He couldn’t finish his words. He broke down, and then I broke down, too. We all fell into one another, crying.
I knew he was watching us. Somewhere, whether it was in heaven or some place nearer, he was watching us come together.
When his soul left Earth, the foundations of our family fell apart. Turned to ashes. For a year, mom wouldn’t talk to me. She told family members it was my fault for helping him find the surgeon, that there were inconsistencies in the surgical reports.
My father died because he was too sick. And through his death, I had to learn how to do the thing that hurt me the most. I let him go.
In the process, I had to let her go, too. But I couldn’t do it.
Standing, I walk toward the small window outside. Where Earth once sat is now a vast cluster of stars. The milky way has disappeared.
I’ve felt this way before. Alone.
We’re so far from home, and we’re never going back.
Seven
Lök
“We’re breaching atmosphere,” Vraik croaks.
Rekker quickly smashes a button on the console. “Concealing cloak initiated. They won’t be able to see us enter the atmosphere, but it won’t last long after we cut the power. We’ve got about five minutes.”
I hold the female close, standing near the window. As I breathe in her scent, I watch as the dense cities become clearer and clearer.
I can feel her pulse racing against my grip as she sees our industrial world of hell come to life.
Rekker steers us into a narrow valley. Slowing, he lands at an indistinguishable, clandestine garage, surrounded by trash. We are in a dump.
“We’re here,” he says. “Let’s hurry before anyone traces our hydrogen trail.”
Vraik cuts the power, and for a moment, we sit in darkness, wondering what to do with a woman on a planet full of hungry, horny alpha breeders.
“What?” she mutters, attempting to push her arm away.
Vraik takes the female and holds her tight. She groans, but quits fighting.
“We need to keep you hidden,” Rekker says.
Everything I have set out to do has been tested and fought against. Now, we are back in the place I loathe the most. Home.
If we’re caught with her, we will be publicly executed, shamed for the rest of time.
Rekker has given her the upper hand, but it’s a thin thread before it snaps.
I pull him aside. “This is idiotic,” I growl. “It was supposed to be an easy extraction job.”
Rekker adjusts his cape. “Don’t let your nerves get the best of you. We have discussed this already.”
I lean my head closer, venom pumping in my blood. “We cannot let her dictate the terms of our fate. Where will the ceremony occur now?”
Emma butts in. “Ceremony?”
The ceremony of marriage and impregnation. A holy moment where seed breaks egg.
There are ancient rules to follow, dating back to a time when females were plentiful.
The fact is we need a surrogate, another alpha willing to report our mating as suitable. As antiquated as it is, this is the law.