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I nodded. I could do that. "Then I will see you again next year.”
She grinned. “I’m taking that as a promise. You better be back here, or else!”
Krxare would have to believe I was genuinely leaving him for the representative to take me back, but I wasn’t going to leave him in the dark for the entire year. That would be cruel. I needed him to understand that I would return for him next year— sooner if I found another way back—and to wait for me. I left to find a pen and paper, or the Kadrixan equivalent, a much harder task than I’d thought, considering everyone used devices to communicate.
I doubted I would ever find anyone like him again, and I sure hoped that I was just as special to him.
Chapter 21: Krxare
I stood with my arms around my mate as we waited in front of the stronghold for the human representative to arrive.
My mate was nervous and quieter than normal. I imagined it was difficult to tell a representative of your people that you’d rather stay with aliens they considered monsters than return home. Especially since the representatives from their colony always made their society out to be a perfect utopia.
I knew better. None of the females sent to us had been happy there.
That was the determining factor in their returning to the colony. Once the representative arrived, all the females had to do to return with them on their shuttle was to say that they were not happy here.
Clara was happy here. She’d told me as much, and I’d seen it in her smile and heard it in her laughter. My Clara would say the other words instead. Three simple ones: I will stay.
“Krxare?” Clara looked up at me with an indecipherable look.
“Yes, little treasure?”
“Will you always be my mate?”
I frowned. Where was this question coming from? “Of course. I will, and you will always be mine.”
“No matter what happens?”
“Nothing can break our bond.” I was sure of it.
“That's good to know. My time here was the happiest I’ve had in a long time, and I want more than anything to stay here with you.”
Something about the way she said it, with sadness in her voice, had an uneasy lump starting in my throat. I tilted her chin to face me, but she pulled away before burrowing into my chest and giving me a big hug. Her words were everything I wanted to hear, but shouldn't she be happy to say these things, and not sad?
The colony shuttle arrived, and the representative stepped out. It was a new male, someone I hadn't met before. He looked around, trying to find a leader to communicate with. I sighed and stepped forward as Clara joined the group of females in line. This system had been set up by the females themselves in the first year. They wanted the representative at our stronghold for as short a time as possible, so they’d made it super-efficient for them to process who was staying and who was leaving.
Before long, we had the process going smoothly, with each female stepping up to the representative who held out a recorder as he brought up their file. One by one, the females made their choices.
I frowned again when I noticed that Clara was at the end of the line. So far, only one female had requested to return to her old life, despite having nothing to her name.
I held my breath as Clara stepped up to the human male. Her words repeated in my head. She was happier here, and she wanted nothing more than to stay.
“I am not happy here.”
The words didn't make sense at first. When I finally understood, I snarled and stomped over to her, completely forgetting that we had many eyes on us. “You said you were staying. You told me you were happy.”
She refused to meet my eyes, but she did reply, her voice monotone. “Remember every word I've said to you.”
“You can't leave! You are my mate. You are—”
“The female has spoken,” the representative cut in with a shaky voice.
I growled at him and he gasped, scrambling back to put space between us. Behind him, the four armed guards readied their weapons and exchanged glances, not knowing what to do.
Safely away from me, the representative spoke again. “Th-these are the rules; y-you agreed to them. Th-th-the treaty.”
Vostak moved up beside me, but instead of standing there with me, he pulled me back. “Calm,” he whispered just loud enough for me. “Your female is distressed.”
