CLAIMED BY THE ALIEN

CHIEFTAIN
ELLA MAVEN
 ABOUT CLAIMED BY THE ALIEN
CHIEFTAIN

“She’s my match… in more ways than one.”

Sherif: Although my brother disappeared many cycles ago, I’ve never given
up hope that he’s alive. I get word about a human who has seen him, but
she’s evading me. When I finally come face to face with her, the situation
becomes a whole lot more complicated, because I can’t deny the pull toward
the female with the smart mouth. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’ll be by my
side as I rule over my people.

Zuri: I heard about the Kaluma looking for me, and I’m not interested. No
way. It’s bad enough he knows I’m human, but if he finds out the reason I’m
free from my captors, he’ll surely lop my head off with his deadly blades.
But he’s hard to shake, and when we finally meet, I realize there’s a
whole other problem—he’s claiming me as his mate, and I’m not sure I can
resist.

Claimed by the Alien Chieftain features a determined alien hero with alpha
tendencies and a hacker heroine with deadly aim.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or
dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 by Ella Maven

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

Copyedited by Del’s Diabolical Editing

Cover design by Covers By Combs

First edition: October 2021

 CONTENTS

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue

About the Author

Also by Ella Maven
 ONE

S HERIF

When my leg sank knee-deep in the snow drift, I sneered into the howling
wind. “If this is a bad lead, someone is going to die.”
Ever since I’d gotten to this planet, it’d been one bad lead after another in
an attempt to find this yerking human. First it was visiting a small settlement
only to find she hadn’t been there in many rotations. Then it was south to the
reef, east to the cliffs, west to the mountains, and now I was heading north.
Blasted, ball-freezing, yerking north.
I had only seen snow a few times in my life, back when we used to travel
on our home planet of Torin, back before … well just before. Before life
changed irreversibly. And this journey, this search, was my effort to get back
the one thing I lost I had never given up hope on.
The human had to know something, but first I was going to feed her some
of the misery I’d gone through tracking her to this icy wasteland. I adjusted
my fur cloak, checking to be sure my shoulder spiks were poking through the
gaps created for them and not poking holes in the garment. I shivered, an
action I rarely did as my blood ran hotter than most.
Humans.
I didn’t have much of an opinion on them since I had only met a few, and
the ones I did meet were female. They were small. A little weak. Bosa and
Cravus seemed enraptured by the ones they claimed as mates, but I found
them both visually unappealing. Karina had some spirit to her, but she was
rather disobedient. Bloom was very kind, but a little bland. Of course, I’d
never say that to them, or to my friends, but as I stomped my way through the
snow and rubbed my watering eyes, I decided I hated just about everyone I’d
ever met. They all led me to this moment, and everything about it was
terrible.
When I got my hands on this human, I was going to get all the
information out of her I needed, and then I’d wring her neck.
I’d been traipsing over flat plains with whipping winds for too long, and I
sighed with relief when I spotted a tree line ahead. That should provide some
shelter from the blowing snow stinging my face. As I drew closer, my gaze
went up and up as I took in the massive trees, nearly as tall as the ones back
home on Torin where we made our home.
The trees along the perimeter didn’t have leaves like I was used to. When
I came close, I reached out to finger the thin, hard needles. Densely packed,
they hid the trunk from view, and it wasn’t until I stepped farther past the tree
line that the appearance changed slightly. These trees were less dense with
more leaf-like foliage. It was as if those on the outside took the brunt so the
ones inside could prosper.
I hadn’t seen much life on my way here, but now I heard the steady
squawk of some winged greers and the rustling of rodents along the
undergrowth. The snow was still ankle-deep, as the trees didn’t provide
enough cover to prevent the hard-falling stuff.
Supposedly the human had a refuge here. Of course, I hadn’t been able to
ask for a human. No one knew she was a human. They only knew her as
Hack, an unseen tech collector who could provide just about any goods
needed. There were rumors she was a Drixonian, but I knew that wasn’t true,
as that species was more than happy to show off. Some thought she was a
Rogastix, but the kicker was they all didn’t know her as a she. Not like I did.
But she’d shown herself to Cravus and his mate. She was, in fact, a human
female.
I couldn’t imagine this was a fun place to hide out. Freezing, isolated.
What did she eat? Irritated and thirsty, I spotted a fallen log and sank down
on it, stretching my legs out in front of me, which felt more like ice blocks
than functioning appendages.
After drinking as much as I dared from my small stash of water, I filled
my skin with some clean snow to replenish my supply, then pulled some
dried meat from a pouch on my belt and chewed slowly. I gazed up at the sun
peeking through the trees. I could either rest and wait for the cover of night,
or I could continue the rest of the way under full blank. While I didn’t think
the human was dangerous, she had shot Cravus.
While munching, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I
blanked immediately, camouflaging myself against my background, and
waited with bated breath.
A form, covered in a hooded fur cloak, strode through the snow. A sound
drifted on the wind, deep and melodic. The creature was bipedal, and my
heart sped up as I held out hope this was the human I’d been searching for. I
slowly rose and took a few steps closer. The form turned then, as if sensing
my presence, and big round eyes stared right at me. As if they could see me.
My chest matz tingles, and my hands curled into fists as I fought the urge
to shout in triumph. This was her. The human. Her skin was a gleaming
bronze-brown a few shades darker than mine. From under her hood, I spotted
the mass of dark curls with a colorful headband tied to tame it off her face.
She had a laser gun strapped to her chest, and a knife in her hand. A dead and
bleeding furry body dangled from one hand.
I hesitated a beat, and it was a beat too late. She let out a loud, “Fuck!”
and whipped the laser gun from her holster. Pointing it at me, she fired. I
ducked and scented the smell of burnt fur as the heat singed my hood.
I let out a roar, unable to believe she’d managed to nearly shoot me when
I was blanked. I might have been angry before, but now I was livid.
“Fuck you, you invisible assholes!” She hollered and took off on a dead
sprint.
I ran after her, my longer legs easily eating up the distance. She was fast,
but no match for me. I reached out, nearly snagging her hood when suddenly
I felt a tug around my ankle, and then I was upside down.
Instincts kicked in, and I went still as my body slowly spun. My ankle
was clinched in a spiked trap, tied to a thick tree branch above me, and the
only reason my foot hadn’t been hacked off was because of my tall, thick
boots.
I slowly came to a stop to face the human I’d been chasing. Zuri. And by
the looks of it, she was the reason I was in this predicament.
Her hood was down, hair framing her face in a mass of dark curls, and her
chin was tilted in the air. The picture of defiance and confidence. Except she
wasn’t able to calm her trembling fingers, which I spotted immediately. She
was scared of me, and she had every right to be.
 “This is your trap?” I asked. I remained blanked, so she couldn’t see me,
but she’d hear my voice.
“Yes,” she answered quickly.
“Cut me down.”
“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest to hide the evidence of her
nerves.
I smiled, knowing she couldn’t see me. “Cut me down now and I’ll
forgive you for this. Leave me here a moment longer, and there’ll be
payback.”
She gritted her teeth. “Why do you think you’re able to make threats?
You’re the one hanging by a chain from a tree. Not me.”
“You think I can’t get down from here?”
Her body swayed, like her instincts were telling her to run, but her pride
was planting its feet. “I’m sure you can, but I’ll be gone before you do.”
She was wrong. My blades strapped to my back were made by Cravus,
and they could slice through this chain like it was string. The only reason I
hadn’t done it yet was because I wanted to see what this human would do. I
had found her. Now wasn’t the time for impulsive decisions.
“Don’t follow me,” she announced, jutting her chin even farther in the air.
Her eyes darted around, probably seeking to make out my invisible outline.
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know what you want, but I can’t help you. I want to be left alone,
and this trap is child’s play compared to the rest of my defenses.”
And that was when my heart sped up, my head took a dizzying turn, and
the most puzzling of all—I got a little hard. If this human thought a few
obstacles would deter me, she had zero idea what she was up against. My
prey was in sight. This was just a game now, and I always won.
“Well then you better run, human. Because I’ll be out of this trap before
you can say—”
I didn’t even get to finish my sentence. She was already out of sight. I
smiled to myself as I pulled one of my blades from my harness, curled up
with my core muscles, and slashed through the chain. As I fell, I twisted to
land on all fours in the snow, dropping the blank. I didn’t need to remain
camouflaged anymore. She knew I was after her, and a part of me thought I
should play fair. I could catch her with my entire body glowing. She had no
idea what kind of tracker I was.
I dusted the snow off my clothes, rolled my ankle, and took off after the
human. I’d have her in my hands by nightfall, and I was already imagining all
the ways I’d make her pay for this hassle.

Zuri

“Shit, shit, shit,” I cursed to myself as I tripped over a hidden tree root
beneath a foot of snow. At five-seven, I had fairly long legs, but this snow
was proving to be a real pain in the ass. I couldn’t be sure how tall the
Kaluma was who followed me, but probably fucking huge as they only
seemed to come in size goddamn massive.
I didn’t know why he was here, and I didn’t want to know. I didn’t regret
showing myself to Bloom and her Kaluma protector. I had to be sure she was
safe, but if I’d known this was going to be the result… well maybe I would
have actually aimed for center mass when I shot Cravus.
As far as this Kaluma currently chasing me… if only he would have been
visible, I could have taken him out. But no, he was a camouflaged fuck, and
if that echoing thump had been what I thought it was, he was hot on my trail
now.
That was the last trap I had before reaching my cabin, where I had a
whole other set of booby traps. But something told me this Kaluma wasn’t
giving up.
I raced between two trees before I whirled around and carefully hooked
up the wire detonator. My cabin was just ahead, a tiny building about the size
of a one-bedroom apartment. I tore inside, slamming the door behind me
before bolting it with a steel bar.
Rushing to a window, I crouched and peered out to see a bronze blur
racing toward the cabin. “Five, four, three, two…” I counted out loud.
The bronze blur hit the wire, and the snowy ground erupted with my
homemade land mine. The ground shook, knocking me on my ass so I lost
sight of my enemy. A roar rattled the wooden panels of my cabin, and I
scrambled to my feet, laser gun in hand as I pointed it out the glass-less
window.
But I could see nothing. No bronze blur. No white hair, no glowing blue
eyes—all physical descriptions of the Kaluma warriors I’d met before, which
had been a sum total of two. I swallowed and held my breath as I waited. He
had to be in the snow somewhere. He’d get up in a minute and I could shoot
him. Any minute now. Just a few more seconds…
Cold fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, and I screamed. I
whirled around to aim my laser gun, but the weapon was knocked out of my
hand immediately, clattering to the ground a few feet away. My body was
hauled in the air, my back slammed against the wall so hard that my teeth
rattled. Something solid and furred braced itself against my upper chest, and I
struggled against the grip, gasping for breath.
For a moment, I saw nothing—then a series of clicks echoed off the close
walls until I stared into the face of a very, very pissed off Kaluma.
His teeth were bared, blue eyes blazing, and his white hair hung long and
loose around his shoulders. He wore a heavy fur cloak with holes in the
shoulders for his wicked-looking shoulder spikes.
A Kaluma had never hurt me, but one thing I’d learned on this planet was
that all species had good and evil among them—just like humans. And this
one… well, he looked like he wanted to do some very evil things to me, and
not in a fun way.
I struggled, but it was no use, he had a forearm on my upper chest, and a
thick thigh propped between my legs. I couldn’t even get a proper groin kick
in, as he had his body angled to protect his goods.
“Now who’s in the position to make threats?” He growled in my face.
I stared into his blue eyes, suddenly caught up in the storm there, so
unlike the calm sea that had been Cravus’s eyes. And the other Kaluma…
well, his had been blank. This one, the Kaluma who currently held my life in
his hands—because let’s be real, I was out of options—held a world of anger
behind those eyes.
I stayed silent, and his nostrils flared before he somewhat relaxed his
hold, just enough for me to suck in a lungful of air. He stared at me for a long
time, and I wondered if I should beg or plead, but I’d never been good at
either of those.
Taking advantage of his slightly relaxed posture, I raised my hand and
poked him in the eye. While he let out a bellow of pain, he didn’t drop me.
Hell, he didn’t even loosen his grip on me. He only blinked, eyes watering, to
glare at me harder. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“No,” I spat at him. “Never. I’ll keep trying to escape, so don’t even think
about resting.”
He let out a strangled noise that might have been a laugh. In a flash, he
had me on the ground. I went into a crocodile death roll, but he had a hold of
my arm with such strength that if I kept going, I’d rip my shoulder out of its
socket. He lashed my hands together at the wrist and tied the other end to his
belt. Like a dog pulling on his leash, I scrambled as far away from him as I
could, which wasn’t even five feet. He crouched on the balls of his feet,
watching me as I came up on my knees. Feeling trapped, I panicked. “Let me
go, asshole!” I shouted at him, tugging hard until the skin on my wrists began
to burn. I felt hot tears burn the back of my eyes, which only pissed me off
more. I wouldn’t cry in front of him. I couldn’t. He was already watching me
for any sign of additional weaknesses.
Exhausted, shoulders aching, I eventually sat slumped on my knees,
glaring at him from underneath my lashes. My coat had long fallen off, and I
only wore my favorite pair of leather pants, boots, and a wrap around my
chest. I became painfully aware of all the skin I was showing when his gaze
flicked down my body before shooting back up.
A different sort of panic set in, and I went still.
He watched me carefully but didn’t make any motion to touch me. “It
didn’t have to come to this,” he said in a low, calm tone. “I only have a few
questions. You answer, and I’ll let you go.”
I’d heard that before. I’d answer and he’d cut my head off with one of
those blades when he didn’t need me anymore.
“I’m Sherif, pardux of the Kaluma settlement. You met my warrior,
Cravus, and his mate, Bloom.”
I forgot all about my predicament as soon as he mentioned Bloom. “Is she
okay?”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You answer my questions, and then I’ll
answer yours.”
“Bastard,” I muttered.
He crept closer to me, and I backed up as far as the rope would allow. He
stopped, blue eyes still watching me carefully. “You told him you met
another Kaluma a few cycles ago.”
I swallowed, feeling a ball of dread inflate in my gut. “So?”
“I need all the information on him that you have.”
“I already told Cravus everything I know.”
He shook his head, lips tilted in a patronizing smile. “Well then you’re
going to use all your gadgets,” he pointed to my table of supplies. “And
you’re going to find out as much as you can.”
“Why?” I snapped. “Why do you want to know about him?”
Sherif’s chest swelled as he inhaled sharply, and his eyes fired so brightly
that I thought they’d singe my retinas. “Because he disappeared from our
settlement over twenty cycles ago, and I’ve held out hope ever since that he’s
still alive.” His fingers curled into fists. “He’s my older brother and the last
living relative I have.”
My mouth dropped open. Because now I knew, without a doubt, that I
was absolutely, positively fucked.
 TWO

S HERIF

She was tough, I’d give her that. While Karina and Bloom had shown mental
strength, this one was on another level. But she’d let her emotions slip just
now, and I didn’t miss the panicked horror that crossed her face when I told
her about my brother.
She knew something, more than she told Cravus, and I was going to get it
out of her.
With her bound hands pressed into her lap, she sat with her back to the
wall, legs slightly bent, and her feet planted on the floor. Her eyes never left
me as I stood up and made my way to her laser gun. I picked it up and turned
it over, curious about some of the after-market modifications she’d made.
When I glanced at her, she narrowed her eyes. “I improved it.”
Holstering the weapon, I made my way over to a table covered in what
look liked junk. But Cravus had told me she was some sort of tech genius.
She’d gotten his comm device to work after it had been damaged, and she hid
her identity as a human through a voice changer. She was known as Hack,
and I’d learned during my tracking of her that she was trusted to provide
goods to a lot of the refugees on this planet.
I poked at some wires and metal boxes as Zuri grumbled behind me.
“Careful with that,” I heard her mutter a few times. I wasn’t really messing
with anything, but I enjoyed getting her riled up.
The cabin was small, held together by planks of wood, some tar, and
rope. The wind had calmed down outside, but some snow still blew through
the cracks. Zuri held her arms close to her chest, and some bumps popped out
on top of her skin. As I drew closer, I realized she was shivering.
Gathering her cloak which had fallen off in our struggle, I first checked it
for weapons before laying it over her shoulders. She held her body stiff as I
touched her, and when I knelt next to her, her expression changed from one
of defiance to a look I recognized. A look I hated. It was the haunted look
some of the females of our settlement had gotten when my father, our ex-
pardux, forced them to service him.
My stomach rolled, and I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat. “I
will not do that.”
Her eyes were wide and wary like a terrified animal. “Do what?”
“I will not force myself on you.”
Her breath stuttered out. “You chased me down and tied me up and I’m
supposed to believe you won’t cross that line?”
She had a point, but I hadn’t started the violence.
“You shot at me, strung me up, and almost blew me up. Tying your wrists
together is about self-defense, human.”
She huffed and looked away.
“Believe what you want to believe. What I want from you has nothing to
do with your body.”
Her lip curled as she shot me a glare. “Yeah, well your body isn’t
anything special either.”
I felt my chest puff out. “I have been told I have an impressive physique.”
Her snort fired my blood. “I’ve seen better.”
“Better?” I sputtered. “There is no way a human male compares to a
Kaluma. Do they have spiks?” I pointed to my shoulders. “Can they blank,
use weapons, and can their cocks do—?”
“Oh my God, okay, fine you’re superior.” She rolled her eyes. “Toxic
masculinity exists in the Rinian galaxy too, I guess.”
I didn’t understand her words. “Are you intentionally insulting me to
make me angry?”
She squinted at me before smiling. “Not really, but now that you mention
it, this is entertaining.”
“The other females I met are not like you. They have respect.”
Her smile only grew at that. “Yeah, I’m one of a kind, Kaluma. Lucky
you, huh?”
 This wasn’t going well. I tore off my cloak and unstrapped my weapons
harness just for something to do to calm my nerves. Her words, glares, and
snarls got under my skin. Bloom was all flowers and sunshine, and Karina
was a little blood-thirsty with her spiked bat, but this one was … I glanced at
her, and she stared right back at me. This one was infuriating.
She was taller than Karina or Bloom, with a larger chest and rounder hips.
Her stomach was rippled with muscle. Not as defined as mine, but I’d never
quite seen muscles on a female like that. I’d felt her physical strength. While
it was no match for me, she could do some damage to plenty of other species
on this planet.
I shook my head. Why was I analyzing her? I didn’t need to get to know
her or admire her. All I needed was information, and then I could leave this
cold tundra and go look for my brother.
I pulled up a chair in front of her and sank down, planting my boots on
either side of her feet. “I want to know every detail. How did you meet
Kazel?”
“I don’t know if it was him. He was just some Kaluma.”
“It was him,” I said. I knew it with every fiber of my being. It couldn’t
have been anyone else. “Now talk.”
Her eyes shifted down and away. “I don’t really remember.”
“Liar,” I spat.
She jerked a little at my tone, and I didn’t miss the way her chin wobbled
for just a moment. I felt a moment of shame for scaring her before she firmed
up her expression and leveled me with a courageous glare. “How do you
know? Are you a mind reader? Look I’m tired, and I’m hungry. You
interrupted me when I was hunting and about to eat. Can I take care of my
basic needs and then we can talk?” She jerked her chin toward the door. “A
storm is coming, and we’re going to be locked in here for a day or two
anyway. No rush, right?”
“I don’t like this stalling.”
“I’m not stalling. But I need to eat. My brain doesn’t work if I’m hungry
and thirsty.” She pressed her lips together. “It’s a human thing.”
I couldn’t disagree with her since I’d seen Karina when she was hungry,
and it wasn’t pretty. I looked around the small cabin. “Where are your food
stores?”
“Oh, I can get them. Want to untie my hands?” She smiled, but the
emotion didn’t reach her eyes. I looped the end of the rope into the waistband
of my pants, then tied it around my belt.
Her smile faded and her lip curled as she watched me. “You’re not going
to untie me, are you?”
“I’m capable of preparing our food for us.”
“I didn’t say I had food for you,” she grumbled as I tugged her to her feet.
I felt the corner of my lips twitch at her petulant tone and immediately
cleared my throat and thought of things that angered me. When my face
muscles hardened into their normal scowl, I set about making us food.

Zuri

He’d taken off his long coat, and now wore a thin shirt that gaped at the neck
to reveal a very muscular chest. Like the other Kaluma I’d seen, he had a
series of white tattoo-like markings on his chest and neck, but I knew they
weren’t tattoos. I’d seen them shimmer, as if they were a living part of his
skin. The fabric stretched across his broad back as he stirred something in a
pot over my makeshift stove top.
I’d offered to help, but he’d told me to sit down, and so I did, glaring at
the rope that bound my hands and tied me to him. Sherif. My captor. I hadn’t
been lying. I was hungry and tired. A snowstorm raged outside, and I was
begrudgingly thankful he’d placed my coat over my shoulders, because it
wasn’t like this structure was well insulated. My bed consisted of a thin pad
on the floor and about three furs on top. I needed each one of them to be able
to sleep comfortably without waking up with frozen toes.
It was time to move on from this place. The snowstorms were only going
to get worse, the prey harder to find, and my food stores wouldn’t last me the
entire cold season, let alone both me and this giant who probably needed
fifteen thousand calories a day just to lift his massive arm.
He’d skinned the gorpz I’d caught, chopped up the meat, and had seared
it in the pot before pouring in some seasoned liquid to make what smelled
and looked like a thick stew. I licked my lips, imagining how good that
warmth was going to feel in my belly.
He looked over his shoulder at me, and I straightened, immediately
feeling like I needed to be on guard to defend himself, but he only tightened
his lips and turned back around. I had to admit that so far, he hadn’t hurt me.
I had shot his friend, and I had tried to blow him up. But that was only
because I knew if he got his hands on me, I’d be no match for him. And
clearly, I was right seeing as I sat with my hands bound while he made me
food.
I remembered now that Cravus had spoken highly of Sherif. I’d admired
how much he respected his leader, but that didn’t mean this Sherif would
treat me with the same kindness he treated those of his own kind. I’d been
burned too many times in this galaxy to trust anyone. But then… I’d also
been shown kindness. Once. And that was why I currently warred with
myself—same my own skin or seek a way to repay my debt?
“How did you find me?” I asked, tired of the sound of the howling wind
outside and the battle among my inner thoughts.
His hand, which had been lifting the spoon to his mouth to test the stew,
went still. His shoulders bunched, and his shoulder spikes shook like a
porcupine. He tossed the utensil in the pot with a plop and whirled around.
He crossed his arms over his massive chest. “It was not what I’d call a good
time.”
“Shocker,” I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure you’re real fun at parties. What do
you consider a good time?”
He clenched his jaw. “Finding my brother.”
That was the conversation I wanted to steer clear of. “Anything else?”
He heaved a deep breath and opened his mouth like he planned to grouse
some more, but then his eyes flashed, and the corner of his lips tilted up.
Deep grooves cut into his cheeks, and I could have sworn I saw dimples.
Dimples.
I swallowed as he took a step toward me and bent down until our faces
were almost even. This close, I could make out the light lashes framing his
eyes and a scar on his square jawline. He smelled like a spicy musk that made
my head spin.
“I spent most of my search for you imagining all the ways I’d make you
pay for making me hunt you down.” His voice had gone low and raspy.
My stomach flipped.
His eyes held me in place. I couldn’t move if I wanted to. I didn’t want to.
Wait, was this some weird Kaluma trick?
With all my strength, I wrenched my head to the side to break our gazes.
My heart pounded, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. I managed to
utter out in a voice that sounded husky. “You shouldn’t have bothered. I told
Cravus everything I know.”
His fingers closed around my chin, and slowly he turned me to face him
again. This time… his gaze was less predatory. If anything, he seemed as
breathless as me. His eyes had gone liquid, and his lips slackened. “Who are
you?” he whispered, seemingly to himself.
“Not your idea of a good time,” I murmured without thinking.
He barked out a sound that startled us both, him more than me. Stumbling
back a step, he dropped my chin and stared at me for a minute before
whirling back around to face the stew. He stirred it a few more times before
dishing it up and tossing a bowl in front of me with such force that some of
the stew sloshed out the side.
I kept my gaze on it, trying to calm my racing heart and stomach full of
… vipers. That was it. Hissing vipers. No way was this bossy, asshole
Kaluma giving me butterflies.
Without another word, I picked up the spoon and began to eat.

Fingers closed around the back of my neck, and I leaned into the touch just
as lips brushed my ear. “Why did you wander off?”
I never got over the tone of his voice. Low with a sexy rasp. It never failed
to make my skin break out in goosebumps. I turned and draped my wrists on
his shoulders. “I just wanted a little alone time.” I stood near a field of
wildflowers. A flower crown lay discarded nearby.
He frowned, and I poked at his lips. “Hey, you’ve been doing so well
smiling lately. What’s with that?”
“I only smile when you’re around,” he muttered. “Everyone else still sees
my scowl.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
His big palms slid from my hips down to palm my ass. He tugged me
against him so that I felt the hard shaft of his cock brush against my lower
belly. He’d taken me twice that morning, but the guy never seemed to soften. I
was starting to wonder if it was a medical condition.
His hips thrust into me gently. “Let me know when you want alone time.
I’ll follow to make sure you’re safe.”
“Sherif, that defeats the purpose of alone time.”
“I’ll stay quiet.”
I laughed. “Alone time is important.”
He swallowed and suddenly his expression went serious just as crackling
reached my ears and a heat seemed to warm my skin. I turned to the side to
see a fire racing toward us. “Sherif!” I hollered, frozen in fear.
“This is why I want to know where you are,” he said calmly, as if we
weren’t about to be burnt to a crisp.
“We need to run!” I shouted, tugging on him.
But he didn’t budge. He only blinked at me. “We’re better together,
kotche. We’re a team.”
And then he combusted into flames.

