Tiegan dipped his chin.

At that moment, the redhead started to convulse. Her prosthetic legs banged so hard against the ground that the earth cracked. Thejidezihad spread to her face and she had stopped breathing.

“Hey!” Adhi bravely gripped the girl’s shoulders, trying to hold her down.

Symphony tried to help too, but she was too weak. Glancing up in desperation, she cried, “Tiegan, do something!”

“Denizi,” Tiegan mumbled under his breath. Despite his calm expression, his fingers were frantically digging into the pockets of his pants.

Adhi felt the girl’s pulse. “She’s not going to make it if we don’t do somethingnow.”

Tiegan sighed when his fingers closed on something in his pocket. He yanked out a vial, pulled the syringe and stabbed it into the girl’s neck. His blue thumb pushed down, emptying the contents.

The girl went still.

Symphony lurched back, her heart in her throat.

Adhi gasped. “What did he do?” She turned accusing eyes on Tiegan. Furiously, she snapped at him. “What did you do?”

“Just give it a minute.”

“He shot her up with some alien drug and you expect me to be quiet?”

“Give it a second.”

“She isn’tbreathing, Symphony,” Adhi accused. “How could you trust him? He’s an alien!”

“I trust him,” Symphony said, looking into Tiegan’s worried eyes. Emotions balled in her chest, making it hard to breathe. “I trust him.”

At that moment, the redhead gasped and her eyes flew open.

Fourteen

Tiegan

“Thank you for bringing my zapten,”Tiegan nodded at Clavas.

The terros’s younger brother grinned in response. “Anything to help.”

“Don’t feign innocence. You just wanted to spy on the new females,” Korben teased.

“Can you blame me?” Clavas jutted his chin at them. “Every one of you is paired up. Even Tiegan has two females to choose from. I was beginning to think I was the only one destined to be without a mate.”

Tiegan frowned. “There is no decision to be made. Leel is not my mate.”

“You have waited too long to make yourself clear,” Pin mumbled thoughtfully. “You allowed her to grow close to you.”

“I did notallowanything.”

“Had you never met Sim-pony, do you not think Leel would have worn you down?”

Tiegan’s spine dagger shot out of the back of his neck.

Clavas pressed a hand to his shoulder. “Tiegan, there is no need to be so sensitive. I spoke in jest.”

“You speak unreasonably.”

“I believe you when you say you have neither mated Leel nor Sim-pony. And I have no desire to force anyone into a mating. The human females can choose who they want to mate. No one in our tribas would dare to pressure them.” He arched an eyebrow. “That means, when Sim-pony returns to the camp, she can have any of the males there and they will assume the role of her protector.”