Page 60 of The Alien Warrior's Heart

Si-Moon began to speak again and Zar huffed in frustration. He needed to understand his mate.Now.

“Do you have any extra translator chips?” he asked Korben.

“Yes.” Korben’s mate smiled at him. “Don’t worry.”

Zar nodded. The thought of being able to understand his mate thrilled him. Si-Moon had seemed distant after their mating. Almost as if she had planted a wall that she did not want him to scale. He would stop at nothing to woo her and gain her trust, but first he needed to speak her language.

Korben snarled. “Zar, what in denizi were you thinking bringing a Heronas to our camp? What if he tells his species of our hideout?”

“I-I’m not going to…” Chozo squeezed his eyes shut. Beneath the mask, the brood looked like he was about to faint. “Please. I do not want to hurt anyone.” He wrapped his thin arms around Si-Moon.

Zar growled.

Chozo dropped his hands immediately.

The curly-haired female cleared her throat. “Why don’t we all go inside and sort this out, hm?” She tugged on Si-Moon’s arm. “You come with me. We’ll set you up with that translator implant so you can communicate with everyone freely. Have you eaten?”

The female led Si-Moon away and Zar’s heras ached. Though he felt that familiar anger, it was muted. Overpowered. Brought into submission by these new, strange sensations that demanded he be as close to Si-Moon as much as possible.

Zar could not control it and that frightened him. He had never been the type to cling. After his father’s death, he became a lone Plutonian, only joining Korben’s tribas because he respected the terros’s high standards and values. Never had he felt such a strong connection to another like this.

It must be the mate bond.

The females carried Si-Moon farther and farther away.

Did she have to walk out of sight?

Zar’s gaze followed her.

Korben shook his head. “You mated her, didn’t you?”

“And you mated her comrade?”

“Yes. I could not stop myself from caring for her no matter how hard I tried.” Korben closed his eyes. “They really do take over your heras, don’t they? They become your entire world.”

“Si-Moon has changed me,” Zar admitted.

“I can tell. Your eyes are softer now. You don’t look as… troubled.”

“I am still plagued.”

“Yes, but your female is healing your heras. There is not as much hate in your eyes. You do not seem as obsessed with the Heronas.”

Zar grew sober. “Korben, about the Heronas—” Before he could explain about Chozo, a commotion erupted in the dwelling.

He heard the shouts of his comrades and the clatter of something falling. Both he and Korben started running toward the entrance when Pin, Clavas, Tiegan and Lans stumbled outside.

Lans stuck a finger over his shoulder. “Korben, why in denizi is there a Heronas…?” His words dragged to a stop when he saw Zar.

Zar lifted one hand in greeting. “Comrades.”

His tribas strode toward him. Though they were not like the females who flung themselves together and leaked tears when reunited, the moment felt just as warm and welcoming.

Zar’s gaze moved to Clavas and relief coursed through his chest. Despite his bruises and cuts, the warrior seemed largely unharmed. Zar strapped his fingers around Clavas’s arm and thumped him on the back.

Clavas returned the gesture, grinning broadly. “Look at you, Zar. Always late to the gathering.”

“I am glad to see you safe and whole though I resent the fact that I was not a part of the rescue.”

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