Mate Abduction (Alien Abduction #9) - Eve Langlais Page 0,37
rising in his cheeks. “I do not need help in that respect. We were fine until she saw me in warrior mode.”
“And?” his mother asked, genuinely puzzled.
Ishtara understood though. “She couldn’t accept you’re different.”
“I guess.” He shrugged. “She hasn’t said anything, but something’s changed.”
“You don’t think she’s going to stay?” his mother asked.
He shook his head.
“A good thing the ship is almost ready then,” Ishtara crowed, waddling off.
His mother eyed him. “Would you really let her go?”
“I gave her my word.” And he would respect it, even if it meant losing everything.
“A warrior fights for what he wants.”
Something he’d been told since he’d learned to walk. “I shouldn’t have to prove my worth. I am who I am.”
Why couldn’t that be enough?
Fourteen
Enough already. They’d been back at Thyos’s castle less than a day, and Clarabelle was ready to scream. Actually, what she really wanted was to return to that lake and the enjoyable memories she had of it.
Minus the lizard episode.
She was still processing the fact that her lover with the handy tail could shapeshift into Godzilla. A shorter version at least.
She’d just about peed her pants when he dove at that rabid giant dog. It was a blatant reminder of his alien nature. Worse, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. On the one hand, she knew he was still the same man who’d taught her to swim, who made her body sing, who accepted her for who she was.
Why couldn’t she do the same? Why did his tail and differences even matter?
Needing to clear her head, she took her dog for a walk, letting it bound ahead of her as she tried to sort her feelings and come to a decision. She had only a few days left. Stay or go? She’d yet to decide. On the one hand, she liked this planet and could see herself living here. She had a dog, her first-ever pet, and a boyfriend who wanted something more.
On the other hand, she’d set out to find a new home for all of her friends. What happened to wanting to find humans to settle down with? To returning to a familiar way of life?
Then again, how familiar would it be? It had been years since she’d lived on Earth. She’d changed. Could she really go back to a world that didn’t have cool gadgets? To a life that involved getting a job, working to pay bills, living in polluted cities?
Her musing was interrupted as a hover bike suddenly arrived, sending Ralph into a barking fit.
“Call him off!” Thyos yelled.
“Down, Ralph. There’s a good boy,” she crooned, rubbing behind his ears as Thyos joined her. Dressed in very little, she noticed. “What’s up?”
“I’ve received word that a berserker Kulin warrior is slaughtering a neighboring tribe in the landing field.”
“So you’re going to save them?”
He snorted. “And embarrass them? No. But I am curious as to who the Kulin warrior is and why he’s come to our world with a human female.”
The words rocked her. “Hold on a second. He’s got a woman with him?”
“Yes.”
Immediately, she wondered if it was one of her adopted sisters. Had something happened back home and they’d come looking for her?
Was it a stranger? A clue?
She had to find out. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
He had only the one hover bike. She straddled the seat behind him, which made her dog complain.
“Be a good boy,” she advised her pet. “I’ll be back soon.”
Clarabelle held on as they zoomed off.
“What are you going to do when we get there?” she yelled into his ear, because he’d not brought much in the way of defense.
“Discern the warrior’s intentions.”
“Murder from what you’ve told me.”
“It’s only murder if it’s random. Could be he has cause.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then I’ll handle it.”
“Alone?” she asked.
“I’m not alone; I have you,” he said as if it were the most reasonable answer in the world.
It was, and she warmed to know he saw her as his equal.
When they neared the field, he slowed the hover bike. “Let’s come at them from two directions.”
She hopped off, and he zoomed away. She palmed her pistol and knife before heading for the edge of the trees.
The moment she saw the field of battle, she really wished he’d brought backup. The clearing where she’d landed with Ishtara was strewn with bodies, a few of them twitching and groaning. Nothing a few turns in the healing tank wouldn’t fix. Amazing the things they could do in space.
She stepped past one injured