Paused with a fist raised and ready to knock on the solid wood panel, Ram angled his head closer to listen. Hearing hushed conversation, he knocked. In his emotional state, he banged harder and louder than he’d intended, making the nearby light on the wall surge bright with a buzz before blinking out. The muffled voices inside went silent. An instant later, footsteps approached. He held his breath in anticipation of seeing her for the first time in months. When the door opened, he stared down into brown eyes instead of the vivid green he’d expected.

“Lana,” he said in confusion. “Where is Eryn? I was told she lives here.”

“She does. We’re roommates. But she left, Ram. She isn’t ready to talk to you.”

“I heard voices.” He looked past her shoulder, searching the room.

“It must have been the vid-screen.” The news was on behind her, but muted.

His eyes cut back to her. “Where did she go? Ready or not, she’ll have to talk to me.”

Her gaze shifted to the end of the hall. When his followed, he noted the lighted exit sign and started toward it.

“Wait.” She gripped his sleeve, her nails digging into his arm. As suddenly, she released him and stepped back. “I’m sorry. You must realize things have changed. She’s changed.”

“Haven’t we all? It’s no excuse for running to avoid difficulties.”

“You don’t understand. She hasn’t been well.”

“She’s ill? Why didn’t you say so?”

“Not in body, Ram.”

He stiffened. “It’s getting dark. I must find her.”

“She’s gone for a walk to think. And she’s heartsick over this, Ram.”

“Doubtful,” he scoffed. She’d been the one who left him, in an awkward position, at that. What right did she have to a troubled mind, except out of guilt, which was warranted?

“It’s true. You don’t know her like I do. About her past, what she endured.”

“She told me of her parents’ passing.”

Her head tipped to the side, and her eyes narrowed in confusion. “Her mother is gone, but her father isn’t dead, that we know of.”

“When she’d spoken of them, she used the word loss. I assumed—”

“Did she mention her brother,” Lana went on, “or her aunt and uncle?”

“No, what of them?”

“It isn’t for me to say.”

“You’ve opened this up, Lana. She isn’t going to tell me, so if it’s important, I need to hear it from you.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, indecision warring on her face, but he didn’t have all day. When he started to leave, she grabbed his arm again, as he expected.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Her mother died right after she turned twelve, leaving her father distraught. He shut down, and it fell to her to care for her eight-year-old brother. She had to grow up fast when, out of grief, her dad turned to the bottle—that means drank alcohol in excess—and he lost his job. This went on for about a year until, without a word, he up and left.”

“He abandoned his children? What kind of male does that?”

“Sadly, it isn’t uncommon, but let me finish. Her aunt and uncle took them in, and the situation there wasn’t much better.”

“How so?”

“Her uncle made advances.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“He took a sexual interest in Eryn.”

He flinched in shock. “Disgusting! At twelve, she was still a child.”

“Yes. She fended him off for a while, but it got worse as she developed. At fifteen, when he wouldn’t listen to ‘no’ any longer, she ran away, taking her brother, Jacob, with her. They lived on the streets until she found steady work. She took care of him until he was old enough to enlist in the military. With nothing to keep her here and no education to find a decent job, she enlisted, too.” When Lana’s gaze rose to his, a plea for understanding shone in her light-brown eyes. “Can you see from her upbringing why she doesn’t trust easily, especially men? And she’s independent, used to doing everything for herself from such a young age.”

“Her brother, where is he?”

“Killed in the line of duty.”

“Faex.” Much of her behavior was beginning to make sense, but could it justify what she’d done? “She has no one.”

“Only herself, and several good friends who care about her. At the time, duty and her mission came first, and she thought of little else—you must understand that. Then you came along, and whatever happened between you changed her, and shook her to her very core. She struggles with it, and it’s made her second-guess herself. For the bravest, most confident woman I’ve ever known, the change has been drastic.”

