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A Creator? It’s the same thought many of my Brothers think over our telepathic network. I can definitely see the resemblance as Esthi helps Atox repair Anilius’ crushed insides.

KarambitLocal: Is Esthi a Creator? She appears to have the skills the way she’s rewiring our Brother.

ArmorLocal: I don’t know.

FireboltLocal: Grays are different than Sentinels. Do you remember them?

ArmorLocal: Hotheaded guards but dedicated.

MaceLocal: How can you not see it, Armor? She is calm during a crisis, resourceful, focused, gentle, and precise when she mends us. She is many things we were designed to be.

I can see it. The problem is that all the other Brothers are, too. I don’t like that.

Esthi found me first. I want to keep her for myself. I protected her. She freed me. We freed the others.

I brood over the matter as Carver cuts us a path to the creek. Brunt closes the tunnel behind us every couple of miles to ensure welvirs don’t get through.

Finally, Carver cuts upward, and we emerge at the water’s edge, lay down our sleeping Brothers, fill our water reserves, and rest our backs from the gear we carry. I crouch on guard from a rock above the creek.

Karambit, Mace, and Firebolt help form a perimeter around the group. It’s a decent-sized creek, deep enough that our Brothers can lay in it and wash away the last five years of grit.

Esthi sets her gear down and strips down to her undergarments in a private bend.

“What are you doing?” I whisper to her, trying to ignore the primal urges stirring in my core at the sight of her light tan flesh in the daylight.

She tips backward and washes her hair. “Never know when I’ll get another chance. So I take every opportunity I get.”

I hear a noise in the distant brush and signal the others. The Brothers quickly gather our fallen and hurry into the tunnel.

Getting down from my post, I walk to where Esthi bathes. She clearly hasn’t heard what I have.

“Esthi?” I say quietly. She doesn’t turn around. I slip into the water and make my way to where she wrings out her long hair. Afraid she’ll make a noise when she sees me, I cover her mouth and press my mouth to her ear, hushing her.

“Someone’s close,” I tell her, trying to ignore the feeling of her bare skin against mine. My shaft stiffens more the longer I hold her, but I’m glad I got to her first. If any of the others saw Esthi, I’m certain someone would try to fight me for her. But she is my mate. Mine.

As I reach past her for her bag, my cock brushes her plump ass.

Esthi looks up at me in shock.

I grab her things in one arm and her with the other. I have always enjoyed being bigger than most others because I can carry more. But there are times it limits me severely. It’s why Mace is on our squad.

Esthi braces herself on my arm as I haul her out of the water. But before we can turn toward the cave opening tucked back in the trees, the bushes rustle down the creek.

I tuck my wings in close to us and slip into the forest.

“Stay very still,” I say in her ear.

She reaches back and gropes my crotch. A hot wave of need floods me. I strain to hold back a grunt and maintain my position.

“Sorry. I was looking for my gun.”

“You can have mine.” I say it before I think about what exactly I’m implying.

Esthi pauses, then glides her hand up my rigid length again.

What is she doing?

I move to stop her, but Esthi just gives me a wink and puts a finger over her lips.

She finds my cock and strokes it with a warm hand. All I can think about is finding a way to be inside of her.

“Swear it was in this pocket.” She gives me a dark look of satisfaction when she massages me again. But I cannot protect her in this compromised state.

“Esthi—” It’s a prayer for more and for her to stop. There won’t be a future if I don’t protect her now.

She quietly gets dressed and picks up her gear as I monitor the Solcrue that hike out to the edge of the creek. “Didn’t think Titans could find humans attractive. We’re so weak compared to you.”

“And yet you freed me when I couldn’t do it myself.”

She frowns and bends over to buckle her boots, leaving me staring at her backside and wishing we could find a sheltered meadow or a private cave where we could be alone and make as much noise as we want.

I wish she didn’t have to put more clothes on. I’d rather take them off.

The soldiers down the creek refill canteens and talk loudly like they forget how far sound travels on a planet.

Esthi straightens like she wants to speak, but I draw her back against me and rest my mouth to her ear. She takes in a breath that earns us the attention of the Solcrue.

We both freeze as they walk in our direction.

“Probably just neoelk, Sathrin. There’s a big herd out here,” the shorter male says. He packs his canteen into his bag and rubs a hand over his face. The edges of his hexagonal scales pulse deep green, something I’ve not seen before. “The Titans are all moving south. We’ll catch them at takeoff.”

Sathrin hisses at him. “You’re so certain they can’t see our ships. And yet, we find they learn to defeat every system we build. Your kind of arrogance is why our race fails to maintain a firm grip on dominance.”

“They won’t survive our weapons or our mutations. You’re right, I’m not worried.”

“Celathious, that mental rigidity will exploit our mortality. We are not infallible. They win battles because they adapt. We need to be more like them. We used to be.”

“More like them?”

“Yes!”

A gunshot tears through the air, punching through the trees just in front of us.

Esthi jolts in my arms.

I hold her tighter against me. Esthi’s skin is soft and warm beneath my lips. I whisper barely audibly in her ear. “I’ve got you.”