Page 78 of The Alien Warrior's Mate

She didn’t.

She was angry.

She was.

But that blasted connection between her and Korben made it hard to think straight. She could feel her alien warrior so vividly, a reel of emotions looping inside her brain.

Sadness.

Guilt.

Panic.

His emotions tainted her mind until it seemed like her own heart was breaking.

“Tiegan has been nothing but kind to me,” Liliana said. "So I have no reason to doubt him.”

Emma scowled. “Don’t be so naive. They’re aliens. And they’re dangerous. Have you seen these guys fight? They have a freaking spine that can shoot out of their skin and break off like tree limbs. Are we supposed to believe that they’d just protect us for no reason?”

Liliana shifted uneasily. “If they wanted to hurt us, they would have done it by now, don’t you think? Tiegan had plenty of opportunities, but he’s been way more of a gentleman to me than any of the customers at the diner. I’ve got to believe that we're safe with them. At least, we’re safer under their protection than hacking it alone with all those crazy things out there.”

Sara struggled with telling the ladies the truth. So far, the aliens hadn’t mistreated them, and Liliana was right, they couldn’t survive on their own. Unless they stole one of the zaptens and figured it out as they went…

“Ehem.”

Sara glanced over her shoulder and spotted Korben’s Plutonian buddies approaching, but Korben was gone. She frantically sought him out, her heart forgetting for a moment that she was pissed at him.

“Your mate went hunting,” the bigger Plutonian said. He had massive shoulders and a wicked scar on his right eyebrow nub that only added to his rugged, masculine appeal. He wore his hair down with two braids at the front.

“We have food inside and a place to rest.” The slimmer alien with a face carved from stone and eyes that could cut through leather nodded to her. “Come with us.”

Sara chewed on her bottom lip and didn’t move. Even though Korben was nowhere in sight, she could stillfeelhim. The connector sent wave after wave of his anguish through her mind. She didn’t buy his hunting excuse for a second. The alien hadn’t gone off to find food. He’d gone to break down in privacy.

Her hand shook at her side. She shouldn’t care that her alien overlord was having a mild panic attack away from his men. He deserved that guilt and more for what he’d done to her. To all these ladies.

And still, Sara found herself asking, “Could he have gone far?”

The Plutonian looked blankly at her.

Okay.

So they hadn’t updated their interface yet.

New plan.

Turning to Emma and Liliana, she said, “Stay with these guys, would you? I need to go find Korben.”

“What?” Liliana gawked.

Sara took a step toward the forest.

The slimmer alien moved into her path. Despite his outrageously handsome face, he still managed to look intimidating when he said, “Korben instructed us to keep you here.”

“Ah!” Sara gritted her teeth, bending over slightly as her head filled with more and more of Korben’s pain. If Korben didn’t stop freaking out, he’d make her chip explode and that was the last thing she needed. She had to get to him. Had to calm him before he fried her brain with his guilt and self-bashing.

“Move,” she said, her eyes blazing. “I need to go to my mate.”

“Your what?” Liliana squealed.