Destiny Found (Epsilon Chronicles Book 1)

by Beth Valentine

  They walked into an apartment. They stepped into the foyer that had a small hallway leading to a massive living room dining room combination. It was almost a replica of the antechamber they had been in before the meeting with Ty and the council; except it had a different colour scheme.

  The walls were painted a rich cream colour but the wall with the windows, the biggest wall in the room, was a light grey. The accents in the room, some pillows, the curtains, and the sofa, were pear green; the two chairs and lamps were the same light grey as the wall.

  To the right of the living area was the dining area. A dark brown square table dominated the space and instead of chairs, there were upholstered benches with backs. It was all very fancy. To the right of that was a small kitchen done in creams and green.

  Tali saw where Natalie was looking and explained, “We don’t typically cook our own meals. Ty considers us family, so we have the use of his private cook, which just so happens to be Lity’s dad. So he usually sends up food unless we tell him not to.”

  Natalie nodded, turning to the left of the living area to stare down the hallway.

  There were four doorways spaced evenly down the corridor.

  Tali walked down the hallway to the last door on the right and opened it. It was the same colour scheme as the rest of the apartment, but a massive cream bed sat in the center, and a giant window overlooking the lake dominated the space. It was hands down the most beautiful room she had ever seen in her life.

  “And this,” Tali waved dramatically at the room, “is yours for however long you’re here.”

  She walked over to a door and opened it to a gorgeous bathroom, done all in white and silver. There was a glass shower stall, a massive tub, a toilet and a sink. Seemed she got to have her own bathroom. To the right of the tub was a small walk in closet.

  “Your bathroom and closet are here. This is the guest room so you don’t have to share anything with Taavi or I, besides the living and dining room.”

  Natalie dropped her bag to the floor in disbelief.

  Whoa. Hold the phone. Did she just say, “Taavi? What do you mean? Oh no. No way. This is your apartment, isn’t it?”

  Natalie shook her head as she walked out of the bathroom.

  Unbelievable. She would be staying with the man who made her heart pound and soul sing. And his room was just down the hall. This could mean disaster.

  Tali’s laughter followed her out of the room.

  Tali came out of the bathroom and lay on the bed.

  “It will be fine. He’s rarely here anyways. Even if he wanted to be with you now that you know you’re his mate, he’ll be busy for the next few weeks, prepping for another attack. It’ll mostly just be you and I.”

  Sighing, she let her head drop to the bed and closed her eyes.

  Natalie went to lie next to Tali, closing her eyes, and settled in.

  As much as she was glad Taavi wouldn’t be there to push the mate thing, she couldn’t help but feel a tad hollow knowing he wouldn’t be there and she wouldn’t see him.

  Chapter Eleven

  It had been a little over a week since she had lain with Tali on her bed. Tali hadn’t been lying when she said Taavi would be busy. She had seen him a handful of times, and each time was brief and impersonal. She didn’t know him that well and yet it made her soul hurt. She missed him, and most of the time he didn’t even stay in his room.

  According to Tali, he stayed with his men in the barracks because he didn’t want to get, in his words, ‘distracted by anything other than war preparation’.

  What a load of horse crap.

  He is probably avoiding me, she thought sullenly, tightening a bolt connecting the generator to the engine. He probably realized I wasn’t actually his mate, and now he’s too scared to tell the truth because he went public about it.

  She fumed, forgetting what she was doing and smashed her finger.

  “Son of a bitch! Ouch. Ugh. I can’t do this.”

  She looked over at Tali, who was meticulously trying to clean up the oil on her hands.

  Yeah. Good luck with that, honey.

  “I need more tools. As much as I’ve been trying, I cannot do all that needs to be done with a laser wrench, a carbon rod, a screwdriver and some grease. Can’t we ask someone for some tools for an actual ship engine? I mean it’s a hangar full of ships. Someone must have something.”