This gave him pause. He, too, was a product of his childhood and the trauma of losing both parents at a young age. In addition, as a dedicated warrior, he understood commitment to a cause greater than himself, but did it excuse her lies, trickery, and betrayal?

He couldn’t deal with any of it until he found her and made her stay in one place long enough to talk to him.

“I must go find her.”

“Please, be kind.”

He bristled at the comment. “No matter what many of you humans think, we aren’t barbarians. Ours ways are different, but neither of you gave Trask or me a chance to prove we can be kind and caring, and also be good mates.”

“How is Trask?” Her tone might have sounded casual, but he could tell it took an extreme effort.

“Keeping busy,” he answered dismissively. She had devastated Trask, much the same as Eryn had done to him when she’d left.

“Has he found his mate?”

“No, he thought you were the one. You can understand it may take him time to get past it.”

She nodded, looking away.

“I must find Eryn.”

“Of course. She left by the back door. There is a path to the road by the ocean. She goes there to think sometimes.”

“By the public road? Is she insane with all the protests going on?”

“I saw that on the news just now. The last I knew, the demonstrations were peaceful and hadn’t spread beyond the major cities. I don’t think Eryn was aware, either.”

“We had trouble here last night and again this morning.”

Her eyes darted to the windows at the end of the hall. “We’re fenced in, and the area where she walks is wooded with lots of shade. There’s a good chance she won’t be seen or bothered.”

But she spoke to the back of his head as he strode to the stairwell. Taking the steps two at a time, he moved down the three flights in a flash.

“Headstrong woman,” he muttered. “Thinks she’s invincible. We’ll have to work hard to curb that impulse.”

On the ground floor, he burst through the door, searching the wooded area behind the building, frowning when he realized it covered acres.

“Eryn,” he called. Only sea birds squawking overhead answered.

Several dirt paths led deep into the woods. Choosing the one closest to the door, he took it at a jog, hoping he’d picked the right one of the three, and it would lead him to his little rebel where he’d find her safe. However, a feeling of dread knotted deep in his chest, causing him to hurry faster. The woman had a penchant for trouble, and no matter which end of the universe she wound up on, it always seemed to find her.

“This time, make it so I find her first.”

---

Wandering along the eastern perimeter, the sound of the incoming tide crashing over the breakers matched the turmoil inside her. In the distance, the water met the horizon, appearing gray as dusk settled in. Wanting to watch the waves roll up on the beach while still daylight, she moved south along the tall chain-link fence, searching for a better vantage point. After a short time, she found a spot on a rise high enough to see beyond the coastal road. Looking past the dunes lined with sea oats to the darkening water, she noted much of the blueness had already disappeared with the setting sun, and she could barely make out the white-capped surf crashing into the shore.

“I don’t even know if Primaria has an ocean.” Sadness filling her, she leaned against the fence, mesmerized by the sight, taking it all in and consigning it to memory.

A loud bang interrupted her peace, and she scanned the road for the source. Locating red glowing lights, she found the culprit—a relic of a gas-powered vehicle. Beaten up and long past due for a tune-up, the truck’s decibel level with its coughing, sputtering engine risked several noise citations. The only thing louder was the boisterous shouts of the vehicle’s occupants.

The car slowed and pulled onto the roadside across the way in a spot marked public beach access. Expecting a bunch of teenagers to pour out, she was surprised when the whooping, hollering group turned out to be adult men, most appearing to be in their thirties, at least.

One staggered out, and fell headlong into the scrub beyond the shoulder. When the others laughed at their companion’s misfortune, she credited their ill-mannered display to one too many beers after work and dismissed them, moving away. Giving up her view, she went in search of another break in the shoreline before the sun set.

She’d walked a few yards when she heard a woman talking. “Cal, look over there. Do you think she’s one of the mates they reported about on the news?”

