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"You stole from them too, Mordox," Zoe gently chides her mate. "You were free to roam while they were confined by an invisible tether."
"It was every male for himself on Zune," Romy points out. "Wasn't it? No one here is innocent."
"Drax, what if this were me and you?" Stacy questions her mate. "Wouldn't you want my friends to welcome you?"
"I can't turn into a giant beast, Stacy."
"Maybe if we build a cottage farther down river until all of you can became acquainted," I suggest, understanding Drax's point. I can't exactly expect them to immediately hold hands and sing Kumbaya around a campfire.
The Ziarian males grumble and move to walk in front of us, their heightened sense of protection for their mates making it difficult to even consider trusting Qhix. Though I still have lingering concerns Qhix's sivot will make an appearance if one or more of the Ziarians decides to provoke him, my heart belongs to Qhix.
If he isn't welcomed into the fold, I know I'll choose him over staying with the girls on Crao. The mere idea of Qhix leaving this place without me is enough to shatter my heart into a million tiny pieces, leaving behind an emptiness that can never be filled.
"Sounds agreeable enough," Mordox reluctantly huffs. "But if he even looks like he's about to morph into his sivot?—"
"Don't provoke him or do anything to harm me, and you won't have to worry about it," I say, and continue to walk on toward Qhix's ship. The tension in the air is a living thing, pulsing with each heartbeat.
As I approach, my heart swells with joy at the sight of Qhix emerging from his spacecraft. His towering figure stands tall and proud at the top of the ramp, his glossy blue skin glistens in the sunlight, and his snow-white hair catches the breeze, blowing around the width of his shoulders. My smile widens as our eyes meet, and I can feel my heart swell within the cage of my ribs more with every step I take toward him. The warmth of his presence envelops me, and all of my worries melt away.
Chapter
Eight
QHIX
Tasha's wide smile is encouraging. Her entourage of females surrounds her as she walks toward where I wait at the top of the ramp. It would appear she has successfully convinced the Ziarian's to allow me to reside on Crao with her.
The breeze kicks up, blasting me with the sweet flora of this planet where I'll gladly make a home with my mate. That is, if she decides to claim me as hers. I pull deeply of the wind in my face, briefly closing my eyes with a silent wish to meld my life with Tasha's and live in harmony with the Ziarian males who once held me captive. For the heart of my female, I will set aside revenge and leave the past behind us.
Then I catch a flash of turquoise in my periphery and turn to see the Lizordian Tasha bumped into on the Gilded Orb emerge from the tree line, all turquoise scales and malevolent intent, the blaster in his grip and the stunner at his side an unspoken threat slicing through the deceptive calm.
I promised Tasha I wouldn't morph into my sivot without just cause. As I give myself over to the transformation, it isn't the Ziarian males I want to kill but the Lizordian in the weird hat pointing a blaster at my mate.
Instinct seizes control as the air around me crackles with untamed energy. My bones lengthening, muscles bulging and swelling, all beneath glossy blue flesh that turns into a liquid sheen, shimmering with iridescent light. The beast within me surges forth, power rushing through my veins. The primal essence of a Kaul male to protect his mate surges hot.
My corium, the intricate design that adorns my right arm, coalesces into a sheet of armor, encasing my arm from shoulder to wrist. With a flick of my arm, I expand it into a massive shield.
"Qhix! What the fuck—" Tasha gasps, but I'm already in motion, surging down the ramp with predatory speed.
Weapons I recognize from my cache are directed at me, the Ziarians having stripped my spacecraft of everything that wasn't bolted down.
"Watch out for the Lizordian!" my sivot bellows, pointing in the direction of the reaver. "Get the females to safety, I will handle this filth."
The Ziarian's shake off the shock of my transformation and aim their weapons at the real enemy.
I skid to a stop in front of the group of stunned women and push Tasha behind me. My focus narrows on the looming Lizordian, every fiber of my being tense, ready to strike. My sivot knows no fear, only the burning need to protect what is mine. As the Lizordian moves in, aiming his weapon, a tempest of fury consumes me.
"Qhix!" Tasha's scream whips my head around. Her hands reach for me as the male with blue-streaked hair tosses her over his shoulder and sprints her away to the safety of the forest behind us. The male with purple-streaked hair follows, helping him herd all the females away. I would prefer a sturdy structure, but the cover of trees will have to do.
Mordox, the male with green-streaked hair who stunned me into unconsciousness on Zune, steps up beside me.
"Let's give this scaly reaver a Crao welcome he'll never forget," Mordox snarls, and fires a laser blaster I recognize from my weapons cache as soon as the females are away.
It's a direct hit, only the blast doesn't take the Lizordian down. A shimmering spectral carapace absorbs the laser fire.
"Your weapons be no use, broos!" The Lizordian hisses in a heavy Trionian brogue.
"The fucker is wearing a Bioti body shield," the yellow-haired male curses from my other side. "Maybe a plasma shot will do the trick."
