KYRO

CAPTURED BY ALIENS: BOOK FIVE

A.G. WILDE

Kyro

Kyro © A. G. Wilde 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, businesses, or locales is coincidental and is not intended by the author.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Disclaimer

Kyro

What has gone before…

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

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Epilogue

A note from A.G

Spinoff Series: The Restitution

Related Series

Acknowledgments

Keep In Touch

If you enjoyed this book…

About the Author

This book is dedicated to my daughter.

You’ll probably never read this book and see this but, I love you.

You mean everything to me and I hope you grow up and fulfil your greatest dreams.

DISCLAIMER

This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only.

All sexually active characters portrayed in this book are eighteen years of age or older.

KYRO

New job, new city, and then kidnapped by aliens?

—exactly the way Evren had seen her year going.

Not.

Add living on a base full of rebels and, well, whoever was in charge of her destiny was definitely having some fun.

She’d probably have to become an intergalactic rebel too…except, was that the path she was meant to take?

In the middle of figuring out her role in this new life, Evren finds herself drawing closer to a rebel that had rescued her: a tall, sexy alien named Kyro, whose presence makes her tingle in places that could get her in trouble.

He pulls her in a way she can’t understand—especially considering that he’s…strange.

He’s different from the others and that’s probably because he’s holding a secret—a secret so guarded, not even his brothers in the fight know about it.

It’s a secret so deep, she needs to stay away.

For her safety and for his.

…But how can she resist when he keeps looking at her as if she belongs to him?

Kyro is a full-length standalone sci-fi romance featuring an alien rebel, a lovable heroine, and a possessive hero who would do anything to protect the one he declares as his own.

If you like sexy aliens, discovering new worlds, and steamy romance, check out Kyro. This standalone book contains steamy sex scenes with a guaranteed happily ever after, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

The Captured by Aliens series:

Book 1: Xul

Book 2: Crex

Book 3: Yce

Book 4: Kyris

Book 5: Kyro (current book)

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE…

Life takes an unexpected turn for five human women who are taken from their lives on Earth, abducted by slug-like beings called the Isclits.

Along with their hired muscle, the Isclits manage massive trade ships that carry cargo across the galaxy.

The women are captured and held captive on one of these ships, enduring torture underneath the Isclits’ who seem devoid of any emotion. But the females’ problems have only just begun, as the real evil is soon shown to them: the High Tasqals.

Big, bulbous, green, and diseased, the Tasqals are a twisted species that prey on the weak and the vulnerable. Each woman is bought by a High Tasqal and thrown in a cell where they each encounter an alien male.

But these aliens differ from the others the women have met so far…and they soon realize just how much.

Plans are set into motion when Xul, leader of the group of rebels infiltrating the ship, kills a head Tasqal. He’s with one of the human females, Athena, and they have to fight their way across a desert planet before returning to the slave ship to rescue the others (Read Xul for this story).

Back on the slave ship, they throw Piper into a cell with Crex, a bloodthirsty alien that looks like he’s ready to cut her to pieces. Except, he doesn’t. Though tortured so he would harm her, Crex refuses and he and Piper end up forming a bond while they wait for Xul to return to complete the mission. The book ends with the crew and human women reunited as they fight their way from the slave ship to freedom (Read Crex for this story).

The mission was a success. The slave ship destroyed. But they are not safe yet. As they make their getaway, the Tasqals shoot down their ship. Now they must each take a human to look after as they make their way to outposts on the desert planet’s surface. Yce is tasked with guarding Diana, but while guarding her it seems he forgot to guard his heart. As they fight for survival, he finds she is the chaos he always needed and one he can’t let go of (Read Yce for this story).

Kyris lands on a section of the planet far from the others. With Song in his care, he pledges to protect her no matter what, regardless if it means losing his treasured wings. Fighting for their lives as they are hunted across the sands, the two form a bond that will link them for eternity (Read Kyris for this story).

The team reunites and returns to camp at the Restitution base. Life continues and the humans are settling in.

Now it’s time for Kyro’s story.

1

HUMANS WERE CONFUSING.

He had spent countless hours trying to understand them; yet, his efforts were in vain.

Their way of life, their motivations, the way their minds worked...it was all very... alien.

Most other species he could understand and assimilate to. But the harder he studied the humans, the more confused he became.

For instance, he'd discovered that most humans adopted other species into their homes only to pretend those species were human.

Whatever they called a “dog” was often asked if it was a “good boy” even though a “boy” was a young human male.

Dogs did not speak human.

Humans had no way of knowing what any dog’s reply was. Yet, humans asked dogs this question repeatedly, and pretended dogs replied in the affirmative.

Kyro stared at the screen before him, contemplating all the human peculiarities in the data.

To think this treasure trove of information would have been lost if he hadn’t been on that specific mission and hacked the enemy ship’s mainframe before his brothers had destroyed the enemy ship.

He’d managed to gather archive upon archive before they destroyed the vessel, collecting information on human civilization that spanned hundreds of years.

Other executive officers wouldn’t have bothered to go through the trouble of gathering transmissions downloaded from the invaded planet’s surface.

But he wasn’t just any executive officer.

Information always came in handy at a later date.

Every Vorti knew that.

And ever since he’d started going through the data, plus after meeting the human females they’d rescued, he’d found that human life was not what he’d expected it to be.

He didn’t know quite what he’d expected, actually.

Not that humans were the most alien of aliens he’d ever encountered—he was Vorti. Some would argue his people were the strangest of all species combined.

But humans...intrigued him.

HREX4X1, or “Earth” as the humans referred to it, was a beautiful blue planet with large oceans, rivers, landmasses, and forests.

Humans had complex societies and land structures spreading across their world’s surface and, despite several species living on the planet, humans had risen to the top as the apex predator.

They were intelligent too. Well...some of the transmissions in his data file would contradict that...but the species had sent probes into space for what he assumed was the search for alien life.

That implied intelligence.

Regardless, the Interplanetary Union had decreed that no one should initiate contact with any of Earth’s probes. The Union believed Earth was still too underdeveloped for knowledge of other intelligent civilizations, the collective human psyche being too fragile.

Interest piqued, Kyro leaned forward as he brought up information the humans had compiled on extraterrestrials.

Soon, he was frowning again.

It seemed humans had the general idea that extraterrestrials were small, skinny, and green with large, smooth oval heads and eyes too big for their faces.

He took offense to that.

Not all aliens looked like the Drani. He hated those little green degenerates.

Still frowning, Kyro spun his writing instrument between his fingers.

Opening a file sorted as entertainment, he scrolled down the lines of the feed, soaking up every word until he came upon a comedy show.

He loved a bit of humor.

Humor was always a good way to get a sense of what a society’s culture was truly like.

Eyes glued to the data screen; it took him about one hour to read the scripts of all seasons of a popular Earth comedy show called The Big Loud Noise.

He didn’t understand the title.

The show was about a group of science-inclined friends, not about loud noises or big loud noises for that matter.

Misleading.

Scrolling, Kyro raised a nonexistent eyebrow as further entertainment products came up.

It got worse.

Humans seemed to enjoy watching what they called “reality on television” ...as if they couldn’t get enough of...life.

Now, this was why he was having trouble understanding human civilization. His brother Yce had been right when he’d referred to humans as being illogical. The data didn’t make sense all the time.

Still, he soaked it up.

Information, to a Vorti, was like treasure.

It had been about a week since he and his brothers had returned to the Restitution’s base camp and, in that week, he had consumed so much Earth information he was almost an expert on the planet.

It was what came naturally to him.

Even now, while he was questioning his previous assumption about human intelligence, his chromatophores itched for him to test his knowledge of human civilization.

He wouldn’t even need to do much of a transformation—add some eyebrows, possibly some hair on the top of his head, change his gray skin to something more human-like...

He could do it.

But he never would.

Assimilation was a life he had to leave behind a long time ago.

This itch to change was probably not good. What he needed was a distraction.

Glancing at the door to his quarters, he wondered if he should head down to the central hexagon where all the teams on active duty would be working on mission intelligence.

He had nothing better to do, and the Restitution was always working for the greater good—rescuing slaves and bringing the High Tasqals down. As a rebel, there was always somewhere he could chip in and help in the fight.

He knew he and his brothers would get scheduled for another mission soon, but there was no telling how long that would take.

His four brothers, Xul, Crex, Yce, and Kyris, were with their human mates. He reckoned this “break” his team was taking would last a long, long time—depending on the stamina and resilience of the human females.

That’s right. He knew exactly what they were doing in their quarters and why he hardly saw or heard from them.

Not that he was jealous in any way...

He wasn’t.

But he had to admit, even though his life organ beat only to keep him alive...it must be nice, having someone.

He was alone...truly alone. The type of alone that made him feel solitary among a group of people.

It was a feeling he had grown so accustomed to, he could hardly imagine life with someone else.

Solitude was his constant friend.

He was a lone, lone soldier.

As if to prove him wrong, the other Vorti who shared his living space took that moment to pad into the room. Kyro heard the footsteps as they drew closer, and just like that, he pushed his vulnerable thoughts back behind a closed door.

“Still reading the data from those feeds you got?” Rokan glanced in his direction as he headed over to the food preparation area.

Kyro jerked his head in admission without looking over his shoulder into the face of the male who looked just a little too much like him, except that Rokan had green eyes.

“I heard a rumor,” Rokan said, his voice dipping out as he stuck his head into the cooling unit, no doubt looking for something to drink.

“What rumor?” Kyro asked absentmindedly, his eyes still focused on the feed before him.

“Heard there may be more humans on that desert planet. Heard that some brothers think a stasis hold must have fallen when Reku5 destroyed the Tasqal ship.”

Kyro didn’t reply. Rokan was right. It was a rumor. Reku5, his team, didn’t have solid evidence there were any other human slaves apart from the five human females they’d rescued. But they weren’t positive that was the case.

There could be others.

It would be strange for the Tasqals to only abduct five beings from a planet so far away.

“When Reku5 destroyed the slave carrier...if any stasis holds ejected, they’d have certainly landed on Muk.” Rokan spoke as he popped out a cool drink from the cooling unit. Kyro could hear the fizz of the beverage even from where he sat.

He and the rest of Reku5 were waiting on clearance to return to planet Muk and conduct a search. If a stasis hold filled with humans had fallen to the planet somewhere, it would be covered by sand. That gave them some time to find it before the Tasqals did.

“The Mukkians are searching. We will have to go there ourselves to search as well, eventually,” Kyro explained, twirling his writing instrument in his hand. In the background, he heard Rokan close the cooling unit with a hard thud.

“Eventually...” Rokan walked over to where Kyro sat and leaned against the table, his back to the data screens as he crossed his arms, drink in hand.

Tall. Lean. Gray. Bald. Glancing up at Rokan was almost like looking in the mirror.

They’d done well basing their appearance off the Borxclan for all Borxclan looked similar.

“If it was up to my unit,” Rokan continued, “we’d be back on the planet already, searching for those victims.” Rokan took a sip and Kyro resisted the urge to tell him to remove the liquid from so close to his screens.

“The humans would not like being called ‘victims,’” he said instead. His voice, even to himself, sounded far away as if he was deep in his own head. “They are an independent species...a very...thought-provoking species.”

Rokan grunted. “Tell me. You have met the humans. Did you find any of them thought-provoking?”

The question made Kyro pause and his thoughts immediately went to one specific human who had been rescued along with the others.

Evren, they called her.

He wondered what she was doing at the moment. Unlike the other human females, like him, she was alone. The other four had his brothers as mates.

She had no one.

She was different from the other humans too, he’d noticed.

Something about her had reminded him of himself. In the days he’d spent on planet Muk guiding her to safety, he’d studied everything about her.

A week later, and she was still vivid in his mind.

Rokan’s snort cut through his thoughts. “Your silence speaks volumes, brother. They are victims. It would be foolish of them to think they are something they are not.”

He couldn’t disagree or agree.

Rokan spoke the truth but perhaps the humans were not to be judged so quickly. After all, he knew more about the humans than anyone else on the base.

He had been reading their comedy shows.

“Look,” Rokan lowered his voice, “if you ever want to head to Muk, I can get clearance. I’d do it alone, but we could go scout together.”

Kyro lifted his gaze to meet Rokan’s. For him to suggest such a thing...

Was Rokan just bored? Or was he lonely too?

“What do you say?” Rokan’s question hung in the air as Kyro adjusted his gaze to look out the window.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea.

He had nothing to do for the next few days except analyze data and he had been intending to go to the central hexagon to provide his assistance.

Heading to the desert planet, Muk, would at least give him something to do...help him shake some of this loneliness he was feeling—which, for some reason, had become more pronounced since that mission where they’d rescued those humans.

Still gazing out the window that looked out into the street below, Kyro nodded.

“That would probably be a goo...” his voice trailed off as soon as he saw her.

The human he’d just been thinking about.

As if his thoughts had summoned her, she was right there.

Her hair blew in the slight breeze as she walked on the street two levels below his quarters, a small basket clutched tightly in her hands.

“Kyro?”

Rokan’s voice seemed far away and Kyro was rising from his seat before he even realized.

“Sincere apologies, Rokan. We must continue this conversation at another time,” he said, setting his writing instrument down.

“What’s the rush?” Rokan, eased off the table as he watched Kyro head for the door.

“I’ve just...seen someone.”

Rokan’s gaze moved to the window.

“Who?” he asked, mild interest in his voice as his gaze searched the streets, but there was no answer.

Kyro was already gone.

2

THERE WAS A SLIGHT WIND TODAY, just cool enough for her to tolerate the blazing heat.

It was nice weather. Nice enough to make her want to smile.

If she squinted, she could imagine she was back on Earth on some island getaway with an ethnic vibe.

Or maybe the streets of Cairo...this section of the base definitely reminded her of Cairo.

Loud.

Busy.

Colorful.

Walking along the unpaved streets, her shopping basket clutched tightly in her hand, Evren kept her gaze forward.

Squinting, she imagined all the aliens moving around were humans. She could forget their blue, green, or even red skin. She could forget the hilts of swords jutting from their waists or over their backs, the rifles and other strange weapons she’d never seen before. She could forget their strange alien features.

All around her, males and females walked and none of them were human. They were all fighters, rebels, and they looked it.

The females were strong and the males brutal. If they didn’t sport bulging muscles, they had an assortment of weapons strapped to them to back them up.

How did she end up in such a place as this where she stood out like a sore thumb?

She carried no weapons. Her muscles were questionable.

The only things she fought were pages that stuck together in her science books.

She didn’t belong here. Everyone around her was out there kicking the dickens out of those horrible toads that had abducted her. She, on the other hand, would prefer if she never had to see those toads again.

Her days used to be spent burying her head in data when she wasn’t out studying some strange creature of nature.

She was an ecologist...not a rebel fighter.

Clutching her basket tighter, she tried not to draw attention to herself. Luckily, these were the good guys.

If not for the rebel alliance, she and the other human women would not have been saved from what would have been a life of slavery, torture, and even death.

They’d been lucky and she appreciated all that the good aliens had done for them so far.

Yet, she couldn’t help the feeling that was gnawing in her chest.

She felt...just a bit lost. It was an emotion that made her anxiety levels rise.

Life had been going good for her on Earth.

Great job she’d loved.

Nice house.

Good salary.

She’d just moved to California with her cat, Nigel, on a new assignment studying organisms in Yosemite National Park.

It had been a new dawn to a promising future.

After years of studying to become an ecologist, after working her butt off to get there, she’d finally reached her life’s goal.

Then bam, like a plot twist she hadn’t seen coming, she’d been abducted by aliens.

Now, what was a girl to do when the world she’d focused so hard on building for herself was suddenly ripped away? What did that leave her with?

Nothing, that’s what.

A big fat NOTHING.

Maybe that was the feeling she was having in her chest.

That gaping hole inside of her was a nothing hole.

She hated nothing holes.

As she walked, the wind playing with the strands of her hair, Evren straightened the brown tunic that she was wearing.

She was very aware she looked like a walking potato. It was nothing more than a crocus bag with armholes. And it itched.

It was the main reason she was heading to the market.

After she and the other women had arrived on the base, she had been given her own living quarters, a datapad that was like a smartphone with credits, and the brown tunic she was currently wearing.

Apart from the itchy tunic, the other two things were great. Her living quarters were like a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a two-floor building.

She had it all to herself. Free of charge. And it had come fully stocked with food to last at least a week.

She was still waiting for the catch, but she supposed the catch was that if she stayed she’d have to join and fight against those horrible toad aliens called the High Tasqals.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to do that.

She didn’t even know how to throw a punch properly.

Granted, she’d surprised herself with her pure aggression in the past thanks to adrenaline.

So maybe she could throw a punch, once bullied. Maybe take away her science book while she was reading it and she’d probably stab you with her pencil...not probably—she most definitely would.

Her sandals slapped softly against the paved street as she walked, her head in her thoughts. With the cool breeze that tickled her skin, she could see why the other human women were planning on staying on the base.

Why leave when God provided all that a woman could ever want?

1. A hot guy.

2. A hot guy that was devoted to her.

3. A hot guy with a stiff cock who was devoted to her.

4. And a million books free for her to read.

It was a pity the translator chip the slave masters had installed behind her ear didn’t translate the written language of the aliens. At least she’d have had number four—because numbers one, two, and three were probably never going to happen.

A sigh made her shoulders rise and fall as she continued on her way. As she crossed the narrow street, she almost bumped into a giant of an alien that looked suspiciously like a yeti.

“Whoops! Sorry.”

“Watch where you’re going,” the yeti grunted.

She swung out of his way, turning to look at the alien Sasquatch as he passed.

His tone had caught her off guard.

He didn’t seem nice, but then again, that wasn’t exactly a prerequisite for living on the base.

He could be fighting for the good guys, but that didn’t automatically make him good.

She should remember that.

She didn’t need to get on anyone’s bad side.

She was alone here.

Despite that she was one of five humans on base and that technically meant she had friends, the truth was that she was alone.

The other four women had found the love of their lives. They were happy. They had a future on the base.

She. Not so much.

She’d heard mention of some intergalactic port city where some refugees lived.

If things didn’t work out on the base, she guessed that was where she would end up.

Hopefully, she could carve out a life for herself once more...carry on where she left off on Earth.

New job. Something she could do to contribute her skills to her new society.

As the hulk of the yeti-man ambled down the street, Evren realized she’d been standing and thinking for quite a few seconds without moving.

She was just about to turn around when she saw a tall figure several feet down.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

Tall. Gray skin. Bald head.

It was Kyro—one of the aliens that had rescued her and the others. He wasn’t that far off that she didn’t recognize him.

He was looking up at the sky as if something was interesting there. Glancing upward, she couldn’t see what was drawing his attention.

There was nothing in the pale gray sky, not even clouds.

For a few seconds, she stood wondering if she should walk toward him and say hello.

Despite that she’d spent so much time in his presence before, he hadn’t really spoken to her. He’d watched her, which she’d found creepy at first, but then she’d just gotten used to it.

Kyro was weird.

That was just how he was.

But she didn’t mind his strangeness.

As he continued looking at the sky, Evren decided she wouldn’t disturb him.

What would she say to him anyway? Awkwardness was her middle name when it came to starting conversations.

Turning around, she continued on her way.

This was her first time heading to the market and she hoped she could find the place on her own. Around her, the hustle and bustle continued, undisturbed.

Every step she took, there was a new type of alien she hadn’t seen before. It was hard not to stare at some of them.

Even now as she thought about it, one was ambling toward her with one large eye on its cylindrical head. As it walked past, she couldn’t resist and she glanced back to watch it go, only to be confronted by another large eye on the back of the alien’s head.

She guessed no one could stab him in the back without him seeing it coming.

She almost laughed at her joke.

She still had to come to terms with the fact that aliens existed, and the universe was much more vibrant than anyone on Earth had ever imagined.

The fact that there was so much life outside of Earth tickled her scholarly interest but also terrified her a little. There were so many other species, yet humans were so blissfully unaware.

Even just in this small subsection of space, so many different species of aliens congregated.

As she continued walking, she assumed she must be going the right direction for the crowd was becoming thicker and with it was a rise in the noise level.

Groups of aliens were everywhere along the streets. Some laughed together and conversed while others stood close to the peach-colored walls of the buildings as they watched the hustle and bustle go by.

Glancing behind her once more, she happened to spot the tall gray alien again.

Kyro.

This time, he was paying close attention to one of the peach-colored walls, and he glanced in her direction for a second.

Actually, he glanced right at her.

He must have seen her.

Evren frowned, her nose scrunching in a confused look.

Was he following her?

As she walked on, she slowed her pace. Pretending to put her hair behind her ear, she glanced behind her once more and this time, she was sure of it.

He was following her.

As soon as she’d glanced behind her, Kyro had suddenly stopped walking, jerking abruptly as if he hadn’t expected her to turn around.

Her incredulous look turned into one of amusement as she watched him fold his arms across his chest and glance around him, looking at everything except her.

His obvious failure at disguising the fact that he was trailing her was amusing and she fought the sudden giggle that bubbled into her mouth.

She knew he wasn’t dangerous...his stalking, if anything, was most likely not based on any ill will.

On a sudden burst of mischief, Evren smiled to herself.

Deliberately increasing her pace, she moved quickly so she was walking a few feet in front of a tall, burly brown-skinned alien who was so thick he was his very own wall.

Popping her head around the alien as she walked, she spotted Kyro and their eyes locked. Just as quickly, he moved out of her view, choosing to walk behind a group of tall yellow aliens who were just in front of him.

Evren’s shoulders shook with a laugh.

Her smile was still on her lips as she raised her gaze only to realize the tall, burly alien in front of whom she walked was now looking down at her.

“Hello,” he said, his large, toothy mouth splitting in a smile. His greeting was pleasant, but his teeth looked as sharp and pointed as knives. Evren swallowed hard, giving him a ghost of a smile before moving out of his path and to the side, increasing her pace as she did.

It took her just a few more moments before she came up on a metal archway. Through the entrance, she could see hundreds of people, er, aliens moving about and what looked like stalls and little shops.

There was a sign above the archway in a language she couldn’t read, but she was pretty sure she’d arrived at the market.

Glancing behind her one last time, she searched the crowd of marketgoers and tradesmen and was surprised when a bead of disappointment formed within her.

Kyro was nowhere in sight.

His little game had caught her attention and taken her mind away to someplace pure.

If even for a moment, it had felt good not thinking about anything.

She was still looking through the host of aliens walking about, trying to spot him once more, when her eyes caught movement on top of a wall close by her.

There was a strange-looking animal balancing on the wall as it headed in the direction of the market.

It didn’t look like a wild animal and no one was paying attention to it, so she guessed it wasn’t.

Must be someone’s pet.

It was gray, with a long bushy tail like a skunk’s, four legs, and a head like a cat. A rectangle of dark hair ran along its spine and there was a tuft of dark fur behind each ear.

She couldn’t help but stare. It was a skunkat—a skunk plus a cat all in one.

As the animal sauntered along, it turned to look at her, silver eyes focusing on her. It stopped to sit on the wall, eyes on her the entire time.

Evren cocked her head, her brows furrowing as she looked at the animal and it looked back at her.

Those eyes.

They seemed so familiar.

Her own eyes narrowed. It was very...peculiar the way the animal was watching her—almost as if it knew her.

Just then, another big yeti-alien lumbered past and bumped into her. His grunt broke her concentration and she moved out of his way.

She wasn’t sure if it was the same yeti as before or if their species was just generally impolite.

Nevertheless, when she looked back to where the animal had been, she realized it was gone.

Shrugging it off, she took one more opportunity to scan the crowd of beings in front of her, squeezing the handle of the basket tight as she felt a little hope at the thought of seeing Kyro walking in the throng.

But he wasn’t there.

It seemed he had gotten tired of playing his little game with her.

Well, it was fun while it had lasted, she told herself.

Only, there was still that feeling of disappointment as she turned around to enter the market.

For once that entire day, she’d been genuinely amused by something—humor that hadn’t been based on self-deprecation, negativity, or pulling from her own depression.

It had felt good to be free.

3

HE DIDN’T KNOW why he was following her.

Boredom?

Interest?

A need to embarrass himself?

He wasn’t sure.

All he knew was that following her gave him some form of pleasure he hadn’t anticipated—took his mind away from things even. So, he had continued.

He told himself it was because he was Vorti—because of his love for data.

His people thrived on information. The more they knew, the more powerful they could become.

It was that power that brought about their fall. Vorti were almost extinct. Finding one was rare.

Since the end times began when the Great War started, what was left of his people had scattered across the galaxy, taking refuge wherever they could.

They hid, like he was doing now. Hid in plain sight.

It was all they could do to survive. All they could do when most races who knew of their existence saw them as being dangerous.

It had been something he hadn’t understood as a youngling, back when the Great War had begun. But after he was taken, he’d learned pretty quickly—beings feared what they did not understand, and most beings did not understand the Vorti.

Most beings. But not the High Tasqals. They were different. They hadn’t feared his people. They had seen what others didn’t see—they had seen the Vorti as weapons to be used.

It didn’t help that the Vorti were nothing like the propaganda the Tasqals broadcasted about them to all worlds. Fighting their power only made things worse.

So, he’d done what all Vorti were doing to survive.

He’d deconstructed his eyebrows, smoothed his skin, hid his reflectors, cut off his chets—all to look like the Borxclan.

Glancing down at his hand, he turned it and moved his fingers.

Five fingers instead of his native three. It was a constant sacrifice he had to keep.

He had to hide. Not only from the Tasqals, who would hunt him but also from the general population of known worlds.

It had been years, but he still could never be sure if the Tasqals’ lies about his people’s aggression, deceit, and untrustworthiness were known as lies. Many worlds were still loyal to the Tasqals.

For that reason, he only indulged in his one Vorti trait that he could use without giving away his truth—his attraction to data.

Still, regardless of him being Vorti, he had to admit that there was something else constantly drawing him to the human female.

It was not just down to his love for data or his interest in studying other species.

He wasn’t following her now because he was doing any research.

Watching her weaving her way through the crowd, Kyro tilted his head slightly, trying to figure out what it was that pulled him from his quarters to walk through the market with no true purpose.

The human was walking some meters ahead of him, and even with the many aliens weaving in and out between them, his eyes were locked on her and her only.

She had a way of walking that made her hips sway with such ease, her entire body looked like it moved with the ease of fluid. Even underneath the unbecoming brown thing the Restitution had provided as clothing, he could see that there were curves. Soft, round curves everywhere.

He could imagine those curves were like how a calm river moved and twisted gently.

This was why his brothers had been bewitched by humans.

Human females were soft everywhere. Soft and inviting.

It made a male want to...

He had to stop walking as his cock throbbed in his trousers. He hadn’t even realized he had become aroused.

Qrak.

He should head back to his quarters.

He really, really should.

Yet, his eyes still sought her out amid the throng.

Every now and again, she’d pause and look around as if unsure of what she was doing, her neck arching a little as she lifted her head and tried to see over the crowd.

Even that neck had a smooth curve and he wondered what it would feel like running his fingers down it, following the line from her chin straight down to that little indentation at the base of her throat.

Whenever she stopped walking to look around, there was a look in her eyes, a sort of confusion that told him that she felt lost.

He could understand that.

He had experienced something similar when a squadron from the Restitution had raided the slave ship on which he’d been and had taken him to the base.

That had been many orbits ago.

Yet, the feeling was as fresh as day.

That was another reason why he should turn around and head back to his quarters. Such memories were being triggered by his current occupation—trailing the human through the exchange.

He had to admit, though, he’d rather follow behind her, even if she was just walking aimlessly and doing nothing else, than go back to his residence and spend time with Rokan.

Whatever the reason for that, he would probably determine later.

His interest was piqued by this human.

He wanted to follow her.

His eyes were locked on her like a predator would lock on to its prey and even though logic was telling him what he was doing was stupid, he couldn’t force his eyes away.

4

AS SHE PASSED through the gates and into the marketplace, the noise hit her immediately.

Inside the market was much louder than out on the street and it took a few seconds for her ears to adjust to the loudness. How they were managing to keep most of the sound inside the market, she didn’t know. It was technology she couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

There were aliens everywhere. Some loading large bags on wheel-less carts that hovered above the ground, some looking at weapons and even testing them out, sellers calling out their wares to grab the attention of passers’ by...it all seemed so normal, it reminded her of Hong Kong’s Ladies Market.

If she’d felt out of place before, it was certainly underlined now. How would she ever find what she needed in this?

The stalls looked like large metal squares with a single window in the front. Some of the windows were open, and she could see the wares being sold clearly. Others had the windows closed and set to an opaque shield, showing nothing within.

Taking a few steps into the throng, aliens moved around her, hardly seeming to be aware of her presence as they went about their shopping.

She couldn’t help it though. Regardless that nobody seemed to notice her, she felt as if all eyes were on her.

She was one lone human in what felt like the entire universe.

For a few seconds, as she stood clutching the small shopping basket, she reconsidered her idea of leaving her apartment to go shopping.

She should have probably given herself some more time to get used to everything that’s happened, let her brain settle and understand things, before she tried to go about life-as-usual.

So much had happened since she’d last felt...normal. Her brain felt like it had frayed and was hanging only by the strings of her consciousness as she fought to keep a semblance of the Evren she once knew.

Now, standing in the middle of the market, the world of aliens bustling around her, she felt...alone...and a slight sliver of fear made the hair on the back of her neck prickle.

She could feel her heart rate increase even without concentrating on the organ beating wildly in her chest.

Her hands suddenly felt clammy even though the air was warm and dry, and everything was confusing—the sounds, the movement, the people...it was all too much.

She recognized the signs of what was happening to her and it helped to calm her somewhat.

She was having an anxiety attack.

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to breathe.

Taking a moment to close her eyes for a second, Evren reminded herself that everything was fine.

She was safe.

She wasn’t lost.

She could do this.

Her apartment was just a few minutes’ walk away if she needed to return to it.

All she had to do was take her time, go through the market, find what she needed, and head back to her place.

She wasn’t lost.

She wasn’t lost.

Images of a small Evren, just about four years old, flashed in her mind.

She’d been in her backyard when she’d seen the little rabbit. It had been white, like her. White fur all over. White nose. White paws. Blue eyes.

It was her if she had been born a rabbit.

It was a ghost too—at least, that’s what she’d thought at the time. It was the name the other kids used to call her.

She’d followed the little creature as it bound into the woods and before she knew it, she couldn’t see it anymore. It had hopped away, out of her sight, and no matter how she’d looked to find it, it never reappeared.

When she’d turned around to head back home, she couldn’t see the trail.

She’d gone farther than she’d intended.

Three days.

For three days she was alone in that forest.

Scared. Hungry. Dirty.

Lost.

Her cries were never heard. Her mother never came, even when she wailed and said she was sorry for running off. When she fell over fallen trees or tripped over protruding roots, there was no sound of her father’s heavy boots rushing her way to make sure she was okay.

She’d been alone.

It had been terrifying. But it had been a turning point in her life.

Those three days in the forest was what had planted the seed for her interest in ecology.

Three days alone in raw nature had forced her to study every little thing around her.

It had altered her path forever. She had survived.

And, if she could survive such an experience as a four-year-old, she could survive a simple shopping trip in a foreign market.

For that was all it was—a foreign market like the countless other foreign markets she’d visited while traveling abroad.

Opening her eyes, she took in a deep breath.

She hadn’t had a panic attack since she’d been abducted and now it was happening here, while she was standing in a market of all places.

She supposed the week she’d had of complete safety had allowed her mind to finally let down its protective wall, leaving her open and vulnerable again but also allowing her to feel once more.

That’s where the depressing thoughts were coming from—it was why this memory of the forest was resurfacing.

Regardless, as she watched the aliens about her shopping, she could admit that this wasn’t the usual culture shock.

Back on Earth, culture shock had been temporary. She’d always eventually leave the country she visited to return home with her findings.

But this was permanent.

There was no home to go back to.

She and the other women hadn’t talked about it yet, but they all knew deep down that they were never returning to Earth.

That meant she didn’t have a choice.

Evolve or die.

She had to adapt.

If it turned out she had to leave to go live at the intergalactic port city, things were bound to be more chaotic than what she was seeing in this market.

So, this would be her test run. Phase 1 of adapting.

Mind set, she began walking through the throng, no longer standing in the middle like a rock that could not be moved.

It took her a few minutes, but soon she found herself moving through the marketplace with interest.

There was so much to see, so many strange products, most of which she had no idea of their purpose.

She passed a vendor selling what looked like tall vases with strange colorful smoke coming from the top. The vendor had his too large of a mouth stretched into a silly smile as he inhaled the smoke from one of the vases. A few of his customers were leaning idly on the stall, identical smiles on their faces.

Yep. That was the weed shop.

Or whatever was the equivalent of marijuana in this place.

Another vendor she passed was selling what looked like...

Evren’s eyes widened and she tried not to let her mouth fall open when she realized what she was looking at.

Various sizes of large dildos were on display. And it wasn’t just any normal dildos. No. These were dragon dildos.

Ridged ones, long ones, thick ones, curved ones, straight ones, twisted ones...horned ones?

There was no way some of those were not a product of someone’s imagination.

Try as she might, her mouth still fell open as she stared.

She wasn’t a prude but...dang. Those dildos were...

As her gaze moved over the wares, they fell on two eyes that were focused on her with dull amusement.

The vendor was looking at her and the skin of his head moved upward, almost as if he was...raising his eyebrows?

She would have stopped staring immediately and walked off if the vendor himself didn’t look like an uncircumcised dick.

The coincidence was unreal.

He had no neck; his head and face joined onto what she could see of his body and the top of his head rose into soft, wrinkled flesh.

He tilted his dick—erm, head to her and Evren gave him a tight smile before walking hurriedly in the opposite direction.

Weed and dicks.

Unaware, she must have walked into alien sex city.

As she searched for a store selling cloth she’d need if she was going to make her clothes, she passed aliens with horns on their heads, aliens with tails, aliens that looked like elves, aliens with multiple eyes, heads, arms, even a set of identical aliens that walked and spoke together as if they were one unit.

It was chaos, but it was beautiful—like a whole ecosystem that she’d discovered and could study.

She was walking for a good ten minutes, looking into every open stall, but she could not find what she needed.

She’d seen some fruit that looked like apples and she’d spent some of the credits she’d been allotted on a few of them but that had been all she’d bought.

About to give up on the cloth and head back to her apartment, she turned around only to find someone standing in her way.

“Sorry.” She made to sidestep the person, but they thwarted her efforts by moving in the same direction.

“You’re new here.” It was a male voice she didn’t recognize.

Raising her eyes to look at the being that was in her way, Evren put on her best polite face. The alien in front of her was just a little taller than she was. He had dark, hard material over his entire body, like a fighter beetle.

Ah, chitin, she mused to herself. This was the first alien she’d seen with chitin covering his entire frame.

And he was naked.

Well, she assumed he was, for she didn’t see an item of clothing on him whatsoever.

Possibly, he belonged to the pleasure section of the market?

It was good that she could see no private parts. They seemed hidden behind the chitin plates and she thanked God for that. She’d seen enough dicks at the dick stall, the memory of which would serve her for the rest of the day.

Not that she hated seeing dicks. But a girl liked to invite the dicks into her life, not have them thrust randomly into her face.

She’d come back tomorrow if she needed more intrusive dicks in front of her eyes.

And alien dicks...well, she would have to get used to that.

The male before her had a tail as well, and she only noticed because he swished it absently behind him before it curved around to brush against her arm.

The movement pulled her from her musing immediately, the hairs along her spine standing on end.

Jerking backward, Evren kept her facial features neutral, but she was squeezing the basket in her hand so hard she was sure she was damaging whatever fibers it was composed of.

“You’re one of the humans unit Reku5 rescued, aren’t you?”

“Reku5?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Xul’s team.” His voice deepened and she wasn’t sure if that was because of disdain or attraction. No. It was disdain. Definitely disdain.

Xul was the commander of the ship that had rescued her and the other women. From what she’d gathered, he was respected by all members of his team.

But the way this chitinous nudist spoke made his words sound dirty and slimy, as if he had some kind of malicious intent. And maybe it was just her imagination and anxiety making her think that, but she was sure he took a step toward her even though she’d jerked back to put space between them.

Thoughts flew wildly in her head and Evren sorted through them in record time with practiced skill.

She couldn’t make a scene.

One, she was new here.

And two, she didn’t know if he was being a creep or if creepiness was just a part of his culture.

“The name is Shive. It is a great gift to meet you.”

“Hello, Shive.” She wouldn’t return his sentiments. It was not a pleasure meeting him. As a matter of fact, it felt absolutely unpleasant.

On purpose, she refrained to tell him her name. Something told her she should cut this conversation short and make her way back home.

“Well, I must get going.” She used her free arm to motion with her basket. “Shopping.” She forced a smile. “Bye now.”

She made to step around the male once more and again he stepped in front of her, cutting off her movement.

“You’re here alone.”

Evren noted it wasn’t a question. Had he been watching her? Following her?

“Didn’t expect you humans to venture out so quickly.”

His tail stroked against her and before she could move away, it shot down her arm and wrapped around her wrist. He was right next to her then, closing the distance between them in a second.

Close.

Too close.

“Let me go.” Her voice was cold and hard as she jerked her hand, but his tail tightened its grasp of her.

“Or what?” he asked, his voice dropping low as he leaned over her.

She only realized then that he had four eyes: two smaller ones to the sides of his head and two large ones forward. His head was shaped like that of a roach, his mouth opening right at the bottom. He only needed antennae to make him look more like an insect.

“Let go of my wrist.” This time, her words came through gritted teeth and Evren swallowed hard, jerking her hand once more to get him to release her. He wasn’t reducing the pressure on her wrist and he wasn’t letting her go.

Should she scream for help?

She’d thought this settlement, the entire base, was a safe place. For a week, she hadn’t had any problems with anyone. And the first time she ventured out by herself, this happened?

This wasn’t a matter of misinterpreted social customs. This alien was being purposely threatening.

“I quite like holding on to your weak little hand.” He leaned closer. “Imagine the fun we could have.”

You know what, fuck this.

In one movement and as fast as she could muster, Evren dropped her basket and aimed her index finger straight for the male’s eye.

“I said, LET GO!”

He didn’t see it coming.

Her finger went straight into his eye and he reared back with a shout, his face contorting in pain and then anger.

“Now why did you go and do that?” The eye she’d wounded was closed but the other three blinked at her.

To her horror, the male wasn’t derailed. His anger melted away into a wicked grin, the plates at the edge of his mouth moving to the sides. “Soft things like you shouldn’t be out here alone. Come back to my quarters. We could—”

His words were cut off and it took a moment before Evren realized why.

A large, gray hand was closed around the alien’s neck, cutting off his airway.

For a second, the chitinous male just blinked at her before all three of his open eyes looked back to see who was threatening his life.

“She isn’t here alone,” a familiar voice said. “She’s with me.”

5

RAISING her eyes to the owner of the hand and voice, Evren felt something within her relax with relief.

Kyro.

Tall, bald, and gray, Kyro was standing there, looking thunderous.

The edges of his narrow nose flared in anger as he glared down at the male in his grasp...and heaven help her...this wasn’t the moment to be considering this but...bald was suddenly very, very sexy.

Shive released her wrist just as he was pushed away from her by a pissed off Kyro.

And he was really pissed off. She’d never seen him with such annoyance etched in his features before.

His large shoulders were hulked and tensed. The muscles in his arms seemed to pulse. His gray eyes spit fire and his handsome, sculpted face was transformed into a murderous look.

Forgetting about the chitinous alien almost immediately, Evren gaped up at Kyro.

Where had he come from?

She hadn’t seen him approach, but perhaps in her preoccupation with Shive, she hadn’t noticed.

“Didn’t know you were so involved with the rescues.” Shive laughed. “Good old, Kyro.” His laugh was deep and could have been nice to listen to but after what he’d just pulled, it only made her skin crawl.

Kyro took a threatening step toward the alien and Shive seemed to shrink a little, even though he remained standing firm in the same spot.

Evren’s eyes followed Kyro as he moved. She couldn’t help herself.

He was tall. Menacing.

He was...impressive.

And this vibe he was giving off...fuck her. It was making her think all manner of things she shouldn’t be thinking.

Sure, she’d noticed before that he was attractive. But not like this. This time, it was different. He’d always been aloof and serious...never angry and, dare she say, protective?

Maybe it was because he was here, like some knight in shining armor—or rebel in modified vests and trousers, really—why she was having these thoughts.

“She is off-limits.” Kyro came up so close to Shive, he was breathing down the male’s neck. She could see Shive shiver and even though she was standing right there, she had to strain her ears to hear Kyro’s next words. “Never set foot near her again. Do not even breathe the same air she breathes.”

She watched as Shive’s tail swished behind his body for a few seconds before he grinned—the type of grin that said “fuck you. I really hate you but I’m smiling like I don’t.”

“Just a simple misunderstanding,” Shive muttered. As Kyro released him, Shive’s gaze flitted to her just once before he moved away and disappeared into the crowd.

Kyro watched him go, his back turned to her and Evren found her eyes roving over his wide shoulders. When he finally turned to face her, she found she had to pull her gaze up to his face.

“Thank you.” Please God, don’t let her look like Thirsty Betsy right now. For she was sure her eyes were displaying her every emotion.

Kyro looked down at her, his silver gaze meeting hers and she was surprised that the hostility that had been in his eyes just a second before was no longer there.

“Have you been hurt?” he asked, taking her arm into his as he turned her wrist over in his hand.

His touch was warm and smooth and after what just happened, it made her lady bits tingle.

Sue her. She loved a good show of masculinity.

“No. It was just uncomfortable,” she answered as he let her hand go to take up her basket and hand it back to her. “I didn’t expect such a thing to happen to me all the way on another planet.”

“Shive is a slimy fool.”

His utterance was so sudden and so blunt that it made her huff out a small laugh.

She could agree with that.

“There are not many like him on the base. But the few that are present prey on newcomers like you.”

“Well,” her smile came easily, “I was quite lucky you came along, wasn’t I?”

Something passed within his gaze that she couldn’t determine and then he looked out over the crowd.

“Heading somewhere?”

Crap. She’d forgotten that she had been shopping. The disturbance with Shive had completely unsettled her.

“Uh, yea. I was heading to buy some fabric.” She glanced around them, eyeing the stalls close by in case any of them had cloth for sale. “I just can’t find any.”

“Fah-brik?” Kyro lifted an eyebrow. Well, he lifted the skin where his eyebrow would have been. From what she could see, there wasn’t even the semblance that hair used to be there.

It was just smooth, gray skin. It caught her attention and she wondered what his skin felt like there.

“Yes, fabric.”

He didn’t look as if that made it any clearer.

“Fabric? Like cloth?” Evren continued.

Kyro blinked at her.

“To make clothes?” She pulled at the brown piece of clothing she was wearing. “I want to make clothes, so I don’t have to wear this anymore.”

Kyro’s gaze fell, moving down her shoulders then down the brown dress with such slow intensity, she felt like squirming.

Swallowing hard, she released the dress and put her hand behind her back.

The way he was looking at her almost made it seem as if he wasn’t seeing the article of clothing at all. It looked as if he was stripping her naked.

Or maybe it was her lingering horniness that was talking. Probably she’d inhaled some of those fumes at the weed stall for when he spoke, nothing of the sort was betrayed in his voice.

“You were seeking clothing material in the pleasure market?”

At that, she felt her cheeks warm immediately.

She hadn’t purposely gone into that section of the market. It had been a mistake!

Opening her mouth to answer him, she was cut off as he continued speaking. “Is it clothes for pleasure you seek to make? Pleasure clothing?”

He was tilting his head as he regarded her now, as if the thought confused him a little.

“I thought humans removed clothing when copulating.”

Evren’s eyes widened.

My, oh my, the conversation had gone in a direction she had not anticipated.

“I, uh, well...” She scratched the back of her neck. “I wasn’t looking for fabric to make ‘pleasure clothing,’ okay.”

He didn’t look as if he believed her.

“The Restitution has clothing you can wear. The standard kit. Like what I am wearing.” He motioned to himself with his hand. He was wearing a simple white vest and dark pants.

Quite a few of the aliens around them were wearing the same thing.

“Oh. I didn’t know I could get those.” She bit her bottom lip in thought. “I guess, I just wanted to try making my own...you know...something to do. It gets a bit lonely here.”

Something moved within his gaze and, once more, she couldn’t determine what it was. But he seemed to jerk his head awkwardly in a nod.

“I will show you where the fah-brik merchant is.”

That made her burst into a smile. Finally, after wandering so aimlessly, she was getting somewhere.

“That would be much appreciated.”

He was staring at her smile for so long, she was about to ask him if there was something in her teeth.

“This way,” he finally said, and she saw his eyes change again, almost as if his pupil contracted completely before dilating again.

As she followed behind him, Evren narrowed her gaze on his back as a thought hit her.

She hadn’t told him she’d been in the pleasure section of the market.

He had been following her.

THE NUMBER of people in the market seemed to have increased from when she’d been walking alone.

Now, it was hard to even keep up with Kyro, though she was quite sure he was walking slowly just so she could keep pace with him.

When she had to increase her pace for the seventh time so as not to be separated from him, she reached forward and snaked her hand around his elbow.

She felt him stiffen beneath her grasp and, for a second, she expected him to snatch his arm away, but he didn’t.

Instead, he glanced down at her hand holding on to him and she could swear she saw him smile a little.

Just a little.

She would have surely missed it if she hadn’t been staring up into his face like she was still awestruck.

They were walking for about three minutes when Kyro suddenly stopped in front of a stall with bales, upon bales of colorful fabric.

“Wow.” Still holding onto his arm, she moved over to the first bale, Kyro in tow, and ran her fingers over the material.

“It’s so soft.” She touched another. “Pretty sure this isn’t cotton though.”

“You wish for cotton only? I believe that material is only found on your planet.” Kyro’s eyes followed every single bale that she touched, watching her hand move over the fabric as if he was noting every movement her fingers made.

Evren glanced back at him, a grin forming on her face.

“It was a joke.”

Kyro frowned. “Ah. I am acquainted with human humor. Your jokes are...”

He seemed to be thinking of how to describe it without hurting her feelings and that made the grin that was forming on her lips come forth to spread across her face.

“Come on, give it to me.”

Kyro stopped dead in his tracks and Evren only realized when she felt resistance in his arm as she continued walking.

“What is it?” Apprehension flooded through her immediately as she looked around them, expecting to see Shive.

Kyro shifted, glancing down at her hand holding on to his arm then to her, his gaze somewhat confused, somewhat surprised, and...somewhat turned on?

“You want me to ‘give it to you?’”

Evren tilted her head as she eyed him, slightly confused. “Huh?”

“Copulation?”

She could see herself in his eyes as his pupils dilated. She hadn’t known he knew that much about human phrases or she wouldn’t have spoken like that.

But the way his voice had deepened as he said it, it made a little shiver of something run down her spine.

At the look on her face, his pupils went back to their usual size and he jerked his head toward her. “Another human joke?”

Evren caught herself and cleared her throat.

Before she could respond, a voice came from behind them, causing her to jump at the sudden intrusion. She’d forgotten they weren’t alone. They were inside the stall, which actually went back a fair bit.

“M’Agunt at your service. Do you need assistance?”

Evren turned to see who was talking and found a stocky character of a male in extravagant shimmering clothing. His long dress was designed to fall just above the ground.

He was not what she expected when she’d imagined a fabric merchant. He looked as if he was dressed to go to a fancy party, not to sell in a crowded market such as this.

“M’Agunt,” Kyro began, “we are seeking material for clothing.”

“Ah,” M’Agunt grinned at them, his eyes focused on her as he showed his set of jewel-encrusted teeth. “The occasion?”

Kyro glanced down at her, his pupils dilating.

“For coitus,” he said without missing a beat. “She wishes coitus clothing.”

6

M’AGUNT’S EYES seemed to light up while hers were growing large in her head as a result of shock.

Mouth agape, she looked up at Kyro, but before she could say anything, the vendor piped up.

“I have what you need.” M’Agunt’s grin deepened on his rounded face. His face was almost caricature-like, with overly pronounced features. He was shorter than them both, but his features looked so similar to a human’s, she found herself staring.

