“You were stunned.” He’d take full responsibility for that. “It won’t cause lasting damage and it wasn’t intentional.”

  “You’re a machine.” The male looked toward the door. “Everything is coldly calculated.”

  Stealth moved to block the exit. “Cyborgs are half machine, half human. I have a brain and a processor, a beating heart, emotions. I made a mistake.” He shrugged. “That was unfortunate and I’m sorry for it.” Because that mistake had damaged his female. “But it happens.”

  “Why are you here?” The Ahkian grabbed a rock.

  It was a poor choice of a weapon and he hadn’t the speed or strength to down a cyborg with it but that attempt to defend himself still impressed Stealth. “Zebrina is my female. Vow is my son.”

  “And you care for them?” Odoon snorted. “Did it take two solar cycles for you to realize that?”

  “I realized that the first moment I saw them.” Stealth narrowed his eyes at the male. “You’re an intelligent being. You know why I couldn’t enter that ship with Zebrina. Or did you think it was a coincidence the Humanoid Alliance monitoring system malfunctioned at the exact same time the ship left Ahki?”

  The male stared at him, his mouth dropping open.

  Fraggin’ hole. He had thought that.

  Stealth’s lips twisted. Humanoids required more processing power. “Two supply ships were shot down that planet rotation. One of those vessels contained the commander, my female’s father. The Humanoid Alliance planned to retaliate. They grounded their own fleet, gave the order to target every ship in the air. I had to take the system offline or they would have detected you.”

  Lines appeared between Odoon’s blue eyebrows. “You’re claiming you stayed behind in order to save our lives?”

  “I didn’t care about your lifespan.” He was honest with the male. “I did it for my female.”

  “Saving her was an excuse.” The Ahkian rolled his eyes. “You chose to stay with your kind.”

  His female’s friend was an ass. “Only a malfunctioning being would make that choice.” His female had meant the universe to him. All he’d ever wanted was to be with her. “My brethren and I had completed the calculations earlier that planet rotation. We processed our odds of survival if we remained on Ahki. It neared zero.”

  “You survived.” Odoon continued to doubt his intentions.

  “My brethren sacrificed their lifespans to save mine.” He would have died if it hadn’t been for Lethal and Boom’s acts of selflessness. “I didn’t know they’d do that.” He wouldn’t have allowed it if he’d known. “I believed I had traded my lifespan for my female’s.” His gaze locked with the male’s. “I would trade it again with no hesitation.”

  They looked at each other. Moments passed.

  “Your kind killed my mate and offspring.” Odoon wasn’t ready to give up his hatred.

  “You’re a stronger male than I am.” Stealth acknowledged his rival’s willpower. “The loss of my brethren caused more emotional damage than I could incorporate on my own.” He’d required the caring arms of his female to help him cope. “I can’t process losing my female and son.” It would destroy him.

  “Fuck.” The Ahkian released the rock.

  Silence stretched.

  “Zebrina is special.” Odoon told him a truth he already knew. “She makes me happy. I can’t give her up.”

  “You will have to give her up.” Stealth advised him. “She’s mine. She has always been mine.”

  “She’s been mine for the last two solar cycles.” The male lifted his chin. “She isn’t the same female you once knew.”

  Stealth realized that. He liked the new Zebrina even more than he adored her former self. “And my son? Would you battle me for his heart also?”

  Odoon looked away from him, that response telling Stealth everything he needed to know. “Zebrina loves her son.”

  “He’s a cyborg.” He pushed the male farther.

  “He looks human, would pass for one.” Odoon jutted his jaw.

  That was the Ahkian’s plan. He would tell everyone Vow was human, force him to suppress his machine side. Their son would live as half a being. That would damage him beyond repair.

  “Does she know you want him to pass for human?” Stealth’s voice was quiet. Had Zebrina agreed with the male’s plan?

  “She would agree with me.” Odoon didn’t answer his question. “Cyborgs are manufactured to kill and to die. She doesn’t want that future for her son.”

