. If you hadn’t run away, I would’ve told you there in the throne room. Before all of them, I would have declared my love for you. I don’t care if you’re part alien. I
never
cared about that.”

He pointed at her. “You know that. My loyalty is first toward my soulmate, then the Seacats, and everyone else after that.” Sev stepped closer. “No title is worth losing one’s soulmate over. No law is going to dictate who I should claim as my permanent mate. I have a heart to decide that, and a soul to confirm its decision. And it has. They have chosen you, Princess.”

Areo’s eyes were filled with tears. “I love you, Lord of the Seacats,” she announced for all to hear.

Sev’s soul soared.

Areo wiped her tears. “But I can’t stay with you, and you know it.”

Boom!
It crashed against the ship’s ceiling. Sev grasped her shoulders. “I will never allow you to leave me.” The determined glint in his eyes confirmed his words.

Areo tilted her chin upward and spoke to her cousin. “Arnold, turn this ship around. We have to return the King of Oceanica back to his homeworld. Back to his people.” She met Sev’s copper gaze. “Back to where he belongs.”

Sev’s grip tightened. “I am where I belong. With whom I belong. There is nothing you can do to make me change my mind.”

“You have a responsibility—”

“Yes, I do. To myself and to you.”

“No, not to me!” Areo pointed to herself. “Do not turn your back on the Seacats for me.”

“How can you say that?”

“Very easily. Watch my lips. I am a half-breed, an alien, unworthy of your love or your loyalty.”

“Don’t say that to me!” Sev snapped. “I will not allow you to belittle yourself! My wife—”

“I’m not your wife!” she yelled in return.

“You bear my—”

“I bear nothing!”

Sev gawked at her. “Bear nothing?”

“That’s right.” Areo shoved his hands off and faced her cousin. “I already ordered you to turn this ship around. Sev must return to his people at once. We have no more time to waste on this foolishness. We must return to our empire and confront our enemy in battle.” Areo stomped over to the captain’s seat with her head held high. Her form jerked in pain when her bottom touched the seat.

Arnold and Mike shared a knowing look.

Areo swiveled her seat around to look at Mike, who stood at the flight controls. “Well, why aren’t we turning around?”

“I’m not about to leave the female who bears my mark, Areo.” Sev made certain everyone on the bridge heard him clearly.

Areo turned her chair forward. “What mark?”

Sev’s nostrils flared in outrage. “My soulscar!”

Areo sucked her teeth and waved her hand dismissively. “That’s not a soulscar. That’s simply a scar because you were too frisky.”

Sev’s jaw dropped in astonishment. “Just a scar?”

“That’s right. You refuse to accept that I’m an Earthling. That scar is simply that, nothing more. It means nothing to me or my people.”

Sev growled. “How dare you say that to me! You are part Oceanan! You know exactly what that scar means to
our
kind! I know why you’re doing this. I know why you feel obligated to dismiss our joining, but you are wasting your time. I will never part from your side. And I am no longer the Lord of the Seacats. There is no reason for me to return to Oceanica.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have renounced my throne. I gave up everything for you,
my soulmate.”

The room was silent. No one had moved an eyelash since Sev had mentioned the word
mark.
Other than Mike, who already knew, their shock increased at hearing that Sev had given up his crown and turned his back on his race. Moreover, him calling their leader his wife was unbelievable.

“You…” Areo cleared her throat and then spoke louder. “You did what?”

Sev walked over to stand in front of her. “I handed over my crown, my sword, and my insignia for the female I love. The female who bears my soulscar, the one I made my permanent mate. My soulmate.”

“Liar!”

“I’m afraid not, Areo.”

Both heads whipped toward the familiar voice.

“Sev is telling you the truth. He has renounced his throne for you,” stated Jugar.

“What in the blazes are you doing here?” asked Sev. “You are supposed to be ruling over Oceanica.”

“I handed that title over to Miko. My place is by your side, wherever that may be.”

“Miko! You made Miko the Lord of the Seacats? Are you insane?”

It infuriated Sev that such an unworthy feline ruled over his new homeworld. Ever since Miko had suggested that Areo had slept with many males, he had dropped from the top to the bottom of Sev’s list of friends.

“You left me no choice when you decided to abandon us.”

“Abandon you?” Sev’s head began to throb.

