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I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. The air between the three of us felt charged, unbalanced, full of things unsaid. She was poised at the edge of a decision she didn’t fully understand yet, one that would affect all our lives irrevocably.

I turned back to the fire, adjusting the meat to cook evenly. “We should eat and move out within the hour,” I said, keeping my voice professional, detached. “If we maintain a steady pace, we can reach the black site facility by nightfall.”

“And then what?” Everly asked, settling on a rock near the fire, careful to keep distance between herself and both of us.

I met her gaze steadily. “Then we find a way to get you off this planet. Somewhere safe, beyond the Engineer’s reach.”

What I didn’t say—what I couldn’t say—was that if she left, if she rejected the bond, both Zehn and I would eventually succumb to the deliria amoranta. The madness that claimed unmated Rodinians whose fate mates denied them. But that was our burden to bear, not hers. Her freedom to choose was paramount, even if that choice meant our destruction.

“And if this black site isn’t abandoned?” she asked, echoing Zehn’s earlier question.

I allowed myself a small, grim smile. “Then we do what we were made for.”

Her eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she nodded, accepting the reality of our situation with a courage that made something in my chest twist painfully.

“Eat,” I said, softer now. “The day ahead will be challenging.”

As she reached for the offered meat, her fingers briefly brushed mine. The contact was electric, sending a shock wave through my system that I struggled to conceal. Her scent, clean from the pond but still underscored with the lingering traces of her earlier arousal, filled my nostrils. The bond between us hummed like a plucked string, resonant and impossible to ignore.

For a moment, just a moment, I allowed myself to imagine what it might be like if she chose both of us. If the impossible became possible. Then I pushed the thought away, burying it beneath layers of practicality and self-preservation.

I had survived this long by acknowledging reality, not indulging in fantasy. And the reality was that no matter what the universe had decreed, some things were simply too broken to be chosen.

11 /EVERLY

I focusedon chewing the meat, pretending my face wasn’t still burning with embarrassment. The taste was surprisingly good—gamey and rich—but I barely registered it through the chaos in my head.

How was I supposed to act normal when less than an hour ago, Zehn’s fingers had been inside me, bringing me to a shuddering climax while Khaaz watched from the treeline? And before that, the dream.

God, that dream. The memory of it clung to me like a second skin, making my body hum with an awareness I couldn’t shake. I glanced between the two massive aliens who sat eating as casually as if we were having a picnic in the park rather than hiding from killer drones in an alien jungle after the most mortifying sexual encounter of my life.

Zehn caught my eye and had the audacity to wink. I nearly choked on my food.

“The meat is good,” I said stupidly, desperate to fill the silence with anything that wasn’t about what had happened. “Thank you for hunting, Khaaz.”

Khaaz’s luminous eyes flicked to mine briefly before returning to his task of methodically packing equipment. “Itwas necessary,” he said simply, his voice that rough, underused sound that somehow sent shivers down my spine.

I’d woken that morning from the most intense dream I’d ever experienced—Zehn’s massive body over mine, his mouth everywhere, my legs wrapped around his waist as he…I shifted uncomfortably on the rock where I sat. And then to open my eyes and find Zehn watching me with that knowing look, to have him whisper “You’re not nearly done” before sliding his hand beneath my torn clothing, right there in the open, his fingers finding me already wet from the dream...

And I’d been so lost in the sensation that I hadn’t even noticed Khaaz’s return until it was too late, until I’d opened my eyes mid-climax to find him staring at us from across the clearing, his too-bright eyes unreadable, his scarred body tense.

My face heated again at the memory. The rational part of me knew I should be horrified, should be furious at Zehn for putting me in that position. But another part—a part I was trying desperately to ignore—had been thrilled by it. By being caught. By knowing that Khaaz had seen me come apart.

“We should move soon,” Zehn announced, interrupting my thoughts. “Eat your fill, Everly. The journey ahead will require your strength.”

I nodded, focusing on the food again. I needed to get my head straight. We were in danger. Running for our lives. This was not the time to be distracted by...whatever this was.

“The drones that attacked,” I said, grasping for a safer topic, “will there be more?”

“Yes,” Khaaz answered. “But they will send different patterns. Different technologies.”

“They may adapt quickly,” Zehn added. “But so do we.”

They moved with practiced efficiency as they began breaking camp, their massive bodies graceful despite their size. Zehn disassembled the makeshift shelter while Khaaz extinguishedthe fire, ensuring no trace of it remained. I sat uselessly on my rock, watching them work, feeling increasingly out of place. What did I have to offer in this situation? I couldn’t hunt. Couldn’t fight. Couldn’t even find my way through this alien jungle without them.

“Here,” Zehn tossed me a small pack. “For water and provisions.”

I caught it awkwardly. “Thanks.”

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