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"Great. Lead the way. I'm hungry."

He gave me a funny look as if he'd expected me to say something different but did as I asked for, in his usual, noncommunicative way.

THARAAX

Once again,I took the lead, satisfied the ship was on the right course to Astrionis and in no danger of hitting a meteor shower or going through a sun.

The nourishing area was large and empty. Several chairs surrounded a handful of tables. A lot of wasted space for just the two of us, or usually just me. Just the way I preferred it.

Not as humming with complaints and demands as it had a few weeks ago when all these humans had been aboard. Now, I had no intention whatsoever to fill this space. Hannah would be the last one. Let the Ohrurs, and Possedion especially, grumble and complain about me not fulfilling a mission. It would be the first and only I hadn't finished to their satisfaction. I believed I deserved that much leniency instead of having to put up with this impossible species.

"That's a lot of room," Hannah remarked.

"There." I steered her toward a food dispenser, not in the mood to educate her about her cursed brethren. "The food dispenser is programmed to provide optimal nutrition for various species."

Hannah's eyes widened with curiosity. "How does it work?"

I placed my hand on the screen and showed her how to move the screens and pick what she liked.

"These all look like… mashed potatoes," she complained, creasing her adorable nose and reminding me why I didn't like her species.

Ungrateful, unappreciative, and unpleasant.

"It's food," I said, as exasperated as I had told my first batch of guests. "Food is supposed to nourish you."

"It's also supposed to taste good and make you feel better," she contradicted.

"It will make you feel better once you eat it," I explained, with what I thought equaled a tremendous effort to remain reasonable.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Her small finger tapped against one of the choices, and another screen appeared. "Here you can pick add-ons."

"Add-ons?"

"Yes, like if you want more vegetables or meat added."

She stared from the screen to me with a deadpan expression.

"Just pick one," I huffed exasperatedly. "Even if I named them all for you, it wouldn't help. Pick a new one if you don't like it."

There, I thought,that's pretty damn generous. I hadn't given the other humans the same choice. A mistake I later learned. Sometimes, it was easier to take the path of least resistance, even if it meant going against one's principles.

For some reason, several of the marks on my arm began to tingling, and I looked down. Naturally, her eyes followed mine. "These marks… what do they really mean, Thrax?"

I hesitated, my fingers tracing the intricate patterns. "The mating marks? They signify a destined connection between two beings."

"But why us? Why you and me? We're totally different people." Hannah pressed in the typical human way to never stopasking questions, even after I'd already indicated I didn't have answers. Yet.

It would be pointless to tell her that I was just as unenthusiastic about the idea of her being my mate as she clearly was. In fact, the whole concept of having a mate grated on me. At least I wasn't the one being irritating, firing off endless questions and testing patience the way she did with me. If anything, I was giving her the space I wished she'd offer me. "I don't know, but I promise you that I will find out." I grabbed her plate and moved to a table, hoping to finally end this session of endless questions.

No such luck. As soon as I placed her plate on the table, she dug back in, and I don't mean her food. "So how come you know what it is but not why we have them? Can't you just ask others of your species?"

I wished it were that simple. But Space Guardians were solitary beings. Even if we worked on the same mission, we usually did it separately. We didn't share, we didn't communicate, we didn't work together, period. Each one of us was an alpha, and we all know what happens when you put two alphas in one room. Nothing gets done because everyone wants to be in charge.

"Thrax, you have to give me something here." She changed tactics from demanding to pleading. The effect wasn't lost on me because… damn, she was beautiful, and her wide-open eyes tugged at my heart.

I wasn't about to give in, though. I had witnessed enough female wiles to know when one was trying to play me. "I'll take you to Astrionis, all right? After I drop you off, I will go find the answers you seek."