Page 20 of Bred By Zyros (The Solar Breeding Agency #2)

seventeen

Melody

I barely cross into the thick jungle at the wood line before the Thryss start up around me, chittering and warbling with their displeasure.

I nudge them away as I stomp through the lush path.

My eyes avoid my own skin like my life depends on it, tears blur my vision as I run on shaky legs.

Something I had only let myself consider in dreams is happening.

I-I’m someone’s mate. I’ll never admit that was part of the allure of The Solar Breeding Agency. It’s rare, so rare.

It's special.

And right now? It’s wounding.

The jungle around me seems to fall quiet as I cry and sniffle, slamming my weight onto a fallen tree.

Each step feels sluggish and abnormal, like I’ve just woken from being frozen in ice.

The smell of soil and fresh rain blends with the sound of a roaring creek nearby, the already humid and damp jungle sodden.

I find each little thing, the dirt underneath my palm, smeared on the fallen tree.

The way my bare feet press into over-saturated soil, making it wet between my toes.

The smells, the Thryss, now quietly hissing in front of me.

I take in everything, forcing air into unresponsive lungs, my attention turning to the amethyst-colored crystal beside me.

I shouldn’t have grabbed it. I don’t need it.

That hurts just as badly as what Zyros has done.

He took my life from me without even asking .

He bound me to him, forever, without caring if I was okay with it or not.

I would’ve been…in time.

I will be.

I’ll forgive him, I’ll be happy and excited, like I was at first. I can feel all those things already bludgeoning deep in my chest.

A mate.

Scary, rude, hurtful, sweet, handsome, serious Zyros.

My chest lets out a betraying flutter at the thought.

I’d never been good at staying mad. Hence why I have an implant lodged somewhere deep around my brain stem.

The recovery had been hellish, the headaches nearing the same level of agony I’d felt giving birth, albeit in a different pain and a very different location.

I shake my head, wiping my tears on the neckline of my brown T-shirt.

It’d been done after Dad had found out about the Breeding Agency.

He’d asked where I was going, and when I told him it could be anywhere, it was like that anger dissolved.

I could see the wheels turning. The moment he decided it wasn’t worth being mad at, but an opportunity .

He’d had the surgery scheduled the same night.

I’d gone to my first match still reeling from it, hiding the pain and how, for the first two weeks, I’d done more vomiting than sleeping.

I’d finally done something for myself .

And in less than a few hours, he’d taken that too.

I’d forgiven him. Hell, I hadn’t even realized I had a reason to be angry at first.

That came later…our first holo message. The first thing out of his mouth was about the scans. It’d shaken me to my core. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected. I was the opposite of him, and him me. We both baffled and frustrated each other equally, but I’d missed my dad.

Orbits and orbits by his side, day and night.

He hadn’t even missed me.

I’d left, and life had gone on.

I may never leave Nyssara, and life will go on. Mom will cry, probably have to go for another wellness retreat , and Dad will pretend everything is normal and bury himself in work. He’d wait for more scans to upload, he’d demand, he’d order, but he wouldn’t ask.

All he ever had to do was ask .

How are you? How is the pregnancy? Are you missing home? Is it fun? Will you trade your brain for my work?

Will you stay with me?

Will you be my mate?

I bury my head in my hands, trying to calm my tears, trying like all hell to shove them down, down, down, but only more come.

A Thryss hops up beside me, nudging me with its enormous head.

They aren’t much for physical affection, so I suppose this is about as much comfort as they can offer me.

I take it, but it only makes me cry harder.

“I need a fucking hug.” I sob to myself.

None of this has gone at all like it’s supposed—

The Thryss suddenly kick up even louder. I’m just pulling my face from my hands when I hear the same odd little coughing sound they make as they fire a tooth dart. “Zyros, I just need a—”

My eyes settle on the dark colored male from before, my heart going from a miserable pang to a violent sprint in the matter of a few beats. The male hisses something in his language. Thanks to Zyros having a translator, my implant has picked up far too little to have a wide understanding.

I shake my head, lifting my palms. “I can’t understand you, my—”

Another male, my god, two, three, four other males slip from the dense jungle. A bright green one speaks, cutting me off as I ready myself to run. “They do not have the bumps in their ear. They cannot understand you, female.”

His eyes zero in on my changed body, his chest puffing before he hisses out an ungodly resonant call to the others. They chime in, equally offended by what they see.

Kidnapped, stolen, help echo around my brain with no understanding, rhyme, or reason.

The sound of my name, bellowed in an enraged, tormented roar, makes a chill run over my skin, all our heads turning in tandem to Zyros’ voice. The Thryss hop away, bolting toward the sound. Only one little guy stays behind with nowhere near enough firepower to make a difference.

The other three share a look before heading off behind them.

Panic hits me harder then. Knowing what they’re doing, a sudden understanding slaps the world into focus.

The dark purple male raises his hands like mine as he slips closer, motioning me to come.

A scream builds in my throat, so I shape it as I bolt for the clearing.

Zyros’ name barely leaves my lips, but it’s enough.

It’s a warning. It’ll have to be good enough.

A feral hiss sounds behind me, and I brace myself as something hard and heavy smashes into me from behind, stealing the air from my lungs as the sound of fighting from the clearing fills my ears.

I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I’m a human, out of my evolutionary league.

And it shows quickly. My head meets the ground hard, and the world goes black.