“Yes, abandon them!” snapped Areo. “They are your people. You are their king. The hereditary and anointed ruler of the Oceanan Seacats, and the last rightful heir of the feline race. You had no right to turn your back on them.”

“They had no right to betray me!” shouted Sev.

“Betray you?”

“That’s correct! I asked them, practically begged them to understand and accept you. They refused. They had the audacity to laugh in my face when I said you were my soulmate.”

Areo gritted her teeth. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters. No one is going to come between us. I forbid it.”

“No. You are to return to Oceanica and retake your rightful place on the throne. I will not have you behaving rashly, Sev. Don’t disgrace your lineage. Your son will rule that planet. It’s his birthright. I won’t allow you to take that from him as mine was taken from me.”

Areo’s motives suddenly became clearer. Sev’s heart went out to her. “I have no son.”

“You will one day. And he, like you, will be a pureblood and the rightful heir to Oceanica, another direct descendent of the first feline king. No one else can rule as you can, Sev. You have to return.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “You have to forget me…again.”

Sev was exhausted. His head pained him severely, and he was incensed by Areo’s insistence that they part ways. He roughly yanked his wife out of her seat and held her close.

“I will die before I leave you. And if I’m blessed with a son, then he will be part alien, for he will be born from
your
body. You are my wife, Areo. We will never part!” Sev pulled Areo’s head back and savagely kissed her in front of her crew.

The crew was still gawking, confounded by the entire show.

Once more, Mike was touched.
Damn that soft side of mine.
“Arnold, we can’t go back,” he said. Everyone jumped at the sudden sound of his voice.

“Why not?” asked Jugar.

Sev slowly released Areo’s lips.

Arnold regarded him from where he stood. {What the hell are you up to now?}

“We have to return to Sea Base Five. We’ve received news that Aaren, Earth, and Laaren have fallen into Dominion hands.”

“What?” Areo cried. “No, tell me it isn’t so.”

“I’m afraid it is,” continued Mike. “Your empire is falling apart, cousin. The only free parts left are Sea-anan and our nine space stations. If they go, then there will be nothing left. As it is, most of our family is missing.”

Areo paled.

Mike met Sev’s gaze and then his brother’s. He had just given Sev his open window. And by the daggers Arnold shot at him, Mike knew he was in trouble.

{Mike, are you helping him?}

“Mike, full speed ahead. We are
all
returning to Sea Base Five. That is final,” Sev ordered.

Mike knew Areo could not argue. Her family was missing and her life’s work was being destroyed in her absence. She had to return to save what was left and regain control of those areas lost. He overheard her growling at Sev.

“You stay away from me,” she hissed.

Mike’s gaze followed her off the bridge. His attention then returned to the flight controls. He spotted Arnold stomping his way over with balled fists.

{Mike, we need to talk.}

Tuesday, the 18th of January, Year 2022

Sea Base Five

Areo had acquired another room and kept her distance from Sev for the seven and a half months it took the White Star to reach Sea Base Five on hyperdrive. Sev had initially thought to respect her wish and give her time to adjust. He seriously regretted his choice. He had not expected Areo to take this long to come to terms with their union. Her stubborness placed him in a foul mood. He did not like the space between them. Also, knowing that Oceanica was under the care of Miko gave him nightmares.

Blast it, Areo, why can’t you understand my feelings for you? You remember how things were when we were kittens. Nothing has changed. Or
has it?
Sev wondered.
If only I could remember my past, then perhaps I would know how to deal with you.

Mike was flying the ship. He glanced at Sev, who was sitting in the captain’s seat. The cat looked depressed, so Mike assigned a Ranger to take his place at flight controls so he could have a word with Sev. He stood beside the captain’s seat and started speaking. “Sev, we’ll be arriving on Sea Base Five in three hours. You should get some rest. There’s no telling how things will go when we show up with you and Areo in tow.”

“If only I could.”

“She still won’t talk to you, huh?”

“No.” Sev eyed the dark-clothed male. “Mike, please tell me something. How old were you on Oceana? Were you too young to remember my relationship with Areo?”

Mike started to laugh. “Ohhhh no, I’m one year older than you. And I remember my childhood all too well. Why?”

“Has Areo always been this stubborn with me? I mean, how could we have been sweethearts at a young age with her pigheadedness?” Sev glanced away and murmured, “Amongst other things.” He met Mike’s gaze. “And still have confronted everyone who opposed us?”