Protected by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (books that read to you .txt) 📖

I can feel Ilax’s eyes on me as I watch Ivy pat Nari on the snout. She laughs as the mishua ducks her head, demanding more attention.

Ilax sighs again. “You are an honorable male, Vrex. I’m sorry that you do not believe yourself worthy of a mate.”

He is wrong about my honor, but I don’t bother arguing, staying silent until he shakes his head, muttering to himself as he moves back into his tashiv.

Ivy leaves the mishua, the sun glinting off her scarlet hair as she moves toward me, her lips still curled in a grin.

“We should go,” I tell her, and she raises her eyebrow.

“Okay, let me just say goodbye to Ilax.”

I ready the mishua while she says her goodbye, and the old male steps back out of his tashiv with her.

“Think about what I said,” he calls to me, and I nod, waving to him after I pull Ivy up onto the mishua.

“What’s he talking about?” Ivy asks.

Ilax narrows his eyes on me and then shakes his head as if declaring me too stupid to live. Then he waves us off dismissively, stomping back into his tashiv.

“Nothing,” I say.

Ivy’s quiet on the way to the trading post, and I frown at the back of her head, used to her easygoing chatter. By the time we arrive, the trading post is busy, darkening my mood further.

I tie the mishua and follow Ivy, who moves straight toward the messenger tashiv, ignoring the many eyes on us.

Finding it difficult to do the same, I grit my teeth. Usually, I am able to easily ignore the terror in the locals’ eyes as they look at me. But when I am with this human female, I feel ashamed that I am a creature that so many fear.

The messenger tashiv is busy when we arrive, but those who are waiting quickly move aside as I step through the door.

I grind my teeth until Ivy winks at me.

“Man, that would be a really helpful skill to have on Earth. I’d never have to wait in line again.”

I feel my lips curl, and her eyes widen.

“Strange female.”

Color creeps up her cheeks, and I stare, entranced, until the Taxu steps forward, clearing his throat. He hands me a piece of paper, and I glance down.

“These are not from Rakiz,” I say. Ivy’s face falls, and I guide her out of the tashiv, attempting to ignore the way I want to pull her close. How I want to take her mouth again and hear her soft sighs as she opens for me.

“Who are they from?”

“Another tribe king. He has a task for me.”

I scrawl a message back, telling Thane that I am currently completing another assignment. I glance at Ivy, my stomach twisting.

She climbs back up onto the mishua while I stalk back into the tashiv, and she’s once again quiet when I climb back up behind her.

“Can I trust you, Vrex?” she finally murmurs.

I tense, and Nari throws her head in response.

“You cannot trust anyone on this planet,” I tell her finally, my voice hard. “You would be wise to remember this.”

Ivy

We clomp slowly along the forest path, both of us silent. I don’t know what Vrex is keeping from me, but from the tortured expression on his face, he’s not happy about it either.

Even after his warning, I do trust him. I trust him to keep me safe, to help me find my friends, and to not hurt me.

Maybe that makes me an idiot.

I frown. “What the hell is that?”

Nari freezes in place, and Vrex jumps off his mishua, his boots hitting the ground with a thump.

“Stay here,” he orders me, and I watch as he moves closer to one of his traps. Nari follows him until he turns around and glowers at her until she freezes in place.

Now that we’re closer, I can see exactly what’s caught in Vrex’s trap.

It’s a Voildi.

He’s impaled by one of the huge sticks that Vrex is constantly sharpening, and he’s writhing on the ground in front of us, clearly in agony.

Bile rises, and I’m about to turn away when the Voildi glances past Vrex to me.

“You,” he chokes out. “I knew you were here.”

I don’t recognize this Voildi, but God knows there were enough of them in the pack that stole us.

I stay silent, and he laughs.

“The Zinta has paid for you, female. He will keep searching until you are his.”

Vrex leans forward, blocking my view of the Voildi. The forest suddenly seems loud, birds chattering, animals scampering. Something is happening.

“How many of you are here?” Vrex demands.

“Vrex,” I say. He holds up a hand, and the Voildi laughs again, his yellow face turning the color of sour milk.

“Hand her over,” the Voildi advises him. “This is just the beginning.”

“Vrex! I smell smoke.”

He turns to me, inhaling deeply, and his expression is suddenly so agonized that I struggle to take a deep breath.

Vrex leans down and swipes his sword along the Voildi’s throat, and then he’s sprinting toward me before landing on the back of the mishua and urging her forward. He wraps his good arm around me, holding tight as the mishua lurches through the forest toward Ilax’s tashiv.

It’s already in flames when we arrive.

We jump off the mishua and sprint toward the tashiv.

“Wait!” I scream at Vrex. I grab a couple of blankets from Ilax’s chair on the porch and shove them into the barrel of water. I hand one of the dripping blankets to Vrex and wrap the other one around my shoulders and head.

“Stay here,” he orders me. I ignore that, following him in just a few steps so I can see where he’s going. If this tashiv collapses, someone’s going to have to help them both get out.

“Oh God.”

It’s the back room that’s on fire. The one with all Ilax’s healing tonics. Ilax is lying in the main room, bleeding out from a wound in his chest. Vrex throws me a furious look as I follow him in, but