Page 43 of Guardian's Soul (Space Guardian's Mate #2)

THARAAX

I loved this female more than it should be possible. It wasn't just her beauty or her warmth that held me captive—it was her . She was the rhythm of my heart, the air in my lungs. The thought of a world without her felt like trying to breathe underwater—impossible, agonizing, and utterly unbearable. All light would go with her if she were ever gone, leaving me in an endless night. No, I couldn't imagine a life without her because a life without her wouldn't be a life at all—it would be a hollow echo of what could have been. I would gladly give my life for her. It was an easy choice, quite selfish, really, because I didn't think I could bear living without her.

And still, when I dreamed, I dreamed of Suahaana. And in that dream, I felt for Suahaana the same way I did for Hannah.

I was carrying her dead body through the forest again, running from something. Something I couldn't see. Like before, I fell, Suahaana was slipping from my arms, and I cried out. Her black eyes were sightless as they stared at me, and a scream tore from my throat and ripped me back to the present. I sat up with a start. My heart pounded inside my chest as if it was ready to come flying out. My throat was tight with pain, as was my chest. I could barely get any air into my lungs. I heaved with the effort to force oxygen down my throat, but it was too closed.

"Thrax." Alarmed, Hannah began to pound on my back. "Breathe, Thrax, breathe." The urgency in her voice and the frightened look in her eyes penetrated my brain enough to get a hold of myself and my emotions.

"Suahaana again?" Hannah asked.

I felt like the lowest of all creatures. Lying there in bed with the female who meant everything to me, mourning another who had meant the same. Confusion wasn't even coming close to describing what I felt.

"It's all right, Thrax. It's okay. I'm here. I love you." Hannah tried to soothe me, making me feel more guilt-ridden.

I knew I was a bastard when I sought comfort in her arms—comfort for the death of another female who had meant everything to me. I clung to Hannah as if I was drowning. The grief was nearly splitting me apart; while I felt such incredible love for Hannah, it defied any logic.

"I'm okay." I finally managed to get a hold of myself.

"You don't look okay. You look like you saw a ghost."

I flinched at her words. "Something like that."

"We need to talk to the others about this," Hannah proposed, looking like she didn't like her own suggestion one bit.

"You're right. Besides"—I drew my hand through my hair and rubbed the back of my neck as a low pain started to dig into my brain—"I saw something else."

"What?"

"Suahaana was dead, but there was a light reflected in her eyes," I said, closing mine as a fresh wave of pain jolted through me with unrelenting force. "The light, it looked like the reflection of a drone."

"A drone?" Hannah repeated, her eyes going wide. "Like…"

I nodded. "Like the ones we used, like the ones that were at Possedion's property. "

She took a deep breath, her face scrunched up in determination. "Let's get that bastard here and talking," she snarled vengefully.

In the hallway, we ran into Raasla and Zoe, arm in arm. They were whispering and giggling. Seeing Raasla giggle was not something I thought I would see first thing in the morning, but hey, Hannah was doing things to me that I didn't understand either, so who was I to judge?

The others were all in the break room, gathered around the large table already filled with goodies that made Hannah squeal in joy. "Is that coffee I smell?"

"As close to coffee as one can get here," Nova remarked, drinking from a steaming mug filled with a black liquid.

"And here's sugar and cream." Zoe pulled two containers off the table.

"Wow," Hannah exclaimed, taking a hot cup of the black liquid Luph offered and smiling gratefully at her.

"Where is…" Hannah looked around, and just then, Vraax entered with Sloane. The two were staring at each other like gladiators in an arena, trying to find the other's weakness and figuring out how to exploit it.

"Good, we're all here." Nock rubbed his hands together in glee. "I've discovered something amazing."

He pulled up several cube screens and projected one against the far wall. Intrigued, I looked at images that closely resembled our mating marks. "Thanks to our new friend Tharaax, I did some digging through the Ohrur database last night"—he was interrupted by Nova clearing her throat—"with the help of Nova and Luph," the Kred added.

"Those look like our Soulweb Glyphs," Zoe stated in awe.