Eryn stopped short and glanced up. An older couple stared at her from the sidewalk on her side of the road, no more than twenty feet away. They were dressed like tourists, the woman in a summery dress with a big tote hanging from her shoulder, the man in shorts and a floral shirt. In their sixties, she guessed, considering their gray hair, they appeared harmless, probably out for an after-dinner stroll, instead of mischief like the band of drunken oafs.

“Evening, folks,” Eryn greeted them with a smile and a small wave. “Nice night for a walk.”

“She speaks English, Delores. Guess she’s one of us, not them.”

She wanted to ask what they expected, Swahili, but instead explained, “I’m American. There are no female Primarian’s here, and the males all speak our language, perfectly, in fact.” Used to dealing with such questions in her role as a counselor with EPIC, she took her explanation further. “They are much like us.”

“They’re aliens, child. How could they be anything at all like us?” the woman demanded, her face soured. “Have you been drinking the Kool-Aid? Or, are you one of those harlots lured in by the promise of a handsome face and a huge cock?”

Eryn started, taken aback. Had she heard right?

“I hear their odd-colored eyes put them in a trance,” the man replied, addressing his wife, not seeming surprised by her insulting words or tone. When he looked directly at Eryn, he shocked her further by adding, “It might not be the slut’s fault.”

Stunned by their foul comments, she was slow to react when the woman sent a shower of pebbles her way. Something sharp bit into her cheek, and dirt stung her eyes. She staggered back, batting her burning, watering eyes, while gingerly touching the stinging spot on her cheek. Her fingers came away wet with blood.

“Stoning is too good for you, whore,” the older woman shouted.

“Now, Delores,” the man told her as she bent over to reload, “we don’t want any trouble with the MPs.”

“We’ll have trouble from God if we stand by and let this foulness pass.”

Ignoring, rather than engaging or arguing with the ignorant, seemed the best course of action since she was alone. And she had no intention of waiting around to be pelted with more rocks and foul language. She turned, hurrying back along the path where she’d come from.

“I’ll pray for your harlot’s soul, Jezebel,” the woman called after her.

Eryn rolled her eyes, which still watered. Religious fanatics. She never understood how their narrow minds worked and why they didn’t see that if God created the universe, He also made the Primarians and everything outside their own limited scope of awareness. This small faction here in the US and in other pockets around the world reacted out of fear, judging what they didn’t understand. Worse, they didn’t take the time to learn, too xenophobic and small-minded to want to.

“Well, well, well…” The slurred male voice caught her unawares, stopping her dead in her tracks in the middle of her hastily executed retreat. “Lookee here, boys. We’ve found ourselves a tasty little treat.”

“Bet she’s one of them alien-lovin’ whores,” another said, his voice filled with excitement, almost jubilant.

Frozen dead in her tracks, Eryn glanced over to see three men standing at the fence not ten feet away. Since the chain link hadn’t protected her from the innocent-looking senior citizens, she wasn’t taking any chances. She started to rush by, but the path passed where they stood.

“I believe it is,” assumed one of the others. “And from the shape of her, she’s spread her slut legs and taken alien cock already.”

“How do you know?” the giddy one asked, his eyes fixed on her breasts, all but salivating. She looked down. Her overlong top, loose just a few weeks ago, clung to her more pronounced curves, her fuller breasts, and round belly. She crossed her arms to shield herself from his ogling as he licked his lips.

“Her big belly, idiot!” the first one replied.

“Fuck, Ronnie. I think you’re right. She’s breeding one of those fuckers!” the overexcited one exclaimed.

Not eager to stick around and be gawked at or to listen to more filth, she ran past them, but as the path veered back into the trees, she encountered three more blocking her escape route. They formed a wall of grinning, leering ignorance—in T-shirts and wifebeaters—on this side of the fence.

“You’re trespassing on government property,” she warned, backing up even when she heard the chain link rattle behind her.

