“Breccan is just being Breccan,” I mumble, focused on my tablet.
Sure, he was infuriated when he realized we stayed back and that I’d injected myself with tainted blood, but there was nothing he could do. We are out of time and it would have been foolish to bring the sick there to infect everyone. In time, he’ll calm down.
“He’s terrifying.” She shudders, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “Don’t want to meet that guy alone in a dark hallway.”
My sub-bones pop violently at the image of my rekking mate trembling in fear as Breccan towers over here.
“He won’t touch what’s mine,” I snarl, tracking the way her pulse throbs in her throat with my intense stare, my ears pinning to my head.
She arches up her brow in that sassy way of hers that makes my cock hard. “Are you going to protect me?” She smirks. “Should I remind you I’m the one who’s been protecting you the past few days?”
I set my tablet down to grip her wrist and pull her to me. “Don’t you have work to do, female?”
“It’s called a break. Besides, I was listening in on Julie’s meeting with Sayer to see if there’s any new information. Oz sent her the weapon specifics for us to build, but we don’t have the right tools like he has. Luckily, Sayer said that the test blast Oz did seemed to refocus the Kevins’ efforts and there’s chatter he’s picking up that they’re heading toward the blast site rather than the prison. Least for now.”
When one of the Kevins kidnapped Willow, he managed to send out a distress signal back to Earth II, hence the army of Kevins headed our way. It’s beneficial that Oz can draw them closer to the Facility since he has the weapon and we’re virtually defenseless. I hope he can destroy them with his weapon so we can continue to keep our focus on curing The Rades.
“And the patients?” I ask. “Who’s caring for them?”
“Everyone is resting. Eleanor is well enough that she said she’d watch over everyone while I take a breather.”
As I study her, I run my forked tongue over my fangs. Normally, I have to file them each solar to keep them from growing. Same with my claws. Since I’ve been out with The Rades, they’ve grown in. But, since I feel a little more feral than usual now that I have a mate to claim and protect, I don’t necessarily have the urge to file them back down.
“What will you do on your break?” I rumble, running my claw over her bottom lip. “Rest your eyes, stormy one?”
“I thought about it,” she says. “With you. But if you’re too busy…”
Her words hang in the air, tugging me in two different directions with indecision. This cure and inoculation are of utmost importance, but I know it’s imperative I also rest.
“If we rest,” I say, enunciating the word, “then I don’t want to do it in the Medical Bay. I’d like to rest with you in my quarters.”
She chews on her bottom lip, a flash of nervousness in her gray eyes. “I really, really want to rest, but I’m nervous. I’ve never rested with an alien before.”
“You’re the alien, remember?”
She rolls her eyes. “Says the dude suddenly growing sharp claws and teeth.”
“I never liked having them,” I reveal as I take her hand in mine. “It made me feel uncivilized. Like I belonged roaming with the beasts.” I lead us out of the Medical Bay. “I always felt my mind was the sharp one. The part of me that mattered. The claws and fangs felt unnecessary. Until now. Now, I feel like I could use them to protect you.”
“I sure could have used claws and fangs of my own a few times in my life,” Zoe grumbles. “There’d be a lot of guards with their throats torn out.”
We all know what these female prisoners endured while under the reign of the Kevins. Knowing they forced themselves on my rekking mate has my sub-bones popping again.
“Maybe AJ will have claws and fangs,” Zoe says absently, making my heart warm that she still talks about our hypothetical son as though he exists. “With my smarts and your alien freakshow-ness, he’s bound to be fucking scary.”
“If not,” I say as we walk down a long hallway toward the sleeping quarters, “we’ll teach him to fight like Draven, fly a ship like Theron, effortlessly take down a wild beast like Hadrian, and wield a zonnoblaster like Jareth. No one will mess with our mortling.”
She smiles, clearly pleased with our talks of a future. We make it to my quarters. I push open the door and tug her inside. Once it’s closed behind us, I slide my fingers into her hair, tightening, and tilt her nog back so I can study her pretty face.