  “Well, we could go find Jarrod. He’s the master engineer. Everything that goes on in here goes through with his approval first. I’m sure I can butter him up some. He’s grouchy, but he loves me.”

  As they made their way toward one of the side corridors, Natalie noticed many eyes followed them. Some were curious, some friendly, but there were a few that were hostile. It was those stares, particularly a dark haired man with pale eyes, that made her walk faster to match her stride to the taller woman’s.

  Something about that man’s stare seemed off to her. His eyes were wrong, they were kind of like a sharks’; dead eyes.

  They maneuvered around a large supply freighter and there was a shallow hallway with a break room on one side and an office on the other. Tali opened the office door without knocking and barged right in.

  “Jarrod! How are you? I’ve missed our sparring sessions.”

  A man with red and silver hair glared at her from his seated position.

  “Tali, how many damn times do I have to tell you to knock on my damn door?” He had a deep smooth voice, comforting and yet terrifying when accompanied with the look on his face. “Don’t make me whup your ass again, girl.”

  Tali made a scoffing noise and said, “Oh, please. You did it once, and that was the very first time we sparred. I was fifteen cycles, and therefore it doesn’t count.”

  Jarrod shook his head in mock despair.

  “You were always a pain in my ass. What do you want?” He sat up straighter when he noticed Natalie lingering in the doorway and frowned. “And just who the hell is this? Not trying to set me up again are you?”

  Tali blushed as she looked back at Natalie.

  “No, that’s Natalie, Taavi’s mate. That is the ‘alien’ found on board the Nezlean vessel. Oh, and she’s from Earth.”

  Jarrod’s red eyebrows rose over his brown eyes. He slowly stood stopping at just an inch above Tali’s height.

  “Pretty little thing. Does she speak?”

  Natalie straightened and stuck out her hand.

  “Natalie White, sir. Like Tali said, I’m from Earth and was found as a…guest on their ship.”

  She gave a small smile that looked more like a grimace.

  Jarrod barked a surprised laugh.

  “You’ve got spunk, little lady. I’ll accept that,” he said with a nod. “Now, what can I do for you ladies since you’re both covered in grease and have finally come to see me after days spent working on that ship with next to no tools.” He looked between them as they shared a look. “What, you don’t think I know every little thing that goes on here? Who do you think told security you were allowed to stay? You didn’t think they magically let you just because of your brother, did you?”

  “Well, actually, yes. I did assume that. But I shouldn’t have because I know better. You are master around here. You see all, know all and are the end all be all right?” Tali laughed, obviously amused with herself.

  Natalie took a step toward Jarrod.

  “Actually, Ty said you couldn’t spare anyone to help repair my engines, but I was wondering if you would allow me to use your tools and maybe some spare parts? I just need to rework some wiring, strip a couple parts off to be replaced and I think the generator just needs to be reactivated. I think I could get her going in a week. Maybe two, tops.”

  Jarrod tilted his head, studying her.

  Obviously he liked what he saw because he started nodding his head saying, “You can have whatever you want as long as you don’t need extra help. We have a war going on and it’s more important to focus on the damaged ships than helping you fix your
engines. You’ll find all you need in workroom Fifty-four Beta.” He walked around his desk, rifled through a filing cabinet in the corner and came back with a key. “I expect that back when you finish. Dismissed.”

  Natalie snapped out a quick, “Sir, yes sir,” and headed toward the door with Tali a step behind her.

  “Natalie.” Natalie stopped and turned back to Jarrod. “Don’t hurt that boy. He is the luckiest damn man on the planet. Don’t ruin that. If you don’t understand something, ask.”

  With a quick nod Natalie left the room, with Tali right behind her.

  As Tali led them back across the hangar, presumably to find this ‘workroom’,

  Natalie gathered her courage and asked, “So you say I’m Taavi’s mate, right? Because I’m having a hard time believing it’s true; he has barely spoken to me in a week and he hasn’t acted like a mate.”

