THE ALIEN’S EQUAL

DRIXONIAN WARRIORS #7

ELLA MAVEN

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2020 by Ella Maven

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

Copyedited by Del’s Diabolical Editing

Cover design by Natasha Snow

First edition October 2020

DEDICATION

This one is for the readers. Each and every one of you. I hope I gave you the happy ending you wanted for these big blue guys.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

Rexor: Stolen Warriors

Acknowledgments

About the Author

ONE

Justine

I crouched low against the outside wall of my building, trying to control my breathing, as I waited for the mingo to show itself. Dusk was when the little creature ventured up a tree near outside the main wall and took a flying leap with its arms out and skin flaps extended like a flying squirrel to enter the camp.

In front of me, between my spread knees, sat Bazel. Her body quivered with excitement and her tail thumped the ground. I gripped it in my hand to stop the sound and she turned around to shoot me an apologetic grin.

I returned her smile, because honestly, as the daughter of a human and Drixonian, she was the cutest thing I’d seen in my life. About five years old, she would be full-grown in another five or six. She had human-like blue flesh instead of Drixonian scales. Her little horns were small but had grown considerably since she’d arrived at our clavas, so the tips had narrowed to a dull point. It was her freckles which got me. Darker blue dots scattered across the bridge of her nose and reminded me so much of my sister my heart ached.

Maybe that was why I could never say no to her. Well, that and the rest of my human friends were shacked up. Bazel was the only one who seemed to have time for me anymore. Not that I was complaining. I was happy for my friends. And I preferred spending time with the young Drixonian-human hybrid since the last thing I wanted was a mate.

With our pockets full of leftovers, we’d made excuses to leave dinner early. We’d snuck behind the building where my room was located and heaped a plate full of a few pivar ribs, some antella nuggets—an Anna recipe—and some fruit. We set the feast at the base of the wall and waited, like we’d done every day at dusk since we caught the little mingo peering down at us at the top of the wall.

We learned the mingo was less an omnivore and more of a scavenger. It would eat anything and had even tried to chew on a bowl that we’d left out full of water.

“Do you think he’ll come?” Bazel asked.

He didn’t come every day, although the trips had been much more frequent since we started putting out food. Still, even if we didn’t see him, the plate was always empty when we checked it in the morning.

“I hope so,” I whispered.

In the distance, leaves rustled, and Bazel squeaked with anticipation. I held my breath just as I caught sight of striped fur sailing through the air. The mingo landed on the ground about ten feet away in a low crouch. The animal had a face only a mother could love, but that didn’t stop Bazel and I from hoping to catch a glimpse of it every day.

About the size of a small dog, its short fur was a dull green with stripes of a darker green. Not a pretty green, but a kind of dull army green. The skin that stretched to give it the ability to glide was hairless and hung limp at its side in rest. It gazed around warily with huge round eyes before stretching out a three-fingered hand and snatching a meaty bone off the plate.

The best part was it hummed when it ate—a weird musical sound which reminded me of an out-of-tune piano. Bazel covered her mouth, but her shoulders still shook with her giggles. Even I had to bury my face in her dark hair to contain my laughter.

The Drix considered mingoes pests, similar to how we viewed raccoons on Earth, but I’d always been a sucker for the neglected and outcasts, so I refused to tell anyone a mingo had been sneaking into the compound. The Drix would most likely kill it and feed it to either Luna—Reba’s welf—or Brutus—Bazel’s pet blukas.

I didn’t want the mingo to be welf or dog food. I found it kind of endearing with its round panda-like ears and fuzzy tail. The rest of its face was smushed like a Himalayan cat, which was cute on Earth animals, but odd on this already weird-looking animal.

Bazel sighed softly and whispered. “Mozart is so cute.”

That was the other thing. We’d named it. I’d mentioned Mozart because of its musical-eating, and Bazel had pounced on the word. She had sat engrossed when I told her all about the famous composer. So that was it. The mingo was Mozart and if anyone caught us feeding this thing, we’d be in trouble. I had never been good at doing what I was told, so sneaking around was a skill in my repertoire.

Mozart was in fact, not cute, but I found him utterly fascinating. At least, I was pretty sure it was him, based on the anatomy I could see swinging between his legs.

Sometimes he’d take food with him, stuffing it into his cheeks like a chipmunk. I imagined he had a family somewhere and was delivering food to his mate and their young. And that was why I couldn’t resist putting food out at dusk every time I could get away with it. This was my secret with Bazel, and I’d taught her to pinky swear over the secret and everything.

The mingo was just starting on the fruit when boots crunched behind us, signaling we were about to be busted. I froze, and so did the mingo. He let out a screech that hurt my ears before skittering up the wall with his little claws to perch along the top. And there he sat, feeling safe enough at that height to continue munching on the fruit while I cringed as a long shadow stretched across the ground near the corner of the building where I hid. I plastered my back to the wall.

“Go,” I whispered to Bazel. “I don’t care if they catch me but save yourself.”

“Justine—”

“Go,” I urged with a push to her small shoulders. I held up my pinky. She clasped it and then scrambled off to my left, leaving my sight around the corner of the building just as a large figure stepped around the corner to my right.

For a moment, I thought maybe he didn’t see me. I could barely make out his face, but I didn’t need to. I knew who it was by the way he stood silently with his hands on his hips and his feet braced apart. I kept still, hoping he hadn’t noticed me or the mingo, who’d now fallen silent and froze like a statue.

“What are you doing back here, Justine?” His soft voice rumbled down my spine.

I blew out a breath. Freaking caught. I rose to my feet and dusted off my pants. “Hi, Nero.”

He took a step forward so one of the last rays of the setting sun cast a swatch of yellow light across his face. I tried not to look at the soft purple of his eyes as his gaze scanned my body. He frowned. “Are you okay?”

I cleared my throat. “Fine. Fine. Just … hanging out.”

He looked around before lifting a questioning nubbed brow. “Here?”

“Yeah, here.” I retorted. His calm demeanor rankled my nerves. Any of the other warriors would have told me to get back to my room or dragged me there, but not Nero. He had to … investigate. Ask questions. Pry. Always with the prying.

He didn’t react to my harsh tone. He never did. “Not much to look at back here but a wall.”

“I happen to think it’s a nice section of the wall.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

His lips twitched and he inclined his head. “It is.”

“Are you patronizing me?” I glared.

His eyes creased in the corners. “Never.”

I huffed. “Okay, well. I’m … done admiring the wall now.” I patted it with my palm and took a step forward. “So, I’ll be getting back to my room now.” Except I didn’t want to leave Nero here with the mingo. Any minute now, he’d notice the creature and the plate of food.

Outside these walls, he had strategically placed cameras he called his “eyes” to warn us of danger, but Nero’s own eyes were legendary. The damn Drix missed nothing. Smart as a whip and not as impulsive as some of the warriors like Sax and Xavy, Nero held his emotions close to his chest.

I swallowed, needing a plan to get him away from here before he spotted Mozart. It would break my heart to see the creature gone, and Bazel would be devastated. I took another step toward Nero, adding a sway to my hips that felt unnatural. “Do you… Want to come back to my room with me?” I tried to make my voice husky, but instead it just came out like a pack-a-day smoker’s.

Nero’s body tightened as I approached him, but that was his only reaction to my seduction attempt. “Do you need an escort?”

“Yes!” I blurted out.

The Night Kings had recently brought together all the remaining Drixonian clavases, so strange males were always roaming the grounds. Not that I thought any would bother me, but Daz had remained protective of us females. As the only unmated female left, I was watched closely. Normally I accepted the protectiveness begrudgingly.

Something thumped the ground behind me, and Nero’s shrewd gaze flicked over my shoulder. Needing to distract him, I placed my hand on his chest and beamed a smile at him. At my touch, his chin jerked down to stare at my palm on his pectoral. Fucking hell, he was warm as a heated blanket.

His scales were smooth, coated in what felt like a fine velvet, and I found my fingers curling in simulation of a scratch. “So, do you have any plans for tonight?” I looked up at him from beneath my lashes. God, I sounded stupid to my own ears. Was Nero falling for this?

He blinked at me. “Why?”

“Oh, I uh—” Think, Justine, think. A lightbulb went off in my head. “I have something I’d like you to fix in my room.” I was proud of myself for thinking of that on the fly. Of course, I didn’t have anything to repair, but I had five minutes until we got there to think of something.

“And Hap didn’t have time to take care of it?”

Hap was always in our rooms delivering furniture and generally making our living spaces as comfortable as possible.

“Uh, no.” That was it. That was my answer. I couldn’t think of a quick excuse.

Nero wasn’t paying attention to anything behind me now. He was solely focused on me. With his sharp teeth, he tugged his labret piercing into his mouth and clicked the ball against his fangs before placing his hand over mine where it still lay on his chest. A warm, excited shiver ran down my spine to pool in my lower stomach with anticipation. My lips parted at the strong reaction.

His strong fingers curled around my palm and he lowered our hands before tugging me along at his side as he walked. He was just so … big. And warm. And his purple eyes bored into the side of my face like he sought to infiltrate my mind. “Well, then let’s take a look.”

Take a look? Oh right. The repair I invented. I needed to ignore the feel of his hand in mine, and the way the setting sun shone off his short black hair. I had to pretend Nero wasn’t the only male—Drixonian or human—who made me wish I wasn’t a mess inside. What would it be like to let myself be carefree like Tabitha or utterly devoted to a mate like Naomi? I wouldn’t know, because that life wasn’t for me, no matter how much Nero’s steady presence sometimes calmed the storm inside my mind.

Nero

I’d heard the mingo eating before I ever turned the corner. I’d expected to find it making off with some of our compost only to find a tidy plate with a selection of dinner leftovers.

While I was curious why Justine was not only feeding the mingo, but also determined to keep it a secret, I was more curious how far she’d take it. I’d been about to tell her I saw the creature so there was no point in pretending she was only out for a stroll.

But then she’d placed her hand on my chest and spouted some stuff about a repair which was clearly only meant as a diversion, and I promptly shut up. Was this what it took for Justine to finally pay attention to me? She never willingly touched me or any males. She rarely even hugged her friends. Justine walked around as if a barrier surrounded her. No one dared penetrate it, not even me, no matter how much I longed to.

Justine was my mate. I’d known it from the time I placed her on my bike as she fought and hissed like a salibri. I’d known it all this time as I saw my brothers find their happiness. But Justine was different. She didn’t lust after the males like Tabitha used to—now she only lusted after Xavy—and she didn’t declare loyalty to one male like Naomi had done with Gar. She rejected all males with a toss of her hair and an upturn of her nose.

I’d often wondered if she was immune to attraction. But I’d felt the shiver in her small body when she touched me. I saw her nipples pebble beneath her shirt, and the dilation of her pupils. She’d felt it, this connection between us I’d long thought was one-sided.

So, I’d let her continue this little lie about a repair in her room. If this was the only way she’d let me hold her hand, then I’d take it. Maybe that made me just as shameless as her, but I didn’t care right now.

Her hair had grown since she arrived on Torin and the straight edge now brushed the tops of her shoulders. The roots were a lighter color than the rest of her hair, and I’d learned the humans often dyed it different colors. Tabitha had purple hair that she continued to dye, but Justine hadn’t done the same.

Her arms bore colorful tattoos I wanted to trace with my finger. The shape of her body enticed me. She’d been thin when she arrived, but since eating our food, her hips had flared out, her thighs thickened, and her belly was rounder. Her breasts swayed when she walked, and I ached to draw her hard nipples into my mouth. But I was getting ahead of myself. It’d been nearly half a cycle, and she’d only now let me hold her hand.

We arrived at the door to her room, and she stood in front of it for several long moments before I had to prod her. “Should we go in?”

She startled at my question. “Yes! Yes, right. Okay.”

I didn’t show it, but I was nearly giddy as her door opened and I took a step inside after her. I’d never been in her room. The rays of the setting sun still streamed through her windows, and I gazed around at the plaques on her walls. I’d heard Justine could draw, but I’d never realized how talented she was. Pictures hung everywhere—some black and white, while others were colorful. Foreign scenes met my eyes—blue qua with green grass. A small building with white walls and black squares beside the windows.

There was even a picture of a small animal—all black with yellow eyes and triangle ears.

“That’s a cat,” Justine said.

I turned around to find I had stepped right in front of the drawing. Justine stood behind me twisting her fingers together.

“A cat?”

“It’s an animal we keep as pets. That’s my sister’s cat Midnight.”

“What’s a midnight?”

She smiled a true genuine smile that warmed her brown eyes. A small laugh escaped her lips. “Midnight is a time of day—the middle of the night, basically. And it since it’s very dark outside… We sometimes say something is as black as midnight. Hence his name.”

“What’s your sister’s name?” I spoke casually, knowing this was one of the first times Justine ever willingly opened up.

“Fallon,” she said. “She’s ten years younger than me. I practically raised her.” Her voice went low and soft. “Bazel reminds me of her.”

“My sisters were older,” I found myself saying.

“How many did you have?”

“Three. They were…” I closed my eyes, remembering their laughter, their teasing, but most of all how much they cared for me. They were so proud when my aptitude tests showed I was off-the-charts skilled at tech. “They were perfect. Smart and beautiful. They would have done so much good, just like my mother.” My throat went dry at my memories of her. The grief never faded. “My mother seemed invincible to me. I thought she would be able to survive the virus. Even after she took her last breath, I convinced myself she was only resting. She was the best female I’ve ever known, and all I’d ever wanted to do was make her proud.”

Her hand settled on my shoulder. “She’d be so proud of you.”

I closed my eyes briefly as the familiar sense of guilt lodged in my throat. She wouldn’t be, not when I’d failed to the fulfill the promise I’d made to her on her deathbed.

I didn’t want those thoughts in this room with Justine. Pointing to another drawing, I asked, “What’s that one?”

She took a minute before tearing her gaze away from my face to focus on a black and white drawing. It was a face—round with no hair and eyes the shape of upside-down water drops.

She grinned. “An alien.”

“A what?”

“On Earth, we’ve never actually seen an alien—a creature from another planet. But that’s what some have guessed one looks like.”

“So, I’m an alien?”

“Yeah. And I guess I’m an alien to you.”

I took a step closer to the painting and then stood beside it, facing her. I tried to make a stern face. “Do we look alike?”

She laughed loudly, and I found I was addicted to the sound already. “Not at all.”

I nodded with an exaggerated frown. “You’re right. He’s much more handsome than me.”

She shook her head, that delighted smile still on her face. “No, he doesn’t hold a candle to the Drix.”

I didn’t know what her saying meant, but the way her eyes sparkled at me, I didn’t really care. We stood there, grinning stupidly at each other before her cheeks reddened and she looked away. “So, um, the repair.”

Moment broken, I stepped toward the center of the room. “Ah yes, this repair. What do you need help with?”

“My lantern, um, sometimes I worry it’s overheating.”

“Overheating?”

“Yeah, it gets too hot.”

Seeing as a flame flickered inside, she was right that it did get hot. But the casing of the lantern ensured it was cool to the touch. I reached for it, placing my fingers along the top, bottom, and sides. “Feels okay to me.”

“Oh, really? Maybe it was just … maybe I imagined it.” She clapped her hands together. “Well that solves it. So, thanks for—”

I stepped behind her and wrapped my fingers around her wrist. “Let’s make sure. You feel it.”

Her body quivered, and my forearm brushed the underside of her breast. When her eyes met mine over her shoulder, the flame flickered there in her pupils. “What?”

“You might be more susceptible to high temperatures. You tell me if it’s too warm for you.”

Her chest heaved, and the tendons in her wrist bulged as she flexed her fingers. After a heavy swallow, she nodded. “Okay.”

With my other hand, I let the side of the lantern brush along her fingertips. “Too hot?”

“No,” she whispered. I admired the way the flames caused the light to dance across her face. A flush rose in her cheeks, coloring the skin to a pretty pink.

I ignored the way my cock thickened in my pants. I’d gotten used to it reacting to her presence after nearly a lifetime of inaction. When our females died in the virus, so did our libidos—until these human females showed up and woke us up. I resisted pressing closer to her but inhaled the fresh scene of her hair.

Her skin felt so soft and delicate under my fingers, reminding me how fragile these females could be and why we had a duty to protect them.

I placed her palm on top of the lantern. “How’s that?”

“Fine.” Her voice quivered, and a shiver ran down her spine. She panted softly, causing her hardened nipples to rise and fall against the fabric of her shirt.

I was so hypnotized, I nearly forgot what I was doing.

Next, I placed the lantern on top of the back of her hand. I leaned down until my lips skimmed the rim of her ear.

A breath left her on a rough exhale.

“And now?”

“Feels good,” she whispered breathlessly. Her body swayed into mine, and for a brief moment, I felt what it would be like hold the skittish female in my arms. Then, as if she realized what was happened, her back stiffened and she cleared her throat. “I mean, it’s fine.” Her tone was cold and emotionless.

I could feel her start to pull away as she became aware of our proximity. I couldn’t push my Justine. I knew that, no matter how badly I wanted to draw her into my arms and press my lips to hers.

Releasing her wrist and stepping away, I placed the lantern back on her side table. She didn’t move and continued to stand where I’d left her, her opposite hand circling the wrist I’d held. “Justine?”

“Thank you for your help, Nero. I appreciate it.” Her back still to me, she walked over to her bed and began fussing with the furs.

This was as far as I could push her tonight. And while I wished to make her mine, I felt almost giddy at how much she’d let me in tonight. I’d felt her reaction to me, and that would carry me for many rotations. Knowing it was time for me to make my exit, I took a step toward the door. “Sure. And in the future Justine, mingoes have a nasty bite and prefer raw meat.”

She froze and then slowly turned on her heel to meet my gaze. Angry fire flamed in hers as her nostrils flared. “Excuse me?”

“If you’re going to feed mingoes—”

“You saw it?”

“I heard it eating before I even turned the corner.”

Her eyes went wide as she sputtered. “And you … you … why didn’t you tell me?” Her hand flung out, nearly sending a drawing crashing to the floor. “You knew that lantern thing was a lie, didn’t you? Why did you keep up the ruse?”

“Because that was the first time you willingly touched me.” I shrugged when her mouth dropped open and she sank down onto the edge of her bed. “I knew it was just to distract me, but I enjoyed it too much to tell you the truth.” I smiled. “And then I got to hear about Midnight, your sister, and your aliens. So even if it was all fake, it was the best night I’ve had in a while.”

She didn’t say anything, only stared at me with her lips parted and her breath coming hard and fast.

It wasn’t until I had one step outside the door when she finally spoke. “You’re not going to tell anyone are you?” I glanced over my shoulder to find her standing in the center of her room with her arms wrapped around her middle. “About the mingo?”

I shook my head. “Your secret is safe with me.”

TWO

Justine

I didn’t see Nero for the next two days. Which was fine. Totally fine. Great even. Who needed his big body invading my space and his keen eyes searing into my soul? Not me. I certainly didn’t brush my fingers along my lantern every time I entered my room only to feel the ghost touch of his strong body at my back. I definitely did not stare a long time at my alien drawing, smiling like a loon at the image of him striking a pose next to it.

This was stupid. It’d been a long time since I’d let a man willingly touch me, and it would be a long time—hopefully forever—before I allowed it again.

If Fallon were here, she’d laugh at me. She’d just turned twenty-one, and we’d celebrated at a local winery where we proceeded to get wasted on Rosé and tacos. She liked men, although she was always the one using.

Me? Well, I’d been the one used, chewed up, spit out, then ran over with a car, and then buried alive. I’d clawed my way out of that Beatrix Kiddo-style. No way would I let another man crush me beneath his boot heel. And it didn’t escape me that Nero had some mighty big boots.

I ignored my bleeding heart which told me to look around and see the Drix treated women like royalty. All of my friends walked around with constant heart-eyes like anime characters. Objectively, I knew Nero was one of the best—loyal and respectful. But my brain convinced me otherwise. My brain reminded me the damage men could do. So forget it. Nero could take his soulful eyes and shove ‘em.

He was probably busy anyway. The atmosphere in the camp had been tense since the Drix had consolidated, but in the last few days, the feeling had intensified. Xavy and Tabitha had returned from their mission with a dozen Kaluma warriors—big, ridiculously attractive fuckers with bronze skin and the ability to camouflage to near invisibility. I’d seen one do it—a skill they called blanking—and it had been amazing. Their scales were sort of like those reversible sequin pillows.

The Drix were preparing for war with the Uldani, their enemies who had stolen us humans from our beds and dragged us to this planet to breed little Drixonian babies as slaves. The Drix also suspected the Uldani were behind the virus which killed all the Drixonian women on their home planet, as well as most of the elder men. So yeah, it was common knowledge the Uldani were evil and deserved what was coming to them.

I hadn’t seen an Uldani yet, but some of the other women had. When Val and Sax were held in the Uldani compound of Alazar, they’d been put on display like zoo animals. The very idea of it sent my blood boiling, so much that sometimes I watched the Drixonian warriors train, and I’d nearly asked to join. This was my fight too. I wasn’t getting back to Earth, a fact that had taken me a long time to come to terms with, so I refused to let anyone else decide my destiny in this galaxy.

As evening set in, I sat in my room two nights after my run-in with Nero. Bazel lay on her belly among my furs, kicking her feet behind her. She’d grilled me on what had happened with Nero, and I assured her Mozart would be fine. If Nero went back on his word, I’d smother him in his sleep.

I’d smuggled some raw meat in my pockets from the kitchens, which was gross even if I’d wrapped it in a waterproof leaf. The smell made me gag. Still, I cut it into manageable chunks using a blade with a leather-wrapped handle, I’d been given by Xavy, and it was a prized possession of mine.

“Do you think Rufus and Mozart could be friends?” Bazel didn’t have her pet with her because he would do nothing but growl at Mozart and alert the whole clavas to our activities.

“I’m not sure, honey. I think Rufus would hurt Mozart.”

“Would he eat him?”

Rufus was very docile, and kind of dumb. I didn’t think he had it in him to hunt a mingo. Luna on the other hand… she’d bite Mozart’s head off in seconds. “I don’t think Rufus would eat him, but I think he might play too rough.”

“That makes sense. Mommy said Rufus thinks he’s the size of a house cat.”

I pointed to the painting of Midnight on my wall. “That’s a house cat.”

Bazel’s eyes went big and she scrambled off the bed to get a closer look. “Oh, I wondered what that was. Mommy tried to tell me what a house cat was, and even drew one for me, but it didn’t look anything like this.”

I laughed. Anna had an amazing array of talents, but drawing wasn’t one of them. All of us females owed so much to Anna. She was the sole survivor of an abduction of women who’d crash landed on this planet—stolen just like us. She met Tark, fell in love, and they hid in a secluded home for ten years before Daz and Frankie showed up. Anna learned to make fabrics, cook Torin food, and generally was a badass at creating a life for her small family.

Now that they had moved to our clavas, we all helped to watch Bazel, mostly to give Anna and Tark a break, and also because we loved being with her. She was a glimpse into our future. I happened to love being the cool aunt.

“House cats are about the size of a mingo.”

“But mingo is cute,” Bazel wrinkled her nose. “This cat is kind of ugly.”

I gasped in mock outrage and dramatically slapped my hand over my heart. “Hold your tongue.”

Bazel giggled and flounced over to where I sat at my desk preparing Mozart’s plate. “Is it time yet? Can we give him his food now?”

We hadn’t been able to sneak away yesterday, which was why I was taking extra-long preparing his dinner today. “Yep, all done.” I gave my hands a quick wash in a basin. “Grab the plate and let’s head out.”

“Can I put the plate down this time?” She clutched it with both hands, level to her chest.

“Sure, you can,” I smiled.

We crept outside and around the back of the building, our shadows stretching nearly to the wall in the light of the setting sun. Bazel was asking me if we could try to pet Mozart sometime as we rounded the corner. When I saw what waited at the base of the wall, I stopped dead.

Nero leaned casually against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, his ankles crossed. At his feet sat a metal contraption I’d never seen before, and my heart thudded in my chest. Disappointment made my stomach lurch, and I hated how badly I cared Nero had let me down. So, on the heels of that, anger blazed through me so swiftly that I felt like screaming.

Motioning for Bazel to stay pressed against the wall, I barely reined in my temper as I stomped over to Nero. “You promised,” I hissed at him. His nubbed brows lifted, but otherwise he stayed silent as I raged. “You said you wouldn’t tell anyone. You said—”

“I didn’t tell anyone.” His voice was frustratingly calm.

I hated being interrupted. “Then why are you here with this trap? It better be a humane one.” A sudden thought occurred to me. “He’s not in there, is he? Oh God, did you hurt him?”

I went to drop to my hands and knees to peer through the little holes at the top of the box, terrified I’d see Mozart trapped inside—or worse, dead—when Nero wrapped his fingers around my arms and hauled me back to my feet.

“Don’t touch me,” I snapped at him as I wrenched myself from his grasp. “I can’t believe you. We’re not harming anyone feeding him—”

“It’s not a trap, Justine,” he said patiently.

I went still. “What?”

“It’s not a trap,” he repeated. “It’s a slow-release feeder.”

I blinked at him as my anger deflated like a popped balloon. “A what?”

Drawing me down with him, he crouched on the balls of his feet. I followed, my head feeling a little fuzzy at my whiplash of emotions.

His agile fingers unlocked the lid and opened it to reveal a selection of food—mostly dried jerky and fruit, as well as some nuts. “The food goes in here.” He nudged the food aside to reveal a small platform underneath it. “I set up a timer for this to release food once every rotation. It’ll land here for your mingo to eat.” He pointed to a small tray connected to the bottom of the box.

My mingo. He’d call Mozart my mingo. My face felt like it was on fire, and I blinked rapidly as my vision blurred.

“I meant to have this done yesterday, but there was other work to be done…” he actually seemed sorry he hadn’t rushed to make a complicated piece of tech for what he considered a pest. “Better late than never, I guess. You can still deliver fresh food if you’d like, but in case you miss a day, now you know he’s fed.”

He glanced up at me for the first time and sat back on his haunches. He didn’t say another word, only watched my face as I scrambled for words. It took a minute before I could clear the traffic jam of words in my throat “Nero, I-I don’t know what to say.”

“Do you like it?” He cocked his head, and he looked so adorably unsure for a moment I almost laughed.

I unstuck my tongue from the roof of my mouth and placed my hand on his knee. After taking a moment to collect myself, I smiled. “Of course, I do. It’s perfect. Bazel was so upset yesterday when we didn’t get a chance to feed him—” My mistake hit me too late. I clapped my hand over my mouth as my eyes went wide. I’d just betrayed my partner in crime. Although it most likely didn’t matter. She stood along the wall just out of earshot, still holding a tray, her eyes huge and round.

“I saw her two rotations ago,” he said patiently. “I knew she was helping you.”

Okay, this was ridiculous. I dropped my hands from my mouth and narrowed my eyes at him. “Is there anything you don’t know?”

His lips curled into an attractive smirk. “Sure.”

“Could have fooled me,” I muttered. I fiddled with the box, poking around at the food. “He can’t get in here and eat it all in one go?”

Nero shook his head. “Mingoes are dexterous, but he can’t break this lock.”

“We call him Mozart.”

He shot me a questioning look.

“It’s the name of a composer on Earth. He makes music.”

“Have you met him?”

I held back a laugh. “No. He died a long time ago. Way before I was born.” I bit my lip. “Thank you for this feeder, Nero. I know you have so much going on, and the fact that you took the time to do this for me … for us,” I glanced over my shoulder at Bazel before meeting his gaze. “It means so much to me.”

He grinned, clearly relieved at my praise. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Why are you doing all this for one mingo?”

His eyes twitched. “The mingo? I’m not doing it for him.” He rose to his feet, shaking his head. “I’m doing it for you.” His fingers brushed the top of my head before he turned, and after a nod at Bazel, strode away.

I gaped after him until he was blurry, and it was only then I realized my eyes were welling with tears. I sniffed them back, plastered on a smile, and beckoned Bazel. “Come here, honey. Come see what Nero built us.”

Nero

I didn’t want to walk away from Justine. I would have loved to stay as she observed her Mozart eat his meal from the feeder I’d made. But it wasn’t the time. I got the feeling Justine didn’t often have anyone do nice things for her—especially males. So, I’d give her time to think about the gift I’d made her.

She didn’t know it, but my mission to make her my mate was now in motion. I’d still take my time and be mindful of her skittishness, but we were on my timeline now. Ever since I felt her hand on my chest, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. She’d see soon she was always meant to be mine. I’d been hers from the first rotation we met.

Some of my brothers were enjoying spirits after dinner and letting off some steam after grueling training. I’d spent much of the last two rotations in shooter drills, since I was the best shot in the whole clavas. I hadn’t slept last night, and instead spent the dark yoras working on the feeder. The missed sleep had been worth it to see the look on Justine’s face and hear her sincere thank you. As tired as I was while I trudged my way to my hut, I also smiled to myself, because yeah, the work had been worth it.

I pushed open my door and kicked off my boots. My hut was less a home and more of a control center. It was where I monitored what my eyes were seeing along our borders—strategically placed lenses which detected motion and heat signatures. A small comm I kept on my belt alerted me to any unusual readings.

I sat down in front of my wall of screens, leaning back in my chair as the darkness descended on our planet. Other than a few roaming antella and pivar pack scouts, there wasn’t much to see. I puttered around with the control settings on my large switchboard and checked my fuel settings which kept all my tech up and running. Confident all was well, I let my head fall back on the chair, so I faced the ceiling.

My knee still tingled where Justine touched it, and my cock remained hard in my hands. I ignored it, fantasizing about the day I’d sink into my mate’s sweet heat. When Justine’s pretty eyes would darken with lust and she’d whisper my name in her husky voice. Nero.

I fell asleep with her name on my lips.

Pounding on my door woke me up out of a dead sleep and I jerked from my chair, nearly toppling the whole thing over. Gaining my feet under me, I scrubbed my hands over my face. Squinting at the position of the sun’s rays through my window, I estimated it was about mid-morning. Fleck, I’d slept longer than I’d meant to. And that was probably Xavy or Sax wondering where I was.

I opened the door, expecting the blue face of a Drix warrior only to find the big brown eyes of the little human I couldn’t stop thinking about. Or maybe I was still dreaming. “Justine?”

“That’s me,” she held up a wrapped leaf bundle. “I brought you breakfast.”

I stared at her, still unsure what was happening. Justine was delivering me food? What kind of alternate universe did I wake up in?

“Breakfast?”

