Vera helped Niva lie back on the alien’s giant bed. She pulled the feather-soft blanket over Niva’s legs before retrieving a small towel from the attached bathroom, which she’d used to clean her split lip before Rayner returned with Niva.

With the towel, she cleaned the blood from the girl’s face. When she finished and the towel was pink with blood, Vera sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed back Niva’s tangled locks to see her eyes.

The pain and distance in her gaze almost undid Vera. Fighting her own tears, she pulled Niva into a tight hug. The young woman clung to Vera just as tightly. Beneath the too-large shirt that wasn’t her own, Niva’s shoulders shook against nearly silent sobs. Vera ran her hand up and down the girl’s back in soothing strokes as if any comfort could be found in a moment like this.

Sniffling, Niva leaned back against the pillows. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

Vera’s heart ached. The impact of everything that had happened in such a short amount of time crashed into her and threatened to pull her under. But it couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow it. She would get these women home. It was her responsibility. “How badly are you hurt?”

The girl’s lip trembled. “He was going to do worse to me. He …” She swallowed visibly. “He threatened to …”

“It’s okay,” Vera soothed, but on the inside, she felt a wave of relief. Things could have been much, much worse for Niva. This attack, this brutalization, was already bad enough. “You’re safe now.”

“Rayner promised no one else will hurt me.”

“Who’s Rayner?”

Niva’s beautiful features smoothed slightly, her stark eyes coming to life with what could only be described as hero worship as she looked over Vera’s shoulder. “Him.”

Vera turned, feeling his presence behind her. He’d closed the front door to his home and crossed the small space of the central living area to the bedroom door, where he waited quietly, giving the women space. He stood tall and strong, arms crossed over his bare chest, which was corded with rippling muscles and thick veins. His pants hung low around his tapered hips.

If he’d caught her staring at the smooth skin right above the line of his pants, he didn’t embarrass her by showing it. He inclined his head toward her in the subtlest of bows. “I’m Rayner, Beta to Kaveh of Clan Vilka.”

Vera had never imagined an alien could be attractive, but this guy hit all the right buttons in the looks department. And he’d saved Niva from Drausus. But attraction aside, she was still a prisoner on this planet. She tried to keep her voice cold as she asked, “Where are the other women?”

“They’re being removed as we speak.”

Vera’s spine stiffened. “And what exactly are you doing with them?”

He held out his hands as if to hold her back. “They’ll not be harmed. I’m having them placed in a temporary residence where they can clean up, eat, and get some sleep on real beds.”

“Vera?” Niva’s fingertips touched Vera’s arm. “We’ll be okay. Rayner is going to help us.”

“Sure,” she said, struggling to keep her voice calm. She already knew how Rayner was going to help them. Servitude wasn’t her idea of happy patronage. “Try to get some rest. I’ll be right outside the bedroom door, okay?”

Niva nodded, her bruised eyes already shutting. Before Vera had even reached the door, the young girl was breathing deeply. Niva needed more than a giant bed to sleep in; she needed her home and family and to not be on an alien planet.

Rayner stepped back as Vera left the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind her. She raised her eyes to the massive alien and said, “If you expect me to thank you for saving her, I won’t.”

The lines around his eyes deepened. “I don’t.”

Gritting her teeth against the obvious sadness in Rayner’s voice, Vera said, “I want to talk to your Alpha. I should have the right to argue for our freedom.”

He dipped his chin in a diplomatic nod. “You’ve had a terrible introduction to our planet and our people. On behalf of our Alpha, I apologize for this situation.”

“Situation? You say Savas acted without your Alpha’s consent, but then you tell us we can’t go home. That we must stay here as servants. And you’re going to stand there and fucking apologize to me? If you’re really sorry for our situation, how about you take us home?”

Vera waved her hands to emphasize her words, but as she lifted her shoulder, the bite wound pulled and a flash of pain made her wince. She lowered her arm, swaying slightly. When was the last time she’d eaten anything? Yesterday at breakfast on the station?

“Please,” Rayner said quietly. “Let me treat your wound.”

