KYRE

VAZNIK WARRIORS: BOOK TWO

AVA YORK

STARR HUNTRESS

CONTENTS

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Ferne

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Cedroc: Sneak Peek

Rogue Mate

FERNE

“Lean back and spread yourself out against the rockface,” I called down the line. Everyone was pouring sweat, but each face beamed with elated, nearly maniacal, smiles. The ledge was so narrow, some of the men couldn’t point their feet directly out in front of them, but had to keep them turned out to the sides.

Just past the lip of the footing, the deep scoop of the ravine banked off to a range of tree freckled mountains on the other side of the valley. We were closer to the clouds than we were to the bottom of the drop. A host of birds whirled and swooped in the haze before us. All that pristine beauty tickled with the frenetic vibrancy of danger.

No guard rails, nothing to hold onto but the odd bit of scrub. Nothing dividing us from oblivion but will and scrappy determination. I’d never wanted to live any other way.

I didn’t honestly think I could.

At an elevation of seven thousand feet, pitted against nothing but self, was the most alive a person could feel. That’s why I led these expeditions. The five people who trailed me were perhaps the most experienced hikers I’d ever brought out. Most groups wouldn’t get to come on a stretch like this.

These folks were big spenders and only came to this region for the climbing. Not that there was much else to entice people to this area. To call Postpike a town would have been paying it a compliment. It wasn’t much of a spot on the map. Only about four hundred full-time residents held down the fort for the tourist trade that picked up during the warm seasons.

Most of the trade came from families looking to get in on the mineral springs tucked away in the cracks of the stony landscape. They were nice, but not much to look at when push came to shove, so a couple of eateries and bars did their best to suck up the overflow. The more adventurous families might book me to take them on a hike up into the moderately exciting passes.

Cash from that sort of thing was good enough to tide me over, but what actually kept me going were groups that really wanted to test what our little corner of the world had to offer. There were some incredibly difficult climbs, and I was the only guide taking folks out. That meant I could pretty much name my price, and most high-risk climbers were ready to pay it.

While I would never point it out, I could see my own cabin from where we were standing. It was about a quarter of the way up a ridge from the center of Postpike and gave me as much seclusion as a person could want.

And I wanted plenty of it.

I liked being alone. Depending on nobody but myself.

Because when it came down to it, that was all you had.

In truth, I’d rather be making this climb by myself, even if it was for the thousandth time—but the cash was necessary.

The best thing that could be said about Postpike was that it let me fly well under the radar. It seemed like most people who settled there were looking to escape from something back in civilization, and I was no exception. Most of them were bail jumpers or petty thieves, but I was something tantamount to a state criminal.

And what was it that kept me lying so low?

Not wanting to get married off to a stranger. My birthday had been called for the Friday lottery. I had two choices. Get processed or get out.

There was no doubt which one I’d chosen.

My parents had been keeping some identity documents tucked away for me since I started stomping my feet about that unjust system when I was twelve.

They’d split up when I was a kid, but on that issue, they’d stayed united.

When the day came, those papers got shoved in my pocket with enough money for me to hop a couple of ground transport units and get the hell out of there.

Did I miss my parents? Yes. Every day.

Did I miss the constant threat of getting ‘matched’ with some stranger alien and married off as recompense for defense?

Not so much.

I knew my chance of being a genetic match was low, but it was the principle of the system I stood against.

“Ferne,” came a voice from the back of the group and snapped me out of my meditation. Julie was the shakiest of the bunch, yet still a far cry ahead of the majority of climbers that came to Postpike. The edge to her voice told me I needed to get a set of eyes on her.

Bracing my backside on the rock face, I craned my shoulders out and looked hard to my left. The exhilarated smiles had dimmed into something slightly more troubled, and cautious eyes darted back and forth between me and the woman at the end of the line. As I leaned to look, that tingly pit set to work in the base of my stomach—the best feeling in the world. Maybe only bettered when coupled with that cold, jelly feeling that tucks in the back of your knees.

Yeah, Julie was on the edge. She hadn’t yet tipped over into full panic, but it was coming. Much though I hated to admit it, moments like this one were always my favorite part of the job. Not for the poor wreck going through the ordeal, but because these situations always called for me to push my own limits.

“Hang on, girl. I’ll be right there.” Now that I had said it, I had to make good on the promise and actually work past four other people on this tiny ledge and get to her. To my right, the outcropping we were passing actually widened out to just over a foot. That ought to be enough.

“Alright. Harry, Yazmin, Tate, Viv—you guys follow me. Julia, you stay put. This will only take a second.”

It was a big promise considering I wasn’t entirely sure how this whole thing was going to work, or what I was going to do when I reached her. Still, there’s nothing like having a task to stir up the blood. The four others fired up with a wicked gleam of determination, and started shuffling after me.

When I hit the widest margin of our footing, I inverted my feet and did a quick spin, slamming my stomach flat to the rock face and pressing hard so that the momentum didn’t carry me over into a freefall.

“Holy fucking shit!” Harry’s eyes were wide and I could see fresh sweat beading upon his face.

“Don’t even think about it. You are nowhere near ready for that kind of thing.” I inched further down the path and coaxed Harry to the place where I had just been standing. “Come on.” He crept into place, watching me for instruction.

“Alright, flatten as hard as you can.”

He did and I slid back over to him, placing my right hand on the far side of his chest, and my foot on the gap between his. I began to inch past him.

“Put your hands on my waist and lean back into the rock as hard as you can.”

He obeyed, and I pressed my body against his and snugged across him. As I did, I could feel his hard piece digging up against me. Turning my face to his, we were nearly nose to nose as I stared into his eyes with my best no-nonsense glare.

“Really?”

“Couldn’t help it.”

Couldn’t argue with that. These situations gave rise to all kinds of reactions. Landing on the other side of him, I looked at Yazmin.

“You got the idea?”

She nodded, and we repeated the process until there was nothing between me and Julie but about fifty feet of narrow rock. After all the wriggling I had just done, this ought to be a piece of cake.

“Julie, can you hear me?” She nodded but didn’t turn to look my way. She was in full lockdown mode, and it was apparent the fringes of panic eating at her earlier had blossomed into the full thing. This might be trickier than I’d thought. Harder even than whatever Henry had been packing when I slithered over his body.

“Listen. I’m going to come over to you and take your hand, okay?” Julie nodded again. “Good. Now, I know you don’t want to look, but just focus on the sounds of my feet on the ledge. See if you can hear how much room I’ve got over here.” I made sure to shuffle more than usual, moving quickly to demonstrate the ease of it.

Within seconds, my fingers laced with hers, prying her hand away from the rock. She gripped so hard, I could feel the bones in my hand buckle.

“I don’t get what the big deal is. You’ve already passed the narrowest part of the pass,” I lied. “Everything ahead of you is wide open compared to what you just went past.”

“Really?” The tension in her neck broke just enough for her to turn her head to look at me.

“Are you kidding? I do this pass in my sleep. I mean, look out at that view. It’s what you came up here for.” It was a risky move on my part, getting her to look out, but it paid off immediately. Her breath settled deeper and her shoulders dropped.

“Not bad, huh? Just keep your eyes on the horizon and follow me.”

We crept along, every foot gained a major victory for the group. Just as we were about to reach the other four, my foot lost purchase. It was my own fault for keeping my focus so intently on Julie. But when that telltale scrape skittered up under my foot, I couldn’t do anything but look at Julie.

“Let go of my hand.”

“What?”

Even if she didn’t seem to understand, her body heard me and she turned loose her grip as I rocked backward off the ledge and out into the open air. My body went cold, and somebody turned out the lights.

KYRE

Three days ago, we’d arrived on Gravum IV and had been stuck there ever since. The original plan was only to touch down for a night, enough to get our bearings and recoup from the journey, but the comms system went down as soon as we’d landed.

With no way to get in touch with command, and no details provided about the mission upfront, we were essentially stranded. There was nothing for us to do but wait.

The first night, at Lila’s insistence, we’d set up camp outside under the stars. She’d told us about how she and her sisters sometimes used to sleep outside for fun and had made it seem like an adventure, far from what the team was used to when we’d been forced to camp on other missions. She was right—when you weren’t worrying about being killed by enemies or consumed by the native fauna, sleeping outside was enjoyable.

By the second day of our grounding, my teammates, Captain Rekker, Lila, and I had become understandably restless. To keep ourselves both sane and busy, we’d focused on various tasks around our stations. Derrix went to work disassembling and reassembling weapon after weapon, cleaning and polishing them until they shone. Cedroc checked and rechecked all flight systems. Javik, with the help of Lila, set about tidying up and reorganizing the infirmary. By the end of the day, nearly everything was back to working order.

Except for the comms. I’d done everything I could, all day, to figure out why nothing worked. I’d rewritten codes, fiddled with wires, rerouted through satellites and nothing. For some stupid reason I couldn’t figure out, the Calliope was floundering in the dark.

The thought of being isolated on an unknown world without comms abilities didn’t sit well with me. In fact, it downright freaked me out and I threw myself into finding a solution.

Since I’d tried everything else, the only thing left to do was work on extending our wave range. Gravum IV was far out in an uncharted system, so we were likely inaccessible to satellites, preventing us from receiving transmissions properly. If I could figure out a way to rig something up to our main transmitter, I might be able to extend our signal just far enough to hit a satellite closer to the High Command base.

If that idea didn’t work, then I guess we’d be on our way back to base sooner than we thought. Rekker was good at following orders, but he wouldn’t just leave us out here. Not when he was already pissed that he’d been given next to no information about this place. If I couldn’t fix this mess, at least my inability to do so would get us out of here.

I spent the third day exploring the ship, visiting various stations to inspect and collect anything that might remotely work to extend our range. Anything made of metal was fair game, regardless of its size or its previously intended use. I took old weapons parts from Derrix, used scalpels and needles from Javik. Even Cedroc had a steering mechanism he wasn’t using anymore that he let me add to my growing menagerie of junk.

By the time I returned to my workshop, I’d assembled quite the trove. I laid them all out, examining each item individually, and cataloged them as best I could according to what I thought would actually work. Once everything was assembled in front of me, I saw that my options were grim indeed.

I wasn’t an idiot, by any means, but the items I’d collected were basically garbage. I racked my brain thinking of any and all possibilities for a device I could create to hook up to Calliope, but no ideas presented themselves. For the first time in recent memory, I was truly at a loss.

Around midday, I decided to take a break. I needed to pull back, clear my mind, and do something else to focus my thoughts. Whenever I’d been faced with a tough puzzle in the past, I’d often found that distracting myself with another task helped me see the forest instead of the trees. I felt mired deep in the weeds and desperately needed something to pull me out of it. I wasn’t getting anywhere just staring at glorified trash.

My rumbling stomach determined where to best occupy myself, so I wandered to Calliope’s mess, intent on rustling up something to eat. To my surprise, I found Rekker seated at one of the long tables, stabbing angrily at a meal of his own. His eyes lit up a little upon noticing my arrival.

“Come sit with me, Kyre—I need an update,” he said, pulling a chair out for me.

“Permission to grab something to eat first, Captain?” I asked, half-jokingly.

Up until that point, I didn’t think I’d seen him smile at another crew member since we’d touched down on Gravum IV. I’m sure he’d smiled at Lila, but none of us Vaznik warriors were as pretty as his human mate.

“Of course,” he said, gesturing to the long table near the front of the room that had already been laid out with food from the replicator.

I quickly made my way over and piled a plate high with various items, unable to avoid thinking of how quickly we’d run out of rations if I didn’t get comms back up and running to get the transporter up. Without the comms working, the signal to other transport pads wouldn’t connect. Once the plate was filled, I returned to join Rekker at his table.

“Where’s Lila?” I asked.

It couldn’t hurt to disarm him with a little mindless chatter before telling him I’d not made any progress. He was already irritated enough that Strygan had refused to tell him anything about the mission. Leading with my ineptitude would only make his mood worse.

“She’s down in the infirmary with Javik. They organized the place yesterday, but she has an idea in her head on how they could make the space more efficient during emergencies. I’ve never seen Javik willingly listen to anyone else or take suggestions on how to run the infirmary before, so I’m letting her take point on it,” he said with a laugh.

“She’s a great addition to the crew, Captain. Saying I’m surprised is not technically the right way to phrase it, but I’m impressed with how well she’s blended with us. I never would have thought a human woman would be an asset to our team.”

Rightfully so. The Vaznik warriors preferred to operate as a cohesive unit, without outside influence or additions. We worked and lived together and were more like family than colleagues. I’d never imagined a human female would integrate into our ranks nearly effortlessly.

Maybe it had something to do with her mate being one of us, but we’d need further evidence to confirm that. I couldn’t see us getting another human-Vaznik mated pair onboard anytime soon.

“Thank you for saying that, Kyre. I admit that I was troubled over how all of you would feel about Lila’s presence here,” he said.

“It was touch and go at first, but she’s part of us now. I think I can speak for us all when I say we’d protect her with our lives, as we would any other of us,” I said.

He cleared his throat before speaking again, as if some kind of emotion had gotten trapped there.

“How’re things with comms? I saw you running around the ship this morning collecting various items—have any of them proved satisfactory? Will we be back in business by the end of today?” he asked.

“I can’t say for sure, Captain. At this point, I’ve tried everything I can possibly think of to get us up and running and nothing has worked. I think we’re just too far out of range. I’m trying to reason out a way to extend what we currently have, but . . . so far it’s not looking good,” I said.

Rekker sighed long and deep, leaning back in his chair. “I’ll have to talk to the rest of the team, but if we can’t find a way to contact base, we won’t be staying here much longer. Maybe we should try to ascend through the atmosphere just a little to see if that brings us back up?”

“Let’s make that a very last resort. I’m sure there’s a way to make this work, I just have to . . . .” my voice trailed off as my mind wandered back to the puzzle.

“Is there anything I can do for you? You didn’t raid my personal stores,” Rekker said with a laugh.

“And I wouldn’t, Captain, not without your permission. I often find that focusing on something other than the task at hand helps me come up with ideas. If you’re willing, maybe you could tell me more about Lila? Are you happy with your arrangement now? I know it wasn’t so when she first arrived.”

Thankfully, he obliged me.

“We’re very happy, Kyre. The relationship was not expected, but I’m glad for it now. Part of why I want to get this mission over with so quickly is so I can return to the outpost and find her a ring—it’s a human custom to give one to the woman you wish to marry. A diamond, apparently, which will likely be hard to find out here, but I’ll try nonetheless.”

“A diamond,” I said, the word taking root in my mind.

“Yes, a clear, white stone. They’re rare on Earth and highly coveted by human females. My research tells me they can fetch quite the price. Even small ones are worth thousands of Earth dollars.”

“A diamond,” I repeated, barely hearing Rekker’s explanation. “That’s it! If I attached some sort of gem—or—crystal to a metal arm on top of our satellite, I’m sure it would extend the range!”

“But where are you going to find something like that all the way out here on Gravum IV?” Rekker asked.

“Permission to explore the surrounding territory, Captain?” I asked, unable to keep the hope from my voice.

“Permission granted, Kyre. Let’s get this mission done and get the hell off this rock.”

FERNE

The next time I opened my eyes, I discovered—bewilderingly—that I was in the process of being airlifted from the side of the mountain pass. My body was wrapped tight and secured onto a long stretcher, the hard planes of it pressing roughly into my aching back. Not only was I bandaged from head to toe, but I was also quite obviously strapped down to keep my body still, but the cords felt too tight across my chest and made it difficult to breathe.

I couldn’t move, but as I returned to consciousness, I recalled what had happened. I’d gone back down the ledge to help Julie through a particularly difficult section of the climb and slipped. Knowing I’d take her down with me, I’d ordered her to let me fall and she had. I held no ill will towards her for doing as I’d instructed and I hoped I was the only one who’d suffered this fate.

I couldn’t help but wonder exactly how far I’d fallen. A sick part of me thrilled to discover the distance. Once a daredevil, always a daredevil.

As my mind woke and started processing what had happened, the pain came flooding in alongside the memories. My arm throbbed so excruciatingly, it had to be broken, possibly in multiple places. Fleetingly, I’d hoped it would be able to be repaired and wasn’t so badly mangled that it would have to be amputated. I’d be determined and stupid enough to learn how to climb with only one arm, but I’d really prefer not to.

I could only move my head a fraction of an inch, but it was enough to see that my hands had been left exposed and were covered in scratches and bruises. I knew some of them were old wounds, but there was fresh blood where some of my nails had been torn off. I’d likely scrabbled for purchase along the cliff face as I’d fallen, ripping them off on the stone as I’d tried to save myself.

At least I’d have a good story to tell if I made it out of this alive.

When the stretcher finally reached its destination inside the medivac chopper, I was greeted by two flight nurses. They already knew my name and provided theirs, but my head was so sore I couldn’t remember them. When I saw their faces, I realized they meant to take me to a hospital, which was the last thing I wanted.

Even though my head was pounding and my mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, I begged them to reroute to a remote cabin close by where a friend of mine could patch me up. She lived alone near the base camp of another peak and had treated many of the various injuries I’d received over the years. She’d have no problem doing it again.

I couldn’t go to a government-run hospital. Better I’d died falling down that mountain than end up in the hands of the feds.

The nurses would have none of it.

“Don’t be silly, dear,” the head nurse, an older woman with a no-nonsense attitude clucked “You’re lucky you’re not dead, or significantly brain damaged.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Although if you keep insisting on unreasonable things, I’ll have to rerun that scan.”

“Really, I’m fine,” I ground out.

“Really, the hospital is the best place for you,” she snapped. “You’ll be safe there.”

If only they knew.

I watched helplessly as they started their assessment of my injuries.

“Right arm is definitely broken, possibly in three places. Head trauma is likely, as evidenced by the patient’s slurred speech and nonsensical requests. We can’t yet rule out internal injuries—she’ll need a full-body scan to assess that,” one of them said.

The other nurse was typing all of that up onto a portable tablet, but her brow was furrowed. I didn’t think my heart could sink any further, but I was quickly proven wrong.

“I’m trying to add your notes to the system so the hospital can access them prior to our arrival, but I can’t find her. You sure her name is Ferne Whittaker? With or without the ‘e’ at the end?” she asked.

“With. Try it without?” the other nurse suggested.

It didn’t matter, they could spell it however they wanted; they wouldn’t find me in any of their tracking systems. I was a ghost.

“That’s odd,” I laughed, but even to my ears it sounded weak. “Maybe it’ll be easier for everyone if you just take me to my friend. She’s pretty close, right?”

She just ignored me, typing away, searching for information.

I tried to knock the tablet out of the nurse’s hands, but I was so weak I could barely think straight, much less physically assault an unrestrained nurse in perfect health.

My head was so sore it felt like it was about to split. I couldn’t keep my eyes open and it was evident that the nurses had given me some sort of sedative, but whether it was before or after I’d tried to fight them, I wasn’t sure.

Before I knew it or could say another word, I’d passed out again.

I opened my eyes once we’d landed, the jolt of the chopper hitting the concrete shaking me back to reality.

My mind could focus on nothing but the fact that I was being wheeled into a hospital. It was pristinely white, even on the outside, clinical and foreboding.

Once inside, they brought me straight to surgery. There was no time to form words before they hooked me up to even more machines and pumped me full of anesthetic, dragging me under again to where everything was black and painless.

When I woke for the third time, I was lying in a basic, yet comfortable, hospital bed. Someone had taken great care in treating me, tucking the sheets around my aching body and dimming the lights so as not to hurt my sensitive eyes once I woke. I felt a sharp surge of gratitude for whoever had done so.

But my contentment was short-lived as the memories of the chopper flight flooded back. My guts roiled as I recalled the nurses’ conversation about how they couldn’t find my name in their system and how I’d tried—and failed—to discourage them from bringing me here. I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d have a government officer on my trail.

I calmed my rapid breathing as my eyes attempted to focus. My right arm was splinted and the cuts and bruises on my body were treated. Thick white gauze had been taped down all over my skin. I tried to pull myself up into a sitting position, hoping I could see out the small window in front of me that opened to the corridor. With luck, I’d be able to signal a doctor over, but I could barely move without my entire body barking in pain.

“It’s probably not a good idea for you to be moving so much,” a voice I didn’t recognize said from near the foot of the bed.

I shot straight up despite the pain, locating what could only be a government operative sitting in a hard plastic chair, eyes trained on me and holding.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked, my voice croaking out of me.

“You must know that evading registration is a criminal offense. Otherwise, why would you have told the nurses not to bring you to the hospital? You would have died,” the operative said, a cunning smile playing on his lips.

“A friend of mine who’s a healer lived closer to the site of my accident than this hospital—I figured she could help me faster,” I lied.

The operative only stared at me, his face a blank mask.

“Besides, forcing anyone to enter into a database for the sole purpose of putting them into a breeding program against their will is disgusting. I reserve the right to have no part in it,” I said before I could stop myself.

The operative’s face remained completely emotionless. He was silent for a long moment before he spoke again.

“You have two options, Ferne Whittaker. You can go to jail for upwards of twenty years for failing to register, or you can be tested right here, today, for your mate. Choose.”

“No,” I refused.

It was a risky game to play.

“Choose now. You don’t want me choosing for you—I have no pity for criminals of any sort.”

“It’s not a crime to demand sovereignty over my body,” I snapped.

“It is when it violates a peace treaty that’s kept hostile aliens from invading our planet again,” he retorted. “Make your choice.”

Fuck that stupid treaty.

“I’ve just come out of surgery. I want more time to think about this—I need more time to think about this.”

“You’ve had more than enough time to think about this while you were out here pretending to be someone you’re not. Choose.” His expression remained implacable, but subtle malice glinted in his eyes.

My thoughts were racing a mile a minute. If I went to jail I’d be utterly and completely trapped, no chance of getting out for years to come. If I chose to get tested, maybe I could eventually escape to another planet. I was nothing if not resourceful—at least I’d have options if I went the testing route.

And what were the odds I’d even get matched, anyway? Slim to none? I’d probably be fine and then this doofus would be forced to leave me alone.

I hoped I wouldn’t live to regret my decision.

“Fine. I’ll get tested, but please, let me get some rest first?” I asked.

A rictus grin took up residence on his previously bland face, striking fear into the very marrow of my bones.

“Nope,” was all he said, lips popping on the ‘p’.

Before I could utter a word of protest, someone—a nurse, I assumed—entered the room and began fiddling with my bed. She was quick and efficient and whisked me, bed and all, out of the room and down several long, winding corridors. By the time we stopped, it was clear I was deep within the hospital.

The room she brought me to was small and windowless, filled with many machines and devices I’d never seen before, clearly alien tech. She remained silent as she worked, moving me this way and that, using so many machines on me, I lost count.

By the time she was finished, my body was completely healed, including my mangled arm. She’d scrubbed and groomed me, and I couldn’t recall the last time I’d ever felt so clean.

Lastly, she took a blood sample from one of my fingertips and loaded it into a computer. The test took no time at all to run, emitting a cheerful chime within a minute or so.

“That’s a match,” she said, smiling as she turned to look at me. “We’ll implant you with a translator.”

I’d been healed, so I could have fought her, but my brain was far too addled to process what had happened. That moment’s hesitation was all she needed to paralyze me momentarily so that they could load me into the teleportation room.

KYRE

If I could just get those last few interface circuits tied into the main system, I was pretty sure I might have a radio transmitter knuckled together. It wasn’t the kind of thing that would broadcast across the cosmos over the course of a whole mission, but it would at least serve to put us in touch with Central Command. Even if only to get orders in place.

As I soldered the last bits into place, I took a hard look at the power reserves on offer. We’d been operating at bare minimum in order to keep something saved up in case of an emergency, but attempting a transmission would be doubtful. Even if we managed to reach Central, and that was a significant ‘if’, we might wind up sapping our reserves so far that we wouldn’t be able to do anything other than wait for rescue.

With the supplies we had at our disposal, depleting that much energy just to wait for someone to come pick us up was a no-go. What I needed was a Lypanthium crystal. It would not only give the boost needed to make a transmission, but it would also even serve as an amplifier to the broadcast and, hopefully, strengthen contact.

Naturally, there were none to be found in the engineering or technical bays. While the crystals were undoubtedly useful, they were often deemed too unstable to be part of any standard mission stock. It seemed like there were always things one could use that weren’t readily at hand.

I kicked up one of the nearby consoles to see if I could manage a composition scan of Gravum IV. A sampling of the terrain might indicate whether there was any hope of finding crystals on this rock, and it was worth taking a shot. A quick jog to the entrance bay spat me out into the roasting sun where I could scoop up a handful of the sand to scan back in the lab.

Gazing into the distance, I could see craggy masses of rock tumbled on top of each other. The thought of trudging all the way over there under all that heat wasn’t exactly appealing, but it was beginning to look like I was out of options. If that palm full of dirt hinted at even a hope of turning up some Lypanthium, I was willing to take a walk.

Back in the lab, I dumped my quarry into the particulation compositor and glared at the screen as elements flickered up, amassing percentages. Carbon and Silicate headed the charge, but traces of Termalica and Cypandium climbed the ranks. It wasn’t a dead match, but it was good enough for me.

I managed to root up a Hubivial Radometer among the equipment we had on board. Once I made it out to one of the mineral deposits, it should be able to pick up trace elements and point me in the right direction. Maybe not exactly the tool for the job, it would get me close enough that I was willing to gamble on finding some in the mineral deposits clustered in the desert just beyond the swamp.

Feeling confident that Rekker would give me the go-ahead on this one, I hurried off to my quarters to throw together two days’ worth of supplies. It’s hard to know what to pack for unknown terrain, so it ended up being a jumble of different odds and ends. Clothes weren’t too much of a concern, but field blankets and tools were bound to come in handy. The key was setting up food and water rations. Never one for too much self-denial, I was a bit more generous than the bare minimums necessary for an excursion. No need to starve myself, and if I brought anything back, so much the better.

Rekker was leaning over a desk, deep in conversation with Cedroc, when I swung around the corner of his door.

“Nice satchel, Kyre. Do you have plans?”

“I’ve got a communication unit mostly ready to go, but it’s not going to be much good without a little bit of Lypanthium to give us a boost.”

“And we don’t have any?”

I shrugged. Cedroc leaned up from the table and narrowed his eyes at me.

“And you think you’re just going to wander around until you find something out there, huh?” Smiling at him, I lifted the Radometer and waved it. His little slip of a grin answered mine.

“If you don’t find anything in two days, I expect you to come straight back,” Rekker ordered.

“Don’t get lost out there,” Cedroc said. “My microwave is broken. I need you to fix it.”

I snorted. “Glad you’re so concerned for me.”

“Good luck. Be smart,” Rekker said.

With a small salute, I turned and ducked back over to the access portal. As soon as it opened, the heat rose up to envelop me. I stepped out and squinted against the glare.

In one direction lay a vast desert, in the other, a brackish lowland.

I’d always hated swamps. The muck and the vermin and the stink were enough to make me shudder, so I took some comfort in turning my back on it and let that spur me off into the desert. After spending so much time pent up on the Calliope, it was exhilarating to be out in the open.

In the middle distance, I saw the range of hills jumbled up on top of each other and headed off to start my search. Within a few hundred yards, I was covered with a sheen of sweat and my uniform clung to my body in a hot, sticky film. It became intolerable in pretty short order.

With a look back to gauge my distance from the ship, I felt confident that nobody was going to come hustling out after me. At this distance, even if someone did look out to mark my progress, they weren’t likely to make out much. I pulled off my drenched uniform, gave it a quick wring before stuffing it into my pack, and sauntered off naked into the desert. I didn’t have to worry about sunburn or getting dehydrated through my skin.

After all, who was I going to run into out here? Gravum IV was completely uninhabited, according to the sparse information gleaned from the higher-ups. My chances of encountering another living thing that would get offended were zero.

After a while, I reached the craggy outcroppings, which loomed in unusual piles, as if they were just heaps of stones dropped from a great height. Still, as I’d come all the way out, it was time to knuckle down and get searching. Digging the Radometer out of my pack, I clicked it on to get a general reading.

Intermittent beeping kicked up immediately, and the digital screen started spitting out positive readings. While nothing was a done deal yet, it looked like I was going to have some measure of success. Even if there was no Lypanthium out here, there was every chance I should be able to dig out something useful.

As I didn’t relish the idea of having to lug everything back at once, I started to set up a personal teleportation pad. Should I find anything here, I could easily teleport it back to the Calliope without having to carry everything on my trek back. If not, the teleportation pad was easy enough to dismantle so that I could carry on. Under all that heat, it would be sorely tempting to transport myself back with the cargo, but that would end up leaving the telepad behind.

Rekker might not be all that concerned about leaving a pad, but Cedroc would never let me hear the end of it, so the long walk was just the price I had to pay. I was just going to have to be careful not to send off the pack with my uniform still balled up inside. My arrival wouldn’t exactly be heroic if I wandered back onto the ship hiding my piece in my hands.

No sooner did I have the last panel locked into place than the disk began to radiate the blue ‘incoming’ light. Thrak it, someone from the ship must’ve decided they wanted to tag along. As the hum intensified, I dug furiously through my pack and yanked out my trousers.

A figure was already beginning to come through, and I was willing to bet serious credits that Cedroc was about to find me hopping around on one foot trying to wriggle back into my clothes. The least I could do was turn my back and not give him the full show, so I spun around and put my back to the pad as it crackled the new arrival into place.

“What the hell?” A woman’s voice burst over my shoulder and I turned, dumbfounded, to see a compact, dark-haired stranger blinking against the sun. She staggered off the telepad and fought to get her bearings.

I was so caught off guard that I had momentarily forgotten the struggle with my trousers. Only when her furious eyes locked on me did I recall my predicament. She shouted and swung wide at me with a half-balled fist, throwing herself off balance.

In an attempt to duck her strike, I lost my own bearings and thumped down in the sand, rolling over onto my back. She was reeling and trying to maintain her footing, so I took the moment to finish tucking myself away and scramble to my feet. I took another couple of steps toward her to try and steady her.

“Get your hands—no!” she slurred. She was either highly intoxicated or heavily sedated. There was no odor to indicate alcohol, so my credits were on the second option.

She shoved me hard, and while she was stronger than she looked, she only succeeded in stumbling a few steps back, catching her heel on the telepad, and crashing down onto it. Her impact shattered one of the panels.

“Fucking hell, goddamn, shit.” She was making a lot of noise, but it seemed like the only words she could manage were pretty vulgar and nearly unintelligible.

“Calm down,” I said, which never seemed to be what you wanted to say to a human, especially when they needed to hear it most. The woman’s agitation increased after her fall. She flailed, and swore, cracking two more panels while trying to right herself. So much for an easy ride back.

Who was this woman, and how did she manage to just spring through my telepad from nowhere? Now that my own embarrassment had subsided, the alarming singularity of the situation burst upon me. This woman had arrived on me completely out of the blue, and I had no way to send her back.

FERNE

“Here, at least let me give you a hand.” I didn’t realize how much I was weaving on my feet until a firm set of hands reached out to steady me. Part of me was grateful for the help, but I shook him off anyway.

Given my first introduction to this—whoever he was—I wasn’t in any great hurry to let him touch me. My vision was thick with blurred colors and little tracing sparks, but I was pretty sure what I had seen. At least, I think I was sure. Even with my vision all wonky, it wasn’t hard to spot a half-naked man—especially one built like that.

He reached out again, and I swatted him away again. This time, I tripped over my own feet and plunked down for the second time onto something that shuddered and cracked under me. Was that a teleportation pad? Was that how I’d gotten here?

“Hey, let me at least . . . .”

“At least nothing. Let me sit here a minute, will you?” He backed off and I shook my head in an attempt to clear the fog hanging thick inside my skull. When I tried to open my eyes again, light blistered its way back in. Why was everything so bright?

And hot! It seemed like I’d only just come to, and already I could feel the sweat pouring down my sides.

“Water,” I rasped, not caring if I sounded rude. My throat felt like sandpaper and my tongue felt too big for my mouth.

“Here.” A canteen thunked into my hands and I pried the top loose and took a hearty pull. Even swallowing was painful. Everything about me ached like I had been taken apart joint by joint and then thrown back together by a mechanic. A shitty mechanic at that.

The water was a welcome reprieve to some of the discomfort, and I helped myself to another drink. Moderately sated, I splashed water over my face and rubbed at my eyes, then poured some more across my neck.

“Easy with that. We don’t have a lot of it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s just enough for a couple of days’ rations. Pretty sparse, so don’t go bathing in it.”

The drink had done a lot to bring me back to myself, and after another rub on my eyes, I ventured to open them again. It was still shockingly bright, but at least things were beginning to be less blurry. Crouched in front of me was a large alien male, a Mahdfel I assumed. The damn treaty that brought me here was forged with the Mahdfel, but I’d never seen one until now. I hadn’t been expecting horns.

At least he had managed to dress himself. His teal skin shone under the glare like deep sea water, interlaced with gold tattoos. His shoulders were broad and, oddly, one bore a single white tattoo. It appeared to be glowing, but that could’ve been a trick of the light. His dark eyes watched me intently. His horns were majestic. Though his appearance was shocking, I wouldn’t call him frightening. In fact, he was rather handsome, even if he was an alien.

In the moment of finding him attractive, a sour pit formed in my stomach, and the whole of the situation crashed over me.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

“Kyre. And you are?”

Fire shot up my spine and I leapt to my feet. Whatever unsteadiness had been weighing me down shook off in a moment.

“None of your business,” I snapped. “I have to get out of here.”

“Woman,” he reached for me again, and I recoiled, “there’s nowhere for you to go.”

He didn’t speak in a threatening manner. If anything, he sounded like he was trying not to spook me. I still wasn’t about to let him manhandle me. Alien-handle. Whatever.

“Don’t touch me!” Kyre jumped back at my vehemence. “You can’t keep me a prisoner out here. I’m not going to be bound down by anyone, least of all you.”

“Listen, I have no idea—”

“That’s right, you don’t. You can’t begin to know what it’s like. I had a life. And it was a pretty fantastic life, actually. I had carved it out for myself, and it had nothing to do with getting balled up and fired across the damn galaxy against my will.”