“Yeah. Between you and me though? It’s not that tasty. Tabitha tried some weird combination of spices in the taranta eggs, but Xavy threatened dismemberment if we made her upset, so we all stuffed it down and pretended it was great. I fed mine to Luna when Tab wasn’t looking. I brought you some, but don’t feel obligated to eat them. You can fill up on the fruit and biscuits. I made the sweet butter, so it’s pretty rad, if I do say so myself. Anyway, it’s all in there.” She held up a steaming mug. “Here’s some pula too.”

I’d never heard Justine talk this much. “Um. Thank you.” I took the bundle from her hands.

She didn’t leave. In fact, she remained standing in front of me expectantly. “Can I come in?”

Seriously, this was flecking weird. “You want to come in?”

“Yeah, that’s what I asked, wasn’t it?”

I took a step back and she brushed past me. Then I noticed a leather wrapped bundle strapped to her back. “Going somewhere?”

But she wasn’t paying attention to me anymore. Her attention was fully focused on the screens that took up two entire walls in my hut. She reverently touched the control panel, her fingers dancing just above the controls, and I was about to order her away from the important buttons when she withdrew her hands herself and clasped them at her back. Her head tilted left and right to take in my pride and joy. “Wow,” she whispered. “I knew you were the tech guy, but this is just … beyond.”

I walked over to my small table where I often ate and unwrapped the leaf. The scent of fresh, warm biscuits made my stomach rumble. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was, so I sat down and dug in as Justine continued to snoop around my room. She was right, the eggs were terrible. I was surprised even Luna ate them. But Justine had given me enough of the other food to fill me up until all but the eggs were left and I’d downed half the pula.

“Do you need something?” I asked. “Is there a problem with the feeder?”

“Yes,” she said quickly and then shook her head. “I mean, no. There’s no problem. It’s great. Bazel loves it.”

“Not that I mind you being here, but is there a reason?”

She hesitated and then eyed me for a moment before slipping the leather bundle off her back. She opened the top, which was cinched with a drawstring. “Yes, there’s a reason. I, um, wanted to thank you for making the feeder.”

“You already thanked me,” I rose to my feet and took a step toward her.

“Well, yeah, but with words. Since you gave me a gift, I wanted to give you a gift in return.” She pulled out a square plank of flat wood. Her eyes roamed the front of it before she took a deep breath and turned it around. “I made you a drawing.”

My lungs constricted in my chest and my cora stuttered. A roaring filled my ears as my head spun. I felt like I’d tumbled back in time one hundred and fifty cycles because I currently stared at my mother’s face. My knees buckled, and I would have hit the ground if I didn’t grab the back of my chair for balance. I tried to speak, but my tongue suddenly felt thick and uncoordinated.

Justine’s pale face appeared over the top. “Is this okay?” she winced as she took in my state. “Shit, I’m sorry. You mentioned your mother the other day, so I thought…” she let out a shaky breath and lowered the painting to wrap it again in the bundle.

I snatched it out of her hands before she could cover it up.

She let out a little squeak, but otherwise didn’t say a word.

I swallowed as I stared at it. Silence surrounded us until a few shouts from warriors training outside seeped through my walls and brought me out of my stupor. “How did you...?”

“Shep,” she whispered. “He knew your mother and described her to me.”

The resemblance was uncanny, from my mother’s warm eyes to her gray hair which she kept tightly braided on each side of her head. She wore decorative scalp jewelry down her center part, and a neck cuff. Her cheeks were pierced with shining black stones.

Justine had even drawn her eyes lined in black which she never left our home without. My mother had been beautiful, but her greatest accomplishment was advocating for warrior family benefits and raising her children to have lofty dreams.

“I have never received a gift like this in all my life.” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat. “She looks just as I remember her.”

“So, you like it?”

I lowered the painting to gaze at Justine, who watched me with an expectant vulnerability I’d never seen from her. I nodded. “It’s now my most prized possession.”

She beamed, that genuine Justine smile I now craved. “Oh good.” She blew out a breath and her shoulders relaxed. “I worried I was overstepping. Shep had assured me portraits like this weren’t going against any of your beliefs or anything, but I was still unsure…” She blew out a breath. “I’ll stop babbling now.”

“I don’t mind your babbling.”

Her cheeks flushed. “Well, you’d probably be the only one.”

I sat the portrait on my desk with the intention of finding a place to hang it later. “I wouldn’t mind you delivering me breakfast every morning and babbling, as you say.”

She eyed me. “You’d get sick of me.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“Everyone gets sick of me,” she retorted and as soon as the words were out, her eyes clouded over. The wrinkle between her brows returned, and she pressed her lips into a thin line. “Whatever,” she fluttered her hands away and started for the door.

I disliked her anger because I didn’t understand the cause. I knew it wasn’t me, but I also knew it was something that stood between us, a barrier I’d have to crash through if I intended to make any headway with my mate. “Justine.”

She stopped and turned, her expression closed off.

I strode toward her until my chest brushed her crossed arms. “I will tolerate anything from you. Your anger and your sadness. Your fears and your dreams. But I won’t tolerate you telling me how I feel.” With a knuckle, I lifted her chin, so she was forced to look at me.

Her eyes swam with unshed tears, but she kept her jaw clenched. “I will never be tired of you. You might not believe me, but I’ll prove it to you.”

She jerked out of my hold and turned her head, clearly avoiding my gaze. “It’s fine. I believe you. No need to prove anything.”

“I’ll enjoy every moment of showing you the proof.”

Her gaze slid to me and her eyes narrowed. “Why? We did each other a favor. Now, we’re even and—”

“You know why, Justine.”

“Nero,” she whispered, and closed her eyes right before I caught a wave of sadness in her brown eyes. “Please don’t.”

“I can’t fulfill that request,” I cupped the side of her head, and relished the tremble in her body. “Especially now that I know how you react to my touch.”

I expected her to pull away, to deny it, but she opened her eyes to gaze up at me with hope and desire beaming out of every pore. She exhaled a low, barely audible moan, and leaned into my touch, nuzzling my palm.

My cock jerked and my mouth filled with saliva as I yearned for her. I leaned down, intending on sampling her lips when my door flew open with so much force it slammed against the wall.

We jerked apart, and I whirled to find Xavy strolling through my doorway like he owned the place. “Hey, where’ve you been all morning?”

I was going to slam my fist right into his face. I imagined his nose bleeding as he crumpled to the floor for interrupting my time with Justine. I turned to apologize to her only to find her no longer in front of me. When I whirled toward the door, I caught the ends of her hair just as she fled my hut.

Xavy was at my table, shoveling the rest of my eggs in his mouth. “These are good, right? Tab made ‘em.”

I answered him with a growl.

THREE

Justine

Thank God for Xavy and his aversion to knocking. I skated out of Nero’s hut by the skin of my teeth. At least, that was what I told myself when my body screamed at me to run back to Nero. Even now, his husky voice whispered in my ear, You know why, Justine.

I raced back to my room, keeping my head down and hoping I avoided detection from any of the busy bodies around here. Intending to stew alone, I’d just slammed the door shut behind me when it opened, and Tabitha breezed through. “Where did you run off to after breakfast?”

Speaking of busy bodies… This was the problem about living behind walls. There was no privacy. The women gossiped like hens and the men weren’t much better. And everyone was always in each other’s business.

On Tabitha’s heels was Hap, because if those two weren’t with their mates, they were with each other. I glared at my friends. “Hap, don’t you have something to do? And Tab, don’t you have more eggs to ruin?”

“They were terrible, weren’t they?” Tab wrinkled her nose. “Xavy told you all to eat them anyway, didn’t he?”

“He promised bloody retribution if we hurt your feelings.”

She clasped her hands to her chest. “That’s so romantic.” She flopped down onto my bed with a dreamy sigh.

I rolled my eyes at Hap who only laughed and joined Tabitha on the bed. Gesturing at them making themselves comfortable in my space, I huffed, “Is there a reason you two are here?”

“I saw you go into Hap and Shep’s hut last night, but he—” Tab pointed at Hap with a pout, “—won’t tell me why you were there.”

Nothing was secret in this damn place. “And I won’t tell you either.”

“Come on! Tell me,” she drew out the last word as she kicked her feet. “I’m bored. Xavy is always in meetings. I need some excitement and drama in my life.”

I fussed with a plant I’d hung near my window. “Make up a story.”

“I did, but real life can be stranger than fiction.” She batted her eyelashes at me and propped her chin in her hand. “So? Out with it. Does it have anything to do with you sneaking into Nero’s hut after breakfast?”

I spun to face her. “Are you spying on me?”

“No, but Rokas saw you and he told Val, who told Frankie, who told me.”

This place was worse than small town America. “That’s a ridiculously fast grapevine. I just left his hut, and I was there for ten minutes, tops.”

“So, you don’t deny you were there?”

“No, your honor,” I said dryly.

She wiggled with a little squeal. “I love when you’re feisty.”

“There’s no drama. It’s nothing exciting. Nero did me a favor and I made him something as a thank you. That’s it.”

“What you did was more than just a simple thank you,” Hap muttered.

“Hap!” I cried.

He clapped his hand over his mouth as Tabitha whirled on him, scenting blood in the water. “You told me you left her with Shep and didn’t return until after she left.”

“That’s true! But Shep told me…” he shot me a guilty look before falling silent.

I made a note that Shep and Hap had pillow talk like the rest of the mates around here. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I stomped over to my desk to pour a drink of qua. “I made him a portrait of his mother, okay? He mentioned he missed her, and I wanted to give him something he would cherish. He liked it a lot. End of story.”

Silence met my words, and I gulped down a whole glass before turning and leaning back on the desk. Tabitha’s mouth was open, gaping like a fish. I crossed my arms over my chest. “I would ask if you have any questions, but I don’t plan on answering them.”

She blinked at me and I could see the gears turning in her mind. “When did you talk to Nero about his mother?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You drew him a picture? That’s … that’s a big deal.”

“It is not,” I reassured her quickly.

“Uh, yeah it is. And a portrait. That had to take you all night.”

I didn’t confirm because it in fact had. I would have been exhausted, but I was too wired at Nero’s reaction. My brain was moving a mile a minute trying to figure out what his next move would be. Because I doubted this was the end of his misguided pursuit of me. “Honestly, Tabitha. He did something nice for me, and I did something in return. As friends.”

“As friends,” she echoed with a smirk.

“Not everyone is like you, Tab.”

“What am I like?”

“Appreciative of touch. Open to love and feelings.”

Her expression went still, then it fell. She rose to her bare feet and padded toward me. “Jus—”

I held up a hand. “I’m fine. Everything is fine. I’m just … not like you. And please don’t try to make me.”

“I know you aren’t like me, but I also think you’re lying to yourself if you don’t want to be touched. I also think you want to be open to love more than anything, but you’re scared—”

“Are you a therapist now?” I snapped. “When did you complete your doctorate?”

She frowned. “Don’t be mean.”

I let out a long breath and counted to ten in an effort to calm my ragged nerves. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I might not have had a perfect SAT score or whatever like you, but I’m not stupid.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Shit, now I’d offended Tabitha, who was just about the sweetest person I’d ever met.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “And I don’t think you’re stupid at all. You’re smarter than me when it comes to people. And emotions. And anything that requires social interaction.”

She didn’t respond, but her frown lifted and shifted to sympathy.

“I snapped at you because you maybe hit close to home, okay? But I have boundaries for a reason. I don’t like to be psycho-analyzed. I’ve been through a lot of therapy and it never stops feeling like someone is prodding my brain.”

“I’m sorry I overstepped.” She held out her hands. “Hug?”

Normally I’d shrug her away, but an embrace from Tabitha didn’t sound so bad. I stepped into her arms, and she wrapped them around my back with a tender squeeze. I propped my chin on her shoulder and closed my eyes, returning her hug. Her skin was warm, and her heart beat strong and steady against the stuttering rhythm of my own.

When we pulled away, Hap was smiling. “I like that you two resolve arguments with words. Warriors often just punch it out.”

Tabitha raised her eyebrows at me. “I mean, we could always mud wrestle…”

“No!” I shouted with a laugh, shoving her shoulder.

She giggled and stuck her tongue out at me. “I bet Frankie would do it with me.”

“Sure, when she’s not as big as a house.”

Tabitha twisted her lips to the side. “Okay, maybe I can recruit Naomi.”

I snorted. “Like Gar would allow that.”

“Shit. You’re right.” Then her eyes lit up. “Hap! Wanna mud wrestle?”

He shook his head. “Nice try. I’m not getting a beat down from Xavy for accidentally touching your boob.”

“He wouldn’t mind.”

Hap shot her a scathing look.

She huffed. “Okay maybe he would.”

“Where are your guys now anyway?” I asked.

“Council meeting,” Tab said.

“Shep too?” Usually Shep didn’t attend.

Hap nodded. “In case you haven’t noticed, plans are accelerated. Couple of scouts have reported increased Uldani army activity at Alazar.” He rose to his feet and placed his arm over Tab’s shoulders. “Enjoy the last bit of peace we have. Soon we’ll most likely be on lockdown as we send squads of soldiers out to battle. They’re working on the initial offensive plans now.”

My mouth went dry, and I could only nod as Tabitha and Hap said their goodbyes to leave me alone. When the door shut behind them, I sank down on my bed. I’d been so caught up in my inner turmoil over Nero I’d pushed aside the increasing tensions in the clavas. All the warriors had been walking around with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

I hated being in the dark about what was going on. Control was something I’d never had growing up—not when my father coasted in and out of my life until he knocked up my mom the second time before disappearing forever.

Not when my mother—who was a terrible parent on her best day—died of breast cancer within thirty days of being diagnosed.

And especially not when Fallon and I had to live with my aunt and uncle. My aunt resented our presence, and my uncle enjoyed our presence a little too much, especially when I sprouted boobs overnight.

I shuddered, pushing those memories away. As soon as I turned eighteen, I sought custody of Fallon, worked my way over six years to a bachelor’s degree, and never once let myself feel trapped in an out of control situation again. Well, except for my relationship with Bradly… I shuddered, slamming the door on those memories.

Control over my own life had been paramount to my mental health, and I’d worked hard to maintain it through my mid-to-late twenties. I’d turned thirty feeling confident and settled. That was, until I was abducted by the Rahgul and dumped on this alien planet. I’d tried to wrestle back control of my own life, but with war coming, everything felt uncertain. I’d never been good at sitting on the sidelines when my own well-being was involved.

I’d fought all my life. I couldn’t just stop fighting now, when everything that mattered was on the line, when the outcome meant life or death for all of us. I imagined pregnant Frankie in the hands of the Uldani, and I dug my nails into my palms as anger burned through me.

Frankie was one of the only reasons I hadn’t done something drastic to myself on this planet. Half out of my mind with fear, she’d been the only one to get through to me and show me the Drixonians wouldn’t harm us. I’d trusted her, and she hadn’t let me down. I refused to be a passive bystander should something happen to her.

Why was it that the Drixonians hadn’t consulted with us about what was happening? Why hadn’t they extended an offer to us to help? Hell, we weren’t even doing Rosie the Riveter stuff back at the homestead. Instead us women were being kept in the dark and locked away while the men went off to fight the war. This wasn’t the 1950s.

I knew the council met in a back room of the large dining hall building. I’d seen them trek back there too many times to count, like an ol’ boys club. Well I was going to see for myself what they were up to. Why they didn’t have a diverse council was beyond me. I should have a say in what was happening. For a race of warriors who came from a matriarchal society, they sure liked their all-male leaders.

After taking a small slug of Xavy’s spirits for courage, I slipped out of my room. Because everyone was nosey as hell around here, I tried to keep to the shadows, walking between the buildings and the walls instead of taking the direct route across the grounds to the dining hall. If either Bazel or Tabitha spotted me, I’d never get to my destination without a round of twenty-one questions.

I slipped into a side door of the dining hall that we mostly used to haul in supplies or take out trash. Easing the door shut behind me, I turned and surveyed my next move.

Getting back to the council room was surprisingly easy. Most of the warriors no longer gawked at us women, used to seeing us about the grounds. And I wasn’t known as a friendly one like Tabitha, who pre-Xavy would wave and blow kisses to any Drix who looked her way. Since I ignored most Drix, they in turn ignored me.

I shuffled my way along the wall while warriors stuffed their faces with lunch and then jogged down the hallway leading to the council room. There, a massive door blocked my way, which wasn’t surprising. The good news was that the door wasn’t soundproof. Booming voices could be heard from inside. I pressed my ear to the door and strained to make out the words.

“You only want us to disable one entrance.” I recognized the voice as belonging to Bosa, the Kaluma leader. “How are you going to invade Alazar? They’ll pick you off one by one before you can do any damage.”

“We’re sending one warrior.” That was Daz’s deep rumble. “Two at the most if we can get another one trained.”

“They’ll be vulnerable.”

“We’re aware.” His words sounded heavy, like he knew the weight of his decision. “But this is the only way. We have one warrior who knows the complicated system that the Uldani uses to run their tech. They hide behind their long-range weapons. We shut down their access to it, and the war is about fighting strength.” He paused. “We will win that fight.”

“We will fight at your side.” Kaluma answered. “You mentioned training?”

“We only have one warrior with the tech knowledge. He has advised he could use a partner, but as of yet, we haven’t found a suitable trainee.”

Wait, who were they sending in? They hadn’t mentioned that. And then it dawned on me as I recalled Nero’s massive wall of screens and the dashboard that seemed to control an entire planet. “No,” I whispered as a black hole opened in my gut at the thought of Nero entering Alazar all alone on what could very well be a suicide mission. I imagined Nero hurt. Taken prisoner. Killed. “No,” I choked out as I pressed my fist to my mouth.

And then I heard Nero’s quiet voice, so smooth and poised. “If necessary, I will take on the mission myself.”

My spine stiffened as my mind raced. I was a graphic designer by trade, but they had no idea of my abilities. I was a highly trained penetration testing freelancer in the banking industry. If the Drix needed someone to learn the tech, and fast, I was their woman.

Before I could second-guess my decision or come to my senses, I turned the doorknob and opened the door. Taking a step inside, half a dozen purple eyes turned to me, as well as a set of glowing blue. I only looked at one set as I spoke in a voice as loud and clear as I was able. “I’ll go.”

FOUR

Justine

I held Nero’s gaze, and but he didn’t react. He didn’t look away or censure me. I expected him to grab my arm and lead me from the room like a child, but he seemed ready to hear me out. I licked my lips and shifted my gaze to Daz. “I’ll be the trainee.”

Bosa started laughing, and although the Kaluma were some of the most attractive creatures I’d ever seen in my life, this Bosa was an arrogant asshole. I glared at him. “I don’t see you offering.”

His laughter ended abruptly as his lip curled into a sneer. “I already have a job, little girl. And so do you. Run along and make us some lunch.” His eyes glinted with a wicked smirk. “Return with less clothes on.”

A chair hit the wall, and then in a blur of blue, Nero’s hand wrapped around Bosa’s throat. “Talk to her like that again,” he spat in the Kaluma’s face, “and I don’t give a fleck what you can do, I’ll throw you into the freshas for the portcrewllers to feast on.”

Bosa’s lips curled as he tensed his shoulders “I’d like to see you try, Drix,” he hissed.

“Enough!” Daz roared, the one word echoing off the walls so loudly I was sure the entire dining hall heard it. “Nero, sit.”

“Yeah, Nero,” Bosa mocked. “Behave yourself.”

Daz’s fist slammed down on the table. “Bosa, I’m going to say this one time. As long as you’re here, you treat the females within these walls with respect. If you talk to any of them like that again, I’ll see you suffer for it, do you understand me?” His machets lifted for just a moment. Bosa’s gaze dropped to them, and his jaw clenched before he gave a tight nod. “Understood.”

“As for you, Justine,” he sighed heavily. “No.”

I jerked at the word. “What? What do you mean no?”

“It means you will absolutely not be entering Alazar with Nero to dismantle the Uldani’s electronic infrastructure,” Daz said with a long-suffering sigh. “What else would it mean?”

“I figured we’d have a discussion.” I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to be brave as everyone continued to stare at me. “I have skills. Machines and technology make sense to me. Give me a few days and I’ll learn what needs to be done.”

Daz looked like he was going to speak again, so I rushed to continue talking. “What do you have to lose? I heard Nero say he’d go alone if necessary. If I haven’t learned what I need to in time, then he goes himself. But if I have…” I shrugged. “Then I go too.”

Daz’s jaw clenched. “We cannot risk losing you.”

“You can’t risk losing Nero either, but you’re sending him into the lion’s den.”

Daz cocked his head with a confused frown.

I growled in frustration. “A salibri’s burrow. Where her cubs are. How does that analogy work?”

“It works well,” Nero murmured.

I decided to plead my case with him. “What do you think? Can you teach me?”

“Nero—” Daz began.

“I can teach you.” Nero ignored his drexel, which I knew was treading a thin line of disobedience. “But I decide whether you’re ready. If I don’t think you know enough, then you don’t go.”

That was a slippery slope. I felt a little like he was appeasing me when he intended to say no at the end of our time no matter what. But I’d have to deal with that when the time came. “Okay.”

“What?” Daz sputtered as he whirled on Nero. “No. I said no.”

“Please, Daz.” I let a little bit of desperation bleed into my voice. “You have to understand this is my life too. My fate depends on the outcome of this war. I can’t sit here within these walls while you do all the work. I want to be in control of my destiny. It’s only fair.” I swallowed. “I’m not mated. I’m not pregnant. And I don’t intend to be. If something happens to me, then it’s no loss.” I ignored a rumbling growl coming from Nero.

Daz leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the table in front of him. He spoke in an even, measured tone. “You mean to tell me that Fra-kee and the other women will be okay with you going on this dangerous mission?”

“It’s not up to them,” I whispered, fighting back the wave of emotion at never seeing them again. “But I’ll be fighting for them as much as I’m fighting for myself. I want them to be happy with their mates and love their babies and live a full life. I want that for them, and I want to be a part of making that happen. I know I’m able. Let me, Daz. Please.”

Daz didn’t speak for a long time. He took his time gazing around the room, meeting his brothers’ eyes one at a time. I saw a few nods. Gar didn’t react at all. Xavy looked at me like I was a hero already.

And finally, Daz looked me square in the eye. “You have five rotations.”

I nearly wilted to the floor with relief. “Thank you, Daz. Thank you.”

“And I might be drexel, but on this one, I’m sitting out. You have to break the news to the females that you volunteered for this and face my mate’s wrath.”

I swallowed, knowing that was going to suck. “I’ll do it.”

He nodded to Nero, who rose from the table and approached me with a piercing look that sent a shiver down my spine. This was the one flaw in my plan I hadn’t considered. How could I stay away from Nero when we had to spend the next five rotations side-by-side?

Fuck it. I was preparing to take on the Uldani. I had enough willpower to resist one sexy Drixonian. Didn’t I?

FIVE

Nero

I hadn’t been able to look away from Justine. In a room full of some of the most powerful warriors in the galaxy, she stood with her chin up and her spine straight. There had barely been a quiver in her voice. I’d always thought she was beautiful, but she’d never been more beautiful than when she stood up for herself in that room.

Too bad I hated every word that had come out of her mouth. I’m not mated. I’m not pregnant. And I don’t intend to be. If something happens to me, then it’s no loss. How very wrong she was. I intended to mate her, I intended to put a few chits in her belly, and her loss would absolutely destroy me. I wasn’t sure what to do, be angry at her for barging into that meeting, or happy that we’d have to spend the next five rotations together.

We were both silent the entire trek back to my hut.

Justine walked at my side, staring straight ahead, but I could tell her mind was racing.

I’d learned that about Justine—she was always thinking, always analyzing. All the females had their strengths. Justine was smart. Cunning. She thought ahead. Usually. Today, she showed she still had a few impulsive decisions in her. When we reached my hut, I directed her inside and locked the door behind me. She sucked in a breath at the sound of the bolt sliding home.

I sat down at my meal table and slid the other chair to face me. With one finger, I gestured her to sit on it. Her jaw clenched, like she wanted to refuse my order, but with a toss of her hair, she sank down onto the seat with a plop. The leg creaked.

We sat like that, with the echoing of the chair leg’s surrounding us along with the harsh exhales of our breaths. I thought I had more time. Until this last meeting, I’d planned to continue my slow slide into Justine’s life. But that couldn’t happen now. We had five rotations before we left for Alazar. No way would I die on a mission before she knew just what it meant to be my mate.

I rubbed my palms together as I went with the first question on my mind. “Why were at the door of our council room?”

“I heard you all were meeting about the timeline of our attack on the Uldani being accelerated.” She spoke firmly with her hands folded in her lap

“But why?” I asked. “Did you plan from the beginning to offer yourself?”

“No. I just wanted to know what was going on.”

“If you would have talked to me after the meeting, I would have told you the plan.”

She shook her head. “I needed to hear for myself.”

“Why?”

“Stop asking me why,” she growled, showing her blunt little teeth.

“Then answer me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. “You can’t make me.”

I was a patient warrior, but she was testing me. “If you can’t be honest with me, then this whole deal is off.”

Her eyes went wide as her bravado faded. “What?”

I was playing dirty. This was an attempt to get her to open up to me. I could observe Justine all I wanted, but I wouldn’t truly know her until I learned what made her the way she was. There was a hardness about her that the other females didn’t have. I respected it, but I wanted to know if she’d built that casing to shield her from something or if she was born like that.

She looked close to panicking. “But this doesn’t have anything to do with teaching me the Uldani tech.”

“I want to know your motive. That matters. When there’s a life or death decision to be made, I need to know where your loyalty is.”

“What, like you think I’m going to defect to the Uldani or something?” She laughed incredulously.

I shook I head. “No, but your motive matters. You said you’re doing this for your girls, but there was another reason. I could see it in your eyes.”

She scoffed. “You’re not that smart Nero. You can’t see into my soul.” I only watched her patiently. She eyed me. “Wait, can you see into my soul?”

I rubbed the nubs on my brow with a sigh, “Justine—”

“Fine,” she huffed as she gripped the sides of her seat. “Geez. Fine. I’ll bare my feelings to you.” Under her breath she muttered. “Suddenly everyone’s a therapist.”

“What’s—?”

“I like to have control.” She spat out. “Wait, that’s not really right. I don’t like not having control. When everything is happening to me, and I’m not an active participant in my life, I panic. I spent … a lot of my childhood having no control over anything—my clothes, my food, my home, my freaking parents. I don’t mean I came from a strict household. I mean I came from a home that was unsafe and scary. I couldn’t stop the strange men my mother dated from coming in the house. I couldn’t walk to the store for food for my sister and I, so I was dependent on whatever scraps my mom brought home from the diner where she worked.”

My cora pounded in my chest. I didn’t understand a lot of her words, but I understood scary and not safe. I understood that her mother didn’t take proper care of her.

“Your father?” I asked.

She shrugged. “That was another thing. He sometimes rolled in and would stay for a few days, but mostly he was gone. Just… gone.”

Anger burned in my gut, and I fisted my palms to keep from smashing something. “Your sire didn’t take care of you?”

She held my gaze and slowly shook her head. Her hair caught on her long lashes and she blinked it away. “No,” she whispered. “He didn’t.”

Blowing out a breath, she released her white-knuckle grip on her chair and cupped her knees. “When I was old enough to have control of my life, I took that seriously and worked hard not to be dependent on anyone else. Arriving on this planet…” her lip trembled before she drew it between her teeth. “That was my worst nightmare. I couldn’t understand any of you. I didn’t know who would hurt me. I felt so out of control. I managed to get that back within these walls, but now with the war looming, I’m panicking again. I can feel the tension in the air, and all I know is that I have to be a part of this. I need to have a hand in my own future, my own destiny. No one will fight harder for me than me.” She thumped her palm over her left breast.

“I’ll fight for you,” I whispered. I meant that in so many ways.

Her face softened. “I know you will. And that’s why I volunteered to do this with you. If I had to team up with Bosa, I’d just offer myself to the Uldani right now.”

“Bosa’s an arrogant fleck,” I muttered.

She smiled. “You got that right.”

“But he’ll do what needs to be done. He’s invested in seeing the Uldani defeated as much as us.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “I believe you.” Leaning forward in her chair, she looked at me imploringly. “So, was that enough? Will you teach me?”

“More than enough. And I promise you, Justine, that as long as I breathe, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you maintain that control.”

“Thank you,” she breathed, her shoulders visibly relaxing.

“But that’s not all.”

“Oh?” She leaned back in her chair with a slight smile. “What’s next on your interrogation agenda.”

“Since you don’t like feeling out of control, I’m going to give you a warning.”

Her eyes clouded. “A warning?”

“You have one rotation to get used to the idea that I’m your mate.”

Her mouth dropped and for a moment, she didn’t move. I wasn’t sure she breathed. Her jaw flapped before she squeaked out two words. “I’m sorry?”

“I was taking it slow. Getting you used to me, showing you how I’d treat you and respect you. I gave you space to come to me. But that’s over now. No more slow. No more space.”

“You were … what?” Her mouth hung open as she rubbed her palms on her thighs.

I tapped my temple. “Work it out up here. You have until sundown tomorrow. But then I make my move.”

“You make your…” she sputtered. “What the hell, Nero?”

I rose to my feet and she only gawked at me as she remained sitting. “You’re my mate. I’ve known it since the rotation I saw you. I knew you weren’t ready then, but you’re ready now.”

She leapt to her feet. “I thought I made it pretty clear that I didn’t want a mate.”

I stepped closer to her until my stomach brushed the front of her chest. She sucked in a breath as her eyelashes fluttered, and a slight tremor shook her limbs. “It’s not clear by the way you react to my touch.” I cupped my neck and rubbed my thumb along her jawline.

“Nero,” she whispered as she leaned into my hold with half-closed eyes. This small surrender told me I was making the right decision.

“One rotation, Justine,” I murmured. Her eyes shot open and she jerked away. I held up a finger. “One.” I gestured to the screens lining my wall. “Now let’s get to it.”

I left her standing in the middle of the floor to process my words. When she joined me a moment later, her posture stiff and her lips set in a thin line, I smiled to myself. I was going to enjoy every minute of this.

Justine

Nero’s words had left me reeling. At first, I’d been stunned, but that emotion had quickly shifted to indignation. How dare he? I wished I had time to go sit in my room by myself and stew. I needed a plan to thwart his advances, and I couldn’t work on that while also listening to him teach me how we planned to infiltrate the Uldani fortress.

We had five rotations. I had to get my shit together and focus. Nero on the other hand, seemed totally fine, pleased even, sitting beside me with a secret smile I wanted to kiss off his face. No, slap! I wanted to slap it off his face. Yeah, that was it.

