I will take care of the threat so they can rest.
The Denarsoan ship’s engines warp the air with low-frequency pulsations as they land. The ramp lowers as I make my way through the trees to watch. Three soldiers exit, armed with capture guns that will free stuck items and pry open metal. They hunt through the wreckage.
What are they looking for? I’ve already cleared the useful weapons and tech.
Soft footsteps make me crouch lower and glance back.
Zorin saunters up to me in Shifter form.How many brother?
Three. Is your mate asleep?
Zorin hangs his head.No. If I am awake, Radar wakes. If he wakes, she does.
Tessi appears to his other side, Radar beside her in armor that wraps around his chest and torso.
You brought her?I demand.
Zorin sighs.She is not the type that likes to be protected so obsessively.
She spins a device in her hand, clicks a button, and opens it into a staff. Tessi keeps her voice low, “Denarso. Likely looking for hydraflex coils for their engine fuel systems.”
I squint at Zorin.
She was a scavenger on Earth.
“What is the goal?” she asks. “Do we kill them? Scare them off?”
Zorin shifts upright. “If we can get them to leave without starting a battle that is preferred.”
She lights up the end of the spear and smirks. “Permission to engage?”
Zorin draws a gun from his belt. “I trust you know what you’re doing.”
“Not my first Denarso encounter.” Tessi lobs the faintly crackling voltspear into the air. It arcs across the sky. My heart ratchets up, fearing a battle with Denarso will ensue.
The spear plants into a pulsing panel and sets off a vibrant blast wave that knocks the Denarso on their asses. It shimmers through the forest, rustling leaves and branches. The heat wave tugs at Tessi’s dark hair and Radar’s fur.
The Denarso get up and scramble back into their ship. They take off and fly away with increasing speed.
I shift upright as Tessi walks out and retrieves her spear. Radar stays at her side, listening to her every command as they hunt through the wreckage. “How did she know that would work?”
Zorin frowns and looks away. “She has many scars, brother. Tessi lived in the woods, fought off all sorts of feral types to collect the valuable things she could resell at markets.” He rests his hands on his hips. “But do not think she isn’t intelligent. She went to college. And…”
He looks over at me. “Her mother worked with Viriden. Her father was one of Viriden’s soldiers.
“That’s why Onidus was with you.”
“Yes.” Zorin starts after her. “You really should give Tessi a chance.”
“I don’t want to take her from you, brother. I want her to be special like Jezza was to me.”
“She is that kind of special. And what I wanted was this. We already lost Jezza. Help me keep her safe. Let her know she is safe. Accept her. Love her. Make love to her. You will have to when I am gone.”
My heart thunders in my ribs. “Why are you saying it like that?”
Zorin stops halfway to Tessi. “Because if you won’t go with us on this next mission, I don’t see us coming back. We need you brother. Mindor does, the whole pack. So if you won’t pull yourself out of the gutter for us, at least do it for me and for Tessi. Then you two can be the family for Rhysan.”
Zorin leaves me standing at the edge of the forest, my hangover headache throbbing harder from the guilt.
