Page 33 of Undisciplined Catalyst

Holy shit! I touched my mouth. Kaelen had kissed me! I felt his amusement, and he kissed the tip of my nose.“I will enjoy teaching you how to kiss properly.”

“And the other stuff?”

His laughter filled my head.“Yes, when you turn twenty-one.”

“Seriously? But I’m only eighteen now. Why do I have to wait that long?”

“We cannot mate until you are of age. Zarek is very strict about that rule.”

“And we don’t want to annoy the Overlord.”

“We do not.”

The all-clear siren sounded.

A phantom hand stroked my cheek.“Stay safe.”Kaelen vanished from my mind.

With a pleasant smile on their faces, everyone calmly exited the bunker.

“Momma!” The little girl ran to an obviously distraught woman.

“What kind of mental voodoo did the battle commander use on them?” Dad demanded.

I shrugged. “Not sure.”

“He needs to teach it to you. It’ll come in handy if we have another food riot.”

“I’ll ask him.” My gaze settled on Benny. “Get up Benny.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He scrambled to his feet. “I’m sorry I shot at you. It’ll never happen again. Scout’s honor.”

“Un huh.”

Dad’s eyebrows rose. “Him too?”

“Yep.”

A prisoner transport van stopped in front of the bunker. The detention officer climbed out with a big grin on his face. “No casualties except for the Tai-Kok.”

“Good to know.” I quickly scanned the area. Yep, no monsters. I frowned. Wait. What was that? It was definitely alien, but it sorta felt like a critter of some kind. “Dad I’m going to do some recon.”

His brows furrowed. “Tai-Kok soldiers?”

“No, it feels like some kind of critter.”

Dad looked around. “Where?”

“To the east. By the old Walmart.”

“I’ll get the ATV and meet you there.”

“Okay.”

The detention officer asked, “What’s Soliz being arrested for this time?”

“Armed robbery and aggravated assault on a police officer.” Dad escorted Benny to the van.

Big, fat tears rolled down Benny’s face. “I apologize for shooting at you. It’ll never happen again.”