Tamed By the Alien Pirate by Celia Kyle Page 0,56

it is a he.”

“Wait… you think Num might be a girl?”

I laugh and shake my head.

“I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying that perhaps classifying Num’s sex is murky territory at best given that I know so little about his species.”

“Yeah, Priestess Alru gets tight lipped every time I try to ask here where he came from. Sometimes I get the feeling she doesn’t know.”

“He’s a courageous creature, no matter if he sits or stands to pee.”

We both glance at Zander, who frowns in response.

“What?”

“Anyway,” I say, rolling my eyes at my own fated mate, “I hope he does well. In order to help him recover I had to inundate him with a large amount of energy at once, perhaps more than his physiology can handle.”

“He’s back on the PN2 right now, napping with my mate, Dotty. I think he’s going to be fine, really. He’s pretty much indestructible.”

“I would that were true. I’m still not sure what means Dr. Mal used to drain his energy and force him into a pure matter state, and his genome determination factors and paired alleles are nothing short of discombobulating. Perhaps if I could have a tissue sample…”

I realize everyone is staring at me with either bored or confused expressions, and I close my mouth.

“At any rate, I’m happy he’s all right.”

“He is, thanks to you.”

We shake hands, and then he goes back to speak with Brax. They will likely return to their ship soon enough; it seems they are in high demand these days, with so many galactic factors at play.

Solair moves over to me and Zander and puts his arms akimbo, favoring us with his famous easy smile.

“I could not be prouder of the two of you. It’s not often we owe our victory to a haphazardly constructed star fighter and its intrepid crew.”

Zander puffs up his chest a bit, though his words belie his plain-to-see pride.

“It was nothing, Captain. I’m sure anyone else with an extensive background in the battle sciences would have done the same.”

He turns and favors me with a wide grin.

“Truth to tell, Thrase is the real hero here. If not for her cleverness and resurrection of the Num creature, victory would have almost assuredly been impossible.”

“Almost?” I arch a brow at him until he wilts. But I let him off the hook soon enough. “Relax, Zander. It took both of us, or should I say all of us.”

I gesture at the combined Kilgari and Contra crew.

“It’s a reminder that when good folk of all races stand together, there’s no limits to what we can achieve. That’s why we’re going to win against Project Blue Dawn and the Earth First movement behind them. While they seek to divide, we seek to unite.”

Solair’s mouth gapes open.

“I’m totally stealing that.” He jabs a finger at me and grins. “Well said, Thrase.”

Solair turns to Zander and his brows come low over his eyes.

“You’d better treat your jalshagar right, Zander. Or else you’ll have a lot of people to answer to.”

My heart soars at his words. For the first time, I really feel like I’m a part of this crew… no, a part of this family.

Solair’s comm crackles and he glances down at where it hangs on his belt.

“Solair?”

He snatches it up and speaks into it.

“I’m here, Doctor Nicari. What’s up?”

“It concerns Lokyer.”

Solair’s grin fades, and his eyes grow dark with worry.

“I thought you said he would fully recover.”

“And he will. I only meant to tell you I deem him able to accept visitors now, though I must insist you don’t overtax him.”

“Copy that, Doctor.”

Solair raises his gaze to encompass the entire cargo bay.

“Who wants to go with me to visit Lokyer in the sick bay?”

Literally the entire crew, it turns out. Solair has to insist we form a line because Dr. Nicari refuses more than a handful of people entry at a time. On the way to the sick bay, Zander reaches out for my hand. I place it in his grasp and smile warmly. I’m no longer afraid of what people might think of me.

I’m in love with my fated mate, and that’s nothing to fear or be embarrassed about. Though I do feel a little bit of shame for going on for so many months about hormones and biochemical reactions. If this adventure has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t always break things down into understandable components. Some things that happen in the galaxy are both surreal and sublime, and for the first time I think