“What’s a pretty gal like you doing spreading your legs and giving it up for those creatures? Couldn’t you find a real man to fuck? An Earth man?” The smirking creep in the middle stood taller than her, and from the bulging biceps displayed by his sleeveless shirt, he appeared strong and fit, despite his beer gut which was bigger than her baby bump. At least she had a good excuse.

“Maybe she prefers green cock, Slim.” This one, much shorter than the others, dressed in a stained, plain-white t-shirt and baggy jeans, rudely grabbed his crotch while he ogled her.

“I don’t know about green, Bobby,” the third one replied, “but I hear they’re hung like mules.”

“Is that it, slut? You like giant, alien dick between your legs?” Beer gut, aka Slim, seemed to be their leader. He moved closer, his friends following suit and circling around her. A quick glance behind her revealed the other three had climbed the fence and moved in to surround her.

“Let me pass,” she insisted, her fear mounting. If she had to fight her way past them, she would; however, six to one odds weren’t good.

“I hear they’re rough with their women,” the short man added. “They tie ’em to bondage machines for fun and spank their ass when they disobey.”

When Slim’s gaze dropped to her breasts, she regretted not wearing one of the loose-fitting tops she’d bought recently. Instead of testing the elasticity of her regular clothing, she should have been in maternity clothes weeks ago but had resisted, knowing it would have been a declaration of surrender to her condition.

While Slim gaped at her, he adjusted his jeans in front, which sent Eryn’s stomach roiling with revulsion. “You like rough and kinky, Red?”

“I can do that.” From behind her, Bobby reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her near. The smell of stale beer on his breath made her gag.

She yanked her arm free and tried to move past him, but he sidestepped, coming up against her.

“What’s your hurry? If you want big cock, you don’t need to search the galaxy. I can beat your ass good then fuck your brains out right here at home.”

Slim elbowed him out of the way, shoving him back a step while he barked with laughter. “You got a needle dick, Bobby. Vanessa told me you did when I fucked her last night. Said I filled her up like you never did.”

“Fuck you, Slim.”

“Don’t lie to the lady, Bob,” Ronnie teased. “You’ll get her hopes up.”

“We’ve all seen ya in the locker room,” an unnamed one added. “You ain’t foolin’ no one except yerself with your braggin’.”

While the others heaped on more insults, in this spur-of-the-moment roasting, Eryn searched the ground for a weapon, anything, a sharp rock, or a large stick. Slim noticed when she bent to retrieve a stout branch and kicked it out of her reach. He moved in, reaching out to touch her hair. She flinched and shoved his hand away.

Unperturbed by her rejection, he continued his taunting. “Now me, little red, I’m not elephant huge, but I can give you a hard fucking with the eight inches I’m packing.”

“Using what ruler?” the insulted Bobby shouted. “More like four, which means I got you beat by at least two.”

“You mean beat off your puny two inches, don’t you, needle dick?” another shot back.

“Asshole,” Bobby cried as he lunged forward, bumping into Slim who shoved him in return. At first, the others only laughed, but when they got caught up in the pushing and shoving, doing some of their own, Eryn took the opening and bolted.

“She’s getting away!”

“Get her. We’ll all fuck her ’n show her what she’s missing by hooking up with alien dick.”

As she fled, she ducked under low hanging tree limbs and jumped the downed branches in her path, which wasn’t easy in the near dark. A string of foul curses and grunts rang out behind her when her pursuers collided with what she had successfully dodged. She didn’t dare look back, planning to take her satisfaction from their pain after she reached safety.

Despite their difficulty with the natural obstacle course, pounding footsteps—lots of them—followed her down the path.

Before her pregnancy, she’d have taken them on. Now, she wasn’t as quick or agile, and had a baby to protect. Running was her best option, but the added weight and her shifted center of gravity cost her a step, maybe two. Loud huffing and wheezing right behind her told her one of them had closed in.

A loud grunt just inches away preceded a hard tug on the back of her head. With a fistful of her hair, he tugged hard, bringing her to a painful halt. Reaching back, she wrapped her fingers around his wrists, trying to break his hold.

