“Hedge protected Molly?” the woman said. “Okay, well, you still need to be more careful.”
Dani turned her attention to K’vyn and he froze, sure he would get lost in the depths of her mesmerizing gaze.
“Thank you again,” she said, brushing a strand of hair from the smooth skin of her face. “But you can go now.”
Her tone was flat, but the emotion behind it suggested anything but wanting him to leave, fear of abandonment constricting his heart. The conflict between their peoples complicated matters, but he would not leave her alone on this planet, bond or no bond.
And, judging by the shape of her ship, she wouldn’t be leaving on it.
K’vyn looked at the ceiling, several cracks crisscrossing through, pockets of rust spreading on support beams that appeared to have been repaired numerous times.
“Where did you get this clunker?” he said.
The human frowned, eyes narrowing.
“My parents,” she said. “I’m carrying on the family business.”
She held her head high, proud.
“Your parents passed this down to you?” K’vyn curled his lip. “And expected you to live? They must have had a death wish for you.”
Dani’s jaw dropped and she raised a threatening finger. “Hey, now. This ship has been flying since humans left Earth.”
Eyebrows raising, he couldn’t imagine keeping this rust bucket together for that long.
“It shows,” he said.
A molk would have a field day on this ship. The freighter wasn’t even fit for the feathered beasts clucking among the wooden constructs.
“Get off my ship,” Dani took a threatening step towards him, boots clanging against the flooring. “You don’t deserve to be standing in my ship.”
He didn’t move and she raised her voice, flinging her arm out. “Go. Now!”
Her nostrils flared as anger bombarded his senses. Maybe insulting her ship wasn’t a good idea—
But there was no hatred behind the emotion.
“Do you know how annoying it is when you forget your ear comm? What is taking you so long?” L’iza said as K’vyn plopped in his chair in the cockpit of his ship. “Just grab the mogha and let’s go.”
Resting his head in his palm, he took a deep breath. “I can’t.”
“Why not? He’s just a pup. Pick him up and bring him onboard. Stars, he’ll just follow you.”
Dropping his hand, he threw the hologram an incredulous look.
“He’s not my mogha companion,” he said.
The hologram blinked, a second chair materializing as she sat, mimicking bipedal behavior.
“So,” she drew the word out, a whispery awe as she stared at nothing in front of her. “The human is your bond mate.”
K’vyn leveled a steady gaze, studying the personification of his sentient ship.
“I need confirmation,” he said.
Head whipping towards him, L’iza said, “You are not a cyborg. I can’t provide what you ask.”
“You did not want a cyborg pilot,” he reminded her.
“Because I do not want to be controlled.”
“And I don’t control you.” Elbow resting on the arm of his chair, K’vyn leaned his head against his fist.
“But without full capability of connecting to my systems, I cannot get a full sense of what you’re feeling.” L’iza stood, a blue triangular hologram appearing before her.
As she swiped through the holographic projection, K’vyn could not read what she was looking at, but one thing he did know for sure, she was just pretending to be busy.
“I cannot accurately confirm that your connection with the human is the mate bond,” L’iza said after a moment, gaze set on whatever task she was pretending to do. Head raised and she looked directly in his eyes. “But anything is possible.”
“You could say that,” he said. “The mogha is her companion.”
There was an expelling of air, L’iza performing a perfect imitation of a bipedal reaction of surprise.
“That doesn’t sound right,” she said. “Do you know what that means?”
“Does it mean she could also be my life mate? Could you tell if I were sitting next to her at the fire?”
K’vyn regretted interrupting her, something shifting in what he could sense in their limited link, a bit of knowledge he needed to hear that was swiftly replaced with incredulity.
“Oh, I’m not going out there,” L’iza said. “Not as long as that molk is down there.”
Right. The molk. He was so focused on the mogha and the human, he forgot about the molk. Didn’t he see it briefly while pulling C’hase from the lizard hole? He hadn’t seen it since—
“I can tell well enough standing next to you right here that she’s your mate,” L’iza said next.
Shaking his head, lips pursed, K’vyn said, “I don’t think it’s possible.”
L’iza’s hologram disappeared, clear dismissal, as her voice filled the air. “You asked for confirmation. That’s confirmation enough that I can give you.”
6
The smell of something savory wafted through the air, and Dani’s stomach growled. Peeking out from the side of the bulkhead, a mound of shimmering coals had been raked from the fire, the lizard beast roasting over them on a spick, the Korthan slowly turning a handle.
Hedge is hungry, C’hase announced, also watching the scene outside the ship.
Said space rat lay chewing a fishbone near the hole to his den. No need to repair the opening, Dani let the little creature keep his growing hoard.
“He can eat from the rations,” she said, ducking back inside before K’vyn spotted her.
But he already ate all the rations.
What?
A small kitchenette set aft of the cargo hold, rations sorted in containers stacked against the bulkhead.
She opened one, then another, and another, all with holes burrowed from the back, food nearly gone.
“How can a creature so small eat so much?” Dani said to the air, throwing up her hands in exasperation.
With no more rations, could they get enough food to last until a rescue party arrived?
Eating the chickens was out of the question—
Their eggs are pretty tasty, C’hase supplied.
“Yes, they are, but Hedge keeps sneaking off with those too.”
She’d caught the little guy twice today already.
That beast looks tasty, C’hase said next, now sitting at the top of the ramp in full view of the outside world, watching the fire.
The mogha sat atop the ramp as K’vyn turned the spick. The tasty aroma would be irresistible to the pup. C’hase took a step down the ramp and stopped, looking back into the dark hold of the freighter, no doubt told to stay by his Alpha.
K’vyn smiled. Watching out of the corner of his eye, the woman peeked around the bulkhead again, doing her best not to look as if she were spying on him.
He was mesmerized. Everything about her was intriguing. The way she moved. The way she walked. The way she smiled. Even the way her clothing hung from her curvy body. Clothing he wanted to rip off, lay her down in the flowers—