A shout startled me awake, and when I opened my eyes, a shrill alarm was
piercing the air. It wasn’t until I took a deep breath I realized the sound was
my scream. I panted, staring into Sherif’s bright blue eyes in the flickering
light of the lantern, while outside snow fell in the dark of night.
His brow was bunched with concern, one hand rested on my shoulder
while the other rested hot and heavy on the back of my neck. His thumb
slowly moved in a hypnotizing arc at my nape. I swallowed, lulled by the feel
of being held together when I’d been flying apart for years.
“Zuri,” his raspy voice murmured, so like the way it had been in my
dream. “Are you okay?”
For a moment I almost let it all out—the fear, the exhaustion, and worst
of all, the confession—before I shook myself out of the stupor caused by this
stupid Kaluma and his stupid touch. Jerking myself out of his hold, I refused
to feel guilty for the immediate hardening of his features. “Don’t touch me,” I
hissed at him. I shuddered, pretending I hated the feel of his hand on me.
His lip curled in a vicious snarl. “I won’t bother.” He shook his hand out
with a look of disgust. “I don’t enjoy the feel of your human skin.”
“Oh, and your scales are so attractive,” I snapped back at him.
He shoved his face into mine. “Watch your tongue, human.”
“Make me.” I shot back, like a five-year-old.
 His nostrils flared and for one brief moment, I wondered if he’d backhand
me across the room, but instead he inhaled deeply, his eyelids flickering as if
seeking patience. Finally, he exhaled and looked down at the space between
us on the bed. I was covered in blankets, and he’d placed his cloak back on.
A tipped over chair beside me led me to believe he’d been sitting there,
possibly sleeping, when my screams woke him.
“Why were you screaming?” he asked.
Like I was going to tell him. “I don’t remember.”
He narrowed his eyes, searching my face, but I kept my expression as
blank as possible.
He shook his head. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“You don’t know me.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, relaxing back to lean against
the wall. My knees were bent, and my toes grazed his thigh. I settled onto my
side, watching him as he scrubbed at his face.
“I’m used to members of my settlement doing what I say. I’m the pardux,
which is a position held in high regard. At least … it used to be.” When his
eyes went a little distant, and he grimaced, I held back my snarky, Good for
you, and stayed silent.
“As much as fighting with you has been somewhat of a good time,” he
glanced at me sidelong with a small spark in his eye that almost made me
smile. Almost. “I would prefer not to have to dodge the blows of your
words.”
I winced. I didn’t like being nasty. But this was the way I’d been for so
long, ever since I landed in this fucking galaxy. I wasn’t sure how else to be.
Only around Bloom had I let my guard down, and even that had been brief.
He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his thick thighs, and I was
struck at how tired he looked. Not fatigued, like he needed to sleep, but
fucking exhausted, like from life. I knew the feeling. Damn, was I actually
relating to him?
“My name is Sherif,” he said slowly, his gaze on his clasped hands
between his knees. “More than twenty cycles ago, my brother disappeared
from our planet. He could not have been killed by a predator, because he was
an accomplished hunter, and we would have seen signs of a struggle. I
believe he was taken. The aftermath of his absence…” he shook his head and
fell silent.
I remembered a conversation I’d overheard between Cravus and Bloom. I
couldn’t recall everything, but one thing had stuck out to me.
“I heard,” I said softly.
He glanced up, frowning. “Heard what?”
“That your old pardux went a little crazy and created a harem to keep all
the females of your settlement for himself.” I felt my fingers curl into fists.
“What a selfish piece of shit. I’m glad someone killed him.”
Sherif was staring at me so intently that I began to worry I’d said
something wrong. “What?”
“After my brother disappeared, my mother died from grief, and my father
went mad. He was that pardux, Zuri.”
My stomach dropped to the floor as a shiver ran down my spine at the
iciness of his words. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
“That’s why I need to find my brother.” He leaned toward me, eyes
firing. “I have to know what he’s like. That will determine if I should create a
family, or if my cursed family bloodline should end with me.”
 THREE

S HERIF

It was a gamble to confess everything to Zuri. I could pretend this was all
strategy, but it was an impulsive decision to blurt out my true fears. I didn’t
expect her to respond well. She had a sharp tongue, after all, but I hoped she
had some sort of conscience behind those fierce eyes that would respond to
my words.
Now, in the dim light of the flickering lantern, her hard edges were
softened. Maybe it was the aftermath of whatever she dreamed, or maybe my
words had done something.
She swallowed and shifted her feet, which caused her cold toes to jab me
in the leg. Instead of yanking them away from me, she buried them further
under my thigh. “I’m Zuri,” she said in a hesitant voice.
My heart pounded as I realized we were doing this. A new starting point.
“I’m from Earth,” she said. “As you probably know. Specifically, from a
city called Philadelphia.” She smiled weakly and pumped a first in the air.
“Go Birds.” I cocked my head in confusion, and she laughed lightly. “I’ll
explain another time. Anyway, I went to bed at my cousin’s house and woke
up on a spaceship. After that, a lot happened that I don’t like to remember
and now I’m here.” She studied me warily, as if worried I’d press her to tell
me all her life details.
Instead, I nodded, and her shoulders relaxed slightly. She chewed the
corner of her lower lip. “I last saw your brother on Vixlicin.”
 My lips curled. That was not a planet I wanted to visit—a dessert
wasteland ruled by the Rogastix. “Where on Vixlicin?”
“In one of the fortresses.”
“Was he a prisoner?”
She didn’t hide her wince. “Yes. I heard they made him fight other
prisoners sometimes”
I cursed under my breath. Kazel had never been a fighter. He was skilled,
but didn’t enjoy the fight, not like Bosa. And he never had enough hate in his
heart to be violent, not like me. I rubbed at an ache in my chest.
“Look it wasn’t a good time in my life,” she said. “And I think I’ve
blocked most of it out. But he was there.”
I looked outside the small window. “As soon as the weather clears up,
we’ll travel there.”
She nodded. “Sure, I—” Suddenly she stopped and stared at me. “I’m
sorry. What? We?”
“Yes.”
She sat up and slammed her bound hands into her lap. “We?” she said
again.
“You’re coming with me.”
“Why do I have to come with you?”
“Maybe when you visit the last place you saw him, some of your
memories will return.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, and all that hardness was back. “Uh, no.”
“Yes.”
“I said no.”
“And I said, yes.”
“I do not consent, asshole.”
Anger flared up my neck so that I felt hot breath steam from my nose. “I
didn’t ask for it.”
“I hate you!” she screeched, pushing hard with her feet. The kick caught
me off guard, and I lost my balance. I fell off the bed pad, hitting the floor
with a thud. I whirled around to glare at her. For a moment, real fear crossed
her face before she covered it quickly. “That’s what you get,” she shot at me
before throwing herself back down and covering her whole body and head
with the furs.
I heard her murmuring to herself, and I caught a few curses here and
there. My scales itched, and my head pounded. My head warred with itself.
Part of me wanted to leave immediately and finish the search for Kazel on my
own, and the other part of me wanted to throw her over my shoulder even if
she kicked and screamed.
But the latter made my stomach churn. Was this who I was? Making a
female do my bidding just because I wanted her too? That was who my father
had been, and I was his son…
Following in his footsteps was my worst fear.
I ground my teeth together and righted the chair I’d been using. I sank
down into it, stretching my legs out in front of me and crossed my arms over
my chest. I stared at the Zuri lump on the bed pad. I was so sure finding
Kazel was my mission in life. So why did everything about this situation
make me feel wrong?

Her long nails scratched my scalp and I moaned as my muscles went lax. She
had a special touch, my mate.
“It’ll work out,” she said. “I promise.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked. Her touch was what I needed, but I
couldn’t get rid of the unsettling feeling in my chest.
“Because I’m with you,” she murmured, her lips brushing the rim of my
ear. “We’re a team. Always.”
“You didn’t always think that,” I chuckled. “Didn’t you tell me that you
hated me?”
Her hands drifted to my arms where they needed my biceps. “Yeah, well
you needed to tell me what was in it for me.”
“My cock wasn’t enough?”
She blurted out a cackle of laughter before I felt her full breasts press
against my back. “As amazing as it is, no, that’s not enough. Once you found
out something I wanted, everything changed. Remember?”
“I remember,” I murmured.
Her hand reached around, sliding down my chest to cup the hardening
shaft in my pants. Her tongue lapped at my earlobe. “This was just a bonus.”
I woke up with a jerk, cock hard, vurs pulsing, and my matz prickling nearly
to the point of pain. Speaking of the sun… its rays were shining through the
small window of the cabin. “Yerk,” I muttered to myself. I hadn’t meant to
fall asleep.
I looked to the bed, where Zuri still slept, her body a still lump under the
furs. Irritated at my dream, uncomfortable with my hard cock and wanting to
take it out on someone, I yanked hard on the rope tied to my waist, and
grinned while I waited for the squawk of indignation from the human.
Except none came. The frayed end of the rope slapped onto the floor, and
I stared at it a minute before lurching from my chair and tearing back the furs.
The bed was empty except for a lump of padding that had been built up to
simulate a body.
I let out a roar of anger before flinging the door open. Small tracks led
from the door into the woods, and the snow—while no longer falling—was
blowing into them. Soon, they’d be covered. Snarling, I set off at a swift
pace. She had a head start, but I’d caught her before. I’d catch her again.

Zuri

Stupid Kaluma. Did he really think I didn’t have a weapon hiding in my bed?
Of course, I did. I had weapons stashed every-fucking-where. Once he’d
fallen asleep, I’d pulled a blade out from under my pillow and sliced through
my bindings. I would have done it sooner, but there was no point when he
was still awake. He’d just tie me up again. But he’d fallen asleep, twitching
and murmuring to himself. That was my cue.
Now the sun was up, and I wasn’t making quite as fast progress as I’d
like. The makeshift snowshoes I’d strapped to my feet slowed my stride, but
if I didn’t have them, I’d sink into the snow up to my thighs. The air bit
through the thick layer of my cloak, chilling me to the bone.
But I soldiered on. I wanted as far away from Sherif as I could get. The
images from my dream lingered in my mind like a bad ear worm, and it
pissed me the hell off. I’d been fine before I met him. I was moving forward,
not back, and now he was forcing me to retell moments of my life I’d prefer
to keep to myself. And one of those was his brother.
Even now, I swore I could feel Sherif’s hand on the back of my neck
tugging me back to him. And the worst part was, part of me wanted to go
back to him, to see what would happen if I opened myself up just a bit.
In my dream, I’d been happy, happier than I could ever remember, maybe
even happier than I’d been on Earth. Happy like a brownie sundae with
friends. Happy like a soft blanket and movie. Happy like… family.
My steps slowed as my thighs protested. My chest ached, and it wasn’t
just from running. I kept hearing the heartbreak in Sherif’s voice as he talked
about his family. The scars from his father’s decisions were so evident,
bisecting his words and his raspy voice with pain. He wanted to see his
brother again, and while I couldn’t know if his brother was still alive, I was
the only person who could likely help Sherif at least learn about his brother’s
life since he’d left Torin.
Since arriving on this planet, I’d been in survival mode. Sure, I helped
others as best as I could, but I didn’t stick my neck out too far. Meeting
Bloom had been the first time I really risked my life. But what was I living
for? If someone else had a whisper of an update on my sister and niece, even
if I couldn’t meet them, I’d do anything to get that information.
That was exactly what Sherif was doing. He was risking it all for his
family, and I would do the same if I was in his gigantic shoes.

Sherif wanted to know if whatever had happened to his father was hereditary.
That was what he’d said in so many words. He didn’t want to turn into his
father, who in my eyes was a monster.
I came to a stop, angry with the assholes who’d brought me here, angry
with Kazel for doing what I never asked of him, angry with Sherif for being
so stubborn and loyal, and most of all, angry at myself for giving a shit.
Was this how Bloom felt when she told me she wanted to stay with
Cravus? This feeling like every step in the opposite direction of him was the
wrong one? I’d been so hell-bent on escaping so I didn’t have to deal with
complications. With caring. I hadn’t let myself care seriously about someone
else in a long time—Bloom being the only real exception. Because
everything I cared about got taken away in this galaxy and killed. Brutally.
I held back a sob as I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth. I
couldn’t go forward. I had to go back. I had to face whatever Sherif would
throw at me for escaping. I had to do something to pay Kazel back, even if it
meant risking my life. I’d been playing it safe for a long time…and for what?
Sure, I’d helped others where I could, but most of them were faceless
numbers of refugees. Sherif was right in front of me. Pleading with me. I
would never forget his voice or face.
With a groan, I turned and pointed my snowshoes back the way I’d came.
I took one step froward when I heard the unmistakable whine of a laser gun
charging up to fire. I leaped behind a tree just as a shot rang out. Two inches
from my head, bark exploded in a spark of burnt wood, and I screamed as
another shot sliced through the leg of my pants and cut into my calf. I went
down on one knee and grabbed for my own gun, but the pain in my leg was
so fucking all-consuming that my hands fumbled the weapon.
I could barely see straight, eyes watering, as dark figures descended on
me. Yellow Eyes. Armor. Fucking Kulks. They were big and kind of stupid,
but strong as elephants. I reached into the pocket of my other cloak for my
blade and slashed it through the air at the first Kulk. It glanced off his armor,
and I let out a screech of frustration. Hands grabbed me. “No!” I screamed as
I flailed and kicked as they dragged me out into the open. I’d been trying to
do the right thing. I’d been so close…
Suddenly the hands holding onto me tightened as I heard a shrill, piercing
whistle in the distance.
The Kulks began to shout, and then all hell broke loose. One by one,
Kulks began to drop, their throats slit, their stomachs ripped open, legs cut
off, arms chopped.
The two holding me went down in a lifeless heap, blood pouring from the
eye slits in their armor. Brandishing my one blade, I scrambled away from
them, limping badly as I sought to defend myself from whatever was killing
the Kulks.
All around me were bodies. No more Kulks stood, and it was then I heard
the heavy breathing, and the unmistakable rasp of a familiar voice. “You’re
welcome.”
A series of clicks followed and before me stood Sherif, double blades
dripping with blood, hair wild and blowing in the wind. His lips were curled,
and I recognized how damn angry he was, but I was too tired, scared, and in
pain to care.
I collapsed on the ground, tears leaking out of my eyes as I sobbed.
“Thank you. Oh fuck. Thank you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
 His expression immediately changed as he slid to his knees in front of
me. Gathering me in his arms, I felt his hand slide down my injured leg.
“Yerk,” he spat. “They shot you.”
“Yes,” I wept, weak with relief. “But I’m alive.”
With one hand under my knees, careful of my calf wound, and the other
around my shoulders, he hoisted me in the air and took off on a steady run
back to the cabin. “You’re alive. Thank yerk, you’re alive.”
The pain was all consuming. Burns were the devil. Even though I knew
he only cared about me because I was a clue to finding his brother, his
concern felt good. “I’m sorry for running.”
“Don’t spend your energy talking right now.”
“But I was turning back—"
He wasn’t listening to me and didn’t even glance at me as he spat. “I’m
angry at you.”
“I know.”
“You put yourself at risk.”
“And you’re mad because I’m the one who can help you find your
brother?”
He glared down at me. “You think I want your death on my conscience?”
My head swam. I was going to pass out. Or throw up. “I consent to
whatever you have to do to keep me alive. I have a debt to repay.”
My vision darkened, my body went numb, and the last thing I heard was
Sherif shouting.
 FOUR

S HERIF

Those brown eyes had glared at me and certainly wished death upon me
numerous times, but when I thought they wouldn’t open again, I’d gone into
a full panic.
I didn’t know much about human anatomy. I didn’t think anything vital to
her survival was in her leg, but how could I be sure?
I rushed back to the cabin without really remembering the journey, and
when I burst into the warm room and slammed the door shut behind me, her
eyes opened at the crack of sound, blinking hazily. My knees nearly buckled.
“Hurts,” she murmured.
I placed her down on the sleeping pad and tugged up the shredded leg of
her pants. Her skin was red and raw around the edges of her wound, and a
little blackened from the laser fire. I dug in my supplies—all thanks to Gurla
and Wensla—and grabbed a cleansing solution. I shook it out over her leg,
and while she hissed and gritted her teeth while slamming her fists down onto
the pad, she held her leg still. After I felt it was sufficiently clean, I mashed
together a paste that would keep it from getting infected. After slathering it
over her wound, I wrapped a bandage around her leg.
Only then did I help her sit up and hand her a skin of water. She gulped it
greedily, and while her skin color had returned to normal—it had washed out
to a worrisome gray—her expression was less pained.
Leaving her with the water and some food, I returned to her leg. She
jerked a bit when I touched it again, but then remained still as I tugged off her
boot and the soft covering she wore beneath it. Her foot was elegant, with
long toes and a high arch. While our feet were similar in design, Kaluma’s
were thicker and club-like with shorter toes, meant for walking and climbing.
Zuri’s were… well, they were what I imagine royalty would look like.
My touch must have lingered on her skin, because she wiggled her toes,
and I dropped her foot like it was hot. I cleared my throat and fisted my hands
on my lap. “How is your pain?”
“Much better now.” She gritted her teeth before continuing. “Thank you
for treating it. And for … saving me.”
Something had been bothering me since I happened upon the scene.
“Why were the Kulks attacking you? They don’t work independently, but
only on specific orders.”
She winced. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I waited for her to continue, but instead she looked around the room, as if
avoiding my eyes. “Zuri?” I asked.
She blew out a breath. “I’m wanted by the Council, okay?”
“Wanted?” I echoed.
“Yes.”
“Have they mistaken you for someone else?”
She looked offended. “No, I earned my wanted status, thank you very
much. Well, Hack did.”
“How so?”
“I fuck with them. Blow shit up. Scramble communication messages.
Screw with their supply lines.”
“The Council?”
“I didn’t start out to target the Council specifically, but they were kind
of… a casualty of my real mission.”
“Which is…?”
“Which is personal,” she glowered. She crossed her arms over her chest
and stared out the window, but soon her shoulders slumped. “They’ve never
traveled this far for me before. I think they’re getting desperate to capture
me.”
The words of my visul came back to me. Once you found out something I
wanted, everything changed.
“So how about we make a deal—I’ll defend you from the Council if you
help me find my brother.”
 She glanced at me sharply and her mouth opened before she snapped it
shut. “Well, that’s a given isn’t it? You have to keep me alive to get my
help.”
I held up a finger. “I’ll also take care of getting the bounty off your head.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Because once I find my brother, I’ll be taking on the Rinian Council.”
She stared at me. “I’m sorry?”
I rubbed my palms together as my last meeting with the Council and their
new leader replayed in my mind. “There’s been a mutiny, and the Council
elected a vizpek as the new chief—”
Her gasp cut me off, and I studied her shocked expression. “Do you know
what a vizpek is?”
She threw herself from the sleeping pad and stumbled on her wounded
leg with a curse. I stood up quickly and grabbed her shoulders to help her
stand. She shot me a nod of thanks before hobbling over to the table full of
her supplies. “I can’t believe I didn’t hear this news,” she muttered. “Fucking
vizpeks. I hate them. Don’t you?”
“I do,” I answered, surprised at the venom in her words.
She picked up a small device and shoved it in her ear before fiddling with
a small box with a dial in front of her. In the confined space of the cabin, I
could hear a faint buzzing in her earpiece before a voice came over the line. I
couldn’t make out the words well.
“Yeah, T?” Zuri said quickly. “What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me
about the council change?” The voice on the other end spoke rapidly, and
Zuri’s expression darkened as she listened. “Okay but... Yeah, I know, but
still… Okay fine. Sorry for swearing at you. Yeah, yeah. Okay, well thanks
for the information.” Her voice changed then, softening a bit in a way that
made my chest tight. “How’re the mates? … Good, good … the kits, too? …
That’s great to hear. Yeah, I’ll visit sometime. Quick question.” She glanced
at me, and the corner of her lips quirked with mischief. “What do you know
about the Kaluma?”
I glared at her, which only made her smile grow larger. The other voice
talked in a higher pitched tone, and I sighed loudly as I leaned back on the
sleeping pad. Zuri kept her attention on me as she nodded. “Yeah? Okay
good to know. Yep. Uh huh. Okay, thanks for the information, T. Say, what’s
the best way to kill them?”
I jumped to my feet with a thud as she let out a peal of laughter. “No, no,
I’m good, T. Thanks. Gotta go!”
She spun the dial and tore the device from her ear before tossing it on the
table. She grinned proudly at me, clearly pleased with herself, and her
expression was so bright I couldn’t seem to make my glare muscles work
anymore. Bosa sometimes got this look when he teased me. I never liked the
teasing, and he’d told me many times it was because he liked me.
Was it the same with humans? Did she… like me?
“So, T said you’re hard to kill, and it’s best to injure you and run down
your energy so you can’t blank. But then he said you’re resilient bastards, and
I don’t have much of a chance at beating you in a fight, even if I am a good
shot.” She sighed, but that grin still flirted with her lips. “So, I guess I’m
stuck with you.”
I swallowed, suddenly unsure what to do or say about her. When she was
like this, relaxed and smiling, I felt a strong tug in my chest. I’d felt it one
other time—back before Kazel disappeared. My mother had made hair beads,
and I’d wanted them more than anything. I’d coveted them with every breath,
and when she’d gifted them to me, I’d worn them proudly, showed them off
to all the other young warriors.
That feeling had been want. I’d wanted so badly to own those beads. To
possess them. To have them for myself and flaunt them in front of others.
I hadn’t wanted anything in a long time. I hadn’t dared. Scared of …
scared of what it would turn me into. And now this human female sat in front
of me, beautiful skin glowing in the sun’s rays, and I realized I wanted her
teasing. I wanted to touch her and be touched.
And that was yerking terrifying. My father had coveted other beings…
and it had led to madness. Was that what I would turn into if I let myself give
in to my want of Zuri?
I swallowed, ready to tell her to forget it, that I didn’t want her help. I
didn’t want this temptation around me. Not now, not until I knew… not until
I knew I wasn’t tainted. Messed up. Destined for madness.
Zuri, meanwhile, had no idea of my inner torment. She was already on
her feet, limping slightly as she began to pack her supplies into a pack. “We
better leave sooner rather than later. My leg hurts but at least I’ll be walking
in snow. It’ll go numb soon anyway. And whatever you put on it is really
working. What is that stuff?”
I stared at her with my hands fisted at my sides as I warred with myself.
But I knew I couldn’t back out now. I’d made a promise to her, and I’d keep
it. She was the key to finding my brother, and if he was who I thought he
was… well then maybe I could let myself have something that I wanted.
Even if that something was of all things … this prickly human female.

Zuri

I’d lost my snowshoes in the fight with the stupid Kulks, but I was able to
fashion a new pair quickly. Sherif watched me with amusement while I tested
them outside the front door of the cabin. Convinced they’d hold until we got
out of the deepest snow, I tightened the straps to my pack. I had my supplies I
always carried—weapons and other tech—as well as food and extra clothes.
I had gotten used to carrying light, which was a major feat for me. Or at
least, it would have been for Earth me. In my other life, I’d been a collector
—bags, shoes, and jewelry. I liked things because I worked hard for them, as
the manager of a prosperous clothing boutique. And it wasn’t just things I
spent my money on—I liked to treat my friends and family with dinners out
and fancy drinks.
And now? Well, now my bag wasn’t Gucci. It was an old fur blanket I’d
stitched together. My boots weren’t Timberlands. I wore a pair of thick-soled
shit-kickers I’d traded for with a uripon.
And there was no more alcohol in my life. I would have killed for even a
cheap well drink. If my friends could see me now… I had traded my stylish
lifestyle for one of grit and survival. Frankly, I wasn’t sure I had it in me. I’d
ran track in high school and college. I hadn’t been D1 or anything, but I was
fast. I used to curse my coaches, and now I thanked them for pushing my ass
and teaching me stamina and determination. I swore those lessons were the
only thing that kept me alive some days.
Back on Earth, I’d never watched what I ate as I liked to be on the curvier
side. Now, I’d lost more weight than I would have liked—I’d never been this
lean—but that was what happened when I had to fight for every meal.
I gazed out across the snow, thinking it would be almost pretty if I wasn’t
on some foreign planet. The sun was out, making the white drifts sparkle.
The snowstorm had passed, and this was our cue to head south before another
blew through.
Sherif stepped out of the cabin door. He was so tall, he had to bend down
so he didn’t slam his forehead on the frame. He straightened, and I was struck
dumb for a moment at what an impressive figure he made in the sun. I’d been
in flight mode since I met him, but now that we’d come to an agreement, I let
myself take in my new partner.
His shoulders were the broadest I’d ever seen, and I dated a linebacker in
college who’d gone pro. Sherif’s deadly shoulder spikes jutted out from the
shoulders of his fur cape, and his blue eyes glowed fiercely. He hadn’t tied
back his hair, and it swirled around his bronze face on the gentle breeze.
His eyes met mine, and he tilted his head in question. Probably because I
was staring. Coughing into my fist, I looked away and stamped my
snowshoes on the surface. Of course, the snow only came up to the tops of
his ankles. His boots were massive, big enough to crush my head like a grape.
It made me realize that in all our tussling, he hadn’t hurt me. Not one bit.
Sure, he tied me up, but he’d remained careful not to hurt me. These damn
Kaluma guys and their honor.
“Best route is to head south along the mountain range. Nearest dock is
about a three-rotation walk.” Sherif held a hand over his eyes to shade them
as he gazed out into the distance.
We were currently in the valley of the Proz Mountain Range of Gorsich. I
could just make out a few in the distance. We’d likely be there in a day, while
the terrain of the mountains would take about two days until we came out the
other side to a supply dock.
“And then we steal a ship or sneak aboard,” he said.
I smiled. “You leave that up to me.”
He glanced at me. “What does that mean?”
“I’m Hack, remember? I can get us aboard a cruiser that’ll take us where
we need to go.”
He nodded at that, and we began to walk. I expected Sherif to grow tired
quickly, as he had to trudge through the deep snow, but when I glanced over
about a mile or so in, he wasn’t even breathing hard. I was tired just from
walking with these damn snowshoes.
“How did you learn what you needed to know to be Hack?” Sherif asked
suddenly, his voice breaking the silence. “Was that what you did on Earth?”
I snorted a laugh, which made him look at me with a furrowed brow. “No,
that wasn’t what I did on Earth. I sold clothes and handbags to upper
millennials.” His brow didn’t move. I waved a hand. “I was like a vendor in
the market, but I sold clothes.”
His expression smoothed out some, but his confusion remained. “I see,
so…”
“I dated a guy in college who was a software developer. He was a
linebacker too. Kind of an all-around kind of guy. Anyway, he liked to teach
me things, and I found I really enjoyed it. I did all kinds of things for the
store I managed, like the website and a dedicated app. Things like that. I had
to learn a lot here on the fly, but I had some basics.” I laughed to myself.
“Sam was kind of a terrible boyfriend, and he cheated on me. But if I saw
him again, I’d give him a big hug and kiss as thanks.”
I expected Sherif to laugh, but when I glanced at him, he was frowning
fiercely.
I stepped closer and nudged him with my elbow. “What’s that look for?”
“He doesn’t deserve your touch,” he grumbled.
I blinked. “What?”
He turned glowing eyes on me. “If he didn’t treat you well, then no
matter what he taught you, he doesn’t deserve your touch. A no-contact
thanks would be sufficient.”
I nearly cackled out loud but trapped my laughter in my throat when I
made note of his dead serious expression. Swallowing the laughter back
down, I nodded. “Okay, noted. But it’s not like I’m ever going to see him
again. I don’t think he’s vacationing here.”
Again, I thought Sherif would laugh, but instead he only curled his lip in
distaste. “Good.”
“It was a joke, Sherif,” I said. “You can laugh.”
“Laugh?” he asked.
“I mean… yeah. It’s kind of late now, the moment has passed, but just
some information for the future—”
He stopped abruptly, turned his body to me and opened his mouth. After a
deep inhale, he let out a bark of sound that startled me so badly, I stumbled in
my awkward snowshoes. Sherif reached for me, hauling me against his chest
so I didn’t tumble into the snow.
I stared at him. “Wha—what was that?”
A flash of uncertainty darkened his eyes. “A laugh.”
“That was—?” A slight change in his expression, an openness I’d only
seen when he’d talked about his family, made me snap my jaws shut. He’d
tried to laugh. It wasn’t a good attempt. We’d have to work on it. But he’d
tried.
As he dusted some snow off my clothes, I smiled at him. “Right.” I
laughed loudly, a little forcefully. “See? Was that so hard? It’s fun, right?”
He let go of me and took a step back before snapping the edges of his
cloak with a sniff. “It was all right.”
I covered a smile with my gloved hand, and only nodded. With a glance
at me, he began to walk, and I followed. It was a few minutes later when he
said in a quiet voice. “You may make jokes any time.”
This time I laughed out loud for real.
 FIVE

