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ALEENA

Aleena woke to a strange sight. She was in some kind of white, sterile room—it looked like a room from the Healing House which she had visited so often with her mother, only the equipment was much more sleek and advanced-looking.

But it wasn’t the room that struck her as strange—it was the sight of her husband, sitting on a chair beside the bed she was in, with his face buried in his hands. His broad shoulders were shaking and a muffled sound of misery was coming from his deep chest.

“Bear? Husband?” she asked tentatively. “Are you unwell?”

He looked up at last and she saw that his eyes were red—not from Rage but from weeping. Had he been crying for her? Was she seriously hurt then? Maybe she was dying!

“Aleena? Sweetheart—how do you feel?” His voice was hoarse with emotion.

“I don’t know,” she said apprehensively. “Am I wounded? Will I die?”

“Die?” He looked surprised and worried. “No, you won’t die—not if I have anything to do with it!”

“Then why are you crying?” Aleena asked uncertainly. “I thought maybe there was something really wrong with me.”

Bear swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, looking like he was trying to regain his composure. He was shirtless and his broad chest was bare. Which made sense, because she was still wearing his uniform shirt, she saw. The golden buttons gleamed in light from the pale overhead glows.

“Nothing’s wrong with you—it’s me that’s all fucked up, baby,” he said hoarsely. “I’m to blame for everything that happened to you tonight and I’m so fucking sorry.”

Aleena shook her head.

“It wasn’t your fault that Faleesha planned to kidnap me. She must have known that I’d run from you when she revealed…” She cleared her throat, which was suddenly dry. “When she revealed your plan to disavow me.”

“I’m not going to do that—I swear it!” Bear leaned forward, taking her hand in his own. “I never wanted to—I thought I had to. I swear it, baby.”

Aleena frowned, not understanding.

“What do you mean you thought you had to disavow me?”

Bear dragged his free hand over his face wearily.

“It has to do with a vow I made,” he said in a low voice. “A sacred vow that I took after my first wife died…”

Aleena’s eyes widened as she listened to his story. How he had met his wife when both of them were just younglings, how he had loved her desperately and dearly…and how devastated he’d been when she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease.

“That must be how you learned so much about blood disorders and were able to cure my mother,” she said softly, when he paused for a moment. “You studied them to try and cure your wife.”

He nodded, looking utterly defeated.

“Yes. Much fucking good that it did me. Zelia died anyway, despite all that I could do. So I gave up practicing medicine and took a vow to never Bond a woman to me again. Then when I was called to broker the worm hole deal and the trade agreements between your people and mine, I was told I’d have to take a Karpsian wife. But your father told me that whoever I married, I could simply divorce her—or disavow her—at the end of the negotiations.”

“So…you hadn’t even met me yet when you decided you would disavow your Karpsian bride?” Aleena asked. She was beginning to get a better idea of what was going on now.

Bear nodded.

“I thought it would be easy—a short marriage of convenience just to satisfy Karpsian social convention.” He took both her hands in his and looked at her intently. “I never dreamed I’d fall in love.”

Aleena’s heart skipped a beat and she took in a shocked breath.

“Oh Bear…do you mean that?”

“Yes, baby—I do.” He nodded earnestly. “I started falling in love with you the minute I saw you. And then when I got to know you, I started falling deeper and deeper. But all the time, I knew I couldn’t Bond you to me, because of the vow I had taken to never Bond another bride.”

“So that’s the real reason you never wanted to change the color of my eyes,” Aleena said, as understanding burst over her.

Bear nodded.

“Exactly. I felt like such an asshole, lying to you. I never should have—I should have told the truth and explained why I couldn’t Bond you from the very first. But you seemed so frightened about being disavowed—I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Aleena looked down at her hands.

“So…I guess you still have to disavow me. Because of the vow you took?”

“No, baby—the Goddess released me from my vow.” He lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “I’m free to Bond you to me—we can spend the rest of our lives together. If…”

“If what?” Aleena’s heart was racing.

“If you can forgive me,” Bear rumbled. “For lying to you and deceiving you…for not getting to you in time.”

