Page 65 of An Alien for the Farm

The word that made my heart feel like a cavernous pit for so many years, but is now making it swell and fill in a way that I never thought would ever happen. It almost makes it hard to breathe.

“How?” I whisper. My voice is but a croak, barely audible. “I’m human.”

“Yes, kahlesta. This isn’t something that happens with your kind. But it is the Kari way. Our core-rhythms only awaken once in our lives and only for our perfect mate. There is no other way. No other dream. With my life, I vow this is true.” Varek is about to kneel before me again, as if he fears that despite everything he’s done and said, I’ll still disbelieve him. I stop him with a lift of my hand.

Bowing slightly, Varek remains standing. “You are now the reason my siblingkin breathes. The reason he exists.”

I stiffen, my throat tightening. What woman doesn’t want to hear those words about the male that she’s falling in love with? Again, my heart swells. And yet, there’s the doubt. Because, th ough thrilling, this is also terrifying simply because of the odds. I’d have to be the luckiest girl on Earth. But then I remind myself, I’m not on Earth anymore. My ideas, my preconceptions, all the societal demands and expectations—none of those things matter. Here, I’m just a girl. I’m just Eleanor. All that happened in my life before this point has no weight in this.

I swallow down my fear. “And you’re sure that’s what’s happening to Zynar… You’re sure this…core-rhythm is happening. That his body is telling him I’m the one.”

I know I’m simplifying it, but putting it into human terms is the only way I can process this. But even saying the words, they sound unbelievable. Too good to be true. And I fear I’m imagining this all. That I hit my head in that field and I still haven’t recovered yet.

Varek nods, the suit making a shuffling sound as he dips his head. “It is unmistakable. His pigment has changed, his grasp on things. When I dared to venture near the outbuilding, I heard the song. His core-rhythm has…ignited.” His yellow gaze lights up in some kind of awe. “It will only get stronger now, interfering with his core-beat as the sols pass. His very breath.”

I wait for him to continue. To explain what he just said, but he doesn’t. I rise slowly off the bed. “Varek. Are you saying…”

When my feet hit the floor, I sway, my balance still a little off. Suddenly Varek is there holding me up. My wide eyes pierce his through the rectangular viewing hole in his suit. “Are you saying that the intensity of this thing will break his heart…literally?”

Images of how Zynar’s chest was heaving as if he was having trouble breathing comes right back to me and complete horror fills me. So much so my own breath stutters in my chest under the weight of the realization. No. That’s can’t be what he means.

Varek grimaces again but nods. “Yes.”

My belly bottoms out and I would have fallen to the floor if Varek’s arms didn’t shoot out to catch me again. “Varek, it’s been hours!”

He doesn’t seem alarmed. Doesn’t release me. Doesn’t run to his brother’s assistance. There seems to be a condition I’m missing, even though he doesn’t utter it. Something that tells me there’s more to all this. More he has to say but is hesitating.

“Tell me…” I whisper.

“My siblingkin is not a weak male. He would make a fine provider. A fine protector. A fine mate.” He says the words like he’s trying to convince me of all those facts. But he doesn’t need to convince me. I already know.

I swallow hard, gripping the bed as I lean on it. He eases away from me then, and steps back toward the door.

“He is strong,” Varek says, and I don’t know what I catch in his tone, but it’s as if he’s trying to convince himself. “He will last several sols.”

My brow knits. “What do you mean last? You say that as if…” I shake my head because he can’t be saying what I think he’s saying.

“He won’t be going through the rut, kahlesta. And if he won’t be marking you as his, that is death in itself. A few sols is all the time he has left.”

I swallow a lump, stepping back. “Are you…” I choke on the rest of the words because my brain refuses to put them into reality. “Are you saying Zynar’s going to die?”

“Few can endure the intensity of a newly awakened core-rhythm. Few can endure the need to claim,” he says. Then as if to bring the point home, his gaze locks with mine again. “Many Kari females have died during the rut.” He pauses. “You are human. To accept Zynar’s rut is a pressure we will not place on you.”

I stop breathing. “Oh my God. That’s why you’re here. That’s why Zynar has locked himself away. You’re giving me a choice.”

When he doesn’t respond, only dips his head, I know I’m right.

Maybe I inhale sharply. My eyebrows rise on my forehead as I stare at him.

“Just what are we talking about here?” I whisper I’m missing something, aren’t I. “His rut. It’s just…sex, isn’t it? The mate bond?” At least, that’s what I think it is. This may all be new to me—most of it might be a shock—but, it’s just…sex. Right?

I can do that.

Varek shakes his head. “No, Eleanor.”

Use of my name makes me stand straighter, waiting for whatever he’s about to drop on me.

“He has not just lost control; he’s locked himself away because he’s driven by something primal. An ancient need. Zynar will claim you over and over again, each time more fiercely than the last.” Varek steps forward slowly, almost as if he’s stalking me, and I’m reminded once again that although he and his brother can be so gentle, they’re big strong apex predators and I’m just a little human. I stand my ground, facing him even as his words and slow approach make me swallow hard. “He will mate you again and again until his scent mingles with yours. Until your essence is interwoven with his. It’s not a gentle process, kahlesta. It’s relentless, consuming. He will not stop until he’s satisfied that the bond is forged. Irrevocably so.”

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