Z URI

We reached the side of the mountain range toward the end of the first day.
The snow here in the valley wasn’t as deep, so I took off my snowshoes and
strapped them to my pack. My thighs were screaming, and I would have
killed for a steak and some mashed potatoes.
Instead, I had to settle for some jerky and freeze-dried vegetables, which
we ate over a small fire. I had to admit, it was nice to travel with someone. I
was used to doing everything myself, but Sherif had made the fire and
prepared an area for us to sleep.
I hadn’t had an opportunity yet to make him laugh again. I’d been too
tired mentally to even form words, but now that I was a little more rested and
had some food in my belly, I was eager to see if there was any humor at all in
the big Kaluma.
I wasn’t quite sure what to talk about. What did these warriors do for fun?
Talk about… females? Maybe that was it. I could be like a bro to him or
something.
“So, what does your queen think about you running off on this mission?”
I asked, leaning back against a snowbank.
He stared at me. “My queen?”
I stared back, unsure why he wasn’t understanding. “A wife? Mate?
Lover? I’m assuming that’s why you want to know about your genetics so
badly. So, you can have kids with your mate.”
 He paused a beat before letting out an annoyed huff. “I don’t intend to
have a mate.”
“Huh?” Then what was the whole point of finding his brother? He said he
wanted to know about his genetics to see if he should start a family. “But I
thought—”
“I’ll procreate with a willing female, but I have no desire to have a mate.”
My eyebrows rose into my hairline. “Uh, okay. You just don’t like your
options at home, or what?” He wasn’t meeting my eyes, and I sensed there
was something here I wasn’t understanding. He angrily poked at the snow
with a gloved hand. I shifted a little closer. “Sherif?”
Jeez, I’d been trying to have a little talk about getting laid or whatever,
and it had turned into a sore subject. This guy was like a minefield of issues. I
was about to snark about how he must think because he’s such a bigshot
leader he shouldn’t have to commit, but then he lifted his head and speared
me with a look at that froze my tongue. “The reason is—”
Suddenly his eyes went round, and he grabbed me roughly by the
shoulders of my coat, literally tossing me five feet behind him just as laser
fire hit the snow with a hiss where I’d been sitting. Just over the ridge of the
mountain to our left, a squad of Kulks were descending rapidly on several
hover vehicles.
“Shit,” I spat just as Sherif hauled me under his arm like a football and
took off on a dead sprint. I couldn’t see a damn thing but the rapidly passing
snow and the blur of Sherif’s running feet.
I heard the shouts of the Kulks and the zings of laser fire. I felt the rumble
in the air of their hover vehicles. Sherif was fast as hell, but he wasn’t as fast
as those vehicles. They’d catch up to us, and then… Well, I wasn’t sure how
effective he’d be now that he’d lost the element of surprise like last time. I
counted at least six vehicles, filled to the brim with armored enemies.
Sherif was climbing the opposite mountain at a dizzying speed, his hand
not holding me shoving snow drifts and tree branches out of the way to clear
our path. Still, I knew we’d be cornered soon.
I gripped the straps of my pack on my back, thankful I never took it off.
“Sherif!” I shouted over the whistling of the air in my ears. “Get to the top of
this ridge and then stop!”
“What?” he growled, glancing over this shoulder.
“Trust me,” I hollered back. “I have an idea. Remember my cabin booby
traps?”
 His steps faltered, and then he seemed to gain a burst of speed.
I didn’t even protest he was carrying me like a sack of potatoes. I would
have been left in his dust, easy pickings for the Kulks on our trail.
We crested the ridge, and Sherif immediately twisted to dive behind a
boulder. We hit the ground, and I was thankful for the soft snow as I rolled
immediately into a crouch and tore my pack off my back.
We were on a plateau, and about a hundred yards away was another
descent. We just had to impede the progress of the Kulks here, and then find
a place to hide on the other side.
“How close are they?” I shouted over the guttural sounds of the hover
vehicles.
“Close,” he said. “About thirty seeks.”
I cursed under my breath as I took out the explosives. What had detonated
near Sherif was nothing compared to what I was preparing now. I mashed the
putty together and smeared it on the back of the boulder.
I grabbed Sherif’s hand and pointed to the other side of the plateau. “Get
us there. I’ll shoot the explosives on the way just as the Kulks are cresting the
bridge. This is enough to flame up all their vehicles.”
Sherif’s eyes were alight with adrenaline. He nodded and didn’t ask any
more questions. He turned and gestured to his back. “Get on.”
I took my laser gun from my pocket and fired it up to charge before
hopping on his back. “Go!”
Sherif took off like a rocket and I braced myself with one arm around his
throat while I twisted at the waist to look behind me, aiming the gun at the
boulder. I waited. And waited. My arm shook. My shoulders burned. And just
when I caught the sight of the first Kulk vehicle, I smiled to myself.
“Three, two, one…” I fired the shot. The laser fire hissed through the air,
and the moment it hit the boulder, it lit up like the Fourth of July. The
boulder exploded in a spray of rock and flames. I hadn’t thought about the
debris and had to cover my face to avoid the aftermath. But what I saw
through my slitted eyes were burning vehicles. Tons of them.
“Yeah!” I cried out just as another sound reached my ears. A cracking.
The ground shuddered and Sherif stumbled, going down to one knee. With a
cry, I pitched forward over his head and hit the ground on my back. I groaned
just as the ground beneath me trembled again, shaking violently.
Hands yanked me to my feet and together, we both ran, half stumbling to
the edge of the hill… only to see there was no way down.
 We stood at the edge of a cliff. Not a hill, but a cliff ledge that jutted out
over a snow-covered riverbed. I glanced behind me as the ground near the
boulder seemed to separate, cracking into two pieces and we stood on the
ground no longer attached to the side of the mountain.
So, the explosion had worked… but it was going to kill us too. “Sherif.” I
grasped at him as he stared back at the explosion wordlessly. “I-I’m so sorry.
I didn’t know—”
“Of course, you didn’t,” he said softly, his hand cupping the back of my
head. He pressed my face into his chest. “Wrap your arms around me. I’ll
protect you.”
And those were the last words he said before the ground beneath us
completely gave out, and we plummeted straight down.

Sherif

As we fell, I curled my body around Zuri’s, trying to fit her into a tight ball in
the protection of my body. The impact was going to hurt. I could feel Zuri’s
sobs against my chest and the wetness of her tears coated my scales.
I reached out to the cliff beside us, raking my claws down the rock face to
try to slow us. When my hand caught on a jutting tree root, I tried to grasp for
it, but only managed a quick hold, enough to swing us away from the sharp
cliff debris below. Zuri let out a startled cry at our change of direction, but I
quickly curled my body back around her and gritted my teeth as we dropped
closer to the ground. The wind whistled in my face, making my eyes water,
but I kept my focus on our landing.
We hit the snow below with a crunch, and I twisted my shoulder into a
roll to break my fall except… we didn’t stop falling. Surrounded by white, I
couldn’t see anything. After a slight resistance from the large drift of snow,
my back slammed into something hard, which cracked under my weight. Zuri
let out a scream as suddenly we plunged into a massive cavern. I hit the
ground on my side and quickly rolled until we came to a stop along the
cavern wall.
For a moment, all I could hear was my heaving breathing and Zuri’s
whimpers. Then her head came up, and I loosened my arms enough so she
could unfurl from her ball. She looked around with her eyes massive in her
face. I could just barely make out her features in the darkness, and it was
clear she couldn’t see much, because her fingers still had a death grip on my
cloak. “Wha—?” she mumbled. “What the fuck just happened?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked. The setting sun cast a low amount of
light through the snow ceiling where we’d crashed into the cavern.
“I-I’m…fine. Jesus, I’m fine. How the fuck am I fine?” She blinked
rapidly at me. “I can only see your eyes and a little bit of your hair. Are you
hurt?”
“I’m—” I sat up and gasped as searing pain shot down my back.
“Oh God.” She was panicking. “That gasp didn’t sound good. Where are
you hurt? I can help. Fuck, I can’t see anything!”
Her hands fumbled all over my body, squeezing places I didn’t want her
to squeeze. “Zuri, calm down. Just give me a minute.”
I rummaged in my pack until I found a small solar light. Flicking it on, I
handed it to her. “Please check my back.”
“Your back, right. Please tell me you can move your legs.”
“I can move my legs.”
She let out a loud exhale. “That’s good. Okay, I need to take your cloak
off.” She helped me tug my arms out of the sleeves and then she shifted
around to my back. Her muffled cry made me think it didn’t look so good.
“Sherif,” she whispered. “You’re cut. Badly. What did this?”
I glanced up at the ceiling of the cavern where iced-over tree roots held
up a thick layer of snow. “My back hit those roots. Felt like I was being
whipped.”
“What do I do?”
“It’ll heal fast. Remember the paste I used on your leg?”
“Yes.”
“You need to put that in the cuts. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” she answered, her voice already steadier. I was learning that Zuri
was a do-er. If she had a direction, a plan, she was comfortable. It was
uncertainty and inaction that made her nervous.
While she tended to my back, I took in our new home… well, this was
our home until I could figure out how to get out. The cavern was massive—a
cargo ship could have fit in here. Scaling these walls was going to be tricky—
they were coated in a slick layer of ice. Once we got to the ceiling, we’d have
to navigate squeezing between the tree roots, all while hoping the entire thing
didn’t collapse on us or cause a landslide.
I grunted as Zuri slathered a particularly sensitive spot. “Sorry,” she
murmured.
“It’s fine.” Her hands trembled against my back. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just…” she exhaled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this
much blood.”
I stayed silent, because her voice had gone low, contemplative, and it was
one of the few times she’d volunteered any information about herself.
“My older sister was a bit of a daredevil. Always getting into trouble. We
used to ride our bikes around the neighborhood and one time she flew down a
hill without her hands on the handlebars. A dog ran at her barking and scared
the shit out of her. She fell and I swore she skidded a good five feet on the
road before coming to a stop. Our parents weren’t home, so I half-carried,
half-dragged her home and spent an hour cleaning her up and bandaging her
while she tried not to cry.”
“How old were you?” I asked.
“I was eight. She was ten. The blood didn’t bother me then. Blood never
bothered me. Not until this fucking galaxy.”
Her movements against my back grew a little rougher, but I didn’t
protest. I was too scared to move or speak, worried she’d fall silent.
“Blood’s different when the injuries are caused by someone else. Not a
fall or an accident. But a sentient being with emotions who should have
morals and ethics.” She swallowed audibly. “I know you don’t like me
because I was a pain in your ass, but I’ve cleaned blood of human women
who’ve been whipped and abused by aliens in this galaxy. Aliens who said
they wouldn’t hurt us if we followed the rules, but then changed the rules on
us. I held a dirty cloth over the throat of a woman no older than twenty-two
after a Rogastix guard sliced her because she begged for some water. She
tried to tell me her name as she bled out in a cell, but I couldn’t understand
her. I’ll never forget her, even if I don’t have a name to call her.”
Her hands on my back grew gentler as she applied the paste meticulously
with careful movements. I heard a slight sniff, and I knew she wouldn’t want
me to turn around to see her crying.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “Guess it’s easier to talk in the dark.”
I wanted to take back every negative thought I had about her. Of course
she was prickly. She’d been through incredibly trauma and seen
unexplainable horrors. I’d been focused on my own mission that I hadn’t
taken into account what this was doing to her.
“I’m sorry for what you had to go through. And as long as I have breathe
in my body, I’ll make sure nothing like that happens to you again.
She patted my back. “It’s not your job to take care of me.”
But it was. I wanted that job. Didn’t she see that? “Thank you for
confiding in me.”
“You’re surprisingly a good listener.”
“It’s easy to listen in the dark.”
Her hands went still for a moment before she reached around me to roll
a bandage on my torso to protect the wounds. I grimaced as I slipped back
into my cloak.
I turned around to find that Zure fumbling to put her clothes back on, as
she’d taken them off to tend to my back. I spotted the pale tips of her fingers.
I grabbed them and jerked when I realized how cold she was. “Yerk,” I
swore. “How cold are you?”
She winced with chattering teeth. “Um, pretty cold.”
I glanced around, but there was nothing to burn here, just snow and stone.
“How long can humans withstand cold temperatures?”
“Uh,” she shivered violently and seemed to curl within herself while
avoiding my eyes. “Like… not long?”
I ducked to meet her gaze. “Not long?”
“We’re fragile to temperatures, okay?” she spat. “And my ancestors
enjoyed African heat. I’m not cut out for this. During the last snowstorm we
had in Philly, I didn’t leave my house for four days.”
“You’re the one who traveled north.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think I’d be in a fucking ice cave.”
I didn’t like the look of her lips, which had lost their lush color. I grabbed
her and tugged her against me. She let out a squeak of surprise, which I
ignored. “Wrap your arms around my back and your legs around my waist.”
“What?” She squirmed in my hold.
“I’m the only thing here that can keep you warm, so quit protesting.”
She let out a sigh and went still, then slowly shoved her arms under mine.
Her cold fingertips gingerly touched my back, careful of my wounds. She
spread her legs, sitting in my lap with her knees cocked over my hips. I
wrapped my cloak around her, then my arms, and tucked her into my body.
For a moment, she remained stiff, her body still trembling from the cold, but
slowly, as heat returned to her muscles, she relaxed. Her head fell forward,
pressed against the base of my neck, where her breath tickled my scales.
“Thank you,” she whispered there with a sniff. “Sorry I’m stubborn
sometimes.”
I patted her back and she snuggled into me. My cock had taken notice of
her presence, and I wanted to sneer at it. Her sweet smell flooded my nostrils,
surrounding me, and the only good thing about that was my body heat was
increasing. I could feel my heart pumping loudly and wondered if Zuri could
feel it too. Her hands slowly slid up and down my back.
“We need to get out of here,” she said softly. “I can’t just be a koala on
you forever.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I can’t cling to you to keep warm for the rest of my life.”
I rested my chin on top of her head, thinking I didn’t mind this so much. I
felt a little like I was cheating, like I was getting away with something I
shouldn’t. Holding her like this… it felt like some visul. But it wasn’t real.
Zuri wasn’t mine. She didn’t want my touch for anything past heat.
“I’m sorry this is what we have to do to keep warm. I know my touch
repulses you.”
She tensed for a moment. “It’s not—” she sighed. “I haven’t let anyone
touch me in a very long time. Not since I have been free.” She paused and the
silence lasted so long that I thought she was done speaking. Until her husky
voice said, “Your touch doesn’t repulse me, Sherif.”
I closed my eyes as I tightened my arms around her. “It doesn’t repulse
me to touch you, Zuri.”
She laughed softly. “Are we skating around the idea that we actually like
touching each other?”
“No,” I said gruffly at the same time she wrinkled her nose and said,
“Nah.”
Her laugh rang out and she gazed up at me, smile wide, eyes bright, and
everything about her expression took my breath away. I swiped away a smear
of dirt off her chin and then cupped her cheek, staring into her eyes as her
smile faded, and her throat bobbed with a slow swallow.
“The reason I don’t have a mate,” I began, finally answering the question
she had asked before the ambush. “Is that I don’t trust myself.” My thumb
brushed her soft skin. “What if my possessiveness turns evil like it did with
my father?”
 Her lips parted on a soft gasp. “Sherif,” she whispered my name in a tone
that knocked a crack in my heart.
I shook my head. “I can’t let myself want, Zuri. So don’t tell me that you
like my touch, because I’m not quite sure I will be able to resist you.”
Her wet eyes shone. “I’m resistible, Sherif.”
“No.” I tucked her head under my chin again to avoid looking into her
eyes. “You’re not as resistible as you think.”
She trembled against me, but this time it wasn’t from the cold. I felt a few
tears drip down my chest until her breaths evened out, and she fell asleep,
safe and warm tucked against me.
 SIX

Z URI

His hands were soft on my swollen belly, which was lopsided since the baby
had his whole butt shifted into my left ribs. I sifted my fingers through his
white hair, which was freshly washed and hung loose around his shoulders,
hiding his face. Soft kisses peppered my belly and I smiled as the baby lashed
out with one of his flying kicks.
Sherif’s head came up, and his blue eyes shone softly. “Active today.”
“He’s busy.”
“She’s busy.”
I rolled my eyes. Sherif insisted I was having a girl. Mother’s intuition
said boy.
“Roll onto your side, kotche,” he said. “Let me rub your back.”
“Yeah, if you want me on my back, roll me yourself,” I grumped.
With a soft laugh, he pushed me onto my right side, and I winced as a
baby arm or something dug into my bladder. But the pain was quickly
forgotten as his big hands went to work on my shoulders and lower back.
In our hut, I wore only a pair of shorts and cropped tank. When I left,
which was rare now, I wore a mumu like dress which was the only thing that
fit that was appropriate for public. I had a status here in the Kaluma
settlement as Sherif’s mate, so I had to maintain some sort of decorum. Since
my patience was as thin as a hair, that meant I wasn’t leaving much
anymore. I’d almost made Gurla cry the other day because of my grumpy
attitude and felt like a total asshole. Gurla forgave me, but I hadn’t forgiven
myself yet.
A kiss pressed to my temple, then my cheek. “Not much longer. Then
we’re three.”
I reached back and cupped his cheek. “I can’t wait.”
“Me either.” His hand once again rested on my belly. “She’ll be
beautiful just like her mother.”

I woke up with a gasp and shook my head, feeling a little drool at the side of
my mouth. I exhaled and rubbed at my face. I glanced around the cavern,
which was bright now, as the sun was up and cutting through the ceiling hole.
Despite the snow on the ground, I was warm. Really warm. Like campfire
warm. I stretched and felt a tightness around my stomach. Glancing down, a
pair of bronze hands were clasped in front of me. Over my belly.
The visual still fresh in my mind, I let out a shriek and the hands
tightened. “What?” Sherif’s voice came in a panic. “Are you okay?” I sat up,
and he let me go. I turned around to see he’d wrapped himself around me in
sleep, but he was up now, eyes alert and brow furrowed. “Zuri?”
I exhaled roughly and rubbed at my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”
“Another dream?” he said slowly and watched my face carefully.
I shook my head, unwilling to admit out loud that he’d been invading my
subconscious.
His brow still furrowed, he uncapped the water and handed it to me.
While I drank, he doled out food for both of us, insisting I eat my full portion
when I tried to tell him I wasn’t hungry.
He ate with a scowl on face, ordering me around to chew thoroughly and
drink more. Despite his bossiness, I found myself smiling. He was a caretaker
below the layers of grump. I got the sense he was like this around those he
felt were his—his family and members of his settlement. And I was pretty
sure, somehow, I’d become one of those people.
I wasn’t sure he even realized the little things he did to care for me, like
making sure I was fed, taking the brunt of our falls by using his body as a
shield, and checking if I was warm. So many men I’d met in my life tried to
boast an alpha attitude and all it did was come across as selfish. But Sherif,
with his bossy caretaker attitude, was a true alpha and leader.
He caught me staring at him and he narrowed his eyes. “What?”
Embarrassed at him noticing, I glanced away. “Nothing.”
“Do I have something on my face?”
“Yeah, a frown.”
He made a strangled sound in his throat, and when I snuck a glance at
him, I swore his lips twitched into a small grin.
A rustling sound drew my attention, followed by a few thumps. I wasn’t
the only one who noticed.
Sherif’s head immediately went up, his scowl depending. “What was
that?”
A shuffling followed by another thump shook some snow loose from the
walls. Sherif gathered our supplies and hauled his pack on his back.
“It seems to be coming from over there.” I pointed to the far end of the
cavern, which tapered to a small wall covered in snow.
The shuffling sounds grew louder, and Sherif rose slowly to his full
height while shoving me behind him. I peeked around his arm. “Is there
something on the other side of that wall?” I asked. “It’s not like it can get to
us, right?”
Entire body tense, Sherif backed up. I hadn’t seen him in his battle mode
before—he’d blanked. So now I could see what a Kaluma warrior looked like
in the face of danger. He was focused, stone-faced with determination, and in
complete control his body.
The wall of snow seemed to pulse, and I let out a cry before muffling the
sound behind my gloved hand. Sherif angled his hips, feet braced with one in
front of the other, and reached back to unsheathe the two giant blades at his
back. I watched them glide from their holders and marveled at the sharp tips
glistening in the sun-sparkling snow.
He held them in front of him just as the wall caved in—revealing a
tunnel. There had been no wall there at all, just snow. And emerging from
that tunnel…
My jaw dropped. “Oh fuck.”
A massive furry beast, like something out of my childhood abominable
snowman nightmares emerged. He walked on all fours to get through the
opening, but once he did, he straightened to his full height. Covered in a wet,
gray fur, he rose to his full height, which was probably fifteen feet tall. His
arms ended in thick fingers tipped with sharp black claws double the length
of Sherif’s blades.
And that wasn’t even the worst thing. From behind him, two more
massive yeti-like creatures emerged. The leader plunged his claws into the
ground, reared back his head, and opened his mouth to reveal a row of razor-
sharp teeth. Then he let out an angry roar that seemed to shake the entire
planet.

