Page 6 of Selected By the Dragon Alien

“Or someplace worse.” He refused to voice the fact that plenty of species in the galaxy found the taste of soft female flesh delicious for eating. Or that they could be purchased and have their organs harvested deep in the black market. “They could also find themselves adored by their new owners and elevated to queenlike statuses.” This was also true, though unlikely. “I suggest you put them out of your mind and focus on your own future. It won’t be as uncertain as theirs, at least.”

Her chin rose. “I will never forget them.”

“If it helps, few realize the strength and resilience of your kind. Your friends are not fragile. If anyone can get through this, it’s them.” That seemed to mollify her somewhat. And it was true. The Axis put the Terians through misery, forcing them to endure terrible conditions that would have collapsed weaker species, but Turi’s people adapted and endured.

She looked back to his fortress and lowered her head. The fight and adrenaline seemed to have drained away, leaving her exhausted. “Overseer, I… Why me?”

That question caught him off guard just as he was about to usher her inside. The air was getting colder with each notch the closest star, Purrik, moved toward the edge of the sky. “What?”

“Four years ago, you put a mark of protection on my family home,” she said in a rush. “Why?Did you want me for…breeding?”

“No,” he said, startled. “First, you were technically a juvenile of your species at the time. Second, I am forbidden from taking liberties with your people.” This was clearly a question she’d been chewing over for these four years. Finally, this was one with a simple answer. “In all my one hundred twenty-five years, I have not seen one of your kind show that kind of compassion. I placed that mark because you showed mercy when most would not have. And I have a fondness forcibrats.”

Her eyes softened and took a faraway look. “I understand. Females have only a few uses on the settlement, so I just wondered. Thank you.”

He waved a hand. “It was a whim that I acted on.” And perhaps he was hoping it would inspire a little kindness and mercy among the rest of the settlement’s people. It hadn’t.

She looked up at him and gave him the most tentative of smiles. “I have a fondness forcibrats, too.”

“It’s getting cold,” he said, ignoring the warmth that sparked in his chest. “We’re going inside before you catch a chill.”

He half expected another question, but Turi looked toward the doors as one might to their own execution and took tiny steps instead of long strides like him. “I can’t walk as quickly as you.”

He cursed, having forgotten the hobbles between her ankles.Thiswould not do. He swept her up in his arms. She let outa little, “Oh!” and he carried her inside. The doors silently slid open as he approached.

Her eyes went wide with awe as she looked around. The central hall was tall and well lit. The silver interior, with its intricate markings, glittered with illumination and warmth. This space was pleasant enough. He’d enhanced it with some furniture and unique plants, and a large, ion fireplace that danced with tall white flames.

Ellion placed Turi on a large sofa near the fire and sat beside her, drawing her feet up onto the cushion between them.

Her hands flattened on the cushion as his hands moved over the bindings on her ankles. She stared at him with an unreadable expression. “If you’re trying to take them off, you can’t. Only my intended bondmate has the code to unlock them.”

He raised one eyebrow, extended a claw and slipped it under one metal ring. With a quick flick, the clasp cracked open. An unpleasant beep came from the device as he removed the other one. “I don’t need a code.”

Turi blinked. “Not with those claws.”

He retracted it and pulled the hobbles off, frowning at the red marks around her slim ankles. “I won’t hurt you. You may move around freely, now.”

She pulled her legs back and rubbed the raw skin. “You’re not worried I’ll run off?”

“Where would you go?” He held up the hobbles. “To your settlement, where you’d be put right back in these?”

One corner of her mouth pulled up. “I think I’ll take my chances with you, Overseer.”

He drew in a harsh breath. He would not tolerate hearing that designation for the remainder of her years. “My name is Ellion. Call me that.”

She blinked rapidly, as if the order was as palatable as acid. That was clearly way too familiar for her, a female who had beentrained to fear and obey him from birth as a direct emissary of the Axis. “Are you certain?”

Oh, yes.Secretly, he hated being called an overseer. “I’m not your overseer anymore.”

“Then what are you?” she asked without looking at him. Her attention moved back to her new surroundings, but she must have sensed his hesitation because she clarified. “If you’re not my overseer, what are you to me?”

Ellion’s gaze moved over the straight set of Turi’s shoulders and the shining length of her hair. A curl of possessiveness wrapped around his ribs and pulled. At the same time, the gravity of what he’d done by bringing her here was sinking in. The secrets he would have to keep from this female for the rest of her life were staggering in number. “I don’t know,” he replied roughly. “I didn’t plan this.”

“What do you expect of me?” she asked with a grimace. “Now that I’m of fertile age, do you expect—?”

“I will not touch you.” He straightened his shoulders, cutting her off. “I expect you to respect my rules and my domain. I expect you to not interfere in my duties and keep out of the way.”

“I see.” Her face went unreadable. “I will do my best to obey, Overseer.”