Shit, he was talking. I switched mental gears and clued in. Now wasn’t the time. I could think about it when I lay in my furs at night. Alone. Which was how I liked it.

The dozen screens in front of us all showed different areas of the Night Kings boundaries. The dashboard, or mainframe, looked similar to something I’d see in the cockpit of a 747. There was no keyboard, only a series of small touchpads, switches, and joysticks. The Drixonians had a written language, but it looked like a bunch of slashes, X’s, and O’s to me, like some foreign binary code. The Uldani language was a whole other beast with lots of curls that reminded me of filigree.

Nero explained that he was fluent in most written languages in the Rinian galaxy. Because of course since he was basically a genius. While I could understand the Uldani with my updated translator implant, that only worked for oral languages.

“It doesn’t matter you haven’t learned to read their language, or ours,” he explained. “The symbols are going to be the same. Most of what the Uldani use is universal.”

I nodded since that made sense, just like the power signal—a circle with a line through the bottom—was recognizable all over Earth.

“Thanks to the controller Gar stole off the cruiser, I was able to tap into the system before the Uldani realized it and threw up a firewall.” He tapped on a track pad until what looked like a drone aerial shot appeared on the screen in front of us. I leaned closer to see that Alazar looked every much like a massive walled city. There were neighborhoods of varying sized homes, a section of several-story buildings that seemed like a business district or high-rise apartments, as well as one large low-level structure that appeared to be a hub. But what was most interesting were the many floating pods that hung in the air above the city like small blimps.

“That’s where the royals live,” Nero said, pointing to the blimp homes.

“They live in those things?”

“Their elite live in these buildings,” he pointed to the skyscraper-type apartments. “And their middle-class lives on the city grounds.” He gestured to several of the neighborhoods. “The lowest class is…” he pointed to a large set of stairs, as wide as a house, which descended below the surface. “Underground.” he finished. “Most of them are miners.”

I wrinkled my nose. “They live down there?”

“Conditions are not good. Air quality is terrible.”

“And the rich bastards live above it all.”

“That’s right.”

“I didn’t think I could hate the Uldani more.”

Nero tapped the trackpad, and the aerial shot changed to a black and white set of blueprints. “The Kaluma will get us inside the walls. We then need to access the mainframe which is in an underground network of tunnels. Sax and Val were kept down there.” The image shifted to a side view of a leveled underground base which made me think of a complicated bunny burrow. He pointed to the lowest level. “This is it. Their signal tower emerges from here. That’s where we have to go.”

“Underground?” I shuddered. “That leaves us vulnerable with no real escape.”

He nodded, somberly. “I know.”

That … sounded not good. “Well shit.”

He snorted. “Your curse is right. So now you know what we’re working with. Today, I’m going to teach you the basic skills you’ll need. Tomorrow, I’ll go over the specific plan. The next three rotations, we practice.”

I had … half a day to learn the basics. I had a feeling we weren’t getting much sleep tonight. “Call Xavy on your comm,” I said.

“Why?”

“Tell him to have Tab bring us some pula. And snacks. Lots of snacks.” I rubbed my hands together. “Let’s do this.”

When Nero smiled at me, I ignored how his visible pride lit up a glow within in me.

That night, with blurry, dry eyes and a headache that felt nuclear, I didn’t even have the energy to walk to my room. I considered calling one of the girls and asking them to cart my ass to bed, but Nero gently took a hold of my shoulders and steered me toward his furs.

I dug in my heels when I realized what he was doing, but he gave me a quick squeeze with his fingers before letting me go. “I’m not sleeping with you, Justine. You can have my furs all to yourself. But you’re too tired to make it to your room, and we’ll be up early anyway. Just rest.” He pointed to his chair. “I’ll be right there. I sleep in front of my screens most nights anyway.”

For some reason, that news sent a pang of sorrow in my chest. I imagined Nero in his hut alone with the responsibility of the whole clavas on his shoulders as he surveyed his screens. “Doesn’t anyone ever take over that duty for you?”

“What duty?”

“Watching for threats.”

“I don’t have to watch them all the time. I have alerts, but lately I’ve felt it necessary to keep an eye on them too.”

“And no one helps you?”

He stared at me as if that thought never occurred to him. “It’s my duty.”

“Yeah, but when do you sleep? When do you get to just relax?”

He let out a dry laugh. “I don’t relax well.”

“I noticed,” I admitted.

He cocked his head at me in question.

I shrugged. “You’re the calmest of all the warriors, but you’re always alert, always thinking. I think you deserve to be let off the hook every now and then.”

“Are you worried about me?” He didn’t ask in a patronizing way. He sounded genuinely curious.

“Sure,” I answered around the lump in my throat. Today was full of admissions.

“I found happiness every time I was in your presence.” His words sent a piercing arrow right through my boundaries. How did he manage to do that with so few words?

On top of that, all I felt was guilt, because I’d rarely even given him the time of day. “But we never spent a lot of time together.”

“I know,” he said in a low murmur. “But I believed one day that would change.”

I clutched at my shirt over my heart with a groan. “You’re killing me here, Nero.”

He frowned and reached for me. “Are you in pain?”

“No, I—it’s an expression. But why can’t you be a dick? Why do you have to be so nice to me? I haven’t done anything to deserve your kindness.”

Those all-seeing eyes pierced me as he spoke in a careful voice, as if speaking to a scared deer. “I don’t think being mates is about a checklist of what we do for each other.”

He slayed me. How did I tell him that was all I knew? That love in my life was always conditional on how I acted, the words I said, the food I cooked, how often I put out… I shuddered. I didn’t want to think about that life. Not here in the safety of Nero’s hut with his warm purple eyes radiating a feeling I’d never felt before. I swallowed and turned away before crawling into his bed. His furs smelled like him, and I snuggled into the bedding with the thickest fur pulled up to my chin.

I didn’t look at Nero, and he didn’t move for a long time until I heard him toe off his boots before padding over to his chair in his bare feet.

I expected my anxiety to skyrocket since bedtime was when my brain worked overtime replaying everything that had happened during the day. My anxiety loved nothing more than dwelling on the events of the day, rolling them over and over in my mind until they snowballed to exaggerated proportions until it was three in the morning and I’d gotten no sleep. Especially on a day like today, when a lot had happened I hadn’t process yet, I waited for my brain to take off like a hamster on a wheel.

Except it didn’t. From my cocoon in the furs, I could hear Nero’s steady breathing, and his presence stilled the rat race of my mind. He’d warned me and let me know what was to come. He hadn’t pushed yet, and even though he planned to, he’d given me a pretty large window of time to raise my defenses.

But to be fully prepared, I needed to know exactly what he meant about not waiting. What would happen tomorrow at sundown? Was he planning something minor like a kiss or something zero to sixty like butt plugs? Ah, there was that snowball working itself into a frenzy in my head.

“Nero?” My voice sounded loud in the darkness.

His chair squeaked as he turned to me, but his face was in shadow, backlit by his screens. I could just barely make out the glow of his eyes.

I swallowed. “How do you plan to make your move?”

His chair creaked again as he leaned back and propped his elbow on the armrest of his chair, then cradled his chin in his palm. “Are you working on a defense?”

“Um, no.” I snorted with a little too much indignation. “Not at all. No way. Why would I do that?” I scoffed loudly.

His chuckle sounded sexy, and I hated that I felt the deep rumble in my belly. “Well first you’ll move in here permanently. We’ll eat all our meals together. When you’re upset about something, you’ll tell me, and we’ll talk it out so you’re no longer filling with anger. We can talk about the family members we miss and plan some activities together for when we win this war. Mate stuff.”

I gaped at him. This was… no. Kisses and groping—while they scared me—were something I could compartmentalize, but this… sharing of feelings? This couple shit? Oh, hell no, that was just a low blow. “Excuse me?”

“What were you expecting?”

“I was expecting you to throw me on the dashboard and ravage me. Give me hickeys.”

“What’s a hickey?”

“Don’t you want to … do cock things?”

He was not successful in suppressing a laugh. “Cock things?”

“You know what I mean!”

“Sure, I want to stuff you full of cock, but that’s not what’s important. Not to you. Not to me. I know you’ll be able to give me your body but shy away from giving me the rest of you. That’s not what I want. We’ll be mates, Justine. Inside and out.”

I began to tremble. This was an absolute nightmare. Why couldn’t I have gotten ass slapping Xavy for a mate? He wouldn’t have wanted to have intellectual discussions about our feelings. “Nero, that’s… you don’t want that.” I hated how weak my voice sounded.

When he spoke, his voice held an undercurrent of a warning. “I warned you, Justine. Don’t tell me how I feel.”

The growl his in his voice made me shiver, sending confusing flickers of attraction to mingle with my nerves. “I don’t mean it that way. I mean that you don’t want to get to know me. I’m not sure who you think I am, but I’m not that woman. You deserve someone who’s going to be what you want. I’m not what anyone wants.” I winced as soon as the last few word left my mouth. I hadn’t mean to confess that. From the outside, I was a confident bitch, but on the inside, I was terrified of everyone finding out I was really a fraud.

He was quiet for so long I thought he’d given up on the conversation when he spoke again. “I want to know who made you feel like you’re not what anyone wants. You’re what I want. I know it. I’ll prove it, Justine. That’s how I plan to make my move.”

He turned around, so all I could see was the back of his chair. I swallowed as my heart raced. I scrambled, trying to throw up mental walls but only got about half of one slapped with mortar before my eyes drifted shut and I was out.

SIX

Nero

I opened my eyes to the sound of wet slurping. I jolted in my chair to find Justine sitting beside me with her hair pulled back into a short ponytail at the crown of her head while loudly sipping on a steaming mug of pula. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” she smiled at me.

I rubbed my eyes and eyed the shadows on the ground, noting the sun had just began to creep over the horizon. “You’re up early.”

“I’ve always been an early riser,” she shrugged as she handed me my own mug.

I eyed her curiously. She seemed in a good mood this morning, which I didn’t expect would be the case based on our conversation last night. She’d been terrified. I had heard her harsh breaths from across my hut. But this morning, her eyes were clear and her hands steady. She didn’t shy away from me.

I took a sip of my pula. “What were your mornings like back on Earth?”

“I thought I had until sundown before the grilling?” she smirked.

“Grilling?”

She chuckled as she blew on the surface of her pula. “Never mind. So, my mornings…” She tapped her lips in thought.

“Yes.”

“Well, I was self-employed, so I worked from home. I had my own graphic design business, so I worked with clients on business logos, brochures, campaigns, things like that.”

Almost none of those words made sense to me, but I was fascinated to hear her talk about her business. “What does self-employed mean?”

“Uh, it means I worked for myself. Or rather, I was my own boss. My own … drexel, I guess. The drexel of my household which consisted of me and a beta fish.”

Pride filled my chest. “Of course, you were a drexel on your planet. I would expect nothing less from you.”

“I wasn’t…” she grimaced. “Never mind, that works. So anyway, I would wake up and immediately drink coffee, which is a bit like pula. It has a natural drug in it that boosts your energy levels. I’d eat a meal while checking my email, which was how we communicated wirelessly through our networks. They are written letters.”

I nodded, that part I understood.

“Sometimes I’d take a walk in my neighborhood. I lived in an apartment in Philadelphia, and one of my favorite things to do in my free time was to visit graveyards.”

“Graveyards?”

“Yeah, it’s where we bury our dead.” She eyed me with a defiant look, like she expected me to be disgusted.

“Why did you enjoy visiting graveyards?” I asked neutrally.

Her shoulders relaxed. “There’s something peaceful and reverent about a cemetery. We carve their names in stone plaques, as well as the years they were alive, and sometimes a little bit about them. Like, beloved brother or something like that. I often would make up stories in my head about the lives of those people in the graves. Sometimes…” she shrugged as she picked at her nails. “Sometimes the dead people were a hell of a lot nicer than anyone living.”

I wanted to give that back to her. I loved the way her eyes went soft and her expression lost some of its harshness. “On Corin, we honor our dead with devas shrines.”

Her eyes went round, and her full lips parted as she leaned toward me. “Really?” There was so much childlike hope in her voice that I nearly melted. She tucked a leg under her, attention focused on me as she propped her chin on her hand. “I haven’t heard of these. Tell me about them.”

“We burn our dead and mix their ashes with a clay. After forming it into the chosen shape of the devas—often a large spike—we let it dry and harden. Villages had their own, but our main city of Granit had a large, elaborate devas shrine honoring our most important dead.”

Her eyes were huge and full of wonder. “Wow. I’m sure that’s incredible to see, and a great way to remember your loved ones. How come you don’t have devas shrines here on Torin?”

“The clay we used was specific to Corin. During the Uprising, we weren’t able to recover all the bodies of our dead, but those we did, we have kept their ashes, intending to honor them properly…” I swallowed as the familiar guilt and anger returned. “Upon our return home.”

Her hand settled on my arm, warm and soothing, as if she could sense my inner turmoil. “You’ll get home one day, Nero. I know it.”

I didn’t know it, although I’d spend my last breath in an effort to see my brothers return home. And maybe that was why I opened my mouth and made another promise I wasn’t sure I could keep. “One day I will take you to our devas shrines on Corin, where we honor our dead.”

Her eyes misted. “I’d like that. Tell me about life Corin. What was it like?”

Usually I avoided thinking about my home planet, but I found myself wanting Justine to know what it was like. I told her about Granit, a shining, bustling metropolis where buildings rose high into the sky containing offices and the streets were lined with vendors selling homemade wares.

“I grew up in a small village with Daz and Sax called Norjic. It wasn’t anything fancy. I grew up in a hut similar to this, but we had everything we could have wanted—food, clothes, toys. There was a large moke tree in the center of our village which we played on all the time. It was where I’d learned to climb and how to fall. I learned how to fight under those branches.”

Justine sighed wistfully. “It sounds so nice. I have to admit, I’m a little jealous at your upbringing.”

The images of my home planet vanished as I focused on the female in front of me. “Justine, as long as I’m alive, I’ll make sure you don’t have to seek the company of the dead to be treated like you deserve, as a smart, brave female who will sacrifice all she has for her friends.”

Her body jerked and with tears swimming in her eyes, she turned away on a sniff. Swiping at her cheeks, she blew out a breath. “Dammit Nero,” she muttered. “You’re lethal, you know that?”

“Lethal to what?”

I swore I heard her say, “my heart,” before she cleared her throat and slapped her hands on my control panel. “Well, daylight’s burning. We should get started. Don’t you think?”

I nodded and resumed teaching.

I’d expected yesterday to be grueling. I’d tried to teach some skills to warriors in the past, and while some knew enough of the basics to fill in for me if I was injured, none picked it up as fast as Justine.

Satisfied with the progress we’d made yesterday, I started explaining the specific plan we’d created with the Kaluma. They’d get us in the walls undetected, but after that, we were on our own. The Kaluma couldn’t blank forever, as it used up a massive amount of energy for them. Unfortunately, we couldn’t operate any of their long-range weapons—which they’d used to shoot down Xavy’s cruiser—because first, they’d be detected by the Uldani and second, they couldn’t do much to an underground facility. The only way we could disrupt the network was hands-on in the control room.

“In short,” I explained, “We have to access the security database, pass the ten permission levels, and then wait for the shutdown sequence to finish.”

“In short,” she deadpanned. “Yeah, easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

She huffed a wry laugh. “It means if this was any other job, I’d say we’re fucked. But you’re a genius, and I’m a genius, and we have literally everything riding on this, so I’m going to give it my all.” She huffed out a determined breath. “I want to be an aunt to some damn alien babies.”

“Do you want chits?” I asked, throwing the question out there thinking she’d side-eye me and refuse to answer.

She surprised me when she shrugged. “Not really. I mean, on Earth, absolutely not.”

“And here?”

“Now? No, we’re on the verge of war.”

“What about after the war?”

She sighed heavily, and I braced when her shoulders slumped defeatedly. “I’m not trying to evade your question, but that’s not something I can answer. In an ideal world, would I like to be a mother?” A small smile brightened her face. “Sure, I loved taking care of my sister when we had food to eat and proper clothes to wear.”

I stiffened. “Our chits would always be able to fill their bellies and clothe their bodies. I’d make sure of it.”

Her grin widened as she patted my arm. “I believe you. How’s this for an answer? I’ll have this conversation with you when we step foot on Corin.”

There was another reward that I wanted so very badly dangling just out of my reach. I answered her with a tight nod and ignored the frown that crossed her face at my reaction.

After going over more of the plans for her, we broke for the mid-day meal. Bazel delivered our food with a big smile, clearly pleased she’d been asked to do a job. She babbled away about filling our plates before wandering around my room, her little fingers hovering just above the control panel.

She was curious, so while Justine began to eat, I showed Bazel how to perform a few tasks, such as switching the monitors between my eyes at our borders. She picked it up quickly, murmuring, “Wow,” while taking in the screens before her.

“But remember, no touching any of this without me or Justine here, okay? I’ll show you whatever you want, but it’s important for now that we supervise. I control a lot of things that are vital to everyone’s safety.”

Bazel turned to me, a solemn look in her eyes when she nodded. “I promise, Nero.”

I ruffled her hair. She was a good chit, and the future of her species. Just knowing a female with Drixonian blood lived was enough for me to do anything to ensure her survival. “Good.”

Bazel left shortly after, promising to return with our last meal of the day. I whispered to her to include a bottle of Xavy’s spirits and she shot me a grin before jogging out the door.

I joined Justine at the table and dug into my food. She was quiet for a while, and I knew by now when Justine was quiet, she was working on something in her mind. So, I let her think it through until she said softly, “You’re good with her.”

“Bazel?”

“You didn’t snap at her to get away from your controls. You treated her with respect, taught her a few things, and explained the importance of what you do.”

To stall, I placed my antella leg back on my plate and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Like Justine, I went quiet when I had to think hard about something too. “No, I didn’t snap at her.”

Justine’s eyes were on her plate. “She’ll remember that.”

“Justine.”

She lifted her gaze, and her eyes swam with tears. I cursed under my breath and reached for her, but she held her palm up to ward me off. With more self-control than I realized I had, I held off pulling her into my arms.

“She’ll remember how you treated her,” she swiped at her cheeks. “Because I know what it’s like not to be treated with that respect as a child. It sucks.”

I didn’t like how a few words from her about her past was enough to make my head hot with anger. I gritted my teeth. “If I had a way to travel to Earth, I’d go there now and pound every male who treated you with anything less than respect.”

Her laugh was short and humorless. “The list is short, but boy, did they manage to pack a punch.”

My hands curled into fists. “Who were these males?”

She inhaled sharply. “They don’t matter now. One is dead and the other is two galaxies away.”

“They don’t matter, but what they did to you does, because it still affects you today.”

Her head dropped between her shoulders, and she looked so defeated that I almost told her to forget it, that she could keep her secrets. But I was selfish, and I wanted her, all of her. So, I held my tongue until she lifted her head with a resigned sigh. “I’ll give you my tragic backstory just this once and then I won’t bring it up again. My mom died when I was young. I went to live with my aunt—her sister—and her husband. He was always creepy but when I… matured.” She held her hands out as if she were cupping her breasts. “He took it to another level.”

I sought to control the rush of fire flowing through my veins. “How?”

“Comments. Touching. The only reason he didn’t take it as far as he wanted was because I had a bedroom door that locked from the inside, and I was really, really good at sneaking around behind his back. I got my sister out of that house before he could pay attention to her.”

This was … unheard of to me. “You were family?”

“Well, we weren’t related by blood—”

“A male from your family touched you when you were a chit?” I was going to pop a blood vessel in my eye.

She cringed at my shout. “Um. Over the clothes stuff. Kissing. So … yes.”

I pounded the table with a closed fist. Plates rattled and a jug of qua toppled over. Justine caught it before it spilled and placed it upright with a shaky hand. “Nero—”

“I need a moment,” I said through clenched teeth. I imagined a Drixonian male leering at Bazel, and my vision blurred. I panted through my anger, only holding on by a thin hair because of the fear in Justine’s eyes at my reaction.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I had a lot of therapy to reach that conclusion though.”

“Tell me,” I swallowed. “Tell me what you mean about getting your sister out of the house. Tell me why you’re who you are now.”

Justine

That was a loaded question. My stomach was queasy from talking about this, and I hated how my voice trembled when I spoke. But in way, this purging felt good. The thing about trauma was that it wasn’t one and done. I didn’t just magically get over it and keep plowing forward. There were setbacks. Relapses in mental health. And while I had been on a good path on Earth, coming here had dredged up a lot of old, out-of-control feelings I hadn’t dealt with since taking a step on Torin soil.

Nero was a safe space to lay out my past, and his anger over the way I’d been treated felt a little like vindication. “I… well okay. As soon as I was able, I left my aunt and uncle’s house and gained custody of my sister. She was still a kid then—she’s ten years younger than me. My uncle died shortly after in a car accident. I worked a job and went to school. I guess, you’d consider a trade school. That was where I learned graphic designed and programming.” I waved a hand at his control panel. “Tech stuff.”

He nodded.

“It took me longer than most people because I had to work and go to school. Most go to school full-time, but I was supporting me and my sister. But I—” I shrugged. “I didn’t want to have to rely on anyone ever again.”

He audibly ground his teeth before he asked, “Were there any males in your life?”

I pressed my lips together before answering. “A few.”

“Did they treat you with respect?”

I winced. Bradley had been a mistake I should have seen coming. I ignored the red flags. As soon as I realized how far I’d fallen under his control, I’d managed to drag myself out from under his thumb. I kicked him out the next day and changed the locks. “Not really, because I didn’t necessarily have a lot of respect for myself.”

His eyes blazed, and reached across the table, feeling the need to soothe him, which was crazy based on this conversation topic. “Hey, I made a lot of progress since then. On myself. Coming here has dredged up a lot of negative thoughts, but I’ve been better.”

“I don’t understand.” He was seething. I’d never seen Nero like this. “If you were Drixonian, you would have tested high on the aptitude tests. You would have been placed in the development fast track like my sisters, where you would have designed new programs, weapons—” his face fell as his voice caught. “You would have been revered.”

He said the last word on a near growl, and I felt the word seep into every pore of my skin. It washed away the grittiness I’d often felt, and the bone-deep fear I wasn’t enough. That there was something wrong with me

There wasn’t anything wrong with me. And the revelation was like a splash to the face with cold water. There was something wrong with my pervy uncle and the way females on Earth were treated. I’d just been born on the wrong damn planet and in the wrong fleshy body. I should have been born with blue skin and horns on Planet Corin.

“I don’t need to be revered,” I whispered. Because I didn’t need any male’s approval to be exalted. “I just need to be let free to fly as high as I want.”

“You are now,” he spoke through a clenched jaw, his eyes still firing. “With us, you’re revered and respected the way you always should have been. As soon as this war is over, you’ll be free to fly, Justine.”

I was not going to cry again. I wasn’t. But Nero’s figure turned a bit blurry until I had to sniff. It was then I realized the only light in the hut were the screens and the soft flickering of the lantern. It was sundown. My deadline.

Glancing out the dark window over my shoulder, I turned to find Nero watching me.

He sat with his back straight against the chair, one massive hand on his knee and the other still clenched on the tabletop.

Needing something to do with my hands, I cleared my throat and stood. With our leaf plates in my hand, I walked over to Nero’s trash bin and tossed the remnants of our dinner. I swiped my palms together and strolled along the front of his massive control fan. “So—” I turned only to find Nero in front of me. I hadn’t even heard him move. I made a squeak in surprise and then swallowed. “Um. So. It’s sundown.”

He flinched. So quick I nearly missed it, but it was there.

His throat worked and he ducked his head as he avoided looking me in the eyes. “It is, but I won’t be making a move.”

I went stiff, and despite my anxiety all day about this deadline, disappointment swamped me. “What?”

He shook his head. “You want to fly, Justine. I won’t be the one responsible for trying to control you and claim you.”

I blinked at him, struck speechless. “You… but I thought you said…” I clamped my jaw shut before I could say something I couldn’t take back. Why was I so disappointed? I’d want to avoid his affections, so why was this hitting me so hard?

Because he was rejecting me. That was why. I’d laid out who I was, and he’d decided that I wasn’t for him. Well, fine. I didn’t want him anyway. Not at all. Not even a little bit. I sniffed. This was ridiculous. I was ridiculous. I made to turn away, but he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. I resisted, but he held firm. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s nothing wrong. It’s fine. You’re right. I don’t want anyone controlling me, and I’m sure you realized I’m a hell of a lot more of a mess than you thought. It’s okay, you’re not the first one who doesn’t want to take on me and my issues.” I shrugged out of his grasp. “We don’t have time for a romance anyway. We have a lot of work to do.”

But I didn’t get far.

With a twist of his body, Nero pinned me with my butt on the edge of the control panel, his arms caging me in with his face inches from mine.

I gasped at the intensity in his eyes, the violet sending off an otherworldly glow as he pinned me with his gaze. “You misunderstand me,” he snarled. Struck dumb, all I could do was stare back. “There is nothing you can do to make me want you less. If anything, hearing about all you are has only convinced me more I’d be honored to have you as a mate. But that’s why, despite my self-control hanging by a flecking hair, I’m trying to respect your wishes and not push. The last thing I want is to be the one who grounds you, little bird.”

I sucked in a breath, finding so much to analyze there, including how he knew what a bird was. All those feathered thoughts flew out the window when his face loomed closer and the softest brush of his lips coasted across mine. “And as far as us not having time… I’ve committed my life to the survival of my species, but right now, I’d let the whole world burn if it meant I had the chance to make you mine.”

My heart stuttered in my chest, and my breath caught as my lungs compressed. Unable to vocalize how much his words meant to me, I grabbed the sides of his face and smashed our lips together.

He let out a grunt of surprise, but that didn’t last long. It was like I’d given him the permission to be let off his leash, because immediately his arms circled my back and he pressed me to his chest.

He deepened the kiss, sliding his long tongue past my lips to explore every inch of my mouth. I lashed my tongue along his, the feel of his ball piercings sending jolts of pleasure down my spine to pool in my core. He kissed me like the world was ending. Because … maybe it was.

We were still kissing when the door to his hut flew open. Nero pulled away from me on a jerk to hiss, “What the fleck?” as Daz’s body filled the doorframe.

Daz didn’t say a word about us clutching each other. His eyes were wild as he took a step inside, his bulk clogging the room with tension. “The plan has changed. You two leave now.”

SEVEN

Justine

“Now?” I shrieked.

Nero shoved his body away from me to round on his drexel. “The fleck you say.”

“You have two yoras.”

Nero’s nostrils flared. “We haven’t had time to practice—”

“And there’s nothing I can do about it.” Daz’s jaw was hard. “The Uldani are seeking reinforcements from the Plikens. We have to get inside and shut down their communication now.”

I felt like I had whiplash. One minute Nero had been kissing the hell out of me, and now I was being thrown into the lion’s den with a few hours’ notice. Nero didn’t look any happier about the news. His shoulders heaved and his fists were clenched as if poised to fight. I’d never seen him act like this toward any of his brothers.

I stepped behind him and placed a hand on his arm. His eyes closed briefly before his shoulders drooped. He let his chin fall to his chest as he braced his hands on his hips, his posture defeated.

To Daz’s credit, he didn’t mention Nero’s near challenge. He remained stiff and focused. “I’m sorry, brother,” he said. “I don’t want this either.”

“I know.” Nero’s voice was heavy.

“Justine will stay here since you didn’t get the full time to train her.”

“No!” I shouted, stepping out from behind Nero to stalk a few paces to toward Daz.

Daz jerked at my vehemence and then his eyes narrowed. “This is not your decision.”

“Nero needs my help,” I protested. “And he taught me everything I need to know. Right, Nero?” I turned on him. “Right? Tell him.”

For a long moment, Nero only stared at me. The weight of the world seemed to settle on his shoulders. He didn’t look away, and his gaze held an immense amount of sadness.

With dawning horror, I realized he was going to agree with Daz and forbid me to go. All that talk about letting me be free and about understanding I needed to be in control. It didn’t matter. And worst of all, I couldn’t imagine sending the one man I knew I could love into battle without me there to protect his back. “Nero?” My voice cracked.

Finally, his gaze shifted to Daz, and I closed my eyes as I waited for him to seal my fate.

“She’s coming.”

My eyes popped open at those two words. Nero stood with his chin in the air and his mouth in a thin line as he took on his drexel. For me. My knees threatened to buckle.

Daz didn’t respond but his eyes blazed. A muscle in his jaw ticked.

Nero remained steady in his decision. The silent standoff between the two warriors seemed to go on forever. Finally, Daz dropped his gaze, admitting defeat as he shook his head wearily. “It’s your call then, Nero.” He pointed a finger at me. “I’ll rouse the females to see you off.”

I rolled my lips between my teeth. Oh right. I hadn’t told them yet about my plan to launch myself into this war. I braced myself for the upcoming angry words and tears. “Okay.”

“See you at the gates in two yoras.” With those parting words, Daz left the hut.

Nero didn’t move for a long moment, staring at the closed door with a determined look on his face. Finally, he turned to me, and saying nothing, held his arms out.

I surged into them, and we clung to each other tightly. Despite my confidence I didn’t want a man, I knew I undoubtedly needed Nero. He’d risen above just a man in my mind, to my friend. My partner.

And maybe, just maybe … mate. But I wasn’t going there yet. We had the equivalent of Mt. Everest to climb before we could even think of a future.

“We can catch a few yoras sleep on the returo on the way.” He rubbed my back soothingly.

I hadn’t even thought of that. We needed sleep. Although pure adrenaline was coursing through my system at that moment, I’d need sleep eventually. The returo was the large tank-like hover vehicle driven by the Kaluma. “Okay,” I answered.

“I’m sorry, I wish there was more time.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Thank you for having my back with Daz. That meant a lot.”

He blew out a breath. “I can’t decide if I’m doing the right thing, or if I’m doing the selfish thing, because I can’t imagine you not being at my side.” He cupped my neck and drew me back to face him. “Do we need to talk about what happened before Daz interrupted?”

I shook my head. “I think you made yourself clear.”

“And your response?”

I grinned. “Did my kiss not make my feelings clear?”

“Hmmm,” he hummed as he nuzzled my temple. “I guess it did.”

This was my life though, right? I’d found happiness with someone, and now I was about to throw myself into the most dangerous situation in my life. It was cruel to be taunted with that kiss, of a future I could have if only I completed this mission. A mission which was near impossible, extremely life-threatening, and especially important.

But worse than that? Facing my friends.

