Kyris: A Sci-fi Alien Abduction Romance (Captured by Aliens Book 4)

surface and burned up before landing.
Right.
There was still a battle going on behind him. Somewhere in space, his brothers were abandoning the fight for the moment. Somewhere in space, their ship was being destroyed.
He needed to remain focused…he needed to remain focused and alive.
As his pod reached the surface, it was like slamming headfirst into a wall. The sudden impact almost threw him out of his seat—the force so strong it jolted him hard, and he felt an immediate pain in his shoulder, one that echoed straight down one of his wings.
Qrakking devils from Polvrak’s nest.
That hurt like a mother-qrakker.
Outside, a thin cloud of sand floated into the air, disturbed by his sudden arrival.
And again, despite the pain in his shoulder, the mantra repeated in his head.
The human.
Kyris’ movements were smooth, almost catlike, as he activated the release button and the pod opened with a hiss.
The air was still thick with sand, causing him to cough as he took a breath and hopped out of the round vessel.
Eyes narrowed so he could focus through the dust around him, he took in his immediate surroundings with practiced precision.
Years serving as a sentry proved useful and, as he scanned the area, he noted every detail around him within a few seconds.
The human.
She wasn’t there.
Eyes to the sky, he searched the expanse above him for a sign her vessel was still descending.
Maybe he had entered the atmosphere before she had?
But even as he looked, he knew. Her pod wasn’t up there.
There wasn’t even an indication that somewhere in space above the planet, the brutal attack that had forced them from the Elysium was still taking place.
The Hedgerud guards had already taken down the Elysium’s turrets and the engines had been compromised when he’d abandoned the ship. If the Hedgeruds decided to bring down the Elysium, which he was certain they would do, he was sure the Tasqals would send them after the escape pods as well.
The vermin would leave no stone unturned.
After all, he and his brothers has just destroyed one of the Isclit slave ships and “stolen” their precious slaves. He was sure the Tasqals would want revenge.
Reaching his hand to his back, Kyris felt for his blade. It was sheathed and nestled perfectly against the length of his spine. Closing his hand around the hilt felt like a confirmation.
Confirmation that he was a rebel. A fighter. A member of the Restitution.
If they came after them, he would fight.
If they came after her, he would slay them.
The human.
Again, that fierce need to protect ran through his veins and Kyris frowned slightly. It had been a feeling alien to him but now it was becoming as familiar as the rage he felt when he thought about the Tasqals. He’d been fighting it, trying to keep it hidden since he’d first seen her. But the circumstances were overriding his logic.
He needed to find her pod.
He would find her, protect her, take her to the outpost, and complete this part of the mission.
This mantra in his head, the anxiety in his hearts whenever he allowed his mind to focus on her…whatever was happening within him was just because he was devoted to his mission.
The need to protect was because of his dedication to his ethics, his code, all the values of the Restitution and what they were fighting for.
This need to protect that was slowly flooding through is veins…it wasn’t turning into an obsession. It wasn’t because of something else that was growing within him…something he was afraid to face…something he had to ignore.
It was because of his duty.
That was all.
Duty.
It wasn’t anything else.
It was impossible to be something else.

2
It was something else.
Even now as he looked above him for sight of her pod, he couldn’t lie to himself.
Whatever it was had taken root within him from the very first time he’d lain eyes on her.
Call him crazy but he hadn’t been imagining it. And he wasn’t imagining it now.
It was a feeling unlike any other…indescribable…a want within him that was taking hold. It was the basis of that mantra that was thrumming in his head.
He remembered it clearly.
He’d gotten captured, and a Tasqal had promptly bought him and thrown him in a cell on the Isclit ship. They had believed he was exiled and had thought themselves lucky. A Vaen slave. It wasn’t something to be seen every day.
Little had they known the capture had all been by choice. His choice. It had all been according to plan.
He had counted the days waiting for the right moment when he and his brothers could complete their mission and destroy the slave ship.
But when the human been thrown in his cell…the look in her eyes…the terror that was there…it had changed something within him. Something deep. Something he hadn’t yet had the time to dissect.
Because…what he’d seen in her eyes had been clear. It hadn’t been her choice to be there. She’d had no say in the matter, and though he knew this was what the Tasqals did…though he knew they captured and enslaved others…though he’d even rescued and befriended many of the slaves they’d captured…something about this slave was different.
Dark hair…dark eyes…she was striking.
Something about the way she’d looked at him when she was thrown into his cell…something within her wild, terrified gaze had caught his attention and kept it there. And now he was having trouble looking away.
He’d thought the feeling would leave after he and his brothers had completed the mission. After they’d rescued the humans and brought them back to the Elysium…he’d thought that would be it.
They would bring them back to the base. The humans would have the option of staying there or heading to the interplanetary hub where they could make a life for themselves in a new world.
But it hadn’t been that simple.
It seemed as if the brief taste of freedom with her on the Elysium had only exacerbated this feeling flooding through him.
And here he was now…yearning to see her again.
That troubling thought lingered and, as he