Page 70 of The Alien's Private Redemption

It was an odd question, to Angela's mind, that she would be encouraged to be a Marine.

"I fought for the ability to leave the mountain and become a Marine," she explained. "I was my mother's only daughter and the next keeper of the McBride line. Everybody wanted me to stay home but I wanted to see the world before I was confined to the holler for the rest of my life."

"Why were you allowed to leave?" Zoric asked, dread filled his voice and leaked along their Bond. Angela still didn't understand why.

"A quorum was called," Angela explained. "The elders and the keepers negotiated my freedom for a few years in the Marines. And there were arrangements. I don't know what, except that I got a ride to all the testing and to the bus for boot camp."

She tried to remember the ride to the testing station and couldn't. The feel of the upholstery under her thighs was as vividas if it had been yesterday, so was her view through the window, and stepping out of the car. But she couldn't remember what kind of car it was, who was driving, or why she'd been so sad to look back and say goodbye.

Dr. Phillips cleared her throat. "Did you ever tell anybody when and where you were deployed?"

Angela shook her head. "I wrote to Mama when I was allowed to but I never told her anything about dates, places, or times. Just that I was doing well and some of what I was learning when it wasn't classified. I didn't even tell her about being part of the diplomatic guard for the Orvax."

"Why not?" Dr. Phillips asked. "That wasn't a classified assignment."

With a shrug of her shoulders, Angela turned to look at the human psychiatrist. "It didn't occur to me that she would be interested. And I wasn't going to be in the service much longer anyway."

"According to your service records, you were more than a year out from being able to file your separation paperwork. And up for at least one more promotion," Dr. Phillips said. "How soon were you planning to leave?"

"I wasn't planning to leave," Angela explained, even as she could feel the alarm from Zoric. "I just knew I wasn't going to be there much longer. There were other plans for me and-"

Zoric's tail tightened around her ankle and she took in a shocked breath.

"You stopped breathing," he told her when she looked up at him in confusion.

"Why did you think there were other plans for you?" Ae-cha asked. "Did your mother tell you?"

"No," Angela said, her brow furrowing in confusion. "I just knew."

"Who made these other plans for you?" Dr. Phillips asked.

Angela's lungs seized and she fought the panic that came with the lack of breath. Zoric's hand on the back of her neck sent chills up and down her spine just before his mouth crashed down on hers to force air back into her lungs.

Moments later, she could feel Ae-cha's presence sifting through her memories and what felt like a hook being released from her subconscious. Her brain stung like she'd been snapped by a rubberband and the intrusive presence of the female Chelion was gone as well.

She took a deep breath and felt Zoric's lips soften on hers for a long moment before he pulled away. When she opened her eyes, her chest burned with every breath and her gaze caught on the shift in Zoric's face. It was still him, the green scales still shifted with every movement, but his mouth and nose had reformed to more human shapes.

"What happened?" Dr. Phillips asked.

"We found one of the triggers," Ae-cha said. "And it was ugly."

Chapter 12

Zoric was stunned by the look in Angela's eyes before he caught what Ae-cha had said. Desire burned there along with confusion, a feeling he felt echoed across their bond.

"You removed a trigger?" he asked, turning to look at the other Chelion.

"I did," Ae-cha confirmed. "It was wrapped around an older, softer compulsion. And it was nasty. I've never seen anything quite like it."

"How do you feel?" Dr. Phillips asked Angela, who blinked hard before refocusing her attention on the human psychiatrist.

"My chest hurts when I breathe," she answered after a few moments. "But I can breathe. I feel like I've run a marathon and I want a long, hot shower, and a few shots of whiskey."

Zoric could feel her emotions shifting between terror and elation and he sympathized. Especially when he felt his facebegin to reform to its original shape. Everybody in the room stared at him while he changed.

"How did you do that?" Ae-cha demanded.

He shook his head. "I have no idea. I felt Angela start to panic and I knew what she needed. When I bent down to give her my breath, everything was the right shape. There was no thought involved, just instinct and need."

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