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  “You gave me your vow you wouldn’t take her outside the settlement.” Accusations flared in her sister’s eyes. “Then you immediately left the settlement.”

  Sisko had been watching her. Allinen frowned, her suspicions confirmed. The bliss her cyborg had given her dissipated, vanishing as though it had never existed.

  “I keep my vows.” She shouldn’t have to state that. Her sister should know that about her. “Vauva didn’t accompany me.”

  Sisko opened her mouth as though to argue, closed it, opened it again. “No one has seen her all planet rotation. I thought she was with you.”

  Her sister had thought she’d broken her vows. Irritation surged through Allinen. “She wasn’t with me.”

  The lines around Sisko’s mouth deepened. The way she gazed at Allinen communicated she was out of ideas and sought her input.

  Any insights given would likely be criticized and judged. It was tempting to remain silent. That would be the prudent response, the one with the least hardship to her.

  But her sister was sincerely worried…about Vauva, a being they both loved. Allinen couldn’t dismiss her and her concerns.

  She sighed. “I saw your daughter shortly after I talked with you. I told her she couldn’t accompany me. She became upset, walked in that direction.” She pointed to the last place she’d spotted her niece.

  Sisko pursed her lips. “The domicile of one of her friends is in that direction but I checked with those parents and they said they hadn’t seen her.”

  That wasn’t surprising. “Girls don’t tell their parents everything.” She certainly hadn’t done that when she’d had that number of solar cycles.

  “That’s true.” Sisko nodded.

  Moments passed.

  “Lanko said I was overreacting.” Her sister finally admitted that, her expression sheepish. “But I worry. I don’t want her ending up like…”

  “Like me.” That dig would have rankled more if she hadn’t just been pleasured by a huge beast of a male. “I understand.” Allinen understood she would never belong on Khambalia 5. “Return to your domicile. Your daughter is likely waiting for you there.”

  “Your hair is tangled.” Her sister didn’t move. “A disheveled female brings shame to her mate.”

  “Go home, Sisko.” Allinen hadn’t the energy or the patience to play her sister’s games. She entered her domicile.

  Her sister turned. “You—”

  She shut the door on Sisko’s disapproving gaze.

  * * *

  Allinen ate her sunset nourishment, tidied her domicile, waited until she was certain her sister had left. Then she exited her private space, climbed up the tree, perched on a high branch.

  There was another mating celebration in the settlement. A female, having reached eighteen solar cycles, was being carried by a group of mated females toward a domicile. She would claim that tree as her own.

  Later in the rest cycle, her mate would also be conveyed to that location. They would join there for the very first time.

  Allinen hugged her knees to her chest. That joining would be nothing like the one she’d experience with her cyborg. It would be gentle and loving. The male would cherish his mate.

  He wouldn’t threaten to breed with her until she couldn’t walk. She touched her lips. They still hummed, plumped from her outsider’s kisses. The bubbling also remained, concentrated in her mouth yet spread thinly throughout the rest of her body.

  Laughter rose from the group of mated females.

  It was a group she would never belong to. She had received her own domicile when she’d gained eighteen solar cycles, as was the custom with her kind, but it hadn’t been a celebration for anyone other than herself. No one had carried her into it. No mate had been conveyed there.

  When she had reached her domicile, it had been devoid of other life. It would remain that way until she died.

  Or until she disappeared…permanently.

  If she left the planet, didn’t ever return to the settlement, the elders would wait a solar cycle and then assume she was dead. Her domicile would be reassigned to another female. Her niece, perhaps even her sister, would grieve for her for a while and then she would be forgotten.

  Allinen turned away from the celebration and gazed toward her secret domicile. Her connection with Doc would eventually be severed also. He experienced beastlike lust for her. That would fade.

  Her cyborg would move on, travel to another planet, find another female.

  Forget her.

  The ache in her chest intensified. She rested her chin on her knees.

  Feeling sorry for herself wouldn’t improve her situation.

  Relocating to a new planet, however, could change everything. She had to stick to that plan.

  Her cyborg had valued her skills at repairing the handhelds. Other outsiders might value those skills also.

  The energy boosters had interested him. He sought to use one. Maybe she could trade some of those objects to outsiders for transport…when that time came.

  She’d learned more outsider words. Those—

  A light in the distance caught her attention, redirecting her thoughts. It originated where she often entered the settlement. The shape of the light was familiar.

  Paha teeth. She scrambled down the tree. Her niece’s actions ventured beyond rebellious into the realm of dangerous.

  Allinen raced along the pathways, passing mated couples and families. None of them were armed as her cyborg always seemed to be. Inside the settlement, beings with mates wanted for nothing, feared nothing.

  Beings except for her niece. She should fear something.

  Her aunt.

  When she caught up to her, Allinen would express loudly how foolish Vauva was acting. The girl had too few solar cycles to leave the settlement on her own.

  She also had a mate and a happy future to lose. Their fellow Khambalians wouldn’t approve of her niece’s escapades, would judge her harshly for it.

  Allinen loved the girl, didn’t want her to become an outcast like she was.

