Page 28 of Rebirth

“He’rox?” I ask.

“He’s already on the ground,” she says, “waiting for you.”

She looks back at me, studying me for a moment as I grab my pack and we walk through the corridors. “You can still change your mind, you know.”

I shake my head and she nods.

“Well, there’s breakfast being served down there. Canned chicken soup. You can also wash up down there if you haven’t done so already.”

I give her a small smile and nod again.

Everything moves quickly, but not quickly enough.

I wash my hands, my face, I get a bowl of soup and I drink, all the while my gaze on the white shadow standing at the edge of the camp, waiting for me.

He’rox doesn’t move, and the longer he stands there, the more those butterflies rise and fly in the pit of my belly.

Setting the bowl down, I jerk my chin at Adira and the other women still serving the others, and they do the same. Behind them, their Vullan mates stand watching as I head toward my shadow.

He’rox turns as he sees me approaching, and I glance back at the camp as we head toward the trees. I’ve only just arrived, and I’m already leaving.

There’s a slight part of me, the little girl who didn’t ask for any of this—not a father who spent more time harkening the end of the world than appreciating the present, and not an alien invasion that’s ripped her world in two. But I keep walking, footsteps falling within the larger ones of my guide.

I expect him to stop at the spot we found before, to dig the hole deeper so we can get samples and run some tests, but he keeps walking, forcing me to pick up my pace to keep up with his long strides.

“Where are we going?” I ask, glancing around at the thick foliage surrounding us. Everything looks the same. If I got separated from him, I’d be lost in seconds.

He doesn’t answer, just keeps walking with purpose, navigating the wild terrain as if he knows exactly where he’s headed. A white shadow moving silently through a world not of his own.

And so we walk.

For minutes, hours…he does not seem to tire, and soon my mind shifts from the anxiety of our mission to other things.

I can’t help but notice the way his body moves. I follow behind him, distracted by his fluid grace. Like water flowing on air.

For such a large male, he navigates the dense forest with uncanny stealth and efficiency. He’s silent. Not even a twig snapping underneath his foot, while I can hear every step I make echoing all around us.

He’rox’s body shifts and glides with a dangerous beauty, every muscle working in perfect unison. I find myself staring at the flex of his broad shoulders beneath his strange armor, the way his ba’clan cling to powerful thighs and calves.

A flush spreads over my cheeks as I realize the direction of my thoughts. I tear my gaze away, heart pounding for reasons that have nothing to do with our hike. What is wrong with me? He isn’t even human. I know nothing about the Vullan or their mating practices. For all I know, the women back at the camp—Adira, Sam, Deja, and Mina—all had to do something, give up something, to be mates with beings so different from us.

He completely ignores me, and I wonder if he even remembers that I am here.

And yet, as we continue trekking through the wild terrain, I struggle to ignore the effect his commanding presence has on me. The confidence in his stride, the air of focus and control that surrounds him.

I keep my eyes on him, watching the way he moves undirected. There is no pause, no moment of contemplation as he heads through the thick. And I realize that maybe he does know where he’s going. I don’t know the extent of his senses or abilities. I only know what I’ve been told, and clearly, there’s more to them than meets the eye.

The farther we go, the denser the forest becomes. Vines and thorns tug at my clothes and hair, scratching at my skin. The air grows heavy and damp, filled with the smells of moss and rotting leaves.

An uneasy feeling washes over me. We’re now far from the camp, from any kind of help. If something were to happen out here, no one would know. I grip the gun I’d moved from my pack to tuck into the waist of my jeans, taking comfort from its solid weight.

And before me, the alien goes on. He doesn’t stop.

In silence, we trek, the sun already moving past its halfway mark on its way to the horizon.

It’s so silent out here, but for once, I welcome the silence.

Before, when the machines came, the noise they made right before they attacked vibrated the air, beating against your eardrum and sending chills straight through your bones.

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