Chapter 222

Chapter 222: Chapter 222

Dron was careful as he continued to step through onto the deck of the ship.

Rynax stayed back away from him.

Dron tried to take a step closer, but Rynax put a hand up to stop him.

"You need medical aid," Dron spoke through the cloth on his face.

"In case you haven’t taken a good look around, we all need medical aid. I’ll be fine. I’ve gone through way worse than this." Rynax tried to scoff, but instead, all that came out was a deep cough.

"When did this all start?" Dron questioned and gestured to one of the crates for Rynax to sit. He looked as if he were about to drop at any second. The man was meticulous about his appearance. Dron knew it must be killing him not to look his best.

"It started about a moon cycle ago. Not very long." Rynax shrugged a shoulder.

"You think that it can jump ships?" Dron questioned.

"If we are close enough. I would recommend everyone on this boat be quarantined until whatever this is has run its course." Rynax spoke the words, but Dron could see the turmoil roiling around in his eyes.

"There’s something more. What is it?"

"The humans don’t seem to be getting sick the same way the alphas are. They do cough and sneeze, but the level of fatigue I feel is nothing in comparison to what they have. I wonder if that means they are going to get sicker later. Maybe the illness is dormant longer in the humans?" Rynax looked up at Dron as if he were expecting Dron to have some sort of answer for him. Dron was just as lost as Rynax was.

"Or it could be something else." Dron uttered the words, but the very second that he did, it felt as if someone was stabbing him in the heart.

He didn’t want to think what he was thinking, wanted to trust that everyone had everyone else’s best interest at heart, but he knew that wasn’t how the world worked. He knew that there were still quite a few humans who didn’t trust any of the people from Ustea. They blamed all of the Usteans for being stuck here on this planet. They weren’t wrong, but Dron liked to believe that he wasn’t one of the people responsible for that. There was no vote as to whether or not it was a good idea to start pulling people from other planets.

"Or what?" Rynax tilted his head.

"Or maybe it’s one of the humans who caused the sickness in the first place. Didn’t Gerax tell me about some herb that they have that could cause a sickness in the Ustean people? What if this is more of that?" Dron questioned, and Rynax shot up from the crate that he was sitting on.

"No! That’s not what’s going on here."

Dron pulled back slightly. Rynax might be in bad shape, but he was still an alpha. If he took another step forward, Dron would have no choice but to take that as a sign of aggression, and he would have to protect himself. His alpha instincts wouldn’t allow anything else to happen.

"Calm down," Dron warned Rynax.

Rynax huffed through his nose, and the start of a growl formed in his throat before he turned his head sharply as if he could hear someone calling for him.

He turned back to Dron, calmness back on his features. "The humans aren’t behind this. Or if they are, it’s only one or two. All the humans we have on this ship have been busting their butts trying to help us get better."

Dron raised an eyebrow. "Someone has been helping you?"

Rynax clenched his jaw and looked down. "I told her not to. I told her to stay away from me. The minute I could feel myself getting ill, I told her to stay away, but she wouldn’t listen. She wouldn’t listen, and now she’s sick. The more she’s around me, the worse she seems to get. They wouldn’t do this to their own kind. And if it was one of the humans that did do this, then they are going to have to deal with all my wrath. I’ll wipe every last one of those fuckers off the face of the planet." Rynax snarled.

Dron didn’t have to ask who he was talking about. Didn’t have to wonder who it was that would have gone out of her way to help Rynax. It was Minnie.

She was the one who was trying to help Rynax and was now sick.

Based on Rynax’s reaction, it was more than clear that he’d finally given up the pretense that he couldn’t stand the woman.

"Have you mated with her?" Dron asked. It was a normal question here on Ustea, but for some reason, it almost made Dron feel embarrassed as if he were invading Rynax’s privacy.

"No, we didn’t have the opportunity or time. Then we got on the ship, and people started to get sick. It’s not the mateship I would have hoped for." Rynax looked to the side and sighed.

"Okay, for now, I’ll go off your word. If you don’t think that the humans are capable of contracting the disease as intensely as the Usteans can, then we need to find another way to get you the help you need. We’re going to need the humans to help us here."

"No, just leave us, Dron. You’ve got a much bigger mission to complete."

Dron moved closer to Rynax. This time, the man had nowhere to go.

"I need to take care of home first. The war to come will wait for us."

"And what if we are all too sick to make it to the war?" Rynax asked.

"Then I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t make it to Thraqe. I’m sure they are going to have more than just an illness waiting for us." Rynax actually smirked.

"Besides, would you really allow me to leave you here to die? Minnie?" Dron questioned.

Rynax’s face paled even more than it already was.

"No, she has to get off this ship. She has to come back with you." Rynax grabbed hold of Dron, two fistfuls of his shirt, and pulled him closer. Rynax peered desperately into Dron’s eyes.

"Please, take her to safety. Please." Rynax was begging.

Dron grabbed hold of Rynax’s hands and slowly peeled them off his shirt. "I’m not going to leave anyone. But if it gets to the point where there is no hope, I will make sure she is safe. You have my word." Dron nodded once, and Rynax fell back down on the crates.

Dron didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew that he had to keep his promise to Rynax. He knew what it felt like to have the one person in the world who meant everything to him in danger. Dron would do what he had to do in order to help everyone, but if it came down to it, Minnie would be the priority.

Rynax deserved that.

The only problem was Dron didn’t know how this could have happened. If the humans weren’t responsible for it, then who was?