The Arrogant Genius

Copyright © 2020 K Webster & Nicole Blanchard

Cover Design: IndieSage

Editor: Emily Lawrence

Formatting: IndieSage

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the Author/Publisher.

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

Contents

About The Arrogant Genius

The Lost Planet Series Note

Prologue

1. Zoe

2. Avrell

3. Zoe

4. Avrell

5. Zoe

6. Avrell

7. Zoe

8. Avrell

9. Zoe

10. Avrell

11. Zoe

12. Avrell

13. Zoe

14. Avrell

Epilogue

Join The Faction

About K Webster

About Nicole Blanchard

About The Arrogant Genius

It should have been simple…

Work together, find the cure. Save our people.

Except nothing with these aliens is simple.

Especially not an alien like him: Dr. Avrell Dracarion.

Rude. Arrogant. Ripped.

He treats me like a child, but he certainly doesn’t look at me like one.

Beneath those filed down fangs and carefully manicured claws, there’s a beast lurking, waiting to claim me as his mate.

I won’t be claimed by anyone, least of all a jerk like him.

Need to catch up?

Start the Series

The Lost Planet Series Note

In the beginning, there were many who survived the initial blasts of radiation and the resulting catastrophic environmental disturbances. The morts, the only inhabitants of Mortuus, The Lost Planet, ever changed from the effects of the radiation, learned to adapt and, more importantly, to survive. In doing so, they became highly skilled and intelligent, capable of surviving even the worst conditions.

The planet was dangerous and life wasn’t easy, but the morts had each other and that was all that mattered. They flourished in the protective shell of an abandoned building they converted into living quarters. Morts were given jobs, trained from birth in order to pass knowledge from generation to generation. Eventually, the morts hoped to extend the facility and conquer the wild, untamable outdoors.

Then, disaster struck.

The Rades, a disease contracted from complications of the radiation, began to infect increasing numbers of their population. First, there was fever, followed by sores, then finally madness and, inevitably, death. Quarantining the infected helped, but by then it was too late. Women, children, and the elderly, were the first to go. One by one, morts caught The Rades and died. Whole families wiped away.

Until only ten males remained.

Salvation came years later when the morts discovered a ship filled with aliens—female aliens. Knowing it was their only chance at survival, they snuck on a passing ship and brought five females home to study—and to breed.

Now, everything is different.

More females have been discovered, having taken over a prison far away from the Facility. They conquered their alien leaders and managed to steal their freedom. Then, disaster struck.

The Rades returned. The aliens who used to inhabit Mortuus vow to come back and annihilate the morts, take everything they’ve worked so hard for.

The only hope is a cure.

Their only wish is to survive.

As an attack looms, they have to be ready to fight…or risk losing everything.

Prologue

Avrell

Exilium, Many Solars Ago

They are doing nothing to prevent the spread of The Rades. Rekking nothing. It’s a shock that everyone here hasn’t caught it. Perhaps they have but aren’t presenting symptoms. There’s so much to explore now that I’m here.

Several females watch me warily as I pass by. I’ve decided to remain suited at all times until I can create a sterile environment that is contagion free. It’ll be impossible for me to treat the sick if I fall ill too.

I’m mentally making lists.

Lists and lists.

The ill. The recovered. The seemingly immune.

I’ll need lists for all three.

Supplies. Locations. Medications and tools.

Lists for those too.

So much to put into order before I can even begin. But I don’t have lots of time to spare. This illness moves quickly and is quite vicious. I’ll need to utilize some of the aliens here to assist, as well as put Theron and Hadrian to work. Everyone who is capable will have a role in aiding me in my efforts to eradicate this disease.

Finding an inoculation that prevents anyone else from catching The Rades is of utmost importance. There are mortlings being brought into this world, and they’ll be sent to The Eternals if we’re not aggressive in combating this illness.

By the time I reach their poor excuse of a Medical Bay, I’ve mentally made many lists. All of which I will begin divvying out duties to both morts and humans as soon as we all meet. For now, I need to see the doctor in charge.

Irritation is already clawing at me the moment I see her dark hair. She’s facing away from me as she bends over a bed, caring for one of the sick. One sweep of the Medical Bay, and I find it sorely lacking in all areas. I’m thankful I brought my own supplies so I can jump right into what I need to do.

But first, I must deal with her.

Zoe.

The most obnoxious female on this rekking planet.

My nemesis.

I won’t even acknowledge the fact that I find her incredibly attractive. I’m a male. She’s a female. We don’t see too many of them, so it’s natural for me to feel that way. If she kept her lips pressed together, I could tolerate her.

But she can’t.

Won’t.

Refuses.

The moment she opens her mouth, I’m ready to throttle her. I swear, the woman lives to torment me. Argues with everything I say. Challenges my every word. It’s maddening.

And over the comms, when she’s had enough, she just shuts off the channel. Now that I’m here, she can’t turn me off. I won’t go away. She’ll learn that quickly.

“I’ll need a full report on the sick. It’d be beneficial if you could categorize each patient based on their stage of the disease,” I bark out. “Now, female.”

She whips around, her dark, wavy hair flying around her like the violent winds of a geostorm. Light gray eyes almost glow like a magnastrike, ready to split the earth where I stand if she were capable. For such a small thing, she radiates power. So. Much. Power.

“Here to save the day, Doc?” she sneers, her lips curling up into a wicked smirk.

I should be irritated by her taunting words, but my cock does a jump in my suit, seemingly pleased at how pretty her lips are.

And they are pretty.

Shiny.

I bet they taste sweet too.

Rekk.

“Someone must,” I say, walking past her to observe the female in the bed who is pale and shivering. “How has your cure worked, hmm?”

“It’s coming along,” she lies.

I regard her, loving the way she shakes with anger. She’d been upset when I’d gone off on her for testing on herself. It’s surprising she never contracted the illness, but she doesn’t have the wherewithal to turn that information into something useful. Like an inoculation. That’s where I come in.

“I’ll need eight vials of your blood. Now. I’ll also need a sample of that patient’s blood. Once I have a proper list of all the infected, I’ll—”

“Slow your roll, asshole,” she growls. “This is my hospital. My rules. My patients. You came here to find a cure, but I won’t have you taking over. I’ve worked hard to help these people.”

“Shush, woman.”

She does shush at my barked order.

Her pink, pouty lips part for a moment, and lovely silence fills the air. Who knew those words would actually work on this female? I begin making another list—one for Zoe—when a screeching surges past her lips. Her face turns from red to purple. And then she’s charging like a starved sabrevipe and I’m a rogcow.

She’s mad.

The Rades have finally overtaken her.

Whap!

She flings one of her useless fists at me. It glances off my hard chest and she groans before shaking out her hand. Her beautiful face contorts into a pained expression.

“That fucking hurt!”

“Then why’d you do it?”

She screeches again. “Because you told me to shut the fuck up!”

“Less words, but same intention, I agree. I don’t understand why you chose to hurt yourself over it, though.”

Her mouth is once again silenced at my words. Words I know will rile her up, yet I say them anyway. Truth is, I know I’m on borrowed time, but I find great satisfaction in poking at her. It’s one thing for her to run her mouth from over a screen. It’s a whole other in my presence.

“You’re fucking with me.” Her dark eyebrow hikes up her face. Eyebrows aren’t supposed to be lovely, but I do admit hers are quite eye-catching.

“Perhaps.” I smile at her with my friendliest one I give my patients.

This seems to infuriate her more.

“Oh, fuck no. You can’t act all agreeable but have that evil gleam in your eyes. I see you, Doc. You’re a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, aren’t you? I bet you’re a sadist who secretly loves seeing his patients in pain.”

I stalk over to her, gripping her delicate jaw with my gloved hand. Gently, I squeeze her flesh and tilt her nog up. Her breath hitches and her nostrils flare.

“I only want my patients healed and healthy. Don’t ever presume you know how I feel, stormy one.”

She glowers at me, trying to push me away to no avail. I’m stronger than her. I’m in charge now. She’ll soon learn.

“However,” I say lowly so the patient on the bed doesn’t overhear. “I won’t think twice about dealing with your unruliness like my father once did me.”

Her gray eyes burn with intensity. She tries to growl out some words, but my grip tightens, effectively shushing her.

“I’m not sure how things were done on your wretched Earth II, but here, we pull the naughty one over our knee and take a firm hand to their rump.” I flash her my polite, doctor smile. “I won’t think twice about doing the same for you.”

I release her and start backing away.

“You motherfucker,” she hisses. “You ever touch me again and I’ll cut your balls off!”

“Put it on the list,” I tell her in a bored tone. “We have more pressing issues.”

“Everything okay in here?” Hadrian asks from behind me.

“No!” Zoe snaps as I say, “Perfectly fine.”

Hadrian’s retreating footsteps can be heard as he leaves me to face off with the woman with electric fire in her eyes.

“Where were we?” I ask. “Oh, that’s right. You were to get a tablet and start taking notes, female. Time is of the essence.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

I drag my gaze over her small form. Nice, bouncy breasts. Slightly flared hips. Slender legs. Everything about her is so lovely. Besides her vicious tongue, she’s seemingly harmless.

“Hmm,” I say, not convinced. “I’d rather you not. I have work to do. Work I’ll need your assistance with.”

She marches up to me and pokes me right in the gut. “We’re co-workers. I’m not your nurse or your assistant or your fucking pee-on. Your equal and you’re lucky I’m giving you that. You want things done then you can run it through me first. I’ll be damned if you come in here and take over like the arrogant douchebag you are!” She pokes me again. “And you will never spank me. Got it, Doc? Never.”

“Hmm.” I walk past her and start rifling through a drawer to see what sort of supplies are in this room.

“Hmm? Is that what you say when you’re done talking?” She huffs. “I’m not done, asshole.”

“I don’t have time to argue with you, woman. I need a workspace. I need supplies. I need a system. I need rekking lists.”

The patient on the table starts coughing. I watch Zoe transform from violent storm to delicate breeze as she rushes over to the table, fussing over the patient with care. Her smile is genuine as she tells the woman it’s going to be okay. That the doctor has come to save her.

She’s talking about me.

Zoe may hate me with every fiber of her being, but she can’t hide hope. I hear it in those few words. Latch onto them. Use them to fuel me forward and give me strength.

I walk over to Zoe and gently place my gloved palm on her back as I greet the patient.

“I’m Avrell,” I tell her. “We’re going to heal you. Together.”

Zoe stiffens under my touch, but she doesn’t move away. I like that my fingertips seem to buzz with a current of power that pulses from this small woman, linking her to me. It’s unusual and fascinating. It makes me want to ponder this connection for hours, trying to understand every facet of it.

If only there were more time.

“Hang in there, Eleanor,” Zoe says, her voice gentle and soothing.

“Try and rest,” I say to Eleanor and then guide Zoe away from the table.

She steps away from me, crossing her arms over her chest. Her cheeks are slightly pink and she won’t look at me.

Did she like my touch?

I think I might make a list so I can understand her like I’m trying to understand the disease and how to cure it. I’m ticking off all the things that make up Zoe in my nog. All the things I know she is.

Violent.

Strong in spirit.

Breathtaking to look at.

Intelligent.

Unruly.

Supple lips.

Angry.

Flashes of vulnerability beneath her hard exterior.

Easy to rile up.

Mine.

“Are you even listening to me?” she demands, her gray eyes blazing with fury.

I’ve been watching her full lips move and move, but I’m stuck on one thing about her that I suddenly can’t begin to understand.

Mine.

How?

Why?

Impossible.

But she is. I suddenly feel it clenching around my heart. Tight. So tight. Unrelenting. Suffocating. Maddening.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

“I’m sorry,” I utter, unable to tear my gaze from her lips. “I wasn’t listening to a single word you were saying.”

“Oh my God. Typical man. Unbelievable.” She lets out a derisive snort. “I think you may be worse than Theron.”

Theron.

A manchild, as Molly always says.

“Hmmm,” I grumble, flinging open a cabinet to check the supplies there too.

“I said,” she grits out, annoyed at my dismissal. “Go find Hadrian and he’ll show you to your room. You can make your dumb lists to your heart’s content and then we can reconvene later.”

“I’ll rest later,” I tell her absently. “Assessing the state of this Medical Bay and getting started is my priority.”

She pops up between me and the cabinet, thrusting a tablet into my chest. There’s not much room between us, and when she attempts to push me back, my body remains still.

The current.

It pulsates once more between us.

Need. Need. Need.

Mine.

I drag my gaze from her delicate hand, along her thin arm, along the column of her throat, and back to her lips. She licks them, making my cock jolt like it’s been struck by a magnastrike.

“Zoe,” I hiss, glaring right into her gray eyes now.

Her lovely eyebrows are knitted together, confusion flickering in her eyes. “What kind of weird voodoo magic have you got going on right now? You’re weirding me the fuck out, man.”

Ahh, so my mate feels it too.

And yet she doesn’t pull her hand away from me.

Interesting.

I grip her fragile wrist in my gloved hand and pull it away from me. I pluck the tablet from her hand but don’t let go of her wrist. She gasps when I step forward, crowding her.

“What is this voodoo magic you speak of?” I murmur, bringing her wrist to my face so I can watch the vein beneath the skin pulsate erratically. “I don’t know these words.”

“It means you touching me fucks with my head. I hate you, dude bro. You’re an arrogant asshole.”

And yet…

I flash her a knowing grin as I push a button on the tablet. “We’ll put this on the list as well.”

Stepping away from her, I continue my perusal of the space, mentally taking notes until the tablet powers up.

“What is this?” she demands.

Us. Us. Us.

Mine.

“This is understanding why your pulse quickens and your lips part when you see me.” I look over my shoulder and smirk. “And how your eyes track my every move. It’s interesting.” And how my cock hasn’t gone completely soft since I’ve stepped into the Medical Bay with her.

“It is not interesting,” she growls, but she’s lost some of her fire.

“Hmm.”

“I swear to fuck, if you say that one more time…”

“Enough of the mindless chatter, stormy one,” I bark out. “We’ll analyze this later. It’s time to work.”

If looks could kill, I’d be happily skipping to The Eternals right now.

I suppose there are worse ways to go.

1

Zoe

Interesting, my ass.

There’s nothing interesting about him. Infuriating, maybe, but not interesting. Dr. Avrell Dracarion.

He thinks he’s the most brilliant man on Mortuus, but he couldn’t be more wrong. Full of himself is what he is. Arrogant to the core.

While he’s been sitting on his ass impregnating people without their consent—the bastard—I’ve been in the trenches tending the sick. Pronouncing the dead. It’s been me who’s done all the hard work. There hasn’t been a choice. There is no one else with remotely any nursing skills.

I thought being in prison on an alien planet was the worst thing that could happen to me. The guards who sexually assaulted and beat us. A government who sentenced us to a place that meant certain death. Those were horrors worse than anything I’d ever imagined.

But neither the guards nor the government come close to the atrocities of illness.

Looking away from the computer where I’m running countless streams of data, my eyes begin to water. I’m tired, that’s all. I haven’t stopped moving, haven’t stopped working since the first person fell sick. Weakness isn’t something I can afford. Not until everyone else is safe.

I rub a hand over my strained eyes. An ache throbs at the center of my skull. I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night. There’s always another patient getting sick, another complication. Some of them, I’m able to help, but others…the others will haunt me for the rest of my days.

The good doctor may think poorly of everything I’ve done up until now, but I’ve saved lives here. Made a difference.

What has he done?

Him with his stupid lists and his stupid muscles. Why does a doctor have to be so ripped anyway? Weren’t they supposed to be soft and, I don’t know, nerdy looking? He’s a little less wild than the other morts, with his blunted teeth and cropped hair. But that doesn’t make him any less intimidating.

Not that I find him intimidating.

Infuriating, more like.

Standing at nearly seven feet with corded muscle, broad shoulders underneath pale, white skin, he should look like a hairless demon rat with his black eyes and pointed ears. It would be so much easier if he did. The morts themselves weren’t terrifying like I thought they’d be when Hadrian and Theron first pulled up in their ship. There are so many more things to be afraid of in this world, some germophobic aliens don’t even top my list.

I chew on the computer stylus, wishing it were Avrell’s stupid face. I was perfectly fine here until he’d been thrown into the mix. He could contract The Rades, but even I wouldn’t be so heartless as to wish that upon him. But maybe he could trip over his own massive feet and smash his face up a little.

Or better yet, he could trip and fall face first into my…

I cough and shake my head. Wrong, that’s wrong, Zoe.

“Who is stupid, hon?”

I hadn’t even heard Lyric walk into the infirmary. “No one,” I answer and toss the stylus onto the table with an indignant huff. “No one of any importance, anyway.”

Lyric lifts a brow. “Riiight. So that’s why you want him to catch The Rades?”

“I said that out loud?”

“More like yelled it.”

Pushing myself up from the seat, I begin to pace. “He’s just so—so infuriating! And bossy. I’ve never met anyone like him.”

Lyric leans against the control panel and pastes a patient smile on her face. “Maybe you two...conflict so much because you’re both incredibly alike?” she suggests.

My mouth drops open. “Me? Like him?”

No way in hell. If I’d come into this situation, I would have been grateful for any and all help provided. I wouldn’t list all the things people had done wrong or condescend to them about how to do it better. Most of all, I wouldn’t insinuate there was some sort of attraction between us.

Because there isn’t.

At all.

“You’re both very dedicated and direct. It’s no wonder you clash. I can only hope you’ll be able to put aside those conflicts and work together for the sake of everyone.”

“You don’t need to give me the pep talk, Lady Commander.” I manage not to roll my eyes at the title Hadrian gave her. He’s an all right mort, I guess, but the sweet, cutesy stuff isn’t for me. I never understood the whole romance shtick, and the thought of some alien making moon eyes at me makes my skin crawl.

Thankfully the only other mort available here at the prison is one I can barely stand to look at.

“When it comes to him, I do. You two are like bickering children ninety percent of the time.”

“I guess that makes you our mother, huh?”

“Sometimes, that’s how it feels herding everyone around.”

I glance up from the figures I’m running on the computer screen and notice for the first time the dark purple shadows under Lyric’s normally bright eyes. I’m not the only one struggling. Chagrined, my shoulders slump. I bite back the retort that comes to my lips about Avrell’s superiority complex and instead say, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t let him get under my skin so much. Finding the cure is more important.”

Her eyes crinkle as she grins. “See? That pep talk worked, didn’t it? Lady Commander for the win, bitch!”

Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the now maniacal gleam in her eyes, but I can’t stop the laughter from bubbling over. Slumping over the desk, I gasp for breath and clutch at my waist as my muscles burn for relief. It’s been so long since I laughed. Too long.

I wipe tears from my eyes once I’m able to catch my breath again and sit up, coming face-to-face with Avrell, who is decidedly not smiling from behind his protective mask. His muscled forearms are straining at the immaculate white lab coat he scrounged from god-only-knows-where and crossed over his chest. He looks every bit like the disappointed father. If he’d been my father, maybe I would have been a more obedient girl. Who am I kidding? Authoritative types make me want to ruffle their feathers a bit. I can’t help it.

I clear my throat and Lyric, sensing the change in the air, whirls around and puts a hand to her chest. “Sorry, Av. We didn’t hear you come in.”

His expression doesn’t change and I wonder if he ever shows any emotion other than disdain. Probably isn’t programmed for it. I cover my snigger behind my hand. Maybe I did need that pep talk from Lyric. Now is not the time to tease Avrell. We need to work together. When we’re done, I’ll antagonize him all I want.

“Obviously,” he drones.

“I’ll leave you two to work,” Lyric says and ignores my beseeching look. Traitor. She could at least supervise and make sure we don’t kill each other. So much for Lady Commander. “Be nice,” she mouths before the elevator doors close behind her.

Easy for her to say. She doesn’t have to spend the foreseeable future locked in close quarters with a man who makes her want to commit a homicide. Maybe I could inject him with a rogue vial of The Rades. It would be a total accident.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Avrell asks.

I bring my gaze back to him, ignoring how he adjusts his mask, which causes his tight alien-material shirt to slither across his skin like butter. I liked him better in the bulky outerwear gear he first arrived in. “Like what?”

“Like I’m a specimen beneath your magnascope. Except I can’t decide if you want to kill me or mate with me. Hmm...”

“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want to mate with you for you to get it through your thick skull? Are you aliens super dense or something?”

