“Stealth?” Her concern had transferred to Vow. Stealth saw that in her expressive eyes. “He could be shot.”

  “The risk is low, my female.” There were now only three other lifeforms appearing on the scans and he would be monitoring the situation from the back of their troop.

  Their son was also extremely cautious, walking slower than a human offspring would, swinging his guns from right to left and back again. He took his role seriously. Stealth’s chest expanded with pride. He’d make a great warrior once he’d completed his training.

  The three lifeforms approached. Vow stopped, held up his hand as Stealth had earlier done, indicating they should halt.

  Wait for a visual. Stealth coached his son.

  One of the lifeforms overlapped with another other, indicating he or she was being carried. The enemy was unlikely to carry a being into battle with them.

  Though that could happen. It could be a trick.

  “Is it safe?” a male asked. “Are they gone?”

  “He’s one of us.” The Healer confirmed Stealth’s suspicions. “Don’t kill him.”

  “We’ll take you to safety.” Zebrina extended that offer to the newcomers. “Join our group. My males will protect you.”

  “I have a gun.” The male exited a wooded part of the terrain. He held a gun. A male offspring clung to his back. There was a female behind him. “We killed two Palavians.” He limped, his right leg bloody.

  “You need to stop that bleeding.” The Healer narrowed her eyes at him.

  “We need to keep moving.” Stealth informed them. The battlefield wasn’t the site for repairing. “Can you walk?”

  “I am walking, aren’t I?” The male huffed. “I might not be a machine but I’ll make it.”

  “No one here is a machine,” Stealth’s female muttered.

  All lifeforms are accounted for. His son glanced at him.

  Move faster but stay vigilant. Stealth wouldn’t take any risks with him or with Zebrina.

  The three beings folded into their troop. They exited the agri-lot, ventured along the main pathway.

  “This is humiliating,” Odoon grumbled. “I’m a grown male. I shouldn’t need to be carried.”

  “My brethren had to carry me numerous times off the battlefield.” Stealth volunteered that information. Boom had often hefted him over his shoulder, transporting him to safety. “Once my legs were severed through my frame. Only wires connected them to my form.”

  The C Model had walked slowly, allowing Stealth to repair before rendezvousing with the Humanoid Alliance officer. If the human had seen him in that condition, he would have been decommissioned Stealth, killed him for the offense of being damaged.

  “It’s lucky you’re a machine and don’t feel pain.” Odoon was determined to be an ass.

  “Cyborgs feel pain.” He was half organic. Why did no beings realize that? His gaze drifted to his female. Almost no beings realized that. She had always assumed he could be hurt. “The agony almost shut down my processors.”

  “That’s not possible.” The Ahkian rejected his sharing. “If you could feel pain, you wouldn’t be carrying me. Your back is torn to pieces.”

  “His front is in worse shape.” Stealth’s female looked over her shoulder, anger blazing from her eyes. “And we all know who is responsible for those wounds.”

  Stealth’s lips twitched. She was passionate in her defense of him.

  “Cyborgs are manufactured not to shut down easily and we are trained to endure.” His pain hadn’t been a consideration in his decision. “I’m carrying you because I will do anything for my female.”

  That was the being the male owed his rescue to.

  “Is that why you saved us—to please your female?” Odoon asked that as though it were a bad reason.

  “Yes.” He would never put his female, his son in danger for strangers.

  The Ahkian huffed.

  Zebrina glanced back at them. “He saved you because it was the right thing to do.”

  That wasn’t the truth. “No, I—”

  “You did.” Her tone allowed no discussion. His female was determined to make it appear like he cared for the Ahkians.

  He didn’t. He had seen how humans and humanoids behaved. They turned on each other when it served their purposes, thought nothing about enslaving and killing his kind.

  The only living beings he cared about were his female and his son.

  We saved them, didn’t we, Dad? Vow grasped onto that fact as though it were important to him. The Palavians would have killed all of them if we hadn’t joined the fight.