“Let me go!” Tears from her searing scalp stung her eyes.

“After I make…you scream with pleasure…only an Earth man’s cock…can give you.” Slim. She recognized his scathing tone even broken up by his gasps for air.

Despite the burning pain, she released his wrists and raked her nails down his face then slammed her heel backward into his knee.

Hissing and cursing a blue streak, her offensive sending him off-balance, his grip loosened, and she broke free. It took a few staggering steps to find her balance, but she took off again, digging deep to build up speed. If Slim caught her, it would go bad for her.

“God damn alien slut fucker made me bleed,” Slim wailed, sounding farther behind her.

“Get her. If she reaches the parking lot, she’s gone.” Bobby’s voice sounded more distant, too.

She might have a shot.

On her next step, a body came flying at her, taking her down hard. She put out her hands to save herself and her baby. Her knees struck the ground first, jarring her body, and her upper torso whipped forward under his crushing weight. A bright light flashed in front of her eyes as the side of her head struck something solid. Agony seared through her brain. Dazed, she lay motionless, unable to see, yet aware of the hands moving over her, tearing at her clothes.

“Release the female, or die where you stand.” Not a threat but a deadly promise, Ram’s menacing growl cut through the chaos. His presence sent a sense of relief washing over her.

“Shit, Slim, it’s one of them Primarians!” someone exclaimed.

Although she couldn’t see, she knew several of the thugs backed away. Not as bright as his buddies, the man pinning her to the ground didn’t listen, snarling over his shoulder instead. “Find another Earth woman to fuck, space man. This slut is mine, and I’m gonna make her pay.”

Ram’s response, both loud and terrifying, was unlike anything she’d ever heard before, a mix between the growl of an angry bear, and the blood chilling roar of a lion. Then, she could breathe again when Slim’s considerable weight disappeared from her back.

“Wrong, asshole,” Ram informed in a deep, horrifying, nearly unrecognizable voice. “This one belongs to me.”

Unable to lift her head, she cracked open an eyelid. With her cheek resting against a mix of twigs, dirt, and sand, she strained to see Ram who stood over her. She followed his booted feet, up his rigid frame to his face, which had become a mask of fury, his eyes glowing with an ominous light. In his hands, he held a squirming, squealing, terrified Slim, his feet kicking uselessly at air as they dangled at least a foot off the ground.

Her attacker, either too full of hatred or too stupid to realize his life literally hung by a thread, used what little air he had left to choke out, “Alien animal…and his filthy whore. Deserve each other.”

The next moment, Ram sent him flying. Eryn tried to track where, but her vision had turned blurry, and there were two of everything. Her hearing remained intact, and she didn’t miss the loud crack that reverberated through the woods like a gunshot, squelching his screams. An eerie, all-encompassing silence followed.

Seconds, or maybe minutes ticked by, she couldn’t be sure, but she didn’t hear the others’ terrified voices for what seemed like a while.

“Did you see that?”

“Check out the angle of his neck. I think he snapped his spine.”

“No shit, and by throwing him twenty yards, at least.”

Another menacing growl sounded over top of her.

“The fucker killed Slim,” Bobby cried. “Let’s get him.”

She groaned Ram’s name, although their escalating voices likely drowned out any sound she made. Five-to-one odds placed him in jeopardy as it had her. Except this was Ram, the Master Warrior, a bigger, scarier badass than any of these wannabes could ever hope to be in their wildest dreams.

“I don’t know,” one of the men whined. “He’s pretty damn huge.”

“More like a giant,” another exclaimed then proved he had more intelligence than Slim and Bobby combined when he added, “I’m outta here.”

Twigs snapping and the sound of retreating feet followed.

“I suggest the rest of you follow your cowardly friend,” Ram’s low voice rumbled, promising more of what he’d already dished out.