“I possess above average intelligence for a mort.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“I can show you my aptitude tests, if you like.” I’ll bet he can. He and his big...brains. I bet he shows them to everyone.

“Okay, Mr. Know-It-All. No one cares. Let’s just get to work.”

He nods with his stupid head. “I’ve been ready. First I want to reassess the patients you have.”

You know, if it weren’t for the condescension in his tone, I wouldn’t have snapped back. “By all means. Let’s redo all my work. I won’t take it personally.”

“Good,” he says. “We have a lot to get done. We’re wasting time.”

He turns his back on me and I consider stabbing him in the jugular with my stylus. It’d be a somewhat painful death, but no less than he deserves. The prick.

I should probably stop fantasizing about ways to kill him.

Even I know we need him. Maybe after he makes a cure for this damn disease no one will notice if I sneak him away and feed him to one of those Big Birds up on the mountain. Except it would probably give them a stomachache.

“Are you listening?”

“Were you saying something important?”

“Everything I say is important.”

He makes it too easy. I know I have to focus, though, so I let the opportunity to insult him pass. There will be many more, I’m sure. “What were you saying?”

“I’d like to reevaluate all your patients for the progression of the disease. If we can map its life cycle, maybe we can target a weakness for the vaccine. I have equipment to synthesize potential treatments, but it’ll take some time.”

“I’ve sent you my notes—”

“I’d like to see them in person.”

I grind my teeth together. “Fine. There are ten still in the Med-Bay isolation units. We can start there.”

It’d be easier if I didn’t like his demanding nature as much as I hated it. I’ve always been in conflict with authority figures. It’s what got me into so much trouble on Earth II. He orders me around the Med-Bay from patient to patient, shoving a tablet at me to take notes on his observations like I’m some sort of fucking secretary.

But if I were being honest with myself…

Maybe I like it a little bit.

Like the way his lips press together when he’s thinking too hard or when he rolls up the sleeves on his lab coat, showing off his forearms that are encased in his tight, protective suit that reveals every curve and vein. I never thought I had a forearm fetish, but Avrell’s make my mouth water.

If only the body weren’t attached to the brain, I wouldn’t be so against “mating” with him. I could use a bout of stress relief after all the shit I’ve been through.

“You know I could design a device for you.”

I pull myself back to reality. “A device?” I ask. Had I said that out loud? My cheeks burn. God, I hope not.

“For your concentration problems. Maybe a collar that sends out a jolt of electricity. That way, when you get distracted, it’ll provide sufficient inducement to stay on topic.”

“You want me to wear a shock collar?”

“Perhaps it would help keep your mind from wandering.”

“Why don’t we shove it up your ass instead? It must be better than the stick you already have up there.”

His brow furrows and his lips press together. Then he waves a hand. “As I was saying, this patient shows a much better resistance to the virus. Take a blood sample so we can analyze it.”

“Yes, sir.” I give a mock salute.

At my words, his shoulders stiffen, then he stalks off to his make-shift desk. Was it the salute, or did he like hearing me call him sir? If I can’t kill him, maybe I can tease him to death until he comes up with a cure. If I don’t, I may go a little mad from having to put up with him.

It’s going to be a long race to the cure.

2

Avrell

Six Solars Until Kevins Arrive…

I’ve wasted too much time. Testing and retesting. Nothing makes sense. Hadrian’s and Theron’s blood seems no different than my own. They appear to be immune, though I can’t know if that applies to me too. And while many of the females contracted The Rades and have been terribly ill, and in some cases perished, some like Zoe also seem immune.

There is nothing under the magnascope that shows any correlation.

Exposure seems important, though. As though some beings—both mort and human—have immunities that quickly defend The Rades. I’m missing something and it’s driving me rekking mad.

It’s been at least eight solars since I traveled to Exilium with the purpose of discovering a cure. I’ve been nothing but a failure. More questions than answers.

My mask is suffocating me. I wear it at all times, protecting myself from the unknown. With each solar that passes, I grow more agitated at having to wear it. What would happen if I just ripped it off and shared the air with the ill? Would I fall victim to the disease or would my body fight like so many others have?

Time is moving by all too quickly.

The Kevins will be here before we know it. Oz has been working diligently on the weapon that I am certain he’ll perfect soon. It’s my hope that he’ll kill them, and it’ll no longer be of our concern.

Our concern is life.

The continuation of our species and the hybrids so many are giving birth to. Molly just had not one, but two, mortlings yesterday. Lyric and Willow are pregnant now too. Our future is precious and delicate, barely balanced on a mountain of what-ifs and a whole rekking lot of hope.

We need certainty.

We need a cure.

We need our population to grow and thrive and once again overtake this planet that rightfully belongs to us.

Think, Avrell. Think.

Perspiration rolls down my temple, tickling my flesh. I need to breathe and think. My stomach grumbles. And eat.

“Here,” Zoe snaps, dropping a plate of seared meat on my desk, though I don’t know from which beast it comes from. “Compliments of Hadrian’s recent hunt. Take a break in your room so you can unmask and eat.”

Normally, I have words for her. Lots of them. This solar, I am weary.

“Many thanks, stormy one.”

She flinches like I’ve struck her. Immediately, concern washes over me.

“What is it?” I ask, cocking my nog to the side to assess her for signs of illness. “Are you feeling unwell?”

Her gray eyes are blazing with intensity as she narrows them at me. “I was thinking you were the unwell one.”

I rise from my seat and take a step toward her, making a mental list of all that seems to be wrong with her.

Hunching shoulders.

Almost sad frown.

Dark rings around her eyes.

Defeat in her gray eyes that have lost their fire from moments before.

“I’m on the cusp,” I murmur as I step closer, wishing I could scent her without the mask between us. “I can feel it. I just…I need to think. Time is slipping away and it’s rekking distracting.”

Her features soften, making her seem so delicate. I have the urge to peel away my glove and touch her skin to see how it feels. Would she feel softer than the other females I’ve come in contact with?

“I…” she trails off. “I need to go check on Julie.”

As soon as she scurries off, I frown in confusion. Did we…Did we just converse without arguing? We must both truly be losing ourselves to the madness of this disease we can’t seem to figure out.

I sit back down, staring at the meat on my plate that is blackened much like how we cook our sabrevipe meat. I didn’t know sabrevipes migrated out this way. For eight solars I’ve taken each meal alone, in the safety of my room here at Exilium. The thought of having to do it again seems…tiring.

I could eat here.

Take my mask off.

Breathe in her lingering scent.

My mind recoils at the thought because I’ve spent my entire lifetime protecting myself from harmful diseases and pathogens and radiation. Taking off my mask in an office just a few steps away from the Medical Bay full of extremely ill patients is the absolute definition of madness.

I might as well inject the disease right into my vein.

Time pauses.

Zoe did it. In some misguided effort to learn how The Rades attacks, and to cure it. She was lucky because it didn’t affect her in the least. But it makes me wonder. When I’d taken a look at her blood samples, nothing looked amiss aside from the fact her blood cells were redder and more plentiful. There isn’t a way to add more blood cells into a human or mort, giving them cells like hers. She just is.

Think, Avrell.

There are answers and you’re close.

Before I can stop myself, I yank at the latch on my mask. I pull it away from my face and drop it onto the desk beside the scattered papers where I’ve scrawled out many notes. The air smells…fresh and sweet. Like something I’ve never scented before. Unique. Mine.

Blood rushes to my cock as realization washes over me. The scent belongs to Zoe. I know it with every fiber of my being. It’s quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever smelled. It overpowers the overcooked sabrevipe, traveling into my lungs and lingering there.

If I die from exposure, at least I got to smell her.

I rip off my gloves, stretching out my fingers and letting the cool air kiss them. After being trapped in my gear most of each solar, I’m nearly giddy to be freed.

Quickly, I chew down the meat. It’s charred beyond belief. It’s our way. To cook out any possible radiation or disease.

Something niggles at my brain as my eyes drift to the cold cabinet where we store the blood samples.

What would happen if I did as Zoe did?

She injected a sick one.

What if I did both?

A sick one…and her.

I’m out of my seat in the next instant, making a beeline over to the cabinet. I’ll do both. Her blood is clearly potent and strong. What would happen? I have to know. I feel like the answer is in blood—I just haven’t seen it yet.

It’ll come to me.

It has to.

I find one of the vials marked with her name. Then, I take out Julie’s vial. She’s been incredibly sick. At one point, she stopped breathing, but we forced oxygen into her, bringing her dying body back to life. Since then, I wouldn’t say she’s improved, but she’s certainly stable.

Before I can overthink it, I grab a syringe and press it into Julie’s vial. I suck out the blood and then set the syringe down. Quickly, I peel up the arm of my minnasuit, revealing my dark veins that are visible beneath my pale flesh.

This is quite possibly my worst idea to date.

Or it could be my best.

Time will tell.

I pick up the syringe before pressing the sharp point into my flesh. It’s cool as it surges into my vein as I depress it. My heart rate speeds up with a mixture of excitement at the prospect of finding answers and all out terror of my possible impending death.

Once I discard the empty vial, I do the same with Zoe’s vial. I send her blood chasing after Julie’s infected blood, hoping beyond all hopes it’ll do something.

The answer is in the blood.

I just know it is.

“I thought I told you to…” A sharp gasp and then, “Oh my fucking God. What did you do?”

Turning, I face off with her.

Zoe.

The one who maddens me to no end.

Beautiful, stormy Zoe.

Prowling her way, I suck in deep breaths, inhaling her sweet scent right from the source. She cries out in shock when I grab a handful of her wavy brown hair and fist it in my hand.

It’s the single silkiest and softest thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of touching. I lower my nog to the top of hers, sucking in her scent. Reveling in how wonderfully intoxicating it is.

“Avrell,” Zoe chokes out, rare emotion in her voice. “What did you do?”

Reluctantly, I release her hair and take a step back. “What was necessary.”

“Exposing yourself wasn’t necessary,” she hisses, her voice growing angrier by each passing second. “Put your mask back on. You’re probably fine in this office but—”

“I injected Julie’s blood into my system.” I meet her horrified stare with mine. “This is no different than when you did the same many, many solars ago.”

“You idiot,” she whispers. “You fucking idiot.”

“I also injected your blood into my system.”

She smacks me across the cheek. “How dare you.”

“I assure you—”

“You can’t assure shit, Avrell, because you don’t know!” she shrieks. “We were close, right? This wasn’t necessary!”

“We weren’t close, and you know it,” I growl, rubbing at my cheek that stings from her slap. “We’re too far away. But know what is close? Death. For your people. For mine. For the mortlings. It’s imperative we find answers and quickly.”

“You reckless fucking man!” she bellows. “Just wait until Hadrian and Lyric find out. They’re going to be livid.”

She storms out of the office. I stalk after her, my own fury swelling up higher than the mountains around us. I’m right behind her by the time she shoves through a door into the comms room where Theron, Hadrian, Lyric, and Willow are all standing. Each of their nogs whip our way, slowly contorting from friendly greeting to worry.

“He ruined everything!” Zoe yells, pointing a finger in my face. “Look at him!”

I grip her thin wrist, capturing it in my hold, and pull it away from my face. I don’t let go despite her furious wiggling.

“I did what had to be done,” I grit out.

“Where’s your mask?” Hadrian growls, his eyes flashing with anger.

“I took my protective gear off,” I tell him simply.

“And he injected himself with poisonous blood!” Zoe snarls.

Willow gapes our way, but Lyric frowns at Zoe.

“Like you did?” Lyric asks, making Zoe flinch.

“It’s different,” Zoe hisses. “We need him.”

“We need you both,” Lyric barks back. Then, to me, she asks, “Why?”

“I think there are answers in Zoe’s blood, though I can’t discover them under a magnascope. I need to test it on a live subject. Who better than myself? I can study it in real time and find answers quicker this way.” I rub my thumb over Zoe’s skin, loving the way it feels. “It is the only way.”

Her stormy gray eyes are flashing with fury, but I don’t miss the slight tremble of her bottom lip. She’s upset. For eight solars straight since I arrived, we have done nothing but argue endlessly as we try and understand how to cure this disease. I figure she’d be irritated as per usual, but fine with it so long as we were steps closer to our answer.

“Breccan is going to go rekking mad over this,” Theron says, shaking his nog. “He’ll probably run his big self right over here just to kick your rump, Av.”

“We can’t tell him,” Hadrian barks out. “Least not yet. He wants us home, and eventually, we’ll make our way there. With the new mortlings and the Kevins coming, we can’t burden him with this.”

“So we lie?” Zoe asks, no longer trying to pull out of my grip.

“We leave it out,” I state. “Tell Breccan what he needs to hear. That we’re working on the cure, which we are. I’ll even put my gear on for when we meet over the comms so he doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Lyric asks me, her brows furling. “I need my two best people on this.”

“I don’t,” I admit, “but I will. Zoe is going to help me. She can observe any changes I don’t notice. Together, we’re going to find the cure.”

Zoe plucks her arm from my grip finally and pokes me in the chest. “You just became a patient. I’m in charge now. When you’re done making a plan to lie to your superiors, meet me in the office. We have our work cut out for us.”

She storms out of the room, taking her lovely scent with her.

The room goes quiet. It’s a somber moment. If it doesn’t work, I’ll get sick and perish. I’m not ready to give up my life, but if it gives us answers, it’s necessary.

“Av,” Hadrian says, coming to stand in front of me. “This has to work.”

“It will.” If I’m lying to Breccan, I may as well lie to Hadrian as well. “I promise.”

3

Zoe

Six Solars Until Kevins Arrive…

For someone so smart, Avrell can be so dumb.

“I can’t believe you did that,” I lecture as we head back down to the Medical Bay. “How could you be so short-sighted? There were plenty of ways to go about testing without putting yourself in danger.”

Already, a sheen of sweat paints his brow. His pure-white skin has turned gray with fatigue and the beginnings of the illness. A disquiet settles over me. What if he doesn’t make it? I can’t lose anyone else. I don’t think I can survive it.

He doesn’t need me to hold him up yet, but he will soon. Too soon. I thought I could cure everyone on my own, but what if I can’t? If he dies, what will happen to the rest of us?

To me?

I won’t think about that.

“That would take too much time. Normally, I’d agree with you, but we don’t have the luxury of protocols now. This is the fastest way for me to test my hypothesis.”

I smack the elevator button a little too hard. “And the dumbest. I thought you were supposed to be a genius?”

“I am,” he says plainly as we enter the elevator. “That’s why I know this will work.”

“What you are is an arrogant bastard! Did you ever think about what it will do to everyone else if your little stunt goes wrong?”

What it’ll do to me? But I don’t say that out loud.

Saying it will mean the real reason for my anger. I care about him. And that can’t be. I won’t let myself care for him. Feelings aren’t an option when we could all be dead in a few days.

“It won’t. I’m certain of it.”

“Of course you are.”

“Hmm…”

I grit my teeth. This whole ordeal puts a very bad taste in my mouth. He was supposed to be curing the disease, not getting infected by it. Now we’re lying to Breccan and the others about what’s happening and they’re all depending on us. If he’s wrong…I can’t even think about it.

If he’s wrong, I guess nothing will matter once all is said and done.

Because we’ll all be dead.

The elevator stops and a leaden weight takes up residence in my stomach. Avrell, however, doesn’t seem to have the same affliction. He strides into the Medical Bay, his broad shoulders squared and his gait confident, if not a little measured. At his desk, he takes a seat and begins to take measurements: his temperature, a vial of his blood for analysis, then he notates his symptoms and the time.

I leave him to it, for now, because helping him at this point would make the situation all too real and honestly, I could use a little ignorance is bliss for a moment. While he studies his blood under the magnascope, I check on our other patients. Two of them are sleeping soundly—I think they’re going to make it. The other two writhe with fever. I give them another dose of fever medication, even though I doubt it’ll do any good. These angry blisters on their skin are mottled against their complexion.

It won’t be long before Avrell is the same. Until fever steals his mind, his big, beautiful mind and boils and sores cover his skin.

The medicine miraculously quiets the two—for now, and I close their isolette doors behind me. I press my back against them and squeeze my eyes shut. It will be over soon, that’s what I have to keep telling myself.

It’s what I’ve told myself since I was sentenced to the prison.

It will be over soon.

I hadn’t expected to live this long. In truth, I thought death was the answer to my mantra. By “it” I mean my life. I was too much of a coward to take it, but I figured the alien planet would do what I didn’t have the courage to. Instead, I found a home I never thought possible. Disease and war may try to steal it from me, but we are strong.

We’ve overcome so much already. I know we can overcome this too.

We have to.

I have to have faith in Avrell.

Which I never thought I’d think, let alone do.

Lyric was right. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt, even if it makes me want to peel my skin off. The only way we’ll solve this is together, especially if I want to keep Avrell from dying, too.

As he observes and notates his thoughts on his symptoms, I care for the patients, treating them and tending to their needs. Hours later, I finally get everyone to sleep and collapse onto a cot I store down here for when I’m too tired to go back to my room. Soon, I find myself falling into a fitful sleep plagued by nightmares.

* * *

It’s dark.

Inky, black darkness. A complete void of light.

It consumes me.

I shove myself into a sitting position. Is this another nightmare? A memory from the first days at the prison? Or maybe the overthrow had been a dream. Maybe none if it happened at all and a guard will show up, ready to drag me to whatever horrors they have planned. In my world it isn’t the monsters you have to worry about…it’s the humans.

A siren blares. The same one that had gone off during the first breech. A red light begins to flash, momentarily illuminating the isolettes, the Medical Bay. This is real. It’s real.

Avrell.

I think back to our briefings on the disease. What if he’d progressed more quickly than anticipated? He could have gone mad while I’d been asleep and gone on a rampage.

I’m such an idiot. I should have insisted he isolate himself as well. I’d been so certain he wouldn’t be a threat to me, but I didn’t consider what would happen to everyone else if the fever drove him out of his mind. We should have chained him up as a precaution.

I get to my feet, wishing I’d brought a weapon. There didn’t seem to be a need when the most violent person in Exilium was gone and the rest were too sick to be a threat. I’d been too worried about Avrell to think about anything else.

Through the red haze thrown by the emergency lights, I’m able to pick my way across the office to Avrell’s desk where he’d been working last. He’s not there. My heart drops to the floor. Where could he be? What is causing the emergency lights and siren?

I retrieve a flashlight from a stash of emergency supplies and flick it on. The beam illuminates a face—at least I think it’s a face—of fangs and drool. A stench the likes of which I can barely comprehend wafts from its open maw, making me gag. It smells like it came from the pits of hell. Devil’s breath. It has the body of a dog five times the normal size and a face with no eyes, only teeth.

I choke on a scream and stumble back against the desk. My dream and reality converge as the monster advances. This must be one of those alien creatures Lyric warned me about, only it looks nothing like a bird. It snarls and I shriek, but there’s nowhere to go. I’m trapped against the desk as the dog-demon gets ever closer until I can feel the heat of its breath on my skin.

A furtive glance around reveals there isn’t much to defend myself with but medical supplies and a desk lamp. Throwing the lamp will do nothing but piss him off, but I have no other options. I rip it from the wall and grip it tightly between two hands. Once it’s within range, I’ll jam the fucking thing down its throat.

Except I don’t get the chance.

There’s a deafening BOOM and then green blood sprays over my face, coating my tongue, filling my nose, and stinging my eyes. I scream and drop the lamp, which clatters at my feet. Wiping at my streaming eyes with the back of my hands, I try to squint through the sting to see if the demon-dog is coming to devour me.

I’d dropped the flashlight at some point, so I can only see during the brief flashes of red. They illuminate a shadowed lump at my feet and a figure hovering above. It flashes again and the figure moves closer. I press myself back into the desk again, blood dripping off of me, forgotten.

In the next flash, I see Avrell’s face and my knees buckle. He reaches out and catches me before I fall to the ground, but I slap at his hands and steady myself against the desk.

“Are you injured?” he asks above the wailing of the siren.

“Where the hell have you been?” I yell, my voice hoarse. At the bitter, acrid taste of blood, I grimace and spit, uncaring of my audience.

Avrell lifts the zonnoblaster in his hands. “There was a breach. I went to get weapons. Now answer me. Are you injured?”

I see red, and it’s not from the emergency lights. “You could have been killed! You’re sick. You shouldn’t be traipsing around the Medical Bay hunting monsters in your condition. What if it had attacked you?”

“Woman, if you don’t answer my question, I’m going to be forced to strip you down and look for myself.”