“But you did get to me in time,” Aleena protested. “They didn’t change the color of my eyes.”

“No, but they hurt you, baby!” The pain in his eyes made her heart flutter. He cared about her—deeply and truly, she could tell.

“I’ll heal,” she said gently, putting a hand over his. “I’m not angry with you, my Bear—now that I know the truth of why you thought you had to disavow me, I understand. Though I wish you would have told me from the first,” she added.

“I should have,” he said earnestly. “And I’ll tell you everything from now on. In fact, I won’t be able to hide anything from you, even if I wanted to—which I don’t—if only you’ll let me Bond you to me.”

Aleena frowned.

“I don’t understand. Does Bonding make a person more truthful or forthcoming?”

“When a Kindred Bonds his bride to him, it creates a kind of mental link—a Soul Bond—between them,” Bear explained. “They can send each other thoughts and feel each other’s feelings. It’s a truly intimate and life-changing thing which makes lying or withholding almost impossible.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Aleena said softly. She liked the idea of being so tightly bound to the man she loved.

“So will you let me Bond you to me?” Bear asked anxiously. “Will you forgive me for the pain I caused you and give me another chance?”

Aleena felt her heart swell with love. Yes, he had hurt her in the past but she had never been one to hold a grudge. Now, looking into her husband’s golden eyes, she could see how much he loved her and she wanted to return that love a hundred—no, a thousand fold.

“I will,” she said, smiling at him. “If you’ll let me stay here with you. I don’t want to go back to my home world and have to deal with the stares and the whispering that I’m sure the trouble with my family will cause.”

“We’ll live together here, aboard the Kindred Mother Ship,” Bear promised. “You’ll love it here—women are respected and admired and treated as equals among my people.”

“That would be a nice change,” Aleena admitted. “But…can my mother come to live here too? I mean, she doesn’t have to live with us but if we could find her a domicile not far from ours?—”

“Of course she can come.” Bear nodded. “In fact, I’m going to bring her back here as soon as possible so she can be a witness at our Joining Ceremony.”

Aleena frowned.

“What? But my husband, we’re already Joined.”

“The first ceremony was one of convenience—one I meant to break because I didn’t believe anything real or lasting could come from it,” he said firmly. “I want to have a new ceremony with you—one to symbolize our lasting love and the fact that we’re never going to be parted.”

Aleena felt like her heart was melting.

“Oh, my Bear—what a wonderful idea,” she murmured. “When will we hold it?”

“After you get out of here—the Med Center,” he clarified. “They’ll probably want to hold you at least a little while for observation. I’ll set up an appointment for tomorrow with the woman who helps plan events—Kat is her name, I believe—and we can hammer out the details.”

“But when will you Bond me to you and change the color of my eyes?” Aleena asked anxiously.

“After you’re healed and we have the ceremony,” he said firmly. “That will give us time to plan everything out.”

“But I don’t want to wait!” Aleena protested. “I want to be with you now— tonight .”

“But baby, you’re still hurt.” He cupped her bruised cheek gently. “Don’t you want time to heal?”

“No—I want to be with you now ,” Aleena said stubbornly. She nuzzled her cheek into his big, warm hand. “Please, my Bear, if you truly want to prove your love for me, change the color of my eyes and Bond me to you so that I know you’ll never leave me.”

“If that’s really what you want, I’ll do it,” he murmured, stroking her cheek. “Just give me an hour to get a few things ready, baby and then I’ll come back for you. That will give the quick-healing gel we used on your face and lip some time to work. Is that okay?”

“That sounds fine.” Aleena smiled at him. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“All right. I’ll be back soon.” He kissed her tenderly on the forehead and rose to go. “Just relax and take a little nap, baby.”

Aleena nodded and, after he left, she tried to do as he said but the events of the night kept playing out in her mind. Her time with her stepmother and half-sister had been horrible, but she was already putting it to the back of her mind as well as she could. Instead, she concentrated on the wonderful knowledge that she and the man she loved were going to be together forever.