is your home planet?”
His Bride bit her full lip.
“I just want to get to know our future sister better,” his brother explained.
Zayzon let out a heavy sigh. “It’s okay. The problem is my Bride thinks she’s protecting us by not giving us any information about herself.”
“Protecting us from who?” Trunk asked.
He shrugged. “I have no idea. She won’t tell me.”
“I can’t tell any of you,” Lila answered with a rough voice. Her tiny hands were fisted at her sides and her dark eyes flashed with emotion. “That is sweet of you, Chief, to want to know me better, but I’m not Zayzon’s Bride and I need to keep all of you safe while I’m here on Timbur for the next moon cycle. To do that, I can’t tell you anything about me or my past. The less you know, the better.”
They let out collective growls.
He waved a claw at her. “This is why she denied me. She says she’s not free to mate with anyone because there’s something or someone dangerous she’s hiding from.”
“What is it?”
“She won’t say. She thinks she needs to protect all of us from whatever is threatening her by keeping it secret.”
“She thinks she needs to protect us?” Chief asked with a comically exaggerated look of confusion on his face.
His other brothers chuckled. Zayzon’s lips twitched. It really was hilarious.
His Bride stamped her foot. “You guys, it’s true. Zayzon, I can’t tell any of you the truth about me. What you don’t know won’t hurt you.”
“Zayzon? Claws, why does your Bride call you by your birth name?”
“I told her to use my birth name. She’s my mate. Only my mother and my mate will call me this. All others will call me by my crew name.”
They nodded.
“I’m right here, you know,” his female gritted. “I can speak for myself.”
“Well, tell us then, why won’t you test compatibility with Claws?” Scar asked. “He’s scented you. We all have this same ability. When we entered the house last night and noted that the door was unlocked, we stormed inside thinking to find armed intruders, but the compound was quiet, not a thing out of place. And Claws immediately noted a scent none of the rest of us could smell. He followed it to his quarters and found you asleep on his bunk. He declared that you were his mate.”
His Bride turned her head to meet his gaze, surprise etched across her features.
“I told you this,” he responded.
“I know, but hearing it from them brings it into sharper focus.” She shook her head. “I’m not totally against clasping claws with Zayzon and testing mating compatibility someday in the future. It’s just that right now, for the next moon cycle, I can’t commit to anyone. This is terrible timing.”
Zayzon stood taller, his chest expanding with pride. His female wasn’t opposed to testing? It was simply her circumstances. He had been right. She was admitting it.
“Well, at least when she was in trouble, she had the good sense to run directly to you,” Chief noted.
“True,” Zayzon answered.
His Bride rolled her eyes. “It was completely random. The assass—” Then she tightened her lips and gave them all a mulish stare.
“Assassin?” he questioned. “Is that what you were going to say?”
She blew out a breath. “I was helped to come up with a plan for escape and I’m working my plan. I’m taking care of myself. Right now what I need is a place to hide, off the grid, for the next moon cycle.”
“What happens at the end of one moon cycle?”
His Bride pursed her lips, refusing to answer. So he gave them the little information he had. “Minecorp has given us one moon cycle to finalize my claim on this female.”
His brothers nodded.
“Also, at the end of one moon cycle I will turn twenty-one years old,” his female admitted.
He crooked a ridge at her, surprised to find out how young she really was.
“You’re just a baby,” Scar grumbled. “So very young.”
“Finally, someone who is younger than me,” Rook laughed. “I’m not the youngest anymore.”
“What happens when you turn twenty-one?” Chief asked.
His Bride again refused to answer.
“Well, you will stay here,” Zayzon said. “No matter what the circumstances, this is your home.”
His Bride smiled. She bent and picked up an ancient bot working near her feet. It looked like it was about to fall apart, but for some reason she found it “adorable.”
“Thank you for letting me stay. I appreciate that and it gives me peace of mind, but actually I can’t just