  “Oh, and you know how a mate acts, do you?” Tali laughed. “Of course you’re his mate. And don’t worry, I actually suggested it.” She glanced at Natalie and scoffed, “Honey, don’t give me that look. You know as well as I do you weren’t ready for him to pursue you. It was written all over your face when you found out. I know you miss him, again it’s written all over your face, but he said he would give you another week before trying anything. So that gives you time to ask questions and come to terms with it.”

  Natalie shook her head and didn’t bother responding.

  The woman had a canny way of being the most helpful and yet most exasperating person she had ever met. She had known as soon as she met Tali that was how she would be, and yet living with her – spending time with her this past week – had cemented that fact.

  They walked down a hallway at the back of the hangar, closer to where they had been working on her ship, and stopped in front of door Fifty-four Beta, opening the it with the key from Jarrod.

  Of all the possible things Natalie was expecting, it wasn’t this. This was a state of the art, fully stocked, latest gadgets high tech room.

  She was in pilot heaven.

  The room had lines of tables, piled with tools and machine parts. There appeared to be all the parts she needed, the tools she needed, and so much more. She could trick her ship out if she chose to. The far wall was what really caught her attention. It was lined with weapons; laser guns, pistols, cannons, and some stuff she had no idea about.

  She glanced at Tali, who was also gazing around in surprise.

  “I was expecting Jarrod to send us to a crappy little storage room.” She looked at Natalie, shaking her head. “You must really have impressed him, because I doubt he would have done this for me. Must have been your ‘sir, yes sir’ attitude. Well, tell me what we need.”

  They gathered what they needed and loaded it on a cart to take back to the ship.

  Before they left, Natalie wandered back to the weapons. Each weapon was shiny, clean, and labeled. What really got Natalie excited was the manual on the small table right in front of the wall. She flipped through a few pages, noting which weapon she wanted for her ship and yelled at Tali.

  Tali looked at the wall and back to Natalie, a smile steadily growing across her face.

  “Yes. That is a brilliant idea. You, my friend, are a genius. Let’s make sure Jarrod doesn’t notice, because I think he would kill us both.”

  They grabbed two canons, some hand laser-pistols, some mini-flare bombs that detonated when hit and something called the photon-ray. Apparently it shot small beams of electromagnetic energy, causing all sorts of technological malfunction. They placed the weapons on the bottom rack of the cart and made their way back to the ship. Once there, they transferred the weapons onto the ship so no one could accidentally come across them.

  Natalie clapped her hands at Tali and said, “Okay, now that we have some real tools and parts, let’s get this baby started.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Taavi was having trouble concentrating. He should have blocked the punch instead of ducking, allowing himself to be nailed with a knee to the chin. He went down to the mat hard, dazed. Andris stood over him, shaking his head in disgust.

  “Taavi, you need to concentrate. That is the second time I’ve almost gotten a knock out. Usually, I’m scrambling not to get my ass kicked.” He grabbed Taavi and pulled him up. “ Either quit thinking about Natalie and focus or go see her. I’ve been telling you all week that she’s fine, and yet you still allowed this to happen. Go see her if you don’t believe me.”

  Taavi rubbed his chin, chagrined to admit he was right.

  He was taking Tali at her word, but it had been a long, hard week. His heart and soul were hollow without her. He found himself trying to avoid her because every time she was near, her sadness and confusion threatened his control. He was keeping himself busy with coordinating with the Admiral and other team leaders, and he removed temptation by staying in the warrior barracks.

  He knew Tali was right about Natalie still missing home, and about struggling with being on a new planet. He needed to give her more time, but like he told Tali just the other night, not too much more time. He would give her to the end of this second week, and then he wouldn’t leave her side unless it was urgent.

  He couldn’t take this separation much longer and couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling. He repelled that thought, because if he allowed it to linger, he would go seek her out immediately

  He shook his head, rolled his shoulders and bounced on the balls of his feet.

