Alien Warrior’s Second Chance by Sue Mercury

Chapter 10

Karla blinked backtears as she finished reading the letter for the second time. Despite his nearly illegible handwriting, Zorras sure had a way with words.

His letter was beautiful.

A gasp left her when she thought about the unsettled feeling she’d been experiencing all day. She’d awoken feeling strange and empty, as if she were mourning a terrible loss… because Zorras had already left the planet.

Somehow, deep in her heart, she had known he was no longer on New Vaxx.

An ache pierced her at the realization that she might not see him for a full moon cycle. Maybe even longer. Vaxxlian missions sometimes took longer than anticipated—she knew that from talking with the human women in the marketplace who’d become her friends.

She released a lengthy sigh and stared at the darkening sky. The twin moons hovered on the horizon, already bright and brilliant and ready to rule the night.

She’d been widowed for over twenty years, and she’d spent those years running a business that constantly brought an influx of people her way, making it so she was virtually never alone. She didn’t like the quiet. She liked the sound of people talking and laughing—it brought her comfort because there was a certain safety to be had in numbers.

It was one of the reasons she loved living in Axall’s house. Including her, nine people lived under this roof, and she considered them all her chosen family. She cooked and cleaned all day, even though Rachel, Sienna, and Belle all tried to take turns in the kitchen, even though they all scolded her for working herself too hard and tried to force her to rest.

Why was she working herself so hard anyway?

I want to feel useful. I want to please people.

I just fucking want people to like me.

The answer came to her in a flash, and she blinked back another surge of tears. At least her current housemates weren’t using and abusing her. At least they appreciated her help and told her so on a daily basis.

Logically, she knew they appreciated her, even if sometimes dark doubts whispered through her mind, the worry that perhaps none of her friends even wanted her around.

Fucking Merle. And her fucking parents who abandoned her as a young girl. A therapist had once told her she had abandonment issues and suffered from low self-esteem, likely as a result of her parents dropping her off at her grandmother’s house at the age of five and never coming back, as well as the eleven years of mental and physical abuse she’d suffered during her marriage to Merle.

She swallowed past the burning in her throat and tried to get herself together. She wiped at a few fallen tears and sniffled. She’d been in the gardens for well over thirty minutes. Dinner was going to be extra late, and she felt guilty. She didn’t want to let her family down.

She rose to her feet with a groan—the hard surface of the bench had left her with a stiff back and a sore butt—and headed toward the house. She folded the letter and returned it to her pocket, treating it with great care, as if it were her most precious possession.

When she entered the house, the smell of baking chicken pot pies reached her, and she stopped in her tracks. Tears burned in her eyes again, because someone had finished preparing the pot pies and was already baking them.

“Hey, Aunt Karla!” Amie called as she walked around the corner outside the kitchen. “Mama and Sienna finished your pot pies and they even let me help. And Rachel made fresh rolls and a salad! And and and… Daddy Khann and I set the table while Axall and Myadd watched the babies. Dinner’s almost ready! Come on, Aunt Karla, you can sit next to me!”

That did it. Karla burst into tears.

To finally have a family who seemed to care about her as much as she cared about them… Well, it was almost too good to be true.

Even if Zorras was her soulmate, how could she leave this happy home? She stared at a worried looking Amie as her heart swelled with gratitude, and when she opened her arms, the little girl came running at her for a hug.

“What’s wrong, Aunt Karla? Are you upset we finished dinner? It was Rachel’s idea—she figured you could use a break and thought maybe you’d want to take your time reading that letter from your boyfriend.”

“Oh, I’m not upset you finished dinner. That was very sweet of you guys. That’s actually why I’m crying—because it was so incredibly thoughtful. Thank you, Amie.” She hugged the child tighter and smoothed her hands through her long braids. “Thanks for the hug as well. It’s helping me feel a lot better.”

“Will you still visit us after you mate with Warrior Zorras?” Amie asked quietly, peering up at Karla.

“I-I’m not going to mate with Zorras or any other warrior, my dear, so you have nothing to worry about. I’m not leaving. This is my home, just as it’s your home.” But the words felt bitter in her mouth, and her unease increased when she considered the contents of the letter in her pocket—Zorras’ sweet promises to love her and take care of her.

