Page 142 of I'm Not Your Pet

We showered together.

We lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, our limbs tangled, our personal stars glimmering above.

And inside, my hearts thumped as one.

One, solid, beautiful beat.

For my mate, for my love, for my little huu-man.

The cleverest being in the entire cosmos. The echo of my own heart.

The man that I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with.

The man who had taught me not to be afraid to embrace the unfamiliar. Because sometimes…the things that were most unknown were also the most wonderful.

Three beautiful years had passed since the first day I’d stepped foot on Osheania, and I still couldn’t believe my luck. That I could be here—in this place that belonged in a children’s story book, and not real life.

The skies were a pale mint green. And the grass was pinker than cotton candy. Somehow, even pinker than my mate’s surface was. With a temperate climate, lavender sunsets, and a metropolis full of people so friendly they seemed unreal, this place truly was paradise.

The best part about Osheania had to be how easy it was to find translators. At least—that’s what I told Roark when we’d entered the visitor center to register me and the rest of the humans with the government, and the first thing they’d done was hand us all headsets.

I still wanted the permanent one, like Briar had, and I told Roark as much. To which he’d said he’d “take care of it.”

It was…humbling honestly, his care and devotion.

Especially when it began to sink in that I wouldn’t have to give him up. And that my newfound freedom was mine to keep.

When we’d left the center, it had been with strict orders to visit the Capitol next. The other humans and I needed to turn in our registration so that we could gain the citizenship that would give all of us—the unmated too—access to healthcare and government housing.

Roark and I had been at the head of the procession. And the Sahrks that did not have families of their own on the planet accompanied us. It seemed the crew had become quite attached to the humans during their time on board.

Some had even offered lodgings for a few of them.

It was a long day.

Roark and I hadn’t finished the paperwork till well after what I’d assumed was “midnight.” And by the time we did, most of the humans in the lobby were fast asleep in their seats. The receptionist had been as fascinated with them as most of the Sahrks I’d met had been, and she’d offered us a pile of blankets that we divied out.

The Capitol building wasn’t all that friendly. Which was to be expected. I wasn’t sure what the stone it was carved from was called—only that it reminded me of marble back home. Solid and chilly as Roark and I curled up with the others on the floor, too tired to do more than succumb to sleep.

I didn’t see our new home until after we’d made sure all the humans had places to stay. Permanent places, that were not the cold floor of the Capitol. By the time we’d entered the shuttle that would take us to Roark’s house, we were both running on fumes.

“Huu-goh,” he’d said softly, stroking over my cheek with one, careful claw.

“Mmm,” I’d mumbled, leaning against his shoulder as the city below us sped by. It was my third time in a shuttle—and itwas no less cool than the first—but I was genuinely so fucking exhausted it was hard to maintain excitement.

Tall, round buildings swam beneath us.

W’aevel, the capital of Osheania, where Roark lived was massive. Easily the size of New York City—or maybe larger, if I guessed based on square footage. The buildings were as tall as the ones on Sha’hPihn, but as Ushuu had promised—much friendlier-looking.

Sahrks were kind.

That was the first thing I’d noticed as I was introduced to the population outside our little bubble. Everyone we’d met had been gentle and curious. We were not met with suspicion, despite being the first “aliens” that most people on the planet had ever seen.

Roark told me they didn’t travel often, and that was true.

The reason his vessel was so large was because he was the main—and only—transporter for the tech and birthing pods that were difficult to build on the planet. And those sparkly gems I’d fallen in love with at the mines? Fueled them, among other things. Roark had filled me in with military precision, while we were in the lobby at the Capitol. He’d explained a basic history of the planet, a history of the species as a whole, and why exactly his job was important.

It was all stuff I’d wanted to know—but never had the chance to ask. And I hung on his every word as he filled out the piles of import and citizenship paperwork. Apparently, to immigrate and find asylum on Osheania you needed a sponsor. Roark had offered to sponsor every last one of the humans, but his crew had stepped forward to help.

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