Conquered by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (electric book reader .TXT) 📖

“She’s not mine.”

“Not yet.”

“She’s leaving.”

His smile grows wider, and he winks at his mate as she turns her head, grinning at him. Envy makes my neck itch.

“Every single one of our human mates thought they were leaving,” he says. “We were enough to make them stay. Are you enough to make her stay?”

He walks away, but I already know my answer.

No. I wasn’t enough to make my parents keep me. Wasn’t enough to even be allowed to visit. This female who has worked so hard to get her people off this planet would never abandon her mission for me. And I would never expect her to.

Even if we could tolerate each other for longer than a few moments at a time.

You tolerated each other last night.

I grind my teeth, attempting to bury the memory of Sarissa draped over my chest. I never thought I enjoyed tough females. I enjoyed females who laughed and flirted and were untouched by trauma. Light females.

When you want to harden a piece of wood, you slowly turn it above the flames of a fire—removing the moisture. Eventually, it becomes much, much more difficult to break.

The fire Sarissa has lived through has hardened her, making her strong in a way few people are strong.

But watching that strong female bend for me…the feel of her lying on top of me, nuzzling my chest…

Screams sound, and I jolt, surveying the training arena.

“Move!” Dexar roars, sprinting toward Alexis and throwing her over his shoulder. He runs toward the fence circling the arena, and I jump over it, panic burning through my chest as I search for Sarissa. Relief makes my hands shake. She’s herding a group of children further into one corner of the arena, her eyes on the sky.

Dragix lands so hard the ground turns into a crater beneath him.

Silence.

And then the screams sound.

“Dragix! Oh God, Dragix.” Charlie runs toward her dragon, and Sarissa is instantly by her side, holding Charlie steady as her knees buckle.

Dragix turns into a man, and Dexar leaps toward him. Within moments, several warriors are lifting the unconscious dragon and carrying him toward the healers’ kradi. Charlie is almost inconsolable, and I step up next to her and Sarissa.

“Lean on me,” I say, and Charlie does, finding her feet.

“He’s not dead,” Sarissa says.

Charlie lets out a sob. “He almost is. He can’t even speak on our mental pathway.”

“You know he heals like a champ. I saw it with my own eyes when he was attacked by the Dokhalls.”

“Arix gave him cava berries.” Charlie stops and looks at me, and I slowly shake my head.

“Our cava patch was targeted by our enemies. We have just enough hidden away for emergencies, but it will be some time before our source is replenished. I’m sorry.”

Charlie nods, another sob escaping her, and guilt stabs into me like a blade. I should have planted more berries when I had the chance. I had thought the chances of the cava patch being targeted were minimal. Had imagined I was giving in to my usual paranoia.

I help Charlie into the kradi, and the crowd clears a path so she can sit by Dragix’s side.

“Dragix?” Charlie closes her eyes, and I know she’s attempting to speak to him mentally. Beside me, Sarissa sniffs, wiping at a tear.

“They fought so hard through everything to be together,” she murmurs. “Now she’s pregnant. Sometimes this universe really sucks.”

The healers are surrounding Dragix, seeing to the deep wounds that cover his body.

Dragix groans, and the healers’ kradi goes silent. Rakiz arrives, moving to his side as the dragon opens his eyes.

“Charlie.”

“I’m here,” she murmurs. “You’re safe.”

“Fought to get…to you. And…our…baby.”

“Of course you did.” Tears are streaming down her face. “He’s grown so much since you’ve been gone. I’ve popped.”

Charlie ignores everyone else in the kradi, taking her mate’s hand and bringing it to her stomach. His eyes meet hers, glazed with pain but burning with joy.

“Always come back to you.” He closes his eyes again.

“Dragix,” Rakiz says, ignoring Charlie’s narrowed eyes. “What happened?”

Dragix forces his eyes open. “Zintas. Their trap was more sophisticated than any I’ve seen before.”

“What were they doing in the north?”

“I took a Zinta after the attack and forced him to tell me what he knew before I healed enough to fly. He’s allied with someone called Mazark.”

I let out a growl, and Rakiz whips his head, his gaze meeting mine.

“Who’s Mazark?”

“A tribe king from Kenritz—a territory close to ours. He’s one of Arix’s allies. At least he was. However, he has long been eyeing Arix’s territory. I’m unsurprised he has chosen to betray Arix this way, although he was likely hoping Arix would be killed after crossing the Colossal Water.”

Rakiz’s eyes glitter. “And now,” he grits out, “we have enemies advancing from both the north and the east while blocking our allies from the south.”

The kradi goes silent at that.

Chapter Thirteen

Sarissa

Depression and resentment battle in my chest as I leave the healers’ kradi.

A heavy hand falls on my shoulder, and I shake it off.

“I’m busy, Korzyn.”

“Busy with what?”

My throat is tight, and I’m barely holding it together. “I need to tell Clara and the other women—”

He growls. “No, you don’t. That’s not your job.”

I head to my kradi. I just need a moment. Just one moment to pull myself together. Without the feel of the commander’s gaze on me. “Why do you care?”

He stalks me, practically breathing down my neck as I walk toward my kradi, and I snarl over my shoulder at him.

He glowers back at me, and I throw up my hands.

“You’re insane.”

“And you like it.”

I stumble, stubbing my toe, and curse. “I do not.”

Do I?

“Don’t fret, vicious female. I know how to distract you.” I freeze at that, my mouth hanging open. He almost runs into my back as I suddenly stop but manages to catch himself.

“And just how would you distract me?” I grit out between my teeth.

He sends me a wicked smile, and it’s so unexpected that my mouth drops open again. He