Page 11 of Fated to the Alien Hero

Astrid

A slow awareness rolls over me, but I don’t move. Not yet. I want to enjoy the quiet for another minute or two. I’m not ready to face the day. I’m not ready to start worrying again that Grady will walk through the Tavikhi village and force me to go with him.

I also don’t want to go back to sleep, because with it comes the nightmares.

Each time I woke last night, Evren was there, ready to hold my hand. To wipe the tears that spilled. He took care of me like no one has since my mom. Each time we touched, I could swear a light shone from his eyes. It was faint, but definitely there. Every time I opened my mouth to ask him about it, I chickened out. I didn’t want him to tell me I’m imagining it.

Grady always does when I tell him I see something.

Not that I think Evren is anything like my husband, but the fear is still present. That maybe I’m misjudging yet another person.Except when did Grady ever stay awake to take care of you when you were sick?

Never.

Avoiding unpleasantness has become a learned habit. A painfully learned one. I need to break it though. Maybe now is the best time to start. I raise my eyelids. Well, one of them anyway. The other barely cracks, but it’s something. Sure enough, daylight shines into the tent. The faintly medicinal smell I’m getting used to is present. It reminds me of the slight hint of eucalyptus I’d occasionally get a whiff of when I’d gather water at the river.

“Good morning,” a feminine voice greets me.

I turn, and a petite blonde I’ve never seen before sits on the table on the other side of the structure, her dangling legs swinging back and forth.

“I’m Zara, Kyler’s mate,” she introduces herself and then, at my confused stare, elaborates. “He’s the healer. Sage’s sorta boss.”

Ah. “Um, hi.”

She hops down and approaches with a cup. “Here’s some water if you’re thirsty. I know I was, every morning I woke up in here. That burim root they give you for pain tastes like shit and gives you mean dry mouth.”

I blink, but obediently take it from her, because I do, in fact, have cottonmouth. “Thanks.”

After I’ve drained the wooden cup, I pass it back, and Zara sets it on the bed nearest to mine. “Do you need to pee? Sage is currently occupied with one of the elders, so I volunteered to take over helping with your personal needs until she can getback. I doubt you want Evren or Kyler to undress you and hold you up while you piss. It’s humiliating. Believe me, I know.”

Once again I’m taken aback by…everything.

Zara cocks her head. “You okay?”

I blink again and nod my head. “Yeah.”

“You looked kind of dazed for a second, so I wasn’t sure.”

“No, um, I’m fine. And I’m good for the moment.”

“Cool. But if you change your mind before someone else gets here to take over, just let me know,” Zara says.

“Thanks.”

“Sure thing.” She returns the cup back to the table she’d been sitting on and then walks over to me again. “So…dickhead husband put his hands on you, huh?”

My cheeks heat. Does everyone in the village know?

Is word going to reach the colony?

My breaths come faster. A hand clasps mine.

“Hey, it’s going to be fine. I promise,” Zara tells me. “Gossip is a Tavikhi pastime, but they understand no one outside the village can find out you’re here. They may natter on like a bunch of old ladies, but they won’t betray your secret. I swear, so just breathe.”

I maintain eye contact with her while she coaches me and our chests rise and fall together, each inhalation and exhalation slower than the last until my breathing is back to normal.

“You good, now?” she asks.

I swallow. “I think so.”

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