  Most of them would have died. A few of them could have hid until the enemy had left.

  We had to kill those males. His son expressed his emotional damage over ending lifespans.

  The beings we killed chose to fight. They processed they could die. As he had processed he could die every time he stepped onto a battlefield. And they wouldn’t have hesitated to kill you.

  All of the males had ended lifespans. He’d seen that in their eyes.

  It was them or me. His son continued to stress his processors.

  It was them or everyone you protected. Stealth corrected him. You can’t protect your mom if you’re dead. He would always safeguard Zebrina but he gave that mission to Vow also. You can’t protect the offspring in her arms or in the Healer’s arms.

  He didn’t care about other beings but his son did. He had his mom’s kind heart.

  Killing the beings was the right thing to do. His son concluded, the emotional damage in his transmission greatly diminished.

  It was the right thing to do. Stealth confirmed, using his words.

  He glanced over his shoulder at Odoon. The Ahkian thought cyborgs were killing machines. If he’d heard their private transmissions, he’d realize how wrong he was.

  They passed through the gap in the wall, entering their agri-lot. Heads turned, the grounds occupied by the beings they’d rescued. Relief flashed across the pale blue faces as they were recognized.

  That was an unusual experience for Stealth. He was accustomed to being feared, being viewed as the weapon many beings believed he was.

  Boom and Lethal would have found the Ahkians’ response as bemusing as he did.

  It had been the first battle he’d fought without his friends. There had been moments when he’d turned his head and thought he’d seen the males by his side.

  They hadn’t been there. His female and his son accompanied him now.

  “You did well, Vow.” He relayed that praise so everyone around them could hear it. “I’m proud to have fought with you.”

  “I’m proud to fight with you too, Dad.” His son beamed. “I’ll stand guard at the entrance.”

  “Spoken like a true warrior.” Stealth grinned. “I’ll join you soon.”

  “He called you Dad,” Zebrina whispered. An Ahkian female took the babies from her.

  “He did.” His female and his son had survived the battle with little damage and he had earned the title of dad.

  Once he set the ungrateful Ahkian male down, he would celebrate.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Zebrina watched her son as he strode to the entrance and looked out. His cheek was almost healed. Her baby boy shouldn’t be in any pain.

  But the danger hadn’t passed. He would be the first being a raiding party encountered if they attacked from that direction.

  “I should stand guard with him.” She would protect her son.

  “That’s not necessary.” Stealth brushed against her side. Odoon was casually slung over his shoulder. “The probability of us being attacked a second time is 3.0619 percent.”

  That was reassuringly low. “Because the Palavians weren’t successful the first time?”

  “Because there are only two cyborgs on the planet and we both reside here.” Blood dripped down her warrior’s body. Chunks of flesh hung off his chest. He was hurting yet his eyes glowed with amusement, his sense of humor unharmed. “There are easier targets for the raiding parties.”

  “Nowhere is safe.” Bitterness wrapped around Odoon’s words. “They attacked my domicile and we share a border.”

  “Did you tell outsiders you shared a border with cyborgs?” She doubted he had, her anger at the male escalating once more. “Or were we a dirty little secret?”

  She included herself when referring to her males. They were a part of her.

  Odoon, in contrast, was nothing to her. They were no longer friends. She would never forgive him from deliberately shooting her male…multiple times.

  “Beings hate cyborgs,” the Ahkian muttered, his excuse weak.

  “Beings fear us also.” Stealth didn’t appear to take offense at that rude response. Her male wasn’t as sensitive as her son. “Vow will be safe, my female. If I sense beings approaching the agri-lot, I’ll join him.”

  “I’ll join him too.” She looked at their son. “I—”

  “Odoon requires medical care.” The Healer interrupted them. “Discuss this later.”

  Odoon would be dead if it weren’t for them and Stealth required medical care also, his wounds having been inflicted by the Ahkian male.

  The Healer hadn’t expressed concern about her warrior. Zebrina cast a hard look at the female and led them into the domicile.

