Page 7 of Fated to the Alien Hero (Warriors of Tavikh #7)

Evren

I am grateful Astrid sought me out. My concentration in the sparring arena has been nonexistent, and I have all the aches and pains to show for it. I have been distracted all morning waiting for, and wondering when, my mate would awaken. It is like I told her, though, I must keep my training up if I am not going out to hunt.

“Have you eaten this turn?” It is past the morning meal and still some time before the midday meal, but there is always something available for those who hunger.

Astrid shakes her head. “Not yet.”

“Come then, let us get you some food.” I place my hand at her lower back and gently guide her toward the food stores where we should find a vast supply of dried meats and fruits or root vegetables to choose from.

Together we walk through the village. I cannot help but cast several glances at Astrid. What does she think of our home? It is greatly different from the human settlement and Earth. Would she be willing to stay here with me as my mate? I will need to find her a tent to call her own when she is well. She would not want to stay in the one I share with Katem, Daveel, and Zalik. Rojtar recently moved into his own dwelling with his mate Abby and her brother, Carter.

“Did you sleep well?” A lot of her night had been filled with nightmares, but she did finally settle down just as the second moon touched the hilltop.

Astrid lifts a single shoulder. “Not really. Then again, you were there for most of it, so you saw. Thank you, once more, for that. You know, for staying with me.”

“Of course.” I would stay with her every night if it made her feel safe.

We reach the food stores and I grab the torch posted outside before entering. It is dimly lit within and there are stacks of baskets and chests filled with dried meats and fruits, along with many other items.

“What would you like? There is jerky made from luani or dried bizele, which is a type of fruit. The humans say it tastes similar to something you all call a…leach, I believe.”

Astrid cocks her head and her lips twitch like she is amused. “Do you mean a peach?”

“Is that one of your Earth fruits?”

“It is.”

“Then perhaps that is it.”

“I’m not picky,” Astrid says. “Whatever you think I might like, I’ll eat. Really.”

For a moment longer I study her, but she merely glances around observing everything. If that is the case, then I will share with her some of my favorites. She remains standing near the center while I search through the meats until I locate a bit of dried dhembi and several sprouts that grow wild out in the forest. With everything in hand, I return to Astrid and offer her the options.

“This is dhembi meat. It is the leanest and most tender in my opinion.”

She carefully nibbles on the end of the stick shaped piece. Her uninjured eye widens, and she makes a sound of delight that goes straight to my cock.

“Oh wow, this is delicious.” She takes a much bigger bite with her small, blunt teeth.

“It is one of my favorites. My nene used to sprinkle it with this special seasoning that brought out all the flavors when I was a kit.”

Astrid swallows. “Your nene? Is that your mother?”

I nod. “Rehata was the most wonderful nene and Levosh was a firm, but kind baba. I miss them both very much.”

“I miss my parents, too,” she says quietly.

“Would you tell me about them?” With a couple extra pieces of dried dhembi, I lead Astrid out of the tent and plant the torch in the ground outside it again. “Unless of course it is too painful.”

She shakes her head. “It’s not that. Well, not only that.”

We head toward the river where Zander recently finished having several benches built. Astrid sits and I settle in beside her, although I make sure to keep a respectable distance between us. Still, the warmth of her leg heats my own and I resist the need to twine my tail around her waist. I do not push her to speak. Rather, I wait patiently. Even if she does not tell me anything about her, I am happy enough to sit beside her in the silence. Just being near to my keeshla is enough.

“I guess if I talk about my parents, I should also talk about Grady,” Astrid finally says.

My jaw clenches. As if she does not sense the hatred flooding my veins, she continues.

“I met him when I was eighteen. My dad introduced us, actually. Grady was an up-and-coming lawyer in my dad’s firm and he was doing everything he could to impress my father.”

Some of the words she speaks do not translate, but I do not ask her to explain. I believe I understand enough.

“There was some charity banquet—I don’t even remember what it was for anymore.” Astrid huffs out a breath. “Grady was ten years older than me and the most handsome man I’d ever seen. He paid just enough attention to me to pique my interest, but not enough that he appeared to be sucking up to my dad.”

Jealousy burns within my gut at her description of this Grady . He is not worthy of her.

“Anyway, my mom never really cared for him, even before we got married. She said there was something dark in his ‘aura’.” Astrid chuckles quietly. “My mom and dad couldn’t have been more different. He was a high-class IP attorney and my mom was as free-spirited and flighty as they come. She was into astrology and tarot cards. No matter how ‘woo’ she was, she was also a real salt of the earth kind of person. She never met a stranger and was always the first person to volunteer if someone needed help. Not that many people in the upper tier would dare admit to asking for assistance.”