With a twirl of his shimmering clothing, M’Agunt headed into the back of the store, but not before she saw a tentacle snake behind him to close the door.

Not human then.

Definitely not human.

Never mind that. She had a bone to pick with Mr. Tall and Gray.

“I do not want sex clothes!” Evren pressed herself into Kyro’s side and whispered so harshly it was barely a whisper at all.

Kyro looked down at her, his pupils still dilated.

“It was a joke,” he smiled slightly. “I informed you. I am acquainted with human humor. I have been delving into your comedy shows.”

Taken aback a bit, Evren moved so she could look up at him properly. “You’ve been watching our sitcoms?”

“Reading them.”

“And because of that, you think you get our humor?”

“Surely.”

“Tell me a joke then.”

Kyro turned slightly, running his hand along one of the bales and Evren found herself watching his arm flex.

“This is one I found,” he said after apparently giving it some thought.

Evren smiled, waiting for him to continue. This was going to be good. There was no way he could pull off a joke. Serious, aloof Kyro and comedy weren’t a combination she thought would work.

“Sleep in tranquility boiling water,” he finally said.

Evren’s brows furrowed slightly as she tried to predict where he was going.

“Is that it?” Evren blinked a few times. “Sleep in tranquility boiling water?”

“Yes.” Kyro jerked his head in a nod. “For it will be mist.”

Evren blinked.

“It will be missed...?”

It took her a few moments before her eyes widened.

“Sleep in tranquility...Do you mean ‘rest in peace’?” She mouthed the words to herself a few more times before her eyes widened some more.

In the next moment, her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.

“I get it,” she said, as her laugh came out loud in the quiet stall. “Because it will be mist.” She cackled. “I get it. I totally get it. Rest in peace boiling water for you will be mist. Ha!”

She was laughing so hard now; her eyes became wet with tears.

Kyro seemed to be watching her with intense interest, watching how she held her belly as her shoulders shook and how she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Wow...that was unexpectedly good,” she finally breathed when she composed herself.

“I am glad to see it made you happy,” he said, his expression changing to thoughtfulness. “It is nice to see you...happy.”

His words struck a chord within her and her smile slowly died.

It did feel good, didn’t it? Laughing. Actually, truly, laughing again.

When was the last time she’d laughed so easily?

Back on Earth, that’s when.

The thought picked her up and plopped her back into reality and an awkward silence enveloped them only to be broken as M’Agunt swayed back into the room.

“Oh...my...” Her cheeks began to grow warm at the look M’Agunt was giving her and Kyro. His red painted nails slowly stroked down the fabric he was carrying.

“This,” he said, “will make the pleasure experience heightened. Each strand of fiber will awaken every pleasure receptor in your being and between your thighs...” he moved his gaze to Kyro “...or your thighs.”

She was sure she saw Kyro grow red too.

M’Agunt’s smile fell as he tilted his head in thought. “You do have your intimate parts between your thighs, don’t you? I once met a Ghurgi whose intimate parts were in his mouth.”

M’Agunt’s eyes grew hooded. “The things he could do...”

Kyro cleared his throat.

“The clothing is not for pleasure together. It’s not for copulation between us.”

Evren glanced at him. “He’s right. And I want cloth for normal, everyday clothing.”

M’Agunt’s face dropped. Literally.

His skin sagged with what she could only assume was disappointment.

“So...you are not mates?”

M’Agunt’s gaze drifted to her hand still holding on to Kyro’s arm and realizing where he was looking, Evren pulled her hand away.

“We are not.” They answered together, glancing at each other as they did.

M’Agunt didn’t miss a beat.

Outstretching a tentacle, he circled her waist and pulled her closer to him. “Well, then...let’s see what we can find.”

If she wasn’t still a bit shaken and embarrassed, she’d have protested having a tentacle around her waist, but she followed the merchant into the store without complaining.

As M’Agunt began leading her deeper into the store, Evren glanced back in Kyro’s direction. He wasn’t looking at her. Instead, his jaw was clenched as he stared at the tentacle around her waist.

“What about this one?” M’Agunt used another tentacle to pull out a bale of red material. Touching it, Evren realized it felt like silk.

“This would feel really good on sheets. But I don’t want to walk around in silk all the time.”

M’Agunt made a sound as if he understood and searched for something else as Evren looked around.

“I have heard of your kind,” M’Agunt suddenly said, giving her a side-eye as he continued searching for whatever material he was looking for. His voice changed from being pleasant and sort of cooing to something else that made her a bit wary.

“A very...sought after species. You are far from home, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Evren replied, glancing behind her once more.

Kyro was trailing them, ignoring the clothing material, his focus on M’Agunt completely.

When she turned to glance in M’Agunt’s direction, she found the alien’s face so close to hers she had to stretch her neck backward a little to give them some space.

“A human could use some friends,” M’Agunt said.

Without missing a beat, Kyro answered, “She already has friends.”

M’Agunt glanced in Kyro’s direction and she was sure annoyance registered on his face but that was quickly covered with a bejeweled grin. “What about this?” He pushed another piece of material towards her, right in her face.

“I can’t see it. I need you to release me—”

“Ah, apologies.” M’Agunt let her go, his tentacle sliding from around her waist, and she was able to touch the material. It had an intricate design that made it look like it had butterflies painted on it.

It was beautiful.

Running her hand along the design, she took a few moments to decide. “I’ll take this.”

M’Agunt’s grin widened, no doubt happy about the sale, as he turned to pull out the rest of the bale.

“How much do you need?”

“About five yards,” Evren answered.

M’Agunt just turned and blinked at her, his large eyes fully closing and opening dramatically.

“She needs two lengths.” Kyro’s voice was so close behind her she almost jumped. God. How did someone so large move so quietly?

He was standing so near; she could almost feel his chest moving with each breath. And, she didn’t know why, but a part of her wanted to lean back a little, just a little, so she could feel his chest against her back.

This was what isolation was doing to her.

She was making friends with an octopus-man and she was craving the touch of the first male who had been nice to her in a while.

Don’t get her wrong. There wasn’t anything wrong with Kyro. He was tall. Handsome. Strange, but not in a threatening way. And he was incredibly interesting to speak to when he did speak.

But he had never shown any interest in her...at least, not romantically. Their acquaintance was completely platonic.

He was hot. But they were acquaintances.

She was sure he felt the same way.

Daring to tilt her head and look up at him, she found his eyes focused on hers. As she swallowed hard, he watched her throat move and a heat she hadn’t felt in years filled her. All his talk about copulation came flooding back.

Snapping her eyes away, she found M’Agunt stretching a wrapped-up package in her direction.

He seemed to have been watching them the entire time and the smile he put on his face when she’d finally looked in his direction made her uneasy.

Was he just a creep?

He seemed to really like sex stuff. That was probably what that look he was giving her was. He was probably imagining her riding Kyro’s dick.

The heat within her grew at the thought.

Wrong thought. Wrooong thought.

Now, she was imagining riding Kyro’s dick.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, she smiled and took the package.

“By chance, do you have any needles or thread?”

M’Agunt’s gaze was running down her body slowly and it was clear he hadn’t heard her question.

Yup. He was definitely into freaky sex stuff. The way he was eyeing her was like how the chitin-dude, Shive, had been looking at her and she didn’t like it at all.

He better watch out. His eyes were larger than Shive’s and she wouldn’t hesitate to poke them out.

Trying not to squirm under his gaze, Evren opened her mouth to repeat the question when a rumble from behind her made her twist her head to look up at Kyro.

His narrowed gaze was on M’Agunt and he was...growling?

As soon as their eyes met, the growling stopped and Kyro was looking back at her as if the sound had surprised him as much as it had surprised her.

M’Agunt must have heard the sound too because he seemed to zone back into the present as suddenly as the growl had penetrated the air.

“What did you say sweet, sweet human?” M’Agunt asked, his voice like syrup but his gaze icy as he glanced at Kyro. This time, Evren was certain there was definite annoyance in his gaze.

“Needles? Thread? Do you sell any?”

She spent the next few moments having to describe the two items to the two aliens and after all her efforts, it turned out that there was no such thing on the base.

Apparently, no one sewed clothes. They all just bought them ready-made.

Well, she wouldn’t be doing that. The whole purpose of getting the cloth was so she would have something to do so she could preoccupy her mind and not go crazy.

Reaching into her basket, she pulled out her datapad, which held her digital credits. M’Agunt raised a tentacle in the air.

“No need to pay. This time it is free.” He smiled.

“Oh...that’s nice of you but I can pay—”

M’Agunt’s grin widened. “Ah, sweet human,” he said. “You will pay me later.”

Evren frowned slightly but the alien’s smile didn’t seem malicious.

With a grunt from Kyro, she felt his hand at her back as he steered her from the store, almost as if he couldn’t wait to get her out of there and away from the saggy alien.

“Thank you, M’Agunt,” she managed to say before they exited the stall.

As they reentered the market, she was sure she heard M’Agunt’s reply: “The pleasure was all mine.”

7

THEY WALKED IN SILENCE, the hustle and bustle of the market enveloping them once more.

Kyro couldn’t help the frown that was bunching the skin on his forehead.

The Dini known as M’Agunt disturbed him.

Logic told him there was nothing to be disturbed about, but he didn’t trust the slimy Dini for as high as he could lift him.

Swallowing hard, he told himself it was not because of the small human walking by his side.

He would have to go back home and do some research on Vorti mating rituals but as far as his current knowledge went, they had been doing nothing to illicit the primitive growl that had forced itself from within him.

And she had heard it, too. How embarrassing.

Glancing down at her now, her package of cloth tucked into her basket, he willed himself to think clearly.

His response in the shop wasn’t new.

When he’d seen Shive invade her space, he’d felt the same strange feeling that had made itself known with the merchant’s shop. There was no logical reason for the surge of protection that had gone through him.

Whatever it was, it had to be something to do with her being human. Clearly, whatever malady was affecting his brothers was also affecting him.

He didn’t need to hover over her. She’d almost taken one of Shive’s eyes out all on her own.

The memory amused him greatly. She’d used her tiny pointy finger as a weapon.

There was silence between them now and he noticed her face was composed. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but he didn’t like it.

He much preferred the way she had looked when she’d laughed at his joke.

Her face had taken on a youthfulness that wasn’t there now.

Now, she looked serene thinking some troubled thoughts as they walked together.

Was she contemplating M’Agunt?

It was clear the Dini’s interest in her went beyond the fact that she was human. There was something else behind M’Agunt’s eyes when he looked at her and the thought made his blood pulse where his chets once were.

M’Agunt and qrakking Shive.

There it was again. That feeling.

He and the human were only...acquaintances. He’d helped rescue her and that was the basis of their relationship. It would be nothing more.

It could be nothing more.

Did he want it to be something more?

His heart stopped for a second before resuming.

The thought had never occurred to him. But as soon as it began taking root, Kyro brushed it away.

It would be punishment to bring someone into his personal hell. To subject someone he claimed to love to the life he had to live...he would only do such a thing to his enemies.

Still, as he told himself this, he didn’t want the little time he’d spent in her presence to be over. Following her to the market had been an unexpectedly pleasurable experience if he forgot about the merchant and the other rebel.

“So, you watch our comedy shows, huh?” she asked suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts once more.

“I read them.”

“Oh. Read any you like?” She glanced up at him, reading him.

“There was one. Star Expedition. I found it quite entertaining.”

“Star Expedition, don’t think I know that one.” A pause. “Do you mean Star Trek?”

“Star Expedition. Star Trek. My translator says those names are the same.”

“Ah.” She cracked a smile and his eyes glued on to it. Why was she smiling? Did he inadvertently tell her a joke?

“I like Star Trek too.” She sighed and her delicate shoulders rose and fell. “I envy you.”

He was about to tell her he was the last person in the world she should envy when she continued speaking. “I wish I could at least read the language spoken here. It would be nice to at least be able to read on the datapad that came with my apartment.”

The corners of her mouth drooped a little and that same look that had moved into her eyes before came back again.

Sadness.

She was sad.

And he didn’t think it was only the fact that she couldn’t read books that was causing her sadness.

It was a look of sadness stemming from deep, deep down. The type that seeped into your gaze when you weren’t aware of it.

The type that people saw but didn’t mention.

“There are many languages spoken here. And many written ones,” he offered.

“Really?” She paused. “Of course. I don’t know why I assumed that everyone spoke the same thing.” She paused again. “Then how do people read here? Do they have to learn all the written languages? Or is there a common language or something?”

“I can update your translator for you, or arrange to have it changed, depending on the model. It would then connect with your ocular nerves to translate words you see into a language you understand.”

He spoke before he even considered what he was saying.

To update her translator, he’d have to most likely visit her private quarters.

“Could you really?”

How could he say no when she was looking up at him with such hope?

“Yes. I could visit your quarters tomorrow with the update.”

The corner of his eye twitched.

He shouldn’t be doing this.

But he did want to spend more time around her.

She was interesting, and not like the other human women. She was interesting in a different sort of way.

Maybe it was the fact that he saw more going on behind her eyes...something behind her gaze caught his attention.

Or maybe it was just the sadness he saw lurking there.

Whatever it was, he would take the opportunity to study her. She would be his new project.

And it would help him pass the time while he waited for his brothers to come off their “break.”

He’d help her and she’d unwittingly help him.

It was a win-win situation, as her kind would put it.

That is, if she decided to say yes to his offer.

Visiting her private quarters to update her translator. He was pushing it.

Waiting with bated breath, he finally exhaled when he heard her reply.

“I would really like that.”

SHE WAS GOING to get to read!

With the cloth in tow and books to read, she’d have more than enough things to do to fill her time.

Smiling, she glanced up at Kyro and found him watching her.

“You know, you’re a bit different from the other guys in your unit. Reku5 they call your team?”

She saw the skin on his forehead move as if he was raising his eyebrows.

“Yes.” He paused. “You think I am different?” Even with the noise of the market around them, she was sure she heard a note of caution in his voice.

“I don’t know. Were you always a member of the Restitution?”

He raised his gaze then, looking out into the crowd of shoppers with a look as if he was seeing something far, far away behind his eyes where she couldn’t see.

“No. I spent some time at the Intergalactic Hub, working with the research unit there.”

Evren blinked, a sliver of excitement growing within her.

What luck. She’d been meaning to find someone to talk to about the port city.

“Really? What’s it like there?”

“Busy,” Kyro said then paused, his eyes still with that faraway look. “Free.”

Sounded like her paradise.

“I have a secret,” she whispered, loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough for the aliens around them to catch her words.

They were in the street leading back to her apartment now and though it wasn’t as crowded as in the market itself, there were still several aliens moving about.

“A secret?” His gaze focused and zeroed in on her suddenly, his pupils contracting.

“Yea.” Evren swallowed. She hadn’t told any of the other women about her thoughts of possibly leaving. She hadn’t told anyone yet, but somehow, she felt she could tell Kyro. Something inside her told her she wouldn’t be judged.

“I’m thinking of moving there, if I can. Find something to do. Find,” she glanced at him nervously, “find some employment maybe. Just...a purpose I guess.”

Without even looking at him, she knew he was studying her.

“Do you think going there will make you happy?” he finally asked.

That was a strange question to ask, but it made her reflect on her reason for wanting to leave.

“I don’t know. I guess... I just need to know at least. I could always return here if it doesn’t work out, right?”

Despite the noise in the street, she was sure he heard her. After all, they’d been speaking fine all along. But when more than a few moments passed and Kyro didn’t reply, Evren tilted her head to look up at him.

Again, it seemed as if he was deep in thought.

“Kyro?”

Still, he didn’t respond.

He had completely zoned out.

He was so strange. Different from his brothers, she was sure.

It was intriguing and maddening all at once.

In other circumstances, she’d have taken the time to study him as she would other organisms, noting his behavior and the way he responded and interacted with the world around him.

It was something she’d often done just for fun back on Earth. Some people were more interesting than novel strains of bacteria, and though studying bacteria was her specialty, she still found humans to be particularly remarkable.

The same could be said for aliens.

Kyro specifically.

She guessed it couldn’t hurt. She’d study him for the remainder of time she had at the base.

She already enjoyed his company so much; it would give her a reason to seek more of his presence.

“Kyro?” He was still zoned out and didn’t seem to snap out of it until she touched his arm lightly.

“Kyro?”

His eyes zoned in on her. “Yes?”

She offered him a smile and his eyes softened a bit but something in his gaze had changed. The way he was looking at her, she could swear there was disappointment there.

“So, tell me, what sort of research happens there, at the Hub.”

“Biological. Military. Social. It is the galaxy’s largest terminal. Thousands of species pass through the terminal daily. The research is needed to prevent diseases, diffuse conflict, form alliances, and the like. The Interplanetary Union funds the research, so they are always seeking scientists, researchers, and volunteers from different worlds.”

“Do you think, um, a human, would be able to get in there?”

“I do not doubt it.”

His confirmation made her grin.

To think she’d been nervous about heading to the market today. So much good had come of it.

She finally had something to look forward to.

The Intergalactic Hub—it was possibly the place where she needed to be all along.

8

SOMEWHERE ON THE base

THE COMM SCREEN LIT UP, words passing over the smooth surface in bright green.

“SECURE CONNECTION ESTABLISHED. CALL ENCRYPTION ENABLED.”

The comm clicked as the other line opened.

“Status.” The voice was low and, in the silence on both ends of the line, the command came out clear and clipped.

“I have located one of the humans, oh great one.”

“Only one?”

“It appears four of the other humans have found pairings within Reku5.”

A sound of annoyance bordering on anger came through the comm device.

“What do you mean pairings?”

“It appears four humans have formed...relationships with the captain and members of the Reku5.”

Silence.

“Should I have them neutralized, your excellence?”

“No. Refrain from such activity. We cannot risk you revealing your true allegiance. Killing those humans mated to the team will raise suspicion. We will find some other way to punish them.”

“Yes, great one.”

A pause.

“And what about the white-haired human, my excellence? I smelled no other scent upon her. She is not mated.”

A deep inhale sounded on the other line.

“Vulnerable.” The word was drawn out long and low in a deep exhale that sounded like it vibrated the air around it.

“Yes, my excellence. She can be easily extracted.”

“Retrieve her. Bring her to me unharmed.”

“Yes, my excellence.”

9

FOR THE FIRST time in a long while, Evren found that her night was restless for another reason apart from the after-effects of being taken from Earth.

Excitement for what the future had in store had her emotions all wrapped up.

When she awoke the next morning, she had something to look forward to as she pulled the fabric from the package the vendor had wrapped for her.

It was as soft as cotton and had almost the same thread count.

Lifting it out of the package, she spread it over the table and gave it a critical eye.

She’d found a cutting instrument in the apartment, a blade she could retract, and she was sure she could use it to cut the fabric the way she wanted. But there was still the issue of finding a needle and thread—or at least something similar.

Eyeing the fabric, Evren sighed. She supposed she could make some sort of sew-less clothes. She could tie the cloth in a certain way to make it look good.

As long as it didn’t make her look like a potato and it covered her privates, she was down for it.

She was just about to begin cutting the material when the chime for her door sounded.

Evren lifted her head and looked towards the entrance, her hair falling over her face.

She wasn’t expecting anyone.

Maybe it was Kyro. He had said he was going to visit to update her translator.

Her heart skipped a little beat and she straightened her potato sack dress nervously.

Why was she even nervous? As she shuffled to the door, the answer to that question didn’t arrive.

The door chimed once more just as Evren depressed the panel to the side that made it slide open, a smile on her face in greeting.

“Sweet human.”

Evren’s smile froze as she glanced behind the merchant, not believing that he was there.

His large body blocked her view of the street below. “M’Agunt, how, uh, very nice to see you. How did you—how did you know where I live?”

“It brings me pleasure to see you too, sweet human.” His eyes moved over her body and Evren stiffened a little. “You seem to think your residence is a secret. Everyone knows where you live.”

His voice sounded pleasant, but his words made alarm bells ring in her head.

It was funny. Without Kyro hovering behind her, M’Agunt’s smile suddenly seemed very, very threatening.

She’d had no idea she’d been taking comfort in Kyro’s presence.

She put that in a folder to think about later.

“What are you doing here?” She made an effort to keep her tone pleasant and not let her unease seep through.

“I brought you a gift,” the alien said. From behind his back, a tentacle moved toward her. It was gripping a small box.

As he handed the box to her, M’Agunt’s grin didn’t falter. “Open it.” His tentacle jerked the box toward her. “Please,” he added.

Taking the box, Evren glanced at him warily as she lifted the lid. Eyes widening in surprise, she stared at the contents of the box before raising her gaze to the grinning alien.

“Needle and thread?! How did you—”

“Anything for my new friend,” M’Agunt replied. “I had it made, just for you.”

“This was very thoughtful of you. But you didn’t have to. You’ve already given me the fabric—”

M’Agunt raised a tentacle. “It’s a gift, between friends.”

“Friends?”

M’Agunt’s face dropped in the same way she’d seen it drop before. His entire countenance drooped.

“Are we not friends?”

When Evren opened her mouth to speak again, he continued. “I see. I thought we had a connection back in my shop.”

“A connection?” Suddenly, she wished she’d taken the cutting instrument with her when she’d come to answer the door. He was getting creepy again.

“In a base as big as this you’d be surprised that I don’t have many friends.” His facial skin drooped further. “I was just hoping... It can get lonely here.”

The way his face drooped made the tension that was growing in her shoulders relax.

He was just lonely?

She knew how that felt.

Was that why he was behaving so much like a creep?

“I could help you create your clothes. As you can imagine, I am very versed in this respect.”

“That would be helpful but...maybe another time.” She smiled at him, trying to make it as genuine and sweet as possible.

“Why not now?”

Opening her mouth to reply, a voice to M’Agunt’s right surprised them both.

“She has company now.”

M’Agunt turned and she saw his shoulders slump when he saw Kyro standing behind him. The sigh of relief that left her body came out as she said his name.

“Kyro, you’re here!”

Stepping around the merchant, Kyro came to stand beside her in the doorway.

M’Agunt’s large eyes blinked, opening and closing.

“I see you already scheduled company,” he said, eyeing Kyro before he turned to her with a smile. “I will see you later then, sweet human.”

She hoped not, but she was careful not to let that thought slip into the stiff smile that she gave the merchant.

As M’Agunt sauntered away, she looked up at Kyro.

“You always seem to be bailing me out of awkward situations.”

“I am happy to assist.”

Evren smiled. A genuine one. One that stretched her lips easily, unlike when she’d been speaking with the merchant and her smiles had been forced.

“Come on in.”

As Kyro stepped inside and she made to close the door to her apartment, something caught her eye down on the street below.

There, standing in one of the alleyways, was the form of a male she had seen before.

Chitin armor covered his entire body as his tail swished menacingly behind him.

Shive.

Evren’s breath caught in her throat as she realized where his eyes were focused.

He was looking directly at her.

And even knowing she was aware of his suspicious behavior; he didn’t seem to care for he didn’t flinch.

Couldn’t she get a break?

Closing the door, Evren pressed her back against it to calm herself, a frown knitting her brow.

Hopefully, the behavior was because she was new, and they’d never seen humans before.

Otherwise, she really did need to leave the base and head to that port city. But that could be like jumping from one bad situation into a worse one. Who knew? The port city may be filled with even more creeps.

KYRO SHOVED AWAY the annoyance he felt at seeing M’Agunt at Evren’s door.

Why was the merchant pursuing her? Didn’t he have fah-brik to go sell?

It shouldn’t annoy him, but it did.

He had spent much of the night thinking about their interaction in the shop and even Shive accosting her, and both interactions bothered him. They really bothered him.

“Would you, um, like a drink or something?” Evren’s soft voice reached his ear and Kyro turned to look at her.

He wasn’t thirsty, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. He knew that offering a beverage was a common human custom. He’d read about it.

A character in The Big Loud Noise had mentioned it several times as well.

“Yes, thank you.”

She rocked on her heels. “What would you like?” she asked, then hurriedly added, “I don’t have much of a selection, let me warn you.”

She didn’t wait for his answer but instead headed toward her food preparation room, her voice floating to him in the sitting area as he looked around her living space.

There was hardly any customization in her quarters. Actually, the more he looked the more he realized there was no customization.

Her apartment was standard. Neutral.

He knew she’d only been there for a little over a week, but her apartment looked exactly like his did.

Standard gray seats sat on the floor in the sitting area. The tables were bare. The windows had the standard coverings...if she left tomorrow, it would be like she hadn’t spent any time there at all.

And she was thinking of leaving, probably because of him. If he hadn’t mentioned the Intergalactic Hub, then she wouldn’t have gotten the idea.

All night, that had been at the center of his thoughts.

Her wishing to leave the base shouldn’t bother him, but just as the interactions of the other day, it did bother him—bothered him more than it should.

“There’s something in here.” She walked back out with a bottle of jinn in her hand, screwing up her nose as she stared at it. “I don’t know what this is.”

“Jinn,” he offered. “It is intoxicating to humans.”

Her eyebrows rose a little as she nodded her head slowly, still looking at the bottle.

“You mean it can get me drunk?”

“Easily, yes.”

Her smile made his breath hitch a little. “Guess I should save some for later when I need something to drown my sorrows. Would you like some? It’s the only thing I saw in there.”

“I accept.”

She smiled at him and headed back into the food preparation room.

In the next few seconds, she returned with a receptacle and the bottle in hand.

“Here you go.” She rested the receptacle on the table and poured a drink.

Kyro nodded.

“So, um, how do we do this? Is it something you have to plug in to update it or is it wireless or...?”

Ah.

He’d forgotten that’s why he’d come by. He didn’t usually forget things.

“Instead of interfering with your current implant, I thought it best to update your datapad with human languages instead. Updating the implant might be...tricky.”

Tricky only in the sense that his hands would have to be all over her head and neck and, though his fingers itched for him to do so, he needed to perform some sort of self-restraint.

He’d already broken several rules.

“Well, I mean, I just want to be able to read books for now. I guess updating the datapad is fine. Do that instead then.”

Kyro nodded and she smiled at him once more.

“I’ll just be over here working on my clothes.”

With that, she moved over to a table in the corner of the room where she had spread the material she’d bought the day before.

He watched her move, noticing the sway of her hips as she stepped over to her task. Soon, she was frowning down at the cloth and muttering to herself as she circled the table.

Getting to work, Kyro took up the datapad that was sitting on the chair and accessed the interface.

“Ok, so maybe I cut this here and sew this to this. That would make a stylish skirt, right?”

His nonexistent brows shot up as he glanced over in her direction. Was she speaking to him? It didn’t seem like it. She wasn’t even looking in his direction.

Instead, her brows were wrinkled as she frowned at the material spread over the table.

“Who am I kidding? I’m not vying for a spot on Seamstresses of the Galaxy. Nobody will care if the cut is a bit off, will they?”

She circled the table, tilting her head left and right as if that would make her see the material better.

“Ok. The best way to do this is to just start.”

He watched her set her mouth into a thin line and could feel the amusement settle over his features. Why was she talking to herself?

“I can do this. Just cut...right? Easy peezy.”

As she cut the material, he watched her body gradually lean over the table till her entire upper section was stretched over the surface and...

A ball formed in his throat, which he had to put much effort into swallowing down.

Soft and curvy...

On the other end of the table, her ass was lifted in the air. In that position, it looked even more rounded and attention-grabbing. The position itself was making him think of other things...the position she was in was so suggestive—it was almost obscene.

Blinking, his eyes focused and he turned away.

What was he doing?

These thoughts.

Accessing the datapad, he began the update sequence, plugging in the language file he had brought with him.

He hadn’t allowed himself to slip before. After all this time, after all these years hiding, he had never allowed himself to even imagine having something else...something more.

Yet, now, since being around these humans, his resolve seemed to be slipping ever so slightly each day. To lose it all would be detrimental.

He’d played it safe all the time, never getting too close to anyone—Evren included.

When they’d rescued the humans only to have their ship attacked, they’d had to divert to the desert planet Muk, and he had ended up with her. Yet, he had kept his distance. He’d hardly spoken to her. Hardly stayed close to her.

He’d gotten them to the Muk outpost so they could be picked up as soon as possible.

And now what was he doing? He was undoing all his efforts at keeping his distance, that’s what.

“For fuck’s sake!”

Her sudden exclamation had him looking in her direction, and he noticed she was now lifting the piece of cloth that she’d cut.

“Sorry,” she offered when she realized he was looking at her. Then she turned her attention back to the piece of material, mumbling something about it not being cut straight.

As she went back to cutting the material once more, he couldn’t stop himself from staring.

Today, she had her hair piled on top of her head in an odd way. He assumed it was supposed to keep the strands high so she could see better, but it was failing at that because a mess of tendrils fell around her face.

It made his eyes crinkle at the corners as he gazed at her.

Holding up the material she was working on, she glared at it.

What had it done to her for her to scowl at it so? Her obvious annoyance at the piece of material almost made him chuckle.

Almost.

Humans weren’t endearing. She certainly wasn’t.

Not the tendrils falling down to frame her face... Not the way she wrinkled her nose when judging her work... Not the way she bit the corner of her lip as she stared at the material...or the way her buttocks pushed out when she stood with her hands bracing on her hips...or the way she spoke to herself as if completely forgetting he was in the room.

He wasn’t smiling inside because these things somehow gave him pleasure.

This was all for research, he reminded himself.

The only problem was that it seemed as if he was beginning to enjoy his “research” a little too much.

10

SHE WAS HORRIBLE AT IT.

Why the heck did she think she could even take on such a mammoth task?

Evren eyed the enemy before her. As if innocent, the piece of cloth just lay there limp.

She’d lain it flat to cut it, and it refused to be cut straight. Then after much maneuvering, she’d finally managed to cut it the way she wanted only to begin sewing to realize there was no way it was going to fit.

Maybe if she was making it for a slender teen, maybe then all her effort would have been rewarded.

Eyeing the skirt she’d sewn, she knew it wasn’t going to go over the rise of her ass.

“Aah!” Gripping her hair by the sides of her head, she let out a huff of frustration. “Goddammit!”

Glancing back over the sitting area, she checked to see if Kyro was disturbed by her outburst.

She was pretty sure he’d finished the update a while ago, for every now and again, she found him watching her when he thought she wasn’t looking.

Focusing back on the skirt, her shoulders slumped.

This was supposed to be a fun activity—something to take her mind off things, something she’d looked forward to doing...something to help her regain her independence.

Instead, it had flopped, falling flat like a jellyfish hitting a hard surface.

Bracing her back against the table, she folded her arms.

Was this how her life was going to be now?

Unfulfilled?

She knew the thought was illogical, but she couldn’t push it from her mind.

The skirt hanging from her hands made her feel...useless.

Was she good at only one thing?

Evren sighed.

She was good at only one thing. And now that one thing was gone.

It was gone and she hadn’t had a say in it. It had just been taken away from her—not by illness, not by her getting fired, not by her own choice but by the choice of some selfish asshole aliens who’d ripped her from Earth just so what?

The anger that rose within her almost made her choke and she stifled a sob.

Gripping the failed skirt in her hands, her shoulders shook as she tried to hold back her emotions.

She didn’t even know why a tear was threatening to run down her cheek. She hardly ever cried. Why now?

Why let things get to her?

She knew the answer to that question and even though she didn’t want to say it out loud, it was there in her mind.

Everything she’d lived for was now gone.

She couldn’t be an ecologist anymore. She highly doubted going to the Intergalactic Hub was going to fix that but maybe, just maybe, she could find something to do that was close. Maybe she could find another purpose in some way.

Live somehow.

It was hard living when you had…nothing.

As another tear threatened to fall, she sniffed, holding it back with immense willpower.

“Evren?”

The deep voice behind her almost made her jump. Kyro was so quiet she’d forgotten he was there.

It was the first time she’d heard him say her name and somehow, the way he said it had her questioning if he was really referring to her.

His version of her name made it sound as if it belonged to some sexy temptress. Ev-ren, with an emphasis on the ‘Ev’. The syllables flowed from his lips like they were coated with sugar.

It was also nice to hear her name for a change, instead of being referred to as “the human” all the time. That one little action gave her some of her identity back.

Clearing her throat, Evren wiped her nose with the back of her hand before turning to face Kyro. The smile she planted on her lips felt tight, forced, and she almost winced. She hoped he didn’t notice.

“Oh, are you finished with the update?”

Instead of answering her question, Kyro took a step forward, the concern evident on his face as he moved closer.

“Red swollen eyes. Wet eyelids...” Kyro paused. “You are crying.” He glanced at the table and the skirt in her hand as if trying to determine the cause of her pain.

“The task of creating clothing saddens you?” His silver eyes met hers then and the intensity within them almost had her looking away, except she found that she couldn’t.

“No. I—”

“Then what is it?” He closed the distance between them, his hand reaching out to touch what was left of the tear at the corner of her eye. He touched the liquid and brought his finger up to his nose and sniffed.

Not expecting his next action, Evren scrunched up her nose when he licked the tear from his finger.

Her reaction was mimicked on his face, his nose scrunching as he looked at his finger. “I can taste the minerals in it.”

Evren, nose still scrunched, gave him an incredulous look. “That was really weird.”

“What was?”

“You used your finger to taste my tears. It’s not...normal.” She gave a soft chuckle.

Funny how he managed to make her smile so easily without even intending to. Around him, she forgot she was going through mental hell.

“Should I have used my tongue instead?”

His question seemed innocent enough but the thought of him running his tongue on her cheek made her widen her eyes, memories of him in the market and the thoughts she’d had then coming back to her immediately.

Evren opened her mouth to respond but no words came out.

Why wasn’t the thought of his tongue stroking down her cheek repelling her? It should. What it shouldn’t do was turn her on.

Ohmigod...she was, wasn’t she?

She was slightly turned on.

And God help her, she couldn’t stop her next words before they spilled from her lips.

“A tongue would have felt nicer.” She gave him a small smile. “But I don’t think many humans would appreciate you doing that either.”

“Don’t worry. I never intend to repeat such action on any other human. I only wanted to taste you.”

Again, she didn’t know how to respond.

Was he...flirting with her?

Were they flirting?

She’d never been good at that sort of thing. Her idea of flirting involved text messages, where she could mull over her responses in private until she came up with the smartest thing to say.

“What has made you sad? I can fix it.” He glanced down at the skirt in her hands.

As she looked up at him studying her, in the quiet of the room, his proximity suddenly felt intimate. It was just the two of them, standing so close...if she moved just a bit closer, she’d be pressing herself against his chest.

And she wanted to.

At least, her nipples sure wanted to. They were hard and pointing right at him.

Thank goodness her unsightly dress did a good job of hiding that.

She didn’t know why but she felt...safe around him. As if she wasn’t being judged.

As if she could be open, free, and utterly and completely her true self.

She felt like she could tell him anything. Anything at all, and it would stay between them. He didn’t seem like the sort of person to go yapping to the others about her failings or the fact that such a simple event as losing the one thing that made her Evren was breaking her so much.

Mind made up, she thrust the skirt toward him.

“It’s this stupid skirt. It will never fit me. I spent all this time, had this grand image of what my clothes were going to look like, and bam! It was ripped away from me just like that. Worst part is, it was because of my own stupidity!”

She felt annoyed. Annoyed with herself and she was very aware she was possibly overreacting. But, goddammit, it’s the little things that push people over the edge, and this little thing was doing just that.

Under the light above them, she couldn’t see the color of his eyes, but she could almost feel the intensity of his gaze.

“I sense that this had nothing to do with the clothing.”

Ah, so he was intuitive too? One point for him for picking that up so quickly. The more time she spent around him, the more perfect he became.

“You’re right. This has nothing to do with the clothing. It’s everything else!” Throwing her hands into the air, she stalked over to the drink she’d poured for him earlier. “You aren’t going to drink this are you?”

When he shook his head, she plopped down into the seat and took a big gulp.

“Shit, this tastes like piss.” Her nose scrunched up again. Still, she took another gulp. “Can you imagine it, Kyro? Being taken from everything you ever knew? Being thrown into a world that you didn’t choose? Can you imagine what it feels like inside?”

“I can.” He moved so smoothly and silently, she hadn’t realized he’d left from beside the table to stand by where she sat.

Taking a seat beside her, he gazed at nothing in front of him, his pupils dilating as if he was thinking of something that happened a long, long time ago.

“What do you mean you can?”

When he turned to look at her, there was a pain in his eyes that she hadn’t seen there before.

“I can. Because I was once abducted too.”

SHE WAS LOOKING at him in shock, so he thought it best to continue.

He shouldn’t have opened his mouth, but he’d been doing a lot of things he shouldn’t be doing lately; he’d just add this to the list.

“As a youngling, about six orbits old, I was taken from my homeworld.”

Evren’s large blue eyes widened as her mouth fell open.

Shock.

He’d shocked her.

He’d take that over pity. He never wanted to see her pity him.

“I was eventually rescued by the Restitution. I’ve been here ever since.”

A moment of silence paused as he let her soak in what he just said.

“You. An alien. You were abducted?” She blinked. “No offense. I don’t mean that in a bad way it’s just...whenever I thought about beings being abducted, I only ever imagined humans getting the short end of that stick.”

“That would be impossible.”

“Huh?”

“There would be no way to extract beings on a stick. Unless it was a very small being and they somehow clung to your very large stick. And, outside the atmosphere of their planet, they would surely die without some form of protective equipment. Unless...” He paused. “Unless you put them in protective equipment and attach your stick to your spaceship.” He paused once more as he thought about it. “I retract my statement. It is possible.”

When he finally cast his eyes on her once more, she was doing that thing where she scrunched up her nose and looked at him as if she was trying to figure him out.

With a laugh, she took another sip of her drink.

“Kyro, you are so weird, but I mean it in the nicest way... I like it.”

Never mind that she just insulted him nicely. He could take that and think about it later. But...did she say she liked him?

For a few seconds, he wondered what the strange warmness growing inside him was.

And this thing tugging at his mouth, making his lips want to stretch across his face. Dear Polvrak. He wanted to smile?

When he returned to his quarters, he had to check if he was low on vitamins. Something was wrong with him.

“So, you were abducted...as a child?” She tapped her drink receptacle. “How? By whom? For what reason? How did you escape?”

What should he tell her? He couldn’t tell her everything. He shouldn’t even be telling her anything at all.

“I...was taken by the High Tasqals.” He glanced at her. “My people were invaded...enslaved.”

“Oh my God.” She sat up straight, looking at him, her eyes wide with horror and...anger? Anger? She was angry for him?

When she reached over and placed her small hand over his, the warmth of her skin was so unexpectedly pleasurable that he froze underneath her touch.

He hadn’t been touched by anyone in so long, he had to stop the chromatophores in his skin from memorizing the imprint of her hand.

With the simple contact, he could feel the remnants of the chets along his arms pulse with excitement, almost as if they wanted to regrow and extrude to show that he could be a protective mate.

Qrakking Goddard’s nest. Whatever was happening to him was making him teeter on the edge of control.

“You were a slave? Like for labor or...”

When he looked at her again, the horror in her eyes touched him deep. She cared that much about his past?

Why?

The questions were too many.

“Oh my God, Kyro,” she whispered. “Did they...did those bastards...” She gulped as contempt grew in her eyes. Contempt at his expense. “Were you a sex slave?”

The thought of being a sex slave to the horrible and utterly vile High Tasqals made the corners of his eyes twitch and pulled him from the thoughts he was mulling over. He could feel the hatred boiling within him.

His emotions were beginning to get the best of him.

This was a dangerous conversation. Too many doors closed. Too many secrets.

That was why he needed to end their little discussion.

“It’s okay,” Evren spoke. “We don’t have to talk about it.”

Then she did something he didn’t expect.

In careful movements, she closed the distance between them to nestle against his arm, bringing up her feet towards her chest as her head rested against his shoulder.

“I guess we have something in common then. Were the rest of your team, your brothers, were they also slaves?”

She spoke as if she didn’t know the effect she was having on him, being so close, touching him, sharing this moment that he’d never shared with anyone else before.

Probably she didn’t know...he hardly understood these new feelings himself.

What was this wild increase of his pulse? This urge to pull her closer? This...need?

Qrak.

He felt so needy.

“You know who I miss the most on Earth?” She continued when he didn’t answer. “My cat, Nigel. I miss Nigel.”

“Cat?”

“Y’know...well, I guess you don’t know.” She let out a small laugh. “A cat is a small animal. Most are furry. Pointy ears. They have four feet. Tail.” She stopped speaking and smiled suddenly, her eyes glassy while memories he couldn’t see played in her mind.

As Kyro looked at her, he knew he was becoming addicted. He was beginning to live for her touch and her smiles.

Her smile lit up her face so much, he could see his tomorrow in her eyes, and she was how he imagined she’d been back before all this, before she was taken and brought into this unforgiving world.

“Nigel was a calico cat. He was mostly white, but he had those orange and black patches all calico cats have. He even had this one black spot that was shaped like a heart on his side. He was a rescue. I should have been warned. That heart-shaped spot was a representation of his cold, dark heart. Nigel was a selfish asshole.” She chuckled.

“Yet, you miss him?”

“I do.”

“Even with his cold, dark heart?”

She chuckled again. “Yep.”

Her eyes were still glassy as she kept staring ahead. “That’s the thing with cats. I think we love them so much because, unlike humans, they don’t pretend to care. Cat’s don’t give a shit. I think we respect them for that.”

He waited for her to continue.

So qrakking needy.

It was not only her smiles that were killing him. He was getting addicted to the sound of her voice as well. If she allowed him to, he would gladly sit and listen to her speak for ages.

But when a sob shook her shoulders and she wiped her eyes, Kyro turned to face her, moving to the floor in front of her so he could see her face.

“You’re losing minerals from your eyes once more.”

“I just miss Nigel. He was all I had after my parents died. He is all I have and now he is out there all alone and I have nothing. Every day I am reminded I have nothing.”

He knew that feeling all too well.

He, too, lived it every day.

Watching her cry was tearing at him.

“Nigel has a cold, dark heart. That means he is a fighter. He will survive,” he finally said.

Evren wiped her eyes, her gaze focusing on his and as suddenly as her tears had come, she let out a soft laugh.

“You...” She breathed. “Do you really think so?”

No, he did not think so.

Her cat animal would most likely have to find a way to support itself or it would not survive. But he’d already started the lie and it seemed to have stopped her eyes from wasting her body’s minerals.

He wouldn’t point out this Nigel’s peril. He had a feeling she already knew her cat animal was in serious jeopardy unless it was taken hostage by another human.

“I think so.”

She stared at him for a few moments before she wiped her eyes again.

“Thank you, Kyro.”

He nodded, deciding it was time for him to rise from his position on the floor, but her gaze held his. For what felt like the longest of moments, she just looked back at him, her eyes connecting with his in a way that made his chets pulse along his arm.

She began moving forward slowly, and it took Kyro a few seconds to realize what she was doing.

When her gaze fell to his lips, he froze.

Don’t be needy. You should move away.

She paused just an inch away from his face. So close, he could feel the breath from her nose against his skin.

He didn’t know what pushed him. If he imagined a hand behind his head easing him forward, it would have made sense. For he did move forward, on his own accord, despite the voices screaming in his head that what he was doing was dangerous.

He closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers.

…

Sweet.

Nest of.

Polvrak.

When he’d read about this human custom, he’d never imagined it would feel this good. It was no wonder humans loved joining mouths.

Her lips were soft, softer than he’d thought they would be, and that softness caught him by surprise, making him want to close his eyes but he dared not do so. He didn’t want to lose one moment of this, lest it be a figment of his imagination.

Before he could stop himself, he was pressing farther into her and she opened up to him, her lips parting with a soft moan.

Maybe time stopped.

He wasn’t sure.

It was just him, her, and this warmth within him that was burning through his veins, culminating right in his shaft.

This close, her scent was intoxicating, like freshly washed kusco berries, and every breath he took was filled with her. For once in his life, he dared imagine he could have more. More of this, more of life—to exist without the secrets that were holding him down, the same secrets that dictated why this kiss was a bad, bad idea.

Her eyes were slightly open, gazing at him with growing lust as her mouth moved against his and he knew it even before her hands curled around his neck, pulling him farther into her...

He’d passed a barrier he shouldn’t cross, and he wasn’t sure he had the strength to go back.

11

SHE’D KISSED HIM.

No, he’d kissed her.

As Evren awoke, her fingers moved to her mouth, tracing her lips.

Like a ghost of a kiss, she could still feel his lips against hers, still feel how his hand had risen to caress her cheek as their kiss had deepened, still remember how soft and smooth his skin had felt.

She could still smell him too. That close, her nose brushing against his, she’d picked up the scent of whatever he’d washed with.

Pine.

He’d smelled like pine. It made her think of walking barefoot in a forest surrounded by a cool summer breeze.

Sitting up in the bed, she ran her hand over her face.

The memory of the kiss replayed over and over in her mind and so did the events that happened next.

Kyro had released her lips, easing away from her with a look of such torment, she was briefly rendered speechless.

He’d mumbled that the drink must have gotten to her more than she’d realized and that she would probably regret their kiss when she recovered from her “intoxication.”

He’d brought her to her room, lifting her in his arms effortlessly, and then he’d left. Just like that.

He’d left.

And in her stunned silence, she hadn’t been able to say one thing to stop him.

The kiss had surprised her more than she’d realized.

As she stared at the empty wall in front of her, she forced herself to come to terms with it.

Had she kissed him because she’d been drunk?

No.

She knew she hadn’t.

She’d been perfectly in control of her body, her mind, her actions.

She’d chosen to do it.

She’d wanted to.

And she’d loved every second of it.

There’d been nothing stopping her but her own inhibitions, and in that moment, she’d had none.

Slipping from the bed, she walked from the bedroom to the bathing area. The place was so quiet; it seemed even quieter than it had been the day before.

With Kyro there, even though he hadn’t been talking, she hadn’t felt the silence.

She’d forgotten about this quiet that came when she was alone. His presence had been comforting.

As she stripped and began cleaning herself underneath the spray, she bit her bottom lip with a slow smile.

They’d kissed.

Weeks ago, she wouldn’t have imagined such a thing happening and, under different circumstances, she wondered what would have happened if they hadn’t stopped.

How far would they have gone?

It had been a while for her. Her life had been dedicated to her work. There hadn’t been time for romantic relationships. And friends...well, she didn’t have many of those. Her cat, Nigel, had been her only company.

The feel of Kyro’s lips had made an ache go right down to her center, one she hadn’t felt in so long it had made her instantly wet.

Even now, the memory of it was making her hot and an encouraging throb pulsed between her legs.

As she hopped from out of the shower and pulled on one of the brown dresses she hated so much, she steeled herself for the inevitable itch of the material.

Maybe she should get some of the standard kit everyone else wore. At least she wouldn’t have to walk around looking as if she was meant to be carrying fresh produce.

She was just about to reach for her datapad so she could ask one of the other human women about it when the door chimed.

Her heart skipped a beat immediately.

Kyro.

Pushing her wet hair behind her ears she hurried to the door and peeked through the viewscreen.

The face she saw there made her feel a tad guilty for the disappointment she immediately felt. It wasn’t Kyro standing at her door. It was one of the other humans who’d been abducted. Athena.

Her blonde head was turned as she waved to someone down on the street. Pressing the pad to release the lock, Evren smiled as the door slid open.

“Athena!”

“Evren!” Athena grinned at her and Evren noted immediately how relaxed and happy the other woman looked. “Sorry to pop by so suddenly. I was just heading out to the market to do some shopping. Wondered if you want to come with?”

The market.

The last time she went there she’d been accosted. But, on the plus side, she’d gotten free fabric and maybe a new friend? She wasn’t sure where to place the merchant called M’Agunt.

Athena must have noticed her hesitation because, with one jerk of her blonde head, she motioned to the street below.

“Don’t worry, Xul will be coming along. He’ll be keeping a low profile behind us, but he’ll be there to carry our bags—or baskets.” She grinned again.

Sure enough, down in the street below was the large alien, his horns piercing the air. Xul was looking right at them and as Evren met his gaze, he jerked his head in greeting.

“Ohh, okay. Sure.”

Why not? Maybe it would take her mind off things, give her something to think about apart from the memory of Kyro’s lips. “Let me just grab my basket.”

In a few minutes, they were down on the street heading toward the market. As she walked side by side with Athena, Xul did indeed keep his distance behind them. But she noticed that whenever she turned around, his gaze was purely focused on his woman.

