by Presley Hall
Droth calls a meeting, summoning Axen to his side and telling him to spread the word. I put the word out among the human contingent, and ten minutes later, both parties are gathered around me and Droth in a tight cluster.
My gorgeous warrior casts an expectant look at me. I take a deep breath and then take a step forward.
“The Voxerans have to return to their village,” I say. “It’s safer there, and they have friends who are waiting for them. I’m going with them.”
The silence that follows that pronouncement makes me even more nervous, so I talk faster.
“I trust all of these men completely. This is a prison planet, but unlike Churbac and his band of raiders, Droth and his men were sent here for nothing more than the crime of trying to stand up to a vicious, tyrannical ruler. They have been nothing but honorable and generous. And I think… I think you should all come with us too. Droth has told me you’re all welcome in his village, and I promise they can keep us safe.”
Chatter breaks out as I stop speaking. Some of the women look almost relieved, and that gives me hope. We should stick together, and what better way to stay safe than to join with a bigger group of people? Especially a group of seasoned warriors, led by a prince whom I trust all the way down to my very bones.
“You say that like we need protection.” Raina moves to the front of the crowd, her hands on her hips. “If you haven’t noticed, we’re the ones with the blasters.”
“Yes, but they need fuel cells to function,” I tell her, keeping my voice even. “After the fight yesterday, supplies are already low. Just one more attack by raiders like Churbac and his gang, and there’ll be none left. There’s no way off of this planet, so we need to think long term. And long term, your chances of survival will be much better if you come with us. Please.”
“We are honor-bound by our ancestors to treat our allies with the highest consideration,” Droth adds. “You have my word that you will all be treated very well.”
“No offense,” Raina shoots back, “but we’ve been abducted by our own government and sent into space for the sole purpose of being fuck-puppets for a bunch of aliens in exchange for goods. Most of us weren’t exactly in a position to trust anyone before they abducted us, so forgive us for wanting to see some action before we believe your words.”
He nods. “By every one of our actions, we will show you that our intentions are honorable. And if you choose to come with us, we will not bind you to that choice. If there ever comes a time when you decide you no longer wish to live among us, you will be free to go.”
Raina blinks at him, seeming a little thrown off by Droth’s words and his obvious sincerity. I can tell that it took the wind out of her sails a bit, and I hide a small smile behind my hand.
She seems to be one of the most opposed to the idea of coming with us, so if she’s wavering, that bodes well for the others.
A few other hands pop up, women tossing out questions or concerns, wanting to know what the village is like and how far away it is. Droth and I answer every one of them, with his men throwing in a few comments here and there.
I also tell the women about the escape pod, although I’m careful to mention what Droth told me about how dangerous it could be to try to leave the planet. Between the rings and the fact that getting caught by the solar council would pretty much be death sentence, it would be a huge gamble to try to pilot a ship off Nuthora. I know Droth would’ve done everything he could to keep me safe if I’d wanted to leave, laying down his own life if he had to. But now that I understand more about the risks, I’m grateful I never put him in the position of having to make that choice.
None of the other women seem interested in trying their luck in the escape pod either. The wormhole that brought us here may not even be open anymore, and the idea of trying to navigate back to Earth alone in a tiny vessel seems to terrify most of them. So after a brief discussion of the pod, the conversation turns back to whether or not to join Droth and his men in their village.
Elizabeth is the first to speak up in favor of joining us, and I shoot her a grateful look. She smiles at me, giving me a nod.
Honestly, I know she didn’t say it just to have my back. She’s smart and savvy, and she got to know Kaide a bit better while they were working on healing Droth’s injuries. She’s probably realized that there’s safety in numbers—especially if some of that number includes muscular, spear-wielding warriors.
After several long minutes of heated debate, the rest of the women start to get on board too. I see Sadie in the back of the group shaking her head, but in the hubbub of voices, I’m not sure if she actually speaks up. And when Elizabeth raises a hand to call for quiet and then takes a vote, every single hand goes up—including Sadie’s and Raina’s.
So that’s it. They’re all coming with us.
I’m glad. Relieved. I would’ve felt so guilty if anything happened to these women, even if it’s not my job to protect them.
We’re all we have left.
This group of women may be the last humans I’ll ever know. We need to stick together.
“Good.” Droth smiles broadly, and I notice several of the warriors smile too—except Jaro, who never seems to smile. “We’ll spend the next day, two at the most, stripping the ship. Then we’ll carry the most valuable pieces back to the village with us. There will undoubtedly be things we’ll have to leave behind, but I can send another party out to pick up the remainder once we’ve made you all safe at our encampment.”
Thanks to his men, and the work the women did while I was gone, the stripping has already started. He splits his warriors into teams, and Elizabeth and I do the same with the women, letting them fall into natural groups to work together as we hand out assignments.
Everyone splits up, and the clearing around the ship hums with the sound of voices as people get to work.
