Page 149 of Commander’s Mate

There it was. The question under all questions.

I pulled back and looked at the three of them.

Nora’s face gentled. “Did he hurt you?”

“No.”

“Did he pressure you?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. It would have been easy to say no. It would have been mostly true. But mostly true was a dangerous place to build a life.

“The bond pressured me,” I said. “The situation pressured me. Being stranded pressured me. Being scared pressured me. He…” I looked toward the closed door. “He wanted me. He still does. But when I asked if I could refuse him, he said yes. When I asked if I would still be protected, he said yes. When I said I needed truth, he gave it.”

Scarlet crossed her arms. “And then?”

Zoe let out a breath. “For the night or forever?”

“That is the part I am still figuring out.”

Scarlet’s mouth tilted. “That sounds more like you.”

Nora took my hand and squeezed it. “Biologically, did anything happen that we need to understand?”

“That is such a nurse question.”

“And I am grateful,” I said. I pulled them toward the far corner, away from curious ears. “He says his people have a mate bond. Solmatu. They recognize by scent. It means genetic and emotional compatibility, or that is how he understands it. Sex can become a full claim if he releases seed inside me. He said he has an implant that prevents pregnancy for now, but the bond is still serious.”

Scarlet blinked. “Hold up. Seed equals marriage?”

“More like seed plus intention plus biology equals alien marriage.”

“That is both hot and a legal nightmare.”

Despite everything, I laughed.

For five seconds, we were four women from Earth laughing in the corner of an alien warship because the universe had become too absurd to survive any other way.

Then Zoe’s eyes filled with tears.

“I don’t want an alien marriage,” she whispered. “I want my apartment. I want my gym. I want my cheap coffee maker that burned everything after the first cup. I want my phone. I want to call my sister.”

The laughter died.

Nora pulled Zoe into her arms. Scarlet looked away, jaw working, and I knew she was thinking of whatever she had lost and had not told me yet. We all had pieces of Earth lodged inside us, and every time we breathed, they cut.

“No, you don’t,” Zoe said, then immediately winced. “I’m sorry. That was cruel.”

“It was true,” I said. “I have Zared, or I might have him, and that changes what this feels like. It does not make losing Earth hurt less. It gives me somewhere to put my hands when the hurt comes.”

Scarlet looked back at me. “That’s honest.”

“I am trying to be.”

Nora glanced toward the room. “The other women are asking what happens next. Some are being returned to Halor. Some think they can get passage home from there. Some do not have homes left. A few are terrified the Farseek men will expect payment.”

“Not money,” Scarlet said flatly. “Bodies. Service. You know.”

My stomach turned. “No.”