It must be nice.

The jealous thought came out of nowhere and shocked her.

What the hell was wrong with her? It wasn’t Athena’s fault she felt so unsatisfied.

As she looked at Athena now, happily babbling away about things she’d seen or beings she’d met, she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed and even guilty about the way she felt.

Athena seemed to be adjusting to their new life just fine. She was happy.

Glancing back at Xul, she wondered if he had anything to do with that. And, by the way he was looking at Athena, she was pretty sure he did.

Could she have anything like that with Kyro?

Was it possible?

She liked him enough. Well, actually, a lot. She liked him a lot. Much more than she was prepared to face.

“—vren?” Athena was looking across at her as they walked, having obviously asked a question that she didn’t hear. “Everything all right?”

“Y-yea, sure. Don’t mind me. You were saying something?”

“Ya, I was saying”—Athena stepped around a short alien with bright orange skin whom she was lucky to not fall over.—"I was saying that you’re a star for wearing that dress. Doesn’t it itch? I don’t know if I’m allergic to the material, but it itches like crazy!”

Evren glanced down at herself then at Athena.

She’d been in her thoughts so much she hadn’t even noticed Athena was dressed in the standard black-and-white kit.

“I couldn’t wear it,” Athena continued.

“Didn’t want to look like an itchy baked potato any longer?” Evren quipped.

Athena’s laugh had a male alien with tall antennae turning to look in the direction of the sound but his antennae visibly drooped when he spotted Xul behind them. When she glanced behind her, Xul looked so thunderous, if she didn’t know him, she’d have picked up her pace to get out of his way.

The image of Kyro with the same look on his face came into her head and made her grin. He’d done something similar when he’d threatened Shive on her behalf.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” She was sure that came out a little too rushed. “I’m just...remembering something.”

As they entered the market, Athena grabbed her by the arm and steered her forward as if she knew exactly where she was going. And when the market opened up into a large clothes shopping area, Evren understood why.

“When you said shopping...”

“Oh, I didn’t mean food shopping.” Athena grinned. “Come on! This will be fun!”

SHE HAD TO ADMIT. It had been fun.

It had even felt like normal life again—if it hadn’t been for the holographic models and the fact that some of the clothes were so different from most things on Earth.

They did manage to snag a few pieces that looked suitable for everyday wear and she had even found a summer dress made from the same material she’d gotten from M’Agunt.

As they left the market and walked the street back to her dwelling, Athena was still in high spirits.

They were just passing a set of apartments when Athena stopped abruptly.

Turning, she realized the other woman was waiting for her partner to catch up.

Laden with shopping baskets, Xul still looked as if he would easily injure any alien who dared to walk too close to Athena.

He had still been purposely walking a few feet behind them and Evren assumed it was because he was still trying to give them some privacy.

Or, possibly, he wanted Athena to have some sense of normalcy in her new life without him being her only companion.

Despite his scowl at the aliens around them, when he reached where they stood, his gaze softened as he looked at Athena.

“This is where Kyro lives right?” Athena pointed up at the building. Mention of Kyro had Evren’s gaze flying to Athena.

Had she been saying her thoughts about Kyro out loud?

Xul’s gaze moved in the direction Athena was pointing. “Yes. Why?”

“Well, you said he’s the one who’s been researching all things about Earth and I can ask him about things I might need, since he’s doing the research, right?”

Xul grunted.

Turning to face her, Athena continued. “You can go to Kyro if you need anything. Floor two apartment two.” She glanced at Xul for confirmation and the bull-like alien grunted again. “I know Kyro’s kinda strange, but he doesn’t bite.”

No, he doesn’t bite. He kisses. Soft, sweet, gentle kisses.

Evren looked up at the building and made note of it.

“Hey, Xul has this recipe he wants to do for dinner tonight. You can come and eat with us if you like.” Athena continued.

“I’d love to but maybe some other time.” Evren smiled, her gaze still on the apartment building.

Later she would pop into his place and apologize for forcing herself onto him the day before.

Despite that his kiss had felt so good and despite that she’d enjoyed it, she didn’t want to destroy the friendship that was budding between them.

When he’d left, he’d seemed upset, and it made her feel guilty. She definitely had to rectify what she’d done.

As Athena nodded and they all set off down the street once more, movement by the side of the apartment building caught Evren’s eye.

She could be mistaken but she was sure she’d seen dark chitin.

A chill ran down her spine.

Had he been watching her again? Following her too?

As they continued walking down the street, Evren glanced back and she was sure this time.

There, going in the opposite direction, was the male who had accosted her in the market.

Shive.

12

STRAIGHTENING the dress she’d bought at the market, Evren turned around in the viewing screen.

It was white, the hem decorated in shapes that looked like abstract butterflies and it was sleeveless too. It hung just above her knees and with her hair now dry and hanging over her shoulders, she felt she was ready.

Walking over to Kyro’s apartment was nerve-wracking. She found herself constantly straightening her dress, fixing her hair, and generally trying to shake the nervousness from her bones.

She looked like a teenager who’d dressed up for prom just to see her crush and despite how ludicrous that was, it was the exact feeling she was having.

Running a hand over her small chest, she wondered if he would be home. She was standing in front of his door, frozen with one hand raised to hit the panel that would sound the chime inside.

Ugh.

She was such an idiot.

She could have checked if he was home before she turned up at his door. Before they’d been given their apartments, they’d all been added as each other’s contacts on the datapad.

For a second, she contemplated returning home to confirm if it was okay for her to visit.

He’d seemed like an all right guy but this time she’d be in his space. She hadn’t even considered that he might not be too keen on that happening.

Depressing the panel before she could change her mind, she waited.

She couldn’t hear the chime from the outside, but she counted in her head.

Hers rang for just three seconds. If he didn’t answer after three seconds, she would leave.

One...

Two...

Three...

Evren bit her lip and turned to leave, but as she began to do so, the door slid open.

“Yes?”

It wasn’t a voice she recognized and when she turned to face the speaker, her eyes widened a bit.

The alien in front of her looked so similar to Kyro, the resemblance was uncanny. The only difference she could see was that his eyes weren’t gray. This alien’s eyes were a startling green.

“Oh. Sorry. I must have gotten the wrong door. I was looking for someone else.”

“Who?” The large male crossed his arms and regarded her. “Aren’t you one of those humans Reku5 rescued?”

Oh, please don’t be another stalker.

They really should have warned her about this. It should come as part of a leaflet on how to navigate the Restitution.

“Yes,” she answered, her tone wary. She was about to give him a polite smile and goodbye when he turned sideways in the entryway and bellowed into the apartment.

“Kyro! A human has wandered to our door.”

Giving her what looked suspiciously like a wink, he left the door open as he reentered the apartment.

Evren blinked.

So, he was Kyro’s brother...

She’d had no idea he didn’t live alone. She guessed she just hadn’t thought of him as the sort of person to share a place with someone else.

It made her feel even more awkward about the fact that she’d popped in without an invitation. Stepping into the doorway, she looked into the apartment absentmindedly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

It was bright in the room. So bright it was taking her eyes some moments to readjust to the light and she squinted as she looked around.

It was a bit surprising to see that the place looked exactly like hers.

If she hadn’t been very aware of her entire walk over to visit him, she’d have been convinced she was standing in her apartment.

A sound behind her had her turning around and as she saw the source of the disturbance, her mouth fell open.

Kyro was standing there and she’d obviously interrupted his shower because water was dripping down his very naked shoulders, upper body, and down …

There was no towel.

He’d walked out of the shower with no towel on.

“Oh...” she breathed, her eyes stopping right at the V at the juncture of his hips.

She should let her gaze drop.

No, she should look away!

Drop your gaze!

Evren swallowed hard.

She should look away, but she couldn’t.

Kyro pressed a button on a panel close to where he was standing and the door hissed closed behind her. At the same time, he pressed another button and the lights dimmed to normal intensity.

“Evren...” He walked toward her slowly, stopping a few feet away.

Fuck that sweet, melodic voice. Why did he have to say her name like he was stripping her naked and wanted her right then and there? Did he even realize he was speaking that way?

It was hard keeping her eyes focused on his face. She kept wanting to stray and look at other lower things.

Who would have guessed that for a guy that spent his time analyzing data he’d have such ripped muscles hidden underneath his vest?

“Is everything all right?” He took another step forward and paused.

“Oh goodness, yes. I’m sorry. I should have called first.” She gave him a nervous smile. “Sorry for popping in unannounced.”

“You are always welcome here.”

Did he really mean it or was he just being polite?

Evren licked her lips and glanced around the room. “Nice place you have here.”

His eyes narrowed on her and she was sure she saw amusement there. “We spent several hours decorating,” he replied after a few moments passed.

It took a second for her to realize he was joking, and she almost choked on a laugh as she glanced around the bland apartment. “Oh, did you?”

“Truly,” he said, pointing to a single purple plant that was resting on the table. “That was my contribution.”

Her laugh came quick and easy and her shoulders relaxed. She didn’t know why she’d been so nervous about seeing him again.

Relaxing around him came as easy as melting butter in a hot pan.

It was going to be hard telling him what she’d come to say. Not only was the sight of him creating knots in her brain but the way he was looking at her...that heat she’d felt the day before was returning and it was starting a raging fire in her core.

“I know I said it before, but I am sorry for popping in so suddenly. I didn’t mean to inconvenience you or your brother.” Her brows scrunched a little.

“Brother?” The skin on Kyro’s forehead pulled together and he glanced behind him in the direction where his roommate had gone. “Rokan is not my blood brother. He is but a nuisance I live with.”

“That’s what he says but he and I both know, he is the real nuisance,” came Rokan’s voice from somewhere in another room.

Evren held back a laugh at the utter look of irritation Kyro shot in the direction of the voice.

“I will dress,” he said, turning back to her, the look of irritation seeming to melt from his features like moisturizer into his skin. “Then we can speak.”

Evren nodded and with a lingering look, Kyro moved off to the second bedroom.

As he dressed, Evren paced slowly in the sitting area, catching her reflection in one of the viewing screens along the wall.

Her reflection surprised her. She’d looked at herself before she left but seeing her image again, it seemed she had forgotten what she looked like.

Dare she even think that she looked good?

Maybe it was the fact that she had been dirty and unwashed for the greater part of her capture, but the effect of the white dress she was wearing made her feel as pristine as a snowflake. And she probably looked like one too, white her white-blond hair, pale skin, and white attire.

She was running her hand over the dress when she felt, rather than heard, Kyro move up behind her and his reflection appeared in the viewing screen. He was dressed in the standard kit and he was focused on her hands moving down her dress.

“Is this the clothing you were making?”

How could his eyes be saying such naughty things when the words leaving his mouth were so wholesome? Was she imagining it? Was she that hungry for something to hold on to that she was imagining what was not there?

“No,” she blinked rapidly, trying to clear her thoughts. “This? I couldn’t make this. Did you not see the catastrophe I made that was supposed to be a skirt?”

“It wasn’t a catastrophe...a small disaster maybe...”

Evren narrowed her eyes at him and for the first time, she watched as Kyro’s lips twisted into a ghost of a smile.

He was smiling.

It transformed his features.

Suddenly, his eyes twinkled and softened and his whole face relaxed.

Turning to face him, she punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Hey. You’re getting too good at Earth humor. Puns. Sarcasm.”

Kyro didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze darkened, and she was suddenly aware of how close she was standing to him. It seemed that when she’d turned around she’d inadvertently taken a step closer to him without realizing.

Warmth feathering her cheeks, she cleared her throat and stepped to the side, pretending to walk over to look at the plant on the table.

“Did I interrupt your work? Athena told me you’re researching our planet.”

“I spend much time reviewing your world,” he replied.

“Don’t you find us...boring? There are so many other interesting aliens. Just walking down the street and I’m amazed at how...lacking we humans are.”

It took a few seconds for him to answer and when she looked in his direction, she wished she hadn’t. Gone was the twinkle in his eye and the smile that had been tugging on his lips.

What had now taken its place was a deep, take me to bed and strip me bare sort of look.

“I don’t find you lacking at all.”

There were too many unsaid words there. She could almost feel them bursting the seams of silence surrounding them and Evren found herself swallowing hard.

Was it just her or had the temperature risen in the room?

Yea. She was definitely teetering on the brink of horny.

It was clear that spending time with Xul and Athena had only worsened her apparent need for something.

Seeing them together, the way Xul looked at Athena, the obvious possessiveness in his gaze...she’d wanted that. And it seemed that she was taking Kyro’s friendship and turning it into something else in her mind.

She needed to quash it before she lost the one thing that was bringing her joy in this new world. She’d lost many things so far. She didn’t want to lose his friendship too.

In the last few days, it was the only thing that had kept her from the pits of depression.

“I need to talk to you about something.” She pushed the words from her mouth quickly, before she could second-guess herself.

Even from the distance between them, she could see his eyes focus. It was clear when his pupils contracted and zoned in on her.

“It sounds urgent.”

Evren nodded. “It is. Well, it isn’t but...I guess it’s...important?”

“Go on.”

Evren let out a breath.

Yep. This was hard to do.

How could she bring up their kiss without seeming like a total twat?

“What happened yesterday...” She jumped right in. She’d found the best way to stop her mind from derailing her was to just stop thinking and let her mouth do the talking. “I just want you to know that it didn’t mean anything.”

Oh, God. Even hearing the words felt wrong.

Why did it feel as if she was lying?

“The kiss?”

Damn. Evren closed her eyes for a second. She hadn’t wanted to say it out loud.

“Yes. The kiss.” She couldn’t meet his gaze. It was too intense. His eyes were boring into her. “It won’t happen again. I don’t want you to feel as if I used you or anything. I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t drunk. So, don’t take it the wrong way.”

There was a long pause and she kept her gaze on the leaves of the plant.

“I won’t.”

That’s it?

Nothing else to say?

She didn’t know what she’d expected...didn’t know what she wanted even, but a part of her felt disappointed at the ease at which he agreed to what she was saying.

“Okay? That’s it?”

“Yes.” Kyro blinked and turned toward the door, but not before she caught it—it was there. A note of disappointment in his voice. “I will walk you home.”

13

THEY WALKED in silence on the way back to her apartment and Evren fought with the sinking feeling she had in her chest, as if she’d just done something wrong.

What she’d said felt so, so wrong and she wanted to take it back.

Her gaze was low as they walked, Kyro by her side, his eyes focused on something she couldn’t see. He was in his head again, far away.

And even though they weren’t speaking, the noise of the crowd of aliens heading to and from the market did nothing to pierce the dead silence between them.

They were almost to her apartment when she heard a voice that made her want to roll her eyes.

Not again.

Looking up before them, she saw M’Agunt standing with two yeti aliens in the middle of the street. She was just about to ask Kyro if they could walk another way when Kyro’s hand circled her arm almost protectively, his brow knit.

Eyes narrowed, he pulled her closer to his side just as M’Agunt turned and looked in their direction.

The way M’Agunt turned seemed so dramatic, it was almost as if he had been waiting in the street for their exact arrival and had only been pretending to have a conversation with the two aliens.

“Human!” he proclaimed, catching glances from some of the beings walking by them as he sauntered in their direction.

When the two aliens he’d been talking to seemed to blend into the crowd, it only furthered her suspicion that M’Agunt had been waiting for them to come by.

“Doesn’t he have wares to sell?” Kyro murmured, his tone reflecting such annoyance it made a bubble of laughter form within her just like that.

“I was thinking the same thing. I don’t know why he’s trying so hard to be my friend. It’s a bit unsettling, to be honest.”

“Maybe don’t walk around looking so mesmerizing and then the likes of him will keep away. I have seen countless males watching you as we walk. He is not the only one wanting to draw closer.” There was growing contempt in his tone and it took her aback.

She found herself looking up at him, his words repeating in her mind as she stared at him.

He didn’t look at her though, his frown was directed at M’Agunt who was still sauntering toward them, shimmering golden robe brushing just above the ground and a grin on his face.

Did Kyro just say she was mesmerizing?

“My dear human friend.” M’Agunt’s greeting scraped through her thoughts like a record scratch. “How great to meet you here?”

Pasting a smile on her face she turned to face the large alien. “It is nice to see you too, M’Agunt.”

At her greeting, Kyro’s arm tightened around her arm.

“And, nice to see you again, Borxclan Kyro.” M’Agunt’s grin slipped a little when he turned his attention to Kyro.

Kyro didn’t answer, he just narrowed his eyes some more and murmured something underneath his breath that Evren immediately caught.

“Can’t say I’m pleased to see you.”

Evren’s eyes widened.

“What was that?” M’Agunt gave him a side-eye.

Kyro opened his mouth, the corners of his lips curling, and she knew without a doubt that he was going to insult the merchant. She had to grab his hand and squeeze it.

“Is today your day off, M’Agunt? I thought you’d be in the market.” She switched the conversation quickly. She could almost feel the vitriol emanating from Kyro.

“Ah,” M’Agunt said. “Yes, but I had other...business to attend to.” His eyes focused on her with clarity and she felt as if the other business he was referring to was her.

She was reading a lot in people’s gazes today and the common variable was her. Maybe that drink she’d had did have an effect on her after all.

“What about you? I am seeing a lot of you lately,” M’Agunt continued.

“Maybe because—” Kyro began, those two words already slicing like daggers, and Evren had a feeling she knew exactly what he was going to say. Something along the lines of M’Agunt being a pest.

“—because I’ve been out a lot lately.” She finished Kyro’s sentence and smiled sweetly at them both.

“Ah,” M’Agunt’s grin deepened. With a tentacle, he gestured to a building close by. “Would you like to have a drink? I’ll pay.”

Ah.

She cringed inwardly. No, she didn’t want to have a drink. But she’d sidestepped his advances so much lately, she was beginning to feel guilty and she might even be creating an enemy in him.

“No, we wouldn’t ‘like to have a drink.’ We are tired and we are heading back to her quarters to rest…” Kyro spoke up.

“...For the rest of the day,” he added. “Without interruptions.”

His tone was still clipped.

“I see.” It was M’Agunt’s turn to narrow his eyes. “Together?”

“What does it matter to you?” Kyro took a step toward M’Agunt and she found herself holding him back. “I will be staying with her,” he added, and Evren’s wide eyes flew up to his.

Smiling at M’Agunt, she dipped her head in a slight bow as she began to pull Kyro away and down the street—a mammoth task because his entire body was reluctant. “We’re a bit tired, M’Agunt. Maybe some other time. I’ll see you in the market maybe?”

Eyes still narrowed on Kyro, his entire face gone hard, M’Agunt didn’t even look at her when he replied. “Yes, human. Some other time indeed.”

As Kyro’s feet finally mobilized and they began walking again, his hand loosened around her arm, but he still kept it there.

“What was that?” She glanced up at him.

When he met her gaze, his shoulder rose and fell with a sigh, the contempt leaking from his bones.

“Some form of bewitching,” he said, almost as if to himself.

“Bewitching? Do you think M’Agunt is a wizard or something? Is stuff like that even real?”

“M’Agunt is filth.”

She didn’t like M’Agunt either but Kyro’s response still seemed a little extreme. Nevertheless, he seemed to have gone into a mood and she decided to end the conversation there as they walked the rest of the way to her apartment in silence.

As they approached her door, she turned to face him.

“Thanks for walking me back. I...” Her gaze sauntered to the street below as she tried to choose her next words carefully. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say to him or if she should say anything at all.

It was during this moment while she stood there that her gaze focused on the alley connected to the street and her blood ran cold.

There, looking right back at her was Shive. He was staring unashamedly.

What the actual hell?

Without realizing what she was doing, she gripped Kyro’s arm, her eyes widening as she stared at the alien in the street.

“What the—”

As Kyro turned to see what had drawn her attention, Shive slipped out of view.

“What is it?”

“That alien that had stopped me in the market. The cockroach one.”

“Cockrosh?”

“Shive. Shive I think his name was, right?”

“Shive?” Kyro snarled, the contempt returning in his voice immediately. “What about him?”

“I just saw him. He was standing there, just looking at me.”

Kyro’s head snapped to the street and she could feel his muscles tense under her arm.

“Go inside,” he said, not looking at her as he began moving toward the gravity lift that would take him back down to street level. “Go inside and engage the locks.”

Evren nodded, reluctantly letting go of his arm as she did what she was told.

MINUTES TICKED by that seemed like hours.

As she paced by her window overlooking the street, she could see Kyro down on ground level.

He was moving through the crowd with such ease and grace that it didn’t even seem as if he was hunting someone. But she knew.

She was sure she’d seen Shive there by the alleyway.

What had he been doing? Why had he been watching her so much lately?

Was he still pissed about what had happened between them in the market?

Whatever the cause for his behavior, she was sure it wasn’t good.

No one stalked another person and watched them from afar like that with good intentions.

She watched as Kyro turned and headed back toward her and her shoulders sagged.

He hadn’t spotted the other alien, but she knew she wasn’t going out of her mind.

Shive had been there. He’d been following them, and he’d been watching her.

The thought made goosebumps form on her arms.

As Kyro reached back at her door and the bell chimed, she pressed the panel along the wall and the door slid open.

“You didn’t see him did you?”

“No. He was not on the street. Not that I could see at least.”

Evren gulped, moving so Kyro could enter the room.

As the door hissed closed behind him, she brought her fingers to her lips, biting the remaining nails that were there.

“I didn’t imagine him. I’m sure I saw him. He was there the other day too.”

“What?”

“I saw him. Watching me like he was just now.”

“Why didn’t you mention this before?” Kyro was staring out at the street through her window now, his eyes narrowed and his pupils contracted with focus.

“I don’t know. I didn’t wanna stir any trouble and I was hoping he’d just go away. This is the Restitution...am I not safe here?”

Kyro’s eyes hit her so solidly, the gravity of his next words fell on her. “Evil can persist even in the noblest of organizations.”

A breath shuddered from her body.

“What do you think he wants?”

Kyro’s pupils dilated at that question so slowly, she felt herself warm underneath his gaze. “I think we both know what he wants. Many feel the pull. I saw them today. Watching you. Wanting you.” He almost spat the words as if the thought angered him. “You are a very attractive female.”

Immediately, she wanted to ask if he felt the pull too. Was he attracted to her as well? But she bit her tongue.

“Against human customary politeness, I demand to stay the night.”

Demand?

A giggle began in her throat as she regarded him.

“Well, when you say it like that...” She smiled at him.

That feeling of being completely at ease around him was returning.

“Do you accept?”

When she nodded, she tried not to show just how thrilled the prospect of him staying over just to keep her safe was making her.

She could see his shoulders visibly relax.

“Good,” he said, as if he’d expected some resistance on her end.

“Good,” she replied. There was no resistance on her end. As a matter of fact, her first order of the evening was to get him a blanket so he could be comfortable.

Tonight, she would have company—the first real company she’d had in many, many moons.

Completely platonic or not, she was going to take it in stride and accept it.

Nope.

Certainly, no resistance here.

14

UNKNOWN TRANSMISSION

“I HAVE NEWS, YOUR EXCELLENCE.”

“Report.”

“I have been watching the human diligently, as you requested. I have even enlisted the help of others to track her movements.”

“When can I expect her delivered?”

“Soon, your excellence. I am making arrangements for the shipment as we speak.”

A low chuckle spread over the connection, the laughter filled with sounds like bubbles popping. “I am pleased to hear this.”

“There is just one problem, your excellence.”

“Speak.”

There was hesitation on the other line.

“The Borxclan, Kyro, is suspicious of our movements. He is remaining in her quarters for the dark-period.”

There was silence on the other end from the receiver and if not for the crackle of the connection, one would have assumed the connection was broken.

“Hasten your plans. Extract the human to avoid complications. Failure will not be tolerated.”

“I understand, excellence.”

There was a pause and then a sharp crash as if something was thrown into a wall.

“Bring the human to me,” the voice grated, “or you will have to take its place.”

“Yes, sire.”

THE CALL ENDED with a sharp click.

15

SHE’D REJECTED HIM.

Totally and completely.

And even though he had expected it, the blow hadn’t come easy.

It meant nothing, she’d said.

Why had those three words hurt so much?

He was Vorti. He’d been through more than any of his Rexu5 brothers could imagine, mutilated himself for his own preservation—the pain of which still burned along each wound where he’d had to remove his chets—he’d even endured years as a slave to the despicable Tasqals and yet...three...qrakking...words had cut him deeper than his own blade.

It meant nothing.

He knew the drink had caused her to do it.

Why else would she have placed her lips on his...tasted him...moaned against him when he’d opened his mouth to hers?

The memory of it now made him want to groan in anguish as if he had lost something precious.

But how could you lose something you didn’t have?

Sitting in her quarters as she moved around in her sleeping room, Kyro lifted her datapad from where it lay on the seat and began typing in some codes.

Qrak.

His mood was sour for more than one reason.

It wasn’t just the pain of her rejection. It was the fact that others were looking at her, wanting her.

It was unreasonable, the way he felt. What was even more unreasonable was his reaction to those feelings.

This illogical out-of-nowhere urge to claim. In all his lifetime, never had he had an urge so strong.

It was similar to the urge he had when he happened upon a unique set of data and he got that push to consume it all on his own, without interference, without any outsiders getting a hold of the new information. Except, it was that same feeling multiplied by ten thousand burning ions.

Seeing M’Agunt, for instance, had made him rage inside. He’d wanted to pull Evren up against him and mouth-mate with her right in the street for all to see so they would BACK THE QRAK OFF.

M’Agunt had been annoying but his reaction to the merchant had been almost pushed to the limit because of all the outside influence.

Annoyingly, and unbeknownst to her, several males had been watching them walk down the street toward her dwelling.

Several.

Qrak. They hadn’t been watching them they’d been watching her.

She was radiant. Her pale skin and pale hair making her stand out like a beacon. And the qrakking clothing she’d been wearing... Kyro’s frown deepened as he thought about it.

It was a tempting piece of material.

Maybe he hadn’t been so wrong about her wanting sex clothing because when she’d stood there in his quarters, all he had wanted to do was take her and bend her over the table just to rip the clothing off her so he could have her right then and there.

It had taken everything within him to control himself and remain neutral.

And then she’d rejected him...

His shoulders lifted in a sigh as he tapped in the codes on the datapad.

This was bad.

Whatever was beginning to boil within him was so bad, it was beginning to affect his control.

And he could never lose control.

Losing control meant losing the life he’d constructed for himself.

Losing control was the gateway to an end he didn’t want, even more so now that he knew of her existence.

Blinking at the screen as the data began to flow, he started setting up the security system for her apartment.

He didn’t know why they hadn’t done it before, but he assumed that with the other human women safe with his brothers, they just hadn’t considered it.

But the fact that Evren was alone and Shive was hanging around meant it needed to be done. The security system would alert them if anyone intruded.

That would at least help her to sleep at night when she was unaccompanied.

The thought dug at him.

She shouldn’t be alone. He should stay with her like he was now...

NO.

NO, HE SHOULDN’T.

He COULDN’T.

He needed to beat that into his head.

She’d already taken the first steps to putting a much-deserved wall between them. He needed to respect that. Not only because it was her choice but because it was best for their safety. Not only his, but hers as well.

He wouldn’t bring anyone into this nightmare that was his life.

His secret, the one he’d kept all these years, he’d just have to take it to the grave like all other Vorti.

It was just the way things were.

Born a Vorti. Die a Borxclan.

The sound of the cleansing room being activated reached his ear as he calibrated the security system and he realized she must be washing herself.

Kyro gulped, his head lifting as his ears picked up on the sounds of not only the water but her as well.

As she washed, she let out a moan as the warm water hit her skin and that sound traveled all the way from her lips to vibrate all over his skin in a soft caress.

He could imagine her there. Naked. The water running off her pale skin in tiny droplets.

He could see her naked without even trying. He’d studied her enough over the past few days. So much so he could imagine the curve of her neck, the gentle mounds of her breasts, and the larger mound of her backside.

A naked Evren was probably the most gorgeous and exotic thing he would never see.

His heart pained him at the loss, but it was not a new feeling.

He was used to losing things he loved. Life had taught him to make no lasting connections.

She was right.

The kiss had been nothing.

It had to be nothing because if he allowed it to be something, it might lead to the end of him...and her.

And he would rather sacrifice himself than make someone else join his hell.

And who would even want to?

THE WARM WATER had felt good. It had helped calm her and as she dried herself off and exited the shower room, she padded barefoot into the bedroom.

The sitting area was so quiet, it was almost as if she was the lone occupant of the apartment and she was tempted to walk out there to check if Kyro had changed his mind and left while she’d showered.

She didn’t want to be alone tonight.

Seeing Shive down in the alleyway not once but two times was making her think of things she’d rather forget.

She was sure she probably had some form of post-traumatic stress disorder from being ripped from her life on Earth. The thought that Shive meant her harm was making her anxiety rise.

Once again, an image of a young Evren being lost in the forest flashed into her mind and she shivered.

For years, she hadn’t had any of those images flashing in her head. It had taken countless therapy visits, but she’d thought she’d overcome the fright of that childhood experience.

No doubt being taken from Earth had reignited old wounds.

In that forest, she’d been alone. Scared. Thinking she would never see her parents again.

She’d only been little. So little. And now she felt like she was walking into that same experience again.

She was little, so little, in this huge universe.

She didn’t want the rug to be pulled from under her feet once more.

Shive’s behavior only underlined one thing.

She wasn’t safe—and that realization was chilling.

Pulling on a piece of soft clothing that resembled a large vest—just one of the items Athena had insisted to buy for her—she padded into the sitting area, her eyes falling on Kyro’s back as he sat in the seat, slightly leaning over the datapad as his fingers brushed across the screen.

A soft smile tugged at her lips.

He hadn’t left.

And just seeing him there was already making her relaxed. He always seemed to make her relax, she just hadn’t realized the extent to which till these last few days.

“Would you like a drink, Kyro?”

“No, but you should probably drink something. It will calm you.” He lifted his head to look at her and she saw him pause, his eyes moving over her before he dropped his gaze, frowned, and looked away.

Did she look that bad? Had the vest been the wrong idea? She’d only wanted to be comfortable.

She was just about to return to the bedroom to put on something else when Kyro’s voice reached her. “Would you like me to make you something to drink? I believe I can make something akin to what you have on Earth called chamomile tea. For calming you...” He paused. “...if you have the right ingredients.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’re my guest. I—”

He was standing before she even finished.

“I insist.” He set the datapad down and was walking away from her and toward the kitchen before she could protest, almost as if he wanted to get away from her.

“Okay...” But her words were floating in the air because he’d already left the room.

Moving over to her datapad, she picked it up.

“What’s this?” She spoke loud enough for him to hear.

“Security system,” she heard him call back. “Your quarters are secured from any intruders. It will alert you if anyone tries to break in and alert me and my brothers, too.”

She hadn’t expected that. “Thank you,” she breathed, looking over the data on the screen. “Is it already on or do I have to turn it on?”

“It is already activated.”

Did that mean he was going to leave now then? If she had a security system in place, he didn’t need to stay.

As if reading her mind, he said, “I will stay the night. If you still want me to.” A pause and, as if to clarify— “Just for added protection.”

“I appreciate it.”

Plopping down into the seat, she grabbed and accessed the Restitution’s server from the datapad to begin searching for information about the Intergalactic Hub.

She hadn’t forgotten about it and if life for her on the base was going to become unnecessarily complicated, it was all the more reason for her to leave.

The other women needed to live their lives without her being a burden. They’d all been through a lot. She didn’t need them to have to nanny her.

And she wanted to live too.

That had been the point about going to the Intergalactic Hub in the first place.

As she researched the hub, she could hear Kyro moving around in the kitchen.

He didn’t call her to ask about anything, so she assumed he was finding what he needed without much trouble. That was good though. It gave her some time to do the research she needed.

With the languages on her datapad, it didn’t take her long to find information regarding the hub and its research center.

As she selected what she wanted to read more on, a holo image projected from her datapad into the space above it.

It was like a mini-city floating right above her lap and Evren’s eyebrows rose in awe.

Towering reflective buildings rose into the air surrounded by elevated highways and hovering vehicles.

There were people, er, beings, everywhere.

It was so busy there, like a megacity. It reminded her of Hong Kong purely for the fact that so many different beings passed through the city’s port.

The number of different alien species she could see projected in front of her was too many to count.

Putting her hand inside the holo image didn’t disturb it and she touched a glowing building, which she assumed was the datapad highlighting what she’d searched for. As the research facility zoomed toward her, Evren pulled her knees up underneath the large vest as she watched what was depicted there.

Kyro had been right in what he’d said about the place. It was huge and it looked like they were studying so many different things there—diseases, culture, politics, biology...you name it.

She was sure she could fit in. And the fact that it was run by so many different species made it even better. She wouldn’t be the odd one out because of being different.

Things were beginning to look positive.

Now, she just had to find a way to make some credits on her own so she’d have money to live on till she had her footing when she arrived at the hub.

A job.

She needed a job.

That would be her order of the day for tomorrow.

As Kyro walked into the room, a steaming cup of something that smelled good in his hands, Evren set the datapad aside.

This whole Intergalactic Hub idea might not turn out to be anything in the end...she may even decide to not do it. But at least she had a backup plan—something to fall back on should things go south and a little independence too if she earned her own credits.

And that was the perfect idea.

16

SHE’D DRUNK the warm liquid and then set to reading on her datapad. Now and again, he caught her furtive glances in his direction.

Qrakking nest on Polvrak’s gonads.

He tried not to look at her, focusing instead on his datapad as he scrolled through the feed on it.

He was pretending to read, as he was sure she was, neither of them wanting to bring up what had happened earlier in the day or, perhaps, what had happened between them before.

When she finally retired to bed, not before bringing him a pile of soft coverings to rest under, Kyro let his shoulders droop.

It had been a mistake staying the night.

The security settings would have been more than sufficient to keep her safe.

Now he was treading on thin ice. It took much energy trying to keep focused enough to complete the simple task of getting through till the morning without yearning for her smile, her laughter, her warm gaze...her kiss.

Squeezing his eyes tight, he scolded himself.

What had happened to his years of fortitude? How strong was he really if he was so easily derailed?

He’d thought his brothers had been foolish to fall so easily to the other humans but her pull... Evren was pulling him to her like a moxxi on a leash and no matter what he tried to do to refocus his mind, she was in it, calling him, pulling him.

Bewitching.

He was convinced.

Humans bewitched. Human females, at least.

Maybe it was their softness. Evren’s softness called to him. All he wanted to do was pound his cock into her constantly.

Even now, his cock was straining against his clothing, wanting him to give in and bring himself to release.

Qrak.

Not now. Not with her in the other room.

Tilting his head to the room in which she slept, he listened and a soft, repeating whistle met his ear.

Such a strange creature.

If he were a hunter, her sleeping sounds would make her an easy target. Why would someone so defenseless not have evolved to eliminate such noise? Humans had soft skin and no natural defensive mechanisms but did so many things that made them attractive to predators.

Yet, as he listened, he couldn’t prevent the slow smile that came over his lips.

He couldn’t sleep, there were too many things on his mind, and this whistle of hers, of all things, was calming.

He sat listening for what could be two Earth hours, just listening to her breathe and whistle, when she made a sound that made his ears prick.

It was like a grunt, one that cut off the peaceful whistling completely.

When another grunt came followed by increased, harsh breathing, Kyro jumped up from his reclining position, his entire being on high alert as he rushed into the room in which she slept.

The security system was on.

There was no way there was an intruder.

Yet, it sounded as if she was locked in combat with someone.

He was in her room in the next second, his fists clenched and ready, eyes wide, but the scene in front of him had him slightly confused.

She was on her sleeping area, legs splayed, the soft covering similar to the one she’d given him thrown off her, and she was turning her head from side to side and muttering incoherently.

What in the name of Polvrak...

Was she possessed by some spirit?

“No,” she breathed, her face forming a frown, but her eyes were still closed. “No!”

Kyro blinked, his fists slowly relaxing as he realized what this was.

He’d read about it.

She was dreaming—or rather, she seemed to be having the opposite of a dream...that thing humans called a nightmare.

Blinking a few times, he wondered what he should do. There had been no instructions on what to do in such a situation.

Should he wake her?

As he moved to her side, Kyro watched her face intently.

“No. Please, don’t take me. Please. I’ll give you anything. You can take anything. Just please, leave me alone.” She flung her head to the other side, gripping the bedding beneath her. “Please! Don’t!”

The whimper that left her throat found its way right into him, making something deep within him clench.

“Evren?”

Instead of waking up or responding, she threw her head the other way.

Reaching out, Kyro placed his hand lightly over her forehead.

“Evren?”

She groaned at the sound of her name but still didn’t open her eyes.

“Evren?” He called more forcefully this time and to his relief, he got a response.

Her eyes fluttered open and focused on him. For a few seconds, she said nothing. It was as if her mind was still foggy.

“You were talking while sleeping.” Kyro frowned. “You were doing many strange things. Whistling. Talking. Thrashing about...”

Evren just stared at him and then without warning, she began to chuckle, her eyes growing soft as she looked at him.

He couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized.

Even like this, right now, in this sleepy state, she was affecting him.

“Bad dream,” she croaked, and he felt one of his eyebrows lift. Her voice had completely changed to much coarser than he’d ever heard it before.

There was something husky and sensual about it that was making his body respond.

He could feel himself throb insistently, even as he tried to keep his gaze from wandering to her long, splayed, legs.

“Sorry if I woke you.” Her eyes were still laden with sleep as she regarded him and the whole situation began tugging at something deep within him once more—that same thing he was trying to push away.

Qrak.

Ready to leave the room, he was removing his hand from her forehead when she suddenly grabbed it.

“Please...can you stay?”

Kyro blinked at her.

He was already staying.

She didn’t think he was going to return to his quarters now, did she? Not after she might need him again if her wild sleeping habits returned.

He told himself that was why he didn’t move from her grasp. Told himself that was the reason he was still standing there.

“Can you stay in here?” She used her other hand to rub at her eyes. “With me?”

What?

Kyro blinked, processing what she’d just asked. He mustn’t be hearing her right.

“You want me to stay in here? With you?”

Evren nodded. “Please. I... I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

He was about to point out that she wasn’t alone. He was in the other room. And he should remain in the other room. Moving so close to her was a bad, bad idea.

“I’ll just scoot over.” As she said this, she gathered her legs and moved over on the bedding, making a space for him to rest.

Kyro swallowed hard.

He should say no.

He should say no and retreat to the other room where he wouldn’t be tempted.

Yet, his tongue forgot how to form words, and his legs forgot how to move. Heck, it seemed as if his entire resolve was waning.

Qrak it.

His own body betrayed him and began moving even before he knew he was going to do it.

As he climbed onto the sleeping area with her, Evren turned so her back was facing him but her delicious backside was jutting in his direction.

The sleeping area was narrow too. Too narrow for him to lie on his back. The only option would be to lie on his side. Swallowing hard once more, he settled in beside her, noting immediately how she fit against him, her rump right in the curve of his pelvis...right against his...

Squeezing his eyes tight, Kyro leaned his head back.

Sleep would not come to him this night.

She wriggled a bit and he had to bite back the groan that began rumbling in his chest.

His cock was hard and ready. He could already feel his tip oozing his pre-spend.

He didn’t know if she could feel him throbbing against her, but he could certainly feel her...and she felt so qrakking good.

So soft.

So welcoming.

Maybe it was his body reacting after so long without any real contact, but she was more than he had ever imagined she would be, and he hadn’t even done anything with her yet.

Not that he was going to.

They couldn’t.

As she reached down to pull the coverings over them both, she settled against him, sighing into sleep so easily he was surprised at her ability to do so.

He, on the other hand, had never felt more awake in his life.

A part of him was rejoicing and a part of him hopeful, but a part of him was devastated. A large part of him.

This would never be his, this life.

It was all just a dream...only fleeting.

As her breathing evened out, he draped his arms around her and held her close, burying his face into the pale strands covering her head.

Who knew if he would ever experience anything even close to this ever again?

“It wasn’t nothing to me...” he murmured into her hair.

She was fast asleep. For once, he could be honest with himself and with her as well.

“It meant everything to me, that kiss.” His eyes closed as he accepted that truth. “Everything.”

17

HE WASN’T there when she woke up the next morning and Evren immediately missed his presence.

The spot on the bed where he’d slept was still warm and she could even still feel his arm draped around her.

When she’d jolted awake in the night, he’d pulled her closer to him and she had fallen right back asleep.

It was the first time she’d felt so calm in someone else’s presence. Her cat, Nigel, had been the only other being she could relax so easily around.

Taking up her datapad, she realized he’d left it on the bed for her. As she activated the device, there was a message on the screen.

“More warm liquid for you in the warmer.”

That was all.

Evren’s face fell and she leaned back in the bed, staring at the wall in front of her.

Her dreams had been dominated by being lost in the forest with those disgusting toad-aliens, the Tasqals, chasing her. Only, she wasn’t a kid anymore. She was a grown woman.

Rolling her shoulders, she ran her hand over where Kyro had slept before throwing her legs over the side of the bed.

It’d felt so good having him there holding her.

Was that what the other human women were experiencing? They had that every day. Every night.

She’d be lying to herself if she pretended she didn’t want that too.

As she entered the kitchen, the light of the warmer—a cylindrical device that acted similar to a microwave—was on. Opening the lid, she smiled as she saw the cup of tea.

She didn’t know how he’d done it or what he’d used, but he’d been right. Just like chamomile, it had a real relaxing effect on her.

Tapping on her datapad, she reread his message and typed a “Thank you” back before accessing the server.

Her nightmare the night before had her feeling anxious. A change needed to be made.

Today was the day she found a job.

Biting her lip, she tapped her finger on the datapad’s screen.

She didn’t even know how she would go about doing that.

A job? How would she even find one?

Accessing the server, she typed in the only logical thing she could: jobs near me.

There was a little ping and the datapad asked, “Would you like to search for positions on the Restitution’s base?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Searching.” A second passed. “Here is a list of available positions.”

Eyes narrowed in thought as she scrolled down the list, Evren searched for something she could do. At first, she had high hopes there would be some sort of research position but there was none. All she could see were positions related to actual fighting or off-world duties.

She didn’t want that.

She was about to put the datapad away and get dressed when one post popped up that got her attention.

“Shuttle cleaner. Four hundred and twenty credits daily. No experience needed just show up and work hard.”

Ship cleaner?

Not exactly what she was looking for, but it was something.

She hovered her finger over the ‘Apply’ button for a few seconds.

As her finger descended on the button, Evren bit her finger on the other hand.

A green message appeared next with the message: APPROVED. Next shift begins in 00:59.

The hell?

Evren’s eyebrows rose. She hadn’t expected it to be that easy.

And it looked like she didn’t have much time to prepare.

Rushing to her bedroom to get ready, she took a deep breath.

She could do this.

This was phase one of her re-independence.

DRESSED in cargo shorts and a tucked-in vest, Evren followed the directions on the datapad.

Surprisingly, it was taking her in the direction of the market.

As she walked past Kyro’s residence, her eyes lingered on the building but with a deep breath, she continued on her way.

There was tension between them. She could feel it every time they were around each other now and the more time they spent together, the stronger it became.

She didn’t know how she was going to face him again. She’d told him their kiss meant nothing then she’d invited him to cuddle with her in bed.

She would facepalm herself if she didn’t need to see where she was going.

She also needed to see who and what was around her. The events of the previous day were still fresh in her memory, but she’d taken precautions. She’d carried the cutting instrument tucked into the waist of her shorts and nestled against her spine. As for added protection, she’d told the datapad to contact Kyro at her command.

If Shive planned to make a move, she was ready for him. Or, as ready as she’d ever be.

That’s why she’d loaded the route to this new job onto her datapad. Whatever she was following was like a GPS and it tracked her movements, telling her how long till she got to her destination and it took her straight there. No detours.

She wasn’t going to give Shive an advantage by getting lost.

The path she was following took her through the market and out the other end where she came upon a sort of parking lot.

Rather, it was a wide-open space of unpaved ground with several dirty, beat up space shuttles parked there.

Eyeing them, Evren squeezed her lips together into a thin line.

Yeaaa, this was going to be hard work all right.

She was just about to wander around and look for the alien running the place when a tall, beefy alien with pink skin walked from behind one of the ships and toward a rickety metal building off to the side.

“Ex-excuse me.”

Maybe she hadn’t been loud enough because the alien continued walking as if he hadn’t heard her.

He was dressed in the standard Restitution kit but his was tattered and old from wear. His black trousers were now gray and his white vest more of a beige color.

“Excuse me!” She hurried behind the alien, raising her voice to get his attention. He turned then and she almost gasped, fighting to keep her expression neutral.

He looked like a pig. Snout and all. Except that his hands weren’t hooves and he didn’t have those folded over ears. She couldn’t see his ears; he had none—just two holes on either side of his head.

He regarded her for a second. “You the new recruit?”

She guessed so. “Y-yes. I suppose so.” Smiling brightly, she extended her hand for a handshake.

The alien just looked at her outstretched hand.

“Guess you don’t do handshakes.” She withdrew her hand.

The alien grunted before jerking his head in the direction of the ship he’d just exited.

“Start with that one. Payment at the end of the day. Supplies are over there,” he said, jerking his head in another direction.

Turning to where he motioned, Evren saw the “supplies.” It was some machines she had no idea how to use.

Turning back to the alien to ask for his assistance in that regard, she was surprised to see that he’d already walked off and was almost within the shelter.

The door to the shelter slammed shut as did her open mouth.

Well, it seemed as if this was going to be...different from how she’d imagined.

Slipping her datapad into one of her pockets, she walked over to the machines.

They all looked like robots that had gone out of service and now their parts were being used without them being active anymore.

One looked like a polisher, but she had no idea what she was up against yet.

She’d start simple.

Luckily there was a container with water and a piece of material she could use as a wiping cloth.

Lifting the two, she headed over to the ship she was told to clean. With the door already open, she stepped inside, her nose scrunching up at the state of the interior.

There was food and debris everywhere, over the seats, the floor...there was even food on the roof of the vessel. Not to mention the thick layer of dirt that coated everything.

What the hell had they been doing in this vehicle?

With a slight groan, she surveyed the work and decided to begin at the back of the small shuttle, working her way forward.

As she began gathering trash and placing it in a container she’d found within the trash itself, her datapad pinged.

Frowning slightly, she slipped the device from her pocket and the screen lit up to her touch.

It was a message from Kyro.

She’d never clicked on anything so fast in her life.

“What are you doing?”

Evren cringed.

It felt almost as if he could see her. So much so that she actually looked out of the windows of the shuttle.

There was no one out there except for the pig-man resting within the rickety shelter.

“I’m working.”

“On what?” His reply came immediately and Evren put down the bag of trash so she could send her answer faster.

“I got a job.”

She could almost feel him narrowing his eyes at her. “Why?”

“I need the credits. Long story.”

“If you need credits...I have many to spare.”

He was being so nice, but she couldn’t do that.

She wasn’t even sure she was going to go to the Intergalactic Hub. She just needed the credits just in case. She couldn’t have someone else fund a “just-in-case” mission. Plus, being out and doing something was good. It kept her busy. Even if it was cleaning dirty vehicles.

“No. No, I couldn’t take your credits. This is about me being sad and miserable and I think I need to do this on my own. That way I won’t feel guilty for taking so much from you. You’ve already given me much more than you realize.”

She watched the message send and bit her bottom lip. She hadn’t intended to go into so much detail. She’d said a little too much and she wondered what his response would be.

After a few moments, his reply came.

“I can help with your sadness.”

“How?” She was already smiling. She didn’t even know why.

“Jokes.”

That one word had her huffing out a laugh through her nose.

Jokes huh.

Her smile grew.

Her datapad pinged before she could return it to her pocket and she read the message that came up.

“A bowl of moofla...that’s food if you don’t know. Moofla is food. Solid food that you must chew.”

Before she could ask if that was his joke, another message came in.

“A bowl of moofla walks into a drink establishment. It proceeds to order some drinks. The drinks administrator looks at it and says, ‘Apologies, we don’t serve food here.’”

Evren’s brows wrinkled even as her cheeks rose, the laugh coming from her lips unexpectedly. Kyro’s jokes were so corny; she had to laugh even if she tried not to.

“Your jokes suck,” she sent back to him.

