Chapter 22 Harb’k

My answer was not one she’d want to hear. At first, I thought about changing the topic. I didn’t know why I finally decided to say what I said.

“There is a lot of scourge.”

She frowned. “There must be something else other than you and the scourge out there.”

“There was. There used to be a lot out there. And I got to see their last moments before they were destroyed. Now, there are a lot of scourge. And a lot of hunters. But mostly, just a lot of scourge.”

“There has to be some civilizations out there that survived.” She looked unsure.

“There are. But I do not know of any personally. The planets we were successful on did not have intelligent life. There was one planet with intelligent inhabitants that looked like your lizards, but they walked upright. They were a proud people. They are now gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

Did she regret asking her question? I don’t know why I told her the truth. I could have lied and told her I’d seen many wonders. That way, she wouldn’t smell like sadness.

“No. I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because I am making you sad.”

“I asked the question, and you answered it. Not your fault. I guess we should enjoy whatever we have left of Earth while it’s here.”

I frowned. “Earth will not meet the same fate. Now that we have found it, we will fight to the death for it. It wouldn’t matter if the mothership considered it a failure and ordered us back on board. We will not leave. We will continue to stay and fight.”

“Because of ones like Mina?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t matter if I never had a family of my own. I would still be here to protect our collective future.

This reminded me that I had yet to tell her of the mate bond. It had happened so fast and ended so soon that I was starting to wonder if it had ever happened at all. But now that she was here in my arms again, I knew it was the truth.

Zoey was moving her fingers idly over my skin, and I realized she was tracing the demarcations between the different colors on my body.

“Do not look at those. They are ugly.” I pulled the blanket over my body.

“They are not. They are scars, and scars are never ugly.”

Was she talking about her own? I’d noticed a long-healed mark on her abdomen earlier. I wondered how she’d gotten it.

“I like your body,” she continued. “All of it, even these marks. They prove you are strong and resilient.”

I wanted to deny her words and tell her that they proved nothing of the sort. But the look in her eyes was so sincere that I couldn’t.

“You healed and rebuilt.” She gave my arms a squeeze.

I flexed my biceps for her.

“Yup, you’re definitely built.”

“But I am still a liability. These scars announce to other hunters that I have made grievous mistakes.”

“I am sure every hunter has made mistakes. Just because their scars aren’t visible, it doesn’t mean they’re not there. If it’s worth anything, I don’t think of your scars as a bad thing.”

“Thank you.” We lay there for a long while as I held her in my arms.

I thought she was about to sleep when she spoke again.

“You said you watched a lot of movies. We never did finish The Notebook .”

I was unable to hide my grimace, and she laughed.

“Okay, so not a chick flick type. I get it. What movies do you like?”

“When I was healing, they brought me many Earth movies to pass my time. I enjoy movies with action and fighting. I liked Starship Troopers . The ‘bugs’ they fought were like the scourge, but different. And I wish to see large reptiles like in Jurassic Park .”

She grinned. “Why am I not surprised? Well, I don’t mind movies with action either.”

Was that a hint? I knew “dinner and a movie” was a common thing to do on romantic dates. We were past that point in our courtship, considering she was in my sleeping nook, and I already knew she was my mate. But there were no rules on when the first official date takes place.

I cleared my throat. “Zoey, will you go on a date with me?”

The two seconds it took for her to reply felt like an eternity.

“Yes. I will.”

I nuzzled the top of her head, satisfied.

But as my hands started rubbing her body, she took them and held them in front of her.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I know you have claws. But your fingers are dull when you touch me.”

“They are retractable.” I held a digit in front of her and slowly extended a claw. “And I keep them trimmed so they do not get in my way. We use them more as tools than as weapons.”

“Oh cool! That makes a lot more sense now.” She pressed the side of my finger pads, forcing the claw to slide out. “That’s convenient. Sometimes I wish I had claws.”

“You are perfect the way you are. You do not need them. You can use mine. I will be your claws.”

She laid a hand over her heart. “For a deadly hunter, you’re pretty sweet. I’m glad we’re partners.”

I grunted in agreement. But she was so much more than just my partner. I struggled to find the words to tell her that she was my mate. I didn’t know how to explain it to her, especially when she hadn’t agreed to stay with me yet.

How would she react when she found out that I’d already bonded to her and that she was mine and I was hers forever? What if I told her and she ran? It wasn’t an uncommon reaction. Humans were not used to short courtships; they didn’t form mate bonds. They did, however, fall in love.

That was it. I had to make her fall in love with me first. The mate bond chose her, so that must mean we were perfect for each other, and I would succeed. Then once she loved me, I’d tell her we were already mates, and she’d be ecstatic.

I closed my eyes, satisfied with my plan, and slept.