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Mia woke from the strangest dream. Brilliant green eyes. The echo of a bone-chilling, animalistic scream. A dark, insidious pain. It lingered in the clammy sweat coating her skin, in the hoarse dryness of her throat, and in the pins and needles prickling up and down her legs.

Her eyes opened to a blurry, unfamiliar room, clearly part of a clinic or hospital, and she caught the scent of woodsmoke and jasmine lingering in the air.

“Darling,” her mother said.

Mia tried to focus on the woman approaching her through the kaleidoscope of light prisming her vision. “Damn hallucinations. You’re on Earth.”

The vision snorted out a laugh. “At least you know where you are, a decided improvement.”

“No idea where I’m at, but it’s pretty,” Mia confessed. She turned her head to take in her surroundings and felt twin waves of dizziness and nausea roll over her. “Gah.”

“Zephyria,” the hallucinated facsimile of her mother said. “Do you remember now?”

“Like I could ever forget being kidnapped by a giant, horned alien.” And a horny one, too.

“By the sappy grin on your face, I’d say you remember that quite well.”

“We’re going to make babies.” Mia’s eyes fluttered closed and she smiled again. “He’s really good at that.”

The dream woman choked on a laugh. “Well, the drugs haven’t worn off yet, I’m sorry to say. Rest now, love. I’ll go get your horned alien.”

“Yeah,” Mia said dreamily, then drifted back into much more pleasant dreams.

A stabbing pain woke Mia what felt like days later. Her eyes went wide as she inhaled and tried to sit up.

Zoran’s hand pressed against her chest, pinning her down, then his face appeared above her. “Easy, mate. The medics are conducting a nerve test.”

“I can tell,” she croaked out. “Water?”

“A moment more.”

One moment turned into dozens. Finally, after a small eternity of uncomfortable bursts of pain, the medics wheeled away their torture devices and Zoran helped her sip water.

“Your mother and father will return shortly,” he said.

Mia peered at him through squinted eyes. The room was still a little bright. At least the psychedelic auras had disappeared. “I thought I dreamed that.”

“You dreamed, but not of this.” He set the water aside and took her hand, gently stroking her fingers. “I sent for them when…”

Her fingers tightened on his. Even in her current state, it was easy to see that whatever had happened to her had hit him hard. His eyes were hollow, and he looked as if he’d lost weight. There was a desperate air to him, as if something terrible had happened, a lonely, agonizing brand of grief and heartache.

“Shh,” she said. “I’m ok now. At least, I feel ok.”

“The damage was not quite as extensive as I feared.” His eyes slid shut and he swallowed hard. “You must undergo physical therapy .”

He said the last two words in carefully enunciated English.

“Then I will.” She brushed her fingertips along his jawline, then let her hand drop, surprised by how weak she was. “What happened to the vyirkolen ?”

“Kaelen Drexus slayed it.”

“Dang. Well, now I guess I’ll have to help him out.”

Zoran’s eyes narrowed. “Help him out?”

“That’s between me and him,” she said firmly.

“Mate,” Zoran growled. “You will not keep secrets from me, particularly secrets shared with another male.”

“Who said it was a secret? Besides, you’ll figure it out soon enough. Trust me.”

“I do.”

“Good. Then that’s settled.” The pins and needles sensation roared through her, and she bit her lip to stifle a gasp. “Mom’s really here?”

“And your father as well. I believe they linger at the science center discussing viruses.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Rest now. If you behave, I shall draw you a bath and wash you thoroughly.”

Prickles of another kind washed over her. “That sounds promising.”

“Indeed. We must begin making these grandchildren you pledged to give your mother.”

His smug tone made her laugh. “Well, now that I’ve promised, I suppose it’s a sure thing. There’s just one problem.”

“Yes, my mate?”

“I could really use some cuddles right now.”

“If it so pleases you, such will ever be my honor to oblige.”

Zoran crawled into the narrow hospital bed with her and held her gently against his chest until she fell into a deep sleep, safe and secure beside her beloved mate.

Over the next few days, Mia became intimately acquainted with her doctors’ torture devices, the machines they used to gauge the damage done to her spinal cord. She felt fine. Better than fine, really, at least physically. As hard as she tried to put it behind her, the memory of the vyirkolen haunted her, that and the fact that one of her own people had locked her outside with that monster.

When Zoran asked her what she remembered, Mia forced down her rancor as she told him about the locked doors and pleading with Raelka Korlis.

His eyes had gone from green to white between one breath and the next. “She will be dealt with.”

Mia hadn’t asked how. Raelka had been given more than one opportunity to demonstrate her loyalty and had failed repeatedly. Now she would pay the price.

Mia’s parents settled into a spare bedroom in Alara’s house while Mia’s mother consulted with Emma Mitchell and her peers, both Xeruvian and human, on the nature of the virus that had so devastated Xeruvian females. Their stay was temporary. As soon as the ship dropped them off in Arkkukari, it returned to Earth, where Sonja Mathis and her mate Aklan Phyrz worked to reopen a dialogue with Earth’s many governments. The Reynolds would go back when the next ship traveled that way.

