She had nothing to complain about. Life could have been worse.
According to some of the stories Cleo and Lauren told her, she could have ended up in a zoo, or worse, sold as a sex slave.
It was an easy decision. Listening to sex was way different from being forced to perform it.
This was her life now.
As she smoothed the last bits of water over her skin, she ran through the chores she had to do.
She’d have to deal with the umus first—little round animals with wool like sheep. They were so round and fluffy, they didn’t look real. But they were incredibly stubborn and were always trying to bite her or escape.
More than once, they’d almost gotten out of their enclosures when she wasn’t paying attention.
Feeding the umus while half asleep was a bad, bad idea.
For that reason alone, she washed her face again.
There was mouthwash, and she took a mouthful. It fizzed as she shook it around in her mouth, cleaning her teeth.
Spitting the fluid out, Nia took a breath and cracked open the door.
The hallway was quiet.
Maybe they’d finished?
Well, even if they hadn’t, she wasn’t waiting around.
She slipped out of the bathroom and hurried quietly down the corridor.
The house was still mostly dark, but she knew that as soon as she reached outside, she’d see the dim glow of the sun lighting up the pink sky.
She was almost into the main room when she tripped and nearly stumbled over something huge, dark, and furry that was lying on the floor.
The thing growled and lifted its head. Four eyes blinked at her with mild annoyance.
“Oof!” Nia whispered. “Sorry, Grot.”
Riv’s huge dog-like tevsi put its head back down and ignored her as she continued on her way.
Grot was terrifying. He looked like something that would give Cerberus a run for most terrifying four-legged creature.
The first time she’d seen the animal, she’d almost pissed herself, but she’d soon realized it was harmless—at least, as long as she wasn’t being hostile to Riv or Lauren.
The tevsi loved Lauren as much as it loved its master.
She was almost out the door on the other side of the house when she heard more muffled sounds and panting.
Another cringe made her pause for just a moment.
She’d been right. Sohut and Cleo were at it.
“Fuck man,” she whispered. She’d never heard people having sex so much in her life.
Was it shocking?
A little.
Did she hate it?
Not really…
Was she jealous?
…
…
…
Nia cleared her throat and headed out the door.
That question wasn’t one she was willing to answer.
Fuck that annoying voice in her head for waking up so early and asking it in the first place.
2
Outside, the cool morning air greeted her. The dark purple sky was already starting to turn pink as the morning came and Nia smiled.
She was glad this was the planet she’d landed on and not some barren wasteland. Hudo III was beautiful.
The sky was pink in the daytime and there were hardly ever any clouds, but when there were, it was like looking at cotton candy floating above. The grass was orange and the leaves of the trees too.
And the animals…they were amazing.
As soon as she thought of them, a long-necked tilgran popped its head over its enclosure to look at her.
“Hello, Morpheus,” she said. Morpheus blinked at her.
She’d given him the name because he seemed all-wise, all-knowing.
As a matter of fact, she’d named almost all the animals on the Sanctuary. She’d certainly had the time to do so.
The others didn’t understand or could even keep track of the names, so she was the only one that used them.
Riv, for example, frowned at her whenever she called the animals by their names; he looked at her as if she was crazy and taking up his space…but then again, he looked at everyone like that. He didn’t understand why she named most of them…probably Lauren and Cleo didn’t understand either.
Don’t get her wrong, she was truly grateful for the fact Riv had taken her in. She shuddered to think what would have happened to her otherwise. But life wasn’t easy…and it wasn’t easy in one of the most superficial of ways—so superficial, she hated admitting it.
She was lonely.
There. She’d said it.
God, it felt horrible even thinking that.
She felt stupid and ungrateful. But the truth was, the feeling started small until it developed into something she was having a hard time controlling.
It was the sort of loneliness that came even when you were in a crowd, surrounded by people.
And what was surprising was that it came from a part of her life that she’d least expected.
She’d always been comfortable being on her own.
She’d never depended on anyone. Never expected anything from anyone.
So, this emptiness within her that was rooted so deep was one she didn’t quite know how to approach.
Morpheus blinked at her.
“No, Morpheus. I’m not talking about sex. It’s not sex that I want.”
She looked away.
It wasn’t about sex. If that was the case, she had her fingers and a wicked hot tub in the bathroom with super jets she could make use of.
It was more than that.
It had been well over a year and a half since she’d left Earth, and in all that time, she’d been mostly alone. Back in California, she hadn’t had time to think about relationships.
She’d always kept busy. Between working part-time at the clinic and helping her dad run his program for disadvantaged children, she hadn’t had much time to think about her romantic future.
On her off days, she’d be at the shooting range hitting targets for most of the time or playing Call of Duty.
Social relationships had never been her thing.
Not that it mattered now. None of the friends she’d have made on Earth would be able to keep her company now anyway, but she guessed seeing Lauren and Cleo so happy with their mates didn’t help either.
Their relationship was so close that she couldn’t help feeling left out sometimes, even when they