Sherif

Yakies were myths. Something we told our offspring about to make sure they
didn’t wander too far from our settlement. Go north and the yakies will
emerge from the snow to protect their territory. They’ll eat you in one bite.
But these were real, right in front of me, massive monsters with claws as
tall as me and teeth the size of my hand. In any other instance, I’d blank, but I
wasn’t confident I could take on one quick enough, and the others would
head right for the target they could see—Zuri.
I heard the familiar whine of the charge of the laser gun and whirled
around. “Don’t—”
But I was too late. With one eye squinted, she fired off a shot, hitting one
of the yakies between the eyes.
Zuri let out an excited whoop, but the celebration was short-lived. The
yakie shook his head and snarled. His matted hair was like a bullet-proof
helmet. The laser fire did nothing. “Oh fuck,” Zuri whispered. “I just made
him mad, didn’t I?”
“Yes,” I said as the first yakie dipped his head, claws digging into the
stone floor as it prepared for a charge. I glanced quickly to a stone ledge to
my left. “See that ledge? As soon as I attack, you run to that. I’ll meet you
there.”
“Wait, what?” Her voice rose to a fever-pitch. “Are you going to fight
these things?”
“What choice do I have?” I growled at her.
“But fucking lasers didn’t do anything. And you think you’re going to
penetrate them with your blades?”
 I spun them in my hands as the yakie took its first step. “I do. These are
forged by Cravus. They’ll cut through anything.”
With a ground-shaking roar, the yakie charged. I answered his call with a
Kaluma warrior whoop of my own. Behind me, I heard Zuri’s footsteps as
she took off on a fast sprint for the ledge. The yakie in front slashed at me
with his claws while the two behind went for Zuri, as I expected.
Instead of taking on the first, I leapt over the low slash of his claws and
slid between his thick legs with my blades crossed over my chest. Once I
reached the back of his feet, I slashed my weapons out, each one slicing into
the delicate tendons of his ankles. The yakie let out a pained roar as blood
gushed from the deep cuts.
Still sliding on the icy stone, I came up on my feet without stopping,
immediately sprinting toward the yakies after Zuri. One was almost upon her,
while the other had her cornered on the ledge, stabbing at her with his claws
while she screamed and dodged, all while firing ineffectually at his head.
Well, I thought it was ineffective—until she hit his eye. With a mighty
cry, he reared back, covering his face while blood and other fluids dripped
down his fur. The third yakie, angered by his friends’ injuries, reared back his
fist. If he followed through, he would have taken out Zuri and a whole chunk
of the wall with it.
But I got there first. With my blades.
I slashed down, severing his hand at the wrist. Blood sprayed in an arc as
the yakie squealed with a shriek.
I leapt past him to the ledge and tossed Zuri onto my back. She didn’t say
a word, just clung to me like her life depended on it. Because it did. The three
yakies were injured, but not dead, and they were rallying behind us, angrier
now, and potentially more deadly. If they got a hold of me, I was pretty sure
they’d slurp out my insides like noodles. Slowly. While I was still alive.
I shuffled back to the edge of the ledge and then took a running leap
forward, blades up. I hit the ledge and slammed my blades into the stone,
where they stuck in the icy walls with a jarring thud.
Zuri let out a cry, and I felt her weight slip, but she recovered, locking her
arms between my neck and shoulder spiks. “I said hold on!” I called over my
shoulder.
“Temporary mistake!” she hollered.
I felt the breeze of a claw pass below my feet and glanced down to see a
now one-eyed yakie doing his best to reach us. I didn’t have time. I had to get
us out of this cavern before one of them reached us—or my strength gave out.
So, I climbed using my blades. One after the other, I stuck them in the
walls, heaving myself up with my arms until my muscles screamed, my lungs
burned, and I could barely feel my hands. Up, up, up the walls, ignoring the
pain as Zuri panted encouragement in my ear. “You can do this. Almost
there. Oh gross, I think I got that one’s eye gunk on me.”
I coughed up a laugh just as I reached the icy branches covering the
ceiling of the cave. I hauled us through a small break in the branches and then
kept going, digging up through the layers of snow until I breached the surface
and sucked in a breath of fresh air. The sky was clear, and the sun shone
bright.
“Holy shit, you did it,” Zuri said, a moment before I heard the cracking of
branches.
“Oh yerk,” I muttered just as the snow began to give way. With one hand,
I reached behind me and grabbed Zuri by the back of her coat. With the last
strength I had left, I tossed her and my blades over my head toward a patch of
non-snow-covered ground.
She hit the ground on a roll and immediately came up, scrambling after
me as I tried to haul myself out of the hole before all the branches gave
way… and I’d find myself back in that cavern with two very angry yakies.
“Sherif!” she shouted. Her eyes were wide, panicked and she dove for me
just as the snow around me caved in below. Her hand caught mine right
before I fell into the cavern. Her body on solid ground at the lip of the cavern
hole, mine dangling. Everything hurt. My hands bled, and my shoulders felt
like they weren’t connected to my torso. Below, the yakies roared, milling
about in the deep snow, waiting for me to fall for their hard-earned feast.
“Just let go,” I gasped. “Can’t pull myself up. Tell my brother—”
“Shut the fuck up,” she snarled at me before grasping my wrist with both
her hands. “I’ll do the work this time.” Heaving back with all her weight and
a long grunt, she hauled my upper body onto flat ground. Kicking with my
legs, I made it the rest of the way. She didn’t stop there as she placed her
hands under my armpits and dragged me farther from the hole. I felt dirt in
my hands as she settled me onto a patch of icy grass before she fell onto her
butt with a loud groan. Knees bent, head dropped between her shoulders, she
turned her head so she could look at me out of the corner of her eye. “That
was epic.”
I somehow found the strength to arch my neck and belt out a peal of
laughter to the sky.
 SEVEN

S HERIF

We huddled behind an old, discarded cruiser wing half-buried in the cold

ground. A mixture of Kulks and Rogastix scurried around behind us on the
dock, unaware we were about to yerk up their day. I kept quiet while Zuri
fiddled with a device in her hand. She tapped on the screen with quick fingers
while the tip of her pink tongue poked out from between her lips.
I resisted fidgeting. I found I was like Zuri—inaction made me nervous.
But I trusted her to do what she said she would and get us on a cruiser to
Vixlicin. After battling the yakies and managing to avoid being buried alive
in a thick layer of snow, we’d traveled to the dock.
My body was still sore, but the wounds in my back had healed over, and I
no longer had to wear a bandage. Zuri had asked me often on the way if I
needed to take a break until I snapped at her that I could be missing all my
limbs and I’d still make the trek.
She kept quiet after that.
A small sound drew my attention and I watched as Zuri swiped her finger
across the screen before turning around on her knees and peering through a
hole in the wing. “One minute. Then be ready to run.”
I shifted into a crouch. “How many will I have to fight?”
“Hopefully none.” She checked the screen before shoving it into the front
of her cloak. “I’d love to accomplish one thing that doesn’t end up with you
hurt. Or me for that matter.”
 “I heal faster than you,” I frowned. I didn’t like that about humans.
Bruises and cuts lingered on their skin. When she’d taken off her cloak to
dry, I had even seen the marks of my fingers where I’d grabbed her to haul
her around. When I’d tried to apologize for that, she’d brushed me off. But I
didn’t like seeing them. It bothered me more than it should.
“Thirty seconds,” she whispered.
Our goal was a small shuttle used for interplanetary travel, mostly by a
smaller species called rotys, who traveled in sets of two. It was going to a
tight fit for Zuri and me, but it was our quickest option as it was light and
designed for speed.
“Ten…” she began a countdown, and I readied my legs for a burst of
speed. Just as she whispered, “One,” a siren cut through the air like a knife,
blaring from the control building along with a flashing light. All the crew
abandoned the dock and raced toward the location of the alarm.
Zuri pounded her finger on the screen, and I stared in amazed as the
shuttle rumbled to life. “Go!” Zuri whisper-shouted, and we took off. I easily
got ahead of her, but she was fast too, pumping her arms with her head back
and chest up. I reached the shuttle before her and slammed on the button to
open the hatch. I dove inside and Zuri was right behind me. She didn’t stop
until she was in the cockpit while I closed the hatch and sped to the window
to check if anyone saw us.
The siren was still going as the light was flashing, but a head was poking
out the door of the building, looking directly at us. Since Zuri had remotely
activated the shuttle, she only had to flip a few switches to bring up the
landing gear and separate us from the dock.
As we began to move, a half-dozen Kulks poured from the control
building, racing toward us with laser guns drawn. “Hold on!” Zuri shouted. I
reached for a bar on the wall of the shuttle just as she slammed a lever down,
which powered us forward so fast, I was nearly swept off my feet. But it did
the trick. We soared out of the range of the laser fire, and Zuri let out a
triumphant whoop while glancing at me over her shoulder with a grin, her
eyes sparkling.
I gave her a nod as I strode toward the chairs to prepare for the
atmosphere exit. “You did good,” I murmured, placing my hand on the back
of her neck and giving it a squeeze.
Her grin froze, and her body went still. I jerked my hand away. “Sorry, I
—” I shook my head. “Not sure why I did that. I won’t touch you again.”
 “No, it’s okay—” she cut herself short and stared at me.
I stared back, my hands itching to grab her, press her to my chest, and
lock her to me for the rest of her life.
The sudden urge scared that every-living yerk out of me.
“Don’t,” I rasped. “Don’t tell me it’s okay.”
She inhaled sharply and nodded. I sat down in the chair at the cockpit and
began strapping myself in, but her next words brought me up short. She
stared out the front window as she spoke. “You might want to prepare. There
might be a time where I won’t tell you no. Where I can’t tell you no anymore
than I can tell my heart not to beat.”
I held my breath as she turned and speared me a look over her shoulder.
“So just think about that. If we can’t find your brother, how will you respond
if I tell you yes?”
Her gaze dropped before she turned back around. And I stared straight
ahead, not seeing a single thing but the heat in her eyes.

The shuttle didn’t have much room, but it had an oversized pull-down
sleeping pad and a portable cleanser. Once we were cruising in space safely
and Zuri put the shuttle on autopilot, I retreated to the back, where I quickly
stripped off my clothes before pulling the cleanser head out of the wall. Clear
walls rose from the floor all around me, and I leaned my head back as the hot,
purified air stripped my hair and scales of dirt.
When I finished, I let out a long sigh of relief before turning off the
cleanser. Once the walls lowered, I dug in my back for a spare change of
clothes.
I tugged on my pants, and sensed eyes on me. I turned around with one
leg in my pants to find Zuri standing nearby, her gaze on the ground at my
feet.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I pulled up my pants to my waist, not
bothering to clasp them, and stepped toward her. I gripped her shoulders, and
her head came up.
She stared at me with flushed cheeks and a rapidly rising and falling
chest. Her scent flooded my nostrils, and I flared them as I took a step back,
needing some space between us. When she looked like this, I could almost
imagine… I shook my head.
“I’m fine,” Zuri said quickly. “I just turned around and you were, just…”
her fingers flicked in my direction. “Just all there.” She cleared her throat and
looked away. “There’s a lot of you.”
“Are you embarrassed? You can look longer—”
“Nope,” she snipped quickly. “I’m… I got a good look.” She gave me a
gesture where she made a fist with her thumb extended toward the ceiling. “A
great look.”
I mimicked her gesture. “What’s this mean?”
“It’s a thumbs up, and it means… good. Or yes.”
I stared at my hand. “Huh.”
“So, I’m going to get in the cleanser now.”
I watched as she passed me and began to remove her shoes and cloak. She
curled her fingers in the bottom of the band she wore around her breasts and
then slowly turned on a heel and widened her eyes at me. “Uh, are you going
to stand there and look?”
I blinked. “You looked at me.”
She barked out a surprised laugh, but I didn’t understand what was so
funny. Her laugh faded and then she studied me for a while. Her fingers
twitched. Then she gave a little shrug. “Well, I guess it’s only fair, right?”
I gave her a thumbs up, and that only made her laugh again. With a shrug,
she pulled her chest band over her head. I swallowed as her large breasts
topped with luscious dark brown nipples bounced. It’d been a long time… I
sighed to myself. That was a lie. I’d never been with a female. As a young
Kaluma, I’d been shy, too worried about doing anything that would reflect
poorly on my father, and then as soon as he went mad… well, I refused to let
myself want anything.
I didn’t miss the way Zuri’s hands shook as she touched them to the waist
band of her pants. A nervous glance at me was all I needed to know she
might have said the words, but she wasn’t comfortable. I turned around,
giving her my back, and the rustling of her removing her clothes stopped.
I heard her audible gulp. “Do I look much different than your Kaluma
females?”
“Somewhat,” I answered.
“Right,” she muttered, but I didn’t like her defeated tone. “They’re
probably gorgeous, too.”
I cleared my throat. “I turned away because you didn’t look comfortable.
Not because I didn’t want to keep watching.”
Silence greeted my words until she spoke again, a tinge of teasing fire to
her voice. “So, you wanted to see me naked, Sherif?”
That confidence of hers was back, and I smiled. “I’d have to be dead not
to want to see you naked, Zuri. You’re beautiful.”
More silence, and then she let out a little snort. “Flattery will get you
everywhere.”
There was a smack followed by the rush of the cleanser, and I closed my
eyes, locking my knees in place, because it was the only thing preventing me
from turning around to watch. I imagined all her sleek muscles shifting
beneath her dark skin as she arched her neck and back.
My cock thickened in my pants, and I tried to think of things that made
me not hard—Bosa’s snoring. Grego and Uthor puking after they had an
eating contest and stuffed themselves too full.
I wasn’t successful and was still in pain when a touch on my arm had me
opening my eyes. Zuri stood before me, wearing a long skirt with slits on
either side and a thin, short top that ended just below her breasts. So much
skin just… there. Before me. But what I liked the most was her smile, which
was radiant as she inhaled deeply and let it out. “Hot damn, it feels good to
be clean. I swore I still smelled those yakies on me. Like wet dogs, you
know?”
I didn’t know, but I could only nod and watch her curvy hips sway as she
walked to the cockpit. I came out of my stupor and dug in the supply cabinet
for food. The shuttle was stocked, most likely for whoever was supposed to
travel on it next, and I was going to take full advantage rather than use our
own supplies. There was even a small flash heater, so I was able to plate us
two servings of a meat and tuber meal, complete with a green vegetable.
Zuri had been checking our flightpath—she was a much better pilot than
me—and squealed when I placed the food on a tray next to her chair. “Thank
you. I’m starving.”
“The supplies on the ship should last us the rest of the trip if we ration,” I
said as I dug into my own meal. “I help analyze the food supply at my
settlement, so I can take care of that.”
She nodded. “That sounds great.”
We ate in silence, both eager for something warm in our bellies. I hadn’t
been full in a long time, mostly just eating to fuel my body rather than to
enjoy the taste on my tongue. And this was tasty, warm, and very filling.
 I could tell the food made Zuri drowsy, as she leaned back in her chair
and propped her feet up on her tray. She wiggled her bare toes, and I caught a
few white blisters marring the pads of her feet.
Without thinking, I shifted closer and pulled her feet into my lap, rubbing
the balls of her feet, her heels, and running my knuckle on her arch.
“Oh my God, seriously?” Zuri moaned as she sipped on a hot herbal
drink. She blinked at me with heavy-lidded eyes. “Why are you being so nice
to me?”
“You’re my partner. An important part of this mission. You need to be
taken care of.”
“What about you?”
“I take care of me. And I don’t need anything.”
She snorted out a laugh. “Right. Spoken like a male.” She sighed and
crossed her arms over her chest. “But you’re one of the good ones.”
I paused at her words and slowly let her feet rest on my lap as I stared out
into the darkness of space. “That’s what I’m hoping to find out.”
“But you already know the answer.”
I glanced at her with a frown. “No, I don’t.”
She shrugged. “Okay, well then I know the answer.”
I scoffed. “You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
I swallowed, the old pain of my past rising up in my throat to choke me
like it always did. “My father took everything for himself. He believed he
was the one who should repopulate the settlement, that he should father all
the new Kaluma. But he couldn’t impregnate any of the females. The ones
that did carry a child lost them early in the term.”
Zuri removed her feet from my lap and tucked them under her as she
leaned forward, hands on her lap. “I’m sorry.”
“And we all let him, Zuri. We let him because he was the pardux. Our
leader. What he said was the law, the end all be all, and it took an outsider to
finally bring him down. Not me.” I shook my head. “I’ll never forgive myself
for not acting sooner. When he was killed, I didn’t want to take over, but
everyone voted me in. That’s why I have to know if I’m like him. Because I
can’t let them down. I can’t destroy them again.”
“Sherif,” she said, her eyes shining with tears. “You won’t.”
“You don’t know that—”
“You’re different, and so are your people. Cravus spoke so highly of you.
Even just your name made his spine straighten with respect for you.”
“That’s why I can’t let him down.”
“No,” she gritted her teeth fiercely. “That’s why he wouldn’t let you let
him down.”
I sucked in a breath as she kept talking.
“Sherif, you’re surrounded by warriors who care about you and the
settlement. The past can repeat itself, but we can also learn from our past, and
having met you and Cravus, I know without a doubt that you’ve learned. All
of you.”
“But what if I’m weak—?”
“Weak?” she laughed harshly. “We might have just met, but I’ve seen
what kind of leader you are. You fight hard. You protect. You plan and
strategize. Have you ever heard the term alpha male?”
I shook my head.
“It’s meant to describe a leader, but some people on Earth call any old
overbearing jerk an alpha male, and that’s not right. An alpha is a leader who
makes decisions for the best of his people. He takes care of himself and his
team. You have done all those things since I met you—treating my wounds,
feeding me, rubbing my feet.” A tear dripped from her bottom eyelashes, and
she swiped them away with an angry flick of her hand. “I wish you could see
yourself how I see you. How your warriors see you.” She swallowed roughly
and let out a harsh huff. “I’ll help to the best of my ability to find your
brother or learn what happened to him, but I don’t think that’s going to give
you the answers you want.”
She leaned forward and tapped my temple lightly, her voice dropping to a
soft sweetness. “It’s all here, honey. You just have to learn to trust yourself.”
I stared at her, unable to speak or move as her words ran in a loop in my
head repeatedly. She smiled at me, and I didn’t like how sad it was. She
uncurled her feet from under her and rose before stepping toward me. Her
hands gripped either side of my face, and she bent at the waist until her lips
brushed my forehead.
I closed my eyes as I fisted my hands to keep from reaching of her. She
stepped away and dimmed the lights as she settled onto the bed pallet. I
stayed the way I was for a long time. I’d spent so long thinking my brother
would hold all my answers, but now I wondered, was that just an excuse?
 EIGHT

Z URI

The rest of the journey was… a little tense. Sherif had settled into brooding
mode, and I wondered many times if I should have kept my mouth shut.
But even when he scowled out the front of the shuttle with his arms
crossed over his chest, if I approached him, he immediately straightened and
used a soft tone to answer my questions or have a surface-level conversation.
He wasn’t angry with me, or at least he didn’t outwardly show it.
As we neared Vixlicin, I asked him point blank. “Are you angry with me?
For what I said?”
He shook his head as he stared straight ahead. “No.”
I waited to see if he’d elaborate, but he remained quiet. “Just no?”
With a long sigh he turned to me, eyes a little sad in a way that made me
wince. “I’m not angry with you, Zuri. Maybe myself. Not you. Your honesty
will always be appreciated.”
I sank down in my chair, wondering if I’d ever been thanked in my life
for my honesty. There were many times I was told I was too loud or too
aggressive when I was simply trying to get my point across. The fact that
Sherif acknowledged and appreciated it meant more than I realized. But the
guilt that had been dogging me since Sherif showed up now felt like a
tightening band around my chest.
Because there was something I hadn’t been fully honest about. Well,
more like it was a lie of omission. And once Sherif found out the truth, I
wasn’t sure he’d ever look at me the way he’d been lately. If he’d ever be
kind to me again. Hell, I was wondering if he’d take the opportunity to slice
my head off with his blades.
I swallowed as a trickle of nervous sweat slid down the back of my neck.
I could spill it now, just let it all out, but maybe it would be better to wait
until we weren’t in a confined space. Somewhere I could run.
I grimaced and fidgeted with my hands in my lap. Suddenly a bronze
hand settled on top of mine. I glanced up to see Sherif watching me with a
soft smile which transformed his entire face. Enhanced how handsome he
was. Made me face the fact that I’d somehow begun to find this alien
attractive.
“It’ll be okay,” he said with a squeeze of his fingers around mine. “We’ll
land safely. That’s what you’re worried about right?”
I lied one last time and nodded once with a trembling lip.
He smiled again, patted my hand, and leaned back in his chair. “We better
get ready for entry. We’re approaching Vixlicin.”
I turned around woodenly in my chair. Time to face the truth.

I fiddled with the tablet in my hand, which held pretty much my entire life in
this galaxy. It was where I did all my work, from hacking docking schedules
to military alarm systems.
It was also where I’d been tracking the Kaluma I’d met all those cycles
ago when I’d first arrived on this planet, terrified out of my mind.
I rode next to Sherif, who drove a four-seater hover vehicle at a dizzying
speed over the red sands of this ugly freaking planet. Vixlicin was mostly
controlled by the Rogastix, an opportunistic species who cared for little but
their own kind. Some were decent, but they were few and far between.
Some of them were short, at least compared to the Kaluma, and I swore
they all had Napoleon complexes. I’d told one of them that one time and
although he hadn’t known what he meant, he sure recognized it has an insult
and had given me a backhand to the face so hard he’d loosened a molar.
“Once we get there, we’ll ask around. I know it’s been many cycles, but
we should be able to trace him.” Sherif glanced over at me. “It’ll take a while.
You’re with me, right, Zuri?”
 I nodded, feeling like I was going to cry. Since I met Sherif, I’d been
focused on survival, and then I got swept up in… well… him. Which was
stupid as hell. Now I had to face reality. The truth. And hope it wasn’t the
end of me.
Where we were heading was the last place I’d seen Kazel, although it
wasn’t the last place I knew he’d been. But it was his last known location
where I’d been able to track him before he’d dropped off the radar entirely. I
feared for the worst, which was one of the reasons I should never have
mentioned him to Cravus. A moment of weakness, for sure.
I had reached out to my contacts again on the shuttle, but all of them said
the same thing—the Kaluma hadn’t been seen in a handful of rotations.
We were headed to a Rogastix fortress nicknamed Zhronx, where they
housed prisoners and refugee captures of all types. I could see the stone peaks
now and held back a shudder. I remembered the first time I saw those
foreboding walls when I’d stumbled off the cargo ship that had brought me
here, reeling from the drugs they’d given me and my muscles weak from
being strapped down for weeks.
I hated this place. I never wanted to return to this planet, but I was finding
that it was hard to say no to these Kalumas. It wasn’t good news that Kazel
had been tracked back here. He’d escaped once, and there was no reason he’d
return on his own unless… unless they caught him again. And I feared they
wouldn’t give him a chance to escape a second time. He’d be made an
example of, for sure.
It was why I didn’t want to do this in the first place, terrified that I’d find
out he’d met a tragic end. Now I felt cowardly. I should have tried harder. I
should have flown here my damn self. And now I was with Sherif, feeling
conflicted about my feelings for him amidst all of this.
“You really stepped in shit this time, Zuri,” I whispered under my breath.
“What’s that?” Sherif asked, because of course he did. His hearing was
better than mine.
“Nothing,” I said, fiddling with the tablet.
But he didn’t believe me, I could tell by the way he kept glancing at me.
He fixed the hood of my cloak and tucked the end of my hair band behind my
ear, fussing at me like a mother… or a boyfriend.
Eventually I swatted his hand away playfully and he gave me a sideways
grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling, before once again focusing on driving.
The terrain around the fortress was lined with japalk, a poisonous vine
covered in thorns. If you were lucky enough to pass that without your whole-
body swelling, you then had to cross over a moat filled with flying fish-like
creatures with stingers rivaling the Man O’War. I’d seen plenty of escapees
go into seizures and die with one lash of the ulli’s tentacles.
We parked the vehicle along some eight-foot weeds and made the rest of
the way on foot, keeping out of the sightline of the alarm system—which
were cudgels perched on the fortress towers like gargoyles. They had
amazing sight and even low-level infrared detection. We were still too far
away for them to see us, but we were getting closer.
Before we reached the edge of the japalk meadow, Sherif stopped and
dropped to a crouch. I joined him, peering out over the shiny, deadly plants.
“So, what’s your plan—?”
“You stay here,” he said, tugging his pants into the top of his boots.
I stared at him. “What?”
He braced a wrist on his knee and turned to me. “Japalk doesn’t affect me
like it will you. My scales will get irritated, but it’s not deadly.”
“Huh,” I huffed. “Must be nice.”
“The cudgels won’t see me if I blank. As for their heat detection…” He
poured out some water onto the dirt at his feet and then slapped his face with
some cool mud. “This should throw them off.”
“But—”
“I still need you to get me inside the gates,” he pointed to a delivery
supply access door around the side. “But you’re not safe in there, and I can’t
protect you while also searching for my brother, understand?”
He had a point, but knowing he was in there without me… “I understand,
but this place is no joke, they—”
“I know,” he said, gripping the back of my neck and squeezing. I nearly
went limp like a kitten. “I can handle it.” He tapped on the comm tucked into
his ear that I’d given him, and I tapped my own in response. “You’ll have
plenty of work out here.”
He was right. Once inside, he would give me access to the control room
database, where I could hack into the surveillance system as well as the
Zhronx admittance records to hopefully find some trace of Kazel.
I nodded. “Okay, you’re right.”
We could speak to each other through our comms, and I also had a tracker
on him so I could detect his movement within the walls. I had to trust my tech
I wouldn’t lose Sherif. He went to stand up, and I instinctively grabbed at the
edge of his coat. He raised his brows at me.
“I—” My throat went dry, and I swallowed. “Be careful, please. Come
back safe.”
His eyelashes fluttered and then he bent down again so his face was a few
inches from mine. His fingers brushed the side of my neck softly before
slipping around to the back where he held me in a firm grip that grounded
me. “I’ll come back safe to you.”
I nodded, feeling suddenly emotional and a little panicky. “Please,” I
whispered.
He smiled, and I was becoming addicted to those smiles of his. “Always.”
I let go of his cloak and he stood up. With one nod at me, his scales began
clicking and in the next second, he was invisible.
A breeze picked up just then, swaying the japalk stalks so that they waved
back and forth, disguising the path he created as he walked through the
meadow. At one point, I lost sight of his trail, and I tapped my screen in a
panic, only to find he was almost at the moat.
I had to drop the emotional baggage right now. There was work to be
done, and I couldn’t leave him to do this alone.