I expected there to be a gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, but when Nero and I arrived at the gates with our bags packed, the women stood in a silent line. There was even a slight breeze which fluttered the fabric of their robes around their legs, as they’d been roused out of their sleep.

Naomi cried quietly while Miranda seemed to be praying. Honestly, the whole thing felt a little like a funeral procession.

I stepped in front of them wearing a pair of pants I’d made with Anna’s help weeks ago—dark cargo pants that wouldn’t win any fashion awards but had a lot of very deep pockets, including my prized knife. My shirt fit snug against my torso, and I’d strapped on the most comfortable shoes I owned which had a boot-like sole but a sneaker-like upper, my version of hiking Chucks. Honestly, I thought I looked a little badass. Like Lara Croft but with less skin, guns, and cleavage.

“I’m not dead yet, guys. Christ,” I sniped. In hindsight, that was the wrong thing to say, but I’d never been good with blatant displays of emotion.

Frankie’s head snapped up. “I can’t believe you,” she hissed. I was about to retort I was doing this for all of them when I saw the flood of tears streaming down her cheeks. Then her face crumpled, and she dissolved into sobs. “Oh Frank,” I muttered as I hurried to her and gathered her in my arms.

She was a little thing—the only one smaller than her was Naomi. Her head dropped to my shoulder where she continued to weep. Our position was awkward with her massive belly between us. “I’ll be back before you know it. With some Uldani scalps or something.”

She snorted and I ignored the mucus wetting my shirt. “If anything happens to you,” she sniffed, “I’m going to burn this planet down.”

I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the prick of tears. The friendship I’d made with these women meant everything to me. “That’s a deal, you little pyro.”

Withdrawing myself from her embrace, I dropped to a knee and placed my palms on her belly. Her skin rippled beneath my touch as her baby moved, and I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “You be good for your, mama, little one.” I swore the baby gave me a high-five in response.

One-by-one, I said goodbye to the girls. Miranda talked to me about not doing anything risky, Val gave me a few medical supplies I slipped into my pack, and Tabitha wailed in my ear. The two of us had grown close while all the other women found their mates. I’d enjoyed single Tabby, but she was happier with Xavy than I’d ever seen her.

Standing in front of her mom was Bazel, who gave me a red armband like the warriors wore. “Because you’re a warrior now, too, Justine.”

I did cry at that. I blubbered like a fool while Bazel’s little fingers fastened the armband around my biceps. I hugged her and reminded her with a whisper in her ear to fill Mozart’s feeder.

Swiping at my face, I came face to face with a line of warriors blocking our exit from the gate. The whole council was there as well as Tark, Shep, and Hap.

Nero stepped to my side and linked our hands together. He wore a pair of pants, boots, and a vest with lots of inner pockets full of weapons and gadgets. A slim pack sat on his back with supplies, a comm, and his precious tablet which was essential to our mission.

Elsewhere in the clavas was the buzz of warriors preparing for battle. While we were leaving now the entirety of the Drix army wouldn’t be far behind. They’d arrive in the woods surrounding Alazar around sunup to wait for our signal to attack.

“This goes against everything I believe to send you into danger,” Daz said, his deep voice carrying over the silence of the gathering crowd. “But I also have to face that times are changing. We can’t continue to let the Uldani threaten our way of life, all while stealing human women from Earth.”

Daz’s gaze slid to Nero. I could see the conflicting emotions in Daz’s posture and in the tightening of the skin around his eyes. “Brother.”

“Drexel,” Nero answered.

“I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this mission.”

Nero puffed out his chest, pride evident in the lift of his chin. “Thank you.”

“If all goes well, we’ll see you in battle.”

Nero nodded. Daz stepped forward, grasped Nero by the back of his neck and slammed their foreheads together. For the longest time, no one made a sound. The breeze whipped Daz’s hair around them and fluttered the loose threads of their armbands.

Finally, Daz spoke on a ragged whisper. “Be safe, brother. She is All.”

“She is All.” Nero whispered back.

I felt the weight of their words with every beat of my heart.

Nero

I didn’t like Bosa because he was a dick, as the females would say, but I had to admit, the Kaluma knew how to command his warriors. They respected him, that much was evident, which meant I had to begrudgingly respect him too. Also, I had to trust him, at least a little. He and his warriors were the reason this mission could even get off the ground.

We’d gone over the plan a few times so we both knew it inside and out. After that, Justine dozed, curled up against me with her head on my lap. I slipped in and out of wakefulness, lulled by the vibrations of the fast-moving hover vehicle.

The Kaluma were quiet, watching Justine with a mixture of curiosity and distrust. They didn’t like outsiders, and none more than Bosa, but he also understood what was on the line for his race, as well as ours, if the Uldani were not defeated.

I’d found evidence that Bosa’s friend, who was also the brother of the Kaluma’s new pardux, had been taken by the Uldani and sold to the Plikens on Planet Vixlicin, along with several of our own warriors. Bosa wanted revenge but he also wanted more information in order to return his friend to their home. So, while I didn’t like Bosa, I trusted him, and knew his motives were as pure as mine.

After a few yoras, the returo slowed and the entire vehicle jolted slightly as it touched the ground. Justine woke with a jerk and rubbed her eyes. Sitting up, she braced her hands on my thighs and glanced around. “We’re here at drop-off?”

I nodded. We couldn’t take the returo the whole way to Alazar, as it was too large not to be noticed by Uldani security. We’d travel the rest of the way on foot. That worried me a little, as Justine had barely any sleep, but she was already on her feet and strapping her pack to her back.

With a low hiss, the returo ramp lowered, and the Kaluma filed out. We would be accompanied by ten of them, while two others remained behind with the returo to meet up with the Drix army who would arrive at sunup. I stepped down onto the ground and squinted at the night sky. The moon was only a sliver, which afforded almost zero light. While I could see, I knew Justine’s eyes were not equipped for this level of darkness.

Her little fingers curled into the waistband of my pants. “You lead the way,” she said quietly. Up ahead, the Kaluma were already on the move, Bosa in front.

“I’m sorry we can’t travel with lights.” It was necessary for us to gain entry to Alazar while it was still dark.

“It’s okay,” she murmured. “Is it just me, or are the Kaluma’s white tattoos glowing?”

She wasn’t wrong. What moonlight there was shone on their white markings. “It’s not just you.”

Bosa set a blistering pace which worried me for Justine. I could hear her heavy breathing and a few times she tripped over something on the ground, but she kept up well.

The returo sat at the top of a large hill, which we currently descended to reach the open ground that surrounded Alazar. The bare land was heavily monitored by guards and heat sensors and was nearly impossible to pass without getting blasted by the Uldani’s long-range laser guns or bombs. When we reached the bottom of the hill closest to the back gate, we settled into a small gully to prepare for the next phase of our mission—entry.

Justine crouched next to me, drinking a jug of qua and nibbling on a tein bar. Large solar lights lit the grounds, making it easy for guards to spot intruders, and harder for us to break in—if we didn’t have the Kaluma.

“Grego and Uther,” Bosa barked. The smallest warrior in the group appeared at his side. He was about Hap’s size and corded with tight muscles. He wore his hair shaved one side and long on the other. He remained silent, waiting expectantly for Kaluma’s orders. Next to him stepped another warrior, nearly identical but with his head shaved on the opposite side. I assumed they were brothers, if not twins. Bosa nodded to me, and the two twins faced me, their blue glowing eyes mesmerizing me for a split second before I focused on the task at hand.

“I can scramble their heat and motion sensors for fifteen seeks,” I explained. “They’ll most likely think it’s a glitch or a pivar pack. They will be watching, so you must stay blanked the entire time.” Both heads nodded in unison. It was a little creepy.

“Once inside, kill the Kulk guards at the back gate and temporarily disable the gate’s alarm system like I showed you.”

Again, with the head nods.

“When the gates open, that’s the signal for us to enter. Don’t open the gates until the guards are put down and the alarms are disable, or we’ll be cooked.”

Head nods.

I turned to Bosa, who watched his warriors with pride. His glowing eyes met mine. “After you are inside safely, we’ll return to the returo to wait for the attack command,” he said.

I’d signal Daz when Justine and I had successfully shut down the Uldani defense systems, which could take a few yoras or it could take a few rotations. Either way, he and the rest of the Drixonians would be ready to attack Alazar as soon as they received my signal. I nodded. “If we don’t fail, the command will come.”

Bosa lips curled into a slight smirk. “I would say this is a near impossible task, but I’m learning you Drix are a fearless bunch with favor on your side.” His eyes slid to Justine. “And these stray females seem just like you. With less skill.”

“Hey,” Justine glowered at him. “I’ll show you skill, you big arrogant—”

I placed my hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She clamped her jaw shut but continued to incinerate Bosa, a creature twice her size, with a wicked glare.

Bosa’s smirk grew and he made as if to touch Justine’s hair, but she jerked away from his touch with a swat of her hand.

“Bosa,” I warned.

He held up his hand, palm out, in a gesture of concession. “I apologize to you, human.” He lowered his voice and leaned into us. “You, little female, have a warrior’s spirit. And in battle, that’s more important than skill.” Justine’s eyes went a little wide, and I was stunned speechless at his compliment. He cleared his throat and leaned back. “If you ever repeat I said that, I’ll deny it.”

Justine snorted, and I smiled. “Good to know.”

“Do your thing.” He inclined his head to me. “I’m ready for a break-in.”

I pulled my tablet out of my pack as Grego and Uther lined up at the edge of the tree-line. “Get ready,” I called out as I tapped away. This close to the city, I could force my way into the Uldani’s network, although I couldn’t linger for long without detection. My finger hovered over the security sensor controls. “Ready?”

White hair swished as they nodded.

“And…” I tapped the sensors pause. “Go.”

One minute, they stood in front of us, and the next minute, there was nothing. No sound, no twins. Just … nothing.

Bosa could see them though, as his eyes tracked movement across the open ground. Occasionally, I could detect a barely-there blur, but other than that, the twins were completely invisible.

“Incredible,” Justine whispered at my side.

Along the parapet of the city, I could see guards moving, scanning the grounds as they noticed the sensors had temporarily gone done. “Seven seeks left,” I murmured.

“Doesn’t matter,” Bosa said. “They’re already at the wall.”

“Can you see them?” I asked.

“Only the outline of their bodies.”

“And I thought Drix were fast,” Justine murmured.

“Grego and Uther are the fastest warriors I’ve ever seen. When they run, they look like they’re flying.” Bosa’s eyes gleamed with pride.

He had assured me his warriors could scale the walls with special grappling hooks that were designed to blend in with the background, just like the Kaluma’s skin. He wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t see anything on the walls.

“Almost at the top,” Bosa informed with squinted eyes. He sucked in a breath and then an evil smile slid across his face. “Guards are dispatched.”

“That’s fucking creepy,” Justine whispered near my ear. “They killed the guards without making a sound.”

“I imagined they held their hands over the guards’ mouths from behind and slit their throats,” I said.

Justine swallowed, her skin looking a little pale. “Thanks for the playback.”

“They’re inside,” Bosa announced. “I can’t see them anymore.”

“They should be working in disabling the gate right now,” I said.

We all waited, our breathing the only sound in the stillness of the night until a jolt of metal against metal carried across the plain as the gates opened.

“Squad up,” Bosa ordered.

The Kaluma surrounded us in a circle and blanked. It was eerie to be so exposed, except I knew should anyone look out across the plains, Justine and I would mostly be invisible, blocked by the Kaluma bodies that blended into the background. We’d be visible from above, but we were between drone flyovers. Grego and Uther had disabled the motion and heat sensors for the back gate.

Bosa’s disembodied voice called out in a harsh whisper. “Now.”

I scooped Justine in my arms and sprinted across the open land. I had to trust the Kaluma to run at my pace, and a few times I detected a blur of motion ahead of me, ensuring I was still surrounded. My feet pounded the ground as I ran with Justine bundled in my arms. She clung to my neck silently, knowing this was the plan.

I slipped through the gates and heard a soft. “Be brave, Drix,” in Bosa’s gravelly voice right before the gates shut behind me. Placing Justine on her feet, I ran to the stairs that led to the gate’s control tower. Taking the steps two at a time, I reached the top. The only evidence anyone had been there was a slight drop of blood on the wood-planked floor. I had no idea what the Kaluma planned to do with the guards’ bodies, and frankly, I didn’t want or need to know.

I waited for the signal, and when I saw a flash of white hair and a raised golden fist at the edge of the tree line, I smiled. I turned the gate’s security back on and ran back down the stairs where Justine waited for me at the base as a lookout.

The Uldani would know something had happened. They’d get a log of nighttime activity at sunup and would then see that the gates had been opened. But they’d get no reports of an immediate breach. They would likely investigate and find the guards missing. They’d raise the alarm then, but with any luck, Justine and I would be on our way to disabling their entire city.

I grabbed Justine’s hand, gave her a grin in the dark, and we took off for the city’s mainframe.

EIGHT

Justine

This was insane. I wanted to gawk at the sheer gaudiness of this city, but we were running at light speed in the dark. There were a few dim solar lights within the walls, but I still expected to slam into a wall any minute or trip over my own feet.

This place gave me the heebie-jeebies. The floating pods of the elite hovered ominously over the tall buildings, and the smaller huts sat depressingly squat and sad on the ground. From below, I could smell a rank tang of copper and filth, which I assumed came from the mines Nero mentioned.

We reached the large one-story building that housed the hub of the city, the one we had to enter to descend a few floors to the hub. Arriving at a paneled door, Nero flicked a small card between his fingers. That key had been given to Sax by an Uldani who helped him and Val escape when they’d been imprisoned here.

Both Nero and I were skeptical it still worked. I worried it’d been deactivated like a stolen hotel key card. We had a plan B if that were the case, but this would make our lives a helluva lot easier if it worked.

Nero shot me a look and I nodded. Inserting the key card in the slot, I held my breath until a small light appeared. The metal doors flung back, and my heart pounded in my chest like a trapped bird as we stepped into the elevator.

The doors slid closed and before I could say one word to Nero, the entire elevator dropped. I nearly hit the ceiling as it plummeted down. Nero’s hands were the only thing keeping me on the ground since gravity had all but abandoned me. My stomach was in my throat, my head spun, and I was pretty sure I was going to vomit all over the place when the descent into madness slowed then stopped abruptly. I stumbled and nearly landed on my ass if it wasn’t for Nero’s strong grip keeping me upright.

“What the fuck was that?” I gasped. “Christ, you’d think the Uldani could make a better elevator with all their damn technology.”

Nero only stared at me, and I realized he was completely unaffected by the tower of terror. “Whatever,” I muttered, brushing the hair out of my face that had come loose from my tie.

The doors slid open, and with only a few dim solar lights placed at random intervals as our guide, we took off down a dank hallway. The Kulks didn’t start patrolling the halls until sunup, so we had to move, and fast.

I remembered Frankie and Val recounting their imprisonment underground, and it’d sounded like a terrifying experience. But being here was miles worse than I could have imagined. I felt like I was in a horror movie. We passed a few doors and glass-walled rooms full of instruments and tools which seemed designed for nothing short of torture. I had been so big and brave volunteering for this mission but faced with the very real danger of what could happen if we got caught, I could barely breathe.

This wasn’t a movie or a video game. This was real life. These were enemies who wanted to grow their future servants in my womb. They wanted to destroy my friends and the family I’d managed to become a part of on this crazy planet.

That was how I found the strength to continue to run, even as sweat dripped down my temples and my lungs burned. Even as my pack slammed against my back with every stride until I felt like I’d be one massive bruise. I wasn’t confident in many things about myself, but I was stubborn, determined, and knew my way around tech. I could do this. Nero and I could do this. We made it this far. All we had to do was reach the hub. Only a little farther now…

We ran for what felt like hours, but was probably only forty minutes. We descended several stairs plus another elevator. Only then did Nero slow down and pull out his tablet. Consulting a map on the screen, his lips moved as he talked to himself. Then his head shot up and he pointed to a door off to our right. “That’s it.”

The key didn’t work on this door, but Nero pulled a small cylinder out of his pocket and held it up to the lock on the door. He pressed a button along the side. There was a pop, and then the lock started smoking before the latch clicked and the door swung open.

Okay, now that, I didn’t know about. “Seriously?” I whispered in awe. “That’s awesome.”

He grinned at me. “I’ve been working on this for a full cycle.”

I fanned myself with an exaggerated wave of my hand. “Okay, James Bond. We’ll talk about your gadgets later. Let’s move.”

“James Bond?”

“Just get inside.”

I was still grinning when we pushed open the door. But as soon as I saw what was inside, my smile vanished. White noise roared in my ears, and I had to brace my hand on the doorway, so I didn’t crumble into a pile of despair.

The room was empty. Bare. Not even a chair or a speck of dirt. Just…nothing.

My legs gave out and my knees hit the floor on a thud. Nero didn’t move, his eyes staring blankly into the room as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Nero,” I gasped out. “What... Where is it?”

His chest heaved and he whipped out his tablet. His fingers flew across the screen as he scanned it, nubbed brows lowered over his stormy eyes. I managed to pull myself to my feet and began to walk the perimeter of the room. I ran my hands along the stone walls, hoping for a miracle like a secret passage or something that would take us where we needed to go. But there was nothing. Just blank walls, bare floor, and us.

“I don’t understand.” Nero tore his fingers through his hair. “The signal is coming from this area. None of this makes sense.”

“Is it on another floor?”

“There’s nothing above us. This hallway is a lone offshoot from the main tunnels…” His fang dug into his lip. “We have to get to the surface. We can’t get stuck down here at sunup. If the signal is detectable, it must be somewhere, and so it must be the ground floor of the main building.” He turned to me. “It’s here, Justine. We’ll find it.”

I nodded, unable to speak because I didn’t feel the same confidence he did.

By the time we were out of that room and racing back the way we came, we only had a brief amount of time before the sun rose and the city woke. When they discovered the missing guards and the gate activity … there’d be a lock down, which would severely hamper our efforts.

I tried not to think about that. There was still a chance. Two more elevators and a dizzying amount of stairs later, we reached the ground level. Nero held his tablet in front of him, the light of the screen illuminating his face in the darkness, as he led us to the signal location of the hub. I couldn’t see the horizon over the walls, but dawn felt close, and I could just barely detect a warm orange glow in the sky. Sunup meant waking Uldani. Kulk patrols.

Sunup meant we were fucked.

Sticking to the cover of the buildings, we ran down a side street of small Uldani homes. I thought I saw a little face peeking at me from one of the windows. The farther we ran, the more the condition of the homes deteriorated. Drying rags hung from lines between the houses, and the whole area had a distinct sewage smell. There was no way the hub could be here, could it?

Nero stopped abruptly, staring at his screen, and then at the ground. “It should be…” He swallowed. “Here.”

That one word hung in the air between us like a ghost. We stood in front of a squat hut with a decaying door and cracked window. A clump of food trash sat on the corner of the wooden porch, which was warped and broken. My heart pounded and goosebumps broke out on my arms. We were lost. Exposed. Panic rose up my throat, blocking my airway until I could barely breathe. “There was no way this was the hub.” I gasped. I looked at him helplessly “Nero…”

“Fleck,” he cursed under his breath, and for the first time, I saw real worry in Nero’s gaze. He glanced around, a cornered look in his eyes as he clutched my hand.

During our run here, the sun had begun to lighten the sky, and I felt exposed standing there in an Uldani neighborhood. Then shouts rang through the air, growly Kulk voices followed by clanging armor.

“Spread out!” A booming voice called.

Nero grabbed my hand and we bolted. It was clear they’d either discovered the missing guards or knew their city had been breached, because the morning filled with the sounds of armored feet marching through the city. We twisted and turned amid the buildings, venturing deeper into the slums of the city where the air was thick with the smell of the mines.

I concentrated on sucking in oxygen while ignoring the burn in my legs. I was tired, hungry, and thirsty, but there was no time for rest when the city had come alive with one mission—looking for whoever had breached the gates.

Nero skidded to a halt near a larger warehouse-type building, ducking back into the shadows of an alley as a troop of Kulks jogged by the main street. If we would have been a second later, they would have seen us.

I let out a relieved breath, until the sound of footsteps clomped behind me. I whirled around and pressed my back to Nero as a group of Kulks passed by the other mouth of the alley. A few stopped and began their way toward us. They hadn’t seen us yet as we were still hidden in the long morning shadows of the building at our backs, but it was only a matter of time.

Nero braced, and pushed me behind him. He was going to fight. But no matter how good he was, we were outnumbered. One to … a whole city. We were fucked, and I felt the tears prick the back of my eyes as I thought about Frankie, Val, and the other women. And most of all, I thought about Nero and his kiss. I’d never get to know what it was like to wake up next to him, to tell him how much he’d given me in such a short amount of time. I reached into the pocket of my pants and wrapped my fingers around my knife. If Nero was going to fight, then so was I. They wouldn’t take me alive to be a breeder, that was for sure.

Suddenly the wall at my back gave way and with a clipped yelp, I fell on my ass. Darkness surrounded me as hands grabbed at my shoulders, dragging me farther inside. I went into wildcat survival mode, lashing out with my fists. “Get the fuck off me,” I hissed, kicking and punching. I expected to feel the clang of Kulk armor, but my fists and feet only connected with what felt like soft flesh. Grunts filled the dark space as I fought like a crazy thing until one set of hands grabbed my wrists while another grabbed my feet. I arched my back and opened my mouth to yell for Nero when a hand clamped over my lips, muffling me.

Something heavy hit the ground in front of me, and then a door slammed followed by grunts and the meaty sound of flesh hitting flesh. A lantern light flickered on and for a moment I couldn’t see a damn thing. When my eyes adjusted, I found Nero standing over me, his feet braced on either side of my body with his tail curled protectively around my head. His machets were out on his forearms, head, and all down his back. I craned my neck from my position on the floor to see a dozen Uldani standing in a circle around us. All held makeshift weapons, such as sections of metal piping or crude blades, in their three-fingered hands. Clothes hung off their bodies like rags, many were dirty, and some were a little too thin.

I’d never seen an Uldani in person before, although the girls who’d met them had described them. They weren’t ugly, and if anything, they seemed a little fragile. They walked upright on two legs which reminded me of horses. While their arms were muscles, their silver skin looked as fragile as mine, not the thick-scaled hides of the Drixonians. Their faces were more in line with the drawing of the alien I had on my wall—their ears and noses were slits, and they had large round eyes with sharp cheekbones that cast a sharp shadow on the lower half of their faces.

I scrambled onto my knees, but Nero placed a hand on the top of my head in a silent urge to remain down. I followed his instructions, my nerves making me tremble as I anticipated a bloodbath. Why weren’t they advancing on us? Or calling out the Kulks who searched for us right outside these walls?

One Uldani stepped forward, and Nero braced. The Uldani held up his hands, palms out. He had no weapon and looked mildly cleaner and well-fed than the rest of the bunch. “We don’t want to hurt you or the human, Drix. Please hear me out before you attack. You already laid out my friend Jolo.”

I glanced over to see two males standing over a slumped body of another. He was breathing, but he had a wicked slice under his eye from what I assumed was Nero’s machets.

“What do you want?” Nero growled.

“I want to help you. And in turn, you’ll help us.”

Nero didn’t lower his machets, but his body lost some of his tension. He let out a dry laugh. “Is that so, Uldani?”

He nodded. “My name’s Gram.”

That name meant something to Nero. Probably no one else in the room noticed, but Nero’s tail flexed imperceptibly near my head. He didn’t give himself away yet though. With a dismissive snarl, he said, “Why should that name mean anything to me?”

The Uldani didn’t back down from Nero’s tone. “Because I helped your brother Sax escape with his Val human.”

I gasped as I leapt to my feet. “You’re Gram?”

Nero pulled me back against him with an arm across my chest, his machets nearly poking through my shirt. “Careful, Justine.”

I knew about Gram. Val told us that if it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t have gotten free. Sax would likely be dead, and she’d still be under this hellhole… a breeder for these shitheads… “Prove it,” I said. “Prove you’re Gram.”

“I was there when they escaped. I gave them a key to his collar. I saw when their mating bands appeared on their wrists.” He swallowed and looked me straight in the eye. “I know he calls her his lioness.”

My eyes went wide. This had to be him. “Gram,” I whispered.

He smiled and nodded. “That’s me. How is Val and that big Drix of hers?”

“They’re good,” I said excitedly. “In fact, she’s—”

“What do you want?” Nero cut me off. A flash of irritation hit me, but I let it go. Nero didn’t want Gram to know more than he had to, which was probably a good thing.

Suddenly, a fist pounded the door and a Kulk called out through the thin wood. “Search!”

The dozen of Uldani were suddenly in motion. One pulled on a loose board in the dirty floor and a trapdoor opened leading underground. Some Uldani flew down the now visible stairs while Gram pointed. “You have to hide.”

Nero’s eyes darted from the door to the stairs, but he didn’t move. “How do we know this isn’t a trap?”

Gram’s eyes narrowed. “It’s time to make a decision, Drix. Trust me, even just a little bit, or take on the army of Kulks searching this city. They have orders to kill any Drixonians on site, but to keep any humans alive.”

With a growl, Nero hoisted me in the air and trudged down the steps. Gram followed and the door closed behind us. We were only in darkness for a few seconds before someone ahead lit a lantern, lighting up a dank, dirty tunnel. Heavy footsteps sounded above us, and the vibrations sent a shower of dust and dirt down on our heads.

After Nero placed me on my feet, we were led through a few more tunnels, away from those footsteps that meant nothing but pain and imprisonment. I wanted to trust Gram, but I understood Nero’s hesitation. We were at their mercy now. This was not in his control or mine. But it had to mean something that Gram didn’t turn us over to the Kulk guards. He knew Sax and Val. He’d helped them escape, even though he’d made a deal with them too—Sax had to kill the head medic and Gram would get them to safety. The only thing keeping me going was knowing Gram had held up his end of the bargain.

We entered a cavernous room which was occupied by more Uldani. With a start, I realized some were women. They looked nothing like what Val described when she’d seen a royal female, but these Uldani were nonetheless female with breasts and petite facial features. A few had scrawny Uldani children clinging to their legs. All looked at us with alarm while some females hissed at the sight of Nero, baring teeth that would do about as much damage as mine. I didn’t blame them. He stood a full head taller than the largest Uldani male, and his machets were still out, the black glistening with a sharp threat in the flickering lantern light.

There looked to be around fifty Uldani in this room, about the size of half a football field. Some were eating, others were washing clothes, and behind them I saw a few other tunnels branching out from this main room. I could only assume there were more Uldani than this down here.

The male Uldani who’d came with us fanned out, standing between us and the families while Gram once again approached us. He stood in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest. “Ready to hear me out now, Drix?”

NINE

Nero

I glared at the Uldani. He was smaller than the others, which surprised me as he spoke up as their leader, but his eyes were cunning. While he put on a brave front, I detected a hint of fear behind his words. He was scared of me, and I wanted to keep it that way. I’d learned long ago that the Uldani were good manipulators.

I raised my brows. “You trust me down here with your females? Your young? This line of six Uldani is nothing for me.”

“I know that. This is my show of faith.” He gestured around the small cavern. “I have no doubt if you gained a whiff of betrayal you wouldn’t hesitate to take my head off. You have to remember; I saw what Sax could do. I was there. I slipped in the blood from the bodies he left behind.”

He was genuine. I didn’t sense deception, but I kept my guard up. “How do you think you can help me?”

“There’s only one reason the Drix would send in one warrior. You’re looking to gain access to the mainframe to shut down our security so you can attack, right?”

I didn’t like that he figured that out, so I stayed silent.

Gram inclined his head in acknowledgement, like he knew I didn’t want to admit my purpose. “Well, I know where it is.” Justine jerked against my side. Gram’s eyes slid to her before returning to me. “I can get you inside.”

He was offering me exactly what I wanted. What I needed. “And what do you want in return?”

“You’ll let us live.” He glanced over his shoulder. The room was silent, everyone watching this conversation. “After rescuing your brother, I had to hide out. They searched for him, but in the end decided I’d been killed and my body unrecoverable. This city, the army, and the Uldani elite have done nothing for me.” He spat the last three words. “They’ve done nothing for any of us except profit of our backs. Most of the Uldani down here are former miners. Many of us have been falsely accused of crimes or know family members who have. All of us know this city is corrupt. We don’t have the numbers to overthrow the army or elite. But I’m assuming you shut down the security, and hundreds of Drix are waiting to storm the city, am I right?”

Again, I said nothing.

He smiled. “That’s what I thought. So, I help you take the city, and you let us live.”

“The Uldani have taken much from us. Our lives, our home, and many of our brothers. Why should we let any of you live?”

Gram nodded. “I know. And I’m sorry for that, but we were not involved in those decisions. Most of us had no idea it was happening, and if we did, we had no power to make a change.” Gram’s voice lowered. “I have more information that I’ve been gathering, hoping to use it to bargain with the Drixonians to help us take the city.”

“Information?”

“Yes.”

Justine tugged on my arm. “Nero.”

I knew the answer was yes. I couldn’t deny working with an Uldani went against everything I believed, but if there was any Uldani I was going to trust, Gram seemed like a good choice.

I nodded. “You have my word. You get us to the hub, and we’ll let you live. As long as you don’t come anywhere near a Drixonian again.”

Gram shook his head. “We only want to live peacefully. No offense, Drix, but I’ll be happy if I never see one of you again.”

A smile crept across my face as I nodded. “My name’s Nero.”

Gram returned his grin. “Nice to meet you, Nero. Welcome to the resistance.”

After providing us with a meal of rationed, tasteless sustenance bars and a powdery drink, Gram led us down a narrow dirt tunnel to a small room where a female stood near a pile of furs.

“Thanks Mags,” he said to the female, who nodded with a small smile. Gram turned to me. “I thought we’d let you get some rest for a few yoras. When you wake, we can talk about how to get you to the hub. But there’s no way we’re doing anything until sundown.”

“We appreciate the room to rest,” I murmured, taking in the room. My training didn’t let me rest until I checked the space for hidden weapons or anything that could hurt my female.

“Hi Mags, I’m Justine.” My female stepped forward, her hand held out, palm turned to the side.

Mags jerked away, and Justine’s eyes went wide before she yanked her hand behind her back. “I’m sorry. On Earth, we shake hands. I forgot…” she blew out a frustrated breath and her cheeks pinked. “I forgot that’s not a custom here.” Then she gave a half-hearted wave. “Anyway, hi.”

Mags swallowed thickly before waving back. “Hello.”

