Page 15 of The Highseer's Mate

“Um,” I stutter. “You can understand me?”

He licks his bottom lip, the movement sending a surprising thrill down my spine. “I can.”

“How is that possible?”

His brows knit. “I don’t know. Tell me your name.”

I scoff. Um, can we focus more on the fact that I’m understanding an alien language for a minute?

He cocks his head, pressing me for an answer.

“I’m Paige.”

“Paige.” He tastes my name. When he says it again, it rumbles from deep in his chest as the patterns there glow. “My Paige.”

“YourPaige?” I ask, taking another step away from this alien. A Vrut as Selvara called herself. “I’m not yours.”

Varek’s hand finds his chest, his long fingers spreading out over the glowing lights. He closes his eyes and says my name again, this time like a prayer like he’s giving thanks.

I watch him, struggling to make sense of all this. I just want to leave. I want to go back to the ship with the rest of the girls and find a way home. To hell with Mars. I’ll go back to my boring life in Chicago and I won’t complain for a single second.

I just can’t stay here.

Varek’s eyes open, the amber depths pulling me in.

“You are mine, Paige. You are my mate.”

My heart stalls in my chest. His what?

“And I am y0urs.”

I shake my head. This can’t be happening. I seriously have to still be dreaming.

He takes a step toward me and I throw up a hand to stop him. “No, Varek.”

His lips twitch into a smile. “Mmm. Yes. I am your Varek.”

“No, that’s not… Don’t come closer,” I order him. “And I’m not your mate.”

He points to his chest, the glowing thrumming as fast as my own heart. “The glows have chosen us. Honored us. It isfated. You are my mate, Paige. And sooner or later you will be begging me to come closer.”

My cheeks burn as his eyes rake over me, his leathers tightening.

“But for now, I must bathe you,” Varek says casually as if the suggestion isn’t wildly inappropriate. “And no more punching my throat, little troublemaker.”

Chapter 8

Paige

Anger bubbles inside me. I’m not a troublemaker. I was fighting for my life.

And I’m not his.

I puff out my chest and am seconds away from tearing into this arrogant alien when the leathers covering the archway move and another male steps inside. He’s the same one from yesterday, the first one I saw other than Varek.

He’s not as tall as Varek but he’s still way bigger than any human I’ve seen.

They have similar builds. Strong, lean. Muscles ripple and flex with each of their graceful movements.

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