Hiking into the ship, I throw myself into the pilot’s seat and hover it up through the ceiling doors. The roof of my hangar seals up below me. I switch on scanners and find a heat signature out by a lake where Azrim and I used to fish together. I bank toward his position.
He’s curled up in the sun on his favorite casting rock.
I set down in a nearby meadow, lower the ramp, but leave the ship’s engines idling. Hustling outside, I walk toward him.
“Brother,” I call to him.
Azrim picks up his head. The ship’s engines tousle his dark fur.
“ABR called. I’m going to race. I will find us a mate, brother. I will make us whole again.”
He grumbles and looks away.
“Azrim.”
He gets up and snarls at me.
The urge to snap back rises in my throat. “Think of Rhysan. Do you really want the Morrawyn pack raising him?”
He looks down and away, then squirms like he’s in pain.
I sigh through my nose and roll my eyes. He’s always been short tempered, held grudges, and struggled to let go of pain and move on.
“Fine. Fuck! Brood, since that’s what you want to do. I am trying to do what I can! Please go home. Watch the house. And eat the food in the kitchen. I don’t want it to go bad while I’m gone.”
He tilts his head at me like he can’t believe I’d suggest such a thing.
“I don’t care about paws on the furniture. For fuck’s sake, brother. I care more about you being safe and us being a family again.” I’m tired of trying. It’s just that my morals and the situation won’t let go of my soul. Rhysan and Azrim’s cries after losing Jezza are still clawed into my heart.
He snorts and paws at the rock, scratching it for no other purpose I can see than to vent his anger.
I lift my hands, not understanding what his problem still is with me. “I get it. You don’t want to be comfortable. You think you deserve the pain. Whatever. But maybe for once, stop thinking about yourself for a change. Your son is being raised byanotherfamily. Agentlefamily!
“Rhysan will get too violent when he is older. They will kick him out when he is old enough to be on his own, just like they did to us. Except he will be confused about the truth, what’s really going on among the stars, and who we are,” I growl. “Think about that while I’m gone.”
There’s no point in waiting for him to reply. I don’t have time. I need to get to the races so I can find us a mate to heal what is broken. Part of me hates that I’m leaving him behind as I hover the ship up, and he sits there, watching me fly away from him.
But after years of doing everything together from caring for Jezza to fishing and then fighting on our Spec Ops squad, I feel like the only way to break him out of his Night Stalking is to show him what it feels like to really, truly be alone. It’s how I’ve felt for months.
A female is what we need. They are the glue that keeps our packs together. Without them, we would all become Night Stalkers.
A female can save us. I must find one who will accept a two-for-one deal with my ornery brother, one who is also willing to nurse a pup that isn’t her own, travel to a world where our pack is endangered and war is heavily present.
I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but I know what I need. I just hope she exists and that she’s at the Alien Bride Race. My gut tells me she does and she is. My Shifter wants to go, but he may simply want to mate with anything female that doesn’t look at me with disgust or disdain. I wouldn’t know. We’re both inexperienced. But I’ve studied human females heavily while I waited. There’s just no more time for training.
I’ve got to take whoever is willing to endure our kind of life. And I will gladly give anything and everything to the female who does because she will be our world, our glue, and our hope.
7: Tessi
Months have passed. I am finally healthy enough to race. After working with other women who have completed the race and found mates, I’m starting to like the sound of it a lot more. Not to mention, the idea of leaving Earth behind is growing on me. There are enough painful memories here that I’m more eager to forget everything.
Radar loves working with the other security patrol dogs, and I wish he had more of a pack than just me. I think he wants one too, based on how he sits by the window each night and watches for the night patrol dogs. Every time they walk by our room, he wags his tail.
A creature handler with ABR greets us when my shuttle finally docks at the complex on the moon. She’s a kind-faced human with brown hair tied up in a large bun and biscuits preloaded in her pockets. “Hi, Radar! We’re going to let your mama have a break, okay?”
Radar looks up at me. I’m certain he knows just how fast my heart is beating, and how scared I am of what the fuck I’ve gotten myself into. I try to calm myself, because I don’t want him to think she’s not trustworthy.
“It’s okay, buddy. I’ll see you soon.” I reach for her hand. She takes it, and we shake, but she doesn’t let go.