Vera gritted her teeth. She wanted to tell him all the anatomically impossible things he could do to himself, but the truth was, her shoulder hurt. And if she was to be of any use to the other women, she needed to have both arms in working condition. She nodded tightly.

Rayner moved about his small space with the efficiency of a man who knew how to get things done. He went first to his desk and gathered up a sleek dagger. Then he went to a cupboard along the back wall and pulled out a series of silk-like strips of cloth and a closed tub of ointment. By the time he returned to Vera, she’d sat on a pile of earth-toned cushions in the corner, afraid she’d fall down on the floor if she didn’t. He crouched in front of her, his tall body folding lithely beneath him.

She recoiled when he reached for the edges of her torn uniform.

“Sorry,” he said, pausing. His eyes met hers and held. She prayed he couldn’t hear her heart starting to hammer in her chest. If he did, she hoped he thought it was merely from fear. She should be afraid. She most certainly should not be so enamored by the flecks of gold in his eyes or the salty scent of his skin.

“I’m okay,” she said, though her body jolted when he touched her. He paused again. After a beat, he pushed back the frayed fabric and exposed her shoulder and collarbone.

He sucked in a long breath, drawing her attention once again. Her eyes went between him and her wound. “What? Is it that bad?”

“No, it’s just …” He shook his head, his jaw flexing. It appeared as though he had to gather himself for a moment before he said, “You’re fine. The bite isn’t infected. I’ll put some liniment on it and wrap it up. You’ll be fine in a day.”

He applied a dark green goo from the tub. It sank into the wound and spread along Vera’s skin with a soothing burst of coolness. She sighed as the muscles in her shoulder relaxed almost instantly. A smile flickered on Rayner’s face, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening. Yes, Vera realized, he smiled a lot.

“It’s from a tree in the jungle,” he explained as he rubbed her shoulder and up the side of her neck, exposing more of her skin. He leaned closer to get a better look at his work. “We have to burn it from the bark and set up drips in the trunk to drain the soot. It takes hours just to collect one tub, but it can heal almost anything.”

“What is it called?” Vera found herself asking just to hear him keep talking.

“Humir,” he answered. “My mother used to keep a small tin in her pockets for when I came to her with skinned knees and elbows.”

Before she realized it, a smile had tugged at her lips and Rayner had seen. She fought it off her face.

“I’m going to tear the arm off your uniform so I can wrap the wound. Is that okay?”

Vera pulled her arm away. “These are the only clothes I have.”

“I’ll get you more.”

He offered her another slight smile, and Vera found herself nodding. He tore along the seam of her uniform with painstaking care not to jostle her arm. To keep her mind off the fact that he was literally tearing off her clothes, she watched his biceps press against the tight sleeves of his own shirt. Finally, her uniform’s arm ripped free and slid off. Rayner worked quickly like he’d wrapped many wounds in his life.

When he was finished, he examined the edges before asking, “It’s not too tight?”

“It’s fine.” Vera pulled away from his touch.

His eyes found hers. He was still too close, much too close. Quietly, he said, “I’m sorry, Vera.”

Tears pricked at the back of her eyes, and she jerked her gaze away. “Then let us go home.”

Rayner retreated to another grouping of cushions and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Unfortunately, you witnessed Drausus’s ability to transform his shape. Although we’ve known about Earth for a very long time, we can’t afford to allow humans to learn about our planet. Your human raiders tear alien planets apart. Pillage their minerals and leave nothing but ruins behind. The clans on this planet might war with each other, but we are united on one front: we will protect our planet until the last star in this galaxy dies. Right now, humans believe shape-shifters are nothing more than myth, and we will do everything it takes to keep it that way.”

Vera fought back a grimace. The Falconer Elites raced through space, hunting the exact type of planet she now stood on for exactly the reasons Rayner spoke of. Earth needed resources, but her people didn’t pillage. They bought the resources. They traded for them fairly, leaving most alien planets better off when they left. Rayner was misinformed, and Vera knew better than most—the Falconers operated under Commander Gideon’s command right on her home station.

