Page 46

"Would you like one of your own?"

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really. Let's see what the vendor says."

We went over to the counter, where the vendor confirmed the price. I paid for the shuttle, and as I did so, Vrann’s expression brightened so completely that I felt a little tug in my chest.

"Thank you," he said, holding it with both hands.

"You're welcome. You'll have to be careful with it on the trip."

"I will." He settled into the seat beside me, turning the little shuttle over to inspect its wings. "Are we leaving soon?"

"Very soon. The transport is nearly here."

"Will New Haven have grass? Where we lived just had lots of red sand and rocks.”

"I've been told it does."

"And trees?"

"A few. The town is named after some of them, Walnut Grove."

He considered that with the seriousness of someone trying to picture an entire world from a few words. "I hope Jason likes me."

I looked at him. "I think you'll have plenty of time to get to know each other, and I bet right now, he’s hoping the very same thing about you."

Vrann's smile was small but genuine. He bent over his toy again, moving it carefully through the air as though imagining the journey ahead.

I glanced down at Darren's photograph one more time before closing the profile. His face stayed in my mind even after the screen went dark.

In a very short while, the Alliance vessel would dock, and then we’d be on our way to New Haven. Darren and our kits would be aboard, and the trip to New Haven would only take two days. Seven days was not long to build a foundation for a life together, especially when children were involved, and trust had already been broken once, and our seven was complicated by two of them being in shared ship quarters, then five days getting used to an entirely new world. But I wasn't going to let the deadline decide what kind of man I would be to him. I would meet him with honesty. I would give him room to decide what he wanted. I would treat his children as people, not complications, and I would do everything I could to make sure New Haven felt like a safe place to start again. Then together, we would figure out the physical claiming obligation, with everything that followed to be at his pace.

I had wanted a home for a long time. I had wanted work that mattered, a community I could serve, and a reason to stop moving from one ship to another. Now, unexpectedly, I had a face to go with the possibility of that longed-for future.

I looked toward the gate as our ship’s arrival was announced, and its boarding announcement sounded. I stood and offered Vrann my hand.

"Come on, little one. Let's go home."

16

DAREN

I'd spent most of the previous evening reading the packet Bob had sent me, going through New Haven's settlement information, studying the census, and reading Tarek Korvak's profile more than once. I'd even looked at his photograph long enough to decide that my prospective mate was a very handsome Dragonii indeed. The information had been thorough, covering the colony, the position I'd accepted, the arrangements for my family, and the man the matching system had identified as my mate.

I'd known what he looked like before I arrived. I knew his name, his occupation, and enough about his background to understand why he'd applied to become New Haven's sheriff. I'd had the night to get used to the idea that somewhere out there was a man the Mylos system had identified as uniquely compatible with me and that we were now legally mated, with the obligation to complete a physical claiming, and that he was now also legally the father of my children.

None of that prepared me for seeing him in person.

I spotted Tarek before he reached us, and for a moment, I simply forgot what I was supposed to do with my feet. The photograph hadn't captured the quiet confidence in the way he moved, the warmth in his nearly black eyes, or the way his expression softened when he looked down at the young boy walking beside him. Tarek was seven feet three inches of solid muscle, broad shoulders, and quiet confidence. His naturally tanned skin contrasted beautifully with the dusky-grey scales tracing his jaw and forearms, while his black hair fell in loose waves around his face. His eyes were so dark they were almost black, and when they settled on me, I promptly forgot every sensible thing I'd intended to say.

Good Lord.

I'd known he was handsome. I'd seen the photograph. I'd had time to prepare myself, or at least I thought I had. But the picture hadn't captured his presence, the way he carried himself, or the peculiar sensation of recognition that settled somewhere beneath my ribs when our eyes met.

My mate.

The words seemed to echo through me, and I had to remind myself to breathe, suddenly thinking there really might be something to the whole “fated mate gifted by the stars” stuff Xero and the center officers had kept talking about.