He stood there looking at me like I had five heads, and each one was spitting pure fire. All it did was make me angrier and I pushed on. “I did everything in my power to get out of just this situation.”

“What situation?”

“And it’s not that my parents couldn’t use the money,” I bowled over him. “They definitely could. But even with that, they thought my independence—my freedom, frankly, was more important than some cash prize. If I hadn’t fallen, we wouldn’t even be talking to each other.”

“Fallen from what?”

“My life was great. I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and I got to live in the wilderness. In the worst of summer, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as this, this blazing—where are we?”

“Gravum IV.”

“And where is that, exactly?”

He shrugged those massive shoulders and I could swear a tiny smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. If I hadn’t been angry before, I sure as hell was now.

“You know what,” I started, but faltered as his name slipped from my memory. “What’s your name again, Mahdfel?”

“Kyre. I’m a Vaznik warrior, actually . . . .”

“What? That’s not right. The humans are in agreement with the Mahdfel people. If you’re not a Mahdfel, then who the hell are you?”

He sighed. “No, I am a Mahdfel, but we take on the names of our mothers’ species. It’s complicated. I can explain further, if you like.”

“You know what? I don’t care. You know what else, Kyre the Vaznik Warrior? Fuck you. I don’t know what kind of dirtbags even put in for this kind of service, or how your half deals with the whole lottery thing, but what you want or expect out of this has got nothing to do with me.”

“I’m sorry, what lottery?”

That’s just great. They didn’t even have a lottery selection process on the alien side of this whole scam. These alien men just got to lean back and expect some subservient human woman to get blasted out of their lives to wait on them and satisfy whatever ugly desires they had.

“Kyre,” I said, leveling him with the hardest stare in my repertoire, “I’m getting out of here. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

“Actually, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

“What do you mean?”

He just pointed behind me to the shattered teleportation pad. My heart went cold in an instant. God, was I trapped here for real? Had I managed to wreck the only way on or off this hellhole?

I sighed. “I’ll pay for damages or whatever. Just grab another one.”

“There isn’t another one. Not here, at least.”

“So, there are more? Because I need to—”

“Get out of here. Yes, I gathered that. What’s your name?”

“You don’t know?”

“How would I know?” He shrugged again.

Wasn’t that just typical? I didn’t know what I could expect. They’d arranged a mate for him, boxed me up and shipped me like a crate of bricks, and he couldn’t even be bothered to learn my name.

Planting my feet in the parched sand, I stared him directly in the eye and fired off, “My name is Ferne Whittaker.” I don’t know what I expected, but there wasn’t even a flicker of recognition.

“Great. Listen, Ferne, there are more telepads back at the ship, but it’s—”

“Wait, there’s a ship?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, where is it?”

“It’s a few miles away.” He gestured to nowhere in particular, but there was nothing as far as I could see but more desert. Kyre put his hands up as if I were pointing a gun at him and talked as if I was an absolutely crazy person.

“We can figure out what to do with you when we head back, but I’m actually out here to collect some Lypanthium crystals for some repairs.”

“What do you mean, when we head back? We need to go to that ship right fucking now.”

“Well, there may be some mineral deposits in these rocks. If there aren’t, I’ve got to keep looking.”

“For how long?”

“Before you hit the water, I had brought enough rations for two days.”

“So, you’re not—you weren’t waiting for me?”

“Ferne Whittaker, I wasn’t waiting for anybody. When you showed up, did I look like I was expecting company?”

I waved him off before he could remind me of his disposition when I found him. This alien seemed to have absolutely no idea about who I was, or why I had suddenly dropped into his life out of the blue.

If he didn’t know, I certainly wasn’t going to clue him in. Kyre just stood watching me, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen a single other member of his crew. He was alone out here.

He may have been large, well-built and trim, but I was pretty sure I was faster. Even coming out of my groggy state, I could tuck low and bolt when I needed to. And, right now, it felt like I needed to.

Deserts didn’t fall into my expertise, but mountains did. Huge rock formations shot out of the flat terrain. Beyond those, gray-blue craggy mountains rose from the horizon. From the looks of it, they weren’t more than a few miles away. If I could get to them, I could survive until I figured out a proper plan. There must be another ship somewhere on this planet.

Kyre said he’d figure out to what to do with me when we got back to his ship. I didn’t trust the alien male to whom I now contractually belonged to do anything in my best interest. There was no way he’d ever let me go. I had to figure out something else. Somehow.

First things first, I had to get away from him.

“What’s that over there?” I cried. It was the oldest trick in the book. I couldn’t believe it when he turned his back to me to look at the invisible threat I’d conjured. I took off toward the rock formations and the mountains beyond.

“Ferne!” Kyre called after me. “Stop!”

But I didn’t. I kept running, hoping that, eventually, I’d run to my freedom.

KYRE

I couldn’t help but stand there stunned as the human woman—the extremely pissed off, but extremely beautiful human woman—turned and tore off like the hounds of Thrax were chasing her. Ferne bolted in the opposite direction of where I’d indicated the Calliope was grounded, desert sand rising in thick clouds as her feet pounded swiftly through it. I stared after her for longer than I probably should have, completely dumbfounded as to who she really was or why she’d been shipped all the way out here. But a thought began to grow in my head as to who she could be.

As if our situation out on Gravum IV needed any further complications.

Despite my confusion, I pulled myself together quickly enough to realize that I couldn’t let her just take off by herself. Besides the fact that she was clearly deranged, she’d arrived on the teleportation pad with nothing but the clothes on her back. Desert environments on every planet were unforgiving—she’d never survive out there without proper gear and supplies.

Even though I had a feeling she would be more trouble than she was worth, I wasn’t about to let her go off alone—not if I still wanted to like myself later. Before I could convince myself otherwise, I shot out into the desert after her, grabbing my supply pack as I went.

Within minutes, I was sweating again. It ran down my face in thick streams, stinging my eyes. As I lifted my left arm to swipe it away, I couldn’t help but notice the tattoo on my shoulder was glowing, fiercely and unmistakably white. Shit.

That specific tattoo had never glowed white in my life. It was only meant to do so when I’d met my soulmate. If it was glowing now, that meant . . . but no. No, there was no way that a raving, impulsive human female could be my soulmate. I’d spent less than ten minutes with Ferne, and I could already tell we wouldn’t be compatible at all.

I wanted to convince myself that it was a mistake, but I knew better. The tattoos were never wrong—had never once been wrong.

My mind raced along with my feet as I propelled myself through the sand. My thoughts brought me back to the first days that Lila had been with us, remembering how she and Rekker didn’t seem to get along at all, but now even a blind man could see how much they suited each other. Maybe the same thing would happen to me with this human woman, if I managed to reach her.

Rekker had lied to Lila at first about the meaning behind his glowing tattoo. I wouldn’t do the same with Ferne.

I’d tell her everything once I’d caught her, since I was now convinced she’d been tested and sent here because she was my mate.

By the time I’d caught up to her, the sand of the desert had given way to a barren, rocky plain that bottomed out into a canyon, surrounded on both sides by jagged, rocky cliffs. I could see her, but she was still about half a mile ahead of me. I kicked my legs into a higher gear and poured on the speed. I had to reach her before she got too far—I couldn’t lose her for good.

My footsteps echoed loudly throughout the canyon due to the change in terrain, alerting her to my arrival. I watched as she quickly changed her course, veering toward the cliff walls. Her hands shot out ahead of her almost instinctively, as if she hadn’t had to think about moving them at all, and grabbed onto the rock.

As she deftly began scaling the wall, I felt my mind explode.

Crazy or not, this woman was no wilting flower. It was clear she’d done this before. She was quick and strong, the muscles in her arms standing out as she pulled herself up, up, up. Her feet found purchase on the cliff without her eyes having to look. She was climbing as if her very life depended on it; as if she was born to do nothing else.

When I reached the bottom of the cliff, I knew I had no choice but to scrabble up after her. Although I didn’t have much experience climbing, I had the advantage of massive upper body strength. I could probably scale the cliff faster than her if I allowed myself to do so, but I didn’t want to frighten her. She was clearly spooked enough, so I checked my pace and crawled over the ledge just moments after she’d reached the top herself.

I heard her gasp once she stood, but she wasn’t gasping at my arrival. She was wavering on the edge of a yawning precipice that revealed a drop of well over a thousand feet. Without thinking, I grabbed the back of her shirt to steady her, looking down as I did so. The drop was so vast I couldn’t even see what lay below, only lazily drifting swaths of cloud and mist.

The ledge we found ourselves on was narrow, just wide enough to hold the two of us if we stood side-by-side. It wasn’t connected to anything, just ran along the side of the canyon, widening out further down the stretch. There was nowhere for either of us to go but forward or back down the way we’d come.

The only thing I knew about her was that she was reckless. I wasn’t taking any chances in letting go of my hold on her, lest she take off again. I wouldn’t put it past her to think she could get away and then fall off into whatever lay in the void below, but I needed answers. She wasn’t getting away from me this time.

As if she could read my thoughts, she tried valiantly to wrench herself out of my grasp. I tightened my grip on her, hands like a vice.

“Stop fighting me—I’m not going to hurt you,” I told her.

I kept my voice purposely soft, wanting her to realize for herself that she was safe with me.

“Release me immediately!” she yelled, still thrashing.

I pulled her back to my chest and wrapped my arms around her chest, startled by how good she smelled. The warm, light scent of her permeated deep inside me, settling into my core. It was so familiar, as if I’d smelled it every day for my entire life.

“I’ll release you once you promise you’re not going to do anything stupid,” I told her.

She was breathing heavily from exertion, chest heaving beneath my arms. I listened as it evened out and her entire body began to still against me.

“Fine,” she said, but I could hear the restraint in her voice.

“Good,” I said.

I immediately opened my arms, true to my word. She wouldn’t trust me through words alone; my actions had to prove I was trustworthy.

She stepped away from me, cautiously eyeing the edge. She crossed her arms as she turned to look me up and down, her back to the great crevasse behind her. She had guts; I couldn’t deny that.

“I really wish you’d run toward the Calliope—we’re now so much farther off course after that little race. You said your name was Ferne?” I asked, panting as my breathing evened out.

She eyed me warily but nodded. “Yes.”

I was a fool to think she’d give me anything more than that.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ferne,” I said.

I extended a hand to her, as I knew was the human custom upon meeting someone new. Even though we’d technically met before her little stunt, I wanted her to know I meant her no harm. After a beat, she finally reached out and grasped my hand in her own.

I wasn’t surprised to find her grip was solid, not after seeing her scale the cliff wall with her bare hands.

“I can’t say it’s nice to meet you, Kyre, but hello all the same,” she said.

I couldn’t help smirking at her. Her attitude was so much like Lila’s that I wondered if all human females were so . . . feisty.

“So, you’re here because you were tested and found to be my genetic match. I’m not too far off the mark, am I?” I asked.

She stared at me, her jaw dropping for only a moment before she caught herself and adjusted her features back to a mask of cool nonchalance.

“How do you know that?” she asked.

I pulled my pack off my back before responding to her, unzipping it and pulling out the canteen of water, as well as a ration bar. I handed both to her and watched as she took another long drink but turned the ration bar over in her hands and examined it suspiciously.

“How do I know this isn’t poisoned?” she asked.

I stared at her, irritated. “By the black, Ferne, I already told you I was alone out here. Do you think I’d bring poisoned rations for myself? I’m not on a suicide mission.”

I could tell it was the wrong thing to say to her. The beautiful olive skin of her cheeks flushed red with annoyance as she opened the ration bar and nearly bit it in half, never letting go of my gaze as she chewed.

“I know you were tested because my tattoo lit up like a beacon once you arrived and the only reason for it to do that would be because I’d met the woman I’m supposed to spend my life with,” I told her. “Besides that, what other reason would you have for showing up out of nowhere all the way out here on Gravum IV? The captain of my team doesn’t even have full recon about this planet, so there’s no way a human woman would.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot of bullshit,” she said.

I cocked an eyebrow at her, not even remotely willing to give her the upper hand.

“My captain, Rekker, has a human female as a mate and the same thing happened to him—just recently, I should add. Her name is Lila and she’s with us on the Calliope. I’m not lying to you.”

“That’s what liars say,” she said, haughtily crossing her arms again.

My patience was starting to wear thin.

“Look—” I started, ready to put her in her place, but the shrill, ringing tone of the crystal sensor in my pack cut off my reply.

It was about time something good came out of this mess.

FERNE

Some nasty little siren was singing out of Kyre’s back pocket, and he broke off what passed as ‘conversation’, hunkered over some chunky device, and squinted at the screen. Whistling lightly through his teeth, he looked around with genuine urgency. While his attention was distracted, I stole a glance at a tattoo on his shoulder glowing a brilliant white.

My first instinct was to reach up and touch it, even though I kept telling myself that I wanted to get as far away from this brute as possible. Instead, I turned my attention back to the startling void sheared off in front of us and started scouring it for potential grips. Descent would be pure insanity, but turning off my flight instinct proved tricky.

“I wouldn’t.”

Startled, I spun around to find Kyre watching me with a knowing eyebrow cocked. His expression held something between respect and a dare.

“You’re a good climber. Shocked the hell out of me, I can tell you. But, going down there?” He shook his head. “Look, I’m going to need you to stay put. If this radometer is right, we can wrap this up in twenty minutes and get you over to a telepad by tonight. Deal?”

Deal? I wanted to spit in his face. Kind of. I didn’t know.

“Come on. Don’t be stupid.”

Now he was calling me stupid? I felt like screaming, but that would have done about as much good as tossing myself off the ridge. His hand was extended to shake mine, but I answered it by folding my arms across my chest.

The beeping continued, and I could see Kyre’s frustration at wanting to follow that thing to whatever it was alerting him about. The problem was that I wasn’t giving in, and he wasn’t going to turn his back on me until I did. He snorted sharply, and glared at me hard for the first time.

“You don’t want to be here. I get it. Neither do I, but if you won’t let me help you, maybe you could at least tell me what you want?”

“What do I want? I want to go home! I want to get back to my life, not be stuck chasing around after you!”

“Last time I checked, it was me that chased you down. Now, neither of us are going anywhere unless I can locate some Lypanthium, so would you please just promise me that I’m not going to have to go galloping after you again? Please?”

I hated it, but I took his hand. There was nobody else around, and my chances of finding his ship out here in this wasteland were next to zero. Whatever I might have felt about Kyre, he was the only one who could possibly help me.

As soon as he turned my hand loose, Kyre scrambled back down the way we had come. Without him hovering around beside me, I turned my eyes out and scanned the horizon as far as I could see. There were other crags like the one I had crested, but the whole expanse was severe and unforgiving.

The sun had begun to hang lower in the sky and the heat subsided slightly as a vague breeze whistled in from across the ravine. It made me think of the moments before my fall. If I hadn’t doubled back on that ridge, I wouldn’t be standing on this one, staring out over the sun-blasted nightmare before me.

Why did I have to help Julie on the mountain? I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t. Of course, she might’ve died otherwise. Was her life worth mine? It’s an ugly question, but I couldn’t help but ask it at that moment.

No, I couldn’t have let her die, even if I knew I’d end up here.

My dark meditation was interrupted by the sudden blare of an intense, grinding whirr. When I looked back down the way Kyre had gone, I could see him hunched hard over a drill, grinding away at the rock face. His uniform top was stripped back, his skin slick with sweat.

Though I hated to admit it, the sight of his muscular torso glinting teal and gold under the sun was impressive. His thick arms tensed under the strain of his work, and veins spread across them in pulsing vines. In spite of myself, I felt the need to climb down and get closer to him.

The closer I got, the more intense the sound became, thin wisps of smoke trailing up from the rock. Chips and shards flew out of the dense surface, and Kyre’s breath came with little grunts as he doubled over his work.

“Want to be useful?” He leaned back from the drill and the cacophony died down.

“Might as well.”

Kyre pulled out a canteen and handed it over to me. “Pour this down the rock just above where I’m drilling. It’ll keep me from burning out this bit. It’s the only one I brought with me.”

Apparently, he wasn’t much for thinking ahead. But, as we couldn’t get me any closer to home until this little mission of his was over and done with, it made sense to lend a hand. That awful scraping grind kicked up again and Kyre’s body tensed back over his work.

From this proximity, I eyed the muscles rippling across his shoulders and back. The force and focus of his breath, interspersed with grunting exertions, sent my mind back to my first blurred images of his body. A dark part of me even tried to focus in on the contours I couldn’t hope to recall clearly.

“What are you drilling for?”

“Coring,” he said.

“What?”

“I’m taking a core sample.” He leaned back again. “My reader says there’s a solid shot at getting some Lypanthium out of this bastard. The stuff is too dense for chisel work, so I’m going to see if I can extract anything in a long core.”

“Fair enough.” All I wanted was for this all to be behind me. Other than that nonsense about his tattoo, Kyre didn’t seem to have any notion of why I had erupted out of nowhere, and I wasn’t looking to clue him in. If helping him get this—whatever it was—got me on the road to a telepad, I was in.

The thought of teleporting again was unpalatable, but no worse than being unceremoniously wedded to some complete stranger, no matter how physically impressive he was.

“All right, stop.”

I quit pouring the water down and Kyre leaned back, giving his drill a series of twisting, cajoling shakes as he did so. Inch by inch, the long, steaming bit eased out of the rock, making little scraping noises on its way. As it finally came free, I couldn’t help but think how much longer it was than I had expected looking down from above.

The thing was still hissing hot, but Kyre set to tapping insistently against the bit with a wrench, coaxing his quarry from the long cylinder. Seeing something that was clearly lost on me, he let out a whoop and started to chip away at the hunk of rock until a small handful of blue, crystal disks laid on his palm. Satisfied, he slumped against the rock and let out a long breath.

“So, you got what you came for?”

“I did.”

“And that is?”

“Lypanthium crystals.” My blank expression elicited more of a response. “They’re to help us get a radio system live.”

“You don’t have a radio?” Access to a radio just might be my ticket out of here. I wanted to see this ship.

“Nope,” he said, and shook his head. “We touched down here under less than ideal circumstances, and we’ve been out of contact with command since then. If we want to get the Calliope out of here, we may need more resources than we have at our disposal.”

“So how far are we?”

“Not too far. A couple of miles. I expected to be out here for a couple of days, but this has worked out pretty well, actually.” Easy for him to say. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

A funny grin crossed his face. “If you hadn’t taken off running, who knows how long it might have taken me to find these things. I’d probably still be wandering around.”

“Naked?”

He shied a bit at my jab and looked away. “Not the best first impression.”

“I couldn’t see much of anything when I landed.” I don’t know why, but it seemed important to alleviate his embarrassment. “Anyway, should we start making our way to your ship?”

“Yeah.” He slapped his knees and stood, carefully easing the tinkling crystals into a box that got stowed in his pack. “Ready?”

I had never been more ready for anything in my entire life. As I went to rise to my feet, it was as though the whole world shifted, and I tipped back over onto my side. It was tempting to think that was a residual shock from the teleportation. Parts of my mind were still a bit cloudy, so why shouldn’t my balance be affected.

Only when Kyre crashed down next to me did I even consider that an external force might be at play. He immediately tried to right himself, only to be thrown down again by another seismic casting of the terrain. Then a startling sound rushed over us, deep and thundering.

It wasn’t the sound of an avalanche or anything of that nature. No, this was the deep rumble of some immense creature groaning out a creaking exhale. Our footing banked again, and then again, shifting from side-to-side in alarmingly regular heaves.

“Shit. I may have some bad news.”

“What?” A lump lodged itself in my throat as I awakened to the same terrible realization that had just settled on Kyre.

“We haven’t been on a ridge. And whatever we’ve been on is moving.”

KYRE

The formation shifted beneath our feet and the sense of gravity changed as we tried to keep our balance. I scrambled to find some ledge to hold onto as we slid off the smooth face we had been standing on moments ago. I watched with dismay as Ferne tipped over the edge ahead of me. I couldn’t worry about her, though, as I lost my footing and fell after her. The other side of the rock face was nearly as sheer as the one we had climbed, but I caught an outcropping as I went over.

A little frantic, I struggled to look below me and locate Ferne. Her tanned skin allowed her to blend into the surroundings far better than my own. While what I had seen of her looked lovely, it really would have been nice to be able to pick her out in that moment. My horns scraped against the hard, stone carapace of the creature as I turned to glance down between my feet.

“Ferne!” I looked over my shoulder and saw her half crouched on another ledge. Relief swamped my adrenaline and I may have even smiled despite the dire circumstances. She wasn’t bad in a pinch. It would have been a shame to lose my mate only minutes after meeting her.

My shoulders strained against the tension of holding my own weight, but I dug my fingers in tighter and shouted down to her.

“Are you all right? See if you can hook your feet into that crevice and lock yourself into place.”

“I’m fine!” she shouted back, eyes wide and arms trembling. “What the hell is this thing?”

I tried to shake my head and gave up. “I have no idea! Just hold on!”

Her eyes were still a little wild but the comment had the desired effect. She glared up at me in response to the unnecessary advice and I grinned back. I watched her shuffle around the edge of the outcropping and try to get a better grip.

I was impressed with her skill even under intense stress. She hadn’t been pleased about being dumped in the middle of nowhere with me nearly out of my pants. But she was handling a stressful situation about as well as I would have expected any of the rest of the Vaznik warriors to manage.

Now, I figured all we had to do was hang on until the creature settled back down and get back to the ship. With no teleport, or direction, and not enough supplies.

A startled cry from Ferne drove those thoughts from my mind. Looking down to her again, I saw the ledge she had grabbed onto was steadily disappearing into the creature.

Apparently, Ferne’s anchor point was an appendage of some sort that it could control, and right now it was pulling it into the cliff and away from her feet.

Ferne looked with sharp eyes for another handhold even as she kept her balance on the one slowly disappearing beneath her feet. There was another ledge several lengths below her, but the fall might kill her if she wasn’t prepared for it, or if she didn’t have a softer landing. It didn’t take anything more than that thought to pass through my mind before I was moving.

Releasing my handhold, I skidded down the sharp slope and landed on hers just before it completely retracted.

“Just stay still, I’ve got you,” I said over her shouted protests, wrapping my arms tightly around her as the rest of our ledge vanished into the side of the creature. I enveloped her in my arms in protection from the rough fall as we bounced off various formations. We stopped moving abruptly. Air whooshed out of my lungs at the hard landing. Ferne fought her way out of my grasp to find another handhold. This ledge seemed sturdier and, at a glance, I didn’t see any smooth edges to suggest this one would disappear, as well.

The creature shifted again and Ferne pressed herself tightly against the cliff to protect herself from the falling debris. I rolled to the side, still trying to catch my breath, and found myself once again tumbling down against the side of the ledge. I sucked in air and tried to swing my other arm up to grab and hold myself against the cliffside. I couldn’t manage and my arm was starting to burn with the effort of supporting my body.

“What the hell was that?” Ferne was sprawled on the flat surface and reaching down to grab my arm. “Just dodged right into freefall?”

She was covered with dirt and dust and scratches, but frowned determinedly down at me. It was clever of her to lie on her stomach, it lessened her leverage but made it nearly impossible for me to pull her off balance as I climbed up.

I shook my head without answering and caught her offered hand with my loose one. The extra stability allowed me to brace my boots against the wall and walk the rest of the way up.

As difficult as she had made my work in the short time she’d been here, I had to appreciate her help in that situation. I supposed that neither of us had made the best of first impressions. I didn’t know how long I would have been able to hang on like that.

“Thank you for your assistance. Hurry, get back against the wall. I promise I won’t dodge anymore.”

She looked at me, almost confused that I had made the joke, then waved me over to the spot she had found. It was a divot in the rock-like shell of the creature. Only about the size of a doorway, but if we could press inside it, it looked like it would protect us from any more falling debris.

Ferne seemed reluctant to once again be pressed against the rock with me behind her, so, instead of forcing the issue, I knocked my knuckles lightly against the large horns that protected my head.

“With your tiny size, it makes sense for me to cover you.” I smiled at her as placatingly as I could.

Ferne rolled her eyes, but uncrossed her arms and leaned into the small space. “I might have fought less if I’d known anything like this was going to happen,” she muttered into the dirt. I didn’t bother to respond.

I left her the little space we could afford, this time bracing my arms against the cliffside instead of wrapping them around her. She was warm and sweet-smelling from the exertion and I could feel the curves of her against my body. I sent up a little thank you to the universe for my gorgeous mate.

We stayed like that for several minutes, just listening to each other breath as the creature moved further and further away from where we had first met. Ferne coughed into the dirt and I leaned back to let her breathe.

“Why did you do that?” she asked, glancing up at me with clear blue eyes, so different from my own dark ones.

“Do what?” I shifted again to set my horns against the cliffside and look down at her.

She didn’t look away when she spoke. “When you dove off your safe anchor point to save me from falling.” There was a strange tone of accusation in her voice, as though she expected me to say that I had been paid to do it. Or we were on some bizarre survival show being broadcast beyond worlds.

You’re my mate. That’s what I wanted to say, but she hadn’t reacted well before. There was just the impossibly deep rumble of the creature moving while I considered how best to put it.

“Perhaps it seems absurd to you, as a human, that my species should take this so seriously. But it is a part of our lives as much as our horns. And yet it is more than even that. One’s mate goes beyond genetic compatibility. It is compatibility in all things. It is a mutual bond of care and trust.”

She grumbled at the word ‘mate’ again, but she stayed quiet. She was actually listening this time.

I carried on, not wanting to lose the chance to explain. “I could no more have let you fall from that ledge than leaped off to my own death. Us, together, is the ultimate priority. Without you, there is no us. I was, in a literal sense, born to protect you, to care for you.” To love you.

“I understand that you may not be able to return that for a very long time. But you cannot stop me acting in the interest of your safety and happiness.” I pushed down my doubts. She was my mate. That was that. “And that I shall do above anything else in this life for as long as I am able.”

The words were heavy in the air and all the more so as the creature finally settled to a jerking, grating stop. I stepped back, looking out to our new surroundings. Ferne moved past me, brushing off some loose dirt as she considered my words. When she finally spoke, it had nothing to do with me, or with our situation.

“Okay, so where are we?”

I peered over the edge and started pulling rope from my pack. It would be slow going down this steep side, but at this point, I’d give anything to be on solid ground again. Looking up to scan what I could see of the horizon, my jaw tightened.

“I have no idea. Come on, let’s go.”

FERNE

Gravum IV was certainly full of surprises.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I’d climbed up the side of an actual living creature camouflaged as a cliff. It certainly wasn’t something that had happened to me in all the time I’d worked as a mountain guide—at least, not that ever I’d experienced.

I guess it wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities that I had climbed a giant alien creature without even knowing it before.

As Kyre and I climbed down to safe, solid ground, I pondered what he’d said when I’d asked him why he’d recklessly risked his own life to come after me when I’d fallen down the side of the creature.

“Here, this looks a little more solid.” Carefully, respectfully, Kyre moved my foot over an inch.

“Not my first time rappelling, buddy.”

But it was the first time I’d gone down a giant monster turtle-thing on an alien planet.

Maybe I should be nicer.

“Hey, I just wanted to…”

He’d already moved further along, out of easy earshot.

And I didn’t exactly feel like yelling. Not when we had no idea what was out here.

Since we’d only just met, Kyre’s response had thrown me for a loop. He was already willing to put himself in danger over my wellbeing, which I thought was insane.

Soulmate or not, we were technically still strangers and I didn’t deserve his kindness after I’d been so rude to him.

But who could blame me? Even though my body no longer showed the evidence, I’d been both physically and emotionally traumatized all in the span of a day, which was enough to set anyone on edge.

Besides, I also hadn’t ever been the type of person to be nice. I was efficient, calculating, intelligent, and to the point—I considered myself to be kind, but never nice.

I’d watched my parents, watched other families.

Nice didn’t win. Nice didn’t keep your family together.

Nice didn’t keep you from getting hurt.

Even though we’d spent barely any time together, I could already tell that Kyre was nice, as well as kind. He hadn’t stopped trying his hardest to make me comfortable and understand that he didn’t plan to hurt me.

He seemed very worried that I’d think that about him. I supposed it was an accepted concern that unknown males weren’t to be trusted on any planet, not just Earth.

To be honest, that thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I was more upset that I’d been shipped out here against my will, even though the decision had been presented to me as a choice.

I was both discouraged and enraged.

If I tried to escape now, there would be dire consequences. Since I’d been successfully delivered to my supposed mate, the transaction was considered complete. If I left, it’d be desertion. If I was caught . . . well, I didn’t want to think about what the authorities back home would do to me. I’d heard enough horror stories.

As Kyre and I descended the creature with tentative steps, he reached out again and again to assist me whenever the terrain became treacherous. Even though I was confident in my climbing ability, I still found myself accepting his help.

His steadfast grip was solid, and felt like a boon for the inner turmoil of my thoughts. I couldn’t stop myself from appreciating his willingness to protect me, no matter how hard I tried.

I hadn’t really given it much thought until now, but maybe having a partner in life wouldn’t be so bad.

I hadn’t ever spent a significant amount of time sharing my life with anyone, so I wasn’t quite sure how to do it, but maybe it’d be nice to have someone to come home to at the end of the day; someone to have my back whenever I needed it.

Humans weren’t the only race that favored monogamy, so I guess it wouldn’t be that bad to spend the rest of my life with someone.

But not Kyre, even if he was nice and incredibly handsome.

I might not be nice, but I wasn’t a liar and I never lied to myself.

Once I’d gotten over the original shock of being teleported to a foreign planet and taken a real good look at the male who was apparently my perfect match in every way, I could admit to myself how devastatingly attractive he was. Even when I was actively trying to avoid his gaze, I could barely manage it, my own eyes drifting back to him every few minutes.

In all my travels, I’d never seen anyone else with skin the color of his. It was pure ocean teal and just as beautiful and deep.

The golden tattoos etched onto his flesh reminded me of the sun’s rays during a storm at sea, breaking through the clouds and rippling across the waves. The one on his left shoulder—his soulmate tattoo—hadn’t stopped shining like a lighthouse beacon since we’d met, and I found I couldn’t look at it too long without experiencing an unidentifiable ache in my chest.

Out of the top of his head, crowned in shaggy black hair, was an equally dark set of thick, curling horns. They so reminded me of the goats I’d often encountered while out on mountain excursions, that I couldn’t help but think of them as being slightly adorable.

But what I was drawn to most was his eyes. They were so dark they could only be black, as black as the farthest reaches of space.

The few opportunities I’d had to look into them reminded me of all the times I’d spent staring up at the night sky while laid out on a mountain peak, the entire universe spilled out above me. They reminded me of all the longing I’d felt but couldn’t understand.

He was handsome and kind, but I didn’t know him and Gravum IV wasn’t Earth.

I wanted—I needed—to go home.

I couldn’t be the soulmate of a male I didn’t even know, no matter what a stupid test said.

Eventually we were back on solid ground.

“Do you know where we ended up?” I asked.

He paused for a moment. “No,” he said at last.

“Great.”

“We only arrived a few days before you,” he said. “And we’ve had problems with the scanners and the comms. No one in the crew has had a chance to complete any reconnaissance of any kind.”

“So it’s basically up to us to figure out a way back to the ship?”

“It is.”

“Without any assistance of any kind?”

“Yes.”

“Alrighty then,” I sighed. “Guess we’ll focus on that.”

“Good.”

There was also the problem of sustenance.

“We won’t have enough supplies,” he said after a while.

“What?”

“I had brought only enough supplies for myself for two days.”

“What the . . . .”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking we’d be away this long and I was never expecting a woman to join me.”

“Sorry if I inconvenienced you there, buddy.”

“I’ve generously shared what I have with you.”

“I know,” I said with a sigh. “But we’re going to run out soon.”

“By tomorrow.”

Since neither he nor I knew anything about the various flora and fauna of this planet, I didn’t really want to chance consuming anything foreign if I could avoid it.

The climb down the creature had taken longer than I’d expected and night was falling quickly.

As in most desert environments, the temperature was also dropping at an exponential rate. Sweat was starting to dry on my skin, leeching my body heat, and I knew we had to find shelter quickly or we’d be hard-pressed to last the night.

Luckily for us, we’d found ourselves in a rockier part of the desert, with various outcroppings and rock formations. I was certain we’d find a cave to hunker down in before the sun fully set if we looked hard enough.

“We’re going to have to find somewhere to stay for the night,” he said as if reading my mind.

“Already on it. I’ve been keeping an eye out for a cave,” I told him.

“Remind me to ask you about what you did for a living before you arrived here when we’re not scrambling for our lives,” he answered, his voice light.

“Remind me to tell you,” I said, unable to keep the flirty tone from my voice.

I shouldn’t be encouraging him, but the smile my words produced on his face made me feel something I never had before; warmth, deep within my very soul.

We continued walking in silence, scanning the landscape for the telltale signs of a cave but coming up short.

My stomach was starting to feel sick from nerves as I worried that we’d end up spending the night freezing and without shelter.

Who knew what kind of creatures would venture out once it was fully dark, probably hungry from sleeping the day away out of the hot sun? I didn’t want to find out.

The only thing more dangerous than a desert in the daytime was a desert at night, and I hadn’t survived this long to go out like this.

I steeled my nerves, unwilling to become anyone’s meal, and trekked on.

With Kyre.

Who I might be starting to like.

A little.

Maybe a little more than a little.

But there was no way I could stay here, with him.

Was there?

KYRE

As night fell, I knew we had to find shelter. Like all the other deserts I’d visited in my travels, the temperature was dropping quickly as the sun set. It was a drastic change from the heat of the day and I knew that if we didn’t find somewhere to rest for the night, we’d be at risk of exposure and frostbite.

We were also both pretty shaken from the incident with the creature. Although Ferne wasn’t saying much, I could tell she was running out of steam.

She hadn’t shared any details of her life before she’d arrived, but if her disposition was any indication, it was safe to assume she’d had quite the day before she’d been teleported to Gravum IV.

I stole glances at her every few minutes as she plodded beside me. Her shoulders were starting to droop and her footsteps were slowing considerably.

I kept my eyes peeled for anywhere we could stop, but kept coming up short and it was starting to worry me.

