Chapter 2

Traze paced the floor, his scale-ridden arms folded across his back and his spine held rigid. To an onlooker, he may have looked confident, ready to take on any issues. But if one were to pay closer attention, they might notice the way one of his fingers tapped rapidly against his other hand. Traze was high-strung as of late, and for very good reason.

He waited for his paladin, Najol, to enter his office. They had much work to do and a lot to discuss. Traze was desperate to calm himself before the other male entered, however. Najol knew him better than anyone, and Traze did not wish for his concerns to be known.

The paladin walked in, a serious look on his face. If he noticed Traze's uneasiness, he did not mention it. Instead, he delved right into business.

"What news have you for me today?" Traze asked.

"I have good news from the Hard Sands. Their warlord has mated his kode and has finally found his stone sense. They have many stones to trade now."

Traze perked up at hearing this. "This is good news, indeed. Who was Nakan's kode?"

Najol paused for a moment, not wanting to share the next piece of information.

"She was one of the alien women who call themselves human."

Najol was right to be worried about Traze's reaction. Traze had assumed that Nakan, the warlord of the Hard Sands, had found his kode in an Ateran woman. Instead, Traze was forced to be reminded that Ateran men could find their kodes in human women—a fact Traze was trying to forget.

Traze cleared his throat and continued to focus on the one thing he needed to be thinking about—his people.

"I am sure with a steady supply of gems, Nakan will be willing to accept a wide variety of trades now. We must determine all of our available trade materials. We are still low on both gems and metals."

"Of course. I have already begun to do so. I will arrange a list of all our needs and what we may trade in order to attain them."

Traze nodded. While knowing Nakan now had his stone sense eased him a bit, he worried it would still not be enough. Despite being a well-respected warlord for many years, Traze feared he was no longer living up to the standards he must abide by. Warlords were responsible for keeping their people safe at all costs, and Traze was failing to do so.

His tribe was hurting, and he was failing to do anything about it. Illness plagued his people. It was not unusual for a disease to take over an Ateran community, but rarely did it wreak havoc on them—not with the healing sands they had to work with.

The healing sands were remarkable, a gift from the planet to help Aterans recover from even their worst injuries. With the healing sands available, Traze's tribe had always healed quickly and efficiently from any disease that befell them.

But as of late, the healing sands had been unable to heal as well as they once did. It was beyond Traze's comprehension. He was not a seer, nor did he have the intellectual capacity to discover what was going wrong. He could only rely on the seers for answers. Traze desperately hoped they would provide those answers soon.

"Have you heard anything from the seers?" Traze asked Najol.

Najol shook his head. "They are running many tests, but they have no new information to share."

Traze nodded, and once again, had to hide his anxiety.

His people were suffering, and he felt helpless to do anything about it. He had not experienced anything like this previously, and he was beginning to doubt whether he was really worthy to be his tribe's warlord.

Traze was inwardly spiraling with stress when he noticed a shadow shift slightly against his office wall. Suddenly, he was pulled from his worry. At least, he was pulled from his worries about his tribe, though he was certainly thrust into an all-new kind of anxiety.

He walked over to the window instinctively. Had he thought about it at all, he likely would've stopped himself from doing so in front of Najol. But the fact was, he didn't have time to consider it. Once he realized what time it was based on the position of the shadows in his office, he was instantaneously compelled to look.

And there she was, being carried by Lazen to the healing sands. Even as she lay in his arms unconscious, Traze noticed her beauty. Her long, red hair danced next to Lazen's arms as he walked with her, still fiery, even as the rest of her was pale and lifeless.

Traze was filled with two emotions at once—infatuation and concern.

He had been walking a steady line between the two ever since he laid eyes upon her. He was told by the other alien women that her name was Veda. Unlike the other human women, Veda could not speak for herself. She had been severely injured in the crash that landed her on the Aterans' planet.

Traze knew immediately who she was to him—his kode. She was the woman Traze was meant to spend all of his days with. She was the mate he was supposed to protect and cherish.

Up until that point, Traze had been an Ater—a male who had no mate and was infertile. And he'd been fine with this. In fact, he preferred it. While many Ateran men suffered from not finding their kode, Traze had never looked for one. He thought it would only distract him from his tribe. Traze's responsibility was to his tribe, and he wanted all of his focus on them.

