Page 48 of Evan and the Alpha

14

Evan

The stench of the corpse burning makes me want to puke, but I’m not allowed to leave. I’m wedged between Tek and Sobek who are, of course, standing front and center. After all, Terek was Tek’s mate and Sobek’s phapha.

Still. The smell is really something else. Worse than that time Scott decided to burn some of his crush Vivian’s hair for their sixth-grade science project. Fuck, that reeked.

I can’t stand it. I put my hand over my mouth and nose. I clutch at my stomach with the other. “What’s wrong?” Tek asks.

“Gonna puke,” I manage, then retch.

Tek jumps back, surprised. Sobek grabs me by the arm and drags me to the edge of the crowd. Yafir meets me there. He gives Sobek a bewildered look, then takes me by the arm and leads me away from the pyre.

We bump into Darwin halfway back to the house.

“There you are!” he cries, clapping a hand on his head to keep his hat on.

I can’t make a reply; I’m still pretty sure I’m gonna throw up. I double over, still panting and desperately trying to hang on to my cookies.

Darwin gives Yafir a tight smile, then takes me by the elbow. “Sun spirit thing,” he laughs and guides me away.

“Stop,” I croak once we’re around a corner. I puke in a basket that reminds me of a garbage bin. I don’t even know if they have garbage bins here.

Whatever. I can’t care about that now, not when my stomach is violently emptying itself.

Darwin pats me on the back. “Little bit much, hm?”

“I know why you decided not to go,” I pant when I come up.

“Well,” Darwin muses, “I think I’m allowed not to. You, on the other hand …” He pauses, glancing me up and down. He inhales. “I have news.”

I lift my brows and look down at him as we shuffle back along the almost-empty street. “What kind of news?”

Darwin smiles. “Good news,” he says cheerfully. “I made contact with theColumbia.”

My stomach flip-flops, and I’m not sure if that’s because of the lingering nausea or because of what the other man just told me.

“They’re on their way,” he assures me with a smile.

“Oh,” I say. I don’t know why I feel like all the oxygen has just drained out of the atmosphere. “How long do you think it will take them to get here?” I try to sound hopeful, even cheerful.

Darwin shrugs. “A couple of months, maybe.” He pauses to ponder. “Although … how long is a month here? They have day and night, but …”

I sigh, then drag myself up the stairs. I don’t really care about months or units of time, although I understand why Darwin’s thinking about it. All I want to know is that I have a bit of time to figure this out before the crew arrives.

And bythisI mean the fact I’m mated to a murderous alien who thinks I’m going to lay eggs someday.

I slump down on one of the pillows arranged around the table. I drag a hand down my face. “So … what next then?”

“We wait, I guess.” Darwin slides into one of the seats across from me, folding his hands neatly on the table.

“Yeah.” I guess there isn’t much more we can do, really.

It takes a while for Sobek to return from the funeral. Yafir and Ge-Ro, as well as some of the other betas, are with him. Tek drifts in wordlessly, retreating to the nest. I look at Sobek, but he just shakes his head.

He pours drinks for everyone, some greenish concoction that smells a lot like alcohol. I hesitate when he slides a mug my way. Our eyes lock.

My stomach twists again. With a sigh, I push the mug to Darwin. Sobek frowns at me. I cradle my chin in my hands. “I’m not agreeing with you,” I start, “because I don’t really believe you, but … on the off chance I could get knocked up …”