Vera wiped a grease-stained hand across her forehead. She needed something to kick. Simply cursing and throwing her tools wasn’t working anymore.

She glowered at the monstrosity she called a ship in front of her. She had cobbled it together out of scrap metal and stolen machinery from the Space Station Materials Preparation and Construction department here on Earth where she worked four days a week. In her spare time, she’d constructed her ship, hardly sleeping except for when Niva forced her to.

The ship that would take her home. To Kladuu. But right now, it wouldn’t take her two inches off the ground.

“Why won’t you fucking work?” Without anything to kick, she threw the ultrasonic welder at the hunk of metal.

“That language is hardly necessary,” the Kladian AI scolded.

Instead of destroying the entire system, Vera had extracted the AI component from the Vilkan ship in the final moments before human ships had intercepted them in the atmosphere above Earth. After the descent and the following days of questioning, Vera had managed to smuggle the component past security by keeping it between her back teeth and cheek. She’d installed it into both her new ship and her home’s monitoring system. The first time it spoke to her, she’d nearly had a heart attack.

Now, sometimes, she wished it would shut up.

“I really couldn’t care less what a computer program thinks of my language.”

“It’s not me who cares. You aren’t presenting yourself in the manner that a lady of a Vilkan Beta would. I am merely reminding you of the role you will play when you return to Kladuu.”

Vera growled and doubled back over her work on the dampeners. Etiquette lessons from a bodiless robot. Just her luck.

“Okay, if you’re so smart, why can’t I get the gravitational dampeners to engage?”

“The malfunction is in the coupling connection. The material you have used, which you referred to as titanium, does not have the proper conductivity for the energy we are sending through its system. As I’ve mentioned eighty-four times previously, if you would merely obtain some grotium, we could easily solve the current problem.”

“We don’t have grotium on Earth.”

“It’s available in abundance on Kladuu.”

“And when I get there, I’ll get you a damn elephant ton of it, but first, we have to get there!”

Niva snickered from the back door of the small cottage the two women shared. The arrangement hadn’t been discussed—they both just assumed they’d stay together—and when it became clear that Niva wanted to return to Kladuu as well, they became a team in trying to find any way to get there.

“Why do you argue with that thing?”

“I do not argue with Vera. I am simply giving her the information required to complete her task.”

Niva laughed, a throaty sound that Vera rarely heard.

“And now the robot thinks it’s funny. You’re the thing, not me.” Vera grumbled at the AI, kicking at a patch of grass that had actually managed to grow in the desiccated earth beneath her.

They had purchased this land by pooling the money the military had given them as a payoff for not going public about their experience with the Kladians. It was about an hour from Vera’s workstation and offered plenty of privacy. They owned all the land they could see, and they had a dedicated well that tested below average for radon, lead, and parasitic contamination. It was almost impossible to find fresh water that wasn’t teeming with organisms hell-bent on killing humans these days, so the well was what had sold Vera on the land. They didn’t have to get their water from the government, which meant they didn’t have to worry about what the government did to remove contaminants, or what they added.

In the days following her return to Earth, when her heart was broken and she couldn’t stop throwing up, Vera had developed a deep distrust toward the American Corporation’s military government. Especially Commander Gideon, who had seen the truth in Vera’s eyes and known. But no matter how much he hounded her, she maintained her stupidly relieved act of finally being home and safe from the barbarians in space.

There had been no data on board to track their path back to Kladuu, and though the other women had spilled the shape-shifting secret within minutes of being interrogated, none of them actually knew where Kladuu was. But it didn’t stop Commander Gideon from having Vera stalked and watched constantly. The bastard.

“Drink this.” Niva handed Vera a glass of water. No ice cubes, just like she liked it. She hated the feeling of the super-cold water in her stomach when the rest of her was boiling alive. “You have to sleep. It’s not good for you to push so hard.”

“It’s fine.” Vera waved off the old argument.

“What about …”

“The baby. You can say it. It’s hardly a secret anymore.” Vera ran a hand down her front, pulling the loose-fitting shirt tight over her emerging baby bulge.

“Gideon doesn’t know yet,” Niva soothed. “You two are safe.”

“Maybe not yet, but soon, everyone is going to know, and they’ll do the math to figure out when I got pregnant. I have to finish this ship before Gideon takes me in for testing.” She shuddered at the thought. Her hand cupped her tiny bump and held tight. It haunted her nights, a nightmare of scalpels and blood, Gideon standing above her and leering down as he cut out her baby.

Rayner’s baby.

“You’ll get the ship working before that happens.”

“But what if I don’t—”

“Incoming drone. Cloaking technology engaging.”