“I’m fine! The same won’t be said for you when I’m through with you. I thought you were dead.”

The realization hits me like a zonnoblaster round straight to the chest. What I feared worst of all had almost come true.

But not for the reasons I’d thought.

Not because I was worried about what it would mean for us and the morts if he couldn’t find a cure.

No, I’m struck speechless because of what losing Avrell would have meant for me.

“I don’t believe you. You seem as though you’re suffering from shock. Come, sit down. Let me give you an exam.”

“There’s only one of us who is sick here, Avrell. I’m fine.” But I don’t have any energy left to fight him when he maneuvers me to an exam table.

“Your heart rate is elevated and you’re behaving erratically. You’re definitely in shock.”

“Blah blah blah. Don’t pull that sexy doctor bullshit on me. I’m not the one who should be getting looked at. You look like you’re about to fall over. You should be resting.”

Naturally, he ignores me and begins taking my vitals, even though he’s out of breath and sweating profusely. “We have to inform Hadrian of the breach so they can contain it.” He says this more to himself than to me.

“What is that thing?” I ask, my gaze drifting to the dead hulking beast.

His breath shudders out. “I don’t know. The alarm alerted me, and I went to see what it was. I should have stayed here with you. It could have killed you. When I heard you scream, I got the zonnoblaster and ran as fast as I could. I thought I wouldn’t get back to you in time.”

I didn’t even realize I screamed. “I thought I was still dreaming at first. I thought it was a nightmare. It doesn’t sound like any of the animals you or the other morts have ever described.”

“That’s because I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

We both grow quiet through the rest of his careful examination. I let him take my temperature and heart-rate. He gives me a thorough once-over and I don’t protest. I don’t have the words. Besides, his hands roaming over me, checking for injuries, is soothing. With each brush of his fingertips, my body and mind settle. I fight the urge to pull him closer, to press my body against his to remind myself he’s okay.

He’s alive.

Because I know there’s a chance he may not be for long.

Don’t think like that.

Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.

4

Avrell

Five Solars Until Kevins Arrive…

“We can’t leave you here,” Hadrian growls, his eyes glinting in a fierce way that reminds me so much of our leader. “Not now. Not after the breech.”

Fatigue is my biggest ailment at the moment. I scrub a palm over my face, sighing at his words. I don’t have the energy to argue with him. When I saw that thing on my female, I went mad for a moment. I’d been sure I lost myself to The Rades because the rage I’d felt over seeing that beast snarling at her overwhelmed every rekking thought.

I had to save her.

Because, if I hadn’t, I didn’t want to live.

My mind still churns with those confusing thoughts. Zoe is difficult, but I’m discovering it’s one of the traits I like about her. The thought of her being eaten alive was too much to bear.

“What is it you wish, Hadrian?” I ask, frowning at him. “To bring the sick to the Facility and infect them as well? Or would you rather everyone stay here and the pregnant females be vulnerable to more attacks by creatures that somehow managed to get inside a secure prison?”

“It’s not all or nothing here,” Theron agrees. “Avrell can handle his own. He killed the creature that got in. But he’s sick, Hadrian. We can’t risk it and you know it.”

Hadrian scowls. “Four solars. That’s all you’ll get before Breccan realizes we left you behind. We’ll leave at first light and then it’s up to you to finish this or our commander will drag you back whether you’re ready or not.”

I give him a quick nod as I begin to run through a list of everything that needs to be done before they depart. My brain is foggy and I’m weak. I’m in dire need of rest, but there’s no time.

“Are you holding up okay?” Hadrian asks, his irritation dissolving to worry.

“Indeed,” I lie. “Let’s get started.”

* * *

The silence is deafening.

Without Theron and Hadrian and the others, the fourteen of us left are too quiet because all but one is sick.

Normally, Zoe has plenty to say. Not since the attack. Not since they left. Rekk, not since I injected myself. She’s too quiet and it agitates me.

With a heavy sigh, I notate the sudden agitation on my tablet as a new symptom. I’m not agitated with her, but at the situation. This has to be a new symptom.

It takes all too much effort to shuffle between the isolated rooms to check on each sick patient. Zoe is nowhere to be found, which unnerves me because ever since the attack, I worry about losing sight of her.

Hadrian barricaded the broken door. She’s safe. My female is safe. Still, I can’t help but want to hunt her down and keep her right by my side where she belongs.

Possessive thoughts.

I add that to my list too before heading into Julie’s room. Her color has returned, and clarity burns bright in her eyes.

Improvement.

“Hello,” I greet. “How are you feeling?”

Her eyes narrow as she scrutinizes me. “Better than you.”

I nod because there’s no sense in denying it. “Any new symptoms?”

“No. I need to get back to work. The weapon.” She grimaces. “We might be too late.”

“Oz is still working on it. I assure you when he devises one that will work, he’ll pass down the information. By then, you should be healed and can resume your duties.”

My answer settles her and she nods.

“We had a breach,” I tell her. “A beast.”

Her eyes widen. “I thought I heard sirens last night, but I was still out of it. I thought I was dreaming it. Is everyone okay? Zoe?”

I flinch at the mention of Zoe, worry once again plaguing me worse than The Rades has the power to. “They are. We’ve sent the well ones back to the Facility. I managed to kill the beast before it hurt her.”

Julie’s eyes fall to the zonnoblaster holstered at my hip. “That explains the weapon. Jesus, how terrifying. What’s the progress on the cure?”

“I’m diligently working on it,” I assure her. “Rest up.”

“I’m good,” Julie says with a grimace. “Help me up. With everyone gone, I can’t in good conscience sit here any longer. I’m healing. I can feel it. I just need a little assistance. Get me to the control room.”

I don’t want to have her traipsing around, but she’s skilled in weaponry and defense and is on the mend.

“Not before you’ve had an electrolyte booster.”

She allows me to inject her and then I assist her to her feet. Julie is strong and capable but still requires my help. I walk her to the control room where all the cameras on the outside of Exilium are recording.

“I’m exhausted,” she complains. “I hate feeling so weak.”

“I understand the feeling.”

It’s been hours since our group left and I haven’t been back to the control room to check the perimeter. Julie and I both manage to see something move at the same time.

“What was that?” she demands, pointing a shaky finger at the screen.

It’s another one of those beasts. From what Zoe explained to me, it was blind. Like a sabrevipe but more feral if you can believe it. Zoe compared it to a rabid wolf or was it a rabbawolf?

“Rabbawolf. They have them on Earth II.”

“Nothing I’ve ever come in contact with,” Julie says, a shiver running through her. “I think it’s running from something.”

“Or toward us,” I counter. “I don’t think it can get in, but I should be prepared in case it does.”

“Give a zonnoblaster to everyone who can hold one just in case. I need two,” she grumbles. “Oh no…”

Several more rabbawolves chase after the first one. All of them are running full speed ahead, toward the side of Exilium where there’s an opening to store transport vehicles. It’s the same bay that leads to underground tunnels that eventually grant access into this building.

“If they get inside,” I rumble. “I’m not sure I can kill that many. Perhaps if we remain quiet, they will move along.”

“Perhaps,” Julie whispers.

“What’s going—oh my fucking God,” Zoe hisses as she enters the control room, coming to stand beside me.

On instinct, I grab hold of her hand. She’s so fixated on the horrible beasts, she doesn’t wiggle out of my grip. Satisfaction slides through my veins as I hold the hand of my female.

“Shh, stormy one,” I murmur. “We’re hoping they’ll lose interest and move on if there doesn’t seem to be any activity or sound here.”

She squeezes my hand, her nog nodding sharply. Julie mashes a button, zooming in the camera. The beasts are clawing at the door to get in but haven’t discovered how yet. There are six in all, each one howling and yipping and trembling as though they’re afraid.

Afraid of what?

My question is answered when I notice a dust cloud. Like that of a geostorm, it thickens and approaches. Something big is running right toward the pack of rabbawolves.

From the red haze, something races ahead. On two feet. Tall. Muscular. Feral. It’s barely clothed, a shred of cloth covering its cock, as it runs full speed ahead. A large spear is in its grip.

It’s almost as if this being is like…us.

Impossible.

Our kind died out ages ago. There is no one left. Especially no one that looks like…

Them.

There are more.

Several dart out of the dust plume, weapons drawn and ready for their hunt. With impressive speed and precision, they attack the pack of rabbawolves. Each being moves too quickly for me to identify their features or make sense of what I’m seeing. Both Julie and Zoe are shocked silent.

Easily, they overpower the rabbawolves. With powerful jabs, they stab at the beasts, killing them instantly. It’s when they’re dragging them away, I realize they only managed to get five of them. The sixth rabbawolf must have escaped.

“What the hell are those things?” Zoe asks, her voice raw with terror. “They’re like you, but…”

Bigger. Meaner. Uncivilized.

And untouched by The Rades.

How?

One of the things kneels in front of its kill. He acts as though he’s starved, unable to wait like the rest of them. His claws—like our kind—are more elongated and sharper. He tears through the belly of the rabbawolf, ripping off a hunk of meaty muscle. Without bothering to char the flesh, he shoves it into his mouth, devouring it as though he needs the meat to survive the next several moments.

Once he’s eaten a few bites, he turns his nog, tilting to the side as he stares straight at the camera. Thick, green blood runs down his chin. After a snarl, he heaves the dead beast over his shoulder and trots back to the fading plume of dust where several of the others of his kind wait. Together, they take off running, once again leaving dust in their wake.

Julie and Zoe both start chattering as they try to understand what they just saw, both of them thankful the beings left.

My mind is elsewhere.

The fog of my weakening body tries to hinder my thinking, but I’m too close to let that stop me.

Closing my eyes, I begin speaking out loud, needing to talk it out. “Those creatures. They’re built like us. Which means…it means perhaps we weren’t alone as we thought. But, unlike us, they seem to be surviving despite the risk of The Rades or radiation. This means something.”

I wobble on my feet, dizzy and faint feeling.

“Avrell, you need to lie down,” Zoe instructs, her voice brokering no room for argument. “Now.”

Her arm wraps around my waist as she guides me from the control room back toward the Medical Bay. She walks me to a clean, isolated bed and helps me lie down.

“You’re burning up,” she grumbles. “Stupid man. I’ll never forgive you for injecting yourself.”

I grab her cool hand, bringing it to my cheek. It feels good to have her touch on me. I expect her to pull away, but she caresses me instead. When I turn my nog and kiss her palm, she tugs free and scowls at me.

“The disease is making you mad. You’re not thinking clearly.”

“I like your touch and your scent and your voice,” I mumble. “I think it’s because you’re my mate.”

She laughs and the sound is sweet. “I’m not your mate, dummy. You’re hallucinating. Add that to your list.”

My sassy, beautiful female.

“I will,” I retort as my eyes close.

I’m not sure how much time passes, but when I wake, Zoe is watching me with a concerned expression. With a shaky hand, I reach up to touch her soft, silky hair.

“You need to eat something. You’ve been out for hours,” she whispers. “I thought you were gone for a moment.” Her eyes water. “You may be the most annoying man on the planet, but it doesn’t mean you get to die. You’re mine to argue with.”

You’re mine.

“You’re mine too,” I murmur, grinning at her.

“Of course that’s what you’d hear,” she grumbles, but a smile touches her pretty lips. “I think Hadrian left some charred monster steak somewhere. I’ll go round some up for you.”

Meat. Blood.

“Wait,” I bark out, the fog clearing for a moment inside my nog. “Just be quiet and hear me out before I lose this train of thought.”

For once, she doesn’t fight me. Her brows furrow and she nods, her hand gripping mine. “Tell me.”

“The creatures out there. The ones like us…” I try to remember what they look like, but it’s already faded. “They ate those beasts. Raw.”

“Sick fuckers,” she bites out. “I’m surprised they’re not riddled from diseases.” Her eyes open wide. “Wait. Why don’t they have this disease?”

My smart mate.

“The sabrevipes, big birds, armworms, rogcows, rabbawolves—”

“Rabid wolves,” she interrupts, her dark brow arched.

“That’s what I said,” I say back, fixated on her mouth. “They all live outside with no problems. Because of the radiation that’s in their bodies, we’ve always charred the meat in order to protect ourselves from it.”

“But,” Zoe says, her gray eyes lighting up like a magnastrike in a geostorm, “maybe by charring them, you eliminated the very antibodies you needed to protect against the disease.”

“Precisely, stormy one.” I smile up at her, lost in her beautiful features. “So lovely.”

She gently smacks my cheek. “Focus, Av. You’re glassy-eyed and losing clarity. We need to figure this out. Don’t quit on me now.”

I nuzzle her palm that’s now resting on my cheek. She doesn’t pull away. After a quick kiss to her wrist, I look up at her.

“I need you to do something, my brave mate.”

Rather than arguing that she’s mine, she winces. “I feel like I’m really going to hate the sound of it.”

“We can wait until Julie is rested,” I offer, though time is not on our side. “She’s skilled with a weapon and—”

“Don’t go all protective daddy on me now,” Zoe snaps. “Tell me what I have to do. What I have to do to save you.”

My eyes grow heavy and I close them. Just for a moment. I wake to fingers running through my hair and hot breath on my face.

“Wake up,” Zoe pleads, emotion in her voice. “Don’t fade out on me now. Please.”

I barely manage to get my eyes open. She’s so close, her gray eyes glassy with tears. Somehow, I find the strength to grip her delicate neck and draw her to my mouth. My lips press to hers. Her mouth parts and then she gives me the quickest, sweetest kiss. The taste of her tongue is a tease, but that’s all I get. Blood rushes to my cock, invigorating my entire body. It gives me a rush of energy, though I know it won’t last long.

“I need you to hunt a beast and bring its carcass to me.”

Her lips press into a firm line, her gray eyes flashing with unease.

“I’m going to eat the meat. Like they did.” I groan at the idea, but I have no other choice. “It’s the only chance we’ve got.”

She brushes her nose against mine in the most gentle, affectionate way I’ve ever known any being to give another before she pulls away. Determination glints in her gray eyes.

“This better work, Avrell.” She licks her plump lips. “It has to. I need you.”

“It will, my mate. It will.”

We both know I can’t be sure. It’s only a hypothesis. But we’re out of options. It isn’t until she leaves my side that I realize she didn’t argue my words.

Zoe, the mean, feisty, sassy female is mine.

My mate.

Happiness and family and love are within reach. I just need to live long enough to grasp onto it.

Don’t worry, stormy one, it’ll work and then you’ll be mine.

5

Zoe

Four Solars Until Kevins Arrive…

I don’t waste time while Julie rests and gathers her strength.

Every second counts.

Hadrian and Lyric instructed we be left with enough supplies to feed and defend ourselves. They spared as much as they could, which wasn’t really much at all, but it would have to do. If we don’t find a cure by the time the Kevins arrive, supplies won’t matter anyway. We’ll all be dead.

As Julie sleeps, I go over the supplies for a second time, pulling out all the weapons I think we may need to face the beasts. Even thinking about them makes me shiver. They reminded me of the wolves we’d brought with us to Earth II, the ones that had escaped and turned rabid, stalking the streets for new victims and clustering together in packs. Except these were five times as big.

Not to mention the new aliens we’d seen hunting them. The ones with golden skin and dark ink or scars, I couldn’t be sure from a distance. I’d seen something like them before, in depictions of early men from the original Earth, before it had been ruined by civilization. Barbarians, they were called. Cavemen. Did they live in the caves, I wonder? Is that how they stayed protected? I couldn’t be sure.

We had bigger problems to dwell on than these wild ones for now. They seemed aware of the prison, knew about the security cameras, and they’d kept their distance. They weren’t a threat.

For now.

I place two rucksacks from the store of supplies in front of me. I fill them with some rations of food, skeins of water, and zonnoblasters, one for Julie and one for me. There are two wicked sharp laser knives and I tuck one into each of our packs. I don’t relish the thought of tracking down the monsters, but I’ll do anything if it means keeping Avrell alive. Even if it means risking my own.

My chest grows tight and I have to pause for a moment in my work to rub at the space between my breasts that throbs with misery. He’s a jerk, sure, but I can’t stand to see him so weak and on the verge of death. Sometimes, when he looks at me, I can feel him saying goodbye and I want to scream and cry and rage.

The idiot.

Doesn’t he know I can’t do this without him?

Doesn’t he know the real reason why I was so upset at his appearance was because I was afraid?

Afraid of failure.

Afraid of death.

I’ve always been so afraid.

The only way to deal with it is to cover it up with healthy doses of rage. Rage is easy, but fear…fear is debilitating. It’d be all too easy to let fear consume me and drown me in its depths, but I can’t.

I have to fight.

I have to fight for Avrell.

“Let’s do this,” comes Julie’s voice from the doorway. I turn and match her tremulous smile. At least I’m not the only one who’s scared. It helps that I’m not alone. With these people, morts included, I’ll never have to be afraid and alone again.

“How are you feeling?” I ask as I get to my feet.

She bats my hands away when I attempt to lay one across her forehead to get a check on her temperature. “I’m fine. You’re as bad as Avrell. I feel much better after getting some sleep.”

“Are you sure? We can wait a few more hours if it would help. I don’t want you to push yourself too hard, too fast.”

Julie rolls her eyes. “I take it back. You’re worse than Avrell. Let’s go kill some monsters.”

I hold my tongue. She wouldn’t lie about her capabilities. Not when it could mean one of us could be hurt. We help each other into our zu-gear and shoulder our rucksacks.

“What’s the plan?” Julie asks.

“Avrell believes ingesting raw meat from one of those rabid wolves may be the cure he needs.”

“Ew,” she says, pulling a face. “Why in the hell would he want to do that?”

“Well, you saw those other…alien things. They ate the meat raw. They aren’t infected with The Rades. Avrell thinks there may be antibodies of some sort in the raw meat that will cure him and the others.”

Julie doesn’t look convinced. “He’s the genius, I guess. I’m just glad to be out of that room. Do you think we’ll be able to track one of those bastards down?”

We’ll have to. “We saw one of them run into the tunnels underneath the prison. We’ll start there and see if we can hunt it down. You’ve got a zonnoblaster, keep it with you. There’s also a knife in the front pocket of your rucksack.”

“Excellent,” she says, sounding almost enthused. I guess I would be too if I’d been stuck in bed for days on end.

I haven’t been down in the tunnels since the guard first escaped and kidnapped Willow. We’d come so close to losing her I’d vowed to never go down there again. The tunnels are dark and dank. A cold chill seeps through and coats my skin, despite my zu-gear. Every time we turn around a corner, I expect to come face-to-face with another one of those monsters.

Julie holds her zonnoblaster up in front of her like she’s a pro, efficiently scanning each tunnel with the flashlight we affixed to the top before signaling me to go forward. It’s like she has no fear.

“So, what’s your story?” she asks when we’ve cleared the last of the shorter tunnels and reach the long one that will bring us to the outdoor access.

I shrug. “No story, really. Same as everyone else, I guess.”

“C’mon. We may be eaten alive by alien monsters. The least you could do is give me the juice. I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.” She sends me a teasing look behind her mask.

I’ve never told anyone about the circumstances behind my sentencing to Exilium, never dared. I didn’t want them to think any less of me. We all had reasons for being sent to the prison and not all of them were good ones. Most of the women couldn’t help their circumstances, but I could. Maybe I’m a monster, too.

“Well, you know I was a nurse on Earth II?” I say as more of a question. At her nod, I continue. “I worked on the terminal illness ward. The place where they send everyone who isn’t important enough or wealthy enough to afford a cure for their illnesses.”

“I’ve heard of those,” Julie says. She’s not teasing anymore. Her voice is somber over the communicator in my ear.

“It’s part of why I volunteered to work with the infected here. It’s all I’ve been doing since I could work. No one else wanted the job and my parents needed the money.”

We pause at a sound coming from the shadows at the end of the tunnel. A moment stretches into eternity and when the only sound I hear is the heartbeat in my ears, Julie signals me forward.

“Anyway, I helped the doctors care for the patients. We didn’t have degrees or any other training than what we learned on the go—the hospital administration didn’t care about the patients in the terminal ward. They were dying anyway, so why waste the good nurses on them?”

“Assholes,” Julie mutters.

“I agree. These people were suffering. They were never given the proper care or even a basic level of pain management. Working there was some of the darkest days of my life. People young and old, men and women. They’d beg me to end their pain.” My voice falters and I swallow hard to regain control. “You see, the hospital received a grant from the government for the people on the terminal ward to help pay for their care. Except the money didn’t ever go to the patients.”

