Page 69 of Made For The Alien Warrior

Boyfriend? Since when did you consider Tiegan your boyfriend?

He scrubbed her cheek with his blue thumb. She watched him, noting the leathery skin, the tail that extended in the air and the purple eyes that were full of tenderness. None of it weirded her out anymore. In fact, she felt more comfortable around him than she had around the human guys on earth.

“About Leel,” Tiegan said softly, “I have never harbored any feelings for her other than goodwill for all humankind. The one in my heras, the one I want as my mate, is you.” He cupped her cheek. “Never doubt this.”

“I won’t,” she whispered.

He kissed her tenderly, his lips cupping hers as if he’d been created just for her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on tight.

Suddenly, Tiegan broke the kiss. His head whipped up and he cast a dark gaze around the tree line.

Without warning, he yanked her behind him and forced her to duck. Symphony’s heart crashed against her ribs when something sharp embedded in a tree behind her head.

The missile looked like the upper half of a spine.

“Sida!” Tiegan roared. “Protect my mate.”

The zapten came crashing toward them, stomping through the trees.

At that moment, three Plutonian rebels moved out of the bushes. They looked just like the other Plutonians she had come to know. Same blue skin. Same purple eyes. Same firm blue lips and giant muscles. They had unique tattoos all over their chests and shoulders. She noticed that there were black bands around their biceps.

“Step aside, comrade. This fight is not with you.” The rebel at the front warned. His purple eyes flashed with hatred and she shivered when he turned those eyes on her.

Tiegan growled low in his throat. “You are the one who should step aside. I will not let any harm come to this female.”

“Sida,” Symphony hissed. Tiegan was buying her time and she needed to use it well.

Symphony tapped her bracelet, intending to fling the zapten open and meet it halfway. Before she could, a metal object landed near Sida’s feet. A small explosion rocked the ground, knocking her and the zapten away from each other.

Symphony landed in the dirt, her body jolting from the impact. Smoke billowed around the landing point, rolling over everything like a dark fog. Three more Plutonian warriors ran out of the surrounding trees.

“Tiegan!” Her thoughts rushed as she clamored to rise. Her ears rang loudly. She wasn’t sure if it was the alarm bells in her own head or a side-effect of the explosion.

“Run, Sim-pony!” Tiegan yelled. She could not see him in the fog, but she heard the clank of spine daggers colliding and the grunts of aliens in the heat of combat.

Would he be alright? There were now six Plutonian warriors fighting against one. If they were all equally matched in strength, Tiegan would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

“Sida!” She tapped the bracket, her fingers shaking as she stubbornly tried to summon the exoskeleton.

Footsteps thudded toward her, but they did not sound like the metallic clank of the zapten. Two Plutonian warriors surrounded her, their eyes beaming with hatred.

“Leave me alone,” she shuffled back in the dirt. Her fingers clawed at sticks and branches. Anything that could work as a weapon.

There was nothing.

Fear surged over her as one of the Plutonians grabbed her by the arm and wrenched her up. Pain sliced through her body, rising like a violent wave that threatened to tear her apart.

As her panic increased, her neural connector sparked. Tiegan’s panic and fear doubled down on hers. She could feel him worrying for her and it made her struggle harder.

“Let me go!” She squirmed. “Let me go!”

The rebels did not heed her words. The other one grabbed her arm too. Symphony dug her feet into the ground, trying to slow them down. They overpowered her and hoisted her up.

Symphony’s heart pounded in her chest. She chanced a look over her shoulder, in search of Tiegan. The smoke was clearing up and she found him in the middle of a circle of Plutonian warriors.

He launched a fist, throwing a punch at the warrior in front of him. He broke off a spine dagger and sent it flying into another rebel. But his opponents were too skilled. They dodged his fist and his dagger.

“Tiegan!”

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