Page 37 of Saved By the Alien Hybrid (Hybrids of Yulaira #1)

Cordelia squeezed Sophia’s shoulder before moving away, giving her space as she desperately scarfed down alien rations.

The women were all gathered in the common space, sprawled out over the massive couch—aside from Seren, who stood by the window with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, gazing out at the endless expanse of nature.

Nyx rose, her prosthetic clicking against the polished stone as she stood beside her Commander.

“We’re still missing Thea, Celeste, and Juno,” she said in a low voice, hands on her hips.

The scratches on her face were thin, dark scars already, and her hair had been washed and pulled back into a dark braid that shone with health. “What’s the plan?”

Cordelia grimaced. “I know where Thea is,” she said, looking toward the window.

Nyx made a pained sound. “She’s dead?”

Cordelia’s head whipped back around, her eyes wide. “No! Shit, sorry. She’s, well…” Cordelia pointed upward.

Nyx frowned. “…Dead? Big arcade in the sky?”

“Nyx,” Cordelia said with exasperation. “She’s on the Gidalan. The Aurillon have her.”

Nyx’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. Seriously?”

“She got snatched right in front of me. Rentir killed the bastard, but… they took her. I couldn’t stop it.”

“What do you think they’re doing to her?”

“I don’t know. Rentir doesn’t think they’ll hurt her, but he doesn’t know why they want her, either.”

Someone cleared their throat, prompting Cordelia and Nyx to lift their bowed heads. The males were all standing to the side of the seating area. Some she recognized, but others were unfamiliar to her.

Rentir stepped forward from the throng, and she went to him, studying his somber expression.

“What is it?” she asked.

He ran a hand over his jaw, tail twitching in the way she’d come to recognize as discomfort. “We need to speak with you all.”

“So, speak,” Nyx chirped, crossing her arms over her chest.

The other women murmured their assent. Lyra rose to her feet, shrewd eyes taking in each of the males as though she were looking for something.

“There is something… strange happening between us,” Rentir tried haltingly. “Something biological that changes within us when we are too close to one of you women.”

Her stomach sank at the revelation. She really was the reason he’d been acting erratic. What if his fascination, his warp-speed devotion, was all just some weird symptom? She was suddenly grateful for the compulsion to shield her heart.

“We do not yet understand what it means,” he continued, “but we believe it is in everyone’s best interest to try to limit contact.”

“So, what? Is this where you lock us up for our own good?” Lyra asked, the fury in her eyes at odds with the neutrality of her tone.

The women began to speak over one another, chattering unhappily. This was what they’d hoped to leave behind on Earth; a society that wanted to tuck them away in a box, out of sight and out of mind.

“Rentir?” Cordelia looked up at him, willing him to correct Lyra.

“We will not imprison anyone,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the infighting. “We only ask that you be mindful to keep a distance from the males. We’re not sure what’s happening, or if it can be reversed. If we are careful, we can avert any chaos in the meantime.”

“What kind of chaos?” Pandora asked, sitting forward on the edge of her seat. “What biological changes are you referring to?”

“Hormonal changes,” Haerune answered. She noticed that the male’s eyes gentled when he spoke to Pandora—she was the only woman he didn’t glower at. “The sort that make the males stronger, faster, more aggressive. More… easily aroused. Less rational.”

Pandora hummed thoughtfully. “Sounds like some kind of biological imperative to me.” She stroked her delicate chin.

“Perhaps some kind of mating bond? If so, perhaps copulation would ease the effects. On Earth, most of these things come in cycles. If the urge to breed is satisfied, the hormonal changes may resolve.”

“I can’t believe you can make sex sound so lame,” Nyx said flatly.

Pandora grinned at her.

“I am not having an alien baby,” Lyra interjected. “Not on your life.”

The three-eyed alien with red hair and skin barked a cough into his fist that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

“No one is suggesting that,” Haerune corrected quickly.

“Someone might be,” Sophia murmured, her eyes sliding toward Cordelia.

Rentir’s tail wrapped around Cordelia’s thigh, squeezing. His eyes had turned molten at the suggestion that they bang it out; he was clearly on board with the idea of making his own mini-me.

She huffed, pulling his tail away before it got any ideas about exhibitionism. “Very funny,” Cordelia replied, offering Sophia a rude gesture.

Sophia didn’t quite manage to hide her grin behind her hand.

“I do hate to rain on your parade, but each one of us is on birth control,” Pandora interjected. “There won’t be any babies unless someone decides to remove their implant.”

A murmur went through the aliens at that revelation.

Lyra’s fingers traced over her lower stomach as her eyes went distant. There was something wistful in her expression despite her earlier objections.

A gray-skinned male with towering horns and red eyes was staring with fervent and vaguely threatening intensity at Seren.

Cordelia had the sinking realization that Rentir wasn’t the only one experiencing hormonal changes.