Niva gasped at the AI’s sudden voice. Lights flashed around the ship in a bright spark before the cloaking field engaged over the entire yard, covering the junk pile, the ship, even the workbench. Vera dropped her glass, water splashing across her boots, and hurried toward the cottage so she wouldn’t be cloaked along with the ship.

Vera knew Gideon was behind the constant routine scans of her house. She might have respected the American commander once, but she hated him now. She took a seat beside Niva and waited for the drone to fly over.

The AI blasted an alarm. The house lights flickered in warning right before the cloaking technology covering the yard turned off.

Off was bad. Off meant Gideon could see her ship, which contained an AI with far too much information in her programs.

Vera surged to her feet, fighting off the instant dizziness. The drone would be overhead any second.

“What’s going on?” she demanded the AI, panic tainting her tone.

“Entry … Command … Invalid …”

Niva jumped up to run back in the house. “I’ll check the front!”

The back door had just slammed behind Niva when a puff of dust bloomed from the field behind Vera’s house. Her ears popped, and the sound of an environment hatch being released sounded across the barren landscape.

“What is—” Niva started from the other side of the door.

“I don’t know! Stay inside!”

The wind picked up as a ship uncloaked. Dust spiraled around the cooling thrusters and the sleek curves made of alien material so unlike Vera’s junk pile in the yard. The hatch opened with a whoosh of decompressing air. And he stepped out.

Rayner. Her Rayner. Her mate.

He lifted his arm and shielded his eyes against the sun as he paused at the top of the ship’s ramp. He spotted Vera instantly, his nostrils flaring, a smile pushing at the corners of his mouth.

“Oh-my-gosh!” Niva squealed as she spotted the Kladian over Vera’s shoulder. She jumped up and down on her toes. “Oh-my-gosh!”

But Vera felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. A chill worked across her arms, prickling the skin. Tears welled in the back of her throat. For a horrible second, she thought she would puke for the fourth time today.

Rayner strode forward, still smiling, his flesh rippling with excitement and desire. But he looked thinner to Vera. His cheeks were hollow, and dark stubble lined his jaw. The flight suit hung a little looser on his tall frame, and he walked tenderly.

Vera shook her head. The tears moved to her eyes, threatening. He’d been hurt.

“He’s here!” Niva gushed. “He came to get you! Oh, it’s just like a holoromance! He’s really here! Do you think Gerrit came too?”

With a sideways glance at her ship, which Vera had the sudden urge to defend, Rayner stopped at the bottom of the porch stairs. He looked up at her, still shielding his eyes against the sun. He beamed. “Vera.” He spoke her name with such love and relish that Vera instantly burst into tears.

“What’s wrong?” she choked as his smile fell. “Something happened to you, didn’t it? They hurt you. They hurt you because of me. I knew they would. I knew it.”

“It was a fight with Savas. I’m okay. It just took me a while to heal. That’s why it’s taken me so long to get back to you. I vow it. I would have come sooner.” He glanced back at the cobbled together mass of machinery that was doing a terrible impersonation of a space shuttle. “Did you build this?”

“Vera constructed the entire vehicle herself with minimal technical guidance.”

Rayner looked up to the skies. “Where is the AI? Why didn’t you destroy it?”

“I needed it to get back ho—to get back to you,” Vera said. She hiccupped around a tear. Behind her, Niva rubbed her back in soothing circles.

“You were going to try to get to Kladuu in that thing?”

“Both of us were,” Niva chirped up. “It’s been slow going since I’m not much help with the mechanics and with Gideon keeping tabs on us all the time.”

Rayner’s hard stare homed in on Niva. “Why is that human keeping tabs on you two?”

“He doesn’t believe us about not knowing where Kladuu is.” Vera swayed slightly on her feet.

Niva steadied her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I keep telling you to drink more water. You’re going to get sick again.”

Rayner drew in a deep breath, scenting the air. He frowned. Advancing up a few steps, he stopped just below Vera. Close enough to reach out and touch her, but he held back. “Why are you sick? Your scent smells different.”

She was glad he was keeping his distance, because she wasn’t sure she could hold the hysteria in if he touched her. She felt ready to snap, a brittle limb in the wind of this arid place.

“What’s wrong?” Rayner pressed, his eyes serious with concern. “Vera, tell me.”

She placed a hand on her belly and met his brilliant green eyes.

His eyes darted from her touch to her face and back again. He sucked in a sharp breath of understanding. An uncontrolled smile surged across his face. “You’re pregnant? How long? When? Are you okay? You should sit down.”

The exhaustion of the past few months hit Vera all at once. With her hormones raging out of control upon finally seeing Rayner again, she was too overwhelmed to process her emotions. She’d dreamed of this moment so often, so much so that reality felt like a warped version of her life.

A sob tore from her throat. Before she even realized he’d moved, Rayner was in front of her, his hands cupping her cheeks, his thumbs brushing away her tears.