And he was not wrong to think that a kode would distract him from his duty. Because here was Veda, the female he was supposed to be with, and he could barely spend a minute without thinking of her. She ran through his thoughts every second of every day. He had tremendous problems within his tribe to deal with, and still, when he knew she would be passing his window, he could not help but run over to see her. Even a glimpse left him feeling more satisfied.

However, that satisfaction was a fleeting, momentary feeling because seeing Veda reminded Traze of the reality… She was not well. She was in a coma and unable to pull herself from it. She had been unconscious since the moment of her arrival.

It frustrated Traze immensely. Heat rose through him as he thought about how unfair it all was—to know his kode and be unable to talk to her, unable to meet her. It was torture and only intensified his attraction to her. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to explain that she was his mate, and he'd protect her at all costs.

But already, he was failing to do so, just as he was failing his tribe. He couldn't heal her from her state any more than he could heal his own people. Traze could not for a moment forget his shortcomings.

As Veda moved out of sight, Traze heard footsteps walk up from behind him.

"And what are you going to do about that problem?" Najol asked him.

Fury filled Traze as he whipped around to Najol. "Veda is not a problem!" he snapped.

Traze did not like to hear Veda described in this way. His kode was a gift from Eana. The goddess brought her to Atera for Traze. And he should be grateful.

Perhaps the reason he lashed out so viciously at Najol was specifically because he did not always feel grateful. He dared not question the Goddess Eana—she had more wisdom than Traze would ever know. Still, he had his doubts. This was horrible timing. He could not balance a relationship with his new kode and his responsibility to his tribe. Even worse was that his kode wasn't well. Discovering her should have been a beautiful moment for Traze, but instead it had been plagued by misfortune and pain.

"Do not call her that, ever. She is my kode. She is alien and beautiful… She is simply Veda. But she will not be referred to as a problem."

"I understand she is your kode. But that does not mean she doesn't also pose issues."

"And what issues are those?" Traze asked.

Najol sighed. "You should be focused on the tribe right now. We are in crisis. You cannot fixate on some alien girl."

Traze clenched his jaw. "You would not say this if she were an Ateran. You would be celebrating the sacred moment I discovered my kode."

"But that is exactly the point!" Najol argued. "She is not an Ateran. She is an alien woman who does not belong on Atera. And she will take away your time from your people."

"Did I hear you correctly?" Traze nearly shouted. "Who are you to say she does not belong on Atera? Do you believe you have more wisdom than the great Goddess Eana?"

"No," Najol said sheepishly.

"Because you absolutely do not! Do not forget your place. It is not your job to question Eana. It is your job to help me with management of this tribe."

"Which is exactly what I am trying to do. The tribe needs their warlord to do everything he can for them. How can you do your very best for them while distracted with this female?"

"How can I deny my kode?" Traze asked.

But despite Traze's anger, he agreed with Najol. It was the source of so much frustration for him. He had always been happy to not have a kode because it allowed him to give everything to his tribe. Now, when they needed him most, he could not stop thinking of Veda.

"I do not know," Najol answered. "I am just trying to fulfill my role to my tribe. That requires me to ask you of your intentions with her."

"I have no intentions as of now," Traze answered honestly. "She is not awake. She will likely not awaken for some time."

"If ever," Najol reminded him. "The healing sands' potency has diminished greatly, and she is not Ateran."

That comment stung Traze more than he would admit. He didn't need Najol to say it. He was painfully aware of the fact that Veda may not wake.

It haunted him every day. He didn't want to know of the pain he would feel if Veda never woke, and he was never able to know his kode. He would never forgive himself for failing to protect her. Not that he had any idea that her ship was going to crash. It was illogical to hold himself accountable for her accident—and he didn't—but he held himself responsible for her lack of recovery. He may not have been a seer, but he did hold authority over them, and he had not been able to help them find a solution to their healing sands issue.

If Veda died, Traze did not know how he'd continue to fulfill his duty to his tribe. As distracting as Veda may have been alive, it would have been nothing compared to his grief if she passed. And with grief that extreme, it would be hard for Traze to continue to rule the way he had in the past.

"Let us hope for all of our sakes that she is able to be healed," Traze told Najol. "I fear for all of us if she does not. I will not be the warlord I once was."

Najol nodded. "Then I will pray to Eana for her recovery, for our tribe needs you. We need you dearly."

It was not a comforting thought for Traze. He was ever more aware of the weight on his shoulders.