by Maven, Ella
I laughed. “Maybe a little.”
“Never again, Sybil.”
“Okay, Z. I believe you.”
* * *
We laid like that for a long time. The sun dried the sex sweat from my body, and just when I began to worry about sunburn, Zecri stirred beneath me. “We should probably get back before they send a search party after us.”
“Good point. I don’t want to scar Riven when she catches us naked.”
He snorted, and we dressed quickly. Together, we took a step back toward the trail when a dark figure stepped into view, blocking our way. I sucked in a breath at the sight of Wargo’s face sneering at us from beneath her hood. Behind her were at least a dozen guards. I spotted Kilzer’s insect face in the crowd too, glaring at me. We were far enough away from the village they’d never hear us shout, and I could only hope Wargo hadn’t been there first. Fear seized me. Had she found Riven?
Zecri’s hand squeezed mine, and when I glanced at him, I saw nothing but disgust. No fear. Why wasn’t he afraid. “You followed us here, Wargo? I can’t possibly mean that much to you.”
“This isn’t about you,” she sneered. “This is about the young female. Where is she?”
Zecri shrugged.
“The human will tell us the truth, won’t she?” Wargo’s gaze slid to mine. “Take off a finger at time and she’ll let us know where you’re hiding the girl.”
“Go on and search the planet,” Zecri said. “You won’t get her. It’s too late.”
Kilzer stepped forward, a frantic look in his eyes. “Too late? Is she dead?”
“Did you really think it was a good idea to come here?” Zecri asked Wargo.
“Why does it matter? This is an abandoned planet—”
He laughed bitterly. “You should read the Rinian Galaxy news a little more often. This planet isn’t abandoned anymore. It’s crawling with Drixonians.”
For the first time, fear flitted over Wargo’s expression before her face hardened. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll have you both on board before anyone notices you’re gone—”
A loud yell drowned out her words, and then the very trees around us seemed to vibrate. “What—?” Wargo began just as a trio of hover bikes burst into the clearing. Laser fire picked off six guards within seconds. When more bikes arrived, Wargo screeched for them to take cover before turning on a heel to run. But she didn’t get far.
Zecri was on her like panther, yanking her to the ground with a vicious yell before he held up his arm, machets glinting in the sun. He didn’t speak a word, only brought his arm down in a wicked slash that nearly separated Wargo’s head from her body.
Kilzer fell next, a laser bullet hole between his eyes. By the time Zecri dropped Wargo’s body and stumbled back from her bleeding form, the ground was littered with bodies, and three Drixonians—Sax, Xavy, and the large grumpy one, Gar—picked through the fallen to make sure they were all dead.
I had barely had time to be afraid. “Wha—?” I began.
Xavy, who always wore a wide smile, ran his hand through his dark mohawk. “We noticed them creeping around earlier in the rotation. We waited for them to show themselves and make their move. You were never in danger.”
Zecri watched my reaction carefully. I wrung my hands together. “Oh. So, wait, did you see—?”
Xavy raised his hands, palms out. “Not a thing.” But he winked at me in a gesture that was incredibly human.
I narrowed my eyes at him, and he cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he turned to Sax. “I got seven at least.”
“You’re a liar.” Sax roared with laughter. “I got more than half. I also got that big insect guy.”
“No, you didn’t! That was a between-the-eyes shot. My signature.”
“Look, I—”
“Shut up,” Gar growled as he straddled his bike. “You both got three each and I got the rest.” His bike lifted into the air and he roared away.
Sax stared after him with a frown before turning to Xavy. “I got six and you got six. Gar wasn’t here. That’s the story and we’re sticking to it.”
“Sounds good,” Xavy nodded. He gave Zecri a nod. “Get back soon.”
They drove away, leaving the bodies where they lay. Zecri stared down at Wargo one last time before returning to my side. He drew me into his arms. “Are you okay?”
