Page 17 of Abducting the Alien

“But… our bond,” Clay said, frowning.

August rubbed his eyes. “I know this bond thing is important. I’m not trying to hurt you when I say this, but I don’t… Humans don’t have that, and I can’t make an enormous, life-altering decision based on something that doesn’t exist here.”

The words landed with the same sickening jolt as the moment his ship met that big, spiky plant.

August was his. He struggled to understand how August could look at something as clear as their growing bond and not see it. It wasn’t just some story told to hatchlings on Zengi. Bonds were as real as the pull of gravity, or as the air in his lungs.

His entire body recognized August in ways he could never explain with words. The way his hands reached for the blanket before August could even say he was cold. The way his body rejected the little corner pieces of his new favorite treat, brownies, because that was August’s favorite part. The way the velvet of his horns grew faster in the exact shape of August’s grip because they’d learned his touch.

But humans didn’t grow up learning this. They didn’t have generations of stories about soul bonds or feel the comfort of being around a bonded pair. August only knew about human relationships, which, if Earth reality television was anything to go by, were not healthy or long-lasting.

Clay had to find another way to prove the bond was real and that it was deeper than the attraction and pull between them. Clay had chosen August, like he was asking August to choose him.

“I love you,” Clay said. “The bond brought me to Earth, yes. To your yard. But the bond is not why I stayed. I told you, we can choose who we form a heightened bond with. The compatibility is predetermined, but we still choose. We nurture the bonds we love. We seal them when we commit. And I choose you.”

August’s eyes softened, but he still looked so uncertain it made Clay’s scales shimmer.

“Sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes love has bad timing,” August said. “I would love to be with you, but I can’t move to another planet right now. Maybe someday, but⁠—”

Clay couldn’t respond, too stunned by how quickly things were ending to speak. He climbed out of bed and grabbed his suit from the floor, tail dragging limply behind him. Touch provided no pleasure as he picked it up and shoved it down one of his pant legs. He zipped his suit hurriedly so he could get away from his humiliation and hurt.

August reached out. “Clay, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Clay said. “I’ll just go.”

“You don’t have to go. Your ride is supposed to be here at lunchtime. It’s still so early.”

“I do have to go. In fact, the sooner I go, the easier this will be on both of us.”

August reached for him again, but Clay stepped back.

“Please don’t leave, Clay. I won’t be able to⁠—”

“You won’t be able to what?” Clay asked, voice shaky. “Forget me? Move on? Why not? Humans don’t have bonds, right? You do not feel this.”

“That’s not fair. You know I felt the⁠—"

“What’s unfair is that I found the person I was made for, and he refuses it because love has bad timing.”

“I really like you, Clay. I could see myself loving you if you lived on Earth. But I⁠—”

“It’s okay, August. Just let me keep my memories of you as sweet, and generous, and mine. I do not think there is anything left to say.”

August’s mouth opened, but he said nothing. Clay said nothing else. He closed August’s bedroom door behind him, grabbed all but three of the grapes from the refrigerator, and made his way through the back door.

CHAPTER 6

Clay didn’t remember the walk back to the ship. He remembered the way August looked at him, the cold air against his skin, and the shimmering of his scales. But everything else was a blur through large plants and soft, muddy ground.

When Clay arrived on Earth, he’d been excited to seek out his bond mate, unsure what it would look like when they met and, stupidly, putting zero thought into what it would look like when he went back home. He’d assumed his mate would understand the importance of their bond, and it would be easy to convince him of their future.

When he met August, he'd imagined leaving with together. He imagined pointing out the stars as they slipped past their ship, stars August had only seen from his bedroom window and backyard sky. He imagined introducing him to his family, their bond so clear that even the oldest mated pairs on Zengi would stare in admiration.

What he never imagined was this. Walking away with a broken heart and malnourished bond that would soon wither and die, painfully.

With the hatch of the transport ship opening before him, Clay took a deep breath and waited for the unbearable pull of a bond being stretched too far, before severing from the force of the strain.

Strangely, the feeling never came. He was a five-minute walk from August’s house now, plenty of space for the bond to be felt. The lack of pain should have been comforting, but instead, it was scary. Had he been wrong this whole time? Had he been so desperate for a bond outside his parents’ suggestions that he convinced himself a human was on the other end of his tether?