Gram stepped to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Mags was the sister of a miner in debt. When he died, the debt transferred to her and well… She couldn’t pay it. They ruled to sell her to a pleasure house on Planet Vixlicin.”

“What?” Justine shrieked. She whirled to me. “A pleasure house? Is that…?”

“Males would pay to use her,” Gram stated.

Justine seethed. “Fuck these assholes.”

“I’ve been hiding here since,” Mags said, her voice soft. “It’s better than working for the laundry service for the elite.”

“After your Uprising and they walled up the city, life got worse for the majority of us.” I opened my mouth to tell them that wasn’t my fault, but he held up his hand, as if expecting my protest. “I’m not blaming you. I’m only explaining what happened. And to let you know we all have a common goal.” Gram held my gaze for another moment before dropping it and taking Mags’s arm lightly. “Come on, let’s let them rest.”

Mags left but before Gram could step out the door Justine called after him. “Val said she met a female Uldani when she was imprisoned here. She came with four or five males and was…” Justine round her arms out to her side and puffed out her cheeks. “A very large female.”

Gram nodded. “Uldani Royalty. She was most likely pregnant with a litter. Royal females come from families who have excellent breeding capabilities. If they don’t produce, they get evicted from the pods.”

Justine’s mouth flopped open. “A litter?”

“Uldani breeder females give birth to anywhere from three to five infants at a time. Non-breeders only have one.”

I thought Justine’s eyes would pop out of her head. “Three to five? What the hell? Sign me up to be a non-breeder. Jesus Christ on a cracker.”

Gram’s brow ceased. “What does that mean?”

“She’s cursing,” I answered for her. “She’s quite inventive about it.”

Gram smiled. “I see. Well I’ll let you two sleep. By the way, there’s a portable cleanser there.” He pointed to a curtained stall near the furs. “I had Mags wheel it in. You both look a little worse for wear.”

Justine’s entire face lit up and she even clapped her hands together with excitement. Seeing her reaction, I turned to the Uldani. “Thank you,” I said, letting my mistrust of him fade considering Justine’s happiness.

Gram’s jaw clenched for a moment before he exhaled roughly. “I’m sorry for what we’ve done to you. I know much of what you lost can never be recovered, but I will do my best to make sure it never happens again.”

“I’m sorry too. The powerful are at their most dangerous when they feel that power slipping from their fingers.”

Gram’s eyes closed briefly before they opened again with a shine and a grin that made a shiver run down my spine. “And the weak are at their most dangerous when they see equality within their grasp.” With a nod to Justine, he left, and the wooden door swung shut behind him with a click.

She turned to me with a heavy gulp. “Drixonians don’t have … litters, do they?”

I shook my head with a smile. “Largest birth I know of is twins. Like Gar and his sister.”

She let out a relieved breath. “Good. I fear for my friends pushing out multiplication tables of horns.”

I cocked my head, unsure of her words, but she waved her hand in the air. “Never mind. Just thinking about loud. I’ll hop in the cleanser first if that’s all right?” And after a nod from me, she scurried behind the small curtain.

Justine

I woke up slowly, blinking my eyes in the light of the dim lantern that sat on a small table near the door.

I didn’t even remember falling asleep. Stumbling out of the cleanser wearing nothing but a large shirt, I’d collapsed into the furs and snuggled down. Nero must have joined me sometime later, because I could feel the heat of his big body at my back. While the room had dirt walls and floors, a woven mat dyed in a maroon and brown stripe lay on the ground. The furs were clean, and Nero had hung our packs from a hook on the back of the door. Getting clean had been the best feeling, as I’d been grimy with dirt and nervous sweat.

Under the furs was some sort of mattress, which was probably why I’d slept so well. I was sure it hadn’t been a full eight hours, but enough that I felt human again.

I still could barely believe the turn of events. I never expected there to be an underground resistance of Uldani, let alone led by the same one who was responsible for Val and Sax’s escape. I remembered Val telling me about the small brave Uldani. I wondered if revenge was everything he dreamed of. He clearly was still fighting for something.

The bed shifted behind me and Nero’s large arm settled over my waist. His hand curled up to press against my chest, tucking me back into him. His breathing remained deep and even, so I suspected he was still asleep, which meant he was cuddling … in his sleep. Oddly enough, I wasn’t surprised. After getting to know Nero the last few days, I totally pegged him for a cuddler.

It’d been a long time since I’d let someone hold me like this or get this close. I rarely wanted to be touched because of my childhood experiences and my adult decision to stay in control of my life.

But Nero felt so good—warm and strong. When his face pressed into the back of my head and he inhaled deeply, I nearly melted into the bed. When I thought we were doomed to be killed by the Kulk guards, all I could think about was that I’d never get this, I’d never know what it was like to wake up sleepy and content in the safety of Nero’s arms. And now I was here, I had to admit, it was everything I thought it would be. I didn’t want to leave this cocoon we were in. Right now, I could pretend we were just another couple sleeping in on a Sunday morning before we took the dog for a walk.

“Good morning, little bird.” His deep voice rumbled. “Did you sleep well?”

I hadn’t realized he’d woken up, and his nickname for me did a lot to turn my insides into goo. “I did.”

He let out a contented sigh. “Me too.” I unclasped my own hands where I had them tucked under my chin and slid my fingers through his hand.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m good.” I brought our hands to my mouth and kissed his knuckles. Slowly. One by one. They had been bruised yesterday but had healed during sleep in true Drixonian fashion.

His body went tight at my back, and his breathing changed. “Justine?”

“What did you think about when we were in that alley? When the Kulks were close by and you pushed me behind you?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Protecting you.”

“Did you think about regrets? Things you wish you did or didn’t do in your life?”

“I didn’t in that moment. My sole focus was on protecting you.”

“Oh.” For some reason that answer disappointed me, which was silly. Maybe I wanted to know that Nero had weaknesses like me. That he’d made mistakes. That he wasn’t perfect.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have regrets, little bird,” he said softly, as if reading my thoughts.

I stared at the wall in front of me as his thumb rubbed the back of my hand. “Like what?”

He didn’t speak for a while, and I thought he wouldn’t answer until he began to talk in low rushed tones like the words had been waiting to be let out of their cage. “When my mother died, she told me I would be the future of the new Drixonian civilization on Corin. That they would need me and what I could do to rebuild. I promised her I would, that we’d be strong again. We’d repopulate our home planet.” He cut off abruptly and his chest heaved at my back. The pain in his words felt like daggers on the back of my neck.

I couldn’t imagine how much this hurt to say.

“I haven’t fulfilled that promise. Every rotation, I open my eyes and the first thing I remember is that I’ve let her down.”

I couldn’t take him spilling his guts anymore. Turning in his arms, I grasped his face between my palms, and the sight of the stark sorrow in his eyes nearly stopped my heart. “You were faced with an impossible situation at a young age. You didn’t let her, or anyone, down.”

“She was so proud. If she would have seen us being used by the Uldani, it would have killed her. Again.”

“Nero, you cannot put this blame on your shoulders. You’re working hard to rebuild. You have honor and loyalty. You can still fulfill that promise to her. We win this and we take back your ships and we return to Corin.” I smiled. “You have to show me those devas shrines, remember? You have to make me your mate.” I swallowed around the lump rising in my throat. The next words were ones I never thought I’d say. “And put a chit in my belly.”

He clasped me to him, bringing our foreheads together until all I felt was his warm breath on my face. His eyes shimmered. “I knew you were for me. Your words and presence soothe me. With you, I don’t have regrets. I could tell you I wished I had told you my intentions sooner, but I don’t think you would have reacted favorably. So, I can’t regret waiting. If I died in that alley, I died having tasted your lips, and that was more than I could have asked for.”

Jesus, this guy. “Nero,” my voice cracked, and I cleared it. “You are sweeter than I deserve.”

“I don’t think so.” He went silent until he asked. “Did you have regrets?”

A tear trickled out of the corner of my eye to soak the fur below my head. “Yes.”

His arm squeezed and he pressed a kiss to my temple. “Tell me.”

“I don’t have many,” I said. “Maybe only one.” He was very still, his one arm around my back while the other grabbed my hand between us. “It’s about you.” I was pretty sure he wasn’t breathing. Was he nervous at what I planned to say? “I don’t let many people in. I didn’t have many friends on Earth. Mostly just my sister. I’m close to the girls here, but it’s still hard for me to show them how much they mean to me. I do regret that, and I will show them as soon as I see them again. If I see them again.” I swallowed. “But Nero, if I died in that alley, I would have regretted not spending every last minute I was alive in your arms.”

“Little bird,” he exhaled on a low purr. Suddenly I was on my back, and Nero was over me, a vibration rumbling from his chest as he smiled down at me. He nudged the tips of our noses, and then he kissed me. Slow at first, his full soft lips nipping at mine before he slipped his tongue inside my mouth.

I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and let my legs fall to the side as he settled his hips between them. He was naked while I only wore a large shirt, and his hard cock nudged my bare pussy. He was hot as a furnace, and his cock like a heat-seeking missile searching for the snug comfort of my body.

The last time I had sex was ages ago and even then, I preferred to be on top. A heavy body lying on mine always sent my heart into a panicked flutter. But Nero was like… one of those anti-anxiety blankets. A chunky purring cat. A comforting weight that made me feel protected rather than trapped. And I knew, down to my soul, that only he’d make me feel like this.

He’d taken his time and let me get my feet under me on this crazy planet and when he did come after me, it was with caring words, and safe hugs, and slow, drugging kisses. It was with respect and dignity. He let me be me, and for that, I thought I’d do just about anything for Nero.

I could barely believe it’d been days ago when I’d still been avoiding him, but then maybe I knew all along he’d make me feel like this, and it terrified me. If only I hadn’t resisted. If only I’d taken the plunge earlier to explore what we had together. Or maybe this was the right timing. Here and now.

A finger smoothed down the middle of my forehead, and I realized he’d stopped kissing me, and was studying my face with concern. “You’re having lots of thoughts.”

I smiled at his wording. “I am.”

He seemed relieved at my smile. “Good thoughts?”

“Great thoughts.”

He dipped his head to kiss me again as his fingers tapped down my spine to grasp the outside of my thigh. He hiked it over his hip, and I clamped down around him while digging my heels into his extremely firm ass. All these Drix were built like brick shithouses, even brainy Nero.

Bracing himself on his elbow, he let his other fingers drift down my cheek, petting me as he licked into my mouth. The tenderness of his touch nearly undid me, like he knew exactly how to turn me into a puddle of aroused Justine. Like he was made for me. Maybe he was. Maybe Fatas had done something right when she dragged me to this planet kicking and screaming.

“I want to see you.” He nibbled at my neck as he tugged at the hem of my shirt.

“Then see me.” I arched my back as he drew my shirt up and over my head. He tossed it to the side and then let his gaze drift slowly and unashamedly down my body. Now I wore nothing but my tattoos on my left arm, a Salvador Dali imitation with dripping clocks.

I had a complicated history with my own body. I’d always had a large chest but other than that I was built a little like SpongeBob SquarePants. I didn’t have gorgeous curves like Miranda and Tabby. I liked my body, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt sexy. With Nero’s heated gaze taking in every inch of my skin, I felt a bit like a preening peacock. I felt sexy, like I was a lingerie model walking on a runway. His fingers grazed my skin in wonder, and he cupped one of my breasts before placing a soft kiss right above the nipple.

My pussy clenched with want, especially when Nero sucked my other nipple into his hot mouth. I arched my back on a low moan while his fingers slowly stroked the inside of my thighs, as if giving me a heads up on where he planned to head next.

I wanted him there between my thighs. I’d never had a man go down on me, too uncomfortable at the vulnerable feeling and self-conscious of the view of my body from that angle. But with Nero, I felt sexy and confident. I wanted his tongue on me and his purple eyes glowing at me while I held onto his horns.

He shimmied lower on the bed until his shoulders settled between my hips. He pushed my legs wide, and with eyes burning into mine, he licked a heated path up my pussy.

“Oh,” I groaned as he swirled the tip of his tongue around my clit before pulling it into his mouth with a strong suction. I’d never felt anything like it. Even some of the toys I had at home that cost an obscene amount of money couldn’t do what Nero could with his mouth.

He made love to my clit like that, alternating between licks and sucks and swirls. Even a nip or two of a fang sent zaps of pleasure shooting up my spine until my head felt fuzzy and my mouth dry. When he continued his prushing—that steady vibration that traveled up his chest to his mouth—and slipped that tongue inside of me, I began to babble incoherently. Oceans crashed in my ears, pigs flew, and I let out an inhumane shriek as an orgasm barreled down my spine until it detonated in my core like a bomb.

By the time I came back into my own body, my face was wet with tears and my limbs were floppy noodles. Nero was smiling down at me, his face shiny as his long tongue licked down to his chin and up over his nose like he wanted to capture every last essence of me.

“My cora,” he nuzzled into my neck and I felt the hard throb of his cock along my sensitive flesh. “You come so beautifully.” He lapped away my tears, which nearly made me cry again, and massaged my shoulders until feeling returned to my wrung-out body.

“May I have you?” He nipped at my ear.

“You already do,” I murmured as he breached me with the broad head of his cock. I shifted at the intrusion because he was huge with a pierced ring through the tip. But I was also soaked, and with one little roll of my hips, he slipped inside further.

His head fell forward on a groan, and I didn’t miss the shudder that ran down his spine. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, and pressed him to my chest, loving the way his velvety scales felt against my sensitive nipples. “Take me, Nero,” I whispered.

He plunged his hips forward until I felt his groin meet mine. His cock filled me with the most delicious feeling, like he was plugging all my cracks and imperfections, like together we made something whole.

He thrust into me with a rhythm I knew would live in my head for the rest of my life. All the while, he cradled my head with the back of his hand as he pressed my face into his neck.

I couldn’t think of anything but his delicious weight on top of me and his girth filling me repeatedly. When his subcock—that delicious node above his cock—latched onto my clit and sucked, my eyes rolled into the back of my head. I came again, squeezing him tight until he too came on a long, breathy moan. His cock pulsed inside me, and I relished the tremble of his body as he let himself go.

He rolled us onto our sides, but remained inside my body, his cock jerking a few times as my inner walls continued to ripple. I wasn’t sure if I was still coming or experiencing another mini-orgasm. All I knew was that I didn’t want this to end. I dozed off with Nero’s fingers steadily combing through my hair and three words on my lips that meant more to me than he’d ever know.

TEN

Nero

Everything about my mate was amazing, from her hair to her pert nipples to her small feet and tiny toes. And her cunt… I’d never tasted anything like it. I could have made a home between her thighs, and even now I resisted drifting down her body, but only because she was asleep, and I didn’t want to wake her. I’d worn her out, and her cheeks were still flushed from pleasure.

For a female who previously maintained a distance between her and everyone else—both physically and mentally—in sleep she clung to me. One hand curled around my waist while the other clutched my shoulders. Her breath coasted across my chest in little puffs of air. The lantern light flickered across her bare back, and I admired the way her spine curved down to the top of her perfect ass.

I never doubted my instincts, and I’d been right about Justine and I being right for each other. Fatas had blessed us. The way she’d responded to my confession about my failed promise to my mother only confirmed what I’d always known about her—she was smart, perceptive, and cared fiercely for those close to her. I was honored to be considered one of them.

A soft knock at the door made me yank the furs over my naked mate just as the door swung open. I growled at the intruder, expecting Gram, but an Uldani female froze inside the door, her eyes impossibly wide in her face. It was Mags, the one who we’d met earlier. I abruptly cut off my verbal warning. Justine shifted in the furs, mumbling something before flinging the cover back and looking over her shoulder. She blinked at our visitor a few times before reaching up a fist to scrub at her eye. “Hi, Mags.”

The female didn’t move. She stood in place like a statue holding a tray. Justine sat up with the furs held at the top of her chest to cover her nakedness. “You can come in.” She glanced at me with a frown. “Did you scare her?”

“I didn’t want anyone to wake you up.”

Justine laughed with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not a princess.” She waved to Mags. “Have you got food? I could eat a horse.”

“What’s a horse?” Mags asked as she took a tentative step inside.

“It’s an animal on Earth, which is not very tasty.”

“So why could you eat it?”

“It’s an expression. I actually don’t know where the expression came from and I can’t just Google it.”

“Google?” I queried.

“I really need to stop using so many Earth terms,” Justine muttered. She reached out a hand to Mags. “Anyway, food?”

Mags nodded and placed the tray beside Justine’s legs, who immediately curled her finger around the edge and pulled it toward her. I could tell she was a little disappointed at the processed, rationed food, but plastered a smile on her face. “Thank you so much. It was wonderful to get some rest, and we really appreciate you sharing your food with us.”

Mags relaxed and returned Justine’s smile. “Gram said to please join us in the common room when you’re finished.”

“Will do.” Justine shoved a meal bar in her mouth. Her throat bobbed and she placed a fist to her lips. Her eyes bulged and she shot me a panicked look.

Mags immediately grew concerned. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” I said. “Please leave us.”

Mags let out a little squeak and scurried off without another word, shutting the door behind her.

Justine gagged a few times before finally swallowing. “That was rude.”

“It would have been ruder to do that in front of her.”

Grimacing, she sagged her shoulders. “I know. Fuck. I appreciate their offer to feed us, but this is terrible.”

“I imagine the elites and royalty don’t eat this.”

“It tastes like what I imagine a twenty-year-old protein bar would taste like.” She gulped down some qua and wiped her mouth.

“I’ll eat this,” I gestured to the tray. “You eat the food we brought.”

“That’s not fair to you.”

I raised a brow and I responded by shoving a whole meal bar into my mouth, chewing a few times, and swallowing. I stuck out my tongue, curling it under my chin to show her the food was now in my stomach. She shook her head with a smile. “Okay, you win.”

After eating, we both used the cleanser. Afterward, I pulled on my pants while Justine sat cross-legged on the bed already dressed. “Do you have to comm with Daz?”

I shook my head. “Can’t risk it. We normally comm using the old towers, but in here, I can’t avoid the satellite picking up our communication. The Uldani are likely monitoring it closer now. He knows this mission could take anywhere from one to many rotations. They are on standby until they hear from me.”

“How would they know if we fail?”

I turned at the hesitation in her voice. “They’d know. The Uldani would gloat long and far if they captured us.” I leaned down and placed my palms on her knees. “We won’t fail.”

She clasped my wrists and lifted her chin up, her lips in a slight pucker. With a smile, I kissed her. I touched our foreheads. “I wish I had time to kiss you longer.”

“Nero, about last night—or earlier in the day or whatever—” she bit her lip as her big brown eyes caught mine and held. “That meant … more than I can put into words.”

“Then you don’t have to use words now. We have a lifetime for those words.” I rubbed our noses together, a gesture I was finding I enjoyed greatly. She scrunched up her face when I did it, and her eyes would sparkle. “You’re my mate Justine. My other half. Did you feel that?”

Her fingers brushed my cheek. “I felt it.”

“So now we finish this mission with no regrets.”

“None,” she whispered.

“What we did in these furs, what we are to each other, no one and nothing, can take from us.”

Her chin lifted, and a cool determination passed across her face. With a definitive nod, she said, “Damn straight.”

I squeezed her thighs and straightened. “Let’s go talk to Gram and find out where the fleck the Uldani are hiding this hub.”

She cracked her knuckles and climbed to her feet. “Yeah, I’m ready to shut some shit down.”

With a laugh, I grabbed her hand and led her out the door.

In the common room, Gram sat near a small fire ladling a steaming liquid into a few mugs. There weren’t as many Uldani around now, and I wondered if they were in their rooms with their families. I couldn’t be sure, but I guessed we’d slept all day and were approaching sundown.

With a smile, he gestured to a table with two benches on either side. Justine and I shared one, while Gram sat across from us. He gestured to the mugs. “There’s some steeped taber root with a few spices the females have concocted.”

Justine leaned over her mug and sniffed. She tapped her chin before saying, “Smells like a breakfast tea.” She blew on the surface as she eyed Gram over the rim. “Thanks for the room and the rest.”

“Of course.”

I didn’t really care about this drink or the sleeping accommodations. My brothers were outside, waiting for my word to invade, and I was ready to move this mission along. As much as I appreciated what Gram was doing for us, it wasn’t acing selflessly. This benefited him too. “So, where’s the hub?” I asked. “It used to be under the main building. We broke in and found the room, but it was empty, which made no sense. I could find the signal. It was coming from there.”

“Sure, it was coming from that location, but just not underground.”

I frowned at him as his hand slowly lifted until he pointed one finger straight up. “It’s there.”

I frowned “We looked on the ground—”

“No, not on the ground,” Gram corrected me. “Higher.”

Justine’s mug plunked on the ground as she let out a short gasp. “It’s in a pod.”

Gram grinned at her. “You’re right, human.”

“A pod?” I asked. “When did they move it?”

“About the same time you stole your cruiser back.”

I only just kept myself from reacting. I was getting tired of surprises. “How did you know about that?”

“I know most of what happens, including as soon as you opened those gates. I have eyes and ears everywhere. The current of discontent runs deep in this city. We don’t have a lot now, but I envision a day where we live aboveground without walls. I want to be able to protect ourselves without requiring someone like you or the Kulks to provide our defense. Or, if we do, it’ll be a contract, not servitude.”

“We were supposedly under contract too.” I growled.

Gram swallowed and his gaze shifted to the side and down. “Yes, but you were forced into it.”

For a moment, anger clouded my vision. Justine must have sensed the change in my mood because she leaned against me and slipped her fingers in mine. Aided by her calming presence, I found the strength to ask carefully, “What do you know about the virus?”

For the first time since we met, fear leeched into Gram’s features. “I have my suspicions, as I suspect you do. I know where to find answers, and I’ll get them for you after we are victorious.”

I wasn’t sure I believed he didn’t know, but I needed him as much as he needed me right now, so I didn’t press. “We also want to know what was done to our warriors and where they were sold.”

He nodded. “I can get you all that information.”

“You get us to that hub safely and give us everything we want to know, and we’ll defeat the elite and let you live in peace.”

Gram smiled again; his fear gone. “We have a few more yoras until sundown. This won’t be easy, but we can get you into that hub.”

I leaned forward with my hands clasped between my knees. “I’m listening.”

Justine

Heights were not my thing. Apparently, Gar shared my distaste of leaving solid ground. The few times I’d flown on Earth, I’d required copious amounts of vodka and Disney songs blasted in my ears.

I didn’t ride roller coasters, and only just tolerated the hover bikes. Luckily, I’d been knocked out nearly the entire way to this galaxy on that damn spaceship, or I would have been a basket case.

So as Nero and I stood in that warehouse room while we waited for our hover vehicle ride to take us over three hundred feet in the air, I thought I was going to pass out. I wouldn’t, because I had pride, but that didn’t stop me from heavily leaning against Nero as my heartbeat against my chest like an angry ape.

Gram had detailed his plan to us, and now the sun was setting. As soon as the sky darkened, we’d hop into a waiting hover car which was posing as a Kulk patrol vehicle driven by an Uldani. Gram assured us we wouldn’t be shot out of the sky, but that didn’t stop me from picturing my demise as a fireball in the sky over Alazar.

Nero stood stoic, staring at the door while Gram and a few of his Uldani men waited with us. They were as tense as us, which drove the point home that this was serious for them too. Which was … great.

Simply great.

Not only were the lives of the Drix and my friends on my conscience, but now these Uldani lives were too, like Mags and the little ones I’d seen underground. I was confident in what Nero and I had to do, but we’d already found that so very many things could go wrong. What if we got up there and everything was in, like some foreign alien language Nero didn’t know?

Crap, I was sweating. I could feel it gathering in my armpits, that nervous sweat that smelled. The Drixonians didn’t sweat. Instead, their scales lifted slightly like little vents to cool their core temperature. I found that a pretty genius design. Whoever was in charge of human design on temperature control day did a shitty job.

Part of me wanted to turn around and go back underground to hide away in the furs with Nero. Just live there with these Uldani, even if I had to eat crappy meal bars for the rest of my life. When we’d been secluded in our little room, I’d been able to forget for a little while about this important mission hanging over our heads. I’d been able to pretend Nero and I had a future that wasn’t full of land mines.

That was just my luck though. When Nero finally broke through my walls and I welcomed him with open arms, we were being suited up and sent off to war. But I couldn’t focus on regrets. Maybe the timing was terrible, but it was the time that had worked for us. I wouldn’t have been receptive to Nero if he’d pushed me sooner. I needed the time, and the control in my own life before I could see everything that Nero was offering. And it was a hell of a lot—love, a future, maybe even little babies. I flattened my hand on my stomach and let myself pretend we’d made a little one in those furs.

And as soon as I let myself let that wisp of a dream enter my head, I knew I had to shut it down. It was too painful. All my life I’d taken a step at a time. I had goals, but they were always realistic. I refused to dream of things that seemed too far out of reach. And right now, a future with Nero was a fairy tale complete with flying pigs and magical unicorns.

Nero stepped closer to me. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” I answered, even though there was so much more I wanted to say. I couldn’t vocalize my hopes and dreams for us. I had no regrets, but imagining our future right now caused too much pain. I couldn’t handle what I really wanted being taken away, so I couldn’t let myself go there. I dropped my hand from my stomach and shook my head. “Foolish, Justine,” I whispered to myself.

“What?”

“Nothing.” I clenched my teeth so hard, my jaw ached.

“What’s wrong?” He was a dog with a bone.

“I have to focus on what we have to do. I can’t think of anything else.”

He was quiet for a long time while an Uldani near us peered through a small crack in the boards of the warehouse walls. “That’s where we differ,” he said quietly. “I imagine what I want because it fuels me and gives me purpose. I think about my brothers happy on Corin and taking you to see devas shrines with our chit in my arms. I think about Gram and his Uldani followers living happily off the land without walls. I picture that, and I remember why I do what I do.”

Tears threatened and I blinked them back. Pain lanced through my heart. “Well that’s great for you, but I’m not strong enough to do that.”

“You are,” he said quietly. “You’re just afraid of the pain.”

I bristled. “Nero—”

“Vehicle is on its way,” Gram announced.

We both fell silent, but I could feel Nero nearly vibrating next to me. His jaw was hard, and I wasn’t much better. My stomach churned as I sought not to throw up the precious calories I’d consumed before we left the safety of the underground.

I forced everything out of my mind in a way I’d done many times in the past. Compartmentalizing was how I’d survived this long, and I’d be damned if my emotions got the best of me now.

Gram placed his three-fingered hand on the doorknob and glanced over this shoulder at us just as the steady whirring of a vehicle could be heard down the alley outside the wall.

Nero gave him a brief nod, Gram threw the door open, then we were in motion. Nero gripped my hand and pulled me along at his side as he slipped outside into the waiting open door of a vehicle. An Uldani sat behind the wheel watching us with narrowed eyes. As soon as my butt hit the seat, Nero pushed my head down and settled his bulk over me. I squirmed to bend my body into a more comfortable position just as the door to the car slammed and we were in motion.

My stomach dipped, and my gorge rose in my throat. That was another weakness I’d forgotten about—I got motion sickness, something I absolutely hated. Laying on my back on the seat with Nero over top of me did nothing to help. All I could feel was the car dipping and turning, but I couldn’t see out, which made my head swim.

Gram had explained why we needed to hide once we were in the car. Our driver would be entering the patrol caravan, and headlights from the other vehicles would periodically be sweeping into our car. Obviously a big, blue, horned Drix and a human female spotted sitting casually in the backseat wouldn’t end well for any of us.

Nero’s all-seeing eyes peered down at me. “Why do you look ill?”

“It’s the motion of the car,” I tried to explain. I doubted the Drix had anything equivalent, the flawless bastards.

He frowned. “It makes you sick?”

“I’ll be fine.” I closed my eyes and worked on breathing properly.

“Am I crushing you?”

“No.”

His expression softened, and I held up a hand. “Don’t.”

“I’m sorry I said something to upset you—”

“Nero, not now. Please. I beg you. Just … not now.”

I couldn’t deal with him being sweet. This wasn’t the time for a heart-to-heart, and he must have realized that too, because he clamped his lips shut and his eyes went hard. He turned away from me, and at once I wished for the warmth of his violet eyes to soothe the nerves ravaging my senses.

“Three more patrol lanes and we’ll be close to the hub,” our driver said. Belatedly, he added in a faint voice. “I’m Jarapin.”

Nero didn’t respond, which seemed rude, so I spoke up. “I’m Justine, and this is Nero.”

Jarapin banked a sharp turn and then said, “Thank you for doing this.”

His voice rang with a sincerity that made me forget about my nausea. “Thank you, Jarapin.”

“Never thought our salvation would ride on the shoulders of a Drix warrior and a human female.” Nero’s lips curled back like he was about to snarl when Jarapin held up a hand. “I mean no offense. My point is that you certainly could have told us to fleck off and blown this entire city to bits. My sister, her mate, and her child are working with Gram. I’m doing this for them. So, thank you.”

Nero’s muscle loosened a fraction. “I have many I care about riding on the success of this mission as well.”

Jarapin inclined his head. After another turn, he said, “Almost there.”

And that was one more thing to send me into a near panic. We weren’t going to park nicely with plenty of time to exit the vehicle. Oh no. We had to leap out of the vehicle’s open door—while it was in motion—and land on a small platform along one side of the hub’s pod. There was no way to stop the vehicle without drawing suspicion, and the timing of our leap had to be perfect. Too early or too late, and another vehicle’s headlights in the patrol schedule would spot us.

We had small window of time to get out of our vehicle, land on the hub platform, and get inside the hub using the code Gram provided us. He’d made it seem so easy, but the entire time he’d been relaying the plan, I had been tempted to vomit.

Nero and I got into position, which meant I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. I couldn’t lock my ankles behind his back, so I looped them through the straps of his back. That was how we planned to exit the vehicle, with me clinging to him like a baby monkey.

Suddenly, Jarapin barked a curse and the vehicle slowed to a stop. Nero and I nearly sailed off the seat. My stomach sank as I caught the reflection of Jarapin’s wide, panicked eyes in the glass of the front window. His shoulders heaved just as a crackly voice filled the car. “Search checkpoint ahead at Sector 26.”

I nearly came out of my skin, thinking someone was in the car with us, until I realized the voice came from a speaker at the front of the vehicle.

“Fleck,” Nero hissed.

“There’s no way to get out of line,” Jarapin’s voice shook. “If I leave, they’ll fire on site.”

Nero’s hand tightened on the seat by my head. “If they find us in the vehicle…”

“They’ll kill you.” The Uldani swallowed and glanced over his shoulder at us.

