Captured by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (interesting books to read for teens .txt) 📖

good in bed but so much work to deal with out of the furs. Even a human guy would want to look after you, but you’re going to have to show him that you don’t need him to baby you.”

“How do I do that?” Zoey wails, and I stare at her.

“This is a lot of drama for a random Braxian. Spill.”

She turns bright pink and chews on her lower lip. “I kissed him,” she admits.

“Oooh, girl,” Ivy crows. “I knew you had it in you.”

Zoey is now bright red. “I was proud of myself too until he pushed me away and told me he didn’t want to hurt me.”

Yikes.

“There’s only one thing for it,” I say, and Zoey angles her head. “Prove to him that you’re better. But you can’t do that until you actually are better. If you push yourself too much and end up passing out or something, you’ll just prove him right.”

Ivy nods. “In the meantime, if you want him to stop seeing you as a patient, you need to ban any conversations about your health,” she says. “That’s what I’d do anyway. Only talk to him if it’s about something else and he’ll soon get the message.”

Zoey blinks, and then her eyes harden. “You’re right. I’m a nurse. I deal with pushy doctors and difficult patients all damn day. I can handle one Braxian male.”

Ivy grins and shoots me a look, and I laugh. I can’t wait to see the fireworks.

“That’s the spirit,” Ivy says.

Dragix

I can feel Charlie like a ghost inside me. My little two-leg is in my blood, in the air I breathe. Everything reminds me of her, from the forest she liked to explore, to the river she once bathed in naked.

Even basking in the sun on top of my mountain holds no pleasure. I keep opening one eye, expecting to see Charlie sauntering out of my lair, a grin on her face as she pleads with me to take her flying.

Maez walks up the stairs and sits next to me, staring out over the plains below.

“It’s quiet around here without Charlie,” she says, ignoring me as I snarl at her.

“She belongs with the other two-legs.”

“And you? Where do you belong, Dragix?”

“Here.” Alone. For eternity.

Maez’s dark eyes are on me, and I show her the edges of my teeth. She rolls her eyes, something I never saw her do until Charlie was with us, constantly demonstrating her irreverence.

The sight reminds me so much of Charlie—of the way she would tease me, hoping to make me growl so she could laugh in delight—that I can no longer even look at Maez.

I get to my feet, ignoring her sigh as I spread my wings and leave my mountain behind.

I fly over my territory, absently scanning it for Zintas, Braxians, or a beautiful, dark-haired female making her way back to me.

I push the thought aside and bank left, swooping down to hunt. Then I make my way to the river, where Charlie first saw the other two-leg female.

If I had never allowed her to leave my lair, she would not have talked to the others. They would have imagined her dead, would have left us alone. Eventually, Charlie would have accepted her fate. She would have stayed with me.

That would make me no better than the male who caused her such pain and suffering.

I glower at the large ship, half sunk in the river. The idea of a solution to whatever fertility problems the Braxians have…it is not a good thought. It does not please me at all. I would be happy if they died out naturally. Surely even my mother would not expect me to actively help the Braxian race prosper.

I land in the river, studying the ship. Then I’m the one mentally rolling my eyes at myself as I push against it. I am strong, but the ship has been stuck here for decades. I use my claws to scrape at the riverbed, to push the rocks aside, and then I dig in, pushing against the ship again with a roar.

I push until it sits on the riverbank, no longer contaminating the water—if that is indeed the source of the Braxians’ problems.

Perhaps…perhaps one day Charlie will see this. And maybe she will know that even if I could not stay with her, could not surround myself with my enemies, I am not a monster.

A thought occurs to me, one so repulsive that I roar, flames surrounding me as I lose control.

Charlie is beautiful and brave, and she…shines. Braxian males will fight to win her. If she does not find her way home to her planet, she will eventually mate with one of them. They will have younglings.

I eye the ship. Perhaps now they will be more likely to have daughters, with her soft, curly hair and dark-blue eyes.

It takes more self-control than I have ever used before not to push the ship back into the water. Not to set this world on fire. Not to fly to the Braxian camp and snatch Charlie up from where other males are likely sniffing around her.

I tremble with rage, and it is only the thought of her face and the disappointment in her eyes that keeps me from doing just that.

Chapter Fourteen

Charlie

We’re leaving early this morning. Zoey was forced to admit that she’s not yet up to the journey, even if she’d like to be. But from the way she was huddled and whispering with a warrior called Hewex earlier, it’s obvious that she’s up to something.

Good for her.

There’s a lot riding on this visit. Rakiz is already away negotiating with another tribe, and apparently his ally Dexar—Alexis’s mate—is doing the same. They’ll return to camp later today, but for now, it’s our turn to step up. They’re trusting us to convince Khax—the king of a tribe they consider savages—to help us fight.

My eyes are heavy and gritty from a night of no sleep. From the sympathetic look Ellie just shot me, I don’t