  Stealth didn’t want that future for their son either. “There are as many options for my kind as there are for yours.”

  The Ahkian said nothing.

  Stealth considered the male’s words. She would agree with him. That meant she hadn’t agreed. The knot in the base of his neck unraveled. She wasn’t aware of Odoon’s plan.

  Stealth might not know everything about the new Zebrina but he knew enough. His female wouldn’t force her son to be someone he wasn’t.

  He’d stake their future on it.

  “May the best male for Zebrina win.” He smiled at his opponent.

  That male would be him. It had to be.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Do you want to know what they’re saying?” Vow sat by the horizontal support in the nourishment consuming chamber, one of his favorite places in the domicile. Whatever Stealth and Odoon were discussing made him edgy, her son fidgeting in the chair.

  “If they wanted me to know what they were saying, they would have asked us to join their conversation.” She sprinkled spice on the mashed roots. “Eat your nourishment.” She slid the large container to him.

  “Ugh.” He wrinkled his nose. Roots weren’t her son’s favorite sustenance. “How much more of this do I have to eat?” He stabbed the nourishment with his eating tool.

  “We flattened more plants this planet rotation.” She would have to replace them or they wouldn’t have nourishment later in the season. “So the answer is a lot.”

  He made a gagging noise.

  “Behave.” She smothered her smile. “We’re fortunate—”

  “We have nourishment.” He recited the words she often told him. “I know. I know.” He shoveled the roots into his mouth.

  She sat across from her son. He seemed more mature than he had been last planet rotation and that made her proud and a bit sad. Soon, she’d lose him. He would want to leave, go on adventures, explore the universe.

  And she would have to allow that. She sighed softly. Being a mother was difficult.

  The lines on his forehead deepened more and more, his face darkening. “Do you want me to try to pass for a human?”

  “No.” She frowned. Why would he think that? “I want you to be yourself. I love you the way you are.” She reached across the horizontal support and straightened his chest covering. “Though you could change your garments a bit more often.” She spotted a stain that looked suspiciously like blood. “They’re filthy.”

  His garments hadn’t been clean before they pummeled each other with dirt. The memory of that break in their chores lightened her mood. His chest and ass coverings certainly weren’t tidy now.

  “He only has one garment.” Vow nodded toward his occupied chamber.

  “Your father is wearing body armor.” That was fabricated from different material. “And he cleans it every planet rotation.”

  Her son inhaled a few more mouthfuls of nourishment, chewing with his mouth slightly open. She said nothing. Judging by his face, he was dealing with bigger issues at the moment.

  “He thinks I’m a cyborg.” Her son scowled. “But I’m not like them. I haven’t fought in battles.” He stared down at his now-empty container. “I don’t fit in anywhere.”

  He was afraid of being rejected. She wished she could shield him from that possibility.

  “You will always be a bit different from everyone else.” She didn’t deny that fact. “Other than your father, you’re the only cyborg to have lived here. That alone will make you special.”

  Her son curled his top lip.

  “But that doesn’t mean you won’t fit in.” She hoped he would. Her son desperately wanted to find his place in the universe. “You can be different and still belong. I hope to belong and I’m human.”

  He said nothing, his expression remaining tempestuous.

  “Your father is training you to be a warrior.” Didn’t that make him happy?

  “He’ll give up on me.” Vow scraped the container with his eating tool. “I can’t do everything he wants me to do.”

  Ah. He must be having difficulty with one of the tasks. She smothered her smile. “What can’t you do?”

  “He wants me to communicate through the transmission lines.” Her son cleaned the container with his thumb.

  “And you can’t do that?” Her voice was gentle. Did he not have that ability?

  He licked the mashed root off his skin. “I made a vow that I wouldn’t.”

  He had the ability. He merely questioned if he should use it.

  A selfish part of her wanted to tell him he shouldn’t. If he communicated with his father through the transmission lines, she’d be excluded from the conversations.

