Chapter 29
I circle Zorin’s place, the one that we were building together when I met Jezza. It eats at me that I left him to finish it alone as I went to chase her. He had seemed happy for me then. Now he’s angry with me.
I’m turned around and feeling inside out even more than normal. But he’s brought up something that’s just a reminder of another failure, not just to him, but to our pack, all two of us left. Losing Jezza made me feel like the stars want us to die off.
Why else would they take her and cause us so much pain?
The sharp agony of not being able to hold her or my son has slowly grown into numbness and rage over the last few months. But I’m a wreck inside all over again, seeing Zorin with Tessi.
Zorin’s new mate is even more beautiful in person than she was on the holofeed. She has proven she can raise a pup, though I fear she will baby Rhysan too much.
I stalk the hillside and catch a glimpse through the windows of Zorin, on all fours, curling up on his sofa. Tessi and Radar jump up and cuddle up with him. My isolation sinks in as I sit down among the dark trees to watch over them.
I could be inside with them.
But this is my responsibility now.
And yet he’s going to leave them when he’s called to serve. I know he will because it’s in our blood to protect.
It’s why I’m here, watching over them even though it kills me to look in on their happiness and remember the way my mate smiled at me when she curled up with me the same way.
For a brief time, I believed that I deserved or had at least earned her kind of love.
I shift my paws to find a more comfortable position on the rock I’ve poised myself on to watch over my brother’s home. I curl my tail around me and twitch my ears, listening for any sounds I don’t like. All night I stay.
In the first cracks of dawn, a lightless ship swoops low over the trees toward the wreckage at the bottom of the mountain. I’m certain it’s a Denarsoan scrapper ship.
They are only ever trouble.
I get up and slink through the edge of the trees, take a quick look back at Zorin’s house to ensure they’re still asleep, then descend the mountainside.
I will take care of the threat so they can rest.
The Denarsoan ship’s engines warp the air with low-frequency pulsations as they land. The ramp lowers as I make my way through the trees to watch. Three soldiers exit, armed with capture guns that will free stuck items and pry open metal. They hunt through the wreckage.
What are they looking for? I’ve already cleared the useful weapons and tech.
Soft footsteps make me crouch lower and glance back.
Zorin saunters up to me in Shifter form. How many brother?
Three. Is your mate asleep?
Zorin hangs his head. No. If I am awake, Radar wakes. If he wakes, she does.
Tessi appears to his other side, Radar beside her in armor that wraps around his chest and torso.
You brought her? I demand.
Zorin sighs. She is not the type that likes to be protected so obsessively.
She spins a device in her hand, clicks a button, and opens it into a staff. Tessi keeps her voice low, “Denarso. Likely looking for hydraflex coils for their engine fuel systems.”
I squint at Zorin.
She was a scavenger on Earth.
“What is the goal?” she asks. “Do we kill them? Scare them off?”
Zorin shifts upright. “If we can get them to leave without starting a battle that is preferred.”
She lights up the end of the spear and smirks. “Permission to engage?”
Zorin draws a gun from his belt. “I trust you know what you’re doing.”
“Not my first Denarso encounter.” Tessi lobs the faintly crackling voltspear into the air. It arcs across the sky. My heart ratchets up, fearing a battle with Denarso will ensue.
The spear plants into a pulsing panel and sets off a vibrant blast wave that knocks the Denarso on their asses. It shimmers through the forest, rustling leaves and branches. The heat wave tugs at Tessi’s dark hair and Radar’s fur.
The Denarso get up and scramble back into their ship. They take off and fly away with increasing speed.
I shift upright as Tessi walks out and retrieves her spear. Radar stays at her side, listening to her every command as they hunt through the wreckage. “How did she know that would work?”
Zorin frowns and looks away. “She has many scars, brother. Tessi lived in the woods, fought off all sorts of feral types to collect the valuable things she could resell at markets.” He rests his hands on his hips. “But do not think she isn’t intelligent. She went to college. And…”
He looks over at me. “Her mother worked with Viriden. Her father was one of Viriden’s soldiers.
“That’s why Onidus was with you.”
“Yes.” Zorin starts after her. “You really should give Tessi a chance.”
“I don’t want to take her from you, brother. I want her to be special like Jezza was to me.”
“She is that kind of special. And what I wanted was this. We already lost Jezza. Help me keep her safe. Let her know she is safe. Accept her. Love her. Make love to her. You will have to when I am gone.”
My heart thunders in my ribs. “Why are you saying it like that?”
Zorin stops halfway to Tessi. “Because if you won’t go with us on this next mission, I don’t see us coming back. We need you brother. Mindor does, the whole pack. So if you won’t pull yourself out of the gutter for us, at least do it for me and for Tessi. Then you two can be the family for Rhysan.”
Zorin leaves me standing at the edge of the forest, my hangover headache throbbing harder from the guilt.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I don’t want to serve any more. I am tired of sacrificing what matters to me to protect Lunas and this world when all it has done is take things from me.
I sulk away from them, but stop at a distance to watch Zorin and Tessi work through the wreckage.
She spins her staff, collapses it, and holsters it on her belt.
Zorin kisses her before picking up a chunk of hull plating.
Tessi crawls underneath and stands with an intact engine power system computer module.
He needs me to protect her. I don’t want to lose my brother. I’ve just pushed him away for too long to simply walk back into his life like I never caused him any suffering.
I am a curse to our kind. The last thing I want to do is make Tessi fight her people to be with us. I know she’s here, but Viriden can’t approve of a Mindor-Isonian bond. Mindorans definitely won’t.
This isn’t going to end well, no matter what I do. If I just stay away, I can’t make things worse.
But the idea of letting my brother go into battle alone is one I can’t permit.
He needs to stay with his mate.
I need to go alone.
So I set my mind on returning to the base to speak with Vrasler so I can trade places with Zorin for the mission.
It’s the least I can do.