“No,” Shay said, shaking her head and chuckling. “You’re the one who saved Drakkal’s ass, aren’t you? When he lost his arm?”
This time, Samantha only lifted one shoulder. “I would’ve died, too, if Arcanthus hadn’t showed up.”
“No, you don’t get to do that, Sam. Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a fucking badass, and you need to own that.”
“I didn’t do much, really…”
“If you went toe-to-toe even for a few seconds with a guy who could beat down Drakkal like that, you’re a certified badass. There’s not really any argument against it.”
Sam smiled even as her cheeks flushed further. “Thanks, Shay. That…means a lot.”
Shay’s own cheeks warmed; it was weird having someone thank her so sincerely. It was weird having a positive effect on someone, especially someone she didn’t know.
Man, I really screwed myself up after Dad died.
That thought led her to another realization, one that almost stopped her dead in her tracks—it had been almost ten years since her father’s death. A whole decade, more than a third of her life, that she’d filled with what? Bitterness, anger, stupidity? Regret?
Maybe this really is my chance to finally turn it around. To finally make Dad proud…
To finally make Mom proud.
The threat of tears stung her eyes, and Shay cleared her throat. She needed a subject change—and damned fast. “So, a sedhi, huh?”
Samantha laughed. “It’s a long story, but yeah. I’m…mated to a sedhi.”
“How does that work?”
Though it seemed impossible, Samantha grew even redder than before.
Now it was Shay who laughed. “I don’t meanhowit works, you know, between the two of you, but how do a human and sedhi become mates? Just like…”
“Like a human and an azhera?” Sam asked.
“Yeah.”
The other woman shrugged. “It’s some kind of chemical thing, but it’s also something more. It’s hard to explain. Some species, like sedhi and azhera, have these strong mate-driven instincts that recognize that certain someone and push them toward that person. Me and Arcanthus think it might’ve been partly because of the mutative compound the Consortium gives to people when they come here. Even people who are smuggled in illegally usually get it, because it’s basically required to survive in this place. It changes us. Terrans, anyway. Not who we are, but our bodies. Makes us more adaptable to pretty much everything.”
“Yeah, I know a little about that stuff. They gave it to me, too,” Shay said. “They said it allows humans to get knocked up by aliens.”
Murgen had droned on and on about how he couldn’t wait to breed her after she’d given birth.
“Yeah. It does,” Samantha said.
“What does it mean to be someone’s mate?”
“Truthfully? Everything.” Sam reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I know that’s not really helpful, but it’slike…there just aren’t adequate words, I guess. It’s attraction and…lust, but its friendship and affection, it’slove…and it’s so much more. Not that it’s all those things right away, of course. But it became all those things for Arc and me.”
“Can they sniff out more than one mate?” Shay asked.
Sam laughed, shaking her head. “I mean, I can’t speak for every species, but… I don’t think so. Arcanthus knew I was his before we even met. He just…saw my profile in the ID system andknew. And he lost interest in everyone else from that moment.”
Shay pulled back and furrowed her brow. “Are you saying you’re like…soul mates?”
“I guess that’s what we are, isn’t it? I know it sounds crazy but… Look at me. Do you really think someone like him would have picked me out in the crowd?”
Shay frowned. “Why wouldn’t he? You’re a beautiful, badass woman.”
Sam’s cheeks flushed. “Thank you. But I mean, he was so”—she threw her hands up and swept her arms out—“big. I mean his personality. He’s so confident and smooth and so, so sexy, and when we met, I was just…me. Quiet, shy, timid. I couldn’t compare. So if it wasn’t instinct, if it wasn’t this magical, wonderful thing that led him to me… What could it really have been other than fate?”