  “Again. Let’s go again,” he said as he charged Andris and the fight was on again.

  This time the fight was more evenly matched as both men fought to overpower the other. After thirty minutes, they called it quits. Hannan, Aaren, and Aaden started clapping as they walked off the sparring mat.

  Hannan clapped Taavi on the shoulder.

  “Nice come back, Taav. I mean, you still lost twice, but you gave him a rough time on the last go.”

  Taavi brushed his hand from his shoulder and punched him in the arm.

  “Quiet. How’s Natalie? Is she okay? Is she still working on the ship? What’s going on over there?”

  He tried to stop himself, but the rapid-fire questions came pouring out of his mouth.

  Hannan stood smirking for a few moments before finally relenting.

  “She’s fine. She and Tali went to see Jarrod before I left. He gave them the key to fifty-four beta. She and Tali loaded up on some tools and parts, then wheeled it back to the ship. When I left, Natalie was trying to explain how to remove a calibrated laser bolt from the ruined engine part. I didn’t stick around to find out if Tali would lose a finger or not.”

  Taavi looked at his team and shook his head.

  “Butt out of it. Keep doing as I’ve asked, but don’t give me a hard time. Once you find your soile-miena’s you’ll understand what I mean. Aaren understands, don’t you Aaren?”

  Aaren stared at Taavi, nodding.

  “He’s right. Do you really think I wouldn’t want to know every single thing Sellynus was doing? When she’s mad at me and ignores me, I have Lity keep an eye on her and keep me updated.” He gave a rueful grin, and looked around their group before turning serious. “Tavanni may not have thought she was my soile-miena, but to me, she will always be the mate of my heart and soul, regardless of the bond.”

  Aaden clapped his brother on the back.

  “Tavanni blessed your union, regardless of the bond. Personally, I would hate having the telepathic bond. Having another person in your head means no privacy. So should Tavanni ever bless me with a mate, I won’t be using it unless it’s an emergency.”

  Aaren smiled at Aaden, while both Taavi and Hannan snorted.

  Andris quietly looked at the men and spoke softly.

  “I will not take a mate or a wife, regardless of what some god wants. Nothing but trouble happens when you trust someone like that.”

  He turned and strode to the door, not noticing or caring when his team quietly watched him go.

  Taavi looked at Hannan
as the other man sighed.

  “Do you ever think he will forgive his parents or Taniska? He deserves better than what he was given.”

  Hannan had a sad look in his eyes for his friend.

  Taavi shook his head.

  “I think that if Andris ever found someone to share his life with, he will fight it with everything in him.” He looked around at his men and stated quietly, “You must not ever let him hear you say that. He will not forgive you speaking of those people,” he spit out, long ago rage flaring to life.

  His poor friend had not had an easy start to life.

  Thank Tavanni that Taavi was able to convince his parents to take over raising him.

  “Okay. It’s time to report to the Admiral. Apparently new information has come to our attention regarding the war, which will take precedence over training for the next few days. So go shower and eat. It will be a long day.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “So…” Natalie began as she welded one of the laser canons into the hull. “I know you said Taavi would come around in a couple weeks, but I honestly can’t wait. I mean I know we’ve talked Tali, but we never really got any deeper in our conversation except to talk about men, hobbies and our jobs. Can I ask you some personal questions? It’ll help me get to know Taavi better if I at least know something about him,” she quickly added, trying to justify her curiosity.

  “Of course you can ask me. To be honest, I was waiting for you to ask your questions. I didn’t ask any of my own because I didn’t want to push you.” Tali set down her torch and took a seat on the ground next to the shuttle. She waved her hand in front of herself in a grand gesture. “Ask away, my dear.”

  Natalie quickly put down her things, whipped off her goggles and sat facing her.

  “Alrighty. First, do you have parents? I mean, what was it like growing up? Are you and he the only children? Are your parents still alive?”