Page 57 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

I grinned. “Thank you.” I turned to Bork. “Tell me more about meat and its meaning here.”

“I assume you mean how meat relates to courtship.” He watched me cut a few more slices before nodding his approval.

“Yes. I thought your gods selected your mates.”

“It’s rare for a god-given mating to occur. If it does, both of them will display a mark on the back of their hand. If they don’t, they will choose someone to be with.”

Kind of like back home where some marriages were love-matches while others were more of a friends-to-lovers relationship.

“Where do they get the mark?” Maybe something similar to a tattoo served as a wedding band among Zuldruxians.

“It appears when the couple is ready to mate.”

“It just appears? How is that possible?”

He extended his hand toward me, nudging his chin toward the back and the star-shaped symbol etched there. Like a tattoo, it had been inked in black.

“Someone did that for you, right?”

His smile lifted, but it appeared sad. “Someone did. My mate. When we met, matching symbols like this appear on our hands.”

“I don’t understand.”

His gaze fell to the backs of my hands lacking any design. “When you meet your fated one, you’ll know. You’ll see.”

Maybe Xax wasn’t my fated one, then, since neither of us had symbols like Bork’s.

My throat was suddenly tight, and my chest wouldn’t stop spasming.

I liked Xax. He was kind and thoughtful and cute.

I didn’t want a symbol to appear on my hand for anyone else.

Chapter 27

Xax

Ihunted and brought meat to Gerain and Floosar’s home, withholding enough to get Amanda and I through the next few days. That meat, I placed in my cool box.

If I offered Amanda my meat, would she take it with a smile or refuse me?

I wanted to court her with Earth rituals that might include meat but presented in different ways. I’d rarely followed the path others had already taken, and I wasn’t going to start now. If she found me worthy, even my unconventional courtship rituals would strike through to her heart.

The day waned, and after taking care of a few things inside my shroom, I joined those smoking meat at the fire. Amanda worked with us, and I could tell the others were pleased to have her help.

We ate some of the meat for dinner and sat on stumps near the fire after, feeding the flames wood as the sun slid down below the tree line.

Gerain was right. We should’ve thought about cultivating spores for this area as well. I’d love to sit on a sofa with Amanda, my feet up on a stump instead of feeling the hard wood digging into my ass.

Finally, I stood and stretched, catching Amanda watching the movement out of the corner of her eye. Did she find blue skin and silver hair attractive? Zuldruxian coloring was very different from her own.

I was much bigger than her, and I assumed males of her species were nearer to her size than mine.

Not blue. No silver hair. Smaller bodies.

I faced not only the cultural differences between us but the realization that she might find my physical appearance unattractive.

I’d never thought of myself as beautiful, but I’d hoped one day to find a mate who’d adore me for what was inside rather than my exterior. For Amanda to love me, she had to be willing to accept both.

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