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The full weight of his betrayal crashes over me. All this time, I’ve been traveling with a prince? Someone with that much power and status didn’t think to mention it even once? And the fight pits... forcing others to battle for medicine? How many other secrets has he been keeping from me? He knew exactly where we were headed all along, leading me to this precise location with such confidence, such certainty.

He can’t… I trust him.

Trusted…

I’m so conflicted. More so, I’m so overwhelmed. It’s like every problem is being thrown at me at once, rather than one at a time. There’s so much more going on here than I can wrap my head around. First, these aliens aren’t supposed to exist on planet Atraxis, and then suddenly there are thousands of them? Not only that, but evidence suggests they’ve been living here for... generations? They’ve even got treaties between them! On top of all that, I’m somehow wrapped up in some situation involving galaxy-influencing medicine.

The implications hit me hard enough to make me dizzy. There’s only one reason I can think that Volan didn’t want me to know; we’ve all heard stories of how some of the more brutal races in the universe abduct human women just to offer them up as prizes for warriors. Worse is how they claim they are protecting the women, but if that was so, they wouldn’t keep them prisoners. Those women would find their way home.

Does that mean I’m never going to go home again? Will I ever see my friends again? What about Stacey; she’s too young to leave all on her own? I won’t even know what happened to Ariana…

I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him.

Volan was literally leading me to my doom. He lied to me. I trusted him, and he betrayed me.

Heat prickles my eyelids as tears come, unbidden. I blink rapidly, pushing them away. I refuse to cry. I’ve cried enough. I’m stronger than this. I didn’t allow my father’s abuse, fighting every step of the way to a better future on Atraxis. I didn’t accept Walter’s claim of Ariana’s death; I fought for what was right.

And I’ll keep fighting.

I’ll find allies where I can find them, and if not, then I’ll do it on my own. I’m a survivor. I’ll rewrite the end of my story if I have to.

“I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself before,” Zoran comments as he walks up to my side. He just casually leans against the wall with a hip as if there aren’t two increasingly aggressive aliens arguing out in front of us. With his tattoos and relaxed attitude, he honestly gives me surfer-bro kind of vibes; taking life as it comes, and never worrying about the details. “My name is Zoran.”

“Hi,” I mutter back, not really in the mood for inane discussions right now. My eyes are locked on Volan as he rounds on Melvall, furious about his little secret being revealed. Melvall, meanwhile, seems oblivious to this slip-up and is ranting about how the medicine should be traded freely among all the tribes.

“You humans mostly look alike to me,” Zoran admits, smiling at me sheepishly. Because, you know, he’s totally had a lot of opportunities to see us up close. Humans are still new to the Galactic Federation, and not all that many have traveled off-world as of yet. Unless he’s some sort of space-traveler and explored Earth, though that’s usually an expensive lifestyle that very few can afford. Given that he’s dressed in worn leathers, I doubt he could afford it.

But I was wrong about Volan, wasn’t I? The guy turned out to be a prince. A freaking prince!

“I don’t suppose you are familiar with the human female named Eve?” He asks. “She comes from your tribe. She’s really friendly. I’d like to say that we’ve become close friends really.”

“I… what?”

There was only one lady named Eve on our starship. She’s dead. She had been sent down to the planet to pick out the site where we would build our colony and went missing in the wilderness. She was one of the reasons why we knew about such dangerous beasts on Atraxis, and the reason why we built our colony walls. Heck, our colony is literally named after her and the sacrifice she made for us.

How do I know? I spent weeks mourning the loss of my friend. It’s probably why I was so frantic when Ariana went missing too, fearing a repeat of all that pain.

“She promised that one day she’ll introduce me to some females looking for mates,” Zoran drones on, though I have to admit I barely hear his words. The guy’s obliviously angling to see if I am mated and attached to anyone... like Volan. I grit my teeth. Like hell I can even deal with that whole situation at the moment.

No, my mind is fixating on one point: Eve’s alive.

“What the hell?” I exclaim beneath my breath. “All my girlfriends are out getting laid and matched up with dream guys, and I’m left at home thinking they are dead?”

First Eve decides to up and abandon us, and now Ariana comes waltzing back from the wilderness with a mate in tow as well? This is not what friends are supposed to do! For a start, they are supposed to take me with them!

This is so messed up. I bet neither of them had to face off against huge ass mutant cockroaches or deal with treasonous, lying males. I swear, if they are lounging about drinking cocktails without me, I will make them suffer my wrath. Hell has no mercy like a woman scorned.

“Honestly, the economics make sense if you think about it. The harkcana and drakoon give me their foods, and I’ll take your cloth and medicine, and then we’ll all be better off,” Melvall argues, waving his spiky arms around in the air.

“And what do you propose you give any of us in return? Or do you just take it all for yourself?” Volan crosses his arms over his chest, glaring back at the male.

“What the hell has my life become?” I mutter. How did I find myself on a strange planet, surrounded by strange alien males who seem more interested in debating economics than the fact that war is looming and quests have to be resolved.

Or that my heart is breaking apart, and I’m so desperately trying to hold it together without anyone noticing.

“Look at him. Volan lied to me, and he doesn’t even seem to be all that fazed about it!”

I glance at the only male who seems to be paying me any attention. Zoran is looking at me with wide eyes, and I realize that I’m making almost as much of a scene as the two other males.