Page 12 of My Alien Pirate

Before I could answer, her brow ridges lifted and her mouth dropped open again in understanding. "The mating bond?" she whispered.

My tentacles ran over my chest ridges as I nodded, afraid to say the words out loud.

"You and the alien? How do you...? What...?"

"I don't know, Grixxa. That's why I need to talk to Zalira," I admitted.

"Zhar, you didn't..."

I shook my hands fiercely. "No, no, nothing like that," I assured her. "I went to speak with her a little while ago. Suddenly, it just...hit me."

"Of course, I'll help." She tapped a finger on her bottom lip. "Last time I saw her, she was holed up in the 'library'.

The library was basically a large closet that the ancient woman had commandeered for her expansive collection of books that mysteriously kept growing. I'd always wanted to get in there and explore but, somehow, the woman had the room locked down—even from me. On my own ship!

Her shock seemingly resolving, Grixxa's lips widened in a grin, and she laced an arm in mine. "Let's get to it, my friend."

10

Zalira

The library door loomed before us, its surface etched with ancient Xialith symbols that seemed to shift and dance in the low light. Grixxa placed her hand on the intricate lock mechanism, her ridges pulsing with concentration.

"She's changed the access codes again," Grixxa muttered, her crystalline eyes narrowing. "Last time I was here, she at least let me in."

I crossed my arms, my tentacles twitching with impatience. "She's probably in there, watching us fumble around like newly hatched grubblings."

As if in response to my words, the door spiraled open with a soft hiss. The scent of aged paper and incense wafted out, along with a melodious chuckle that seemed to echo from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"Come in, young ones," a voice called from within. "I've been expecting you."

Grixxa shot me a knowing look as we entered. The library was larger than it should have been, given the ship's dimensions. Shelves stretched upward into shadows, filled with books, scrolls, and artifacts from a hundred worlds. Bioluminescent orbs floated lazily through the air, casting a warm, golden light over everything.

Zalira sat cross-legged on a floating cushion in the center of the room, her ancient eyes fixed on an ornate text that hovered before her. She was small for a Xialith, her scales a pearlescent white that seemed to shimmer with rainbow hues as she moved. Her tentacles, far longer and more numerous than mine, were adorned with intricate metallic rings that chimed softly when she gestured.

"Sit," she commanded without looking up, two more cushions materializing beside her. "You have questions about the bond."

I settled onto one of the cushions, trying not to show my surprise. "How did you—"

"Know?" Zalira finally looked up, her eyes swirling with colors I'd never seen before. "Your aura is practically screaming it, young captain. The threads of destiny have woven themselves around you in quite an interesting pattern."

Grixxa darted a look at me searching for whatever Zalira was seeing but she soon gave up and leaned forward, her ridges flashing with curiosity. "Then it is real? What Zharrox is feeling?"

"You understand the nature of mating bonds, yes?" Zalira asked, drawing me from my thoughts. "The rarity of such spiritual links, the way they transcend mere physical companionship?"

I nodded slowly. "The basics. Life Mates, two souls intertwined, bound together somehow through the great cosmic weave. It's...incredibly uncommon, almost unheard of these days."

"And yet, you've managed to blunder into just such a bond," Zalira cackled richly. "With a member of an alien species, no less! The universe has a sense of humor, it seems."

My brow furrowed. "But...how is that even possible?" I shook my head in bewilderment. "She's not Xailith. We don't even think she's from this dimension. How can our essences be linked in such a way?"

The ancient priestess fixed me with a milky glare. "You ask me to explain the great mysteries of the cosmos? The workings of the universal stream that carried two souls, unique in all creation, to entwine despite impossible divides?" She snorted dismissively. "Who can truly say? But those of us conversant in the ways of the ancients know better than to question when such miraculous events occur."

She settled back, her tone becoming lecturing. "Throughout the great pattern, there have always been eddies and ripples, confluences where the unbound strands of the web flow together for a fleeting moment." Her gnarled hands spread wide. "Your bond is simply one such improbable ripple, made possible by the alignment of a billion cosmic factors. A true anomaly in all the ages of existence."

I frowned, dissatisfied with her flowery words that were short on the details I needed. "That's it? We're just some...impossible coincidence?"

"Hardly," Zalira said with a derisive sniff. "If it were a mere coincidence, I wouldn't have seen it coming."

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