“I think Warrior Zorras is nice. Sometimes he makes me laugh too. And Axall had lots of good things to say about him that time you asked all those questions during breakfast. He’s an honorable warrior—whatever that means, but I know it’s important—and Axall didn’t have one mean thing to say about him. Daddy Khann said he’s highly respected and Myadd said he’s a computer genius.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to talk me into mating with him,” Karla said. “Don’t you want me to stay?”

“Of course I want you to stay, Aunt Karla. But I also want you to be happy. I think you would be happy if you married Warrior Zorras. He seems to really like you and I bet he would be a good husband, as good as Daddy Khann is to my mama.”

“Well, my dear, you’ve given me a lot to think about.” She stared down at Amie, stunned by the level of perceptiveness in a child so young. “We’d better get to dinner now. Come on, darling, let’s go.”

Amie grasped Karla’s hand and led her into the dining room, where her family was seated at the table, all of them waiting on her. By some miracle, she managed not to break down in tears again. But oh how her heart warmed at the sight.

Would they all be as understanding as Amie if she decided to leave and become Zorras’ mate?

Her pulse quickened. Oh God. Was she seriously considering giving the warrior a chance?

She pressed a hand to the outside of her pocket and felt the outline of the letter concealed within.

Yes, yes, she would give him another chance.

She owed it to herself to see what might come of their attraction to one another. Maybe they were compatible. Maybe, despite her past pain, she would be able to open her heart to the warrior.

But how long would it be until his return?

She took a deep breath and tried to will away the unease that still afflicted her. She didn’t like that Zorras wasn’t on New Vaxx. She especially didn’t like that he was on Earth conducting some sort of mission. What if he was in danger at this very moment?

The thought of something bad happening to him made her breath seize in her chest. She considered the spark of attraction she experienced whenever Zorras came near her. Sometimes she could sense his presence even before she saw him—that was how powerful her unusual connection to him was. It felt like magic.

She took a seat next to Amie and peered around the table. “Thanks, everyone, I appreciate you all pulling together to finish dinner tonight. It looks and smells wonderful.”

“You aren’t our maid or our personal chef, Karla,” Rachel said as she placed an individual pot pie on Karla’s plate. “We love all the help you give us around here, and we absolutely adore your cooking, but you should let us take more turns in the kitchen. I know you enjoy cooking, but you still deserve some nights off.”

Karla’s face heated as all eyes landed on her. She opened her mouth to protest, but then she quickly pressed her lips together. Because maybe Rachel was right. Maybe she took on too much and needed to relax now and then. Maybe she’d been pushing herself too hard as she tried to become a valuable member of this family.

“Rachel’s right,” Sienna said as she spooned a small bite of pot pie into Naomi’s mouth. “You should take a few nights off a week.”

“And do what with my time off?” Karla asked. “Should I adopt a couple of cats and knit sweaters for them?”

“Why would you wish to adopt a mountain cat?” Khann asked incredulously. “It would likely make a meal of you. Such creatures are not tame, nor would they consent to wearing sweaters.”

“I don’t think she means a mountain cat from New Vaxx,” Rachel said. “She’s talking about the cute little cats people keep as pets on Earth. I’ve heard that quite a few of the mail order brides have brought their cats to New Vaxx. Haven’t you ever seen one?”

“No, I have not,” Khann replied, “though now I am curious and would like to meet one.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” Karla said, thankful the conversation had taken a humorous turn. “I made a new friend at the marketplace a few weeks ago who has a cat. Her name is Nadia—my friend’s name, not the cat’s—and she let me play with her adorable cat named Leonardo. He’s a sweetheart and I think you will love him.”

“Does he wear a sweater?” Khann asked, his expression completely serious. “I have never heard of animals wearing clothing.”

The women at the table exchanged amused glances, and Karla did her best to explain that she’d been joking about knitting the cat sweaters, though it took several tries for Khann, as well as his brothers, to fully grasp her meaning.

But the conversation reminded her that there were many differences between Vaxxlians and humans. When it came to Zorras, perhaps in the end, that would be a good thing.