Piper

“Stay with me! Kane! Please, stay with me!”

Tears fill my eyes (my reservoirs are still not empty, it seems) as I try to get Kane to wake up. My hands are red with his blood as I shake him, as I slap him, as I yell in his face.

He just saved my life, but it seems I can’t do the same for him. What he just did was nothing short of amazing. Kane rose up like the damn Hulk and tore his way through the entire building. Nothing could stop him. Bullets didn’t hurt him. He pushed through the rat-folk as if they weren’t there.

I thought, for a brief shining moment, that he was invincible.

However, it seems my rescue will come at a terrible, terrible price…

“Step aside.”

That voice, so deep and commanding… it can only be…

I turn around.

An emerald-green Zoran is standing behind me, clad in jet-black armor that seems to hug every muscle in his powerful frame. Flabbergasted, I take a step back. The man kneels in front of my mate.

“Kane,” he growls. “Kane… I wish I’d gotten here sooner. Can you hear me? I’m getting you out of here, buddy. Hold on. You hold on, okay?”

He lifts Kane up (not a small feat), and nods at me to follow him. Behind us, in the courtyard, a ship awaits us.

I’d been so concerned with Kane’s wellbeing, so consumed with grief that I hadn’t even noticed the ship touching down — or the four other Zorans, armed to the teeth, who are keeping the rat-people at bay. The Sahr don’t dare to attack us now. One Zoran can rock their world — imagine what five can do.

“Wh-what,” I stammer. “Who are you?”

“The Resistance,” the green Zoran grows.

So they are real!

I follow the Zorans into the ship. Seconds later we’re off, flying through the air so fast I’m pushed into my seat. The green man places Kane in the middle of the ship and pulls out a med-kit, and the other Zorans assist him.

“We got here just in time.”

“His vitals are weak.”

“Can you get a pulse?”

“He’s lost a ton of blood. Do we have enough?”

“I’ll cut open my own veins right now if I have to. Scalpel?”

I pull my knees up to my chest, my mouth covering my face as I watch the battlefield surgery. I don’t want to see, but I can’t look away either. Kane is my hero, my mate, my savior, my everything.

The cruiser we’re in docks, and the metal doors open. To my surprise women — human women! — come pouring into the room. They have a stretcher ready, and Kane is lifted up and carried of, leaving a huge pile of blood on the ship’s floor.

I don’t move. I want to chase him, but I’m… frozen.

A human women places her hand on my shoulder, and this snaps me out of my trance.

“Sorry,” she says. “You must be Piper.”

“I am,” I say. “How do you know?”

“Girls being abducted by aliens tend to make headlines,” the woman answers.

Right. I hadn’t even thought of that. Ugh, I don’t hope I some kind of celebrity now.

“I’m Miah,” she says. “Don’t worry about Kane. He’ll be fine.”

My eyes can’t help but dart towards the trail of blood my mate has left.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. Egon and the others — they’re miracle workers. And Zorans are tough to kill, as you may have noticed. He’ll pull through.”

“I hope so.”

By god I hope so.

“Do you want to go check on him?”

I nod.

She helps me to my feet and guides me through their ship. It’s an amazing place, filled with life, and happiness. So different from Vagreon. That planet was dirty and grimy, but this ship it’s… cozy.

A pair of children run by me, and I freeze in place. Their features…

“That’s right,” Miah says. “Those are half human, half Zoran children.”

I turn back to her, my mouth wide. “What is this place?”

“The only safe place in the galaxy for people like us.”

“What kind of people is that?”

“According to the current Federation administration? Blood traitors. But if you ask me, we’re the only people who still believe in equality, in freedom. In love.”

This makes my head spin.

“So I’m not alone…”

Miah smiles warmly at me. “Come here, you poor thing,” she says as she hugs me tightly. “You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone again.”

After all this time, all the hardships… I’m so happy I can cry.

A door flies open, and the green Zoran stands in the doorway, his body covered in blood. Kane’s blood. My smile instantly disappears. Is he…?

“He’s stable,” the green Zoran says triumphantly. “He’s stable!”

“That’s great news, honey!” Miah says, and she flies into the Zoran’s arms. He lifts her up and plants a big kiss on her lips. “I’m so happy for you!”

He twirls her around and places her back on the ground. Then, he steps over to me and offers me his hand. “You must be Piper!”

“Yes,” I say. “Sorry, this is all so much to take in. Who are you?”

The green Zoran frowns. “My name is Egon. Did Kane… did he not tell you about me? Are you two not mates? I thought… did I misread something?”

“No,” I say, my cheeks burning brightly. “You got that right. But Kane, he is not… well. He’s lost his memories. Sorry.”

Egon is silent for a moment. Then he swallows the lump in his throat, and nods.

“We’ll just have to make new memories then. Can you tell me about him?”

“Sure, but can I see him first?”

“Of course, of course!”