I’d meant what I said when she’d asked why I’d risked my life for her. I was born to protect and care for my mate and would do exactly that until we parted.

Even though I knew she wanted to go back to Earth, I’d keep her safe until she left and even after, should we ever meet again.

A mate.

I’d never expected this.

Never expected her.

We forged on in silence as the sun continued its descent below the horizon. Like me, she was on high alert, eyes constantly scanning the rocky terrain for a suitable resting place despite her exhaustion.

Even with my superior eyesight, it was getting hard to see anything in the fading light, so I could only imagine how much her vision was straining.

Finally, just as the last dying rays of the sun slipped away, she spotted a small, rocky cave in the near distance. She broke into a slow jog and I matched her pace, not willing to lose sight of her in the dark. When we arrived at the mouth of the cave, she turned to face me.

“Will this do?” she asked.

“I think it’ll be fine for a night,” I agreed.

I gestured for her to move behind me as I pulled a tiny electrical light from the side of my pack, wanting to be the first inside in case we disturbed another native creature.

The last thing I wanted was another situation like the one we’d just escaped.

I definitely didn’t want anything to happen to Ferne—even though I knew she was strong and used to taking care of herself, I wasn’t willing to risk her getting hurt if she entered the cave before me.

Although cave entrances could be deceiving, this one was not. The interior was as small as the opening, but it was far back enough that it was warm and dry. It was actually a great location to spend a night and I told Ferne as much.

“Great job spotting this—you have a good eye,” I said.

“I’ve spent a lot of time exploring mountainsides. It gets easy to find places like this once you know what to look for,” she explained.

I crouched low on the floor and opened my pack, pulling out my sleeping kit. Before I left the Calliope, I’d packed both a sleeping bag and a blanket, as well as an inflatable pillow. I laid everything out near the wall farthest from the entrance before standing up.

“You can sleep there,” I told Ferne, indicating the makeshift bed I’d just assembled.

“I can’t take your supplies,” she said.

“You can and you will. My race can handle extreme temperatures much better than yours, so it’s only logical. And, as I said, I consider it my job to keep you safe and comfortable, so let’s not argue about it.”

“As long as you’re sure you’ll be all right.”

She looked at me warily with her beautiful blue eyes and even if I hadn’t been sure before, I was now.

“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” I told her.

She really didn’t, but I admit it would be nice if she did, even just a little.

She continued to stare at me for longer than usual before looking away with a tiny, nearly imperceptible shake of her head, as if pulling herself out of her thoughts.

“We should build a fire. This space is so small it’ll heat up in no time and we should reserve the light,” she said.

“Great idea. I’ll see if I can find anything to help us get one started,” I agreed.

I left the cave for only a moment, happy to come across some dry sticks not far from the cave. I bundled some up and returned to Ferne, who was seated on the sleeping bag waiting for me.

“Will these do?” I asked her, holding up the pile.

“Should be fine, as long as they’re dry. If they’re wet, all we’ll get is a ton of smoke and a tiny flame.”

I checked them over quickly, feeling along the bark. “Dry as a bone,” I reported once I finished my assessment.

“Great. Hand them over,” she said.

I did as I was told, surprised at how much I enjoyed her assertiveness.

“This won’t take long if you want to have a seat. You might as well get off your feet for a minute. Can you shine that light over here so I can see what I’m doing?” she asked.

I did as she commanded because again, I liked it. Although the floor of the cave was all rock, the sleeping bag and blanket provided ample cushioning and settling down on top of them felt wonderful after being on my feet all day.

I held the light aloft and watched her set to work. She made quick work of creating an almost-artful pile out of the sticks before using two others and a small scrap of paper she produced from the pocket of her pants to ignite a small flame.

Before I even had time to congratulate her, the pile was alight, the flames licking high toward the low ceiling.

The fire grew quickly and bathed our tiny shelter in a warm glow. I was certainly impressed with her survival skills and told her as much when she joined me on the sleeping bag.

“It really wasn’t that hard. Back on Earth, I was a tour guide for people seeking thrilling experiences. I’d lead them up the highest peaks, across the tiniest ledges, over the deepest canyons. We made our own fires, cooked our own meals, and slept in tents every night. Caves were an option but weren’t very common. And since I’d rather not find myself face-to-face with a bear, I tended to avoid them unless absolutely necessary,” she told me.

“So that’s how you were able to climb up that cliff face so easily. I couldn’t believe it—it was like watching a griffler.”

“What in the name of all that’s holy is a griffler?”

“It’s a small, mammalian-type creature, kind of like the animals you call monkeys on Earth. You find them on a lot of the planets in the Andromeda system.”

“Huh. I’d like to see one of those someday,” she said, her voice sounding distant and far away.

“So, you were a risk-taking daredevil back on Earth and then you were sent here, to me. How’d that happen?” I asked.

She stared into the fire, purposefully avoiding my gaze. “I—I don’t really want to talk about it,” she replied quietly.

“Okay.”

I wasn’t going to press her for details if she wasn’t willing to share them. I understood completely how some things were meant to be revealed in their own time.

“Let me tell you a little bit about myself, then. I know you want to get back to Earth, but maybe it’ll help you trust me if you know more about who I am. You already know I’m an engineer— I’m responsible for keeping the mechanics on the Calliope in working order,” I told her.

“You’re pretty buff for an engineer,” she said. She finally turned her eyes toward me, but seemingly only to survey my body.

“Buff?” I asked.

“Muscular. Strong. A fine physical specimen,” she said.

I laughed. “Yes, well . . . I was specifically created to be that,” I said, trailing off.

“You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.”

I guess we were more in tune with one another than I’d originally thought.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t know how much you know about my people, the Mahdfel. We were created to be slaves for the Suhlik, a race of warlord scum. My father was a Mahdfel warrior and my mother was Vaznik. They were specifically chosen for one another, just as you and I have been,” I told her.

She was silent for a moment. Her blue eyes, aglow from the flame of the fire, stared intensely into mine but her expression was soft.

“That’s . . . I don’t know. I don’t know how to express how I feel about that. It’s awful. Slavery is wrong. No one should ever be forced to serve anyone or—or create life for someone else,” she said.

Her passionate voice was tinged with anger.

“I’m glad you agree,” I said.

There was so much more I could tell her, but I didn’t feel like getting into it. The Vaznik didn’t often discuss our origins because it was such a touchy subject. Just the thought of the Suhlik was enough to heat my blood, threatening to turn my tattoos red.

“Would you—are you tired?” she asked suddenly.

I wondered if she was changing the subject for my benefit.

“I’m exhausted,” I admitted.

I rose from the sleeping bag, instructing her to lie down and get some rest. I removed my shirt and balled it up into a make-shift pillow before lying down closer to the fire.

The heat of it would keep me warm enough and I was okay with that, especially knowing she would be more than comfortable from using my supplies.

Her breathing slowed and deepened in no time at all, intermingling with the crackling of the fire. The combination of the two had a hypnotizing effect and once I knew she was soundly asleep, it wasn’t long before I joined her.

FERNE

Kyre must have believed I’d fallen asleep, as he did the same not much longer after we’d separated for the night.

But my mind was racing far too quickly to fall asleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d told me about himself and his family, about how his parents had been nothing more than a breeding match to create a perfect being. I couldn’t imagine such a thing, as my parents chose one another willingly.

They were lucky enough to find each other before the treaty that demanded genetic matching was enacted. Theirs was a love I’d often dreamed of for myself and they’d done the same—it was why they’d tried so hard to hide me from the government all these years.

They didn’t believe in forcing anyone to marry someone they didn’t love and neither did I, which was why it was so hard for me to wrap my mind around being both Kyre’s genetic match and also apparently his soulmate. How could I be with someone I’d only just met because some test—and a tattoo, of all things—seemed to think we complimented one another? It was absolute madness. I still didn’t know if I believed any of it.

As the fire burned lower and lower, eventually fading to embers, I turned on my side to watch Kyre sleep. I couldn’t help but stare at him, feeling like there was more to him than he was letting on. He’d already shown that he was chivalrous and concerned with my well-being, but I could tell there was a quiet strength to him, something that simmered below the surface of his skin.

He was beautiful in both sleep and the low light of the cave. His skin, a deep teal, was foreign to me but also attractive. It reminded me of the ocean right before a storm. The golden tattoos that swirled over every inch of him were amazing, as bright as the sun. They were so intricate and numerous that I wanted to know more about their origins and meanings and hoped he’d tell me if I ever worked up the guts to ask.

Although his eyes were closed in his slumber, my thoughts recalled them easily. I’d never seen eyes so dark—nearly black—but they were soft and held so much kindness that I couldn’t help but feel safe whenever he looked at me. It felt so odd to stare into the eyes of a stranger and feel like I’d found a home, but they were what had kept me from coming completely unhinged since I’d arrived on this planet, so far from Earth.

As the fire died, the cave grew colder. Even though he’d put up a good front to ensure I’d take the sleeping bag, I could tell he was cold. I was nestled down in the sleeping bag as far as I could go without suffocating and had a blanket over me, but my teeth were still chattering, so there was no way he was keeping warm. It felt like it must be below zero outside, for sure, if the air slowly filling the cave was any indication.

I didn’t even second guess myself as I wiggled closer to him. I’d been in situations like this while out on tours before and I knew that body heat could be a lifesaver. He’d been so kind to offer his supplies to me that there was no way I was going to let him freeze to death when I could do something to assist him.

“Hmm?” Kyre started to sit up, alert for any danger, but I patted his shoulder.

“It’s just me, go to sleep.”

“Hmm..”

I pressed my body up against his so we were face to face and, even though he was half asleep, he reached out and wrapped me in his arms. I stiffened immediately, unsure whether I should try to free myself, but I quickly realized how nice his hard body felt next to mine.

Warmth spread through me, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. The room felt like it was already ten degrees warmer. The scent of him, crisp and woodsy and undeniably male, invaded my nostrils.

He even smelled nice, like a memory from long ago that brought me peace and comfort. Everything about him was nice and, despite myself, my traitorous body snuggled in closer to him.

This close, I couldn’t help but take a better survey of him. With my eyes, I traced the tattoos I could see, although I longed to do so with my fingertips instead. Sure enough, the one on his left shoulder was blazing white like starshine.

The fact that it had flared brighter the closer I’d gotten to him only served to convince me that he’d been telling the truth about its meaning. I no longer doubted that I was his true soulmate, even if the idea freaked me out.

“I wish I understood this better,” I whispered as I traced the outline of the tattoo.

Subconsciously, he pulled me closer to him. I’d never been held like that before and it felt so, so good. I’d had no idea how badly I’d craved this kind of contact from someone who felt familiar to me; someone I felt I could trust.

The feelings were completely overwhelming and I had to force myself to steady my breathing and hold back the tears threatening to fall.

It’d do me no good to fall apart now.

I’d only been away from home for a day and I’d need my wits about me if I wanted to escape, but now that I’d met Kyre, I didn’t know whether that was still the case.

There were so many strange new feelings about him burning inside me, feelings that I didn’t have a clue how to process.

Perhaps the best thing to do was to give it more time, to give him more time. To get to know him and explore a real relationship with him and give whatever this was a chance.

Or maybe I just needed to get out of here, before whatever part of my brain was weakening turned me into a complete sap.

I made sure he was asleep before cuddling in closer to him. Even though I was more than a little confused about our situation, we both needed to keep warm.

That was all.

Warmth.

Nothing to do with how good it felt to be wrapped in his arms.

As my body slid against him, his arms tightened even more around my shoulders.

I pressed my nose down into the hollow of his throat, inhaling the scent of him and allowing it to wash over me.

His heart beat under where my ear rested against his massive, strong chest, and I could have sworn my own heart rate slowed to match his.

I allowed my breathing to do the same, deep breath in, deep breath out, syncing up with this male the universe had chosen for me—my supposed soulmate.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, being out here with him.

He was the engineer of a ship, so maybe I could still find the kind of adventure I so badly craved. Maybe I didn’t need to be skirting the edge of mountain cliffs to feel alive, and if I did, maybe we could find mountains to climb together.

Maybe I didn’t have to be alone. Maybe I could do this, have someone to be by my side for the rest of my life, someone who was kind and considerate and who only wanted what was best for me.

Maybe I’d been lucky to be matched with Kyre, but I’d never know unless I gave him a chance.

I snorted.

I’d never been that lucky.

I couldn’t stay, even if part of me thought this might not be too bad.

As I drifted off to sleep, lulled by the warmth of his body and the rhythmic sound of his breathing, I reminded myself.

This could never work.

KYRE

It felt right.

The moment I opened my eyes, I felt her delicate body huddled against mine, her skin like a brazier.

Even though we should’ve been freezing, there was no place more comfortable in the world than under the blanket we shared.

I didn’t move, not wanting to wake her up. I just wanted to enjoy her warmth for a moment longer, to be close to her for a couple minutes more.

I had never really thought I’d find my mate, but it had happened. And by everything that was sacred and holy, it felt right.

Even though I barely knew her, even though she wasn’t exactly my biggest fan . . . there was a real connection.

A fated one. It was ridiculous to look at her like that, to surrender to this connection so soon, but I knew I’d do anything for her.

Looking at Ferne, I took in every delicate feature, the swell of her red lips, the dip of her nose, the gentle curvature of her eyelashes.

Everything about her was absolutely perfect, as if she had been designed by the universe to be beauty incarnate. In a way, that complicated the situation. I ached to pull her close, to wrap my arms around her and slowly peel the clothes off her body. I wanted to see what hid underneath all the fabric.

Gently, I brushed my lips against her forehead. She stirred in her sleep but, instead of pulling away, she curled up against my chest.

One of her hands found my neck, and her sleepy fingers ran down to my chest where they finally lay still, right above my heart. Warm blood rushed through my veins, my heart beating faster and faster, and I had to take a deep breath in order to rein in my wildest urges.

It was almost impossible to think straight, but I forced myself to do it. We were still strangers, after all, and even though I was more than ready to have things progress, I knew I was way ahead of her. Ferne still needed time to accept things, and I had no other option but to wait for her.

When her eyelids started to flutter, I didn’t move. Her eyes opened and she just stared at me for a couple of seconds, a lazy smile on her lips. It took her a while before she registered the intimacy of our embrace but, suddenly, her eyes widened and a pale red took over her cheeks. Taking her hand off my chest, she wiggled away from me and sat up.

Clearing her throat, she patted the front of her pants and shot up to her feet.

“G’morning,” she whispered, careful not to meet my gaze.

Immediately, she busied herself with packing up our sorry excuse of a camp. I sat there on top of the sleeping bag, following her with my eyes, making a very conscious effort not to let my mind run wild. It was hard. Every single curve of hers seemed to be begging for my hands, her entire body calling to me like a beacon.

“Get a grip,” I muttered under my breath.

“Did you say something?”

“No.” Slightly embarrassed, I rose up and started helping her with the packing. Not that there was much to pack. In less than two minutes, we were ready to roll out. “We should head—”

“We shouldn’t head anywhere before we even know where we are,” she cut me short, and the determination in her voice made my heart jump. She was so much more than just a pretty face.

“What do you suggest?”

“We need to find a vantage point over the area,” she replied. “Preferably, a vantage point that isn’t alive or trying to kill us.”

Without waiting for my opinion on her plan, she turned on her heels and started heading out of the cave. I followed after her, narrowing my eyes as we got closer to the entrance. The morning sky was painted in pink and blue brushstrokes, and the temperature was cool and pleasant.

That wouldn’t last.

As soon as the sun started the climb toward its zenith, it wouldn’t take long for the desert to turn into a frying pan.

“Over there.” Rushing up to her, I placed one hand on her waist and used the other to point into the distance. Just half a mile away from the cave’s entrance, there was what looked like an old withered oasis. Tall rock formations surrounded what once had probably been a green blotch of life in the wasteland, and that was exactly what we needed.

“Well spotted,” she whispered, and I noticed her trembling under my touch. Immediately, I took my hand off her waist. I hadn’t even realized I had touched her. She was just so damn impossible to resist. “Let’s go.”

It took us almost half an hour to reach the spot I had pointed at. Just like I suspected, the place had once been an oasis. There was even a well at the center of it, with a rusty old bucket hanging from a frayed rope.

This told me the planet had not been uninhabited forever. Before we even thought of climbing up one of the rocky formations, the two of us dashed toward the bucket, eager to find water.

Of course, there was none to be found. Whatever water had once existed there had already dried out ages ago.

The place was dead.

“Well, we had to try,” I said, wiping the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand. Turning my attention to the tallest of the rock formations, I pursed my lips as I tried to figure out a way to climb it. Most of the surface was smooth, and there weren’t any fissures we could use.

That didn’t stop Ferne from trying.

“What are you doing?” I asked, standing at the base of the rock she was currently climbing. “There’s no way you’ll ever reach the top of that thing from here.”

As if to prove me wrong, she continued going higher up, her hands and feet working in complete synchrony. Somehow, she found barely visible dents on the rock and, with nothing but her fingertips, used them to pull her body up.

“What were you saying?” she laughed, carefully pulling herself to the top. Looking down at me, she gave me a smug grin, her eyes practically glowing. “Man, the view from here is wild. Are you coming up or what?”

“I’m coming,” I said, but I remained in the same spot, my feet glued to the sandy floor. I looked at the rock’s smooth surface but saw no way of climbing it. Tentatively, I tried to hold a groove in the rock, but I didn’t get more than half a meter off the ground before sliding back down. Up at the top, Ferne just laughed some more.

“Having some trouble?” she asked, both her hands around her mouth as she amplified her voice. Frowning, I returned her gaze. “Walk around the base. It’s easier from the left side. More grooves and dents there.”

With no other option left, I followed Ferne’s instructions and, just like she had told me, the left side of the rock had a more rugged surface that allowed me to climb up. It took me a while to haul my heavy ass up to where Ferne was standing and, once I got there, I had to let her help me up.

Embarrassing.

“C’mon, don’t feel bad,” she said, playfully slapping my arm. “Most pros I know would have a hard time making this climb, even from the side you came. You did good.”

“Not as good as you.” It was weird to be upstaged by someone as delicate as Ferne, but I actually didn’t mind. I liked the fact that she wasn’t a defenseless pup.

With her fiery personality, as well as the right skills, I had no doubt that she would’ve been able to survive this desert without my help.

“No one is as good as me,” she teased me and then ran one hand through my hair. “Now, take a look around. Which way to your ship?”

Shading my eyes with my right hand, I took a couple of seconds as I observed our surroundings. Deserts are always disorienting things, but this one had a few landmarks I could use to jog my memory.

“Right there,” I said, pointing at a scattering of rocks in the distance. They were enormous but, as far away as we were, they resembled nothing but pebbles that had sunk into a dune. “It’s going to be a long walk.”

“That’s not good,” she whispered, creasing her brow. “We’ll never make it without the right supplies. Before we even think of attempting to cross the desert, we have to find some water. If not—”

“We’re dead.”

“Right.”

FERNE

It was easier to get down from the rock than it was to climb up it.

At least for Kyre.

He was a talented climber, at least for someone as big as he was, but he struggled to keep up with me. That didn’t surprise me much.

Even though he seemed like a skilled soldier, someone who you could rely on to survive a hairy situation, climbing had always been my life. When it came to this, I had the upper hand.

Still, when my feet touched the ground, I wobbled in place like a bowling pin about to tip over.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Kyre closed in on me and held me by the arm. A shiver ran up my spine as I felt his fingers on my bare skin, his touch making me feel things, very sinful things.

I immediately remembered how amazing it was to sleep beside him, his massive arms draped around me in a protective manner, and my heart started beating just a little bit faster.

Dear God, what was happening to me?

“You okay?” he asked.

His deep voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. I didn’t want to feel attracted to him, but it was absolutely impossible to control that. Everything about him screamed ‘sex’, and one hard look at him was enough for me to start imagining how it’d feel to be held by him.

Would he be gentle? Would he be rough?

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I muttered awkwardly. Right then, my stomach decided to disagree with me. A grumbling sound made itself heard, and Kyre cocked one eyebrow up at me. “Seriously, I’m good.”

“No, you’re hungry,” he said, already taking his backpack off. Going down on one knee, he rummaged through its contents and came up with a small rectangular tin. Pushing it into my hands, he smiled. “Eat it. It doesn’t taste that good, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I can’t,” I protested, looking inside his backpack. “That’s the last one.”

“I know, and that’s why you must have it. You haven’t eaten anything in ages.”

“No.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I stood my ground. Right then, my stomach decided to protest once more.

Shit, I was really hungry. “At least let’s split it,” I tried, but Kyre was having none of it. Taking the tin out of my hands, he pulled the lid off and handed it to me.

“I’m good.” Before I could protest again, he turned his back to me and slung his backpack over one shoulder.

Sighing, I looked down at the tin and tore into it. There were chunks of dried meat inside and, while they didn’t taste very good, they quieted my stomach. Just a couple of bites and I immediately felt my energy levels rising. Now all I needed was some water to wash it all down and I’d be golden.

Of course, water was as rare as gold around these parts. No matter where I looked, there didn’t seem to be any signs of water anywhere. That was bad news. If we didn’t find any, we might as well just give up and let the sun torch us.

“Thank you,” I said, putting the empty tin away. Kyre just smiled warmly, and then he started walking in the direction he had indicated. I trailed after him, doing my best to keep up.

Each step he took was like two of mine, so it was a struggle not to lag behind. When he noticed how I was faring, he didn’t say a word, but he slowed down considerably.

“I know we should try to find some water,” he said after almost twenty minutes of walking, “but I figure we can do it while moving closer to our goal.” He looked back at me over his shoulder, almost as if he was waiting for my input.

It was curious.

He was much larger and stronger than I was, and he sure as hell didn’t need my opinion on how to run things. Still, it seemed like he wanted to include me in the decision-making process. I appreciated that.

“You’re right,” I said, smiling back at him. “Let’s just hope we find some soon.”

We didn’t.

We spent almost six hours walking, hiding under the shade of whatever rock formations lined the way, but there was nothing but sand and rock on our path. There were no plants and, aside from that weird mountain creature, there seemed to be no other creatures around this place.

My lips were already parched, and my tongue felt like sandpaper. Every time I swallowed my nonexistent saliva, it felt like I was trying to push a bucketful of nails down my throat. Our situation was getting shittier and shittier with each passing hour.

Even Kyre, who seemed almost invincible, was starting to show chinks in his armor. His lips were as parched as mine and, instead of walking at a slow pace just so I could keep up with him, he was almost dragging his feet. A couple more hours and we’d be down on our knees.

“You think we can eat that?” Kyre suddenly asked me, pointing toward a loose collection of rocks a couple of yards away from us. I didn’t see anything at first, but my heart skipped a beat as I saw green. There were actually plants there.

And not just any kind of plant.

These were freaking cactuses.

OK. Space cactuses.

But still…

Using a cocktail of hope and desperation as my fuel, I rushed toward the cactuses, immediately going down on my knees beside them.

“Do you have a knife?” I asked Kyre, and he grabbed one from his belt.

With the knife in my hands, I cut a large spongy leaf from one of the cactuses and lay it in front of me. I used the tip of the blade to make a few cuts on the green surface and, no more than a second later, a gooey liquid started pouring out from the wound I had inflicted.

“Is that safe to drink?”

“It should be, based on my experience,” I muttered, even though I wasn’t exactly sure. Still, I had to risk it.

Working as fast as I could, I removed the spines and then grabbed the leaf. I threw my head back and, opening my mouth, I tipped the whole thing over and waited as the liquid dripped onto my tongue. “It tastes sweet, but fresh, too. Like sugary water, except it’s thicker.”

“I don’t know if you should be drinking that.”

“We don’t really have a choice,” I said, “do we?” Then I grabbed more leaves, repeating the procedure as fast as I could.

Kneeling by my side, Kyre grabbed another knife and started doing the same. Ten minutes later and our thirst had been sated, a dozen cactus leaves littering the sand around us.

“Now that felt good,” I laughed, jumping up to my feet. The moment I was standing, it felt like I was balancing on a boat’s deck, my whole body swaying. Noticing my unsteadiness, Kyre rose to try and help me, but he seemed to be struggling just as much as I was.

“What the…?” he whispered, and then he burst out laughing as he fell back and landed on his ass. “What exactly have we been drinking?”

I laughed alongside him as I realized what had happened.

“We’ve been drinking cactus wine,” I told him, the world spinning around me. “Most cactuses just hold water, but there are some planets where they actually absorb the water and go through a fermentation process. It’s rare, but I guess we hit the motherload.”

“Damn right.” Holding one more leaf up, he squeezed its contents into his mouth and smiled. “I can’t believe we found something like this in the middle of nowhere.” I remained sitting there on the ground, quietly watching as he kept on drinking the wine.

“My God, why do you have to look so damn delicious?” I asked him, taking in the way his hands squeezed every drop of wine from the leaf.

His biceps bulged under his shirt, and even his shoulders tensed up from the effort. He looked like a statue someone had chiseled out of a marble block.

“What did you just say?”

Slowly pushing myself up to my feet again, I placed one hand on his chest for support, feeling the contour of his hard pecs under my palm. “I said, why do you have to look so damn delicious?” I repeated, and only then did I realize what my words were. Embarrassed, I felt warm blood rushing to my cheeks, mentally smacking myself for my stupidity.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, looking down at my feet. “I shouldn’t have—”

Before I was done with my sentence, Kyre placed both hands on my waist and pulled me into him.

Surprised, I just looked up into his eyes, my heart beating at a thousand miles an hour.

Then . . . .

He kissed me.

KYRE

Maybe I shouldn’t have done it, but I just couldn’t help myself.

The moment I felt her hand on my chest, my eyes were immediately drawn to her perfect red lips. I didn’t even hear what she was saying, her words were like background noise. I just knew that I couldn’t resist her a second longer.

I laid one hand on her waist, the other on her face, and then I just leaned in and went for it. My lips brushed against hers, soft and gentle, and it didn’t take long before she closed her eyes and kissed me back. Prying my lips open with the tip of her tongue, she slid into my mouth while pressing her body against mine.

My hand went from her waist to her backside, the perfect curve of her ass enough to make me as hard as I’d ever been, and our kiss grew more frenzied.

Despite how ill-tempered she was, she seemed to want this just as much as I did. I could feel it under her skin, electric desire making her body come alive.

“You’re not a bad kisser,” she whispered against my lips, the sweet taste of the cactus wine still coating her tongue. Slowly, she dropped her hand from my chest and allowed her fingers to roam down to my waist. Threading my fingers into her hair, I forced her to look back into my eyes.

“Same goes for you,” I said, doing my best to form a coherent sentence. I wanted her so much that it was hard, if not impossible, to think straight. Against all odds, she was the sole focus of my attention. For a moment, I didn’t even think of my mission. All I knew was that I wanted to lose myself in her lips, to have her bare skin under the palms of my hands, and to ravage her delicate body like no one had ever done before.

It was pure madness.

Before I could stop myself, I pushed her down onto the ground and followed her. She didn’t hesitate before she climbed on top of me, straddling me as she crushed her mouth against mine. Each and every one of her movements was being fueled with a kind of desperate lust, her desire a match for my own.

“I want you,” I growled, allowing the wine in my veins to do all the talking. It felt good to have no filters in place, and to just say whatever I wanted to without having to worry about it. “You have no idea how hard you make me.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” she whispered, a wicked grin dancing on her lips as she reached for my length.

Flattening the palm of her hand between my legs, she then wrapped her fingers around my erection, her grip so tight I couldn’t help but groan.

There was absolutely no doubt about it—this woman was my mate.

“No, we can’t do this,” I found myself saying, the words leaving my mouth faster than I could stop them.

Gently pushing her to the side, I sat up and raked one hand over my face. What in the galaxy was I doing? “I’m sorry, we just can’t.”

“Why not?” she asked, her speech slightly slurred. “I mean, I touched you and. . . you were . . . you know . . . .”

“I know.” Taking a deep breath, I averted my gaze. “I just don’t want it to happen like this.”

“What do you mean like this?”

“I don’t want our first time to be under the influence of some magic cactus juice, Ferne. And, preferably, I’d like it not to happen during a life-threatening situation. You’re my mate, and I don’t want to rush things.”

For a moment, she said nothing. She merely stared at me, unblinking, and I could almost see the gears turning inside her head.

Finally, she cleared her throat and looked away from me, her cheeks turning red.

“You’re right. What the hell were we thinking? We need to keep walking.” Heading toward me, she grabbed a canteen from my pack and started filling it up with cactus wine. “We’ll have to be careful when drinking this. I don’t want to get so drunk I’ll just pass out on some dune.”

It was easier said than done.

The scorching heat made dehydration a serious issue and, with no other option at hand, we were forced to keep on drinking the wine.

We drank it as sparingly as we could, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out our walk back to the Calliope would happen under the influence. Besides, the fact that we had no food left only made it all worse.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity, time becoming nothing but a meaningless concept, we were hungry, exhausted, and completely shitfaced. Ferne had to lean on me during the last leg of our trip, and she was dragging her feet so heavily I started growing concerned.

Thankfully, we managed to survive.

“Look there.” Poking her with my elbow, I made her stagger to the side. Moving fast, I held her arm and straightened her up. “Do you see it?”

“I think so, yeah,” she mumbled, using her right hand to shade her eyes. “Is that where you live?”

“What?” I laughed. “I guess you could say that. That’s the Calliope, the ship that got me here.” Straightening my back, I looked out into the distance and sighed with relief, the bulky shape of the ship a true sight for sore eyes. “C’mon, let’s go.” I started by leading the way, but I ended up having to stop. Ferne was completely exhausted. There was no way she'd be able to keep on walking, which left me with only one option.

Without saying a word, I walked up to her and picked her up. She didn’t protest.

Throwing her arms over my shoulders, she climbed onto my back and allowed me to carry her the rest of the way. I took a long gulp of whatever we had left of the wine, and then kept my pace up until the Calliope occupied my entire field of view.

“Kyre?” Standing by the ramp, a rifle in his hands, Rekker cocked one eyebrow up as he saw me. He lowered his weapon, and then his eyes slowly moved over Ferne. “Remind me, weren’t you supposed to be gathering material for our transmitter? I don’t remember anything about picking up a human female.”

“Who’s that brute?” Ferne spoke up, slurring her speech in such a way that there was no hiding it—she was completely drunk. “He looks mean. I don’t like mean people, Kyre. Make him go away.”

“Is she drunk?” Rekker asked me, the creases in his brow deepening.

“No, sir,” I said, attempting a salute that almost made me drop Ferne. “I mean, yes, sir.”

“Are you drunk?”

“It’s a long story, sir.” I sighed.

Carefully, I let Ferne climb down from my back, and that was when Lila appeared at the top of the ramp.

The moment she saw Ferne, her eyes widened with shock. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting me to return carrying a woman. To be fair, no one could have predicted something like this would happen.

I mean, what were the odds?

“Well, I sure would like to hear that story,” Rekker laughed, exchanging a curious glance with Lila. “Care to introduce us to your friend, Kyre?”

“This is Ferne,” I said, grimacing as she leaned on me for support. Not a great look, but it couldn't be helped. We had been surviving on nothing but alcoholic cactus juice, after all. “She’s my mate.”

“Your mate?” Lila repeated, and I could tell she was making a conscious effort not to let her jaw drop. “And how the hell did that happen?”

“I brought a teleportation pad so I could send my findings back to the Calliope and, once I had it set up, she came through it.” It was a weird story, no doubt, but it was the only one that I had. “I’m sorry, sir, but I think I might need some time before I can walk you through it all. My head is spinning.”

“I can see that,” he laughed. “Lila, care to take our guest upstairs? Get her some food and whatever she needs to clean up.”

With an excited look on her face, Lila quickly closed in on Ferne. Holding her by the arm, she led her up the ramp and the two women quickly disappeared out of sight.

“Now, let’s be serious, Kyre.”

“Sure.”

“What have you been drinking?” he asked, a sly grin on his face. The moment I handed him the canteen, he sniffed at it and then burst out laughing. “How in the galaxy did you manage to find alcohol in this barren wasteland?”

“It’s in the cactuses,” I replied. “If you cut them open, they pour that stuff out. We were forced to drink that just so we could survive, since we found no water on our way here.”

Slapping my arm in an amicable manner, Rekker waved me toward the ramp.

“Come on, let’s get you something to eat,” he said. “I want to hear your full story. Besides, I bet the guys will love to hear about those magical cactuses of yours. I think it’s time all of us had a drink.”

FERNE

I didn’t say anything as I followed after the strange woman.

She kept on talking as she led me into the ship and through a maze of corridors, but I couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying.

Her words just went through one ear and bounced around my skull until they stopped making sense.

There was simply too much alcohol in my bloodstream for me to function like a normal human being. I only regained a semblance of consciousness when she splashed cold water into my face.

“Sorry about that,” she said kindly. “You seemed like you needed it.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, realizing that we were in some kind of cabin. There was a small desk against the wall, a holographic terminal mounted on top of it, and a bed occupied most of the room.

In the woman’s hand was a glass of water, and I didn’t hesitate to grab it. After having nothing but cactus wine, cold water felt like the most amazing thing in the entire universe.

“God, I needed that. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Taking my hand, she led me to the bed and made me sit on it. “My name’s Lila.”

“I’m Ferne,” I replied, even though I wasn’t sure if that applied anymore. After all, I had been ripped from my life. As grim as it sounded, the old Ferne was dead. “Or I used to be, anyway. After all that has happened, I’m not sure if I know who I am anymore.”

“What happened?”

“The damn lottery,” I explained. “I tried to escape it, you know? But there’s no escaping those assholes. I was in an accident, ended up in the hospital, and then . . . .”

“They found you, and then there was a match.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Well, you’re not alone.” Smiling, she reached for me and laid her hand on top of mine. “I know exactly what you’re going through, Ferne,” she continued, and somehow, I knew that she wasn’t saying that just to make me feel comfortable. She was telling the truth.

“Is that how you ended up here? Through the lottery?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “I knew the odds I’d be picked were pretty slim, but once they ran the test . . . well, let’s just say it didn’t take long before I found myself aboard a ship filled with aliens. Not an easy thing to process, huh?”

