38. Rhaek
RHAEK
I knew him.
The blue-grey male. The one from the flatlands. Completely uninjured. One arm across her chest, one hand at her throat, looking at me the way you look at something you've already finished with.
He was not wrong.
My back was torn open. My arm was burning. I was running on whatever came after empty.
He could see all of it.
"Come near us," he said, "and I'll take her right here and now."
Then his hand moved. Slow, reaching down to grab a handful of her ass.
Her face curled with anger and she looked away.
I felt the rage come up through me like a tide. I pressed it flat because that was exactly what he wanted. I could not give it to him.
He looked at me over her shoulder.
"She's mine now." A pause, letting it land. "You had your chance. Any last words? "
Her eyes found mine. Afraid.
I’d wanted to talk to her. To tell her how I felt. Now, I might not get another chance before everything went sideways.
"My species," I said. "When we are born, someone already exists for us.
Somewhere in the galaxy. The connection is there before we meet them.
Before they're even born.” I kept my eyes on hers.
"It wasn't a choice. I have been there your entire life.
Every time something bad came for you, I was already there.
I love you and I will always love you. And no matter what you decide, whether you want to see me again or not, I will always be there. Watching out for you."
The male laughed. Long and wet and absolutely certain of himself.
Her eyes hadn't left mine.
Neither had mine left hers.
“I know,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes. “I love you too. I know you always do what’s best for me.”
I couldn’t help but beam with joy.
She was my mate. And she had forgiven me.
The laughter stopped.
The male’s grip shifted. Both arms across her chest now. His attention moving from her to me, the calculation changing in his eyes. She was no longer the point.
I was.
He set her down.
"Just you and me," he said. "For round two."
But my eyes were on her. “And sometimes, we have to do things that hurt. For the greater good.”
Her eyes flicked to one side, then back up to mine. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said she had a twinkle in them. “For the greater good. ”
She balled her hands into fists and raised her chin bravely.
“Forgive me, my mate,” I said.
I formed a fist and struck her.