Page 9 of Charmed By the Alien Warrior

Great start, Mara,I think, staring up at the ceiling.

Chapter 3

Sorrin

The smile that usually graces my face dims and I wonder for a moment if I have done something to upset the female named Mara. But then I shrug. The humans are strange, and their ways are unlike anything I’ve ever encountered in my life.

They are not like us Laediriians. Not like the males of our species or the females who ceased to exist generations ago. Which is understandable since they are not even from our galaxy. But that does not lessen my confusion at their strangeness.

And, if I am honest with myself, it does not lessen my fascination either.

Their dull coloring should seem lackluster when compared to the vibrant hues of our skin. But instead, it only seems to highlight the softness of their features, the delicate roundness of their faces. Their skin, devoid of the camouflage abilities and protective ridges of my people, looks impossiblysmooth, almost fragile. The round orbs on their chests and the plump curves of their backsides are peculiar, yet my eyes are drawn to them as though by some unseen force.

It is a most curious feeling, and one which I am not really accustomed to.

Our females were nothing like these humans. Not that I have ever seen a Laediriian female in person—they perished long before my time. But I have seen illustrations of them in the manuscripts that are stored on the Ancestor’s Ship. They were tall like the males of our kind with bodies roped with muscles and ridges. Their chests, flat except when nurturing kitlings, were a practical design by nature, devoid of the unnecessary softness the humans possess. The humans appear frail and sickly in comparison.

And yet, my gaze seeks the humans out. Or, more truthfully, one human in particular.

Mara.

She is a soft being with hair that almost appears to change colors – brown like the fur of a dicro, but with flames of red when the sunlight hits her mane. Exactly like the fire in her spirit that she keeps tightly banked. Her rounded eyes sparkle green like the fluttering of leaves on a warm day when I’ve spied her laughing with the other humans. But in quiet moments, her lively eyes darken and become distant as if she has been transported somewhere far away.

When the small female raised her hand and volunteered to assist in the search for the other humans, I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been.

Despite their soft frames, these humans harbor strength and tenacity that I admire. Draggar, the first warrior of our tribe,is mated to one of the females, and he has recounted tales of Haley facing down a tiniio, one of the many beasts on our planet, armed only with a rock and a small stick.

I was part of the group sent to the humans’ crashed vessel. A shudder runs through me when I think of the scene we found when finally reached the wreckage, to discover the females crowded inside and bravely fending off two viscious anurois with small spears. If my fellow warriors and I had arrived even a moment later, the foul beasts would have torn them apart.

Yet, I do not think Mara likes me or the people of my tribe very much. She watches us with distrust, as if she expects us to turn our swords on her at any moment. But that would be unthinkable. Does she not know we would lay down our lives to protect her? That no warrior in our tribe would dare harm her?

Even though these females are not of our species, they are a part of our tribe, now. We will honor them as we would have honored our own females had they survived. That is our way.

Pushing my thoughts aside, I quickly make my way back to the center of the village, heading to the chief’s hut. As I step inside the council room, Draggar, seated at the far end of the table beside his mate, waves me over. His usual stoic expression is softened, his silver eyes briefly flicking toward me and then the doorway behind me, as if he is counting how many warriors have arrived.

I stride to his side, nodding to a few of the other males gathered around the long table. Most of the volunteers are already present, along with two of the elders who serve on the Council. Haley sits beside her mate, her small figure relaxed as she leans her head close to the female beside her, their whispered words reaching my ears.

“Something’s going on with Em,” Isabella, the other human says.

“You arrive with the shadow of the chief, Sorrin,” Draggar murmurs as I sink down onto my seat beside him.

“I arrive when I mean to,” I reply with a grin.

His jaw tightens with irritation, and he leans closer to me. “You joke, but this is not a routine hunt. There is more to this than you know.” His voice is low and clipped as if he doesn’t want anyone to hear his words.

“More? Are we expecting anurois to be waiting to ambush us? Or a herd of tiniio?”

Draggar’s gaze darts around us to ensure no one else is listening, then back to me. “I believe there’s a traitor in our tribe.”

The grin slips from my face. “A traitor? Working with the Pugj?”

“And the Tussoll,” he says grimly, “perhaps even the Xeniiv.”

My muscles tense at his words.

We only recently learned that the Pugj have become friendly with one of our neighboring tribes, the Tussoll. And we have no idea why, but it can be nothing good.

The Tussoll, formerly our allies, have helped to spread lies about our tribe that we have been poisoning the land of a different tribe to starve them. Draggar found out about it when he came upon a desperate young Xeniiv hunter poaching on our territory because there was no food on his own land with the newly appointed chief of the that tribe spending a lot of timewith the Tussoll. And now, with the arrival of the humans, it seems like the strange goings-on on this planet are escalating.

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