  She spotted her niece at the same time as her niece spotted her. The girl’s eyes widened. She abruptly turned into a narrower pathway, trying to avoid the confrontation.

  Allinen wouldn’t allow that to happen. She sprinted forward and grabbed her niece’s garment. “You will stop and tell me where you’ve been.”

  “What will you do if I don’t tell you where I’ve been?” Vauva tucked something under the loose fabric before turning to face her. “Will you tattle on me to my mother?” She dared to question her aunt. Twice.

  Allinen sucked in her breath. “You will not disrespect me. I’m speaking to you as your aunt and your friend.”

  “You’re my unmated aunt and you’re not my friend.” The rebellious girl stuck out her chin. “I don’t like you. No one I know likes you.”

  Allinen reeled back, stunned by the vicious verbal attack. She had anticipated the anger. Her niece had been disappointed she couldn’t accompany her and was acting out.

  It was the words Vauva had chosen that struck at her heart. She hadn’t thought her niece viewed her differently because she didn’t have a mate.

  “I’m sorry.” Vauva winced. “I didn’t mean—”

  “Stop.” Allinen held out her hands, not wanting to hear any lies.

  Because she knew her niece did mean some of her words and she knew what the future held for the two of them. She’d already walked this path with the girl’s mother.

  During an argument, many solar cycles ago, Sisko had used Allinen’s unmated status against her in anger. Her sister had apologized, as Vauva had done, but then it happened again and again.

  As it would happen again and again with Vauva.

  “There are worse things than being unmated.” Allinen forced herself to soften her voice. “It’s dangerous to trek outside the settlement. You could lose your lifespan.”

  Her niece’s bottom lip curled.

  Allinen sighed. “If you won’t thi
nk of yourself, think of your mate.” Her own thoughts drifted to a certain cyborg, a being who was definitely not her mate. “If you die, you curse him to a lifespan of solitude.”

  “You sound like my mother.” Vauva yanked her garment out of Allinen’s grasp. “Which is funny because she doesn’t like you either.”

  The repeated cruelty proved Allinen’s prediction to be correct. The not-so-subtle jabs would happen again and again.

  She watched her niece stomp away, didn’t try to stop her. Nothing she said would change Vauva’s path. It was set. As was hers.

  The girl was too much like her mother.

  A sense of loss gripped Allinen as she walked slowly back to her domicile. This rest cycle, her last tenuous tie to Khambalia 5 had been severed.

  Sisko’s biases had been taught to Vauva. The girl might consider it fun now to spend time with her unmated aunt. The grown female she would soon become would view Allinen as a being to be mocked, pitied, endured.

  She didn’t want to stay around to see that.

  Her sister, her niece, the two beings she loved on the planet, no longer needed or wanted her company. There was nothing else linking her to Khambalia 5.

  She was sad but she was also free, free to live the lifespan she wanted, free to travel wherever and with whoever she desired.

  Doc’s image flitted through her mind.

  She would collect the information her male required, relaying everything she knew about her kind, about the terrain she’d spent a lifespan exploring.

  When he had completed his mission, as he called his tasks, she would ask him to transport her to a different place, somewhere far away from Khambalia 5.

  She would fly on his shiny ship, see what was beyond the clouds. Her gaze flicked upward. She had never seen the sun, not fully, but the little she’d detected of it had been pretty.

  She would view that sight with her cyborg standing by her side.

  And, in that moment, she wouldn’t be alone.

  Chapter Seven

  The sun was rising. It lit the clouds permanently covering Khambalia 5’s sky. Doc waited outside the settlement.

  He had escorted his female there the previous planet rotation, would escort her again when she left its protective perimeters.

  She was his. He would safeguard her. Always.

  Standing between the trees, he was hidden in the shadows. The beings spaced at regular intervals around the border of the settlement gave no indication they had detected him.

  His lips twisted. It was highly improbable they would notice anything other than the most obvious threats.

  They chattered and slept and often turned their backs toward the terrain they were charged with watching. The beings relied on their bioluminescence alone to protect them.

  That wasn’t sufficient. Not to defend his precious female.

  He had been reluctant to leave his position outside the settlement during the rest cycle but it had been necessary for him to return to his female’s secret domicile. That was where he had left the energy boosters.

  They had been utilized to restore him to full strength. He’d found some nourishment bars neatly stacked beside the containers of beverage. That had satisfied his organic side. The spare fingertip sensors had been modified for his female’s use.

  After those tasks were completed, he sprinted back to the settlement and had been lingering outside it since that time.

  He sensed Truth approach him.

  You battle the beings on the right. The never-serious warrior transmitted to him. I’ll battle the beings on the left. They’re armed with what appears to be dart guns. There’s a high probability we can defeat them without using our weapons.

  We’re not battling any beings. He didn’t move his gaze from the settlement. Our mission is to log information about the planet, not kill the beings on it.

  You’re no fun. Truth laughed. Is your little humanoid helping you log information? Is that why we’re waiting here?

  There’s no need for you to wait here. He could protect his little humanoid without any assistance. You have more terrain to explore.