Seren wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders, ducking her head as she avoided his gaze.

Cordelia stepped sidelong until she was blocking his view of the mechanic.

“Ease up,” Cordelia warned in a low voice.

The male’s tail whipped, anger flickering in his eyes, but he looked away.

Nyx noticed the tension. A muscle jumped in her jaw, and she edged toward Seren, crossing her arms over her chest and rolling her shoulders back in obvious challenge as she glared at the male.

“Alright, no heavy petting the aliens unless we want to screw,” Nyx said, rolling her neck until it popped. “Now that we have that highly pressing matter out of the way, what the fuck are we going to do about our missing people?”

Cordelia covered her eyes, biting back on a groan of frustration at Nyx’s delivery. Sighing, she dropped her hand, turning to Rentir. “She’s right. We need a plan. We’re still missing four people.”

“I can get the pods’ distress signals back online once we deal with the Gidalan,” one of the males said.

He had three piercing yellow eyes and long, dark red hair framing a short pair of upturned black horns.

His skin was a dusty shade of currant, covered in the same sweeping stripes that Haerune sported.

Most astonishing of all? He had hooves instead of feet. She gaped at them a moment too long, forgetting what he’d said.

“I… what?” She blanched.

He cast a look at Rentir that very clearly expressed, ‘Is she stupid?’

“She means to elaborate.” Nyx sniffed, looking down her nose at him even though he had a few inches on her in height. “What’s your plan?”

The male grinned, his tail swishing in a lazy arc. His was tufted with hair at the tip, rather than scales. “Don’t have one. But I can’t help you find your missing pods unless someone deals with the Gidalan, or the second I boot them up, they’re gonna be crawling with auretians.”

“What do these other aliens want with us?” Lyra asked.

The male shrugged. “They don’t share their motives with us as a rule.”

“Well, you’re helpful,” Nyx muttered. “Any of you actually have a plan? Or are you just here to gawk at us while we make one?”

“Nyx,” Cordelia said wearily.

“If you don’t want our help, you can say as much,” the male who’d been staring at Seren hissed. “We have our own matters to attend to that don’t involve falling on our plasma-blades for a bunch of useless, helpless fe—”

Rentir smacked him hard in the gut with one hand before he could finish his rant. “That’s enough, Xeth.”

Xeth opened his mouth to argue further, but the sound of footsteps cut him off. They all turned as a familiar figure limped into the room with Lidan on her heels.

“You guys throwing a party without me?” Eunha grinned weakly, her hand pressed to a bloody spot on her shirt.

Cordelia and Nyx rushed her at the same time, throwing their arms around her as they talked over one another. Nyx even grabbed her by the chin and pressed kisses over her cheeks until Eunha cringed and batted her away.

“Gross,” she whined. “Keep it to yourself.”

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, you miserable cow.” Nyx was beaming. “I can’t believe you’re not dead.”

Eunha scoffed. “I’d last longer in the wild than you would in civilization. If anything, being around other sentient beings diminishes your chances, given that you don’t know when to shut up.”

“Okay, well now I wish you were dead.”

Eunha snorted, shoving Nyx’s shoulder. She winced, fingers curling into the fabric of her dirty tank top.

“What happened to you?” Cordelia asked, sliding a hand under the pilot’s elbow to take her weight.

Eunha limped over to the edge of the couch, sinking down with Cordelia’s help. She panted, slumping back against the dark cushions.

“Made a friend out there.” Eunha grunted, shifting until she was comfortable. “Big gray dickhead who wanted to take me for a little ride.” She popped her neck with a wince. “Thing is, I didn’t agree with his destination, so I took him for a little ride instead. Didn’t quite stick the landing.”

“She commandeered a dropship,” Lidan translated. He dabbed his sleeve at a cut on his cheek. “When I caught up to her, she hit me over the head with the black box.”

Cordelia cut an incredulous look at Eunha.

Eunha shrugged. “Looked heavy.”

“It was,” Lidan said wryly.

Eunha stretched out her legs, flexing her dirty toes. Every inch of her feet was covered in dirt and lacerations. “I didn’t speak alien. How was I supposed to know he wasn’t going to kidnap me next?”

“I had to wrestle her to the ground to put the translator in.” He rubbed his jaw as though it ached.

“You touched her?” Haerune interjected with alarm.

“That is what ‘wrestle’ implies, isn’t it?”

Haerune cursed under his breath. “Fool.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lidan waved the insult away. “You’re welcome.”

“You piloted an alien spacecraft?” Cordelia asked, turning her attention back to her copilot.

Eunha grinned. “Technically, I think I crashed an alien spacecraft.”

“But you flew it, at least for a while?” Cordelia pressed.

“One could say that.”

“I wouldn’t,” Lidan muttered.

Cordelia gave her a considering look, the wheels turning in her head. “Think you could do it again?”

Eunha’s smile widened wickedly.