  Zebrina squared her shoulders. She had to do what was right for her son. “You made that vow based on the knowledge you had at that time. Wise beings re-evaluate their stances when they have new information.”

  “I was stupid then.” Vow pushed the container away from him.

  “Don’t allow a wrong decision in the past to keep you from making the right decision today.” She should follow her own advice, view her current situation with fresh eyes. “Your father—”

  “They’re coming.” Her son straightened.

  The doors to his chamber opened. Stealth exited first, his face blank. He moved to her side, placed a hand possessively on her shoulder. “My female.”

  That was a proclamation of ownership. She met Odoon’s gaze. The male recognized that, his lips flattening.

  “How are you feeling?” She asked the Ahkian male.

  “Concerned.” He glanced pointedly at Stealth.

  They had to talk. She swallowed a groan, dreading the conversation.

  “Vow, warm some roots for your father.” She stood. “Take a walk with me, Odoon.” She grabbed one of the male’s arms. “I’ll show you our new trench.”

  She strode with him to the north wall. Both of her cyborgs could hear them. Her son had proven that over the rest cycle. But it gave the illusion of privacy.

  Her gaze lifted. A plume of black smoke stretched into the blue sky at the horizon. “That agri-lot belongs to an Ahkian, doesn’t it?”

  “They’re safe. They’re staying at my domicile.” Odoon raked his fingers through his thick blue hair. “Some of the other Ahkians are staying with me also. There are only a few of us left and we can’t defend ourselves as effectively as we did in the past. The Palavian raiding parties realize that and are targeting us.”

  Fuck. Was nowhere in the universe safe? “We have space if anyone needs it.” She was the only being who slept. Her son’s chamber was rarely utilized.

  “You have a cyborg staying in your domicile.” Her friend shook his head. “They would rather take their chances with the raiding parties than share space with you.”

  “That’s foolish.” She was disappointed but didn’t expect anything else from them. They had made their views known. “And there are two cyborgs staying in my domicile.”

  “Your son is mostly human.” Her friend moved closer to her, his arm brushing against hers.

  Do you want me to try to pass for a human? Vow had asked her. She looked up at Odoon. Had he gotten that bizarre idea from her friend? “Physically, my son is a cyborg.”

  “No one needs to know that.” Odoon placed his hand on her shoulder, in the same place Stealth’s palm had been.

  She endured his touch, concentrating on his words. “All of the Ahkians realize he’s a cyborg.”

  Her son had developed too quickly to be human, maturing within a solar cycle, and she’d seen no reason to deny his parentage. She didn’t have any issues with cyborgs.

  “When we return to Ahki, we’ll settle far from those beings.” Odoon presumed she was leaving with him. “They’ll eventually forget about him.”

  “I won’t forget and I won’t ask my son to be something he’s not.” She stiffened. “I love him.”

  “Then do what’s best for him.” Her friend turned her to directly face him. “Cyborgs fight and then they die. They were designed for that. Is that the future you want for your son?”

  Of course, she didn’t desire that future for Vow. She didn’t desire it for Stealth either.

  “I want my son to be happy, to be himself.” She would never ask him to change for her or for any other being. “He’s a cyborg. That’s who he is. The beings around him, around me, have to accept that.”

  “I’m not accepting anything.” Odoon muttered that under his breath.

  She didn’t address his reply. There were other matters to discuss. “I’ve considered your offer and I’m touched.” Her tone was curt yet she couldn’t soften it. She was too upset about what he had planned to do to her son. “It means a lot to me. But I’ve decided if Vow and I return to Ahki with you, we will be accompanying you as your friends, nothing more.”

  Odoon’s face flushed dark blue. “You’re choosing the machine.” His eyes glittered with fury. “This is his fault.” His fingers folded into fists.

  She stepped backward, fear coursing through her. Her friend, the supposed pacifist, looked like he wanted to hit her.