Bobby, the stubborn idiot, still didn’t heed the warning. “Cowards? Who are you calling cowards, you murderous alien bastard?” he bellowed.

If she could have managed it, Eryn would have rolled her eyes. He was half Ram’s size, and, with their numbers reduced, he obviously had a death wish.

“We can take him together,” he screamed at the others.

Beside her, the Master Warrior took a step forward. And with that one subtle move, Bobby’s buds, who he still pleaded with for support of his cause, hightailed it. Eryn was sorry she missed the sight of their retreat, but she couldn’t mistake the thud of their footsteps running on the sandy path, while they called to each other to move faster, branches cracking and swishing in their wake as they hauled ass.

“You’re on your own, little man,” Ram told the lone holdout in a chilling voice. “Are you foolish enough to stand toe-to-toe in combat with a Primarian warrior?”

“I’ll see you pay for what you’ve done,” came his whiny reply then he fled, too, his retreat not as loud but recognizable.

Eryn imagined it in her head, the short, redneck, weasel running with his tail between his legs, the whole time hitching up his dirty, baggy pants in the face of Ram’s towering, intimidating presence. She would have laughed if she didn’t hurt so damn much, but a weak moan was all she could manage.

She sensed movement beside her. A moment later, fingers brushed over her cheek, and he gently swept the hair from her face.

“Little rebel, how have they hurt you?” His voice remained strained with residual anger.

She tried to answer, to blurt out the apology that had been building for three long months, but she couldn’t speak or make a sound. And she couldn’t see him any longer, her vision completely blurred, nor could she blink to clear her eyes. She didn’t have command of her body in the least. Something was very wrong.

A sudden wave of nausea gripped her. On the heels of it came another stabbing pain. This time, not where she’d struck her head, but much lower and beneath her, knifing through her prone frame in a searing grip of agony.

Confused, she closed her eyes and tried to pinpoint the source. Had she landed on something, a fallen branch, perhaps? It didn’t let up, worsening instead. Where the pain had started out low, it built in a steady wave, becoming stronger and harder, until it encompassed her entire middle section.

With misery racking her body, she lay helpless, unable to move and bring herself ease. Her pulse pounded faster, matching the throbbing ache of her head wound. Things shifted beneath her as if the ground tilted, and everything started to go dark. A different blackness than night settling around them or what she saw behind her closed eyes, it was all-consuming and frightening.

Another pain ripped through her belly, accompanied by a gush of fluid between her legs. My water broke! The baby is coming! She cried out to Ram for help, but her frozen body wouldn’t respond, and she didn’t make a sound. Still, the words, too soon, echoed in her head.

---

While crouching beside Eryn’s prone form, Ram divided his attention between her and the five human males retreating into the woods.

Once they’d gone, he focused solely on Eryn lying motionless in the dirt. “Little rebel, can you hear me? Say something, so I know you’re all right.”

She didn’t speak, and other than the rapid rise and fall of her chest, she didn’t move.

Taking care, he rolled her over, keeping her neck, head, and spine in alignment as he did so. Blood matted her hair and coated her beautiful face. Seeing her injured and lifeless like this shocked him, but the sight of her swollen, pregnant belly startled him even more. He reached out, settling his hand gently over where his child lay as his eyes shifted back to its mother, still unmoving.

He knew from his training, blows to the head could be a tricky thing. He debated whether to move her and risk further harm or leave her here, defenseless while he went for help. His gaze shot to the trees where the Earth men had fled. They could come back for him with weapons or to finish what they’d planned for her. Assault. Rape. Or worse, seeking revenge for his killing of their friend.

No. He’d have to take her with him.

He eased his arm beneath her shoulders and rolled her against his chest without jarring or moving her head. Once secure, he moved his other hand beneath her hips. Feeling wetness, he searched for more blood but saw only the darker shade of fabric where wetness saturated her men’s pants. Fear tore at his insides—both Eryn and the child were in serious jeopardy.