I felt a little hysterical. “I mean, yeah. I’m alive and you’re alive and Wargo and Kilzer are dead. I guess I’m pretty much okay?” Something hurt though, and it took me a moment to realize the irritation was my wrists. Had Zecri gripped them during sex? I didn’t remember that. I pulled out of Zecri’s embrace and rubbed my wrists. When I took my hand away, I let out a gasp. Two black parallel lines were being etched into my skin as if by an invisible tattoo gun.
“Zecri?” My voice came out high-pitched and panicked. When he didn’t answer, I looked up to find him staring at his own wrists. Through his scars, he had the same black lines and once the two lines were closed, a pattern began to form between them, like tattooed wrist cuffs. The lines were messy and wavy, and when they were finished, they glowed a bright white before dulling to a golden yellow.
The pain faded instantly, and I stared at my hands, unable to believe … I knew what these were. They were loks. Rian had showed me hers.
“How…” I began.
Zecri’s gaze shifted to Wargo, and then back to me. “She spilled your blood, which triggered the mate bond. Me killing her locked it in.”
“That’s how it works?”
He nodded before falling to his knees, still staring at his wrists.
I knelt at his side, worried about the shell-shocked look on his face. “Z?”
“Fatas—” he swallowed and tried again. “Rexor said something about how Fatas decides what we are worthy of and chooses our mates based on that. But in my case, I think… I think I had to decide I was worthy before she blessed our mating.” He blinked at me. “Does that make sense?”
Feeling the lump growing in my throat, all I could do was nod. “Yes, Z.” I gripped his face in my hands. “You had to realize you were worthy of happiness first. And when you did, she gifted this to us. Now do you finally see?”
“I do,” he whispered, drawing me into his arms and hugging me so tightly I almost couldn’t breathe. “You, Riven, and me. A family I deserve.”
Epilogue
Sybil
“Don’t you females have something better to do?” Mikko grumbled as he kicked at a pile of wood scraps.
“Nope,” Rian answered, popping the p while lacing her hands behind her head. Lounging on a heap of pillows, she let out a sigh. “This is the life, right ladies? Relaxing, eating good food. Watching our big men sweat as they build things with their hands.”
Daisy bit her lip. “They seem to be doing less building and more swearing.”
“Fleck!” Fenix shouted as he slammed a tool down on his thumb. He sucked the digit into his mouth just as Jenny leapt to her feet and rushed to his side.
“Are you okay?” Her face was scrunched in concern.
Fenix dropped his hand and puffed out his chest. “I’m fine. Barely even hurt.”
Zecri met my gaze, and I held back a giggle as he shook his head in exasperation. His aura crackled in my mind, a series of sparks that showed me was reaching the end of his patience with his warrior brothers.
“Why didn’t you just ask Hap to build this for you?” Rexor asked Mikko.
Immediately Mikko straightened and whirled on his friend. “My chit will be sleeping in this. I don’t trust anyone else to build it.”
“Okay, but Hap knows what he’s doing,” Rex said patiently. “He’s built nearly every piece of furniture in this whole village.”
“My chit. My hands,” Mikko growled before picking up another piece of wood and surveying the poor excuse for a crib they’d managed to cobble together.
“Aren’t you worried that thing is going to collapse on your child, instead of holding your child?”
I asked Rian.
She slid a smirk at me. “Nah, Mikko will huff and puff for a while, then find a way to blame one of the other guys for the failure of said construction, then he’ll march off and find Hap to do it.”
Mikko let out another string of curses and I jerked at the sound of wood splintering. “Um…”
Rian let out a dreamy sigh as she patted her swollen belly. “He’s hot when he’s mad. Plus, he’s going to be all worked up and so when we’re finally alone, he’ll need somewhere for that energy to go, right?” She winked. “He’s been treating me like I’m fragile lately and I’m over it.”
Jennie returned to the blanket where I sat with Daisy and Rian and tugged a pillow into her lap. “One of them is going to lose a finger.” Her voice, while soft, held a nice tone to it. I’d learned she’d lost her voice for a long time due to contracting a virus when she’d first arrived in this galaxy, but it was slowly healing and got stronger every day.