“Definitely,” I admitted. “In fact, I’m not sure if I believe all that’s happened. It’s just crazy, you know? Why are we being treated like cattle? We had our own lives before all this.” Taking a deep breath, I paused to reorder my thoughts. I was lucky to have found Lila. To try and escape by myself would be tough, but if I had someone I could trust by my side . . . .

“What are you thinking about?” Lila asked, her tone patient and sweet. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“We should try and escape,” I told her, lowering my voice by instinct. Looking straight into her eyes, I tried to read her expression.

Whatever she was feeling, though, I couldn’t pick up from her facial expression—she just looked back at me with her quizzical smile, her hand never leaving mine. “C’mon, we could do it together,” I insisted. “God knows what these brutes have planned for us, Lila.”

“They’re not that bad once you get to know them.” Her smile didn’t falter as she said it, and so I knew she was still telling the truth. For some reason I couldn’t quite see, Lila had grown to like these Vaznik warriors or whatever they called themselves. “And Kyre . . . he’s actually nice, you know? Perhaps a little rough around the edges, sure, but they all are.”

“I don’t understand. We should be planning an escape, not playing house with them. Are you afraid of them or something? Because they might be big, but I’m pretty sure that we can—”

“It’s nothing like that, Ferne. See, I don’t want to escape because I’m happy here.”

“Alright, now you really need to walk me through that. You’ve been shipped off to one of these guys and you’re happy?”

That couldn’t be right.

I couldn’t let that be right.

“I know it sounds odd, but that’s the truth. When I first met Rekker, I just wanted to go back home. In the end, though, he won me over.”

“Just because some alien is your genetic mate doesn’t mean that you have to accept all this,” I tried to say, but I was already starting to realize there was no getting through to Lila. She had been brainwashed.

“You’re right,” she said. “Thing is, Rekker is so much more than my genetic mate. He’s my partner in life and if you want to call it that, my soulmate. I love him and I’d never give up on him. Sure, I never expected to be living aboard a Mahdfel military ship . . . but what I have with Rekker makes it all worth it. I’m not asking you to accept all this without questioning it, but if you could give Kyre a chance, I’m pretty sure you wouldn't regret it.”

“This is insane,” I muttered under my breath, struggling to make sense of everything that Lila was telling me. Was she really expecting me to accept all this? Sure, Kyre might not be a bad guy, but that certainly didn’t mean I wanted to start a new life aboard a military spaceship. “I need some time.”

Without waiting for Lila to say anything, I rose to my feet and ambled toward the door. I walked out of the bedroom and, after making my way down the corridor, stepped inside a random unoccupied cabin.

I didn’t even bother with locking the door. I beelined toward the bed and sat on it, desperate for a moment of silence and too exhausted to make sense of all that was happening to me.

In a way, Lila’s presence made it all worse. For a moment she’d had me believing I’d get some sorely needed support, if not someone I could team-up with, but Lila had bought into everything. Instead of fighting for her freedom, she actually wanted to stay aboard the Calliope.

It was pure insanity.

What about the fact that Kyre’s your mate? My inner voice spoke up in an insidious way, those words wrapping themselves around every thought. I closed my eyes, trying to shut that voice out, but it just continued. You saw the way his tattoo glowed, and you also know the way you felt when you first saw him. No matter how much you want to deny it, Kyre is your mate.

“Damn it,” I hissed past gritted teeth.

Throwing myself on top of the mattress, I rolled to the side and curled up, my knees tucked against my chest. I didn’t know whose cabin I was in, but it didn’t really matter. My muscles were aching from the long walk, and I was feeling more exhausted than I had ever felt in my entire life. Before I could deal with the reality of my situation, first I would have to grab a couple hours of sleep.

That didn’t stop the tears from coming.

Overwhelmed, a true storm of emotion raging inside me, I let the tears stream down my face as a loud sob shook my entire body. The lottery, Kyre, the fact that we were mates . . . it was just too much for me.

A couple of days ago, I was living life the way I wanted to, and now I was no more than a prisoner at the hands of these alien warriors. Even if they were respectful, there was nothing here to feel happy about.

And yet, every time I remembered that kiss . . . .

Oh, what a mess.

KYRE

The same atmospheric interference that was keeping our comms from reaching Central Command had rendered our personal comms useless.

Once I stripped out all of the personal details, it didn’t take long to report in.

“Lypanthium crystals have been acquired, sir.” I rubbed my aching head and sipped more on the water, plain, wonderful water that Derrix had handed me with an amused smirk.

“Once we’re up and running, we’ll need to recalibrate the sensors and boundary alarms for silicone-based life forms. Ferne and I ran into one while we were out there.”

“Really,” Javik almost purred with scientific glee. “Tell me more.”

“After Ferne appeared on the telepad, we climbed what we thought was a rocky outcropping for a better vantage point,’ I shrugged, glossing over some of the details. “Then it moved, too fast for us to safely descend immediately.”

“I see,” nodded Rekker. With a mate of his own, I was sure he could tell I was skipping a few details.

But there was some information the team didn’t need to know. For the first time, I needed to weigh my personal life against the life of the crew.

For Ferne’s sake, I didn’t divulge any details about our drunken makeout session. She was my mate and I wanted to keep those particulars just between us, especially since it hadn’t happened again and I had no idea if it ever would.

I wanted it to, badly—even as the effects of the cactus wine began to dissipate, I couldn’t stop thinking of the feel of her strong, toned body pressed against mine.

“We did see signs of a previous civilization here,” I added. “But they appear to be long gone, either took to the stars or wiped themselves out.”

“Interesting,” Rekker tapped his fingers, looking out into the desert. “But probably not an immediate concern.”

“Probably not,” I agreed.

Rekker released me to my quarters once he was satisfied with my mission report. A few hours had passed since I’d seen Ferne, so I figured I should check in with her to make sure she was okay and settling in.

Lila had volunteered to take care of her in my absence and show her around the ship, so the first place I went to was the cabin she and Rekker shared.

Lila answered my knock on the door quickly, looking slightly flushed.

“Hey, Kyre, how are you? Feeling a little better? Has the cactus worn off yet?” she asked, a slight, amused smile pulling at her lips.

“Ha,” I said, mocking annoyance. “Yes, I’m feeling much better now. Is Ferne here?”

“Not anymore,” Lila answered.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. “Where else would she be?”

“She left not long after you dropped her off. We were discussing how we both came to be here—I told her about how I was selected in the lottery and how Rekker and I are true mates and everything—but I don’t think she believed me.” She sighed. “She thought I’d want to escape with her, but I told her I didn’t want to leave Rekker. She didn’t say much after that—she left almost immediately and didn’t return.”

“Did you try to stop her? Where did she go?”

“I didn’t. She said she wanted time alone to think. I’m not sure where she went, but I’m sure she can’t be far. There’s nowhere else to go,” Lila said.

“I’ve got to find her. If Rekker asks where I’ve gone, tell him I’m looking for Ferne. I’ll report as soon as I’ve found her.”

“Sure, Kyre. Good luck—as I said, I’m sure she’s close by.”

I quickly turned on my heel, trying to hide my aggravation that Lila let Ferne leave and didn’t try to stop her.

What if she had left the ship?

What if she was out there all alone on Gravum IV? I knew she was smart and capable, but she didn’t know this planet—none of us did. She could get hurt or killed and then where would I be? The thought of losing her shook me to my core.

I searched the corridors close by Rekker and Lila’s cabin first, thinking maybe she’d just taken refuge in a room close to Lila in case she wanted to speak to her again, but I came up short.

She wasn’t in any of the common areas, the mess, or the main lavatory. I wandered down to the engine room, thinking she might have been looking for me, but she wasn’t there either. With every empty room, my stomach burned with increasing apprehension.

My own quarters were just down the hall from the engine room and even though I didn’t want to waste more any time, I decided to make a quick stop to change my clothes. I’d spent two days sweating through the desert and probably didn’t smell the greatest.

A moment to myself to clean up would certainly help clear my head and maybe calm my nervousness. I’d never find Ferne with my mind in such scattered disarray.

I opened the door using the scanner attached outside, placing my hand onto the screen. The door slid free with a hiss, the lock releasing once the device registered my bioprint. I stepped inside and was shocked to see Ferne sitting on my bed, looking more ragged than she had when we arrived.

I approached her on swift, but cautious, feet.

“How long have you been here? How did you even get in?” I asked, kneeling in front of her.

“I just put my hand on the scanner and the door opened—it was the only one that did out of all of the ones I tried. I spoke to Lila and she seems nice, but I needed some time alone. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Is this—is this your room?”

“It is. I don’t know exactly how you got in here, but it probably has something to do with the fact that you’re my mate.” The band around my chest loosened slightly. She was safe, she was here. All would be well. “The locking mechanism opens only when it recognizes biological markers unique to me. Since you’re my mate, it must recognize me in you, somehow. Fascinating.”

And hell. That was evidently the wrong thing to say to her.

Her eyes were tinged red from crying and she was trying not to do so in front of me, but my words seemed to tip her over the edge again.

“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean—please don’t cry,” I said, completely unsure of what to say to her.

“This is all just so overwhelming. I’m sorry I’m such a mess—I usually have much more emotional fortitude than this. I think everything that’s happened over the last few days is just starting to get to me,” she said, dropping her face into her hands.

I pulled myself off the floor and sat down next to her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her slight shoulders. They trembled as she cried, great sobs wrenching their way out of her body. I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to hold her, but she didn’t stop me, so I turned her and pulled her against my chest.

“It’s okay, Ferne. Anyone who went through what you did would feel the same. You take all the time you need,” I whispered in her ear, running my hands soothingly through her hair.

She continued to cry in my arms but not for long, her sobs diminishing nearly as quickly as they’d come. My shirt was soaked through when she pulled away, something that didn’t escape her notice. She looked up at me through dark, wet lashes, an apology on her lips.

“It’s fine,” I told her, staring down into her gorgeous blue eyes.

Her tears made them look like the ocean during a storm. They were dark and dangerous and I knew I’d drown in them if I didn’t look away soon, but they called to me like a tempest.

She pressed her lips to mine before I could even draw a breath. The memory of our cactus-drunk kisses surged through me at the feel of her mouth against mine, reminding me how badly I’d wanted more of her.

Without having to think about it, I lifted my hands and twisted them into her hair, holding her to me as I pressed my tongue into her mouth.

She wasted no time and pulled herself onto my lap, twining her legs around my waist. I released my hands from her hair and moved them down her shoulders and onto her torso, leisurely exploring her body.

I was curious to see how far she’d let me go and expected her to stop me when my fingers brushed the hard peaks of her nipples, but she only moaned her pleasure into my mouth.

Although I wanted every piece of her she was willing to give, I had to make sure she wanted it. I forced myself back from her, holding her at arm’s length so I could look at her. Her eyes were heavy-lidded and glazed with desire as she stared back at me.

“I want you, Ferne, but before I go any further I need to know you want me, too. I want you to know this isn’t me taking advantage. Say the word and I’ll stop.”

It’d be the hardest thing I’d ever do in my life, but if she didn’t want me, I’d walk away. I’d figure out a way to get her back to Earth and be done with it, even if it was the last thing I wanted.

“I don’t know anything right now,” she admitted. “My head is spinning and I don’t know what to do.” Her tiny pink tongue flicked out and, impossibly, my cock hardened even more. “But I want this. Right now, I want this.” She pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. “I want you.”

I didn’t need any further encouragement.

Quickly, I divested us both of our clothes. I pulled her shirt over her head, wanting to rip it from her body but refrained since it was the only one she had. I threw it to the floor and pressed my lips against the tanned skin of her shoulders, dusted with freckles that matched the dark brown of her hair.

As I trailed my mouth down her chest, a deep growl rumbled out of her throat, spurring me on.

I laid her back on the bed, continuing my exploration of her skin. I ran my tongue over her nipples, pulling them between my teeth and biting down just enough to cause a sharp cry to escape her. She dug her fingernails into the skin of my back and wrapped herself around me even tighter.

One hand loosened and drifted up to stroke along the length of my horns, caressing the base.

“If you don’t stop that,” I growled, “I’m going to break the bed.”

“Another time,” she giggled, and moved her hand away.

I wanted her so badly, but I also wanted to take my time.

I kissed my way down her stomach, removing her pants as I went.

When I reached the apex of her thighs, I busied myself between them, my tongue delving out to taste her sweetness. Intoxicated by the scent of her, I licked her to a near frenzy, bringing her just to the brink of release before pulling away and returning my lips to hers.

“Why did you stop?” she panted against my mouth, her brows knitted together in frustration.

“Because I want to look into your eyes the first time I make you come,” I whispered against her lips as the head of my cock nudged against her slick pussy lips, slowly pressing deeper into her velvet warmth.

She pressed her lips back to mine and held my gaze as I began to move, and no force in the universe could have separated us.

FERNE

I didn’t know what I was doing anymore.

That was a lie.

I wasn’t an innocent or an idiot.

But my head and my heart had been at war ever since I’d met Kyre, and now that balance had been overthrown.

My body ached for him.

I so desperately wanted to believe the pretty fairy tale that this would all work out somehow.

Even though I knew it couldn’t. It just couldn’t.

Right now, all I wanted to do was feel. Take a break from the doubts and fears.

Just for a bit.

“It’s so good,” I moaned, lacing my legs around his waist and pulling him against me. I did it right when he thrusted, burying his entire length deep inside me.

I felt his thickness strain against my inner walls, his flesh unleashing hell upon my body, and every inch of me trembled.

Oh, this was so much more than good.

Still, I had to admit—when I’d first seen his erection spring free, his size unlike anything I had ever seen, I hadn’t been too sure about the mechanics of it all.

To put it simply, I had no idea if he was going to fit. But fit he did, and that in the most glorious of ways.

“This feels amazing,” I whispered into his ear, my lips brushing against his skin. His rhythm was slow and gentle, but I could tell he was just giving me enough time to settle in. The real thing . . . well, that would come later.

“There’s more to come,” he promised, slowly rocking his hips against mine.

Each time he thrust, a deep moan tumbled from between my lips and, even though I was making a conscious effort not to be a screamer, it was almost impossible to remain silent.

There was so much pleasure running through me that I needed some way to let it all out.

“Then why don’t you show me what you’ve got?”

Before he had the time to reply, I draped one arm around his neck and pulled him into me, my mouth crashing against his. Prying his lips open with the tip of my tongue, I surrendered myself into his embrace, our kiss frenzied.

It didn’t take long before his rhythm settled into a wicked crescendo, the heat radiating from his body like that of a bonfire. I felt his hard cock throb inside me, his body ravaging mine, and my eyes rolled in their orbits as my insides started to clench.

How could anything feel this good?

I’d never been what some might call a saint—or a prude, for that matter—but I’d never met anyone quite like Kyre.

The way he was making me feel right now, it went beyond the physical. There was a spiritual element to it, one that transcended all flesh and made me want to scream out loud that I was his.

“Come for me,” he said, and this time his words didn’t come out as a whisper. Instead, they were a deep growl, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up on end.

Arching my back, I gritted my teeth and obeyed, my body more than willing to explode in ecstasy.

My arms dropped to my side as I came, and I bunched the sheets up in my hands. Holding my breath, I let a tidal wave of pleasure wash all over me, my body consumed by it all. I moaned until I couldn’t do it anymore, my throat sore from the effort, and only then did Kyre slow down.

His rhythm shed its frenziedness, and he started thrusting smoothly, his large hands cupping both my breasts.

“You’re perfect, Ferne,” he said, his words soothing me. And, God, after the ride he took me on, I sure needed some soothing.

And yet, I wasn’t quite done.

“Don’t think we’re done here,” I told him, dragging my teeth over my bottom lip as I said it. Escaping from underneath him, I placed both my hands on his chest and forced him to lie down on the mattress.

He didn’t offer any resistance. Lying on his back, he ran his hands up the sides of my body as I climbed on top of him.

“Taking charge?”

“Maybe,” I replied, a wicked grin dancing on my lips.

Placing one hand between his legs, I grabbed his hardness by the root and started stroking it, taking my time as I allowed my fingers to run up and down his entire length. Somehow, in my hands, he felt even bigger than he already was.

“You drive me crazy.” Looking straight into my eyes, he threaded his fingers into my hair.

Almost immediately, I stopped stroking him and angled his cock down, pushing its tip against my drenched inner lips. I felt him moving his hips up, eager to bury himself up to the hilt once more, but I didn’t let him.

Instead, I kept teasing him, moving the tip of his cock up and down my wetness.

“And that’s exactly how I want you,” I breathed out, finally allowing one inch of him inside me. The moment my inner lips wrapped themselves around his tip, I knew it was only a matter of time before I gave in. “I want you to be completely crazy for me.”

With that, I eased myself down, the full length of his cock sliding deep inside me. Throwing my head back, this time I didn’t moan—I screamed. As much as I was trying to be quiet, it was useless. There was no way I could stop myself from being that loud and, besides, I was pretty sure that the others aboard the Calliope already knew what we were up to.

If they didn’t, then they were deaf.

Riding him as hard as I could, it didn’t take long before I felt him nearing climax. His cock throbbed almost too violently inside me, and he placed both his hands on my ass in a kind of desperate motion, his fingers digging into my flesh. His face was a mask of absolute pleasure, and it was amazing to know I was the one causing it.

We came at the same time, our bodies burning from the inside out as the flames of ecstasy turned our souls into ash. My inner walls tightened around his hardness, my nerve endings came alive, and every single muscle I had tensed up like a nocked arrow. Trembling hard, I collapsed on top of Kyre as he filled me with his warm seed, each throb of his cock unleashing more of his warmth inside me.

“Oh, God,” was all I managed to say as I rolled to the side, sprawling my limbs on the bed. Staring up at the ceiling, one arm over my chest, I took a long, deep breath. Gently, Kyre turned to me and rested his head on the palm of his hand.

“I’ve just become obsessed with you,” he said with a smile, softly running one hand through my hair. “You’re an incredible woman, Ferne.”

“I’m not the one who’s incredible here, that’s for sure,” I chuckled, my heart tightening as I thought of Kyre’s prowess.

Sweet mercy, no human man would be able to compete with him, even if we were talking about a perfect specimen. Kyre was just on a whole new level. The funny thing was, sex with him was more than just exciting. Somehow, in his arms I felt safe . . . and I liked it.

All my life I had chased danger willingly. It didn’t matter in what shape it came—from cliff diving to freediving, I was happy just as long as I was putting my life on the line.

Almost as if I had been running away from safety and stability. I didn’t exactly know why that was, but I was starting to realize that to feel safe in a man’s arms wasn’t that bad . . . especially if that man was Kyre.

After all, he was supposed to be my mate.

“You’re not that bad, are you?” I asked him. Kissing his cheek, I closed my eyes and allowed the warmth of his skin to linger on my lips. Just then, my stomach spoke up before Kyre could reply.

“Are you hungry?” He laughed, and I found myself nodding. After exercising this strenuously, I was starving.

Jumping to his feet, Kyre collected my clothes from the foot of the bed and pushed them into my arms. Looking back at me as he got into his pants, he grinned. “The boys out there have something on the grill. Let’s go.”

And, just like that, off we went.

Arm-in-arm like lovers.

The doubts in my mind shrieked at me, but I shoved them back in their box.

This was good. This was right.

For now, at least.

KYRE

I hesitated before we climbed down the ramp. From where we were standing, I could hear the guys laughing, the scent of grilled meat wafting up to us.

The atmosphere was casual, and everyone seemed happy to have a night off, but I still felt it best to give Ferne a word before heading out.

Turning to her, I placed one hand on her shoulder.

“They might be a rowdy bunch, but they’re not that bad,” I told her, and she offered me a quick smile.

I didn’t know what to make of her change in attitude, but I didn’t mind it. Sure, the moment we had just shared probably had something to do with the happy expression on her face, but I couldn’t be too sure of what was going on inside her head. In the end, it didn’t matter: it was much better to see her smile than cry.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she said, but her words had the opposite effect on me.

In that moment, I knew I’d always worry and care for her. She was my mate, and I would give my life for hers if it ever came to that. Now all that was left was having her accept it.

Before I had time to say anything, Ferne took a deep breath and turned on her heels.

Without waiting for me, she stepped down the ramp at a hurried pace, and I followed. The guys had a fire going a couple of yards away from the ship’s rear entrance and there was a massive grill there, as well. On top of it were small skinned animals that I didn’t recognize, but the scent of their meat was mouthwatering.

Javik stood by the grill with his usual nonchalance, casually turning the meat every ten seconds or so. At his side was Cedroc, a canteen in his hands, and the two seemed to be arguing about the merits of having a bulky med bay weighing down a battlecruiser. Just like always, these two always found something to argue about.

A couple of feet away from them were the rest of the guys, most of them sitting on stumps. Some had dragged out the few chairs inside the Calliope that weren’t bolted down, and they had been set in a circle around a deep pan.

The smell of Andorain rice hit me right away, and that told me Derrix had volunteered to prepare one of his best dishes. Despite having weaponry as his primary obsession, he was a pretty decent cook.

“Come on down,” Rekker said the moment he spotted me.

Waving us over, he didn’t waste a minute before he started introducing Ferne to the guys. More than anyone else here, he knew how disorienting it could be to have a woman thrust upon you, and I was glad he was at hand to help.

Standing back, I watched as Ferne made the rounds, and it didn’t take more than a couple of seconds before she started making the guys laugh.

Breathing out with relief, only then did I realize that my shoulders had been tense. I wanted Ferne to get along with the guys, and I couldn’t be any happier that that was happening.

Even though I still wasn’t entirely sure how to act around her, I knew it was important for her to enjoy the Calliope and its crew.

If she didn’t, that would just make her want to turn tail and head back home even more than she already did.

“What’s up with the crew?” I asked Rekker, noticing how most of the guys were being even louder than usual.

“What do you think? The moment they heard of your cactus juice, two of them went looking for a few cactuses they could stab. Suffice to say, they found enough to get this party started.” Placing both hands on his hips, he sighed. “I know we’re in the middle of a mission, but I figured everyone could use a break. We should all be home by now, not here in this barren wasteland.”

“Vaznik warriors don’t have it easy.”

“Never, Kyre,” he smiled. Placing one hand on my shoulder, he gave me a nod. “Still, we’ve been lucky enough to find some small game around here. We have wine, meat on the grill, and we’re not being bombarded by anyone. All in all, I’d say this is a fine night for us.”

“Agreed.”

“And judging by the look on your face, I’d say your night is going even better than ours,” he continued with a knowing look. More likely than not, he had heard Ferne’s moans while we were at it. Well, that was embarrassing. “How are things going?”

“Things are . . . complicated,” I admitted. “She doesn’t seem too happy about the fact that she ended up here.”

“Can you blame her?” he chuckled, waving at our surroundings with one hand. “Not exactly a luxury resort on the Idral colony.”

Clamping his mouth shut, he looked over my shoulder, and I turned around to find Lila and Ferne heading straight toward us.

Despite how first contact had gone for the two of them, they seemed to be on friendly terms. Of course, the cups of cactus wine in their hands could have had something to do with that.

“Lila and I are going to head out,” Ferne said. “Everyone’s running low on wine, and I saw a few cactuses on our way here.”

“Don’t wander too far.” My initial instincts were to tell her to stay put, just so I could keep her under my watchful gaze, but it didn’t feel right to strip her of her freedom. Besides, the place we were in didn’t seem to harbor any threats. We’d installed a sensor barrier around the camp, and no doubt Javik had already adjusted it for silicone life forms, as well as carbon-based. So far everything in our vicinity had been small and slow moving.

But I couldn’t help adding, “And be careful.”

“Yes, sir,” she chuckled, and gave me a mock salute. Lila laughed at that, and a couple of seconds later the two of them were walking away, talking in hushed tones.

Even though I couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying, something told me Lila already knew about what had happened in my cabin.

“May I ask you one question, Captain?” I asked Rekker, my eyes still following the women as they walked away from the camp. “What it’s like to know you’ve found your mate?”

“It’s the best feeling in the damn galaxy, Kyre,” he said, and I noticed the way his eyes seemed to glow as he followed Lila with his gaze.

On his face was the look of a man that had found the most important treasure anyone could ever find. I wondered if I had that same look each time I looked at Ferne. “She’s really your mate, isn’t she?”

“My tattoo turned white the moment I saw her.”

“Forget about the tattoo. Do you think she’s your mate?”

“I don’t need to think that she’s my mate,” I said. “I know it.”

“Well, there you go. Then you know how it feels to find your mate.”

“I just don’t know what to do, Cap’.” Sighing, I looked down at my feet as I tried to decide what my next words would be. “She’s my mate, and I want her to be happy.”

“But?”

“But Ferne isn’t sure about any of this,” I admitted, and those words scratched my throat as I said them. It pained me to admit that, even though we were meant to be together, she might not be happy with me.

“Give it a couple of days, Kyre. Don’t overthink it. Right now, the best thing you can do is give her all the support that she needs.” He paused slightly, pursed his lips, and only then did he continue. “I know it might be tempting to let her go if that’s what she truly wants to do, but I wouldn’t even consider that as an option. The laws are strict when it comes to genetic matching, and she’ll be in for a world of trouble if it looks like she’s breaking her contract.”

“I don’t want her to stay just because of a contract.”

“Of course not. If Ferne ends up staying, I can assure you it won’t be because of a contract. Lila and I . . . we went through the same, Kyre. Just have some patience, and be there for her. Time will take care of things.”

“Are you guys talking about us?” I heard a female’s voice from behind us, and Rekker and I spun around to see Lila and Ferne come out from the shadows, both of them carefully carrying an armload of cactus leaves. “Gentlemen shouldn’t talk about the ladies in their absence.”

“We’re not gentlemen, are we?” Rekker laughed, and I noticed him giving Lila a playful wink. He helped her with the leaves and, following his lead, I did the same with Ferne.

My fingers brushed against her arm as I grabbed some of her leaves, and that warm electric feeling spread all over my body once more.

It was lust but, at the same time, it was so much more than that.

“Care to join the rest of the group?” Ferne asked, her smooth voice reminding me of the way she had whispered into my ear just a couple of hours ago.

I tried to rein in all those thoughts, but I was having a hard time keeping a leash on my mind.

Without waiting for my reply, Ferne took my hand in hers and dragged me toward the fire. No one paid us any heed and, by the time we were both sitting down, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

To be side by side with her, drinking and laughing, enjoying ourselves . . . it was all I could ever want.

Now it was only a matter of making it last.

FERNE

When I woke up it was not from the sunlight brushing across my eyelids but instead the luminous gaze of Kyre’s eyes, soft despite their darkness.

I smiled so broadly at him that my cheeks struggled to contain it. He reached out, cradling my jaw.

“Good morning, Ferne.”

There was something so charming about the way a lock of his hair dangled from between his thick horns to hang across his forehead. Even disheveled from sleep, he made something flutter deep in my stomach.

“Good morning, Kyre.”

A small smile broke out on his mouth, intense, but soft on his lips. My lips followed suit as he leaned in to capture them in a searing but gentle kiss.

Just as I reached my hand out to press into his solid chest and succumb deeper to his affections, he gently pulled his face back.

Kyre swiped his hand over my shoulder and down my arm. I grasped his hand before it could leave my body and I could lose its touch.

I cleared my throat before asking, “So, what are we doing today?”

His eyebrows rose slightly before relaxing with the affectionate smile that broke across his face.

“Well, I need to finish patching up that radio.”

“And what am I supposed to do all day on a planet I’ve never been to while my—while you are fiddling around with that thing?”

Kyre thankfully breezed past my slip. “Well, would you want to help me?”

My eyebrows shot up. “I don’t know anything about your tech. I’m not sure how much help I would even be.”

“You’re selling yourself short.”

I scoffed and he let go of my hand and shifted so that he could hold my face between his hands, his eyes burning into mine with utter earnestness.

“Ferne, I’ve seen the way your mind works. You’re brilliant. I know you could figure this out just like you figured out how to get us through that desert.”

My cheeks were burning red from the praise and he eased back a bit, his hands dropping to the bed between us. “Besides, you’ll have me there! And I’m an expert.” At that, he puffed his (already remarkably broad) chest out and schooled his mouth into a mockery of confidence.

I laughed and turned to bury my face in the pillow, but when I emerged, the change in his expression took my breath away.

He was looking at me like he could see me, not because he wanted to breed with me or anything, but like he wanted to know me. So I let him in. A little.

“You know, if I’m going to spend my life with you, then I’m going to need to have a part in your life. I’m not just going to be your assistant forever.”

“I know. I was thinking about that last night.”

“Last night?”

“Yeah. Watching you talk with the team I realized . . . you’re part of it too now. I think if we venture out into the swamp you should come with us. We could use your help navigating the foreign terrain and I have a feeling you’ve got some more cactus juice tricks up your sleeve. You could really help us. And you’re clearly in shape,” his eyes dipped quickly down my body, “so you’d be able to keep up. You’d probably even outpace some of the guys.”

Oh. That was… sweet. And a little scary. He really was thinking about forever, about me being part of the team.

And maybe I could be.

But not before breakfast.

I cracked a teasing smile, falling back on jokes until I could figure out what I really wanted.

“Oh, I would definitely outpace some of the guys.”

Kyre chuckled a little. “So does that mean you’ll do it?”

“That sounds perfect, actually. Like my old job but with way fewer tourists. So yes, I’m in.”

His voice deepened as he held my gaze. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you, Kyre. For making a place for me here.”

“Well, thank you for taking it, Ferne.”

The air around us grew heavier and the distance between us grew smaller. I broke the tension, afraid of what we were building towards.

“So how about that radio?”

He shook his head clear and slid out of the bed. I sucked in a deep breath and pulled my eyes away from the sight of his bare chest.

“Yeah, we should get going on that.”

Kyre and I dressed quickly. He grabbed his pack and pulled out some ration bars, as well as the radio, the crystals he’d found, and his tools.

Most of the tools looked vaguely familiar, almost like someone had created a screwdriver without ever having seen one before.

However, some of the tools looked nothing like anything I’d seen on earth. They curved and rotated in odd and seemingly unhelpful ways. I picked a couple up and examined them more closely while Kyre grabbed the radio.

He snapped a casing open and began disconnecting wires. He sank down to sit on the floor, all without ever looking away from the tendrils of loose wiring.

A crease appeared between his eyebrows as he concentrated and his lips poofed out a bit. I twirled a tool against the tip of my index finger, completely distracted by a Kyre focused on his work.

“Clippers?”

He still did not look up from the wires but he did extend an expectant hand towards me. I rummaged through the tool pack until I found what appeared to be wire cutters and assumed that was at least close enough.

He took them with a soft “Thank you” so I must have guessed right.

Kyre clipped some wire and then grabbed two crystals, wrapping both in two of the longer pieces of remaining wire. He pushed the wiring back inside the housing, nestling the glowing crystals within. He turned to smile at me and showed off the chaotic innards of the device before sliding the casing back over it.

“This should work if I can just recalibrate the receiver for a higher power reception.”

He looked so excited that I couldn’t help but smile back.

“That sounds good to me!”

There was an awkward pause while he continued to stare at me and then his eyes darted to the tool I was fiddling with in my hands.

“Oh!” I flushed a little and thrust the strange curved object into his hands.

“Thank you.”

He bent back down to the radio and slipped the tool into an opening on the side of the device and began methodically turning it back and forth. He had a wicked grin on his face and his black eyes glinted as he seemed to be getting it.

Something clicked inside the radio and Kyre shot to his feet in his excitement.

I looked up at him through my eyelashes, his sudden change in altitude catching me off guard.

He offered, “You should try it!”

“Are you sure? What if I break it more?”

“Ferne . . . .”

His excitement level took a noticeable hit as his tone dipped down. So I grabbed the radio before he could get any more disappointed.

“Sorry. So, I just press here?”

I laid my finger over the button on the side, ready to press it. He wrapped his hand around the radio, warmth spreading through my skin in the spots he brushed over. He slid a switch on the opposite side of the radio but then slid his hands down to hold onto my wrists, too anxious to let go of the contact.

“Well, you have to switch it on first but yes, that’s what you need to press now.”

“Okay, got it.”

I held my breath and pressed down. Static filled the room for a few short seconds, but it was cutting in and out as though unfocused. I tapped the button a few more times, but nothing came through. I looked up to find Kyre’s eyebrows had knit themselves together once more and he was biting his lip, too.

“I’m so sorry, Kyre.”

“No, no. It’s okay.” He almost sounded like he meant it.

“I’m sure you’ll get it.”

“Well, this is actually good. We’re getting close, I can feel it.”

“Maybe you need to connect some more crystals?”

“No, it clearly has enough power because it turned on, but something was interfering with the signal—” He stopped himself mid-sentence and looked into my eyes. “The crystals!”

He tossed the radio into my hands and I caught it reflexively, only jostling it a little in my shock. Kyre bent over to pick a leftover crystal off the floor and held it between us.

He sounded giddy again. “The crystals must be emitting some kind of frequency that’s scrambling the radio waves! All I have to do is determine their frequency and recalibrate our radio here and we should be all set.”

I nodded my head at him, eyes wide.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but it sort of sounded logical.

Kyre sat back down on the floor and rummaged around in his tool kit for a minute before pulling out a sleek, boxy device. He set it down and popped open the clear plastic lid, placed the crystal into the device, and snapped the lid back in place.

He turned a couple of dials on the outside of the device and then pushed a button, drumming his fingers on the floor as the little device hummed and the crystal inside shone brighter. After a few minutes of him staring intently, the humming stopped and the crystal dimmed.

Kyre read out a number. “16.2!”

He got back on his feet and grabbed the radio back. He adjusted some dials on the front of the radio and then eagerly returned it once more to my hands.

“There!”

I looked down at the radio and then back up at him.

“Okay, here goes.”

I pushed the button, and this time the tone came through without interference. We listened for a full minute before he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up.

I yelped and grabbed his shoulders in surprise, but he only laughed as he spun us around and then let me slide back down his body.

“See, I knew you would be helpful.” He was smiling at me with that same wide grin from this morning.

“Me? All I did was push a button!”

“No, you thought of the crystals! That’s what did it.”