“Made you laugh.”

Now how was he so sure?

Once more, she glanced out of the shuttle and then mentally slapped herself. Of course, he wasn’t out there. He didn’t even know where she was.

“How are you so sure?”

There was a pause before his message came in. “I just know.”

Grinning, Evren rolled her eyes.

“I’ve got one for you.” She sent the message and paused to think for a bit. “What do you call a fake noodle?”

She waited for his reply.

It came soon afterward. “What?”

“An im-pasta.”

She burst out laughing at her own joke, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she looked out of the shuttle. He probably didn’t know what pasta or noodles were, but her joke was hilarious. Hands down.

Her laugh must have been loud because the pig-man turned his head in her direction, his nose pulling up in a snort.

Stifling her laughter, she glanced at her datapad as it pinged again.

“Your jokes suck too.”

That almost made her double over and she had to cover her mouth to keep her laughter in.

Better she get off the datapad before she got fired when she hadn’t even started working yet. She hadn’t come out today to set the record for the shortest bout of employment.

Sending a message that she wouldn’t be able to reply but that he could send her messages whenever he wanted, Evren set off to work.

18

ALL DAY, Kyro sent her the lamest jokes he could find. At least, that’s what she assumed. His sense of humor was just as corny as hers was. Not only did his constant messages make her day go faster but it almost felt as if he’d spent the entire day with her there, as if she was in his presence.

Neither of them mentioned what happened the night before and she was thankful he didn’t bring it up.

He also didn’t mention why he’d left before she’d woken up in the morning. She figured he’d had business to attend to.

After, all he was a soldier, a rebel...he had his own life.

The security system had been easy to arm, recognizing her biosignature and securing the place once she had exited the apartment. She assumed that was one of the reasons why he’d left so suddenly. He hadn’t needed to explain the system to her. It worked on its own.

Glancing at her datapad, Evren stretched her arms above her head and surveyed her handiwork.

An unexpected smile softened her features.

She felt filthy, in need of a long, warm bath but it felt good to have gotten her hands dirty.

As she hopped out of the shuttle, pig-man was just outside to greet her, and with greet she meant with a jerk of his head and a grunt.

He looked over the shuttle, his tiny eyes widening a little. She took that to mean he was surprised.

“Didn’t expect you to get it so...” He trailed off, snorting as he did.

“Clean?”

His tiny black eyes surveyed her. “Clean.” He snorted, flipping his datapad from his pocket and typing in some information. “Here’s your credits.” With another snort, he looked in her direction as if waiting for something.

“Where?” Evren’s gaze fell to his hands. Except for the datapad, he was holding nothing.

“Your datapad...” He snorted, his small eyes regarding her as if she was just a tad slow.

“Oh... Oh! You need the pad to”—she flipped out her pad, stretching it toward him as her voice faded—"transfer the credits.”

He touched his pad to hers without looking at the devices.

A small ping sounded and he slipped his pad into a seam in his pants where it disappeared.

“Same time tomorrow,” he grunted, snorting as he walked off.

Staring at his back as he headed toward the shelter, Evren’s eyes finally fell to the datapad.

Four hundred and twenty credits had been transferred to her account.

A surprising sense of accomplishment filled her and she grinned. She’d just earned her first paycheck on a new world, a new life, a new everything. The unanticipated pleasure of this one action shook her to her core.

All of a sudden, it felt as if she could do this.

She could live again.

Just as she’d carved a life for herself on Earth, she could do so here. It wasn’t impossible. Her life wasn’t over. If anything, these four hundred and twenty credits, earned through her own sweat and labor, meant her life was only just beginning a new chapter.

As she turned around to leave, her eyes caught something atop one of the shuttles nearby.

It was that same animal she’d seen when she’d been walking to the market that first time. The skunkat.

At least, she thought it was the same animal. Possibly, there was more than one of them at the base.

It was just staring in her direction, staring at her, its fluffy tail swinging slowly behind it.

For a second, she forgot everything around her and where she was.

The animal’s eyes...

Even from where she stood, the deep silver of the animal’s eyes seemed to penetrate her.

There was something strange about it—the type of strangeness that almost made her skin prickle but piqued her interest instead.

She wasn’t sure if she should be scared of it or not; yet she found herself taking a few steps closer.

The animal’s bushy tail paused as it noticed her movement and it changed position to stand on its four legs, still watching her. For a second, she thought it was going to bolt but, instead, its triangular ears perked and it tilted its head at her.

“Hey there, buddy,” she whispered, stretching her hand in the animal’s direction. Maybe she had a death wish...she had no idea if the animal would lick her hand or bite it off clean...but something, she didn’t quite know what, made her trust the little thing.

The animal’s eyes focused on her hand before meeting her gaze once more. She was close enough to touch it now and still, it remained frozen.

“You’re not going to bite me, are you? You’re going to be a good little cat-skunk thing, aren’t you?” Evren whispered.

The animal did nothing. It made no sound. It just looked at her frozen in place, its tail unmoving in the air, its legs stiff.

As her palm rested on its back, she felt the animal stiffen even more underneath her touch, but it did nothing else and she let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

“Don’t know if I should be touching you...” She stroked her hand down the animal’s back and it made a soft sound, almost like a purr but more like a rumble.

It was looking at her warily but as she stroked it some more, its tail began to move again.

It was enjoying her touch.

Evren grinned. “You like that don’t you?”

Another rumble left the animal, its gray eyes softening a little.

Maybe it was that she missed her cat, Nigel, but this was oddly comforting.

“You’re one strange little thing,” she murmured, taking in the animal’s skunk-like tail, the single lane of dark fur that ran along its back, and the tuft of fur behind its ears.

As if the animal agreed with her, another rumble left its chest and it sat on its haunches, surveying her with what she could now see were strangely human-like eyes.

“You know,” she murmured. “You remind me of someone. Your eyes...”

The animal blinked and she swore it stiffened underneath her hand again as its tail stopped moving in that lazy pleasure-movement it was doing.

It was notable that she couldn’t stop thinking about Kyro to the point she was seeing his likeness in animals. Next, she would be thinking she saw him in other random people walking down the street.

Still, the thought of him brought a smile to her lips.

He was constantly on her thoughts and she didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing at all.

With a sigh, Evren glanced at her datapad. She should head home. It was getting late and she was exhausted.

“Gotta go now, little guy.” Her eyes focused on the animal again and she noticed it was watching her intently. “You have a home to go to?”

The animal purr-rumbled and stood, causing her hand to fall off its back. With graceful strides, it walked along the roof of the shuttle and away from her.

As it reached the edge, it gave her a backward glance, and hopped off the shuttle, disappearing around the other side.

Well, she guessed that meant it had a home to go to.

With one glance at the shelter where the pig-man rested, Evren sighed once more and headed towards home.

She’d rest and prepare for tomorrow.

All things going well, this was just the start of something good.

19

KYRO STRETCHED LAZILY, his eyes on Evren as she cleaned yet another one of those filthy vessels.

Why she insisted on doing this, he didn’t know.

He’d already offered her credits to do whatever she wanted the credits to do, but she’d refused. He would offer her again except, he needed to keep his distance from her.

Well, that was going just perfectly—keeping his distance.

She’d been working for several days now, rising early and leaving late, and he had followed her every single day and spent the entire day watching over her only to trail her back home again.

You’d think he’d get tired after the first seven days but no.

Self-torture. It was a new trait he never knew he had. He’d just add it to the list of things he had to hide.

Somehow, he managed to stay out of her range of vision, but close enough for him to see her from his hiding spot in one of the waiting shuttles. This distance thing was proving hard, but at least it was good for her. She had no idea of his presence, so in her mind, she was alone.

That was how it had to be. She couldn’t know he was so invested.

She couldn’t suspect it, for nothing could come of anything that grew between them.

That’s what he had to tell himself each and every day.

It was getting tiring.

At this point, it was more of a warning to himself more than anything else, because every day it got harder and harder to stay away.

So, each day he woke as early as she did, and he came to the shuttle port to watch her work.

It was hard watching her scrub the grime from the dirty transports, grime that should be cleaned by machines if the cheap shuttle manager had paid to keep the machines serviced.

He was sure the Restitution gave the shuttle manager credits to do so but he suspected, and Evren’s presence doing such a job was proof, that the male had pocketed those credits for himself, opting to lure unsuspecting beings to do the dirty work instead.

He shivered to think of the paltry amount the shuttle manager must be paying her to work so hard. If she didn’t seem to enjoy working so much, he’d have made sure the manager learned the error of his ways a long time ago.

But she was happy.

Every evening when she finished working and was given her credits, the smile of gratitude and accomplishment that spread over her face was so vivid, he knew he couldn’t take away this one pleasure from her.

She wanted to work.

She enjoyed it.

Who was he to dictate what she could or couldn’t do with her life? He had no claim on her.

But you want to.

Even as he watched her now, climbing atop the shuttle to clean the gazer, a bitter taste formed in his mouth.

That was his problem, wasn’t it?

He had no claim on her. Trouble was, he wanted to.

This feeling was like a beast growing in his gut, clawing and thrashing and trying to make itself known.

Ever since that night she’d stirred in her bed and he’d joined her to calm her, the beast had taken root and would not go away. Even now, he could still feel her soft body nestled against his, he could see her smooth naked legs, see the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, see her long, smooth neck bent back as she’d rested her head against his chest...

And her scent, wild and sweet—he could scent her as if she was still right beside him, nestled against him.

He would groan in frustration, but he couldn’t give away his position. And he wasn’t ready to speak to her yet. He had to steel himself for such contact.

And every day he steeled himself.

As he watched her scrub the gazer of the ship, Kyro frowned.

The shorts she was wearing were hugging her rump as she knelt on the shuttle...and that top...her entire midsection was showing.

His eyes narrowed.

It irked him to think that other males were going to look at her as she headed back home. It irked him. Every. Single. Day.

It took almost all of his restraint not to unleash his fury on them for even daring to look her way.

The only thing holding him back was the fact that SHE WAS NOT HIS.

He had no claim on her.

No claim.

How many times should he have to repeat those lines to himself? Apparently, a thousand times would not do.

And she didn’t need him.

She hadn’t even tried to contact him. Apart from them sharing jokes via datapad daily, they hadn’t spoken otherwise.

She was keeping away from him, just like how he was keeping away from her or, at least, should be keeping away.

Still, it bothered him that she hadn’t reached out to him. She hadn’t reached out to any of the other humans either.

He knew.

He was watching her every second of the day, his own life forgotten.

Every day she worked and headed home to repeat the process the next day. No friends were visiting and she wasn’t visiting them.

M’Agunt still tried to catch her attention in the street, but she always managed to spot him before he spotted her and she’d take another route.

He took pleasure in that.

He hated the merchant.

Still, for her to yearn for no one to keep her company...

It echoed a life he knew all too well and he didn’t want her living like that.

It was a lonely existence.

Was this how she lived on Earth?

No.

She’d mentioned her pet.

“A calico cat,” she’d said. One that was mostly white with black and brown spots and a black spot that was shaped like the beast’s own dark heart.

Kyro smiled.

She’d mentioned no lovers, no friends, only her cat.

Looking at her now, ass in the air as she used her entire upper body strength to scrub the gazer, his insides began to warm.

Why did that make him happy? That she’d left no one behind?

Why did that bring him such joy within his being?

Because he was qrakking selfish that’s why.

He wanted her all for his own, even though he couldn’t have her.

If that wasn’t the most selfish thought in the world, he didn’t know what was.

And still, even though he knew and acknowledged this, it did nothing to quell the beast growing within him.

Polvrak was cruel to dangle something in front of him that he could never have. But he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he was enjoying the view.

20

HE WAS GETTING ILL.

He was definitely coming down with something.

For the third time, Kyro pressed his datapad against his neck so it could run its diagnostic program.

As the ping sounded, his gray eyes skimmed over the results even as he weaved through the crowd that was heading to the market.

The results came back negative.

All his vitals were normal. According to the datapad, he was as healthy as could be.

But he was sure it was wrong. There was definitely something off with his brain and most definitely something wrong with his heart.

Both organs, perhaps the most important next to his skin, were not working correctly.

As he weaved through the crowd, heading in the opposite direction to most of the shoppers and merchants, Kyro frowned.

It was the first day that Evren had decided to stay in and not go to work and he assumed it was because she was knocked out cold from exhaustion.

She’d been working hard day in and day out without a break. He was even feeling the effects of it and he hadn’t been the one doing the labor.

For countless days he’d watched over her and for countless nights he’d laid in his bed unable to sleep as thoughts of her plagued his mind.

Qrak.

There had to be something wrong with him. He was going insane.

Pressing the panel by the door to a dwelling that was not his own, he waited for the occupants to answer.

It took a few minutes before the door slid open and Xul, his captain and one of the individuals he would dare call a friend, looked back at him.

Brief confusion flooded Xul’s eyes. “Kyro?”

“Oh, it’s Kyro?!” He could hear Xul’s mate within the rooms of the dwelling and soon the soft pat of her feet came near.

“I apologize for the surprise visit,” Kyro said, just as the human appeared by Xul’s side. She gave him a grin as if him stopping by was not an inconvenience at all, though he was sure it was.

Surely, she’d have preferred to be alone doing whatever they did as couples—he could well imagine what that was. He’d considered not visiting but he needed Xul’s assistance.

Xul had been the first to fall to a human female.

“It is a surprise indeed.” Xul’s eyes now reflected mild surprise and when Athena jammed her elbow in his side, the large soldier crumpled a little as if she actually managed to hurt him. “Kyro never visits.” Xul chuckled.

“Where are your manners?” Athena glared at her mate, though the look was only superficial. Kyro could see no actual contempt behind her eyes. “Come in, Kyro.” She smiled at him and pulled Xul out of the way.

Nodding, Kyro entered their quarters and came to stand just in front of their sitting area. His eyes widened a little.

The entire living space was decorated with flowers and pretty things. He could hardly imagine this was Xul’s doing.

Free material like the one Evren had bought hung at the windows, colorful soft oofla was bundled into small balls in the seats...there were even squares with images of inanimate objects like flowers and landscapes on the walls.

“This is...” He looked around. He didn’t quite know what to say. All he could imagine was Evren’s quarters. It had no such color and life like this. Was this what humans were supposed to do with their living spaces?

Colorful and, dare he even think it? Homely?

Kyro squeezed his eyes shut for a second. See, this was his problem.

Something was wrong with him.

He was having constant thoughts of her, even when he least expected it.

“Do you like it?” Athena’s voice cut into his thoughts and he was brought back to reality? “I tried to make it as comfortable as I could.”

“It is,” he replied and when she blinked at him Xul intervened.

“‘Comfortable’ he means,” Xul clarified before turning his gaze to him. “So, what brings you here, brother? You should be resting. This is a much-needed break I ordered.”

That was his problem. He couldn’t rest.

He couldn’t even sleep at night anymore.

“I need to talk to you about...” Kyro’s gaze moved to Athena. “...something.”

Athena’s eyebrows moved up a little before she mentioned about needing to do something in the “ki-shen.” With that said, and much to his relief, she moved out of the room.

“What is it? What makes you so...disturbed?” Xul’s brow furrowed a bit. “It is not like you, brother.”

“I have a problem.”

Xul’s eyebrows rose. “Sit.” He motioned to one of the seats. “Speak. I will help you if I can.”

Kyro sat, his eyes following Xul as he watched the large male do the same.

“I am having...feelings for a hu—...a being.” Kyro cleared his throat but he didn’t miss the way Xul’s eyes widened a bit before he composed himself.

“You come to me for relationship advice?” Amusement began to flood Xul’s eyes and Kyro sighed, settling more into the seat.

Maybe this hadn’t been the best of ideas.

“I just need you to tell me what to do. I can’t stop...thinking about her. I can hardly eat. Sleep is becoming hard. My mind is clouded. I am not as alert as I am used to being. It is as if there is a need I must fill.”

Kyro swallowed hard. He hadn’t meant to pour out all that to Xul. Heck, when he’d left his quarters that morning, he’d intended to be as discreet as possible about what exactly his problem was.

But his mouth and brain were not on the same side.

Xul blinked at him, the amusement draining from his gaze. “You are serious.”

He could feel himself glaring at Xul. “Yes. I am serious. And it isn’t in the least bit humorous.” Kyro adjusted himself on the seat. “This is...torture.”

There was silence for a few moments before Xul spoke.

“Who is the lucky female?”

“Do you really need to know?”

Amusement filled Xul’s gaze once more. “Hey, I’m just curious.” Kyro could feel him studying him. “In all my years working alongside you, brother, I would have never expected you to fall for another.”

Well, surprise, surprise to them both.

Just then, Xul’s human walked back into the room, a tray in hand with cool beverages on top. This human custom of serving beverages to guests would take some getting used to.

“Just...tell her how you feel?” Xul offered, as Athena set the beverages down.

Kyro found himself glancing from his captain to his captain’s mate. “Was that what you did? To make it stop. Did you tell her”—he pointed his gaze at Athena—"how you felt?”

A sudden laugh bubbled from Athena. “No, he didn’t. He insisted on ignoring what was happening between us,” she said, shaking her head. “Puny human this. Puny human that. I sure showed you.” She grinned before doing the strangest thing. She stuck her tongue out, the tiny pink organ pointing in Xul’s direction.

Was this some other form of human mouth-mating that he didn’t know of? It was not in the data.

“I did confess...” Xul’s voice notably softened as he pulled Athena into his arms. ...eventually.”

As he watched them, Athena raised her gaze to look at him, her eyes and smile kind. “Look, you’ll get over this lovesickness. Just follow your heart.” With that, she stood. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

Kyro watched her go.

Lovesickness?

He’d never heard of such a thing before.

So, he was ill.

It must be some error in the brain. It would explain why it seemed that every single one of his mental processes had been hijacked by thoughts of Evren.

He’d seen enough of what had happened to his brothers to conclude that humans were indeed bewitching, but this “lovesickness” theory may be the answer he’d been looking for all along.

Not that his brothers seemed to mind.

They all seemed perfectly happy living with this malady...happier than they’d been before.

He couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been the same for him. Had he been able to follow in their footsteps, had he and Evren formed a bond together, would he be happier?

Would she be?

He would give anything to make her happy, but himself? He couldn’t give her himself.

He was destined to be alone.

“Just tell her,” Xul repeated. “Whoever she is. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Kyro turned his gaze on his captain.

Death. Torture. Servitude. Those were just a few of the worst things that could happen.

Xul had no idea.

The rest of his brothers had no idea.

No one knew his secret.

Everything would have been so less complicated if he wasn’t what he was. His life would have taken a completely different course and maybe, just maybe, he could have even entertained the thought of having a life with her.

Coming to Xul for advice didn’t help. It only underlined the one thing he couldn’t do: confess.

How could he confess what he felt for Evren when she didn’t even know who he really was...what he really was.

Only Rokan knew, because Rokan was the same.

They both had a terrible secret no one else knew.

No one knew he was Vorti.

No one knew he was a shifter.

21

EVREN YAWNED and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, smearing a thick line of dirt over her forehead in the process.

The sun was high in the sky and, even though she had come to work late that day, she’d already managed to get through half of the shuttle already.

Her hands were beginning to feel calloused and rough under the work she was doing but that didn’t stop her. She’d already amassed a lot of credits and the pig-man was always happy to give her overtime.

Despite the credits though, she felt better in herself.

Not being in her apartment all day was helping too. She was no longer plagued with thoughts of unfulfillment. Now she had a goal.

Glancing over her shoulder, she looked toward the shuttle where her little animal friend always seemed to show up.

He wasn’t there today and she wondered why.

Every single day since that first day, he’d shown up, watching her work no matter how long her days were and when she left for the evening, he would go home too, to wherever he went.

And every day she arrived, she half-expected him to not show up. But he always did. Except for today.

Maybe he had finally grown tired of her company.

Turning back to the shuttle she was scouring, her brows furrowed slightly.

Another thing was bothering her as well.

Through all this time, Kyro had been sending her messages on her datapad. Jokes mostly and a bit of chit-chat. But he hadn’t come by her apartment since that night and she couldn’t help but feel guilty about it.

It was probably her fault.

She’d scared him away with her indecisiveness.

She couldn’t tell a man she wanted nothing to do with him and then the next second invite him to hold her tenderly in bed.

That just didn’t work.

Most human men would’ve forgotten about what she’d said and taken the opportunity to seduce her. But not Kyro.

He was too gentlemanly for that. He respected her and she’d already learned that for a human in this new world, respect didn’t come easy.

He must think she was some kind of manipulative bitch. It was no wonder he was steering clear.

And the sad thing about it? She didn’t want him to.

She missed him.

There. She’d said it.

She missed him.

Missed seeing him. Missed speaking to him...like, really speaking to him. Not messages over the datapad.

Glancing over her shoulder once more, she looked at the shuttle behind her to see if the animal had arrived yet.

She missed the little creature too but the skunkat was nowhere to be seen. The animal reminded her of Kyro, and she wasn’t sure why. She guessed she was taking comfort in its visits because she couldn’t see Kyro herself.

Sighing, she tried to focus on the task at hand.

Maybe this was all a sign.

Maybe this was Kyro’s way of saying goodbye and maybe it was a sign that she didn’t have hope for a proper life on the base.

Maybe, it was the universe telling her to move on.

KYRO STARED AT HIS DATAPAD, not seeing anything on the screen. The weight of his feelings, his conscience, it all seemed to increase as time went by.

In the silence, the device pinged.

For a second, his heart leaped. Just the thought of receiving a message from Evren had his lifeblood spiking.

But it wasn’t a message from her and as immediately as his heart leaped it fell like a ten-ton brick.

Instead, it was a message from Xul.

They were to head to Muk to search for the humans that might have been ejected from the slave ship they’d destroyed.

Kyro stared at the message.

He’d never been so unenthused about the prospect of going off base before.

In the next few minutes, he got ready, grabbed his gear, and was at the meeting spot, his brother Crex’s dwelling, in surprisingly record time.

When he arrived, Xul was already there and to his surprise, Rokan was there too.

“I didn’t see you leave the quarters.” He eyed Rokan. His fellow Vorti flashed him a grin.

“There are a lot of things you don’t see me do,” Rokan replied.

In other circumstances, he would have said something. But this was not the day. For some reason, today his mood was sour. It had been sour for the last few days he’d spent following Evren and returning home, only to follow her again.

And even then, the more he stayed away from her, the more his mood went downhill.

The sickness was taking hold and he knew not the cure for it.

“Glad to see you here, Kyro. Wasn’t sure if you were over your, er, sickness or not.” Xul greeted him, placing a hand on his shoulder and touching their foreheads.

“The fever is still raging,” Kyro murmured absently.

Behind them, Crex walked in, a small human female holding on to his arm.

“Oh, hey Kyro. Didn’t know you arrived already,” the female greeted him with a smile. Her rainbow-colored strands were caught at the top of her head in much the same way Evren would catch hers and the similarity had him groaning inwardly.

“Greetings, Piper.”

“Would anyone like something to drink?” she asked already moving to the food preparation area. Of course, only Rokan replied with the affirmative. Back in their shared quarters, their cooling unit was often empty because of his excessive thirst.

As Crex turned to Kyro, jerking his head in greeting, the doorbell chimed. Crex opened it to see Yce, their psionic brother, standing there.

Kyro glanced around. So, it seemed the entire crew was heading off to the mission. Everyone except Kyris.

He was just about to ask about his brother when Xul spoke up. “Rokan is taking Kyris’ spot today. Kyris’ wings still need healing.”

Ah.

Kyro nodded.

“So what’s the plan?” Crex asked.

“Shuttle leaves in three hours,” Xul began. “We have information on the area the stasis unit would have most likely landed. We head there. Search. Return home.”

“Sounds pretty simple,” Rokan offered.

“It is,” Xul said, but his gaze moved over them all.

That was the problem. Nothing was ever simple when it came to the Tasqals.

If there was a potential set of humans buried somewhere under the sand all sleeping in stasis, the Tasqals wouldn’t just let them go.

They just had to hope the Tasqals hadn’t found the humans yet.

“The Mukkians have found an unidentified object but do not have the technology to scan it. They say it is not like any other ship debris they’ve come across.”

There was a collective silence around the room.

“If it is what we think it is, then we needed to get our asses there yesterday.”

As Piper walked back into the room, a drink in her hand, she greeted Yce and handed the drink to Rokan before heading back to the food preparation area for another.

“Congratulations, brother,” Yce suddenly said, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Crex.

Everyone followed his gaze, looking at Crex as if he would clear up Yce’s sudden compliment.

“Quiet.” Crex’s voice was hushed, and Kyro didn’t miss the nervous glance he shot in the direction of the food preparation area.

A slow frown materialized in his brow.

He couldn’t help but ask. “Congratulations for what?”

Crex glanced at Yce, giving him a look that could kill—and it might kill. One never really knew with Crex.

Yce seemed unfazed. “Piper is carrying young. I can feel its soft mind pulses.”

“Curse you and your freakish gift.” Crex’s voice was still low. “I haven’t told her yet.”

“You mean she doesn’t know?” Rokan and Xul said at the same time, voices hushed.

“No.” Crex glanced toward the food preparation area with agitation once more. “I only heard the child’s heart beating a few days ago.”

“Why haven’t you told her?” Kyro had to ask. The fact that his brother was keeping back such great news baffled him.

What he would give to have offspring of his own—something he would never have. It was a gift that should never be taken lightly.

Crex glanced around the group before his eyes settled on Kyro. “I don’t know how she’ll react.” He paused, the next few words obviously difficult for him. “I can hardly believe she accepted me. I don’t think she realizes she could bear my young.” He paused once more. “I didn’t realize.”

Neither did he. He hadn’t even considered the prospect of humans being compatible outside of their species.

Could Evren bear offspring? If she found a mate, would she bear offspring for them?

The thought of her with someone else...

Just then, a cheery Piper walked back in, a drink in hand for Yce. There was dead silence as all five sets of eyes watched her.

Catching that something wasn’t right, the little human frowned slightly, her smile wavering a little as she cast a glance in Crex’s direction.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Totally.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Of course.”

“Certainly.”

Piper’s eyes noticeably narrowed. “Right. Nothing suspicious going on here.” She looked at Xul, her demeanor suddenly brightening. “So, I was thinking. I should tag along on this mission—”

“No!” It was a chorus of five different voices, and it caused the human’s brows to almost meet her nose.

“Geez Louise, what is up with you all?”

“I mean,” Xul cleared his throat, glancing in Crex’s direction before meeting Piper’s gaze. “It is too dangerous to risk it.”

When Piper cocked her head, obviously not buying the excuse, Kyro found himself speaking up. “Maybe it would give you some time to hang out with the other humans. That is how you say it right? “Hang out?”

That seemed to lighten her a bit and she smiled. “Ok, I get it. You want us to spend more time together.” She turned to Crex. “Fine. I’ll spend more time with my friends.”

As she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, Crex’s eyes met his with obvious gratitude.

It was not until they had left the apartment and were in the shuttle that he told Crex he would do some research on how humans broke it to their mates that they were carrying offspring.

He also had other research to do too.

Mainly, if humans could carry Vorti offspring.

Even as he thought it, he wondered why he wanted to torture himself with such questions.

An affirmative answer would only break the remaining muscle that made his life-organ beat.

22

MUK WAS AN UNFORGIVING PLANET. As soon as they landed, Kyro and the rest of his brothers were hit with a raging sandstorm that had them sheltering under makeshift tents till the worst of it passed. As the grains of sand flying through the air finally calmed down enough for them to walk, Kyro checked his blaster on his hip as his brothers rose around him to begin the trek and search.

“Do you think your hunch was correct?” Rokan began. “Do you think we’ll find humans here?”

Xul was walking ahead of them all and he shrugged. “I hope not.” He paused, checking his navigation instrument.

“The Mukkians approach,” Yce said from behind and Kyro looked in the direction in which Yce’s glowing eyes pointed. Sure enough, a small cloud of dust was approaching and as the Mukkians drew nearer, Kyro could make out the large serpentine beasts on which they liked to travel.

“These little fiends,” Rokan said, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked like a statue with his bald head gleaming in the sunlight and Kyro paused for a second, wondering if that was how he looked too. After all, they looked almost identical if not for Rokan’s thicker frame and wider head and green eyes.

“Fiends?” Crex shot him a look. “Those little beings? Hardly.”

Xul chuckled as the Mukkians arrived. “They can be fiends if they don’t like you. I guess they don’t like you then, brother.” His gaze landed on Rokan, laughter swimming underneath it.

Rokan only lifted his chin higher in the air and eyed the little men as they hopped off their transport. They were short, brown little men wearing robes that matched the color of the sand and their skin. From afar, if they weren’t beside their serpentine rides, they almost blended in with the desert itself.

In one hand they carried little spears.

They looked almost childlike with their small stature, not reaching even his knee in height, and their small beady eyes and large ears added to the picture.

“Oh look,” one of the Mukkians nudged another as soon as they hopped off the creature, “two bald heads today.”

No doubt they were referring to him and Rokan. Why they refused to use anyone’s names was beyond him. It was incredibly...rude.

But the Mukkians didn’t care.

Another chuckled. “Bald.”

“As shiny as Mexclar’s behind.”

More chuckling and Kyro frowned as Rokan made an irritated sound in his throat.

The laughter behind Xul’s eyes only grew in intensity as he heard what they said.

Crex tilted his head. “But you are bald too,” he noted, speaking to the Mukkians as the rest of them hopped off the creature.

There were six of them and they all turned to look at him at once, the laughter dying from their lips.

Crex shrugged, lifting his hands in the air, a rare grin splitting his face.

“You are wise to give up that conversation, Dark Terror.”

“Dark Terror?” he and Rokan spoke at the same time and Yce burst out a laugh. Crex frowned at the three of them.

“Why does he get such a name, but you call us names based on the way we look?” Rokan’s eyes flashed with anger. “Baldhead, for instance.” Rokan touched his head and Kyro watched him rub his hand along it.

He knew why Rokan was so upset.

Hair was Rokan’s weakness. He missed his full head of hair.

“Glow eyes and Xul know why,” one of the Mukkians said.

Everyone looked from Xul to Yce as Rokan threw his hands up in the air.

“So, you call Xul by his right name?” Rokan lunged for one of the little men but almost lost his step as the little man easily moved out of the way, the sand gliding under his little feet with ease.

Rokan growled, much to the ire of everyone standing there.

“All right, enough.” Xul sobered. “We’re here on a serious mission, in case you forget.” He turned his attention to the Mukkians. “Reports at the base said you found an object.”

“Affirmative.” One of the Mukkians stepped forward.

“Lead us to it.”

With a jerk of their heads, the group of little men began leading the way, their serpentine beasts moving through the sand beside them.

It did not take long before they came upon a mound of sand that was much bigger than the other dunes dotting the area.

Rokan flipped out an instrument and scanned. “My device says this is not a natural occurrence.”

Kyro walked along it, his eyes moving up and down.

It was as large as a small ship. It could be a ship.

The Mukkians moved up to the rise of sand, one of them burying his spear into the sand until it could go in no farther. Jamming his spear in a few times, it was obvious that whatever was underneath was solid because the spear kept hitting something, a dull thud echoing underneath the sand.

Crex sniffed the air and Yce’s eyes began to glow, no doubt each sensing if there were any life forms onboard.

Taking out a little gadget he’d brought along, small enough to fit in his pocket, Kyro activated the little droid. As the thing unfurled and constructed itself, the little whirring sound it made had the Mukkians’ attention immediately. Despite that they’d carved a way for themselves on their dying planet, they all had a deep interest in metal and gadgets and he was sure they were going to want to take his little droid when the mission was over.

As he placed the droid against the sand, he ordered it to dig and it began making a hole, moving forward toward the large object.

“I can sense nothing,” Crex finally said, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the large mound of sand.

“Neither can I,” Yce said.

The droid’s progress was quick, a hole big enough for two of them to fit into materializing as they spoke.

As the object underneath the sand was revealed, Kyro made a note on his datapad for the Restitution to pick up.

The dark metal that was being revealed was undoubtedly a Tasqal vessel—only they used the rare talik metal to construct space vehicles.

“A stasis hold,” Rokan breathed, stepping closer.

Xul’s eyes narrowed. “If this is here, our hunch was true. There could only be one set of species inside. The Tasqals had only made one stop before we took their ship down.”

“Humans,” Yce said.

“Many humans,” Crex breathed, his eyes traveling along the length of the vessel.

Kyro kept silent.

He could only look.

The thought of humans only reminded him of Evren. If the mound of sand was anything to go by, the vessel was a large one and that meant there were a lot of stasis pods on board. Many humans. Many female humans, most likely.

Yet, he was sure none of them could hold a flame to his Evren.

Even now, he’d have preferred stalking her to the shuttle yard to watch her all day.

This mission was pretty straightforward. Only one person had been probably needed to confirm the presence of the pod-carrier and to arrange for Restitution pickup.

Xul was already looking his way as he thought about that. “Kyro—”

“On it. Arranging for pickup. Coordinates sent.” He punched the information in his datapad and sent the encrypted ping to the Restitution.

The little droid stopped clearing the sand and returned to him just as the Mukkians surrounded his legs.

Shaking his head, Kyro let them ooh and aah over the droid as he watched Rokan approach the cool dark metal that was exposed.

“A 3P9 carrier.” Rokan touched the metal as he spoke.

“Right,” Xul agreed. “Only the engineers on the base can open it.”

Kyro’s eyebrow jerked a little.

He could open, it but it would take him too much time to do so and all he wanted right now was to get back to base. Not being there was making him antsy. It wasn’t just the fact that he wanted to be there to keep his eyes on her, he also wanted to be there in case Shive or that slimy M’Agunt tried anything.

They were getting a little too close to her for his comfort. He didn’t know exactly what Shive’s intentions were but M’Agunt’s were as clear as day, and that made him livid.

“If there are any beings on board, I sense none...” Yce trailed off, the glow in his eyes growing with intensity.

“Deep stasis...” Xul murmured.

“Wait...” Yce frowned, as he moved closer to the vessel. “There is one I sense. Confusion. Fear. Insanity...” He tilted his head.

Kyro felt his shoulders stiffen. “You sense a being inside? He is awake?”

Yce’s eyes met his. “She. She is awake. And she is terrified.”

As they all turned to look at the dark metal that was exposed, the air felt heavy.

To be locked in a prison for so long, awake, and unable to move...it could break the strongest of men.

“Insanity...” Yce stretched out his hand, his brows furrowing in pain. “Her mind is frayed. I cannot calm her.”

“Stop, brother.” Xul grabbed Yce’s arm. “Do not try to connect.”

Kyro gulped, staring at the dark metal. He had to do something. He couldn’t let the female suffer in there any longer than she needed to. He knew what it was like being imprisoned. He knew how it could break a person.

“I can open it,” he said. All eyes moved to him, even the Mukkians’. “I can open the carrier. I can get her out.”

Xul was about to say something when Yce’s mind pulse hit them all.

“Danger in the skies. Incoming!”

They had just enough time to look up before a Hedgerud fighter jet, commissioned by the Tasqals, appeared in the sky above.

THE TASQALS DIDN’T FIGHT fair. But that was no surprise.

The ship seemed to materialize out of thin air and began firing immediately.

Chaos ensued.

The Mukkians ran for their serpents, mounting them with practiced ease while Crex raced for the top of the mound.

It was clear what he was trying to do. If the ship came in low enough, he was going to leap onto it and attempt to take it down. If any one of them could do that, he could.

A roar from Xul swept across the desert in between the sound of the laser bullets coming from the ship. As the bullets connected with the sand beneath them, it caused particles to fill the air, reducing visibility.

But the Hedgeruds piloting the vessel didn’t need to see their target. They had the upper hand.

And they kept firing.

“Evade!” he heard Xul roar, but they were already splitting up, each moving in a different direction. With them all in one spot, they were asking to be shredded to bits.

Crex still crouched atop the sand mound, his eyes completely gone black as he channeled the terror within him.

Dark terror. He understood now, the thought coming to him as he, Xul, Rokan, and Yce crouched behind different dunes.

“These won’t hold up for long!” Rokan shouted.

“And they’ll wake the zehmips underneath!” Yce added.

The zehmips. Those man-eating plants that slept underneath the dunes would only add more chaos to the mix. It was best they didn’t rouse them.

As the vessel passed over them, the sound of the engine cut through the air as the firing stopped. They were going to turn around and do another pass. There was little time to hatch a battle plan.

“I can disable their vessel! Breech the system! Bring the vessel down!” Kyro shouted, his eyes on Xul. As Xul nodded, Kyro brought out his datapad, typing in a string of commands as fast as he could.

“Here they come!” Rokan’s shout cut through the air just before the vessel began firing again.

“I will need some time!” Kyro shouted.

“Got you,” Yce’s voice sounded in his head. When Kyro glanced at his brother, he saw his gleaming eyes tracking the ship. For a second, the ship dipped as if the pilot was experiencing difficulty controlling it.

Jerking his chin down in a nod, Kyro set to work.

The fighter jet was one he’d seen before and he remembered reading the manual for it in just one day. He knew everything there was to know about the vessel without ever having set foot in one.

There was a design flaw in the AI engineering. One that allowed him to transmit a code to the ship that would cause its engines to shut down and the ship to fall from the sky. They were flying so low in their attack; his plan might just succeed, and the ship would fall to the sand before the system recovered and got rid of his code.

His fingers felt light as they moved quickly, the code coming back to him as if he hadn’t read the manual over seven orbits ago.

This was one of those times being Vorti was something he was grateful for.

As he punched in the last line of code, he pinged the ship.

“Done!” he shouted, loud enough for his brothers to hear.

Yce turned his head to look at him, his eyes no longer glowing as he cut his connection with the ship’s pilot.

As they all turned their eyes to the sky, they saw the ship jerk in the air before it began to nosedive.

“Incoming!” Xul’s voice reached him and Kyro watched as the ship came in hard and fast. Right before it hit the ground, he could just make out the blur of Crex as his brother jumped onto the falling vessel, using one of the fins from his back to smash the gazer before he pulled the pilot from his seat.

While Crex dealt with that one, he heard Xul send a message to the Restitution for pickup as they raced toward the ship, which was now kicking a huge sand cloud into the air as it carved a straight path through the sand.

Hedgerud fighters began jumping from the vessel before it even came to a stop, their long, armored tails swinging behind them in the air as they snarled from their long snouts.

“Qrakking long noses!” a Mukkian screamed as they too raced toward the oncoming guards. For a second, Kyro was surprised to see the little men still there. He’d thought they’d escaped on their creatures, but he should have known better. The Mukkians hated the Tasqals as much as the Restitution did.

This wasn’t just a fight between his brothers and the guards. It was but a small part of a larger fight between the whole galaxy and the Tasqals.

What happened next was a blur. Crex was beside them in record speed, taking down one of the guards before the rest of them even reached close enough for contact.

Xul charged, his spear pointed for combat as he lodged it deep into a Hedgerud’s body. As the bloody tip of Xul’s spear came out the other end of the guard, Kyro ducked under the attack of a guard that charged at him.

The guard’s sword slid right by his face and he gripped the guard’s outstretched arm, twisting it as he retrieved the sword with his other hand and buried it in the guard’s back.

He could feel the remnants of his chets itch, the thrill of a fight running through his very veins.

To his left, Rokan let out a hoot, no doubt feeling the same itch. As their eyes locked, a knowing look passed between them that confirmed his thoughts.

With a grin, Kyro cut down the next guard that came at him, using the same tactic as before and in his peripheral vision, he could see Yce doing the same.

They were no match for all five brothers together. It was a suicide mission.

Without their ship, the Hedgeruds would die.

The Hedgerud guards must have just been scouting for the stasis pods themselves when they came upon them. This hadn’t been a planned attack, or they would have brought more ships along with them.

So many other humans. He wondered what Evren would think. Would it make her happy to have more of her kind around?

Even as he thought about her, he took out another guard, using the two swords he’d taken from the previous guards and burying them into the one charging at him. He was just about to pull the weapons from the wound to attack another charging guard when a sharp pain in his side had him glancing down.

“Blaster!” he heard Xul shout, but it was too late.

Off in the distance, he could see his brother Yce, falling to his knees, a deep gash of burning flesh on his shoulder.

Looking down, a similar gash was in his side. He’d been hit.

His vision waned as he saw Xul take down the fighter charging toward him while Crex reached the guard with the blaster and snapped his neck with a roar.

Evren, he thought.

Life was suddenly fragile and all he felt was disappointment and regret.

He hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye.

23

KYRO GRIT HIS TEETH.

The gash in his side was making its presence known with every breath that he took. Still, he could walk, he was conscious, and most of all, he was alive.

As their shuttle landed, he cast a glance at his brothers.

Those who were injured didn’t look too bad. It seemed they would all survive. And most of all, they’d succeeded on what they’d set out to do.

All those humans they’d rescued would be safe from the Tasqals now. It would take a while to open the stasis hold but at least the hold had been transported from immediate danger.

“I’ll take Yce to the med bay. Crex, you go to headquarters to update them,” Xul said, as the doors to the shuttle hissed open and they began to file out. Turning to Kyro, he advised the same. “Rokan, you come with me, bring Kyro to the med bay.”

As Rokan filed from the shuttle, his eyes met Kyro’s. They both knew what the answer to that had to be. Even if he was dying, no medic could see him.

“I will head home. It is but a flesh wound,” Kyro answered, hoping Xul would drop it and leave it there.

As he watched Xul frown, Kyro steeled himself for what was about to come next.

“That looks more serious than a flesh wound, brother. A medic—”

“I insist.”

Xul looked at him for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I will never understand your fear of med bays.”

No, he wouldn’t, would he.

Kyro shrugged and began moving away, his hand held to the wound at his side.

Xul wouldn’t understand, and the sad thing was that he couldn’t tell him the reason either.

He couldn’t risk any examination. He couldn’t risk the medic discovering he was not what he portrayed himself to be.

“Fine,” Xul conceded. “But I insist that you get care at home. If you won’t go to the med bay, I will send a medic to your quarters to tend to you.”

“No need,” Rokan chimed in. “I will tend to him.”

Xul paused for a moment, passing a glance between them both. “Very well.”

As Xul moved off, supporting Yce as they walked toward the med bay, Kyro jerked his chin at Rokan.

“Hey,” Rokan grinned, “just don’t expect any foot rubs.”

“I won’t because you’ll want me to return the favor and your feet are vile.”

Rokan’s grin widened. “Fair enough.”

Eyes falling, Kyro looked down at the gash in his side.

Qrak him, it was bad.

A CALL WAS COMING in on her datapad.

Evren grabbed the little device, her eyes lighting up as she looked at the screen.

She’d heard of the mission from Athena and even though Kyro hadn’t mentioned it to her, because he still seemed to be keeping his distance, she’d spent the better part of the day walking around biting her fingers as she waited.

It’s been over twelve hours that they’d been away and in that time all she could think about was the fact that they’d gone back to that dangerous planet.

But as she tapped the datapad’s screen and the caller ID showed up, she couldn’t help the bit of disappointment she felt when she realized it wasn’t him. Kyro had still not contacted her.

Instead, the caller pinging her was Athena.

“Hey, Athena. How’s it going?” She tried to sound bright, but she was sure the other woman could sense the underlying anxiety coating her voice.

“Good. I’m just ringing you to tell you that the boys are back.” Athena paused and she was sure as her blood was red that the woman was holding back something big. “And...”

“And what? Did they find more humans?”

“Ya. They did. They found a lot more humans. In stasis pods.” Athena released a breath.

Evren blinked.

More humans.

More lives uprooted never to be the same again.

“Have they,” she gulped, “have they woken them yet?”

“No, the engineers are working on it. But...” For some reason, it felt as if Athena was about to pass out some bad news. “One of them was awake.”

“What?!”

“She was awake the entire time, Evren. Stuck in that pod. Unable to move.”

Athena’s voice broke.

Evren didn’t know how to respond.

To be awake all that time...

“They’ll be moving her to a secure location and they’re waiting for the Interplanetary Union to pass down a directive regarding the others.”

Evren processed the information slowly. “I hope she’s okay...”

“Me too...”

“How many are there?”

“It’s hard to say. Xul says the hold they’re in is quite large.”

Her shoulders rose and fell as she released a sigh. “God...”

“I know, right. We almost didn’t get to them in time either. There was a huge fight with those gator-guard things. Yce and Kyro got injured.”

Evren felt her hand go slack and the datapad almost fell to the floor. “Kyro got injured?”

“Ya. Pretty badly too.”

“He’s at the med bay?” Without even thinking about it, she was already moving to grab her shoes and head out.

How could she have been so selfish, waiting for a message from him? He was probably fighting for his life. Of course, he hadn’t sent her a message.

“No. Yce is at the med bay. Kyro is at home. Something about not wanting to go to the medics. I don’t know.”

Breathing out a heavy sigh through her nose, Evren slipped on her boots and headed to the door. “I’m heading over there right now.”

“You are? I didn’t know you and Kyro were so close.”

What could she say? They’d been getting close, but she’d been the one who’d pushed him away.

“I—”

“I get it,” Athena said.

“You do?”

“I do.” There was a knowing in her tone that made Evren relax. “Just keep us updated on his progress. Xul won’t say it but he’s a little worried about him and Yce. He thinks it’s his fault for not looking out for them better.”

“I thought it was a surprise attack.” She was already in the gravity lift, waiting impatiently as she floated down to ground level.

“It was but I guess it’s doesn’t prevent the guilt he’s feeling?”

Kind of like the guilt she was feeling now, for no true reason. She felt bad for not contacting Kyro and taking back what she’d said. Now he’d been hurt, could have lost his life and she wouldn’t have had the chance to apologize to him.

“Piper’s pinging me. I’ll hit you up later.” Athena broke into her thoughts.

“Sure.”

As the call clicked off, Evren gulped, her guilt only getting heavier on her shoulders as she neared Kyro’s residence.

EVREN TAPPED her foot lightly as she waited outside Kyro’s door.

No one was answering, not even Kyro’s roommate, and she began to wonder if they had indeed gone to the med bay after all.

As she pressed the door chime more, she took out her datapad to send Kyro a message when the door hissed open.

Looking up from the screen, the smile that was on her face froze as she saw no one there.

“Hello?”

The lights in the apartment were bright again, so bright she had to squint but as she stepped across the threshold, there was still no one there.

“Kyro?”

A low groan from one of the bedrooms caught her ear.

“Kyro?” Walking cautiously, Evren headed toward the sound, even as the front door hissed closed again.

This was eerie and through habit, she felt behind her back underneath her vest for the cutting instrument she always carried.

Of course, it wasn’t there. She’d rushed out of the apartment too fast to grab anything except the one thing she’d been holding: the datapad.

As she entered the bedroom though, the feeling that had been making goosebumps form on her flesh dissipated as she saw him.

He was lying on the bed, his lids low as he looked at her and there was obviously something very wrong.

His gray skin was paling.

Rushing to his side, Evren gulped, wide-eyed as her gaze traveled over him.

His skin looked moist, as if he was sweating, and there was a large bandage covering his side.

“Kyro?”

Another low groan moved from his throat as his eyes tracked her under his low lids.

Placing a hand over his forehead, her eyes widened some more.

“Ohmigod, you’re burning up!”

Dropping her datapad to the side of the bed, she rushed into his bathroom. Luckily, his place was laid out exactly like hers, so it was easy to find things.

Grabbing one of the big poofy things that looked like cotton, she wet it in cold water and ran back to the bed, placing it over his forehead.

“Ev-ren...” His voice sounded so different...so weak.

“Kyro. You’re burning up. Where’s the person who’s supposed to be looking after you?”

“...fine.”

“What?”

“I’ll be fine.”

She could feel her brows deepen so hard that her forehead hurt. “Like hell you will. You have a fever and—” Her eyes moved down to his wound, her hand hovering over it helplessly. “God. That must really hurt.”

“...flesh wound.”

She shot him another glare and she swore she saw his eyes lighten and a smile tug at his lips.

“Do you have like...the alien version of ibuprofen or something?” she asked as she walked back into the bathroom, out of habit, to search for fever medicine.

But there was nothing in there except soap berries and more poofy material for drying with. Taking another bit of the material, she wet it too.

“...you doing here?”

“I heard you were injured.”

“...didn’t have to come.”

