Page 40 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

Digaray announced she’d to travel to an island where the majority of their gods lived to seek guidance. Before she left, Xax briefly spoke with her in a murmur too low for me to overhear. They hugged, she went inside her shroom, and he came over to me to explain.

Tribon sent me a long look. He lifted the haunch of meat and walked over to the fire pit, where he dropped it. I turned away as he collected wood. He must plan to smoke the meat or cook some for his own meal.

“I’m not mating with Tribon no matter what your gods say,” I declared. “I’ll run away before I do something like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Xax said. “I should’ve shown the sign to my adopted mother last evening.”

“If your gods said I’m your mate, they’ll tell her that, right?”

To think I’d rejected him. Now I only felt longing. The whim of their gods might pull us apart before I’d made up my mind about whether I wanted to be with him or not.

Digaray left her shroom a short time later with a pack secured to her back. She came over to where I stood with Xax. Her gaze swept down my frame before she sent me a sad look.

“Welcome, daughter,” she said softly. “As Xax’s mother, I am happy you two have found each other.”

“Why not state that, then?” I asked. I wasn’t a gift for her to hand over to Xax, but I didn’t want to be with their traedor.

“I cannot. It would show unfair favoritism.” She stroked my arm. “I will travel to speak with the gods, and when I return within a few days, I’m confident I’ll be able to deliver the answer you both seek. If Xax still had the plant sent by the gods, I could decide now, but as elder, I’m not only subject to the gods’ will but, to some extent, that of our traedor. This was the only solution I could come up with. Even Tribon will not dare interfere in the will of the gods when I deliver such a message. We must keep peace within our clan.”

She gave both of us quick hugs before she strode from the village.

“Let’s walk,” Xax said, taking my hand. He led me into the woods in the opposite direction his mother had taken, following a trail weaving among the enormous purple trees. “I ask you to trust in the gods’ will. Please don’t run away.”

“I know I said I would, though I don’t want to.”

He shrugged. “I’d be tempted.”

“I won’t go to Tribon no matter what your gods say.”

“I understand.”

Despite my concern, it was a pretty day. I sucked in a breath scented with crushed vegetation and a hint of flowers. Under any other circumstances, I would never walk in the woods. This was an alien planet full of unpredictable creatures. I knew Xax would do his best to protect me, and I was savvy enough to survive a short time, but if I ran, I’d be on my own.

My biggest experience with outdoor adventure was a walk in the local park. I’d never seen a wild beast outside of a feral cat in the alley behind my apartment building or the flock of pigeons nesting near the roof. All placid creatures that wouldn’t eat a person.

This was a dangerous world. I wouldn’t last one night on my own in the wild.

“Trust that the gods will tell my mother we are mates,” Xax said.

I stopped on the trail. “That’s the thing. I belong to me. No one else. My only goal back on Earth was to open a tea shop.”

He looked at me with so much longing, it squeezed the air from my lungs. “You didn’t want a mate or younglings?”

“Someday.” I started walking again, and he kept pace with me. “I’m thirty-years-old. You’d think my baby clock would be ticking by now, but I haven’t felt the urge to have a child so far. Sure, I want to be with someone I love one day, but that always felt like something I’d look for in the future. Never now. I know you feel I’m your mate, but I’m a person too. I get to have a say about who I’m with and who I love.”

“Yes, you do.” He stopped on the path again and took my hand, turning me to face him. “If you want me, I’m yours, but if you do not want me, I will continue to provide a home for you. No matter what, I will protect you.”

“That’s sweet of you.” My heart was being crushed against my ribs. I’d barely known him for twenty-four hours. Surely it took longer than that to decide if you wanted to be with someone for a lifetime. “I’m floundering,” I croaked. “I don’t know what’s up and what’s down. I didn’t bring a watch, so I can’t even tell what time it is.” It was a silly thing to focus on when my future might soon belong to the whim of alien gods.

“Look at the sun.” He pointed to where it hovered overhead, the beams winking through the purple canopy. “When it’s above our heads, it’s midday. Morning is when the sun rises, and dusk is when it sets. You don’t need to know more than that, do you?”

“What if I have an appointment?”

“With whom?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Cresar and I agree to meet to swim at two.”

“Two of what?”

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