“But you’re the one that figured out . . . oh, forget it. You’re welcome!”

He bent down and kissed me on the cheek, igniting a fire there. He moved his mouth back to my ear.

He whispered, “Thank you.”

Kyre withdrew to his full height before continuing, excitement seeping back into his tone. “Let’s go get Rekker. He can finally check in with our superiors. Maybe we’ll be able to move forward with our mission.”

I looked at his hand holding the radio, my mind stuck on the phrase ‘our mission’.

I didn’t even realize that Kyre had left the room until he returned with Rekker. Kyre was doing a slightly better job of masking his excitement, presumably due to Rekker’s presence.

“Here it is!” Kyre said as he plucked the radio out of my hands.

Rekker clapped him on the shoulder and grabbed the device.

“Excellent. Great work, Kyre!”

Kyre just smiled and I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Rekker punched a code into the radio and held it up to his mouth.

Rekker spoke clearly, “Rekker reporting in.”

There was a long silence. Long enough that I glanced nervously at Kyre and wondered if maybe we hadn’t really fixed the damn thing.

Finally, a response rang out. “Captain Rekker?” The voice sounded young and shocked. “You’re still alive?”

“Well, if I weren’t, this would be a very uncomfortable conversation.”

“Let me go get the Commander,” the young voice continued. “We had just assumed that your team had gone down and marked you all as MIA. You were meant to contact us days ago.”

Rekker ground his teeth. “Our radio was not working due to interference. It took our engineer awhile to get it working again. Why don’t you go ahead and put me through to the Commander, alright?”

A series of clicks, and then a new, deeper voice. “Rekker. What was the hold-up? I expected you to contact me previously. Another side mission of your own?”

Kyre sucked in air between his teeth.

Rekker managed to sound respectful while looking ready to reach through the radio and punch his superior in the jaw. “Sir, there was a problem with the comms. Ship’s engineering has just repaired it, and we’re ready for the additional details of the mission.”

“You are to retrieve the artifact from the planet.”

I looked between the men. They both looked blank, confused.

“I am aware of the mission, sir.”

“Excellent, best of luck to you.”

“Sir! What I mean is that, don’t you have more information for us? Perhaps some approximation of where on this planet we are meant to find the object? Or what that object looks like? It’s size perhaps? Color? Whether it is concealed in a cave of some sort? Underwater?”

“Ah.” The voice exhaled through the radio. “Well, it is underground.”

“And?”

“And nothing, Rekker. That is all the information I have for you. Good luck on your mission. Do not fail us.”

The radio cut out. Rekker looked ready to break the thing again, so I gently picked it out of his hand.

“So underground, huh?” I said nonchalantly.

Rekker only raised an eyebrow at me and Kyre stepped forward to place his hand on my lower back—some kind of warning.

Whether for me or Rekker, I didn’t know.

I continued, “Well, it’s a start. That narrows it down from the entirety of the planet to the entirety of beneath the planet.”

Rekker laughed and Kyre chuckled as all the tension seeped out of the room.

Rekker said, “I suppose that’s true. We no longer need to search the skies.”

Kyre turned to me as he responded, “This is going to be a long expedition.”

KYRE

Captain Rekker used our newly working personal comms to call a crew meeting in the ship’s common area.

Ferne and I followed him through the Calliope and found Cedroc and Derrix waiting for us with amused expressions.

“Great,” Derrix said, waving his radio between two fingers. “I’m so glad you can beam your voice into my mind whenever you want. I wasn’t at all enjoying the peace and quiet.”

“Derrix, I will leave you here if I have to,” Rekker grumbled, to which Derrix laughed.

Javik and Lila arrived together. They likely came from the med bay. Lila smiled and waved at Ferne, who returned the gesture. It was nice to see that they were getting along. Lila was like a sister to me now. It would bring me joy to know my newfound sister and my mate were friends.

“What’s this about?” Javik asked.

“As you can see, the radio system is back up,” Rekker said. “I was able to get in touch with Commander Strygan.”

“Has he finally told you more about what we’re doing here?” Lila asked.

“He told us some bullshit, that’s what,” Ferne muttered. Lila’s brows drew together in concern and confusion. I bit down on my bottom lip to stifle my laughter.

“I like her,” Cedroc said with a decisive nod.

“But what does that mean?” Lila drew our attention back to Rekker’s less than fruitful meeting.

“We know we’re looking for some kind of artifact,” Rekker continued. “Now we know that said artifact is somewhere underground.”

The crew patiently waited for Rekker to say more, but quickly realized there was no more to be said.

“That’s all?” Javik asked slowly.

“That’s all.”

“Not even a general area?” Derrix demanded.

“Not even an image of the damn artifact?” Cedroc added.

“No.” Rekker sighed. I felt his frustrations rippling through his body.

Ferne felt it, too. She took a small step away from him, closer to me. Whether that was a subconscious movement or not, I wasn’t sure.

“She’s right.” Derrix jerked his chin in Ferne’s direction. “This is bullshit.”

“I wish there was more to be said,” Rekker said.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Cedroc demanded. “It’ll take weeks, months even, to search the depths of the planet for whatever it is we’re meant to find. How are we supposed to identify it? Are we supposed to simply know it when we see it?”

“I don’t have the answers right now,” Rekker snapped.

“We should leave,” Javik said. “We can’t possibly complete this mission on the terms we were given.”

“Absolutely not,” Rekker growled. “I should put you on galley duty for a week for suggesting such a thing. We do not abandon our missions. Ever.”

“Rekker,” Lila said gently, resting her small hand on his arm. Her touched appeared to soothe him.

Now that I’d met Ferne, I knew exactly the power of a mate’s touch.

“Crew,” Rekker said, and cleared his throat, “I understand your frustrations. I will come up with another plan.”

“Are we even going to get our bonuses for this?” Cedroc asked. “Or our time off?”

“I’m starting to feel like we were bought,” Derrix added.

Javik nodded. “It does feel like we were bribed into taking this fool’s errand.”

“But to what end?” I spoke up. “What’s the point of sending us out here to do the impossible in the first place?”

“It sounds to me like it’s a legitimate assignment, just run by a shit show of an operation.” Ferne shrugged. “I worked for a mountain tour company like this one. No communications. Scant information to be found. It was terrible. This sounds just like that.”

“What did you do?”

“Ran the second I found a better job,” she said quietly.

Even Rekker couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thank you, that’s most inspiring,” he said.

“Happy to help,” Ferne smirked.

“Lucky for Rekker,” I said, “we’re a loyal bunch.”

“Especially if there’s a potential bonus involved,” Derrix said.

There had to be something I could do.

There must be a way to make finding the damn artifact easier. Apparently we weren’t going to get any help from Commander Strygan or the Council.

I just wished I knew why all of this was necessary.

“Sir.” I turned to Rekker. “If there’s nothing else, there’s something I want to look into.”

“By all means,” Rekker replied. “The rest of us will grab shovels and start digging.”

Cedroc’s face fell. “Seriously?”

“Well, what else are we meant to fucking do?” Rekker snapped.

I stepped away before Rekker’s temper reared up again. As I walked, I noticed the soft patter of footfalls behind me. Only a human female walked that lightly on this ship. I looked over my shoulder to find Ferne.

I halted to allow her a chance to catch up.

“Not keen on staying for the rest of that meeting?” I asked.

“Why would I?” she replied. “It’s not as if I can do anything to help. I still don’t know what’s going on.”

“Then you’re in the same position as the rest of us,” I said with a dry laugh.

“Are they really going to break out the shovels?”

“Knowing Rekker, yes,” I said. “He’s going to complete this mission whether it takes a year or a century.”

Ferne’s face went pale at the thought of spending that long on Gravum IV.

“Only joking,” I said softly. “You won’t have to stay here for that long.”

“It’s not that,” she said quickly, but I knew it was.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I don’t much care for this place either. The desert is too dangerous and I hate swamps.”

“You do?” She gave me a funny look. “Why?”

“They get muck into all of my gear. Swamp,” I said, enunciating every letter so that the translator could pick up. “It even sounds unpleasant. Deserts. Now, I can do deserts. Swamps get just as hot but the worst part is that they get muggy, too. In the desert, at least the air doesn’t also weigh a hundred tons.”

“I see your point,” Ferne said. “I’ve never spent that much time in either. I’ve always been a mountain girl.”

“Have you?” I smiled down at her.

She nodded.

“But not desert mountains?”

“Woodland. There’s something wonderful about being dwarfed by hundreds of ancient trees while, at the same time, being perched higher than any living soul.”

“I can understand the appeal.” I wanted to ask if she’d show me her mountains one day, but I didn’t want to press her.

“Do you have a plan?” she asked, suddenly changing the subject.

“For the relic?”

She nodded.

“Not exactly,” I said. “I might have an idea of how to possibly find its potential location.”

“Those are a lot of non-committal words shoved into one sentence,” she chuckled.

“Because I have no idea if this will yield anything.”

I brought her to the navigation center at the front of the ship, just behind Cedroc’s pilot station.

“Cedroc may or may not come after me for messing with his equipment,” I said. “But it’ll be worth it if I figure out what I need.”

“Which is what, exactly?” Ferne stood beside me as I powered up one of the navigation panels. A huge, holographic map sprang to life. It was so large it took up most of the space, engulfing both me and Ferne.

“Wow,” she gasped, looking around her with wide eyes. “What is that?”

“It’s a map,” I said. “Touch something. Anything.”

She gently tapped the tip of her finger against the small glowing ball that represented the nearest star. A small window opened containing the star’s name and basic information.

“That’s amazing,” she said. “I could use something like that back on Earth. It would be great for people who want to explore the mountains but can’t do the tough climbs.”

I tried not to grimace. Her words were yet another reminder that she didn’t want to stay here.

With me.

I pushed the thoughts away for now and refocused on the map.

I tapped some information into the control panel. The map adjusted itself to show what I wanted to see.

“That’s less than ideal,” I muttered.

“What?” she asked, still gazing around the room.

“The nearest planet is a three-week flight from here,” I said. “I’m not surprised. The Gravum System is one of the most remote systems in known space.”

“Why are you looking at other planets?”

I tapped the light that represented the nearest planet, Krix. The information tab was considerably larger than that of the star Ferne had looked at.

I didn’t need to read the information tab to know that Krix was home to the largest trading hub in this region.

“I can possibly make a device,” I explained. “A deep planet scanner. It could help us locate the artifact or at least narrow down the search. There can’t be that many underground chambers on this planet.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Ferne clicked her tongue. “I reckon there won’t be anything in the swamp. The earth is too mushy to hold up an underground chamber. But the desert? It could have an entire tunnel system we don’t know about.”

“I’m going to take that as good news,” I grinned. The less time in the swamp, the better. “Krix will likely have the supplies I need to make a deep earth scanner. I’m going to ask Rekker for permission to leave Gravum IV.”

Ferne followed me out of the navigation room. Rekker stood at the top of the entry ramp, looking over the land.

“Sir,” I said. “I have a proposition.”

“I’m listening.”

I quickly relayed my plan, to which Rekker nodded.

“I think that’s our only shot of getting off this planet this year,” he said with a scowl. “You have my permission. Pick up extra food supplies and some spare parts for the fabricator while you’re there. I’m tired of eating soggy canned meat.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll be back within three days.”

“I want to come,” Ferne blurted.

Rekker and I turned to look at her, wearing matching masks of surprise.

“You what?” I asked.

“I want to go with you. You’ll need help carrying everything, I imagine. Plus, I want to learn more.”

A large grin broke out across my face. “I’d like that very much.”

More time with my mate?

Alone?

No arguments from me.

FERNE

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt dirty.

But what was I supposed to do?

As much as I was growing to care for Kyre, I still wanted to go home.

Maybe it didn’t make sense.

But I’d spent so long hiding from the lottery, from being matched, it felt like I was betraying everything my parents had done for me to just give in now.

Wasn’t I?

If only Kyre didn’t look so damn happy at the thought of me coming with him. His smile, his unfairly handsome smile, was like a knife between my ribs.

I’d talk to him about it. Of course, I would. I wasn’t just going to slink off like a thief in the night. I’d tell him.

I’d talk to him.

Of course.

“Do you need to borrow anything?” Kyre’s voice startled me.

“Um,” I stammered, nervously dragging my hand across my collarbone. “I’m not sure. What’s Krix like?”

“Fairly developed,” he said. “You won’t be climbing any moving mountains or sprinting across deserts.”

“That’s a relief,” I laughed, guilt still twisting my stomach. “I like my mountains stationary.”

“We can grab some more clothing for you there. And for Lila, as well.”

“She’ll like that. I couldn’t help but notice that everything she wears is about eight sizes too big for her.”

“She and Rekker share a closet,” he explained. “She has a few pieces of her own clothing, but not many, and Rekker’s worried about putting too much stress on the replicator.” He frowned. “I noticed you didn’t bring a bag with you when you showed up in the desert.”

“My teleportation circumstances were . . . unusual,” I said, glossing over that terrible day. “I wasn’t allowed time to pack a bag.”

Damn it, Ferne! I chided myself. That would have been the perfect time to bring up my past, my worries. Why didn’t I?

“That’s unfortunate.” Kyre frowned. “But don’t worry, we’ll find suitable clothing for you. We should get extras of everything. Who knows when another human female is going to pop up?”

His words gave me pause. There were three unmated Mahdfel males here. Eventually, they’d be matched to someone. Who’s to say more human females wouldn’t show up?

I mean, sure.

They could be any females of any species with a treaty with the Mahdfel, but so far it had been humans.

A strange thought occurred to me, one I wasn’t sure if I liked or not. What if I could break the mating bond between Kyre and me? I wondered if that would free him up for another human woman, someone who could be who he needed them to be.

Someone who would stay with him.

On closer reflection, the thought made me feel sick. It wasn’t fair for me to feel sick when I was the one who wanted to leave.

Despite the sense of nausea sloshing in my stomach at the thought of another woman snuggled up with Kyre, he deserved a mate who didn’t have all these doubts and fears.

Who knew she wanted to stay here, one hundred percent.

That wasn’t me.

I didn’t know how to be that person. I never wanted to get married. I never wanted children.

Hell, I’d barely dated before I moved out to the mountains. Men and romance were so far off my radar, I was surprised I still knew how to kiss.

I knew I’d never settle down with a man.

But Kyre’s not a man, is he? A little voice in the back of my mind whispered. Why would you throw this away?

I shook my head to destroy that voice.

“Are you all right?” Kyre asked, startling me from my frantic thoughts.

“Yes,” I said too sharply. “Why?”

“Because you’re twitchy. And you’re running your thumb across your chest so much, you’re leaving a mark on your skin.”

“What?”

I looked down at my chest. My skin looked red and raw.

“Oh,” I said with a dismissive sigh. “The desert air has dried out my skin, that’s all. Does that happen to you?”

“In hotter climates, yes.” Kyre gave me an odd look.

“It must be nice to have such a resilient body.” My eyes slid up and down his form. With a small gasp, I caught myself and tore my gaze away.

How could I ogle him just as I was planning on leaving him? I’d hardly been here at all and I was already becoming someone else. That wasn’t part of the plan.

“You’re more resilient than you think,” Kyre said. “You’re far tougher than any other human I’ve ever met.”

I blinked in confusion. “You’ve met other humans?”

“Occasionally. Some come to our military bases every so often.”

“Other mates, you mean?”’

“Sometimes. I believe I’ve met a few political representatives on a goodwill mission, or something like that.”

“We humans love our goodwill missions,” I said ironically.

“We’d better get going. I don’t want to lose time. We have a lot to do.”

“Of course. Lead the way.”

“We’re teleporting, you know,” he warned me.

I froze. “Is it going to be like last time? I didn’t enjoy it the last time.”

“You’re not going to be heavily sedated and dumped in a desert, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Good,” I nodded.

I allowed Kyre to lead me to the teleportation chamber on the Calliope.

“This is a proper chamber,” he explained. “Not a teleportation pad like you used before. This offers a more stable teleporting experience.”

“Good to know,” I said.

He opened the chamber door for me. I stepped into the small cell, worried that there wasn’t enough room for the two of us.

I didn’t want to show up on Krix alone. Not right away, at least. I wanted to get the lay of things before I tried to find transport back to Earth.

Kyre calibrated something outside of the chamber before stepping in with me. The entire chamber began to glow with harsh blue light. I hid my eyes. Kyre brought his hands up to shield my face.

I was pressed flush against his chest, my heart rate increasing from the contact. It took all of my self-control not to press my lips against his neck.

I had to stop having thoughts like that. They’d do me no service.

The light was unbearably bright. I waited for the world to jerk away like it did last time I teleported.

Instead, I felt like I was being lifted into a cloud and carried across a windless sky. It wasn’t unpleasant at all. In fact, this was sort of fun!

Suddenly, the world felt solid around me once more.

Kyre opened a chamber and stepped out. A squat alien with sand-colored skin and spider-like eyes was waiting beside the chamber.

“Identification chips,” he requested.

Kyre pulled a thin, square object from his pocket and passed it to the alien, who scanned it.

“And yours?” He looked at me.

“Oh. I—um,” I stammered.

“She doesn’t have one yet,” Kyre explained. “She’s from Earth. We’re newly mated. She’s still adjusting. Her information should be on my chip.”

“It is?” I frowned, my resolution hardening again.

I was my own person, wasn’t I? If I stayed with Kyre, would everyone just see me as an attachment to my mate? A possession?

The alien looked back at his scanner.

“Indeed it is,” he confirmed. “On your way.”

“Thank you.” Kyre nodded and led me forward. The chamber we’d come out of was one of many. They were all arranged in rows.

“My personal information is linked to your card?” I asked. “How?”

“I assume it was done the moment we were genetically matched.” He shrugged. “I wonder where we’re supposed to go.”

“You don’t know where you’re going?” I blurted.

“I’ve never been here before,” he replied.

“Don’t you have a map?”

He shook his head. “Cities and places like this don’t publicize maps anymore.”

“Why not? That seems deliberately inconvenient.”

“It’s so the Suhlik can’t memorize the maps for weak points.”

“Oh,” I said softly. “Yes, I suppose that makes sense.”

“It’ll be fine. There are only so many streets we can walk. We’re bound to figure out something, sooner or later.”

“Famous last words,” I chuckled.

The trading hub was huge. I was expecting a few streets worth of quaint market stalls, but I was sorely mistaken.

Buildings towered overhead. Small ships darted between the makeshift skyscrapers. Storefronts were crammed together so tightly it was amazing they could fit doorways.

Progress through the crowded streets was slow, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It gave us the chance to take in everything before we were ushered onto a new part of the street.

At one point, I swore I saw a human, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Kyre?” I asked above the din of the busy streets.

“Yeah?”

“What happens when a genetic match dies? Like, before the contract is filled.”

“You mean before they can have children?”

I nodded.

He tilted his head. “I’m not sure. I’m sure it’s happened. We’re living in dangerous times, after all.”

“Will the remaining half of the arrangement be eligible to be rematched?”

“I don’t see why not,” Kyre said thoughtfully. “I don’t think the odds of being genetically matched twice are very high, though. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” I said quickly. “I’m just trying to understand this whole thing. It seems sad to me that, should a mate die, the remaining mate won’t be able to find love again.”

“Love and mates are very different things,” Kyre said. “Anyone can fall in love. Being mated to someone is something far more than that. It’s a deeper connection.”

“Are there mates who aren’t in love with each other?”

“I’ve heard a few stories about mates that weren’t in love,” he said. “Though there’s no proof that the stories are real.”

“I see.”

“You’re suddenly very interested in the whole mate thing.”

I avoided his gaze. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around it all.”

I wished I hadn’t asked. The thought of disappearing, knowing Kyre might never be able to find someone else, made me feel sick all over again.

KYRE

“Look!” I pointed to a building up ahead. “That looks like an inn, don’t you think?”

“Do you think I’d be able to identify what an alien inn looks like?” Ferne asked with a furrowed brow.

I still didn’t know what to make of her questions earlier.

Should I take her interest in how mates worked as a good sign? What would possess her to ask about what happened after a mate’s death?

My mother’s people believed it was a curse to even think about it, let alone talk about it. The pure Mahdfel part of me recoiled at the thought.

Every fiber in my being, every cell, was designed to keep my mate safe. Natural causes aside, a dying mate was the ultimate failure.

The thought of it made me shudder.

“Are you all right?” Ferne asked.

“Yes. Perfectly fine. I’m sure that’s an inn. Let’s go see.”

I took her hand and led her through the crowded streets. I expected her to argue against being led but instead, she did her best to stick close to me.

A massive alien, three times the size of me, nearly barreled over us. I managed to pull Ferne inside the cramped lobby of the inn.

It wasn’t cramped because it was crowded. Aside from the slender, multi-limbed, innkeeper and us, no one was in the lobby.

It was just that small and filled with too many pieces of furniture.

“Any rooms available?” I asked.

I really hoped this was an inn, otherwise, I sounded like an idiot.

“One,” the innkeeper replied in a squeaky voice that made Ferne flinch.

“We’ll take it.”

I took out the credit chip for the Calliope and swiped it. The innkeeper gave me a keycard for our room.

“Top floor.”

“Top floor?” I repeated. “How many floors are there?”

“Thirty-seven. Why do you think that room was vacant? I haven’t filled it in weeks.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Ferne smiled. “Just point us in the direction of the elevator.”

The innkeeper looked at Ferne like it’d only just now noticed her. Its buggy eyes roamed over her body.

I had half a mind to drag it to the thirty-seventh floor and toss it out the window for looking at her like that.

I casually stepped in front of Ferne, blocking its view.

“No elevator,” it said.

“What?”

“No elevator.”

“Yes, I heard you the first time,” I clarified. “That’s not ideal for us. We should look elsewhere.”

“No refunds.”

“Of course not.” I laughed dryly and looked over my shoulder at Ferne. “Ready to climb a new kind of mountain?”

“This is going to suck,” she replied, though humor glinted in her eyes.

We started our daunting trek. By the time we reached the thirty-seventh floor, we were short of breath and drenched in sweat.

“I have half a mind to kill that innkeeper,” Ferne growled. “Are you onboard?”

“You’re going to have more than half a mind when you see what I see.”

“What?” she groaned.

I pointed to a set of sliding doors with call buttons.

“Is that a fucking elevator?”

“Indeed.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ferne exclaimed. “I’m going to throw him out the window.”

“Funny, I had that same thought,” I chuckled.

I let us into the small room with barely enough space to turn around.

“Why is this whole place so narrow?” she grumbled.

“I told you it was the largest trade hub in this part of space. I suppose whoever designed it wanted to cram as much in as possible.”

“Surely, this is some kind of safety hazard.”

“Probably,” I agreed. “I suggest we spend as little time here as reasonably possible.”

“I second that. I can’t imagine how we’re going to sleep.”

I looked at the bed. It was just barely big enough for two, but it was tightly bordered by the room’s walls. There wasn’t even an inch of space to access the side of the bed.

“Run and leap?” I suggested.

Ferne barked out a laugh.

“I’m going to get started on looking for supplies,” I said. “Would you like to come along or would you prefer to stay here and rest up?”

Ferne shook her head. “I don’t need to rest up. I’ll come with you.”

Surely, that must’ve been a good sign.

“Great,” I beamed. “Let’s take the elevator.”

I left everything I didn’t need in the room. We took the elevator down. Being as cramped as it was, it was a smooth ride.

When we entered the lobby, I made a point of scowling at the smirking innkeeper. As much as I wanted to throttle the bastard, I didn’t want to get thrown out of the room.

I’d already paid for it. Rekker would have my horns for blowing the budget on accommodations.

“Where to?” Ferne asked.

“I believe I saw a shop that might have some of what I need down that road.” I gestured to a narrow street half a block up.

“All right, lead the way. I’ll cling to your shirt.”

“You can always ride on my back,” I suggested, only half-joking.

“Very funny,” Ferne smirked.

I felt her take hold of my shirt as I started through the choked streets. Even the streets were narrow. They could perhaps fit three Vaznik across, standing shoulder to shoulder.

“Is that another Mahdfel?” Ferne asked, appearing at my side.

I followed her gaze to an alien male with tattoos like mine, only he possessed wings, talons, and the beak of a bird.

“Yes,” I said. “Though he would be referred to as his mother’s species.”

“Why is that?” Ferne asked.

I frowned. “It’s more likely for us to pass on the genetic traits of our mothers.”

“So, a child of yours is more likely to have horns than glowing tattoos?”

“Exactly,” I replied. “Though it also depends on what the mother’s species is. There’s a lot of variables. It’s almost impossible to predict what any offspring will be like.”

Ferne nodded before slipping behind me once more. I wasn’t sure what to make of all her strange questions.

She sounded like she was coming around to the idea of bearing a child. I knew her contract essentially forced her into motherhood, however I didn’t want to force her into anything.

The treaty between the Mahdfel and the humans never specified when a genetically matched human must bear a child. I wondered if Ferne knew that.

“Nothing needs to be rushed, you know?” I said over my shoulder.

“What?” she blurted.

“Children, I mean. Nothing has to happen right away.”

“But it does have to happen,” she said quietly.

I didn’t think she meant for me to hear her. I decided to let the conversation drop. I didn’t want to make her talk about anything that brought her discomfort.

“Is that the shop you wanted?” Ferne asked, pointing to a narrow shop crammed with all sorts of mechanical devices.

“Yes,” I said, eager to have something else to talk about. “Though, really, every single shop here is selling something useful. This place is an engineer’s dream.”

“Why not take yourself on a shopping spree?” she suggested with a playful grin.

“A what?”

“It’s where you buy whatever you want, regardless of cost.”

“Ha!” I barked. “I don’t think you appreciate how little a Vaznik warrior makes in the Mahdfel rebellion.”

“You’ve got the company card, though, haven’t you?”

“Do you want Rekker to kill me?” I joked. “Because he will.”

“I’m only teasing,” Ferne assured me. “It’s a fun idea, though.”

“That it is.”

I immediately got to work sifting through the heaps of devices in the shop. A deep earth probe was far too expensive, however the materials to build one weren’t.

Ferne offered to help carry the supplies, but I managed. Barely.

But I hadn’t taken two steps before wanting to go into a shop that carried all kinds of small pieces for control panels and circuit boards.

“Perhaps getting killed by Rekker would be worth it,” I said as I eyed the goods.

Ferne said nothing. I imagined she couldn’t hear me over the din of the shop and the bustling street that was only a stone’s throw away.

I purchased enough materials to upgrade most of the Calliope’s systems. Was it necessary? No. Would Rekker question my sanity for buying so much? Yes. Would my purchases today drastically help the Calliope in the future? Also, yes.

“Ferne, I think we might have to stop off at the inn,” I said. “I have no idea how we’re going to fit all this in the room. We can sleep in the bathing room, right?”

Again, Ferne said nothing.

I looked over my shoulder expecting to see her behind me, but she wasn’t there.

“Ferne?” I called again, louder this time. No answer.

“Excuse me,” I asked the nearest patrons. “Have you seen a human female?”

Those who didn’t ignore me outright said they hadn’t.

Ferne was right behind me a moment ago. I swore she was.

I set my purchased goods on a counter, not caring if they got swiped. I darted out into the street.

“Ferne!” I called again.

It was no use.

Ferne had disappeared.

FERNE

Walking away felt horrible. More horrible than tumbling down the side of the mountain pass. More horrible than walking away from my parents when they gave me the chance to go off the grid.

I’d sworn I’d talk to him instead of just slipping away.

The longer I stood there, watching him look around the trading hub with the excitement of a child on Christmas Day, the harder it felt to initiate that conversation.

I’d never thought myself to be a coward before.

I accepted that I was one now.

With any luck, Kyre wouldn’t look for me for too long.

I was surprised to find tears blurring my vision. I wasn’t a crier. I tried to blink them away, but that only made them slip down my cheeks.

“Are you all right?” a thin voice asked. I turned to find a short alien woman at my elbow.

If she was human, I’d have guessed she was a grandmother or great-grandmother by the deep wrinkles of her sapphire skin and toothless smile.

But maybe that’s how all her people looked.

An orange and gold muumuu wrapped around her, almost brushing the ground, leaving her four arms free with only matching bands of fabric crossing her chest.

Her golden eyes swirled, and somehow seemed kind.

Or maybe I just desperately needed kindness right then.

“I think so,” I said, swallowing hard. “Where would I go to find a ship out of here?”

“You’ll want to go to the docks, of course. Do you know where those are?”

I shook my head. My throat had grown so tight with emotion, I could no longer speak.

“Do you want me to show you?”

I was certain I could remember instructions if she gave them to me, but truth be told, a little bit of kind company was exactly what I wanted right now.

“Yes, please,” I whispered. “If you’re not busy.”

“When you get to be my age, you’re never busy.” she chuckled and offered her arm to me.

I looped my arm through hers and allowed her to use me for support. As we slowly walked through the crowd, I noticed a persistent clicking noise. I looked down to find that, instead of feet, she had hundreds of little legs moving in sync to propel her forward.

“Must look like a lot to you, eh?” she said.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to stare.”

“Stare all you want,” she said with a dismissive wave of her free hand. “You’re a human. Your kind doesn’t come out here often.”

“We don’t?” I blinked. “But you know what I am?”

“You’re perhaps the fourth or fifth human I’ve seen in these parts, and we’re a busy city. It’s my understanding that your kind likes to stick close to home and their families.”

Home. I blinked back tears.

That’s all I wanted to do.

Get home. Back to my little cabin.

Get back to my life.

Right?

“I suppose that’s true,” I answered. “The humans you saw here, what were they doing?”

With every step, my body felt heavier and heavier, as if it was physically opposed to leaving Kyre.

Just thinking about him made my heart feel twisted and wrong.

“Two were some kind of government officials, though I don’t know what they were doing here,” she replied. “The rest were women, about your age, with their alien companions.”

“You mean their mates?” The word caught in my throat.

More women trapped by the lottery.

“Oh,” the alien woman chuckled. “Probably. They seemed pretty happy together.”

She patted my arm. “I remember being that happy with my mates.”

“Your mates?” I blinked. “More than one?”

She grinned up at me. “Three. Our lives were filled with chaos and shouting and hatchlings. There were times I couldn’t believe that was my life.” Her gaze moved past me, towards something I couldn’t see. “But worth every moment.”

We rounded a corner and the neighborhood seemed more industrial, workers hurrying by, fewer shops.

“But, enough about that. You’re the first human I’ve seen wandering around alone. Why are you by yourself?”

“I came here with someone,” I admitted. “But I need to return home.”

“Family emergency?” She squeezed my arm. “I can’t tell you the number of times I needed to bail out my broodmate.”

“Not exactly.” I shook my head. “I don’t have broodmates – or siblings.”

I didn’t know why I was being so candid with this woman.

Something about her reminded me of what I always imagined a grandparent to be like. I never knew my grandparents on either side of my family.

“Then what is it?”

“I just don’t belong in this world.” I sighed. “I don’t know what I’m doing. This wasn’t my plan.”

“Plans change, you know.” She nodded emphatically. “That’s life.”

“But I had a life of my own!” I argued. “A life I enjoyed very much, one that my parents sacrificed for. One I’m not ready to give up.” I bit my lip. “I’m not ready to become someone else.”

“Why do you need to become someone else?”

“Because that’s what happens when human women are genetically matched and shipped off to strangers.” My voice wavered. “You can’t stay yourself, you belong to them now.”

She nodded appraisingly. “You’re only here because of that treaty between the humans and Mahdfel, aren’t you?”

“Yes, as were the other human females you’ve seen, no doubt,” I snapped, not sure if I was angry with her or myself.

“None of them looked the way you do,” she replied. “You look lost.”

“I am lost,” I sighed. “I’ve never been here before.”

“That’s not what I meant, dearie.”

I knew. But I couldn’t think about it anymore.

I’d made up my mind.

Hadn’t I?

“Is that the dock entrance?” I asked suddenly, pointing to a gap between the tall, narrow buildings.

“Indeed,” she nodded. I started to extract my arm from hers, but she placed a hand over mine. “Can I ask you one thing before you go?”

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“What?” I stammered, retracting my hand. “What kind of question is that?”

“It’s a question I think you need to examine very carefully.”

“I don’t think so.” I set my jaw.

“The look on your face tells me that’s exactly what you need to do,” she laughed. “I’ll wait with you, if you like.”

“That’s not necessary,” I said more harshly than I meant to. She hadn’t done anything wrong. “Thank you for showing me to the docks. I wish you a safe journey back to your home and for you to have a pleasant life.”

“I wish the same for you,” she replied. “I also wish you the strength to make the choice that will lead you to such a life.”

With that, she turned away and scuttled off. It took only a second or two for the crowd to swallow her up.

“What does she know?” I muttered as I stalked down the dock. As kind as she was, she didn’t know me.

It wasn’t her place to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do with my life. It was my life after all!

That was the whole point of this.

I should be allowed to live my life the way I saw fit, regardless of any stupid laws or treaties.

I never asked to come here.

How was I the bad guy for wanting to return to my life?

Except…

Kyre was as innocent in this as I was.

He was the one who’d suffer the most because of my choice. That’s what made me the bad guy.

I thought of him again, despite how hard I tried not to. His smile. His eyes. The curve of his horns. The way his tattoos shimmered when they changed color.

“I can’t believe our tickets are for Salvia 8,” a voice snapped through the air. “My sister is getting married in three days, and you know my mothers are going to be frantic obsessing over every detail. On Salvia 9!”

Half a block away, a tall, pale green woman turned away from the tall male standing next to her, her back rigid with fury.

“I can’t believe you can’t trust me after all this time,” the man retorted, his low, booming voice echoing down the street. Then he wrapped his arms around her, and slowly she leaned back into his chest.

“We’re stopping off at 8 first,” he murmured, still loud enough to be easily heard. “Because your mothers are going to be crazy. And your sister is going to be crazy.” He nuzzled her hair. “And I thought a day at the radiation spa on Salvia 8 would give you enough energy to deal with them.”

She tilted her long, narrow face up to his. “How are we going to explain it to them?” Solid black eyes blinked slowly. “They’re expecting me now, they’ve probably already made twenty lists of things for me to do.”

