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The end of what is.

Don was a fucking bastard. I fought to keep my thoughts calm, so he wouldn’t feel me and become distracted.

The poor rescued humans needed all of his focus, not me and my pissed off self.

I chucked my clothes back into the crate without bothering to fold them.

Who fucking cared about wrinkles? Not me.

I sank to the floor, and simply breathed instead of sobbing like I wanted to. My hand snaked into my pocket to draw out the ring. I’d wanted Don to be my husband. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but he had doubts. Part of me wanted to yell at him, but another part understood.

For drakcol, they mated once and that was it. Once Don fell in love with me, we’d be together forever. Separating mates had the potential to kill them.

We humans could fall out of love. Of course he was nervous. Not to mention I was a walking disaster. He wasn’t only signing up for the potential of me hating him because I was stuck with him, he was also agreeing to being with me and all my baggage for the rest of his life.

It was no wonder he needed a second to think about it.

A little separation, perspective might be good for the both of us.

Our relationship had started very quickly after we met.

I’d never been one to mind jumping into bed with someone…

Well, now it was different. With what had happened to me and with Don coming into my life, he was the only person who would ever be in my bed for the rest of my life, as far as I was concerned.

But maybe some time apart would allow us to connect on a different level, and for Don to grow assured of how much I loved him.

Besides, a bit of quiet would be nice. Of course we would be traveling back to Tamkolvanloknol with a group of traumatized humans, so peace and quiet might not be on the menu.

I covered my eyes and rocked. No. All of this was shit.

I wanted Don, and the rat bastard didn’t want me.

Panting, I promised myself that I wouldn’t cry.

That I wouldn’t succumb to the urge to lie down and never move again.

I was fine. I was perfectly fine. I’d leave Don, and we would either be fine in the end, or the fucker had earned a stalker for the rest of his life.

The bell rang.

“NAID,” I snapped. “Who is it?”

“Prince Consort Seth Harris,” the computer responded.

“Let him in.”

The main door whooshed open, and Seth called out, “Vince?”

“In the bedroom. Don’t worry, I’m decent.”

Seth chuckled and appeared as I was chucking more of my crap into the bin. His eyebrows drew together. “Weren’t you unpacking?”

I snorted and threw shirt after shirt into the metal crate, each giving a satisfying slap. “Nope.”

“Vince, what happened?” Seth rested a hand on me to stop my frantic movements.

With a deep breath, I shoved the hurt down. Don wasn’t rejecting me. He simply needed time, and I could—would give him that. He was worth every effort, every risk, every sacrifice—Don was worth everything. Whatever he needed, I would give to him and more. Or so I told myself.

“Don wants me to go home.”

Seth’s mouth fell open. “What the fuck did you just say?”

I laughed, a true one. “That was my response. He thinks I’ll be happier and safer. And I might be. But he’s here, and I don’t want to leave him.”

“But he wants you to?”

“No, yes, maybe.” I ran a hand through my hair, then took another breath.

I had to keep my emotions relatively calm.

Don would expect some anger and frustration, but too much and it would distract him from the humans who needed his full focus.

“He needs time, I think. This is all happening super fast.”

“That… I guess that makes sense,” Seth said. “But you don’t want time.”

“I want Don.”

Seth frowned. “That fucking bastard.”

I almost laughed, but it turned into a sob of pain. Don wasn’t rejecting me, but it felt like he was, and, fuck, it hurt.

Arms surrounded me and drew me in tight. “He broke your heart.”

I slapped away the tears. “No. He didn’t. We just need time.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Give him what he needs. I’ll go back to Tamkolvanloknol, and Don will go wherever he’s been ordered to go. When he comes back, we’ll try again.”

“And if the ship leaves for Earth before then?”

I glared at him. “I’m not leaving Don. If he needs time, he has it. But make no mistake, Seth, Don is fucking mine and no one will take him from me.”

Seth shook his head. “It’s no wonder Don likes you. Drakcol have a thing for possessive people.”

Well, that suited me just fine.

Suddenly, Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out a touchstone.

“Kal? What’s wrong?” He paused for several seconds.

“I did tell you I figured that would happen.” Another pause.

“Yes, yes, you didn’t want to risk me. Mindy and Fyn can bring me onto the station.