Sherif

The bridge to cross onto the fortress grounds had no sides so that the ulli had
easy access to attack. In the case of sanctioned visitors, walls could be
erected to protect them. I, however, was not a sanctioned visitor.
By the time I made it to the edge of the japalk meadow to stand near the
moat, I was hot, annoyed, and my skin itched like crazy. I’d left my cloak
back with Zuri so it wouldn’t become soaked with japalk venom like my
pants and shirt were. Small tears marred the fabric, and I could feel the
venom irritating the outer shell of my scales. I rubbed my forehead with the
back of my hand and exhaled roughly.
I pushed aside the uneasy feeling and readied myself to cross. An ulli,
unlike the japalk, would absolutely send me into a seizure and destroying my
blank ability. And if I survived that, the cudgels waiting above would finish
me off. I would be ulli dinner before sundown. The water creatures, about as
large as me, had long whip-like stingers and a hooked beak with bone-
crushing power. I’d be without a limb or two in no time if one got a hold of
me.
And if Zuri saw that… I shook my head. No, that wouldn’t happen. I
wouldn’t let it.
I unsheathed my blades in preparation just as a cudgel warning pierced
the silence. Frozen in place, I watched as several dozen of the winged
creatures took flight, blotting out the sun for a moment. My heart raced, and I
went into battle stance, prepared to cut down every single one on my own—
But they weren’t heading in my direction. In fact, they were taking off
down the coast, screeching and cawing in a hunting formation. I blinked after
them, confused, until Zuri’s voice came through in my ear. “I sent them on a
wild goose chase.”
“Wild goose?” I echoed, confused about the meaning of her words.
Her laugh tinkled in my ear, making my heart feel light. “I created a false
alarm. Wasn’t sure it was going to work so I didn’t want to promise it.”
I straightened with my blades still clutched in my hands. “Good job.”
I could hear the grin in her voice, as she quipped, “Thanks!”
“I’m going to head across the moat now, so don’t make me lose my
concentration.”
She cleared her throat and firmed her tone. “Right. No silly business. Go
get ‘em, tiger.”
I rolled my shoulders as her voice went off with a click in my ear.
“Tiger,” I muttered to myself. “What’s that?” Was she insulting me? I’d have
to ask her later.
With careful steps, I walked toward the moat. One foot in front of the
other slowly and moving my upper body as little as possible. When I took the
first step on the bridge, my boots made a slight hollow sound, and I went still,
my gaze darting to the surface of the water on either side of the bridge. Dark
shapes undulated below the surface, but no tentacles emerged. No sharp
beaks or beady eyes.
I took another step, and another, blades at the ready on either side of me. I
kept my knees bent; muscles poised to defend myself. While I knew they
couldn’t see me, I worried they’d detect me some other way.
And with a fast drop in my gut, those fears were confirmed. While I was
camouflaged, my body still created a shadow. The further out onto the bridge
I ventured, the more I entered into the sunlight, which cast a shadow back
onto the bridge… and slightly into the water. I noticed it but twisted my body
too late. An ulli had noticed. A spout of air shot out from the water a moment
before a long tentacle unfurled from the water like a crack of lighting. I
slashed with my right blade, severing the stinger, but before I could take a
breath, three more sailed my way.
I heard a shout in my ear—Zuri—as I ducked, bobbed and weaved,
slashing with my blades as I tried to press onward. The ulli couldn’t see me,
but they knew I was there, and they weren’t going to let me get away. A
tentacle tangled in my hair and yanked. The strength took me off my feet, and
I hit the bridge with a thud just as the ulli, sensing it had captured its prey,
leapt out of the water.
A hooked beak was all I saw before I rolled out of the way. The point hit
the bridge, splintering off a large chunk. My shoulder fell through the hole,
and I felt the cool wetness of the water before I pulled myself up and out of
the way just as another ulli shot up through the opening. Breathing hard, fear
licking my spine like flames, I surged forward, throwing myself to the other
edge of the bridge.
The ulli’s, now enraged, began spouting water and calling to each other in
the gnashing clacks of their beaks. A tentacle caught the edge of my shirt,
ripping it off completely just as I dove onto the opposite bank. A tentacle hit
the ground next to my face, and I forced myself up.
Stumbling, I raced away from the edge of the water and the horrifying
clicks of their beaks until I reached the access door. There, I bent, hand on
my knees, and panted. With a creak, the front gates opened and a squad of
Rogastix streamed out. I heard the leader shout orders to investigate, and I
plastered myself against the wall, still blanked, as two rushed by me, laser
guns charged and ready to fire.
I held my breath and didn’t exhale until they were out of sight around the
bend. Zuri’s voice came into my ear then, and I didn’t miss the tremble in her
words. “Sherif?” she asked carefully. “Please tell me you’re there.”
“Here,” I whispered after checking I was out of earshot of the Rogastix.
“Oh fuck, oh shit,” she chanted. “I thought…” She inhaled sharply. “I’ll
deal with that trauma later. I see the Rogastix search team so I know you
can’t talk. Give me a minute. I’ll open the doors when they are out of sight.
I nodded, not that she could see me, and took the time to catch my breath.
I watched the Rogastix search the bridge, then investigate the edge of the
japalk until they were out of sight.
“Now,” Zuri whispered.
With a click, the doors opened behind me, and I slipped inside of the
infamous Rogastix fortress, Zhronx.
 NINE

Z URI

The door to Zhronx shut, and I lowered my binoculars. My breathing was

loud in the stillness of the japalk meadow, accompanied only by the breeze
swaying the tall reed grass stalks around me. The bleached-out grass was
taller than me, so I could remain mostly hidden.
I tracked Sherif’s movements on my screen as he moved toward the
control room. Once I had access, I could breathe a little easier. Sherif hadn’t
said a word since he’d gotten inside, but if I listened close enough, I could
hear subtle closing of doors. Distant voices. He was very much inside the
enemy’s house.
The cudgels hadn’t returned yet, which made me happy. They guarded
Zhronx like living gargoyles and were a cross between a vulture and a dragon
with bald, wrinkly heads, sharp beaks, and oily feathers on their bodies. I
shuddered thinking about the few times I’d seen one up close.
The Rogastix search team returned and entered the fortress again. The
doors closed, and the day once again returned to a stillness that settled under
my skin like splinters.
A thump and soft cry came through earpiece, and I held my breath until I
heard Sherif exhale. “Can you grunt if you’re okay?” I asked in a whisper.
“Fine,” he grunted.
I pressed my lips together and followed his dot on my screen with my
finger. He was close to the control room—another hallway or two and he’d
be at the door. Soon enough, I heard the latch of a door and the click as it
closed.
Sherif ’s voice came over the line. “I’m inside.”
I flexed my fingers and rolled my shoulders before bringing up the
keyboard on the tablet. “Head to the main screen and accept my access.
You’ll see it right on the screen.”
I didn’t have time to disguise my hack into their system. They’d find out
an outsider had been in their database when they ran their reports, but we’d
both be long gone by then, and they would have no idea it was me. This
tablet would be crushed here in the grass when I was finished with it.
“Done,” Sherif said.
My screen populated with the Zhronx files, and I got that giddy feeling in
my stomach that I always did when I managed to sneak into someone’s
security. “I’ll disable their security and look through the files.”
“I’ll search the cells for my brother,” he said.
While keeping an eye on Sherif’s tracker, I set to work. Once the security
was disabled so he could access the prisoner area and open any cells, I
combed through the log in records.
Kazel had in fact been processed about two weeks ago. There were
progress reports of his time in the cells for ten days and then… nothing. No
reports on his escape. No comments on where he’d gone. Just… one day he
was there being fed his one bowl of gruel a day and then he was gone.
My heart pounded, and I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. “His last
location was cell ninety-eight,” I said quietly.
“Last known?” Sherif said gruffly.
“There hasn’t been a report on him in four days.” Silence greeted my
words, and I closed my eyes. “Sherif—”
“I’m turning off my comm now,” he rasped in a voice that didn’t really
sound like his. “If you need me send an alert.”
“Sherif, wait—”
But my words were cut off by a click and then dead silence greeted me. I
forced myself to continue breathing even though what I really wanted to do
was throw up. I watched Sherif’s tracker as he moved swiftly through the
fortress and down to the lower levels where they kept the creatures they
really, really didn’t like, which would absolutely be Kazel. He was probably
the strongest and smartest prisoner they had. Which means they’d wouldn’t
let him live for long, because each minute would be another he could figure
out how to outsmart them. I wiped the sweat dripping down the back of my
neck as I waited.
All the while, I watched Sherif’s tracker. Periodically he stopped, and I
had a feeling he was taking out whoever was in his way. I couldn’t imagine
what Sherif was like in this moment. Was he focused and determined? Was
he unhinged and reckless?
My legs cramped from my kneeling position, and I sat back and stretched
them out in front of me, wiggling my toes in my boots. “You still okay,
Sherif?” I said into the comm even though I knew he wasn’t listening.
“Please be okay. Please find Kazel.”
Would Kazel even recognize me? I couldn’t imagine I was special. He’d
likely saved others before me and after me. But I’d never forget him. Or
Sherif. Or Cravus. These Kaluma were a hard bunch to forget.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when a commotion—a
screeching sound followed by a flap of wings. I looked up, expecting to see
the flock of cudgels returning, but instead, rising above a spiked parapet of
the highest tower on Zhronx, rose a cudgel with a dark figure slumped on its
back. I lifted my binoculars and had a hard time focusing them on the flying
cudgel, who seemed to be in some sort of distress. The figure on its back was
most definitely a Rogastix, and that was all I needed to see to know that I had
to run. Now. I gathered my things and made a beeline for the cover of the
copse of trees where we’d hid the hover vehicle.
I glanced at my screen as I ran to see that Sherif’s tracker was outside the
gates. He must be on his way too. Our rendezvous point was the vehicle, but I
had to get there before the cudgel, who had definitely spotted me as he let out
a mighty shriek, red eyes glowing, as he went into a dive in my direction.
I ran harder, but panic set in as I knew I wasn’t reaching the trees before
the cudgel. I didn’t bother to glance behind me until I heard the cudgel land
with a scream and a thud. Arms pumping, heart pounding, I risked a glance
over my shoulder as I waited for its beak to shred my back and the Rogastix
to finish me off with laser fire.
But the Rogastix slipped off the back of the cudgel and hit the ground in a
tangle of lifeless limbs.
“What—?” I cried just as a series of clicks reached my ears. I gasped and
stumbled, falling onto my hip, as Sherif appeared, straddling the cudgel’s
back. His lips pulled back in a sneer, he unsheathed on blade and with a
powerful swipe, took the cudgel’s head clean off.
 “Fuck!” I shouted, blocking my face from the blood splatter. Suddenly a
hand gripped the shoulder of my cloak and hauled me up onto my feet. Then
we were running, Sherif at full speed, more or less dragging me along with
him, while he carried the unconscious Rogastix on his back.
I didn’t ask questions, now was not the time, as Sherif’s face was stone,
and he was very sticky with fluids I could only assume were caused by cut
off body parts.
As we entered the copse of trees, I took one glance back to see the flock
of cudgels returning and a squad of Rogastix flooding out of the gates. “Shit,”
I whispered.
But I shouldn’t have worried, not with Sherif in the mood he was in. We
made it to our hidden hover vehicle in what felt like the speed of light. He
tossed the Rogastix in the back, shoved me in the passenger seat with a
mumbled, “watch your head,” and then leapt behind the wheel. We were off
before the Rogastix even made it to the large building which held their
vehicles.
The hover vehicle was loud, and Sherif had a deadly focus on driving. We
were pushing the vehicle to its absolute limits on speed, and while I should
have been scared, I trusted Sherif to keep us alive—even when he was in
what felt like an incredibly feral mood.
The Rogastix in the back let out a groan, and he seemed to be coming
around, which was surprising given the amount of blood leaking from a head
wound. His one arm hung limply by its shoulder and his foot was bent at an
unnatural angle. I glanced at Sherif, but he didn’t look at me, eyes glowing so
fiercely, I kept thinking they’d burn through the hover vehicle glass.
We drove until we reached more mountainous terrain, and only when a
cliff opened up in front of us did I grip my seat with a gasped, “Sherif!”
before he slid to a halt right at the edge. The hover vehicle touched down, and
he shut it off, plunging us into silence except for the stones clattering down
the cliff face below us. I panted, unsure what the hell to say, when Sherif
shoved open his door, grabbed the Rogastix from the back of the vehicle and
tossed him to the ground. The big alien skidded a few feet before curling into
a ball with a pained moan.
I got out of the hover craft, biting my tongue to keep from saying
something. But I was terrified. Absolutely terrified. Sherif looked out of his
mind, and while I believed in my heart he was good, something had pushed
him too far. Something had sent him over the edge, and I had no idea if it was
possible to bring him back.
“Talk,” he barked at the Rogastix as he pushed on his shoulder with his
boot so the alien rolled onto his back.
The Rogastix coughed up blood through yellow stained teeth. “I told
you.”
“Why?” Sherif growled. “Why did you kill my brother?”
I sucked in a breath as my knees buckled. I had to brace myself on the
hood of the vehicle to stay standing.
The Rogastix rolled again onto all fours—well, his knees and one arm as
the other seemed useless. He managed to stumble to his feet but could only
bear weight on one leg. Eyes darting between me and Sherif, he hobbled
backward. Sherif stalked him like a tiger, eyes never leaving his prey.
The Rogastix’s black tongue prodded the corner of his split lip. “You
think he didn’t have to pay for what he did just because he’s a Kaluma?”
Sherif flinched slightly but remained silent. The Rogastix let out a cackle.
“He couldn’t keep his hands off the female prisoners. Killed guards just to
force his way into their cells so he could get his cock wet.”
Sherif went still, so still that I didn’t think he was breathing, but I saw the
change in his eyes. The despair. The disbelief.
And everything that I’d been holding for years—all the rage, the injustice,
the utter unfairness of this goddamn galaxy bubbled up inside of me like lava.
I stalked forward toward the Rogastix and screamed with every breath in my
lungs like an eruption. “You lie!”
The Rogastix, who must have assumed I was harmless, let out a yelp of
terror and shuffled back toward the edge of the cliff. “No, I—”
“You fucking lie,” I bared my teeth at him. “Tell the truth. Tell the truth,
so help me, or I’ll take one of his blades and slice you up slowly. Over days.
Weeks. Maybe a year. As long as you last. And you know what I’ll start
with? Your cock, you piece of shit. Or whatever you have in your pants.” I
had never seen a naked Rogastix, and I didn’t want to, but I’d do it for Kazel.
The Rogastix was nervous now, the whites of his eyes showing around
his sickly yellow irises. “I already told you—”
“You lied!” I screamed again and whirled around to grab at the handle of
one of Sherif’s blades.
“Hold on!” The Rogastix said, glancing behind him at the cliff drop off,
which would surely kill him. “Hold on.”
“Tell the truth, asshole.” I left Sherif’s side and stalked toward the
Rogastix.
“We killed him because he was trying to get to the room holding our
human females,” he spat. “We didn’t exactly see him force-mate any females,
but what else would he want? To rescue them? No way—”
“Yes, way!” I roared in his face. “He did want to rescue them, and I know
because he rescued me!” I lifted my knee and kicked out. My boot slammed
into the Rogastix’s chest, and he flew backward, pinwheeling his arms to
maintain his balance, but it was too late.
His one good foot stumbled at the edge and with a despairing wail, he
sailed over the edge.
I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t unhear the sounds of him hitting the
rocks on the way down, his cries lessening until there was one last thump,
and silence reigned.
A spark of lightning caught my eye, following by a rumble of thunder and
I glanced overhead to see a dark storm cloud on its way. “How apt,” I
whispered to myself, before turning around to face the consequences for what
I’d just revealed.
 TEN

S HERIF

Another crack of lighting split the sky, and I felt the first wet splatter of a
raindrop on my head. Then another, and another, until the dark clouds above
us opened and unleashed a torrent.
Zuri hadn’t moved from the edge of the cliff where she’d pushed the
Rogastix with a powerful kick. She stood, legs braced, with her dark eyes
fixed on me as her chest heaved and her fists flexed at her sides. I couldn’t
tell if her face was wet from the rain or tears.
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, letting the rain wash over me,
cleaning me of the blood of my enemies. I’d left a trail of bodies in my wake
in Zhronx when I left.
“Sherif,” Zuri rasped.
I held up my hand and opened my eyes. She was a bit closer now, but her
expression was uncertain. She swallowed, and her throat bobbed as the rain
dripped in rivulets down her dark skin. “Please,” she whispered, and I saw it
then—the tears spilling over her lashes. “Let me explain.”
“Is it true?” I asked, feeling numb.
Her chin quivered before she sniffed sharply and nodded. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She took another stumbling step forward. “Because at first, I thought
you’d kill me and then… well, then I didn’t want you to look at me like you
are right now.”
 I cocked my head. “How am I looking at you?”
Her body bucked. “Like I’m a stranger.”
I sighed and let my knees buckle until I sat on the ground, knees bent and
head down. The rain on my back cooled my heated skin. “Tell me,” I said.
Her boots entered my vision, and then she squatted. The rain pounded on
us, but I was in no hurry to move.
“When I first arrived in this galaxy,” she began, “I wasn’t… compliant.”
I let out a snort.
“So,” she continued, “they took me Zhronx. I was alone in my cell, but I
knew there were other human women. Since we were deemed too feral to be
sold, we were to be used for all sorts of things—sexual slavery, experiments,
whatever they deemed fit. But of course, they had to break us first.”
The crack in her voice made me lift my head, because I couldn’t stand to
let her think she had to tell this story on her own.
I met her gaze steadily, and she gave me a weak smile before speaking
again. “Your brother was there—he was in a cell next to mine, although I
didn’t know it at the time. I couldn’t see him. Sometimes he’d give me extra
food shoved through a small hole between our cells. He’d distract the guards
sometimes if they were feeling particularly evil, so they wouldn’t fuck with
me.” She let out a long breath as if gathering her courage. “When they took
me for my training, as they called it, he broke out of his cell. It made me
wonder…” she shook her head. “I don’t know. It made me wonder if he
could have broken out the whole time but was waiting for the right time.
Anyway, he fought the guards, grabbed me and got me out of Zhronx by
carrying me over his shoulder. I thought he’d come with me. We’d escaped,
right? But when the cudgels came after us and a whole damn army of
Rogastix, he…”
My heart pounded and my head felt heavy. “What?” I urged her. “What
did he do?”
“He led them away. They caught him. There were too many. He wore a
collar that wouldn’t let him blank. They caught him and dragged him back.
For me,” she whispered. “I didn’t know him.” The rain had slowed, but her
tears were just getting started.
She pounded her fists on her thighs as her voice rose to one of fury. “I
didn’t ask him to do that for me. I didn’t ask to be rescued and have the
memories of him being dragged away. I didn’t want it. I would have rather
died.” She swiped at her nose with the back of her hand as her shoulders
shook with sobs and her voice rose in hysterics. “I would have offed myself
on this stupid planet ages ago, but I couldn’t because of your brother. I
learned the tech of this galaxy so I could track him and help him. He was
always on the move. Sometimes I’d create diversions if I tracked him
entering a well-guarded area. I did what I could. But one thing I know is that
your brother was absolutely trying to save those women. Because that’s the
kind of male he is.” She fell back on her butt and slumped over. “And so are
you.”
When I didn’t say anything, she slowly raised her head. “I’m sorry,” she
whispered. “I’m sorry he’s dead. I wish he was more selfish.”
I shook my head. “I don’t.”
My voice must have surprised her because she jerked. “What?”
“My brother was selfless in the way he lived, even after he’d been stolen
from his home. He was such a threat to ending the Rogastix’s atrocities that
they had to kill him.” I looked down at my hands and flexed my fingers. “My
search for him all this time was a little selfish, wasn’t it? I only wanted to
find him so I could know if our bloodline was defective. And all this time,
he’d been…” My voice gave out on me and I cleared my throat. “He’d been
brave. Selfless. A Kaluma with honor.”
“Sherif,” she whispered, shuffling toward me on her knees. “You’re not
selfish.”
Maybe my quest to learn what my brother was like was just an excuse not
to have to deal with the total grief of losing him. Even if I found him now, he
was gone during the toughest moments for our settlement. I wasn’t the same
young warrior I was when I’d last seen him. I’d never get the time back we
lost.
“I always wondered how I’d react to learning what happened to Kazel,
and while I will process the news of his death and make those pay for what
they did to him, right now all I can be is grateful for being the younger
brother to a brave warrior. I worked so hard not to be my father, when I
should have been working to emulate my brother.”
“Yes,” her smile broke out on her pretty face. “And you do honor him.
He’d be proud of you. I told you. I could see who you were, even if you
didn’t.”
I hadn’t needed to know about my brother’s life to assess mine, but
hearing about how he’d lived helped me to look back on the warrior I was
with a more objective eye. I’d never been comfortable in the role as pardux—
I took the position because the whole settlement had voted me in. I’d always
wondered if Kazel would have done better. But casting my mind back… I
had to admit that I hadn’t done bad. I’d brought my people back from
darkness. Our females were happy. Our warriors were fit and fed.
“Did Kazel ever try to return home?” I asked her.
She nibbled the corner of her lip before answering. “Not that I could ever
tell. He seemed to be… searching for something in this galaxy.”
I nodded. “I guess we’ll never know why.”
She lightly touched my hand. “Are you… okay?”
I nodded. “I’m okay.”
She raised one eyebrow. “It’s okay not to be okay.”
I let out a bark of laughter. “How’s this? I’m okay right now. I’ll have my
moments of anger and grief. In the end, knowing is better than not knowing.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I didn’t know… I wasn’t sure…”
She let out a breath. “At first I was scared, and then I didn’t know how to
spill the truth.”
She’d told the truth when it mattered and sent the Rogastix flying to his
death. She was perfect. “I’m not angry. All his time, you were his guardian
from afar.”
Her features relaxed with relief. “I tried.”
The first time I’d seen her, she’d strung me up in a tree, and since then
she’d pulled me from a violent yakie death and helped me learn the truth
about my brother. She was the bravest warrior I’d ever met. “And before he
died, he left a gift in this galaxy, just waiting for me to find it.”
Her eyebrows knitted together, and she scrunched her nose. “What?”
“You,” I whispered.
Her body pitched forward until she caught herself with her hands on my
thighs. Eyes wide, she stared at me. “Me?”
I reached up and gripped the back of her neck. My cock jerked at the way
her eyes fluttered. “So now… if I ask to touch you, will you tell me no,
kotche?”

Zuri
This was one hundred percent not the way I expected this talk to go. I thought
he’d either shove me off the cliff or leave me here, but instead he was doing
that neck grip thing that always heated my blood and talking to me in that
raspy tone of his made my skin break out in goosebumps.
When I first met him, I thought he was a cold asshole. But he’d shown me
repeatedly that even though his bedside manner could use some work, he was
at heart a good soul, a brave warrior, a decent man who was more thoughtful
and caring than any human male I’d ever called my boyfriend.
He held my gaze with those fluorescent blue eyes, and all the barriers I’d
erected around myself blanked out. Just for him. I didn’t see myself turning
into a mush in this galaxy, but for Sherif I could be soft. Could he remember
the last time he’d had soft in his life?
He didn’t ask me again, didn’t push me, only waited for my answer in an
act of chivalry I hadn’t realized existed. But that grip on the back of my neck
—it was doing things to me. I hadn’t realized that was an erogenous zone on
my body but when his fingers touched the skin there, I swore I felt it in my
core. I haven’t had an orgasm in… well it’d been a damn long time. A year
ago, I’d made a vibrator—with trepidation, fearing I was going to electrocute
my damn pussy off—but I’d long burned out the motor.
Sherif’s voice alone worked better on me than that damn thing had.
Already I could feel the moisture gathering between my legs. I felt hot, slick,
clean with the cleansing rain and ready to do something reckless.
I leaned forward until our lips were an inch away. Sherif was trying to
play it cool, but I heard the way his breathing sped up as I drew close. “Are
you asking me?”
His lips twitched before he let out a soft growl that I felt directly in my
clit. “Let me touch you, kotche. Let me taste you.”
“Yes,” I whispered, and I’d barely touched my tongue to the roof of my
mouth to make the s sound when he lunged at me. I landed on my back,
Sherif’s hand under my head to cushion it, and that gesture alone nearly made
me come. But then his lips were on mine and I wasn’t thinking about
anything else but the way he explored my mouth.
He tasted like mint, and I lapped at him eagerly as I clutched his arms.
My nipples pebbled beneath my shirt from a mixture of the coolness of my
wet shirt and the arousal coursing through my body. He was nearly panting
now, his eyes firing, and I might have been a little scared if he didn’t still
have my head cradled in his large hand, so I didn’t have to rest it on the hard
rock.
He tugged down the band that held my breasts and sucked in a sharp
breath as my top was bared to his gaze. He glanced at my face as I ran my
fingers over the goosebumps on my wet stomach.
His eyes flared for a brief moment before he unfurled his tongue from his
mouth. I hadn’t ever really focused on that particular appendage of his, but
now I noticed there was a hole on the tip. Slowly, the hole widened, and the
edges peeled back like a blooming flower.
“Holy fuck,” I muttered, as he lowered his head, latched onto my nipple
and sucked. I arched my back on a scream, my hips bucking, as pleasure
raced through my blood like wildfire. He moved onto the other nipple, and I
felt like I was going to combust. He moved steadily down my body, nipping
with his sharp teeth and sucking on patches of skin as he went. He placed his
pack under my head to free both his hands, and I felt like this was when the
party was really getting started. When he reached the waistband of my pants,
he lowered them with gentle hands. I hadn’t been bared to anyone’s gaze in
maybe four or five years, but instead of being self-conscious, all I could feel
was eagerness over how he planned to use that tongue between my legs.
For a moment, he studied me with his eyes and then gentle fingers
prodded at my slick flesh. I stayed as still as I could, letting him explore.
When he brushed my clit, my body jerked. He immediately glanced up at my
face and without looking away, touched my clit again. This time I let out a
whimper, because fuck it’d been so long since I’d been touched.
Then his lips spread into an evil grin that made my core clench. “There it
is,” he murmured, and then he lowered his head, placed his tongue on my clit,
and sucked.
I swore he was sucking my brain out through my clit. I couldn’t think or
speak. I babbled nonsense as his fingers played with my folds, toying with
my entrance, all while he sucked and licked at my lips, swirling that magical
tongue and never seeming to tire, even while he angled his head in fifty
different directions in an effort to make me lose my mind.
When he glanced up my body with that smirk still in place and his eyes
flashing, that was the end of it for me. I screamed as I came, gushing into his
mouth as he worked me through it even as I bucked into his face like a
mustang.
When I collapsed with a long moan, he rose above me, shirtless, hair
dripping with rain, muscles corded, and placed his big hands at the waistband
of his pants. “Let me take you, kotche,” he rasped, his voice nothing but a
growl.
“Yeah,” I whispered hoarsely. Not quite eloquent, but my head was
fuzzy, and my limbs were jelly.
Of course, I wanted to see his goods, and I managed to lift myself up on
my elbows as he lowered his pants. His cock was a dark bronze, and all along
it pulsed white lines in the same pattern as the white marks on his chest. As
he gripped the shaft and squeezed, the head seemed to inflate and flare.
I swallowed, not scared, but only thinking about how damn good it felt…
once upon a time… to be full. But I’d never been with a man as big as him.
I must have licked my lips, because he let out a groan before hauling me
into his arms. My legs straddled his thighs and before I could utter another
word, he sat me on his cock.
I gasped at the intrusion, thankful I was slick because he was a tight fit.
And the pulsing lines on his shaft… they made my eyes roll into the back of
my head. He clutched me to him, my breasts smashed to his chest, as he
dropped a kiss on my temple. “So perfect,” he said with a strained voice. “My
kotche feels so good inside. Let me stay awhile.”
“Yes,” I choked out, swirling my hips slightly which made him groan
loudly. “Please. Stay awhile.”
He slowly began to roll his hips to wedge his cock deeper inside and
when he was fully seated, he let out a little growl before snapping his hips
forward with a powerful thrust.
“Yes,” I cried out, pretty sure I was unable to say any other word. “Yes.”
Holding me to him like I was the most precious thing in the world, he
surged inside of me, again and again, and just when I thought I couldn’t take
anymore, an odd sensation rubbed along my inner walls. “What…” I
managed to get out. “What is that?”
“My cap is spinning,” he grunted. “I am close to spraying my seed.”
“Spraying?” I gasped out just as another orgasm rocketed through me,
stealing my breath as the rhythm and motions of his cock inside me were too
damn much. He shouted in my ear as his hips stuttered and then I felt the
pulse of his cock as he filled me.
I clung to him, catching my breath as he panted against my temple. He
rubbed his nose there, whispering that I was his perfect mate, his pardua.
For some reason I felt like laughing. And crying. A range of emotions
that I hadn’t really let myself feel for years. I hid my face in his neck as my
eyes leaked until he held my face in his hands, brow furrowed, while he
wiped away my tears. “What is wrong, kotche? Did I hurt you?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s just… I haven’t let myself feel anything like
this for a very long time. It’s a lot. You opened the floodgates. I’ll be okay
once I get used to all this.”
He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “Let’s find some shelter. We need
to rest. And talk.”
“Cuddle?” I mumbled hopefully.
“Cuddle?” he echoed.
I had never admitted to any boyfriend how much I liked to cuddle. I had
an independent reputation to maintain, but not with Sherif. “Yeah, where you
hold each other and talk.”
He thought about that for a moment. “Then yes, I want to cuddle.”
And then I, Zuri Hawkins, might have giggled.
 ELEVEN