I felt like a voyeur watching this moment, but no one else seemed to pay the couple any attention.

And somehow I couldn’t tear myself away.

He rubbed his cheek over her forehead, and she relaxed into his arms.

“We’re going to tell them it was a terrible mixup at the travel agency. And you know perfectly well your mothers already have this handled. They get like this for every event.”

She nodded slowly.

“Besides, if they fuss, tell them it’s all my fault. That’s what partners are for, right?”

Her smile was almost blinding, and after a moment they continued on their way.

And I couldn’t move.

Partners.

Kyre wasn’t just my mate.

He was my partner.

And together, we could figure this out, even as I figured out who the new me would be.

I would never be happy about how Kyre was brought into my life. The entire system of genetic testing and matching was monstrous in my eyes.

That was a part of the old me that would never fade.

My love for climbing and mountains would never fade, either.

There was still so much of me that was still, well, me.

Caring for Kyre wouldn’t take that away.

I had to get back.

I had to find him.

And I had to hope he’d understand.

I turned around and hurried back the way I’d come. I half expected to catch up with the elderly alien woman that had led me to the docks, but I didn’t see her.

The interlude with the alien couple hadn’t seemed to take that long, but perhaps she was capable of moving far faster than she’d let on.

I could imagine her walking slowly on purpose to give doubt a chance to grip me.

Apparently grandmothers were sneaky.

The streets were even more crowded then they’d been only moments earlier. I could hardly move, let alone walk.

My heart clenched.

I’d never get back to Kyre at this rate. He’d be long gone.

A small gap between the buildings caught my eye. It looked like an alley. Perhaps I could take the alley and pop back onto the main street once I was closer to where I’d left Kyre.

The alley was wide enough for a single person to walk. It was uncomfortable. I didn’t like looking up at the towering buildings that rose on both sides of me.

“Hey!” a voice barked. “Over here!”

I looked over my shoulder.

A figure stood in the alley, only a few feet behind me.

Though I’d never seen one in person, I knew what I was looking at.

Their pictures were posted all over the human world as a warning, even though the invasion had ended twenty years ago.

I was looking into the eyes of a Suhlik.

I didn’t hear it come up behind me. How long had I been trailed?

“What do you want?” I snapped.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Something about its voice made me feel sick inside. I looked straight ahead to find another Suhlik blocking the alley in front of me.

“A human? A rare find. We’ll take her.”

“Take me?” I spat. “I dare you to try!”

Something pinched my neck and within seconds, I’d lost feeling in my legs. One of the Suhlik threw me over its shoulder and carried me out onto the main street.

“Help!” I screamed, though moving my limbs was difficult. I could wiggle my toes, but I couldn’t fully kick. “Help!”

No one did anything, no matter how much I screamed.

I’d given into my doubts, and now nothing could save me.

KYRE

I hadn’t given up my search.

I couldn’t.

I’d found a space to stash my purchases, and kept looking for Ferne, even though a small voice whispered in the back of my mind.

It whispered what I feared but refused to acknowledge.

Ferne might’ve left on her own accord.

I wanted so badly to imagine that she’d been kidnapped or simply lost. That might be the case, but it was no secret that she wanted to return to Earth and the life she’d been forced to give up.

As logical as that explanation was, I couldn’t bring myself to believe that she’d do something like this. Sneaking off without me wasn’t just underhanded, it was dangerous!

Who knew what was roaming this trading post? In the last shop I’d searched, I’d heard whispers of Suhlik soldiers in the area.

Suhlik weren’t welcome in most places like this. They weren’t well-liked by any race, not just the Mahdfel. However, there was really no way to stop a Suhlik soldier from going wherever the hell it wanted to go.

They were ruthless when it came to cutting down those in their path.

“Help!” A sharp voice pierced through the din of the busy streets.

My tattoos blazed as I honed in on Ferne’s voice.

I took off in a sprint, not caring who I bumped into or knocked over. I barely noticed the dozens of traders crammed onto the narrow street as I charged on.

Every fiber in my being was directed at finding the source of Ferne’s voice. My blood screamed for her.

Someone was harming my mate and I would show them no mercy.

Eventually, I came to a part of the street that looked as if it’d been cleared. Two Suhlik soldiers stood on the street, Ferne between them.

She was unsteady on her feet, barely standing.

The two Suhlik soldiers were trying to drag her, but she’d gone deadweight in their grip.

“Ferne!” I shouted. She turned her head to look at me.

“Kyre!” she cried.

It appeared only her legs were affected by whatever the hell the Suhlik had done to her.

“Let her go!” I bellowed.

The Suhlik threw Ferne to the ground, not to let her go but to ready themselves to fight me.

I charged without hesitation. The tactical shirt I wore wasn’t much in the way of armor, but it was better than nothing. I drove my fist into the face of one of the soldiers, knocking him to the ground. I grabbed the other by the scruff of its uniform and brought it in close.

“Get away from my mate,” I hissed.

“Mate?” it asked.

“Do you have any idea what happens when a slimy Suhlik soldier gets between a Mahdfel and his mate?” I growled.

The Suhlik said nothing.

“I couldn’t help but notice you’re unarmed,” I said. “If you had more of whatever you injected Ferne with, you’d have done it to me already.”

I felt a small prick in the back of my neck.

Shit.

I waited for the pain, numbness, or whatever the little needle was meant to deliver, but nothing happened. I looked at the Suhlik with a feral smile.

“It seems your little toxin doesn’t work on me. Is that all you’ve got?”

The Suhlik in my grip looked nervous.

The one in my grasp nodded to the other. I felt the second Suhlik take a step back.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” I snarled.

The Suhlik behind me drove its heel into the back of my knee. My limb buckled. I released the one in my grip and whirled on the other. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ferne slowly clamber to her feet. She could stand now, but it didn’t look like she could run.

I drove my fist into a Suhlik’s ribs.

“Get out of here,” I called to her. She nodded and moved away as quickly as she could. I tried to keep an eye on her as I fought the Suhliks. She’d never get to safety at that rate.

I kicked out at one of the soldiers. I heard a satisfying crack as I drove my heel hard into its shin. It stumbled and fell. Now that one was incapacitated, the other didn’t appear too keen on tackling me alone.

I took that moment of hesitation to run after Ferne, who’d only made it a few yards on her wobbly legs. I knew the Suhlik would come after us once they got their bearings, so I had to move fast. I scooped Ferne up into my arms and ran. I tried to run in the opposite direction of our inn. The last thing I wanted was to leave a trail for the Suhlik to follow.

I ducked through every alleyway, doubled back over and over, and went in circles before I felt confident enough to slow back down to a walk.

“Are you all right?” I asked Ferne once I’d double-checked that we weren’t being followed.

I found a quiet but well-lit nook to pause in and set Ferne down gently. Though her legs seemed stiff, she was able to balance and walk without trouble.

“What did they do to my legs? Why didn’t it work on you?” she asked in a wobbly voice. She looked so pale, her eyes glassy with tears she was desperately trying not to shed.

“It was some kind of paralysis toxin,” I explained. “It was an extremely low dose. They probably assumed it would be strong enough to knock you out, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t strong enough to do anything for me at all.”

“Are there more of them?” She wrapped her slender arms around her body, shaking.

I wanted to pull her close to me, but I wasn’t going to do so unless I knew she wanted me to.

She’d left.

And as far as I knew, she’d wanted to.

She seemed shaken up enough as it was. I didn’t want to make it worse by touching her if she didn’t want to be touched.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “They weren’t wearing full regalia. They weren’t carrying any of the usual weapons a Suhlik soldier would carry. Either they’re part of a stealth unit, or they weren’t on duty.”

“I see,” she said tensely.

“Let’s go back to our room,” I offered gently. “I think you need to lie down for a spell.”

Ferne nodded and allowed me to take her hand. She stayed silent as we walked through the streets, quiet while I picked up our gear.

Night was falling, yet the streets were just as busy as they were during the middle of the day.

Once in our lofty room, I stepped aside to let Ferne get on the bed and tucked the comforter around her shoulders.

“Ferne?” I said softly.

“What?” She didn’t sound angry or scared, but she did sound distant.

“What happened?”

“You were there.” All right, now she sounded a little angry.

“I know the Suhlik had you, but how did they get you? I turned around one moment and you were suddenly gone. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Suddenly, Ferne began to cry. I wasn’t expecting that. I crawled onto the bed beside her and pulled her into my arms.

She didn’t resist my touch.

“It’s all right,” I soothed. “You’re safe now.”

“It’s my own damn fault the Suhlik got me,” she sobbed. “I deserve it.”

“What? Of course you didn’t deserve that! No one does.”

“Yes, I do!” she insisted, thumping her fist weakly on the mattress. “I walked away from you with the intention of going to the docks and finding a way home.”

My body stiffened, but I didn’t let her go. I’d known that was a possibility after all, but that didn’t mean hearing those words wasn’t painful.

It was.

But if it’s what she wanted…

“I was on my way back to you,” she interrupted my thoughts. “I realized I didn’t want to leave. I only thought I did because I was scared of how quickly my feelings were growing toward you. I felt like I was becoming a person I wasn’t ready to be. That’s when the Suhlik grabbed me. I never should’ve left your side. I’m so sorry. Can you please forgive me?”

She sobbed into my neck, her hot tears trickling down my skin.

“Were you really on your way back?” I asked, running my fingers through her dark hair.

“Yes,” she said. “I never made it to a space vessel or talked to anyone about passage to Earth.”

Her words warmed my heart. She wanted to be here. She wanted to stay with me. A huge weight lifted from my chest now that I knew where she stood.

She wanted me.

Gently, I tipped her face up to mine. I kissed away the tears on her cheeks before gently bringing my lips to hers. She kissed me softly at first, as if the kiss caught her by surprise. Then she allowed herself to sink into the kiss, letting me pull her even closer.

Slowly, I laid her down on the bed. I kissed from her lips, down her neck, until the fabric of her shirt began. I kissed the tops of her swelling breasts, encouraged by the soft moans that escaped her parted lips.

When I returned to her mouth, I felt ravenous. I devoured her in a kiss. She devoured me right back. She was as hungry as I was, starving even.

She removed her shirt. I followed suit.

“You came back to me,” I said between kisses.

“I won’t leave again,” she replied.

My hands played over the button of her pants. “May I?” I asked.

With a smile, she lay back on the bed. “Please do.”

FERNE

I was in Heaven.

The way he held me against his naked body, the way his lips roamed over my skin . . . it was almost too much for me to take. I could lose myself in his arms for all eternity. But we didn’t have eternity—all we had was this moment, and Kyre was more than willing to seize it.

He brought his mouth down to the wetness between my legs, and he didn’t hesitate before he wrapped his lips around my clit. His tongue whipped at it mercilessly, and it didn’t take long before I turned into a quivering mess.

My muscles trembled, my heart beat furiously, and my lungs were struggling to take in air. I couldn’t think straight and if anyone asked for my name right then, I doubt I’d be able to even form a coherent sentence.

“Why do you have to be so delicious?” he asked, taking a moment to look up into my eyes. My heart tightened as I saw his chin glistening from my fluids, and I became even wetter than before. Just as quickly, he returned all his attention to that same wetness, devouring me like no other man had ever done before.

“I’m gonna come,” I breathed out. “Oh, God, I’m gonna—”

A violent orgasm gripped me before I could finish my sentence, my entire body seized by an unreal feeling of bliss. I knew what an orgasm was, but with Kyre . . . with him, I wasn’t orgasming or climaxing. It was something else, something far more powerful and intense, and it made me want to return the favor.

Escaping from underneath him, I threw him a wicked glance and smiled. Placing both hands on his chest, I pushed him down on the mattress and knelt between his legs, my whole body in a frenzy.

Gently sliding my hands down the ridges and grooves on his chest, my fingertips lightly tracing the contour of his abs, I made my way toward his hardness and wrapped my fingers around it.

“I’ve been dying to taste you,” I whispered, my hand moving up and down his length. Locking my eyes on his, I started to lean down, my lips parting as I closed in on his erection. I reached for it with the tip of my tongue, closing my eyes as the manly flavor of his cock flooded me.

“You’re amazing, Ferne,” he groaned, placing both his hands on my head.

Slowly, I rolled my lips down his entire length, only stopping when I had them pressed against the skin at the base of his cock. I was actually surprised I could have his entire length inside my mouth, but I guess I simply didn’t have any limitations when it came to Kyre.

Bobbing my head, I surrendered to the moment.

I used my lips and my tongue, devouring his manhood with a kind of desperate ferocity, and for a moment, I thought he wouldn’t be able to hold back. Groaning, he tangled his fingers in my hair and forced me to stop, his hardness throbbing hard against my tongue. I almost kept on going, eager to have him explode inside my mouth, but I allowed him to pull his cock from between my lips.

“I don’t know how you do it, Ferne,” he said, the look in his eyes one of pure lust, “but I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you.” With that, he grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me toward him. I fell on top of his naked chest, but he quickly rolled over and pinned me against the mattress.

Kneeling behind me, he placed both hands on my hips and pulled my ass up. The moment I was on all fours, he closed the distance between us, his hard length trapped between both our bodies. Desperate to have him inside me, I reached between my legs and held him in my hand, pushing his cock down until I had my wet inner lips wrapped around its tip.

He started to thrust right away, his thighs slapping my ass cheeks over and over again. The sound of flesh on flesh filled the entire room, and I had to use whatever was left of my willpower to stop myself from moaning. A mighty scream clawed its way up my throat, pleasure churning inside me, and I buried my face in one of the pillows.

That just made him plunge even harder.

Each time Kyre thrust, the entire universe seemed to fade just a little. Time became nothing but a meaningless concept, and I surrendered myself to this madness without a moment’s hesitation. We became one then, our bodies burning in a bonfire of lust.

Thrusting back against him, I matched every single one of his movements, the rhythm of our bodies like a perfect dance. Inevitably, my insides started to clench, every fiber of my being jolted awake by a charge of electric pleasure, and I realized I was seconds away from coming.

“Come with me,” I found myself saying, the words tumbling out from between my lips as if I were begging him to do so. Maybe because I was. Right then and there, I needed to feel that sweet blanket of ecstasy falling over both of us, and I wanted it to happen at the same time.

He obeyed my wishes.

As a tidal wave of pleasure crashed against me, his hardness started throbbing against my inner walls, and just a couple of seconds later I felt his warm seed flooding into me. I held my position there for God knows how long, breathing so hard that my lungs felt like overinflated balloons. Sweet mercy, it should be illegal to feel that much pleasure.

When we finally broke apart, I collapsed on the mattress and closed my eyes.

In less than five seconds, I was out.

I WOKE up in his arms.

The pink glow of a rising sun tumbled lazily into the bedroom, and I found myself smiling despite everything that had happened last night. How could I not be smiling? There was nothing better than to wake up next to Kyre, the warmth of his skin a sweet reminder of everything we had done last night.

I still didn’t know how someone that spent most of his adult life holed up inside a military vessel could be such a good lover, but that’s who Kyre was.

Even when I’d tried to run away.

I knew I’d never find anyone half as good as he was. Of course, it wasn’t just about the sex. There were feelings here, too, and they were powerful ones.

“You awake?” he whispered, slowly opening his eyes and running one hand through my hair. Cuddling up to him, I nodded, my eyelids fluttering as he leaned in to kiss my forehead. It was such a simple gesture, but it was enough for my heart to melt.

An excellent lover, a relentless protector, and a kind soul. No wonder they called it the lottery—I had won the jackpot when it came to Kyre.

Sure, I didn’t appreciate having my entire life upended just because some machine said there’s a genetic match for me.

I never would.

But that didn’t mean I’d lost myself.

We would be partners, from here on out.

“We should start thinking about leaving this place,” he said, his fingers still threaded in my hair. Turning to the side, he used his free hand to grab the room’s datapad from the bedside table. “I set this up to monitor the local net. Word is that the Suhlik officers have moved on. It’s safe to go.”

“I almost don’t wanna go,” I whispered. Draping one arm over his naked chest, I rested my hand over his beating heart. “Can’t we stay here in bed forever?”

Looking up into his eyes, I gave him a smile. He kissed me then, his lips brushing against mine, and it only took a couple of seconds before my body started to boil from the inside out. With him, I was insatiable. “Alright, that’s enough.”

Laughing, I pushed him away from me and sat up on the bed. I had to create some distance between us, or else we’d end up spending the entire morning in bed.

Not that it would be such a bad idea, but there were other things that we needed to do.

“What’s the plan?” Still sitting in bed, I watched him jump up to his feet, his naked body making my heart beat so fast I was almost sure it was going to explode. Once he started getting dressed, I didn’t know if I should feel relieved or sad. “Think we can use a teleportation pad?”

“Not here,” he replied. Scratching his chin, he looked as if he was running through all the available options. “We use a teleportation pad from this planet, there’s a chance Suhlik officials will sniff us out. After our run-in yesterday, they’re probably monitoring the network, hoping for another chance at you. It’s better if we avoid it.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

“Get a spaceship and go somewhere else.” That time, he sounded surer of what he was saying. “There’s a small planet in the vicinity, just a couple of hours away. With some luck, we’ll be able to find an unmonitored pad there.”

“But?”

“But what?”

“C’mon,” I said. “I can see it in your face. There’s something about that planet you’re not letting me in on.”

He sighed. “Alright. Torrant is even more remote than Krix. There’s a chance we won’t find a teleportation pad there. Still, it’s our best shot. I don’t want to risk it and overextend our stay with the Suhlik roaming around here.”

“Alright.” Swinging my legs off the bed, I shot up to my feet and got dressed. Five minutes later and the two of us were heading out. We were an improbable duo, but I was starting to think that we actually made a nice team. Or, rather, a nice couple. It was hard to know where to draw the line.

The shuttle rental company was two blocks over, and we made the walk there with our heads down, careful not to draw any attention.

After our run-in with the Suhlik the previous night, it paid to be extra careful. Thankfully, we managed to rent an interplanetary shuttle without the company running extensive identity checks and, in less than twenty minutes, Kyre and I were climbing inside an old spaceship, loading up our gear.

“Do you think this piece of junk will get us there?” I asked him, warily eyeing the blotches of rust on the fuselage. Kyre looked around for a minute, took over the pilot’s seat, and only then did he reply.

“It’s not a cruise ship, but it’ll get us there.”

With that, he revved up the engines and took off.

FERNE

Our rented spacecraft successfully brought us to Torrant in only a few hours. It was hot, dusty, barren rock, filled with gaunt bodies and unhappy faces. Not one part of me wanted to be there, but I felt safe knowing I had Kyre by my side and that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. He’d already proven that when he’d taken on the Suhlik who’d tried to kidnap me.

It was strange seeing him as anything but soft-spoken, but I’d found I rather liked him with a bit of fire in his belly. His tattoos were beautiful when they were their typical gold, but when they’d flared red from his rage, something had flared in me, too.

There was nothing quite like seeing my mate defending my honor—it stirred things deep inside me that I hadn’t even known existed until that point.

Not that I wanted to be in any danger again anytime soon, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Kyre’s anger piqued again. It was incredibly sexy.

Once we’d arrived on Torrant, Kyre docked the ship and led me to the main bazaar, intent on locating a mechanic’s stall.

Teleportation wasn’t as common on rural planets like this, but he was sure he’d find a device readily available for purchase and I hoped he was right. I was more than ready to return to the Calliope and get some much-needed rest.

It wasn’t hard to find a machinist, even though there was only one in the market. The shop was nearly bursting with machines and devices of all kinds, some I recognized and still more I didn’t. I saw what I thought was a coffee pot, similar to one I’d owned on Earth.

I couldn’t believe how things ended up where they did, so far from their point of origin. I guess I was a prime example myself.

It wasn’t long before Kyre located a teleportation pad hanging from the ceiling in plain sight. His eyes lit up at the sight of it and I couldn’t help my own surge of elation—finally, finally, we could go home.

“You okay with letting me handle this?” he asked me in a low voice.

“Of course. You’re the engineer—if you need help climbing a mountain, tag me in,” I joked.

He squeezed my hand before approaching the shop attendant, motioning for me to remain close by. I could tell he was reluctant to let me out of his sight after the incident on Krix.

I watched as he greeted the shopkeeper and introduced himself, advising we were interested in purchasing the teleportation pad.

Evidently, the item was in high demand—the alien running the place advised that it was already reserved for another purchaser, one who’d just left to secure the rest of the funds to buy it.

A bad feeling curled in my belly. Something wasn’t quite right here.

“What will it take for you to sell it to me instead?” Kyre asked.

I tapped Kyre’s arm, hoping to discreetly get his attention.

“I can’t very well sell it to you when I promised it to someone else. That would be dishonest,” the alien said.

He was alone in the shop that was filled with so much stuff it reminded me of a hoarder’s den.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” I whispered.

We stepped outside. “What’s wrong?” Kyre asked.

“Are you sure about this guy? How do you know we can trust him?”

“He seems honest and hardworking, albeit a bit disorganized,” Kyre squeezed my shoulders. “You don’t have to trust him. Just trust me.”

I could do that, easily.

“Our situation is quite dire, sir,” Kyre said when we stepped back into the shop. “I can pay you double what the other purchaser offered you, plus sweeten the deal with these.”

He pulled a few of the crystals we’d brought with us to Krix out of the pocket. The alien’s eyes widened in awe.

“How many are you willing to part with?” he asked.

“How many would you require?” Kyre responded.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Lypanthium crystals. Would you be willing to trade all of them, along with the fee?”

His face remained friendly and earnest, but his greed set butterflies flapping in my stomach.

I wanted to say something more to Kyre, but I saw how badly he wanted that teleportation pad. If he was willing to part with both the money and the crystals, who was I to deter him?

“Done,” he agreed, dumping both into one of the alien’s four hands.

He didn’t wait for assistance in securing the teleportation pad. He merely reached up and dislodged it from where it hung before tucking it under his arm.

“Pleasure doing business,” the alien said as Kyre looped an arm around my shoulders and led me out of the shop.

He was silent as we hurried back to our rented craft, but a small smile played on his lips. I hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed, but I had a bad feeling I couldn’t shake.

“Let’s set this up inside the craft away from prying eyes,” he said.

I nodded and followed him inside. I sat back and let him work, attaching various wires to the ship’s control panel. Once everything appeared to be properly connected, he held my gaze and flipped the power switch.

Normally, I loved being right. In this case, I hated it.

Nothing happened. The teleportation pad hadn’t even so much as created a spark when Kyre turned it on.

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense. It’s connected properly. There’s no reason for it not to . . . .” his voice trailed off as he began to inspect the wires for frays and shorts.

I didn’t want to say it, but he had to know.

“Do—do you think he lied to us? Maybe there wasn’t another buyer and he intended to fleece us,” I said.

“Really?” he asked.

Oh, my honest, honorable mate.

I could tell the part of him that would never trick someone didn’t want to believe me, but the rational, logical part of him did.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Kyre. What are we going to do now?”

To say I was disappointed was an understatement.

After everything, I’d been looking forward to getting back to the Calliope and the rest of our crew.

Giving everything a real chance this time, a fresh start.

But maybe that would have to wait.

“We’re going to fix it,” he grinned. “He might have sold it as a piece of junk, but honestly, it wasn’t a bad deal.”

My disappointment faded into little bubbles of excitement. “And it’s not like we don’t know where to get more of those crystals.” I added, leaning across him to wrap my arms over his broad shoulders. “And he couldn’t have known he was dealing with the most amazing engineer in the galaxy.”

He turned in my arms, kissing me soundly.

“And his brilliant assistant.”

Partners and mates.

That was a choice I could believe in.

FERNE

“How much work is this going to take?” I asked.

“Remember when you came through a teleportation pad and smashed it to bits?” Kyre replied.

I nodded.

“This is only slightly less fucked up than that one.”

I covered my mouth to hide my snort of laughter. “Do you know how to fix it?” I asked.

“I do. But I need five hands to get it all done correctly.”

“Well, I have two hands. You can borrow those if you like. As for the fifth, I can offer a foot?”

Kyre tipped his head back and laughed.

“That’s an interesting idea, but unless your foot has opposable thumbs, I’m going to have to pass. We can manage with four hands. The trip home might not be comfortable, though.”

“Believe me, I’ve had worse,” I said.

“Right.” Kyre winced. “Do you know any details about the teleportation pads they had in the testing center?”

I shook my head. “No, why?”

“Based on your reaction, I’d guess that the pads you used were out of date.”

“You’d know more about that than I would.”

“Really?”

I gave Kyre a curious look. “Teleportation is your tech, not mine.”

“But you’re the one who used teleportation tech when you were genetically tested. Surely, you must’ve learned something about it.”

I frowned. “How do you think the genetic testing system works on Earth?”

“I’m not overly familiar with the system. The treaty was enacted when I was still a youth,” he replied. “However, I believe women are tested, those who are a match are put through training, then they’re shipped off to their matches.”

“Close. But there’s no training period.”

“What?” Kyre furrowed his brow. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t make any sense to me, either.”

“Why would you send someone away immediately with no training? Pass me that little tool on the side of the bench. There.” Kyre gestured with his chin since his hands were otherwise occupied.

“This one?” I asked, grateful for a pause in the conversation so that I might gather my thoughts. I lifted a small tool.

“Yes.”

I gave Kyre the tool, then held one of the plates still while he made the necessary repairs.

“I know it was infinitely more traumatic for you,” Kyre said. “However, you scared the life out of me when you came through the portal.”

“I scared you?” I laughed. “That’s rich.”

“I don’t think you know how intimidating you are,” he joked. “Have you seen yourself when you’re angry and confused?”

“I wasn’t confused! I was sedated.”

“And sedated people are never confused?” Kyre snorted.

“Oh, shut up,” I giggled.

“I still can’t believe there’s no training. How were you prepared for your journey?”

“I was an unusual case. Though I think it’s a quick process for every woman, not just me.”

“Unusual case? How so?”

I winced as I tried to figure out the best way to tell Kyre about my technically criminal past.

“What?” He furrowed his brow and set his tools down. He turned to face me with an expression of concern. “You can tell me, whatever it is.”

“I know,” I said with a sigh. “It’s just something I’ve never had to explain before and I’m trying to think of the best way to do that.”

“How bad can it be?”

I shrugged. “Depends on your definition of bad, I suppose.”

“You know there’s nothing you can say that’ll make me care for you less.”

“I know,” I smiled. “You forgave me for running, after all.”

A flicker of hurt glinted in his dark eyes. Regretting the reminder that I’d tried to leave him, I placed my hand over his and gave it a squeeze.

“I lived off the grid from the time I came of age until I was genetically matched,” I explained. “My parents met and married before the treaty came into effect. They wanted to give me the chance to find true love.”

“Is that what you wanted too?”

“I thought so, but really I wanted freedom and adventure. The idea of a peace treaty dictating my life freaked me out so much that I lived in a remote cabin in the woods between two treacherous mountains and never registered for anything, ever.”

“You hated the idea of it that much?”

“It repulsed me,” I admitted. “I spent nine years hiding from registration. I only got caught because I got injured on a climbing tour. One of my clients called for a medivac. The doctors tried to find my records and couldn’t.”

“You didn’t have any medical records?” Kyre replied. “You were climbing the most dangerous places on Earth. You’re telling me you never got hurt?”

“Oh, I got hurt a lot,” I grinned. “But I had friends who were able to patch me up just as well as any doctor.”

“Your life prepared you to be thrown into the middle of the desert with me,” Kyre laughed. “I believe you’re the only human female who could’ve survived our circumstances.”

“That’s not true, though not many can free climb like I can. There’s a reason why I charged my clients out the ass for a mountain tour.”

“Are you sorry you were caught?” Kyre asked.

“I knew you were going to ask something like that,” I teased.

“Forgive me.” He rolled his eyes with a smirk. “I feel like I kidnapped you from a happy life.”

My smile faded. “You can’t seriously feel that way, can you?”

“I’m the reason you had to leave.”

“No,” I said quickly. “No, you’re not. A flawed system is why I had to leave. Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I realize how lucky I’ve been. The life I led back on Earth was a dangerous one. It was only a matter of time before I was seriously injured. I’m not angry that one of my clients called a medivac. I would’ve died otherwise.”

I had more to say, but the words died on my tongue as I thought about what my death would mean for Kyre.

“I know I’ve asked you about mates dying before,” I said. “But what if I had died on the mountain that day? What would that have meant for you?”

Kyre frowned while he considered my question.

“I believe I would’ve gone through life never finding my mate,” he said. “I might not have ever thought I didn’t find my mate because she’d died, but I don’t think I would’ve found one.”

I sighed. “I’m really glad I didn’t die on that mountain.”

“Me, too,” he grinned.

“If I had died, would you have been happy living without a mate?”

He shook his head.

“I tried not to dwell on it, never wanted to think about something I might never have. But seeing Lila and Rekker together also made me want to find my mate, let me hope, just a little,” he admitted.

“Really?” I couldn’t help but smile. Kyre was just so cute! It was hard to think of a massive, muscular, tattoo-covered, horned alien as cute, but here he was.

“What are you gushing about?” he smirked.

“You’re a romantic!”

“I suppose I am,” Kyre declared proudly, and leaned to the side to brush against me. “But I do want you to know that I don’t like the system either. I would’ve rather met you in a natural way without a contract and the threat of incarceration linking us.”

“The more I think about it, the more I’m grateful for that stupid contract.”

“Oh?” Kyre looked surprised. “Why is that?”

“Well, I’ve done a lot of thinking—”

“Uh-oh.”

“Asshole,” I snorted. “Anyway, I think that in order for us to get where we are now, our story had to be exactly what it was. If I’d met you in a more natural setting, I’m not sure anything else that happened would’ve happened.”

“That’s a nice way to think about it,” Kyre agreed. “It sure puts a shine on all the bullshit we’ve had to wade through to get here.”

“And all the bullshit waiting for us when we return,” I pointed out. “I’m still annoyed that the only bit of information your boss was able to give us is that the relic thing is somewhere underground.”

“Yeah, that’s frustrating. At least we have a shot at narrowing down the possible locations.”

“Only if we make it back to Gravum IV,” I said. “Come on, let’s get cracking on this.” I drummed the fragments of the teleportation pad with my nails.

“Cracking is the last thing we need.”

I took Kyre’s face in my hands and kissed him between bouts of giggles.

“I’m not sure what I said to inspire that,” he grinned when I released his face, “but I’ll happily take it.”

KYRE

I had been working on the device for quite a while and couldn’t get the circuits glowing bright enough. This planet was like a great big junkyard, lots of potential, but mostly useless garbage.

I was frustrated to end up here, but I knew we’d had no other choice.

It had been way too close with the Suhlik. After waiting for my mate for so long, I wouldn’t accept losing her, especially to them.

Ferne looked up at me and she gave me one of her cute little smiles.

I grinned back, my frustrations over the teleport pad melting away at her attention. It wasn’t possible to be in a bad mood while she was near me.

I leaned over the device, checking all the connections. I had really done the best I could here. If it was just me, I’d trust that I could jump on and the faltering tech would get me home. With Ferne coming with me, I was far more hesitant.

With the lights dim and not glowing brightly, it meant that the machine wasn’t working at full capacity. All sorts of horrible things could happen. We could end up in pieces on the other side. We could get stuck in space, randomly shot out of the light tunnel. We might open our eyes to a team of Suhlik.

I tapped a finger on the edge of the pad, and it made an ebb and flow, glowing bright then dim in a stable pattern. It would have to do.

“Okay. I think it’s good now.”

“You think?” Ferne cocked an eyebrow at me, a wry smile on her lips.

“I can’t promise we’ll come through with all our pieces intact, but it’s our only chance.” I grinned back at her, making light of the conversation, even though my concerns were real.

Not much point in explaining to Ferne the dozens of things that could potentially go wrong. Why make her anxious about things that might not happen? If it all went wrong, we wouldn’t have time to be scared.

I placed our purchases around the edges of the pad, then stepped up, giving a hand for Ferne to follow me.

We held hands at first, but I let go of her gently, letting my hands fall to my sides.

I wanted to be a part of my mate forever in every way.

But I did not want us to get merged mid-teleport because the pad malfunctioned and fused us into one being.

That would really take the fun out of sex, wouldn’t it?

I activated the device and winced. The grating, clicking thrumming made it sound like colliding spaceships.

My body started to tingle. I took a deep breath, wondering if it would be my last.

The moment of disembodiment was longer than I’d expected it to be, even with dodgy tech. Normally, you wouldn’t have time to think about the trip at all. This time, I was aware of my body being stretched to its limit, held in a dangerous, helpless stasis where you could neither fight nor run.

I heard the humming first. Flickering light played through my vision. As I drew breath, I started to cough.

I felt Ferne’s weight across my legs and realized we were material again, plastered to the floor of the main teleport chamber back on the ship, with all our purchased materials around us.

As I blinked my vision into focus, thinking how lucky it was that I had eyes, the first thing I saw was a gun barrel pointed at my face.

I froze, looking slowly up the weapon until I met Derrix’s eyes.

I heard Ferne groan as she sat up, holding her head. She shook it gently then moaned louder, leaning forward and holding her stomach.

“It’s extreme motion sickness,” I told her urgently. “Don’t try to get up, certainly don’t shake your head.”

She nodded, just a little, face pale as she held her head and her stomach. I was hit by it pretty hard, too. My ears were full of roiling pressure, reverberating to my stomach with a powerful wave of nausea. Even though I was sitting still, I felt like I was in a tiny boat tossing on a rough sea.

“Can you get up?” asked Derrix.

I nodded weakly, taking his hand and letting him pull me to my feet. “Thanks.” I held my guts in with effort, feeling like the room was trying to rock me to sleep.

“I almost shot you, you know,” Derrix scowled at me. “Why didn’t you signal ahead? Or use any of the conventional channels?”

“Yeah, sorry. We had to come in by an alternate route.”

“What do you mean?” Derrix’s face went blank with surprise.

“We ran into trouble in the port. Ferne . . . she got separated from me and some Suhlik showed up. It got a bit hairy.”

“A bit hairy?” Derrix exclaimed. “That sounds like more than a bit.”

