Veda bustled around and quickly there was a straw at his lips. He sucked in the cool water, thankful for the relief.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
If he said it out loud, it would be real. He huffed out a breath, opened his eyes, and—based on the way the appearance of his arm and hand had transformed from his ancestral stripes into something closer to rolling waves—accepted the process already happened. “The mating change.”
“Mating change?”
“When Din’Gale males are born, we bare markings that indicate our family line. When we mate, when our fated partner touches us, the males, undergo the change. The markings shift to represent our new family. We’re marked for life as belonging to her.”
Veda bit her lip, eyes wide. Softly she asked, “Who’s your mate, Dez”
“Captain Cyra.” He closed his eyes. The timing—the reality of his situation—couldn’t be worse. That’s why the unmated were not touched except by family, usually only mated family. How had he not recognized the risk? But the odds of a female from a completely different planet, with different physiology, being his mate was so infinitesimal, it hadn’t registered in his consciousness. Until the electric jolt she’d delivered, and by then it was too late.
“When did she touch you?”
“After take off. She came to see me. Before she left, she touched my shoulder. The connection was immediate. It triggered the change, but she was gone before I could say anything.”
“Is it always so painful?”
“There are things our females can do to ease the transition, but it’s always painful. It is meant to be a rebirth. Our women go through the pain of childbirth. It is only right that we understand the pain we are asking them to endure by bearing our young.”
“I’m not sure Cyra is ready for all this,” Veda mused, seemingly speaking to herself. She peered into his eyes. “I have no idea how she’ll take this, Dez.”
“There’s nothing I can do to change it.” She would be his mate, even if she rejected him. Even after she left him on Kolben.
“I have to let the captain know.” Veda picked up her comm and tapped the screen.
A few minutes later, Cyra appeared in the doorway. “I got your message.”
Her dark hair curling over her shoulders, uniform hugging her curves. Dez groaned with need.
“You’re sitting up?” Cyra pivoted to her friend. “What’s going on, Veda? Did you determine what happened?”
Veda clasped her hands and stared at the floor. “Dez, explained it to me.”
Cyra’s gaze returned to him with an obvious expectation for him to explain.
“I have found my mate,” he said simply. What else could he say? It changed everything and nothing.
Cyra looked between Veda and Dez, confusion wrinkled her features.
“Not me,” Veda said softly. “You.”
“No.” Cyra shook her head and shifted back.
“You, Cyra Meajzur, are my mate.” Dez shifted off the gurney and took a step toward her.
“Stop.” She held up her hand as a barrier. “I am not your mate. I don’t know what game you are playing, but this is ridiculous. I can’t be your mate. We aren’t the same race. I don’t know you. In fact, none of us really knows you. I think it would be better if you returned to your room if you are quite recovered from… from this…charade.”
“Charade.” Dez narrowed his eyes at the woman the Universe had stuck him with in some sort of cosmic joke. “You think I could fake the primal markings changing to brand me as your mate?” Dez pulled off his vest. “Do you see these waves that now cover my chest, right over my heart. Do you think I had any control over this? I’m contracted to live the rest of my life working in a mine on a distant planet. It’s not exactly the best time to discover my mate.”
“How do you know it’s me?”
“You touched me. My body reacted to the contact. It was instantaneous. That only happens with mates. It happened with my parents. After my sister was allowed to touch the prince, he too experienced the mate marking.” And, if Dez couldn’t come up with a solution to this situation before they reached Kolben, he would die.
“It can’t be. I don’t know if it’s a lie or a mistake, but this, you and I, mates, it’s not happening. I already refused to be mated to the male my parents chose. I don’t want a mate or babies. I left my planet to escape all that. This.” Cyra flicked her finger back and forth. “You and I? Not happening.” Cyra turned and left the bay.
Dez ached with the compulsion to follow her.
