Jade held up a hand. “We don’t need to talk about that. He was just being a pissy possessive alien. I’m sure he’s over it by now, and so am I.”
“Indeed, he is.” Asivva smiled. “So, you still wish to stay with him?”
“Yes.” Jade sighed. “I haven’t had the chance to tell him yet, but I’ve fallen in love with the pissy possessive alien.”
“I’m so glad to hear that, because something extraordinary has happened,” Asivva said, clutching Jade’s hand in a tight grip. “His mating marks have appeared. You’re his true mate.”
“Mate?” Jade smirked. “I thought that was just a fairy tale you guys had.”
Asivva shook her head silently. “They’re real, but haven’t been seen in years. The last mates died off a hundred years ago at least, but Theo has his marks. His eyes changing was the first sign, but you didn’t know what it meant. His temper flare-ups and his uncontrollable possessiveness were all symptoms that got worse because he didn’t recognize the bond right away.”
Jade’s smile slowly faded as she took in the significance of what Asivva was telling her. Hadn’t Zikas said that true mates stayed together for life?
Jade knew she must have a goofy look on her face, but she didn’t know how to take this news. “So, what does that mean? He doesn’t want me, so he didn’t accept me at first, but now he has to? Is he, like, trapped in a relationship with me now?”
Asivva laughed. “Not at all. He didn’t accept you because he’s an idiot, and his deep insecurities made him think he didn’t deserve someone like you. Now that he’s finally accepted you’re his mate, he won’t want to be apart from you for long stretches of time.” She raised her delicate brows sardonically. “I’m surprised he’s stayed away as long as he has, to be honest. Promise or not.”
The corner of Jade’s mouth lifted in a grin. “So, he’s stuck on me?”
“Stuck?”
Jade clarified. “He wants to stay with me. He won’t ever want to leave.”
“Oh, yes. He’s very stuck on you. Your happiness will be his only priority.” Asivva’s brows drew together. “Well, almost his only priority.”
“What do you mean?”
Asivva shifted from side to side nervously. “When the doctor was healing you, they discovered that you’re with child.”
“No, I’m not,” Jade said immediately. “I’m on birth control. I can’t get pregnant. I got the shot—it’s supposed to last for months.”
“Well, either your birth control failed or it doesn’t protect against Clecanians, because you are.” She gave her a nervous smile.
“Xoris did tests on me. He would have said something.”
Asivva shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but from what I know of Xoris, the idea that you might have slept with Theo probably never crossed his mind. He was extremely bigoted toward Traxians.”
Jade thought back to the blood test Xoris had run. From the information he’d relayed to her, all the test showed was that she had traces of Clecanian DNA. Would he really have been so arrogant as to not test to see if she were already pregnant?
Pregnant? I’m pregnant. Jade didn’t know how to feel about this. She hadn’t even decided if she wanted kids or not. She rubbed her stomach absently. An image of a little tattooed boy popped into her mind, and she smiled.
Jade nodded slowly, still smiling. “I guess that’s okay.”
Asivva let out a breath she’d been holding, clearly relieved by Jade’s response. “No one but me, you, and the doctor know,” she said, smiling. “I wanted to allow you to tell Theo in your own time.”
She and Theo had never talked about children. Their relationship discussions had always been limited to three months. Nervously Jade asked, “How do you think he’ll feel about this?”
Asivva opened her mouth to speak but suddenly the door slammed open, making both women jump.
Speak of the devil.
Theo stood in the doorway. He looked out of breath. His hair was disheveled, and dark circles stood out against his overly pale skin and black eyes. His eyes flashed to Asivva, then, without warning, lifted her and set her outside of the room, ignoring her loud protests. He closed the door in her face and pushed the couch in front of the door as easily as if it were inflatable.
He turned to stare at Jade again, then self-consciously glanced down at his body. His shirt and pants were splattered with dried blood. Removing his shirt, he tossed it out of sight.
Jade didn’t know what to say. So much had happened over the past day. Tears began streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry about Cebo.”
“No, Jade.” He rushed to her and knelt at her bedside, looking stricken. He reached his hand out to her but then pulled it back. “Cebo’s okay. We were able to heal him.”
Relief washed over her. Jade had felt so guilty about the goofy loyal hound being killed because of her.
“Jade…I… I’m sorry about what I said and how I acted. I can understand if you’d prefer we end our marriage now.” He said each word as though it had to be extracted from him.
Jade smiled. If what Asivva said was true, Theo was standing before her offering to give up his own happiness. “Are you going to lock me up? Beat up any man I talk to?” she asked, already knowing she’d forgiven him.
Theo winced. “No. I regret what I said. The mating bond was causing me to act erratically.”
He flexed his hands again and rested them on the edge of her bed, still not touching her. He looked so unsure.
She snagged his hand, examining the new bands on his wrists. The resulting purr was instantaneous. “Are these the new mating marks?” Two thick bands circled his wrists, and four smaller bands wrapped around each finger from base to fingertip.
He nodded tightly but said nothing for long moments. “Do—” he croaked before clearing his throat. “Do the marks offend you?”
Jade felt herself melting. He was worried she wouldn’t accept him now.
She
