Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 Victoria Aveline (story read aloud TXT) 📖

of Maxu’s stare and had to take a step back. Blue mating marks circled his wrists.

Chapter 10

Alice lay on a warmed wooden patio, chin resting on her overlapping hands. Her eyes traced the path of a small glowing bilom as it swam in circles around a floating blossom while she thought about Luka for the millionth time.

It’d been a week since she and the other women had been rescued and brought here, and she missed Luka deeply. At the facility, he’d been her only company. She missed his large, warm body close to hers and hearing his deep voice repeat her words. The anticipation of really meeting him for the first time was excruciating, like the slow climb to the peak of a roller coaster drop.

Alice didn’t know what to think. They’d never had a conversation, and yet, she felt so connected to him. Was that connection only born out of trauma, or was there more to it? There was only one way to know for sure.

Why hasn’t he come to see me? she thought miserably, reaching down to hover her fingertips over the path of the flowing blue creature.

Whenever she’d asked to see him, she’d been told he was still recovering.

A part of her wanted to believe his recovery was indeed the reason he hadn’t visited, but an evil, nagging part of her mind whispered differently.

He finally woke up and found out what I did to him. He’s disgusted.

Just because Luka had been her rock in that place hadn’t meant she’d been his. It must be a lot of pressure to wake up and find out you have a mate. Did he remember anything? If he saw her again, would he be disappointed, disgusted even, because she was human?

A deep sigh escaped her. Think of something else!

Lifting her right hand, she pressed the pad of her forefinger and thumb together, then huffed in frustration at the black alien symbols that appeared on the back of her hand.

After her meeting with the Queen, all of the new human women had been taken to the medbay to be checked and healed. While waiting for the long cylindrical healing tube to work its magic on Daisy’s ears, Alice had noticed bright red symbols kept appearing on the friendly doctor’s hand.

When she asked about them, he’d explained it was an implanted watch, called a hand clock. He’d been taken aback when Alice had practically fallen to her knees and begged for him to give her one as well. Although he’d eventually given in, Alice still hadn’t managed to memorize enough of the symbols or understand how time was marked in order to read the watch, and no one seemed too interested in teaching her. Apparently, keeping time wasn’t a major concern for most Clecanians.

The doctor, Flen, had explained while some things, like schools and the government, were expected to run on a strict schedule, most things in Tremanta operated with little regard for the time. Implanted watches were only utilized by a few people, and Alice’s insistence that she be one of the few had surprised the doctor.

Luckily, his interactions with the first wave of rescued humans had prepared him for odd requests. At the insistence of some of the other women, he’d begrudgingly offered a variety of birth control methods during their visit.

Meg, a chatty human woman who seemed more excited than anyone else to be there, confided in Alice that she’d been the one to argue with the doctor until he finally relented. Meg had babbled endlessly about how she wanted to make sure she was protected, just in case, because as soon as she could, she was going to travel and see the new world. Something she’d never been able to do on Earth.

It wasn’t only the offer of birth control on a planet nearing extinction that had surprised Alice, but the variety. For one, there were options for both men and women. After she’d learned the thick underwear every woman wore did double duty as a scent blocker and a period panty, Alice had opted for birth control that would allow her to skip her menstrual cycle.

Although the doctor was able to confirm that she had in fact been in stasis for about five months, worry still plagued her. Doctor Flen had explained that she was untouched but had been asleep for much longer than any other woman he’d inspected. Why?

The only way she’d be able to find out for sure would be to ask Helas directly. The fact that acid rose in her gut every time she thought of the man, made it clear she wouldn’t be ready to do that for quite some time.

She activated her hand clock again and tried to focus on something else. “Okay, squiggly line with a T and two dots means…four? No, fourteen? Is that even a number, or is that the time of day?”

The faint sound of a branch snapping made her raise her head. She squinted, trying to see through the overlapping foliage. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, and a tingling sensation crept over her.

Is something watching me?

She held perfectly still, scanning the trees for movement, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

A sound behind her caused her to yelp and roll to her back. Misjudging the space to her left, she rolled too far and fell off the patio. A gasp of surprise was all she managed before she hit a solid floating platform a few inches below.

Daisy looked down at her and grinned. “Careful. Remember Metli said those glowing things in the water sting.”

Alice let out a relieved breath and slowly raised herself back to a standing position on the platform. Luckily, she’d slept with her token stuck to her arm. “I know you’re used to being really quiet, but now that you have your hearing back,