Page 46 of Treasured By the Hunter

That explained why it was blue and had Hot Wheels on it. “What about the blanket? Did you have one before?”

“No. Hunters do not need extra comfort. A thin mat was deemed good enough by our creators.”

Oh. That was kind of sad.

“I have also never had a Zoey in my bed. Now I am spoiled.”

That had me smiling.

“I’ve always wondered what life was like out there. In space, I mean. You’ve been out there, so tell me, what’s it like?”

He didn’t answer at first. And he was so silent that I thought perhaps he wasn’t going to. His answer broke my heart into a million pieces.

Chapter 22: Harb’k

My answer was not one she’d want to hear. At first, I thought about changing the topic. I didn’t know why I finally decided to say what I said.

“There is a lot of scourge.”

She frowned. “There must be something else other than you and the scourge out there.”

“There was. There used to be a lot out there. And I got to see their last moments before they were destroyed. Now, there are a lot of scourge. And a lot of hunters. But mostly, just a lot of scourge.”

“There has to be some civilizations out there that survived.” She looked unsure.

“There are. But I do not know of any personally. The planets we were successful on did not have intelligent life. There was one planet with intelligent inhabitants that looked like your lizards, but they walked upright. They were a proud people. They are now gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

Did she regret asking her question? I don’t know why I told her the truth. I could have lied and told her I’d seen many wonders. That way, she wouldn’t smell like sadness.

“No.I’msorry.”

“Why?”

“Because I am making you sad.”

“I asked the question, and you answered it. Not your fault. I guess we should enjoy whatever we have left of Earth while it’s here.”

I frowned. “Earth will not meet the same fate. Now that we have found it, we will fight to the death for it. It wouldn’t matter if the mothership considered it a failure and ordered us back on board. We will not leave. We will continue to stay and fight.”

“Because of ones like Mina?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t matter if I never had a family of my own. I would still be here to protect our collective future.

This reminded me that I had yet to tell her of the mate bond. It had happened so fast and ended so soon that I was starting to wonder if it had ever happened at all. But now that she was here in my arms again, I knew it was the truth.

Zoey was moving her fingers idly over my skin, and I realized she was tracing the demarcations between the different colors on my body.

“Do not look at those. They are ugly.” I pulled the blanket over my body.

“They are not. They are scars, and scars are never ugly.”

Was she talking about her own? I’d noticed a long-healed mark on her abdomen earlier. I wondered how she’d gotten it.

“I like your body,” she continued. “All of it, even these marks. They prove you are strong and resilient.”

---