“Any ideas?” Nero peered out of the window where we could see the bottom of the pod we needed to reach.

Jarapin craned his neck to look down, then up. He swallowed thickly and ran his hand through his short hair. “I can get you to the pod, and I can try to hold them off as long as I can.”

“Will you be okay?” I knew Jarapin was risking everything once they realized he was a traitor.

He swallowed and shot me a small smile over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, human.”

“But—” My words cut off on a shriek as Jarapin spun the wheel wildly and slammed down a lever. The vehicle shot up and right, clipping a vehicle in front of us before we sailed up and over the checkpoint line. Nero hauled himself upright, no longer worried about not being seen. I sat up, plastered to the back of my seat like I was in an airplane at takeoff. An alarm blared from somewhere below us and the speaker crackled to life as my ears popped during our sharp ascent. “Vehicle G-967 is now considered hostile. I repeat, vehicle—”

Jarapin slammed his hand down on a button, silencing the voice. I glanced out of the window to see numerous vehicles pealing out from the depths of the city, heading right for us. Arcs of solar gunfire erupted all around us. Jarapin swerved and zig-zagged like a gazelle escaping from a cheetah. Sparks sprayed outside my window just as our car lurched forward. Lights flashed along the dashboard, but Jarapin ignored them as he continued to drive like a bat out of hell.

Nero turned to me; his expression controlled despite the utter chaos that had become our mission. “No matter what, you get inside that pod.”

“No matter what?” I was panicking. I couldn’t hide the shrill tone of my voice. “What does that mean? Where will you be?”

“Right behind you,” he said, clasping my hands. “But I can’t have you worrying about me as I hold off the laser fire. Get those doors open as fast as you can and get inside.”

“What if they bring the whole pod down with us in it?”

“They won’t,” Jarapin answered through gritted teeth as another explosion rocked our car to the side. “They destroy that pod, and they destroy every hope they have of winning this war. They suspect a Drixonian has breached the city, and they expect an attack to follow.”

Nero had begun assembling a weapon from his pack—a modified laser gun I’d seen him use a few times. He had a regular pistol-looking laser gun attached to his hip we well.

He clicked the last part of what looked like the muzzle in place before looping it through the back straps on his pack so that the grip jutted at an angle past his right shoulder.

“There will be guards at the pod,” Jarapin said.

“I know.” Nero hauled me into his lap. “Just get us there, Uldani.”

“You got it, Drix,” he answered.

Nero glanced out the window and his eyes went wide. He wrapped one arm around me and with the other reached for the door latch. I wrapped myself around him. “Hold on,” he said.

“Always,” I answered breathlessly, trying to get my wits about me.

“Door’s opening in 3…2…”

I stared into Nero’s eyes.

“1.”

The door flew open and together as one, we jumped.

ELEVEN

Nero

For a moment, we were weightless. It was as if time slowed to a crawl. Justine’s hair fluttered in the night air while vehicle lights and laser fire dotted the sky below us like exploding stars. The smell of smoke hung thick in the air as Jarapin returned fire from his vehicle to protect us. He let out a shrill war cry as Uldani generals snapped orders in the city below.

Yet all I felt was Justine’s arms around me and the beat of her cora strong and determined against my own chest. Airborne as we sailed toward the pod platform, I prepared for what was to come—protecting her and taking down this city.

An orange ball of flames burst in front of us, singing my hair and skin as fire erupted from the vehicle where we’d been sitting in moments ago. Justine’s head whipped to the side, and she screamed. “Jarapin!”

I couldn’t spend more than a moment grieving the Uldani, whose vehicle plummeted to the ground in a ball of fire. He’d played his part, and he’d had a purpose that he remembered to the end. I’d make sure Gram told his sister of his sacrifice.

A few laser shots flew past us. Pain streaked up my left leg, momentarily stealing my breath. I shoved down the agony coursing up into my torso.

We landed on the platform with a thud, me on my back with Justine on my chest. Her breath left her body with an oomph, and I felt a drop of her tears hit my face before I was on my feet. Running down the small railed deck along one length of the pod were Kulks, maybe half a dozen, with their laser guns aimed at me.

Shoving Justine toward the door, I made to stand, except my left leg buckled beneath me.

“Nero, you’re hurt!” Justine’s voice rang out.

I shook my head and stumbled to brace my body on my one good leg. I surrounded her with my bulk, withdrawing my short-range laser gun from my vest. Opening fire, I took out two Kulks with two carefully aimed shots through the eye slits of their armor. The next two, I sent sailing over the railing to the ground below with a whip of my tail, nearly losing my own balance in the process. The last two, I took out with my machets and zero finesse, making a bloody mess on the slatted railing floor.

I collapsed on my last swing, the agony in my leg nearly blinding me. I glanced down to see my pants torn and my whole thigh exposed. Black blood pulsed from the shredded muscle, running down my calf in ringlets to drip onto the platform

Hands grabbed my shoulders, tugging me backward, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Justine working valiantly to get me inside the pod. The door, thank Fatas, was open.

“You got the door open,” I said unnecessarily.

“That was my job,” she huffed as she pulled at me. Between the two of us, we managed to get my body inside the door. Pulling my legs clear, Justine slammed a button on the wall, and the doors slid shut. A moment later, laser fire slammed into the metal paneling, denting it. The doors, most likely reinforced, held firm. I wasn’t sure how long that would be the case. More Kulks would be arriving.

Still on my back on the floor, I rolled over to find Justine digging through her pack. “Get to the controls.” I grimaced as my voice trembled, weak with pain.

“I’m looking for medis!” Her eyes were wild as she pawed through our supplies, tossing things everywhere.

“I have some in my pack,” I said. “Stop worrying about me and get to the controls.”

“Your leg is shredded!” She cried out, and that was when I saw the tear tracks on her cheeks. She was panicking, her hands shaking and her face pale.

“Justine,” I sought to keep my voice even. “I will live.”

“Nero.” Her voice caught as her worried gaze dipped to my injury.

“Go,” I reached for my long-range weapon. “I need to hold our position and keep them from taking back control of the pod.”

She bit her lip. “How are you going to do that?”

I pointed to a porthole window. “I’m going to shoot at anything that gets close to us.”

“So, wait… I—”

“You’re going to have to do disable the security system yourself.”

Her breathing sped up until she was nearly panting with anxiety. “This is FUBAR,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Tit’s up. For fuck’s sake, I’m trying to be positive here, Nero, but I can’t think straight with you bleeding all over the goddamn floor—”

“You can do this,” I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “I know you can.” She sniffed as her gaze trailed to my leg. I avoided looking at it again. “Come on, little bird. Do this for me so we can fly.”

She nodded wordlessly, her eyes a bit dazed as she staggered to her feet and stumbled toward the control panels. The hub looked exactly as I thought it would, so what I’d taught Justine would be relevant. A wheeled chair sat in the middle of the rectangular pod. Along each long wall were control panels. The one with a dozen monitors controlled the security system and the other with fewer screens controlled the city’s communication, utilities, and data bank. Justine sank down in the chair, her body tiny in the room meant for the tall Uldani and broad Kulks.

Grabbing my long-range gun from where it was strapped to my back, I crawled over to the porthole window. Punching it out with my machets, I set the tip of my laser gun in the hole I created. Then I placed my eye at the scope, and waited.

Jarapin had been right. They wouldn’t risk blowing the entire pod to pieces, but they’d do their best to gain entry and take us out. If I could hold them at bay, Justine would have time to hack into the system.

A vehicle whizzed by, and I aimed at the driver’s head. Pulling the trigger, I watched the arc of laser fire sail through the glass to nail the Kulk driver right in the neck. His head lolled off his body and the vehicle, with a Kulk passenger set to lob a laser bomb, tilted wildly to the side before sailing to the left and dropping like a rock.

I glanced behind me to see Justine sitting at the control panel, her trembling fingers motionless. Her lips were moving and her hair that had escaped from her tie circled her head in wild waves.

“Justine!” I barked at her.

Her head went up, and she looked on the verge of a total mental shutdown. “I can’t—” she swallowed. “I can’t think. I can’t...” She shook her head helplessly.

I resisted cursing. This wasn’t her fault. We’d barely had time to practice. Even the most experienced warrior would be panicking at all that had gone wrong. I fired off another shot at a passing vehicle before turning back to her.

“Focus.” I kept my voice calm but firm. “Picture us back in my hut. Remember my voice and what I taught you. Start with their communications satellite.”

“Right.” She swallowed heavily as her eyes darted across the massive control panel.

“Focus on our goals, little bird.” A shudder ran down her body at my lowered voice. “Remember what we’re fighting for.”

A sob burst from her lips as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“You can do this. I know you can.”

Her shoulders heaved as she inhaled deeply. “Focus, Justine,” she murmured to herself. “Focus. Communications satellite. The mission.” She licked her lips as her gaze met mine for a brief second. “Our future.” She tapped at a screen and the outline of the Uldani communications satellite appeared on the screen, outlined in green. With a few more taps of her shaking fingers, the satellite blinked red a few times before going dark. She exhaled and let out a bark of laughter as she turned tear-filled eyes to me and pumped a fist in the air. “Done!”

I could see her confidence returning as her spine straightened and her eyes cleared of the haze of panic. I smiled at her. “You’re doing great. Keep going.” A careening vehicle entered my vision a minute too late for me to get a shot off. An explosion rocked the front of the pod. The floor tilted, and Justine shrieked as her chair rolled.

She grabbed onto the control panel in front of her to keep herself in place.

My head slammed into the wall and for a moment, I saw stars in my eyes. “Fleck,” I muttered, shaking my head to clear my vision. I blinked as a trickle of wetness slid down my forehead.

“Nero!” I heard Justine scream right before my head swam and my vision went black.

Justine

When Nero’s eyes rolled back into his head and his body slumped over, something came over me. It was as if the cool collectiveness of his soul transported into mine. My blood no longer flushed hot. If anything, an eerie chill descended over me.

I had almost no control over the situation, and in any other time that would have sent me into a raging panic. I threw myself across the room to Nero’s side and cradled his head in my arms. At the feel of his steady heartbeat and strong pulse, I calmed somewhat. He was alive, but that hit to his head had been a doozy. The thud of it still echoed in my head.

But I didn’t let myself lose it. I couldn’t control what was going on around me, but I could control how I reacted. He was alive, so was I, and we still had possession of the pod. And as I stared down at his face while doing my best to wipe the blood from his eyes, I let the compartments in my head I worked so hard to keep separate blur.

Nero had said to remember what we were fighting for, and those images flitted through my brain now. Everything I hadn’t let myself dream—a future with Nero on his home planet. A small hut full of my art. Our chit running between our legs and spilling my paints.

I had the power to get that future. I knew what I was doing, and the dreams calmed my nerves enough for my confidence to roar to the front of my brain like a steam engine. I could do this. I would do this. These fucking Uldani would see what happened when they messed with human females.

I didn’t let myself lose my shit over Nero passing out.

He was okay; just knocked out.

I ignored the flashes of laser fire that erupted from outside and pinged off the metal walls of the pod. Reaching into my pack, I withdrew a vial of medis. My hands no longer shook, and I spoke a random babble of words to Nero to drown out the sounds of the Uldani attack. Already Nero’s head wound was clotting in that amazing Drixonian healing way they had. I plunged the medis into Nero’s neck, emptying half of it, before slamming the rest into his mangled leg.

His body jerked, and his eyelids fluttered. He didn’t wake, but his face was no longer pinched with pain. Satisfied he would be okay, I didn’t dally. With controlled movements, I stood and returned to my place at the control panels.

I lifted my hands to the screen and while my mind raced with all I had to do; I took it one step at a time. The satellite communications were down, which would render most of their comms useless. Unable to communicate between the troops on the ground and those in the air attacking us, I suspected they’d need to regroup before launching another offensive. The laser fire seemed to have slowed, which proved my theory might be right.

Sitting in front of the massive screens, I shut down each of their utility systems—the water and septic, the electricity grid to all but the pod where I sat. Every time I managed to dismantle a system; shouts rose from the ground like a chorus. I risked a glance outside a small window to see the entire city plunged into darkness except for the headlights of the hover cars.

The lights going out was a sign for Gram and his small army to being their insurgency. Armed with torchlights and weapons, they’d aim to take out the weakest Uldani soldiers. From the sounds of screams, shouts, and more laser fire, I assumed they’d emerged from their bunker to begin their attack. From what I could tell, the city was in chaos, which was what we wanted.

As I began to work on disabling the long-range laser weapons that sat atop the walls of the city, Nero groaned.

“Are you okay?” I tapped a button on the screen to start the de-charging of the weapons and rushed to his side. Prodding at his head wound, I huffed when he shoved me away.

“‘M, fine,” he muttered, his words a bit slurred.

“Well, you’re not fine.” I braced a hand behind his back as he sat up. “You’re bleeding from the head and your entire thigh looks like raw meat.”

He opened his mouth to retort back to me, but then his gaze slid over my shoulder and his eyes went wide. “You… What did you do?”

“Oh, just a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.” I squinted to get a look at the progress bar on the screen. “Long-range weapons are almost shut down. Next is the sensors, and then I’ll open the gates.” I focused back on him. “Are you okay?” I held up two fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Mate,” he whispered, ignoring my attempt to evaluate his likely concussion. His purple eyes radiated awe. “You’re amazing.”

I didn’t get a chance to respond, because just then the floor tilted to the side, and the pounding of footsteps ran down the outer railing of the pod.

Nero scrambled to his feet, shuffling his bad leg behind him as he readied his gun. All business now, he jerked his chin over his shoulder at me. “Keep going. I’ll hold them off.”

I had to admit, the shouts from outside and the pounding on the door sent my heart into overdrive. I raced back to the control panel, working much more frantically now, but still focused. I couldn’t control what was going on outside, but I could control my fingers flying across this screen.

I spoke to myself in hushed tones so I could do my best to ignore the distracting sounds of battle outside. One by one, I disabled the motion sensors, the heat sensors, and all the automatic weapons which kept Alazar the fortress it was. I risked a glance at Nero to find him alternating between shooting out of the small hold he’d made in the porthole window and holding the door which he’d barricaded with the remnants of a chair he’d smashed. His blood coated the floor, and he slipped in it often as he pushed his back against the door, which jerked as fists pounded it from outside.

“How much longer?” He shouted.

I pulled up an outline of the city, where all the gates were marked in red. One-be-one, I tapped on them, turning them green. As I hit the last one, a canister flew through the open window.

A deafening boom shoved my chair off its wheels, and I crashed to the floor. Pain shot up my arm as I landed on my left side. When I tried to push myself up with my hand, my left arm wouldn’t work, hanging limp from the shoulder. “Fuck,” I gritted my teeth as I scrambled to my feet. Blood trickled into my eyes and I coughed as I staggered.

Smoke clouded the room, and I could barely see inches in front of my face. “Nero!” I waved my hand to clear the smoke to find him standing in the center of the room battling two Kulks in hand-to-hand combat. His black machets flashed in the dim light of the smoke-filled room. More bodies were visible through the haze, and I detected the silver skin of at least one Uldani.

“The comm!” Nero shouted to me. “Comm Daz!”

Shit, we still had to send Daz the signal to let him know he could attack. I dropped to a crouch and searched frantically for Nero’s pack. In the pod’s wild tilting, it slid over to the far wall behind the security control panel. I dove for it. Unfortunately, so did an Uldani.

We both hit the ground at the same time. I reached for the bag with my one good arm just as his claws raked the side of my face. I howled in pain as one caught the edge of my eye. From behind me, I heard Nero roar followed by a meaty smack and the sound of armor hitting the floor in a clanking heap.

The Uldani reached for me again, and I spun on my back to slam my boots right into his face. He shrieked as the skin split along his high cheekbone, spraying me with his stinking blood. I reached for the bag again and managed to get my fingers wrapped around the straps right as the Uldani gripped my leg and tugged. I went sliding across the floor toward him, and he grinned at me as I kicked out again, slamming the thick soles into his face, his shoulder, anywhere I could reach. He didn’t wear armor like the Kulks.

My shoulder screamed as I sought to keep my balance and prevent the Uldani from ripping off my leg. I fumbled in the bag; my one eye already closed from the Uldani claw slashes. If that fucker scarred me, I was going to be pissed.

My hand closed around the comm just as the Uldani lifted a fist and slammed it into my stomach. All the breath left my body, and I swore I heard a rib crunch. I gasped as he crawled up my body. He lifted a meaty fist, this time aiming for my face.

I thought this was it, that he was going to beat me to a lifeless pulp when suddenly, his body was gone. I heard a thud and a crack as something large hit the opposite wall. Through the smoke, Nero’s face appeared. He was coated in blood, and I couldn’t tell which was his and which was his enemies’.

“My mate,” he gasped, surely seeing the wreck of my face.

I thrust the comm in his face. “Daz. Signal.”

He didn’t even look at it as his fingers brushed along the slashes in my face. I winced, and he yanked his hand back. “Justine—”

“Nero, focus!” I didn’t miss the irony of our reversed roles. “Send Daz the signal!”

He came out of his stunned state to grab the comm from my hand. He tapped on the screen twice and then shoved it into his pack before strapping it to his back and hauling me to his feet. “We gotta go.”

Limping, he led us through the destroyed pod still filled with smoke. Bodies lay in a pile at the door, we had to climb over them to reach the outside. We collapsed on the small railing outside, gasping in fresh air as the pod swayed and shuddered.

The only way off this pod was by a small craft located underneath. We just had to make it there and out of the city. Sounded easy, but then nothing about this mission had been easy. The skin of my face felt tight, I could only see out of one eye, and my left arm hung at an awkward angle because of what I assumed was a dislocated shoulder. Nero didn’t look any better. He was covered in blood and dragged his left leg behind him like Bruce Willis in Die Hard.

Nero, unaware of my injuries, grabbed my shoulder to pull me along the railing. I cried out in pain, and he whirled around, eyes wild. “What’s wrong?”

“I think my shoulder is dislocated.” I gripped it and fought the waves of nausea threatening to empty my stomach. “I landed on it when my chair toppled over.”

His jaw clenched, he placed one hand on my biceps and the other on my shoulder. “I can pop it back in. Are you ready?”

No, no way in hell was I ready. This was going to hurt like a sonofabitch. But I didn’t have a choice, so I nodded.

He didn’t give me another warning. With a vicious yank, he wrenched my arm. White-hot agony streaked through my collarbone and down to the tips of my fingers. A sickening pop reached my ears and I gasped through the pain.

Nero’s face swam into my vision. “Justine? Justine?”

I blinked until he was less blurry. While my shoulder still felt like it was on fire, I could at least bend my fingers. “Yeah.” I mumbled, holding onto him so I didn’t topple over. “I’m here. I’m alive.”

He clasped me to his chest and cradled the back of my head. He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Yeah, we both are. Now let’s get the fleck off this pod.”

A shrieking roar rose from behind us, and I whipped my head back toward the doorway of the pod to find a silver figure appear through the dark smoke. Bloodied, with a cut on his cheek I knew I’d made with my own boot, the Uldani face shredder who I’d wrestled on the floor amid the chaos charged toward us, a blade glistening in his hand.

“No!” I shouted as he raised the weapon. There was nowhere for us to go, pinned against the railing without enough time to dodge his swing. I anticipated the icy slice of the blade in my chest but just as I was about to close my eyes, Nero shoved me to the floor. He ducked the Uldani’s swing, and the alien, unable to stop his momentum, hit the railing above me at full speed. I covered my head as he flipped over it, but of course we weren’t in the clear. If he was going down, he was taking Nero with him. He grasped my mate’s neck and the two of them tumbled off the edge of the railing.

I screamed and reached for Nero. My hand caught the edge of his pack, but I wasn’t strong enough to keep him on the edge. My fingers tangled in the straps, and I slipped off the edge of the platform too.

The three of us careened to the ground in a flailing freefall. Nero’s panicked eyes met mine, and for a split second, his purple irises shone in the laser fire lighting up the sky all around us. For a moment, it was beautiful. I should have been crying and screaming because in about half a minute I was going to be a smashed pancake on the ground of this city, but all I could think about was that we’d done it. We’d completed the mission. My only regret was not getting the chance to tell Nero the visions of our future was the only thing getting me through.

I hoped we didn’t suffer and died on impact. Nero’s arms closed around me, smashing me to his chest. Vehicle headlights shone in my eyes and I blinked at the brightness. “What—?”

With a sickening crunch that jarred every bone in my body, we landed on something hard just as Mag’s voice rang out over the hollers of the battle below. “Got you!”

TWELVE

Justine

Beneath me, Nero groaned, and blood trickled from his lips, but he was alive. And so was I. We lay on the roof of a hover vehicle, somehow caught in mid-air by Mags, who poked her head out the driver’s side window to peer up at us. “Get in!”

Except with dawning horror, I realized we weren’t the only ones who’d landed on Mag’s car. A groan reached my ears, followed by a low growl. The Uldani had landed on the roof of the car with us. The fucking stowaway. He hadn’t been invited on this rescue. The bastard just wouldn’t die.

With a war cry I didn’t know I was capable of, I picked up his blade which had clattered beneath us on the dented root. With a slash of my arm, I aimed for the Uldani’s face, but he dodged it at the last minute, lips twisted into a snarl.

His fist lashed out, catching me in the jaw. I might have blacked out for a second, because when I came to, I’d slid down onto the windshield, while Nero stood on the hood battling the Uldani.

Through the windshield, Mags’s eyes were huge, and she fought to keep the hover car steady, so Nero didn’t slide off. A hand grasped my leg, and I fought it for a moment until I realized the hand belonged to an Uldani sitting next to Mags. His head was out the passenger-side window. “Come on,” he shouted over the rush of air. “I’m trying to get you inside the vehicle.”

Wind whipping my hair and clothes, I crawled inch-by-inch across the hood of the car. “Don’t look down, Jus,” I whispered. “Don’t look down. Don’t look down.” I reached the edge and… I looked down.

The ground was … really far away. The figures who ran through the streets looked like ants. My head spun as vertigo took my breath away. My world flipped and suddenly I was tossed bodily in the back seat. I sat there for a moment, unsure how I got there, when the Uldani in the front seat shot me a look. “You wouldn’t move, so I pulled you in.”

“Oh, um, thanks,” I muttered.

A thud echoed from above me just as a dent appeared right above my head. I screamed as a body flew past my window. “Nero!” I shrieked as I scrambled to the side to peer down.

A upside-down head appeared right at my window. Blue. Bloody. Horned. He smiled; fangs stained with black blood. “Right here,” he panted.

“Get in the car!” I hollered at him. I wasn’t sure my heart could take anymore. As Nero pulled himself into the car through the small backseat window, I yelled to Mags. “Please tell me we’re getting out of this city.”

“Absolutely,” she answered, and her hands tightened on the wheel. We zoomed over the tall buildings of Alazar, heading toward a back gate. As Mags and her passenger discussed the best route to take, Nero collapsed into the back seat. I reached for him, running my hands over his body to assess if he had any new mortal wounds. Just when I thought my adrenaline had crashed, relief washed over me, sending another wave of endorphins zinging through me. “Are you okay?”

He winced as he stretched out his injured leg as best as he could in the confined space. “I’m alive. Remind me never to do that again.”

“That wasn’t what I meant by wanting to fly,” I muttered.

He barked out a harsh laugh, which ended in coughing fit.

I slapped his back. “Let’s have a boring life here on out.”

Nero grinned as he caught his breath, and I noticed his left fang was chipped. “Boring sounds great.” His smile faded and his eyes warmed. “I’m so proud of you.”

My heart pulsed happily. “I need to say this now, in case something happens, and I don’t get a chance. You were right. Every bit of it. When you hit your head and passed out, the only thing that kept me going was remembering what I was fighting for. I thought fighting for my friends was enough, but back there, I realized I wanted to fight for me too.” I jabbed my thumb at my chest as I fought back tears. “I wanted to fight for us. Our future. And that was why I kept going when all I wanted to do was curl in a ball and cry.”

Nero pulled me against him and shoved my face into his neck. God, he was filthy and sticky, but I didn’t care. He was whole, and we completed our mission. My wrists tingled, and I glanced down at them as black marks began to appear like an invisible tattoo gun.

“Nero!” I jerked up and grabbed for his wrists. The marks appeared there too, running in two parallel lines around his wrists. Between the bands, a few jagged lines appeared, looking like heartbeat lines circling our wrists.

The Uldani had scratched me, drawn my blood, and when Nero sent him sailing off the car to his death, Fatas awarded us with our loks. I touched the claw marks on the side of my face, and his hands covered mine. “I felt this when he marked you,” Nero said quietly.

“I heard you roar.”

He swallowed. “I could feel your pain.”

“Just a few scratches.” I smiled.

“I knew you were my mate,” he said. “It didn’t matter to me if I was blessed with a cora-eternal. Knowing Fatas honors our union makes it that much sweeter.”

I leaned into his touch just as my head felt like it swelled. A tree rose from the ground in my mind, its roots digging deep and implanting themselves in the soil of myself. The leaves spread open, soaking up the sun and rain. I leaned on the steady branches and inhaled the fresh oxygen. Yes, this was Nero’s aura, a steady oak that would never waver. Never fall. I could lean on it when I needed or stray from its trunk when I felt steady on my own. Nothing about his aura controlled or dominated.

“I can feel you,” I whispered. “Like a strong tree setting down roots in my mind.”

“You’re a brigger, chirping around and picking out dead twigs and rearranging my branches.”

I choked out a laugh amid my happy tears. “I guess you needed a little maintenance.”

“I’ll always let you fly, my mate.” He smoothed my hair off my forehead with gentle fingers. “And I’ll always be a firm, permanent place for you to land.”

Home. That was what Nero was. Home. I’d searched all my life for a place I belonged, but I was never satisfied. Probably because home would never be a place. It would always be a person—Nero. No matter where I was, on this planet or any other, I’d always be home with him.

I pressed my lips to his and lost myself in his taste as I fluttered about his branches until a throat cleared in front of us, reminding me we weren’t alone.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Mags said. “But we’re leaving the city. Gram and his soldiers have engaged the Uldani on the ground, but they don’t have the manpower to sustain it for much longer.”

Nero straightened and peered out his window. “The Drix will be here.”

The would be. I didn’t let doubt enter my mind. Daz would never leave us, not until he had confirmation Nero and I had failed our mission. But that confirmation wouldn’t come. Because we were alive, and we’d succeeded.

I kept waiting for another shoe to drop—we’d gone through an entire damn closet already—as the car zoomed toward the gates. But nothing stopped us, and we burst through the opening out into the open fields surrounding Alazar.

I nearly climbed in Nero’s lap as we stared outside the window. The moonlight shimmered off the blue grass surrounding Alazar. Where were the Drix? Had Nero’s signal not reached them? Suddenly a big smile stretched across Nero’s face and his eyes crinkled. In a voice full of price, he said, “They’re coming.”

“They are?” asked Mags.

“Where?” I pressed my fingers to the glass just as I caught sight of movement along the tree’s edge at the outskirts of the open field.

Nero pointed with a steady finger. “Right there.”

Like an avenging tsunami wave, the trees erupted with a mass of dark figures. War cries lit up the night, overriding the sound of the vehicle’s engine. Hover bike headlights appeared like spotlights, riding over the running soldiers. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of Drixonian warriors descended on Alazar with revenge on their tongues and bloodlust in their eyes. I’d never seen anything so awesome in my life.

They poured into the gates in a steady stream. And for the first time in days, I felt the taste of victory.

Nero

Justine tugged on my arm. “Please, stay here.”

“I can’t, cora-eternal,” I said, wiping at her face where I’d injected a vial of medis to deal with her wounds. Mags had a stash of it, and I’d used the rest on myself. My leg would never be the same, but the pain had dulled to a mere discomfort. Later, I’d have one of our healers repair it with stitches. There was no time for that now, so I’d wrapped a spare swath of cloth over the wound in a makeshift bandage.

“I know, but—” she bit her lip, a plea in her eyes.

We had landed near the tree line. Mags and her partner sat in the vehicle while I explained to Justine why I needed to return to the city. “I promised Gram. And I can’t let my brothers fight without me.”

“You’ve been fighting for two days!” She stamped her foot like a chit, her aura chattering away at me so loudly I wished I could swat it away. Gently, of course.

“We’ve been fighting for many cycles,” I said softly. “And it’s so we can live out the rest of our rotation in peace. Not much longer, Justine. And then it’s our time.”

Her jaw clenched, and she ducked her head. “I want to go with you.”

This was my turn to nearly stomp my foot. “Absolutely not. I can’t concentrate in there if I’m worrying about you. The best thing you can do for the cause now is to wait here with Mags where it’s safe. Please. I’ll return to you as soon as I can.”

She pressed her lips together with a sigh. I knew I’d won, but I didn’t feel triumphant. “Without you, I wouldn’t be standing here. Now let me finish this and ensure Gram and his Uldani are safe.”

She nodded. “They saved our asses. Numerous times.”

I snorted. “Yes.”

She dropped a kiss on my lips. “Go on then. Do what you need to do. But you come back to me.”

“I promise.” Those words no longer made me cringe. I was so close to fulfilling my promises to Justine and my mother. I turned to Mags, who was watching us from the driver’s side. “Keep her safe.”

I took off running toward the mass of Drixonians streaming into the city. Fighting was in my blood, and I was in the mood to take off a few Uldani heads. Tossing that flecker who’d hurt my mate off the vehicle wasn’t enough. I needed blood dripping from my machets and the cries of my dying enemies ringing in my ears.

I entered the fray in a crowd of Drix from the Great Welf clavas wearing gray and white arm tags. The drexel nodded at me before directing his warriors at a line of Kulks who stood blocking a group of Uldani soldiers.

I sprinted through the gates to a scene of utter war. Memories of the Uprising swamped me as I met laser fire, smoke, and the cries of dying and wounded. The metallic tang of blood hung thick in the air as I stepped over bodies of fallen Kulks. Luckily, I found few fallen Drixonians, and those were young warriors from other clavases. Many reminded me of Hap, and I was thankful he remained behind in the tree-line with Shep to treat the wounded.

A ferocious growl thundered up ahead, and a grim smile spread across my face. Gar. I’d recognize his war cry anywhere. A dying Kulk fumbled with his laser gun as I walked past, but he didn’t have time to fire a shot before I sliced his hand off at the wrist. Catching the now-free laser gun before it hit the ground, I triggered a laser blast into his eye slits. His lifeless body went limp and I trudged forward.