S HERIF

Vixlicin was an ugly planet, but even the most desolate, colorless landscape
was made pretty by Zuri’s presence. How had I ever thought she was
anything but beautiful? Her smile, her sleek muscles, her attitude. I was
attracted to it all.
I’d found us a shaded spot and laid out a fur over the sand and weeds.
We’d dressed, and Zuri lay with her head pillowed on my biceps while I ran
my fingers over the soft skin of her stomach.
“I want you to come home with me,” I said.
She didn’t respond, and I glanced at her face to find her watching me
carefully. I sensed a tightness in her jaw which made me think she was about
to argue with me. “We’re mates. We formed the linyx bond. I belong to you
just as much as you belong to me, and I want you to help me rule the
settlement.”
Her jaw loosened slightly, but she remained silent.
“You can still do all your work. Gurla would be more than happy to help
you, and she’s our resident tech expert. I know what you do is important to
you, and so it’s important to me that you continue to do it. I’ll help you in any
way I can and—”
She silenced me with a hard kiss to my lips. Pulling back with a smack,
she grinned.
And I was confused. “What was that for? I thought you were angry.”
 She shook her head. “I’m not angry.” Settling her head back on my
biceps, she sighed. “Cravus and Bloom asked me to come with them. Did
they tell you that?”
I nodded.
“And I said no, because it didn’t feel right at the time. And when I asked
Bloom to stay with me, she couldn’t seem to tear herself away from Cravus. I
thought it was a little bit of Stockholm Syndrome at the time, but now I get
it.” She gazed at me with wide eyes. “I so get it. The thought of staying here
on Vixlicin or going back to Gorsich without you makes me sick to my
stomach, like I’m tearing off a limb.”
I blew out a relieved breath. “I thought you were going to argue with
me.”
She laughed. “I wanted to hear what you had to say. I didn’t want you to
tell me how you’d take care of me and pamper me. I mean, not that I don’t
want that, but I wanted you to understand how much my work means to me.”
She blinked rapidly and sniffed with a cute wrinkle of her nose. “And you do
understand. You’re willing to support me in my work of helping other
refugees.”
“And my original promise to you still stands.”
She cocked her head. “What promise?”
“Protect you from the corrupt Rinian Council and route out the issues
until we once again restore it to what it was.”
Her lips parted. “Wait what? Is that… what we’re doing next?”
I exhaled and rolled my head to gaze at the clear sky. “No, we’re going
home now.”
“What about…”
“My brother?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“They will pay for what they did to him, but it’s time for me to act
rationally. I came on this search for him and you without much planning, and
it’s been too dangerous for us both. It’s time to head home, gather our allies
and return. I know that Zhronx is somehow connected to the Rinian Council’s
plans, so they will all suffer for what they’ve done to my brother and to the
honor of this galaxy.”
She shivered. “You just gave me chills.”
I wrapped her in my arms and rested my chin on her head. “Bloom will
be happy to see you. She was very fond of you.”
 “Cravus is not fond of me.”
I snorted. “I can’t wait to see his face when I arrive back on Torin with
you.”
“Tell me more about your home. Who else will I meet?”
I couldn’t help the smile from spreading across my face. “Everyone.
You’ll see Cravus and Bloom again. You can meet Bosa and Karina. He’s got
a big mouth, but his mate keeps him in line.” I gazed at her. “She’s a bit like
you.”
The thought of actually having friends again—other human women, made
my head spin with happiness. “Who else?”
“Gurla and Wensla are in a mate triad with another warrior. Wensla is
pregnant.” I stopped as I tried to count the rotations since I’d been gone. “She
is close to giving birth.”
“Are you born with these?” She tapped on the sharp edge of one of my
spiks.
“No, they are nubs when we are born and steadily grow. They develop
their points when we mature.”
“And what is your home like? Your actual living space… house…
whatever?”
“We live in the trees. We build huts on large fungi platforms growing
from the trunks and make our way around through a network of vines. Our
common spaces are built on the ground. We have crops, livestock, and
warrior training arenas. And we are fairly near the coast.” I flicked a loose
lock of hair off her forehead. She’d taken off her headband wrap so her curls
were loose. “Swimming isn’t advised, but it’s pretty to look at.”
“Why can’t I swim?”
“The creatures that live in the freshas are territorial.”
She grimaced. “Okay, yikes. So, no swimming.”
“You can use the small creek near our settlement instead.”
“It sounds much lovelier than Gorsich or this planet.” She gazed out from
our resting spot at the flat land. “At least we can see enemies approaching.”
I sighed and rubbed at my eyes. “Speaking of enemies, we have rested
longer than we should.”
With a groan, she rolled onto her back and spread out her limbs with a
long stretch. “I know, but I was trying to forget the fact that we still have a
long journey home.”
“One step at a time,” I said as I rose to a sitting position. “We make it
back to the dock. If something happened to our cruiser, we get another one.
Should be easy since you’re a genius.”
She laughed. “I appreciate your confidence in my abilities.”
We didn’t have much to pack up. Truthfully, our supplies were
dwindling, and I knew we were going to have to stop at a market near the
dock for food or we’d starve on the journey home. I explained that to Zuri,
and as we began our walk, she tapped away on another tablet to hack into the
Rogastix communications in order to find out where they were searching for
us. Because they definitely were. No way would they let what we’d done go
unpunished. I constantly scanned the sky for cudgel scouts and kept us
pressed into the shadows, which proved hard as the sun shifted in the sky.
The closest market was half a day’s walk, and the dock was only a few
more yoras beyond that. In fact, we could see the dock on the horizon as we
drew closer to the market located in a small village mainly consisting of
lodging and supply vendors for dock visitors.
Zuri pulled her hood down low over her eyes and wrapped a scarf over
the lower half of her face. I did the same. On a desert planet like Vixlicin, this
wasn’t unusual attire, and I noticed she shifted her gait to walk a little less
human as we entered the gates. This market was full of a mix of species, as
many were from various planets in the galaxy—goods traders and others who
were only on the planet long enough for food and rest before leaving again.
I snatched up some dried berries, tubers, and cured meats as well as
plenty of water. I carried the crate of supplies while Zuri walked at my side.
“Jewelry for a mate at home, maybe? Some pretty gems. Half off for you,
big warrior. Half off. Jewelry for a mate.” The female uripon chattered at me,
ruffling her feathers. I shook my head, but a purple stone caught the light of
the setting sun, and I did a double take. Displayed on her stand was a
necklace on a glittering chain with a stunning, blinding purple pendant. Zuri
didn’t wear a lot of colors other than the scarf on her head, but it had a lot of
purple in it—in fact it looked like something from Earth as I’d never seen any
fabric like it here.
I could imagine Zuri at our settlement, standing at my side wearing a
jewel fit for a pardua. I took a step toward the stand. “Kotche, do you like
that necklace?”
I didn’t hear her voice over the din of the crowd. “Do you like it?” I asked
again, turning to her.
But she wasn’t there. Not at my side, not standing in front of a nearby
vendor. She just… vanished.
“Zuri!” I shouted, panic springing up my throat like a choking cough. I
dropped the crate of supplies, ignoring the way it shattered as it hit the
ground.
I heard the distinct click of a laser gun near my ear, and I immediately
began to blank until a deep voice sneered. “You disappear, and she’s dead.”
I turned slowly to find a Rogastix grinning at me with yellow teeth. He
jerked his head down a side alley of the market, and I almost disregarded his
threat and blanked anyway. But then I heard the distinct sound of Zuri’s
angered shout, and I went still.
“You hurt her, and I’ll lay waste to this entire planet,” I growled.
He kept his alert eyes on me, and I wondered if he was a high-ranking
official. This wasn’t a stupid Rogastix soldier. “Then stay where I can see
you and start walking.”
I put one foot in front of the other when all I wanted to do was rage out of
my skin. Even though every instinct told me not to go down that alley, I
didn’t have a choice. I could hear Zuri arguing, but her voice sounded
defeated. I stepped around a corner to find her standing between two
Rogastix soldiers. They each had one of her arms in a tight grip that would
leave bruises. Her hood was off, and her neck scarf lay discarded on the
ground, covered in sandy dust.
As soon as she saw me, she flailed and screamed. “No! Goddammit,
Sherif. Blank. Disappear. Why are you just standing there?”
“Because I told him if I lose sight of him, we kill you.”
Her eyes went wide and then her lip trembled before she sucked it into
her mouth and inhaled sharply.
“We have someone who wants to meet you, so we’re going to get on a
nice, safe cruiser and head back to Gorsich.”
“Leave her,” I said. “She had nothing to do with this. It was all me. You
don’t need her.”
“Correct,” the Rogastix said who held a gun to my head. “We don’t need
her. But we need you, and she’s the best thing we have to keep you in line.”
Zuri’s head slumped between her shoulders as another Rogastix at her
back ripped open her pack. He dumped the contents on the ground and began
to stomp everything inside—her tablet, the rest of her food, and some other
bits of tech.
She didn’t say a word as her head stayed ducked, but I could see a few
wet drops land in the sand below her face. I closed my eyes and stayed calm.
I’d made enough hasty decisions. We were both alive, and they planned to
keep us this way. A lot could happen between here and Gorsich.
I fisted my hands at my sides, took a deep breath, and said, “Then let’s
get this meeting over with so I can kill you all afterward.”
The Rogastix opened his mouth wide and laughed. Before they hauled us
our of the alley, I snatched Zuri’s scarf off the ground and stuck it into my
pocket.
 TWELVE

Z URI

As long as I lived—however long or short—I would never forget the journey

back to Gorsich in the small cruiser filled with Rogastix. Sherif and I were
separated, and I felt like a piece of my soul was missing.
I had promised myself after I woke up for the first time on a spaceship
and not on Earth that I’d never let this happen to me again. I’d never be taken
somewhere without my consent. Locked in an empty closet on the cruiser, I
was given a blanket and a bucket to do my business in. I could barely stretch
my legs out and had to sleep sitting up, but I still managed a few exercises
knowing I had to keep my strength up. They fed me, at least, but I could have
dealt with anything if I knew where Sherif was and if they were doing
anything to him.
Occasionally, usually late at night, I’d hear banging and a few shouts.
One time I heard the fire of a laser gun and spent the rest of the night
huddling in a corner, sweating and shaking, until I got confirmation from a
Rogastix that Sherif was still alive. “Told you,” he grunted. “We need him
alive. Be lucky you’re not dead yet.” And then he’d slammed the door on me.
Hours and days bled together, and I found myself sleeping more than I
would have liked. Maybe it was boredom or depression. Or maybe they were
drugging me. But I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open, and my energy was
severely flagging. If I didn’t get off this cruiser soon, I swore I was going to
waste away. Sometimes I convinced myself I heard Sherif’s voice, but then I
thought I could just be hallucinating. I’d always prided myself on being
mentally strong, but this was too much. The isolation and the sheer need to
know that Sherif was alive. If he was healthy and fed.
But I couldn’t do anything locked in this room, so I succumbed to sleep
once more.

“I’m not catching anything,” I pouted, shifting back on my haunches from

where I sat crouched in the sand. I stared out over the open sea, watching the
water lap at the rocky cliff and breaking waves on the sand. At least the view
was nice.
Sherif tsked. “It’s all about patience.”
I glared. “I’m not patient.”
“Well sometimes you have to be if you want a yissel.”
I didn’t even know what a yissel tasted like. He said it was a kind of
shellfish, and if it wasn’t as good as a littleneck clam, then I didn’t want it.
“Maybe I won’t like it.”
He laughed. “You will.”
“Tell me again why we have to do this?”
His eyes glittered with amusement, and I took a second to marvel how
much he’d changed. If I would have asked questions like this when we first
met, he would have growled and stomped away. Maybe gagged me.
“There are two ways to catch yissel. Either where they lay their eggs in
underwater caves or here.” He pointed to a hole he’d made in the sand that
was currently filling and emptying with the tide. “They come in to feed and
breed.”
“Feed and breed. Sounds like my kind of party.” I grinned at him.
He narrowed his eyes and ignored my flirting. “Stay focused.”
“Why? Won’t they just…fall into this hole and we scoop them up?”
He shook his head. “They are fast. Very fast. Little muscle feet emerge
from the opening in the shell so they can snatch small fish and other food as
well as mate.”
I squinted out at the sea. “Fine.”
He sat back, watching me. “I’m not patient either.”
“Well, you seem to be doing great.”
 “Because I know the outcome. The outcome will be that we catch yissel.
I’ve done this before, and I know. Just a little while longer. They like dusk.”
The sun’s reflection glittered on the water. “So, the outcome will be in
our favor, is what you’re saying?”
He smiled. “I know it. Just trust me. And be patient.”
I grabbed his chin and planted a kiss on his lips. “I trust you,” I
whispered there.
His eyes shone. “That’s my kotche.”

I woke up with a start, my heart racing, and blinked into the empty room. I
dropped my head in my hands, panting as I sought to catch my breath. “Fuck,
that felt so real,” I whispered to myself. Even now, I could feel the echo of
his breath on my lips. My ears tingled with the timbre of his deep voice.
I drank down some water and chewed on some dried jerky as, for the first
time since I boarded this ship, my mind felt clearer.
I knew these dreams were important to the Kaluma. They meant
something. I had to trust Sherif and be patient. The outcome would be in our
favor. I’d make sure of it.
I shifted onto my hip and felt something in my pants that made me gasp. I
fumbled my fingers to the inner pocket I’d sewn into the liner long ago, so
long that I’d forgotten it was there. But surely enough, there was a small,
waterproof pack of explosive material. My one weapon. I patted it and left it
alone, now feeling much more confident with a backup plan, Sherif’s voice,
and my sorted mind. “The outcome will be in our favor,” I whispered into the
empty room. “The outcome will be in our favor.”

I don’t know how much longer I sat, stewing, with my anger bubbling inside
of me. And all the heat and pressure in my blood only served to fortify me.
Sherif was alive. I was sure of it. I’d know if he was dead. And no matter
what shape he was in, I’d get him out of this. I’d get us out of this. The
Rogastix always underestimated humans, and I was sure they hadn’t met one
like me, who’d been surviving in this galaxy on my own for a handful of
cycles.
Sherif had said it himself—we were teammates. I wasn’t alone in this,
and neither was he.
The floor beneath me suddenly began to rumble, and I startled until I
recognized the sound of landing gear. This was it—the time to focus on my
surroundings and pay attention to every single detail. One could save my life,
and Sherif’s.
I had been taken for a very brief time to the cleanser recently, so I didn’t
smell too bad, but I would have given anything for a quick soak. I could
smell the sour sweat on my skin, and I could feel a few pimples breaking out
on my chin. Luckily, I wasn’t due to get my period for another week or two,
or this trip would have been a hell of a lot worse.
Imagine that—I was looking on the bright side.
The door flung open, and two Rogastix stood in front of me. One held
wrist chains and a waist belt, which they quickly shackled me into. As much
as I wanted to fight them, I knew this wasn’t the time. They led me out of the
room, and I immediately looked around for any signs of Sherif.
The one Rogastix caught me and curled his lip. “Relax, we’re taking you
to him. He won’t do a thing until we prove to him you’re still alive.”
I… was going to get to see Sherif? Despite our situation, I thought I was
going to come out of my skin with happiness. But I didn’t show it. I schooled
my face and nodded coolly. They weren’t going to get to see how much he
meant to me. No fucking way.
They led me down a hallway to a larger room. We entered, and there,
chained to the wall looking wholly unlike the Kaluma I’d come to know, was
Sherif. His expression was thunder, every muscle was corded as he strained
against his bonds. He was bleeding in a few places, shirtless, and his pants
were ripped, but he was alive. My knees threatened to buckle, and I locked
them, so I didn’t topple over.
His eyes settled on me, darker than I’d ever seen them, firing like lasers,
and while I’d been worried about my mental state, I should have been
worried about Sherif’s. His nostrils flared as he took in my condition with
scrutiny. When he spoke, his voice was a pained rasp. “Did they touch you?”
My lips parted, and my stomach plummeted to my feet. He’d been
worried they’d violate me. It hadn’t even been a thought of mine. Rogastix
didn’t tend to like humans, and they considered me too prickly to touch. But
Sherif… he’d been concerned about it. This whole time… I swallowed and
shook my head quickly. “No. I’m not hurt.”
He slumped in his chains, head dropping low between his shoulders. His
chest heaved with a deep breath.
“What did you do to him?” I snarled at the Rogastix next to me.
“Nothin’,” he muttered.
“Do you think I’m a dumbass?” I shook off their hold on my arms. “He’s
bleeding.”
Before they could snatch me again, I rushed to Sherif’s side and carefully
lifted his face with my bound hands. “Hey,” I said softly, ignoring the
protests of the guards. “I’m okay. Tired and smelly, but I’m okay. What did
they do to you?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” he murmured. “I was worried you…” he
swallowed and his scales flickered. “I begged to see you every day.”
I pressed my forehead to his and dropped my voice down to a whisper.
“You came into my dreams. You told me to be patient. You said that the
outcome would be our favor.”
His expression softened slightly. “I did, huh?”
“Yes—” A hand grabbed my biceps, jerking me away from Sherif before
I could finish my sentence. I struggled for a moment until I was wrenched
around, faced with the raised backhand of one of the guards. I froze, and he
sneered at me. “Still want to fight me, human?”
It took every single ounce of willpower not to spit in his face. I stayed
silent and still until he lowered his hand. “That’s what I thought.” He turned,
still holding onto me, and I made a face at the back of his head. I would see
him die before I left this planet. I vowed that to myself and Sherif.

Sherif

The vizpek queen lounged on her side with her long torso which ended in a
thin tail swishing slowly on the furs. With two hands, she caressed her four
piercing-studded mammaries, while her other two hands plopped small fruits
in her mouth.
When Drukil saw me, her cloaca—highlighted with a jeweled belt—
pulsed. We were in some sort of cavern near the coast. I could smell the
damp salty air and the stone walls were damp to the touch.
We stood between two rows of columns, making me think this cavern
was carved rather than natural. The floor was covered in a soft moss, and at
least two dozen Rogastix guards lined the walls. Standing behind Drukil were
several Ubilques from the Rinian Council. They had the decency to look a
little guilty when they saw me, shifting uncomfortably.
Behind me, Zuri snarled at a guard, and I turned to find her glaring at a
Rogastix with so much venom I wondered if she could kill him on the spot.
Her gaze slid to me and softened. She smirked and rolled her shoulders
before peering ahead at the vizpek. When their eyes connected, Zuri went
stiff.
I turned to find Drukil watching her with a playful tilt to her lips. “Two
for one,” she murmured as she rose to her full height and slithered off the
furs. On her scaled head, she wore a jeweled crown which tinkled as she
moved. “We meet again, pardux.” She said my title with a mocking tone.
“You didn’t agree to come with me when I asked the first time, so I would
have come to get you on Torin. I appreciate you making my trip to retrieve
you shorter.”
I curled my lip. It wasn’t long ago she’d tried to trap Cravus and Bloom.
We’d arrived in time to kill her guards, but she’d gotten away. I hadn’t
chased her then, a choice I was regretting now.
The vizpek were an old species of Gorsich who had mostly gone extinct
as the females had begun to prefer asexual reproduction over diversifying the
gene pool. They’d been limited in their temperate tolerance and had to remain
in the warmer areas of the planet. But when I first saw Drukil, I knew
something had changed. Either she had begun mating outside of her species,
or she’d undergone some sort of genetic changes.
I glanced around, looking for other vizpek, but so far, Drukil was the only
one I’d seen on Gorsich. “I’m here now. What is it you want from me?”
Drukil came closer, close enough I could feel the heat from her skin and
smell a musty scent that set off alarms in my head. Her cloaca pulsed faster,
and Zuri inhaled sharply next to me. “Oh no,” she whispered.
Drukil ignored her. “I’ve been wanting a Kaluma. The last one I trapped
got away, but I don’t think he was the right one away. But you…” She
reached out a hand and when her fingers brushed my face, I jerked away. She
let out a gleeful hiss and grabbed my chin forcefully. “But you are perfect.
You’ll sire many soldiers for me.”
The smell. I recognized it now. She was eager to mate. And I was her
chosen partner. My scales rippled, a defense mechanism, and my figure must
have flickered, because Drukil screeched with rage. With a flick of her wrist,
she flicked out a sharp point from one of her rings and touched it to Zuri’s
neck. “Remember. You blank, and she dies,” Drukil threatened.
I just barely held myself in check. My heart pounded. My head swam.
Every single part of me wanted to blank and kill everything in this room—
except for Zuri—but not while I was chained. One of the Rogastix guards
held my blades in his hand, and I would have given anything to have the
familiar weight strapped to my back. I’d use them again before I died. No
way would I wither away chained and used as breeding stock.
I resisted pulling away from her touch and breathed deep. “What makes
you think my cock wants anything to do with you?”
She grinned, her mouth stretching out to her ear holes as two long fangs
descended. The tips glistened with a yellow liquid. “I have my ways.” She
snapped her fangs, and I remembered a distant memory of how the vizpek
females injected unwilling partners with stimulant. She’d force me, and I
wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.
“You bitch,” Zuri spat and sent out a flying kick, catching Drukil in the
lower stomach. The vizpek let out a roar and raised all four clawed hands. I
threw my body in front of Zuri, and Drukil stopped just short of raking my
chest open. “Move,” she hissed at me.
“Hurt her and I’ll fight every chance I get. I’ll never settle. I’ll never be
willing. Keep her alive and I’ll do your bidding.”
Drukil’s fingers uncurled, and she leaned back slightly, watching me
carefully. “Are all the Kaluma attaching themselves to humans now?” she
asked, her head tilting, and I almost got the sense she was hurt. Maybe
jealous.
I didn’t answer, and that only seemed to make her more annoyed. She
swallowed and slithered toward me until the tips of her breasts brushed my
chest. Zuri muttered something next to me but didn’t try anything else.
Drukil’s tone went high as she brushed her cheek against my collarbone. I
tried not to breathe, as her musty scent was wreaking havoc on my senses. I
wasn’t attracted to her, but the effects of her pheromones were hard to ignore.
“I could make you a king,” she purred. The end of her tail rattled softly. “If
you produce the offspring I think you can, then we can take over the whole
galaxy. More galaxies like the one that has Earth. I’ll get you all the humans
you want as long as you always come back to me.” Her eyes went round and
liquid as she gazed up at me. “Don’t you want more to use and discard?”
Never in my life did I think she’d try to get me to join her cause. “And
why do you want to control this galaxy.”
Her eyes lit up, like she thought I was coming around to her side. “The
resources. Imagine what we can do, what we can have. Vizpek have been
disregarded for so long, and no one has any idea what we are capable of. We
will show them, you and I.”
The last thing I wanted to do was be a part of her plan, but I also didn’t
want to do anything to jeopardize Zuri’s life. So, I kept my gaze on Drukil.
“So, what’s your immediate plan?”
“I’m ripe for fertilization. We come together on the royal bed, you and
me. We make soldiers, and then we show everyone why the Kaluma and
vizpek should be revered.”
She was delusional, her expression was manic, and I could see she really
believed I could be talked into her galaxy dictatorship. “What about those
who resist?”
Drukil shook her breasts as her long tongue snaked out of her mouth to
scent the air. “They are either with us or against us, and we eliminate all who
are against us.”
 THIRTEEN