Until then, Mia welcomed their time together. She was happy to putter with her research around doctor’s appointments, physical therapy, and mentoring sessions with Zoran’s mother. Happy to let her friends drag her to movie night, and very, very happy when her doctors cleared her to resume intimate relations with her mate, as they put it.

Though Zoran still treated her as if she were made of glass.

A week after the attack, Zoran presided over an emergency session of the Warlord Council, flanked on one side by Mia and on the other by his mother.

While the warlords discussed the implications of the two vyirkolen attacks, Mia studied those in attendance. Because of the nature of the meeting, it had been opened to the public. The warlords who had a voice in the proceedings sat in a circle in the center of the open space. Whoever could squeeze in sat or stood around them, well back so that the warlords could move freely.

Mia recognized several among the crowd. The warlords who had trained beside her mate during those early days aboard his ship, as well as those she’d met since their arrival. Her friends and colleagues from the science center. A few local merchants.

Her parents stood beside Jyrak on the outer edges, their curiosity so obvious Mia was sure even the Xeruvians could spot it.

Near the end of the session, a young, handsome warrior Mia vaguely recognized dragged Raelka into the empty space in the middle of the inner circle. The female’s hands were bound behind her and her eyes were wild with a desperate, defiant fear.

When the two stopped, Zoran addressed the assembly. “You have heard the tale of the vyirkolen ’s attacks. Now hear the deeds of this female in relation to that attack.”

Mia had been warned that she’d be expected to testify. Carefully, she outlined the events of that day, beginning with the conflict between Zoran and Lord Kaelen and ending with the last thing she remembered before she passed out: the weight of the vyirkolen on her back and the pain it inflicted before its venom seeped into her bloodstream.

She let no emotion color her voice, not even the anger and frustration and bitterness she’d felt when she’d realized Raelka had deliberately locked her out. Zoran’s warriors had found evidence of her tampering with the security system, and others had seen her in the hallways near the science center’s rear exit around the time of the attack.

There was no question as to the young woman’s guilt. Her punishment, however…

Mia hardened her heart. Raelka Korlis represented a clear threat not just to her, but to the other humans and to the work her fellow scientists were conducting. She was a snake in the grass, though not a very clever one. Regardless of any other punishment, Mia had already decided that Raelka’s time at the science center was at an end.

When Mia was finished, Zoran leveled an emotionless gaze on the young woman. “Did you set loose the vyirkolen upon my mate?”

“No!” Raelka shouted. “I had nothing to do with that.”

“Yet did you know to delete Lady Kerus’s passcode and biometrics from the science center’s security system beforehand. This suggests foreknowledge of the attack. Do you deny this as well?”

“I didn’t do it! Can’t you see what that, that filthy klika is doing to our people?”

Zoran rose to a stand in one powerful move. “You dare insult my mate?”

The young warrior holding Raelka upright shook her hard. “Tell them the truth of it, that I might call you sister one last time.”

Mia’s heart sank . Oh, God , she thought. That poor man. Were his and Raelka’s parents in the crowd, too? Were they watching as their daughter brought shame and dishonor on their family?

Not that she would judge them, but the Xeruvians might. As much as Mia hated what Raelka had done to her, she hated more what the young woman had done to her own family.

Raelka collapsed sobbing. “I had to get rid of her,” she whispered. “Had to get rid of the human taint. Don’t you see? I was doing it for you, Zoran.”

“ Lord Kerus ,” Zoran corrected coldly. “Who released the vyirkolen on my mate?”

Raelka shook her head, her gaze firmly on the ground.

“Very well. Until such time as you can speak the names of your conspirators, I hold you solely responsible for the attacks on your lord and his mate.”

“No!” Raelka cried. “I had nothing to do with the vyirkolen .”

Mia glanced around the crowd, judging the reactions of those present. No one looked kindly upon the young woman. Kaelen Drexus caught her eye and nodded. Mia returned his nod with one of her own. He had saved her. She would never forget that.

“Raelka Korlis,” Zoran said. “You are stripped of your family name and affiliation with the clan of your birth and branded a clanless traitor of the lowest order. From now to the end of your days, you are forbidden to set foot within the Kerus jutji . Furthermore, until such time as you release the names of those who aided you, you will serve as a drone in the quarries of Clan Drexus. No mate shall you have. No child shall you bear. No succor shall you find upon the land.”

“Mercy,” Raelka whispered.

Mia leaned forward and laid her hand on Zoran’s calf. “What mercy did you have for me?”

A low murmur ran through the crowd. Everyone present knew exactly how little mercy Raelka had given to Mia.

The young man holding Raelka’s arm let her go and stepped away from her. “You are no sister of mine, nameless one.”

He turned his back on her. A couple directly across the circle from Mia turned around as well, nudging a prepubescent girl to turn with them. One by one, the people standing around the warlords averted their faces until only her parents were left.

