Chapter 4

My mate is not fully one of my kind. Her scent baffles me, both foreign and familiar in a way that I do not understand. Yet. But it does not matter. Satisfaction settles in my chest. She is beautiful, her arousal perfumes the air, and I have waited so long for this. I ache, ready for release since I saw her.

Since I saw the constellation, my stars, writ across the smooth skin of her back.

Marking her as mine. I growl, the dim lines between the stars on her skin glowing faintly as her arousal intensifies. Because of me.

I try to tell her I want her, that I am glad she is ready for me, but it comes out a growl. I used to understand the sounds she makes, the noises with her mouth. I've been in my lion form too long. I remember one word; with lust clouding my thoughts, the need to mate and claim overriding any ability to find any others.

Mate.

I hold back though, clenching my jaw and exerting control. I will make this good for her, make sure she comes before I claim her. The question is how she will fall apart around me, screaming her pleasure or with a whimper and breathy sigh. It is the way with mates; we never take what they are unwilling to give.

Suddenly, her pleasure scent changes, the bitter tinge of fear growing. I stop stroking the soft skin of her stomach. This is not right. She should not be afraid of me.

Then my Lana, my beautiful mate, pushes me away, scuttling far from me, and screams.

I scan the horizon. Perhaps she sees something I do not, something that has frightened her. An enemy approaching?

But there is nothing, save the scent of two other females and two other males.

The females smell something like my Lana, my mate, and the males are familiar. I shake my head. I cannot remember, and it does not matter. I am here and they are not. All that matters is the delicate creature in front of me.

My mate stops screaming. Her chest heaves as she pants, her eyes wide and unblinking. She stills as I approach, and I press a kiss to her neck, reassuring her. Is she ill? But no, she smells healthy. More than anything, I smell fear. I test the air for opponents, perhaps this small woman has sharper senses than I.

Nothing.

The realization grips me, accompanied by a surge of guilt. It is me she is afraid of. Her body is wracked with tremors. I turn her chin towards me, wishing I could tell her who I am- that I am hers, forever.

"Laaahna?" I ask, searching her face. Her lip is split, and a purple bruise mars the perfection of her creamy skin. A growl rumbles deep in my chest. Someone has hurt my mate. If it is the males I scented on the air when I found her, I will tear them to pieces as their women weep over them. I growl again, and her eyes grow wide with fear.

No, no, this is not what I want.

I stroke her head, marveling at the softness of the red-gold hair that waves across her shoulders. She stiffens in my arms, then goes limp as I caress her sweet-smelling locks.

She is afraid of me. It pains me to see her like this, this mate I have waited for… I frown, my mind tumbling over the idea of time. How long have I waited?

It feels very long.

I shake my head, biting off a growl of frustration, and she flinches at the noise. Immediately I still, carefully rubbing a thumb over her unbruised cheek. Why is she scared of me now, when moments ago she gestured for me to hold her? When she brushed her soft lips against mine and locked her arms around my neck?

Confusion rocks me. I inhale her deeply, picking out her fresh scent, the tang of fear, and then a scent that baffles me further. She does not smell of this land, but of somewhere else, same as the older scent of the other two females.

Memories wash over me, overwhelming and furious. I close my eyes, resting my cheek atop her small head.

She is Starbound like me, perhaps even able to walk between worlds, between dimensions. That would explain the foreign tinge to her smell. The Starbound women all could… at least, I think they did, once, long ago.

They have not been here, the women of my people, not since… irritation rises, and I clench my hands. I cannot remember why they left, or when. Nor do I know what has shifted, to allow her here now. I puzzle over it for a moment, but my thoughts are too tangled to remember what that means, much less why they left at all.

With a massive force of will, I force the mating urge to stop, clamping down on it, gritting my teeth until I have recovered my control. I cannot claim her when she is afraid. I will not. And now, that I have regained some faculty of my memories, of my senses, at least I know she is one of my people, though not of this world.

Everything here will be new to her. I must be patient… it is not something I am good at. I bite back a growl.

I open my eyes, trying to soften my voice. I hate the smell of her fear, her frozen expression, and the fast pant of her breath as her heart rockets beneath her soft breasts.

I must mate her. We will be stronger as a bonded team. This much I remember, without a shadow of a doubt. Frustration fists my hands. My people do not take. I will only enjoy what is freely given. I cannot make her mine until she wants to be mine, and until then, we are both in danger.

"Ras," I finally say, pointing to my chest as another tidal surge of memory hits me. "I am Ras." I have another part of my name, but I cannot quite place it.

She squeaks. I cannot help but smile. She is so soft and sweet, and now that she is with me, no harm will come to her. She is safe with me. My gaze darts around, taking in the open position, the lack of trees for cover, the lack of anywhere to hide or fight should we be attacked.

Everything in me clamors for me to protect her, and instinct tells me that this is not a place to stay.

My throat is gravelly with disuse. "Not safe here, Laaaahna." Her name is a pleasure to say, but now is not the time for pleasure.

Much to my dissatisfaction.

"Ras," her throat bobs as she swallows, her eyes still unnaturally wide. "My sisters… are they here? They were with me when…" she trails off, her gaze on the sky.

Her sisters. Two more, I think, based on the scent traces. I smell their lingering fear, and yet I am not worried. The scent of male arousal is there, too.

"Gone," I manage, the word bubbling up. It's like catching sifting sand in my hands, trying to find the words. "Mates."

Her hand is over her mouth, water filling her eyes. "There are more like you?"

I cock my head, searching for an answer. This is much too hard. I lost some of myself, sleeping in lion form.

"None like me." I flex my arms around her, so she knows she has the best of mates. The strongest.

This earns a small smile, though it's gone so quickly I wonder if I imagined it.

"Are they safe?" Her lip trembles, and a tear falls down her cheek. I hate it. "I thought I was dreaming, but I wasn't dreaming, and I think I remember my dad telling me about this as a possibility, you know? Because this looks like earth, but it's not earth, because we don't have lions that can turn into men there, you know? But it was theoretical, these bridges," her brow furrows. "Einstein bridges?" she waves a hand and continues, "and he told me about them a super long time ago, and honestly half the time I thought the man was not all there."

She looks around, and I wipe another frustrated tear off her cheek, letting her words wash over me. So many words. I haven't heard another speak in… I frown.

"And then here I am! Where I am?! Who knows!" Her voice has taken on a frantic quality, and she's rocking slightly in my arms, her body trembling.

She's in shock. I need to take my mate somewhere safe.

"Lana," I say, then grit my teeth, when I cannot force the words to come. I pick her up, and she's so perfect against my chest, that I bite back a groan of pleasure. I refuse to scare her again. Ever.

A great shuddering sob wracks her body, and I am displeased. This is not at all how I hoped this moment would go. But I pat her head, her long hair tangling around my arms as her hot tears moisten my arms.

My nostrils flair, and I tighten my grip on her as a new scent drifts over to us. Then I hear it. A leathery sound that silences nearly as soon as I am aware of it.

I growl in outrage, remembering these things, despite the grit of sleep that still clings to me, the cobwebs tangling my mind. They dare try to sneak up on us while my mate cries in my arms? Before I have even claimed her? But I cannot fight here, not when they may be many and I am but one.

I must protect my mate. Until I claim her, we are both weak.

"Not safe here," I grind out. She squeaks, her eyes huge in her face. I nod once, and I hold her close to my chest, reveling in her, in the fact that I've found her. Lana. I break into a run, heading somewhere I know I can keep her safe.

And when she feels safe, maybe she will come to me willingly.