by Webster, K
He folds me into his arms, and I break down again, soaking his shirt with my tears. Avrell’s hands rub in gentle strokes over my back. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
When I manage to get ahold of myself, I pull back enough to wipe my face again. Having him hold me is enough to give me a little sense of inner peace. “It’s Julie. I couldn’t find her, so I went to go look for her. I checked everywhere, and then I found this.” I hand him the note, which is crinkled and stained with my tears. “She’s gone. She left.”
Avrell reads the note quickly, then caresses my face with one claw. “I can do a scout. Maybe she didn’t get too far.”
“Won’t that waste time?”
He thinks for a minute. “We can do a flyover of the area before we leave. We’ll cover more ground more quickly that way. If she’s close, we’ll find her, stormy one. I promise.”
He holds my hand firmly in his all the way back to the ship, where everyone is waiting for us. They’re all loaded and ready to go. Even Kevin is belted into a seat and beams at us as we board. I take a seat next to him. Soon, the craft lifts up and my stomach plummets. The nausea from earlier returns with a vengeance. I bolt from my seat and barely make it to the small bathroom cabinet before I lose my meager lunch in the toilet.
Avrell sends me a concerned look as he navigates in gradually bigger circles over the prison. I flash him a small smile that doesn’t seem to lessen his worry, but he doesn’t say anything and turns back to scanning the terrain below.
“Try at the exit to the tunnels. That’s where I saw the tracks,” I tell Avrell. “It’s as good a place to start as any.”
“She took one of the Earth II vehicles?” he asks.
“I think so. I saw the tire tracks for one leading away from the prison.”
He doesn’t say it, but I know he’s probably thinking that she could be far, far away from the prison by now. He’s a good man because he dutifully goes to the tunnel exit and we follow the tracks until they disappear into a windstorm.
She could be anywhere.
“Stop,” I say when he reaches the ocean side of the prison. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to find her from here. Thank you for trying.”
“Are you certain?” he asks.
“Yes. We have to go. We can’t waste any more time.”
“We can fly up the coastline to see if she’s there. Maybe the vehicle will break down. She can’t drive forever without fuel.”
I shake my head solemnly. My tears are gone. “Thank you, but no. We need to go home. They’re waiting for us. Take us home, Av.”
Getting to my feet, I go back to the bathroom to wash my face and close the door behind me for privacy. My stomach is still churning, so I wet a paper towel and press it to my forehead. Get it together, Zoe. There’s still so much left to do.
So much.
So many people counting on us.
The morts, their mates. Those still healing from The Rades. Kevin, who may as well be our child.
My breath catches in my throat and my eyes dart up to my face in the mirror.
Our child.
I press a shaking hand to my stomach. No, it can’t be. It’s been such a short time, there’s no way I can be pregnant already.
Except, I remember a conversation with Lyric in the beginning. How mortling pregnancies progress so much faster than human ones. Could I be pregnant with Avrell’s baby?
14
Avrell
“How do you know how to fly this?” Kevin asks, twitching in his seat. “You’re a doctor not a pilot.”
“Just wait until you meet our commander, Breccan. You’ll learn that he likes it when we all know a little of everything. Before the females arrived, we were all alone. Just the ten of us morts. You have to know how to do all sorts of things when there are only a few of you.”
Kevin considers my answer. “Will I learn how to fly too?”
“I’m certain you will. Theron is a brilliant captain. He’d be great to teach you. I know the basics and that’s it.”
“Hmmm.”
Zoe snickers from beside me. “He sounds just like you when he does that.”
I let my gaze roam over her, appreciating all her beauty. Her hair is as wild as her spirit today. If we didn’t have a mortling present, I’d pull her into my lap and grab onto her silky tresses while I kissed her madly.
“How much longer?” Eleanor asks. “Is it a long trip?”
“It took four days when we traveled in the Mayvina, but this vessel seems to fly at an accelerated rate.” I point to the radar. “See that giant formation with the dark squares?”
Eleanor leans in and nods. “What is it?”
“That’s the Facility.”
“Seems close,” Kevin says.
“It’s an illusion because that monitor is scaled down for our viewing. I’d say another solar.” I mash a button to take the vessel off autopilot and motion for Kevin. “Come stand here, mort. I’ll show you some things.”
I show him several of the different buttons and levers. Though they’re not the same as the Mayvina, it was pretty simple to figure out as they’re similar. When I show him the throttle, I let him maneuver for a bit. He laughs when he dips us to the side and Zoe curses.
“Easy now,” I say with a chuckle. “Save your tricks for Theron.”
Zoe scampers off while I show Kevin how to put the ship back in autopilot. I teach him what to look for in the distance—formation, beasts, buildings. When some time has passed and Zoe hasn’t returned, I grow worried.
“Do you think you can man the ship for a few minutes?” I ask as I rise from the captain’s chair.
He gapes at me. “Really?”
“It’s a big job. No tricks or excitement. Just making sure we don’t run into anything. Can you do that?”
