Page 48 of The Alien Warrior's Mate

“Your what?”

“Our little garden.” She laughed lightly. “And I’m happy. Very happy.”

“I can tell.”

“It’s funny. I fell in love with Rune without being able to understand one word. Which was crazy because back on earth, I thought I’d be single forever. My track record left a lot to be desired.”

“Same here, girl.”

“You dated?”

“Hardly, but what I saw of the dating world made me run back into my room and hide.”

“When I got here, I just… I felt that connection with Rune instantly. At a certain point, it didn’t bother me that he was an alien and I was a human. He was just… the love of my life who happened to have blue skin and a tail. I didn’t evennoticethose things after a while.”

Sara listened to Ga Eun talk about her mate and felt a similar feeling rising within her. It was a certainty that she was meant to be here, that she was supposed to meet Korben.

But still…

Turning to Ga Eun with a lump in her throat, she said, “Earlier… when we were outside, it seemed like you wanted to tell me something.”

Ga Eun’s eyebrows pinched. “It could be nothing.”

“Tell me anyway.”

She sighed. “The Uldimar Raiders, the jelly creatures that abducted you, they have an exclusive contract with the Rulari, but it wasn’t always that way. Before the Rulari bought them over, the Uldimar traded with one other species. The Heronas.” Ga Eun chose her words carefully. “The Heronas and the Plutonians are enemies. Have been ever since the Heronas landed here and tried to take over the planet.”

“I haven’t seen any Heronas so far.”

“That’s because the Heronas and the Plutonian have a tentative truce, but there’s still bad blood on both sides. The wars with the Heronas killed a lot of Plutonian elders. Rune’s dad. Korben’s too, probably. And the Heronas are still kidnapping Plutonians to experiment on them.”

“But what does that have to do with me and Korben?”

Ga Eun paused for a long time. Finally, she said, “Because the Uldimar don’t trade with the Heronas anymore, their access to humans is limited.”

“You think… Korben might trade me to the Heronas?”

“Of course not. He’s one of the good guys. I just… it was just a thought. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Sara’s head reeled and she innately wanted to reject the notion of Korben’s betrayal. Which made her panic even more. If Korbenwasevil, she needed her eyes open. She couldn’t afford to let love blind her in such a dangerous alien landscape.

“Don’t worry. Korben has chosen you as his mate. That means he’ll stay by your side forever.” Ga Eun tilted her head. “The question is… will you trust him and remain by his?”

Sara couldn’t answer that question because she honestly didn’t know.

Twenty

Korben

Rune tappedhis computing machine and his purple eyes darted back and forth. The slap of his fingers against the keyboard interface peppered the heavy silence before it was broken abruptly when Rune wrenched his hands away from the desk.

“I don’t believe you,” Rune said into the stillness.

“Then why did you ask to hear the full story?” Korben grumbled.

“A human hasnevercontrolled a zapten before. It is not possible. It is… I checked Enthara’s bio-tech. She registered an error in her system. She must have… there has to be some other explanation than a human breaking our bio-locks.”

He shook his head. “I was desperate to protect Sah-ah, no matter the cost, but I was too far away. In a blink, Enthara awakened on her own and began to mimic Sah-ah’s movements as if she belonged to her. The Rulari were defeated at Sah-ah’s hand.”

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