Page 26 of The Alien Warrior's Heart

Bringing her back to his tribas was not an option either. If he handed Si-Moon off to Korben, she would land right back into the Heronas’s hands.

I need to mate her.

Yes, but how would he do that when her glares were sharper than the dagger that tore out of his skin? How could he pump her full of his seed if he could not decide if he wanted to hug her or shake her for her stubbornness?

In all his sun cycles, Zar had never felt this much conflict. This much hesitation.

Since his father’s passing, he’d had space in his heras for only one thing—rage. It pounded and twisted and shaped him into a being unrecognizable to the Zar of his past. He would admit it freely. He saw it bluntly.

Death could not come quickly enough.

And now, here he was, worried deeply about—not his mortality—but hers.

If anything happened to this female, he would…

Zar knew not.

Only that it would end in many Heronas heads on stakes.

Something vibrated beneath his hand. Si-Moon went stiff, her eyes freezing on a point just overhead and her hand lifting into the breeze to balance over her stomach. The human snapped something to him in her earthen tongue.

Zar would have let it pass, but he felt the rumbling again. Glancing down, he noticed Si-Moon wincing. The vibration had come from her stomach.

She is hungry.

Annoyance washed over Zar. Of course she was. Who knew when she had last eaten before she was dragged into the Heronas dungeon and tossed into that cell with him? Where was his head? He should have offered her a meal long ago. What if she had fainted because of his inattentiveness?

Gritting his teeth, Zar quickly scouted a safe place for them to rest. They were far from the nearest damas, but he simply needed shade and a place to sit.

To be honest, Zar was feeling the effects of their journey as well. Adrenaline had carried him through their break from the Heronas prison. It was only his immense protective instincts toward Si-Moon that carried him through the Rulari attack.

Now, he was drained.

If his enemies descended, his body would give out and he would perish. Without the Healer, he could only find temporary means of rejuvenation. If they lost the most important member of their species, every Plutonian would eventually suffer these effects.

But he would not allow himself to think on that. If he perished, all would be lost anyway. And then who would protect Si-Moon?

In the distance, Zar spotted a thick huddle of foliage. He pointed Garbas in that direction and landed near apithbush. Before his zapten had properly descended, Si-Moon popped out of his arms and scrambled on the grass, flinching in embarrassment.

Zar pressed his thumb against the biometric lock to shut the zapten’s engine and growled at the exasperating human. “You wish to run away from me?”

Instead of speaking, she folded her arms over her chest and turned away. Zar heard her stomach answering for her in the quiet that followed.

His lips tugged up.

This female…

Rummaging through his case, he pulled out a block of tumari—a flat, dry meal that was perfect for long journeys. There were plenty of pith hanging ripe from the low branches too.

Striding over to Si-Moon, he offered it. “Here. Eat.”

She slapped his hand away.

Her gurgling belly begged him closer.

Zar smiled slightly. What was this human trying to prove?

Si-Moon whirled on him, her fingers gesturing wildly. “Tek id an stoof id!”

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