  It was crowded with beings. Her objects had been flung everywhere, some of her things broken. The walls were decorated with black smears and red handprints.

  “Clear the horizontal support.” She waved at the nourishment consuming area. “We’ll set Odoon there.”

  “We have to wipe the surface with a cleaning cloth first.” The Healer grabbed two fabric squares and flicked them, refreshing them. “It won’t be as sterile as I like but it will have to do.” She scrubbed the horizontal support.

  Zebrina opened a compartment in the wall. It was empty. “Where is the medic pack I stored here?”

  “All three packs have been fully utilized.” An Ahkian told her.

  “You had three medic packs?” The Healer paused in her cleaning to look at her.

  “I have an active child.” Her son was always testing his limits, hurting himself. “And I have more than three medic packs in the domicile.” She kept one in each major chamber. It decreased the response time.

  “Your child is a cyborg.” The Healer rolled up her sleeves and tidied her fingers, hands, forearms. “Medic packs aren’t necessary for him. He heals quickly.”

  “He bleeds and feels pain like the rest of us.” Zebrina rolled her eyes. The Healer was there for his birth. She should know that. “I’ll find a medic pack you can utilize.”

  “I’ll accompany you, my female.” Stealth plunked Odoon on the horizontal support.

  “Be careful with him.” The Healer scowled.

  Zebrina glared at her. Her male was injured also but the Healer didn’t care about him. He was a cyborg.

  Stealth reached her side in two strides. “Do you want me to kill her?” He grinned.

  Two Ahkian females squeaked, scurrying away from him.

  Zebrina shifted her gaze to him. “Stop teasing them, my male. I’m trying to disprove the rumors about cyborgs, not reinforce them.” Her comment merely made his grin widen. “Come with me.” She clasped one of his hands, relishing the touch of him, the reassuring warmth of his palm. “I’ll see to your wounds.”

  “Odoon’s wounds are our priority.” The Healer called after them.

  “Odoon’s wounds might be a priority for you,” Zebrina muttered. “My first concern is caring for my males.”

  Her warrior chuckled. “I’m healing, my fierce female, and our son suffered little damage.”

  “Because of you.” She opened another compartment. It was bare also. “You shielded both of us. Don’t think I didn’t notice that.”

  “I would never doubt your observation skills.” He accompanied her as she searched a storage chamber.

  The medic pack plus many of her other supplies were missing. It was an emergency situation. They were welcome to what little she had.

  But she wondered if they would have shown her cyborgs the same generosity had their positions been reversed.

  The three packs had been discovered. Now knowing where the remaining ones were, she headed toward the private chamber she shared with Stealth.

  It was occupied. Babies cuddled close to each other on the sleeping support, the little beings cooing happily. The space reeked of soiled ass coverings.

  The two females tending to the infants looked upward as they entered. Their faces faded to the palest blue when they saw Stealth.

  “We’ll leave,” one of them said, reaching for a squirming child.

  “Stay. Don’t move them.” Zebrina opened a compartment and grabbed the medic pack stored there. “Could one of you take this to the Healer situated in the nourishment consuming chamber? She needs it for a wounded Ahkian.”

  “I’ll do that, Zebrina.” The younger female darted a nervous glance at Stealth before snatching the pack from her fingers.

  “Thank you.” She didn’t know the female’s name. Many of the Ahkians had never talked with her or introduced themselves. She’d been an outcast since planet rotation one.

  They all knew her name, however. And now, they were forced to acknowledge her. They were staying in her home, had been rescued by her males.

  “There are more supplies in the compartments.” She backed out of the chamber, relinquishing the space to them. “Use what you need.” She closed the doors between them.

  “You will have nothing left,” her warrior murmured as they moved toward Vow’s chambers.

  “We had very little when we arrived here.” She’d traded the sunstones she’d hoarded on Ahki for the agri-lot, the domicile, and supplies. “We survived.”