“Naturally,” Julie growls.

It’s an unfortunate truth that the wealthy are the only people who matter on Earth II, those who can afford to pay exorbitant prices for health care, amenities, and education. Everyone else merely serves to support their wealthy counterparts’ lifestyle. We’re a means to an end.

“So I would take care of these people who led the worst kind of existence. Eventually, my parents were killed, and I had nothing left to live for. I felt like the patients I was looking after…like I was on the long, slow march to death. But it was the children who had it worst of all. I couldn’t take watching them suffer.

“One day, I snuck to the pharmacy where they kept the narcotics. I managed to steal enough for every patient in the terminal ward.” My voice drones on, robotic. I tell the story as though I’m viewing it from someone else’s point of view. “I gave them all a fatal dose. There were about twenty patients total. I sat with them until they quickly died. Then, I turned myself in.”

Julie is quiet for a long time.

I don’t blame her.

I don’t think what I did was right. I killed twenty people. Men, women, and children. No one has the right to play God with anyone else’s life. But I have to believe that killing them was better than watching them suffer in pain for years in some cases while the hospital got rich off their misery.

“That’s some juice,” Julie says faintly.

“You asked for it. Now it’s your turn,” I add quickly, wanting to get the stain of the memory off my mind. “Why were you sent to Exilium?”

Before she can answer, a blood-curdling howl pierces the shadows around us. I fumble for my zonnoblaster and stick close behind Julie, already trembling at the thought of seeing one of those things again.

But I have to do it for Avrell. If he’s right, this cure could save us all.

Julie’s flashlight cuts through the darkness, but only barely. I twist this way and that, trying to see through the gloom to spot the monster before he finds us.

“Keep close to me. If you see it, shoot it. Don’t hesitate. If he charges, run like the motherfucking wind and don’t look back.”

“What about you?” I ask.

“I’m going to do the same, don’t you worry.” She pauses, holding up her free hand. “Did you hear that?” she asks.

I tilt my head and listen closely. The amplified sound of snorting and claws pawing at the ground filters through my suit’s headphones. The beast is near.

Julie mimes for me to be quiet as we inch closer to the hatch that leads to the outdoors. Her light flashes over the ground and I stop her with a hand on her arm. There are tracks the size of lions leading from the hatch into the shadows.

My palms begin to sweat inside my minnasuit. We alter our path to follow the tracks. Every sliver of darkness feels like it’s the monster about to leap out and attack, every sound rattles me to the bone. Julie stalks forward like a marauder, however, and I cling close to her side so as not to get left behind. Being lost in these pitch-black tunnels with a monster on my tail isn’t a scenario I’d like to spend much time thinking about.

The howl comes again, this time closer. The sound licks down the length of my spine and curdles in the pit of my stomach. There are side rooms off this tunnel. It must be in one of them, watching, waiting. Looking for something to eat, somewhere to hide away from the aliens that had been chasing it.

It could have come into the prison like the first one had. Come in and eaten any one of us if it caught us unawares.

We can’t let that happen.

I won’t let it happen.

I tap Julie on the shoulder and motion that we should split up and search the side rooms. Being the badass that she is, she doesn’t question me and nods, taking the rooms on the left side. I take a deep, steadying breath, but it doesn’t soothe my nerves.

The first room holds equipment of some sort and is small enough for me to flash my light over its contents and move on to the next. This one is bigger, requiring that I go inside and peer around giant stacks of boxes to make sure it isn’t hiding behind one of them. I’ve cleared half the room when I hear it.

The snuffling, grunting sound.

The beast.

It’s in the room with me.

My heart drops to my feet and I consider running. Running and running until my legs give out from exhaustion, but I hold firm. This is for Avrell and the others. They deserve to live. I have to do this for them.

I thought he was silly calling me his mate. He barely knows me and when he was healthy, he could hardly stand to be in the same room with me and vice versa. But maybe he wasn’t.

Maybe, he was meant for me.

And I for him.

I only want the chance to find out.

Gritting my teeth, I continue my survey of the room, going from stack to stack, my heart tripping each time. Then, there’s a howl. One that is so close, I can smell its fetid scent through my suit. Sweat and rotting meat.

It’s on the other side of the stack. I can hear it grunting and clawing at the ground again. I’ll only have one chance to make a shot and I can’t miss.

I have to do this.

For Avrell.

6

Avrell

Three Solars Until Kevins Arrive…

They’ve been gone a long time. So long it makes me wonder if they’ll even return. Did they perish? Did the creatures kill them? Pain lances through me at that thought. Losing Zoe would mean the end for me. If I can’t have her, what’s the point of living?

I try to move from the bed, but I’m too weak. It’s imperative that I make it to the control room to view the cameras. But I don’t know that I could bear seeing her unmoving form on the screen. If I saw a beast feeding on her, I’d take a blade to my throat because it would be my fault.

I sent her away.

I did this.

My body aches, but I don’t think it’s from The Rades. It’s from the prospect of losing my mate. I’m absolutely certain she’s mine. There’s no way she can’t be. I feel it in my bones. The way it pulses through my heart. How it rattles inside my nog.

Mine.

And my mate isn’t a precious thing.

She’s fiery and volatile and tougher than zutametal.

Zoe isn’t the type to let herself get killed easily. She’ll come back to me. Her mission will be a success. I absolutely know this.

Still, as time passes, I begin to worry. I grow weaker and weaker, each moment less lucid than the last. My strength bleeds from me, soaking the bed below me in perspiration.

Come back to me, stormy one. Be my mate. Let me love you. I want to father your young. We can be happy.

Tears of loss leak from my eyes. Time passes too quickly and too quietly. I’m going to die without her. I’ll enter The Eternals alone, forced to spend eternity with a gaping hole of loneliness inside me.

Black eats away at my vision, drawing me deep into unconsciousness. At least there, she’s alive and well. I happily chase her into the dark.

* * *

“Don’t let it get in!”

I kiss her plump lips, eagerly shredding her minnasuit from her body, my cock hard and aching.

“Hurry, block that door!”

Her blunt nails dig into my bare shoulders, scraping me as she draws me nearer.

“He went that way. Run!”

My mate with her stormy eyes and ornery smirk tugs at my hair and moans my name. Avrell. Avrell. Mine.

“Shit! Watch out!”

I touch her full breast, eager to watch it grow as her stomach swells with my child.

“Be careful, Zoe.”

She cries out when I pinch her nipple and bite at her lip.

“Behind you!”

Zoe pleads for me to push my cock inside her tight, waiting body. Begs. Practically cries for it.

“Blast him!”

I tease her slick cunt with the crown of my cock. Slowly, I enter her hot depths, shuddering with pleasure.

“Yes!”

She whimpers and touches her clit, but I grab her wrist, pinning her to the bed. Her face twists into a furious scowl. I laugh because she’s adorable when she’s angry. Always has been.

“Cut him open.”

I rock my hips at a slow pace to tease her. It works her up into a frenzy. Eventually, I put her out of her misery, reaching down to toy with her clit.

“Yes, I need more of that. A bloody piece.”

She cries out when her pleasure overtakes her, clenching around my cock.

“I’m going to check on him. You deal with…that.”

I’m unable to hold back any longer, filling her with my potent seed. I just know I’ve made her pregnant. I just know it.

“Seriously? I’ve been out there for damn near twenty-four hours chasing a goddamn wolf for your ass—one that managed to slip inside the prison and wreak havoc—and you’re in here rubbing one out?”

A hand smacks at mine, forcing me to blink my eyes open, chasing away my vivid dreams. The reality of seeing Zoe in the flesh, though, makes it all worth it. Her dark hair is messy and wild, but hope and triumph gleam in her eyes.

“I was at the good part,” I grumble. “I was about to immobilize you with my toxica. No talking or moving while I kiss you all over.”

Zoe rolls her eyes. “Sounds horrifying if we’re being honest.”

“You sure didn’t complain when you came hard around my big cock.”

“Avrell,” she hisses, her cheeks turning a pretty pink. “That was a sex dream. It’s not happening.”

I reach a shaky hand to touch her face. “Oh, but it will, mate. As soon as I’m well enough, I’ll take good care of you.”

“You’re burning up hot,” she groans. “At this rate, you’ll never get the chance. Here.” She holds up a dripping green hunk of raw meat. “Eat this and then maybe you’ll get your shot to do something with that thing.”

The thing in question is my cock that’s tenting the sheets. At some point during my feverish dreams, I stripped out of my clothes. It makes me wonder if Zoe covered me. Did she see my cock? Did she like it?

I open my mouth to ask her those questions, but the woman shoves a rancid piece of meat into it. A hiss escapes me, disgusted over the pungent flavor. My cruel mate covers my lips with her palm.

“Chew it up, Doc, or I’ll be forced to hold your nose and make you swallow it whole.” Her gray eyes flash brilliantly. “I know I didn’t just stalk that thing all over this damn prison to have my efforts wasted by your picky taste buds.”

I snarl at her but begrudgingly chew on the meat. Once I swallow it down, she shoves another piece into my mouth. She manages to get a few more pieces into me before my stomach begins to roil violently. A howl of pain sears through me and I clutch my stomach.

All I see are her terrified eyes before I snap mine closed, blacking out from the pain.

* * *

“…and I sat on the roof, staring up at the stars wondering if there was anything out there waiting for me.”

I inhale her sweet scent even though I can’t open my eyes.

“Had I known it was you, I would’ve flipped the sky off right then,” she teases, her voice a little teary. “But I suppose I do like the banter between us. Keeps it interesting.”

Fingers stroke through my hair, caressing my scalp. A rumble escapes me as I bask in the lovely sensation.

“Wake up for me, Av,” Zoe pleads. “You need to eat more meat before it goes bad. You’ve been out for hours.”

I don’t want to eat any more of that meat. My stomach clenches at the reminder.

“I just want to eat my mate,” I murmur. “Mmm.”

“Typical male,” she grumbles, but I hear the relief in her voice. “You’re going to eat more meat and then we’ll negotiate the rest.”

Her finger begins drawing shapes over my bare chest. My cock awakens, eager for my mate’s touch. A small laugh escapes her. I realize she’s climbed into the bed with me, her body curled around my own. If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake from it. Her finger trails lower and lower, teasing me.

“Climb on, mate,” I murmur.

“No, crazy ass. You’ll die.”

“Happily.” I smile, wishing I could open my eyes. “Maybe even impregnate you on my way to The Eternals. Take good care of our son.”

She smacks me on the chest. “No, you idiot. You’re going to live. I’m not taking care of our kid all by myself.”

“So you admit you’re my mate.” My dick twitches. “Mine, stormy one.”

“I admit nothing,” she sasses. “All I know is I’m not doing the single mom gig for our hypothetical child. You’re going to stay alive and annoy me until the end of time. That’s the deal. I won’t negotiate.”

“When I’m well, I’m going to pin you down and lick you until you go mad with pleasure.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Indeed.”

“Arrogant ass.”

“Beautiful, mean mate.”

Warm lips brush against mine. I open my mouth, greedy for more. She surprises me by kissing me with her sweet tongue. A groan of need rumbles from my chest. It’s difficult, but I manage to pry my eyes open to look at her. Her dark hair curtains around us and her eyes are closed as she kisses me sweetly.

“I don’t want to die without knowing your touch,” I murmur.

She pulls back, frowning at me. I expect her to argue like usual, but instead, she nods. Her lips fuse against mine once more as her hand slides down my torso. I stop breathing when her small hand wraps around my cock.

“Like this?” she whispers, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“Mmm,” I rumble. “Just like that.”

My breathing grows ragged as she strokes me up and down. It feels far better than any time I’ve done it myself. I’m once again enamored by my mate, growing more addicted to her with each passing moment.

“Are you going to eat more raw meat after this?” she purrs.

“Anything you want, mate.”

“You have to call me the head doctor.” She laughs against my lips. “From now on, you’ll refer to me as the queen, too.”

“I’ll call you whatever the rekk you want, love, as long as you don’t stop.”

Her tongue lashes against mine, doing most of the work. I’m too weak to do anything but accept the pleasure of my mate. I could definitely die happily this way.

“You have to come back from this,” she says, her voice soft and vulnerable unlike anything I’ve ever heard leave her lips. “For me.”

“I will,” I vow and mean it with every still-flickering fiber of my being.

“Our future son needs you. I need you.”

Her words are powerful and erotic and I crave more of them—more of her. A growl rattles out of me as my sac tightens.

“Mate,” I choke out, releasing my seed in a hot stream all over her hand and my stomach.

I must fall asleep because at some point, she smacks me on the cheek, jerking me awake.

“Don’t die on me now, motherfucker,” she snaps, fire in her words. “I give you a hand job and you pass out on me for hours? Never again. Eat this damn meat before I shove it down your stupid throat.”

My eyes open and everything spins. Despite her fury-filled words, she’s gentle as she feeds me. Her fingers stroke through my hair. Something splashes my cheek and I realize my sweet mate silently cries for me.

“What will we name him?” I ask after I swallow down the repugnant morsel.

She rolls her eyes, but her mouth twitches with a smile. “How about Asshole Junior? AJ for short.”

“Avrell Junior does have a ring to it.”

“Asshole, not Avrell.”

“Close enough.”

“You’re telling me,” she grumbles.

I imagine what a mortling would look like sitting on her hip. Probably dark hair and stormy gray eyes. Maybe fangs and pale skin. Most definitely, it would be the smartest little one ever to be born.

“I need my tablet,” I murmur.

She laughs, tears once again forming. “Really?”

“I want to make a list of all the ways our mortling will be the best. Perhaps he’ll become the next doctor. Do you think, mate, that he would want to be like his mother and father, healing those around him?”

“You’re getting better. I can tell,” she says, ignoring my questions. “The arrogant genius is ready to make a list of all the reasons why he’s the best mort to ever live. That’s the old Av I know and love.”

It isn’t until she utters the last part that her amusement fades.

She can’t take it back now.

It’s been said. I heard it. I feel it in my heart.

“Of course I’ll get better. The head doctor—the queen—healed me,” I tease. “She’s pretty mean and stubborn, which means she always gets her way.”

A sob escapes her as she presses her lips to mine and then she laughs through her tears. “I fucking hate you.”

I smile because her lies are filled with love.

She’s my mate and she can’t undo it now.

Determination trickles through me, chasing away the weakness. Clarity begins to wade through my murky mind. The cogs inside me turn as I consider possible immunization methods for aliens, morts, and our darling hybrid mortlings.

Because, with each passing moment, I realize this is going to work.

We’ve found a cure.

7

Zoe

Two Solars Until Kevins Arrive…

“One more,” Avrell coaxes. “Please?”

He gazes up at me with fathomless eyes and I melt a little. But just a little.

I take a step away before he can snag a claw in my suit. There’s no way I’m letting him charm me into forgetting my agenda…again. “Uh-uh, I don’t think so. You’ve already had more than I said. Besides, if we keep this up, we’ll never get anything done.”

Avrell throws himself back against his pillows. “Get what done? I can’t do anything. I’m stuck here in this rekking bed for solars on end. If the Rades hasn’t kill me yet, boredom certainly will.”

“So I make you bored now?” I tease. The insufferable brute. Before he got sick, teasing Avrell never would have crossed my mind, but it comes natural now. As naturally as breathing.

He reaches out a claw again, but I evade him and he scowls deeply. “You could never make me bored, my stormy mate. You’re too rekking contrary.”

“I’m too contrary?”

“If you’re not, then you’ll give me another kiss before you go.”

I’d let him talk me into trading kisses for bites of meat and sips of water throughout the morning. If I’m being honest, it didn’t take much convincing. All I can think about in between bouts of fear for his well-being is how I’ll pay him back once he’s better. The sexual torture I’m imagining putting him through will be nothing compared to the sexy as hell hand job.

I feel no sympathy. He deserves every beleaguered orgasm I’ll wring from him until I feel he’s paid enough for putting us both through the agony of worry we’ve suffered the past few days.

“No more kisses for you. You’ve had enough.” I lean closer to hand him a final bite of meat—Julie and I hacked through the rest of the carcass to freeze what we could. It made a bitch of a mess and I’d gotten little to no sleep as the butchering and subsequent cleanup took most of the night.

His arm whips out faster than I calculated, and he wraps a hand around my wrist, a shockingly strong hand. A strangled sound of surprise bubbles up in my throat as he tugs against my resistance, pulling me atop him in his cot. He’s warm to the touch, but only just. It’s enough that I feel him all the way through my suit, but not as hot as he’d been the day before.

I try to focus on his symptoms—clearing eyes, steady pulse—but a firm hand passing over my back and ass distracts me. “There will never be enough kisses from you, sweet mate. Give me another taste of your mouth.” It’s not a request.

“You promised you’d get some rest,” I evade. I know if I let him kiss me again, I won’t want to stop and we both have things we need to do. Julie and I are supposed to administer meat rations to the rest of the patients and Avrell—much as he protests—needs his rest.

“And I will. But I need my medicine first.”

His claws move to the back of my head and I offer no more resistance as he urges me forward. I’m all bark and no bite at this point. Our lips meet and he sighs against my mouth as though tasting me brings him immeasurable pleasure. And maybe it does. He says it does, but a part of me, the part who has been alone for so long, has trouble believing in the certainty of forevers.

I’ll take right now with him, though. I’ll take it for as long as it lasts.

“Ahem.”

Avrell and I break apart to find Julie standing at the elevator door. She has a gigantic container of slimy green meat in her hands and a mischievous grin painted on her face. “Sorry to interrupt,” she says.

As Avrell’s grip slackens, I slide off his lap to my feet. “That’s okay. He needs to rest anyway.”

At this he scowls. “All I’ve rekking done since I got here is rest and choke down rabbawolf meat. I’d be of more use synthesizing the proteins to concoct an immunization.”

“Is that what you were doing?” Julie teases. “Synthesizing proteins?”

I glare at her. “Shut up.” Pointing to Avrell, I say, “You rest. I mean it. If I come back here and you’re working I’m going to lock you up in one of the padded cells until you’re completely healed.”

I don’t voice my fears aloud.

That he may not be healed.

That The Rades may take him from me.

That I’ll be all alone again.

Instead, I lean down to give him one more kiss. Just one, and take his tablet to my own desk, clear across the room. Naturally, he scowls at the end of all the kissing and the lack of his tablet.

“Sleep,” I order, before Julie and I step into the isolation pods.

My last view of Avrell before the doors shut in front of us is of him, propped up on one arm, his dark eyes on me.

* * *

“What’s it like to kiss an alien?” Julie asks as we divvy up the meat to serve to the rest of the patients. I say serve, but most are unconscious or out of their minds with fever, so we’re going to do our best, but I don’t have my hopes up.

What we really need is a vaccine, but Avrell has to rest before he dives into creating one. I know he’ll throw himself into his work as soon as I let him get out of bed. Which will mean no sleep, barely eating, and working until he essentially passes out. None of which is conducive to getting better. If the antibodies in the monster meat do their job.

I pause in cutting up my portion of meat. Tilting my head, I say, “Why? Do you want to kiss one?”

Julie makes a face. “No, ugh. That’s why I’m asking. It doesn’t weird you out that he has claws and fangs and pointy ears?”

Though not like Theron’s or Hadrian’s, his claws have begun to grow into sharp points and his fangs have become prominent the past few days.

“I don’t really notice those things when I’m kissing him, Julie.” Then I laugh at her expression. “I’m serious! Yeah, at first when they came here, I thought they were a bunch of freaky looking monsters, but don’t you feel like you know them now?”

She lifts a shoulder as she places a container of meat on a tray with several others. “I don’t know. I was just curious. I don’t have an alien of my own, you know.”

I tilt my head as I study her. “Well, you know there’s one last mort left. Galen. He studies plants, I think.”

“Are you trying to hook me up with an alien?” she says with a giggle.

“Why not? Everyone else is doing it.”

“I don’t know. I’m not really sure I even want to go to the Facility if we’re being honest.”

My hands still on the bowl of slimy green meat. “What? What are you talking about? You want to stay here? What about Earth II and all the Kevins?”

“You guys don’t need me. With Oz’s weapon, you’ll be able to wipe them out no problem. What I’m really interested in are those aliens who were chasing the wolves.”

I shiver, remembering them. They looked even more otherworldly than the morts. I’d only seen them from a distance, but I remember their scars and tattoos vividly. “Why? They looked like they’d skin you alive and pick the meat off your bones.”