“I know I didn’t have to come.” Evren paused. “I wanted to come.”

She watched his throat move as he swallowed, his gaze still trained on her.

Moving back to the bedside, she placed the second piece of material over his neck.

“I need to reduce your fever. What can I do?” Grabbing her datapad, she began typing.

“...you doing?”

“Calling a medic. There must be information on how to do that in here somewhere.”

Kyro’s hand shot up suddenly, grasping hers and causing her to jump.

When her eyes met his, his eyes were fully open. “No medic. The fever will go down in a few hours. This is normal.”

“This looks serious. I’d never forgive myself if I listen to you and you die or something. I—”

“No medic.” There was pleading in his eyes. “Please.”

Evren inhaled deeply, placing the datapad away.

“Okay. But what can I do, to make it go away?”

Kyro looked at her for a few moments.

“I am already starting to feel better now that you’re here.”

She could feel her cheeks warm at that.

“At least let me get you some water or something...”

“Okay. Water.”

Glad she could help, Evren smiled.

In the kitchen, she was busy filling the flask with water when she heard the front door hiss open.

Must be his roommate, she thought.

The sound of the door hissing closed came next, just as she was leaving the kitchen with the water in hand.

As she headed back across the living area toward Kyro’s room, as undeniable skunk-like tail went just around the corner and toward the other bedroom.

Evren cocked her head to the side. Had she just seen a skunkat?

She was sure of it.

There was only one thing she’d seen with a tail like that: her animal friend from the shuttle yard.

She didn’t know Kyro and his roommate owned one of them. She hadn’t seen it the last time she’d visited.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she walked around the corner toward the second bedroom, following the path of the animal.

The second bedroom’s door was open and she saw the little animal walk in. She was right; it was one of those skunkats.

Maybe it was the same one. She didn’t know, especially with its back turned to her.

She was just about to call the animal when she saw it stop by the bed in the room and start to grow larger.

Eyes widening as she witnessed what was happening before her, Evren didn’t know if she should scream or run. Didn’t matter, for her body did neither. She couldn’t move.

The skunkat was transforming in front of her very eyes.

Small popping sounds of bones stretching and reforming filled the space as the animal’s body lost its shape, contorting and twisting as it took on the form of a person.

She felt her stomach disappear from within her and her legs grow weak as the contorting finally stopped and she was looking at the naked ass of a man.

As the man turned around, the flask of water she was carrying slipped from her fingers when her eyes met with his.

Impossible.

What she’d just seen was impossible.

As the flask crashed to the floor, drenching her feet and legs, Rokan’s eyes widened along with hers.

A scream echoed through the apartment and it took her a moment to realize the scream had come from her.

Rokan.

The skunkat had just transformed into Kyro’s roommate.

24

SHE WAS MILDLY aware that Kyro had somehow risen from the bed and was beside her, his gray eyes trained on Rokan and slowly widening as well, no doubt realizing what had just transpired.

“Qrak,” he breathed.

Still stunned, she turned to face Kyro slowly, her wide eyes still on him, widening even more as she looked at him.

Rokan was a skunkat.

Even as the sentence repeated in her mind, she was mildly aware of Rokan approaching her slowly, his hands outstretched, palms down, as if he was trying to tell her he was coming in peace.

“No! Stay away from me.” Evren backed away from them both.

Rokan was a skunkat. The thought repeated in her head.

How?

How was that possible?

It was impossible.

Yet, she’d just seen it happen, right in front of her eyes.

She’d seen it happen.

“You...” she began, still walking backward until the backs of her legs bumped into one of the seats.

Falling into the seat, she stared at the men before her.

Kyro was glaring at Rokan and Rokan had a look of fear, panic, and regret all mixed in one as he stared at her, arms still outstretched.

“Evren...” Kyro began, “What you just saw...”

“I don’t know what I just saw...”

Kyro gulped and Rokan began advancing once more before looking down at himself.

He was stark naked, not that anyone in the room had even been paying attention to that. Right before her eyes, she watched his lower region change to appear as if he was wearing skin-tight trousers.

“What the actual fuck?!” Her eyes could grow no wider as she scrambled backward in the seat. She was pretty sure they were bugged out to full capacity. But the more she stared the less sense it made.

Looking back at Kyro, she realized he was leaning against the wall, a fresh set of moisture on his skin as he held his side, his glare still trained on Rokan.

“Are you mindless? Great, way to shock her some more,” he bit out.

She watched him as he moved from his position to settle on the edge of one of the seats, pain reflected on his face with every movement.

“What... Ohmigod...” she breathed, her gaze moving from one male to the other. “You...” She couldn’t finish it.

“You weren’t meant to see that.” Rokan finally spoke. “I didn’t know you were here.”

Kyro’s glare and frown grew deeper. “You should have checked. She could have been anyone.”

“That is true, brother. But no one else should have been in here.” Rokan turned his gaze to Kyro, his hands slowly falling to his sides. “How did she get in here anyway?” It was clear by the change in his voice that his was anger finally flaring.

Kyro sighed and glanced at Evren for a second before returning his gaze to Rokan. The intensity of his glare lessened a bit. “I let her in. I thought you’d accidentally reset your bio signature again.”

Rokan squeezed his eyes shut and let out a deep breath.

“This wouldn’t have happened if not for your habit of resetting things.” Kyro’s words were clipped.

“This isn’t my fault.” Rokan folded his arms.

“It isn’t my fault either.”

Evren looked from one to the other. “Excuse me, I’m right here.”

The two men glanced her way and both swallowed hard, their countenances falling like dogs that got caught doing something bad.

“You just... You just... Transformed. I saw that, didn’t I? I didn’t imagine it. I’m not imagining this.”

For a second, Rokan’s glance in Kyro’s direction made her think he was contemplating lying to her and telling her that she had indeed imagined it all.

“You didn’t imagine it,” Kyro answered, and despite the pain he must be feeling, he still had enough energy to continue glaring at Rokan.

“What are you?” As she asked the question, Kyro’s gaze met hers and for the first time she saw in his eyes the fear and distress that was hidden beneath his glare.

“Kyro?” She stared at him, her eyes widening as she stared into his gray eyes.

“Ohmigod...” she breathed. “The skunkat from the shuttle bay. Y-you’re it?” Nictating, she tried to calm the sudden barrage of thoughts in her head—memories all coming at once of the skunkat sitting atop the shuttle, listening to her speak to it as if it understood every word she’d been saying.

When he didn’t answer but just looked back at her, his gaze wary, Evren’s mouth fell open.

“You were the skunkat. But... How? What are you guys?”

Rokan began pacing and as he did so, he rubbed his forehead with one hand. “Should we tell her?” His voice was low, a note of uncertainty within it.

“We have to,” Kyro answered, his gaze still locked on hers and she saw in his eyes so many different emotions now, she wasn’t sure which one was real. Or were they all real?

He was looking at her as if he was about to lose something he cared about deeply—and for some reason, it felt as if that look was directed at her, as if she was that thing he feared losing.

“You tell her then.” Rokan was still pacing, his gaze locked on her but Evren couldn’t move her eyes from Kyro’s.

For days upon days, she’d been staring into those same eyes while at the shuttle yard and she hadn’t put two and two together.

“You can change shape?” she whispered. “Become something else?”

Kyro nodded, his head moving slowly.

“How?”

“I do not know. I just can. It is like you being able to lose minerals from your eyes. You do not think about it. You just do.”

Evren blinked several times, trying to order the chaos of her thoughts.

“And the skunkat that I see every day at work…that was you...?”

Kyro nodded slowly again.

“You’re a...shifter... A shapeshifter?”

Once again, his nod was slow as he allowed her to process these revelations at her own pace.

“I can’t believe that’s possible.”

“Sometimes we wish it wasn’t.”

His response held a note of unsaid, deep emotions that she was sure she was going to have to unravel later.

“Why...why didn’t you tell me?”

He looked over at Rokan and, as Rokan stopped pacing, an unknown message passed between them.

“Are you psychic too?” she asked, watching them exchange something between them that she was not picking up on.

“No,” Kyro answered, finally looking back at her. “We are not psychic. Just shifters.”

“Shifters,” she murmured.

“It is our secret. One we have to carry to the grave. But now you, Evren, you know this—our secret.” Rokan began pacing again.

As she watched him, it began to dawn on her that something wasn’t quite right.

“What’s the problem?” She glanced between them both. “Why do you two seem so...unhappy about me finding out? I sense that there is more to this than you two are letting on.”

There was a pause before Kyro sighed, a grimace passing over his face as he adjusted himself on the edge of the seat.

“You’re right, my sweet Evren. There is.”

Steeling herself, Evren spoke. “Then tell me... What is it?”

“It is a secret that we hold close,” Rokan said. “Nobody knows that we are Vorti.”

Kyro was still looking at her as if he was about to lose her. It was a look that was so loaded, her mind didn’t have the capacity to deconstruct it at the moment.

Evren rubbed her temple, as she tried to connect the dots.

“Are you saying it is bad that I know?”

Kyro nodded. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because now that you know, we’ve put your life in danger.”

WHEN HER EYES widened at his admission, he was sure she would begin screaming and demanding answers.

But not Evren.

No.

His Evren was much too strong for that.

Instead, she’d taken a few moments for his words to sink in and then she’d stood and demanded that Rokan assist him back to bed.

It was like the conversation had ended there but he knew better than that. He could see it in her eyes; the questions she wanted to ask swam there like great urtisks in a sea of concern.

Once he was lying down again, fresh oofla material wetted and placed on his forehead, she perched on the edge of the sleeping area, looking at him intently.

“I can take it from here, Rokan,” Kyro said, eyes moving to his friend who hovered by the door.

Rokan nodded, one final glance at Evren before he slipped out of the sleeping area. She turned her head to watch Rokan leave before focusing on him once more.

“Kyro...” Her voice was unsure and so was her gaze. And even though he’d dreamed of the scenario in which he could tell her what he was about to tell her, the reality of it was still daunting.

Especially since when she looked at him, there was uncertainty in her eyes—uncertainty not about what she had seen or what she was about to say, but uncertainty concerning him.

She didn’t trust him anymore, and that tugged at his heart more than anything else.

“Evren, I...” He trailed off. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Was it true?”

“Was what true?”

“About you being a slave? Was that true? Was everything that you told me a lie?”

“It was true. It was all true. I would never lie to you.”

Her gaze became pointed before she averted her eyes. “I know I shouldn’t be mad, but I feel...betrayed almost. I feel like I don’t know you.”

That cut deep.

“You do know me.” The real me, he wanted to add, but that was a lie. She didn’t even know what he really looked like. Saying such a thing felt disingenuous.

When she still did not raise her gaze back to his, Kyro continued. “I am Vorti. My people were shifters from a world far from this one. We were a peaceful people.” He paused. “But that might have been our downfall.”

When she finally looked at him, her gaze rising to his and her brow furrowed slightly as she focused on his words, Kyro continued. “Long ago, there was the Great War. The Tasqals came to our world with mighty armies. They killed our females. They killed our males. They took females and children...kept them tied up with crude braces around their necks.

“Those braces...” he rubbed his neck absentmindedly, the memory of his own brace strong in his mind. “...they emitted a charge that stopped Vorti from shifting.”

Kyro moved his eyes away from hers. It was hard seeing the pity and sorrow reflected there. It was not the way he wanted her to look at him.

“You were taken...” she breathed.

A sigh left his frame, causing the wound in his side to ache, but the immediate physical pain held nothing against the pain in his mind—the pain brought back by remembering every vivid detail as if it all happened yesterday.

“My father fought for us. In the large arena, he and his brothers fought. He fought for us and his brothers fought for their wives and children.” He let his gaze wander to hers again. “He and many others fought in those horrible arenas, fighting beasts from unknown lands, the winner the last one standing—and we were forced to watch. Many times he was almost killed but that didn’t sate them. The Tasqals put him in that arena over and over and over...”

A breath shook out of him.

“You don’t have to tell me this,” Evren said, her hand moving to touch his leg. The warmth of her skin against his, the comfort that it brought with that simple touch, was almost overwhelming, but he had to continue.

After what she’d seen and the fact that he’d had to hide it all from her, he had to let her know everything. Even if she had to forget later.

“No. You must know this. You must understand.” He paused, inhaling deeply before he continued. “My father was fighting for us. To keep us safe. The Tasqals told him and the other men in the arenas that if they fought, they wouldn’t touch us—their wives. Their children.” He could feel the fire begin to burn deep within him at the memories. “But they lied.”

“What do you mean?” Her voice was so soft, so innocent in all of this that it pulled him from the rage he was falling into.

“Even as my father fought, they used my mother. In front of me and my brother, they used her. She was the first to die after bearing offspring for the vile beasts. She suffered, rotting from their horrible disease.”

Evren’s hands moved to cover her mouth in shock.

“Still, my father fought for us, me and my brother. We were all he had left. All he fought for.” He paused, the emotion making the muscles in his throat expand to the point it felt as if his grief was choking him. “Father fought, not knowing that the Tasqals were forcing us to shift, injecting some chemical into us so we could not take back our normal form until the chemical wore off.”

He paused again, the next bit of memory ripping into him so hard he clenched his hands into fists.

“They made my brother shift into a Dragsxli beast. Forced him to keep that form with their drugs. And...”

“No...”

“Yes.” Kyro nodded, the scene playing out in is head. “They sent him into the arena to fight my father.”

“No...”

“Father killed him.”

He watched her swallow hard, tears in her eyes as she looked at him. “Oh, Kyro...”

“I saw it happen. I watched it. I was just a child about three orbits old, but I was forced to watch, just as I had been forced to watch them use my mor.”

As Evren wiped her eyes, he wished he could end the story there, but he had to continue.

“Father took off his own head when he realized. Right in the arena. He turned to them, raising his chets, and he did it.” Kyro stared at the wall, the scene playing in front of him as if he was back in the cage in the pits of the arena watching.

“They cheered,” he continued. “The Tasqals cheered.” He blinked, his eyes still glassy from the memory. “I will never forget those cheers. From that day, I knew it would never end. I had to escape.”

“How? How did you escape?”

“They began moving us to a weapons program. They were training young Vorti to fight for them. I was young enough to brainwash, so they chose me too.” His eyes focused on hers. “I escaped when one of the guards was too idle putting on my neck brace. I shifted into a small animal and ran. I have been hiding ever since. Rokan too. But unlike me, he never went to the arenas. His family managed to escape during the Great War. The few Vorti who managed to abandon our planet have been on the run, hiding out in the open, pretending to be other species. It is the only way to survive.”

Evren blinked.

“You mean...right now...you’re shifted? This isn’t the real you?”

When he shook his head in the negative, he watched her eyes widen and that same uncertainty grow within them once more.

After a few moments, she stood and went to the bathing area. He assumed she was taking the time to sort her thoughts but soon he heard her running the water and then she returned with another piece of wet oofla material.

How could she still tend to him when he just told her that his very image was a lie?

Replacing the oofla on his forehead, she asked, “Why hide now, even here? You’re at the Restitution’s base. Shouldn’t you be safe here?”

“No.”

When he said that, her fingers paused. “What do you mean?”

“The Tasqals are a powerful race. They own almost everything on this side of the galaxy. Their reach goes far. During and after the Great War, they spread stories, rumors...about the Vorti...” He paused. “Beings fear us. We are hated. They see us as dangerous. Vicious. Untrustworthy criminals who can shift into anything we choose.”

“Can you?” Her fingers began fiddling with the oofla she’d just placed over his forehead. “Can you shift into anything you choose?”

“Almost anything...”

“Like...can you shift into a mouse?”

“Mouse?”

“A small, small animal. A tenth the size of a skunkat, maybe.”

“It would be difficult to compress my molecules, but I could try.”

Her eyebrows shot up.

“Could you shift into me?”

Kyro hesitated answering but in her eyes shone genuine interest.

“Yes.”

Her eyebrows shot up farther and she was silent for what felt like whole minutes. “You are...amazing.”

The world stood still at her words.

Never had he expected anything remotely close to what she’d just said.

Her response was just proof enough that she was from a different world.

“Amazing? We are scorned. Hated.” He paused. “Hated for what we are.”

Locking eyes with her, he hoped she could see the sincerity and seriousness in his. “If the Tasqals get word of the presence of any Vorti, it is a death sentence. They will hunt him, and they will not stop until they find him. Then he is a dead Vorti or an enslaved one.”

Evren dropped her hand, her fingers brushing his cheek lightly.

The movement had him stilling beneath her touch.

“Is that why you didn’t tell me? Do your brothers know? Xul and the others I mean.”

“No one knows except for you.”

Evren nodded slowly.

“Now that you know, you are in danger. If they find out the truth, they will come for me. And you are my weakness.”

“What do you mean?”

A breath shuddered from him.

“The Tasqals...if they can’t get to me. They’ll get to the ones I care about the most. That is why nobody knows. That is why what I am is a secret.” He paused as another breath shuddered through him. “My power to bend my molecules to my will is my gift. But it is also my curse.”

Evren blinked and he felt her finger brush over his cheek once more, sending a delightful feeling through his skin that spread all over his chest.

“You didn’t tell me because you care about me?”

Had he said that out loud?

For a moment, he could only look back at her, searching her gaze to determine her thoughts.

“I do care about you... I care about you very much.”

“Is that why you haven’t contacted me in so long?”

“Staying away from you is the best way to protect you.”

“You were trying to push me away?”

“Yes.”

“But you came as the skunkat.”

“Skunnkatt?”

“That gray animal.”

“Ohhh. The canee.”

“Why did you come as that animal? What if someone caught you?”

“The canee are common animals on the base. But do not touch them like you touched me. Some are not as...friendly.”

“But it was you though, at the shuttle yard.” She’d asked that question before, but he guessed she was still processing things.

He might as well let it all out now. He had a feeling she knew it was him anyway. “Yes. It was me.”

“You came every day. I rubbed your back. You purred.” She smiled.

Kyro frowned slightly.

This was not the reaction he had been expecting? “It does not anger you?”

She took a moment to ponder that because her eyes narrowed for a bit before she responded. “No. It makes me feel...good inside.”

“I...do not know how to respond.”

“Then don’t.” She smiled again.

A sound by the door had them both looking up and Rokan stood there, his gaze uncertain. In his hand was a small vial.

“Do you have it?” Kyro asked and Rokan entered the room, giving Evren a wary look.

“The serum. Yes,” Rokan said, stretching the vial to Kyro.

The dark-green fluid inside it swished as he took the vial in his hand.

“I must take this,” Kyro said, popping the sealant from the top of the vial as he spoke.

“What is it?” Evren asked.

“Healing serum,” Rokan answered. “I made it myself.”

“Ah.” It was clear she wanted to ask more but she didn’t. Instead, she just watched as Kyro moved the vial toward his lips.

Pausing there, Kyro met her gaze. “I have to drink this.”

She glanced from him to Rokan.

“Okay...I get it. You need it for your wound.” Her gaze still bounced between them both. “What is it?”

“It will put me to sleep.”

She still looked nonplussed.

“Promise me you will be here when I wake.”

“Of course.” Her hands found his and she squeezed his hand between hers lightly. “I’ll be here.” Her gaze moved from him to Rokan, the confusion replaced with sincerity.

“You two don’t have to worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

25

EVREN SAT in the chair she’d pulled up beside where Kyro lay.

He was sleeping now, his eyes closed, his breathing steady.

As she stared at him, she couldn’t help but feel a heavy sense of sadness at what he had been through. She couldn’t imagine how deeply she’d have been affected watching her mother get raped by those unforgiving toads, the Tasqals, and to watch her father kill her sibling and then himself...it would have completely broken her.

Getting taken from Earth had almost broken her. She’d only found the will to continue, to adapt, from her sheer need to rediscover her purpose in life.

But Kyro...he had kept on going when everything had been ripped away from him.

Everything.

And he had been just a baby.

As she looked at him, sleeping peacefully, she couldn’t help that her respect for him was growing.

So much made sense now.

The way he always seemed apart from his other brothers...how he hadn’t contacted her...it all made sense.

Taking a fresh piece of wet floofy material, Evren placed it on Kyro’s forehead and patted it lightly, her gaze drifting down to his closed eyes.

To think that this wasn’t even his real face—that idea took some getting used to.

She didn’t care what he really looked like.

It was his soul that mattered, and the more she got to know him, the more she fell in love with what he was inside.

Her hand stilled on his forehead at that thought.

Love?

Was she falling in love with him?

Had she fallen in love with him?

No. She just liked his friendship. His lame jokes that pulled her from her deep, sad thoughts and made her remember to laugh again. His awkwardness that made her giggle. The way he took things she said literally. The way he stared at her when he thought she wasn’t looking...

Oh God...she loved him.

That realization felt like a weight lifted from her shoulders, as if her subconscious had known all along.

She loved him.

God, she was such an idiot.

So much time wasted.

How had she not realized the skunkat that had been with her every day at the shuttle yard had been him?

Thinking about it now, it had been so obvious. The eyes.

Those gray eyes were undoubtedly Kyro’s eyes.

He’d been staring at her just as intently as when he was in his usual form. It was no wonder the animal had reminded her of him.

But she couldn’t have known. Never in a million years would she have imagined such a being like him existed. It had taken enough to believe in Yce’s psychic powers and she knew Crex had some strange powers as well, but Kyro...she never would have guessed.

He was just the strange nerdy one that she liked.

The nerdy one that liked to stare at her, with such deep looks that made her feel special.

It wasn’t like the stares she got from Shive. Even the thought of Shive made her shudder. Thinking about it, Kyro’s stares made her tingle inside. His stares reminded her that she was a woman.

Even now, the thought brought a smile to her lips that made her freeze again, her eyes widening.

Fuck.

She had fallen really deep.

If he could hear her thoughts right now...

Now, that thought made her jerk her gaze to his only to find him staring right back at her.

Shit, can he read thoughts too? Thought he said he wasn’t psychic. Evren stared at him. Can you hear this?

“You really stayed.” Kyro blinked.

What about this? Can you hear this? I am totally freaking out right now.

“Is something the matter?” Kyro’s head tilted as he regarded her.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Whew.

“Nothing.”

She wasn’t ready to discuss with him that what she felt for him went way past being platonic. She hadn’t even come to terms with it herself yet.

Kyro grimaced slightly, his hand going to his wound.

Realizing she still had her hand on his forehead, she removed it a bit too hastily. “You should let me take a look at that. I’m no doctor but I’ve had to dress several of my own wounds while on the field.”

She could feel the weight of his gaze but for the life of her, she couldn’t look back at him.

When did she become so shy? Oh, wait, exactly when she realized the reason she’d been so knotted up about not hearing from him was that she freakin’ missed him in a whole lot of ways.

“You’ve been injured many times?” There was a note of concern in his voice that she didn’t miss.

“A lot, yea.” Taking his hand in hers, she tried to ignore the warmth of his skin as she moved his hand from over the wound. “Sometimes I have to...had to go out into the field in forests...jungles...underwater...to gather different samples. That’s the part of my job that I loved the most. But I’m kinda clumsy. My grandma used to say I fell over my own two feet more than a newborn giraffe. I just lacked the cuteness.”

“Falling over one’s own feet...I do not see how this is possible. It would require extreme lack of coordination.”

Evren shot him a look, a smile underneath it. “Yes, Kyro. Meet Evren, the girl with an extreme lack of coordination.”

Kyro opened his mouth to say something and then, seeming to rethink, he closed it.

“Say it.” Evren narrowed her eyes at him playfully.

“You and your jokes have something in common.”

That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say and her brows immediately furrowed in confusion.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You both fall flat.”

Evren’s mouth fell open. “What?” She laughed out the word before leaning back with a chuckle. “You jerk! I would punch you right now if you weren’t wounded.”

Kyro smiled for a second, his face lighting up in this rarest of occasions, before he sobered.

It was the first time she’d seen him really smile and it caused her to stop and stare at him for a few moments.

“I can see it in your eyes, sweet Evren. Do not be sad for me.”

That was enough to make her sober up as well, and as her smile died on her lips, she averted her gaze from his.

“I’m not sad for you. I’m just...”

“You must forget everything you saw and everything I told you.”

“I—”

“You must forget. It is the only way.”

Her head rose and fell in a nod, but it felt heavy, as if it was bearing the gravity of his words.

“I cannot bear for another person to suffer because of me.”

She understood. That didn’t make it easier though.

Nodding once more, she peeled back his bandages, pausing as she looked at the wound.

“It’s almost healed. How?”

“The serum,” Kyro offered as way of explanation. “I am healed. So you will leave?” There was a note of loss in his voice. “You must leave and put this all behind you.”

“I can’t leave you like this!” She pressed down the edge of the bandage once more, sealing the healing wound.

“Why? You must.”

Evren blinked. There had to be a quick excuse she could come up with. “It’s a human thing,” she lied, her eyes glued to the bandage. “A human custom. I really do have to stay, even if you don’t want me to.”

She could feel that he was searching her face trying to determine if she was telling the truth.

“I read of no such human custom—”

“Well, buddy, your data is wrong.”

When she finally looked at him, he had his eyes narrowed but in those gray pits there was a thin line of uncertainty.

“The more you are around me, the more danger I put you in. The more you know, the more danger you are in. I don’t... It is not my intention to bring you harm in any way.”

“I know that, Kyro. I understand the risks but hey, no one will know I know because I won’t say anything. I can keep a secret.”

“It is not that simple.” His hand covered hers on his side. “This has never happened to us before. We have never had another discover our secret. It is evident to me now that we have become careless.”

“I’m surprised none of your brothers have found out. None of them visit randomly?”

“No. They do not.”

“Ah.”

Raising his upper body off the sleeping area, his gaze became intense and focused.

“Evren...” Her name flowed like molasses from his lips—dark and thick. “If my secret is revealed someday, they will come for the people closest to me.”

“But that means everyone you work with is in danger. Your brothers. The other humans...”

“No.” A sigh left his frame as he rested back on the sleeping area, his gaze focused on the roof above. “You misunderstand. I haven’t been clear.” Even without him focusing on her, she could see the pain in his gaze. He was thinking of times past—times of long ago. His father, mother, and brother. He was thinking about his family.

“They won’t come for my brothers. They will come for the person closest to me. The person I care about the most.”

Evren blinked.

“Kyro...”

As she said his name, Kyro turned his head to focus his gaze on hers once more.

“That person is you, Evren.”

It felt like her heart just grew ten sizes and belly-flopped on its fat ass.

“And that is why I can never come close to you. Why I shouldn’t come close to you. I would rather not have you at all than to have you and lose you.”

KYRO WATCHED as she stared at him, her mouth going slack.

Underneath his hand, her fingers trembled a little.

Had he said too much?

He had a tendency of going overboard when it came to Evren, doing things he never usually did. And this might be just another instance to add to the list.

Why in Polvrak’s name had he just admitted the one thing he had fought not to admit to himself.

Steeling himself for her response, he waited. But instead of asking him if he had gone insane, she only smiled, one so soft, he almost missed it.

In those blue eyes of hers was a swirl of emotions that made him afraid—afraid because he saw something in there that he dared not even imagine for himself.

“Evren?”

What was he thinking letting out the thoughts of his life-organ so easily? She didn’t even know him...the real him. She didn’t even know what he looked like. And then there was the fear that if he did reveal himself to her, she wouldn’t like what she saw.

She smiled again, catching him off guard this time, before she stood suddenly. “I’ll go get some more wet cotton—I mean wet...whatever that material is.” She motioned to the oofla on his head before heading to the washing area. His hand fell to his side, missing the presence of hers underneath it.

This was it.

She was going to follow his advice and move as far away from him as possible before it was too late.

It was his advice, so why did it make him ache so deep within? Why did the thought of her leaving make him feel pain worse than the physical wound in his side?

If she left...he would miss everything.

He would miss her smiles...her lame jokes...the way her eyes twinkled when she accomplished something...the way her heart warmed his just by being in her presence alone.

He was going to miss all of that.

But there was no other choice.

As the sense of loss descended upon him, he accepted it.

It wasn’t the first time he would feel such loss. He’d been feeling it ever since the reality of his future had been set upon him as a young Vorti.

Loss was embedded in his life.

There was no way to escape it apart from destroying the Tasqals and rewriting how his people were perceived across the galaxy.

A monumental task.

She was in the washing area for far longer than usual and he understood why.

He’d give her all the time and space that she needed.

It shouldn’t be hard for him to move on once she was gone. He’d already been trying to keep his distance. This was just another level to that.

Kyro forced the thoughts to run through his mind, repeating them over and over again.

She had no ties to him. No feelings for him that held any gravity. No reason to falter in her decision.

Kyro took a deep breath, grimacing slightly as the new skin that was forming stretched over the wound. As his body settled back down, Evren walked into the room, her footsteps halting.

She caught his attention and not in the usual way. This time, there was something different about her, a strange look covering her smooth features as she walked back over to him.

Confused, he tracked her as she walked around to the other side of the sleeping area. As she climbed atop the bedding, crawling over to him on all fours till she was beside him, she settled back on her legs, sitting on them.

Replacing the wet oofla cloth on his forehead, she stared down at him.

Something about the way she was looking at him was making his pulse begin to quicken.

“Ev—”

“Shh.” One of her fingers was suddenly pressing down on his lips—a human action that should not have halted the words coming from his mouth but somehow, he found he could not speak.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this whole experience—you know...getting abducted, almost killed, almost raped—is that life is short.”

Immediately, a little ball of hope began to form deep in his bowels, and he knew he should stuff it back down and forget about it. Even as he dared not to hope, he could feel his pulse quickening, his lifeblood running through his veins at increasing speed.

“I don’t want to stop living. I want to experience it all. And right now,” he realized too late that her gaze was fastened on his lips, and even as she finished what she was saying, his eyes widened when her head dipped.

“Right now, Kyro, I want to experience you.” Her words were just a whisper, gliding over his lips and causing a tingle before her soft lips touched his. “Just for one night, before we say goodbye, let me experience you.”

Her lips were the softest most supple thing he had ever had against his mouth and he found himself holding back a groan of appreciation as her skin pressed down on his.

It took everything in his power not to wrap his arms around her, flip her underneath him, and punish her for making him feel so good in the sweetest of ways.

He wanted to hear her cry his name, wanted to hear moans of ecstasy coming from these same soft lips as he claimed her, made her his, for the rest of eternity.

This kiss did not feel like goodbye. It felt like the start of much, much more things to come.

“This time, I don’t want you to sleep with me because I was having bad dreams. I want us to sleep together because I want to feel you there with me. I want to be with you.” Her words brushed against his lips like a soft feather and the groan he’d been holding back found its way vibrating from his throat as he finally gripped her and pulled her farther into him.

She wanted them to sleep together.

Pity she didn’t know; the last thing on his mind was sleeping.

Despite that logic was screaming for him to pull away, he held her tight.

Just one night and then they’d part ways.

One night.

“Will you do that for me? For us?”

Kyro gulped. How could he say no?

26

“WILL you do that for me? For us?”

She’d really asked him to throw away caution and be with her?

For a second, she thought he would turn her down but as soon as she said the words, Kyro pulled her tighter against him.

Her breasts squashed against his chest as she stretched out over him. He felt so hard, the muscles underneath his skin so tight that she whimpered a little at how exquisite he felt.

She had never imagined just feeling her body against his would make her feel so good, as if her entire being was on high alert anticipating what was about to come next.

“Kyro...” Her murmur of his name had him groaning against her lips as he crushed his lips against hers, their kiss becoming more frantic by the second.

His tongue played with hers, making her eyes roll back in her head as butterflies that had laid dormant since her teens suddenly awakened and began dancing for the drug that was his lips.

“Kyro,” she breathed again when he finally released her. Their breathing was coming in harsh gasps and she couldn’t help but grin at him. “Wh-where did you learn to kiss like that?”

“Did I do it incorrectly?” His gaze fastened to her lips and she could see the heat growing within his eyes as he looked at her. “Should I try again?”

Without answering, she took his upper lip between her teeth for a harmless nibble and a yelp escaped her when his arms tightened around her frame and she was suddenly flipped, her back pressing into the bedding as Kyro braced himself over her.

His eyes were wild now—a look she’d never witnessed in them before—and his lips crashed on hers again.

His kiss was like chocolate ice cream after a hard day of work, making her want to put her legs up and roll her eyes back as his mouth melted into hers. As Kyro moved, pressing her down into the bedding, she realized she had lifted her legs, wrapping them around his torso and pulling him in farther.

As her eyes closed and she surrendered to her emotions, she could only feel. One of his hands caressed her cheek so gently even though his lips were so insistent, telling her that even though she was pinned beneath him, this was him practicing self-control and the thought thrilled her. A moan tumbled from her middle as his other hand slipped down her sides, to land at the juncture of her hips and her buttocks. He gripped her there, holding her firmly against him as his tongue delved into her mouth.

When she met his tongue with hers, his deep rumble vibrated against her and she felt him twitch in his trousers. That twitch made her moan again like a wanton woman. The promise of that twitch...fuck, it was making her wet.

She wanted this more than she’d even realized she did.

She wanted him to fuck her, give it to her deep, make her scream, make her feel again.

She wanted to come while she was screaming his name into the sheets, her ass in the air as he hammered into her from behind.

“Kyro,” she begged.

Her heart was beating so wildly she could hardly breathe. It was only she and him. Nothing else mattered at this moment.

Nothing.

No Tasqals. No past pain.

Kyro’s breath came hard and fast as he lifted his lips from hers.

“Evren, I can’t—”

Fear gripped her at those words, the world pausing and standing still for a moment as she waited for him to continue.

This was it.

He was going to tell her they couldn’t do this. That she was wrong to push him. That she was making things harder for them.

“I can’t stop.” Kyro gulped. “I can’t—”

“I don’t want you to stop.” Pressing a hand against his cheek, she looked deep into his eyes. “I don’t want you to stop,” she repeated.

His throat moved in a gulp. “Evren...”

“I want you, Kyro.” A small laugh bubbled within her. “I think I need you...and I think you need me too.”

There was still hesitation on his part as he eased up farther off her, a deep hurt reflected in his eyes. Her own heart clenched as she watched him move.

“It does not feel right sharing this experience with you like this.” He motioned to himself. He was looking down at himself now, his eyes reflecting he was in deep thought.

It took a few seconds for her to get his meaning.

“Can you shift into the real you? The way you really look?” The thought made a tingle of excitement and anticipation run through her veins and she was pretty sure there were goosebumps all along her arms. His hesitation, however, made a ball of worry begin to form in her belly.

“Kyro?”

“You would still want to spend these last few moments with me if I don’t look like this?”

She didn’t understand what he was saying. Of course, she would still want to.

“This is the Kyro you know. You do not know Kh’Ziami Ch’Mora Ch’Anan.”

“What do you mean? Is that...is that your real name?”

His slight nod had her eyes growing larger.

“Say it again for me,” she whispered.

“Kh’Ziami,” he said. “Ch’Mora Ch’Anan.”

There were guttural sounds she wasn’t sure she could replicate but his name sounded...beautiful.

“Show me...” she whispered. “Show me who you really are...”

KYRO STIFFENED above her as his eyes searched hers.

He was hesitant.

Of course, he was.

What she had asked of him was something he had done for no one before.

She wanted to see him, wanted to see who he really was but most of all, in this brief moment that they would have together, she wanted him to feel loved and celebrated for his true self, not what he pretended to be.

He didn’t say a word, but he kept looking at her, his hesitation speaking volumes.

“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered. “You won’t scare me.”

“You seem so sure.”

“I am.”

Kyro tilted his head slightly, his gaze still searching hers. “You have no idea what my real appearance is. It could be...anything.”

She hadn’t thought about that. What if he looked like nightmare fuel? What if he had tentacles? Scales like a pangolin? Slimy like a slug?

He must have noticed her hesitation because he asked, “Are you scared?”

“No,” she steeled herself. “We must do this. For us.”

Searching her eyes some more, he bowed his head. “Very well.”

His head down, Evren stared at the top of his bald dome and waited, the tension and anxiety within her finally building to a level where she was starting to hear her pulse in her ears.

Waiting, she stared at him, her eyes roving over what she could see of his body. But he had gone silent. So silent, he wasn’t even moving.

“Kyro?” Mild panic set in. “Kyro, are you all right?”

His head moved in a slow nod but still he didn’t raise his gaze to hers.

“Are you changing?” she whispered. She still couldn’t see any changes.

Eyes focused on the dome of his head, she let her gaze wander down his spine towards the waist of his trousers.

Nope. No changes.

She was just about to call his name again when he lifted his head and looked at her.

She almost didn’t see it at first, but it was there. The skin all over his face was...shimmering? Yes, definitely. It was almost as if it was filled with small bioluminescent stars, like a whole galaxy was distributed in his skin cells. It was a dull shimmer, but it was there nonetheless and as her mouth fell open in an ‘O’, she realized that the shimmer was extending over his entire body.

Slowly, and it was almost as if she was imagining it happening, his head began to change. Instead of being mostly smooth on top, the bones of his cranium became slightly more pronounced, the frontal bone becoming more outlined.

Kyro’s throat moved as he watched her, and she could only look up at him with awe at just that one change.

“Continue?” he asked, a note of hesitation still there.

She realized then that he was doing it slowly for her benefit. He was scared of frightening her. But watching the change happen slowly like this was attracting her to him even more.

Swallowing hard, her wide eyes scoured his face looking for more changes as she nodded and answered a soft “yes.”

Kyro’s throat moved again.

As she stared at him, she saw the bridge of his nose begin to move. Instead of his bone straight nose, his bridge grew wider than it was before and by the sides of his head, his ears became pointier.

When that didn’t have her running through the door, he rose to kneel over her, just as his jawline became sharper and more pronounced. His skin now was also taking on a green tint, like the color of seaweed and there was a faint pattern all over him too. A pattern of swirls like an intricate tattoo underneath his skin.

Gray, slanted eyes now looked back at her as he paused, wariness in his gaze.

“Go on,” she whispered.

Down his chest, ridges formed around his muscles, only making them more pronounced.

Holding up one of his hands, he looked at it and drew her attention as his fingers morphed from five to three, a thumb and two large forefingers.

He stopped then, his hand falling to his side as he looked at her, his skin still shimmering.

“Is this you?” she whispered, raising herself on her elbows to look at him.

He was more handsome than she’d expected him to be. Even more handsome than his gray form. She wanted to touch him, feel him, but it was obvious he was still battling with his own emotions. “Is this the real you?”

Kyro nodded. “All that’s left of me,” he said. Turning the back of his hand, he ran a finger from his wrist down to his elbow. “My chets used to be here.”

“Chets? What are those?” She couldn’t believe she was speaking so normally because in her head it was like a bomb had just gone off. Even though her voice was so calm, she knew she was gaping at him, her mouth open, her eyes wide.

It’s that feeling when you become so shocked, it is too much for your mind to comprehend and you are stunned to calmness.

He seemed to be thinking of a way to describe what he’d referred to because his eyes grew distant for a minute. “Like blades, sharpened bone. For protection. Defense.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “Why are they not there anymore?”

He didn’t answer immediately, and it seemed as if he wasn’t going to. “Vorti remove their chets when hiding, to not give ourselves away. Chets tend to rise on their own when we are provoked. It is a distinct characteristic that would make anyone know we are not whatever we assimilate to be.”

“You had to mutilate yourself?” She couldn’t help the horror that reflected in her eyes. It was like pulling one’s own fingernails out. She couldn’t imagine how painful that must have been. “Do they grow back?”

“For some.” A sad smile moved briefly over his lips. “Mine just haven’t had a reason to.”

Evren took his words in stride before turning her attention back to him. It was strange looking at him. The only thing that told her she was looking at Kyro was his eyes. He had the same gray eyes.

The same eyes that were in the skunkat and the same eyes in the gray body he’d projected. Those same eyes were looking at her now from a completely different body.

“How do you do this? I still… I’m looking at you but it still seems impossible,” she murmured.

She watched his throat move. He still seemed hesitant…guarded.

“My skin,” he started, “has light-sensitive cells that can change pigment.” He paused. “I can copy. Camouflage.” As if to demonstrate, he changed his skin to match her complexion. The change was so sudden, her eyes bugged out.

When he changed back, she blinked at him. My God.

“Go on,” she whispered.

But he paused once more, searching her face as if he believed she’d shrink away with each word he said.

“Go on, I want to know.”

Kyro’s throat moved again.

“My bones, my cells…I can make myself smaller. Bigger,” he said.

“Just by thought?”

He nodded. “Just by thought.”

It should be nerve-wracking but, instead, she couldn’t help but stare at him in awe.

He let her look at him, allowing her to take in her eyeful before she noticed he began changing back, the gray slowly creeping in.

“Wh-why are you changing back?”

“Do you not prefer the Kyro you know? I have not seen myself, my true self, in decades. I do not expect you to accept me.”

“Oh, Kyro.” She rose and wrapped her arms around his neck. Planting her lips against his, she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, closing her eyes as she did so. “Don’t change back unless you want to. I would love for you to remain like this, your true self. But I won’t force you to. It’s ultimately your decision. I’ll be here either way.” She smiled, burying her face into his neck. His unique pine scent was even stronger now that he was in his original form.

A growl rumbled through his body and then they were falling back into the bedding.

“Evren,” he groaned, her name coming out as if he was experiencing some deep emotional ache.

“Kyro?”

Her arms were untangled from his neck in an instant they were pinned above her head. With one movement, his lips were on hers again, ravishing her and making a moan tumble from her lips unto his.

When she finally got the chance to look at him, she realized he hadn’t changed back. He’d remained in his true form.

His message was clear.

For this moment they had together, he was going to be with her wholly.

It was a gift she hadn’t expected to get but one that told her that after tonight, leaving him would be one of the hardest things she ever did in her entire existence.

“Hello, Kh’Ziami Ch’Mora Ch’Anan.”

27

“VIDI...” Kyro murmured. “Engage Earth simulation 1506.”

He was looking at her with such intensity she could feel her breath picking up.

At his words, the light in the room suddenly dimmed and candles appeared out of nowhere, lighting up the room in a dim glow.

“Vidi?” Evren squinted.

“Artificial intelligence synced with my datapad and this room.”

She couldn’t help but marvel at the candles lighting up the space. It looked like a room decorated for birthday or Valentine’s Day sex.

“It’s a simulation,” Kyro said, as he buried his face into her neck and inhaled deeply. “Something I read humans did in times like this.”

Evren fought to clear her throat.

It was hard concentrating as he ran his nose slowly up along the curve of her neck, his breath tickling her skin.

“Times like what?” she croaked, biting her bottom lip between her teeth as she did. She was feeling all kinds of ways. Deep down between her legs, she could feel she was already wet from mere anticipation and the way he was pinning down her hands was only alerting every nerve ending in her body that he meant business.

“So, we’re doing this...” She closed her eyes, swallowing hard. “We’re sleeping together?”

He rose his head over hers then, the bridges of their noses touching. “Sweet, Evren...I do not intend to sleep.”

A chuckle left her lips as she stared back into his brilliant grays. “Back on Earth, when I imagined aliens, I imagined anal probes and little green men.” Her gaze fell to his lips and she found herself swallowing hard again. “I didn’t imagine this.”

A rumble went through him again and she almost gasped when she finally rose her eyes and looked into his. For the first time since she knew him, there was a devilish gleam there. One that made her toes curl in anticipation and a shiver of pleasure run down her spine.

“Kyro?”

Nibbling on her bottom lip, Kyro kissed her before moving his lips along her cheek to her ear.

His voice was but a whisper, but his words were loud and clear.

“I’m the only alien who will be probing you this night.”

Evren’s breath caught in her throat.

HER SKIN FELT soft underneath his lips and he was having a hard time not running his lips across every inch of her as he inhaled her deeply.

She smelled better, tasted better, than anything he had ever had before.

And he wanted more.

Nibbling the lobe of her ear lightly, he heard her gasp as a shiver ran through her body.

Against his chest, he could feel the hard buds of her nipples pressing against him.

He wanted to see all of her, feel all of her. Releasing her hands, he lifted the edge of her shirt and pulled it over her head, devouring her with his eyes as soon as the clothing was no longer there to conceal her top from him.

A pink tinge colored her cheeks as he stared at her and for a moment he was confused. The pink tinge was supposed to mean she was embarrassed but she had nothing to be embarrassed about.

She was perfect.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the double mounds on her chest. He wanted to place his mouth over them and at the same time, he wanted to take them underneath his palm. He was so concentrated on them that he didn’t see her hands snake down to the waist of her shorts. His attention was only caught when more skin began to be exposed in his peripheral vision and then he had to ease up from over her some more, just so he could take her all in.

His throat suddenly felt dry, like how it felt when he went hours without drinking but something was telling him this wasn’t a dryness that occurred because of usual thirst. Only one thing could quench it and he was looking straight at her.

She was pink all over and it was almost unreal. Her entire body, soft and devoid of fur except for the small triangle nestled between her legs.

A breath shuddered through him.

She was made for licking and sucking on.

He was going to memorize every inch of her body, every line, every curve. She would be put in his memory bank forever—a treasure he would never forget.

The lights simulated by the AI only made her look more sensual, as if her body was begging him to kiss and nibble on it.

Moving down her body as he crawled off the sleeping area, he let his nose follow the soft brush on his lips all the way down to her leg, her soft whimpers coming to him every time his skin touched hers.

When he reached her ankles, he placed a kiss on them before rising to stare down at her again.

He could feel himself swell in his trousers.

“I’ve never had anyone look at me the way you are right now.” A nervous chuckle followed her words.

“I’ve never before seen anything quite as beautiful...tempting...like you,” he replied, surprising even himself that he’d said it out loud. He might as well continue then. “So soft all over. Every cell that makes me who I am is telling me to bend you over and thrust into you hard.”

“Then do it...”

Her challenge made a growl tumble from within him.

No.

He would pleasure her first before he took an ounce of pleasure himself.

That was going to be difficult. He already felt himself leaking from his tip just looking at her.

Growling, he bent over her once more, face between her legs as he nibbled the inside of her thigh.

A soft sound left her lips as he moved higher, pulling her legs apart to accommodate his frame as he nibbled his way up.

He could smell her arousal, thick and sweet, calling to him and when he turned his head to bury his nose in the thin layer of fur above her entrance, the scent was almost overwhelming.

He’d read about this.

Human females greatly enjoyed it when their males pleasured them with their mouths. From what he’d read, it was a highly pleasurable experience for the female. But nothing he read had prepared him for the pleasure he would receive just from being so close to her center.

She seemed to be trembling underneath him in anticipation of what he was about to do but he was going slow for a reason. He wanted to enjoy every moment as if it was his last—because it was his last.

His first taste of her had him groaning and burying his face deeper between her thighs, his tongue running along her slit before he dipped between her folds.

Qrak, her taste was unlike anything he’d ever had in his mouth and he already knew he was addicted.

His arms snaked underneath her legs to grip the cheeks of her ass and pull her into him, her cry of ecstasy only spurring him on.

She was wet already, her juices coating her opening and he quickly lapped them up, taking every last drop into his mouth as he kissed and sucked on her soft folds.

Flattening his tongue, he licked from the top of her slit right down to the bottom and she gripped the bedding, calling out his name.

Her legs tightened around his head, the sides of her thighs squeezing against either side of his face and he licked and sucked her, the sound of his ministrations and her cries filling the room.

She was crying out his name and squirming against him and he knew she was already close.

Spreading her soft lips with his tongue, he found the little bud hidden there. He already knew it was a sensitive spot and he attacked it, closing his mouth around it and sucking hard.

Evren bucked against his face, grinding into him harder and he couldn’t help but moan into her slit.

She was taking from him as much as he was giving her, and he had never encountered anything sexier.

He was still sucking her nub, alternating between running his tongue through her folds and the little bud, as the last of the orgasm rocked through her.

When her hands finally relaxed on the bedding and the squeeze of her thighs loosened, he allowed himself to release her ass.

He wanted her open for this.

“Kyro?” She was breathless, looking down at him through glazed eyes.

He didn’t have time to speak. He wasn’t done yet.

“Ky—Oohhuuuuuaaann.” Her eyes rolled back as he spread her lips with his fingers and lapped at her again. She could hardly squirm now for his arms were resting on her thighs, his elbows holding her down. “Kyrooooo.” Her upper body began to shake, her legs trembling underneath him. The quicker he lapped, the harder she shook.