“She sounds like a wonderful human being.”

Astrid nods gently. “She was. Is . She’s the best person I know. There are a lot of things I can hate Grady for, but the one thing I hate him for most is how stupid he made me. How I let him manipulate me and drive a wedge between my parents and me. How he brought me to this fucking planet where I’ll never see them again. Never get to tell them I love them.”

Her voice cracks and her body trembles. Astrid covers her mouth with her hand, but a ragged cry still escapes. The wetness humans call tears spills down her cheeks in a torrent. Uncertainty fills me as to what I should do. Instinct drives me to carefully wrap my arms around her and hold her close. She buries her face against my chest, and soon it is soaked. But I do not mind. If this is what she needs, then I will give it to her.

I do not know how long we sit like this, but eventually Astrid’s tears slow and she draws in a large shuddering breath. Still, she does not withdraw, so I continue embracing her. I am not ready to lose the contact I have with her. Deep inside, my soul light flares brighter and warms me from the inside, while Astrid does so from the outside.

At last, she shifts and I loosen my arms so she can draw away when she chooses. It happens far too soon for my liking. She sits up straight and swipes away the wetness of her tears.

“God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to have a breakdown like that.” She slowly rattles her head.

“Do not apologize for your emotions. There is nothing wrong with having strong feelings and expressing them. It means you have a large heart, and it is filled to overflowing. People should not be afraid of this.”

“Grady always says I’m too emotional.”

Unable to resist touching her, I take Astrid’s tiny hand in mine. Her skin is smooth and soft like the silky fur of a ketri. Moving almost as though we are a single unit and it is the most natural thing in the world, we thread our fingers through the others. It should be strange that she has five digits while I only have four, but we fit perfectly together.

“No matter how difficult it is, you must forget every word that dishonorable, worthless male ever spoke to you. He is a despicable human and you should not waste even a single thought on him. If you could, I would ask you to banish him from your mind.”

Tingles erupt along my flesh where Astrid caresses it with her short digit. “I wish it were that easy, but when you hear something over and over again for days and months on end, it’s hard to shut out the voice and not believe it.”

“I know, and I will do what I can to help quiet the voice until it disappears completely.”

To my delight, Astrid lays her head on my shoulder. My soul light flares a little brighter.

“It feels like I keep saying this—because I probably am—but, thank you. For everything you’ve done for me,” she says quietly.

The fact she is so trusting is not lost on me. She should have every reason not to. It is a miracle she is not cynical or jaded. Or at least she does not appear to be. Or at least not as much as I would be.

“Thank you for not being afraid of me after what has been done to you. For trusting me.”

Astrid raises her head and stares at me. She scans my face and I wonder what she sees on it. Love? Longing? Awe? Because I feel all of those things. Also tenderness as well as desire.

“I do trust you,” she admits. “There is a part of me that keeps cautioning against trusting, not just you, but anyone. It’s a flaw my dad always lamented. He’d say, ‘People are going to take advantage of all that trust you offer, Astrid.’” And yeah, sometimes they did, especially when I was younger. But I still continued to see the best in them. No matter what awful things might happen to me, that’s something I actually don’t want to change about myself. I don’t want to see the bad in people.”

With my other hand, I gently cradle her cheek, doing my best not to hurt her. “While only time will prove me truthful, I will do all I can to show you that I am the one person you can always trust and that I will never, ever betray you. You are my fated mate. My keeshla . The other half of me who makes my soul light shine. A light which I gladly share with you.”

Astrid’s eyes reflect back at me the very light of which I speak. Moving slowly, she stretches up and brushes her lips across mine. At last, I am experiencing the mouth touching I have seen the humans do with their mates. It is something I have wanted and wanted to try and at last it is happening. Her caress is light and gentle. Soft like the feathers of a mellenje. I hold entirely still while we mouth touch for fear that I will do something wrong.

Far too soon, Astrid draws away and stares at me with cheeks darkening. She ducks her head.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” she confesses.

“Why not? We are mates.”

“I’m married.”

“He left you for dead. You have joined our village, so you are free to be with your true mate—me.”At least, I hope that is what the mouth touching and hand holding means.

Astrid looks over at me again. I do not like what I see on her face. “That’s not how it works, Evren. Grady and I are legally wed according to the laws of Earth. Until we get a divorce or one of us dies, we’re still considered mates.”

“Then we will get you this divorce.” Or I will kill him.