“Well, it’s not so much them in particular, but this world in general. There’s so much to explore now that we know it can be safely inhabited. Who knows what else is out there?”

“That’s the point. We know most of the animals that live out there can eat you alive in one gulp. You seriously want to traipse through what is essentially a wasteland looking for more monsters? The Facility would be safe. They have gardens and pastures for those rogcow things. There are other people there. I mean, we’re basically family now.”

“Of course we are. But I’ve been caged up for what feels like forever now. If we’re truly going to live here, I want to be free to make my own choices, no matter the risk.” She grins. “Besides, how cool would it be to discover another race of aliens?”

“So that’s why you’re interested. Did you see one you liked?”

Our teasing continues while we finish chopping the meat into small pieces and then shredding it into a fairly unappetizing mash. How Avrell kept down the huge chucks we’d fed him, I’ll never know. Even the charred hunks he used to eat look more palatable than this mess. I’ll worry about Julie’s crusade once we have everyone cured. Maybe I can convince Avrell to lock her in a padded room instead.

Discover another alien race my ass.

We spend the next few hours feeding those who we’re able to rouse into consciousness. Many of them can barely stomach the meat, but Avrell thought it would be best to get whatever immunity we could coerce into them. Those who are left with us are the worst off and need whatever immune-boosting properties they can get.

It’s not a pleasant process. The meat is foul-smelling and probably tastes worse. Some vomit up their bites as soon as they swallow and let me tell you, it smells about as good as it sounds.

But it feels good to have a direction now. It feels good knowing there may be hope on the horizon. I cling to it, knowing it’s all we have until Avrell gets better and he will get better.

As Julie and I go from patient to patient, it’s hard not to be reminded of those I killed in the terminal ward. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. I took their lives. They were mercy killings, but that doesn’t mean I had the right to play God. I’ve come to accept it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not hard to stare into the faces of these patients with it on my conscience.

I have to tell Avrell at some point. He believes in healing…then again, he did try to impregnate someone without their consent, so maybe he’d understand. Maybe we’re two fucked-up peas in the same pod. We both believe we know what’s best.

I throw myself into the task at hand so I don’t have to think about the future—it’s easier this way. I don’t have to think about Avrell finding the cure, the Kevins coming to annihilate the morts, or what’ll happen afterward.

Avrell seems to think I’m his mate, but is it only because we’ve been thrust together by circumstance? What will happen to us after the Kevins arrive? After we cure all the other humans? He’ll have his pick of any of the human prisoners.

Will he still pick me when he knows the truth?

Will he still call me his sweet mate, his stormy one when he knows I’ve taken lives?

When we’re done, Julie and I haul ourselves back to Avrell’s makeshift bed where we find him sleeping.

“I’m going to go pass out now,” she says, and I realize she has dark circles underneath her eyes. She seems so indestructible sometimes, it’s always a shock when the vulnerabilities shine through. “But first I’m going to find a shower.”

“I’m not far behind you. Thank you. For everything. Even if I think you’re crazy.”

Julie pulls me into a one-armed hug. “It’s okay. I think you’re kinda crazy, too.”

After she leaves, I take a shower in the decontamination closet and drag on a new sleeping suit. I pull a cot next to Avrell, and after checking his pulse and breathing, fall into a deep, dreamless sleep holding his hand.

8

Avrell

One Solar Until Kevins Arrive…

I tap away at my tablet, making a list of all my improvements. And there are plenty. Enough so that I wobbled around in the wee hours of this solar, taking note of everyone’s progress.

There is progress.

The ones whose charts notated they were beyond help have regained consciousness. It seems the raw rabbawolf meat Julie and Zoe fed them has helped. Only time will give us real answers, but hope fuels me now. Once I figure out how to isolate the mutated proteins in the beast blood, I can work with Calix to figure out a way to create an immunity. While eating raw meat is a quick fix, I want something in a manageable form we can give to each mortling after birth and all of our people.

Soon.

We’re too weak to travel as a group and we don’t have a ship. That means we’ll have to rely on Theron to return to fetch us. With the Kevins’ anticipated arrival tomorrow, we can’t afford for them to come back. Plus, I want to be absolutely certain this works and that we won’t infect the well ones or mortlings at the Facility.

“You act like we didn’t just get our asses chewed out by that guy,” Zoe says, entering my workspace.

When she woke to find me working, she tried to bite my rekking nog off, but I wasn’t having it. I’m feeling better, so I will work. End of story. I told her as much. Earned me a smack to the arm, a middle finger, and then a colorful insult all the female aliens enjoy using. Fuck you.

“Breccan is just being Breccan,” I mumble, focused on my tablet.

Sure, he was infuriated when he realized we stayed back and that I’d injected myself with tainted blood, but there was nothing he could do. We are out of time and it would have been foolish to bring the sick there to infect everyone. In time, he’ll calm down.

“He’s terrifying.” She shudders, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “Don’t want to meet that guy alone in a dark hallway.”

My sub-bones pop violently at the image of my rekking mate trembling in fear as Breccan towers over here.

“He won’t touch what’s mine,” I snarl, tracking the way her pulse throbs in her throat with my intense stare, my ears pinning to my head.

She arches up her brow in that sassy way of hers that makes my cock hard. “Are you going to protect me?” She smirks. “Should I remind you I’m the one who’s been protecting you the past few days?”

I set my tablet down to grip her wrist and pull her to me. “Don’t you have work to do, female?”

“It’s called a break. Besides, I was listening in on Julie’s meeting with Sayer to see if there’s any new information. Oz sent her the weapon specifics for us to build, but we don’t have the right tools like he has. Luckily, Sayer said that the test blast Oz did seemed to refocus the Kevins’ efforts and there’s chatter he’s picking up that they’re heading toward the blast site rather than the prison. Least for now.”

When one of the Kevins kidnapped Willow, he managed to send out a distress signal back to Earth II, hence the army of Kevins headed our way. It’s beneficial that Oz can draw them closer to the Facility since he has the weapon and we’re virtually defenseless. I hope he can destroy them with his weapon so we can continue to keep our focus on curing The Rades.

“And the patients?” I ask. “Who’s caring for them?”

“Everyone is resting. Eleanor is well enough that she said she’d watch over everyone while I take a breather.”

As I study her, I run my forked tongue over my fangs. Normally, I have to file them each solar to keep them from growing. Same with my claws. Since I’ve been out with The Rades, they’ve grown in. But, since I feel a little more feral than usual now that I have a mate to claim and protect, I don’t necessarily have the urge to file them back down.

“What will you do on your break?” I rumble, running my claw over her bottom lip. “Rest your eyes, stormy one?”

“I thought about it,” she says. “With you. But if you’re too busy…”

Her words hang in the air, tugging me in two different directions with indecision. This cure and inoculation are of utmost importance, but I know it’s imperative I also rest.

“If we rest,” I say, enunciating the word, “then I don’t want to do it in the Medical Bay. I’d like to rest with you in my quarters.”

She chews on her bottom lip, a flash of nervousness in her gray eyes. “I really, really want to rest, but I’m nervous. I’ve never rested with an alien before.”

“You’re the alien, remember?”

She rolls her eyes. “Says the dude suddenly growing sharp claws and teeth.”

“I never liked having them,” I reveal as I take her hand in mine. “It made me feel uncivilized. Like I belonged roaming with the beasts.” I lead us out of the Medical Bay. “I always felt my mind was the sharp one. The part of me that mattered. The claws and fangs felt unnecessary. Until now. Now, I feel like I could use them to protect you.”

“I sure could have used claws and fangs of my own a few times in my life,” Zoe grumbles. “There’d be a lot of guards with their throats torn out.”

We all know what these female prisoners endured while under the reign of the Kevins. Knowing they forced themselves on my rekking mate has my sub-bones popping again.

“Maybe AJ will have claws and fangs,” Zoe says absently, making my heart warm that she still talks about our hypothetical son as though he exists. “With my smarts and your alien freakshow-ness, he’s bound to be fucking scary.”

“If not,” I say as we walk down a long hallway toward the sleeping quarters, “we’ll teach him to fight like Draven, fly a ship like Theron, effortlessly take down a wild beast like Hadrian, and wield a zonnoblaster like Jareth. No one will mess with our mortling.”

She smiles, clearly pleased with our talks of a future. We make it to my quarters. I push open the door and tug her inside. Once it’s closed behind us, I slide my fingers into her hair, tightening, and tilt her nog back so I can study her pretty face.

“Beautiful,” I rumble. “Mine.”

Her lips part and she murmurs, “I want you…but…”

“But?” A growl rumbles through me. “But nothing.”

“Yes, but something, Avrell.” She scowls. “You want me because death almost stole you and I’m available, but you don’t know me.”

“I know plenty,” I argue, irritated at her words. “I know you put on a brave face even when you’re terrified. That your smile is soft when you’re taking care of the sick and wicked when you’re taking care of me. I know you whimper in your sleep, eat like a mortling, and have the most expressive eyes I’ve ever glimpsed into. You’re brilliant and feisty and beautiful.” Bending down, I capture her lips with mine for a chaste kiss. “I know you’re mine.”

She pushes at my chest, forcing me to release her. Her gray eyes pool with unshed tears and her brows furl. “Sure. Now. But what about before? I went to prison for a reason, Avrell.”

“You all did. You’re all redeemable, stormy one.”

“Not me,” she bites out, her tone bitter. “I wasn’t a victim like the other girls.” Her head bows. “I was a terrible criminal.”

“Was.”

She jerks her head up, a tear streaking down her cheek. “It’s awful. So awful you’ll shove me outside your door and never want to speak to me again.”

“Impossible.”

“Possible,” she argues. “Probable. Av, you’ll hate me.”

“No,” I growl, pouncing on her again, pulling her into my arms. “Enough of this nonsense, female.”

“God,” she groans, chuckling through her tears. “You’re such a man sometimes. It’s infuriating.”

“We all have our faults, see?” I stroke my fingers through her dark hair. “Everyone has them. Even me, though I’m sure you’re surprised.”

She snorts. “Arrogant asshole.”

“Just proving my point.”

Her cheek rests on my chest and she sighs heavily, clinging to me. I kiss her nog and hold her, waiting for her to realize I’m not going anywhere.

“Avrell,” she murmurs. “You’re a healer. This is going to be hard for you to hear. But, if we have any chance, I can’t keep this secret from you. I accept it might be the very thing that’ll push you away. I can accept that—”

“I can’t,” I growl, “and neither should you. On our planet, when you have a mate, you stay by their side until the end. Through The Rades and geostorms and ravenous beasts. Through changing moods and hurt feelings and annoying behavior. No matter what terrible thing you’re faced with, you do it together. That’s the way of our people here. You and the other females are our people now.”

She pulls away to stare up at me, determination glinting in her eyes. “Earth II isn’t that way. It’s a cruel, hateful place where the weak are a liability, there is no compassion, females are considered a bargaining tool, and the rich prevail over everyone.”

“I would rescue all the female aliens if I could,” I say to her, stroking her cheeks with my thumbs.

“And that’s what makes you a good man.” Her nostrils flare as she breaks her stare from mine. “Those bastards kept the terminally ill in a ward, keeping them barely breathing with their machines, but never offering them medication or treatments to take away the pain.” She swallows hard. “Some nights, the wails of despair were too much to bear. It would haunt me and terrorize me.” A sob chokes her.

“My sweet mate, don’t cry.”

“I’m not sweet, though,” she argues. “I couldn’t help them. The officials who ran the ward wouldn’t allow us to. I was helpless and frustrated. The pain was so thick in the air you could almost taste it. I’d begged my superiors for pain blocking medication. Something to help them endure, but I was always denied. When someone was going to die anyway, they refused to use resources to help them.”

“Rekking Kevins,” I growl.

“One night, I’d had enough. Avrell, I…”

She can’t say the words. Her tears are falling too freely as despair overcomes her. I pull her to my chest and nuzzle her nog with my nose.

“Know what I would have done if I were you, stormy one?”

She shakes her nog, clinging to me.

“I would’ve found a way to help them to The Eternals. I would’ve shown them mercy. It was the only compassionate thing to do.”

Her body relaxes in my arms. “You would have?”

“So would Breccan or Hadrian or Theron. Lyric and Willow and Julie. It’s the right thing to do.” I cradle her nog and tilt it up so I can see her pretty eyes. “When we were at our lowest and thought all hope was lost, Breccan was prepared to show the ten of us mercy.”

She gapes at me. “He would have killed you all?”

“If it meant we wouldn’t have to suffer, he absolutely would have. It’s a sign of strength and bravery and love, Zoe. It may be a crime where you come from, but here, we call those people heroes.”

I capture her lips with mine, this time kissing her deeply so she knows she doesn’t have to endure this mental torture alone. She has me. Her mate. We get through the sad times together. Everything is easier to face when you have a good partner at your side. I’ve seen it with each mort with their mates. Alone, they were strong, but with the right partner, they became a formidable force.

Zoe and I are a formidable force.

A geostorm.

We’ve barely begun to brew and I can feel the strength of it crackling between us like a million magnastrikes.

“I’m taking you to bed now, brave mate. I’m going to make you mine.”

She nods. “Thank you.”

Seeing Zoe so vulnerable and soft fills me with pride. It’s a side of her no one else will see. She’s tough like zutametal. Unbreakable. The fact I see this tender side of her moves me. I want to nurture and protect it. Protect her.

I hook my recently grown-in claw into the front of her minnasuit and tear through the material from her throat all the way to her pelvis. She gasps in shock at my beastly behavior. I flash her my fangs before peeling the material off her shoulders and down her arms. Her breasts bounce and my tongue waters to taste her dark, hardened buds on each one.

This first time I can tell will be rough and fast. I’m low on energy and still feeling feverish, so it’ll need to be quick. Later, when I have the time and am well—and I rekking will get well—to savor her, I’ll lick every part of her until she begs for release. For now, I rip at her clothes, eager to see all of her flesh.

“On the bed, female,” I growl as I start shredding my own suit.

Her eyes are wide and hungry as she takes in my bare chest. I shed the rest of my suit, my stare snared on her as she walks over to the bed. Her round rump that jiggles makes my cock twitch as she bends to climb onto the bed.

I pounce, unable to wait another moment to be with my mate. She lets out a giggle when I tackle her to the covers, nipping at her shoulder. I’d read in the book the other morts wrote in about how the females like to be taken—face-to-face—but I don’t want her that way.

“On your hands and knees,” I command, squeezing her pale rump. “This isn’t going to be gentle or sweet, stormy one.” I don’t tell her my energy is waning, my body already spent from the disease that still plagues me.

My often mean mate obeys like a sweet little thing, pushing her rump at me, her scent of arousal thick in the air. I run my fingers between her legs, reveling in how slick her cunt is for me. I seek out the nub that was written in the book and she moans the moment I touch it.

“Scream all you want, stormy one. No one’s coming to save you.”

She groans at my words, fisting the sheets. “Your filthy words shouldn’t turn me on this much.”

I smack her rump as I pinch her nub. “Quiet, woman, so you can hear each command I give you.”

“Fucking bastard,” she complains, but her body quivers with pleasure. “I hate you.”

“Your mouth lies,” I rumble. “Your cunt is filled with truth.”

She cries out when I push a finger into her soaked body. My darling mate meets the thrust of my finger with hungry need.

“Touch your nub,” I order.

“Clit.”

“Touch it and make yourself scream. Do it, female. Now.”

“You’re so fucking bossy.” She moans. “You drive me crazy.”

I massage her insides, exploring and wondering how it’ll feel with my cock inside her. I’m rather large and her body is small. It’ll be a wonder if I even fit.

“My cock is too big,” I warn. “It’s going to hurt you.”

“Spoken like a true man.”

“Perhaps I should clip you here,” I taunt, teasing at the tender flesh near her other hole with the claw of my thumb, careful not to break the skin. “Then I’d fit.”

“You sick, sadistic freak,” she breathes. “You’ll fit. A woman was created to push a baby out. Your dick’s not that big, douchebag.”

“Hmmm.”

“Don’t grumble at me—oh my God!”

There’s a rough nub within her that I’ve discovered and it appears to be the secret button to her pleasure. She screams and whimpers and writhes, her pleasure exploding through her. Once she stops trembling so bad, I pull my finger out of her, marveling at the way arousal pours from her body. So thick and plentiful. Bending down, I run my forked tongue along her cunt. The taste is sweet and unlike anything I’ve ever consumed. I want her. All of her. I force my tongue into her body, desperate for all of it. She shrieks when my tongue rubs against her inner button again. Gripping both her bottom cheeks, I spread her so I can go deeper, rubbing my nose against her other hole, inhaling the musky scent there.

“Avrell!” she bellows, another burst of pleasure obliterating her.

My cock weeps at the sound of my name on her lips. I withdraw from her body, swiping at the wetness on my face with the back of my hand. She moans when I push my cock against her eager, drenched cunt.

“Mine,” I growl. “All mine.”

Another scream belts out of her when I thrust hard. Just like she promised, her body takes every long inch of my imposing cock. Her body stretches, just barely, to accommodate me. We’re a perfect fit. The way her body clenches around me is unlike any feeling I’ve ever experienced. It maddens me and brings me joy all at once. I can’t control the feral need to claim my mate. Thrust after thrust, I slam into her perfect body, eager to fill her with my seed.

“Zoe,” I rumble. “You’re mine.”

“Yessss.”

Her agreement sends me over the edge. I spill into her with warm, thick spurts. My cock is still throbbing with my release when the toxica rushes through her system. I wrap an arm around her middle as she weakens, guiding her down onto the bed without pulling out of her.

“I’ve got you, stormy one,” I croon, nuzzling her hair and kissing her cheek. “Feel me deep inside you?”

I know she can’t speak, so I do it for her.

“You can. It feels good to be filled by your mate. I’m keeping my big cock buried in you because we have a future to fulfil. I don’t think I can wait for our hypothetical son. He has to grow up to be the most incredible mort on this planet to make his mother and father proud.”

She sighs and it sounds happy.

“Relax, mate. Rest now. Let me hold you and keep you safe.”

Exhaustion sucks the last bit of energy I’d been holding onto away from me. Now that we’ve consummated our union, I’m able to drift deeply into a restful sleep.

I just hope I wake up from it.

I have to.

I have a beautiful mate, and hopefully soon, a mortling on the way.

I’m not ready for The Eternals. I don’t think I’ll ever be. Not now that I finally have her.

No, I’ll have to wake and get better.

My new family needs me.

9

Zoe

Solar of the Kevins…

I let him sleep until I can’t anymore.

I know he’s got a lot of work to do.

I know today is the day the Kevins will be attacking.

But there’s nothing we can do aside from sit around and wait. We can only continue along with our mission to cure The Rades and hope Oz’s weapon obliterates their entire army.

He sleeps heavily, like a man whose body is healing from a deep wound, whose mind is taxed beyond belief. The paralytic he released inside of me for the second time in just a couple of hours keeps us bound together for a long moment in time. I can almost feel our son taking root in my womb. It sounds crazy, but that’s how I feel. Maybe it’s wishful thinking.

While he’s deep inside me, still semi-erect, I study his face. Brush my hands over his hair. At least when he’s asleep, he’s not ordering me around or pushing himself to the brink.

Little by little, the paralytic begins to wear off, but I almost wish it wouldn’t. When it does, I’ll have to let him go for real this time…and I’m realizing that’s the last thing I want. I wrap my arm around his waist the second I have control of it. I’m going to hold him until I have to wake him up. I’m going to cherish every moment I have left in his arms.

I only hope it won’t be our last.

He sleeps without interruption for a while, as long as I dare let him. Seconds are precious now and we have very few left to make our own. When the shadows have gone from beneath his eyes, I slither over his naked body, mine already weeping with arousal as I position myself astride him.

This won’t be the last moment we have together, but I worship him like it is. I kiss along his face, graze his lips, and traverse down his neck. He shifts under me, still languid with deep sleep, and his hands twitch by his sides, then go still.

My bare pussy smears our combined juices over his cock, soft in sleep, but it grows hard beneath me as I move over him. Is this why he enjoys the effects of the toxica? Because I’m his to do with as he pleases? I shouldn’t enjoy it either. Shouldn’t like being at his mercy or taking advantage of his vulnerability, but I do.

Rekk yes, I do, as he’d say.

