Page 24 of Hunter's Valentine

“I see. One more question.”

“Shoot.”

“I do not have a blaster.”

She chuckled. “I mean, ask your question.”

“Is it still Heart Giving Day?”

“You mean Valentine’s Day? Yes, for like, five more minutes.”

“Good,” I said, pushing myself up to sit, only realizing now that one of my arms hung uselessly at my side. “Because I want you to have my heart. I do not have a paper one to offer you yet, but you will not spend Heart Giving Day alone.”

Sara threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and planting little kisses all over my face. I embraced her back, or tried to, given that I only had one working arm. I stillmanaged to haul her up onto the desks and on top of me. She buried her face into my neck, and I closed my eyes, wanting to memorize her scent.

After a short eternity, she said, “You have to let me go eventually. You know that, right?”

I tried to release her, but the arm I had around her simply refused to move. It held onto her like it was the end of the universe, and she was my only hope.

“The mate bond,” I whispered, awestruck.

She inhaled sharply. “You meanthemate bond? Natalie said that when a hunter bonds with a woman, she becomes the only one for him, and there will be no one else, ever. Is that true?”

“Affirmative.”

“And you feel this for me?”

“Affirmative.”

I didn’t know if that would be a good or a bad thing for her. Was this happening too fast? Humans did not have mate bonds, and many “dated” for months, sometimes years, before they committed.

There was the universe’s longest silence, followed by a squeal.

“Does that noise mean you are happy?” I asked.

“Yes!” She made a sound that was suspiciously like a sob. “I know it’s only been a few days, but I want to make this work. Every day hiding in that bunker felt like another day waiting to die. You showed me something better. You showed me I could fight back. You showed me hope for a better world. And for the first time in a long time, I feel alive again. The mate bond couldn’t have chosen better.” But now there was doubt on her face. “What about you? I thought you didn’t want a mate.”

“I did not, but that was because I had not yet met you, my little hunter.”

Then she was crying, and I knew these were the famous, if confusing, “happy tears” I’d heard about.

“Then you can have my heart too,” she said, her words muffled by my neck.

A sense of rightness settled over my soul. I hadn’t come to Earth to find a mate, but now that she was here in my arms, I knew it was what I had needed all along.

“I am honored, little hunter. I will cherish it forever.”

Epilogue: Sara

I stepped out onto the roof and inhaled the cold, crisp winter air. This one had been a long labor, but the newest addition to New Franklin was nursing in her mother’s arms, and I could finally take a break.

The sun was already setting, which surprised me because I could have sworn it was morning the last time I checked. That meant Mur’k would be back any time from his hunt.

We’d gotten into a good routine over the past year, dividing our time between New Franklin and the surrounding states where we hunted the minor nests. We stayed in the settlement over the weekend so I could check in with my clients, and whenever one of them was near term, I’d stay longer.

The best thing of all was that New Franklin had access to Xarc’n medical devices, which our scientist types had tweaked so I could test for everything I needed to make sure my patients were healthy. I didn’t even have to wait for lab results.

Last summer, Mur’k had joined the hunter group here to tackle the swarm, and the hunter who delivered supplies to the various groups started bringing his monthly rations here.

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