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“They are,” Nox admitted, running a hand through his hair. “The dreams and my feelings both—they are mostly about my coworker, Seline.”
“Ah… I see, I see.” Yipper nodded his head, his long ears flopping. “Nox,” he said, appearing to choose his words carefully. “You know, often when a warrior is having thoughts and dreams about a certain female, it means that he is Dream Sharing with her, which is the Goddess’s way of telling him that she is his fated mate—the one he is meant to Bond with. Yes it is, yes it is.”
“I had not thought of that,” Nox admitted. “I had never thought of Bonding with anyone.”
“Because until recently, you had no emotions and so no desire to Bond,” Yipper pointed out. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to want to eradicate your feelings. They could be part of the Goddess’s plan for you—yes they could, yes they could.”
“But they are so uncomfortable!” Nox growled, raking both hands through his hair this time. “I desire Seline but I do not know if she would or could return my feelings and then I feel guilt for wanting her because perhaps such wanting is bad or wrong. What if she does not feel the same way about me that I feel about her? The thought of such a rejection is extremely painful. I feel it here.” He put a hand over his heart. “And here.” He put his other hand over his flat stomach.
“Emotions are often painful, but they can be joyous too—yes they can, yes they can,” Yipper assured him. “Why don’t you go find Seline and tell her about your emotions and ask her if she feels the same?”
“But what if she doesn’t?” Nox demanded. “What if she—”
Suddenly Yipper’s lab filled with a presence. It was a female presence—Nox could feel that, somehow—and it filled every spare crack and crevice completely, like water filling a bowl to the brim. The intensity of it made breathing difficult.
“Oh!” Yipper’s big, brown eyes grew wide and he threw himself to the floor on his face. “The Goddess!” he moaned softly. “I have felt her presence before—yes, I have! Yes, I have!”
Nox felt the sudden urge to bow as well. He went to his knees, looking upwards, though the presence seemed to be all around them.
“Warrior,” a strong, feminine voice spoke, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. “Warrior, I have come to let you know that your female needs you.”
“My female?” Nox asked, frowning. “Do you mean, Seline? Because she is not mine, Goddess—we only work together.”
“She is yours—yours to protect and to care for and to love,” the Goddess asserted. “You do not remember that this is so, but you will, in time. You will remember many things. But for now, you must go to her—she is in imminent danger!”
Nox got quickly to his feet.
“What? Where?” he demanded as fear and protectiveness flashed through him.
“She has gone down to Earth to try and meet her needs. Needs that only you can help her with, Warrior,” the Goddess told him. “But there are predatory males in the place she has gone to—you must hurry if you are to keep her from becoming prey to one of them.”
Nox was already in motion.
“Yes, Goddess!” he exclaimed. “I’ll go to her at once!”
“Hurry! You have only one chance to save her,” the Goddess warned, and then her presence faded, leaving Nox alone with Yipper.
“Hurry, Nox! Go, you must go!” the little Tolleg exclaimed.
He didn’t have to tell Nox twice. He was already leaving the lab at a dead run, heading for the Docking Bay where his ship was parked.
It wasn’t until he got there that he realized that he hadn’t asked the Goddess where specifically on Earth Seline had gone. It was a small planet, but still large enough that searching for a single person on it would take a long time. How could he find her?
Luckily, just as he was beginning to panic—one of the worst emotions he had yet felt because it made his breathing tight and rapid and twisted his stomach in knots—he ran into one of the pilots on duty.
There were always three or four pilots stationed at the Docking Bay at all times, ready to take the Earth brides who lived aboard the Mother Ship with their Kindred husbands back down to their home planet for visits. In this case, the male Nox literally bumped into was a Beast Kindred he knew called Brex.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” the Beast Kindred exclaimed, his golden eyes flashing as he took a step back. Then he frowned. “Nox—is that you, Brother?”
“Yes, but I have no time to talk!” Nox told him. “I must go to Earth and find my female who may be in danger as we speak!”
“Your female?” Brex raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise. “I thought you were a Dark Kindred with no emotions—how do you have a female? Most human women want a man who has feelings, you know,” he added.