  “Odoon?” She gazed pointedly at his hands.

  He glanced at them also and his expression became grief-stricken. “No. Sorry. I didn’t mean…” He flattened his fingers once more. “I would never strike you or any other being. That’s not who I am.”

  That’s not who she thought he was either. “You shot at Stealth and Vow while they were wrestling.”

  “They’re ma—” He stopped talking.

  “They’re cyborgs, not machines.” She knew what he was going to say. “I think you should go.” They had both said enough.

  “You’re making a mistake.” Odoon breathed deeply in and out, as though he was trying to calm himself. “He’ll leave you again.”

  “He might do that.” She admitted that was a possibility. “But my decision had nothing to do with him.” She would rather be alone than be with the Ahkian romantically. “This is about you and me. I can’t love you the way you deserve.”

  She didn’t know if she even liked him. Odoon had made his feelings about cyborgs clear. She couldn’t be friends with someone who didn’t believe her son was a being.

  The Ahkian glared at her. She met his gaze squarely, holding her ground.

  “You’ll regret this,” he warned her.

  “I might.” She doubted she would. “That’s my burden to carry.”

  “If you change your mind, you know where I am.” Odoon stomped away from her. “Don’t expect me to take you back, however. I might have moved on.”

  She watched him until he disappeared.

  Then she sank to her knees. If Stealth left her now, as everyone believed he would, she and her son would be truly alone. Her only friend on the planet had walked away from her.

  Her gaze returned to the plume of smoke. Could she protect her son by herself?

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  She jolted, Stealth’s comment startling her. Lost in her musings, she hadn’t heard his approach. “You told me that on Ahki.” And then he’d left her.

  “I believed it in that moment.” He sat beside her, pulled her onto his lap. “You’re right. I could leave you again.” That admission squeezed her heart. “But I’d only do that if it was necessary to save you.”

  “Allow me to determine whether or not I need to be saved.” She leaned against him, unable to resist his heat, his touch. “Respect me to make that decision for myself.”

  She was a grown female, a mother. She was capable of making prudent choices.

  “If there’s sufficient time to consult with you, you can make that decision.” He pressed his cheek against hers. “I will always protect you. You’re my universe.”

  Did he only want her too? “And our son? What is he to you?”

  “He’s my universe.” Stealth didn’t hesitate to answer her.

  She wrinkled her nose. “How can we both be your universe?”

  “It defies logic, doesn’t it?” Her cyborg chuckled, that deep sound caressing her spine, coiling in the pit of her stomach. “Yet it’s the truth. You were and are everything for me. You filled all known space inside of me, engaged every sense. Then I met our son and that capacity doubled. There’s new terrain within me—vast, different, unexplainable.”

  That was how she felt. Their son had expanded her world. “Where is he?” She looked behind her. Her big male blocked her view.

  “He’s digging up the damaged root plants and making gagging noises.” Stealth grinned, his gray eyes sparkling with humor. “He doesn’t believe my words are worthy of a warrior.”

  She smiled. “I like your words.” They whispered to her soul.

  They sat in silence, her cyborg’s body wrapped around hers. His form was relaxed, his breathing level. His face was soft skin stretched over unrelenting metal.

  There was no denying who he was, his identity giving his words more weight. He wouldn’t leave her unless it was necessary to keep her safe. That was the truth.

  They were in a temporary sanctuary. The sun’s rays shone down on them and the vegetation swayed in the breeze.

  Yet danger and death and violence were close to them. The scent of smoke flavored the air, the Palavian raiding party within striking distance of their agri-lot.

  Should they leave or should they stay on Waaban Two?

  “When you envision the future, what do you see?” she asked. What was her cyborg’s plan for them?

  “I see you and my son.” Stealth gathered her closer to him. “Where you are, I will be.”

  She didn’t trust that answer. He believed it. Cyborgs couldn’t lie. But he might not have thought it through. “You don’t want to return to the Homeland?”