I shrugged. “The important thing is, I got us out of there. I put some distance between us, and we kept our heads down until we could get to a nearby planet. There was no way that I was going to use the main teleportation center with those guys hanging around. They could have come after us there or followed us.”

“But where did you end up? The signal for that location didn’t even register on our system.”

“That’s because the planet was so small, and the teleporter was rusty as hell.” I coughed just a little as my body settled even further. A pounding headache grew behind my eyes. “The Suhlik shouldn’t have been able to follow us, but I’m going to recommend we use the telepads sparingly, if at all, for the duration of the mission.”

Turning to Ferne, I bent to touch her gently on the shoulder, rubbing gently between her shoulder blades and down her spine. She relaxed a little, taking ragged breaths.

“Are you okay?” I felt a nasty twisting in my guts at the idea that she might be really sick.

She nodded. “It’s just taking longer to find my feet after this time.”

“We can get you some medication for the inner ear imbalance. You should have electrolytes, too, and something hot to drink for the mild shock.”

She gave me a little grin. “You sound and look like a mother hen, clucking over her chicks.”

It was my time to grin. I had some experience with Terran chickens. Their hardy nature, tasty flesh, and delicious eggs made them popular right through just about every galaxy. Easy to breed and care for, neverending free food.

“Have you seen a broody hen over her chicks?” I laughed softly. “They are vicious and brutal when they are protecting their babies.”

She nodded, color starting to return to her cheeks. “As a matter of fact, I have, and you are quite right. I suppose a lot of old Earth sayings don’t make sense when you look at the reality of it.”

I helped her to her feet. She staggered a little.

“We need to get you to the med bay.” I almost scooped her up and rushed her straight there, but Derrix turned to me.

“No, Rekker needs you on the scanner,” he insisted.

“Are you kidding me? We just got our insides discombobulated then smashed back together. Half the neurons in my brain will have slipped their connections.”

“I certainly feel like my molecules are mixed wrong.” Ferne looked at her hand, moving her fingers gently.

“You took longer than expected.” Derrix tried to sound reasonable. “We are so far behind now. Rekker knows it’s not your fault, everyone got jerked around with their orders, but we need that thing working.”

I could feel my scowl growing as fast as my rage. Ferne was hurt! Nothing else mattered.

As I opened my mouth to blast Derrix so hard Rekker would feel it, Ferne put a soft hand on my arm.

“It’s okay, Kyre. Let’s just head to engineering and get set up. We can call Javik or someone to bring us supplies, don’t you think? Or we can get started on the device, then run up to med bay afterward.”

I nodded. This was sound advice. I did feel a considerable amount of urgency over the fact we needed to get this deep scanning done.

I let Ferne take my hand and picked up my bag with the few tools and parts in it that I needed to finish the machine. I would tend to her first, regardless of what she said.

“I want someone to attend Ferne as soon as possible. Then we’ll go to engineering.”

“No problem.” Derrix turned to leave. “See that you update Rekker on your progress.”

He went out into the hallway, probably heading to the command center. I squeezed Ferne’s hand gently, looking over at her with a smile.

“Checkup first, then what do you say we go build a deep earth scanner?”

She smiled, even though I could tell she was still unwell. Her skin looked too pale and her eyes weren’t as bright. She was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

She nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

We headed down the hall, hand in hand. Being back on the ship changed my mood considerably.

I hadn’t realized just how much danger Ferne could be in if we’d visited a main hub.

I hadn’t realized how I would feel if I saw her in real danger.

Now I did know.

And I would never allow that situation to happen again.

FERNE

I let Kyre lead me to the med bay on the way to his workshop to begin work on the deep earth scanner.

We found Lila already there when we arrived, completing what looked like an inventory of the supply of medicines in the cabinets.

She greeted us with a smile and put down her clipboard. “What can I do for our newest lovebirds?” she asked in a light and happy voice, her enthusiasm nearly infectious.

“We ended up having to use a teleportation device that had seen better days to get back from the mission,” Kyre explained. “Ferne hasn’t adjusted well, so I was hoping you’d be able to give her an examination, just in case there’s something more serious going on.” Kyre placed one of his large hands on the small of my back.

Even though I felt awful, my entire body reacted to his touch. It hummed beneath his fingertips, wanting so much more than just a featherlight brush of his skin against my own.

“Of course. Teleportation is hard on the body, especially for humans. I’m not exactly sure why, but it seems like it’s not in our makeup to withstand it—at least not as well as other races. You do look a bit peaky, Ferne . . . how are you feeling?” she asked me.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine—I’ve been through a lot worse. But I do think it would help if I could lie down for a minute or two,” I told her.

“By all means. Please come in,” Lila said, directing me over to a bed crisply dressed in white linen.

Kyre wrapped an arm around my waist and helped me to it, which was even more torturous than his hand on my back.

Now that we’d been intimate with one another, it was evident how much my body craved his. He helped me up onto the bed and settled me back on the pillow before running a hand through the lengths of my hair. I leaned into his touch as he lowered his lips to mine.

“Is it okay if I leave you here in Lila’s capable hands? I’ll stay if you want me to, but I really should get started on the scanner,” he said, his dark eyes never leaving mine.

“Of course, you should. I’ll be okay. Lila will look after me nearly as well as you would,” I told him with a chuckle.

“Better,” Lila interrupted. “Definitely better, seeing as this big blue brute has zero medical training whatsoever.”

Kyre stuck his tongue out at her comment and I couldn’t help but smile.

I kissed him one more time before he stood up and turned toward the door.

“Take care of my assistant. I’ll need her if we’re to get off this rock,” he said to Lila.

She saluted him, only half mockingly. “She’ll be good as new in an hour.”

I watched him leave, sighing deeply once he was out of sight.

“Alright, Ferne. Let’s check you out, shall we? I’m going to start by taking your temperature,” she said.

I nodded and lay perfectly still as she slowly ran a device over my forehead. Its flashing lights caused my head to throb, so I closed my eyes.

“Light sensitivity—that’s common after teleportation travel, especially over such a long distance,” Lila immediately noted, scribbling it down on her notepad.

She continued checking me over, listening to my heart and monitoring my pulse.

“All of your vitals seem normal. Are you experiencing any further discomfort? Does anything hurt besides your head?” she asked, her eyes filled with concern.

“I’m really nauseated, but I’m sure that’s normal. I’m sure it’ll pass if I just get some rest. It’s been an interesting couple of days,” I told her candidly.

I’d never really found it easy to openly share the details of my life, but I felt like I could trust Lila.

Not only was she the only other human here, but she was the only other female and the only other person I knew who’d been matched with a Vaznik warrior against her will.

I couldn’t help but feel a certain sort of kinship between the two of us, regardless of whether she felt it too.

But I thought she did. She’d been so nice to me from the moment I arrived, so I allowed myself a moment of grace and took a deep breath.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked before I could even speak.

“I tried to run away from Kyre on Krix. I thought . . . I thought, If I don’t do this now, I’ll never do it and before I could talk myself out of it, I’d left him. It was foolish—if he hadn’t found me, I don’t know where I’d be right now. I was grabbed by two Suhlik soldiers who injected me with some sort of neurotoxin, but Kyre heard my screams and found me. He fought them off and saved me and I—I feel like such a fool, Lila. How could I do that to him?” I asked, covering my eyes with my hands as tears threatened to fall.

She immediately took one of my hands in hers.

“Take deep breaths, Ferne, it’s okay,” Lila said. “I understand. I wanted to run away at first, too—I tried to before I’d even made it out of the testing facility—but I was caught and shipped to Rekker before I even had time to process what had happened. It was difficult at first, but now I can’t imagine my life without him.”

“It scares me to feel this deeply for someone I didn’t choose. For someone I hadn’t even met until a few days ago,” I said, finally saying the words out loud. It felt like a weight lifted off my chest once they were out.

“I know. But it’s okay. I know you’ve known me for less time than you’ve known Kyre, but I hope you know you can trust me. I’ve gone through what you have, and I promise, it only gets better. Kyre is a good man, Ferne. Has he proven himself otherwise?”

“No. He’s been amazing since the moment we met,” I told her.

“Just . . . give it some time. No one’s saying you need to have a child right away. Just be with him, feel it out.” She grinned, mischief in her eyes. “I can tell that you care for him.”

“More than I’ve ever cared about anyone,” I said.

“Just remember that. He cares for you, too. I think he might even love you already, but don’t tell him I said that,” she said with a wink.

I moved to sit up and rubbed my hands over my eyes.

“I think I’m feeling a little better now, Lila, thank you. Maybe the trauma was more emotional than physical. Talking to you helped—I hope we can be friends.”

She hugged me in response and I realized – I hadn’t just found my mate. I’d found my new family.

“I’m going to find Kyre. He needs my help, after all,” I said with a smile.

“Have fun—let me know if you need me, for medical reasons or otherwise. Definitely, if you start to feel worse.”

It took no time at all to reach Kyre’s workshop down in the depths of the ship. It was filled with so many half-broken machines, various tools, and hardware, that I wasn’t sure how he could even find the things he needed.

I made a mental note to talk to him about letting me organize his supplies when I next found myself needing something to do.

“Permission to enter?” I asked playfully, knocking on the door.

“You never have to ask,” he said, glancing up with a smile.

Over his eyes he wore a pair of magnifying glasses which made them look comically large. He pushed them up on his head to rest just under his horns and reached out a hand to me.

I moved on swift feet to take it into my own, laughing as he pulled me down onto his lap.

I moved first, leaning to press my mouth against his. He sighed against my lips and desire grew hot beneath my skin.

“Hi,” I said, tilting my forehead against his.

“What did Lila say?” he asked.

I moved to sit down on a battered stool next to him and leaned over the table.

He’d completely ceased working when I entered the room, turning all his focus on me. I’d never stop appreciating how attentive he was.

“She thinks it’s just standard-issue malaise from teleporting using a faulty device and told me to come back if I wasn’t feeling any better later. I’m already starting to improve—being here with you helps,” I admitted to him.

“I like hearing that.”

“What are you doing? Mind if I watch?” I asked, genuinely curious about what he was working on and also not wanting my presence to hinder his efforts.

“I never mind you being here. I’m just assembling the drill bit now. Since I’m not entirely sure what the surface of this planet is made of, I’m making it out of the strongest material I have on hand—Thorium. Hopefully, it’ll break through so we can plant the probe . . . once I figure out how to make that.”

I watched as he hunched down over the workbench again, his large but nimble hands working effortlessly to piece together the bit.

How he worked was a wonder to me—it seemed like he always knew exactly what to do. His mind was a treasure trove of mechanical knowledge, almost as if he was part machine himself.

I didn’t know how long I was staring at him, head propped in my hand, but it must have been long enough, because he suddenly stopped and glanced my way.

“What are you looking at?” he asked, his voice a little unsure.

“I love you,” I said.

My lips moved before my brain could even process the words, dumbfounding even myself, but I forged on.

“I love you, Kyre. I don’t want to run away anymore. I want to be with you, wherever you are, wherever that is, always. I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with and I know I’ve made mistakes, but I hope—I hope . . . ”

I couldn’t finish, suddenly so scared he didn’t feel the same.

Before I could pull myself together, he grabbed me and pulled me into his arms.

“I love you, too, Ferne. I suspect I have for a while now—probably since the day you hijacked my teleportation pad. How could I not? Besides the fact that you’re my mate, you’re everything I want. Everything. I promise to care for you and protect you, always,” he said against my lips.

Never in a million years would I have thought I’d find the love of my life on a foreign planet, light years away from home, but as I settled into his arms, I knew there was no other place I’d rather be.

KYRE

I worked quickly getting the scanner together, but it still took me a while. After getting back from the most hellish teleport ever recorded, I worked for a few hours before finally getting some rest.

I didn’t sleep much. The need to get this job done rose in all of us. I think the entire crew was still pissed about the lack of information and we were starting to get scared we’d be stuck here for an extended period of time.

That also allowed us to distract ourselves from the ultimate question. What was underground?

Why couldn’t/wouldn’t our superiors just tell us?

Luckily, I could still work when I wasn’t feeling well. After a few hours of fitful sleep, I found myself back in engineering, fingers working fast as I quickly figured out how to fit the machine together.

I enjoyed Ferne’s help when she visited. I enjoyed it even more when I caught her just staring at me. There was an easy comfort between us as if we had always known each other.

When I tried to fight that feeling, or examine it in some way, that was the only time I felt doubt.

So long as I trusted the fact that we were made for each other, everything fell into place.

After working on the thing for most of the day and night, I took a few more hours to fit the last parts. It was midmorning when we took it out into the desert to see if it would work.

I had every confidence that it would. Knowing I was surrounded by people who didn’t have that confidence made the situation unnerving, especially because so much could go wrong.

We needed this intel now. As I headed out to a bare patch of desert sand, I caught Rekker’s eye.

“You really think this will get us results?” Rekker asked.

The rest of the team wore expressions hovering between curiosity and impatience.

“Don’t I usually?” I answered. “I know we all want to get on with this mission.”

I set the cylinder-shaped scanner on the sand, its little wire legs reaching out to stabilize itself. It resembled an insect standing up on its hind legs.

If it had wings, it would look like it could fly.

Except this baby wasn’t meant to soar.

She was meant to dig.

I pressed a small button near the top and stepped back with my little remote control. It connected to a tablet device Rekker was holding.

I would control the drone and Rekker would get all the readouts.

The little thing spun, spraying up a thin wave of sand. It pulled its little legs and arms in, then disappeared under the ground.

I adjusted my controls, waiting for it to get deep enough. Most planets had a thick crust and beneath that, stronger layers of bedrock that were very difficult to penetrate. I’d need different equipment to pierce them and explore that deep, but that wasn’t where we were going.

We wouldn’t find underground chambers that far down. This machine would burrow down almost to that layer, where its sensors would spread out.

She’d let out alpha waves, which were like sonar except they could move through rock and sand.

As it vibrated its pulses, it would send information back to us. The underground caverns would be recorded with fine detail.

“Going into full power now,” I said, tapping two buttons.

The waves would move outwards and the machine would keep sensing as they bounced around through the surface down to the bedrock below. She wouldn’t stop until the waves returned.

For a few minutes, we all stood there, staring at either the device controls in my hand or the tablet Rekker was holding.

Small puffs of sand came up out of the hole where the little machine was moving underneath.

Cedroc and Derrix shuffled impatiently. I wasn’t worried.

Everything was working exactly the way it should. Sure, Command Control probably had equipment out there that could do it faster, but I had done well with the materials I had salvaged.

And if they’d bothered to tell us what the mission was beforehand, maybe I would have tried to pack a proper drilling device.

A few hours to scan the entire crust of the planet was pretty good for a machine built on the fly.

The tablet in Rekker’s hands began to beep. I heard his sigh of satisfaction as the pictures started to come up.

“Well, this is going to be interesting,” he added grimly.

I hurried over to take a look.

We were all hoping to see miles of thick crust with one large underground chamber. Maybe a couple, scattered over the entire planet.

I couldn’t stifle my disbelief as I gaped at the screen. The tracer was still working, green lines crossing over the terrain as it sent the information back to the screen.

Underground chambers appeared all over the map. They could be seen as crooked, black voids. The tracer slowly did its work, painting out all the ground layers, examining them and helpfully providing a scientific analysis of the rocks and soil.

As the arcs of light kept moving, some of the underground chambers were revealed to have openings on the surface, but most did not.

Rekker scowled at the screen as if he could make it change its mind.

“Do we have any idea where we are supposed to start looking?” I could see a few caverns nearby that had openings to the surface.

Checking them would only take a couple of days. There were plenty even further away and a lot of them would have to be blown open.

Rekker shook his head.

“There was no information about multiple chambers. I thought we were only looking for one. Let’s see if I can raise them.”

He pulled out a communicator and tried to call through. I heard static in the bands, and I was pretty sure comms were down. We could usually use them between us here on the surface, but atmospheric conditions could affect communication with orbit.

Rekker tried a few channels, getting nothing but static. He cursed softly, shaking the thing. He scowled at it like he might throw it. Eventually, he tucked it back into his pocket and took a closer look at the map on the tablet.

“We’ll have to check them all. Better get some teams geared up so we can do this.”

I stood with Rekker, watching the little puffs of sand that told me the scanner was still working. It would eventually bring back information about mineral deposits, crystals, watercourses. Given enough time, it would analyze every structure within the planet’s crust.

“Do we know what we’re looking for?” I spoke softly, watching the readouts on the screen. I could see plenty of valuable deposits of ore and minerals that we could use. The longer the scan went, the more interesting the readings became.

Rekker shook his head. “The map looks good, though, doesn’t it? It’s not like we’re a mining ship, so we can’t access a lot of this, but it’s much more than what it looks like on the surface.”

I ran a finger across the map.

“Some of these chambers with openings to the surface are right in the middle of the desert. Some of the ones furthest away look like they are sealed. Getting explosives out there will be a mission and a half.”

Rekker nodded. “We should hit the hardest ones first. I’ll make sure the team is briefed and prepared for a hostile situation. Does this thing monitor life signs?”

I shook my head slowly. “Not completely. If something big is down there and it emits any kind of electrical signal—like a nervous system or heart—it will pick it up and show it as being different to the other deposits and rock features. It won’t necessarily tell us how big it is or exactly where it is.”

“Well, that’s helpful,” Rekker muttered darkly.

“Well, I wasn’t told to look for lifeforms!” I tried not to sound too exasperated.

Rekker waved a hand. “It’s what we’ve got, so we have to work with it. The majority of these things seem to be nearby, and they are quite small. Some bigger ones a few miles out.”

I turned back to look at the map. “The biggest one is right on the other side of the planet.” I traced my finger around its edges, somehow fascinated by the large, dark space.

“How accurate are your readings that far away? Is the machine losing sensitivity through the distance?”

I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t work like that. The readings are sound.”

Rekker pinched a lip between two fingers.

“We better get moving. I can keep trying to reach command. Maybe we can narrow it down. Checking all of these is going to take some time.”

I could only agree. It didn’t disappoint me, though. No matter what my feelings about the mission or the job might have been before, I felt my focus changing.

I wanted to see what was in these caverns, especially the larger ones. The mythical artifact must be in one of those, right?

And despite the mysterious mission, I smiled to myself, careful not to let Rekker see.

An adventure on an alien planet, with endless tunnels to explore.

Ferne was going to love it, even if the whole thing was a pain in the ass.

FERNE

The morning after Kyre set up his device, I started packing. We really didn’t know how long we would be on this planet for and I was grateful that I was going out to explore it.

These Vaznik warriors might be tough bastards, but they didn’t have my training. I’d be glad to teach them a thing or two.

A fierce smile of triumph lit my face as I thought about the excitement of this mission.

This was what I had always lived for, the challenge of dangerous and sometimes deadly terrain, trials of weather and local climates, new plants, new animals and whole new eco systems to discover.

I was so high I could almost feel my fingers trembling.

Warm arms grabbed me from behind and I sank back against Kyre’s body. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I leaned back on his chest, feeling that wonderful, tingly warmth that caressed my skin every time we touched each other.

I put my head back so he could kiss me, feeling that warmth ignite into roaring flames. The only thing I could think about right now was tearing his clothes off, but I knew we had to get going soon.

I knew the task ahead of us was going to be difficult, but it wasn’t like I expected it to be a pleasure cruise. Still, I got the thrill that always appeared before an adventure.

There would be times in my life where a holiday meant a comfortable place to sit, with a pretty view, where I could do nothing. This was not one of those times.

While there was a vibrant, beautiful, and potentially deadly planet to discover, that sort of holiday looked more like torture than reward.

I let Kyre open my lips with his tongue, the slick sliding making me start to feel slick in other places, too. His hand roamed down my belly and slipped under the waistband of my pants.

“Not that I’m complaining.” I murmured to my lover, “but we will never get moving if you keep that up.”

“I can keep it up forever.” Kyre laughed. I turned around so I could press my body flush against his, my nipples burning as I pressed them against his warm chest. I let the kiss go on, feeling his hands all over me and mine following in hot pursuit.

“Have you packed?” I asked, biting his lip.

“Sure. I’ve got weapons, tools, rations, tents . . . ”

“Did you roll your socks into your underwear like I showed you?”

“Vaznik warriors don’t wear underwear. Surely you noticed?”

I plunged a hand down his pants, letting my fingers trace his hard belly as I reached down, grabbing his cock. He smiled broadly, putting his hands on his hips while I stroked him.

“Yes, I see,” I muttered thoughtfully. “This definitely needs some more examination.”

There was a sound by the door, and I quickly pulled my hand back. No one came in, but there was the trampling of several booted feet.

“We should get out there,” Kyre said resignedly. “Everyone else is waiting to see us off.”

I resumed packing, carefully measuring the space and weight of my pack against the things I needed to bring with me.

The two of us would be out there for days, in unknown territory, with very little opportunity for rescue if things went pear-shaped.

We’d decided to split the team up for these explorations, for safety’s sake.

If we all went, and there was a problem, there wouldn’t be anyone to pull us out.

If we all simply disappeared or got into trouble and couldn’t communicate with anyone off-planet, we knew that they couldn’t search every inch of the planet looking for us.

Kyre collected his pack and headed out the door. I knew he had to be at the briefing, and he would stop at the armory on the way.

I took my time putting my pack together. This mission was too dangerous to miss a single thing.

That’s what made it so thrilling.

So much of our survival would depend on us and the decisions we made. I loved nothing more than being thrust into a situation where I was forced to think outside the box. My head was full of rocky mountains, beautiful, bare deserts, and strange creatures. I was still imagining those amazing things as I hurried with the last few items.

When I finished packing, I left the cabin to find Kyre, who was standing with the captain. I hurried up beside him, barely restraining myself from taking his hand, but unable to dim my massive smile.

Rekker saw my expression and smiled back. “If only the rest of the team was as enthusiastic as you are,” he said.

“I was born for this sort of thing, Captain,” I smirked.

“That I can see,” he said, eyeing my packs.

He turned to Kyre. “Go easy with your weapons. I still don’t know what lives on this planet.”

“Moving mountains,” I piped up.

“Who knows what else?” Kyre added.

“Exactly. Don’t try to be heroes,” he warned us. “I want you to spend two days out there mapping the terrain. Figure out a smart way for us to examine all of those caverns together. Conserve everything you have. Consider this an ultra-realistic simulation of what we’ll be facing when we set off for real. You’re our testers, if you will.”

“Perfect,” I beamed.

“When you return, we’ll map out the best way to explore all the caverns most likely to contain the artifact.”

“Yes, sir,” Kyre nodded.

“Get to it.”

Rekker shook our hands, bid us good luck, and watched us walk away.

“Which way?” I took Kyre’s hand and swung it a little.

“I do love the desert.” He looked out over its stark beauty. “But we should probably go through the swamp.”

“Hmm. Leeches. Mosquitos. Malaria.”

He cocked his head to the side. “What?”

“Oh, I’m sure this planet has its versions of those things. It would make travel very unpleasant.”

“Yeah, maybe. Unpleasant might rank slightly better than deadly. In the swamp, we won’t have to worry about water.”

“Except for lighting a fire to boil said water.”

“Hey, if you want to go through the desert, fine by me. I’m just thinking of resources. We’ll use all our water in a few days out there.”

I tugged on his hand to stop him, reaching up for a kiss.

“I’m just making sure we explore all the options. It was my job, you know. Planning expeditions for people.”

He shook his head. “Job? No. A job is something you go to and do. It might be enjoyable, but there’s a big difference between a job and the nonstop adventure that was your life.”

I squeeze his hand, looking around me. “It still is my life.”

He kissed me again. “Really? You wanted to go back to your planet so badly. Is this planet really so beautiful to you that it’s more important than where you came from?”

I looked into his eyes, gripping both of his hands. “You’re more important, than anything.”

The next kiss was not soft, nor was it slow or playful. It was a desperate moment of love and connection. We kneaded each other’s lips, our hands grasping at each other as if we needed to get a good handful and never let go.

When we pulled back, I was touched to see the look in his eyes. There was a sense of wonder and disbelief at my words, that I had found him to be the most important part of my universe.

I turned to look out over the paths ahead of us.

“So. The swamp, then?” I queried.

Kyre laughed. “That’s my vote. Access to water and none of those mind-numbing cactuses.”

“You never know. We might find plants in the swamp that are way more trippy.”

“Trippy?”

“Oh, it’s an Earth term.” I grinned mischievously. “If we find some funky looking mushrooms, I’ll demonstrate it for you.”

He raised his eyebrows inquisitively but said nothing.

I turned my eyes to the expanse that spread out before us. It was rich with things that were just waiting to be discovered.

In a lot of ways, this was the trip I’d been waiting for my whole life. The fact that I had my mate beside me took this beyond exciting.

A partner.

A love, forever.

I actually wondered what I had done for the universe to reward me so finely.

“Are you okay?” I asked Kyre. “I know this isn’t your idea of a great mission.”

He shook his head, touching my cheek gently.

“Everything is perfect when I’m with you.”

My smile sang through every inch of my body. I turned towards the freedom of the open world and took Kyre’s hand.

The planet itself was a grand adventure. But these moments were the very first of an even greater adventure.

My life with Kyre.

My life with my mate.

We turned our backs on everything we had ever known and faced down an uncertain future.

It might be full of peril, but it was also filled with love.

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AVA

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CEDROC: SNEAK PEEK

Coralie

“I swear to God, if you post that picture, I’m going to launch you into the black!” I cackled and lunged for the phone in Constalatia’s hand. We sat across from each other on the plush, white leather seats of my driver’s car. The sun was just starting to peek up over the horizon. It had been another successful night for us.

We started at dusk with the newest, hottest, and most exclusive restaurant in town. From there, we moved to a cute little bar for our first round of cocktails. After that, everything blurred together. I knew we went dancing at two different locations, maybe more. All I knew for sure was that, like always, I had the time of my life.

“Shut up!” she shrieked back. “You look so pretty in every photo! Don’t pretend you don’t think so.”

“Yeah, I know I look pretty.” I tossed my waist-length hair over my shoulder and made another grab for the phone. This time, I managed to snag it. “I’m just trying to keep a low profile with all the partying.”

I quickly deleted any photo evidence of our rambunctious evening.

“Your dad?” Constalatia asked.

“Yeah. He’s gotten it into his head that I’m out of control. I promised him I’d slow down but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” I winked.

She rolled her eyes. “I just don’t get why he’s still trying to control you. You’re a grown woman! You’re allowed to do whatever you want!”

“Right? He pays for my apartment, my car, and pretty much everything else but why does that mean I have to change who I am?” I huffed. Thinking about my father and the weight of his ridiculous expectations was killing my buzz.

Why was it so bad that I wanted to spend my nights having fun surrounded by people who liked and admired me? Every night, I came home with a smile on my face. Didn’t that mean anything to my father?

“No frowning!” Constalatia shouted and shoved a bottle of something bubbly towards me. “Drink until you’re smiling again.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I chuckled, and took a long swig. Before long, my buzz was back. The world whizzing by outside of our car was blurry and glowing. Nothing looked real. Nothing felt real. That was how I liked it.

“I never wanted to follow in his footsteps,” I muttered.

“Enough about your dad. Thinking about him stresses you out too much.”

“You’re right. You’re right,” I waved her off. “You know what sounds great right now?”

“What?” She leaned forward with an eager gleam in her eyes.

“A pile of pancakes the size of my head,” I giggled.

“Oh my God! You’re right!”

“We should get some.” I looked out the window of the car. The world outside came to a standstill. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“We’ve arrived back home, Miss Sinclare,” the driver said.

“Oh,” I pouted. “Well, I won’t make you drive us back out to get pancakes.”

“That’s literally his job,” Constalatia scoffed.

“It’s okay. We can order pancakes from my suite!”

“Good idea!”

We stumbled out of the car and through the door of my building. My father owned the entire building of course, which was why I had the penthouse all to myself. He lived at his estate on the other side of the city. I had rooms there, of course, but I liked my independence.

An elevator attendant was waiting to take me to my floor and thank goodness he was. All of the buttons looked too blurry. I wouldn’t have been able to find the right button on my own. When the elevator started its ascent, I nearly fell over. I clutched Constalatia for balance but that didn’t do me any good. She was falling over, too.

The elevator door opened right up into the foyer of my luxurious multi-story penthouse. Standing in the middle of the foyer with a huge scowl on his face was my father, Erikson Sinclare.

“Ooh,” Constalatia winced. “Maybe we can get pancakes another time.” She awkwardly patted me on the shoulder before stepping back into the elevator. I stood still as a stone, alone with my father.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Where have you been?” he snapped.

“I went out with Constalatia.”

He winced when I said her name. He’s never liked her. Or her name. “I can see that plainly,” he said.

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Don’t get smart with me,” he snapped. “I checked with the doorman. You’ve been out all night. Winston saw you going into multiple locations of the most unsavory nature–”

I held up my hand.

“Winston? You sent your secretary to spy on me?”

“I sent him to make sure you weren’t making a fool of yourself! The Sinclares have a reputation in this city. It has to be protected! How many times do we have to have this conversation?”

“I’m not willing to let a last name I didn’t ask for dictate my life!” I snapped.

“What life?” he shouted. “All you do is sleep all day and party all night. What are you even wearing? How can you go out like that and expect to be seen as a respectable lady?”

I looked down at the short black dress covered in dark shimmering sequins. The dress was completely backless. I was starting to feel the chill in the air. I wasn’t sure if that was because I left the air conditioning on or if my father’s cold gaze was the culprit.

“This dress cost more than your entire suit,” I sniffed. “And I don’t believe that how I dress is a reflection of who I am as a person.”

“It doesn’t matter! How you’re perceived matters.”

“Oh, that’s such bullshit,” I snapped.

Behind me, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Three doctors in white coats and blue gloves toting what looked like an entire lab on wheels stepped into the foyer.

“What the hell is this? What are you doing in my apartment?” I demanded.

“It’s my apartment,” my father corrected me.

“But I decorated it, my furniture is here, and all of my clothes are here. That makes it mine.” I folded my arms across my chest. My father gave me a blank stare.

“They’re here because you have no concept of reality,” my father sighed. “You’re never going to accomplish anything if you don’t get your life together.”

“I have a great life,” I argued. “I’ve accomplished so much! That new club in the city? Carnage? I’m the one who gave the interior designer my opinion on the awful color scheme. Guess what happened? They changed it! Now the place is the trendiest in the area and that’s all because of me!”

“Oh my God.” My father pressed his palm over his eyes.

“I don’t see what these doctors have to do with reality,” I pointed out.

“They’re here to register you for the matchmaking database.”

My buzz crashed to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. I was now uncomfortably sober and starting to panic.

“What?” I laughed. “That’s crazy, Dad. You’ve kept me out of the database for my entire life. Wasn’t your whole thing that your only heir can’t be at risk of being whisked away to an alien planet?”

“You don’t understand the way the world works. I’m having you put onto the registry. With any luck, it’ll ground you and remind you that the type of life you’re living now will not be like this forever. Eventually, you’re going to have to learn a trade. You’re going to have to make a name for yourself. You’re my heir. I refuse to let the Sinclare legacy die because you refuse to be responsible!”

“You’re joking right?” My throat grew tighter with each syllable I uttered. He wasn’t seriously going to let me be put on the register, right?

He looked to the doctors. “Do what you need to do.”

“You can’t do anything to me! I’m an adult. You can’t do anything without my consent.”

“It’s the law, ma’am,” one of the doctors, a woman, said in a gentle voice. “All childless women of age have to be registered as per our treaty with the Mahdfel.”

“I didn’t think it was that serious!” I scoffed.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” my father snapped. “I know you’re too little to remember much about the invasion but we almost lost everything. The Suhlik killed my brother. They killed your grandfather on your mother’s side. Your mother would’ve been taken away from me if it weren’t for the Mahdfel.”

“Yeah, I took a history class in school. I’m not totally clueless.” I groaned. A doctor pricked me with something while I had my attention directed on my father. “Hey! Don’t you dare do anything with that sample!”

“Coralie,” my father sighed. “This is happening.”

“Fine,” I grumbled.

I remembered from that history class that the odds of getting matched weren’t high. A human woman had to be a ninety-eight percent match or something like that. The Mahdfel were just a big genetic melting pot. I was going to be fine. By this time tomorrow, I’d be partying with Constalatia. This would just be a bad memory in a sea of happy times.

An anxious voice in the back of my mind whispered to me. I suddenly remembered the fun little tidbit about what happened to women who weren’t perfectly suited to their genetic matches. Not often, but every once in a while, a matched woman experienced complications during their pregnancy. In those cases, the mother and baby rarely survived.

Fear formed a hard pit in my stomach as my sample was loaded into the portable lab. I had no idea this kind of test was portable.

It’s fine, I told myself over and over. The chances are slim. You’ll be fine.

I took a deep breath and immediately felt better. Everything in my life had worked out in my favor so far. Why would this be any different? Bad things like this didn’t happen to me. They simply didn’t.

The machine beeped and lit up green.

“Green’s a good thing, right?” I smiled.

My father looked at me with an expression of horror. His face drained of all color. The doctor’s exchanged a tense look.

“What’s happening?” I asked softly.

“There must be something we can do,” my father said. I realized he wasn’t speaking to me, but the doctors. “She wasn’t supposed to be a match.”

“Wait, I’m a match?” I exclaimed. “That’s impossible! I can’t go to another planet.”

“I’m sorry,” one of the doctors said to me. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on my arm. “We can teleport you from here. You won’t have to go to a testing facility.”

“Daddy, do something!” My eyes filled with tears as I looked at my father. I’d never seen him look so helpless.

“There’s nothing he can do,” a male doctor said. “The law of the treaty dictates you  must report to your match.” He brought out another odd device, held it to the side of my head. “You might feel a little pinch.”

Fucker! That wasn’t a pinch.

I glared at him, but he just raised an eyebrow. “You’ll want the translator once you get there.”

“I’ll fix it,” my father assured me as the doctors prepped the teleportation pad.

“It’s calibrated. It looked like there’s a teleportation link near your match.” They said it like it was supposed to make me feel better. I couldn’t speak. I must’ve gone into shock. Nothing felt real.

I didn’t say anything when someone grabbed my arm and gently let me to the teleportation pad.