“So blindfold us and take us home.” Vera jerked to her feet, swaying only slightly, to pace in front of Rayner. She filed away the fact that these aliens had known about Earth for who knew how long for later consideration. “It’s not like any of us could find our way back here.” She lifted her head. “Where are we exactly?”

“I will strive to give you only honesty, but that I will not tell you.”

Vera had guessed as much, but it had been worth a shot. “If you refuse to send us home, then you’re holding us prisoner. Flesh trading is illegal under the Intergalactic Alliance of Planets and Lifeforms. The crime is yours.”

His gaze fell away from hers. “Our planet is not part of the Alliance. But indeed, the crime lies with me for not keeping Savas and Drausus in line, and while they’re the ones who broke our laws, it’s you who will suffer for it.” Looking up, he met her gaze, the same sadness she’d seen earlier present again. “Believe me, if I could send you home, I would—”

“We don’t care if you can turn into a wolf,” she pressed, almost pleading.

“Vilka,” Rayner said. “We’re called Vilkas, not wolves.”

“Please. Please send us home.” She hated that she would beg for her freedom, but beg she would if it meant Niva got to see her family again. As for Vera, there wasn’t much for her back on the Zynthar station besides her career. At the thought, a bubble of hysterical laughter escaped her mouth.

Rayner cocked his head. “What is it?”

Vera’s shoulders slumped. She laughed again, but this time it sounded like defeat. “Back on my station, I worked as an engineer beneath men who thought I wasn’t capable of being their equals. Now I’m here, against my will, and I’ll once again serve men in a position deemed less than them.” Her gaze turned watery behind tears.

“You will have your own quarters and receive a small wage. Although you won’t have full clan privileges, as long as you stay within the mountain, you will be protected by the clan. You won’t be beaten or forced into … relationships that aren’t of your choosing. It’s the best we can offer given the circumstances.”

“I understand you want to keep your planet a secret,” she said. She swiped at an errant tear. She did understand his motives, damn her. Maybe if she was an alien from a faraway planet, she would want to stay away from the humans of Earth too. “And maybe this is the best you can offer, but it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough because it’s not freedom.”

Rayner stood. He loomed over her, even though Vera was tall by human standards. He spoke slowly and carefully as if he tore each word from his very soul. “I can ensure your friend is placed in a safe and respectful home. No harm will come to her or any of the other women, I give you my word. You can make a new life for yourself, Vera. I know it’s not the one you had before, but other servants have come to be happy here.”

“Don’t be so proud of making an unbearably shitty situation slightly less shitty.” Vera fought the tremor in her voice. “We shouldn’t be slaves or servants or anything else. We should be going home.” She stabbed a finger toward the bedroom door, lowering her voice as she said, “That young girl should be going home to her family. She should feel safe. Not trapped. Not forced to serve the people who stole her.”

Her words made his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow. She’d struck a chord with him. “Niva will be protected. I swear it,” he vowed. “While I cannot apologize enough for what Savas has done, I must enforce our laws here as the clan’s Beta. You will not be leaving. You will remain here as servants, but not slaves. The Clan Vilka does not participate in flesh trading anymore.”

Another defeated laugh fell off Vera’s lips. “And you really think there’s much difference between a stolen, imprisoned servant and a slave?”

“Yes. Of course,” Rayner said strongly. He really believed it. “Our Alpha and I fought to make it so. We have many refugees come to the mountain, hoping for a servant status.”

“Right.” Vera sank back to the cushions, her good arm wrapping around her knees as she tucked them up beneath her chin. She was dirty and hungry and tired beyond belief. She would never be head engineer. Never walk the corridors of the station or stare out at the stars again. Her hope flickered and extinguished.

They were never leaving this planet, and she didn’t even know its name.

“If you won’t tell me where we are,” she said, looking up at her new boss, her new master, “then at least tell me the name of this place.”

Rayner seemed to stand a little straighter, his chin lifted in pride. “This is the planet Kladuu. From this day forth, you are under the protection of Kaveh, Alpha of Clan Vilka.” His face softened slightly. “And Vera?”

She wanted to curl into a tight ball and cry, but she forced herself to hold Rayner’s gaze. “Yes?”

“You are under my protection as well.”