Page 19 of Fated to the Alien Healer

“Thanks, babe.”

Remi gets to her feet and with a final nod in my direction she makes her way back over to Zydon.

“You should eat something.” I bring out the cloth-wrapped dreri meat and give the leanest portions to Zara.

Together, we finish off the rest of it.

Once we are done, I bring us water to wash our hands. “Tomorrow should be easier. It is a downhill trek until we reach the village.”

“At least that’s something in our favor. This is more exercise than I’ve had in my entire life. I’m not meant for hiking andoutdoors.” Zara shakes her head. “I’m an upper tier woman through and through.”

“What is upper tier?” This is more knowledge I want to soak up about my mate. With every piece I receive it helps me to understand her a little better.

She blows a piece of hair out of her eyes, but it only flops back down so she swipes it away. “It’s probably easier to explain if I start back a couple hundred years ago.”

I nod for her to continue.

“Back on Earth, the whole place was overpopulated. Separated villages grew outward and melded with other villages until there was practically no land left. All you could see for miles and miles was building after building. Dwelling after dwelling. They—humans—destroyed all the grasslands and wiped out entire forests. With all the land now covered in buildings, there was no place else to expand villages except up. But building up took credits. Lots and lots of credits,” Zara emphasizes. “So, humans weredivided into those who had enough credits—upper tier—and those who didn’t—bottom tier.”

“And you were one of those with lots of credits?”

“Yes,” she admits. “Although, technically my dad has all the credits, but obviously, I reaped the benefits.”

I try to picture a world where dwellings spread out so far in every direction that they would need to be built on top of each other. It is not an image I can create. “How tall were the dwellings in your upper tier?”

Zara glances around us. “We’re about at the top of the mountain range that sits behind the village, right?”

“Yes.”

“Taller than that.”

My eyes widen. This is where she has come from? A place that does not have bari or trees, but only dwellings that nearly touch the sky as far as one can see?

“If you are this upper tier person with many credits, what was it that brought you to Tavikh?” She spoke of her baba and yet she arrived with the shefira and her other tribe sisters. Why would she leave her family and travel to another planet that is nothing like Earth?

Zara’s expression closes off. I have studied her for all these lunar cycles and thought I have seen every emotion, but not this one. Her face is devoid—blank—of all of them. As much as I would like to, I do not push. I want her to trust me with everything, including all her feelings. Her past. Her future. That is what a mating should be like.

“There was nothing left for me back there,” she finally says, after far too long of a pause.

I take her hand, because I need her to know that I care. “I may not have any credits, but I will always be here for you no matter what.”

Zara smiles, but it is not one of the true ones I have witnessed. This one feels forced, as though she thinks I must see it.

“Thank you.” She loosens her hand from mine. “I think I’m going to try and get some sleep. It’s still going to be a long day tomorrow.”

I stifle my disappointment that she is choosing to push me away. It is as though last night, when she let me hold her in my arms,was only something I made up in my head. Someone has hurt my mate in the past. Was it the baba she spoke of? What about her nene? I dig deep into my well of patience. It will take time for Zara to believe I speak the truth. I must use my actions to prove myself, because when someone has been hurt, words are often not enough.

Soon, she is asleep against the rock, her head at an awkward angle. At the risk of waking her, I sit beside her and gently draw her into my side so she now rests against me. Everyone also settles in for the night, despite the small amount of fading light that manages to creep through the trees. But today was a long day and tomorrow will be equally as long. We will need all the rest we can manage. I glance down at the top of Zara’s bari-colored head. I am not sure how much sleep I will get, though.

Chapter 11

Zara

A lovely smell creeps into my subconscious and I breathe it in again trying to determine exactly what it is. My hip and shoulder are sore from lying on something hard, my legs hurt, and my arm throbs. Hell, my whole body aches. Half of me is cold, while the other half—the side pressed up against a stiff object—is warm and toasty. The object shifts and I become fully alert as the memories of the last few days pour in.

I slowly open my eyes. Leathered lavender skin with black swirling marks greets me. I tip my head back and those bright yellow and purple-black eyes meet mine.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Kyler asks in a sleep-roughened voice.

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