Page 29 of Alokar (The Alliance Rescue #2)
Hannah
The truck bounced violently over the rutted dirt road—the shocks had long since been worn out, leaving us at the mercy of every pothole and rock.
Around us, the forest seemed to hum with an excited, almost electric energy.
The leaves rustled with anticipation, as if the very trees knew that the threat was finally gone.
Mostly gone. We'd gotten rid of Yaard's body in the cavern where he should have drowned, but his severed head rested in the bed of the truck, encased in a rough burlap bag that did little to mask the metallic scent of blood.
Rather gruesome, but I understood Ewok had to take something tangible back to verify Yaard's death.
He hadn't noticed my worn leather backpack lying in the back of the truck, nestled against the wheel well. Perhaps he thought it was leftover gear from our hunting trip, but I'd packed it anew in the pre-dawn darkness this morning—carefully packing the few precious items I didn’t want to leave behind, like the urn carrying my dad’s ashes and his watch that I wore tight on my wrist. I was going with Ewok.
We'd made love again that morning, slow and deliberate, as though committing every caress, every whispered breath, every lingering kiss to memory, as if saying goodbye.
We didn't talk about our future. In Ewok's mind, he was leaving me behind to protect me, shielding me from whatever danger awaited in the stars, until he felt it same enough to come for me.
Fuck that!
Time was too precious to waste. I'd made my mind up. I wanted to be with him—now.
I'd called Hank this morning and let him know the cabin, along with Jubal and Bertha, were his.
I'd left the deed and necessary ownership documents in the desk drawer and told him exactly where to find them.
Hank was more than a little skeptical about letting me run off with an alien but said he couldn't shake the feeling that my dad would have genuinely liked the man—fur or not.
Daddy would have loved Ewok. I did too.
The decision to follow him to the stars was easier than I thought it would be.
Although I shed tears telling Jubal and Bertha goodbye, my voice breaking as I stroked their familiar coats one last time.
My dad was gone. I had no more family left on this world—my absent mother didn't count—and the only thing I knew for certain about my future was that I wanted Ewok in it.
"Stop here," Ewok said, his honey-brown eyes trained on something in the distance, pupils dilated as they tracked movement only he could perceive.
I pulled the truck to a stop, gravel crunching beneath the worn tires. There was a small deer path that led into the forest, barely visible between the dense clusters of pine and cedar whose gnarled branches formed a natural tunnel.
"I will need to walk from here," he said, his voice catching slightly, sadness tinging each word as the weight of goodbye settled between us.
"I'll go with you," I said, pulling the keys from the ignition with a decisive jingle and slinging open my door, which protested with a familiar creak.
"Hannah, it's not...." Ewok began, but I shot him a glare sharp enough to cut through his protests.
"Don't you dare say it's not safe," I insisted, my voice firm as granite. "Yaard is dead, and I've got much more experience in these mountains than you do."
Ewok acquiesced with a small grunt, but there was a hint of relief flickering across his features at postponing the inevitable.
I grabbed my well-worn backpack, its leather soft from years of adventures, taking a moment to pat the old pickup's dented fender in a gesture of farewell. The truck's sun-faded blue paint told stories of countless journeys since I'd first driven it at sixteen.
We maneuvered along the narrow trail, fallen leaves and pine needles carpeting our path.
The familiar, comforting silence lay between us as Ewok savored his last stroll through the mountains.
I took everything in with heightened awareness of my own—the brilliant tapestry of foliage, the sharp, clean smell of pine mingling with the crisp mountain air.
I'd miss it. Of course, I would, but I was gaining so much more.
We didn't hike long, a little over an hour, until the dense press of foliage gave way to a small clearing bathed in dappled shadows cast by the heavy pine canopy overhead.
Ewok pulled to a stop, his chest rising and falling as a weary sigh broke from his lips.
"Is your ship nearby?" I asked, my eyes scanning the seemingly empty clearing. I had no idea what an alien spacecraft might look like, save for the common Hollywood depiction of silver saucers and blinking lights.
Ewok's face broke into a knowing grin as he moved forward a few steps, his fingers seeming to dance through the air caressing invisible controls.