Rounding the corner of a few huts, I entered the large open expanse near the hub of the city. Since the Drix had entered every gate, most of the Uldani and Kulks had been pushed here. Surrounded by Drix and a few Kaluma, we were picking them off as their circle tightened to protect the Uldani’s top commanders. The royals’ pods had been wiped out. Some still burned in a cluster in front of the hub where they’d been shot out of the sky. The skyscraper buildings of the elite were severely damaged, many collapsed and smoldering husks of what they once were.

Gar’s massive form, backlit by a burning government building, hacked away at Kulk bodies, sending their bloodied bodies arcing through the air as if they were chits. Above him, Sax and Xavy led a troop of warriors on bikes, firing at stragglers who sought to catch any of our ground fighters off guard. While we honored any who wished to surrender, I didn’t expect many Kulks or Uldani soldiers to give up until they were dead. This was their last stand.

Civilians were not to be harmed unless they took up weapons against us—even the royal breeders and elite. Gram told me they had an emergency bunker where most of them would be hiding to wait out the war. We’d leave their fate to him.

Daz and Ward fought side by side, while Drak spun and kicked his way through easily a dozen Uldani soldiers. He’d barely had to use his machets—his massive fists doing enough damage.

A Kulk raced toward me and I didn’t even bother raising my laser gun. With a slash of my tail, I knocked him off his feet and then slammed my machets into his neck. I stepped over him as he gurgled his last breaths.

Daz glanced over his shoulder at me, hair flying and nostrils wide as he panted from exertion. His body glistened with blood, but he didn’t look like he had a scratch on him. His lips stretched into a grin. “Good to see you, brother.”

I pumped a laser shot into another approaching Kulk. “Back at you.”

“Nero!” Came a shout from above. Xavy circled overhead and waved a ring-laden hand at me with a smirk. “Looking a little beat-up there.”

Sax rode past me, a big grin on his face. “Had some trouble?”

“You have no idea,” I shouted. “Come down here and pick me up. I need a ride somewhere.”

Sax swooped down, and I jumped on the back of his bike as it skimmed across the ground. Clasping my arms around his waist, I directed him to Gram’s warehouse. The plan was for him and his soldiers to pull back once the Drixonian army entered and to wait for me to arrive so I could ensure their safety. They were, and the Drix had orders to kill all armed Uldani on sight.

Sax whooped as we sped through the burning streets of Alazar. While he drove, I took out a few lingering Kulks with my laser gun. After we touched down in the small alley of Gram’s warehouse, I swung my leg off my bike, wincing at the pain. I’d need to get myself some more medis. And soon.

Sax squinted into the darkness. “Where are we?”

“I had some help,” I explained. “This mission went off the rails moments after we entered the gates. If it wasn’t for Gram, Justine and I would have been dead yesterday.”

“Gram?” Sax’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just say Gram?”

“Yeah, I think you guys already know each other. He seems to have a habit of saving Drixonians.” I knocked on the door. “It’s Nero!” I called out.

After a long pause where I was sure Gram was peering through the cracks in the wall to ensure it was me, the door swung open.

Gram stood in the doorway, a bloodied sling hanging from his shoulder to support his left arm, and a long gash in his temple. His relief at seeing me at his door was palpable.

I opened my mouth to give him an update when I was shoved aside.

Sax wrapped his massive arms around Gram and picked him up, squeezing him to his chest as Gram sputtered.

“I never thought I’d see you again!” The big Drix hollered with a wide-mouthed grin.

I shoved at my brother’s back. “Sax, you’re crushing him.”

Sax dropped Gram so quickly the Uldani nearly fell over. I clasped his good arm to keep him upright, and he shot me a thankful smile. “I never thought I’d see you again either,” he said to Sax.

The warrior squinted into the darkness of the room, and I realized we were surrounded by a dozen or so battle worn Uldani. Most were bloodied and injured, but they all looked happy.

“Did you lose any?” I asked Gram.

His smile faded. “A few.”

“I’m sorry.”

He nodded. “Me too. But they died hearing the beautiful sound of the gates opening and the Drixonian warriors descending to help us earn our freedom.”

I let him know the Uldani and Kulks were in a losing battle, penned in from all sides. “It’s only a matter of time before they die or the last few surrender.”

“I hope they surrender,” he said. “Only so that I can make them pay for their crimes against you and the rest of us. Corruption has been allowed to reign in this city for too long.”

Sax shuddered. “Fleck, I hate being back in these walls.” He rubbed his palms together. “So, what’s the plan?”

I explained to him how Gram helped Justine and I when our future looked bleak, and that he had steadily been amassing a loyal contingent with the intent of overthrowing the royals. “Our deal was that he got us to that hub and we let him and his Uldani live in peace.”

Sax raised a nubbed brow at the Uldani. “Been working on this awhile, have you?”

“Since my father died all I could think about was getting revenge on Borhan. After you killed him, I realized this entire system allowed Borhan to do what he did. So that was when I began finding others who were as discontent as I was. We will rebuild a new Alazar without walls.”

A loud boom shook the warehouse and Sax grinned. “Sounds like we’re helping you with that wall thing.” He rubbed his stomach. “By the way. Any of you have snacks?”

THIRTEEN

Justine

The ground shook with explosions and war cries. I swore I could hear Gar over the din, which was crazy, because I was several hundred yards away. But his growl was unlike any other. I shivered. I stood as close to the tree line as I dared, while Mags and the other Uldani, whose name was Yirpin, stood behind me at the front of the car.

Because of the noise of the battle, I didn’t hear the rumble of a bike approaching us from behind until it burst through the trees. Mags and Yirpin whirled on the newcomer, guns out.

I caught sight of Hap’s flopping black hair and hollered at my new friends, “Don’t shoot!” I ran past them toward Hap, who leaped off the bike before it came to a full stop. The tears were already leaking from my eyes when we hit each other at full steam. The shock of the hit reverberated down my injured arm. I whimpered and Hap immediately swept me into his arms, his hands coasting over my body. “Are you okay? Where are you hurt—” His gaze landed on my loks and he went still. His gaze lifted to mine. “Jus,” he whispered in awe. “Nero?”

“Of course, Nero,” I laughed through the tears. “Oh God, it’s so good to see you, friend.”

“What happened?” he asked. “After we didn’t hear from you at the first sunup, I started to worry. Daz kept saying that the mission could take several rotations, but I couldn’t relax until I knew you were okay.”

“What didn’t happen is the question.” I squirmed out of his arms and got to my feet. I briefly gave him a rundown of all that had occurred since we broke into the walls. When I got to the part where we took a dive off the pod, he went pale.

“Justine, you’re flecking with me.”

“I’m not. So much went wrong. But then so much went right. We shut down their systems and stayed alive.” I bit my lip. “Nero is hurt. Bad. I think he caught some laser fire to his leg, and it looks like Sax’s leg when he almost died. Remember?”

“Fleck,” he muttered. “And that flecker ran into the battle, didn’t he?”

“Of course,” I said. “But he does have a good reason. An Uldani named Gram helped us, and Nero has to—”

“What did you say?” Hap’s eyes narrowed on my face.

“An Uldani helped us—”

“What name did you say?”

I frowned at Hap’s stiff posture. “Gram. He’s the one who helped Sax and Val escape too. So, his name is probably familiar.”

He swallowed heavily before shaking his head. “No, no I never heard the name of the Uldani who helped them. I know a Gram. He…” Hap tore his fingers through his hair. “When I was brought here as a chit, the Uldani gave me to an elite family as a playmate and servant to their young male chit. When his father was convicted of a crime and sent to the mines, the male ran away. That was when Daz fought to take back possession of me.”

My mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”

“Gram was my friend. The only Uldani who ever treated me well.” He wrinkled his nose. “When he ran away … I never thought I’d see him again.”

“Well, he grew up to save the lives of two Drixonian warriors, two human females, and lead a resistance to overthrow the Uldani royals and take over Alazar. He’s a good man, Hap. Just like you.”

Hap shook his head with a laugh. “I can’t wait to see him again.” He threw his arm around my shoulders. “Introduce me to your friends.”

I made the introductions. “Mags had a hand in saving us too. Without her driving skills, I’d be pancake on the streets of Alazar.”

“Pancake?” Mags asked.

I slapped my two palms together and made a splat noise. Mags jerked at the sound. “I wasn’t sure I’d get there in time.”

“You did, and I can’t thank you enough for it.”

“My mate at the tree line across from the front gate is treating the wounded,” Hap said. “Would you like to follow me there?”

“Thanks, but we’re going to wait here until we get the signal from Gram,” she said.

He nodded. “Understood.” Shaking my shoulder, he smiled down at me. “Let’s go see Shep. He’s the one who spotted you over here.”

After saying goodbye to Mags and Yirpin, I hopped on Hap’s bike. Once he settled behind me, we sped through the trees until I spotted a dug-out trench just past the tree line, lit by torches. Shep’s head popped up and a relieved grin crossed his grizzled face. “Justine,” he breathed as I leapt off the bike and reached for him. He clasped me to his chest and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. He held my hands and rubbed his thumbs along the loks on the insides of my wrists with a warm smile. “I see you and Nero finally succumbed to Fatas’s plan.”

I lifted my chin. “I would have chosen him with or without Fatas.”

His smile grew and he patted my cheek. “That’s my girl.” He held up his wrists, where he bore wooden bracelets which matched the ones Hap wore to symbolize their mating. “I know a thing or two about choosing the right mate for me as well.”

Hap leaned in and nuzzled his neck. “I heard that. You really do like me. I knew it!”

“Go away,” Shep growled at him with mock annoyance.

I scanned the trench, where Rokas was bent working on a few wounded, none who had mortal injuries, although one was missing the lower part of one leg. His expression was stoic, so I assumed Shep or Rokas had given him some good stuff. His head turned to me and he gave me a soft smile. I knelt next to him and brushed his hair from his purple eyes, which were a little hazy. He had a purple armband on with a leaf on it, and if I recalled correctly, that meant he was part of the Dryad clavas.

“How are you feeling?” I asked him, which felt like a ridiculous question.

“Like I lost my foot,” he grinned at me dopily. “You’re pretty.”

“And you’re high,” I murmured. “What’s your name?”

“Pruett.”

“I’m sure Hap will design a badass prosthetic for you, and you’ll be walking again in no time.”

“Pros-what?”

I patted his head and my fingers carded through his thick hair. “Get some rest, Pruett.”

“Mmmm,” his eyes closed. “That feels good.”

So, I stayed at his side, finger-combing his hair until his breaths turned deep and even and he began to snore softly. After that, I visited a few more wounded Drix, who seemed irritated they’d been sidelined from the action. But one was temporarily blinded from an explosion, and another couldn’t hear anything and just kept yelling, “What?” in my ear until I told Rokas he might need some sleepy juice too.

After completing my rounds, I returned to Shep’s side, where he sat watching the gates of Alazar. The city no longer rang with explosions and gun fire. Every now and then, a cry or a shout rang out, but it had mostly fallen silent. The battle had taken its toll on the city as fires continued to smolder. The east-facing wall was mostly caved in, and I felt a bit like I was watching the end of Game of Thrones when Daenerys lit up King’s Landing with her dragons.

“What are we waiting for?” I asked. “A signal?”

He wiggled his comm at me. “Already heard from Daz the battle is over. The remaining Uldani commanders have surrendered.”

“Now what happens?”

For a moment, Shep’s face showed every one of his three hundred cycles as he heaved a heavy breath. “Now, Daz decides their fate.”

I turned my face toward the gates, and knowing the drexel of the Night Kings, I didn’t expect much mercy.

Nero

The four remaining Uldani commanders representing the once plentiful Uldani army now knelt in a line at Daz’s feet. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and their once pristine uniforms were splattered with dirt and blood.

Kuala Renner, the supreme commander of the Uldani army, had never been seen before, until now. He’d preferred to remain behind his safe walls and send his commanders out to battle. Even when us Drix had worked for the Uldani, he’d never used us as bodyguards. He hid behind his technology and weapons. Without them, he was just another flesh and blood body, capable of breaking like the rest of us.

He was older, his hair snow white and his face lined with age. I could tell he’d once been strong, as the hint of corded muscle remained on his slim body. Without his protection, he stared up at Daz with a mixture of disgust and fear. Even in defeat, he thought he was superior to my drexel. It made me want to beat him into the ground.

We stood in the center of the Alazar near their hub building. All around us, the city smoldered amid the crumbled walls. A small handful of civilians huddled together with their children, but we had no intention of hurting them. Daz had sent some of our warriors throughout the city to root out any remaining enemy soldiers and also to ensure there were no innocents trapped in the rubble. The rest of the Drix army hung back in a silent group, watching as Daz stared down the last of our enemy. The Kaluma stood around us and while Bosa was visible, I suspected a few remained blanked.

“We have surrendered,” Kuala spat at Daz. “What are your terms?”

Daz, standing with his feet braced apart and forearm machets dripping with blood, looked down his nose at Kuala. I thought I saw a bit of brain matter clinging to one of his horns, but I’d tell him later. “Terms?” His lips curled. “You expect me give you Uldani scum terms?”

“We surrendered.” Kuala sneered. “Your precious honor won’t let you touch me now. And that’s what you Drix are all about, isn’t it? Honor?”

“I, for one, don’t give a fleck about honor,” said Bosa as he slammed a booted foot into the commander’s back. With a pained cry, the Uldani pitched forward face first into the dirt and writhed as he gasped for air.

Daz shot Bosa a tired look before he gripped the Uldani’s hair and placed him back on his knees. The commander wiped his face with his shoulder and panted. “This is outrageous. You killed our Kulks and our army. We’re tied up and surrendered. You must give us the terms for our release—”

Daz cut him off with a booming question. “Did the Uldani unleash the virus on Corin?”

Kuala’s jaw snapped shut, but I didn’t miss the flinch. Daz didn’t either, because he cocked his head in a way he often did when he spotted prey. With careful movements, he crouched on the balls of his feet and leaned closer to the commander. “I’ll ask again, and I’d like an answer. Did the Uldani unleash the virus on Corin that killed our females and most of our elder males?”

Kuala didn’t speak. He remained silent as his body dissolved into a trembling mass of flesh. Daz extended his claws and placed them under his chin, forcing his head back until the Uldani’s neck bulged painfully. The commander squeaked in an undignified voice, “I surrender.”

With a growl, Daz shoved Kuala who fell on his back and lay sprawled there, staring up at the starry sky, chest heaving, eyes closed. I didn’t feel bad for him. I didn’t feel bad for any of these fleckers.

A few shouts and the shuffling of a small scuffle broke out in front of us. Marching down the cobbled streets of what had once been the Alazar marketplace was Gram and his soldiers. In front of him, he pushed a dirty Uldani male with his hands tied in front of him. He protested the whole way, sputtering and blubbering as he pleaded for his life. This was no soldier, as he wore the uniform of the Uldani’s med unit.

After I’d explained to Daz my deal with Gram, which he agreed upon, the small Uldani had disappeared. I figured he was ensuring the safety of his soldiers, but it seemed he’d been busy.

Gram shoved him to the ground in front of Daz. “He might be able to answer some of your questions.”

“We’ve surrendered!” Kuala shouted as he struggled to right himself. “Don’t say a word, Volp. Not one—” His words were cut off when Bosa slugged him in the side of the head with his club. The supreme commander hit the ground with a thud, and this time he didn’t move.

“Can you refrain from killing anyone right now?” Daz growled.

“He’s still breathing.” Bosa shot back.

Ignoring the Kaluma, Daz nudged a trembling Volp with his boot. “Who are you?”

The Uldani tried to speak, but his lips only fluttered uselessly.

“Volp had an interesting job.” Gram stepped forward. “We were told he was in charge of developing medis, but while working in the med unit, I uncovered some things that made me think Volp had a lot of other duties.”

“P-please,” the Uldani stuttered. “Don’t hurt me—”

“Did the Uldani start the virus?” Daz asked. He had a single-minded focus on getting the answer to that question, as it was one we all wanted to know. If the Uldani were responsible… well then honor didn’t have a place here.

Volp cringed at the answer just as Kuala groaned and seemed to come to. “Volp,” he muttered. “Don’t.”

Daz bent at the waist to roar in the face of the terrified Uldani, “Did the Uldani start the virus?”

“Yes!” Volp shouted. As if surprised at his own answer, his face drained of color, turning nearly white as he slumped into a ball.

“Volp!” Kuala cried.

But the med unit member ignored him, clearly acting in his own self-interest, and hoping he was spared if he confessed. “Yes, the Uldani started the virus. It was only intended to weaken you enough to ask for our help. We never intended for it to kill all your females. When we realized what we’d done, we panicked and began to look at ways to breed more Drix.”

We’d all suspected the Uldani had started the virus, but hearing the truth felt like a stake in the cora. My sisters. My mother. They’d all suffered for no reason but the greed of the Uldani, for the way they coveted our power and strength. For once in my life, I cursed the abilities of my race. If we’d been less skilled, the Uldani never would have tried to subjugate us for their own uses.

Daz hadn’t moved or reacted. The truth rendered him motionless as he continued to stare at the Uldani with black eyes. Finally, only his lips moved as he asked, “Under whose orders?”

“What?”

“Under whose orders did you create and unleash the virus on Corin?”

Volp swallowed, and his gaze slid to Kuala. Only Daz’s neck craned to the supreme commander, who’d managed to get to his knees once again. Knowing he was beaten, he lashed out with the only weapon he had. Words.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he hollered as he gazed around a the Drix looming over him. “Your females are dead. You have no way of getting home since we destroyed all your cruisers and warships. And do you think we merely sold your brothers we stole?

“No,” Volp whispered harshly. “Please, Commander—”

“Volp and his team experimented on most of them, looking to create even more powerful soldiers. Of course, there were many mistakes. So even if you find them, which you won’t, they’re mutants. Beasts. Good for nothing but slaves for the Plikens—”

Gar didn’t let him finish. The big warrior rushed forward and with a vicious sweep of his arm, gored Kuala in the stomach. His body, severed at the waist, hit the ground in two pieces. The Supreme Commander of the Uldani army, who had terrorized us for one-hundred and fifty-cycles, lay dead, his lips still curled in a sneer, his eyes wide and unseeing.

Gar wasn’t done. Growling and roaring, he plowed through the other three Uldani commanders and Volp, impaling a few with his horns as he beat them with his fists and tail. It was bloody and disturbing, but no one stopped him. Not even Daz. We stood back and let our massive warrior with a cora bigger than he let on take out our vengeance on the remaining few who had caused us so much pain and anguish. They’d taken everything from us.

When he was finished and what was left of our oppressors lay before us in a bloody pile, he stumbled back. Only then did a curl of purple return to his black eyes and he seemed to come back into himself. His chest heaved as he gazed at the destruction he’d wrought.

Gar, a warrior of view words, lifted his chin to Daz. “These fleckers don’t deserve honor. Where was honor when they murdered our females? When they stole our brothers from us and disrespected their bodies?” Gar spat on what was left of the Uldani commander. “I didn’t want the scars of their deaths on your cora, drexel, so I added them to mine. My mate will heal me like she always does.”

Daz stepped forward and clasped the back of Gar’s neck. He brought their foreheads together and while the bigger warrior remained stiff at first, as Daz’s lips moved, speaking to him quietly, slowly Gar relaxed. When they parted, Gar had returned to himself, his eyes once again purple and his fists loose.

As I stared at the once proud city around us, I couldn’t dredge up a single feeling of empathy for the slain Uldani. Daz turned to Gram, who stood nearby with a neutral expression on his face. If he didn’t mourn for his own leaders, then I wouldn’t either.

“I want any information you can find on what Volp and his team did to our warriors.”

Gram nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Daz’s jaw clenched, and he glanced at Sax, who had gone uncharacteristically quiet and pale ever since Kuala had spewed his words. Daz swallowed as he fisted his hips. “My brother was among those taken.”

Gram winced, and his eyes lowered. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll leave behind a crew of Drixonian warriors to help you clean up and carry out judgements on the elite.”

Gram inclined his head. “Thank you, drexel.”

“Thank you for saving my brother.” His eyes slid to me. “And my other brother. The truce between us is solid.”

We marched out the gates after leaving a small crew behind. This planet had never felt like home, and I’d never felt like more of a visitor than now. I’d expected to feel vindicated after defeating the Uldani, but I didn’t feel much but weariness. I didn’t want to believe Kuala that they’d destroyed all our ships—we’d found one cruiser after all—but even if they hadn’t, we had no idea where they’d stashed them. It could take many more cycles before we found a way to get home.

I ached for Corin, and my next thought was I wasn’t sure how to tell Justine I’d never fulfill my promise of taking her and our chit to the devas shrines.

FOURTEEN

Justine

The sun was beginning to rise when the Drixonians emerged from the gates. I expected victory celebrations or at least some smiles, but almost every face was grim. When I didn’t see Nero right away, I began to panic. I knew he was okay as the tree of his aura was still alive, albeit very still. No breeze blew through its leaves, and that sent a chill down my spine. I ran forward, ignoring Shep’s shouts from behind me. I kept sprinting toward the group of emerging Drixonians.

A figure shoved between Daz and Sax, and then Nero was racing toward me. I leapt as we drew close and he caught me in mid-air. My legs circled his waist as my arms wound around his neck. “You’re okay.”

“I promised I’d be okay,” he whispered in my ear.

“You’re doing really well on this promise thing.”

His body went stiff for a moment before he gently placed me back on the ground. He didn’t acknowledge what I’d said, which bothered me, but now wasn’t the time to get into a lengthy discussion.

“You shouldn’t have run forward,” he chided.

“Yeah, probably not, but I wanted to see you. How did everything go? Is Gram okay? What happened to all the Uldani?”

His hand slipped from the top of my head down to my upper back as he urged me forward toward the tree line, where Shep and Hap waited. “I’ll tell you soon, okay? I’m tired and hungry.”

His admission, said with a strained smile, surprised me. It was one of the few times I’d heard any of the Drix admit any sort of weakness or human-like needs. But of course, he was tired and hungry. Now that he mentioned it, I was starving too. When had I eaten last? I couldn’t even remember…

“Yeah,” I nodded, falling in step next to him. “I am too.”

“Let’s eat, mate,” he murmured into my hair. “Then I’m ready to return home.”

I glanced behind me at Alazar and hoped I would get a chance to see Gram again.

On the way home, Nero and I rode in the Kaluma’s returo. Fortunately, the bronze aliens hadn’t lost any of their warriors, and they were in good spirits. Bosa laughed with his crew as they told stories of the invasion while I dozed. Nero and I had eaten, and while Nero sat with his eyes closed as I lay beside him, I knew he wasn’t asleep.

Shep and Hap rode with us as well, since Shep spent a substantial portion of the ride working on Nero’s leg. There was muscle damage which had mostly been repaired by the medis, but the outer scales of his leg were badly mangled and burned. Nero hadn’t cared what it looked like—neither had I—and the good news was he would regain almost full use of his leg.

My arm was a little swollen, but not nearly as sore as I expected it to be. The claw marks in my face were gone, and Shep told me that my fast healing was largely due to my loks. I hadn’t realized the mating bond afforded me that ability, but I thought it was badass. I immediately thought of my pregnant friends, and I was happy they’d have some enhanced healing on their side when they had to give birth to some horned babies.

By the time we drove down the tree-lined path leading to the gates of the Night Kings clavas, I was slightly rejuvenated from my cat nap and eager to see my friends. It had only been a few days, but I missed them something fierce. I wanted to touch Frankie’s belly and hug Naomi. I wanted to pet Luna and check on Mozart with Bazel. I wanted my family back. And okay, a large part of me wanted to show off my loks, even though I knew there was going to be a lot of I told you so’s.

The gates were already open, as the warriors, faster on their bikes, had already reached the clavas. There, waiting at the entrance, I caught sight of lots of hair blowing in the wind and a big fluffy welf. As soon as the Kaluma opened the returo, I was out of the ramp, running toward my friends. We met in a massive tackle hug, which was kind of our thing, although we had to be more careful now with all the protruding bellies.

I felt surrounded by love, which only escalated when Miranda noticed my loks. “You went and found yourself a cora-eternal?” she screeched.

Tears in my eyes, I shook my head.

“No?” she held up my wrists. “Then what are these?”

I felt Nero’s heat at my back. “I didn’t have to leave to find him. He’d been right here the whole time.”

Frankie snorted while Miranda shot me a suffering look. “That was the corniest thing I’ve ever heard you say.” She turned a glare on Nero. “Who are you and what have you done with our grumpy, cynical Justine?”

Nero’s arm wrapped around my shoulders. “My little bird is too tired to be in a bad mood. I’m sure tomorrow she’ll be back to her old self.”

A bunch of aw’s rang out at his term of endearment.

I nodded. “He’s right. I’ll be rolling my eyes at all of you in no time.”

“Go sleep the day away,” Val said, putting on her nurse voice. “We’ll have someone deliver food to you in Nero’s hut so it’s ready when you want it.”

I squeezed her hand. “I’d love that.”

Her gaze took me in. “Do I need to check you over?”

“I’ve been seen by the good doctor Shep. The injuries I had seemed to have healed quickly once…” I wiggled my wrist.

Val smiled. “I remember that.”

“Oh!” I shouted, startling Val. “That reminds me, did you get a chance to talk to Sax?”

Her expression softened. “Yes, he told me about Gram, I—” tears welled in her eyes, and I regretted bringing up a time in her life that was terrifying. “I wished I could see him again to thank him. He saved our lives.”

“I know what you mean. He saved ours too.”

“The Uldani will hold an election to determine a council, and I know Gram will have a place at the head of the table.” Nero squeezed my shoulder. “I’m sure there will be a time we see him again.”

Val wiped at her eyes and nodded. “Now go sleep. When you wake, we expect a debriefing. Sax already has a bug up his ass about someone else having a better escape story than him.”

I laughed as I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “Let me tell you … ours is a doozy.”

Nero

When I opened my eyes, my hut was lit only by the light of a flickering lantern. I lifted my hand to reach for Justine, but the furs beside me were cold. A faint scratching sound reached my ears and I rolled my head to find my mate curled up in one of my chairs, a fur draped over her lap as her hand moved across a piece of paper.

Her expression was serene, and her hair was pulled back onto the crown of her head, where it sprouted out of its tie in all directions. When she lifted her head and met my eyes, a wide smile crossed her face. “You’re awake.”

When we’d returned to my hut, we’d both taken a turn in the cleanser and then fallen asleep immediately. I’d been weary to my bones in a way I’d never been before. The sight of my mate went a long way to soothe my sadness.

“I am,” I sat up, wincing at my still sore body, and reached for the tray of food on the table near me. I could see Justine had already nibbled a bit. “Did you get enough to eat?”

She nodded. “Val brought enough to feed an army.”

“What are you drawing?”

A red tinge flushed across her pale cheeks. “Something for you.”

“For me?” I popped a guara slice in my mouth and chewed the tangy, refreshing fruit. “Let me see.”

“I’m not done yet.”

I beckoned with my fingers. “Let me see anyway.”

She pouted. “I don’t like showing my art until it’s finished.”

I kept my hand held out, waiting patiently. I stuck my lip out in a pout like I’d seen Bazel do.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes with a soft laugh and unfolded herself from her chair. She wore a sleeveless shirt with straps over her shoulders and a pair of what the women called underwear. The lantern light made her golden loks glow. She placed a knee on the furs and plopped down beside me. Setting the paper in my lap, she pointed to it. “I tried to draw Corin.”

My mouth went dry, and my head spun as it cast back to memories I’d shoved to the far recesses of my mind. Just from my description, she’d managed to draw my village where I’d grown up with Daz and Sax, complete with the sturdy moke tree that grew in the center of our village.

I’d swung from those branches and carved my initials in the trunk. In front of that tree, I’d told my mother about my dreams, and she’d told me I could achieve them. I always thought I’d return again in this lifetime. But now … I’d only see my mother in my dreams, and I’d only touch that tree in my imagination. I closed my eyes as the pain of seeing my past, when I so desperately wanted it to be my future, proved too hard.

“Did I not get it right?” Justine murmured at my side, uncertainty creeping into her voice. “I’m sorry, I tried—”

“It’s perfect,” I whispered, my eyes still closed.

She hesitated. “Then why aren’t you looking at it?”

“Hurts,” was all I could say.

Paper rustled, something hit the floor, and then small hands gripped my face. I opened my eyes to look into my mate’s dark brown orbs as she straddled my lap. “Nero.” Her thumbs brushed my cheeks as her brows dipped. “What’s wrong? I thought you were just tired before, but something’s bothering you. Your aura is off. Talk to me.”

“I’m not as good at promises as you think. To you or myself. I let down the memory of my mother.”

“What does that mean?”

“We can’t go home.” My voice cracked. “We can’t return to Corin.” I explained what happened in the walls of Alazar when we’d captured the Uldani commanders. I didn’t get into the gory details but told her enough of what happened to make it clear we wouldn’t be able to rebuild on Corin.

When I was finished, Justine wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pressed my face into her neck. I held her tightly, reveling in the warmth of my mate’s body and the soft fluttering of her aura in my mind.

“You didn’t break a single promise to me,” she said her hair smoothing over the top off my short hair. “So, don’t worry about that. But I know how badly you wanted to return home, and for that I’m so sorry.”

She pulled back and pressed a kiss to my eyelids, then another on my nose before she nuzzled it. “But don’t think for one second that you let yourself or your mother down. She, along with your sisters, would be so proud of the warrior you’ve become. Think of all you’ve done for your brothers, for us women. Home isn’t a place, but people. And we have our people here. You have me anywhere.”

Her fingers dug slightly into my cheeks as she continued. “I still have hope we will find a way home. But even if we don’t, you didn’t let anyone down. You have to look back at all you accomplished, and not what you didn’t. We’re all happy and safe and healthy. This clavas will soon have new babies.” She pressed my hand to her heart. “We have each other.”

Warmth flooded my body as I closed the distance between us to press a kiss against her lips. All thoughts of promises fulfilled and failed left my mind as I focused on my mate’s words. She was right—I couldn’t focus anymore on the dead. I had to look at what I had in front of me. My cora-eternal.

My cock plumped between us and poked the small scrap of fabric covering Justine’s cunt. The memories of our time together in Gram’s bunker sent zings of pleasure through my blood.

My mate’s body was so soft, and the heat of her cunt seared the tip of my cock. “I want you,” I murmured as I nuzzled the thin skin of her neck. I skated the tips of my fangs along her collarbone and she sucked in a breath as her hips rolled in my lap.

I slid the straps of her shirt off her shoulders and tugged down the front until the fabric pooled under her magnificent breasts. Drawing one of her nipples in my mouth, I sucked as her fingers dove into my hair and gripped a horn. “Yes,” she whispered.

