Page 80 of The Alien Warrior's Heart

“Simone, are you okay?” Sara asked, but her voice sounded distant. Like it was coming out of a tin can. She felt hands grabbing her shoulders and straightening her out.

Her fists remained on the sides of her head as frustration billowed through her mind. Like the acid rain that had crept up on them a few days ago, she felt the sting of it burn everything in her head.

The women leaned with her, holding her upright.

“Korben!” Sara screamed. “Korben!”

Korben appeared and crouched low in front of her. Simone barely registered his long hair, his purple eyes and his square jaw.

Zar was all she could think about.

“Si-Moon,” Korben said her name softly.

She breathed hard. “He… Chozo…”

“Si-Moon, what happened?”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. The world was spinning around her. Shadows danced with red. The red of Zar’s rage. Of her own pain. Of the words she’d hurled that had pierced him.

She’d seen the moment she hurt him. She saw it as if she’d thrown a long spear and stabbed him through the chest. His entire body had jerked when she threatened to leave him. His chest had caved in and he looked like someone had stepped on his head.

But I had to. For Chozo…

“Give her some space,” Korben said, gesturing to Emma, Lilliana and Kia. When Sara started to move back, he gripped her wrists. “My heras, you stay.”

The other Plutonians joined them, forming a circle around her. From the corner of her eye, Simone saw Kia turn into Pin’s chest.

She knew she probably looked like a madwoman.

She knew she was scaring everyone.

If she could stop this pain, she would.

If she could grab a knife and carve Zar out of her mind, out of her heart, out of her soul, she would do that. Just to end this insanity.

Another pair of knees hit the ground. Sunlight glinted against a soft white tunic and dark brown skin.

Sara’s quiet voice slipped beneath the chaos. “Simone, you need to breathe.”

“I… can’t,” she broke out in a tense voice.

“What you’re feeling is the mate connection,” Sara explained.

“What?” She moaned.

“The technology used to connect a Plutonian’s thoughts to their zaptens was inserted into your neural connector. It channels the bond between mates like a conduit.”

“No.”

“Simone, listen to me. The more you fight the mate connection, the more it will hurt. You have to accept it. You have to embrace it.”

She trembled. “If I do… I’ll get hurt.”

“It’s okay to be scared. Love is scary. It’s the most frightening thing in the world to be so vulnerable with someone. To give them your heart hoping that they’ll take care of it when you’ve seen so many other people who’ve gone down that path only to end up with broken hearts and regret. It doesn’t matter if you’re on earth or on an alien planet, trusting someone to be there for you, to honor their vows, to protect, cherish and honor you… that’s nerve-wracking. No, it’s insane.”

She gasped for breath, her palm flat on the floor and Zar’s anger pulsing through her. “What… are you… saying?”

“That it’s easy for them.” She glanced at Korben with a small smile. “It’s easy for them to accept the mate bond because they’ve heard about it all their lives. Their fathers trained them to be males who would protect their mates and they choose a lifestyle of integrity and faithfulness. With me and Korben, it was the same thing. He accepted me easily and I fought it. Sometimes, I still do.”

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