“Do you think they regrow limbs?” Rian asked thoughtfully.
Daisy gasped. “I really don’t want to have to find out the answer to that.”
I patted her hand. “No one is losing a limb.”
“Maybe just a finger,” Rian muttered.
I narrowed my eyes at her, and she ducked her head with a muffled laugh. Rian made life interesting. Well, in all honestly, her and Mikko made life interesting. They were often bickering and then making up, while Fenix and Jennie were just ridiculously sweet together, always cuddling and touching. Rexor was fiercely protective of Daisy and doted on her like she was a queen. I had to admit, Daisy was a total sweetheart, and was easily a village favorite. Everything about her shone, from her hair to her skin.
Riven ran up and flopped down on our blanket, immediately cuddling with Rian, who she’d long ago declared her favorite aunt. Riven reached for my hand and grinned at me. Rian ran her hands through Riven’s hair. “Want to watch the show?”
“What show?”
“Grown men building stuff. Back on Earth, you could pay to watch videos that started like this.”
“How did they end?”
“Well usually an unsuspecting woman would get cat-called and then all the men would—”
“Rian!” I shouted.
She clamped her mouth shut and stared at me with eyes that were meant to be innocent but were far from it. “What?”
I glared. “Seriously? You already had no filter, and your pregnancy hormones haven’t helped.”
“I was going to say that all the men would then defend the woman in a chivalrous way with all their clothes on. The end.”
Jennie snorted into her hand.
“You did it wrong,” Mikko growled. “I told you this goes here.”
Fenix stood with his hands on his hips, nearly shooting lasers out of his eyes at Mikko. “You never said that.”
“I did too.”
“You know what?” Fenix held out his hand.
“Oh no,” Jennie murmured. “Here it comes.”
A flame flickered to life in Fenix’s palm. Mikko’s eyes went wide a split second before Fenix lobbed a fireball at the beginnings of the crib. For a moment there was silence, then the whooshing of fire lit up the small clearing. The crib, or what had been the crib, crackled and burned with flames.
“You flecker!” Mikko hollered.
“Oh, thank Fatas.” Rexor bent over with his hands on his knees. “I’m surprised it took you this long to crack, Fenix.”
Zecri patted Fenix’s back. “Good job.”
“Why are you all on his side?” Mikko cried.
“Yes. Because that thing was a death trap,” Zecri said over his shoulder as he made his way to me.
“Fine, I’ll go get Hap and tell him I was sabotaged!” Mikko stomped off.
Rian turned to us with a grin. “See? Told you.” She reached for Riven. “Help me up, baby girl. I have to go chase your uncle down and relieve his stress.”
“How are you doing that?” Riven asked as she helped Rian to her feet.
“Don’t answer that, Rian,” I warned.
Her cackle was her only answer as she walked away, arm-in-arm with Riven.
Rexor plucked Daisy from the blanket and carried her away as she squealed and gazed at him adoringly.
Zecri lay on the blanket next to me, placing his head in my lap. I fingered his long locks, which were as shiny and gorgeous as always. “Hey you,” I smiled at him in the sun.
“Hey.”
We’d settled into a comfortable life. While I felt closer to the other mates of the stolen warriors, all the human women were fast becoming my close friends. And best of all, I had my family. I’d learned more about the loks that Zecri and I shared, and what they meant. Zecri had said when I’d been struck by Wargo, who’d drawn my blood, that had initiated our bond, but it hadn’t been confirmed until he’d killed her. I believed Fatas hadn’t put her in our path until Zecri was ready to admit he deserved a family just as much as anyone else.
I traced the loks on his wrist.
“I’m impressed none of you killed each other.”
He laughed, and I loved the husky sound. “It wasn’t the first time we disagreed on how to do something. Mikko has mellowed a bit, but now it seems as Rian grows larger with their chit, he gets more unbearable.”