There was a faint electronic hum, followed by the deep groan and metallic shift of something massive and heavy, then the air itself began to ripple and undulate like heat waves, revealing the sleek hull of a spacecraft materializing before my eyes.
Hollywood had it all wrong. This wasn't some bulbous, chrome-plated craft with gaudy fins.
It looked remarkably like images I'd seen of cutting-edge military stealth aircraft—angular, predatory lines and matte surfaces—just a lot bigger.
There was a low, thrumming rumble that seemed to vibrate through my bones, preceding a seamless black ramp lowering silently from the ship's shadowed underbelly.
Ewok's chest rose and fell with a sigh so profound it seemed to echo from the depths of his soul—the saddest, most heart-wrenching sound I'd ever heard.
He turned to face me, his massive hands trembling slightly as they cupped my face with infinite tenderness.
Those mesmerizing honey-brown eyes were now liquid with unshed tears, catching the light like amber jewels.
"I don't know how I'm going to leave you," he groaned, his voice thick with anguish as he pressed gentle kisses across my forehead, my cheeks, the bridge of my nose—each touch an attempt to memorize every inch of me.
"That's good," I told him, my smile blooming despite the gravity of the moment as I linked my hands around the strong column of his neck. "Because you’re not. I'm coming with you."
"Hannah," he groaned. His expression was a wash of conflicted emotion that tore at my very soul—hope blazing bright as a star warring with the deep shadows. "I would never ask this of you—to leave your home, your world, everything you've ever known. Not to mention, the danger...."
"You're not asking, I'm offering,” I interrupted, rising onto my tiptoes and kissing him with all the certainty in my heart. "I love you, Ewok. I know it might be dangerous, but I want to be with you.”
“The Kerzak will never accept a human as my mate,” he said gruffly, eyes filled with torment. “They would kill us both.”
“Then I won’t be your mate,” I suggested with a wink. “At least as far as anyone knows. Life is short and I want to spend every precious moment of it with you—whether you can recognize me as your mate or not."
“You would be okay with letting my people and others think you are less to me—a slave or a concubine?” He said the words like it hurt him to consider the possibility.
“I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks,” I said determined.
“I grew up believing in Bigfoot. I know what it’s like to have almost everyone think I’m a lunatic or worse.
And the one thing it taught me is that it doesn’t matter what others think, it only matters what you know to be true.
” I went up on tiptoe and kissed him gently.
“And what I know to be true is that as long as we are together, nothing else matters.”
Ewok crushed me against the solid wall of his chest, as he kissed me with a desperate intensity that stole my breath and set my soul ablaze. "I want nothing more," he whispered against my lips. "But if you leave Earth, there is a chance, a very real chance, that you can never return."
"I'm okay with that," I promised, my voice steady despite the enormity of my choice. "I'll miss the mountains, but I'd miss you more. Besides, I bet there are countless places among the stars just as breathtaking as anything here on Earth."
"There are," he promised, his voice filled with wonder as his eyes seemed to see distant worlds. "And I will show you every single one of them."
"Sounds like a plan," I grinned up at him, my heart soaring.
"I have been thinking about your suggestion—about ruling as king just long enough to change the ancient laws so my sister can claim her rightful place as queen.
I intend to change the law, but it could take time, perhaps years before I can claim you as mate.
" He touched my face, his large claw-tipped fingers—so capable of destruction yet impossibly gentle—tracing the curve of my cheek.
"I'll wait as long as it takes," I promised, meaning every word with every fiber of my being.
"Are you absolutely certain this is what you want?" His voice carried the weight of responsibility for ensuring I understood the magnitude of my choice.
I nodded without hesitation. "What do you want, Ewok?"
"You," he breathed, the words a sacred vow that resonated through the very air around us. "Just you."
Ewok wrapped his powerful arms around me, lifting me effortlessly until our faces were perfectly aligned and our kiss could deepen into something transcendent—a melding of souls that spoke of forever.
"I love you, Ewok," I whispered when his lips finally left mine to blaze a trail of fire along the sensitive column of my neck.
"I love you, Hannah," he murmured against my skin, each word a brand upon my heart. “My mate.”