I still didn’t say anything when harsh blue light glowed all around me. The last thing I remembered seeing was my father’s face, filled with sadness and guilt.

Then, I was falling.

Chapter 2

Cedroc

“Who’s reporting the big nothing we’ve found?” I muttered to Jarvik as we slogged through endless tunnels to get back to the surface.

The Calliope had landed on Gravum IV weeks ago and we were still no closer to finding the damned artifact Command had sent us out here to find. It would have been easier to find it if they’d given us more information than “it’s underground” to go on, but that was beside the point.

Kyre, our genius engineer, had rigged up an underground radar device with the help of his human mate, Ferne, to assist us in our search. It was accurate at detecting anomalies beneath the surface of the planet but unfortunately couldn’t provide precise details as to what was buried, so that’s where our team came in.

We were responsible for the dirty work, quite literally, of tunneling down through the dirt and soil to figure out what exactly was buried there.

So far, Kyre’s device had indicated anomalies in three underground chambers.

In the first, we’d discovered a giant rock, almost like an altar, set up in the middle of a vast, glittering cavern. In the second, a large crystal, much like the ones Kyre had mined to fix the comms systems when we’d first arrived, in an underground swamp.

Two interesting finds, but apparently not what we were looking for.

The third chamber was a combination of the first two, deep, deep underground and stretching for what felt like miles beneath.

I’d gone down with Jarvik, The Calliope’s medic, while Kyre remained at the mouth of the chamber with Lila, the mate of our captain, Rekker, and Ferne to monitor our position. Jarvik and I had to squeeze through various tunnels and through more underground tributaries only to find another of the same crystals we already in surplus.

It was maddening.

“I took the lead last time,” Jarvik answered mildly. “That would make it your turn now.”

The trip to the third chamber had also taken the most amount of time of the three.

We’d spent two nights underground and were both cranky, filthy, and exhausted as we trekked back to the beginning of the chamber.

Supplies and morale were running low and although I didn’t mind the challenge, I wanted nothing more than to return to the surface, have a hot shower, and see the sun.

To be honest, the work wasn’t that bad. The only thing I really minded was Command continuing to keep us in the dark.

Rekker had agreed to this mission on the pretense that his crew would receive a two-week furlough at the end of it and we were all living for that. We’d been on our various missions for well over a year and were all craving some downtime. Command had advised this one would be a quick in-and-out and had failed epically on delivering their end of the bargain.

We quickly discovered it would be anything but.

Our comms went down the moment we’d landed, so we’d had no way to communicate with Command. Kyre had gone out on a recon mission for supplies to fix it but ended up being gone days longer than he’d originally planned, returning with Ferne, his human mate and a wild tale of how they’d been matched in the middle of the desert.

With Ferne joining us, that made two out of my team of five Vaznik warriors who’d been matched by the treaty between the Mahdfel and the humans.

“Dibs on the shower, then,” I insisted. “Even a short one would be welcome, after the last two days.”

The two mates, welcome as they were, increased our numbers unexpectedly.

Which meant we were running out of supplies faster than we’d originally planned. Showers were by default fast on a ship, but until we could reliably purify the local resources we’d need to be careful.

I didn’t have the energy right now to run the calculations, but I was sure it meant we had to find this artifact quickly and get off this rock, lest we starve.

If Command was content to leave us to play guess and check with every underground cave on Gravum IV, I doubted they’d send a supply ship out here to re-up our cache of food, ammo, and tech.

And it had to be a supply ship. They’d never spring for the cost of teleporting that many supplies or even the base matter for the replicators.

I never minded being sent out on missions—it was in my blood, after all—but I did mind being left in the dark.

“You’re assuming Rekker and Lila haven’t tried to ‘save water’ again,” Jarvik added. “That wasn’t a particularly well thought out experiment.”

I couldn’t help but snicker at the memory of our usually stern captain, burgundy skin darkening even more at the realization that the entire crew could hear the results of that particular attempt at water conservation.

The addition of the human females to the crew, although logistically problematic, was actually a positive to the mission.

They weren’t as durable as Mahdfel males—especially not Mahdfel males who also happened to be Vaznik—but they were both friendly and funny and turned out to be exceedingly capable crew members.

Lila, Rekker’s mate, was skilled in healing and worked in The Calliope’s infirmary with Jarvik. Ferne was an extremely fast learner and took to assisting Kyre in his workshop with ease.

The rest of the crew and I had taken to them almost like sisters, bound by the honor of the Vaznik to protect and defend them.

It was interesting to see Rekker and Kyre with their mates. We’d been a team for so long that we worked together almost as a singular being—most of the time, we didn’t need to verbalize our next moves because we anticipated them by virtue of our bonds alone. It was strange to see both males divert their attentions to non Vaznik, but they were well-suited to being mated.

Lila and Ferne complimented them and enriched their lives and some males flourished under those conditions.

I was not that type of male. I enjoyed working with my team and spending time with them, but I also craved solitude.

As the pilot of The Calliope, I was used to working alone—no one else could fly the ship but me and that was the code I lived by as well. No one else was in charge of piloting my life, and I liked it that way. Even though neither Lila or Ferne dictated what Rekker and Kyre did, it was plain to see that both males were easily influenced by their mates’ desires, and I didn’t want that for myself.

Plus, the entire universe was going to shit, and I’d rather not take on one more thing to worry about. Not even if that one thing came in the form of a beautiful, human female.

No thanks.

When Jarvik and I finally crawled out of the last tunnel and met up with Kyre, Lila, and Ferne, we were both sweating, stinking, and parched. Kyre eyed us both, holding onto the tracking device with a ridiculous, hopeful look on his face.

“Anything?” he asked.

“Do you think we’d look this annoyed if we’d found what we were looking for?” I deadpanned.

I pulled myself up out of the hole and held out a hand to him, wordlessly indicating he should hand over the canteen of water. He dumped it into my palm and returned to reviewing the screen of the device.

“I need to figure out how to make this thing track the substance of the anomalies,” he said. “Going down blind is a waste of time.”

“You don’t say,” I muttered.

I took a deep pull of water from the canteen before shoving it off into Jarvik’s awaiting hands. He finished the water off as I watched, using the last trickles to wash the dirt from his face.

“What did you find in there anyway?” Kyre asked.

“Just another stupid crystal,” I said, dumping my pack on the ground and pulling the damn thing out.

“You brought it back? This thing weighs a ton!”

“Of course, I brought it back—we need all the supplies we can get. I’m sure there’s something you can do with it. Don’t thank me or anything.”

“I’m grateful, Cedroc. You know that.”

I wasn’t usually so ornery with my teammates, but the last few days had been rough. I desperately wanted a meal that wasn’t out of a ration pack and a good night’s sleep.

“Can we head back to the ship now? I need real rest before we start this all over again tomorrow,” Jarvik said, voicing my exact desires.

Kyre nodded. “I’ll let Rekker know we’re on our way.”

He pulled out a comms radio and powered it on, waiting as it crackled to life.

“Rekker, what do you have?”

Jarvik nodded towards me, and I sighed. “Nothing you want, I’m afraid.”

A long pause, and I could almost imagine the captain glaring at the map. “You did your best, I’m sure. Get back to camp and we’ll decide on the next one.”

Kyre put the radio away, and yet another of the many devices on his person began beeping incessantly. It was a shrill, annoying sound that I very much wanted to cease immediately.

“What the hell is that and how do you make it stop?” I asked him.

“That’s strange—it’s the device that’s tied to the teleportation pad back in the workshop on the ship. It’s telling me the pad is online and trying to activate, which is weird because it’s not in commission. Ferne accidentally broke it last week when we were…never mind,” he said, his voice suddenly trailing off.

I looked over to where Ferne stood with Lila, unable to prevent myself from rolling my eyes at her.

“Hey, I’m not sorry about it. It was a good time,” Ferne replied with a grin.

“I can’t fix the other pad from here, but I can reroute the signal to the one we have with us,” Kyre said, fingers flying over the screen of the device.

Once he finished inputting the rerouting data, he crouched down and pulled his personal teleportation pad from his overloaded pack. He placed it carefully on the ground and powered it up, waiting as it hummed to life before he stood.

A set of coordinates flashed onto its screen once it came online.

Coordinates I recognized from reviewing the previous logs.

Since I’d seen it before I knew exactly what was about to happen.

Seconds later, a human female came through the portal.

The first thing I noticed were her shoes.

These were the most painful looking things I’d ever seen: shiny, black things with a high arch, thin, dagger-like heel, and an overly pointed toe.

The dress she wore was black too, but it was more akin to a scrap of fabric, leaving not one inch of her body to the imagination. It sparkled in the bright lights Kyre had set up for us to see by, nearly blinding me.

Despite her smudged makeup, she was stunningly beautiful, with long, honey-blonde hair that fell down her back nearly to her waist; golden, tanned skin, that looked soft to the touch; big, blue eyes that reminded me of Earth’s sky on a cloudless day; and plumpest lips I’d ever seen. She was gorgeous, yes, but she looked as exhausted as I felt.

The five of us stared at her, waiting for her to say something when Ferne suddenly drove an elbow into my side.

“Looks like this one’s yours, Cedroc,” she said with a chuckle.

She was right. The tattoo on my left shoulder—the one that only lit up when my true soulmate was near—was burning white.

Well, fuck.

Chapter 3

Coralie

It was bad enough returning to my apartment to find my father had practically broken in and organized the testing without even telling me about it. It was worse to discover I was a 99% match with an alien male I’d never met.

I didn’t think Daddy really thought I’d actually be successfully matched—I think he was just trying to scare me onto the straight and narrow.

Boy, did that plan backfire or what?

I didn’t even have time to process the whole thing before the treaty doctors hustled me onto a teleportation pad and shipped me off. I’d never teleported anywhere before and it was absolutely terrible. It felt like I was being sliced and torn and twisted every which way, like trying to squeeze a size ten girl into a size two dress. It was simply awful.

When I opened my eyes, I had no idea where I was. My surroundings made me think I was underground, but the light was so bright it couldn’t possibly be so. I blinked over and over again, trying to clear the spots from my eyes, desperate to orient myself to my new surroundings.

When my vision finally cleared, I saw I was surrounded by five people. There were three massive alien males, all of whom towered over me.

Although they looked similar to one another, with curling horns topping their heads and tattoos swirling over the entirety of their bodies, they didn’t match one another. Their horns, skin, and tattoos were all different colors. Two of them looked at me with knowing expressions, while the other—the green-skinned one—had no emotion on his face whatsoever.

Standing alongside the males were what could only be two human females—they looked exactly like me, except for their clothes. Both were beautiful and looked friendly, with wide smiles on their faces, but since I had no idea where I was or who these people were, I wasn’t trusting anybody. My own father had betrayed me, so I wouldn’t put any faith in a group of strangers.

None of them seemed particularly willing to divulge any information, so I guessed it was up to me to figure out what was going on.

“Where the hell am I? Are we—am I underground? Is that’s why these lights are so damn bright? Can you turn them down a notch, I’m going blind!” I said angrily, unable to contain my emotions.

I’d always been a spitfire, never truly happy unless things were going my way, and whatever was happening now was the exact opposite of my way.

“Why don’t you tell us who you are? We have a pretty good idea, but we can confirm our suspicions if you’d enlighten us?” one of the women said.

She was a pretty redhead with wide blue eyes and a sweet expression. The sound of her voice nearly put me at ease, but not quite.

“I can’t believe Daddy actually tried to bluff me with that treaty! What kind of game was he playing at? All my life he’d tried to protect me from that stupid agreement, just to throw me to the wolves himself? Of all the stupid, idiotic ideas…he’s supposed to be one of the smartest billionaires on Earth! Well, all he’s done is prove he’s a complete moron!” I raged.

The males just stared at me with wide eyes, smartly keeping their mouths shut. As I stared back at them, my history lessons about the treaty came flooding back to me and I remembered what the Mahdfel looked like, which was nothing like the males standing before me.

Sure, they were tall and heavily muscled, but I had a half-memory of maybe some blue ones? And I didn’t remember the horns at all.

Then the other half of the memory popped up. They didn’t all look the same.

Which would make it even easier to fake.

“So, if this is real, which one of you am I supposed to be for, huh? If you think you can just take me from my home and keep me here, you’re dreaming. I’ll never, ever stay—”

At that point the two women rushed at me, pulling me forcefully away from the males. Despite my trying to get away from them they hung on tight. Although they were roughly the same height and size as me, they were strong, and I couldn’t fight them off.

It seemed like we were in a small, underground cavern, without much space for them to take me somewhere more private. They ushered me as far away from the males as possible and settled me down onto a large boulder, offering me a canteen of water and what looked like a protein bar.

“Here,” the redhead said. “Teleportation is taxing on humans. I’m sure you feel awful. If you eat something it’ll help. These rations leave a lot to be desired, but it’s better than nothing.”

I eyed her suspiciously for a moment but took what she offered anyway. I was suddenly starving, so maybe she knew what she was talking about. I wolfed it down even though it had a texture of pure sawdust and waited for them to speak again.

“I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I’m Lila and this is Ferne. We’re part of the crew of The Calliope. My mate, Rekker, is the captain of the ship and Kyre, Ferne’s mate, is the engineer. Kyre is actually right over there—he’s the teal-colored male,” the redhead, Lila, said.

“Great to meet you, Lila and Ferne. I’m Coralie Sinclare and I want to go home, right now, immediately, post haste. Do you have a phone or a radio or whatever so I can get in touch with my people so they can arrange to get me the hell out of here? Party’s over, the jig is up—this was all something stupid Daddy organized, I get it. I’ll be good from now on and go like, get a job or whatever to make him happy,” I told them with a wave of my hand, causing my collection of diamond-encrusted bracelets to jingle and flash in the light.

I watched as Lila and Ferne exchanged confused glances. Not only were they strong, they were really, really good actresses. The problem was I didn’t believe for one second that my father would actually send me away, treaty or no treaty.

It would be just like him to pay some poor, unassuming people to act like I’d been shipped off to the Mahdfel. I was certain he’d paid these two women to teach me a lesson. I probably hadn’t even left Earth—just been teleported to some film set close by, done up to make it look like we were on some alien world. There was no way he’d really send me—his only child —away.

“Uh, Coralie? Sweetheart? What exactly are you talking about?” the brunette, Ferne, asked.

The tone of her voice made me pause. She seemed really, truly confused by what I’d said, but her face was amused. Like she got some sort of sick pleasure from my situation, which only further enraged me.

“Like I said, I’m done with this act. I know my father wouldn’t really send me away. I don’t want to play this game anymore, so just tell whoever’s in charge that I’m ready to go home now.”

Where there was amusement on Ferne’s face, there was nothing but sympathy and concern etched onto Lila’s. She smiled down at me kindly before kneeling in front of me and taking one of my hands in hers.

“Coralie, you’re on Gravum IV,” Lila said. “It’s an uninhabited planet, pretty much as far out in the black as you can get. You were tested for the treaty, right? It’s the only explanation for why you suddenly showed up here. It happened to Ferne a few weeks ago, too.”

I instantly looked over to Ferne, happy to see the smug expression had left her face.

“Is that true?” I asked her.

“Sure is. I was working as an alpine tour guide on Earth and took a nasty fall,” Ferne explained. “I’d worked pretty hard to avoid documentation, so when the hospital couldn’t find a record of me, they figured something was up and tested me right away. I matched with Kyre, so they healed me and shipped me out and here I am, just like you.”

No. There was no way that was true. There had to be some sort of…integration process to the treaty. They couldn’t just test a girl and ship her off like freight! I wasn’t a package, I was a human being for crying out loud!

“I don’t believe you. My father is one of the richest men on Earth and I’m his only child —the heiress to his fortune—there’s no way he’d just…send me away! Who will run his empire? Who will inherit his money if I’m not there to do it?” I asked, aware of how spoiled I was making myself sound but unable to help it.

“Coralie, we’re from Earth, too. We all learned about the treaty. You have to understand that this is real. This isn’t a joke,” Lila told me, clearly the more empathetic of the two females.

“Well that’s all well and good, Lila, but I still don’t believe you.” My breaths were coming faster and faster. “Daddy would never do something like this to me. I know I haven’t been exactly the best daughter—I party too much and sleep too much when I’m not partying and I don’t have a job—but he’d never, ever do something like this to me. He loves me. He wouldn’t send me off to a total stranger, possibly never to be seen again. I know he wouldn’t!” I cried.

I realized I was becoming dangerously close to hysterical, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t be anywhere but Earth, it just wasn’t possible. I couldn’t have become the property of some alien male I’d never even met. What if he was awful?

What if he was rude and unkind and…and ugly? None of the males I saw earlier were ugly. In fact, they were the opposite but none of them stepped up to play the role of my match. Obviously, they were all actors too. I bet they weren’t even real aliens. Those horns had to be fake.

Before Lila or Ferne could say anything more, I took off, brushing past them and running toward what appeared to be an opening in the wall at the far end of the cavern.

If they weren’t going to tell me the truth—that this was all just a stupid set-up—then I’d figure it out for myself.

Cedroc

“If that’s what the rest of them are like, I don’t want one,” Jarvik said, only half-jokingly, watching from a distance as Lila and Ferne tried to reason with the woman.

Due to its size, the cavern didn’t afford much privacy and we could hear most of what they were saying. Again, the woman mentioned her father arranging her arrival as a game, perhaps to scare her into becoming a better daughter.

From the clothes she wore alone I could tell she was used to expensive tastes and seemed to like having a good time. She looked like she’d been sent here from some kind of party. I might’ve been wrong, but she didn’t seem one hundred percent sober, either.

I was totally confused as to why she didn’t seem to believe what had happened to her. I listened closely as Lila and Ferne explained that they’d also been sent as mates because of the treaty, both women going into specific details about how they’d been matched and arrived here to find their mates.

The look of complete disbelief remained etched on the new woman’s face as she sat before my friends, chewing on a ration bar Lila had given her.

At least she seemed to trust us enough to eat our food.

I supposed that was a plus.

“I don’t know whether to laugh at you or be worried for you,” Kyre said to me as we continued to observe the three women, straining to hear what they were saying.

“Laugh, please. You never need to worry about me—I’ll always figure a way out of a shitty situation,” I told him.

“Ferne was pretty spooked when she first arrived, too. You know she even tried to run off after we’d already spent a few days together. Clearly, she came around. This woman probably will, too,” Kyre said to me.

“I honestly don’t care what this woman does,” I said, and I meant it.

It was clear she didn’t want to be here.

I’d never wanted a mate at all, never mind one that didn’t want me in return.

I’d probably have to bring her back to The Calliope before I could send her back to Earth, but I had no problem doing so.

There had to be a way around the treaty.

Her first impression certainly left a lot to be desired. In fact, she was terrible. Beautiful, but terrible nonetheless, and the sooner I could be rid of her, the better.

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Lila and Ferne rushing back to Kyre, Jarvik, and I in a panic.

“Coralie—that’s her name—ran off!” Lila exclaimed. “Before we could stop her, she made a break for the tunnels. She’s completely in denial about her situation—for some reason she seems to think her father is playing a trick on her to scare her into cleaning up her act. She thinks this is all fake—that her father hired us.”

“Denial is one hell of a drug,” Ferne said with a laugh.

“Do you really think this is a good time for jokes right now?” I asked, running a hand over my eyes.

When I came out of the tunnel into the interior cavern, all I’d wanted was to get back up to the surface and return to The Calliope for a hot shower, fresh clothes, and a meal that didn’t consist of only water and ration bars.

Now everything had gone to shit and I had a possibly-deranged human woman to find, likely lost in a series of underground tunnels.

Fuck. This mission couldn’t get any worse.

“I guess I’m going in after her,” I said, turning in the direction Jarvik and I had exited only moments ago.

“I thought you said you didn’t care what she did,” Kyre said.

“I don’t.”

“Well you must, or else you’d just let her go and be done with it. If she gets herself lost underground and you leave her there, your problem is solved,” Kyre said.

“I may be an asshole sometimes, Kyre, but I’m not a murderer,” I told him.

Kyre and Jarvik just stared at me.

“I’m not a murderer unless someone’s trying to murder me first,” I corrected.

“That’s better,” Kyre said.

Kyre was right—if I truly didn’t care I’d just leave her behind and allow her to figure everything out herself. The problem was she was my mate, whether I liked it or not. My glowing tattoo proved it.

And because she was my mate, my instincts were driving me to protect her.

Even if she didn’t want to be here.

Even if she didn’t want me.

Still, she didn’t deserve to be left here.

“Well, wish me luck. Hopefully, I’ll be back soon—if not, it was nice knowing you all. Send my love back to Rekker and Derrix and tell them I’ll miss them terribly,” I said.

“Oh, get out of here, Cedroc,” Lila laughed. “Bring that crazy woman back so we can talk some sense into her.”

“No promises.”

I could already hear her upon my approach to the tunnel system. She couldn’t be that far off inside, which wasn’t surprising seeing the way she was dressed and how dark the caverns were without light. I had to hand it to her, though—she wasn’t crying, which surprised me. Maybe she was made of tougher stuff than I’d originally thought.

I only walked for about ten minutes before I located her, standing in the middle of a small antechamber, shouting angrily up at a crack near the low, sloped ceiling.

“This isn’t funny anymore, Daddy! I get it, okay? You can bring me home now! I promise I’ll change and I’ll get a job and stop spending so much time running up bar tabs every weekend. Can you just send someone to pick me up, please?” she said in a voice that was syrupy sweet.

I’d never heard anyone sound so fake in my life.

My own psyche was hanging on by a thread, but I approached her anyway.

“Coralie, is it?” I asked.

She turned her azure eyes to me and raked them over my body, from my boots to my horns.

“It is. Can I just say, your makeup and prosthetics are amazing? I almost can’t tell they’re fake. Like, those horns really look like they’re growing out of your head!”

I wanted to respond, I truly did, but all I could do was stare at her and blink.

“Hey, do you think you could tell my father that I’m on to him, so he might as well just put an end to this now? It’s getting kind of foolish, don’t you think? I mean, seriously, there’s no way he’d willingly sign me over to a complete stranger, no matter what those girls said. I mean, yes, I know about the treaty with the Mahdfel, but like, Daddy isn’t like that. He’d never just abandon me,” she babbled.

“You really think that this is some sort of…trick?” I asked.

“Of course it is, Mister...? What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t, but it’s Cedroc.”

“Mister Cedroc. Coralie Sinclare, nice to meet you. Now, Mister Cedroc, be a dear and just tell your people to call this off, okay?” she asked, voice bright and bubbly. “I’ll make sure you’re all paid and receive handsome tips as well.” Her smile grew hard. “Maybe next time you play this game, try to remember to speak some sort of alien language or something, right?”

“First of all, it’s just Cedroc, no Mister. Secondly, this really isn’t a game, Coralie. You were implanted with a translator before you were teleported.” My heart sank as I realized she really wasn’t understanding this, but I kept going. “Lila and Ferne were telling you the truth. The treaty is real, you’ve been matched, and when a human is matched she’s immediately sent to her mate. Welcome to Gravum IV.”

She stared at me for what felt like hours before an uneasy laugh slipped out of her throat.

“Ohhh, you’re good, Mister, you’re really good. You almost had me there, but I’m not a complete idiot,” she said, turning back to the crack in the wall.

“Could have fooled me,” I mumbled.

I watched her try to reason with the empty hole in the wall again. I had no idea what to do to fix this situation or what I could say to make her believe me. She was making absolutely no sense at all and it was impossible to reason with someone who was being unreasonable.

“Okay, Coralie, I’m not entirely sure why you’re having a conversation with a wall, but I’ve been underground for roughly three days now and before you showed up I was about to return back to my ship and finally get a semblance of a normal life back, so forgive me if my patience is wearing thin. It’s time for you to come with me now.”

I was trying so hard to keep my emotions in check but I was close to unraveling. Typically, I was a calm port in a storm, but lack of sleep and proper nutrition had frayed my edges. Add a situation I never asked for or wanted on top of that and I was a bomb waiting to detonate.

“Again, I’m not stupid, there are hidden cameras all over this place. I know how these things work,” Coralie said.

That was my final straw. She was way too worked up to listen to anything remotely logical, so without uttering another word I bent at the waist and hefted her up over my shoulder, silencing her for a short, blissful second before she truly began to holler.

It was going to be a long trip back.

Chapter Five

Coralie

“This is completely unnecessary,” I shrieked while I thumped my fists against the alien’s back. Everything about him felt real and solid.

No body paint or prosthetics to be found. Damn, he was real.

But that didn’t mean anything.

My father could hire real aliens for his little game, I was sure.

I was hoping to expose all of this for the ruse it was sooner rather than later. I’d have to find another way to prove this was all a construction.

“I don’t care about what’s necessary. I care about what’s effective,” Cedroc replied.

“My dress is too short for this!” I twisted my arms in every uncomfortable angle in an attempt to tug the hem of my dress down.

Why the hell wasn’t I allowed to change before I was sent out to this wretched place? If this was real, I would’ve been allowed to change. I would’ve been allowed to pack a bag. I swear, I remember reading somewhere that the women who were matched were allowed to take a bag. If this were real, my father never would’ve allowed me to leave so unprepared. I didn’t even have my nightly moisturizer.

“That isn’t my problem.”

“Oh, I am going to give you a whole world of problems, Mister! Just you wait!”

“Stop calling me Mister,” he shot back. “And I don’t have to wait. My problems have multiplied indefinitely since you arrived and I expect them to keep growing.”

“Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shifted just a bit, thinking I could get better leverage. Instead, I nearly blinded myself by exposing his weird glowing tattoo.

“What the hell even is this?” I grumbled, covering the tattoo so its shine no longer burned my retinas. It was too damn bright for this dark cave.

“That’s one of my problems.”

“You really have such a way with words.”

“You do a marvelous impression of a grain sack.”

“Excuse me?” I shrieked.

“I’m only joking. I’d much prefer a grain sack. They don’t speak or squirm.”

Anger rose up in my throat and fogged my brain. I wanted so badly to come up with a scathing comeback, but my tongue was all twisted up.

“If you don’t want me to squirm, then let me walk,” was the winning line I came up with.

“Are you going to run away?”

“What good would that do me?” I challenged.

“Fine,” he huffed and unceremoniously slid me off the slide of his shoulder. He kept a hand on my arm, preventing me from falling on my ass but he was far less than genteel. “Don’t make me chase you again.”

I didn’t deign to respond. I stormed ahead of him, my heels clicking against the stone floor of the tunnel. There was natural light up ahead. The tunnels were coming to an end. Thank goodness. The damp air was giving me a chill.

My dress covered basically nothing. I hated being cold more than anything.

Actually, I hate being set up and lied to by my father more than that.

But being cold is pretty up there.

Seriously? Why would I be sent off in the very dress my father made fun of? This must’ve just been another way for him to drive his point home.

“Whatever, Dad. I get it,” I muttered as I looked for secret nooks and crannies that could possibly conceal a hidden camera.

He was probably sitting in his office, watching my struggle. Now that I thought about it, it was pretty messed up that he would use a treaty that saved our planet as an excuse to teach me a lesson.

So many things about my alleged testing didn’t add up. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like an elaborate hoax cooked up by my father to teach me a lesson. God knows he had the financial resources to pull something like this off.

The aliens were all too real.

I wondered, were they hired to be actors? Did the Mahdfel act? I thought they were too busy saving planets and fighting space evil to do anything else. Cedroc had called himself a Vaznik warrior, too. Was that the name of an acting trope? If so, it wasn’t a good one.

I didn’t care. None of this was real.

Any day now, I’d be back home. Constalatia was never going to believe this. Maybe I could bring an alien or two back for her.

Though their appearance was initially rather startling, they weren’t ugly. In fact, they were quite handsome.

Equally handsome, or even more so, than the best-looking men I’d met on Earth. None of them had immediately tried to get under my dress either, which was refreshing and yet another reason why I believed this to all be some kind of elaborate ruse.

If that was the case, and I strongly believed it was, then the Vaznik warriors were truly giving it their all. And this swamp, this set, was so well done.

A lump of fear formed in my throat as I tried to convince myself that this massive, dark, and dank tunnel system was one of the old movie sets from the early 20th century.

With a shaking hand, I reached out and touched the wall. It was cold and damp. Dirt coated my fingertips when I pulled my hand away.

There was no way this was all fake. I could wrap my mind around the fact that I’d been sent to another planet to make a point.

But everything else? The chances of a genetic match were small. It was far too convenient that I was matched in my foyer. I bet that machine wasn’t even real. I bet it just had a green lightbulb that lit up with the press of the button.

But the teleportation pads? How could they have pulled that off? I wasn’t surprised that my father could rent one. They weren’t available for everyday use, but there are dozens of strings he could’ve pulled to make it happen.

Setting up the teleportation receiver pad here, though. That seemed like it might’ve been harder to pull off. Then again, what did I know about teleportation?

I was no longer paying attention to the others in the tunnel with me. All I could focus on was the light at the end. I moved as quickly as my heels would allow. I debated taking them off, but that didn’t seem safe or sanitary.

The more I thought about my situation, the more the one thought I refused to let fully take shape loomed in the back of my mind.

Soon, it would be too big to ignore.

I couldn’t go there. I wouldn’t.

Nothing like this was ever supposed to happen to me. It simply wasn’t. No matter how realistic everything looked and felt, there had to be another explanation. There just had to be. I couldn’t accept any alternative.

I reached the opening of the tunnel and found myself standing at the edge of the smelliest, muggiest, stickiest swamp I’d ever seen. Not that I’d seen many swamps.

“Are you all right?” One of the human women in the party, Lila, I think, asked me.

“I don’t know how to answer that right now.”

“I know it’s a shock,” she said with a sympathetic nod. “It’ll get easier. I promise.”

“We aren’t going through that, are we?” I asked, trying to direct the conversation toward anything other than the reality of my situation.

“We are,” she nodded. “It’s the only way to get back to camp. I can’t believe you were dropped all the way out here with us.”

“Neither can I,” I said tersely.

“If I’d known, I would’ve brought an extra set of clothes. You can borrow some of mine once we reach camp.”

“Camp?” I sputtered. “Like cabins?”

“Tents,” she grinned. “We didn’t want to keep taxing the systems on the ship, so we’ve turned it into an extended campout.”

This couldn’t be happening. I’d never camped in my life. I wasn’t an outdoorsy kind of girl. I loved nature. Who didn’t? I simply preferred to admire nature from afar, where I could be clean and safe.

“The swamp terrain isn’t that tricky,” the other woman, Ferne, said. “I think you should be fine to walk. Your shoes probably will be caked in mud forever, though.”

“That’ll all right,” I replied. “I have a closet full of them I will be getting back to very soon.”

Ferne and Lila exchanged a glance that I pretended not to see. I was going home soon. I’d show them.

We started making our way through the swamp. I took no more than three steps before my heel sank into a damp patch of earth with a sickening squelch. When I tried to yank my foot free, I felt like the earth was trying to tug me in closer.

“Trouble?” The alien who had earlier referred to me as a grain sack stopped at my side.

“Oh, no,” I rolled my eyes. “I’m just enjoying the texture of muck.”

“It’s lovely. I suggest wiggling your toes to really get a feel for it.” With that, he started to walk away.

“Wait!”

He stopped and turned his head, not quite looking at me.

“I’m stuck.”

“No shit.”

“Oh, bite me,” I muttered.

“I will but only if you ask nicely.”

Like a bolt of lightning, my brain illuminated with an image of what it would be like to be bitten by him. It should’ve been frightening but it wasn’t. I quickly shoved that thought down with a hard swallow.

“Just get me out of here,” I said.

“Last time I transported you, you were less than thrilled with my methods.”

“Because you have no idea how to carry a person.” I folded my arms across my chest.

“I’ve carried every single one of my team members out of tricky situations just like I carried you.”

“Really?” I glanced at the other aliens, all of which were burly and muscular. “All at once?”

“Yes, I can grow extra arms at will.”

My eyes went wide. “Really?”

“No, that’s completely ridiculous,” he replied without missing a beat.

“How am I supposed to know what aliens can and can’t do?”

“Ask.”

“What can you do?”

“I can get you out of the mud.”

“Then do it.”

He fixed me with a hard stare. “What did I say about asking nicely?”

I let out a long sigh. “Please, will you help me?”

“Of course.” Without warning, he approached, wrapped an arm around my back and slid his other arm around the back of my knees. When he had a good hold on me, he lifted. The ground released me as I was hefted into his arms.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re getting better,” he nodded. “I didn’t have to remind you to mind your manners.”

“I have excellent manners when I’m not in distressful circumstances like this.”

“That remains to be seen.”

As he carried me through the swamp, I covered my nose with my spare hand. There was something rotten in the air that I couldn’t identify.

This wasn’t a set.

Cedroc was a real alien.

Reality came crashing down on me so hard that it knocked the breath from my lungs.

“Are you well?” Cedroc asked.

I couldn’t find the will to speak, but I forced myself to nod.

The genetic test was real.

It was all real. Cedroc was my match. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deny it anymore.

I didn’t speak for the rest of the trip back to whatever camp they had set up. As time stretched on and the sun began to sink, I didn’t speak.

I was grateful when night fell. I didn’t know much about the alien that carried me, but I knew he was sure-footed enough to get me through a dark swamp.

In the dark, I could let my sadness, anger, and fear show plainly on my face.

I even allowed a tear or two to fall. No one noticed and I was grateful for it.

When the swamp gave way to desert and a real-life alien spaceship came into view, I didn’t say anything.

I couldn’t find the will to speak.

I wondered if I’d ever want to speak again.

CLICK TO GET CEDROC NOW!

ROGUE MATE

Science fiction romance is the destination of the Rogue Star…. Hop on board!

OUR RESCUERS ARE a group of pirates. Or smugglers. They're not exactly answering questions, either.

More importantly, they're giant, golden skinned aliens...

And their rogue of a captain seems very interested in the little human commander.

Me.

ROGUE MATE IS the first in the Rogue Star science fiction alien romance series. Click now to start the adventure!

Copyright © 2019 by Ava York

All rights reserved. These books or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Contents

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Ferne

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Kyre

Ferne

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Cedroc: Sneak Peek

Rogue Mate

Copyright