  There’s a pause in exploration. Truth shrugged his shoulders. Dissent is finding nourishment for Gnaw.

  You named the miljoonasuut? Doc lifted his eyebrows. Captain won’t allow us to bring that creature on board the Reckless.

  Captain was extremely diligent about protecting his ship and crew from threats. Nothing dangerous was permitted to enter the vessel. Everything was placed in quarantine for several planet rotations before it was cleared for usage.

  Gnaw has adapted to its toxic environment. Truth’s tone was dry. It wouldn’t fare well on board the ship. And it would likely devour the entire landing bay. The D model laughed.

  Allinen’s kind had adapted to her toxic environment also. Doc frowned. His nanocybotics, once fully transferred, would offset the physical damage another environment would inflict upon his female.

  It wouldn’t repair the emotional damage of leaving her family, her friends, of being suddenly placed in unfamiliar surroundings.

  She had never flown in a ship. She didn’t speak the universal language, wouldn’t be able to communicate with the human females on board. Everything would be different and new for her.

  He would cut off his right arm before damaging her. But he was also needed on board the ship. He was the Reckless’ sole medic. Captain and the rest of the crew counted on him.

  You didn’t relay any information about the other beings on the planet. Doc focused on the mission.

  All of those beings were dead when we found them. Disappointment edged Truth’s transmission. The venom-fanged beasts had attacked two of the groups, judging by their remains. A miljoonasuut had devoured another. The hungry little creature chewed apart their ship. Lava pockets had blown one vessel to pieces, killing everyone on board. We found one male dead by a tree. Another had collapsed face-first in a pool of liquid. Three Palavian females had been sucked into the ground. Their heads were half-eaten by tiny hexapod invertebrates.

  Fraggin’ hole. Doc’s female was right. The planet was dangerous. None of the beings were my female’s kind?

  None of the beings were your female’s kind. Truth shook his head. There were a few humans. The rest were a wide assortment of humanoids originating from all over the universe.

  The dead had all been outsiders…as he and his brethren were.

  Then the beings in the settlement are our focus. Doc studied the males and females guarding the perimeter. My female will collect their genetic information.

  That’s a boring but logical approach. The warrior conceded that point. Dissent and I will gather more intelligence on the creatures, vegetation, terrain…once Gnaw has been fed.

  Gnaw should be released, not fed. Doc kept that opinion to himself. There are energy boosters and nourishment bars at this location. He sent Truth the coordinates. You’ll have mere moments to retrieve them. My female and I will be rendezvousing at that point.

  You’re a lucky warrior, Doc. Truth ran at cyborg speed toward the secret domicile.

  He was lucky. Many warriors would battle to solve his problems. They would kill to have a female as intelligent, as beautiful as Allinen.

  And as stealthy.

  Instead of exiting the settlement in a dark section of the perimeter, his female, aware that she emitted light, dashed through the brightest lit portion. She timed it so the guards were distracted. No one noticed her.

  No one except him.

  Doc tracked his female through the forest. Her long hair flowed behind her as she moved, the tendrils the palest gold. His fingers twitched, the urge to touch that softness tremendous.

  His control slipped more and more with each stride, the chase exciting the part of him she had labeled the beast, a part he had believed he’d semi-permanently repressed.

  Medics didn’t act on instinct, on emotion. They studied, evaluated, experimented, basing their solutions on knowledge and experience.

 
Experience had relayed how his female tasted. Her flavor was burned into his databases. He had replayed her moans, her screams of pleasure during the rest cycle, that footage taunting his savage side.

  There was nothing in the universe more beautiful than Allinen’s face as she came. She had glowed brighter than any star.

  He would make her scream again this planet rotation. Needing to touch her, he reached out. Her garment caressed his fingers. With one hard yank, he could pull her backward, press her body against his.

  As though she had heard his processing, she suddenly stopped running.

  He hastily hid behind a tree and scanned the area for possible threats. There weren’t any.

  She turned, looking around her. Her forehead furrowed. “I know you’re there.” She brushed her hands over her chest. Her nipples were taut, visible through her garment’s thin fabric. “I can sense you.”

  He was as affected by her proximity. His cock pressed against the confines of his body armor. His beast clawed at his insides, testing the cage his machine had placed around that part of himself.

  “You sense me because I’m your warrior.” He stepped into the open. There was no hiding from his female. “I’m your mate.” He used her kind’s term for their connection.

  “The pahas can sense their partners.” She rolled her eyes. “And they’re beasts.”

  He had listened to some of her kind talk while he had waited. Several of them had mentioned pahas. “We were attacked by a group of four-legged creatures shortly after we arrived on the planet.” He moved closer to her. “They had sharp claws and teeth.”

  “Those are pahas.” She nodded. “They’re very dangerous.”

  They also had limited processing power. Doc frowned. Were those the beasts she believed he resembled? “The pahas were easy to defeat.”

  “You defeated a pack of pahas and a miljoonasuut.” She looked impressed and he stood taller. “You might survive on this planet.”

  That was a compliment coming from his doubting female. “Nothing has killed me yet.” He rested his hands on her hips.

  She twitched but didn’t pull away from him.