He didn’t want to.
“La-rehn,” Sohut turned the name over on his tongue and Riv stiffened.
Hearing her name come from his brother’s lips made an illogical bolt of irritation shoot through him.
“Greetings, La-rehn. Welcome to the Sanctuary.” Sohut reached out and put a firm hand on the female’s shoulder in greeting.
The female jerked but didn’t move away. She stood her ground and met Sohut’s gaze.
Riv barely heard what she said to his brother, not that he would have understood anyway.
His eyes were fastened instead on Sohut’s hand on the female.
He was touching her.
Something ticked inside of him and a growl rumbled deep in his throat before he could stop himself.
“Don’t touch her.”
It was only when he realized they both snapped their necks to look at him that he caught himself.
His breath stilled within him.
Phek. He’d spoken out loud.
The phek was wrong with him?
Clearing his throat, he softened his tone. “Don’t touch her. And don’t welcome her.” He frowned. “She isn’t staying.”
Sohut’s brows rose. “She’s not? Where’s she going? Better yet, start with where she came from.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He didn’t know how he was even managing to speak with a level voice. Right now he felt like raging and taking a quiet walk all at the same time.
His eyes were on the female, watching as she placed the blaster on the sleeping cushion.
He needed to put the weapon out of her reach. She was trigger-happy. “She’s leaving today anyway.”
“Why?” Sohut leaned against the wall. “And who’s going to stay here with the animals?”
That caught Riv’s attention. “You.”
“Can’t.” His brother crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze going distant.
They were just two orbits apart but Riv noted just how much younger Sohut looked. Younger, happier, less stressed.
He had no frown lines etched into his frons, no dark hole of sadness behind his eyes.
It made him relieved the struggle of their past hadn’t affected Sohut as it had affected him. He’d worked hard to prevent that.
“I’m just stopping by for my gear,” Sohut continued. “Kezna zoo has word of a strange new animal that escaped during shipment. It’s in the Koznia Jungle. They’ve been trying to catch it for over an entire orbit. They need someone with experience to retrieve it.”
Riv crossed his arms. It was rare for them to get such contracts but whenever they did, it always yielded good credits. He hated people but Sohut thrived on these jobs.
“Do you know what type of animal it is?” Depending on the species, he’d have a good idea of how long it’d take Sohut to capture the animal. Some species were more elusive than others.
“Something from some Class Four planet,” Sohut replied.
“No idea of the species?”
“No idea.”
Great.
Riv’s gaze flicked to the human. She was still standing beside Grot, who was now resting with his eyes closed, but her gaze was on him.
He hadn’t realized she’d been staring and the realization set off a strange feeling crawling over his skin.
She couldn’t stay.
He’d have to be the one to take her to the exchange, then.
Groaning within, he looked behind her and out the window.
He always had to prepare mentally before he went to such a crowded place as the exchange.
He’d have to do so now while he fed the animals and got ready to leave.
If he hurried, he could get them to the exchange before the dark-cycle and then return home.
Gaze flicking back to the human, she was still looking at him and there was some irritation behind her eyes.
Good.
He could live with that.
He could take her anger, her irritation, her disgust…
What he couldn’t take was what he thought he’d seen in her eyes the last dark-cycle.
Concern.
The last thing he needed was her concern.
Riv’s brother looked like his twin, only a little younger.
She found herself looking from one to the other, noticing the similarities and the differences.
Where Riv had frown lines, Sohut had none.
She couldn’t imagine why.
There was something startlingly different between them, though, and she’d noticed while they’d been conversing.
Sohut had a tail.
Riv didn’t.
She didn’t know much about aliens. As a matter of fact, she knew nothing about aliens, but she’d have thought because they were brothers they’d both have the same types of body parts.
It seemed strange for one to have a tail and the other not to.
And they were blood brothers. The facial similarity was too uncanny.
Sohut wore his hair up and away from his shoulders in a sort of man-bun and the locs and gold rings present in Riv’s hair were missing from his.
He was also slightly smaller than Riv—more lithe, as if Riv lifted the heavy weights while Sohut did work that required running and moving quickly.
She was listening to them speak while she studied them both when the conversation moved to her temporary stay at the Sanctuary.
Lauren gulped when Riv’s gaze fell on her.
She couldn’t read his eyes and he didn’t say anything, but it was clear her welcome had expired.
Great.
Now she had to steel herself and prepare for going back to that market.
A spike of anger filled her as she frowned.
She’d been getting used to the idea of staying at the Sanctuary, even though she’d known he didn’t want her living there.
That was her fault. She couldn’t feel bad.
It wasn’t like there’d been a promise of anything permanent.
Stepping backward, she perched on the edge of the floating bed, her eyes downcast.
She’d be leaving again soon.
Suddenly, the same dilemma she’d had with Geblit was rearing its head again so soon.
She’d be taken back to the market, no doubt, and sold.
Memory of the tall aliens with blades on their bodies returned to her and she shivered.
There had to be a better way to live than this.
For a moment, she contemplated running away. It wasn’t the greatest of ideas but it wasn’t the worst either.
Biting her lip, she was deep in thought when she realized Riv was leaving the room.
Her head lifted as he exited, leaving his brother behind.
Sohut was studying her with the same green gaze of his brother and that uncanny feeling hit her again. Only,