"They are," Nova acknowledged. "Mine, Zaarek's, Noodar's, and Luph's. "

Except these were linear, not wound around an arm, hip, or leg. They looked as if someone had taken them off and spread them out; that thought made me shiver.

"See here." Nock got out a light pointer with an orange light that contrasted nicely with the wall and the marks. "These are all the same on you."

"Well, they're the same on us four," Nova interrupted, then with a grin, looked from one of us to the other. "Strip."

"What?" Hannah cried.

"Just kidding." Nova giggled, another thing I hadn't expected to see. So far, Nova's expression had pretty much mirrored Raasla's closed-up demeanor, but suddenly, she was very animated, playful even.

All of us were staring at our arms at the moment to find the markings Nock had pointed out, and he was right. They did look identical to the ones on the wall.

"These here"—he moved the pointer to some more intricate marks that flowed in circles, looking like vines in part. He threw a meaningful look at Nova—"are very different on our samples. They should be the ones moving around your hip and thigh area."

Without fanfare, Noodar pulled down his pants to expose parts of his markings, taking care to keep his male parts hidden. "Yap, they do look different."

I glared a Hannah when she followed his example, making sure not to expose too much skin.

"What does that mean?" She wanted to know while she was at it and sidled up next to me. With a resigned huff, I rolled my pants partially down to satisfy her and the others' curiosity.

"Oh, look, this is different from mine," Hannah exclaimed, tracing the swirling lines with her finger, making me shudder and sending my cock on high alert.

The other couples, except Vraax and Sloane, did the same, exclaiming in the process .

"All right, what does that mean?" Raasla's deep voice interrupted the show of naked skin.

"These are names," Nock announced.

"We think those are names," Nova corrected. "We haven't deciphered the whole meaning yet."

"What else would it be?" Nock huffed.

"Let me take images of yours." Nova turned in a circle to look at all of us. "The three of us have a suspicion, but I don't want to voice it yet until we're sure."

"All right, while she's doing that, let's go get Possedion," Noodar announced. "She already has a copy of my marks, so whoever goes first will come with me."

"Hold on, it's my ship." I didn't like how Noodar seemed to want to take control of the mission one bit.

"He's got a point. Take him first," Zaarek asserted, looking at Nova.

Nova rolled her eyes, fully aware of the alpha powerplay that was taking place, and waved me outside. I was glad the markings didn't go all the way around my thigh, only the outside. I wasn't a shy person, but I don't think that flashing Nova would have gone over easily with either Hannah or Zaarek.

"Send Raasla next," she ordered.

Great, another person thought they were the alpha of our group. We needed to talk about this. Soon.

I went back, called for Raasla, and found Hannah talking to Zoe and Sloane. "Do you need anything from the ship?" I asked her. "I can get it while I'm getting Possedion."

"Well, I need?—"

"What are you love birds up to?" Zoe asked, joining us before Hannah could finish her request.

"I was about to ask Thrax for some tampons or some other magical cure… I think I just got my period. Which means"—she looked at me with a wry grin—"I'm not pregnant."

"Oh." Zoe giggled… what was it with everyone giggling to day? "I can help with that. We don't exactly have tampons but something similar."

"Oh, good. By the way, I don't know about you and the others, but Thrax tested him and me, and supposedly, the men can get us knocked up," Hannah filled her in. I wondered if they had forgotten that I was here. Was this how females talked to each other when they were alone? I wasn't a prude, but this openness surprised me.

"Oh, I know they can." Zoe giggled some more.

"How do you… what?" Hannah stared at Zoe in awe, who nodded. "Sorry, Raasla, I know we said not to say anything yet, but it came up. Love you," she yelled out into the hallway.

"Say what?" Raasla yelled back.

"That I'm pregnant," Zoe yelled, nearly bending over with laughter and then taking hugs and well wishes from all the other excited members of our group.

"How can she be happy about this?" I asked Hannah.

"It's a good thing." Hannah beamed, already having hugged Zoe.

"But you said it hurts."

"Yeah, but it's a labor of love." She grinned.

Humans. I didn't think I would ever understand them.