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She clicks her tongue as she leans back. “Oh. I see.”
“But he wasn’t like the others,” I rush out.
Isa shakes her head. “It’s a good thing you didn’t let that go too far.” She stands and goes to the sink to rinse out her mug. “You know how much of a mess they make when they come crashing into someone’s life.”
“Right,” I mutter as she slips away, probably to check on Mama. But I stay seated a while longer, staring into my tea.
Isa’s right. Drex would be nothing but trouble. I have a real life to deal with, and there is no time for him.
Standing, I set my half-empty mug in the sink and head to my room to get ready for bed. It’s time to let go of this stupid fantasy I’ve been cooking up in my head all night and remember reality. He’d leave me wrecked, and I don’t need that.
I’m better without him.
Right?
4
DRAX
“Slide that hammer back before you clean the trigger assembly, Drex.” I can hear Kyltic, but his voice barely registers over the din in my head. All I've managed to do in two hours of cleaning plasma guns is rub a cloth over the same charging pole while I try to piece Sophia’s features together in my mind.
Her dark eyes and olive skin. The way she holds herself when she laughs. The vision of her slender body leaning over the bar last night sends a wave running through me. I can only wonder if she feels me, too.
“Armstrong to Drax. Anybody home?” My teammate, Linus, waves his hand in front of my face. I know I have to answer. I will as soon as I can focus one last time on the slender curve of Sophia's chin, neat, like the arch of her brows.
“Leave him be.” Freck shakes his head, adding a newly cleaned rifle with the others. “Been like this all day.”
“Not all day,” the words finally emerge from my lips.
“Whoa!” Freck’s eyes widen to the size of saucers. “He lives!”
“What’s the matter, Drex?” Kyltic, our CO, asks, handing me another weapon. “Too much to drink last night, eh?”
“Nah, he met some human last night at Drago’s.” Linus fiddles with the trigger assembly of his weapon, powering it on with a click. It fills the room with a sharp high tone as it warms up, then a spark forms between the trigger assembly indicating it’s ready to fire. “She was pretty cute, as humans go anyway.” Pew, pew, the plasma rings out from the rifle into the firing range over my shoulder. He nods in approval before handing it to Kyltic for inspection.
“Human, eh? Didn’t I instruct you boys to steer clear of the locals?” Kyltic sneers casually. “A pretty piece of tail is fine every once in a while when a man needs to relieve his urges. But stay off the civilians. It never ends well.”
He shakes his head. “If we lose their homeworld to the occupiers. If we can’t save their houses, or their schools, or their dogs, or whatever. They turn to us when things get bad, on us when things get heavy. Besides, these humans, most of them are just whores looking for a free ride off of this dump.”
I felt my brows drop down my face, ready to defend Sophia’s good name. “Her name is Sophia. She’s not some common prostitute.” The air in the room is suddenly colder, with every eye on me.
“Well, what are you gonna do with her when the Alliance breaks the line, huh? Get your head in gear, Drex. A human civilian is baggage you can’t carry into war.”
I can feel a low growl starting in my belly, but seeing as Kyltic is my commanding officer, I let it slide.
“I’ll keep that in mind, sir,” I say, as cold as ice. I don’t expect Kyltic or any of these other grunts to understand. Sophia is my fated mate.
I knew it as soon as I looked into her eyes, and it hit me like a bolt of electricity. It's the reason I can’t keep my mind off of her. Until we can be together, a piece of me is out there, missing.
“Just remember what I told you next time you walk into a civilian bar. These distractions are fine as long as they don't become liabilities. If there’s one thing this war and this army won't make accommodations for, it's a liability. You hear me, soldier?”
I put all my strength into containing my nerves as the cloth passes coolly between my fingers and the rifle. “Yes, sir.”
I won't bother telling him she’s my jalshagar. An Odex like him couldn't be bothered to respect the finer cultural aspects of my people and how seriously we take our jalshagar.
Silence takes over the room, broken momentarily by Linus each time he tests the plasma gun after cleaning. Somewhere in the repetitive clicks and clatters of the weapons. I fall back into my reverie, thinking of Sophia’s soft brown eyes. That is, until Kyltic’s words hit my memory, sending a hot breath beating into my chest with rage. The problem is, he isn’t wrong.
Of all times to meet my fated mate. The middle of occupied Armstrong, with the Alliance closing in and me expecting to be called in with the next round of attacks. Any day here could be my last. Just my luck. I shake my head as Kyltic leaves the room.
