Page 95 of The Alien Warrior's Mate

“You see,” Ziag stepped closer to him, “we are not so different, Korben.”

“How is that so?”

“You mated this disgusting human female to save your species, did you not? Now, I will steal your mate and save mine.”

Sah-ah’s fear zapped through his neural connector and pressed heavily on him. Her breath turned shallow. “Korben…”

“It’s alright, Sah-ah.”

“Come,” Ziag snapped at her.

She remained still.

“Did you not hear me, you puny human? Come here!”

Sah-ah glanced in his direction.

Korben shook his head.

Trembling with rage, Ziag swung the gun on him. “If you don’t listen, I will shoot—”

Korben rushed Ziag. The gun went off and he ducked, ramming into the Heronas. They smashed against the wall, each struggling to gain the upper hand. Ziag was a skilled fighter, but Korben had a mate to protect and righteous anger in his venas.

Soon, he had Ziag on the ground as he punched him over and over.

“Korben!” Sah-ah screamed. “The guards are coming!”

He thrust Ziag’s head against the dirt and climbed off him, wiping the Heronas’s blue blood from his knuckles.

“You need to kill me now, Plutonian.” Ziag laughed. “Kill me now because, if you don’t, I will kill your mate and everyone you care about.”

Korben’s lip curled up in a sneer.

Sah-ah tugged on his arm. “We need to leave.Now.”

“Do you hear me, Plutonian?” Ziag strained to sit up and glared at him. “I will come for you.”

“And I’ll be waiting.” Turning away from the Heronas, Korben threw Sah-ah on top of Enthara’s back and clamored after her.

There was no time for stealth. With the Heronas guards so hot on their tail, Korben gave Enthara free rein to cause mass destruction. With glee, the zapten straightened to her full height and busted through the walls, causing the ground to shake and rocks to crumple from the ceiling.

His interface lit up and Clavas’s bruised face appeared before him. “Korben, we are outside. Where are you?”

“We’re almost there,” Korben said.

Enthara broke through one last wall, her metal body slamming viciously into the barricades. The moment they were outside, Korben instructed her to take flight.

They were air-borne in a second.

Sah-ah’s hands wound tightly around his waist and she buried her face in his back. He stroked her finger, grateful that they had gotten out alive but worried about Ziag’s warning. Now, the Heronas knew that he had humans in his care. They knew that he had taken on a human mate. They would stop at nothing to take Sah-ah from him.

Sah-ah stroked his arm. “Hey. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“You were in my head,” he said roughly.

“You’re in mine too.” She smiled. “You saw how I beat up those guards. I was super cool. You have to admit.”

“Yes, but without the exoskeleton…”

---