I kiss down across the gleaming white skin of his chest, enjoying the contrast of our skin, the firmness of his muscles, and his twitching body beneath me. Even in sleep, his cock reaches for me, jumps at my touch as I position it against my clit so I can grind against him. I don’t want to take him inside, not yet. Not until I can see his eyes dilating with pleasure.

At the first hitch of my hips over his engorged flesh, his hands come to rest on my ass, lightly at first, then with more pressure. Even in sleep he reaches for me. Wants me.

I arch my back, letting my hair tumble free over my shoulders. The heavy weights of my breasts ache for the punishing touch of my mate, my Avrell, as I begin to move. Pleasure spears up from the source of delicious friction, the promise of his cock being inside me once more, the tease of giving myself only a taste of what I want. At my responding moan, Avrell’s head thrashes from side to side, as though straining up from his deep slumber to reach me.

I lose myself in touching and teasing my fill. My lips and tongue taste his mouth, memorize its shape and flavor. When I go to move away to find another place to kiss, one of his hands captures the back of my head and holds me close. It’s only a suggestion of his strength, but it’s enough to keep me in place, enough to open my mouth to him as his tongue thrusts against mine.

Without words, his other hand moves to his cock and he angles it inside in one quick movement, like we’ve been lovers for eons instead of only one night. My moan is sharp and keening against his kiss, which gives him a jolt, and I open my eyes to find his watching me, finally fully awake.

He gives me another kiss before saying, “I prefer waking up like this, stormy one. You can be my alarm any time.” He taps my ass. “Roll over. Let me have you.”

“Not a chance, doctor. We both know you’ve used up most of your energy the first two times. You need to be well rested when we’re done. It’s time to let someone else take charge for a change.”

For a moment he doesn’t argue. The muscles in his neck tense as I angle my hips to take his cock in as deep as possible, finding a spot inside me that has stars exploding behind my eyelids. He tugs me forward, making me squeal a little, and takes a beaded nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his wicked forked tongue. I imagine what it would feel like to have that tongue on my clit again and feel myself clench around him.

He hisses as though in pain. “You think you’re in charge of me?” he asks.

I take his hands and pin them above his head. He could break free of my grip if he wanted, but he lets me hold them there, leaving him vulnerable, splayed before me. Mine. “I am for now. I can do anything I want to you.”

Lifting my weight up on my knees, I move until he’s almost falling out of me, then drop back down. He grits his teeth instead of answering, which is an answer in itself. I repeat this, clenching around him when he’s deep inside, then releasing until only the tip of him remains, until he makes growling, desperate noises in the back of his throat.

I didn’t plan on focusing on my pleasure. This was all about him, for him, but the sound of his arousal echoes in my brain. It’s all I can think about. The desperate, gruff moans Avrell is making are because of me.

I shudder against him, the orgasm swelling inside me like a typhoon. His movements become jerky and uncoordinated and his fingers bite into my hips. “Take your pleasure, stormy one. Take it with me.”

His raspy words are all I need. My pussy clenches around him with an intensity akin to violence, making him shout his own release moments later. I must have lingering toxica in my system, because I’m paralyzed on his chest within seconds.

“If I had any energy, I’d take you like this again, my mate, while you’re still immobilized by the toxica. It’d be slow and torturous—for both of us.” His hands rub my back, soothing us both. “For now, I’m going to hold you until you’re back to yourself again. I don’t know which I like better…you unable to argue back at me, or your filthy tongue.”

I don’t know how long it takes me to work the rest of the numbing agent out of my system. All I know is I’m sad when I can lift myself up to sitting again. The truth is, we don’t know when we’ll be able to do this again. For all we know, it could be the last time.

“Don’t look so sad, sweet mate,” Avrell says as he helps me to my feet and to the decontamination shower.

“I’m not sad,” I protest.

He smiles at my words. “There’s my argumentative one. I will finish the cure and we will find a way back to the Facility. Our mortling will grow up with their whole family. This I promise you.”

I can feel the seconds ticking away as he helps clean me up. I’m still partially numb, so I have to lean against him as he soaps up my body and cleans every crevice and fold with the utmost care. He may be an arrogant bastard, but he’s a gentle one when he wants to be. A caring one when he wants to be.

Maybe he’s only gentle and caring with those he loves…

I blush, which of course he notices. His cock grows against my stomach as his fingers trace the growing wave of pink over my chest and throat. “You flush so pretty for me, little mate,” he says with a growl. “Are you trying to keep me from my duties?”

“I would never,” I say, but I press onto my tiptoes to take his mouth one last time. One, I promise myself, and then I’ll let him go because I know I can’t hold onto him forever.

When I pull away, he’s trembling, but not from need. The water is freezing. “Let’s get you dressed. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

* * *

“How’s he doing?” Julie asks several hours later.

We both try to keep busy, but after we feed the patients another dose of meat—officially wiping out our stash, there’s not much left to do but wait and watch as Avrell tests and retests his serums. Eventually, Julie throws her hands up and pulls me away to start packing supplies. It goes left unsaid that we may never need them, but it’s better than sitting around biting our nails.

I pause in packing bits of preserved food into boxes and containers. Every little bit will help. “He’s tired—”

“I’ll bet he is.”

I ignore her. “But I think he’ll be okay. He’s already stronger than he was a couple days ago. I think the meat helps. It’s not a complete cure, more like it holds the symptoms off for a while? But doesn’t completely eradicate the virus.”

“Still, it’s the first positive sign we’ve had. If he can turn that into a cure, then the possibilities for this planet are endless.”

I don’t know about her, but my mind turns to the Kevins. If they find out Mortuus is inhabitable again, I don’t want to know what will happen. The only thing they know is greed and destruction.

“He will,” I say firmly, pushing the thought from my mind. “And then we’ll fight.”

Julie doesn’t mention it, but I can almost feel her thinking about the fact that she doesn’t want to come with us. It goes left unsaid as we continue packing. The hours pass and we’ve packed food, medications, and ammunition into containers. We store them by the Loading Bay doors and as we’re about to head back inside, Julie puts a hand on my shoulder.

“What is it?” I ask.

She doesn’t say a word. Instead, she lifts her hand and points in the distance. All I see is the ever-present cloud of red-orange dust that fills the sky in every direction. “What is it?” I repeat.

“Look,” she says, but I look at her instead of where she’s pointing. Her face has gone bone white through her mask.

A lance of fear chills my spine.

“There,” she adds.

I follow the line of her finger and squint.

At first, I don’t see anything. What could she see? Another rabid wolf? One of those birds we were told about? God forbid it’s another mutated monster we haven’t come across.

Instead it’s much, much worse.

The clouds of red-orange dust part in delicate swirls around a plane of some sort. One with a very recognizable emblem on the nose. Earth II fighter ships. Flying. Alive. Not blasted out of the sky by Oz’s weapon. This is bad. This is really bad.

My stomach drops to my feet.

A scream rises in my throat, but lodges behind a knot there.

Julie finds my hand and squeezes so tight I can feel the bones grind against each other, but I barely notice. I go numb and then white-hot with adrenaline.

No.

It can’t be.

Nonononono.

I thought we’d have more time. We need more time.

This can’t be the end.

I haven’t said everything I need to say to Avrell yet.

We haven’t met our baby AJ.

I want a chance for those things.

One chance.

My gaze hardens.

We will get that chance.

Or die trying.

10

Avrell

Two.

There are just two ships.

Two Kevins, not an entire army.

“Get Sayer on the comms,” I bark out. “Zoe, keep the patients safe.”

“What?” Zoe shrieks, grabbing my lab coat as I start to walk away. “Eleanor is here. She can watch them. I can help. What are we going to do?”

“Lines are dead,” Julie calls out. “It’s not looking good, Av.”

“Keep trying,” I grit out. “I have an idea. Come on, mate.”

I take her hand, guiding her out of the comms room and into my lab. I’m feeling energized, which gives me hope regarding my cure, but right now, I need to protect everyone here. I can’t do that while inside my lab.

“Hit me with an electrolyte booster,” I order, my mind already making lists of what we need to do.

Zoe, for once, obeys without question. I can sense her fear, which only makes me want to succeed that much more. She’s looking at me to protect her. My brave, fierce mate needs me to keep her safe.

I won’t let her down.

Or anyone else here.

She finds the electrolyte tabs and tosses me a handful. I down them in one swallow, quickly shedding out of my lab coat.

“We need to get down to the vehicles in the caves,” I tell her. “Suit up and grab a zonnoblaster.”

After we put on our zu-gear, it isn’t until we’re trotting through the dark tunnels that I realize we don’t even need the zu-gear if my hypothesis about exposure is correct. However, at the very least, the suits and masks will keep our face free of dust and debris. It’s a long trek and I’m winded, but we eventually make our way down to the giant underground bay where several vehicles await.

I rush over to the doors and open one. The geostorm is intensifying, which has the two ships circling lower. They’ve yet to land. I need them to. With the big weapons mounted on the front, I have no doubt they can blast the prison to bits if they so choose. We need a distraction.

Unfortunately, I know the risk we must take.

It won’t fail.

I won’t allow it.

“You know how to operate one of these vehicles?” I ask Zoe. “It’s Earth II technology, so I—”

“I can drive it,” she interrupts. “Where am I driving it to?”

I gesture to a clearing. “There. Circle around a few times and then drive through that narrow valley. Our goal is to force them to land.”

“Then what?”

“Then we do what’s necessary.” I grab her shoulder and press my mask against hers, meeting her worried gray eyes. “Shoot if anyone gets close. Do not under any circumstances allow them to capture you.”

“O-Okay,” she stammers.

“You can do this, stormy one.”

She nods and then scurries over to the brightest vehicle. After a moment, its engine fires up. She maneuvers the machine out of the garage and then accelerates, quickly zooming to the clearing.

I rush out of the bay, my eyes on the two ships. They begin circling like predators, hungry for my mate. The ground vibrates beneath my feet as they angle their ships, the weapons attached homing in on my mate.

“Go, Zoe!” I yell even though she’s out of reach on the comms.

Pakow!

I’m knocked on my rump as the side of part of the mountain explodes. My heart stops inside my chest until Zoe’s vehicle flies out of the debris cloud. She guns it toward the valley. Another explosion has her vehicle rocking from side to side, but she manages to evade them. One of the ships pulls back, but the other zooms after her.

“Come on, come on,” I growl.

At the last second, the ship pulls back. From my vantage point, I can see Zoe has stopped the vehicle. The ships seem to notice and they start lowering, sending dust swirling everywhere.

“Let’s get those motherfuckers,” Julie says, appearing beside me like a shadow come to life. Her zonnoblaster isn’t like mine. It’s bigger and more complicated. I’ve never seen anything like it. I sure hope she knows how to use it.

“Did you reach anyone on the comms?”

“Nope. Looks like we’re on our own, Doc. Ready to kick some Kevin ass?”

“The sooner we do, the sooner we can get rekking back to saving our people in there. Let’s go!”

Julie darts out in front of me. “Stay behind me. We’ll run along the mountainside, not in the open. Their focus is on Zoe.”

As soon as the engines cease their roaring, Kevins spill from both ships. At least fifteen or twenty from each ship come running out, weapons drawn. We’re completely outnumbered.

The Kevins are all charging toward Zoe’s stopped vehicle. We have to stop them.

“Get to Zoe,” Julie hisses. “I have an idea. Don’t wait for me.”

My body is still weak from The Rades’ hold on me, but I don’t let it deter me from rescuing my mate. I put her in harm’s way so that we could lure them to the ground. So far, we’ve succeeded in doing just that. Now, all we have to do is eliminate the Kevins.

As soon as I reach the mouth of the valley where the Kevins have started running, my comms crackle, allowing me to hear my mate’s heavy, terrified breathing.

“Zoe!” I rumble. “Are you okay?”

“These…therfuckers…gonna kill…oh shit!”

“Drive through them!” I yell. “Now, Zoe!”

My noise alerts a few Kevins in the back. As soon as they see me charging, they point their weapons at me. I’m a healer, not a fighter, but when my mate’s life is at stake, I can’t take any chances. I begin firing my zonnoblaster. I manage to take down three of the five running my way. The other two charge too quickly. A loud sound rumbles the earth, but I can’t make out the source because a Kevin launches himself on me, knocking me on my back.

“Roscoe,” the Kevin grunts from exertion. “Caught me a motherfuckin’ alien! Check this shit out!”

He has my zonnoblaster in my hand pinned beneath his knee, but my other hand is free. I fling off my glove, bare my claws, and rake it along his side, tearing into his flesh. He howls in pain.

“Eddie! What the fuck?!”

“Don’t be a pussy,” Eddie bellows. “Help me with this monster! He has claws.”

“I have teeth, too,” I snarl, my sub-bones popping loud enough to vibrate through me.

Eddie’s eyes widen a fraction when I bare my teeth at him. Roscoe takes off running, leaving his friend behind. Eddie and I grapple until I’ve flipped him. He struggles to keep hold of my weapon, but I don’t need it.

Boom!

The earth trembles violently from a nearby blast. Sickness churns in my gut as I fear they’ve obliterated my mate. A crazed rage overtakes me. I pierce my claws into Eddie’s throat and savagely rip through the flesh and tendons. Bright red blood flies from his neck in a thick spurt, splattering my face mask and blinding me. Since I can’t see him, I continue to shred at the human beneath me with my claws. As soon as his grip on my weapon falls away, I yank it from his grip, shove the barrel into what I hope is his nog, and pull the trigger.

Kapow!

The body jolts and then nothing. Quickly, I yank off my face mask, uncaring if I’m exposed, especially now that I think we might survive it having seen those other mort-like men. I have to find my mate. Now. I rise to my feet, scanning the thick, red clouds of dust.

“Zoe!” I yell and cough through the particles clouding the air around me. “Zoe!”

I grab my zonnoblaster and rush toward the mouth of the valley where I last saw Zoe. As I rush through the haze, I trip over bodies. All are Kevins. Not my mate. When I finally reach her vehicle, I nearly choke on my horror.

No.

No!

Her vehicle is in a few massive hunks smashed along the side of the mountain. I scan the area, looking for her body. Please let her be okay.

“What did you do?” someone bellows at me. “You killed them all!”

I turn in time to see Roscoe racing my way. My sub-bones pop one by one as I ready my battle stance. Just as I aim my zonnoblaster, he darts away. The blast hits a dead Kevin, blowing hunks everywhere. Roscoe appears again. He’s agile, quickly darting his way over to me before I can take my aim again. I grunt when he knocks me to the ground. My head spins as fatigue weighs heavily on me.

Not now.

Rekk no!

The Kevin slams a useless fist into my face but howls in pain. His hit knocks my nog to the side, but his bones are less dense than mine. All humans are. I learned this while studying the females and comparing them to the morts. I’m certain by the way he sobs, he’s broken many bones from that hit.

I may not be a fighter, and instead a healer, but my fierce need to find and protect my mate feeds my instinct. All I can think about is locating her. First, I need to eliminate this weak creature.

“You landed on the wrong planet,” I growl, piercing his face with my claws and yanking him to me.

Since their necks seem to be their fragile point, I use my newly elongated fangs to pierce his flesh. He screams as I latch on to the tendons and pull back. The sounds are sickening and wet, but it’s necessary. His blood, like that of Eddie, gushes out in an arced spray, hitting the earth beside me with a splat. His body collapses and I shove him away.

“Zoe!” I roar. “Zoe!”

I search the wreckage but come up empty. Each body I find belongs to a Kevin. Perhaps she managed to escape. I rush back toward the clearing. I’m stopped when a ship hovers in front of me, weapons aimed right at me.

But, rather than shooting me, it lands. Then, the engines cease making noise. I choke on the dust and squint to see Julie behind the glass. No rekking way!

She waves at me, but my primary concern is Zoe. I begin searching for her when I hear her sweet voice.

"Avrell!”

From beyond the ship, she runs my way. A relieved growl rumbles from me as I charge for my female. The distance isn’t far and as soon as she reaches me, she pounces. I snag her small body into my arms, hugging her to me. Her body trembles as she sobs, squeezing my neck and wrapping her legs around my waist.

“I thought you were dead,” she cries. “I was so scared.

“Still here, mate. Still here with you.”

“Your mask,” she croaks out when she pulls away to look at me. “Oh no. You’ve been exposed.”

“It’s going to be okay,” I assure her. “The other mort-like men we saw didn’t have masks. There has to be a reason why they could survive. This is the least of our concerns.”

She rips her mask off before I can stop her. “If you die, I die.”

I’m annoyed, but then her lips are on mine, kissing me like this is our last solar alive. The Kevin’s blood can be tasted in our kiss, but neither of us cares as we consume the other.

“How did you escape?” I ask, pressing my forehead to hers.

“Julie must have stolen one of the ships. As soon as I saw the ship shooting at the men, I hid in a crevasse to avoid getting shot. Then, I ran past them and out into the opening looking for you. The dust was everywhere. We must have crossed paths and didn’t even realize it.”

“Are they all perished?” I ask, glancing around.

“I fucking hope so.”

Our mouths meet for another desperate kiss. She tastes too good. Mine. When I falter on my feet, she slides down to her feet.

“You need to rest,” she croons. “You’re swaying.”

“I’m fine,” I grumble. “We should get Julie and head back inside.”

A steady hum of an engine pierces the air. I pull Zoe away from the sound and we watch as Julie navigates it toward the cave opening that leads to the prison. It’s too big to fit inside, so she shuts it off once she’s close. Zoe and I hold hands as we walk back. The side door opens with a swoosh and then steps descend.

“Hey, Av? Zoe?” Julie calls out. “Get your asses in here!”

We both take off running. I’m growing weaker by the second, but I don’t stop. The steps are daunting, but Zoe practically drags me up them and into the hull of the ship.

“Found this one hiding,” Julie barks out, shoving a small Kevin toward me.

My sub-bones start popping. The need to protect my mate is overwhelming.

“We’re taking him prisoner?” Zoe asks, unease in her tone.

“No,” I growl. “He’s going to die like the rest of them. I’m going to tear out his throat with my rekking teeth!”

The Kevin starts to cry. I admit the sound scratches at my mind. It’s soft and young. I pause mid-step. Zoe grabs my arm, keeping me in place.

“Julie,” Zoe hisses. “He’s a kid. Why is there a kid on this ship?”

She’s right. He’s not large and menacing like the others I’ve encountered. The thing is tiny and trembles an awful lot. With each movement, he winces as though he’s in pain.

“How old are you?” I ask the Kevin.

“T-Thirteen,” he croaks out.

I lift a brow at him. “Why are you here?”

“M-My master t-takes me on missions.”

I frown at Julie.

Zoe rushes forward. “For what? Why does he take you?”

The human boy looks up with tears in his eyes, shame painting his cheeks red. “F-For p-pleasure.”

Realization that they used the boy in the same way many of the females were used makes me want to rage.

Confusion burrows its way into my gut at my intense reaction. I crave to kill all Kevins. But this one doesn’t count. He’s just a child. One they hurt.

“What’s your name, Kevin?” I demand.

He gapes at me. “You know my name?”

“No, I want to know your name.”

The boy shoots Zoe a questioning look.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Zoe mutters. “Your name is Kevin?”

The child nods, tears streaking down his dirty cheeks.

That’s…interesting.

“Who was your master?” Julie asks, her tone gentler.

“H-His name is Roscoe. Can you h-help me? P-Please don’t l-let him t-take me again,” the boy pleads, choking on his sobs.

A Kevin named Kevin who’s been kept like a prisoner by a Kevin.

Perhaps I’m having a fevered dream and I’ll wake up soon.

I walk over to the boy, gripping his jaw and tilting his nog up so I can assess him for damages. A purple bruise on his tearstained cheek. A split lip that looks fresh. Dark circles beneath his big brown eyes. His features are soft and his lashes are long. Dark hair curls around his face. It makes me think of how fragile my mate is.

“I ripped his throat out with my teeth,” I tell the boy named Kevin, my eyes pinning him. “You’ll be safe now.”

He breaks free of my hold, hugging my middle. Something tightens inside my chest. The feral need to destroy has waned as my instinct to nurture and protect rears to the surface once more.

“Thank you,” he whispers, his tiny body trembling.

I pat his furry nog. “Let’s get you to the Medical Bay and check you over.”

“We could get information from him,” Julie says, her voice hitching with excitement. Kevin tenses in my arms. “Just think about everything we could learn from him. He rode around with that bastard on missions. He’s probably overheard so much. Hell, he could tell us—”

“No,” I bark out. “From the looks of it, he’s malnourished and has been abused. I want to heal him, not use him. He’s had enough of that.”