  Vow’s chamber was unoccupied. She suspected that was because it was clearly his. His garments and broken weapons and other personal items were distributed everywhere in the space. The Ahkians feared her son, wouldn’t risk angering him.

  They didn’t realize he would never knowingly hurt them, that he had sought their acceptance above all else. He had been hurt by their rejection.

  She glanced at his father. He had given their son a sense of belonging, a role to play in the universe. The two males understood each other.

  Her warrior picked up a rock, examined it, put it back down again. Every horizontal surface except the sleeping support was covered with things. Their son had an affinity for objects no one else wanted.

  “Do you wish to return to your damaged friend?” Stealth nudged a shattered viewscreen.

  “Odoon is no longer my friend.” She extracted a medic pack from a wall compartment. “He shouldn’t have shot you.” There was no excuse for his action. “I wanted to kill him for that.”

  “He malfunctioned.” Her warrior studied a ball of wire. “I’ve seen that happen in battle. Organic brains can take a limited amount of violence before breaking. It is a human and humanoid weakness.”

  She stared at him, not having considered that possibility. “He’s a pacifist and he was forced to fight, to defend himself and others.”

  Odoon had believed Waaban Two would be a peaceful planet, thought he had been escaping the war, only to face hostile beings in his so-called paradise. He had seen the Ahkians he had rescued—females, children, babies—killed, had been unable to protect them.

  That would break a being.

  “He still shouldn’t have shot you.” Though she understood how, in his shattered mind, he would mix up a past enemy with a present ally.

  “I’m repairing.” Her warrior didn’t appear to hold any grudges against the Ahkian.

  She shouldn’t hold them either. Though forgiving Odoon would be difficult. “You still hurt.” She searched through the medic pack, found the injector gun, filled it with pain inhibitors. “Open your garment.” What was left of it.

  “There are limited pain inhibitors.” Stealth shook his head. “Save it for one of the humanoids.”

  “If you refuse the pain inhibitors, our son will refuse them.” She wasn’t relenting on the matter. Her male was in agony. He was as deserving of care as anyone else was. “Do you want him to suffer the next time he’s hurt?”

  Stealth sighed. “No.” He yanked on the remnants of his flight suit, shredding it. The strips fluttered to the floor. He stood before her, unabashedly naked.

  Her gaze lowered. He was aroused, his cock hard.

  “The battles on Ahki didn’t turn you on like this.” She pressed the muzzle of the injector gun against his chest and tapped the trigger.

  “You turn me on, not battle.” Her cyborg smiled down at her. “On Ahki, I had to suppress my feelings for you. We were being watched and I would never place you in peril like that. Here, I am free to display my desire.”

  “You are free.” She exchanged the injector gun for cleaning cloths. “But you’re also hurt. You should save your energy for healing.”

  “Breeding with you requires very little energy.” He widened his stance. “And I produce more nanocybotics during it. I would repair faster.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. If he wasn’t a cyborg, she would say he was lying. But cyborgs were restricted to telling the truth. “Only you would want to fuck with your flesh hanging off your frame.”

  She dabbed the cleaning cloths over him, removing the blood and gore.

  “We don’t fuck. We breed.” He stood still as she tended to him. “Not every part of me has been damaged.”

  “I see that.” Her lips twitched.

  She circled him, cleaning his shoulders, back, clenched ass cheeks, lower. His muscles rippled under the cloths, flexing and easing.

  He had started to heal. Some of the wounds had pulled together. A thin layer of golden skin had formed over his exposed silver frame. The projectiles had been ejected.

  “Is there a peaceful place anywhere in this universe?” Would they encounter battles wherever they went? She cleaned his fingers one by one. The skin on his knuckles was torn.

  “We’ll create our own peace.” He leaned toward her, his shoulders broad, his waist narrow. “If my calculations are incorrect and the Palavians attack again, they won’t get past our son’s wall. We won’t allow that. You’ll be safe in this domicile.”