“That is unwise.” Fer’ro isn’t looking at me and as I take a step closer I notice the most curious thing.

Within his nose is a membrane. I only see it now because he is using it to block his nostrils.

“My brethren have not seen you yet. They may be…alarmed.”

I glance down at myself then. Maybe I can tell the ba’clan to disappear like Fer’ro does, but when I try, nothing happens.

“They cannot seep into your skin the way they do for us. They have existed with my people for eons. We have evolved together. Our skin is thicker than yours. With you, they have no place to go.”

Makes sense.

Instead, I imagine them forming a narrow column along my spine and I’m amazed when they disappear from over my skin.

“How are they doing that? How do they know what I’m thinking?”

But I am naked again and Fer’ro doesn’t seem to have heard what I just asked.

Instead, he thrums.

It’s a sexy sound that makes my gaze dart to his and I can feel my center throb as images of what we did possibly only hours ago flood my mind.

“I do not wish for my brethren to cast their eyes on you when you are bare either.”

His voice is so low, almost possessive, and I have to strain to hear him.

But he is right.

It’s not like I want to walk outside this room naked either.

At that thought, the ba’clan spread over me again, covering me in a split second.

Fer’ro turns to face the door and I see his ba’clan ripple across his broad back.

“I will get He’rox.”

I don’t even protest this time.

Chapter Twenty-Six

FER’RO

There are many strange scents surrounding Adee’ra and one by one, I am noting what they mean.

That strange scent that had been faint before, the one Ga’Var had scented while in that forest, it is here again.

I know what it is now.

Need.

I scented it distinctly when she became bare and looked at me.

My chest puffs at the thought that maybe, just maybe, this small hyu’man being wants me as much as I now know that I want her.

But first, I must determine what is happening to her with the ba’clan.

No other beings in star systems close to ours have been able to bond with our ba’clan.

What makes the hyu’mans so special?

But then again, it is not all the hyu’mans that have this ability.

Only Adee’ra.

Sa’am and Mee’na did not attract any ba’clan.

As I pass some of my brethren along the corridors, they glance my way and click greetings low in their throats.

Their faces appear composed but I do not miss the way their ears twitch or the discreet sniffing that occurs as I pass.

They should be busy getting things ready so we can head to a location we found on this planet’s surface.

A place to create a base.

A place to hide while we gather resources to build enough weapons to take down the Gryken.

Our ship is cloaked. The Gryken cannot detect us yet and scans show there are none nearby.

But all is not as it seems. There is no time to become complacent.

They should not be concerned with where I’ve had my face recently, or what I do with my tongue.

But even as they walk away, clicks communicating curiosity low in their throats, I cannot deny that I…enjoy this.

I enjoyed sharing that time with Adee’ra.

I hope she wishes for me to lick her wounds again.

Soon.

As soon as I reach the med bay and activate the door, I am greeted with the serious, unfriendly face of He’rox.

Behind him, the med bay is back to normal. Nothing is out of place to signal the chaos that had been unleashed within it and the dead Gryken is nowhere to be seen.

He’rox is probably responsible for that.

He possibly has the body preserved somewhere.

For…studying.

“I have been waiting for you,” he says and my ears twitch a little.

He says nothing more, but I know exactly what he means.

He’d seen Adee’ra’s arm earlier.

I am sure of it.

Nothing ever seems to pass him.

“Where is the female?” He glances behind me and realizes Adee’ra is not there.

“Come.” I turn and the only indication that the male is following me is the almost inaudible hiss of the door as it slips back into place behind him.

“Have the others seen…the anomaly?” he asks.

“I am not sure.”

If Ga’Var and San’ten noticed, they haven’t commented on it. That in itself is curious.

“What do you make of it?”

My ba’clan writhe a little, sending a tickle up the back of my neck.

There is a certain tone in his clicks and I stop in the middle of the corridor to turn and look at him.

“She will not be one of your little experiments, He’rox.” My gaze slips down his pale body. “We already know what happens when you get…overzealous.”

I see the moment his pupils narrow and immediately regret my words.

But they need to be said, lest he’s forgotten the past.

His jaw clenches as his teeth bare a little as he clicks a response through them.

“Understood…captain.”

My ba’clan bristle a little at the sudden formality in his tone.

We walk the rest of the way in silence, everything about the past few clicks, of Adee’ra, repeating in my mind.

When we arrive at the entrance to my quarters, I pause.

Inside is filled with the beautiful scent of suu’ci and mating—like the small, perfect little hyu’man female I have locked inside.

It is suddenly a bad idea bringing He’rox here.

He clicks behind me, sensing my thoughts.

“I already smell the mating on you. Don’t be stupid. I do not want for any female. I never have.” He pauses. “I never will.”

There is bitterness in the last few words and I am left with no choice but to open the door.

So I do it.

Adee’ra’s sweet scent flows through the air as soon as we step in.

It is a surety. It no longer smells like my quarters anymore. The scent is almost alien. But…I like it.

I thrum low, ignoring He’rox’s presence as I catch sight of her.

She is standing by the feathers, her wide eyes moving from me to He’rox.

“By the gods…” He’rox steps forward. “Impossible.”

Adee’ra’s gaze darts to me. She cannot understand him for he speaks in our tongue.

His ba’clan need more time to assimilate the human language.

Either that, or he doesn’t care to learn it.

“He is surprised,” I translate for her.

“Good surprised? Bad surprised?”

He’rox is standing in front of her now and he is so large, she looks frightfully small beside him.

The size difference catches me off guard.

Is that what she looks like beside me?

He’rox and I are almost the same size.

I am aware she is small, but…

Suddenly, my womb mate’s concerns don’t seem to stem from jealously only.

Possibly, Ga’Var is genuinely concerned about Adee’ra’s safety.

There is no way Adee’ra could take me if we mated.

She is not only too frail. She is too small.

“When did this happen?” He’rox clicks, his gaze moving over Adee’ra’s symbiote-clad body. “Tell me everything.”

ADIRA

They’re discussing me as if I’m not standing right here.

Every now and then, Fer’ro will translate something so I can understand but I can sense he is leaving out a lot and that the conversation is getting heated.

Apparently, these…things that have now covered my entire body don’t usually attach themselves to new lifeforms, not even on their planet.

The ba’clan have always coexisted with the Vullan and the Vullan only.

The medic wants to run tests and Fer’ro is against it.

They argue about this for several minutes, with the white one getting so heated, that his tentacles begin to curl.

“She is fine. Healthy. Unharmed. The ba’clan will not harm her. They would have done so already.” Fer’ro speaks in English and I know he does this for my benefit. But his words chill me.