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Although that was the truth, she would never tell Payim that he was a big part of her accepting this new version of her future and she was okay trading her yesterdays for the hope of a tomorrow with him. That was a lot to put on one man. Besides, what if she totally misunderstood the depth of his interest? She’d misread clues from guys before.

“Yes,” Payim said eagerly. “You would be welcome on Cadi. The other human females will be excited to have another join them.”

Her conflicted musings fled hearing how excited he was at the prospect of her going to his planet and she grinned at him.

“You’ve mentioned the humans you’ve met. Tell me more,” she urged.

It still amazed her that Payim had not only been to Earth but had human friends.

“Giselle, Providence, June, and Riley were all taken by the Miran Sona, like you, and wound up on Cadi.”

She angrily shook her head, but didn’t interrupt. There was no need to rehash how wrong the Miran Sona were.

“Since their arrival, those females have set some interesting events in motion.” Payim gave a slight laugh.

“Oh great. So, my fellow humans are causing trouble on a cosmic scale. Why am I not surprised?”

“Trouble is an interesting description though not exactly accurate. Your people helped us end our civil war and so much more. You will like the females. They are warriors just like you.”

“Warrior?” She tilted her head in curiosity.

“Yes. You have battled this place and survived.” Payim nodded confidently.

“Hmm. Okay.” She stood up straighter, her chin held high.

She’d never really considered herself a warrior just because she survived, but life on Hell had been an epic battle. Having Payim assign her a title that clearly meant so much to him was an honor.

“Then there’s Maya, her brother Robert, Smile, and half of Providence’s family who fled Earth on our recent trip.”

“A whole family fled?”

“Aye. We went to Earth with our Osivoire allies when we discovered the Jurou Biljana acquired a rift drive. We thought we were going there to help shield Earth, only to discover the Miran Sona are more heavily involved with your world than we realized. The Earth government and the Miran Sona didn’t appreciate our involvement even though we had good intentions. Providence’s sire was our contact, since he held a high position in the military. Unfortunately, he was injured while aiding us. In the end half of Providence’s family was forced to flee Earth with us.” He shook his head morosely.

“Injured. That’s horrible.”

“Don’t worry. Brennan is well now. The Osivoire were able to heal him better than the day he emerged,” he assured her.

“That’s good.”

“Aye. Although sadly it was a wasted mission. I don’t think your planet or the Miran Sona are prepared for a race like the Jurou Biljana,” Payim grumbled in frustration.

“I can only imagine the foolishness you had to endure trying to deal with the government.” She rolled her eyes. “So, now you guys are doing what you can here.”

She appreciated that Payim and his allies hadn’t totally given up their attempt to protect her people despite the way they’d been treated.

“Correct. If we can prevent the reptiles from building a fleet of vessels capable of traversing the wormhole, your planet and others will be safer.”

“On behalf of all my people, thank you for your effort.” She paused hiking and bowed her head in appreciation.

It was a shame that so many humans would never know what people they didn’t even believe in were doing for them.

“It is my solemn duty, but you are most welcome.” Payim smiled at her.

“So that’s a lot of humans already living on your planet. It’s odd. I never would’ve fathomed such a thing. Hell, I never fathomed whole colonies of humans existing across the cosmos, but there are.” She shook her head in disbelief. “What do they all do?”

If she was going to live on Cadi that would be good information to know.

“Giselle is mated to our leader, so she helps advise Kagan. Maya is a medic. June is an engineer like Tytus, the warrior she’s mated to. I’m sure you’ll find something you enjoy doing, just like on Earth.”