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Pushing off the wall, she walked into the hall leading to the locker room. The stadium was empty but for the staff that worked here. The team had completed practice early since there was going to be a concert here later, so they had to prepare the field. All the security was dealing with that, however. No one stopped her as she came to a halt outside the locker room and waited, leaning against the wall, trying to think of the next step of her plan.
She wasn’t leaving this planet until Rane was free. Whatever happened next, no matter what waited in her future, that was a certainty.
The only question was what she was going to do next. She couldn’t submit an appeal for him. She had no proof of Elffa’s crimes. Realistically, even claiming she had been kidnapped wasn’t something she could prove easily since she hadn’t fought a single thing that happened to her. She didn’t know how the legal system worked here, but her word alone wouldn’t be enough on Earth.
If she mated Rane, she could get his guardianship, and she could appeal for him. But she couldn’t mate him without losing her adult status herself. And while she hadn’t done anything like Rane had to lose her responsibility privileges, Elffa could argue that, as an alien, she still needed help. And then she would be trapped as surely as Rane.
No. That wasn’t an option. Not unless she had a way out of it.
“Huh?”
She opened her eyes, not even realizing she had closed them as she stood there thinking. There were three males coming out of the locker room. All of them staring at her, confused. One of them, a male with a hot pink crest, was lifting said crest as if interested.
She smiled at them. “Don’t mind me. I’m waiting for Rane.”
“What?” One of the others asked, confused. “Rane?”
“Yeah?”
There was her blue crested mate. He peered around the door, having heard his name, but the moment he caught sight of her, he smiled, stepping past the others.
“I thought you were going to wait in my private box?” He asked, reaching for her.
She immediately took his hands, smiling back. “I wanted to see you sooner.”
Her candor earned a pleased, proud smile as his crest rose. The team gathered behind him, their eyes darting between the two, eyes wide with realization and joy. Like there was nothing better than seeing Rane so happy with her.
“Let me introduce you to my team,” he said, turning with a hand on her lower back.
The other guys were quick to descend on her. Like a pack of overgrown puppies eager for attention, tails wagging, ears perked. Which was extra funny because they were all so much bigger than her. She was surrounded on all sides by huge walls of bulging muscles, but it didn’t seem at all intimidating when they were approaching her with flattened crests and hunched shoulders – as though they were all trying to make themselves as small and non-threatening as possible.
And Rane stayed right by her side, one hand resting possessively on her lower back, as he introduced her to everyone. The other two strikers on the team – Louve and Arus. The three beaters – Cole, Zell, and Tarou. And, of course, the rigger and team captain – Sal.
He was the most composed of the lot. He greeted her with a lowered crest, but proud, pulled back shoulders. He inclined his head respectfully, much in the same way Drevor did. He also didn’t look the least surprised to see her there.
“I understand you’ve made friends with my mate,” he said calmly, something knowledgeable in his gaze.
He knew. Of course, he did. Sandy had requested secrecy from Lisra, but it wasn’t unexpected that she’d divulge what Sandy had requested to her own mate.
But where Lisra had looked confused but determined to help, Sal was giving her a very searching look. Like he understood already, without needing to be told, that there was something more to her request than just simple fear, but he didn’t know what it was yet.
Sandy met the unasked question with a smile. A silent agreement that there was indeed. But she couldn’t tell him anything else. That would go against her deal with Elffa, and until Rane was free from her, she had to play nice.
However, he said nothing as Rane bragged about her fashion sense – how all beautiful humans dressed the way she did – and that he loved how different she looked from other ladies. Sandy wasn’t sure how much of what she was wearing was fashionable. She had only picked her wardrobe because she liked how pretty everything looked, not really for how well it would look together. Because of that, she was sure it wasn’t fashionable at all, but Rane looked so proud and confident, she couldn’t bring herself to correct the mistake.
“Rane,” she interrupted regretfully. “We should get going. Curfew is soon.”
“Oh,” he deflated immediately. The reminder of his leash depressing him in a way that was noticeable to the entire team. They all stared as she took his hand. “You’re right. Of course.”
“Come on,” she smiled, like she might be pulling him somewhere nice. “I’ll show you something good when we get back home.”
He perked up a bit. “Something good?”
Just like a puppy, she giggled silently to herself.
***
The bedroom was still largely empty, though Sandy had moved Rane’s clothing into piles along the wall next to her stuff. But it was all tossed everywhere. A result of Sandy having gone through and rejecting everything.
