The Alien's Equal (Drixonian Warrior #7) - Ella Maven Page 0,66

of Granit in what Daz had referred to as a base for aircrafts and other military supplies. I pictured a fence with barbed wire and plain army green buildings but when the hatch came to a rest and I got my first look at Corin, my heart leaped into my throat.

I’d thought Torin was beautiful, but it had nothing on its sister planet.

Lush blue trees surrounded us, and tall grass swayed in the breeze. A large circular building, covered in overgrown vines, stood to the side and in the distance, sitting atop a giant crest of land, was a city. Tall buildings coated in an iridescent metal shimmered in the sun, and I could just make out a giant sphere in the center.

They’d built these to last—it’d been one hundred and fifty years—or cycles as the warriors called it—and these buildings looked like they’d been erected yesterday.

Also, in the distance to the right was a curious copse of spikes sticking out of the ground of varying heights, some as tall as twenty feet.

“Devas shrines?” Justined asked from behind me. She held her new pet, a mingo named Mozart she refused to leave behind.

“Yes,” Nero murmured. “I’ll take you there, little bird.”

I would have to ask Daz later what those were. He squeezed my hand, and I looked up at my mate, who was beaming down at me. His flat hand settled over my stomach. “Are you two okay? Ready to take your first steps on Corin?”

Our son kicked his palm in response. He always did that whenever Daz was around, and it never failed to amaze me how he seemed to know his father’s rumble from the womb. My nerves, which had been nearly overwhelming moments ago, calmed. I had all I needed right here. I nodded and smiled. “We’re ready.”

Daz lifted his proud head, and we made our way down the long ramp. When we reached the bottom, I toed off my flats and wiggled the toes of my swollen feet. “Fra-kee?” Daz queried.

“I want to feel the dirt and grass under my toes. See if it feels different than Torin.”

He smiled, and together, we took the very first step onto his home planet. It did, in fact, feel different. It felt like home.

Daz

It had been two dozen rotations since we arrived on Corin, and the amount of work seemed endless. My mate’s pregnancy was nearing the end, and I didn’t like to stray far from our hut, as our chit could come any time now.

Various clavases had split up into the villages that remained surrounding the city of Granit. The females refused to be separated, so the Night Kings all settled in the village where me, Sax, and Nero had been raised—Norjic. The moke tree in the center was still there, taller than ever, and the slashes we’d carved into the trunk’s bark barely visible.

The huts themselves had been a chore to restore. All needed new roofs, but luckily Hap was a master at delegating what needed to done, so I’d put him in charge of that. He’d been efficient with his team of warriors, and only took a few rotations to make the huts livable again while we slept on the warship.

We’d had to chase out several families of moira, who couldn’t seem to understand who and what we were. The wildlife of this planet had taken over, and it’d be a while before we cleared all the buildings of animal droppings.

The women seemed to love the village. They often gathered around the base of the tree to talk and mend clothes. Hap had built them a series of benches and tables, and even a hammock hung from the lower branches. The sight of that brought back memories of alone time with Fra-kee when we’d first talked at Tark and Anna’s after she’d had her implant installed. I caught her a few times running her hands over the netting with a sly smile on her face. Fleck, she was perfect.

I missed her, even now as I walked through the deserted streets of Granit with my brother. Once a busy metropolis, the buildings were now overgrown with numa, and I stayed prepared in case a pivar pack or salibri mother decided to surprise us. Anything could be living in these buildings now. It’d be a long time before we got our city back. There was also still much more of this planet we needed to explore. It was possible some areas had been inhabited by others in our