“Beautiful,” I rumble. “Mine.”
Her lips part and she murmurs, “I want you…but…”
“But?” A growl rumbles through me. “But nothing.”
“Yes, but something, Avrell.” She scowls. “You want me because death almost stole you and I’m available, but you don’t know me.”
“I know plenty,” I argue, irritated at her words. “I know you put on a brave face even when you’re terrified. That your smile is soft when you’re taking care of the sick and wicked when you’re taking care of me. I know you whimper in your sleep, eat like a mortling, and have the most expressive eyes I’ve ever glimpsed into. You’re brilliant and feisty and beautiful.” Bending down, I capture her lips with mine for a chaste kiss. “I know you’re mine.”
She pushes at my chest, forcing me to release her. Her gray eyes pool with unshed tears and her brows furl. “Sure. Now. But what about before? I went to prison for a reason, Avrell.”
“You all did. You’re all redeemable, stormy one.”
“Not me,” she bites out, her tone bitter. “I wasn’t a victim like the other girls.” Her head bows. “I was a terrible criminal.”
“Was.”
She jerks her head up, a tear streaking down her cheek. “It’s awful. So awful you’ll shove me outside your door and never want to speak to me again.”
“Impossible.”
“Possible,” she argues. “Probable. Av, you’ll hate me.”
“No,” I growl, pouncing on her again, pulling her into my arms. “Enough of this nonsense, female.”
“God,” she groans, chuckling through her tears. “You’re such a man sometimes. It’s infuriating.”
“We all have our faults, see?” I stroke my fingers through her dark hair. “Everyone has them. Even me, though I’m sure you’re surprised.”
She snorts. “Arrogant asshole.”
“Just proving my point.”
Her cheek rests on my chest and she sighs heavily, clinging to me. I kiss her nog and hold her, waiting for her to realize I’m not going anywhere.
“Avrell,” she murmurs. “You’re a healer. This is going to be hard for you to hear. But, if we have any chance, I can’t keep this secret from you. I accept it might be the very thing that’ll push you away. I can accept that—”
“I can’t,” I growl, “and neither should you. On our planet, when you have a mate, you stay by their side until the end. Through The Rades and geostorms and ravenous beasts. Through changing moods and hurt feelings and annoying behavior. No matter what terrible thing you’re faced with, you do it together. That’s the way of our people here. You and the other females are our people now.”
She pulls away to stare up at me, determination glinting in her eyes. “Earth II isn’t that way. It’s a cruel, hateful place where the weak are a liability, there is no compassion, females are considered a bargaining tool, and the rich prevail over everyone.”
“I would rescue all the female aliens if I could,” I say to her, stroking her cheeks with my thumbs.
“And that’s what makes you a good man.” Her nostrils flare as she breaks her stare from mine. “Those bastards kept the terminally ill in a ward, keeping them barely breathing with their machines, but never offering them medication or treatments to take away the pain.” She swallows hard. “Some nights, the wails of despair were too much to bear. It would haunt me and terrorize me.” A sob chokes her.
“My sweet mate, don’t cry.”
“I’m not sweet, though,” she argues. “I couldn’t help them. The officials who ran the ward wouldn’t allow us to. I was helpless and frustrated. The pain was so thick in the air you could almost taste it. I’d begged my superiors for pain blocking medication. Something to help them endure, but I was always denied. When someone was going to die anyway, they refused to use resources to help them.”
“Rekking Kevins,” I growl.
“One night, I’d had enough. Avrell, I…”
She can’t say the words. Her tears are falling too freely as despair overcomes her. I pull her to my chest and nuzzle her nog with my nose.
“Know what I would have done if I were you, stormy one?”
She shakes her nog, clinging to me.
“I would’ve found a way to help them to The Eternals. I would’ve shown them mercy. It was the only compassionate thing to do.”
Her body relaxes in my arms. “You would have?”
“So would Breccan or Hadrian or Theron. Lyric and Willow and Julie. It’s the right thing to do.” I cradle her nog and tilt it up so I can see her pretty eyes. “When we were at our lowest and thought all hope was lost, Breccan was prepared to show the ten of us mercy.”
She gapes at me. “He would have killed you all?”
“If it meant we wouldn’t have to suffer, he absolutely would have. It’s a sign of strength and bravery and love, Zoe. It may be a crime where you come from, but here, we call those people heroes.”