Page 73 of The Highseer's Mate

She winces slightly. “My leg is—”

Nicole shoots me a look and shakes her head. Oh, no.

“I’m in a lot of pain,” Melina clarifies with a polite smile.

She’s trying to be strong—she is strong—but she doesn’t have to be. Not in front of us.

Melina sits up slightly and laces her fingers together across her belly, getting comfortable. “So, Nicole told me about Lara and her interest in the Luminite,” she says.

My brows raise. I didn’t know. I guess I missed several things while being cooped up in the furs. “She is?”

Nicole jumps in. “Yeah, she’s been wandering around this to check out all the different gemstones in the rock. She thinks she can make some nice jewelry out of it. She’s tried to talk to some of the Vruts but they look at her like she’s crazy.”

“Hmm,” I say. I bet a necklace with glowing luminite would be rather striking. I hadn’t thought about it.

“And Ryan has some Vrut who thinks she’s his mate,” Melina smirks like she knows all the trouble that will come out of that bond.

I can’t help but chuckle. Draxel has been miserable, the mate bond chaffing like he never thought it would. Meanwhile, I can only imagine how little Ryan wants anything to do with him.

How those two are going to officially mate is beyond me.

“But what about Cristina?” Melina asks.

My chest tightens and I falter.

Nicole opens her mouth, but she closes it after. Apparently, I’m not the only one who can’t find the words. How do I explain to her that Cristina was dragged off by an enemy alien species and that I probably could have prevented it all along?

“She… didn’t make it,” I say.

Melina’s lips tremble as she blinks back at me. Her gaze slides between me and Nicole, processing.

Nicole fills in the details, explaining what happened to Cristina as if she realized I can’t. I can’t bring myself to talk about it again or else the guilt won’t let me move forward.

Maybe I shouldn’t.

Maybe I don’t deserve to.

Melina rubs her tears off her cheeks, sniffling and forcing down her emotion. “I wish I would have gotten to say goodbye.”

Me too.

I wish a lot of things had happened differently.

I reach out and grab her hand. It’s hard to process everything but I’m overjoyed that Melina is awake. She’s talking. She’s herself. We can deal with her leg with time.

But this is good news. Varek will be able to tell the council that another female survived. It’s the chance for another mate pairing. Another chance at a future for our new clan.

I hear footsteps pounding on the dirt ground outside of the chamber and the leather sways. My breath catches when I see my mate, his eyes searching for me with a desperation that sends a wave of worry through my body.

“Paige?”

“Varek, look,” I tell him. I scoot out of the way so he can see Melina and his shoulders relax for a moment before he bows his head in a respectful greeting. “Melina. Her name is Melina.”

“Melina,” he pronounces. Then his gaze flicks back to me. He nods for me to follow him.

I nod and turn to the girls. “I’m sorry, can you give me a minute?”

Melina’s eyes are wide as she nods. “Is that your mate?”

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