Stolen by the Zandian (Zandian Brides 7)

Sqeeeeee.

Suddenly, my eyes widen. “Oh, my stars, Khrys—is it…”

I don’t even want to hope, but it sure sounds a lot like my Whimmie.

He clears his throat and manages to drag himself to his feet. “I was going to wait until we’d relaxed a little bit, but I did something. For you.”

He pulls on his breeches and fetches a small container with air holes from behind the bench. “I got permission from our ag director to keep her for you. They checked her for disease, and she doesn’t have any, and she can’t reproduce so…”

He opens the crate, and there’s a blur of purple and blue.

Squeeeek! The creature races across the room and leaps onto the bed. In a second, it’s in my arms, licking my face with that strange rough tongue. It makes a rumbling sound from deep within its body.

“My Whimmie!” My heart leaps, and I laugh, holding her close. “Oh, Khrys. You got her for me. She’s here.” I hug her and kiss the top of her head. “And she’s all clean, too. Look how pretty she is!”

Khrys rolls his eyes. “She’s tolerable.” He crosses his arms. “For the record, I still consider them vermin. But this one can live...here.” He wrinkles his nose. “With us. For as long...as you want it.”

He’s clearly not thrilled. Whimmie looks at him and growls. Then she jumps to the windowsill and arranges herself into a little bundle to watch the activities.

Khrys crosses the room and sits beside me. “She only bit me once when I fetched her from the ag center,” he says, holding up his hand. “I bet she’ll start to like me eventually.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” I take his hand. “Where did she bite you? Want me to kiss it?”

“Never mind the hand. You can kiss me here.” Khrys gestures to his breeches. “On a very certain area. I know that will make me feel better.”

“One way to find out.” I wink at him.

And the rest of the planet rotation goes very, very well.

Epilogue

Khrys

“It’s so beautiful,” Kailani breathes as we file into the royal garden and take our places. It’s true, the garden is exquisite, filled with flowers and fruit trees, vines and berries all around the perimeter. Hundreds of Zandians gather within the rebuilt palace walls for the ceremony and celebration.

Back when we lived on the Palatial Pod before we recovered our planet from the Finn, King Zander—who still went by Prince Zander—held a banquet for any and all living Zandians on one planet rotation every lunar cycle. We all had the pleasure of dining with the prince and his royal team. He sat on his throne and heard complaints and made rulings.

Now that we’re back on Zandia and the population has grown and spread, formal gatherings happen here and are often by invite only.

Today, Kailani and I are special guests.

King Zander stands at the podium and flips a switch to project his voice. “Greetings Zandians. And you all know by now, when I say Zandians, I include those born into our species as well as those adopted, mated and naturalized. He lets that settle in, his gaze sweeping across the mixed crowd of Zandians and humans and halflings.

“We are here today to celebrate the total and complete eradication of the Z4-A virus from our planet. Every being infected with the virus has now made a full recovery. There are no new cases of infection, and we have a vaccine to ensure we will never have another outbreak. Please join me in honoring those who dedicated themselves to finding a cure and caring for the ill. May I first

present to you my first honoree, the royal physician, Dr. Daneth.”

The crowd applauds as Dr. Daneth walks onto the dais and bows.

“His mate and assistant, Bayla.”

Bayla comes to the dais, curtsies and takes her place beside Dr. Daneth.

“Captain Khrys, the warrior whose methods may have been questionable but who sought and found the answers to a cure off-planet.”

I step up and bow, never taking my gaze from my beautiful mate.

“His mate, Kailani, who repeatedly offered her blood and cells up for our experimentation until Dr. Daneth and his team were able to develop the cure.”