He wondered what would happen if he—

“Oh fuckkkk!!!”

“Mmm.” His groan made his tongue vibrate in her pussy as he pushed it deep inside her, his eyelids going slack as he felt her tighten around him.

She was even sweeter deep inside her core and he found himself pushing his tongue deeper, lengthening it, thickening it as he thrust into her, his nose pressing into her softness each time he thrust in, her wetness coating his tongue each time he pulled out.

“Your tongue! Your fucking tongue is shifting inside me. I can feel it!”

She sounded as if she was close to tears and that made him freeze.

Had he gone too far?

Releasing her, he lifted his head, waiting the second it took for her to open her eyes.

“Don’t stop.” The look in her eyes was of one possessed. “Don’t stop. Please...”

“Are you sure?” The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. If he was—

“Yes! Please. Do that thing with your tongue again.”

The rosy tinge returned to her cheeks. If she wanted him to, he would gladly return to his tongue to her sweet, hot cunt.

Dipping his head once more, Kyro flattened his tongue and licked her. Fresh juices had gathered around her slit and the taste made him groan.

As he slipped his tongue past her folds and deep inside her, he grabbed hold of her hips, loving the way her body seemed to have the perfect curve for his hands to rest.

With one deft motion, he flipped her, so she was above him, straddling his head with his tongue still deep inside her.

“Oh!” Her surprise quickly turned into lust as she cried out again at the feel of his tongue moving inside her.

Pulling her thighs toward his head, he held her there in place, his tongue still moving in and out of her as he lapped on her juices and brought her to another shattering climax.

Leaning over and bracing on the wall behind him, her entire body rose and fell with huge breaths.

“I want to make you feel good too.”

No.

This was all for her.

Making her cry out in such pleasure was giving him pleasure also.

Slipping his tongue from within her, he flattened it and began running it along her cunt again.

She was shaking above him, her entire body trembling and when he took her small bud in his mouth, she cried out once more.

“Kh’Ziami,” she whispered.

His name.

No one had called him that in eons. And though her small mouth and tongue couldn’t get the syllables completely right, his name had never sounded more beautiful to his ears.

Qrak.

He was Kh’Ziami. How long ago had he forgotten?

“Say it...” he said, his cool breath brushing over her hot sex. “Say my name again.”

As he took her throbbing bud into his mouth once more, a final orgasm crashed through her as her head lolled forward and their gazes met.

“Kh’Ziami!”

28

KYRO WOKE WITH A START, his heart hammering in his chest.

His secret was out. He was putting someone in danger.

Eyes falling to the softness nestled against him, he let a breath shudder through his frame.

The lights from the simulation still warmed the room in a dim glow, playing over her cheeks as she slept against him.

Looking down at her now, he couldn’t help but tighten his arms around her a little. She’d fallen against him, completely exhausted after he’d brought her to her peak over and over again till her body could take no more.

She was more than he could have ever dreamed of. Even with this, this “cuddling” as she’d called it, she was giving him more than he’d ever allowed himself to experience in his entire life.

And he treasured it.

This little moment...if it was all he ever had for the rest of his days, it would stand above all other moments and all other experiences. Nothing was better than holding her here, right now, in peace. Putting the worry of the future and consequences behind them for just this time.

One night.

That’s all they’d decided to give themselves. The next few hours were going to be the most difficult hours he’d ever lived through.

He already felt the resistance building within him.

One night wasn’t going to be enough. They would have to part ways and he wasn’t ready.

How could he say goodbye when she woke up to leave?

He should. But could he?

Moving his hand to his side, he felt the bandage and put a little pressure against it, testing whether his wound was healed yet.

The healing serum should have pulled most of the weight and with the intensity of the lights that had been on in his quarters, his body should have had the resources needed to heal him quickly.

The pressure he put on the wound created no ache and he was thankful for that. Life was about to carry on as usual. In the past, that would have made him happy enough to anticipate the next day.

But now, glancing down at Evren, life resuming as usual didn’t feel like a good deal.

Easing off the sleeping area, he made sure to slide from under Evren’s sleeping form with enough caution so as not to wake her. As much as he didn’t want to leave the warmth of their entwined bodies, he needed to relieve himself and prepare her a meal.

She’d taken the time to stay with him and tend to him. It was the type of care he hadn’t had in years. The least he could do was take care of her too in this little time they had together.

For once in his life, he was letting his guard down and he needed to enjoy every second of it.

When he went to the food preparation area, Rokan was nowhere to be seen and he was thankful for his friend’s absence.

Probably he was roaming the streets as a canee, worrying about the mistake he’d made.

There was much to discuss with Rokan. It wasn’t only himself that would be put in danger if his secret got out. They would both be in trouble.

These troublesome thoughts kept with him as he prepared the meal and when he reentered the bedroom, he stopped in his tracks when he saw his sleeping area empty.

He must have spent longer preparing the food than he’d thought.

His first inclination was that she’d left without him hearing and that thought was swiftly followed by his heart falling in his chest.

Had she really left without saying goodbye?

But as he walked farther into the room, the sound of running water reached his ears.

Setting the food down, his silent footsteps took him to the bathing room and his breath hitched in his throat.

There, in the large metal washing basin, Evren lay with her body covered in water, right up to her shoulders.

Her hair hung damp, framing her face and her skin had a rosy tinge, probably from the water’s warmth...or something else.

For the first time since he’d known her, she looked incredibly relaxed and...happy?

The steam in the room was what hit him next.

She was scalding her skin. He’d had no idea humans went to such lengths to cleanse themselves, but he couldn’t deny the mere sight of her was enough to make his member throb underneath his trousers.

He’d been hard all night, straining against his clothing but he’d refrained from relieving himself. Just holding her had been enough.

She looked up then, as if she sensed him standing there and mild surprise passed through her eyes before her gaze became more pointed, daring...challenging even.

“Want to join me?”

Yes.

Qrak yes.

But his hands had already decided on their own, unfastening his trousers from his waist. As they fell to his feet and he stepped out of them, her gaze fell to his cock and it bobbed, now unrestrained.

He’d never seen hunger in a human’s eyes before. It was there today.

The water was hot as he stepped into it, too hot almost, but he settled into it anyway, displacing the foam she’d created with the soap berries as he sat and faced her, resting his arms on the sides of the bathing vessel.

His legs were stretched on either side of her and he could feel the soft curve of her thighs right up to where they joined with her hips. On the other end, her toes wiggled in the water, brushing over his gonads and causing him to inhale sharply.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her and as her toes touched him again her eyes fastened on the water, causing him to glance down.

There, bobbing as if it was hailing her, the tip of his cock brushed the surface. The sight of himself confirmed what he was feeling. Looking back in her direction, he tried to gauge her response. What was she thinking about?

But when her gaze raked up his body to land finally on his, there was only anticipation there.

Raw, unhidden, anticipation.

He felt himself grow harder with their gazes locked and his cock throbbed again, as Evren looked back at him almost impishly.

He was about to ask what she was doing when she lengthened herself under the water, sinking deeper so her legs stretched farther. The brush of her feet against his gonads, had him gripping the sides of the tub.

FUCK, she wanted him. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted any other man before and that was crazy and...unfortunate.

The one person she felt more for was the one person she couldn’t have.

Pushing the thought away, she cupped his balls between the soles her feet and bit her bottom lip. She’d never been this adventurous—never this forward. But Kyro made her want to do things she’d never done before.

Live for the moment, Evren. Live for the moment.

There was still an ache in her pussy from all the times he’d gotten her off. Never had she imagined that she could climax so many times in one session but she had. And he would have kept going if she hadn’t begged him to stop.

Just like when you go to the beach and stay in the water too long till you can feel the sway of the ocean even after you’ve left the waves, so was the feel of Kyro’s tongue on her cunt.

She could still feel the ghost of his movements there and the thought of how he’d sucked and licked at her opening made her clit engorge and throb.

He was watching her now, his eyes taking in every movement and if she wasn’t aware of the way he gripped the sides of the tub or the way the muscles in his shoulders tensed, she would have thought her feet brushing against his cock was garnering no response.

Dipping lower, her chin now brushing the water’s surface, she stretched her feet farther, cupping them around his shaft.

Her eyes widened a little when she felt the rings at the base of his shaft, several of them. They felt like thick bands of firmness that circled the base of his cock. She couldn’t imagine how they would feel when he buried himself completely within her.

She couldn’t help it. She had to bite her lip as her clit throbbed.

He was thick and he was long. Bigger than the biggest cock she’d seen on Earth and back then she’d been wide-eyed, wondering how such a beast could ever fit in a woman.

Now, she had her feet around one and all she could think of was not whether it would fit but how good it was going to feel trying to make it fit.

The mushroom-like tip of his cock bobbed above the water again.

Shit. This whole “live for the moment” motto was like the cocaine she never took. She was already too addicted.

It was hard work moving her feet up his cock. It required her pulling her legs back toward her and her having a good grip in the slippery bath, but she couldn’t stop—his response was too addictive.

The veins in his hands were straining against his skin with how hard he was gripping the tub and as she pulled her feet right up to his tip, marveling at the size of him, she gripped his tip between her feet, rubbing and squeezing them together softly.

A groan rumbled in his chest and suddenly his arms shot off the side of the tub as he gripped her ankle, spreading her legs in one movement as he moved forward.

Kyro’s lips pressed against hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth as he kissed her. It was a demanding kiss. One that had her throwing her head back as he ravaged her lips.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and she was vaguely aware of him lifting her out the tub and heading somewhere.

When he finally released her lips, his mouth traveled down her neck to find her nipple.

The effect of moving from the hot bath to the cool air and now having his hot mouth covering her nipple had her crying out his name.

When he finally looked at her, there were so many emotions flowing in his gray eyes, and she imagined her own eyes were doing the same.

“Sweet, Evren,” he whispered, resting his forehead on hers. “It will be hard letting you go.”

Evren gulped.

She didn’t want to think about that.

It would make her cry.

She wanted these few moments to last forever.

In just this night, she’d felt more love than she had ever felt in years.

“So hard letting you go.” Kyro frowned, closing his eyes to what she assumed was his pain—because that was exactly what she was feeling right about now. Raw pain.

“Then fuck me like you don’t want to...”

Her whisper had his eyes flying open and she watched, her breath beginning to come in deep and fast, as the sorrow in his gaze was replaced by pure, unbridled lust.

Crashing his mouth against hers once more, Kyro moved forward. She was just aware the bed was behind her because she felt when his legs bumped into it.

In the next movement, his mouth broke away from hers and he was spinning her around.

On hands and knees, her ass in the air, she rested on the bed, anticipation making her gulp.

His fingers pressed into her hips as he held her tight once more and she just had enough warning when she looked over her shoulder and saw him dip, his tongue coming in contact with her pussy in the next second.

She bucked instantly but he held her there, his hand holding her hips firmly as he tongued her.

She was screaming his name in mere seconds after as her climax crashed through her.

Sinking her face into the bedding, she wasn’t sure how she was even able to stay upright. Never had she orgasmed so much in such a short space of time before.

But she wanted more. A lot more.

“I want to feel you, Kyro,” she panted, looking over her shoulder as she did. “Fuck me, Kh’Ziami.”

The sound of her saying his name made something flash in his eyes and he gripped her tighter, one of his hands leaving the curve of her hips for a second before she felt something hard and smoothed brush against her entrance.

Evren’s eyes fluttered closed, a moan coming from her lips.

Just that one touch of his cock, the promise that it made, it had her closing her eyes and gripping the bedding as she readied herself.

He brushed his cock down her slit again, wetting himself with her juices and she heard him inhale deeply.

As he lined up himself with her, she gripped the bedding tighter, squeezing her eyes shut and biting her lips.

The next feeling was pure bliss, making the time she took to prepare herself null.

As Kyro surged forward, his cock moving past her cunt’s resistance and deep within her, stretching her with that initial thrust, her eyes popped open, her mouth formed a gaping ‘O’, and a scream of pleasure pierced the air.

She hoped his roommate didn’t hear her, but she also didn’t care. At that moment, she could only feel and what she could feel was his thick cock all the way inside her.

He’d entered her in one, smooth thrust and as her cunt clenched around him her eyes rolled back in her head.

What was this exquisite feeling?

She’d never felt this before.

This feeling of being so full that even his slightest movement was sending rockets of pleasure straight to her pleasure center.

His hands were on the curve of her hips, kneading her as he waited for her to get accustomed to his girth and then he began to rock forward and back, ever so slightly, the ridges she’d felt earlier popping in and out of her pussy.

They made his girth at the base wider and each time he popped them in and popped them back out, it was as if he was entering her anew again, that popping feeling and the already-fullness making her bite the bedding to refrain from screaming his name.

Kyro began fucking her then, his pace increasing.

Releasing her hips, his hands braced on either side of her body on the bed as he thrust into her. Harder and harder, he slid his cock in and out of her, her wetness making squelching noises as his pace increased.

Climbing up on the bed behind her, he gave himself some leverage and Evren almost screamed as she reached another orgasm just before Kyro began to thrust into her harder.

As he surged forward, over and over again, he leaned over her, burying his face against her neck. He locked his lips there, kissing her so hard she was sure he would leave a bruise, but it felt so good as she rode through the end of her orgasm that she didn’t care for him to stop.

“Kh’Ziamiiii Ch-ch-Moraa Ch-ch-chanan!!” Her entire body was convulsing now, and she couldn’t see anything. She didn’t know if her eyes were open or closed. She could only feel. Her pussy felt like warm, melted honey and there was a fat dick claiming every inch of her.

Kyro’s fat dick.

She felt his fingers on her clit just as another orgasm crashed through her and then she was screaming his name once more.

As Kyro let out a loud roar beside her ear, she felt him shudder above her, his cock jerking stream after stream of his spend within her.

When he finally stopped jerking, Kyro gathered her into his arms and fell on the bed with her encased in his arms.

Neither said a thing.

There was nothing to say.

She was pretty sure she’d lost her voice and she wasn’t even mad about it.

29

KYRO HAD a hand in her hair, playing with the strands absently as he stared into the simulation of candles around them.

She rested in his arms still, not wanting to move.

They’d been in that position for hours, neither breaking the comfortable silence. Neither wanting to bring up the fact this was a mere fleeting moment.

But they had to talk about it.

What he’d revealed today...what they’d done...how would their lives be affected after this?

“So, what happens now?” she finally asked.

Kyro stiffened underneath her and for a few moments, he said nothing.

“We wipe your memory,” he finally said, and his words had her raising her head to look at him.

“We what?”

“There is a device. It can be used to wipe memories of a certain time.”

She didn’t want anything messing with her brain.

“I’m not so sure about that. What if it wipes all my memories and...do we even have to go to that extent? I mean, I wasn’t joking when I said I can keep a secret. I wouldn’t tell anyone and put you in danger.”

Kyro pulled her closer, sadness overcoming his features.

“It’s not that simple, Evren. If you are around the wrong beings and they happen to read your mind and find out about me, then you will be put in mortal danger. You know not the beings to avoid. You’re not aware of ways to block them.”

“Then teach me.”

“No.” His voice was forceful. “I will not. The only way to ensure you are not hurt is if you do not know about this secret. It is a curse. A weight I do not wish for you to carry.”

His shoulders were set. His gaze forward.

He wasn’t going to budge on this.

And she understood, a little. She hadn’t considered the fact that there were mind-reading aliens out there. What if she put him in danger without realizing it?

Shoulders slumping, silence enveloped them for the next few minutes as the thoughts battled in her head.

Everything within her told her they could find a way, but logic said the best way would be to do what he said. To forget.

She couldn’t turn back now. They’d made an unsaid deal when she’d told him she wanted to spend just one night.

This was based on her own stipulations.

She had to push through and see it to the end.

Tears formed in her eyes as she nodded.

“Is the device safe?”

Kyro swallowed hard, his form still rigid.

“I would never do anything to hurt you, Evren. The device is safe. It is illegal tech, but Rokan managed to snag one on a raid once.” He looked down at her. “I would calibrate it to only remove memory of me.”

What?

Hearing it made it all the more horrible.

“No.”

“Yes. It is the only way.”

It can’t be.

But she nodded again.

He wasn’t going to budge. He wanted her to forget him and truth was, she couldn’t live with herself if she was the reason he came to harm.

For his entire life, he’d hid his true self. Who was she to tell him now was the time to fight back? Who was she to take his choices away from him?

“Okay, I’ll do it.” The words were reluctant ones. “Now?”

“No.” He pulled her closer. “Rest now. Tomorrow is the day you forget about me.”

30

SOMEWHERE ON THE Restitution base

“REPORT.”

“The human has been in the Borxclan’s quarters, your excellence. I have not been able to extract her.”

The silence on the other line spoke volumes. Between the plans for the shipment, the extraction had been pushed back to allow for the best chance of being successful.

“I am not amused by your incompetence. Retrieve the human in the next two turns. Your health depends on it.”

“Two turns? Sire—”

“Silence! You dare to deny me?!”

“No, your excellence. Never.”

“Two turns. Or I will have pieces of your own body delivered to me one by one.”

There was a sharp intake of breath.

“Yes, your Excellence.”

31

KYRO AWOKE with a feeling of dread.

The natural light in his room told him one thing: today was the day to say goodbye to his future. Today was the day he said goodbye to the one person he loved.

As his eyes fluttered open he looked down.

Still naked and entwined with him, she felt perfect. She was looking up at him now and something inside him cracked.

This had been a bad idea.

How was he to say goodbye when he would never experience this again? He loved the way she looked at him, the way she made him feel.

Even in his actual form, she made him feel...normal.

He’d forgotten what that felt like.

Her lips met his as she kissed him lightly and Kyro fought the urge to assault her mouth with his and keep her in bed all day.

He could do that.

They could do it.

They could run away. Live underground or on some lone satellite. Be together.

The Tasqals wouldn’t find them and they’d be happy.

But even as he considered it, a wave of sadness came over him.

How could he even think that? That was no life to live, especially for someone he cared about. He couldn’t subject her to the life of a fugitive.

“TODAY IS THE DAY,” he murmured.

Her eyes met his and it was clear she noted his sadness because it was reflected in hers as well.

“It is for the best,” he whispered, more to himself than to her. He’d have to repeat this for how many years it took for him to not feel this way anymore.

She would have a better life without him. He was going to make sure of it.

“I know.” Her hand rested on his cheek, lightly stroking. “Thank you for showing me the real you.” She sighed. “I know that wasn’t easy for you.”

“I’d do anything for you.”

A sad smile graced her face at that.

It was clear she had no idea how much he cared for her. But it didn’t matter anyway. In a few hours, she wouldn’t remember any of this.

“I don’t want to go...” Her finger covered his mouth as he was about to speak.

“I know,” she said. “I know I have to. It doesn’t mean I want to. I spent the entire night trying to think of ways we could make this work, but I get it. I’m a liability.”

She removed her finger from his lips, looking up at him with such sorrow in her eyes his arms tightened around her.

It wasn’t that simple.

But if that is what it took to keep her safe, then so be it.

“I’m leaving.” She swallowed hard, her gaze falling to his chest. “I’m leaving the base.”

“Leaving? To go where?” His heart, already hurting so, felt another stab go deep.

“The Interplanetary Hub.” She let out a breath. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to go but after all this, even though I won’t remember, it breaks my heart knowing I’ll be here seeing you all the time and remember none of it. Who knows,” she sniffled, “I might even be tempted to get close to you again and we’ll have to go through this once more.”

She was crying. He could feel the wetness against his chest.

Placing a hand underneath her chin, he tilted her face upwards.

It broke his heart to see her like this, knowing he was the reason for her pain.

“Evren...”

“This has been the best few hours of my life, truly.” She wiped a tear. “I just have one thing to ask of you.”

“Anything...” Was it his voice that sounded so choked? As if he could hardly breathe? The pain of loss tearing right through him?

“Let me do it. Let me wipe my memory. I’ll do it when I get to the hub.”

“I...” Allowing her to leave his quarters with her memory still intact was risky. But could he deny her parting wish?

“I’ll do it. You can trust me to. I just...” She exhaled deeply. “I just need a little time...a little more time to cherish these moments.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Kyro knew that he was going to say yes. He could program the device for single use, and he could program the time as well. All she’d have to do was look at the scope and press the button.

“Ok,” he said. “I will input the device settings...but...must you really leave the base?”

She turned in his arms, settling her back against the bedding as she sighed. “It’s not just you...it’s everything. I was planning on leaving before I realized how you felt about me. It’s why I got the job.”

It suddenly made sense now, why she didn’t want to accept his credits. If she was anything like Xul’s Athena or Yce’s Diana, she was independent and stubborn.

Frowning, he thought of the implications of her leaving.

He wouldn’t get to see her anymore. Could he live with that?

“Will leaving make you happy?” he asked.

She hesitated at his question before she looked up at him and shrugged. “The research lab there seems interesting and welcoming. I got an invite from the lead researcher there. His proposal was intriguing.”

A spark of jealously ignited within him but he fought it back. He had no right.

He was the one pushing her away. It was best she had a life without him.

Just then, the door to his room chimed. It had to be Rokan.

Pulling the covering over Evren, he untangled himself from her and slipped into his trousers, shifting into his Borxclan form just in case.

“Yes?” he asked as the door slid open.

Rokan’s concerned gaze drifted to the sleeping area before focusing on him.

“I think you might need this, brother.”

In his outstretched hand was the memory deletion device. It was something they’d agreed on a long, long time ago. If their secret got out, they’d use the device.

Kyro swallowed hard, nodding as he took the device from his friend.

“Thank you, brother.”

“Do you need help?” Rokan shifted on his feet.

This was hard for Rokan too. Neither of them liked what they were about to do.

“No, I can handle it.”

Rokan squeezed his shoulder before moving away.

When Kyro turned back to face her, Evren’s eyes focused on the device in his hand.

“Is that it?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

It took a few moments before a soft, sad smile moved her lips and her gaze met his.

“I guess it’s time for me to go then...”

THE WALK back to her apartment felt as if she was walking with a weight on her shoulders that was holding her down.

There were countless aliens on the streets as usual, yet she was aware of only one.

Kyro walked by her side in his usual gray form and with every step they made together, the more she broke a little inside.

They said nothing, walking together in silence, because there was too much to be said.

When they stopped walking suddenly, she realized she was in front of her door.

Had she really walked all the way with her mind elsewhere?

The presence of her door made her feel even worse.

She had arrived. That meant goodbye.

It was so soon.

Too soon.

Sighing, she activated the door and stared into her apartment as the door slid open.

As soon as she walked over the threshold and the door closed, that was it. He would be gone, and she wouldn’t remember any of what had happened over the last twenty-four hours.

She wouldn’t even remember him or her feelings for him.

For a second, she considered telling him no, but she couldn’t. She was putting him in danger.

As she swallowed hard and stepped over the threshold, she paused and faced him.

“Kyro...”

“Evren...”

She would be strong. She would be strong for this.

“Here is the device.” He opened his hand and outstretched it. A device the size and shape of a pen resting in his palm. He’d already taught her how to use it before they’d left his place.

Taking the little device, she nodded. It was this thing that was going to destroy her world and she wouldn’t even know about it afterward.

Looking up at him, she could feel the wetness threatening to fall from her eyes.

Her wonderful Kyro.

She squeezed the device in her hand.

If it meant protecting him, she’d do anything.

Kyro reached out to touch her then pulled his arm back, the movement making her heart wring in her chest.

But he was right not to touch her. She’d fall apart if he did.

She kept repeating in her head that this was for the best.

Funny how the right thing felt so, so wrong.

“I should go...” he finally said.

Evren nodded. She wanted to scream no but she couldn’t.

His skin tightened as if he was stopping himself from doing something and for a moment, hope flared within her. “Goodbye, Evren.”

Her body jerked in a soundless, tearless sob.

Nodding, she sniffed. “Goodbye, Kyro.”

Pressing the panel on the wall before she could change her mind, the door of the apartment slid closed.

Sliding against the wall, she leaned her head against it, finally allowing the tears to fall.

She’d just lost the one thing in all of this shitfest that felt right. She’d lost him and she was never getting him back.

As the sobs shook her body, she remained there on the floor, letting the emotions rip right through her.

ON THE OTHER side of the door, Kyro stood staring at the flat panel.

Resting his forehead against it, he took a deep breath.

This was for the best.

For the best.

For the best.

He’d have to repeat that a thousand times till it stuck in his head as the truth—no matter how long that took—for his heart was telling him something else.

It was a pity he couldn’t listen.

32

ACTIVATING the screen of her datapad, Evren confirmed once more.

She had enough credits.

Enough to take a shuttle to the Intergalactic Hub. Enough to leave the base behind...enough to leave Kyro behind.

The thought had her swallowing back the regret, fear, and sadness she felt.

She needed to do this.

There wasn’t a choice.

Grabbing the bag she’d packed, mind erasing device deep inside, she took one last look around the apartment she’d never made home but which still felt, nonetheless, like home.

Something she didn’t expect to feel was there, lingering behind her eyes as she looked around the room—she was going to miss this place.

Her bag was clutched in her hand in the next second, her datapad shoved into a pocket of the cargo pants she wore. Keeping her eyes in front of her, she exited the apartment and began making her way to the ship port, walking down the street but not seeing anyone. The general hustle and bustle was lost on her until she reached Kyro’s building.

It took everything within her not to stop and look up to his window. Would he be there looking out? Would she see him one last time?

She couldn’t look. If she looked, she didn’t think she had it in her to continue on her way, and she needed to leave. For both of them...for him...she needed to leave.

As she walked past his building, she could feel a noticeable crack in the shell she was weaving around her heart.

This was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life and the walk to the dock the longest.

Glancing behind her as she went, she knew what she was looking for. But no skunkats trailed her. He hadn’t shifted into the animal to follow her.

When she finally arrived at the dock, it was busier than she’d thought it would be.

Every few seconds, a ship landed only to take off again.

Looking around to get her bearings, she wished she could read the signs but her own research on the datapad had shown her which symbol she needed to look for to board the right ship.

She was just looking around at the signs for that symbol when she spotted someone watching her from the shadows of one of the parked vessels.

At first, it wasn’t evident, and she had to squint a bit, the bright sun putting her at a disadvantage, but when her eyes adjusted, a chill ran down her body.

Shive.

He was in the shadows, his gaze focused on her as if he’d been watching her for a while...following her.

Alarm and irritation made the skin at the back of her neck prickle.

Maybe it was the anger that she felt at her situation for having to leave the one thing she actually liked about getting abducted, anger at having to leave Kyro...or maybe she was just angry at the fact that her choices didn’t feel like her own, they felt forced, like things she had to do, not things she chose to do...maybe it was all that, but she was tired of Shive trailing her, watching her, planning whatever he was planning.

Sliding her hand in her pocket, she gripped the cutting instrument that she’d put there.

He should confront her today. The motherfucker wouldn’t know what hit him.

“Oh, look who it is!” M’Agunt’s voice cut through her thoughts and made her skin crawl at the same time. He was dressed in a purple, shimmery dress that would have given any drag queen a run for their money. As he moved up to her, the snarl must have still been on her face because his grin faltered for a bit. “Oh. Is everything all right?”

He seemed to be faking concern or maybe it was just her imagination and general dislike of every being at the moment. But that little second of hesitation caused some of the anger clouding her mind to dissipate a bit.

Sighing, she looked back to where Shive had been only to see that he’d slipped away.

Bastard.

“Sorry, M’Agunt” She forced a smile as she turned back to face the merchant. It wasn’t his fault she was always in a bad mood when she saw him—though, some of the times the bad mood was because of him. “I was a little distracted.”

“I see. I see.” He looked her over, his eyes falling to the bag she held in her hand. “Are you heading off base?”

For a second, she debated not telling him where she was going but then decided, why not? What harm could come of him knowing? She doubted he’d try to maintain a friendship with her if he thought she was leaving. After all, his store was on the base and he had to run it.

“The Interplanetary Hub.”

“Ah.” His eyes lit up. “That’s where I am heading.” He eyed her bag again. “There is space in my shuttle.” He looked at her, something passing behind his eyes that made her skin crawl. “You should ride with me.”

She began shaking her head even before the words formed on her lips. “No. That’s okay.”

M’Agunt’s face fell in that classic M’Agunt style. His skin drooped and sadness was present in his gaze immediately. She realized then that this must be some characteristic similar to a puppy-dog stare.

His forlorn look made her feel as if she was being unfair and was treating him badly.

“It is a long ride to the Hub. And an uncomfortable one in the public shuttles...” he said. “My shuttle is leaving soon and would be a much more comfortable ride.”

Evren looked at the tentacle guy. He’d only ever tried to be her friend. The least she could do was to entertain him this once. Plus, as a merchant, he probably knew a lot about the Hub. He might turn out to be a good companion on her trip.

You know what, fine, she’d ride with him.

She was already feeling like shit, she doubted he could worsen her mood.

“Are you sure you have space? I don’t want to be a bother...”

M’Agunt’s face lit up. “You are riding with me?” Something passed through his eyes that she couldn’t determine. “This was easier than I thought.” He said that last line a little under his breath, but she’d heard him, and it caused her brows to furrow.

Just what did he mean by that?

“What do you mean by that?”

She swore his color paled a little, but he recovered quickly. “You usually brush away my offers of friendship. I am merely surprised.”

Ah.

Something about him still rubbed her the wrong way but it could be because he was more alien than most of the aliens she’d been close to so far. He had tentacles after all.

She’d put it down to that.

“Here comes my shuttle,” M’Agunt said beside her, looking off into the distance.

Turning in the direction he was facing, she saw a large shuttle approaching. It looked much cleaner and newer than the other shuttles arriving and departing from the station.

As the vessel stopped by their feet and the door hissed open, Evren was treated to the interior. Plush cushions lined the seats. It was obviously not public transport.

“After you.” M’Agunt’s voice seemed really close and when she turned, he was right behind her. Far too close for her liking. She’d have to establish some ground rules if they were going to travel together.

Taking a step forward toward the shuttle, Evren gulped, her head turning toward the street that led back to the apartments.

Once she boarded the shuttle, that was it.

It was goodbye forever.

She was going toward a new life and she wouldn’t even remember anything she and Kyro had shared.

Taking another step, she looked back again.

“I can’t do this...”

“What?” M’Agunt’s eyes grew large. “You must board. You have already accepted.”

She could have sworn his temper was beginning to flare, but she didn’t even have time to notice it.

“I can’t do this,” she repeated, finally focusing on M’Agunt as her own eyes widened with clarity.

She couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t just leave and forget about Kyro.

What they’d shared, it was special.

It was everything.

She’d been stupid to think she could just escape and forget about her problems.

She needed him.

There must be some way for them to work it out. Maybe she could convince him to follow her to some unknown planet where they could live together without worrying about each other’s safety.

They could find a way.

Heck, she’d even live on the desert planet called Muk.

If it meant they could be together, she’d do anything.

Only...she didn’t know if he felt the same. Would he give up his life for her if she asked him to?

There was only one way to find out.

Taking off at a run, she only heard M’Agunt’s grunt of anger as she left the station but heading back towards the apartments felt right.

She couldn’t leave.

Her future was big, gray, and sexy. She could see that now.

She only needed him to see the same.

33

EXCITEMENT THRUMMED through Evren as she weaved her way through the crowds heading to the station. By the time she got to the market, every nerve ending in her body was excited. When she made it to the street leading to the apartments, she was biting her lip in anticipation and worry.

What if he sent her away?

What if he didn’t feel as deeply as she did?

What if she was making a bad decision?

She’d find out soon enough.

She was excited...but she was also scared.

Kyro was in her head. Ever since they’d parted by her door, he’d been in her head. She couldn’t get him out of her thoughts, and it had nothing to do with the mind-blowing sex, the thick dick, or the constant orgasms.

Sharing those moments with him only underlined that whatever she was feeling for him was real. It wasn’t just based on sexual attraction. The night she’d spent with him told her that whatever was between them was so much more.

Even as she hurried down the street, she wondered how she could have even considered leaving.

How could she have left his lame jokes behind?

His scorching looks?

His rare smiles?

She wouldn’t just miss out on all that, she’d also miss out on his friendship—and it had been the only thing to pull her from the pit of depression she’d been falling into.

She’d been stupid. So stupid to not have fought for him harder.

What they had was something most humans on Earth dreamed of. She could already feel it.

He was meant for her.

They were meant for each other.

It was so clear now.

Funny it took almost getting on a ship with Mr. Tentacle, M’Agunt, for her to realize that.

As she reached his building, she looked up to the second floor. It was still early. Maybe he hadn’t gone out for the day yet and she could still catch him.

Entering the gravity lift, her body feeling lighter as she floated up to his floor, she waited impatiently. As soon as the doors to the lift opened, she all but dashed from it. She didn’t stop running until she was standing at his door.

Taking a few breaths, she tried to calm herself and think straight.

What was she going to say?

Please, let me stay? I’ll stay inside all the time; I won’t go out.

Sounded too beggy.

I love you. I know that now. Just...be with me. We can find a way.

She screwed up her nose at that one, wringing her hands as she did.

Kyro, I just realized I don’t need my job to be happy...

Who knows, maybe I could even work with you analyzing data...

It doesn’t matter what I do for a living or where I am, I only want to be with you...

Sounded good enough.

Raising her hand, she depressed the panel by the door, aware that inside the apartment, the chime would go off.

She was standing there for a few seconds, moving her weight from one foot to the other, when she realized no one was coming to the door. Not Kyro. Not Rokan.

Depressing the panel again, she waited.

Had she arrived after they’d gone out?

When the door remained closed, Evren’s shoulders slumped. A closed door would not deter her though.

Pulling her datapad from her pocket, she sent Kyro a message.

“Hey. I’m at your apartment. Are you home?”

Biting what was left of her nails, she watched the screen, pacing as she did.

After a few minutes of no response, she sent another message.

“I need to see you. This is important.”

Still no reply.

After a few more minutes of pacing, she tried to connect with him via video, but the call wouldn’t go through.

Error message: recipient not connected to the network.

She assumed that meant his device was off.

Slipping her datapad back into her pocket, she leaned against his door.

Of all the times to turn off his datapad, this had to be one of the worst occasions.

It was either that or he was blocking her, and she hoped to God it wasn’t the latter.

Easing off his door, she went back down to the street, her steps not as swift as they’d been when she’d been rushing to his place.

Now, her steps were unsure.

Looking in the direction of her apartment, she decided to head there instead. She could at least leave her bag and wait there before returning later.

With that in mind, she began weaving her way through the stream of market-goers. It was crazy that so many people were out so early, but she guessed they all had big days ahead of them. She surely did.

She was just passing one of the alleyways when she spotted something in the corner of her eye.

It was one of those gray skunkats.

Her heart flipped and missed a beat.

Kyro?

She couldn’t see if it was him or not. She couldn’t see the eyes clearly. The animal was too far away.

The urge to call the skunkat to her was strong as she slipped down the alleyway toward it.

Along the walls were various types of aliens, some in deep sleep (she assumed. She hoped they weren’t dead.) and others looking woozy. They were obviously drunk on some alien booze.

“Hey, kitty,” she called the little animal, but it kept walking, its bushy tail in the air as it headed deeper down the alley.

She was a little far from the main road now and Evren paused, feeling for the cutting instrument at her back. It was still secured there.

“Hey, kitty,” she called again, and the animal stopped and turned to look at her. Dark eyes looked back at her and Evren stopped walking, disappointment flooding her system.

It wasn’t Kyro.

Turning back toward the road, she walked, her footsteps heavy, straight back to the main street. Retrieving her datapad, she looked at it.

No messages.

At the risk of coming off as desperate, she sent Kyro another message.

“Hey. Where are you?”

She was a bit desperate. She’d admit.

Back in the throng, she wondered where he was. He couldn’t have just disappeared.

And when a reply didn’t come in after a few minutes, she slipped the datapad back into her pocket.

Had he really blocked her?

She was at her apartment door as the question repeated in her mind and as she opened her door and went in, it was the only thing on her mind.

She was just turning as the door hissed closed when a boot pushed into her entryway, stopping the door from closing.

A chill immediately ran down her spine.

Before she could even scream, a hulk of an alien pushed himself inside, one that looked like the grumpy yeti she’d bumped into on the street that time.

“I think you’re in the wrong apartment, buddy.” She immediately reached behind her and gripped the cutting instrument.

She was mildly aware that someone else entered behind the yeti before her door closed but she couldn’t see because the beast’s frame was too large.

The beast didn’t respond. Instead, it smirked and lunged at her, moving too fast for how large it was, and grabbed her by the arm.

“Let go of me!”

Fear spiked within her but before she could pull out her weapon, she felt a sharp pain in her arm. A glance there showed a syringe sticking out.

Her body immediately lost all energy as she went limp in the yeti’s grasp.

“Whattt arrr yooo doooin tooo meee?”

The beast didn’t answer; instead, it grunted and headed toward her bedroom.

No.

She wished she could scream.

No!

There was a low, rumble of a laugh coming from behind the yeti.

Whoever it was, they were in charge and she dreaded to think of what they planned to do to her.

The next thing she knew, the world began to get blurry as her mind went dim, just before she was thrown on her bed, her body hitting the soft material before the yeti leaned over her.

No, not this.

Anything but this.

34

EVREN WOKE up with a deep inhale. Air rushed into her lungs as if she’d been underwater and starved of fresh breaths.

It was dark.

Mild confusion had her looking around to find that she couldn’t move much.

She was wrapped in something—something soft, but she was restricted nonetheless, as if there were bands securing the soft material around her body.

Her memory clicked suddenly.

She’d entered her apartment.

A thick boot.

She’d turned around. The yeti alien was there. He’d injected her with something. Thrown her on her bed.

A laugh.

A sinister laugh as the yeti had leaned over her.

And then...nothing.

Had he...a lump formed in her throat. Had he raped her?

Fear gripped her heart as her chest rose and fell with harsh breaths. Doing a mental check of her body, nothing seemed out of sorts.

Still, her panic was mounting.

Where was she?

The fear coursing through her veins kept her still as she listened for any sound. She doubted she was still in her apartment. Unless they’d tied her up and left her there.

She was still hyperventilating, unable to keep the panic from rising within her as she tried to listen for the intruders.

Had they left her alone?

It took a few moments for her to hear the low hum of an engine. She was in a car...no, not a car. She wasn’t on Earth anymore. She was in some sort of vessel.

A shuttle?

When she’d been cleaning them, she’d had to turn some on to ensure the vents were clean and the sound she was hearing now sounded exactly like when those shuttles’ engines had been left to idle.

If she was on a shuttle, where were they taking her?

Apart from the sound of the engine, she didn’t hear anything else. It was either that she was alone or whoever was close by her was keeping quiet.

Well, she had to take the chance to free herself.

Shifting, she began to struggle in her strange prison, trying to free herself from whatever bound her.

The material that was wrapped around her wouldn’t give and it was wound so tightly that she wasn’t sure how it was that she wasn’t suffocating.

As she struggled to free herself, she must have shifted her balance off wherever she was placed because the next thing she felt was the sensation of falling before she hit the floor.

The fall didn’t hurt, the material cushioned the brunt of the force, but she was still restrained.

She still couldn’t see a thing.

Whatever they’d wrapped her in was holding well.

Releasing a breath, panic still flooding through her, she tried to shuffle her arms at her side.

They’d wrapped her like how a mummy would be wrapped, her hands at her sides, the thick material wound around her, and try as she might, the material still wouldn’t budge. Not that she had any leeway within it. It was wound so tight she couldn’t even lift her arms, and her worm wiggle had only gotten her thrown on the floor; it hadn’t even torn the material.

She couldn’t see outside of this unnatural cocoon. She couldn’t feel around her surroundings.

She couldn’t even smell anything but the strange musty scent of the material itself.

The sensory deprivation was only adding to her panic.

A sound came from her right and she stiffened, hardly even breathing as she listened.

It sounded like the door of the shuttle opening. That meant they weren’t traveling yet. She was in a parked shuttle, the engine on, possibly waiting for the pilot or other passenger before takeoff.

“Qrak, the jekin rolled off the seat. His excellence will not like it if we harm this fool.”

It was a voice she was sure she’d heard before and something lifted her from the floor, she began to struggle some more. Even through the material, she could feel the large hands that lifted her.

It felt like the same hand that had grabbed her before she’d gone unconscious. Yeti man.

“What do you want?! Let me go!” she screamed, not stopping her struggle. If she could only move her arms she could get the cutting instrument she’d tucked into the waist of her pants at the back.

“Be quiet. You are enough trouble without your mouth open.” Whoever was lifting her jerked her spitefully before throwing her onto what she assumed was a seat. The fall wasn’t bad. It felt as if she landed on cushions.

“What do you want from me?!” She hoped the answer to that question wasn’t what she thought it was. She still wasn’t sure if she’d been violated but there was no pain between her legs so that was a good sign.

Still, it was clear humans didn’t have the advantage over most aliens and that most other lifeforms only saw humans as good for one thing. She’d escaped that once before; she wasn’t about to fall back into the same predicament.

Whatever this was, she had to find a way out.

“The boss is coming soon,” another voice said and the one closest to her grunted.

“He better hurry. I am not about to get punished for taking this jekin late. Keep a lookout for anyone suspicious.”

Evren breathed hard as she listened to them. They obviously didn’t care to speak to her. If that was the case, she would listen and gather as much information as she could.

There was a moment of silence before the yeti that had invaded her home dropped into a seat beside her. She knew because the seat she was on jerked and creaked a little as if some large weight had fallen on it.

“What do you think his excellence wants with this frail thing? It could hardly fight when we entered its quarters.” A hand ran down her body, and she could feel it through the material. It caused her to wriggle and kick against the intrusion, all the while her heart pumping in her ears.

“It is frail but enjoyable in bed, I hear. It is no wonder why so many of Reku5 have mated with these jekins.”

They knew Kyro’s team. Knew she’d been saved by his team. Knew the other females were partnered with Kyro’s brothers.

Had they also targeted them too? Was she not the only one abducted?

The other alien grunted.

“Enjoyable,” it said. “It is hard to believe something so weak has a good cunt. I like my females strong and sturdy. A good, hard mating is what females need. This jekin would break.”

The other alien grunted in response.

Thoughts were whirling in her head as she tried to put what they were saying into sensible streams of thought.

Sex.

This was about sex.

She was being abducted to become someone’s sex slave?

The thought made her shiver and with renewed purpose, she began struggling within the material, trying her best to reach the cutting instrument. If she could reach it, she could cut herself out and then...then she’d figure out what to do next. She doubted the instrument could do much damage to a yeti-man but maybe the damage would be enough for her to escape the shuttle.

It sounded like they hadn’t left the base yet. She still had a chance to free herself.

“Keep still, jekin.” A hand pressed down hard on her chest and made it difficult for her to breathe. That word, jekin, and the way he said it made it sound as if he wasn’t calling her anything good.

“I’d break your legs if that kept you steady, but we hadn’t been following you for so long to blow the mission now.”

“Following me?” She stilled as she listened for an answer. She’d been followed?

“It has no idea. I told you walking in plain light would be less suspicious. I thought it spotted you in that alley once. We would have been in trouble if the boss found out we hadn’t been more careful.”

Following her. The alleyway.

A chill ran down her spine.

Shive.

This was all Shive’s doing.

He’d been following her from the start, and she’d seen him so many times. But she hadn’t thought he’d have resorted to this and to think he hadn’t been working alone all along...

A sick feeling developed in her belly and she fought to keep the contents of her last meal from churning in her stomach.

“Let me go. I don’t know how much he paid you but...” Would her credits even be enough to pay them for her release? She doubted it. “...I could pay you more.” She’d work three jobs if she had to.

There was a moment of silence before sounds like wheezing reached her ear.

They were laughing at her.

Anger panic and frustration rose within her.

“Please.” She hated to beg but if it was what she needed to do so they would release her. She would. “I’ll give you all the credits I have now. Just—”

The wheezing sounds continued. “Foolish jekin,” one said.

“It is not money that makes us work for the boss,” the other said. “No amount of credits will set you free.”

What?

Another sound reached her ear and the wheezing stopped.

“We leave now.” Someone else was boarding the shuttle and the voice sounded familiar.

No.

It couldn’t be.

As the shuttle moved, she felt as if her insides fell to the back of her body.

They were airborne.

“Remove the material,” said that oh so familiar voice.

The yeti promptly did as he was told, and she heard a rip before the front of the material peeled away.

Warm light flooded her eyes, causing her to squint as her vision adjusted.

A wide, bejeweled grin was the first thing she saw, plastered on the face of the alien sitting across from her. Only this time, it didn’t seem like a friendly grin. This grin was completely sinister.

It wasn’t Shive that was sitting in front of her.

She didn’t understand.

“M’Agunt?”

35

KYRO WALKED behind the living quarters to sit in a quiet alcove amidst the fawni trees that grew there.

Every synapse in his brain was trying to tell him to move his legs and head to one specific place...Evren’s home.

He wanted to see her.

It was an urge unlike any other.

But he shouldn’t. They had already said goodbye.

It had broken his heart into pieces, standing there while she’d closed that door, even though it had been his choice for her to do so.

Even though he had been the one to push her away.

It hadn’t made it any easier.

Still, he’d held his part of the bargain. He hadn’t contacted her. He’d even deactivated his datapad.

He’d stayed away.

Until now.

He found himself standing and heading in the direction of her quarters, his feet moving on their own accord.

He had to see her again, just to check that she was all right.

He was walking up to her door in the next few minutes, trying to find something to say to her as reason for his visit when he paused in his tracks.

The door to her apartment was slightly open, the inside dark.

Why had she left it open like that?

Something about it didn’t look right at all.

Creeping up to the door, every muscle in his being primed for attack, he slid the door open with his boot.

Darkness and silence greeted him and Kyro frowned.

It didn’t seem as if she was home. But her door had been left open. He doubted she had been that careless.

Stepping into the apartment, he slid back the door to the slightly closed position, his ears perked for sound.

There was none.

It was eerily quiet.

Flipping out his datapad, he activated it. The device lit up immediately.

There were no alerts from her security system. No forced entry. There were only some messages he’d have to check later.

Lifting his head, he surveyed the area once more.

The living space looked so dead without her in it that he felt his heart wring. It was like a view of what his life will be like in the next few months. Empty.

Had she left for the Hub already?

Moving through the room, he headed to the sleeping area, his steps quiet in the silent room.

As he looked around the room, his heart clenched further.

There was nothing in there. A look in the chest revealed that all her clothes were removed as well.

It confirmed his fears.

He’d missed her.

She’d left for the Hub.

A strange pain pulsed inside him and he didn’t know where it was coming from. It seemed to form behind his life-organ and spread through his chest.

He knew she’d planned to leave, so why did her physical absence hurt so much?

He was just about to turn and leave the room when he heard a sound.

Kyro’s head snapped to the direction of the bathing room. The sound had been slight, but he was sure he wasn’t mistaken. His ears perked as he approached the room, his arms hanging by his sides, ready to go into action as he drew close.

Stopping just outside the room, Kyro sniffed.

There was someone in there and it wasn’t Evren.

An intruder.

Suddenly, the weirdly open door made sense, but a feeling of dread came with that realization. Maybe her absence was not her own doing.

Retreating from the entryway to the shower room, Kyro backtracked through the bedroom.

Turning the corner, he pressed himself against the wall as he waited for the intruder to show himself.

Hopefully, whoever it was would have thought he’d left and try to exit the quarters, giving Kyro the upper hand.

He didn’t have to wait long.

A few minutes passed by and there was pure silence. But soon after, he heard a shuffle as the intruder exited the sleeping area.

Kyro moved quickly.

Moving off his position by the wall, he gripped the intruder, placing his hands around the intruder’s neck in one movement as he slammed their body against the same wall he’d just been pressed against.

It took him a second to recognize who it was, and a snarl left his lips.

“Shive.” He could feel the remnants of his chets tingling with the need to slice the male’s head off.

He should have known.

“What have you done with her?” The voice that spoke didn’t sound like his own. He shook the alien in his grasp. “Speak! If you have hurt one cell on her body you will pay with your life.”

“Stop!” Shive’s arms grasped at the hands at his neck. “It’s not what you think, Kyro. I am on your side.”

