Page 79 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

My heart was on fire. There was a woman here. I hoped the Indigan Clan was treating her nicely. If not, we’d talk her into coming home with us, not us moving here. We had three empty shrooms that would welcome new members to our clan.

“Vanessa?” Aizor shouted.

“Aizor,” someone cried out, rushing from one of the crystal structures. A woman with brown hair leaped into Aizor’s arms.

He caught her and kissed her while her arms and legs wrapped around him. I knew right then she would not want to move to our clan.

They parted, and he turned so she could see us.

Her eyes widened, and she scrambled out of his arms, flinging herself toward me. She stopped before touching. “You’re from Earth. You’re from Earth!”

I nodded, my eyes stinging. I sniffed and, aw hell, I started crying again.

We barreled into each other, both of us sobbing with joy. We hugged before leaning back in each other’s arms.

“I’m Vanessa,” she said.

“I’m Amanda, and it’s so nice to meet you. When did you get here?”

“It’s been almost a month.”

“For me too.”

“Damn crystal gods,” she said with a laugh. “But they brought me to Aizor, and how can I complain about that?” Her gaze sought Xax.

I stepped back, taking his hand. “This is my mate, Xax. He’s traedor of the Ulistar Clan. They’re a clan with a god of vegetation. You should see what Xax can do with vines. What I can do.” I tapped the hilt of my dagger.

“The Indigan Clan has a thing for crystals,” Vanessa said ruefully, her hand sweeping toward the structures. “As you can see.”

“These are your homes?”

She nodded.

“We live inside . . . well, they’re called shrooms.” We both laughed, but that faded fast. “They look like huge mushrooms. They’re amazing, and I call their god Alexa.”

“Perfect.”

She couldn’t stop grinning; neither could I. “Are you here for long?”

“A few days. Xax wants to talk to Aizor about us adopting a few hepadons.” Among other things that we’d hold off discussing for a day or so.

“I imagine he can be talked into something like that.” Vanessa shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m talking to another human. Let me show you around.” She stepped back, right into Aizor’s arms. “I think you’re going to like it here. We have hot spring spas inside the mountain, and our gods do all the cooking and cleaning. Well, other than special items I cook myself like bread and cake and cookies.”

“You bake?” I breathed.

“I sure do. Aizor built me an oven. I’ll show you that too.” Aizor’s arms went around her, holding her snug. “You know . . .” Frowning, her attention traveled from me to Xax and back again. “There’s a lovely flat, grassy area nearby. That’s where Aizor built my oven. You said your homes are giant mushrooms?”

“Yes.” I took Xax’s hand and squeezed it, suspecting where this conversation was going. It wasn’t unwelcome; that was part of the reason we were here. Our clan was too small to survive on its own. We’d accepted we might need to join another. “We plant spores and cultivate the shrooms until they’re fully grown, then we move inside.”

“What would your clan think of cultivating some shrooms in our meadow?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

I looked up at Xax. We had a good life in our small village. We knew where to hunt and what things were edible inside the forest. But . . .

“We’re only here for a visit . . . for now,” Xax said.

As we’d discussed before we left our clan, we’d see how this went before we talked about possibly moving in with this clan. There were others we could consider also, though I wasn’t excited about living in a clan who made their home on islands suspended in the air and flew on giant birds. Some women might love it, but not me.

“Come with us to the central dining area,” Vanessa said. “I baked cakes yesterday, and we can sit down with a big slice. Chocolate or vanilla?”

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