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“Oh?” He drops the tease in his voice. His face takes on the same seriousness he always wears when working. “What seems to be wrong?”

He motions for us to start heading back toward the great hall. Ralleth is a few feet in front of us. He’s trying to give Vex and me some semblance of privacy so we can act as mates do. I shake my head at it, but then I feel Vex’s fingers wrap in mine, and his body shifts closer.

“Olivia has been fatigued for about a week, and she is sick in the mornings. She has thrown up almost every morning, at least once before lunch. She keeps telling me she is fine, but I am not so sure,” Ralleth explains it all over his shoulder so he doesn’t see when realization falls on Vex or the smile that spreads across his face.

“I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” Vex says.

Ralleth makes a sound of acknowledgment before pretending to ignore us some more. He’s trying to give Vex a chance to woo me, even though not a lot of wooing can happen when Ralleth is here. So, I lean close to Vex and ask about Olivia.

“How happy are you?” I whisper in his ear. This is what he worked so hard for on Earth. He was looking for women who could procreate on this planet, and here he is about to confirm whether or not one of us is actually pregnant.

“New life makes me happy no matter how it comes about, Simone.” His eyes flash white for a moment.

When we were dating on Earth, Vex told me we could never have children because there was a high chance they would be born with a connection to the collective mind. He made it clear he didn’t want that life for anyone, especially not a child who didn’t have a choice in being part of it or not. It’s also why we can’t have sex in the usual way, because his kind are highly virile when they find their fated.

Our relationship is different now. Maybe we can’t have children together, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to grow our family.

“If I’m mated to both of you…” I let my words trail off, allowing Vex’s mind to catch up with the implication I’m making.

I can see exactly when it does, the way his head tilts to the side just a fraction, how his whole body goes stiff for a second, and then the way his eyes glow in a way that I’ve only seen back on Earth when he was so happy he couldn’t contain himself.

“You are teasing me right now, aren’t you?” Vex asks.

It’s a fair question because I haven’t exactly been jumping his or Rallan’s bones since we’ve all kind of agreed that I’m with both of them. That’s what I was going to talk to Deja about this morning. I want to know if I’m making a smart decision.

Not that I think I can stay away from them for much longer. Every day, they grow on me more and more. After hearing Ralleth all but sing Vex’s praises even he’s growing on me way more than he should when he dumped me.

“I don’t know,” I tell him, answering his question honestly. I know that a part of me wants to forgive him right this second, wrap my arms around him, and get back to how we were on Earth. The part of me that was hurt is still hesitant, though. “Maybe we can talk about it?”

Vex’s face softens and his smile seems genuinely happy with the offer. “I would be honored to talk about anything with you, Simone.”

“You’ve improved on your wooing.” I bump his shoulder with mine, remembering the first morning I woke up with him in my room, and he was stumbling over his words.

“Your other mate is really good at hyping me up,” Vex leans in and tells me like it’s a secret between us. “You wouldn’t believe how many times he’s made me say affirmations about how I’m a good lover.”

“Is that what the two of you do when I leave in the morning? You chant that you’re good lovers to each other?” I ask it a bit louder.

I need Ralleth to hear it so the gossip will spread like wildfire. He’s a good leader, sure, but he’s also the most gossipy bitch I’ve ever met. Not that he’s told me anything juicy, but he tells others who tell Deja and Nia, who tell me.

“I believe this is the part where Rallan would call you an insufferable female,” Vex groans when he sees Ralleth obviously looking at us over his shoulder. Vex turns his full attention to Ralleth. “It’s not like that.”

“I do not judge. There are plenty of brothers who lie with one another. There is nothing to be ashamed of,” Ralleth says, turning his head forward as though it makes up for his snooping. Vex shoots me a glare that tells me I’m going to pay for this in some way.

“I’m going to see if Rallan is awake,” I say cheerily as I untangle my fingers from Vex’s and turn down the path toward our home. Vex reaches up and grabs my upper arm before I get too far, a look of worry crossing his features.

“I have to go back to Earth today.” My heart drops as his words register. “Only for a couple of days, and I’ll be back. Rallan already knows. It’s why we wanted to talk to you yesterday.”

Something about his words makes the entirety of the world stop all movements before it crashes into me, telling me he’s leaving me—again.

“So, you wanted to get me used to having you back in my life before ditching me again.” I spit the words out, all the good feelings I had before he told me, leaving me in an instant. “I wondered why you guys didn’t try to fuck me last night. Have a change of heart of getting off just to leave?”

“Simone, it’s not like that.” Vex runs his fingers through his hair, his eyes darting to where Ralleth is standing. He isn’t facing us, but he’s doing it on purpose to give us the illusion of privacy. He’s waiting to return to his mate. Vex will go with him. He can’t stop himself from caring about this tribe and its future.

“What’s it like?” I ask. “Because from my perspective, you said a lot of sweet words yesterday to get me naked, and now you’re leaving again.”

“I’ll be back,” Vex snaps, his cool composure cracking under my anger. His illusion slips as tendrils of his energy spider across the ground near his feet. “You don’t trust me, fine, but you trust Rallan, and he knows I’m coming back. So just go crawl back into bed with him, and when I come back, maybe you’ll stop treating me like I’m the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.”

My cheeks feel like an inferno as he calls me out on how poorly I’ve been treating him. My nose crinkles as my teeth pull back. “Before you, I didn’t know what a broken heart felt like.”