” He slid the light blue stone back into his pocket.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s the humans. Kal found them.”

“I know that.”

“There’s a little over three hundred,” he continued, “and they’ve been shoved into a rather small space.”

I swallowed as memories surfaced. I knew exactly what that felt like.

“Kal didn’t want me to go, because—” He cut off to wave at my still visible bruises and my bound arm.

“Naturally.”

“But none of them will talk to him or Don, so they need a human, like I told Kal.” Seth shook his head, but he was smiling and blushing like a teenager. “He wants to keep me safe.”

Red flag, thy name is Kal. Though that was a bit hypocritical coming from me. We were both overly protective. I hated the thought of Don on the space station as well. He’d been hurt and was recovering.

Seth stood. “I have to go. Did you want to come?”

I immediately shook my head. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, because I did, but the thought of seeing a bunch of dirty, terrified humans shoved into a small space was too much. It reminded me too much of what happened to me, and I couldn’t do it, as much as I wanted to.

“If you need me, call,” Seth said, hesitating at the door.

I waved him off, and Seth left. I continued to throw my things into the crate, trying very hard not to be mad or hurt.

Less than five minutes passed before the chime sounded again. I fought a snarl. I wanted to be left alone, but clearly, that wasn’t going to happen. I shouted, “Come in.”

“Vince?” Teddy called.

“Bedroom,” I yelled, throwing more shit into the crate.

His eyes followed the steady stream of shirts that landed in the crate. “Seth called. They found the humans.”

“Yep.”

“They’re safe, I guess.”

“Yep.” I didn’t want to talk about them.

“Seth told me about Don.”

I threw a sweater into the bin harder than needed, the metal from the zipper smacking into the side. “He wants me to go home. What else is there to say?”

Teddy nodded and sat on the bed. “You were planning on staying?”

Guilt smacked me. I hadn’t told Teddy. I should have, but I was a bastard like that. Also, I hadn’t wanted to bother him, especially with the xoi here, the captive humans, and all that. I said, “It hasn’t been that long.”

“Hmm.”

Sighing, I faced him. “I’m sorry, alright. Everything has happened so quickly. I did plan to tell you that I’m staying.”

“Even with Don and you breaking up?”

“We’re not breaking up,” I snapped, then took a deep breath and shoved a hand through my hair. “No matter what, I’m staying.”

He stared at me for several long moments, then asked, “Do you want Mindy to beat him up?”

I burst into laughter and sat on the ground across from Teddy. “Do you think he could?”

“No, and I doubt he would either.”

“Yeah, probably not.” These siblings were very close. My eyes closed and I hugged my knees to my chest. “I’ll be okay. Me and Don will be fine too.”

“Thanks for staying,” Teddy whispered. “I need you.”

Tears burned my eyes from that admission. He didn’t do emotion, so saying that had cost him. I gave Teddy a wide smile. “I need you too. You’re one of my best friends.”

Teddy smiled. “We’ll be okay. I know the start wasn’t great, but…” He waved around. “Things are working out.”

I fought a sob. It would all work out as long as Don chose me. I nodded. “We’ll make it.”

I lay in bed alone. It was late, and Don hadn’t come back. I wasn’t sure if he was going to or not. I’d heard nothing about the humans, besides the fact Seth had gotten them calmed down and Klars was checking them out.

The door opened, and the bed dipped before fingers skated through my hair. “You’re back,” I said.

“Yes,” Don whispered. “I had to get the station security set up for the humans as well as everyone else’s arrangements.”

“Why?”

“The Cohort ordered two additional ships to come to protect the humans while the Admiral Ven travels here. The ships will be here tomorrow. After that, there will be no reason for me to stay.”

“I see.”

Don paused, then moved away. I heard him going through the motions to go to bed. He settled behind me, not reaching for me. He was giving me space, but I didn’t want space. I rolled over and draped across his chest, like usual. His arms came around me, and he nuzzled the top of my head.

Taking a deep inhale of his soft vanilla scent, I said, “We’ll be alright, Sweetheart. I promise.”

We would survive, even if it wasn’t fun.

He cupped the back of my head. “Sleep, my Vince.”

Cuddling into his warm embrace, I closed my eyes. Me and Don would be fine. Everything would be just fine, eventually.