The day passes quickly, and when I stop to take a break in the afternoon, I stand a little off to one side of the clearing, marveling at how quickly the humans and Voxerans have begun adjusting to each other.
That’s good.
I’m sure there will be a lot more adjusting that will need to happen when we get back to the village and start to truly settle in, so starting from a positive place will only help make the transition easier.
“Charlotte.”
Droth’s voice is low and warm, almost a purr. I startle a little when he wraps his arms around me from behind, then my body melts against his. It’s an instinctive reaction, something that’s happened almost since the moment I met him, but it means so much more now that I know him.
Now that I know how worthy he is of my love and trust.
I turn around in his embrace, wrapping my arms around his neck and trailing my fingertips over the bare skin of his shoulder. I have to admit, I don’t hate the fact that my mate wears a loincloth. It means he’s practically naked at any given moment, and my greedy hands and eyes love it.
“You’re happy.” He gazes down at me with warm eyes, brushing the back of his hand along my cheek.
“I am happy,” I agree, tracing the markings along his upper arm and watching them glow softly in the wake of my touch.
He furrows his brows. “Did you not expect that they would agree?”
“I wasn’t sure. I hoped they would, and I’m really glad they all got on board. Even though I don’t know any of these women well, I care about them.” I stop and think for a moment, then add, “But that’s not the only thing that’s made me happy.”
“What else?”
Looking up into his eyes, I purse my lips, struggling to find a way to articulate what I’m feeling. Even after the translator chip made it possible for me and Droth to communicate, some things still seem almost too big for words.
“I thought that my life was over when the ship crashed on this strange planet,” I say slowly. “But I was wrong. So damn wrong. It wasn’t the end. It feels like… it was just the beginning.”
He nods slightly, cupping my chin between
his thumb and forefinger as he gazes down at me. “I thought the same. After our banishment, I was angry and disheartened. I didn’t let myself lose hope for the sake of my men, but I…” He takes a deep breath. “I never thought I would find true happiness again.”
“I never expected this,” I murmur, emotion swelling inside my chest. “I never expected you.”
As if he can tell I’m not finished speaking, Droth stays quiet, letting me sift through my thoughts before I get them out. He’s so patient. It’s one of the many things I love about him.
“You asked me if I wanted to go home, but I’m already there.” I slide my fingers through the thick hair at the nape of his neck, relishing the way his eyelids droop at my touch. “Home is where you are, Droth.”
“My kira. You are everything I will ever need.” The smile he gives me is the biggest one I’ve ever seen on him.
And when he kisses me, I know deep in my soul that my words were true.
I’m home.
We both are.
Epilogue
Sadie
I thought the hardest I ever worked was during the fourteen hour days on set back when I was shooting Dear Sister.
Turns out, being stranded on an alien planet is a whole lot harder than being a child actor on a sitcom.
My body is sore all over, feet tender from walking around in just the thin shoes I woke up in, and muscles aching from lifting and carrying things—not to mention fighting off the raiders who tried to attack us yesterday. I’d love nothing more than a hot bath and a glass of wine, my go-to de-stressors when I can feel my anxiety getting bad. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely that I’ll be able to enjoy either of those things anytime soon. Or ever again.
Grimacing at the effort, I work to pry open a panel set into the wall of one of the rooms on the ship.
The spaceship.
The alien spaceship.
If I think about any of those words too long, the panic that I’m constantly trying to push down bubbles up in my chest, so I don’t let myself focus on them.
Breathe in through your nose. Out through your mouth.
Letting go of the panel, I let my lungs fill and empty a few times, counting my breaths. I haven’t lost control of my emotions again since I ran from the ship that first day we woke up on this alien planet. I felt so awful that my terror was what ended up getting Charlotte snatched away by a giant bird, and the guilt of being responsible for her presumed death was like a weight on my shoulders.
In the aftermath of that, I promised myself I wouldn’t let my anxiety rule me, and even now that I know she’s alive, I’m still sticking to that.
I won’t let my anxiety win.
I won’t let my fear win.
It’s hard though. Half of the coping mechanisms I developed on Earth don’t really work here, and I still have nightmares about waking up in the pod with no idea where I am or what’s happened.
In my nightmares, though, instead of seeing Charlotte’s face peering down at me, I see his face.
The man who haunted me back on Earth and has still somehow managed to find his way into my dreams even though I’m who-knows-how-many light years away from my home planet.
Don’t think about him, Sadie.
I shake my head as if I could dislodge memories that are permanently imprinted on my brain and get back to working on the panel. I think the metal got bent or something when the ship crashed, because it should pop right open, but it refuses to.
Dozens of these panels line the wall, hiding cubbies where a random assortment of items are stored. Some of them are empty, and I have a sneaking suspicion this is one is too, but the only way to know for sure is to get it open.
Even though we chased the raiders away, everyone seems to think it would be a bad idea for us to hang around too much longer in case they come back. With a tight timeline, we’ve all been working hard to gather what we can before we leave, and I was assigned the task of sorting through a mostly empty storage room to make sure there’s nothing worth taking.