“And which side is that?” Kyro squeezed tighter, lifting the male higher against the wall. The sound of Shive gasping for breath and the scraping of his chitin against the wall were the only things that penetrated the dead silence.

“I didn’t take her. In Polvrak’s name, I tell the truth.”

Kyro narrowed his eyes. “I know you have been following her. Qrak the rules. I should have taken you out when I had the chance.”

“I speak the truth,” Shive repeated. He wasn’t struggling to break free. Instead, his arms fell and he endured Kyro’s suffocating hold. “I didn’t take her. She’s been taken by a spy. He is working for the High Tasqals.”

He was aware of his eyes widening as he released his hold on the chitinous male a little.

“Explain.”

“M’Agunt.” Shive took a breath. “M’Agunt is a spy. He’s working for the Tasqals. I wasn’t sure about it. I was working undercover based on some intelligence my team came upon. M’Agunt is no merchant. He is working for a Tasqal called Messius Proctor Tracki. The one they call His Excellence.”

Kyro released his hold some more.

Shive took another breath.

“He’s been leaking information about missions to Tracki. He told him when the humans were brought on the base.”

“Go on,” Kyro ground out. The more Shive spoke, the more the rage that was building within him felt like a fire igniting his entire being.

“Tracki was one of the Tasqals who’d paid for the humans’ abduction. He’d paid for the one who lives in these quarters. Heard she wasn’t bonded to anyone yet. They’d been keeping eyes on her, waiting for the right moment to take her away.”

A growl left his lips that had Shive pressing himself into the wall as if he wanted to put distance between them.

“If I recall,” Kyro spoke through gritted teeth, “You were ‘keeping eyes’ on her too. Explain.” He shook Shive, his hands tightening around the male’s throat once more.

“I was only trying to keep a look out. I had no real proof. I couldn’t take the matter to headquarters. It was only a hunch based on the initial communication I received. I only came here this day to warn her after I saw her with M’Agunt at the shuttle bay. He had almost gotten her to leave with him. No doubt he would have taken her to Tracki. But when I got here, she was gone.”

Kyro’s eyes narrowed. “Then why did you hide?”

“Because of this.” Shive motioned to Kyro’s arms at his throat. “I was trying to avoid this. I am aware you don’t trust me.”

“Why should I trust you? You already tried to get her into your bed. How do I know that what you say is true?” Kyro shook him.

“Because if I had her in my bed I wouldn’t be here right now.” Shive looked at him pointedly and Kyro growled low in his chest.

With one movement, Kyro threw the male to the side, a sharp crack sounding as if some chitin plates were broken when the male’s body hit the other wall.

Shive hissed in pain.

The rage Kyro felt had him punching a hole in the wall beside him. His fist went right through, crumbling the material like paper.

Beside him, on the floor, the wide eyes of Shive caught his peripheral gaze as the male gaped at the hole.

“M’Agunt,” Kyro growled.

Eyes slicing to Shive, he spoke, “Follow me” as he began moving toward the door. “One wrong move and your face will be that wall.”

He was barely aware of Shive nodding before they exited the room.

M’Agunt made a mistake making a deal with one of the slimy Tasqals.

If they thought Evren was alone, that she wouldn’t have anyone fighting for her, they were in for a nasty surprise.

He wouldn’t stop till she was safe again. He didn’t care if that meant taking on the entire ship by himself.

36

RAGE.

Possessiveness.

Obsession.

All three channeled through him and the beings they passed on the street must have seen it all printed on his face because they parted, moving to the side as he stormed through on the way to his living quarters.

Behind him, Shive followed as told.

They had to move quickly.

Sending a message via datapad to the rest of his brothers, he told them to meet him in the conference room immediately. It was a Code 11. Once M’Agunt did the handoff, it would be near impossible retrieving Evren from the Tasqals. They needed to move now if there was any hope for a rescue.

And he would rescue her. Even if it was the last thing he did.

Entering his quarters, the door slid shut after Shive entered behind him. He was barely aware of Rokan’s confused stare, which promptly turned suspicious when he spotted Shive.

“Brother, is something the matter?”

Kyro was already moving through the space, throwing the gadgets he’d need into a bag. “They’ve taken her.”

“Her?” Rokan glanced between him and Shive. “The human?”

“Evren and yes, they’ve taken her.” Kyro pulled out a drawer full of gadgets, searching for the right one. He needed a distorter, a gadget that could distort a person’s cells so they appeared to be something else. He had a good feeling he was going to need one.

“Who took her?” Rokan moved from his seat to stand, his arms folding across his chest.

“The merchant called M’Agunt is a spy,” Shive offered. “He’s been feeding information to the Tasqals. He is taking the human to Messius Proctor Tracki.”

“The one they call His Excellence?” Rokan asked, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly. “And you know this how?”

“I’ve been keeping eyes on him ever since my team came upon some leaked information. He’s been trying to get close to the human since she arrived on the base.”

Rokan approached Shive, his face set in a snarl. “And you tell us this now?! When it is too late?!”

“I—”

Turning his attention to Kyro, Rokan said, “It is difficult to get in contact with Tracki. How do you intend to retrieve her?”

“It is not a question of how but when. M’Agunt has already left.” Kyro was moving toward the door without another word, his bag packed and hanging from his hand. In his waist were two blasters. “You,” he said to Shive. “Follow me.”

“I will come too, brother,” Rokan said, reaching for his blade. “You will need all the help you can get.”

“It’s not going to be easy just getting her back,” Shive said from behind him. Kyro didn’t bother to spare him a glance or acknowledge his statement as he headed to the gravity lift.

“She will be guarded,” Shive continued.

Turning so suddenly Shive had little time to move, Kyro spun, his arm closing around the chitinous male’s throat before Shive could blink.

“Let me worry about mine. I have not forgotten your stunt in the market. Don’t think that because you have offered me this information that you are safe now from my wrath.”

With much reluctance, Kyro released his hold on Shive. He wanted something to crush and Shive’s throat had felt perfect. Add to the fact that Shive was not completely innocent among them, he almost gave in to the bloodlust.

“You said M’Agunt is heading to his cargo ship.” Rokan spoke as they entered the lift.

“Yes,” Shive answered, rubbing his throat absently, his wary gaze not leaving Kyro.

“Where next?” He knew why Rokan was asking. They needed to know because there was no way he was going to catch the cargo ship now. By the time his shuttle left the surface, the cargo ship would have already warped. His best bet was to head to the ship’s destination.

“Klepna 89. He’s meeting His Excellence there.”

“Klepna 89. Qrak. It will take two turns to get there.”

Kyro’s mouth set into a hard line.

Two whole days knowing she was in the clutches of his enemies.

It was two whole days that would rip him apart slowly.

“There will be guards everywhere. It’s a lost mission,” Shive continued as their feet touched the ground and the lift opened.

Kyro rounded on him, his glare enough to melt the male’s hard outer shell. “You,” he growled.

Rokan stepped between them. “We need a plan,” he said.

“There’s no time for a plan.” Kyro’s eyes cut to Rokan. “Update the others. They are awaiting me in the conference room.”

He was moving before the two males had time to process his words.

“I am taking the reserve ship.”

“It’s a suicide mission, Kyro.” Rokan’s voice held reason but this wasn’t a time for reason. This was a time for action because every second that ticked by was one for the Tasqal’s team and allowing Evren to fall into their grasp was a literal death sentence.

“Yesterday I was prepared to let her go, but not like this. Let her fall in the Tasqal’s hands? I’d rather die first.”

“You might.”

“Yes,” his eyes met Rokan’s, “I might.”

He knew Rokan saw the look in his eyes. Only Rokan knew how deep his intent was. Only Rokan would understand.

37

“YOU.”

She could hardly believe her eyes.

The same face, the same grin...

M’Agunt curled a purple tentacle over the back of the plush seat as he regarded her, his grin unflinching.

Beside him, a huge yeti-alien sat looking at her, his gaze not hiding his boredom. To her right, she was aware of another yeti sitting, his fingers playing idly with a blaster in his hand.

“Surprised?” M’Agunt’s grin seemed to widen, if that was possible. Only this time, there was no denying the intent behind his apparent happiness. This grin was evil. Threatening.

“I played my part well,” he said, glancing at the yeti beside him. “The jekin had no idea.”

“Jekin?” Her gaze moved to the yeti-alien beside M’Agunt briefly, wondering if M’Agunt was referring to his race. The big, white, furry alien was still looking at her as if she was a fly on the wall. A new species of fly but a fly nonetheless. She was inconsequential to him.

“Corugas,” M’Agunt snarled his meaning.

Bitch.

He meant bitch.

Her translator picked up the alternate word.

Anger bubbled within her, but she bit her lip to hold it back. An outburst wouldn’t help her right now. She needed to keep calm enough to think clearly. She was outnumbered and restrained. The best she could do for herself right now would be to try to figure out what they were planning on doing to her and how she could escape.

She was pretty sure they were no longer on the surface of the planet. She could tell from the blackness at the front of the shuttle. They were somewhere in space.

She needed information and she needed to bide her time for the right moment to try and free herself.

Or maybe she could talk them into freeing her.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. It was an effort trying to keep her voice level and unaffected. All she wanted to do was to scream at him. “Where are you taking me?”

“So many questions.” M’Agunt grinned. “It shows just how clever my plan was. Or you are just a stupid human.” His chuckle was an awful sound that made her want to launch herself across the small space to kick him in the face.

“Your plan?” Evren paused, her lip curling in disgust as she stared at him. “All this time, you were just waiting for the right moment to do this?”

“Waiting? Yes. For many, many turns.”

She was still confused though. “Why me?”

M’Agunt made a sound in his throat and the loose skin on his face moved as his face took on a look of snobbery. It was almost as if he was turning up his nose at her.

“I wondered the same thing as well,” he replied.

M’Agunt moved then, lifting himself from the seat by use of his tentacles, his shimmering gown swaying as he moved. As he slid across the space to stand in front of her, Evren fought the urge to scoot back. But she couldn’t. It was difficult shifting in the confines of the restraints that were still fastened around her body, but she managed to move back a little.

A tentacle emerged and came against her cheeks, the touch soft as M’Agunt moved his limb down her face.

“Such a strange-looking beast,” he said, his grin disappearing so suddenly it almost made her shiver. “Your kind is hideous. It is unclear to me why His Excellence wants you so badly.”

So he wasn’t abducting her for himself?

She’d thought this whole abduction was because she’d been avoiding his advances. There was another player involved?

Things were getting a bit complicated and she didn’t like that.

“His Excellence?”

M’Agunt’s eyes focused on hers and the look in them was chilling. There was coldness there. Such coldness and derision.

“I guess it doesn’t hurt letting you know now.” The corners of his lips turned up slightly. “Messius Proctor Tracki. Your master. You will be reunited with him shortly.”

“I have no master,” she bit out.

“Oh, but you do. The High Tasqals are all of our masters.” M’Agunt grinned. Behind him, she heard one of the yeti-aliens grunt.

M’Agunt’s words felt like cold water running down her back. The Tasqals? He was taking her back to the Tasqals?

No.

Not after she’d been rescued from them. Not after she’d had a chance at a life of freedom. The last thing she wanted to do was to get herself caught within their clutches once more. She knew what they were capable of and, at this point, they must only want her for one thing.

M’Agunt must have seen the thoughts fly through her head because he began to chuckle, the sound low underneath the flaps of skin at his throat.

“What do they want from me?”

M’Agunt made a movement as if he shrugged. “How should I know what they would want from such a hideous, weak species?”

As suddenly as he shrugged, his face transformed into another one of his grins. Moving close to her, his face so close she could smell his rancid breath, his eyes traveled down her face.

“What do they want from me?” he mocked. His eyes took on a dark sheen as he looked into hers as his grin dropped. “You are not worth anything else. They only want you for one thing...your cunt.”

Fuck. Him.

Pulling her head back, she launched it forward as hard as she could, slamming her forehead into M’Agunt’s nose.

With a cry, M’Agunt fell backward, a tentacle covering his face as his angry eyes turned on her.

“You dare to wound me!”

She didn’t bother to say that the wound was minor compared to what she wanted to do to him. The cutting instrument was still nestled against her spine.

She’d go down fighting rather than be taken back to the vile Tasqals.

“Fuck you.” She struggled against the restraints.

“Restrain her!” M’Agunt shouted, tentacle still nursing his nose.

The yeti-alien behind him turned his bored gaze to the other and then back to M’Agunt.

“The jekin is already restrained.”

M’Agunt groaned in frustration. “Yet, it still managed to wound me!” He glared at his accomplice.

“You!” he said, turning back to her. “You will wish you hadn’t done that.” Eyes narrowing, his mouth curved into a terrifying grin. “No physical wounds, His Excellence said. But we have another way to break you.” His voice took on a taunting intonation and Evren couldn’t help that her breathing rate increased a little.

What the fuck did he have planned?

“We must break you. His Excellence demands it.” M’Agunt stood, stretching a tentacle to a compartment above them to retrieve something. “His Excellence needs you broken for his ministrations when we arrive.” He turned back to face her, a small, circular patch at the end of his tentacle. “Broken and ready for his swelling cock, just as you jekins should be.”

His words were like poison for she felt the bile rising in her throat.

As he approached her with the patch, she tried to scoot back but was held fast by the yeti-alien close by her.

“Inject her with the serum.”

What?

She had just enough time to turn before she saw the needle going into her arm.

M’Agunt approached and stuck the patch to her temple, pressing it against her skin even as her knees began to go weak.

She tried to struggle but she couldn’t move. Whatever they’d injected her with took all the strength from her muscles.

“Activate it,” M’Agunt said. “Let her remember.”

“MAMA?” Evren heard herself call.

Her voice sounded different.

Opening her eyes, she paused.

Where was she?

There were trees everywhere.

Trees. Shrubs. Vines. Roots.

This couldn’t be right.

This looked exactly like...

No.

The terror crawling up her spine had her standing on shaky feet to look around her.

No.

Her heartbeat was pounding in her head so hard; she could hardly hear herself breathing.

She shouldn’t be here. How was it possible that she was here?

“Mama?” she called once more.

Her voice.

Her voice sounded different...like a child’s.

Glancing down at herself, she almost collapsed.

She was...

She was little again.

The same shoes. The same dress.

That day when she’d gotten lost.

She was there again.

She’d just been following the bunny. The one that looked like she did.

She hadn’t meant to get lost.

How? How was this possible?

“Papa?”

No.

Papa is dead.

Father is dead. Why are you calling for Papa?

“Mama?”

Mama is dead.

What was happening to her?

Turning, she tried to find the way she’d come. She needed to find Mama. Mama and Papa would be looking for her.

No.

No!

They were dead.

It felt like a fight in her mind. She was fighting with herself—against the Evren that she knew now and the Evren back then.

The young Evren.

The scared Evren.

It was as if her mind couldn’t differentiate the past from her present.

They want to break you.

They’re trying to break you.

As her little-self began to run through the forest, trying to find her way, Evren tried to focus.

This was not real.

It couldn’t be.

Her little-self tripped then, her body falling face down hard. The pain in her little bones felt real.

Picking up herself, she began to run again.

Which way was home?

She didn’t know which way was home.

Alone.

Alone.

She was alone.

A sound somewhere in the forest had her freezing, her breath held in her little throat.

She didn’t know what that was.

She needed to find Mama and Papa.

She needed to get home.

The fear was creeping into her as if she was right back there.

She could feel her little heart beating hard, the chills running up her skinny, little arms and down her spine.

It was getting dark and she was terrified and alone.

Mama and Papa weren’t close.

She couldn’t find them.

She was lost.

She was alone.

No! Her real-self fought back against the thoughts. You’ve lived through this before. Don’t let it get to you.

This isn’t real.

THIS ISN’T REAL.

EVREN WASN’T sure when they moved from the shuttle to another vessel. She was barely aware of her surroundings or how much time had passed. She was barely aware of anything.

When they finally removed the patch, she’d awakened in a cage beside some strange four-legged round, furry things in cages like she was.

It took her a few moments to realize she wasn’t on the shuttle anymore and that they were on some sort of cargo ship.

Had they already given her to the Tasqals?

As the thought came, a large metal door opened, and she could make out M’Agunt approaching through her blurred vision.

He stopped by her cage and regarded her. “Still lucid. Apply the patch again. She will be broken by the next day.”

No.

She tried to rise and realized she was no longer restrained but her body was still weak from whatever drug they’d given her.

No.

She opened her mouth to scream as the yeti-alien opened the cage and came toward her, but no sound came out.

No.

She didn’t want to go through that again.

“D-Don’t.” Her words were lost on him.

His large hand reached out and grasped her head, his palm so huge it covered her entire face as he pressed a fresh patch to her temple.

No.

Please.

Trying to break me.

Trying.

She chanted to herself as her vision went black.

Be strong, Evren.

Fight it.

Don’t let them break you.

WARP SPEED WASN’T FAST ENOUGH.

As his space cruiser shot through the dark void of space at blinding speed, Kyro paced along the small control bridge.

He needed to hurry.

He wished he could go faster.

For one whole day he had been traveling and, for a whole day, every molecule in his being writhed in agony.

She’d been taken...and he hadn’t been there to protect her.

It weighed on him, and as the hours went by, the fact he had no idea whether she was safe or not, alive or dead made every second that passed seem longer than the last.

There was no way M’Agunt had arrived on Klepna 89 already. The handoff had not been completed yet. Still, the fact didn’t console him.

She was too close to danger. Too close to being lost forever.

If the Tasqal got a hold of her...

The image of his mother being used by one of the vile beasts came rushing back into his mind. Gripping the metal of the control bridge, he squeezed tight, willing the image away.

His pristine memory was sometimes a curse of his Vorti blood.

The Tasqal would use her, infect her, breed her...and then leave her for dead. He’d seen it happen before. He’d lived through it.

A tortured growl left his lips.

He couldn’t let it happen.

He wasn’t a young Vorti anymore. Now he was grown and that made all the difference.

The hatred boiling within him had been boiling for years, and for years he had held it down.

Not any longer.

They’d gone too far this time.

Staring ahead through the shuttle’s gazer, his features set into hard lines.

Polvrak keep her alive, for he was coming to get her, and he was coming with a vengeance.

38

THE SCENE KEPT PLAYING over and over in her head. As real as the breaths she took, she relived it over and over again.

They kept removing the patch to replace it with a new one and each time, the effect was greater.

It was ripping her apart slowly, the fear of that time when she was lost as a child now so thick in her blood that she was shivering on the floor of the cage.

She wasn’t sure how long they’d been traveling for—there was no night and day she could use to judge. The artificial lights of the cargo hold were always on. But she knew they’d been traveling for a while because it felt like she’d been tortured for days.

She was barely aware of being transported from the cage to another ship and then to another shuttle, the movements coming back to her like instances in a dream.

Yet, she fought.

She fought what they were trying to do to her.

Whatever the patch was, it was affecting her brain by making her relive her most traumatic experience.

Break her.

The words echoed in her mind, pulling her from the illusion they were creating and planting her back in reality for moments before she fell into the illusion again.

They weren’t going to break her.

She was stronger than this.

What they didn’t know was that this traumatic experience was the thing that made her fall in love with her profession. It was being lost that made her find her purpose in life.

Had she not run after that rabbit...had she not gotten lost...had she not spent days in the forest alone, fending for herself, then she’d have never become an ecologist and she’d have never experienced the freedom that doing something she loved brought to her soul.

So no, they wouldn’t break her.

The fear she’d felt back then, it had spurred her to fend for herself.

And she was going to do that now.

She just had to fight it and recall which one was real.

She couldn’t let them win.

Remember, Evren. Remember your reality.

For a moment, her vision cleared, and she spotted two large hands lifting her from the floor.

Yeti hands.

That’s not real.

That’s her imagination.

Yetis weren’t real.

Her vision blacked out and then she was in the forest again.

But that didn’t seem real either.

As her vision cleared once more, she spotted a tentacle and large teeth spread in a grin close by her face.

Tentacles.

That grin.

She should know that’s not real, but it felt real.

It felt real because there was an immediate feeling of disgust and hatred that accompanied the sight of those tentacles.

Real.

That was real!

Grunting, she tried to push away the memory of the forest just as she felt something cool against her temple.

It took a few moments for the thoughts of being lost to subside and then she was blinking up in the face of the one with the grin.

It came back to her quickly.

M’Agunt.

He was grinning down at her, his eyes holding a question as he surveyed her face.

“I hope His Excellence likes how proactive I have been.” He beamed. “He will like you willing to his demands.” He peered down at her before looking at the yeti standing beside him. “The memory-chaser must have worked. The jekin doesn’t look nearly as alive as before.”

“Eat shit,” she snarled and M’Agunt’s grin fell as he pulled back, an unhappy look covering his features.

“Barbaric beast.” The skin over the top of his eyes fell in a frown. “Bring it. His Excellence has arrived.”

With that, what she assumed were the yeti-aliens lifted her, each taking one arm with her hanging between them like a rag doll.

As they stepped out of the cargo ship, she tried to make sense of her whereabouts but everything apart from her direct surroundings looked hazy.

They were walking for just a few meters when M’Agunt stopped suddenly.

In front of him, she could just about see the doors of a large white vessel opening. But her vision was still blurry from the after-effects of the patch. She wasn’t sure what was out there, but she was sure of one thing: M’Agunt had suddenly perked up, his grin widening and his face expectant.

Fuck.

The Tasqal.

It had to be the Tasqal approaching.

The yeti-aliens set her down and she almost fell on her face, falling to her knees instead.

She needed to do something. She needed to run at least.

Her legs were free. She was no longer restrained.

They must have freed her while her brain was being manipulated.

She guessed they didn’t expect her to try to escape?

Maybe because her legs still felt like jelly.

Trying to rise again was a no-go.

It was the sounds of boots hitting the ground that made her raise her head to find that they were surrounded with what looked like twenty or so tall aliens that looked like alligators walking upright. The gator-guards.

Fuck.

The last time she’d seen those guards she’d been on an alien slave ship praying to God that she didn’t die or get eaten.

Seeing them again was like witnessing the end of days.

And she was on her knees.

Forcing herself to stand, the pressure on her legs was almost too much and she fought not to fall. But she refused to be on her knees in front of the Tasqal.

She would never bow to it.

Whatever the patch had done to her better wear off quickly because if there was any hope for escape, she’d need her body fully functional.

As the last of the footfalls fell, there was silence. An unnatural silence, as if everyone around her was holding their breath.

It didn’t take her long to see why.

Above them, descending from the ramp of the docked vessel, was a large toad-like beast. Its robes of white were gleaming with jewels and it had a smug look on its strange face.

This, she assumed, was the His Excellence she’d heard so much about.

Even though the Tasqals looked like overgrown toads, this one held an air of superiority that she could feel in the air.

As it approached, the sound of bubbles popping filled the space.

That sound.

It was laughing. How could she have forgotten the disgusting sound of its laughter. Hearing it again was giving her flashbacks of being in a room full of Tasqals and being auctioned. Their bubble-popping-like laughter had filled the space then as this Tasqal’s laughter was filling the space now.

It made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

“My precious.” It took her a few moments for her to realize it was referring to her as it drew closer and she felt her lips curl with disgust.

“His Excellence.” M’Agunt dipped his head. “It is a blessing being in your presence.”

Ignoring M’Agunt, the Tasqal walked straight toward her, his white robes hovering just above the ground. “My precious. How I longed for you,” the High Tasqal said, his large dark eyes moving slowly over her body.

She didn’t realize she was backing up till she bumped into a hard, hairy chest.

Glancing behind her, she realized one of the yeti-men blocked her way.

Behind the Tasqal, M’Agunt bowed repeatedly, two of his tentacles outstretched, with the lighter side up, a grin on his face.

Slimy piece of shit. What a kiss-ass.

He deserved to be turned into sushi.

“She looks...lucid.” The Tasqal turned to M’Agunt as he said the last word and she swore M’Agunt paled.

“I used the memory-chaser on her, oh Great One. The jekin’s mind is frail. Do not misinterpret the look in her eyes. She is broken. I saw to it.”

It was a pity M’Agunt didn’t look her way because her eyes were narrowed to such slits, they could cut him.

The Tasqal paused a few steps away from her, and another chill ran down her spine.

He was just staring at her and with eyes so dark, she had no idea what he was thinking.

“You took care to not be followed?” the Tasqal finally asked, looking directly at her as he did.

It seemed the question was directed at her, but she knew that he was talking to M’Agunt.

“Yes, your Excellence.”

“Goood.” The way he pulled out the word made her shiver once more and she wasn’t sure if he saw her shiver or whether something else pleased him but as soon as the word left his lips the bubble-popping sound of his laughter echoed in his throat.

“Kill them.”

It took a second for his words to click and apparently, the two yetis and M’Agunt had the same delay.

“Y-your excellence.” M’Agunt raised his head a little. “I thought you wanted to keep the human—I don’t care either way but the Kleeba are my hired men. I paid a lot for their allegiance.”

The Kleeba she assumed were the yeti-men because they both grunted at M’Agunt’s proclamation—a sound that didn’t come off as them agreeing.

“It would be...highly disadvantageous for me if you killed them,” M’Agunt finished.

The bubble-popping sound grew loud as the Tasqal turned slightly to regard M’Agunt.

“You misunderstand,” the Tasqal said. “You die too.”

It took a second before M’Agunt’s face dropped, fear plastered over his pupils.

“Y-Your Excellence, I—”

“Bring the human to my quarters,” the Tasqal finally said before turning. “Get her cleaned before you do. She smells like dirty Kleeba.”

The yeti-men grunted again.

At his words, the High Tasqal turned and headed toward his ship as the gator-guards converged on their small group.

Evren gulped.

It was now or never. She needed to get away because shit was about to go down.

The first spray of blood hit her cheek as one of the gator-guard’s fists connected with one of the yeti men. The yeti’s roar that came next almost made her go deaf.

Panic flooding through her veins, Evren glanced around, looking for a space between the approaching guards where she could make a break for it.

Reaching for the cutting instrument nestled against her spine underneath her blouse, she grasped the handle just as two tentacles circled her shoulder.

A yelp left her lips as she was pulled forward, M’Agunt’s tentacles like a death grip on her skin as he put her in front of him.

Another of his tentacles tightened around her neck.

“Come any closer and I will kill the jekin.”

The gator-guards in front of them hesitated.

This slimy asshole. He was really going to use her as a hostage?

He had a surprise coming.

“Let me go, M’Agunt.” It was hard breathing when he was cutting off her oxygen. Even as he tried to back away, his grip was tightening, probably from his own fear.

“Let me go!”

“I will do no such thing,” M’Agunt breathed. “It was an unlucky day when you came on the base. First, I cut a tentacle trying to cut some material for you and then I get a call from His Excellence to track you. And I did it.” He laughed. It was a high-pitched sound as if he was now losing his mind. “I did it. I followed. Tried to get you to trust me. All the while worrying each sun cycle whether I’d be found out and executed.”

His voice suddenly got eerily low as he moved backward, trying to put distance between him and the guards. “I will not die because your species have soft, wet cunts that the Tasqals find favorable!”

That said, he began laughing again, the high-pitched sounds making her ears hurt.

It was getting hard to breathe but she knew there was probably no reasoning with him at the moment. And she wasn’t going to beg.

He was still moving backward with her in his grasps and she was barely aware that there was still a fight going on around them with the yeti-men trying to save their own lives.

The remainder of the guards who were not fighting the yetis must have parted from behind M’Agunt, giving him space to walk backward, because no one attacked him from that direction.

Shit.

Did he really think that meant he was going to win though?

They weren’t going to win. One of them was going to die and it wouldn’t be her. She wasn’t going to just let him choke her to death because he was a coward piece of shit.

Clutching the cutting instrument in her hand, she pressed the button to activate the blade.

“Fuck you, M’Agunt.” Her words came out low and raspy as she brought her arm back and buried the blade into M’Agunt’s side.

With a sudden howl, M’Agunt released her and she was flung to the ground.

As she struggled to get up, her legs protesting with weakness, the sounds of the fight behind her began to slowly die.

Shit.

The two yetis must be losing.

Shit shit shit shit.

She was right, for when she turned her head to glance behind her, she saw that one of the yeti-men was down, his red blood staining his snow-white coat.

She was hardly able to blink before strong arms encircled her arms and she was being lifted by two gator guards.

“Let me go!”

She struggled against them to no avail. They were much too strong for her. Much too strong. And her body was weak. Weak, weak, weak.

Fucking M’Agunt. If he hadn’t been so easy to please she’d still have her strength.

As they brought her forward, they stepped over something bloodied, limbless, and purple on the ground.

It took her a few moments to recognize what it was and the horror of it made her stomach turn.

They’d removed all of M’Agunt’s limbs and left him there to bleed to death. She only knew he was still alive because his bloodied eye moved as his agony-filled gaze followed her.

“Let me go!” she screamed again, thrashing in their arms even though she knew it wouldn’t yield favorable results.

The sight of M’Agunt was burned in her brain. He was an evil she was happy she didn’t get the chance to know just how much. But for him to die like that was horrific, to say the least.

What kind of being would sanction such a thing?

As her eyes rose to the ship she was approaching, her gaze caught the High Tasqal standing at the top in front of the large doors.

She could feel his eyes on her...hear its laughter in its throat.

That’s just it. She knew what sort of being would do such evil...she was looking right at him.

If the devil was real, he was it.

Fear gripped her.

Was this it? Was this how she was going to finally die?

And before she’d had a chance to tell him a proper goodbye...

The image of Kyro flashed in her mind as tears welled in her eyes.

He probably didn’t even know what had happened to her. He probably thought she’d left for the Hub. He’d never find out that she’d turned back for him.

He’d never know how much she cared.

39

THE RIDE to Klepna 89 took forever but he was finally there.

Kyro straightened against the side of a cargo ship, his eyes and ears peeled for any disturbances that would give his position away.

He reckoned that M’Agunt had docked about three hours before he arrived. If he wasn’t quick enough, he wouldn’t make it before the tradeoff was completed.

On the far end of the dock was one Tasqal ship, its white outer surface making it shine among the other dull-looking ships.

It wasn’t hard to spot.

Clenching his jaw, he made his way through the shadows.

The only beings hovering around the docked ships on this end would be engineers. Still, the fewer people that saw him the better.

He was alone. The element of surprise was one of his weapons.

As he moved through the dock, he kept his eyes to the skies as well, noting the arriving shuttles.

Even though Klepna 89 was a lawless planet, he had doubted the Tasqals would arrive in one of their official vessels. But they had. His so-called Excellence didn’t seem to care even though he was working alongside a member of the Restitution.

After all, M’Agunt’s allegiance to them was still not known to the rebel alliance.

If word got out, M’Agunt would not be able to return to the base.

He assumed the Tasqals needed as many spies as they could get, but apparently, Tracki didn’t care about M’Agunt.

That meant he needed to keep alert.

The Tasqals could never be trusted. There was no telling what Tracki was really up to.

As he neared the large ship, the sound of a commotion caught his ears and Kyro hastened his steps.

Creeping toward the sound, he put himself into position so he could survey the scene.

It was just as he feared.

Tracki would leave no survivors.

The Hedgerud fighters were making quick work of the Kleeba. Even though the Kleeba were twice their size, there was no way for them to win. They were outnumbered.

To the right, his breath caught in his throat as he saw M’Agunt wrap his tentacles around Evren, pulling her backward with him.

He could feel his skin bristle; the temptation to shift into a beast was quite strong.

He needed to save her.

The gadgets he’d gathered were useless at the moment. His only weapon would be himself.

Could he take her now? There were probably over twenty guards, many of them standing and watching idly.

If he risked trying to rescue her now, the odds were not in his favor.

He reckoned he could probably take out five or six before the others intervened but then he’d still be outnumbered.

He couldn’t leave her to fend for herself after that. There were many evils dwelling on Klepna 89, the Tasqal just one of them.

He needed to be there till the end when she returned to the base safely.

A howl from M’Agunt caught his ear and he watched as Evren was thrown to the ground. A growl rumbled in his chest as he saw two fighters grip her before she could even run and began pulling her toward the Tasqal ship.

It was now or never.

Pulling the distorter from his bag, he slipped it over his wrist before punching in the code for the image he wanted to portray.

In what was only a few seconds, the device projected him as a Hedgerud fighter. Turning his hands around, he looked at the distorted skin. The holo image looked real. He just had to hope there were no defraying devices onboard or the distortion would fail.

Without thinking about it further, Kyro stepped from his spot behind the docked ship to join the group of Hedgeruds now heading toward the Tasqal ship.

None seemed to notice he had just joined the party, too hyped up on the bloodshed they had just been the cause of.

The bodies of M’Agunt and the two Kleebas lay motionless behind them as they walked up the ramp and into the ship, mere signals that a brawl had just occurred.

It was a pity the Tasqal had ordered M’Agunt’s death. He’d wanted his own revenge.

As the doors to the Tasqal ship closed, his ears perked for sounds of Evren as the other guards dispersed, heading back to the stations on the elaborate ship.

Moving with purpose, Kyro headed toward the sleeping quarters.

It ripped at him, but he had a good idea that’s where he would find her.

The first one was empty and so were the second, third, and fourth.

As he reached the fifth, the ship rocked a bit as it lifted off, the low hum of the engine creating what should be a comforting sound. Only, on this occasion, all he could think of was the fact that they were in alien territory.

He had no idea how he was going to get them out of this, only that he could not fail.

Opening the door to the fifth room, his heart fell when he realized it too was empty.

There were only two more places to check: the upper room and the bridge.

According to data on this make of ship, there was one private quarters on the upper level of the ship.

He had no second guesses that was the room the High Tasqal claimed for himself. But he couldn’t get in without distorting, taking out his pad to create a code that would unlock the door, and then distorting back to the Hedgerud fighter form.

It would take much time and it would be quite dangerous to lose his disguise, if even for a minute.

He’d head to the bridge first and hope that his presence wouldn’t set off any alarms.

On the way to the bridge, there was no one. No fighters walked in the corridors and there was no other ship crew. The lack of their presence made something within him tighten.

Something was not right.

As he neared the doors to the bridge, they slid open with a soft hiss. Inside, several Hedgerud fighters sat at their stations controlling the ship. Another two stood guard at the door and two by the captain’s chair.

From where he stood, he could see that the chair was occupied, the white robes telling who it was that sat there.

Below, on the lower deck, Evren was on her knees and Kyro’s heart jerked just seeing her.

But something wasn’t right. Even more so now, the feeling was growing.

For one, he hadn’t expected to see the Tasqal sitting in his chair as captain. The Tasqals tended to let their minions do any and all labor. They were a hedonistic species. They preferred pleasures of the flesh rather than doing any sort of toil. A captain’s job they would see as menial.

It became clear to him then that he may have walked into a trap. He didn’t know what sort of trap yet but a trap nonetheless.

He could feel it.

40

HER HEAD WAS POUNDING, the effects of the patch that M’Agunt had tried to fry her brain with still going through her body. Her legs had given out and she’d fallen to the floor on her knees just as she’d been placed in front of the High Tasqal.

She was unwillingly kneeling before it. She didn’t even want to raise her gaze to look at the evil beast. She didn’t want to give the beast the satisfaction.

Not kneeling. Not surrendering.

Legs are just weak.

Not surrendering.

GET UP, EVREN!

As she pushed herself up on her shaky legs, her gaze finally fell on the Tasqal.

There’d been an eerie silence in the room since she’d been brought in and she didn’t like the lack of sound.

It seemed as if the Tasqal was waiting on something.

Behind him, the doors to the bridge closed as another of his men walked in and she cringed as a slow smile spread the Tasqal’s face.

It was the creepiest thing she had ever seen in her life.

Its lips spread so wide; it appeared as if its entire face was split in half.

“You are here,” the Tasqal finally spoke and, she couldn’t quite tell how she knew, but it wasn’t speaking to her. “I must say, those little devices you barbaric species use are delightful.”

Huh?

The guard behind him stopped walking and she swore every other guard in the room was tense. She could even sense the wariness of the ones that stood by her side.

The fear this Tasqal incited was real.

“No words?” the Tasqal continued. “I know you are here, rebel. I have been waiting for you.”

No one in the room moved and she was beginning to think she may be misinterpreting things until the Tasqals’ gaze fell on her.

His eyes were pure black, yet she could feel his heavy gaze on her the moment that he held her in his scope. Along the sides of his face, bubble-filled sores oozed in their pockets and her stomach turned.

“Very well. If you won’t reveal yourself, maybe your little human friend can get you to.”

What?

With an almost imperceptible jerk of his head, the Tasqal motioned to the guard right next to her. There was no other indication of what was to come next and she was hardly ready for it.

Pain rocketed down her back as something hard was jammed into her shoulder blade. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees once more, her body falling forward with the force of the blow that she had to stop her fall with her hands even as the pain made her vision go dim for a second.

Biting her lip hard, she knew she would be drawing her own blood soon, but she’d rather do that than cry out in pain.

When her vision cleared enough for her to raise her head, the guard to her left had a smirk on his face as he readjusted his heavy blaster in his arm, the butt of which she was sure had just been what was slammed into her shoulder.

“Harm me and the human dies.”

The Tasqal’s words didn’t make sense. Lifting her gaze through the burning rage that filled her, she rose her eyes to the Tasqal once more only to see something unexpected.

There, holding a blaster right to the Tasqal’s head was one of the guards.

Had they finally had enough?

Was the tension among the guards because they had all been waiting for the right moment to start a coup?

“How did you know of my presence?” the guard snarled and Evren watched the exchange with bated breath.

If they started fighting, she needed to get the hell out of the way and quick. If they killed the Tasqal, there was no telling if they would spare her life, kill her, or worse, use her like the Tasqal was planning to.

She’d like the first option, but a girl couldn’t choose.

“How?!” The guard roared and pressed the blaster farther against the Tasqal’s head.

“I have my ways,” the Tasqal answered and it was then that she began to realize that something wasn’t quite right.

The Tasqal looked oddly calm for someone being threatened. It was almost as if he believed he still had all the cards in his hands and the thought made a niggling feeling of anxiety begin to form in the back of her mind.

Something wasn’t right.

None of the other guards were moving either. Instead, they were all watching the exchange, standing as if ready to intervene at any moment.

“You love the human?” The Tasqal turned his dark gaze to the gator-guard holding the gun to its head and the bubble-popping sounds began in his throat. “How precious.” His laughter began to echo in the room and Evren found herself swallowing hard.

What was he talking about?

She didn’t understand.

With another almost imperceptible movement of his head, the Tasqal motioned to the guard standing beside her once more and she felt the cool metal of the blaster against her skull.

“One wrong move, rebel, and I assure you the human will be pulp against my pristine floor.” The Tasqal turned his head slowly to look at the gator-guard by his side. “She is not so valuable that I would hesitate to kill her.”

There were a few moments of complete silence and she watched as the guard lowered his weapon slowly, his eyes on her the whole time.

His eyes were a deep gray, like silver, and there was thick emotion in them.

It took her a few moments to realize she knew those eyes.

But...it couldn’t be.

“Kyro?”

She was imagining things. The patch M’Agunt had put on her head was making her imagine things.

“Relieve him of his weapon,” the Tasqal ordered and two other guards marched forward to pull the weapon from Kyro’s hands.

No.

Please no.

He didn’t come into this shitfest to rescue her, did he? How did he even find her? She couldn’t be the reason he died.

“Run the interference signal,” the Tasqal ordered next. “Let’s see who is under this disguise.”

There was a low sound and a beam that lit up the whole room.

For a second, nothing happened and then it was almost as if Kyro glitched, his image changing back to his usual gray-skinned form then back to the gator-guard.

It was as if her mind was falling apart and making up things for her to see.

After three more glitches, the image finally stopped blinking in and out, and there he stood before them his hands clenched at his sides as he watched her.

“Kyro!” She launched herself toward him only to feel herself dangling in the air. The two gator-guards at her side had each grasped one of her arms, preventing her from moving farther.

“Kyro!”

They were going to kill him. She could feel it. And all because of her. Why had he come after her?

Why?

She didn’t realize there were tears in her eyes until her vision became blurry and her pain quickly turned to anger.

“Let her go.” She almost didn’t recognize Kyro’s voice and when she squeezed her eyes just so the tears could fall so she could see better, the look on his face made something inside her clench.

There was a resoluteness there that hadn’t been there before. It was the kind of look she’d seen in the movies where a soldier was about to sacrifice himself. And, if she was right and that was what he was thinking, she couldn’t let him do it.

“No...” she whispered. Then louder, “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t. Don’t do it.”

His eyes never moved from her, but it was clear from his next words that whatever she’d said had gone through both his ears but not his brain.

He wasn’t listening to her.

“Let her go. Take me instead.”

The Tasqal laughed, the thick bubble-popping sounds starting low before they began to boom in the room.

“Take you instead?” The Tasqal laughed. “I have no use for you, Borxclan.”

As suddenly as it began, the Tasqal’s laugh stopped.

“The human though...I have many uses for her.” His tone darkened so much there was no denying his meaning.

Before she could even think it, Kyro launched himself at the Tasqal, wrenching himself from the guards that held him and punching the beast so hard, the Tasqal fell from its chair to the floor.

Chaos ensued.

The guards at the surrounding stations rushed forward, blasters pointed as a few reached for Kyro.

Eyes wide, she didn’t realize she was struggling to get to him until she was jerked backward and another pain shot through her shoulder, causing her to fall to her knees once more, her body still held upright by the guard’s hold on her arms.

But Kyro didn’t need much help. She’d never seen him fight before. She didn’t even know that he could fight but he was taking down the guards one by one as they came at him.

She watched as one was launched straight toward her, crumpling at her feet with a groan of pain as Kyro held the neck of another in his arms. With one twist, he rendered the guard motionless even as more came at him.

She was barely aware of the Tasqal crawling to safety and for once in this messed up situation, she felt a sliver of hope that they would make it out of there alive.

But that was a wish brought forth by mere innocence. That one sliver of hope was quickly cut down as the doors opened and a new set of guards rushed through.

They were piling onto Kyro one after the other and struggle as she might for the two guards holding her to release her, their hands held firm.

Two guards grabbed Kyro’s arms, another guard restrained his head in a headlock, and others had their blasters pointed.

Kyro struggled till he could struggle no more, his gaze moving to her.

There was no winning this.

There was such pain in his eyes. She wondered if he was seeing the same in hers.

From the corner of the room, the Tasqal rose to its feet, its lips oozing something green, which she assumed was its blood.

“You will pay for that,” was all he said before his eyes fell on her, his lips spreading in a slow smile once more as his laughter rumbled in his throat.

“Take her to my quarters,” he said, “and bring the Borxclan too.” His laughter began again. “Let him watch. It has been a while since I’ve had an audience.”

A dry retch made her body lurch forward.

She’d rather die than have that thing touch her.

With renewed energy, she struggled against the guards, even though she knew it wouldn’t help, even though she knew she was struggling relentlessly for nothing. She couldn’t be taken without trying to break free.

“No,” Kyro ground out. “Take me as your prisoner instead.” He paused, gritting his teeth. “I am much more valuable than you think. Put her on a shuttle. Send her back. Promise her safety and I will give you allegiance.”

No. He wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying.

He wasn’t saying he would give himself up, his true self, for her?

“No.” Her eyes bored into his. “Don’t,” she said. “Not for me. Don’t do it for me. It’s not worth it.”

“I’m prepared to do anything...” His words came through gritted teeth as he fought to breathe, the arm around his neck no doubt cutting off his air supply.

It couldn’t end like this.

“No!” It felt as if her throat was closing up. “They can’t be trusted! He’ll screw you over. I just know it. And I don’t want to leave you here. I’d rather die!”

She could see the pain in his eyes at her words.

“I’ve run through the data available. It is the most successful option.”

“Fuck the data, Kyro. I mean it!” Her voice trembled. “I’d rather die. I’m not leaving this ship without you.”

She was breathing so hard, her entire body was rising and falling and for a moment, she felt a calm as she looked into Kyro’s eyes.

For that one moment, it was just him and her. Noone else.

The Tasqal’s bubbly laughter reached her ears then and she was brought back to reality.

“So...fascinating,” it said. “I hope she begs for you like that when she is beneath me, taking me inside her cun—”

Kyro’s roar cut off the next few words and the Tasqal laughed again.

“Tell me,” he walked closer, “are you not wondering how I knew of your presence?”

Kyro’s eyes moved to the Tasqal but he didn’t utter a word.

The Tasqal laughed again and she felt her anger swell.

He reminded her of M’Agunt. His laughs were nothing but evil. There was no good within him. She only could wish he met the same end as his slain minion.

“Show them,” she heard the Tasqal say and the screen in front of the ship suddenly switched to an image.

It was an image of something restrained with wires on a flat floating slab.

Her eyes widened as she saw what it was, her mind trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Her eyes flew to Kyro’s and she could see the shock registered on his face as well.

There was a man on the floating slab.

A man that looked exactly like Kyro’s brother, Yce.

41

“THIS,” the Tasqal was now grinning openly, “is the extent of my power.”

Evren stared in horror at the body on the slab.

Was the male even alive?

He looked exactly like Yce except that instead of long flowing hair, his white hair was cut shorter, possibly to shoulder length. He had similar markings all across his body as Yce did and in the light of the bridge, they seemed to glow and pulse.

Her horror mounted when it was evident that he was not only restrained by the wires she saw but they were attached to his head as well, boring into his skull.

A growl left Kyro.

“What are you doing to him?”

The Tasqal tilted his head. “Isn’t it obvious?” He paused, moving closer to the male on the slab. “We’ve found a way to harness this species’ psionic talent.” He laughed as if delighted with himself. “We scanned the city when we were on the ground.” He turned to Kyro then, a gleam in his dark eyes. “It is how we found you...heard your plans...waited for you.”

She could feel the color drain from her face.

The man on the slab was a slave.

They were using his abilities, most likely against his will. It was just as they’d done to Kyro and his kind. They were doing it again, only to another species.

Her eyes flew to Kyro’s and the rage and turmoil there was evident.

“Don’t give up yourself,” she spoke. “Don’t do it for me. This is proof enough that it will never end. Kyro, I don’t—” Another sharp pain in her shoulder had her crying out as her vision blacked out for a second.

“Bring them.” The High Tasqal spoke and she felt herself being pulled somewhere.

They were leaving the bridge.

“Enough of this time-wasting. My cock aches.”

Another of the dry-retches made her body heave.

No.

No no no no no.

They reached where they were going far too quickly, and she was thrown on something soft. A bed she supposed.

As she tried to fight to get away, one of the guards pressed his knee into her stomach, preventing her from escaping.

Her arms were spread, her legs opened, and her ankles and wrists restrained.

The position was not lost on her. She was a sacrifice to the hideous beast.

Off in the corner, Kyro was still being restrained by about five guards, his gaze so vividly full of rage it didn’t even seem as if she was looking into the same eyes she was used to gazing into. The same eyes that had looked at her with such love and adoration.

His eyes now were full of such hatred, it made even the hairs on her arms stand on end.

She was aware of movement in front of the bed and a flash of white falling.

The Tasqal was disrobing.

She couldn’t look. She couldn’t watch him as he crawled over her to take her.

Struggling against the restraints, they burned into her flesh as she pulled and tugged at them.

Fuck.

Turning her face away from Kyro, she shut her eyes tight.

She couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t face him while she was being defiled.

A low moan of pleasure rumbled from the Tasqal as he looked her over. “Disrobe her.”

A lump formed in her throat, but no tears came.

She could do this. She could endure this. She would...just like when she’d been lost in that forest, when all hope had left her, she’d still found her strength.

She could do that now.

She would.

And they would find a way out of this. She had to hold on to that wish.

As one of the guards approached the bed a thunderous roar echoed through the room and she was mildly aware of the guard who was approaching freezing mid-motion as he stared at something behind her. There was a strange sound of bones popping and skin stretching.

She’d heard that sound before.

Another roar had her turning her head to look back in the direction where the guards held Kyro and her breath caught in her throat. The guards that were holding him were thrown to the floor, all clambering to get out of the way as a huge creature rose between them.

Evren’s mouth opened and went slack as she watched the creature grow right in front of her eyes. It was a dark green thing with huge arms of bulging muscles. On each forearm was what looked like razor-sharp machetes made out of bone. Its entire body looked hard, as it if had some kind of natural armor. It looked like a nine-foot beefed-up version of Kyro and for a moment, panic flooded her as she glanced around the floor, looking for him.