Z URI

When the Rogastix guards tugged me out of the cavern where Sherif
remained behind with that snake bitch, I had the fleeting thought that this was
it. This was the last time I’d see him. She’d take what she wanted from him
and once she did, I was no longer needed for collateral.
Would she kill him too? I hoped he held out, no matter how long, and got
revenge.
Then I remembered my dream. His voice in my ear. The outcome will be
in our favor. I met his eyes over my shoulder as I was marched out and gave
him a firm nod. I had to show him I wasn’t breaking down. I had this. We had
this. This wasn’t the end. I still had a lot of fight in me. I just had to be
patient. I had to wait for the right time.
As they took me down an increasingly narrow underground hallway with
only a few torches to light the way, I set my jaw. Sherif would be watched
closely as they would be wary he’d blank. So, getting us out of this was up to
me.
“Where are we going?” I asked, as nonchalant as I could.
A Ubilque member of the council had whispered in Drukil’s ear, his gaze
on me, and I knew he had figured out who I was. I wasn’t wanted by the
council for nothing. I’d caused them a lot of problems and fucked up a lot of
their shipments. Drukil had probably planned to just kill me, but now I was
being led into a large room with several screens, followed by the Ubilque
council member. We stopped just inside, and the Ubilque stepped in front of
us. They were a former tree-dwelling species with a concave face and long
arms that dragged on the ground. This one smelled a little, and his coat was
ruffled.
“I’m Hupril,” he announced, as if I gave a shit.
I stared back at him blankly.
He cleared his throat and spoke again through his three mouth slits in his
neck. “I know who you are, and I’m willing to forgive your crimes if you
perform some duties for me.”
Immediately, my anger rose like a rocket. “Forgive my—?” I cut myself
off and sucked in a breath. I had to remain calm. I clenched my jaw. “What
duties?”
He pointed to a screen with a track pad in front of it. “We are having
trouble locating the Drixonian settlement, and Drukil is interested in
obtaining some more…” he swallowed. “Breeders.”
I raised my eyebrows. “But she has Sherif.”
His eyes shifted around, like he wasn’t sure he should be explaining.
“Yes, well, she is experimenting.”
I barked out a laugh of disbelief. “So, she was feeding him lines, right?
Telling him all that stuff about being a king? She is using different species to
see who gives her the perfect soldier offspring. Am I right?”
The Ubilque went a little pale under his hairy face but didn’t speak.
I shook my head. “What happened to you? You had a rogue few members
but now you’re in league with her? What happened to doing right by the
galaxy? Free elections? I never liked any of you, but you were at least better
than this.”
He began to fidget. “We made certain decisions that we think are best.”
“Does she have something over you?”
He looked away.
I glared. “What, you’re selling out the galaxy to save your own skins?”
His gaze remained firmly on the wall and not at me. “Did she threaten
your families? Your—”
He swung his eyes to me and snapped out some words rapid fire. “She
doesn’t need this planet. If we didn’t agree, she would destroy us as an
example to others and move on to another planet. And another. We are trying
to keep the casualties to a minimum by working with her.”
“She’s one vizpek. You have plenty of warrior species who would defend
the galaxy—”
Wry laughter ran out from his mouth slits. “You think it’s only her?” He
shook his head as his large belly jiggled. “Ah human. You have no idea. A
healthy vizpek can lay over a hundred eggs with one fertilization. This whole
mountain is crawling with her creations. And more are on the way. She’s one
vizpek, but she alone can destroy an entire galaxy and move on to another.”
My heart skipped and my ears roared with static. “What?” I heard myself
utter, but my voice sounded far away.
“Now you get it,” he sneered before pointing to the chair in front of the
screen. “So, sit down, human, and do what you’re asked. Or I’ll take you to
meet her favorite offspring. Trust me, you don’t want that.”
The Rogastix guards unhooked my chains and shoved me toward the
chair. I plopped down and stared at the screen, giving myself a moment to
process what he was saying. Suddenly, everything seemed much more
daunting than I thought. How could I trust the outcome when these were the
odds stacked against us? I turned to glance at the Rogastix guards, who were
marveling over Sherif’s twin blades. Where was he now? Had she already
dragged him to her royal bed? I shuddered and pressed my hand to my
stomach. I might have one of his children in my stomach now. Sure, we’d
only had sex once, but there were no alien condoms tucked in his wallet.
“Hurry, human,” Hupril barked at me.
I shot him a glare before touching the keypad. A geological map of Corin
came into view. They wanted me to find the Drixonians settlement. I knew
about them—they’d lost their home before being subjugated by the Uldani.
One of their warriors had killed Sherif’s father and liberated his settlement.
They were good warriors, and I’d heard they treated humans well, especially
females.
And now I was helping Drukil to find one to use to take over the galaxy.
She’d strip the planet of resources, would likely install rules and cruel
punishments. My head swirled with all the pain and grief she would cause.
How could I help her do this?
I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I still had the explosive in my pocket. All I had to
do was mash the putty and… well I’d blow myself to bits, but at least I’d take
out half this mountain with me. Sherif too, but something told me he’d be
proud. Inhaling deeply, I stood up, and the Rogastix guards immediately
stepped forward, alert.
“What are you doing, human? The Ubilque snapped at me.
 “With no respect, I’m refusing the duty. Asshole.”
I placed my shaking hand on my pocket as a tingling sensation rippled
over my skin. The Ubilque’s body jerked. “Where did she go?”
The Rogastix guards immediately braced their feet apart and drew their
weapons.
“Don’t fire in here!” the Ubilque called.
“We can’t see her.”
I glanced down at my hands, my feet, and saw… nothing. The stone floor.
The screens. The walls. I was… I was gone.
Blanked.
Like a freaking Kaluma.
I had no idea how I did this or how long it would last, but I knew I
couldn’t waste time. I rushed toward the Rogastix guard I hated the most and
grabbed a laser gun from his holster. I aimed at his temple and fired. Before
he even hit the floor, I fired at the other Rogastix, who didn’t let out a sound
as his body slumped over. I leapt over them, grabbing Sherif’s blades as I did.
“No, please!” The Ubilque’s eyes darted around, searching for me, and I
hesitated.
“Fuck you and your duties,” I snarled and fired right between his eyes.
Wrenching a keycard from his neck, I shot the laser gun a few more times
at the computers in the room. Screens shattered and a piercing alarm rang
through the air. I cringed and covered my ears. “Okay, might have gotten too
trigger-happy there, Zuri,” I muttered to myself. I snatched a small tablet
from the Ubilque’s cloak before turning toward the door. I threw it open and
ran out, passing a few Rogastix guards in the hallway racing the opposite
direction. A quick glance down confirmed I was still invisible.
When I entered the large cavern where they’d first taken us, I found it
empty. Over the sirens, I listened for shouting and footsteps, and was losing
confidence I’d find Sherif when I spotted a contingent of guards tugging a
pissed off Drukil from the opening to another hallway.
“I don’t care about the alarms!” she hollered. “I was so close.”
I aimed to take her out, but the group of Rogastix guards kept blocking
her. I didn’t want to fire and draw attention to my position unless I was sure I
could kill her. And before I could get a clear shot, they disappeared down a
staircase in the floor. I took off down the hallway they’d just left and found
an open door. Inside was Sherif, struggling with two Rogastix guards. He was
bleeding badly from a large cut in his leg, and his one eye was swollen while
a cut below bled freely down his cheek.
He was winded, a little out of it, and clearly trying to resist wherever the
Rogastix were taking him.
I braced my feet apart and in two successive pulls of the trigger took out
the Rogastix guards with well-aimed shots.
They hit the ground and Sherif went still, eyes wide before slowly lifting
his gaze to where I was standing. “Zuri,” he whispered.
“Can you see me?” I asked.
He stumbled at the sound of my voice, and nearly toppled over if he
hadn’t braced himself with one hand on the bed. “I don’t need to see to know
it’s you, kotche.”

Sherif

One moment, Drukil had been laying over top of me, her fangs extended and
ready to sink poison into my neck. Then alarms sounded and she’d been
pulled off while she hollered and struggled. After that, two Rogastix released
my bonds and attempted to pull me after her, but I’d come to my senses. Still
tied, I’d battled them as best as I could until they’d suddenly been shot dead
in front of my eyes.
I’d known it was her. I could smell her. Sense her. My kotche. I didn’t
have to see her with my own eyes to know how she looked with her feet
braced apart, hands steady on the laser gun. She’d be beautiful and fiery.
And she’d saved me.
Her figure shimmered before me, and she appeared just as I’d pictured in
my head. Tall, proud, confident.
“Sherif,” she murmured, and that was when her guard dropped, and she
swayed on her feet. I took a hobbled step forward and caught her as she
tumbled against me. Her fingers dug into my scales as tears spilled out over
her bottom lashes. “I thought… I thought I was going to have to blow this
whole mountain up with both of us in it.” She swallowed. “She has offspring
soldiers here already, Sherif. Hundreds apparently. She mates with different
male species to see who will make her the best soldiers—”
 “I know,” I said, cupping the back of her head.
She sniffed and twisted her lips in a sardonic grin. “I’m sorry she was
lying to you about being a king. I’m sure that’s a lifelong dream of yours.”
Despite our situation, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I have other dreams.”
“I set off the alarm, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we meet
her… soldiers.” She held up a tablet. “Let’s go. I should be able to access a
map on here and…” she wiggled the keycard. “This gives us access to all the
doors.
“The Ubilque?” I asked.
She nodded. “I blanked. You should have seen their faces.”
“You saved us,” I said, barely able to hold back the emotion in my voice.
“Yeah, well, we save each other. Partners, remember?”
“I can’t blank,” I said with a grimace. “I tried, but…” I grunted and my
scales flickered but remained visible. “She sliced me a few times to weaken
me.”
She growled low in her throat. “I tried to shoot her, but the Rogastix were
blocking her. I regret not going for it now.”
“Let’s get out of here. We’ll make her pay once I’m healed and have my
warriors at my back.”
Using the tablet, we made our way down a series of winding hallways set
deep into the cavern. We had to listen carefully as guards were searching for
us, but we managed to duck and hide to avoid them. I limped with my arm
around Zuri’s shoulders. I hated she had to bear my weight, but the gash in
my leg had sliced into a muscle. It would heal, but for now I was weakened.
My frustration mounted as our progress was slow-going.
In one particular hallway, a series of footsteps were too close for comfort.
Zuri jimmied the lock on a door, and we slipped inside moments before I
heard a squad of Rogastix turn the corner. Their voices were muffled through
the thick door, but I knew they were searching for us. Facing the closed door
so I could listen for any incomers, I grabbed the tablet from Zuri and squinted
at the screen. “We’re close. If we can go down here and then climb this
ladder, we should make it out to the coast, and from there access a nearby
dock.”
“Um,” she muttered next to me.
I scrolled further. “We can also go this way. Might take longer but it
would let us surface closer to the dock.”
“Yeah, Sherif? We have another more pressing problem.”
 I turned to find her staring out in the room, eyes impossibly wide and her
body rigid. I frowned and slowly hopped around on my one good leg. When
my eyes landed on the other occupants of the room, my jaw dropped, and the
tablet slipped from my hands to clatter on the ground.
Covering the cavernous room—the floor, the walls, and the ceiling—were
eggs. Large eggs nearly as tall as Zuri and dozens of them. Maybe a hundred.
Heaters were spaced around the room, and lights glowed through the soft
shells of the eggs, backlighting the writhing creatures within.
“Oh. My. God.” Zuri gasped. Her hand gripped my wrist tightly as she
stepped back until she hit the door.
“Her soldiers,” I muttered.
“I mean…” she swallowed. “I know they’re just babies, but the
velociraptors in Jurassic Park were cute as babies too, and then they grew up
into intelligent killing machines.”
One egg caught my attention. The creature inside was poking at the shell.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Jeff Goldblum, T-Rex, unethical breeding practices.” She continued to
talk in a hurried, breathless tone. “Honestly I’m seeing some parallels here.”
“What’s a Jeff Goldblum?”
“The start of my sexual awakening.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
A cracking sound made us both go quiet. A few of the eggs were moving
now, and one had a large slit in the side. A large black snout was peeking
through. Zuri’s hand tightened on my arm. “Oh my God, they’re hatching.
Sherif, what do we do?” She took a step forward in a crouch and raised the
pitch of her voice. “Hi, little baby.”
Suddenly the egg split in half and standing in a puddle of goo was a black
winged creature as tall as Zuri. Its back was to us, and it flexed its wet wings
before flapping them to dry them out.
“Oh, well, he’s not so little,” Zuri muttered right before the creature
turned around.
This was no baby. As big as a cudgel, it opened its mouth full of razor-
sharp teeth, black drool dripping from the tips. It flexed its three-fingered
hands, unleashing long talons, and let out an unholy screech of terror before
leaping into the air.
 FOURTEEN

Z URI

I pulled my stolen laser gun from my pocket and fired. The creature,
something out of a pterodactyl nightmare, let out a shriek but didn’t falter,
landing in front of me and swiping out with its talons. I screamed and jumped
back, narrowly avoiding getting gutted.
Sherif, blade in hand, slashed at the creature, taking off its head in a clean
swipe. The body fell to the ground, and I stared at it in shock as its blood
splatter stained my hands.
“Th-that was … not … a baby,” I panted.
“Not a yerking baby,” Sherif grunted.
“What the hell?” I shouted. “How did she make these things?”
He shot me an exasperated look. “What do you think?”
But there was no time to talk because the room began to echo with
cracking. Some in front of us, a few in the back that were a different color,
leading me to believe that these eggs were fertilized by different daddies. An
egg lining the ceiling split open, and a creature dropped to the ground. For a
moment, it didn’t move, and then its body uncoiled like a snake. Its tail rose
in the air, tipped with a scorpion-like stinger, and it hissed at us. I fired at this
one, this time hitting it right between the eyes, and it wavered before falling
over.
“These are not babies,” I gasped. “These are full-grown monsters
hatching out of these eggs. What the hell?”
 And they were emerging from all areas of the cavern—more winged
creatures, a furred beast with spikes, and they were all hostile killing
machines. Backed up against the door, I fired as fast as Sherif could take
them out with his blades. They advanced on us immediately and not each
other, somehow instinctively knowing we were the enemy.
Drenched with sweat, I fired my gun until it ran out of charge, and Sherif
was panting, gripping his blades with bloodied hands. There was a slight
break in the attack as more eggs began to hatch among the bodies of their
siblings.
“Open the door now,” Sherif limped in front of me, blades held at the
ready. “Whatever is on the other side is better than this.”
I flung the door open, leapt outside, and then grabbed Sherif by his
waistband and tugged him out after me. He fell to the ground, and I kicked
the door shut just as something big and deadly slammed into it on the other
side. A screech of frustration followed by more pounding let me know they
weren’t going to be content to stay behind that door for long.
Sherif was already on his feet, and while I knew his pain was immense,
he gripped my arm, and we began to run. Down a hallway where we
encountered two Rogastix guards who Sherif took out at the same time with a
mighty swipe of a blade.
The tablet was long gone, back in that incubator from hell, but I was
pretty sure we were heading the right way. The alarms were still going off,
and I could hear more guards after us, surely figuring out now where we’d
been hiding. We hit a dead end with a ladder, and I nearly cried with relief.
“This is it! This will take us to the surface.”
Sherif tugged me to go first, and while my muscles were sore and achy
and I would have killed for some water, I climbed, hand over hand, as fast as
I could. Sherif grunted behind me, and we were three-quarters of the way up
when a squad of Rogastix shouted from below and began their ascent after
us.
My mind whirled. I was exhausted. Sherif was hurt. The laser gun held no
charge, and all we had to defend ourselves against a squad of Rogastix and a
horde of monsters were his two blades. I’d seen what he could do with them,
but not when he was in this condition, bleeding profusely and just as tired as
me.
I felt for the explosives back in my pocket and felt a slight calm come
over me. When I reached the lip of the tunnel, I dug my fingers into the red
sand of the surface and pulled myself out of the hole. Sherif followed
immediately, stumbling to his knees. His leg pulsed blood, darkening the
sand, and our eyes met.
He no longer was the closed off pardux I’d first met. Here and now,
everything he felt swirled in his blue eyes. Helplessness, desperation, and a
whole lot of defiance. “Zuri,” he murmured. “We have to get up and keep
moving.” I glanced around me. Behind us was a cliff edge, and the rocky
ground below was about fifty feet down. Beyond the hole was a ridge of
dried plants leading further inland.
I knew we did, but all I could think about was what was down in that
cavern. “Hear me out,” I said. “We have to be realistic. There’s no way we
can outrun them. I have some explosive putty in my pocket. Let’s make your
brother proud. Your settlement. Let’s blow this cavern the fuck up and
everything in it.”
His brow furrowed. “But don’t we have to strike it to detonate it?” I
stared at him, and I saw when the realization dawned. We’d have to be close
to set it off. His expression softened. “Zuri.”
“We completed our mission, right? We learned what happened to your
brother. We found each other.” I swallowed as tears filled my eyes. “Isn’t that
enough? If we die here, blowing this fucking cavern to pieces, we have zero
regrets.”
He crawled to me and gripped my face in his bloodied hands. His thumbs
caressed my cheeks before he placed a soft, gentle kiss to my lips. “Kotche.”
I placed my hand over his. “Or we can run—”
“No,” he said. “We will do this. Let’s show her what happens when she
fucks with the Kaluma and the bravest human in the galaxy.”
He turned and looked around. “There’s still a chance we can survive this.
The laser gun probably has one small charge in it. Fire at the putty and we
can try to escape.”
I laughed, but the sound was strangled with my tears. I sat up and pulled
the putty from my pocket. With a shuddering breath, I smashed the putty
together. I picked up my laser gun, managing to fire it up for one last shot
thanks to the glaring sun.
Sherif’s hand slipped into mine. “Thank you for allowing me to see
myself the way you see me.”
I sniffed. “Thank you for accepting me even after I strung you up in a
tree… and for being the best example of a man and true partner.”
 He nodded and gestured toward the putty. “Let’s light this fucker up.”
I dropped the putty in the hole, leaned over the edge and met the eyes of
the first Rogastix who was about halfway up the ladder. “Wha—?”
I fired the laser gun, and the beam hit the putty. For a moment, there was
silence, and then it detonated. Fire rushed up through the hole, nearly taking
my hair off, and both of us flew back from the force of the explosion. The
ground rumbled, as fire ignited the dry brush all around us. I stumbled to my
feet with my hand over my mouth coughing. “Can we get through?” I asked.
Sherif swayed beside me, his color pale as he couldn’t bear weight on his
injured leg. “Go,” he gasped. “I’ll be right behind you.”
I knew that tone. I whirled on him with a glare. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I can’t run, kotche, but you can.” He tried to tug his arm from my grip,
but I held on. His expression darkened with anger. “Go now before the fire
gets too big.”
“I’m not leaving here without you, asshole.” I shouted at him. “Don’t piss
me off. This is when we’re supposed to say nice things about either other
since they are our last moments, and you’re ruining it.”
“This wouldn’t be your last moment if you go!” He roared.
“I’m not going without you!”
The fire was pushing us closer to the edge of the cliff. He was right. I was
running out of time, but I didn’t care.
Suddenly the ground rumbled again, and I braced my feet apart,
wondering if the whole cliff was going to collapse. But the rumbling grew
louder, and the wind around us picked up, blowing ash and flames
dangerously close to us.
“What the hell is that?” I asked just as a small aircraft rose from the cliff
behind us. My eyes went wide as I stared at the helicopter-like craft. A door
slid open along the side with a creak and a bronze hand emerged from the
darkness of the cabin. Then a face followed—a face wearing an eye patch and
with a main of white hair. One fluorescent blue eye peered at us, and full lips
twisted. “I heard you might need a ride. Sorry I’m late.”

Sherif
“Holy shit,” Zuri gasped at my side.
Rendered speechless, I could do nothing but stare at the Kaluma in front
of me. He looked so much like our father that for a moment I thought he’d
come back to life. His expression faltered for a moment before he jerked his
hand. “Take it, brother. Let’s get out of here.”
I took Kazel’s hand, and he pulled us into the aircraft. It was only a small
copter meant for planet travel only. As soon as we were inside, he slammed
the door shut and slid into the seat of the cockpit. I stumbled into a seat. Zuri
fussed at me, strapping a belt to my chest while she settled next to me.
I stared at the back of his head as he steered the copter up and away from
the burning cliff. We were in the air, soaring above a dried riverbed canyon
when he called out without turning around. “Home?”
That one word made my chest tight. He’d been away from home for
longer than he ever lived at our settlement. Was Torin even still home to
him? I could do nothing but nod, which Kazel couldn’t see. He glanced over
his shoulder and caught my eyes. “To Torin?”
“Yes,” I said.
He nodded. “I have to transfer to a cruiser. I have one stored at a dock we
can access safely. We’ll be there soon, so just hold on.”
The roaring of the copter blades was so loud I could barely hear him. I sat
back in my seat, looking around the small hull of the copter. Beside me, Zuri
dug under her seat until she triumphantly pulled out a med kit. I watched with
a sort of detached numbness as she injected my leg with some antibiotic gel
before wrapping the wound. She cleaned a few of my cuts before swiping at
my face.
Her brows were lowered, and her lips thinned as her hands were gentle on
my face. “Please say something. Are you okay?”
I didn’t know if I was okay. I’d been required to be the strong one for so
long, ever since Kazel, as the eldest son of the pardux, vanished. Ever since
I’d had to be an example, a strong warrior. Hiding my emotions. But now my
body coursed with pain. I didn’t feel the need to remain strong and resolute
around Zuri. She’d already seen me at my worst. As for Kazel… I wasn’t
sure how to act. Even now, when I hadn’t seen him since before I matured, he
exuded a powerful presence. My older brother.
I stared into my kotche’s eyes and shook my head as my hands began to
tremble. She reached for me, drawing my head into her neck as she rubbed
the back of my head. “We’re going home. We found your brother. It’ll be
okay.” Her lips pressed a kiss to the side of my head, and I swore I was
drawing strength just from her touch and words of assurance. Back on Torin
if anyone would have told me I’d let myself be this vulnerable in front of
anyone, let alone a human female, I would have called them a liar.
We reached the dock quickly, as Kazel said, and between Zuri and my
brother they transferred my injured body onto the cruiser. We took flight
immediately, and once we entered the atmosphere of black space on a fast
track to Torin, Kazel set the cruiser on autopilot and turned to me.
Zuri and I had used the cleanser, and we both wore clean clothes—she a
loose pair of pants and a band across her breasts while I pulled on a pair of
pants. Already my body was beginning to heal as the pain had lessened.
Kazel faced me, forearms resting on his thighs with his hands clasped
between his knees. His gaze slid to Zuri. “It’s not that I didn’t want to see
you again, but I have to say I’m surprised.”
She sat on the arm of my chair with her body leaned into mine. “You
remember me?”
He nodded. “I do.”
She chewed the inside of her cheek. “You saved my life. At the risk of
your own.”
“I was paying it forward,” he murmured, staring at his hands.
“They told me you were dead.” These were my first words to him, as I
was still unsure where to begin. What did he know about what happened at
home? Would he be ashamed of our family? Of me?
His brows lifted. “Who did?”
“A guard at Zhronx.”
He snorted. “They tried. Many times. I lost count.”
“Why did you go back?” Zuri asked.
Kazel opened his mouth but then his eyes shot to mine. He closed his lips
and took a deep breath. “I think maybe I should start at the beginning.”
Zuri rose and I grabbed for her hand, but she patted it before tugging out
of my grip. “I think you two need some time alone. I’ll go take a nap.” She
stretched her long, lean body and gave me a soft smile. “Okay?”
I nodded, and she walked down a narrow hallway to one of two bedrooms
on the cruiser. She glanced over at me, giving me a reassuring wave before
slipping inside. The door slid shut, leaving my brother and I alone.
He was massive—bigger than me. As large as our father had been. His
hair was long and unruly with some braids mixed in. A black patch covered
his right eye and a harness with a large ax-like weapon lay discarded on the
ground. Several of his shoulder spiks showed new growth, which led me to
believe they’d been broken a few times in fights.
He remained silent, studying me as much as I studied him. “It’s good to
see you, little brother.”
I didn’t know how to do the happy reunion thing. I wasn’t happy. I was
startled. Confused. Maybe because I’d expected to find him trapped here.
Powerless. In need of rescue. Not that I wanted any of it for him, but to find
he was… free and had access to weapons and transportation… I didn’t get it.
“Why didn’t you come home?”
His eye closed for a moment, and he hung his head between his
shoulders. He rubbed the back of his neck with a calloused hand. “You
always were direct. Even as a young one.”
“Why?” I asked again, feeling on the verge of losing it.
He lifted his head and speared me with a hard gaze. “I wasn’t able to for a
long time. It wasn’t until around the time I met her,” he pointed toward where
Zuri had walked, “that I escaped from the Rogastix.” He inhaled deeply.
“There are a lot of reasons I didn’t return home right away, and I can explain.
But a big reason is that I didn’t think I had a place there. Father was a good
ruler, and I always thought you’d make a better pardux when he handed over
the title.”
I gritted my teeth as I felt the familiar swell of anger and helplessness
swarm me. “Father was not a good ruler, Kazel.”
He went still and then slowly straightened his back. “What?”
“After you disappeared, mother couldn’t handle the grief. She died.
Between your disappearance and mother’s death, father went mad.”
“Mad?” he whispered.
I explained what Father did—how he collected all the females for himself
and created a harem, convinced he should be the one to sire the next
generation, and that it had taken a Drixonian to finally end his reign.
“I didn’t know what to do. I let it go too long, and it’s scarred us forever.
I wondered so many times what you would have done. How you would have
handled it.” I let my voice fade to a pained whisper. “And I convinced myself
you would have done a better job than me.”
Kazel stared at the floor, fingers speared through his hair as he held his
head in his hands. “Yerk, Sherif, I…” He shook his head before slamming
back into his chair and looking at the ceiling. “If I would known… I never
would have thought…”
“No one did,” I said. “No one.”
“I don’t think I would have done a better job than you, Sherif. I always
thought you showed more leadership skills at a young age than me.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I stayed silent.
“I’m sorry,” he looked me in the eye. “I’m so sorry.”
I shook my head. “I’m not angry at you. You didn’t choose to leave. And
he had already lost his mind long before you were able to return home.” I
tilted my head. “You didn’t choose to leave our settlement, did you?”
He laughed lightly. “No, I did not.”
“What happened?”
He sighed. “Let’s leave that for another time, all right? None of that can
be changed now. Tell me about your human.” His eye crinkled in the corners
when he smiled, and he reminded me so much of Father—before he’d lost his
mind.
“It’s a long story.” I returned his smile.
He leaned back and gestured to the star-spotted space outside the front
window of the cruiser. “I got time.”
 FIFTEEN