His decision unequivocal now, Ram lifted her with the utmost caution. Then quick and steady, he retraced his path back through the woods. When he reached the parking lot behind her apartment building, he glanced around, cursing himself for walking here instead of taking one of the base hovercrafts. At the time, he thought the walk would help cool his anger before confronting her.

In the glow of the streetlight, he looked down at her, noting her pallor and the shallowness of her breathing. None of it looked good to him, and, with ever-mounting fear for them both, he hurried toward the main road. With a sliver of luck, when he approached, so did a vehicle.

“Halt! Emergency.” His voice boomed in the silence of the evening.

The oncoming military Jeep pulled alongside him. “What’s wrong, sir?”

“She was attacked.”

“Attacked?” he repeated in horror. “Here on the base?” Although the man had questions, he didn’t waste time asking them, instead leaning over to push the door open.

“Yes, by six men in the woods by the eastern perimeter.” While Ram wanted to go after the others and hurt them as much as she was hurting, he climbed into the vehicle. His vengeance would have to wait.

“Six,” the man exclaimed. “Motherfuckers!”

“They now number five.” Although he sensed the soldier’s gaze upon him, he didn’t look up, nor did he care what he thought. Any Primarian male would have done what he had while defending his mate. And, in that moment, Eryn was his sole concern.

Once he’d settled, with her secure in his arms, taking care to protect her head and neck, did he glance at the man behind the wheel. “I will seek out and deal with the others later. Right now, she needs emergency medical attention.”

The man nodded while he accelerated. “I’ll have you to the hospital in minutes.”

Ram shifted his attention back to Eryn, tracing over every familiar feature. She was as beautiful as he remembered, and he wanted nothing more than for her to wake and reveal the brilliant green eyes that had plagued his dreams. But she didn’t move, not so much as a blink or a grimace of pain.

A thump against his side drew his gaze downward, away from her face. Unconscious in his arms, lay still. When it came again, from where her rounded belly rested against his flat one, he realized the thumps were their child stirring.

He struggled to contain the cry pushing up from his chest—both joy and anguish.

When he heard the shouts in the woods—several males and one distressed female—he’d pushed harder. As the path made a sharp curve, he’d seen her running a split second before one of the males tackled her from behind, his weight on her back and his momentum throwing her to the ground. She’d hit with such force, he worried not just for her, but the baby, too.

Surely the kick, strong enough for him to feel, was a positive sign.

The vehicle took a curve fast, causing her to shift in his arms.

“Careful,” he advised the driver with a growl. The slashes on his uniform and the band on his sleeve indicated his rank and that he was an MP. “She struck her head, Corporal. And I’m not sure if her spine is stable, but I couldn’t leave her alone in the woods. She’s also pregnant and her water has broken.”

“I understand, sir. She’s in bad shape. I’ll take it easy, but she doesn’t look like she has the luxury of time.”

As the vehicle sped along, accelerating in the straightaways and slowing to keep from jostling her in the turns, Ram wished he had the power to control time. If so, he’d roll back the clock and begin anew with Eryn.

With her wild rebellious nature, he didn’t know if his reaction would be much different, though he hoped he would take another path. Consumed with regret for believing her when she told him they hadn’t bonded all those months ago, he had himself to blame for this. If he’d listened to his instincts and claimed her the first day as he wanted, all of this could have been avoided. She’d be safe on Primaria where she should be while anticipating the birth of their child.

He also felt guilty for the unrelenting fury that had followed for months. When he thought back on it now, he realized it wasn’t so much anger, but wounded pride. Being bested by a small female was difficult for a warrior to take, yet he’d do it repeatedly if it would ensure both Eryn and their child would be all right.

The Jeep took another sharp curve, but when he looked up to give the MP another warning, he saw the red-and-white emergency symbol up ahead. Never had any sight brought him so much comfort. They would know what to do to save her and their unborn child. They had to, because the alternative was unthinkable.