Vera took a shaky breath. “I’m almost three months along. She’s fine.”

“She?” he breathed. A hum vibrated through his chest so loudly Vera both felt and heard the sound.

“I can’t go to a doctor yet because of Gideon, but I think it’s a girl.”

“You need a doctor. Right now,” he commanded like the warrior he was. “Gerrit is Alpha. Savas is gone. You can come home now. It’s safe.”

“Early scans indicate the baby is in good enough health for travel, sir.”

The AI’s reassurance did little to assuage the worry in Rayner’s eyes.

Vera pushed his hands away from her face. She couldn’t think when he was touching her. It made her belly flip and flutter. “And the rebellion?”

“Settled. We’re working with Decallian, who the servants elected as their representative, to work on integrating them better into the clan. It’s slow, but we’re making progress. And now that you’ll be with me, I’ll be strong enough to help Gerrit. I—”

He cut off like he’d said too much. Vera’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? Why weren’t you strong enough before? Why did it take you three months to heal?”

He shook his head, his focus dipping to her belly. “It’s nothing—”

“Tell me!” Vera swayed again. Niva wrapped an arm of solidarity around her waist. “What happened to you?”

“After a true mating bond is established,” Rayner said slowly, like he didn’t want to upset her, “if either mate dies or if they’re separated, it will slowly kill the other. We call it moon madness.”

Vera had begun to tremble as he talked.

“Maybe you should sit down,” Niva suggested. Vera saw her exchange a worried glance with Rayner.

“She’s right—” he tried.

“No,” Vera growled. She scrubbed her hands across her cheeks to dry them. “You knew. You knew you would die when you sent me away. You knew.”

“It was the only way to keep you safe, and I owed a duty to my clan, to the servants. Vera, I wasn’t going to die a coward. I was going to accept my fate—come as it may—with my head held high and righting as many wrongs as I could before I went down. It was the only way, but I eventually healed enough. And the madness held off. Clan Vilka is finally safe for you, and I was healthy enough to come for you. The closer I got to you, the stronger I became.”

He was here. He was safe. The mountain—her home—was safe. None of it made sense. “H-how did you find me?”

“I came to Earth and followed the bond.”

In her heart, Vera knew he was right about her leaving and him staying behind. But the heartbreak was a bitch to let go of. That anger had fueled her manic work on the ship, and the pain had allowed her to keep her eyes pried open until late in the night as she and the AI worked through the mechanics of getting home.

But now her mate stood before her, and none of those emotions were needed to fuel her anymore.

“How is Gerrit Alpha? What happened with Savas?” she asked to stall as she worked through the twisted-up feelings tugging at her heart.

“Savas killed Kaveh and escaped to the jungle.” He shook his head, and Vera could see the etching of pain on his face. “He took a contingent of his loyalists and … and Nestan.”

Vera’s heart sank. “Nestan?”

“I don’t know if he’s still alive,” Rayner said.

Niva made a sound of distress beside Vera. “Is Gerrit okay?”

Rayner’s jaw flexed. “He doesn’t talk about it. He’s different now, Niva.”

Niva whimpered.

Vera threaded her arm around Niva’s waist, and they held each other.

“Vera,” Rayner said, bordering on pleading, “come home with me. Please.”

Vera took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “You have to promise me, Rayner. You have to say the words or we’re”—she placed a hand on her belly—“not going anywhere with you. I can’t go through this heartbreak again.”

“I’ll never leave. I vow it upon the moons of Kladuu. We’re bonded, mated. When we get back, we will make it binding to the clan. The three of us will be a family.”

A family. A home. A place where she was equal. It was all she’d wanted. Rayner was all she’d wanted, and somehow, they’d made it through hell and come out on the other side with so much more. So much life.

Finally, the wall tumbled inside Vera’s heart. She squeezed Niva and smiled at Rayner, whose face crumpled with relief. “Four. Niva is coming too.”

“Then four it is,” Rayner promised, shooting a grin at the young girl. “I promise, Vera. I vow it on all the moons.”

Niva laughed softly and kissed Vera’s cheek before stepping back. “I’ll go grab a few things. You two just kiss and make up already.”

The porch door slapped closed behind her, the sound of her running feet echoing through the cottage.

“I love you, Vera,” Rayner said, stepping closer to her.

“Kiss me. Just kiss me.” She lifted her face to his, and like she was made of precious glass, he held her face, lowering his lips to hers.

After a moment, Rayner pulled away and put a hand to her belly, cupping the tiny swell. “A baby. Our baby.”

Vera leaned into his hold, her head on his chest. “Take me home, Rayner.”

“Anywhere in the universe you want to go.” He kissed the top of her head.

“Home,” she said, smiling, her heart so full she could burst. “To Kladuu, where we belong.”

* * *

* * *