Z URI

I woke up when I felt the bed depress beside me. I opened my eyes to Sherif
settling in beside me. His expression was contemplative. He was thinking and
thinking hard, but at least he didn’t look upset. I wasn’t sure how the
conversation with Kazel would go.
He immediately turned into me and gathered me into his arms until I lay
on top of him. He held me there, rubbing his palm up and down my back
while he stared blankly at the ceiling. I waited him out, and soon enough he
spoke.
“He heard about a Kaluma and human female being captured. He didn’t
know it was his own brother, but he came as quick as he could to help us.”
“Did he know the full extent of what Drukil was doing?”
“No.” His eyes dropped to mine and a slight smile curled his lips. “But he
did know he had some guardian somewhere helping him from a distance.”
“Really?” I pouted. “I thought I was so secretive.” He laughed and kissed
the top of my head. I propped my chin on my hands. “So, he’s coming back
with us.”
He smiled. “Yes. He’s coming home.” His eyes glittered, and I knew how
much it meant to him to have a member of his family back. “I asked him if he
wanted to be pardux, since he’s the oldest, and he looked horrified.”
“I don’t blame him.”
“I wondered for so long if he’d been alive how different things would
have been. I spent so long wanting to change the past and didn’t look forward
enough to the future of the Kaluma.”
“You’re being hard on yourself again.”
“No,” he shook his head. “I’m explaining that I get it now. Meeting you.
Finding Kazel. Almost dying on that cliff. It’s time to focus on what’s
happening in the galaxy. Paving the way for the future generations of
Kaluma.” His eyes crinkled. “For our possible little one. I never wanted to
admit before how scared I was about having a child. I put the burden on my
father and mother and then instability, but it was all an excuse because I
wasn’t confident in my ability to raise a pet, let alone a Kaluma child.”
“You’ll be a great dad,” I whispered, my belly warm at the thought of
him holding a baby.
“Maybe, but most importantly we’ll be great parents. I needed you to see
that. Don’t you understand, Zuri? It’s all because of you I can finally see
myself differently. Maybe it’s some magical human powers.”
I laughed as I slid up his body until our noses touched. “I hadn’t thought
about the future much either before you. I haven’t had a home since I left
Earth, and the thought of settling anywhere made me panic. It meant I was
accepting this life that was forced upon me. But now, I’m finally choosing
something for myself. I’m choosing you, and Torin, and if biology wants,
then a family.”
He kissed me, his tongue slipping past my lips to tangle with mine. Last
time we’d been intimate, it’d been a little desperate. Nothing had been secure
but our feelings for each other, but now we were warm in a fast-moving
cruiser on our way to our future.
We weren’t wearing much to begin with, so we were naked quickly, and
Sherif surprised me when he picked me up and sat me on his chest. His
fingers drifted to swirl my clit, and I sucked in a breath as my nerves fired.
Before I could exhale, he’d slid me higher until my pussy hovered over his
mouth.
That wicked tongue unfurled, and he lapped at my wet folds while I
braced myself with my hands on the wall over his head. I couldn’t stop my
hips from bucking against him as he sucked on my clit before spearing my
entrance with his tongue. I rode his face, not bothering to muffle my cries of
pleasure.
Sherif growled as he ate at me and when his tongue latched onto my clit
and his fingers scissored inside of me, I came on a shout, grinding onto his
mouth until every last ounce of orgasm was wrung from my body.
He gently placed me on my back, lined up that bonus-feature cock at my
entrance, and surged inside. His hips rocked into me as he placed kisses on
my face and neck. I gripped his hair and came again just as his cock pulsed
inside of me, rippling and spinning, and he let out a long, loud groan.
He rolled to the side to avoid crushing me, and I curled into his warm
body, my arms and legs nothing buy jelly, and sighed.
His warm palm caressed my back. “I hope we made a little one, you and
I,” he murmured. “I hope she’s a girl just like you.”
I smiled, pressing my fist to my mouth to hide the ridiculous giggles that
threatened to bubbled up. I had never been a giggler. What was it about
Sherif that turned me into mush?
He reached over the side of the bed and rummaged in his discarded
clothes. When he straightened back on the bed, what he held in his hand
made me gasp.
I snatched my head scarf from his fingers. “What? How did you—? I
thought this was lost forever.”
“It seemed like it meant a lot to you.”
I ran my fingers over the silky fabric as my eyes watered. I sniffed. “It
does. It’s the only thing I have from home. This was a gift from my sister.” I
gazed at him with blurry vision as the tears spilled over. “Thank you, Sherif.”
He smiled and hugged me to him while I pressed my scarf to my mouth
and cried silent, happy tears.
Eventually his breaths evened out, but I’d just napped so I wasn’t tired
enough to fall asleep. I carefully slipped out of bed and cleaned up, once
again wrapping my beloved scarf around my head before leaving the room in
search of something to eat.
Kazel sat at the cockpit eating some sort of crunchy snack with his feet
propped up on what looked like important buttons, but he didn’t seem
concerned. He turned at the sound of my footsteps and held out the bag of
what I now recognized as some sort of dried and salted plant. “Want some?”
I nodded and sat down next to him as he handed over the bag. I sat with it
in my lap, munching away, while he crossed his arms over his chest and
stared out the front window. The room was silent except for my chewing for
a while until he broke the silence. “Thanks for watching out for me.”
I paused mid-chew, then resumed and swallowed. “How did you know?”
“I heard the Hack rumors. I sensed some things went my way more than
they should have. I remembered you.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure, but then
Sherif confirmed it was you.” He glanced at me. “But thank you more for
helping my brother.”
“We didn’t get along at first.”
His laugh was a deep, husky sound. “He told me. Good for you.”
When I’d met him all those cycles ago, he’d been stoic and nearly dead-
eyed. But it seemed like freedom had brought back the life into him.
I set the bag down and curled my feet under me on the chair. “What will
you do on Torin?” All humor in his expression fled, and I immediately
became wary. “Kazel?”
He scratched his chin and sighed. “I didn’t tell Sherif yet, but I won’t be
staying.”
I felt my hackles go up. Sherif would be crushed. “Wait, what? Why?”
He dropped his feet to the ground and turned in his chair to face me.
“Remember I said that when I saved you, I was just paying it forward? Look,
someone saved me. I’m alive because of her. And I won’t stop until I find
her. She’s the reason I didn’t return home. Knowing she’s in this galaxy,
exploited, hurt, unsafe…” he shook his head. “I can’t live with it. Torin
doesn’t need me. She does.”
Goosebumps rose on my arms at the conviction in his tone. “Okay. I can’t
argue with that.”
He rubbed his hands together. “But please let me tell Sherif. I’ll explain
everything to him, but I want a little time with him first.”
I hated not being honest with Sherif, but I understood where Kazel was
coming from. Sherif could spend time with his brother happily for a little bit
before he had to learn the truth. “Will you come back when you find her?”
“If she agrees.” He grinned. “But I can be pretty convincing.”

Sherif’s description of his home was vivid, but nothing compared to the
beauty of seeing it in person. The jungle was lush with blue and purple
vegetation and the trees were massive, like Redwoods stretching into the sky.
Sherif had been able to contact Gurla on the way home, and while he
hadn’t gone into detail, he’d told them, “Kazel is coming home.”
We’d landed safely and walked into the settlement to the cheers of the
entire settlement. I saw Bloom immediately and could barely believe how
wonderful she looked. She’d gained weight, which delighted me to no end
because she’d clearly been starved when we’d met. Her hips were full, and I
wanted to pinch her cheeks as they rounded with her ecstatic smile. She raced
toward me and launched herself into my arms. I hugged her tightly, inhaling
her sweet, flowery scent.
“I knew I’d see you again,” she cried, and I felt the wetness of her tears
on my neck. “I’m so happy, Zuri.”
Cravus stood nearby, his big arms crossed over his chest, looking equal
parts amused and annoyed. I set Bloom on the ground, and she gripped my
hand, whirling around to her mate. “Look, she’s here!”
“Hey, big guy,” I waved at him.
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not going to shoot me?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I don’t have a gun on me.”
He snorted and took a step toward me. His big hand clapped me on the
shoulder. He broke into a sort of smile as his voice dropped an octave. “Good
to have you here, Zuri.”
And for some reason, I felt the prickle of tears at the back of my eyes. I
quickly blinked it away. “Glad to be here.”
Most of the settlement had swarmed Sherif and Kazel, which was fine
with me. Sherif’s eyes scanned the crowd until they met mine, and he reached
for me, but I waved him away. This was not about me. I’d have time to meet
everyone, but Kazel wouldn’t be staying long.
Sherif apparently didn’t like that as he broke from the crowd and grabbed
my hand before tugging me to his side. He barked out a shout and everyone
immediately turned to pay him all their attention. Holding our hands aloft, he
lifted his chin in the air. Before my eyes, he shifted the Sherif, the pardux of
the Kaluma settlement. Not the alien who liked to cuddle in bed.
“This is Zuri, my pardua. She saved my life, helped keep Kazel alive all
these cycles, and while I ask that you respect her as much as you respect me,
I know that you will come to learn she deserves that respect.”
A cheer went up, and I actually felt my cheeks heat a bit at the attention.
“Nice to meet you all,” I said, unsure what to do in a situation like this.”
Sherif’s voice rose out among the gathered Kaluma. “Prepare a feast for
tonight. We have a pardua, and Kazel has returned home!”
Another cheer shook the ground and then the crowd scattered like mice as
they all raced to do their pardux’s bidding. From the crowd emerged two
figures—a human woman with long hair and a large Kaluma with his head
shaved along the sides and a long braid hanging down his back.
The woman was grinning ear to ear as she gave Bloom a hand squeeze as
they passed.
“Pardux,” the Kaluma said, making a chest with his fingers on his chest.
Something passed between Sherif and the Kaluma, a silent communication,
before Sherif returned the gesture.
“Not going to argue with me? Ask me to call you by your name?” The
Kaluma teased.
Sherif shook his head. “I no longer feel like the title is an ill-fitting piece
of clothing.”
Cravus clapped his hands together loudly. “Finally.”
The other human woman, nearly as tall as me, smiled. “I’m Karina, and
this is Bosa. I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I know you. You’re
Bloom’s hero.”
“And Cravus’s enemy?” I grinned.
Karina laughed. “I love Cravus, but that’s a damn good story. Will you
teach me how to shoot?”
“Oh great,” muttered Cravus.
“Babe II isn’t enough for you?” Bosa asked, throwing his thick arm over
her shoulders.
“I want to shoot.” She stuck her lower lip out and then shot me a
sparkling smile, her eyes twinkling.
“I’m happy to,” I answered her.
She threw her arms up with a cheer. “For now, want a tour of the
settlement? Bloom and I have been practicing.”
“Practicing?” I asked.
“Well, we hoped Sherif brought someone home. Bloom was betting it
was you, and Cravus was betting that you killed him.”
“She tried,” Sherif growled. “Strung me from a tree and then nearly blew
me up.”
“I want the full details,” Karina said. “I love a good enemies to lovers
story.”
Bosa jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I’m going to save Kazel from
the pack of elders who have him cornered.” He nodded at Sherif. “Can’t
believe you found him.”
Sherif watched his brother with a soft smile. “He found us, actually.” His
hand slipped into mine. “He found us.”
 SIXTEEN

S HERIF

When my father ruled, we had some mated pairs who remained together and
gave birth, but not many, so babies were still a novelty to us.
Kazel held Wensla’s baby in his big arms. She’d given birth while I’d
been gone and seeing the future of our settlement cradled against my
brother’s chest made something inside me settle.
Wensla sat nearby, dozing off by the fire, as she’d given birth only a few
rotations ago. Her male mate, Bruk, sat behind her rubbing her shoulders
while her other mate, Gurla, hovered over Kazel.
“He’s big, right?” Kazel asked me.
“Very,” I answered. My eyes drifted to where Zuri sat with Karina,
Bloom, and a few of the younger Kaluma females. Zuri must have said
something funny, because Karina cackled loudly and slapped her knee. I
smiled.
“You going to make one?” Kazel asked me. His eyes glittered in the
flames of the bonfire lighting up the night.
“Maybe we already did,” I murmured.
“Yeah, I heard you on the ship,” he groused. “Loud as yerk.”
I wasn’t even embarrassed. “Jealous.”
“Of course I am,” he said as he cooed at the baby.
I blinked at him, but he didn’t meet my eyes. Grim began to fuss, and
Gurla immediately hauled him into her arms. “Feeding time and then bed,
little one.” She rubbed her nose against her son’s. “Thanks for giving us a
break, Kazel.”
“How was that a break?” Wensla half-opened her eyes. “You hovered
over them the whole time like you thought Kazel was going to drop him in
the fire.”
“I didn’t hover,” Gurla snapped as the three mates rose. “Bruk, did I
hover?”
“I-I…” he glanced between his two mates who stared at him expectantly.
Just then, Grim fussed again. He snatched him out of Gurla’s arms and
hurried off. “I’ll change him and meet you for feeding!”
“He avoided the question.” Gurla plopped her hands on her hips.
“Unbelievable,” Wensla snapped.
They both hurried off, and I felt a little bad for poor Bruk.
Kazel watched them with an unreadable expression on his face.
“So, what you do plan to do?” I asked. “I can easily give you some of my
duties, or—”
“Sherif,” he sighed, cutting me off.
“What?” I frowned.
He straddled the log we sat on to face me. “I’m not staying.”
I stared at him as I processed what he was saying. “What did you say?”
He met my eyes steadily. “I’m not staying.”
“What do you mean you’re not staying?” I heard my voice rise and saw
Zuri’s head turn quickly from the other side of the fire.
Kazel held up a hand as if to calm me. “I’m not leaving yet. I’m going to
stay for a while, but I have to leave again.
“Why?” I demanded.
“The reason I didn’t come home immediately when I got free was
because of someone.”
“Someone?” I echoed.
“A female. She saved my life, and I can’t feel free until she is too. She’s
out there. Somewhere. I’ve been searching for her, and I won’t stop until I
find her.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but then I remembered that I’d done the
same thing. I’d made reckless decisions and put myself in harm’s way in my
search for Kazel. I swallowed, still feeling a little hollow. “You can’t be
talked out of it?”
He shook his head. “I cannot.”
 I leaned forward and rubbed at the back of my neck. “I can’t argue with
you, then. I searched for you relentlessly.”
“This is my home,” he said. “Even if I’ve been away longer than I was
here, this is still my home. And I will return. But I can’t do it without her.”
“The galaxy is volatile now. We don’t know who’s alive and how deep
the corruption of the council goes.”
“I know.”
“We have a meeting coming up with our Drixonian allies. We need their
help.”
He rubbed his chin. “Drixonians, huh?”
I nodded. “One of them killed Father when he tried to take his mate. In
return, we helped them fight the Uldani.”
A muscle in Kazel’s jaw ticked. “And they are trustworthy?”
I nodded. “They have been through a lot just as we have, and they are
also rebuilding. The health of the galaxy is as important to them as us.”
He nodded. “I’ll stay for that meeting. And then I will need to leave.”
“We could help you. Grego and Uthor are always looking for a fight.”
He laughed and shook his head. “No, I work better alone.”
“If you change your mind, let me know. Any of the warriors here would
back you up immediately.”
“I’m sure,” he smiled. “And I appreciate the offer, brother.” He lay back
on the log and inhaled deeply, his chest inflating. “But for now, I’m going to
enjoy the food I haven’t tasted for many cycles. The smell of the freshas. The
trees. The dirt. Watching you with your mate. Those things make me happy.”
I stared into the fire. “I worried that I was going to find you and you were
going to be as mad as Father had been. I was worried maybe our family line
should stop with me and that we were cursed.”
He crossed his arms behind his head and looked down his body at me. “I
have gone mad,” he said, his voice deep and tinged with a pain I hadn’t heard
from him. “If you’d met me several cycles ago, you might have killed me to
put me out of my misery. We react to our circumstances. What kept me going
was the memory of her. Knowing I had to escape to free her.” He cocked his
head. “What kept you going?”
“Finding you,” I answered.
He smiled. “And now?”
I looked across the fire at Zuri, who met my eyes with a questioning look.
“Her.” I glanced up at the sky. “Home.”
 He closed his eyes. “Good answers, brother. Good answers.”

Long after Kazel had retired to his hut, I remained by the fire, staring into the
flickering flames as I thought of what was to come. A hand touched my back
and I turned to find Zuri beside me. With a smile and contented sigh, she
straddled me, and I gripped the back of her neck. I found the gesture
grounded me, and she liked it too because she always shivered and let out a
little moan when I did it.
“You talked to your brother?”
“He’s not staying.”
She didn’t react, only said in a low murmur. “I know.”
“He told you?”
She nodded. “He asked me to let him tell you himself. He was waiting for
the right time.”
“This was the right time.” And it was. Surrounded by Zuri and my
friends, his news didn’t hit me as hard as it would have when we were still
traveling to Torin. “But I’m still not happy about it.”
“Of course not, but you understand, right?”
“I do. I searched for him. And if you were out there somewhere…” I
shook my head. “I’d never stop looking.”
“You think this female is to him the way I am to you?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” I squeezed her neck. “How are you doing here?”
Her grin widened. “I like it. The food is good. Everyone is nice. Karina
and Bloom are great. It’s hard not to bond when we’ve been through similar
experiences.”
“Things might change a little. We have a meeting with the Drixonians
soon. We don’t know the state of the council, and I sense some battles in our
near future.”
“I know,” she rubbed her hands up and down my arms. “Don’t forget you
have a tech genius here.” She tapped her temple. “Pair me up with Gurla, and
we’ll be your eyes and ears anywhere you want in this galaxy.”
“Partners, right?”
She leaned forward and licked at my lips. I grant as her tongue slipped
inside. “Partners.” She wiggled on my lap, her heat rubbing the shaft of my
hardening cock. “Let’s go, uh, combine our assets.” She wiggled her dark
eyebrows.
I laughed. “Of course, kotche. We have a family to make.”
 EPILOGUE

S HERIF
Xavy strolled down the main path of our settlement like he was the
pardux. “Hey, my man, love what you did with the place. Is that a new
garden? Really evens out the symmetry.”
Sax gave him a shove into said garden. He bounced off the bush before
popping back up and socking his friend in the shoulder. The two tussled until
Gar snapped at them in his deep voice. “Enough, you flecking idiots. I want
to get this done and get home.”
Daz, the Drixonian drexel, pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know
them.”
Joining Daz, Xavy, Sax, and Gar was another Drixonian with white rather
than black hair who stood slightly back from the group next to another with a
fire-orange mohawk.
Gurla ran down the path toward us, her feet slapping the dirt as her skirt
flapped behind her. She darted this way and that, looking around the
grouping of large Drixonians. “Is Tabitha here?”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Xavy said as he tugged on her braid when she came
to a stop in front of him. “Had to leave her behind to help Naomi with Gar’s
spawn.”
Gurla pouted as Wensla joined her with their baby strapped to her back in
a sling. “I wanted her to meet Grim.”
Xavy’s violet eyes lit up as he pinched the baby’s cheeks over her
shoulder. “Congratulations to you on this little bugger. Tab will be upset she
missed it.”
“Bring her next time?” Wenlsa asked.
 Xavy grinned. “Of course.”
Daz nodded his head in my direction. “I heard you have a few humans of
your own.”
I chuckled. “We do, although I think they own us rather than the other
way around.”
As if they knew they were being talked about, our human mates emerged
from the dining hall. They’d been preparing for the Drixonian’s visit, and
after working most of the day on a feast, were now cleaned up and radiant.
Zuri grinned at me, and I was pleased that she wore the purple pendant one of
the elder females made at my request, which matched the headscarf she wore.
Bosa tugged Karina to his side as Bloom sidled to hide slightly behind
Cravus. Zuri linked her arms with mine and stood tall next to me. “Hi, I’m
Zuri,” she announced.
The Drixonians greeted the humans in their customary gesture of crossing
their arms at the wrists in front of their throats. I introduced the four that I
knew, while Daz let us know the white-haired Drixonian was his brother,
Rexor, and the Drix with orange hair was Fenix. He didn’t explain the reason
for their different looks, and I didn’t ask.
Kazel stepped forward at my other side, and Xavy’s eyes went round as
he grinned. “I heard about you during my first very pleasant visit here. Glad
you’re back.”
Sax elbowed him, and I heard him whisper. “Stop smiling like a creep.
You killed their father.”
“He was a dick,” Xavy shot back in a whisper shout.
“What’s a dick?” Gurla asked.
Zuri started to laugh.
Kazel cleared his throat and stepped toward Xavy. “I’m honored to meet
the Drixonian who helped my brother and this settlement out of a dark time.
Thank you.”
Xavy shifted his weight as he showed slight discomfort. “I mean, yeah
sure.” He winced. “It was selfish though. I was just trying to save my cora
eternal.”
“That’s not a selfish reason either,” Kazel said, and although he smiled,
the gesture didn’t reach his eyes. I knew he was thinking of the female he
vowed to save. Rubbing at my chest, I frowned at the aching thought that I
didn’t have much time left with my brother before he left to find her.
Zuri, sensing my mood, spoke up to the Drixonians. “We have a meal
prepared special for you with a few Earth-like meals that you might be used
to with human mates. Are you all hungry?”
The Drixonians answered at once.
“Starving.”
“Famished.”
“Could eat a salibri.”
She beamed at them with her blinding smile, and I could see them all fall
a little in love with her. “Follow me.”

Zuri

I wiped the sweat off my brow and plopped my chin on my palm as I

watched the Kaluma and Drixonians talk in serious tones. The dining hall
was mostly cleared out now except for the small meeting, although Karina,
Bloom, and I remained behind. Outside, the sun had set long ago. I stifled a
yawn.
“Why does the one Drix have orange hair?” Bloom said in a low voice.
“Ah,” Karina said, leaning back with her arms crossed like she always did
when she had a story to tell. “He, along with the white-haired one, were
stolen by the Uldani and experimented on. When the experiments didn’t go
the way the Uldani wanted, they sold them to the Rogastix. Rexor, the white-
haired one, has wings, and he used to fight in a gladiator arena.”
Bloom’s eyes went wide.
“And Fenix,” Karina continued, this time lowering her voice to a near
whisper. “He’s a fire starter.”
“A what?” I said a little too loudly. Sherif’s head went up and his eyes
narrowed at me, but I gave him a little wave and a smile before focusing back
on Karina. “What did you say?”
She opened her palm and made a whooshing sound. “A fire stater.”
“Like that X-men character?” I asked.
“I think Pyro just controls fire but can’t create it.” She pointed at Fenix.
“That guy can generate it with a flick of his wrist.”
“Damn,” I muttered. “But that was all done to them… without their
consent?”
She nodded with a grimace. “Bosa told me.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Uldani bastards. Do Rexor and Fenix have mates
now? I need to know they are happy.”
Bloom smiled at me. “Zuri has gone soft.”
“Oh be quiet,” I faked punched her and she stuck out her tongue at me.
“They do have mates,” Karina confirmed. “And Bosa said the Drixonians
are all sickeningly happy on Corin with their village, their mates, and their
babies.”
I watched them as Kazel said something that made them all nod. “Good, I
hope they are disgustingly happy.”
“What do you think’s going to happen?” Bloom asked as she twisted the
metal bracelet on her wrist that Cravus had forged for her. Honestly, she
didn’t need a bracelet, but Karina told me I had to watch the Cravus metal
work show, so Bloom had done us all a favor and asked him for some
jewelry. Karina had not been wrong—it was glorious to see that guy all
intense, shirtless, and dirty.
“We don’t know for sure the Drukil is dead,” I said. “Or how much of her
offspring is still alive.”
“And Kazel is going back…” Bloom fidgeted again.
I hugged her to my chest. “It will work out.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Sherif told me in one of my dreams that the future would
work out in our favor. I took that to mean… forever. I choose to remain
optimistic now since I spent so long being pessimistic.”
Karina let out a long sigh before curling her lips into a smile. “I like the
way you think.” She leaned closer. “Do you think Kazel will bring back
another female? I mean, I love you guys, but the more the merrier, right? And
thinking about a woman out there…” she fluttered her hand with a frown. “I
want her safe.”
“I think he’ll succeed,” I said. “And if he doesn’t, I’m not sure he’ll come
back.”
That sobered us up a little bit, and we sat in silence until the group of
Kaluma rose to their feet as their meeting ended. They all looked determined,
and that made my chest swell. Sherif met my eyes, and in them was a
resigned but confident satisfaction.
“Drukil has no idea what she started,” Bloom said, her eyes on her mate
as he made a beeline for us.
“Nothing like a Kaluma and Drixonian who has a mate to fight for,”
Karina said.
I smiled at Sherif as he stopped in front of me. “Gurla and Wensla said
she’d take care of getting the Drixonians to their lodging for the night. We
can head to rest now.”
“How did the meeting go?” I asked.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “It went as well as it could go.
We have a plan and committed to being true allies. Nothing and nobody are
messing with Corin and Torin. That goes for the rest of the galaxy too.”
I held back a shiver at the grit in his tone. “Teamwork makes the dream
work.”
His booming laugh bounced off the walls of the dining hall.

Thank you so much for reading Claimed by the Alien Chieftain! Want a
bonus scene with the Kaluma? Get it free HERE.

Curious about the Drixonians? Get the complete seven-book series, plus two
bonus novellas and loads of bonus scenes in the box set, available in KU.
The Drixonian Warrior series

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What’s next? Kazel and Rain’s story in

Rescued by the Alien Outlaw.

Instead of a white knight, I got a blue alien…

Rain: My life has never been my own, and that’s never been more true than
in the Rinian Galaxy. I’ve always had dreams that led me to believe my life is
bigger than being the servant to some snake alien queen, but as each year
goes by, I’m beginning to think my subconscious is lying to me. Until he
shows up… the Drixonian with one blue eye who I’ve never forgotten. But
he’s not who I remember, and it seems this galaxy has broken another soul.
 Kazel: I will rescue Rain, and I refuse to die trying. She’s the reason I’m
alive, and I always repay my debts, even if it means pretending to be
someone I’m not to infiltrate the enemy’s stronghold.
But this won’t be easy. As I embark on the mission of my life, I know it will
take all of my wits to rescue the beautiful, strong human and then convince
her I’m her future… as her fated mate.

Rescued by the Alien Outlaw features a strong heroine who will do anything
to survive and an alien hero who’s seen it all and is ready to finally return
home with his mate.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ella Maven is the pen name for a multi-published USA Today Bestselling author who decided to finally
unleash the alien world that had been living in her head for years. (Is that weird? Probably). Her books
feature dominant, possessive aliens who are absolutely devoted to their humans.

She lives on the East Coast with her completely normal husband and two spawn who sure seem alien
some days.
 ALSO BY ELLA MAVEN

Drixonian Warrior Series

Anna and Tark: The Alien’s Future (prequel)
Daz and Frankie: The Alien’s Ransom
Sax and Valerie: The Alien’s Escape.
Ward and Reba: The Alien’s Undoing
Miranda and Drak: The Alien’s Revenge
Gar and Naomi: The Alien’s Savior
Xavy and Tabitha: The Alien’s Challenge
Nero and Justine: The Alien’s Equal

Stolen Warrior Series

Rexor
Mikko
Fenix
Zecri

Mates of the Kaluma

Hunted by the Alien Assassin
Protected by the Alien Bodyguard