Page 7 of Snowed in: With the Alien Tentacle Monster

Valen stilled, then turned, those vertical topaz eyes fixing on Logan with an intensity that made his breath catch. Through their connection – and god, he really needed to processthatparticular development – he felt a mix of surprise, relief, and... shame?

Logan's mind raced with questions, but his tongue felt frozen. What exactly did you say to the alien who'd fucked you into oblivion last night?

Valen's tentacles curled inward, a gesture that somehow conveyed uncertainty. Logan caught fragments of thoughts. Not words exactly, but intentions.Apology. Explanation. Crash.

"Your ship," Logan managed finally, gesturing at the egg-shaped vessel. "Is it...?" He trailed off, not sure how to finish thatsentence. Broken? Fixable? Going to bring more aliens to these woods?

Valen's response came as a mixture of foreign sounds and impressions pushed through their connection. The meaning was clear enough: something was very wrong with the ship.

"Great," Logan muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Just great." He should turn around. Go back to his cabin. Call someone who actually knew how to deal with crashed alien spaceships. Instead, he found himself taking a step closer, drawn by the genuine distress radiating from Valen.

The alien's skin pulsed with soft light as Logan approached, those topaz eyes tracking his movement. When Logan was within arm's reach, Valen extended one tentacle, slowly, carefully, as if approaching a spooked animal.

Logan tensed, memories of last night flooding back. The touch, the heat, the overwhelming sensation ofconnection. But this was different. Valen was asking permission this time, not just grabbing what he wanted.

"You want to show me something?" Logan asked.

Valen gently touched his wrist, sending a spark through Logan's system. Not the overwhelming heat of last night, but something deeper, clearer. Like static clearing from a radio signal.Easier to communicate this way,Valen's thoughts came through.

"You're in my head," Logan said, fighting the urge to yank his hand away. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, just... intimate. Different from the vague emotional echoes he'd felt earlier.

The mating bond allows it.A pause, then...I should have explained before...

"Before jumping me in the middle of the night?" The words came out sharper than Logan intended, but he couldn't quite keep the bitterness from his voice. "Yeah, that might have been nice."

The heat overwhelmed me,Valen communicated, and then a flood of impressions as if he hurried to explain himself. A planned diplomatic journey to another system, Valen getting into his pod, waking up here, confused and driven to complete the objective of his journey.

"You weren't supposed to land here," Logan translated aloud, trying to process the stream of information. "You were heading somewhere else?"

Yes. Arranged mating ceremony. Crystalline Empire.Images formed in Logan's mind: crystalline beings, formal ceremonies, political alliances. Then Valen's voice again.Not proper behavior for prince. Should not have...

"Wait." Logan's free hand shot up. "Prince? You're aprince?"

Valen glanced aside.Third heir to Nexan throne. Was meant to secure alliance through mating. Instead...

The alien's grip on Logan's wrist tightened slightly as more complicated concepts pushed through their connection. Concepts about mating bonds, instinctual drives, and destiny.

"Oh god," Logan whispered as understanding dawned. "We're not just... This isn't just a one-night..." He couldn't finish the sentence, but he didn't need to. Valen's confirmation came through their link, clear as day.

They were bonded. Permanently.

Logan yanked his hand away, breaking their connection. The loss hit him like a physical blow, a sudden emptiness where Valen's thoughts had been. "No. No way." He stumbled back a step, snow crunching under his boots. "I didn't agree to this. You can't just..."

But he had agreed, hadn't he? In a way. Last night, when Valen had... when they'd...

No, he hadn't known what he was doing.

"This is insane," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I can't be bonded to an alien prince. I can't be bonded to anyone."

Valen made a soft, musical sound that somehow conveyed distress. One tentacle reached toward Logan, then pulled back, respecting the distance Logan had put between them. Through their connection, still there even without touch, just muted, Logan felt regret.

"Don't," Logan said, holding up a hand. "Just... don't. I need to think." He turned away from those earnest topaz eyes, staring instead at the alien ship. "Can you fix it?"

Another burst of alien sounds, but without the physical connection, Logan could only catch the general feeling of frustration and worry. Right. The translation thing only worked with touch.

Logan sighed, forcing himself to turn back to Valen. "Tell me," he said, extending his hand. "But just... just the ship stuff. Okay?"

Valen's tentacle tapped his wrist again.Damage extensive. Primary power core cracked. Secondary systems failing. Distress signal sent, maybe. I hope.

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