Thrilling work, truly.
“Come on, you son of a bitch,” I growl, prying at the metal with my fingertips. They’re already sore from doing this with several other similarly stubborn panels. “Open, damn you.”
When it refuses to answer my plea, I stand up from where I’ve been crouching near the low-set panel and deliver a swift kick to the metal. It doesn’t accomplish much besides making my toes hurt just as much as my fingers, but I do feel marginally better.
Honestly, I’m just taking out my frustrations on an inanimate object. I’ve felt restless and unsettled ever since that impromptu meeting that Droth and Charlotte called earlier.
Because the truth is, I don’t really want to go back with the alien men. I don’t want to leave the wreckage of the spaceship, and I don’t want to live in their village. I said as much when Charlotte invited us all, but I’ve gotten so used to blending into the background and staying under the radar that I’m not sure anyone but the women closest to me even heard me.
And it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d shouted anyway.
No matter how loud I spoke, I would’ve been outvoted. When it came right down to it, even the women who don’t quite trust the Voxerans wanted to go.
I can see the benefits of having a bigger group, I really can. It’s just that… we don’t know them, and even if we did, how could we be sure we can trust them?
Yes, they helped with the raiders, but anyone would do that if they thought they were getting something out of the deal. In this case, it’s a scrapped ship and a bunch of women.
Still, Charlotte trusts them, and I trust her. She and Elizabeth are the ones responsible for rescuing me and the other kidnapped women from the sleep pods the government put us in. And she’s one hundred percent on board with these Voxeran guys.
Hell, she’s sleeping with one of them.
That part of all of this creeps me out a little, to be honest. Not the fact that she’s sleeping with an alien man, exactly. I mean, they’re mostly humanoid, and they’re all tall and muscular, so I can understand the attraction.
I think what unsettles me is that she’s not just sleeping with the guy, she seems to really care about him. She seems to be in love with him.
Our ship crashed on Nuthora or whatever this place is called less than a week ago, so I know she hasn’t known the guy longer than that. And I was there when they got the translator chips implanted and spoke to each other for the first time.
Yesterday.
How the hell could she have developed feelings for the guy so fast?
It doesn’t make sense to me. And as a general rule, things that don’t make sense—things I can’t control—freak me out. My therapist back on Earth told me that’s totally normal for someone who’s experienced the kind of traumatic event I have and felt a visceral loss of control like I did.
So maybe my problem with this whole “going to live with the Voxerans” plan isn’t just that I don’t trust the aliens. Maybe it’s that I don’t trust any of this.
It’s all been a lot to handle, and it only got more complicated when the men joined us.
Wrinkling my nose, I give the door panel another solid kick—not out of frustration this time, but because I’m hoping it’ll help loosen the latch.
No dice.
“They’re not designed to open that way. Force won’t do it.”
The voice behind me startles me, and I let out a yelp as I whip around, my blonde hair flying out around my head.
Then I freeze. An alien man is standing in the doorway, so tall and broad-shouldered that he almost crowds it. He’s looking at me with intense green eyes. The pupils are slightly oval shaped, almost more reminiscent of a cat’s than a human’s, and I find myself unable to look away as our gazes lock.
“Oh,” I mutter, barely remembering that he said something about the panels. “I didn’t know.”
He doesn’t respond. For another long, uncomfortable second, we just stare at e
ach other. Then he steps inside the room.
Automatically, I back away, making sure there’s a good amount of distance between us as he crosses toward the panel I was just working on. He shoots me a glance, his brows dropping low over his emerald eyes as if he can’t quite understand my reaction. Then he shakes his head, turning his attention to the panel.
He pulls a knife from a small belt that wraps around his loincloth, slipping the edge of the blade between the panel and the wall. He jiggles it slightly, and a second later, the panel pops open.
I take a half step closer, craning my neck a little to peer inside without getting too close to him.
Empty.
Figures.
“Um, thanks,” I murmur quietly.
I’m not exactly sure why he stepped inside the room to help me, or what he was doing lingering in the doorway in the first place. Was he watching me?
Shoving the thought away as a remnant of my old paranoia, I clear my throat. Just because you had one stalker, that doesn’t mean everyone is stalking you.
Maybe this guy—Jaro, I think his name is—was just passing by and saw me struggling. If I were a normal girl, I’d probably be grateful. Maybe even impressed by how quickly he got the thing open and the easy way he handled the knife.
Instead, I’m looking for ulterior motives and making them up when I don’t find any.
“Really,” I say again, trying to make my voice sound more normal, although I still keep some distance between us. “Thanks. That was a particularly tricky one. I’ve been at this for an hour, and I’m still less than halfway done.”
I gesture to the bank of unopened panels I have yet to even touch.
Jaro looks where I’m pointing and nods, giving a low grunt. His gaze flicks back to my face, and then down to my fingers. I look at them too, realizing they’ve gone bright pink with the effort of my labor. My fingertips are throbbing lightly.