As the guards scrambled back, their surprised cries filling the room, the creature locked its gray eyes with her.

Her heart did a wondrous thump.

“Kyro?” she whispered.

He was moving then, grabbing one guard and throwing him across the room so hard you’d think the guard had the weight of a child’s doll. With a thwack, she heard the guard’s spine crumble.

Another guard raised his blaster and shot, one, two, three times, each shot connecting with Kyro’s body. But he didn’t stop moving. Faster than he should be able to move with such bulk, he reached the guard with the blaster and wrenched the weapon out of the guard’s hand, throwing it behind him. With a soft thump, the weapon landed on the bed beside her and the sound of bone breaking filled the room as the guard yelped.

He was quickly silenced with a heavy foot to the skull.

“Get him!” the Tasqal screeched and a deafening alarm began to sound on the ship.

Struggling against the restraints, Evren tried to free herself. With Kyro as a distraction, maybe it would give her enough time, but whatever she was restrained with wouldn’t budge.

Stretching for the blaster that had been thrown on the bed, her fingers brushed the smooth metal, but there was no way for her to grasp it.

Shit!

As the shock of Kyro’s change began to wear off, several of the guards rushed his way. Using the blades on his arms, he sliced through them, their bodies falling to the ground one after the other.

Much too quickly, there was a sudden silence in the room, the only sound being that of the High Tasqal’s huge breaths.

Her eyes fell on the Tasqal. Now disrobed, she could see more of its body and bile rose in her mouth.

The fluid-filled sores were all over its large body. Rolls and rolls of fat hung down and she was happy she couldn’t see much from the position she was in.

But she could see enough to watch Kyro’s arms close around the Tasqal’s neck as he lifted the beast into the air.

Slamming the Tasqal’s body against the wall, Kyro let out a deafening roar.

As her ears readjusted, she heard the Tasqal’s laughter. Was there ever a time the asshole didn’t laugh?

“You are a Vorti,” it said, its laugh beginning to get more hysterical. “A Vorti! Oh, you precious beast! Now I understand why you were offering yourself instead of the paltry human.”

Kyro roared again.

“You,” the Tasqal’s dark eyes focused on Kyro. “I have heard tales of your species. To think you have been in our grasp for so long.”

“You,” Kyro growled. “It was a sad mistake the day you decided to try to take her away from me. Your people took everything from me once. It will never happen again.” He pushed the Tasqal further into the wall. “She is mine. You don’t get her smiles or her cries, her pleasure or her pain. But most of all, you don’t get her freedom. She,” his arms seemed to tighten around the Tasqal farther, “belongs” and farther “to me.”

“I cann m-make adeal,” the Tasqal sputtered.

She could sense Kyro’s rage increase even with his back turned to her.

Reaching for a blade from one of the fallen guards slumped against the wall, Kyro pointed the sharp edge at the Tasqal’s skull.

“Deal with this.”

The blade slid home, going straight through the Tasqal’s skull and piercing the wall behind. It took a second for the light to die in the Tasqal’s black pool that he called eyes.

Kyro turned then, his eyes on her and he was by her side in the next second.

As he released her restraints, she could only blink up at him, unable to find the words yet having so much to say.

He released her just in time because the doors suddenly opened, and a new set of guards appeared. They took one look at Kyro before their gazes drifted to the Tasqal hanging by his own skull against the wall, as well as the crumpled bodies of their comrades.

“Oh qrak,” one in the back murmured.

Blasters raised; they began firing just as Kyro dived to cover her body with his. Even as she screamed at the sudden assault, she could feel his body jerk as the laser bullets hit him in the back.

In one movement, he rolled her from the bed, shielding her with his body as he rested her against the floor before rising, his face the exact vision of rage. As he moved forward, he took out the first guard in his path.

Her heart was beating hard in her chest as she glanced around, looking for something or some way she could help. She wasn’t about to sit by while they tried to kill the man she loved.

As the sounds of battle echoed all around her, she spotted the blaster that had been thrown on the bed and she grabbed it. There was a depression where the trigger would be on a normal gun. Pointing it away from her, she put her finger against the depression and applied some pressure.

A blast hit the bed, creating a deep hole in the material and her body was thrown backward with the recoil.

Guess she knew how to use it then.

She was up on legs that were getting stronger, she gripped the blaster as she stepped over bodies strewn along the floor.

In the little time it had taken her to acquaint herself with the weapon, the fight had moved to the corridor.

She’d had no idea so many guards had been on the ship. Bodies upon lifeless bodies filled the floor. As the door opened, she had to duck out of the way as an arm came hurtling through the air. She would have been shocked to see it if it didn’t happen so suddenly, but her mind didn’t get the time to think about the fact that a dismembered body part had just flown by her head. Instead, her attention fell on Kyro.

One after the other, he took out the guards that attacked. Some used blasters, others used swords, but whatever the method of attack, he took them down.

As she tried to rush toward him, it was evident he was hurt. His movements were becoming sluggish.

He was covered in blood. His blood or his attackers’, she did not know. All she knew was that he was hurt, and she needed to help.

She must have made a sound because, in all the chaos, Kyro turned to look her way.

“Stay back!”

Nope. Sorry babe.

This wasn’t his fight alone.

A door opened beside her and a guard rushed out. Gripping the blaster, she fired, not bothering to try and aim.

She pressed the trigger as many times as she could, till the guard was standing no more.

The sound of the firing caught the attention of another guard coming down the corridor and she did the same, depressing the trigger as quickly as she could.

That one she cut down in just three shots.

A door opened to the side behind Kyro and another guard appeared, blade raised to bury it deep into Kyro’s back.

“Hey!” she shouted, catching the attacker’s attention for just long enough for him to look her way. Pointing the blaster, she pulled the trigger, bracing against the wall as the shot burst forth and she emptied the cartridge.

The guard’s body fell.

Throwing that blaster to the ground, she grabbed another one lying close by.

More guards began streaming out of the doors and something kicked into gear within her.

Her eyes locked on Kyro.

He was fighting for her.

He hadn’t left her for dead.

And most importantly, he’d given away his lifelong secret just for her. No one could survive.

They all knew what he was now.

Call it survival instinct, call it adrenaline, call it the power of love—she didn’t know what it was. All she knew was that something fierce was channeling through her.

Getting to her feet, she fired at an incoming guard.

They were going to survive this.

And they would survive it together.

42

IT WAS ONLY when he reached close to the bridge that the last of the guards was taken out. His chest heaved as his breaths came barreling through his body.

He was wounded, he could feel it. Yet, he couldn’t shift out of his current form.

Not yet.

Protect her.

He needed to protect her.

He had to keep fighting.

As he stumbled along the corridor, he could barely make out the sound of a soft, feminine voice beside him.

Turning his head, he felt her body against his as she tried to help him support his weight.

He stumbled once more, his feet almost giving way and she stumbled along with him, his weight pulling her down.

He needed to stop moving or he would hurt her.

Leaning against the wall of the corridor, he slid along it till he was sitting on the floor.

“Kyro!” Her voice pierced through his consciousness and judging from the concern on her face as she came into his vision, she had been calling his name for some time.

“I’m fine.” His eyelids felt heavy as he outstretched his hand towards her. Brushing his finger against her cheek, he saw the blood there.

“You’re hurt,” he murmured, trying to rise. There must be a med bay somewhere. He could get her looked at.

“Sit! Don’t move.” When he focused back on her, there were tears in her eyes.

“You...” she began, and her throat moved as she swallowed hard.

She moved towards him then, her lips meeting his in a passionate kiss, and for that brief moment, the world went still. His wounds were nonexistent. Everything was right again. It was just her lips on his, the feel of the one woman who’d awakened what he’d been too scared to face on his own.

He wasn’t sure which one of them broke the kiss first, only that he was staring into her beautiful eyes.

Through his heavy eyelids, he could see the strong emotions moving in her eyes.

“I was an idiot to think I could do without you. An idiot to think there was life without you.” She gripped her hands around his neck as she rested her forehead on his. “I can’t do without you, Kyro. I don’t want to.”

Grimacing as he lifted his arms, he held her close to him, pressing her soft body into his.

“Ev-ren...” He groaned.

“You’re all I need.” She lifted her head, a sniffle leaving her nose.

It was the exact words he had wanted to hear and the exact words that he dreaded.

She was easing out of his arms now, and he wanted to protest her leaving.

“You’re hurt. You’re hurt really bad.” Her wide eyes met his. “Come on.” She stood, trying her best to help him rise.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, you won’t. Now, come. On.” She pulled him again and he rose with reluctance, trying not to put his weight on her once more.

They stumbled more than walked toward the bridge, and the doors opened silently for them. Once inside, she set him down on the floor, moving into the room.

“There must be some kind of map of this ship right. I need to find the med bay, patch you up. And I need to send a message to the others or pilot this ship somehow. Where the hell is the button to shut off this alarm? I need to think!”

She was pacing as she babbled, and he loved it. The sound of her voice made him feel calm and whole.

There was a strange peace settling over him as he listened to her.

She was safe. She wasn’t badly harmed. She would survive.

His mission had been completed.

It was almost as if his body was wanting him to say a final word so he could go.

“I doubt we can stay just hovering in space. Reinforcements are likely to come and I—” Her words cut off as she stopped walking abruptly.

“Shit shit shit shit shit.” She clenched her fists as she headed back toward him. “Kyro?”

She took his face between her palms as her concerned eyes looked over him. “Kyro?” She touched his cheek. “Shit. Oh God, whatever you do, do not close your eyes. I can’t allow you to fall asleep. Where the hell is the frickin’ med bay?”

The ship’s alarm was still blaring.

“Alarm,” he managed to mutter. “Disengage. Yellow button. Captain’s chair.”

He felt her leave his position and then the deafening alarm stopped. Crouching by him once more, she took his cheek in her palm.

“Kyro, darling, please don’t close your eyes. Stay awake for me.” She lifted his head. He could hardly see her. His eyelids felt heavy. Oh so heavy.

“You’re losing so much blood.” There was an undertone of worry there. “Do you know where the med bay is?”

“Kit in compartment under helm.” He fought to do what she asked of him, to keep his eyes open, but it was so difficult. Even more difficult than taking out the many guards. Yet, he tried. For her, he tried.

He didn’t want to leave her until he was sure she was safe.

She left his side then and he could hear her voice as she tried to find the compartment he told her of. There was a string of expletives and sounds of frustration until she exclaimed something, and her small footfalls headed back his way.

She popped open the kit and rifled through the contents.

“There are just a bunch on syringes in here. I have no idea which one to use.”

“Purple...”

He could see her hands were shaking as she fumbled with the serums, finally finding the one he needed.

“Wait...” Maybe she was right. Maybe he was losing a lot of blood. As the minutes went by, it was as if he was losing more and more strength, becoming more and more tired. His voice sounded weak to his ears.

“Vidi,” he murmured, and a square lit up in his pocket—the datapad activated by voice control. “Activate the last saved protocol.”

The screen blinked once and he rested his head against the wall.

“What was that?” Evren was looking from him to the device.

“...contacted others...location sent...on their way.” He took a moment to breathe. “...they will find us. Take you home.”

A soft smile graced her features as she looked at him but there was still worry in her eyes.

Taking a huge breath, he mustered his strength. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Evren smiled once more before he heard her chuckle in relief.

“We do.” She paused, lifting the purple syringe in her hand. “Here, let me give this to you. We have all the time in the world to talk later.”

43

AS THE SERUM worked through his veins, Evren watched as Kyro’s eyes slowly closed. He looked as if he was sleeping now, resting, and she stood slowly, looking down at him.

He was out cold. The exertion of killing so many guards had taken its toll. She still couldn’t believe she’d witnessed him slaughter so many beings.

It had been horrific and, at the same time, glorious.

He was right. There was a lot for them to discuss.

She knew he could shift but...wow, she hadn’t expected any of what she’d seen.

Looking at him now though, she knew it changed nothing.

He’d come all alone, literally walking into the enemy’s camp to save her.

What more could a girl want?

He was everything she wanted, and more.

Crouching, she brushed a finger over his cheek, and like that, right in front of her very eyes, he began to change once more.

This change was smooth though, like the time he’d shown her who he really was.

This change was slow, the bulkiness slowly seeping away under his skin till he was his usual size once more.

This went beyond the laws of everything she knew. Yet, she was fascinated, enraptured by him.

Checking his pulse, she felt a stable beat.

That was good enough for now. He said he’d sent a signal and that the others would be there shortly. She just had to wait.

Standing up once more, she let out a breath she’d been holding and began to pace.

“Warning! Warning. An enemy ship has exited warp and is approaching. Warning!”

The sound of the AI shook her to the core as her insides shriveled up at the warning.

An enemy ship?

Rushing to the console, her eyes flew over the many buttons there. Why couldn’t these spaceships have labels on them? Things would be a lot easier if they were.

She had no idea what to do and a glance at Kyro told her he was still out of it.

“Two minutes until docking.”

Oh, frickin’ pasta sauce.

They needed a break. Now wasn’t the time for enemy reinforcements to arrive.

Staring at the buttons, she felt like a dummy. Those buttons did everything and right about now, they also did nothing. If she pressed something random, would it help them or make things worse?

She tried to weigh the options.

She could press a button or a series of buttons and the ship could do something that helped them or she could make the shield fall or something, disable an engine maybe, take life support offline...

“One minute until docking.”

Fuck.

Rushing from the bridge, she almost stumbled over one of the bodies of the slain guards.

Don’t think about the bodies. Don’t think about the bodies.

Grabbing a blaster from the floor, and another, and another, she bundled as many as she could in her arms. She was on her way back to the bridge when the AI spoke again.

“Ship docked.”

Fuuuuuuuck!

As she entered the room, she breathed hard, looking at Kyro’s resting form.

She was going to do all that she could to keep them alive for as long as she could.

There was no time to cover him so she’d just have to shield him with her own body.

Crouching as she got the blaster ready, she’d just about settled her finger over the trigger when the door to the bridge opened.

“Qrak me,” a voice said. “Who the qrak did this?”

“Whoever it was, maybe we should get him on our team,” another voice said before a big head with two horns popped through the door.

“Xul?” The blaster slackened in her hands a bit.

The bull-man’s eyebrows shot up when he saw her before his gaze became guarded. Behind him, Crex appeared, his dark gaze looking all too pleased with the carnage outside the door.

“Evren...” Xul said, his gaze on Kyro as he entered the bridge.

Crex glanced from her then to the bodies outside and back again.

Resting the blaster to the floor, she breathed out a breath of relief. The warning had been for their ship.

She was an idiot. Of course, the AI would see the Restitution’s vessels as enemy ships.

Rokan walked in next, his eyes surveying the bodies as well before they fell on her and then on Kyro. He noticeably paled, if that was possible in his gray skin.

Glancing back, Evren swallowed hard.

Kyro hadn’t managed to shift back to his Borxclan disguise. He was Vorti, undeniably so. Right now, he was the most vulnerable he’d ever been, and it didn’t matter what his brothers said or thought, she was going to protect him from their judgment.

“What happened here?” Xul asked, his eyes focusing on Kyro. “And who is that male?”

Evren swallowed hard, her eyes flying to Rokan’s.

There was no way out of this.

In the time it took her to answer, Xul moved closer.

“It’s Kyro,” she finally said. Xul paused, his brows furrowing. To his right, Crex folded his arms, his attention no longer on the damage that was done. His dark eyes were now on her.

Looking straight at Rokan, she swallowed hard.

“You know that device that changes your body. He was wearing one. He changed into this. But the Tasqals interfered with the device. I think we have to go back to base to fix it maybe.”

Xul paused and for a moment she wanted to hit her head against the wall so she could come up with a better excuse.

Turning to Crex, Xul regarded his friend. “It seems the device malfunctioned.”

Crex nodded. “Those things can never be trusted.”

Xul nodded back. “That’s why we don’t depend on such technology.”

Crex nodded again. “Right. It’s his fault for using it. Maybe he should be stuck with that image. I never liked him as a Borxclan anyway.”

They both looked at her then, possibly noting the frown that had started to form on her face.

Were they mocking her?

Amusement flooded Xul’s eyes before a smile played at the corner of his lips.

“They know,” Rokan said.

Evren blinked. She wasn’t going to take any liberties and volunteer information. “They know what?”

“They know Kyro is Vorti.”

Her eyes flew to Xul and Crex and found they were both smiling.

“You know?”

Xul nodded. “Rokan confessed after Kyro rushed out here to save you all alone. Somehow he knew that this would happen...the shift.”

Evren glanced at Rokan. She had so many questions.

“He thought it was best we be prepared for what we were about to see,” Xul continued. “We still have a lot of questions, but those can wait.”

“And...you don’t mind?”

“Mind?” Crex stepped forward. “Kyro will always be our brother...even if he is a pain in the gonads sometimes.”

Xul chuckled and she couldn’t help her shoulders from sagging with relief.

Xul glanced around before he looked at a device on his arm.

“Right, we better get the qrak out of here. The Tasqals are bound to be sending reinforcements. Rokan, download all the data from the ship. Crex you bring Kyro back to our vessel. I’ll set up the self-destruct.”

The other two men nodded and began moving.

GETTING the things they needed from the Tasqal ship had gone quicker than she’d expected it to. The brothers had downloaded the ship’s logs and then wiped the computer. Then they’d gathered the weapons and supplies they could find and set the ship on self-destruct mode.

As their ship traveled back to the Restitution, Evren finally let her shoulders relax, her eyes on Kyro as she did.

This ship was different from the others she’d been in. Not that she’d been in that many, but this ship had two rows of two seats at the front before a long bench at the back, on which she sat with Kyro’s head resting on her lap.

She didn’t mind the layout. It meant the brothers were all looking ahead while she could have some privacy with Kyro.

He was still unconscious, but she held his hand anyway.

This was the man who had risked his life and his whole identity, just to save her. The same man who’d kept her company when she didn’t even realize she’d needed a friend.

“You know, he’ll be fine,” Rokan said, turning so he could look over his shoulder. “He will heal. I will make another healing serum.”

“Thank you.” She offered Rokan a genuine smile.

“It’s a special serum for Vorti. It has to be made by hand because it is not available anywhere else. I was not able to make it before we arrived.” Rokan’s eyes fell on Kyro.

“That’s okay. I think the thing he made me inject him with may be blocking the pain for now and he’s stopped bleeding so that’s good.” She smiled again and this time she saw a faint smile on Rokan’s face in return before he nodded and turned back to face where they were going.

“We’ll have to cover him before he exits the ship. We can’t risk anyone seeing him,” Xul began. His voice boomed from the front of the ship, where he sat at the helm with Crex. “We will take him back to one of the private rooms with restricted access. It’s where we keep high profile witnesses who’ve been affected by the Tasqals. No one will question it if they see us bringing another there.”

“Sounds good,” she murmured. She didn’t want to be anywhere near other people anyway. She needed time to allow the recent events to settle, for she’d been abducted, almost raped, and she’d seen so much death. Not to mention that she’d almost lost him—she squeezed his hand that she held once more—she’d almost lost Kyro.

“Hey.” She almost forgot. “When we were on the ship, the toad-guy showed us someone on video. He was restrained and he looked like he was in pain. They were using him, using his powers. They used him to find out Kyro was on the ship.” She swallowed, her brows furrowing as she remembered the screen changing to show the tied-up male with the wires piercing his skull. “He looked just like Yce. Only shorter hair.”

She could almost feel the sudden tension in the room.

“Are you sure of this?” Xul asked. “He was an Arois?”

“I’m not sure what an Arois is...”

“It’s the name of Yce’s species,” Crex offered.

“We have heard rumors of the Tasqals developing technology that could manipulate certain powers but never had we actually gotten proof of such,” Rokan added.

“This changes a lot,” Xul murmured. “We will have to review the ship’s footage when we arrive at the base.”

“Footage? There is footage of us on the ship? Of Kyro?” She hadn’t even considered that but of course, there would be. Earth had long developed the capacity for CCTV recording, why wouldn’t a more advanced alien race be monitoring their vessels too?”

“Do not worry. The footage was downloaded, and the vessel’s memory wiped.” It was as if Xul was reading her mind. “Kyro’s secret will remain safe.”

“What about the footage that you have now?”

“We’ll delete him from that footage too,” Xul replied.

Good.

Squeezing Kyro’s hand again, she let out a sigh of relief as her shoulders sagged just a little more.

This was a good step in the right direction, she could feel it.

Everything would work out fine.

44

TWO DAYS later

THE NEW DWELLING was in a bunker with artificial lights and metal walls, a small bed in the corner, a flat bench in another, a small kitchen with a burner and a sink, and a tiny bathroom with a shower stall and a strange-looking device she assumed was a toilet. It was a small living space, but it was private, and it was clean.

After Xul and the others had deposited them there, Rokan had gone off to develop the serum while Xul and Crex had gone to go through the data and weapons they’d collected. Xul appeared sure they would find a lot more valuable information along with the clip of the Arois male they held in captivity.

By the time Rokan had returned with the healing serum, she’d already cleaned as many of Kyro’s wounds as she could and removed his bloodied garments.

Now he was resting.

He still hadn’t regained consciousness yet but Rokan had assured her that was to be expected. Kyro had shifted into what Rokan had referred to as his “battle form.” It was a shift that used a lot of energy, so Kyro’s injuries weren’t the only thing that had drained him.

It’d been two days, but he was still recovering and hadn’t regained consciousness yet.

Heading to the small kitchen, Evren smoothed down the potato sack she was wearing. It was the only set of clothes provided down there in the bunker. Stooping, she rifled through the receptacles under the burner till she found one shaped like a pot. There was a box on the floor with packets of things she had no idea about, but she looked through them anyway. She was going to make Kyro something warm for when he awoke. A broth maybe. And if he didn’t awaken today, then she’d just drink it.

There was a packet with something that looked like preserved vegetables. Rising with that one, she rested it on the small counter then filled the pot with water from the sink, humming as she did.

Her spirits were light this morning. Or at least, she assumed it was morning. She didn’t know what time of day it was. The light in the bunker was always on and she never opened the door to head for the outside.

Smiling to herself, she began to hum louder, a song that wasn’t really a song, just a collection of random sounds that vibrated against her throat.

It made the place seem less lonely. It was always so quiet with Kyro asleep.

She should go check on him. The water looked like it was going to take a while to boil anyway.

Humming as she turned to step back into the bedroom/living area, her heart almost jumped out of her chest as she saw Kyro standing there.

His frame filled the doorway, as he leaned against it, looking at her. She hadn’t even realized he’d come awakened. Those imperceptible steps of his meant he glided across the floor without so much as a sound, even though he was ill.

“Kyro,” she breathed, her eyes traveling down his frame. He was naked. Utterly and completely naked and he hadn’t bothered to try and cover himself. When he’d been under the sheets, she hadn’t had the luxury her eyes were receiving at that moment but now he was standing there, looking almost completely healed and outright gorgeous.

“Evren,” he answered.

They stared at each other for a few moments, neither daring to move, and then she was throwing herself against him to wrap her arms around his neck. Burying her face against his chest, she allowed her relief to flow through her. “You’re back.”

“I was always here.”

“Don’t be a smartypants.” She giggled. “I thought I’d lost you for a second there on the ship.”

His chin touched the crown of her head as he inhaled deeply. “Never,” he murmured.

As she eased off him, his gray eyes almost overpowered her. They were so bright, vivid—she hadn’t expected him to have such strength when he’d woken up.

She was staring at him, her eyes traveling over his features, when she noticed his skin began to change back to gray, shifting to the form she’d first known him as, his Borxclan form.

“Why are you changing?” Her voice was a whisper because it felt as if she couldn’t speak. There was a gravity in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“For you.”

Evren searched his eyes some more. “You don’t need to. Don’t change.” She watched the shift almost pause as she spoke. “Please.”

It took a few seconds for him to go back to his true, dark green form.

“I PREFER YOU LIKE THIS,” she whispered, her eyes moving over his features as her hand moved to brush over the new bone structure of his face. “This is you.”

His throat moved but he said nothing. Instead, his arms encircled her, pulling her closer to him.

“You were hurt?” It was his turn for his eyes to scour her face and she found herself smiling at his inquiry.

“Only on the inside.” At his immediate frown, she continued. “Hurt because you were hurt.”

She continued letting her fingers move over his face, running down the wide bridge of his nose as her eyes fell to his lips. “My heart was hurt. My stomach clenched...” she raised her eyes to his “...you gave up everything for me.”

“I only did what I needed to do.”

“No,” she shook her head, “you didn’t. You did more. You could have watched that thing rape me. You didn’t need to intervene and almost get yourself killed. But you did.”

His gaze had gone thunderous at the mention of the Tasqal and what the beast had almost done.

“You gave up everything for me,” she whispered, before swallowing hard. “You love me.”

Kyro blinked but he didn’t look away. Instead, the rage that had fired his eyes slowly went away to be replaced with a sort of torment she’d seen before. It was the same look he’d given her when they’d said goodbye outside of her apartment.

“You love me,” she said with surety this time. “And...I want that. I want you to love me. I want to feel loved by you. I don’t want to give up what we have because what we have is special. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

“We can’t.” His shoulders seemed to stiffen underneath her arms. “We can’t. I refuse to put you in danger because of who I am. The Tasqals know who I am now. I will have to go away. Change again. Be someone else.”

At the look in her eyes, he held her closer. “It is for the best. I refuse to let them hurt you to hurt me. I couldn’t...I couldn’t live knowing I am putting you in danger.” He gulped. “You are my weakness, Evren. But you are also my strength. My chets regrew for you, so I could defend you.” He paused. “You are right. I do love you. I love you. I can admit that now. But it doesn’t mean I will put you in danger. It would mean living a life in hiding, secluded. You don’t deserve that.”

He released her so suddenly and stepped away that she felt as if he held her heart and was pulling it with him.

“You don’t understand, do you.” She followed behind him back into the bedroom.

“No.” He turned on her. “You don’t understand. You see this?” He gestured to the room. “I assume my brothers know I am Vorti now, so they had to put us here. This,” he gestured again, “is the type of life I can give you.” The pain in his eyes cut her deep. “This is no life.”

“You don’t get it. I want this,” she countered.

“How could you want this?” He gestured to the room again and she realized he was also gesturing to himself before he turned his back on her, his shoulders tense with unspent emotion.

“Because I want you, you idiot!” She stepped right up to him. “I love you!”

She could see his body still. Right in front of her, his back still turned, it was as if every cell within him stopped moving.

“What?” His voice was so low the words were almost inaudible.

“I love you,” she said more calmly.

“You don’t.”

“I do.”

“You can’t.”

“But I do.” She pressed a hand against his back. “I’ve loved you for a while. I just didn’t know. When I decided to leave to go to the Hub, I turned back. I couldn’t leave...I couldn’t leave without you. I wanted to stay, run away somewhere with you...anything, to be with you.”

There was a moment of silence as he digested her words.

“You love me?” His head turned slightly as he glanced behind him.

“Yes. And you love me. If we have to run away somewhere, then so be it.”

He turned to look at her then, his eyes searching hers as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“I want to be with you...the real you. This you.” She moved closer to him.

Kyro’s throat moved and for a split second, she saw something pass over his eyes. Then he was on her, so fast her breath left her body in a whoosh.

He was against her, lifting her, his body pressing against her as he brought her up against a wall. His mouth met hers in a bruising kiss as his hands found hers, pressing the back of her palms against the wall behind her. Her legs were spread, and she wrapped them around him as a moan tumbled from her.

His kiss, his lips...this kiss was everything. It held promise and need and want. His insides trembled at what he demanded with his mouth, at what his tongue promised as it played with hers.

“Kyro.” She managed to breathe his name as he pulled her dress over her hips, revealing her wet cunt and the roundness of her ass.

Thank God for no panties.

A groan rumbled through him as he pressed farther into her, his arms still arresting hers against the wall.

“Kyro.” Her pussy clenched as she felt him beneath her, the smoothness of his hard cock sliding between them as he rocked his hips.

His thickness spread her pussy lips with each thrust, sliding right through her wetness to rub against her clit.

A moan filled the room that she didn’t realize came from her own body as his cock tortured her so, with a promise of sweet, sweet pleasure to come.

Kyro adjusted himself then, his lips never leaving hers and the feel of his smooth tip at her entrance had her pussy clenching once more.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, breaking their lips apart. “There is no control,” he said. “I want to take you. I want to take you hard.”

“Then do it.” Her pussy clenched again. “Do it. Fuck me. Fuck me hard. I want to feel every inch of your cock sliding inside me.”

A growl left him just before there was a split instance of pain...and then...euphoria.

She was glad he was the one holding her up for as soon as he drove forward, his cock burying itself deep within her wetness, her legs went weak and her body went limp.

It was such an injection of pleasure that it felt as if her blood had turned to sweet warm syrup.

Kyro drove into her.

Over and over again, his cock filled her pussy, stretching her in agony that never felt so sweet, only to pull out and fill her once more.

She was mildly aware of her screaming his name between the sounds of their skin slapping together as he fucked her raw.

As her clit swelled and throbbed, the first explosion within her had her seeing stars. But Kyro didn’t stop. He didn’t pause. Thick cock was driving within her without mercy, riding her through her orgasm, the sensation so wild it built another orgasm on top of the first one and she felt herself coming again.

“Tell me what you want.” His thrusts didn’t ease up. “Tell me how you want it.”

What did he even mean? This was already everything, EVERYTHING she could ever want. If he wanted pointers, she had none, but she didn’t even have the strength to answer him at the moment.

All she managed was a series of whimpers as her pussy trembled and clenched around him.

“Longer?”

What?

HE WAS SHIFTING INSIDE HER, his cock. She could feel it, growing longer, splitting her in fucking two.

“Thicker?”

A scream of absolute pleasure tore through her as his cock thickened more than he already was, the opening of her cunt being stretched to the absolute limit.

“Ridges?”

Oh, fuck!

“I can do anything you want.” He nibbled her ear as he continued to pummel into her. “Tell me, because I intend to fuck you until your juices are dripping from my cock and running down your legs.”

“Fuuucckkkk!!!!” Her scream split the room as another orgasm rocked through her.

“Take me, Evren.”

“I’m fucking taking you. Every inch of you. I want every inch of you.”

A loud groan tumbled through him as he stiffened against her, his cock pulsing as he released his spend deep inside her, and for a moment, she got the chance to breathe.

But then he was moving again, bringing her to the small bed, he rested her on her back as he settled over her, his cock twitching within her.

“My Evren,” he said, and she felt his cock begin to harden once more.

45

SHE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW how he was managing to walk around but he was.

She on the other hand was weak in the knees. She couldn’t even feel her legs...and it was wonderful.

She couldn’t wipe the stupid smile she had on her face as she watched him move about, getting food ready for them both.

As he brought a steaming bowl of something over to her, she rose into a sitting position and took the bowl from him.

“What is it?”

“Sogmy stew. Maybe like beef stew? I read about that meal in the data I found on your planet.”

She smiled at him and tasted the meal. It was surprisingly good and his description was accurate. It did taste a bit like beef stew, just watered down.

“You love your data don’t you.” She grinned.

Kyro settled beside her on the bed. “It used to be my one and only love. Now I have two.”

His smoldering gaze never left her and she felt her cheeks grow warm.

Funny she could blush over that when she’d just had her pussy excavated by this very same man.

He watched her eat in silence and she was about halfway through the bowl when she paused to look at him.

“Can I... Would you mind if I worked with you?” she asked. Kyro’s brows took on a slight furrow so she rushed to continue. “I mean, if we’re going to run away and hide somewhere, I will still want something to do. I mean, I used to do similar work like you, dealing with lots of data. I could help in some way. It would be fun, working together.”

Why did she feel so nervous asking this?

Kyro was looking at her as if he wasn’t sure how to proceed. “You were serious about it then...about running off with me.”

Evren swallowed the last of the meal and licked her lips. “Of course, I was. Where you go, I go and no more memory wipe ideas. I want to be with you.”

She could swear his eyes watered or at least became a bit more glossy before he smiled. Once again, his smile made her breath catch in her throat. It lit up his face and transformed it. He was the type of handsome that once you saw it, you couldn’t look away.

“Very well. There is a place I know. An abandoned station near Oxima Prime. We could go there. The comms should still work. We could spend our time going through transmissions. Work off-world helping the Restitution. They’ve wanted to send someone there for ages, but it is so remote and lonely, no one has ever volunteered.”

Evren grinned at him. “It sounds perfect.”

The look on his face almost melted her heart. His eyes held so much repressed joy, as if he shouldn’t dare to believe what was happening, that she wanted to climb on top of him and show him it was all real.

But a sound at the heavy metal door had her freezing as they both looked toward the entrance.

She hadn’t opened the door since they’d been in the bunker and she’d almost forgotten there was a whole other world out there.

The sound came again and she realized it must be someone knocking.

As she rose and slipped into her potato sack dress, Kyro slipped into his trousers and she watched him shift into his gray Borxclan disguise.

The speed of his ability to shift was going to take some getting used to.

Glancing at her to ensure she was ready, he opened the door and dim light from the tunnel leading to the outside seeped in.

“You,” she heard Kyro growl.

“Who is it?” His form was filling the doorway and she couldn’t see who was outside.

“I just came to see if the human was all right, okay?”

“You are not welcome here.”

As she neared the entrance, she saw who it was. How could she have forgotten him?

Shive’s eyes slipped to her as soon as she came into view.

“You.” She scowled.

“Friendly couple you two are.” He smiled, a movement of his lips that promptly dried up when his eyes fell back on Kyro.

“How did you know we were here?” Kyro took a threatening step toward the other male then stopped when Shive lifted his hands in front of him.

“I was waiting for Xul to return. Saw the ship land. Saw them take you here.”

“Creeping in the shadows as usual.” Kyro took another step.

“I meant no harm. I just wanted to apologize to the human.”

Kyro didn’t move. “Then do it.”

Shive seemed to sigh but he didn’t press to enter the room.

“You must have been wondering why I was following you around, watching you. We didn’t get off to a good start.”

“I wonder whose fault that was?” Kyro cut in, eyes narrowed.

“I was just trying to get solid evidence on M’Agunt. I’d been trying to pin him as a traitor for months,” Shive continued, glancing at Kyro. “So, I apologize. For everything.” His gaze returned to her. “Not all of us are bad.”

Evren only nodded. It was all she could do. The memory of M’Agunt’s body ripped to pieces came back to her as a vivid memory.

“You’ve apologized. Now leave.” Kyro closed the door, locking it in place.

The chuckle that tumbled from her came almost immediately. “You can be so rude sometimes.” She laughed. “He deserved it though. He scared the shit out of me when I saw him watching me from the alleyway.”

“He won’t come anywhere near you again.” Kyro turned, pulling her into his arms.

“Mmm,” She planted a kiss on his lips. “No, he won’t because we are going away to our abandoned station.”

A light sparked in Kyro’s gray eyes just as the door made another sound.

Kyro cursed under his breath and he released her.

“Leave us alone,” he growled as he pulled the door open.

“I told you they weren’t ready for visitors.” It was another male voice and the horns that pointed up into the air told her who it was.

She saw Kyro’s shoulders relax as he greeted his friend and captain, resting an arm on Xul’s shoulder as they touched foreheads.

“Good to see you brother.” Xul grinned.

Behind him were several other heads.

As Kyro moved to let them all in, Athena rushed inside, her arms outstretched.

“Evren!”

She was promptly embraced and before she knew it, Piper, Diana, and Song were joining in.

All his brothers had come too, Crex, Yce, Kyris, and even Rokan was there.

Greetings abounded along with oohs and aahs, expressions of being thankful it was all over and that she’s safe, and expressions of how happy they were that Kyro was back on his feet.

Evren glanced at Kyro and their eyes met. It was going to be hard telling all their friends that they planned to leave.

These people were like family to them.

“I still can’t believe this actually happened. I’d thought we were safe here,” Piper said.

“You are mostly safe here, but we still have to be vigilant,” Xul replied.

“We’ll all keep you safe,” Crex said.

“And now that you’re leaving, you will always be safe,” Yce said, looking at Evren. “You too, brother.”

Evren paled.

“Leaving?” Diana turned to her, her red hair flying around her shoulders at the force at which she spun her head. “You’re leaving?”

Evren met Kyro’s eyes once more. “Yes. We are.”

Xul cut Yce a look and Kyris hung his head, his wings jerking as he laughed silently.

“What?” Yce asked. “They were going to let you know anyway.”

“You’re leaving?” Song turned to her, sorrow immediately in her eyes but then she smiled brightly. “It’s for the best. We will miss you though. Where are you going?”

“It’s a place Kyro knows,” she replied, taking the woman’s hand in hers. “I will miss you too. I will miss all of you.”

“Yea,” Athena spoke up. “It is for the best though, as Song said. We could all probably keep busy and not think about losing you with all the humans that we will have to onboard. They still haven’t been able to open the container with the stasis pods yet.”

Evren’s eyes widened. “Still? I mean, I totally forgot about that with all that’s been happening.”

“We will need Kyro to crack the code and get us in. It is paramount that we do so. There’s one human female in there who’s...” Xul trailed off, his eyes flicking to Yce.

“She’s been awake the entire time, I believe,” Yce said. “I cannot endure her mind. It is...extremely frayed.”

“That has got to be the worst torture...” Piper said, her hand moving over her belly. “This world is...a scary place. It makes me almost scared to have this baby.”

“Baby?” Evren’s eyes fastened on the woman’s hand and when she looked back up at Piper, the woman’s cheeks were rosy with a blush.

“Surprise!” she said. “Found out a few days ago.” She grinned.

Evren’s eyes widened some more.

“Ohmigod!” She gripped Piper in a hug. “That’s amazing news!”

“So you found a way to tell her?” Kyro asked, his eyes on Crex, who nodded. “Congratulations, brother.”

When his eyes fell on hers once more, Evren didn’t miss the look that was there. It was a longing that was as clear as day in his gray orbs.

She didn’t know if children would ever be in their future, but if there was anyone who would be a great father, Kyro was it.

As the conversation continued around them, she smiled at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

To think she’d been worrying about her future when her future had been by her side all along.

46

HE HAD to be the happiest man alive.

As his friends and their mates left, he moved over to his woman and pulled her into his arms.

He’d thought they’d bring up the fact that he hadn’t been truthful to them, that he had lied to them, pretending to be something he wasn’t for the entire time they’d known him. He’d thought they’d be scornful of him, wary even, or at least angry, but his brothers had displayed none of those feelings.

Instead, they’d treated him as if nothing had changed.

It created an unexpected feeling within him...freedom. For once in his adult life, he felt as if he wasn’t judged for the color of his skin or his abilities. He was simply seen as himself. Not different. Not more dangerous. Not something to be used and exploited. Just himself.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Her question caught him off guard.

“I’m just...happy.” He looked down at her. These emotions were all because of her. This lightness in his being, it was all because of her.

His hand slid to her stomach as he rubbed it gently.

Her eyes were guarded as she looked at him.

It must be obvious what he was thinking.

“Kyro?”

“Do you think...do you think that one day we could have the gift bestowed to my brother, Crex?”

It took only a second for her to smile.

“You want us to have kids?”

“You speak in the plural. I was thinking in the singular. I had never even hoped for one. To hope for many is more than I can even imagine.”

She chuckled then, a sound so light it felt like it flowed within him and made him feel light too.

“We can have as many as you want. I’ve always loved kids. But...”

He stilled.

Buts were never good.

“...I don’t know if we are compatible...”

His shoulders relaxed at that.

If they weren’t completely compatible, there was always biological assistance they could use.

He was going to say that to her but, instead, he had another idea.

Lowering his head so his lips brushed her ears, he whispered. “I know the best way to find out...”

“Hmmm?” She giggled. “What’s that?”

“Let me show you.”

Lifting her off her feet, her little yelp had him grinning as he brought her to the bed. He would enjoy testing whether they could bear young together.

He would enjoy it immensely and he would make sure she did too.

“You know what?” he asked as he settled her against the bedding. Looking down into her blue eyes reminded him of calm, calm waters. It settled him and made him feel grounded.

“I won’t be scared of living anymore.” His lips found hers as he took them between his. “Because every single day is worth living with you.”

Suddenly, he had a life to look forward to and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

EPILOGUE

“KYR—KH’ZIAMI?”

Evren moved through the section of the space station they’d colonized for themselves, checking the rooms for her male.

She’d taken to calling him by his birth name now that he was living his true self and they were alone.

There was no more need for disguises or pretense. The freedom it gave him created such change, she wasn’t sure he even realized how much he smiled more often.

“Kh’Ziami?

He was probably in the room they’d set up as the data room with all the computers and comms for gathering data. It was his favorite place to be.

Contrary to what she’d thought, she didn’t need to help him with his data. It turned out there was a whole section of the space station that had once housed a greenhouse with different plants and even a few species of insects.

She had her own data to gather on these species that would probably span the rest of her life.

She wasn’t complaining.

It was as if she’d gotten three wishes from a genie in a bottle.

She had traveled, going farther than most of her species had ever gone.

She had new species to study, and she had a man that she loved and who completely adored her.

Speaking of which...

“Kh’Ziami?”

A sound in the living quarters, which she’d converted into a large bedroom, caught her attention and she headed that way.

“Kh’Ziami?”

As she stepped through the entrance her steps halted as her eyes fell on Kyro. He was sitting on the bed, looking at her with a strange look in his eyes.

“Um...” she said, glancing around the room before her eyes settled on him once more.

“I’m going to show you something,” he said. “But first you must turn around.”

“Okay...” Her brow furrowed a little as she spun her back to him. Whatever could he have that she hadn’t seen yet? Had he been exploring the rest of the station without her? It was a pretty large station, much larger than she’d expected it to be and she reckoned they still had a lot more to go through before they could say they’d seen it all. Life support wasn’t working in some sections though, so she had to wait till Kyro fixed those areas.

When a few long moments passed and he didn’t tell her to turn back around, her brows furrowed deeper.

“Can I turn around now?” she asked. “Kh’Ziami?”

When he didn’t reply, she looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening.

She had to turn fully so she could see properly but it didn’t make the shock lessen.

“What the...”

There, sitting on top of Kyro’s trousers on the bed, was the ugliest cat she had ever seen in her life.

At least, she assumed it was a cat. It was a bit larger than a regular cat.

Its ears were at the side of its head instead of on top and its eye sockets were just a bit too large. Its whiskers were long and a bit too thick and its nose was larger than a cat’s usually is.

It was white all over except for the black and orange patches and on its side was a black patch in the shape of a heart.

Evren’s heart seized for a second as she stared into the cat’s gray eyes...Kyro’s gray eyes.

He had tried to shift into the form of her cat Nigel.

She didn’t even remember describing Nigel to him.

“Oh, God.” She moved forward, her eyes brimming with tears.

Kyro’s gray eyes suddenly became anxious and she realized he must be confused by her reaction.

Coming to stand in front of him on the bed, she covered her mouth as she willed her tears to keep at bay.

A low chuckle started in her throat as she looked at him.

He had really tried. He really had. But still...

“You are the ugliest cat I have ever seen,” she choked out between a sob. Kyro blinked up at her. “The ugliest cat but the most beautiful person.”

Kyro rubbed his head against her outstretched palm and she swallowed hard, letting out another small laugh after she did.

“I didn’t expect this,” she said, stepping back as he began to shift once more.

As he grew in front of her into his usual form, she threw her hands around his neck, burying her face into his chest.

“Thank you for that,” she whispered. “It was a lovely gift.”

“You said it was ugly.”

His words made her chuckle again, she couldn’t help it.

“It was ugly...but beautiful at the same time.”

“I don’t understand,” he said.

Lifting her head from his neck, she looked him in the eyes. “You’re beautiful.” She smiled. “You’re a beautiful person.”

Kyro cleared his throat. “Does that mean you will marry me?”

“Marry you?” She had to lean back a little so she could look at him properly. “Marry you? Your species get married?”

“No. But yours does.” He searched her face. “I researched this for Kyris. He and his female will be getting married. I want us to do so as well. If you want to. It is a promise humans make that they will stay together forever. I want us to make that promise. Together.”

She couldn’t help but grin at him.

“Kinda jumped the gun there, hon. We’ve already eloped forever.”

The look on his face made her smile as her heart filled with warmth. He was looking at her as if she’d been his only hope for a date and she’d turned him down.

“We’ll get married then.” She leaned in to brush her nose against his. “I’ll marry you.”

“You will?”

“Yes.” She grinned. “And then I’ll be your wife, I’ll have your babies, and you can Hulk out anytime someone threatens to tear us apart.”

“Hulk out?”

Evren laughed. “Human reference.” She sobered as their eyes met. “Just know that I love you. I always will.”

“I love you too, my Evren. And I will always love you.”

As Kyro pulled her closer, falling back on the bed with her, their lips met.

They were words of great value, words she would always hold dear to her heart—a promise of forever, sealed with a kiss.

A NOTE FROM A.G

Wow.

I knew Kyro’s story from the very start of the series when I put Xul on paper, but he still managed to surprise me.

I hope you loved him as much as I do (I’m having a hard time choosing which one of these heroes I like the best now).

If you’ve been following me on social media, or maybe because you’ve read this book, you probably know by now that the series will be continuing. What will happen to those people in the stasis hold they found? Or that guy from Yce’s planet who is being held captive. Will they win the war?

I’ll be doing a spinoff on the Restitution in a new series that’s linked to this one. So don’t worry, you’ll be seeing your favorite characters once more when they do “cameos.”

I can’t wait to explore more of this universe! If there’s anything you’d love to read about, shoot me an email. I’d love to hear.

I’ll also be launching a few new series this year into early 2021. The next series is Riv’s Sanctuary, which is already being written.

For updates on my writing progress, check my website. I have a handy little section there on the front page where you can check how far I am in writing your next favorite read.

Loved Kyro? If you would like to leave a review on any of your preferred platforms, I’d appreciate it. If not, that’s okay as well.

Keep an eye out for Riv’s Sanctuary and the Restitution series!

♥ A.G.

SPINOFF SERIES: THE RESTITUTION

BOOK ONE: AJOS

She didn't move to the big city just to be kidnapped by aliens.

That wasn't even possible...

Right?

WRONG.

When Kerena wakes up, she's not on Earth anymore.

Heck, she's not even in the same galaxy, and the face hovering so close she can make out every detail? That face is definitely...not...human.

But before she can really figure out what's going on, Kerena realizes she's caught in the middle of a war—one she was thrust into as soon as she was ripped from Earth.

She's surrounded by aliens in a rebellion, but there’s one—the one with the strange golden eyes, minty-teal skin, and rippling muscles—that holds her attention.

His presence is magnetic and his heated gaze makes something stir deep within her.

He's battling something that has nothing to do with the war and his warning that she should stay away does not go unheeded.

He's a dangerous rebel fighter. She gets that. So...why is he still hovering so close? And why is he growling at everyone that so much as looks in her direction?

Most of all, why does he keep looking at her like she belongs to ... HIM?

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RELATED SERIES

RIV’S SANCTUARY

Abducted from Earth over a year ago, Lauren spent most of that time getting accustomed to her new life as one of the “animals” in an alien zoo.

When she’s sold by the zookeeper, her life takes a turn she wasn’t expecting. She has no idea where she’ll end up till she’s brought to a sanctuary owned by a tall blue hunk of an alien called Riv.

Riv’s life is quiet and peaceful in a place as far away from civilization as he can manage. So when an annoying chatterbox of a human ends up on his doorstep, he’s less than pleased. The human disrupts his life and his solitude and he can’t wait to get rid of her.

He’s not interested in helping her, and he’s definitely not interested in love.

Except…she’s managed to wheedle her way in and suddenly those barriers around his heart don’t seem so strong anymore.

He has two options: Let her go.

Or let her in.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Mr. Wilde and the little Wildes running about.

If not for you, I’d have probably written about six books already this year.

I love you, nevertheless.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A. G. Wilde is an avid reader, a gamer, a lover of all things space, alien, and sci-fi.

She is addicted to intense romance, irresistible heroes, and deliciously naughty things.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Dedication

Disclaimer

Kyro

What has gone before…

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

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Epilogue

A note from A.G

Spinoff Series: The Restitution

Related Series

Acknowledgments

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About the Author