Julie deflates but nods. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Kevin relaxes, terror no longer rippling from him in waves.

“Thank you.” Zoe places a palm on my back, rubbing gently. “You’re a good man, Avrell.”

Her approval in my decision to care for the Kevin named Kevin warms me.

“Let us get to it,” I boom. “Our mission is not complete.”

The cure.

I’m almost there.

And everyone, including the little one clinging to me, is relying on me.

I won’t let them down.

11

Zoe

“The-Kevin-Named-Kevin is leaking again,” Avrell says with a furtive glance up from his tablet at the direction of the isolation pods. “Should I go to him?”

“He’s not leaking. He’s crying. Poor thing. You stay here and finish your work. I’ll take care of him.” I leave Avrell to his cure but not before I press a kiss to his forehead. He’s freshly cleaned from another decontamination shower, but I don’t mind the blood. In fact, I quite like the new brutal side of him.

Bossy. Arrogant. Rude. Intelligent. Kind. Dedicated. Monstrous. Devious. Mine.

There are many ways to describe my mate, but mine is my favorite of all.

My mate.

There is no denying it now.

He’s as much mine as I am his.

I find Kevin in the isolation pod we’ve designated for his room. It’s easier to keep him in the Medical Bay where we can keep an eye on him and treat his injuries—various and numerous. Even us prisoners were treated better, not much, but better. And I thought we had it bad.

He curls into a tight little ball on the cot affixed to one of the pod walls when he sees me in the doorway. “What do you want?” he asks. Whatever appreciation he felt at our rescue is gone. He trembles underneath the thin blanket we provided.

Holding up my hands, I say, “I’m not here to hurt you. I came to check on you to see if you need anything. Food, more medicine, some company. Whatever.”

“I don’t want anything.” True to Avrell’s word, tears begin to leak from Kevin’s eyes. “I just want to be left alone.”

“Do you have a family on Earth II?” I ask gently.

His lip wobbles. He says he’s thirteen, but the anguish on his face makes him look much younger. It’s a stark contrast to the lingering despair in his gaze. “No,” he spits out. “Do you?”

“My family is here.”

“You mean those monsters?” He shivers and I swear I can hear his teeth chattering from where I’m standing. “He killed people. You all did.”

“You don’t have to be afraid of him—or us. We don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then what do you want from me?” His gaze hardens. “I won’t belong to anyone again. I refuse.”

“We don’t want anything from you, only for you to get better. Those men you were with, they were trying to kill us. Avrell was only protecting us. He won’t hurt you.”

“If you don’t want anything from me, then why didn’t you kill me like the others? Why are you keeping me here?”

I want to go to his side, but I remember what it was like to be him, so I keep my distance for now. Maybe when he feels more comfortable again, he won’t shy away from the hugs he so desperately needs. “There’s no reason to kill you, Kevin. We’re keeping you because you need medical attention and Avrell is a doctor. He’s going to treat your injuries and we’ll get you fed. Our people are being attacked by more men from Earth II, so we’ll have to go to them soon, but after that, I’m sure our commander, Breccan, will help you get to wherever you want to go.”

“What will he require in return?” Kevin asks acidly.

“Nothing. We aren’t in the business of taking advantage of children.”

Kevin snorts and says, “Then what are you in the business of?”

I think for a moment and say, “Come with me if you want to find out.”

Turning on my heel, I head back to the main labs where Avrell is diligently bent over magnascopes and samples muttering to himself. A few moments later, I hear the tell-tale sound of tentative footsteps and hide my responding smile. He may be frightened, but he’s also very, very brave. He’d have to be to survive in this world—or on Earth II.

Avrell looks up when I stop by his side. “Everything okay with The-Kevin-Named-Kevin, stormy one?” he asks. Before all of this, hearing him call me stormy one would have made me rage and seethe like one of those awful geostorms. Now, it makes my insides glow.

“It’s just Kevin,” I correct him. “And I wanted to explain to him what it is we’re doing here and why it’s important.”

“Yeah, why aren’t you with your family if they’re being attacked by the freaks from Earth II?” Kevin asks.

Avrell speaks before I can. “Do you have diseases on your planet?”

Kevin gives me a look like he’s asking if Avrell is for real. “Yeah,” he says.

“Well, we have a terrible disease on Mortuus called The Rades. It’s deadly. We must find the cure before we can return to our true home safely. It’s imperative we find this cure so our people can survive after the battle with the Kev—I mean with those from Earth II.”

“And you’re going to cure it yourself?” Kevin takes a step closer, the suspicion and wariness clearing from his expression. His arms are still crossed firmly over his chest, but his face turns up to Avrell’s.

“Too rekking right we are. I’m close. As soon as we do, we’re going back to our people at the Facility.”

“What’s the Facility?”

“Our home. We’ve lived there since the humans left this planet a long time ago. It’s safe, secure. We’ve got plenty of supplies. We’re strong there.”

“How many of you are there?”

Avrell doesn’t seem annoyed by the questions. In fact, he seems as intrigued by the boy as Kevin is by him and patiently answers his questions. It makes me think of him talking about our future son AJ and what kind of father he’ll be to our children.

After a while, Avrell says, “Why don’t you help me?”

“Really?” Kevin asks. “What can I do?”

“I can use an assistant. Zoe talks back too much. She’s the distracting sort.”

Kevin grins fully for the first time since we brought him inside the prison. “You mean it?”

He says it with such hope, such innocence that it nearly brings a tear to my eye. Avrell probably didn’t consider how to respond to the boy to instantly make him comfortable. It came naturally. Maybe he’s only antagonistic to me. Of course he is.

Pride warms my stomach and I choke out, “Speaking of the Facility, I’m going to go help Julie on comms to see if we can get ahold of them.”

The boys have their heads bowed over the magnascope and are deep in conversation.

He’s going to make such an amazing father.

“Thank God you’re here. I’m exhausted. You mind taking over for a while?”

Julie pushes away from the control panel and digs her fingers into her eyes. “I haven’t been able to get anyone on the line. I’ve been trying for hours. Now that we have the ship, you guys can travel back to help them. But I didn’t want to suggest you leave until I was sure it’s safe back there for you.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, ignoring the fact that she’s still set on staying here.

“Never mind, it’s nothing, I’m sure.” Yawning, she gets to her feet. “I’m gonna hit the hay.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“I want to make sure there’s still a Facility left for you to go back to.” She gives me a sad smile, then leaves.

Instead of dwelling on her comment, I take her place at the control panel and put on a pair of headphones. I follow Sayer’s instructions to hail the Facility, but I don’t get a response for a long time. Longer than I’d like. It’s no wonder Julie was feeling hopeless.

It doesn’t matter. Once Avrell is ready with the cure, we’re going back to the Facility, answer or not. We’ve already been away from them long enough.

“Facility, this is Zoe hailing from Exilium. Is anyone there? Please respond.”

The radio crackles. “Zoe? This…Breccan…you hear…”

I sit up straight, nearly falling out of my chair in the process. “Breccan! Breccan, it’s Zoe. I’m here. Can you hear me?”

“I hear…Avrell okay?”

The line is broken and I’m not getting every word, but it’s enough.

It’s enough.

“He’s fine. Close to the cure. We were attacked, but we fought them off. I’m contacting you because we were able to steal one of their ships. Once Avrell is ready, we’re going to head to the Facility. What about you? Are you guys okay?”

“…good news. Waves of…came from the sky. So many…Oz’s weapon…many, but there are more…many more. We’re still fighting.”

The line cuts out and I yell, “Breccan!”

“…bad connection,” he’s saying. “Stay at the prison. It isn’t safe…tell Avrell not…come.”

It’s not safe? I scoot forward in my seat. “What do you mean don’t come? We’re not leaving you there alone! We’re coming to help.”

This time Breccan’s voice comes through strong and clear. “You listen to my orders, Zoe. There are too many. It’s not safe for you here. Stay at the prison and save yourself.”

“I don’t think so. You know Avrell won’t do that. I won’t do that. We’re coming.”

“Listen to me,” Breccan orders. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it. It’s bad, Zoe. I’m telling you this to save your life. Please listen.”

I press my hand to my forehead and am surprised to find it shaking. Too many Kevins—men from Earth II? We’ve been so certain the weapon would work. It has to work.

“Tell Avrell…said. Tell…not to come. Zoe...please.”

My voice is a fierce growl when I answer, “We’re not going to leave you alone. No matter what. We’re coming, Breccan. You can’t stop us. We’re going to beat them no matter what.”

“Zoe…”

The connection goes silent.

My heart trips, but I try to stay calm. I bang some buttons on the control panel to reconnect. “Breccan, are you there? It’s Zoe.”

Static fills the line.

“Breccan, are you there? It’s Zoe,” I repeat.

Desperate seconds pass.

“Breccan, are you there?”

Nothing.

“Breccan?”

Please no.

“Breccan? Please. Answer me.”

A sob catches in my chest.

“Commander!”

There’s no answer.

None at all.

The sob I’d been holding since his first warning bursts from my lips. I try not to think about what could have caused the break in our connection. I try not to think about the waves and waves of Kevins descending on the Facility while we’re here, helpless.

No.

Not helpless.

We can help them. No matter what Breccan says.

He may be as brilliant as Avrell, but he’s wrong about this.

We can beat them. We will.

I find Avrell and Kevin bent over the microscopes, deep in conversation about the cure and vaccination. I don’t want to worry him because he needs to focus on finishing his work. While he’s distracted, I gather my supplies and an extra zonnoblaster.

It’s been several hours, so I hope Julie’s gotten some sleep. I find her in her room and shake her shoulder. “Julie. Hey, Julie, wake up.”

She rolls away from me and groans. I shake her again. “C’mon. Wake up, sleeping beauty.”

“Stop, go away.”

“Can’t. I need your help.”

“Unless it’s in a sleep study for your hunky alien, I don’t want to hear it.”

“I heard from Breccan.”

This perks her up. She rolls back to me and cracks her eyes open. “You did?” She sits up. “How are they? What happened?”

I fill her in as she slowly wakes up and gets dressed.

“I told you it wasn’t going to be good news.”

“I know. But we have to do what we can to help.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” she asks with a yawn.

I lead her out of the cells and toward the tunnels below.

“I’ll tell you on the way. We’ve got work to do.”

12

Avrell

“Why does that one move?” Kevin asks, his voice curious.

“Which one, mortling?”

He pulls away from the magnascope, a shy smile on his face. “What’s a mortling?”

Who knew Earth children had so many questions? It’s like talking to Molly or Hadrian.

“A mortling means child.”

He frowns. “I’m thirteen.”

And small. And fragile. And sad.

“What would you rather I call you?” I ask, once again peeking into the magnascope. “Kevin?”

“What are you? A monster?”

“I’m a mort.”

“I want to be a mort too.” He takes hold of my hand. “Will I grow claws too?”

I chuckle. “It’s unlikely, but I have a friend named Oz who can make some for you.”

“Really?”

“I don’t see why not. Oz can make anything.” I gesture to the magnascope. “Which one was moving?”

He peeks in and shrieks. “They all are now!”

I gently nudge him away and stare at my sample. No rekking way. I’d isolated certain cells from the blood of the rabbawolf and merged it with a sample of my own tainted blood. At first, it didn’t do much, but now the rabbawolf blood is attacking the broken cells in my blood, coating it with a layer of green as though to protect it.

It’s incredible.

I have several more samples of the rabbawolf to test with but would love to take live samples from something like…Eileen. A rogcow that’s our pet could give me endless samples to create not only a cure, but an inoculation for the future.

“You’ve done it, mort,” I say to Kevin. “You found the cure.”

His eyes widen in shock. “I did?”

My heart swells to see the pride gleaming over his features. I may be an arrogant genius, but I know this mortling needs the confidence boost.

“You most certainly did. That means you get to name it.”

He laughs. High and happy and excited. I’ve never heard anything so incredibly cute. It makes me laugh too.

“We should call it the rabbacure since the rabbathings with the green blood are what fixed the sick blood.”

“Rabbacure, huh? I like it.” I pat his furry nog. “Want to see what the rabbacure does to your blood next?”

He nods rapidly. Zoe would probably smack me around for this, but now that we found a cure for the sick, we need to make sure we can protect the un-sick.

Where is Zoe anyway?

Hours have passed since she brought me my mortling and we’ve been hard at work ever since. I make a mental note on one of my many lists to check on her soon.

I’m teaching Kevin how to draw a sample of his own blood, impressed with his bravery, when I realize I thought of him as my mortling.

Mine.

“Wow,” he says as his bright red blood fills the tube. “It stings, but it’s super cool to watch it fill up!”

All I can do is stare at the boy named Kevin who’s more mort than man. Could it be that I am to be his father since he doesn’t have one? At first, I think maybe that would be strange when he’d be better suited to stay with someone like Molly or Willow, but then I think about how Breccan took Hadrian in like a son.

They weren’t blood, but Breccan is Hadrian’s father.

It’s decided.

The mortling is mine…and Zoe’s.

“Pull it out now and use this device to heal yourself,” I explain to the mortling. “Inside are tiny little things called microbots. They heal you quickly.”

He holds the device to the tiny pinprick of blood and depresses the button. His gasp of shock makes me chuckle.

“Now take a dropper and let’s put some on one of the new rabbawolf slides,” I instruct. “Let’s see what happens.”

The mortling obeys and I’m proud of how quickly he picks things up. A true doctor in the making.

“Look, Avvy,” he says with an excited shriek. “It’s doing the same thing!”

I don’t correct him on the wrong way he says my name. Truth is, I’m kind of fond of it.

“You’re right,” I murmur, amazed at the way the rabbawolf blood clings to Kevin’s blood, coating it in its essence and creating a barrier around it. “You’ve officially created the immunization too, though I’ll have to test it many more times before I’ll feel comfortable trying it on you. What do you have to say for yourself, Dr. Kevin?”

He laughs again, the sound contagious. It makes me wonder if the boy ever laughed before now. Thoughts of those cruel alien men hurting my mortling have my sub-bones cracking loudly.

“Why do your bones pop when you’re mad?” he asks, no longer smiling.

“It’s a physiological response when a mort feels the need to protect someone, be it his family, friends, mate, or home.”

“Who are you trying to protect?” he whispers.

“All of them,” I say, “but right now, I was thinking about the ones who hurt my little mort.”

His nog bows. “I was scared, Avvy.”

“I would have been too.”

“You would have?” he asks, fat tears welling in his eyes. “But you have fangs and claws.”

“And I have sub-bones that pop when I’m afraid of losing the ones I care about. Fear isn’t a bad thing, mort, you just have to learn to control it. If you let it control you, you’ll give power to the ones who’ve hurt you or could hurt you.”

“I wish I had sub-bones.” His bottom lip pouts out. So rekking cute. “It’s kind of like a warning to mean people not to mess with you.”

“Maybe Oz can make you your own warning device.” I lift a brow. “What do you think about that?”

He nods rapidly. “Avvy?”

“Yes, Dr. Kevin?”

His smile is immediate. Who knew seeing this mortling smile would fill me with such joy? I want to ask Breccan many questions about his early days with Hadrian.

“When we get to the Facility,” he asks, his smile fading as worry shines in his eyes, “will you protect me until I get my claws?”

I pull him to me for a fierce hug, the need to comfort him overwhelming. His tiny, frail arms hug me tight around my middle.

“Until then, after then, and always,” I assure him. “Now let’s go give Zoe the good news.”

* * *

“Stop looking at me like that,” Zoe grumbles as she loads more supplies onto the ship.

“Like what?” I demand. “Like you risked your life on your death mission?”

She rolls her gray eyes and waves me off. “I didn’t risk my life. I was doing what was necessary.”

“Hmmm.”

Though I was angry when I found out she went hunting, I am a little pleased that she was successful. It was dangerous—it still is considering what she managed to wrangle up—but something that will help us in many ways. It’s because of my selfish need for curing the people on this planet that I let her slide.

For now.

“I think that’s it,” Zoe says as she drops the last of her medical supplies in the storage room. “We’ve gathered everything from Exilium we’ll need. All we need to do now is grab our people and go.”

She makes it sound easy.

As though wheeling them out of the Medical Bay and into the ship bay will be easy. I suppose it’s better than dragging them through the tunnels. A far shorter walk.

“Where’s my mortling?”

Her brow arches. “Your mortling? We didn’t make one yet.”

My cock reacts to her words. The idea of impregnating my female makes me ravenous for her.

“Our other mortling,” I say. “Dr. Kevin.”

She laughs. “He’s not yours.”

Stung by her words, I turn and begin rearranging the supplies so that none of it falls during travel. When I feel her palm on my back, I tense up.

“Avrell,” she murmurs. “You can’t just claim him.”

“I claimed you,” I argue.

“But…”

Turning, I face her, my face screwed up in anger. “Who else would care for him if not us? Breccan? Lyric? He trusts us. No one else.” I scrub a palm over my face. “What if he is frightened with them? He laughs when he’s with me.”

Her features soften. “I’m sorry. You’re right. If you want to adopt the little one into our family, I support that decision. As long as he wants to be with us.”

“He does,” I assure her. “Now where is my mortling?”

She smirks, but goes along with my possessive need to protect and care for the mortling. “He’s napping in his room inside. We probably have a few minutes to ourselves. I’m not sure when we’ll get another one alone.”

It takes my cock only seconds to realize her insinuation.

My mate wants me.

Now.

Her giggles undo me when I start yanking at her minnasuit. I manage to drag it off her supple body before I take my next breath. Then, I shed mine as though it’s diseased. When she’s naked and waiting, I grab onto her fleshy rump and lift her. Her legs wrap around me as my lips crash to hers.

“Avrell,” she moans, her fingers tugging at my hair that’s growing out each solar. “Fuck me.”

This woman maddens me.

Gripping my cock with one hand, I line myself up with her slick cunt and push into her with a hard thrust of my hips. She cries out, her entire body trembling at the intrusion. As I drive into her like a man crazed, I suck on her jaw and neck. I force a finger into her mouth and my cock swells when she sucks on it. It gives me ideas for her mouth and my cock that we’ll absolutely have to try later. When my finger is good and wet, I bring it to her rump. Retracting my claw, I rub at the cute button between her cheeks.

“I want to explore this hole,” I rumble against her throat. “Relax and let me in, stormy one.”

She whimpers but obeys me. Slowly, I ease my finger into her hole. I decide my cock will fit here one solar. I’ll make it fit. As I thrust into her, I finger this other hole, pleased at the way it stretches and clenches.

“You’re such a freak,” she murmurs.

“A freak who wants to put his cock there soon.”

She moans. “Oh, God!”

“It’s mate to you. Say it.”

“You’re my mate!”

I push my finger in deep as I grind into her, gyrating my hips in a way that my pelvis rubs against her clit. She whimpers and shudders, seconds away from her explosive peak. With an alarmed cry, she succumbs to the pleasure, both holes spasming around me.

“Rekk,” I rasp out as my seed gushes forth, filling her waiting womb.

As her body falls limp from the toxica, I drop into a chair in the supplies room, hugging her to me. She doesn’t stay immobilized for long as her body grows used to my paralyzing agent. Her finger strokes my neck softly as I pat her rump and kiss her nog.

“You’re mine, stormy one. You always will be.”

“You’re mine too.” Her whispered words are nearly inaudible, but I hear. I always hear.

All too soon, she regains her movement and we’re able to clean up and redress.

“We should leave soon,” I tell her, hating that we’re going to leave our safe haven and enter the unknown.

Before, it wouldn’t have bothered me, but I have a family to think about now.

“Let’s gather our people then.”

She starts to walk away, but I pull her to me for a deep kiss.

“No matter what happens out there, stormy one, know that becoming your mate was the best thing that ever happened to me.” I lean my forehead against hers. “My greatest achievement.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Avrell. We have our whole lives ahead of us. I’m sure you’ll have many more achievements that will outshine becoming my mate.”

“Hmmm.”

She smacks me, earning a scowl.

“What the rekk did I do to earn that?” I growl.

“I’ve decided every time you hmmm me, you get smacked.” She shrugs. “Now get to work, monster man, we have people to save.”

As she walks away, I smack her rump.

“What was that for?” she snaps, her gray eyes flashing.

“If you get to smack me, I get to smack your rump anytime you sass me with those plump lips of yours.”