He nods, a silly grin on his face. I ruffle his hair as he hops into my seat. Once I’m sure he’s settled, I make my way through the ship. Most everyone is sleeping, though there are a few speaking in hushed tones with Eleanor. I find Zoe in the room we set up as a medical bay.
“What is it, stormy one? Are you ill?”
“After Kevin’s stunt, a little.” She smiles, but she’s pale. “Don’t tell me you left him to pilot the ship.”
“He’s thirteen revolutions old. I was hunting sabrevipes at that age.”
She cringes. “If I never see one of those things, it’ll be too soon.”
“I’m sure you could handle yourself.” I approach her and feel her forehead. No fever. “Does your nog hurt? Do you have chills?”
“No.”
“What about aches? Do you have those? Could this be The Rades coming on?”
I haven’t perfected the inoculation, only the cure. Still, I don’t want to have to use it on my mate. I want her to remain well.
“It’s not The Rades,” she assures me.
“The exposure…” I frown. “What if the R-levels were too high? What if we’re not as safe as we think?” I walk over to a cabinet and begin rummaging around. “I need to find a test for the—”
“Avrell, stop,” she grumbles.
“If it’s not the R-levels,” I continue, “it could be that Kevin—er, human’s blood. I had it on me when we kissed. Rekk! I’ve exposed you and—”
“Avrell!” She smacks my shoulder. “Look at me.”
I turn to look down at my mate, worry making my stomach twist violently. “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t,” she murmurs. “Maybe you should try the wegloscan.”
“The wegloscan only…” I trail off, the doctor in me overriding the male. “It’s too soon.”
“The others said—”
“Zoe,” I bite out. “It’s too soon.”
She huffs and rolls her eyes. “You don’t know everything, Avrell. You only know some things. There are other things you can’t possibly know because we’re aliens in case you forgot!”
Insufferable
woman.
“I studied the other females. The earliest we knew was…” I count on my fingers as I think. “The wegloscan won’t show it.”
“So you’re not even going to try?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Why not? Is it because…you don’t want this? All that talk about AJ and a family was bullshit? Screw you!”
Fat tears roll down her cheeks as her bottom lip trembles. I grab her shoulders, pulling her close. Resting my nog against hers, I let out a sad sigh.
“I can’t bear a negative result,” I whisper. “It’ll hurt too much.”
She softens and hugs me tight. “Just because you don’t like an answer doesn’t mean you’re supposed to hide from it. Where’s the scientist in you? You don’t get the result you want, you try again. Come on, Av, you’re made of stronger stuff than this.”
She’s right.
I think back to when the females arrived. When I tried to impregnate them with my own seed in my lab only to fail. I’d been devastated because I wanted mortlings so badly. It was unnecessary to also have a mate, at the time, because I didn’t have the type of pull to those females like I do Zoe. Now that she and I want to start a family, I find that same desperation clawing inside me. I’ve always been searching my entire life. It finally feels within reach and I’m worried it’ll be snatched away before I can grasp onto it.
Zoe pulls away and walks over to a cabinet. She retrieves the wegloscan and hands it to me. Then, she lies down on the bed, baring her trim stomach to me.
“My breasts are sore, I’m nauseous, and I’m irritable, Doc,” she says, a teasing smile on her lips. “Are you going to diagnose me?”
My cock twitches in my minnasuit. “You’re always irritable.”
Her middle finger shoots up. “And you’re always a dickhead.”
“I think I should examine your breasts to make sure they’re okay,” I rumble as I approach.
“Filthy doctor,” Zoe says, a wicked glint in her stormy eyes. She slowly unzips the front of her minnasuit, baring her naked flesh to me. “Best hurry before another patient arrives.”
I slide my palm under the material, cupping her mound. My sharp claws roll her nipple around, eliciting a sharp hiss from her. I peel the material to the side so I can see her pert nipple. Leaning forward, I lick it with my forked tongue.
“Tastes normal,” I observe. I bite the flesh hard enough she gasps. Her tangy blood floods my mouth from the puncture of my fangs. “This is going to need some tending.”
She whimpers as I grab the microbots salve. I rub a dollop onto her skin, smearing the blood with the salve. The microbots work quickly to heal her wound.
“I’m going to check you, my lovely patient, and if it’s negative, I’m going to need you to undress so I can treat you.” I run the zipper all the way to her cunt. “You’ll need my massive cock inside you. Over and over, filling you up with my seed. Doctor’s orders.”
She laughs until I touch her clit. “Ohhh.”
With my eyes pinning hers, I rub at the tiny nub. I’ve learned her body and know just how many circles it’ll take to send her over the edge. I tease her, bringing her closer and closer, before gifting my mate with bliss. She relaxes, regarding me with a happy smile that sets my skin on fire.
I need to be inside her.
Right rekking now.
“Slow down, dirty doctor. First things first. Finish your examination before you cure me with your cock.”