He clears the way for me. Kane is lying in bed, hooked up to several monitors, bandages covering him all over. The other Zorans step aside, and I grab his hand.

“I’m here,” I whisper. “I’m here, Kane, and I’m not leaving your side, you hear me? You silver oaf? Why’d you have to go and try to get yourself killed like that?”

I bring his hand up to my lips and kiss it.

Be strong, Kane. I need you by my side.

* * *

Kane

I am adrift. My body feels weightless as I glide through the air.

All my friends and family are there. People I had forgotten about. I can finally see their faces, as clear as day. Piper is there, too. And she’s pregnant!

She’s never looked more beautiful to me.

That a Zoran like me could land a human like her… I’m blessed.

Something tickles my bottom lip.

I open my left eye.

Wait, what?

Piper is looking right at me, her face so close to mine that her hair tickles my face. My… my mate! Is she real? Have I died? Is this heaven?

“P-Piper?” I cough. My mouth is dry.

She flings her arms around me tightly and hugs me so hard that pain flashes through me. However, I don’t care about the pain. I’d endure pain a thousand times worse for another hug.

My mouth finds hers, and we kiss. I don’t stop kissing her until my lungs are bursting, until I have to gasp for air.

“You’re alive!” she says. “You’re alive!!”

“I-I am,” I say. “I think. Where are we?”

“You’re home, brother.”

An emerald green Zoran stands in the doorway. His color is so familiar. Could he be…

“Yes, it’s me, Egon,” he says. “Your friend. Do you remember?”

I shake my head. This is all too much to take in.

“I…”

“It’s okay if you don’t,” he says, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Just know that you are among friends, Kane.

“I remember bits and pieces,” I say. “I remember… a battle…”

Egon winces. “I’ll tell you all about that battle another day, friend. Right now you need to rest. It’s good to have you back.”

The green Zoran salutes me and then closes the door behind him, leaving us two alone. Piper is still holding my hand — she’s never letting go. In the distance I hear the faint hum of a hyperdrive.

“Are we on a ship?”

Piper nods. “They are the Resistance. The actual Resistance. They saved us, and just in the nick of time. You were moments away from dying…”

I look down at my body. It’s covered in bandages. “Seems I got banged up pretty good.”

“You were incredible,” Piper says. “You tore through those rat-folk like a hurricane.”

“I’d do it all again for you.”

“Please don’t,” she smiles. “I don’t want to see you bleed out. Again.”

“I’ll try not to. Come here.”

“But your bandages?”

“I don’t care,” I growl as I throw my covers to the side. “I want to feel you on top of me.”

“O-okay,” she hesitates. She gets up, locks the door, shimmies her way out of her clothes and climbs on top of me.

“Are you sure this doesn’t hurt?”

“I’ve never felt better,” I grin.

Sure, there’s pain — but the feeling of her naked body pressing down on mine? That’s priceless. Nothing in the universe feels better than that.

“Tell me something,” I say as I breathe in her scent. I just want to hear her voice.

“Well, we’re on this ship,” Piper says, her fingers drawing circles on my chest. “And guess what are on board?”

“What?”

“Human women. A whole bunch of them!”

“No way.”

“Way. And guess what? They’re either pregnant or they have children. Zoran children!”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah. They’re a whole bunch of Zoran/human children running around here. There’s Jacob, who is Sarah and Kazim’s kid. Can you believe Sarah Granger is here? On board? Right now? THE Sarah Granger?”

“I can not.”

“You don’t know who that is, don’t you?”

“Not a clue.”

“She’s famous. The scholarship I won, the whole reason I was in that ship and got abducted in the first place, was called the Sarah Granger Scholarship. That’s the kind of famous I’m talking about.”

“It sounds like you admire her.”

“I do. Now more than ever. She’s raising her child, and leading a vigilante group at the same time, assisting Zorans and humans where needed, staying out of the Federation’s way… that’s something.”

I kiss the top of her head. “Sounds like we’re in good company then.”

“The best,” Piper sighs blissfully.

“So all the Zorans have their own mates, correct?” I say, my hand resting on her lower back protectively.

And possessively.

Piper chuckles. “Don’t worry. They’re mated alright! You’ll hear it for yourself. The sounds that take over this ship every night… well, as my mom would say, it would make a whore blush. Don’t tell her I told you that, by the way. She’d never forgive me!”

“I can’t wait to meet your parents.”

Piper looks at me. “Never thought I’d hear a guy say that.”

“Why? What are they like?”

“Protective.”

“I like them already.”

Piper smirks. “I’m not sure how well they’d react to a seven foot tall, alien warrior on their doorstep… I’d have to ease it in, for sure. Massage them a bit first, you know.”

“I don’t remember who my parents are,” I say.

My mate nuzzles my neck. “It’ll come back to you. And if it doesn’t, well… you have everything you need right here.”

That’s the damn truth.