“New dad jitters,” I said.
“Hmmmm,” he let out a contented sigh. “What was Riven like when she was first born?”
“I didn’t have much experience with babies.” Riven had been so tiny and fragile. Every day, I’d been terrified I would break her. “So, I have nothing to compare to, but she was a sweet baby. She smiled a lot. She slept and ate well. Cried only when she needed something. I was really overwhelmed on top of grieving, and I always wondered if she sensed that and took it easy on me.”
“And now? She’s testing boundaries.”
“Yeah, but part of me is happy about that. She’s in a place where she feels safe to push at those boundaries. She trusts us to draw the line where it’s in her best interest.”
“Can I draw the line right at the door of our hut? The other day her and Bazel played a prank on Hap by convincing him Rufus had mated with a salibri.”
“I can’t believe he thought they were telling the truth,” I said.
Zecri narrowed his eyes at me.
I cleared my throat. “You’re right. That was wrong. Very wrong.”
He pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “I see where she gets it.”
“Hey, I don’t like pranks.” I squeezed his fingers. “Don’t worry, Dad. She’ll be fine.”
He blinked his purple eyes at me. “Dad.”
“You are that.”
“Never thought I would be.”
“Never thought I’d be a mom. Or on an alien planet, or have a mate with horns and a tail, but here I am. And I’m happier than I ever thought possible.”
He sat up quickly and pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead before capturing my lips. “Me either,” he murmured. “I have a beautiful cora-eternal, and I’m a father to a great chit.”
“Is it what you dreamed of?”
“Is it the dream you dreamed for me?”
I nodded.
He smiled. “It’s better than any dream I could have come up with. Thanks for my perfect reality, Syb.”
I felt something cool slide onto my finger. I jerked back to see that he’d placed a wide metal band on my ring finger on my left hand. “Wha—?”
“I talked to Daisy.” He ran the pad of his thumb over the decorative grooves on the ring. “She told me how to propose. I made this ring and tried to match it to our loks.” My mouth went dry as I studied the jewelry. “You said you wanted to plan a wedding. So will you plan ours? Be my mate, Sybil. Forever.”
My eyes blurred with tears. He’d remembered what I’d wanted to do, and he was giving it to me along with his promise to be with me forever. “Z,” I whispered.
He grinned, clearly pleased with himself, and the sparks
of his aura shimmied and winked happily in my mind. “Is that a yes?”
I threw my arms around him. “Of course it’s a yes. I’m going to plan the most fun wedding. A huge celebration. “We’ll pick our colors, and send invites, and plan a dinner menu and—”
His beautiful laughter cut off the rest of my words. “Whatever you want, Sybil. Plan the wedding of your dreams.”
“I will,” I smacked a kiss on his lips that was wet with my happy tears. “Because I’m loved by the man of my dreams.”
Thank you so much for reading Zecri and for all the support for my Stolen Warriors! Get a FREE story in the Stolen Warriors universe: TRAWN be downloaded HERE. It can be read before, during, or after any books in this series.
Curious about Daz, Frankie, and the rest of the Drixonian Crew on Corin? Check out my complete Drixonian Warrior series!
Also available as a boxed set with bonus content!
Available in KU
Curious about what’s next? The Mates of the Kaluma will be coming out in June. Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter so you don’t miss the release!
Ella Maven Newsletter
Also, join my readers group to get all the latest news!
Ella Maven’s Haven
Acknowledgments
I am so grateful for how this series has been received. I know a lot of readers want me to continue the Stolen Warriors series, and I may in the future! So keep in touch. :)
Thank you to Natasha Snow who really brought Zecri to life with this cover. You create amazing art and I don’t know what I’d do without you!
Thank you to my editor, Del, who always comes through for me.
And thank you to my readers, especially those in my Haven, who make this job the best job in the world. I hope my books give you a real world escape for a while. <3
About the Author