I rub at said cock through my suit, loving how she bites on her bottom lip hungrily. “All right. Let’s get this over with.” I turn on the wegloscan and sweep it across her lower stomach near her pelvic bone.
“I love you,” Zoe says.
I drag my eyes from the device to my perfect mate. “I love you too, stormy one.”
Ding.
I stare at the wegloscan in confusion. Green. It’s green, not red. Green means she’s with child.
“Impossible,” I hiss, completely mind-blown.
“Possible.” Her eyes are watery as she smiles at me. “Avrell, we’re going to have a baby.”
I set the wegloscan aside and pounce on my mate, eager to devour her as I rub her stomach reverently.
“Avvy!”
The shrill, panicked screech has me fleeing the medical bay to the navigation pit. Kevin is sitting up, frantically pointing ahead. I rush over to him and gape at the scene ahead.
Fire.
So much fire.
And smoke.
The ship trembles when an explosion goes off. Several of the females in the back cry out in surprise.
Zoe clutches my arm and gasps. “Is that…”
“Get buckled in,” I bark out. “Now. Both of you.”
Zoe and Kevin scramble into their seats as I try to make communication with the Facility. Nothing but static.
Several human army ships zip by, divebombing into the smoke. They pass right by us, clearly assuming we’re with them.
“Avrell,” Zoe chokes out. “What if they’re all dead? We should turn around.”
Another explosion rocks the ship, making more people scream within.
“If there’s a chance they’re still alive down there, we have to try and help them.” I mash a button, sending fire power spraying out in front of us, hitting a ship in the process and sending it hurtling into the smoke. “Hold on. This ride is about to get a whole lot bumpier.”
Epilogue
Galen
Day of the Kevins Attack
A few solars before Avrell arrives…
I’m furious.
Fuming.
Explosive.
If I don’t put distance between me and Breccan, I’m going to knock his nog right off his shoulders.
How dare he keep all that food and seedlings and supplies hostage when we nearly rekking died from starvation? I despaired one revolution in the command center over how we would feed the morts and he let me think the worst. Allowed me to feel as though we had no hope.
We had everything down there.
Everything.
My respect for my commander is at a dangerous low.
I need to leave.
As soon as the idea pops into my nog, I can’t unthink it. I want to pack up and walk away. Take some time away from these people—these morts and their happy mates and adorable mortlings. It’s too much. The familiar rage that always simmers below my surface hisses and burns, threatening to spill over.
The morts are busy herding the females and mortlings into The Reserves, but I couldn’t participate. I’ve been pacing the command center, wondering just what I should be doing to expel this anger.
If Avrell and the others at Exilium weren’t planning to head this way, I’d go in that direction just for change of scenery. But, if I go there, I’ll be all alone.
Maybe that’s what I need.
Space.
“Come in…Can…hear me?” a female calls out.
I storm over to the comms. “Zoe? Is everything okay?”
“Not…Zoe…” Static crackles along the lines. “Speak to human.”
Annoyance rises up inside me. “They’re hiding from the impending Kevin attack so all you have is me. Whether or not you like it, I’m going to be the one helping you. Now, where are you? Who is this?”
No response.
“Hello?” I grind out. “If you’re in trouble, I can help. Let me help you.”
“Fine…we’re in a cave…can see your building…”
“You’re close. What can you see around you so I can find you?”
“…lake…”
Lake Acido is the closest one and there’s a mountain on the other side that I can see from the Facility.
“Are you hurt?”
“No…they’re coming for us. We’ve locked…room.”
“Who? How many of you are there?”
“Two. Me…son…Henry.”
Stella. They thought she and her son were dead.
A loud familiar roar rasps through the line, ma
king both Stella and Henry scream.
Sabrevipes.
They’re trapped in a cave and those hungry rekking beasts are going to get them.
“Hurry!” she hisses.
“Stay hidden. I’m on my way.”
Without wasting a second, I rush through the Facility, throw on my zu-gear, grab some weapons and my pack, and rush out the door. The loud sound of ships arriving above bringing an army of Kevins is the least of my worries.
Stella and Henry need me.
Breccan will think I abandoned them, and maybe in a way I’m eager to do this mission because I’m angry with him. It doesn’t matter, though. All that matters are the two very frightened aliens who will become a sabrevipe meal soon if I don’t save them.
Sabrevipes are relentless creatures. They’ll pursue them until they succeed.
I just can’t let that happen.
Read the epic conclusion to the Lost Planet series in…
THE RUNAWAY ALIEN!
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About K Webster
K Webster is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her titles have claimed many bestseller tags in numerous categories, are translated in multiple languages, and have been adapted into audiobooks. She lives in “Tornado Alley” with her husband, two children, and her baby dog named Blue. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and researching aliens. Visit authorkwebster.com to learn more.
About Nicole Blanchard
Nicole Blanchard is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of gritty romantic suspense and heartwarming new adult romance. She and her family reside in the south along with their menagerie of pets. Visit her website www.authornicoleblanchard.com for more information or to subscribe to her newsletter for updates on sales and new releases.