I rolled my tongue piercings around the hard bud before switching to the other nipple, all while Justine moaned softly above me. She reached between us and wrapped her small fingers around my cock. When she squeezed, my head fell back, and I let out a long groan. She stroked me, twisting at the head, and flicking the pierced ring. I jerked up into her hand, seeking her heat and was rewarded when she rose on her knees, her breasts, red and wet from my attentions, filling my vision.

With a soft smile, she pushed the fabric of her panties aside and slid down onto my cock. Wet heat enveloped me, and a low hiss left my lips as I gripped her hips. I dug my fingers into her flesh, and she rewarded me with a toss of her head and a bounce. My cock sank into her to the hilt.

“Come on and fly, little bird,” I murmured, staring into her warm brown eyes. “Take me with you.”

She bit her lip and began to ride me. Her hips churned as she plunged up and down on my cock. I cupped her breasts, loving the weight of the soft skin in my hands. I plucked at her nipples, which made her cry out. Head thrown back, body arched, she flew, and I went with her. I came on a shout, and her inner walls rippled around me as she panted out my name while she came too.

Her body fell limply on mine, and I wrapped my arms around her slender shoulders while she caught her breath, face pressed into my neck. Her hands slowly stroked my chest, and I prushed for her, the vibrations soothing me, and causing her to let out a happy sigh.

“I love you, Nero,” she said softly. “I know that’s not a word you Drixonians use. And some humans take that word lightly, but I don’t.” She drew back and brushed her hair from her flushed cheeks. “I’ve only ever I said that word to my sister. It means everything to me. So, I need you to know. I love you. I love you more than I thought I could love someone. Thank you for being my mate, and for letting me fly.”

I pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose as the weight of my burdens lifted from my shoulders and flew away, like dust in the breeze. “I love you, too, little bird.”

FIFTEEN

Justine

Miranda narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, and then turned to Frankie. “Can you ask Daz if there are body snatchers on this planet? Because some happy-go-lucky and disgustingly-in-love alien has invaded our friend. Not that I’m complaining. They can keep the old Justine. I like this one better.”

“Hey!” I laughed as I shoved her with my shoulder. “That’s mean!”

Miranda grinned and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m just kidding. I would totally get you back if you were body snatched.”

“I’m just … happy,” I said with a shrug. “And it’s not even just Nero, it’s everything. The war is over. I’m damn proud of myself for my part in it, and Frankie is about to pop.”

“I am not,” she groused. “I still have a few months left with this boulder in my belly.” She pointed to her protruding stomach, which was lopsided.

“Are you… asymmetrical?” I asked, tilting my head.

She rubbed her stomach with a wince. “Yes, his little head is down, but his butt is stuck under my right rib.”

“His?” Val asked, rubbing her own swollen stomach.

Frankie shrugged. “It’s just a guess. I feel like it’s a boy, but I could be wrong.”

The eight of us women—now all mated, including Anna—sat around the bonfire while the warriors around us drank and roughhoused to celebrate the Uldani defeat. Many of them were subdued, but that just meant there was more to drink for those who wanted to blow off steam.

We’d been home for four days, and most of that time had been spent sleeping and healing as we all sought to catch up on rest.

The Kaluma returned home, and said they’d return, as they wanted to learn more about what might have happened to their stolen warrior. As much as Bosa annoyed the shit out of me, I kind of missed the jerk.

I wrapped a fur around my shoulders and leaned into Miranda’s legs from my position at her feet in the dirt. She sat on a log above me, running her fingers through my hair.

“So, Franke is due first, then Val, and then Reba, right?” Miranda asked.

All heads nodded except for one—Naomi. Her cheeks flushed red in the light of the fire. “Um, I have news.”

Miranda’s hand dropped from my hair as I scrambled onto my knees. “No way!” I cried

Naomi’s eyes glistened, and a grin split her face as she bobbed her head. “I’m pregnant.”

Squeals and cheers went up among our little group, and apparently we got so rowdy that Gar ran over immediately from wherever he’d been—surely watching his mate like a hawk as usual—to stand over Naomi with a low growl rumbling from his chest.

We froze mid-celebration, not that we thought Gar would hurt us, but his body language clearly said back off. Naomi pushed on his solid chest. “Stop that. I just told them the news. They’re excited.”

Gar’s expression immediately went soft as he crouched down to rub his massive hand over her belly. “How’s my daughter?” he murmured in a gentle voice I’d never heard him use before.

“She’s like the size of a pea,” Naomi giggled. “She’s fine.”

“When did you find out?” I asked.

“A few days ago, right before Gar left for the battle. Only he and Val knew. I wanted to keep it a secret until you returned. I couldn’t share the news without you here.”

I lunged forward and hugged her as tightly as I dared with Gar still crouched behind her. He rose slowly and with a kiss to the top of her head, let us be.

We chattered about how she was feeling—fine, no morning sickness—and how Gar reacted—he’d lost his mind and was even more protective than normal.

“How about you?” I asked Miranda. “You and Drak making any babies?”

Miranda shook her head. “Anna taught me how to use the rhythm method. It was how she avoided getting pregnant for five years until her and Tark were ready. Drak and I need more time, something we both agree on.” She grinned. “Plus, I’m going be busy being an aunt. We’ll have babies when we’re ready.”

I looked to Tabitha, who was poking at the dirt with a stick. “And you, Miss Tab?”

“Uh,” she shrugged. “We’re not doing a thing to prevent it, so I guess… Fatas will decide.” She rolled her eyes. “Xavy wants like … a dozen children. I told him I wasn’t birthing a baseball team, and he doesn’t know what that means, so he’s been telling everyone I’m giving him a team of balls.”

I snorted. “That sounds like Xavy.”

“Well, Anna, I’m going to need to talk to you. If I managed to avoid getting knocked up now, I’d like to get on that rhythm thing.”

Anna gave me a thumbs up. “Just knock on my door and I’ll get you set up.”

“I feel a bit like you inherited seven daughters along with Bazel,” Frankie said to her.

Anna clasped her hand. “No, I don’t feel that way. And even if that was true, I love every minute of it. I was alone except for Tark for five years, then only Tark and Bazel for another five. It’s been a blessing to have friends again.”

“I think we’d be stumbling around in leaf underwear if it wasn’t for you,” I said.

When the conversation switched to clothing patterns, I found myself zoning out and scanning the crowd for Nero. Ever since our talk, he’d been happy, but I could still sense he and his brothers were unsettled. I finally spotted them sitting by a hut in the near dark, huddled together with serious faces.

The talking around me slowly started to drift off, and I caught Frankie also stealing glances back at the group of warriors, her hand resting on her stomach.

She caught my eye and gave me a sad smile. “Daz has been unsettled.”

“I meant to talk to you guys… I’m worried about Sax,” Val admitted, her expression strained. “He’s not himself. He spends a lot of time brooding while cleaning his already spotless bike. Sax doesn’t brood!”

“Xavy either, but he’s also been brooding.” Tabitha pouted. “I’ve tried blow jobs and everything. I even offered butt stuff.”

“Jesus, Tab,” Reba muttered.

“Well, I did!” Tabitha rounded on her. “And you know what he said?”

None of us answered because none of us really wanted to know.

“He said,” Tabitha continued. “Maybe another time.” She widened her eyes. “Another time? What male says another time to anal?” By now her voice was shrill and a few warriors looked like they were eavesdropping. From the huddle, Xavy’s head went up and he narrowed his eyes at her. “Shit, he probably heard me,” she muttered.

“Well, you were yelling about anal,” Miranda deadpanned. “Pretty sure the entire clavas heard you.”

“Whatever,” Tab huffed. “My point stands. He’s not okay. None of them are.”

“They want to go home,” I said. “That’s all Nero has wanted but they have no way to get there. They don’t have a way to contact their allies, and they have no aircraft. The Kaluma’s spacecraft no longer works.”

“I think Sax is most upset about Rex,” Val said softly, leaning in so they warriors with ridiculous hearing wouldn’t hear us. “He won’t talk about it, but that’s hitting him hard. Ever since he heard his brother might still be alive, he’s held out hope for a reunion. To learn his brother might not be … the same…” she shook her head. “He is not dealing well.”

“Daz either,” Frankie agreed. “He already blamed himself for Rex’s death. Now he blames himself for whatever Rex has become if he’s still alive.”

That news had been a blow to me when Nero explained what the Uldani commander had confessed to. They’d always known experimentations were a possibility based on what they’d done to Sax—trying to inject him with a drug that triggered an impulsive mating reaction. But the idea they had altered Drixonian warrior bodies to turn them into better soldiers… I’d shuddered, imagining some fucked up Wolverine shit. If Rex was still alive … what was he like? Did he know who he was? What did he look like? And most of all—how many warriors were out there who’d been changed?

“We have to be there for them as best as we can,” Frankie said, straightening her shoulders and giving us all a serious look. “I think they didn’t care much about this being a temporary home when it was just them. But now four warriors are looking at chits on the way, and they all want to build a lasting home like the one they had. It’s up to us to show them that home is wherever we are together. Whether that’s here or another planet.”

We all nodded. I liked when Frankie led. She could be a little silly and flighty at times—her mind seemed to go off on tangents often—but she had a huge heart, and she always seemed to know what to do when it came to people. Like Tabitha, she was socially smart, and I always looked to her to show me how to act when it came to feelings. With Nero was the only time in my life that interacting with another person came naturally. Maybe it was because we were so in tune. Being in each other’s heads sure helped.

I glanced up when I spotted movement among the group of warriors. They stood, as if their meeting had ended, and each made their way to the fire—and their respective mates. I wondered where Hap and Shep were, but then it wasn’t unlike them to hole up in their hut alone.

Nero sank down onto the log next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Hi, little bird.”

“Hi, mate,” I answered.

His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. It never failed to put him in a good mood when I called him that. “What have you females been discussing?”

Over my dead body would I tell him we were worried about them. As Frankie said, we needed to show them this could be a home. “Oh, just stuff. Some decorating ideas for the dining hall. Some kitchen improvements.”

His eyes went soft and he brushed my nose with his. “That all sounds good.”

I gazed around the fire to see Naomi cradled on Gar’s lap while Ward rubbed Reba’s swollen feet. Val lay on her side, head resting on Xavy’s lap while he stroked her hair. Anna and Tark talked quietly about Bazel’s antics for the day, while Miranda and Drak cuddled so close they looked like one person. Frankie stood between Daz’s legs, his hands encircling her belly as he pressed a kiss right above her protruding belly button.

In the distance, I saw Hap and Shep playing with Luna, and Rufus slept on his giant paws on the doorstep of the hut where Bazel slept.

I pressed a kiss to Nero’s temple. This was all we needed. This was home.

Nero

A banging woke me from a deep sleep. I blinked my eyes open as Justine grumbled next to me. It’d been a late night around the fire, and while I hadn’t overindulged on spirits, I had on food, which left me feeling groggy and bloated.

“Nero!” Xavy yelled from the other side. He couldn’t barge in anymore because I’d locked it from the intruding flecker.

“Coming, give me a minute,” I hollered.

The doorknob rattled as Xavy fought to get inside. “I hate this lock!”

“Well I hate you interrupting my time with my mate!” I stumbled to the door, unlocked it, and threw it open. “What do you want?”

He was dressed, but barely. His pants were wrinkled, like he’d pulled them on from the floor, and one boot was untied. “Daz said we have to report to the gate. We have visitors. It’s Gram.”

My heart pounded. This couldn’t be good. He said he’d mind his own business and how two rotations later he was at our gates. Our warriors who’d stayed behind returned home yesterday. “Is he alone?”

He shook his head. “He has two more Uldani with him?”

I pulled on my pants. “Only two?”

“What’s going on?” Justine called.

She padded toward me wearing only a large shirt. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Gram’s here.”

“Here?” Her eyebrows rose and then she dashed off. She returned a second later wearing pants and her hair piled on her head in a tie while I was still getting into my boots. I didn’t bother telling her stay in our hut. She wouldn’t have listened anyway, and I promised I’d never ground her.

When we left my hut, we jogged our way to the front gate, which were open. Standing just inside was Gram and two Uldani. They wore weapons, but all were sheathed, and stood at ease speaking with Daz and Sax. When Gram caught sight of me, he nodded, but his smile spread when he saw Justine.

“Ah, it’s good to see you.” He waved with his three-fingered hand.

Justine beamed at him. “Hey there. No offense, but I didn’t expect to see you again for a long time.”

He opened his mouth but a shout from behind us cut him off. “Gram!”

I turned to find Hap running at full speed across the clavas, Shep trailing him at a much slower pace with his cane.

Gram’s expression flickered with confusion, then recognition as his eyes went wide. With a whispered voice, he said, “Hap?”

The young warrior skidded to a halt in front of the Uldani with a beaming grin and clasped him around the neck. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Gram blinked at him like he was unable to believe his eyes. “I wondered many times what happened to you.”

“What’s going on?” I whispered to Justine. “How do they know each other?”

“Hap was taken in by Gram’s parents as their son’s companion, whatever that meant,” she said. “Hap told me Gram was the only Uldani who treated him well. They were friends, until Gram’s father was convicted of a crime and Gram ran away.”

The two were speaking quietly until Daz cleared his throat, interrupting the reunion. “Gram is welcome to stay and you two may spend more time together, but I’d like to know the reason for his visit.” He raised a nubbed brow at the Uldani. “I take it you aren’t here just to say hello?”

Gram shook his head. “No, I have news. I have a team working on going through the notes left behind by many of the elite responsible for military operations.” He cleared his throat as he gestured to an Uldani behind him, who withdrew a small tablet and handed it to Gram. He tapped on the screen a few times. “We uncovered the location of some things that belong to you.” He handed the tablet to Daz and then clasped his hands together, his chin lifted.

Daz looked carefully at Gram’s face as he took the tablet, probably searching for any sort of deception. As much as we wished to trust Gram, taking an Uldani for their word would take some time. Finally, he glanced down at the tablet. His entire body locked. Sax, looking over his shoulder, swayed on his feet.

I stepped to their side and eyed the screen. Pictured were five Drixonian cruisers and two massive warships, all sitting in a massive underground bunker. My cora pounded in my ears, and my body locked.

Daz swallowed, and he fumbled with the tablet as he inhaled sharply. For one of the first times in my life, I saw a vulnerability in my drexel when he looked at Gram with a plea in his eyes. “Is this real?” Sax gripped his brother’s shoulder and waited for Gram’s answer.

“We sent scouts to check. It’s all there in an underground cavern under a section of the plains on the eastern half of the continent. You probably rode over them hundreds of times.”

Daz went a little pale as his eyes dropped once again to the tablets. His fingers stroked over the warship’s cockpit. Piloting one is what he’d been trained to do since he could walk. I was certain he never thought he’d see one again.

I hadn’t thought I would either. When Xavy returned with news our only cruiser now rested on the bottom of the freshas, I’d mourned for many rotations. I gazed at the picture, my eye roaming the vessels which seemed to be intact. The aircraft could be damaged, or we wouldn’t have enough fuel—many things could still go wrong that could prevent us from going home. But this was a glimmer of hope. Plus, I was the best tech the Drixonians had ever seen. Now with Justine at my side, I knew we could fix any problem that arose.

Daz swallowed and lifted his head to Gram. “I thank you for this.”

Gram nodded. “I can’t give you back what you lost, as much as I wish I could.”

“You’ve done a lot,” Sax said. “You didn’t make the decision to unleash the virus.”

“No, but I still feel responsible. We all do.” The Uldani behind him, silent until now, murmured assents in low tones.

Footsteps sounded behind us, and I turned to find more bodies approaching, this time in the form of females. Val and her belly led the way. As soon as Sax saw her coming, he jogged to her side, and with one hand around her waist, and the other holding her hand, he helped her waddle forward. Frankie wasn’t far behind, walking as fast as she was able with Miranda.

More Drixonians had begun to emerge for the day. I hadn’t realized we’d drawn a crowd.

Val’s face lit up when she spotted Gram, and her eyes glistened with tears. “My savior,” she murmured.

Gram’s face colored as he let Val draw him into a hug. Sax hovered nearby, clearly not happy about his pregnant mate being so close to someone else. Val gripped Gram’s hands. “Thank you so much for all you did.”

“You make a lovely pregnant female,” Gram said.

“Yeah, okay, we know. Get your paws off her, Uldani,” Sax huffed, breaking up their contact. Val swatted at him, but that didn’t deter him from drawing his mate into his arms.

“What’s going on?” Frankie asked as she stepped to Daz’s side.

He still held the tablet, but at the presence of his mate, he came out of his stupor to wrap his arm around her shoulders. “Gram has come bearing news.”

“Oh yeah?” Frankie said, craning her neck to peer at the tablet. “What news?”

A serene smile crossed his face. “We’re going home, my cora-eternal.” His voice rose to carry over the gathered Drixonians and humans. “You will birth my chit on Corin, on the land our mothers and fathers walked. We’ll feed him from the soil that nourished the bodies of generations of Drixonians before us.” His chest heaved and his eyes glowed.

Frankie stood at his side, the breeze blowing her long dark hair around her shoulders and her dress around her legs. She gazed on with pride at her mate, just as I watched my drexel with respect.

“We’re going home!” Daz shouted to the gathered crowd.

Cheers went up, feet stomped, and soon the very ground was vibrating with the celebrations of hundreds of Drixonian males.

I clasped Justine’s hand, and watched as tears streamed from her eyes.

Daz bent down and placed a hand on Frankie’s bulging stomach. With his hair flying and his nostrils flaring, he roared one last call to arms. “She is All!”

“She is All!” The echoing chant was likely heard all the way to Corin.

EPILOGUE

ONE MONTH LATER…

Frankie

I already had to pee every five minutes because of the gigantic baby pressing on my bladder, but now I also had to pee because I was shaking with nerves. One thing I knew for certain, I would do just about anything not to get on a spaceship again.

We’d spent a week on the massive warship, and I had to admit the accommodations were nice Daz’s room—a massive En suite afforded him as the ship’s captain—was impressive, with a large bed, a massive cleanser stall, and even a soaking tub, which I’d used almost every day since my back hurt literally all the time.

We’d sent scouts on a cruiser ahead of time, who sent word back that Corin was habitable and the first crew of Drix and females could return home. I wasn’t sure what I thought about the word habitable. That seemed a little of a low bar to me, but Daz’s excitement was palpable. No way would I ruin his homecoming with my fretting. I’d asked him questions, so I knew vaguely what to expect.

But still, as I stood next to Daz at the hatch of the warship waiting for it to open along with a hundred warriors and all my friends, I feared I’d pee myself from fear. What would the planet look like when this hatch opened? For a long time, I’d resented the walls of the Night Kings clavas, but now they represented safety to me.

I trusted Daz, and I trusted his warriors. If they said it was safe, then I had to be brave.

With a jolt, the giant hatch began to lower. We’d landed near the city of Granit in what Daz had referred to as a base for aircrafts and other military supplies. I pictured a fence with barbed wire and plain army green buildings but when the hatch came to a rest and I got my first look at Corin, my heart leaped into my throat.

I’d thought Torin was beautiful, but it had nothing on its sister planet.

Lush blue trees surrounded us, and tall grass swayed in the breeze. A large circular building, covered in overgrown vines, stood to the side and in the distance, sitting atop a giant crest of land, was a city. Tall buildings coated in an iridescent metal shimmered in the sun, and I could just make out a giant sphere in the center.

They’d built these to last—it’d been one hundred and fifty years—or cycles as the warriors called it—and these buildings looked like they’d been erected yesterday.

Also, in the distance to the right was a curious copse of spikes sticking out of the ground of varying heights, some as tall as twenty feet.

“Devas shrines?” Justined asked from behind me. She held her new pet, a mingo named Mozart she refused to leave behind.

“Yes,” Nero murmured. “I’ll take you there, little bird.”

I would have to ask Daz later what those were. He squeezed my hand, and I looked up at my mate, who was beaming down at me. His flat hand settled over my stomach. “Are you two okay? Ready to take your first steps on Corin?”

Our son kicked his palm in response. He always did that whenever Daz was around, and it never failed to amaze me how he seemed to know his father’s rumble from the womb. My nerves, which had been nearly overwhelming moments ago, calmed. I had all I needed right here. I nodded and smiled. “We’re ready.”

Daz lifted his proud head, and we made our way down the long ramp. When we reached the bottom, I toed off my flats and wiggled the toes of my swollen feet. “Fra-kee?” Daz queried.

“I want to feel the dirt and grass under my toes. See if it feels different than Torin.”

He smiled, and together, we took the very first step onto his home planet. It did, in fact, feel different. It felt like home.

Daz

It had been two dozen rotations since we arrived on Corin, and the amount of work seemed endless. My mate’s pregnancy was nearing the end, and I didn’t like to stray far from our hut, as our chit could come any time now.

Various clavases had split up into the villages that remained surrounding the city of Granit. The females refused to be separated, so the Night Kings all settled in the village where me, Sax, and Nero had been raised—Norjic. The moke tree in the center was still there, taller than ever, and the slashes we’d carved into the trunk’s bark barely visible.

The huts themselves had been a chore to restore. All needed new roofs, but luckily Hap was a master at delegating what needed to done, so I’d put him in charge of that. He’d been efficient with his team of warriors, and only took a few rotations to make the huts livable again while we slept on the warship.

We’d had to chase out several families of moira, who couldn’t seem to understand who and what we were. The wildlife of this planet had taken over, and it’d be a while before we cleared all the buildings of animal droppings.

The women seemed to love the village. They often gathered around the base of the tree to talk and mend clothes. Hap had built them a series of benches and tables, and even a hammock hung from the lower branches. The sight of that brought back memories of alone time with Fra-kee when we’d first talked at Tark and Anna’s after she’d had her implant installed. I caught her a few times running her hands over the netting with a sly smile on her face. Fleck, she was perfect.

I missed her, even now as I walked through the deserted streets of Granit with my brother. Once a busy metropolis, the buildings were now overgrown with numa, and I stayed prepared in case a pivar pack or salibri mother decided to surprise us. Anything could be living in these buildings now. It’d be a long time before we got our city back. There was also still much more of this planet we needed to explore. It was possible some areas had been inhabited by others in our absence. If they were friendly, we’d leave them be. But if not… we’d fight to ensure our safety.

Sax and I were supposed to be talking about starting repairs on the city, but there was a subject we’d been avoiding that would soon be impossible to ignore. In fact, it was past time we discussed it.

“We need to talk about Rex,” I said, my voice echoing off the nearby buildings on the empty street.

Sax’s body went stiff, and I hated how the news had affected him. He’d been the closest to Rex, and as someone who’d been imprisoned by the Uldani and pricked with needles as they sought to turn him into a breeder, he was surely haunted by what could have happened to our brother. His jaw worked. “I know.”

“What do you want to do?”

He whipped his head to me with his brows lowered. “What do you mean?”

“You want to search for him?”

“Of course, I flecking do,” he growled.

“Don’t get angry with me,” I snapped back. “I’m just as affected by this as you are.”

He huffed and kicked a rock, which went sailing through an already broken window in a nearby building. “I know that. I just can’t get the picture of him out of my mind of him laying on one of their tables while they touched him…” He closed his eyes. “You know they wouldn’t have spared him pain.”

The thought of them touching my brother made gorge rise in my throat. “No, I’m sure they didn’t. Gram still can’t find records on the experiments. Nero had searched everything to no avail. I just need to know that you’ll be okay with whoever he is now.” I swallowed. “Whatever he is.”

Sax lifted his head and looked me square in the eye. “I don’t care what they did to him or what they turned him into. He’s still my brother.”

I nodded. “I feel the same.”

He clasped my neck, and I clasped his. Our foreheads touched, and I reveled in the strength of my brother’s body beneath my palm. I couldn’t imagine not having him here with me. I also couldn’t imagine not doing everything in my power to bring Rexor home.

“We’ll wait until our chits are born and our mates are settled,” I said. “And then, we’ll bring our brother home.”

Sax’s smile, the one I’d missed, spread across his face. “Order received, drexel.”

My comm alert went off, and I glanced at the screen. The words there sent all the blood draining down to my feet. I swayed and would have dropped the comm if Sax hadn’t grabbed it.

He read the words and then, the flecking shet, laughed long and loud. “Let’s get back to Norjic, brother. You’re about to be a father.”

We sped back to our village on our hover bikes in record time. There, I watched my perfect mate, my cora-eternal, push out a perfect son with blue skin, little horns, and a shock of dark hair. He screamed in my face with powerful lungs until I handed him to my mate, who let him feast on her milk.

We named him Corthin, a mashup of the planets where his parents had been born. As he drank greedily from my mate’s breast, I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her sweaty forehead.

Exhausted, she still smiled at me, love glowing from her pretty eyes. “He’s perfect,” she whispered.

He was, and I vowed to give her the perfect life she’d always dreamed on the most perfect planet in the galaxy.

Curious about Rex? Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging! His book is coming very soon!

REXOR

Book One in the Stolen Warriors series

They thought I was dangerous before, but now that I have a female to defend… I’m ruthless.

Preorder now!

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Thanks for reading about my Drixonians! I’d love it if you’d consider leaving me a review on Amazon or Goodreads!

If you missed reading about Daz and Frankie, you can get their story in The Alien’s Ransom. Sax and Valerie’s story is in The Alien’s Escape. Ward and Reba’s story is The Alien’s Undoing. Miranda and Drak’s story is The Alien’s Revenge. Gar and Naomi’s story is The Alien’s Savior. Xavy and Tabitha’s story is The Alien’s Challenge.

The Alien’s Equal is the final book in the Drixonian Warrior series, but I have many more stories to come featuring Drixonians and other aliens in the Rinian Galaxy!

REXOR: STOLEN WARRIORS

THEY THOUGHT I was dangerous before, but now that I have a female to defend… I’m ruthless.

Daisy: I’m a glass half-full girl, but this last week has really tested my outlook on life. First of all, aliens exist. Yeah, there’s a doozy. Second of all, they steal humans from Earth, and they’re not nice about it. Like at all. Anger issues abound in other galaxies apparently.

My situation worsens when I learn I’m the prize in some really effed-up alien gladiator games. I’m just going to admit it now—my glass is empty, and this doesn’t look good for me…

Rexor: Once I was a proud Drixonian Warrior. Now I’m an experiment gone bad and a former gladiator who can’t control his bloodlust.

When I see a human female with sunshine hair in danger, I can’t let her fall into the clutches of monsters who will break her. I steal her with the intention of rescuing her, not keeping her for myself. She’s beauty and happiness. I’m a hideous shadow of what I once was and losing my mind with every planet’s rotation. All I know is that while we’re on the run from our enemies, I’ll do anything to protect her. Even if I have to break myself to do it.

Rexor is a SciFi Alien Warrior Romance with lots of action, a heroine who’s really trying to look on the bright side, and a tortured hero with a few…enhancements.

Chapter One

Excerpt

Daisy

I finally had to admit there was no positive in this situation.

I’d tried to maintain an upbeat attitude when I’d fallen asleep in my bed in South Carolina and woken up on a spaceship. Free vacation!

When I’d been stripped of my clothes and given some sheer white thing straight out of Greek mythology? Oooh, dress up!

When massive aliens with horns, mean eyes, capes, and face tattoos clapped a collar on me and attached a chain to it? New jewelry!

When they dragged me into an arena to witness two other aliens beating the stuffing out of each other for sport while a crowd cheered them on? Entertainment!

That was my thought process until one of the caped aliens yanked on my chain and dragged me in front of an eclectic group of scarred aliens who licked their lips at me like I was their next meal. We stood on the floor of an round arena while the crowd sat around us in stadium seating. My bare toes sank into red dirt, which covered everything in a fine layer of dust. I didn’t want to think about the blood and other fluids that had mixed with this dirt.

While the caped aliens seemed to be in charge—all the guards looked like the one holding my chain with capes and uniforms—the dozen or aliens in front of me consisted of a collection of creatures straight out of Monsters Inc. If Monsters Inc was mashed with Saw and every monster was out to kill. Sure, there was a green, one-eyed guy with long arms, but he also had razor-sharp teeth and a tail that whipped behind him viciously. There was also a large furry blue alien, but he was covered in scars, had foot-long blades for fingers, and I could have sworn he was picking his teeth with a bone.

Every single one looked like he either wanted to eat me or get me naked. Or maybe both. I couldn’t be sure.

Thanks to my fancy new implant translator sitting behind my ear, I could easily make out the words of my captor when he said, “We have a special treat today!” His voice carried out over the crowd. “As an incentive to the gladiators, we’ll be offering a prize to the final winner of this rotation’s tournament.” He gripped my long hair in one fist and yanked my head back. I let out a squeal of pain, and I caught one of the gladiators inhale deeply with a euphoric look on his flat face, as if the smell of my fear excited him. My captor shoved me forward. “A human female!”

The crowd erupted into cheers when they learned my fate. And I stood there numbly, wondering when I was going to wake up. This wasn’t my life. I was an elementary school teacher at a private school in a small town. I drove a dependable Civic. I had a Live, Laugh, Love sign in my house for Pete’s sake.

So that was when I finally began to panic. When I realized that my glass-half-full attitude hadn’t even been reduced to glass-half empty. That sucker was completely dry. With a hole in the bottom so it couldn’t be refilled.

In short, I was screwed.

PREORDER REXOR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This feels bittersweet, to hit publish on the final book in the Drixonian Warrior series. While it isn’t the last book I’ll write of my blue guys, this is still an ending of sorts.

I haven’t had this much fun writing in… maybe ever. Thank you so much to the readers for loving my quirky heroines and ridiculous action scenes, and my sometimes corny lines. I wrote these books exactly how I wanted to write them, and the fact that readers have responded so positively humbles me. Thank you!

To Natasha Snow, my cover designer, I’m not sure I would have taken this plunge without you! Thank you for making inspiring art.

To Del, my editor, thank you for making me laugh and encouraging me to keep writing these books. I’ve had a blast. Here’s to many more to come!

A huge thanks to the members of Ella Maven’s Haven. I love you guys so much. You make me smile every day. I can’t wait to share more books with you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ella Maven is the pen name for a multi-published USA Today Bestselling author who decided to finally unleash the alien world that had been living in her head for years. (Is that weird? Probably). Her books feature dominant, possessive aliens who are absolutely devoted to their humans.

She lives on the East Coast with her completely normal husband and two spawn who sure seem alien some days.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

Rexor: Stolen Warriors

Acknowledgments

About the Author