“You’re trouble, Doc.”

“The best kind, my mate.”

13

Zoe

“Take it easy,” I instruct the healing members of our group as they load up on the ship. Thank goodness it has enough room to fit all of us. “Everyone find a seat and make sure to keep hydrated. It’s going to be a long trip, but we’re going to take good care of you.”

I stand at the entrance to the ship, helping everyone on, but really, I’m scanning all the familiar faces for one in particular. One I haven’t seen since I stole her away to help me on my top secret task. “C’mon, Julie,” I murmur under my breath. “Please don’t make me leave you.”

“Avrell says to tell you to make sure everyone’s on board. He’s finishing securing the cure. As soon as he’s done, we can leave.” Kevin looks like a completely different person. Some of his injuries have already healed thanks to Avrell’s careful doctoring and the microbots. But it’s the shadows in his eyes that are most striking—they’re completely gone, clear.

This world is healing him as much as the people.

For what had seemed like a desolate, miserable place, Mortuus is precisely the opposite. It’s restorative. Rejuvenating. According to information Quinn found in history texts, the name Mortuus was given to this world after the people who founded Earth II destroyed it. Mortuus is Latin for dead. They believed this world was dead.

Without hope.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

This planet…these people.

We’re survivors.

We will beat them.

We will win.

We will take this planet back for our children, and their children. For their future.

I rub a hand on Kevin’s cheek, but this time he doesn’t flinch at the caress. My heart warms. “Thank you so much, Kevin. I know how hard this must be for you. You’ve been so helpful after everything you’ve been through.”

He lifts a shoulder in a patently teenage gesture. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m gonna go finish helping Avrell.” With that, he scampers back down the ramp and inside the prison.

To Eleanor, I say, “Will you take over here? Make sure everyone loads up safely?”

“Sure. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine.” Or at least, I hope it is.

I leave them to finish loading their things under Eleanor’s careful watch. They’re slow-moving, still healing from The Rades, but at least they’re healing. After my conversation with Breccan, Avrell didn’t want to waste any time returning to the Facility. Neither did I.

I only hope there will be a Facility to come back to.

Dammit, Julie. Don’t be stupid.

When she said she wanted to stay, I knew she was serious, but part of me didn’t believe she’d actually do it. I don’t blame her for not wanting to go, but even with the cure this planet is dangerous. Does she really think those other aliens—or whatever they were—will be as nice as the morts? I don’t think so.

I start for the cells where we’ve turned them into makeshift rooms. One by one, I check them for stragglers, hoping to find Julie hiding out. Each time I clear one without seeing her, my heart drops a little more.

Leaving her behind isn’t an option.

After clearing all the housing cells, I check the command room, then the cafeteria. All empty. So are the elevators and the guards’ rooms.

“Julie!” I call endlessly as I search the halls. “Julie, where are you?”

The only answers are echoes.

I swear if she left without saying goodbye, I’m going to hunt her down and kick her ass myself. The least she could do was let me know. The not knowing is almost worse.

The last place I check is the tunnels underneath the prison. We spent a couple hours down there when I asked her to help me with my crazy plan the night before, but she had no reason to go down there—unless it was to make a quick exit without being detected. My heart is in my throat the whole way down there.

There’s a ticking sound in my head, which only makes me more frantic. We can’t wait for her forever. If I don’t find her soon…I shake off the thought. I will find her. I have to.

The catacombs smell like rotting flesh and the acidic green blood from the rabbawolves we had to kill capturing one of them. Their corpses dot my progress. My skin turns clammy and saliva builds in the back of my throat.

I’d call out for her, but I’m afraid if I open my mouth, the scent of rotting rabbawolves will make me yak all over my shoes.

At the end of the main tunnel, I find the door wide-ass-open. We’d closed it when we were finished with our task last night. It’s a heavy door, there’s no way it opened by itself. She must have come this way.

I push the door the rest of the way open and step through into the outdoors. The red-orange sun blares down from above, making the dusty ground nearly sparkle. There in the mounds of sand are tire tracks. The windy climate on Mortuus means these must be fresh. Our footsteps from the night before have already been erased. These are fresh.

I squint into the horizon, following the tracks. They go on into the distance as far as I can see. No one else would be crazy enough to venture out alone, not when we’re due to leave any minute.

“Dammit, Julie,” I bite out.

There’s no way in hell Avrell will let me take out another rover to try and track her down. He’d say there’s no time. We have to get these people on the ship. The Facility needs us. Julie knew that. That’s probably why her dumb ass waited until the last minute to check out knowing I’d have no time to go find her and drag her butt back to sensibility.

I growl underneath my breath and spin around. That’s when I see the note attached to the door with a hasty piece of tape. I recognize the handwriting right away.

Dear Zoe,

I’m sorry to leave this way, but we both know you’d try to stop me if I said this in person. I hate to leave you at a time like this. I hate myself. But if the world is ending, I want to explore it first. Don’t try to find me. Please.

Take care of yourself. I hope it all works out and that I can find you again someday.

With all my love,

Julie

Tears come and I don’t try to fight them back. They roll down my cheeks as I turn around and slam the door behind me. Choked sobs erupt from my chest and I give in to them as I navigate the catacombs back up to the main hallway.

I can’t believe she’s gone. We’d become so close since the others left. She was like a sister to me. Was. I cry harder, rubbing at my face with my sleeve. Maybe when everything’s over, I can try to find her.

Stumbling through the hallways, I attempt to regain control of myself. I can’t let the others see me like this. I don’t want them to panic when we’ve finally gotten control of things—at least somewhat gotten control of things.

“Zoe!” The voice stops me in my tracks.

I wipe my face hastily and try to paste on a casual smile. Everything is going to be okay. Turning, I find Avrell jogging to me.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you—Are you okay, my mate? Have you been crying?”

He folds me into his arms, and I break down again, soaking his shirt with my tears. Avrell’s hands rub in gentle strokes over my back. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

When I manage to get ahold of myself, I pull back enough to wipe my face again. Having him hold me is enough to give me a little sense of inner peace. “It’s Julie. I couldn’t find her, so I went to go look for her. I checked everywhere, and then I found this.” I hand him the note, which is crinkled and stained with my tears. “She’s gone. She left.”

Avrell reads the note quickly, then caresses my face with one claw. “I can do a scout. Maybe she didn’t get too far.”

“Won’t that waste time?”

He thinks for a minute. “We can do a flyover of the area before we leave. We’ll cover more ground more quickly that way. If she’s close, we’ll find her, stormy one. I promise.”

He holds my hand firmly in his all the way back to the ship, where everyone is waiting for us. They’re all loaded and ready to go. Even Kevin is belted into a seat and beams at us as we board. I take a seat next to him. Soon, the craft lifts up and my stomach plummets. The nausea from earlier returns with a vengeance. I bolt from my seat and barely make it to the small bathroom cabinet before I lose my meager lunch in the toilet.

Avrell sends me a concerned look as he navigates in gradually bigger circles over the prison. I flash him a small smile that doesn’t seem to lessen his worry, but he doesn’t say anything and turns back to scanning the terrain below.

“Try at the exit to the tunnels. That’s where I saw the tracks,” I tell Avrell. “It’s as good a place to start as any.”

“She took one of the Earth II vehicles?” he asks.

“I think so. I saw the tire tracks for one leading away from the prison.”

He doesn’t say it, but I know he’s probably thinking that she could be far, far away from the prison by now. He’s a good man because he dutifully goes to the tunnel exit and we follow the tracks until they disappear into a windstorm.

She could be anywhere.

“Stop,” I say when he reaches the ocean side of the prison. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to find her from here. Thank you for trying.”

“Are you certain?” he asks.

“Yes. We have to go. We can’t waste any more time.”

“We can fly up the coastline to see if she’s there. Maybe the vehicle will break down. She can’t drive forever without fuel.”

I shake my head solemnly. My tears are gone. “Thank you, but no. We need to go home. They’re waiting for us. Take us home, Av.”

Getting to my feet, I go back to the bathroom to wash my face and close the door behind me for privacy. My stomach is still churning, so I wet a paper towel and press it to my forehead. Get it together, Zoe. There’s still so much left to do.

So much.

So many people counting on us.

The morts, their mates. Those still healing from The Rades. Kevin, who may as well be our child.

My breath catches in my throat and my eyes dart up to my face in the mirror.

Our child.

I press a shaking hand to my stomach. No, it can’t be. It’s been such a short time, there’s no way I can be pregnant already.

Except, I remember a conversation with Lyric in the beginning. How mortling pregnancies progress so much faster than human ones. Could I be pregnant with Avrell’s baby?

14

Avrell

“How do you know how to fly this?” Kevin asks, twitching in his seat. “You’re a doctor not a pilot.”

“Just wait until you meet our commander, Breccan. You’ll learn that he likes it when we all know a little of everything. Before the females arrived, we were all alone. Just the ten of us morts. You have to know how to do all sorts of things when there are only a few of you.”

Kevin considers my answer. “Will I learn how to fly too?”

“I’m certain you will. Theron is a brilliant captain. He’d be great to teach you. I know the basics and that’s it.”

“Hmmm.”

Zoe snickers from beside me. “He sounds just like you when he does that.”

I let my gaze roam over her, appreciating all her beauty. Her hair is as wild as her spirit today. If we didn’t have a mortling present, I’d pull her into my lap and grab onto her silky tresses while I kissed her madly.

“How much longer?” Eleanor asks. “Is it a long trip?”

“It took four days when we traveled in the Mayvina, but this vessel seems to fly at an accelerated rate.” I point to the radar. “See that giant formation with the dark squares?”

Eleanor leans in and nods. “What is it?”

“That’s the Facility.”

“Seems close,” Kevin says.

“It’s an illusion because that monitor is scaled down for our viewing. I’d say another solar.” I mash a button to take the vessel off autopilot and motion for Kevin. “Come stand here, mort. I’ll show you some things.”

I show him several of the different buttons and levers. Though they’re not the same as the Mayvina, it was pretty simple to figure out as they’re similar. When I show him the throttle, I let him maneuver for a bit. He laughs when he dips us to the side and Zoe curses.

“Easy now,” I say with a chuckle. “Save your tricks for Theron.”

Zoe scampers off while I show Kevin how to put the ship back in autopilot. I teach him what to look for in the distance—formation, beasts, buildings. When some time has passed and Zoe hasn’t returned, I grow worried.

“Do you think you can man the ship for a few minutes?” I ask as I rise from the captain’s chair.

He gapes at me. “Really?”

“It’s a big job. No tricks or excitement. Just making sure we don’t run into anything. Can you do that?”

He nods, a silly grin on his face. I ruffle his hair as he hops into my seat. Once I’m sure he’s settled, I make my way through the ship. Most everyone is sleeping, though there are a few speaking in hushed tones with Eleanor. I find Zoe in the room we set up as a medical bay.

“What is it, stormy one? Are you ill?”

“After Kevin’s stunt, a little.” She smiles, but she’s pale. “Don’t tell me you left him to pilot the ship.”

“He’s thirteen revolutions old. I was hunting sabrevipes at that age.”

She cringes. “If I never see one of those things, it’ll be too soon.”

“I’m sure you could handle yourself.” I approach her and feel her forehead. No fever. “Does your nog hurt? Do you have chills?”

“No.”

“What about aches? Do you have those? Could this be The Rades coming on?”

I haven’t perfected the inoculation, only the cure. Still, I don’t want to have to use it on my mate. I want her to remain well.

“It’s not The Rades,” she assures me.

“The exposure…” I frown. “What if the R-levels were too high? What if we’re not as safe as we think?” I walk over to a cabinet and begin rummaging around. “I need to find a test for the—”

“Avrell, stop,” she grumbles.

“If it’s not the R-levels,” I continue, “it could be that Kevin—er, human’s blood. I had it on me when we kissed. Rekk! I’ve exposed you and—”

“Avrell!” She smacks my shoulder. “Look at me.”

I turn to look down at my mate, worry making my stomach twist violently. “I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t,” she murmurs. “Maybe you should try the wegloscan.”

“The wegloscan only…” I trail off, the doctor in me overriding the male. “It’s too soon.”

“The others said—”

“Zoe,” I bite out. “It’s too soon.”

She huffs and rolls her eyes. “You don’t know everything, Avrell. You only know some things. There are other things you can’t possibly know because we’re aliens in case you forgot!”

Insufferable woman.

“I studied the other females. The earliest we knew was…” I count on my fingers as I think. “The wegloscan won’t show it.”

“So you’re not even going to try?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Why not? Is it because…you don’t want this? All that talk about AJ and a family was bullshit? Screw you!”

Fat tears roll down her cheeks as her bottom lip trembles. I grab her shoulders, pulling her close. Resting my nog against hers, I let out a sad sigh.

“I can’t bear a negative result,” I whisper. “It’ll hurt too much.”

She softens and hugs me tight. “Just because you don’t like an answer doesn’t mean you’re supposed to hide from it. Where’s the scientist in you? You don’t get the result you want, you try again. Come on, Av, you’re made of stronger stuff than this.”

She’s right.

I think back to when the females arrived. When I tried to impregnate them with my own seed in my lab only to fail. I’d been devastated because I wanted mortlings so badly. It was unnecessary to also have a mate, at the time, because I didn’t have the type of pull to those females like I do Zoe. Now that she and I want to start a family, I find that same desperation clawing inside me. I’ve always been searching my entire life. It finally feels within reach and I’m worried it’ll be snatched away before I can grasp onto it.

Zoe pulls away and walks over to a cabinet. She retrieves the wegloscan and hands it to me. Then, she lies down on the bed, baring her trim stomach to me.

“My breasts are sore, I’m nauseous, and I’m irritable, Doc,” she says, a teasing smile on her lips. “Are you going to diagnose me?”

My cock twitches in my minnasuit. “You’re always irritable.”

Her middle finger shoots up. “And you’re always a dickhead.”

“I think I should examine your breasts to make sure they’re okay,” I rumble as I approach.

“Filthy doctor,” Zoe says, a wicked glint in her stormy eyes. She slowly unzips the front of her minnasuit, baring her naked flesh to me. “Best hurry before another patient arrives.”

I slide my palm under the material, cupping her mound. My sharp claws roll her nipple around, eliciting a sharp hiss from her. I peel the material to the side so I can see her pert nipple. Leaning forward, I lick it with my forked tongue.

“Tastes normal,” I observe. I bite the flesh hard enough she gasps. Her tangy blood floods my mouth from the puncture of my fangs. “This is going to need some tending.”

She whimpers as I grab the microbots salve. I rub a dollop onto her skin, smearing the blood with the salve. The microbots work quickly to heal her wound.

“I’m going to check you, my lovely patient, and if it’s negative, I’m going to need you to undress so I can treat you.” I run the zipper all the way to her cunt. “You’ll need my massive cock inside you. Over and over, filling you up with my seed. Doctor’s orders.”

She laughs until I touch her clit. “Ohhh.”

With my eyes pinning hers, I rub at the tiny nub. I’ve learned her body and know just how many circles it’ll take to send her over the edge. I tease her, bringing her closer and closer, before gifting my mate with bliss. She relaxes, regarding me with a happy smile that sets my skin on fire.

I need to be inside her.

Right rekking now.

“Slow down, dirty doctor. First things first. Finish your examination before you cure me with your cock.”

I rub at said cock through my suit, loving how she bites on her bottom lip hungrily. “All right. Let’s get this over with.” I turn on the wegloscan and sweep it across her lower stomach near her pelvic bone.

“I love you,” Zoe says.

I drag my eyes from the device to my perfect mate. “I love you too, stormy one.”

Ding.

I stare at the wegloscan in confusion. Green. It’s green, not red. Green means she’s with child.

“Impossible,” I hiss, completely mind-blown.

“Possible.” Her eyes are watery as she smiles at me. “Avrell, we’re going to have a baby.”

I set the wegloscan aside and pounce on my mate, eager to devour her as I rub her stomach reverently.

“Avvy!”

The shrill, panicked screech has me fleeing the medical bay to the navigation pit. Kevin is sitting up, frantically pointing ahead. I rush over to him and gape at the scene ahead.

Fire.

So much fire.

And smoke.

The ship trembles when an explosion goes off. Several of the females in the back cry out in surprise.

Zoe clutches my arm and gasps. “Is that…”

“Get buckled in,” I bark out. “Now. Both of you.”

Zoe and Kevin scramble into their seats as I try to make communication with the Facility. Nothing but static.

Several human army ships zip by, divebombing into the smoke. They pass right by us, clearly assuming we’re with them.

“Avrell,” Zoe chokes out. “What if they’re all dead? We should turn around.”

Another explosion rocks the ship, making more people scream within.

“If there’s a chance they’re still alive down there, we have to try and help them.” I mash a button, sending fire power spraying out in front of us, hitting a ship in the process and sending it hurtling into the smoke. “Hold on. This ride is about to get a whole lot bumpier.”

Epilogue

Galen

Day of the Kevins Attack

A few solars before Avrell arrives…

I’m furious.

Fuming.

Explosive.

If I don’t put distance between me and Breccan, I’m going to knock his nog right off his shoulders.

How dare he keep all that food and seedlings and supplies hostage when we nearly rekking died from starvation? I despaired one revolution in the command center over how we would feed the morts and he let me think the worst. Allowed me to feel as though we had no hope.

We had everything down there.

Everything.

My respect for my commander is at a dangerous low.

I need to leave.

As soon as the idea pops into my nog, I can’t unthink it. I want to pack up and walk away. Take some time away from these people—these morts and their happy mates and adorable mortlings. It’s too much. The familiar rage that always simmers below my surface hisses and burns, threatening to spill over.

The morts are busy herding the females and mortlings into The Reserves, but I couldn’t participate. I’ve been pacing the command center, wondering just what I should be doing to expel this anger.

If Avrell and the others at Exilium weren’t planning to head this way, I’d go in that direction just for change of scenery. But, if I go there, I’ll be all alone.

Maybe that’s what I need.

Space.

“Come in…Can…hear me?” a female calls out.

I storm over to the comms. “Zoe? Is everything okay?”

“Not…Zoe…” Static crackles along the lines. “Speak to human.”

Annoyance rises up inside me. “They’re hiding from the impending Kevin attack so all you have is me. Whether or not you like it, I’m going to be the one helping you. Now, where are you? Who is this?”

No response.

“Hello?” I grind out. “If you’re in trouble, I can help. Let me help you.”

“Fine…we’re in a cave…can see your building…”

“You’re close. What can you see around you so I can find you?”

“…lake…”

Lake Acido is the closest one and there’s a mountain on the other side that I can see from the Facility.

“Are you hurt?”

“No…they’re coming for us. We’ve locked…room.”

“Who? How many of you are there?”

“Two. Me…son…Henry.”

Stella. They thought she and her son were dead.

A loud familiar roar rasps through the line, making both Stella and Henry scream.

Sabrevipes.

They’re trapped in a cave and those hungry rekking beasts are going to get them.

“Hurry!” she hisses.

“Stay hidden. I’m on my way.”

Without wasting a second, I rush through the Facility, throw on my zu-gear, grab some weapons and my pack, and rush out the door. The loud sound of ships arriving above bringing an army of Kevins is the least of my worries.

Stella and Henry need me.

Breccan will think I abandoned them, and maybe in a way I’m eager to do this mission because I’m angry with him. It doesn’t matter, though. All that matters are the two very frightened aliens who will become a sabrevipe meal soon if I don’t save them.

Sabrevipes are relentless creatures. They’ll pursue them until they succeed.

I just can’t let that happen.

Read the epic conclusion to the Lost Planet series in…

THE RUNAWAY ALIEN!

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Disclaimer: By joining The Faction you acknowledge you will be assigned a Mort mate to save the planet Mortuus. You will also be required to take an occupation.

Beware, Mortuus is a dangerous, violent planet where only the brave survive.

About K Webster

K Webster is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her titles have claimed many bestseller tags in numerous categories, are translated in multiple languages, and have been adapted into audiobooks. She lives in “Tornado Alley” with her husband, two children, and her baby dog named Blue. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and researching aliens. Visit authorkwebster.com to learn more.

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About Nicole Blanchard

Nicole Blanchard is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of gritty romantic suspense and heartwarming new adult romance. She and her family reside in the south along with their menagerie of pets. Visit her website www.authornicoleblanchard.com for more information or to subscribe to her newsletter for updates on sales and new releases.

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