Paulina nodded once, her mouth pressed into a firm line, then she and Anthony pivoted until they faced away from the woman once known as Raelka Korlis.

The warlords rose and did the same, then Zoran, and finally, Mia levered herself upright using the cane she was forced to rely on until she fully healed. She stared down at the woman who’d inflicted so much damage on the people around her, and could find only pity in her heart.

“There are worse things than death,” she said softly.

The whip of a breeze carried the words over the assemblage as Mia turned slowly around and completed the symbolic death to which Zoran had sentenced her rival.

The pall of the day’s events lifted once the Council meeting was completed. Mia allowed Zoran to carry her from the Council Grounds to his conveyance and pack her inside as if she were a child in need of tending.

The tending, she’d gladly take. The child part, not so much.

Mia begged off movie night with her friends, even though both Leona and Kira had journeyed from their jutjil for the meeting. The day had drained her. All she wanted to do was go home, go to bed, and cuddle with her mate.

A smile played over her mouth. And maybe do a little more than cuddle.

When they arrived, Zoran insisted on carrying her inside as well. He stopped just inside the door and gazed down at her, his eyes filled with affection and a gentle humor. “I have a gift for you, pjora-la .”

“Zoran, you can’t keep giving me—”

He silenced her protests with a scorching hot kiss, muddling Mia’s thoughts so much, she forgot what she was saying.

Zoran eased the kiss and nipped her lower lip with one fang. “Are you not curious as to the gift’s nature?”

She laid her head on his shoulder, smiling. “Ok, I’ll bite. What’s this mysterious gift you got me?”

“Something very precious,” he rumbled. “Something you greatly desire.”

“You?”

He threw back his head and laughed so hard, he jiggled her in his grasp. “That as well, beloved. No, this gift must be seen. Look.”

Zoran placed her carefully on her feet and steadied her as she glanced around their home. Everything looked exactly as it had when they’d left that morning. Cushions piled neatly on the floor, awaiting their leisure. The kitchen counters shone clean and empty. No breeze filtered through the apartment, which struck her as odd. A breeze was always blowing through those damnable open arches, unhindered by the forcefields—

Her eyes went round on a gasp. “You got me doors! Oh, oh! Just look at them! When? How?”

“I ordered them the morning of the not-dragon’s not-attack.”

She snickered. “As I recall, something else attacked me that day.”

“Indeed,” he said solemnly. “A mate attack.”

Mia leaned into him, sighing happily. “And a wonderful mate attack it was. Zoran?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Attack me again.”

“If you so desire, I shall spend the entire night doing so.”

He lifted her against his chest and strode through their home, placed her gently on their bed, and stood looking down at her for a long, long moment.

Mia held a hand out to him, beckoning him forward. “What’s wrong?”

“When I saw the vyirkolen atop you—” He shuddered and dropped his head forward, closing his eyes against the memory. “I thought only of you, of the things that must be done to heal you. If you had been paralyzed, my love would not have diminished, though it meant forsaking the children I so longed to make with you.”

“Zoran,” she murmured. “You can’t dwell on what might have been.”

“I beg you, Mia. Allow me to finish.” His jaw worked for a moment before he continued. “When first we conceived the plan to mate with humans, we did not consider the lives those women would forsake. The life you forsook. We thought only of our people’s great need. And yet, when I met you and claimed you for my own—when I discovered the beauty residing within you—I could not bring myself to let you go. So great was my fear, that I challenged another warlord over an innocent touch, placing you in such grave danger, you could have died. I can never forgive myself for allowing this harm to befall you, after swearing that I would protect you with my life. Yet it was Kaelen Drexus who bore the risk, Kaelen Drexus who slayed the vyirkolen , while the near loss of you drove me to my knees.

“I cannot live without you, Mia Reynolds, borne of Earth, now of Clan Kerus. If you should decide that the price you have paid to be with me is too great, then I shall find a way to return you to your home, even at the cost of my own happiness.”

“My love, no,” she said, stricken. “Don’t say that.”

“It must be said, pjora-la . Beloved mate. My heart, my life. My soul.” He clutched her hand in his, his eyes blazing with love and grief and hope. “Yet must I also ask you to live by my side wherever you go. Here or on Earth, it makes no difference to me. I will follow where you lead, gladly, if you but ask it of me.”

“I’m happy here,” she said gently. “I’m happy you found me.”

He touched the middle two fingers of his right hand to his forehead, mouth, and chest, then lifted his hand to the heavens. “By the will and blessing of the Fates, my love.”

She tugged on his hand until he crawled across the bed and carefully lowered himself onto her. “There’s just one thing missing.”

“Name it and I shall endeavor to fulfill the lack.”

Her smile carried all of the love in her heart. “Let’s make a baby.”

“From your mouth to the Fates’ loom,” he whispered, then she drew him into a kiss, and they forgot about the world outside their doors until the dawn’s light blessed the union of their souls in a dance as eternal as time.