Page 64 of Treasured By the Hunter

“This is where it all started for the hunters in New Franklin,” I said as we approached the unassuming structure. “This is where the hunters and their mates live. Lenny and Sam lived here too.”

“An industrial building?”

“It is easily defendable. And that one over there was the original human building. They used to funnel the scourge here”—I gestured at the area around the compound—“during the summer.”

She looked around the busy courtyard filled with bustling people and laughing children. “I would’ve never guessed this was a battlefield.”

I kept walking but she stopped. There were unshed tears in her eyes.

“What is wrong? Are you hurting? Should we go back to the medical bay?”

“No, no. I’m fine. It’s just… Look at this place! I’ve been to other settlements and visited many camps. But they weren’t like this. This feels so… normal.”

I understood. The hunters here still had to work hard every day to prevent the scourge from reestablishing nests, but here inside New Franklin, there were none. My entire life’s work had been to rid the universe of the scourge menace. But until I’d come to Earth, I hadn’t really understood why my job was so important.

Now, I got it. I pulled Zoey into my arms, getting lost in the depths of her gray eyes.

I had a home to defend now. A mate. A future.

The door to the compound opened, and Evie greeted us, her sun-colored hair in a bouncy ponytail. “What are you doing just standing there, Harby? Come on in! I can’t want to meet your mate!”

Epilogue

Two years later…

“Alrighty, she’s good to go.” I gave the straps one last tug before closing the shuttle’s external storage hatch.

Riley and I had just finished spending all of Sanctuary’s allotted credits, and that meant it was time for us to enjoy the rest of the market. It was her first time at a Trader’s Market, and I could see the excitement in her eyes. There were all sorts of goodies on sale here, not just the essentials. Since that first year, the market had grown by leaps and bounds.

There was a never-ending selection of livestock, medicine, spices, coffee, tea, homemade foods, and beverages, both alcoholic and not. But it wasn’t just consumables. There were stalls with bolts of fabric, some from the old days and some newly woven, colorful skeins of yarn, and tools and notions for every handicraft under the sun. There was an entire section for woodworkers and a large subsection for those who upcycled the old into something new and wonderful.

There were classes in session all day too, from Cooking with Food Bars 101, to Raising Raisins: Dealing with the Terrible Twos, and War Machine Maintenance. The event was all about sharing information and connecting groups from all over NorthAmerica and even the rest of the world. There were Tech Wizards who made the trip from Asia and Europe for their yearly meeting.

After last year’s scourge attack, the hunters responsible had hiked up security, and this year, not a single flyer or centicreep had made it into the market. At least not yet. The day was still young.

“Where are you heading to first?” I asked after taking a large swig from my water bottle.

“Siobhan is doing an intro class to pie-making and it starts in half an hour. I’m so glad we managed to get everything on Sanctuary’s list on time. Then after that, I’m going to hit up the yarn stalls.” She’d started a “stitch n’ bitch” at Sanctuary where a bunch of ladies and gentlemen got together once a week to knit and offload their troubles. “Did you know I got Clark to try knitting? Clark!”

“No, I did not.” I tried to imagine Sanctuary’s mayor de-stressing from his job with a pair of knitting needles and grinned. “Good for him!”

The day Riley and I had been kidnapped, Mountain Pip had alerted Aaron and Lenny the moment the other shuttle uncloaked. They, in turn, notified Clark and Sasha. They’d caught Gabe and his posse of disloyal guards red-handed, stealing supplies on their way out. Gabe died in the resulting shootout, and everyone else involved was ejected from the settlement with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Training new guards and rebuilding had added more gray to Clark’s head, and he was well on his way to becoming a certified silver fox.

“Oh, here’s your hunter! Go spend some time with him. I’ll see you at dinner.” Then she was off, bouncing down the rows of stalls.

I turned to Harb’k, who was returning with Nov’k and Haax’l. The hunters, too, used this opportunity to meet up with old friends they’d fought with on previous planets and share information like new fighting tactics. The other two hunters went off to find their mates, leaving my wonderful mate with me.

“Are you excited?” I asked.

He was. I knew. There were too many strands of hair loose around his face, and that meant he’d been fussing with it, something he did when nervous.

“I am.”

“Me too.” I reached up and tucked a strand of his wiry hair behind his horns. Then I took his hand and we started toward the mothership building.

Last year when we were here, we’d learned about a special project. All Xarc’n warriors were created in artificial wombs on motherships, and some engineering types were getting together with the doctors and scientists to see if they could hack the wombs to carry human and mixed babies to term.

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