Page 19 of Alien Prince's Fated Mate

We left the cave behind, striking out across the mountainside. My legs burned with each step up the steep incline, but I refused to slow our pace. The device tucked inside my robes pressed into me with each labored breath, a constant reminder of my purpose. A flicker of movement in the sky caught my attention. I stopped, scanning the clouds.

“What is it?” Tharon asked, moving closer to me.

“The drones. I didn’t expect them.” My hand clenched in my robe. “The Temple never deployed them before, not even when Lita and the others escaped.”

“Why now?”

“Because I’m different.” The words tasted bitter. “Lita, Mila, Denna - they were just girls to be used and discarded when broken. But me...” I swallowed hard. “I was part of the system itself. The Temple needs me back.”

Tharon’s warm hand wrapped around my shoulder, turning me to face him. “That will never happen. Do you understand?” His grip tightened. “You are never going back there.”

“You don’t know what they’re capable of.”

“Neither do they know what I'm capable of.” His thumb traced along my collarbone, sending electric sparks through my body. “I will tear down the Temple stone by stone before I let them take you.”

His fierce declaration filled me with warmth. No one had ever protected me before. I'd always been a tool, a conduit, never someone worth fighting for.

I pulled away from his touch, needing distance to think clearly. “We should keep moving. There can’t be many drones left after all these years, but even one could track us.”

Tharon nodded, falling into step beside me as we continued our ascent. But I could feel his gaze on me, watchful and intent, ready to stand between me and any threat - even ones that came from the sky.

The device buzzed, startling me from my thoughts. I pulled it from my robes.

“What direction?” Tharon asked, stepping closer to examine it.

I rotated slowly, watching the device’s pulsing light as it changed with my movements. “This way.” I pointed down the mountain’s eastern slope. “The signal grows stronger.”

“There’s a valley in that direction.” Tharon studied the terrain ahead. “We should reach it by midday.”

The path down proved easier than our ascent. Small rocks skittered away under our feet as we picked our way between larger boulders. The device’s rhythmic buzzing guided us, growing more insistent with each step.

The harsh mountain landscape softened as we descended. Scraggly bushes dotted the rocky ground, then gave way to scattered trees with silver-gray bark. Their branches reached toward the sky like gnarled fingers.

Tharon stopped abruptly. His nostrils flared as he scanned our surroundings. Before I could ask what troubled him, he pulled my hood forward, shadowing my face.

“Other Shakai nearby,” he murmured. “They’ll see you as a Frostling - a creature of myth. Best to keep you hidden.”

I almost laughed at the irony. The Temple had made me more machine than human, yet out here I’d be feared as some mythical being. All too human, all too broken.

A gust of wind cut through my robes. Without thinking, I pressed closer to Tharon’s warmth. His arm came around me, steady and sure. I was startled by how wholly I trusted him now. Yet I couldn’t deny the comfort his presence brought, how safe I felt within the circle of his protection.

This wasn’t part of the plan. I needed his help to destroy the Temple, nothing more. But my body betrayed me, melting into his embrace as naturally as breathing.

Tharon leaned close, his whisper the slightest sound. “We could circle around. Avoid them entirely.”

My fingers danced along the device’s edges through my robes. Every moment counted now. “That might be best. I don’t want anything delaying us from reaching the pod.”

We veered off the path, picking our way through dense underbrush. The branches caught at my robes, tugging meback with each step. Tharon cleared the way ahead, his broad shoulders breaking a path through the foliage.

The first thunder of hoofbeats froze me mid-step. Close. Too close.

Tharon spun around, scooping me into his arms before I could protest. He ran, his powerful strides eating up the ground as branches whipped past us. My hands clutched his shoulders, feeling the bunching of muscle beneath.

More hoofbeats joined the first, coming from all directions now. The rhythmic pounding drew closer, surrounding us. Tharon skidded to a halt as five villarts burst from the trees ahead, their reptilian hides gleaming with sweat. More riders emerged behind us, boxing us in.

Tharon lowered me to my feet but kept me pressed against him. His arm around my waist anchored me as he drew his sword with his free hand. The blade sang as it cleared its sheath.

“Stay behind me,” he murmured.

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