Daniel stirred slightly. Valek sighed and ran her eyes over his perfect body. She loved him. A lot. It was not something she would say lightly either. Tyler had only recently earned the title ‘a good friend’ and yet...

She loved Daniel.

She wanted to say it; she wanted to shout out it for the whole universe to hear. It was a feeling that could not be beaten by any other. And now that the hormones had been lifted from her mind, she could enjoy her mate fully and properly. She smiled as she remembered every detail of the previous night, knowing it was one she would not allow herself to forget for the rest of her life. It was pretty good for her first time mating, and by the way Daniel had acted, it was his first time too. She hugged her one-and-only tighter. It was a good feeling indeed.

Daniel woke a short time after Valek. He blearily stared into the loving eyes of his mate and smiled peacefully.

“Morning my lady,” he mumbled. She rubbed her muzzle on his neck.

“Good afternoon, handsome.” Daniel glanced over to his watch he had left beside the bed. It read 1400 hours, G/09 time. He chuckled.

“Last night must have drained me more than I thought,” he commented. Valek giggled.

“Why don’t we go grab some breakfast?” she asked.

“Lunch,” Daniel corrected. Valek glared at him playfully. He opened the door for her. “Ladies first.”

“And here I was thinking I was the only one who liked to walk about naked,” Valek jested as she stepped out into the corridor. Daniel’s face went red and he quickly gathered his scattered clothing. Soon he was dressed and ready to accept her offer of breakfast / lunch. They arrived in the mess hall only to find it lacking Yaris. They shared an uncertain look. Yaris lived in the kitchen, quite literally. There was a small door behind the counter which lead into what everyone assumed was her quarters and the kitchen. No one had ever gone in there because Yaris was always around to serve them. And as such, neither Daniel nor Valek wanted to intrude into Yaris’s private area. They decided to take a seat and chat in the meantime. Daniel felt he knew Valek a lot better after their talk, and they were soon interrupted by Bill, who took a seat across from the lovers.

“’Ow did yer dragun lovin’ go laddie?” He queried loudly. Valek slyly glanced over at Daniel, who blushed slightly.

“Uh... great thanks. Umm... how’s your day going?”

“Just fine me lad. Thinkin’ of havin’ some tucker, but the ol’ master-chef ‘erslf ain’t here. Though I could settle fer some polite conversation in its stead.”

“I do not believe any conversation can be polite with you around,” Valek stated with a grin.

“Why I oughtta...” Bill spluttered, feigning offense. “Oh, ‘ere she be!” Bill rubbed his hands together. “Missed me lunch I did! Was workin’ too ‘ard in the room o’ engines I was!” he called out to Yaris, who was walking to her post. “And we all know what ‘ese two ‘ave been up to, ay?” he said, winking as he nudged Daniel.

“Oh sod off ye little midget!” Daniel fake-growled. Bill laughed as he went to collect some food. Valek locked Daniel’s hand in hers before they did the same. Yaris leaned over the counter s she passed them their meals. Valek thanked her and the two caught up with each other. Daniel made to go find a seat, but Yaris motioned him over. Valek trotted off instead.

“Thank you,” Yaris said, catching Daniel off-guard. She clearly saw the confusion on his face. “Valek, she’s back to normal now, and she’ll never have to go through that again,” she clarified.

“Oh,” Daniel realised. “It was my pleasure,” he added with a smirk. Yaris laughed at the bad pun. “So pretty much everyone knows about it then?” Yaris nodded.

“She’s not acting like she’s in the heat anymore, and you’re the only one who could have helped her out. It’s gonna be pretty obvious. Plus, the way you look at each other? Good luck hiding your relationship if you’re gonna do that. Also, the fact that I couldn’t separate you two with a crowbar does hint that you two are in love. So all in all, yeah, everyone in the ship’ll know by now.” Daniel frowned slightly. He thanked Yaris for the food and scanned the mess hall for Valek. His frown greatened. Where is she? Daniel panicked slightly. He turned around.

“Did you see where...?” Yaris wasn’t there anymore. “What the hell?” He did a 360, searching for anyone. Not even Bill was there. There was no way he could have finished his food that fast. Daniel dropped his tray and drew the pistol he always kept at his side.

“Why don’t ye put the gun down lad?” came a familiar voice.

“Thank god...” Daniel started, but when he came face to face with Bill, he also came face to face with the barrel of Bill’s Enforcer.

“Brathen’s payin’ good money fer this ‘ere ship,” Bill explained with a greedy grin as he cocked his gun.

“But... Brathen’s dead,” Daniel protested.

“Nay, he be in hidin’. ‘E never was racist, that was ‘is disguise, ‘is backup plan.” Helplessness was written all over Daniel’s face. Bill used his free hand to tap his headset. “Jeff ye filthy mongrel. The ship be secured, I got the ol’ crew.” So the lycan was part of this too. Daniel stared at his pistol, mere inches away, lying on the floor. If only he could reach it... then he could show this cocky midget. Then it hit him. Daniel peered over Bill’s head, adjusting his anglr to make it look as though he was trying to see something past him. “What?” the dwarf asked. Daniel grinned as if he knew something that Bill didn’t. Bill half-turned to see what could possibly cause a reaction such as that, and the split-second was enough. Daniel booted Bill right in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. Daniel then swiped his leg down low, knocking Bill’s feet out from underneath him and knocking him over like a bowling pin. Daniel scrabbled over to where his pistol had landed, snatched it up, and put an end to the scum’s existence. Pounding footfalls sounded out in the corridor. It looked as if the ship had gained some additional crew, and Daniel sure as hell didn’t want to meet them. He ducked into Yaris’s quarters, ignoring her slumped, heavily breathing form for the moment, focusing instead on getting out of there alive. He used a small back door to get out and back into the hallways, quickly making his way into navigations, and from there, the bridge.  The ship’s control room was empty. Tyler should have been there, checking up on the ship’s systems. Daniel’s eyes darted across all the screens until he came across the radar. He quickly jogged over to it and took a good, long look at it. That’s impossible. According to the radar, the Avian was inside something. And if he was reading it correctly, that something was the hangar bay of a ship. If the hangar bay is this big... than how big is the actual ship? The hangar would easily fit twenty Avians in it, with room to spare. And cruisers usually had up to four hangars, just on the bottom story. And according to the motion trackers, the ship was surrounded.