Ka'Cit's Haven: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 3), A.G. Wilde [surface ebook reader TXT] 📗

Only, she wasn’t crying.

She just felt…numb.

Was she just being stupid?

Possibly.

This could simply be an effect of being alone for so long. That, as well as seeing Cleo and Lauren so happy with their mates.

That’s what this was.

Ka’Cit didn’t owe her anything.

Things like that happened all the time on Earth.

It was stupid of her to expect more.

He was a man, a handsome one at that, who could be with any woman he wanted.

And if he didn’t want her then…

The thought made her shudder as a sob lodged in her throat.

Tomorrow, she’d get back to her routine of getting up early and tending to the animals and the rest of the Sanctuary.

Life would go back to normal and she could get rid of this sense of want and loss that she was feeling.

Easy.

Right?

Ka’Cit stopped his hover car in the middle of the plain and killed the engine.

He was half-way between his home and Riv’s Sanctuary and out here there was nothing.

Nothing except him and his thoughts.

His pain.

The water was falling from the sky so hard, he could hardly see before him and the darkness of the sky permeated the world around him.

He let out a roar as he slammed his fist against the hover-car’s controls.

Reaching up, he released his mask and threw it off as he buried his face into his hands.

Everything within him told him to turn the vehicle around, head back to the Sanctuary and claim his human.

Everything within him.

But he couldn’t.

He phekking couldn’t.

For her sake, he had to leave her alone.

He could see it in her eyes.

He’d hurt her.

It was the opposite of what he’d wanted to do, but he’d done it any way.

She was hurting.

Phek.

She’d probably hate him after this and he deserved it.

He could take her hate.

Hating him was good.

Not for him, but for her.

Even if she hated him, there was still a chance she could find happiness.

And with that thought, he forced down his own sorrow and stared ahead into the torrent of water falling before him.

He’d known this was going to happen.

He’d known the end would come.

So why was it so phekking hard to go on?

38

For the next few days, Nia did just what she’d put her mind to do.

She’d wake up early and almost stumble over Grot in the hallway, before heading out to do her chores.

The routine came back easily and she could almost pretend that her little adventure hadn’t happened.

Ka’Cit hadn’t returned to the Sanctuary since that rainy day but that wasn’t out of the ordinary.

He hadn’t visited regularly before; why would he do so now?

As she dumped manure at the root of one of the fluffy fruit trees, Nia felt a pain in her chest.

Ever since she’d returned that day, that ache had developed and hadn’t gone away. Every time she so much as thought about him, she felt it.

She could forget. At least, she was trying to forget, but even the little holographic animal he’d gotten her reminded her of him.

And she saw the thing every day.

She could only ignore it.

What else could she do?

She really didn’t have anything to feel sad about.

Lauren and the others were trying their best to make her happy, even though she’d told them constantly that they didn’t have to.

She didn’t blame them for any of what happened, but they still held some guilt.

Cleo kept making her that sweet tea, Sohut went foraging to find nuts that tasted like almonds, Lauren spent her time in the kitchen trying to create human foods like cinnamon rolls and oatmeal cookies, and even Riv was trying not to scowl at her so much.

She appreciated it all, but contrary to what they believed, she wasn’t sad about what had happened.

She was sad because of what it felt like she’d lost.

Nia dropped the shovel and leaned against one of the trees, her eyes moving up to the sky.

The rain had fallen for three whole days and the soil was still soggy from it. Over those three days she’d focused on forgetting, albeit unsuccessfully.

“What did I do wrong?” Her words were a whisper carried away by the slight wind.

But what had she done wrong?

He hadn’t even called…

It was like…she didn’t exist.

Get it together, Nia. Are you really that lonely?

You have a family. You have the animals. You have more than most.

And this was true.

Her shoulders stiffened as she leaned off the tree and picked up the bucket and shovel.

As she headed back toward the main buildings, she repeated this to herself over and over again.

She had more than most.

She should be grateful.

There was a loud boom as she reached the main building and she saw Grot run from the main house a little animal that looked like a chihuahua mixed with a monkey running before him.

The little one was Cleo’s pet and he and Grot had an ongoing feud, though they didn’t actually ever hurt each other.

Cleo’s pet looked cute, but it was a vicious little thing. She’d seen it attack one of the robots in the fields once.

The robot did not survive.

As she heard Lauren shout from the house, Nia huffed a laugh through her nose.

“Grot! Leave Wawa alone!” Lauren appeared at the door, gripping her belly as she shouted. “So stubborn!”

Lauren was frowning and when her eyes fell on Nia, she blushed a little.

“Sorry, this must be crazy to you.”

Nia shook her head. “Not at all.”

She watched the animals run off into the fields before her gaze moved back to Lauren.

“I came from a big family.” At least, she considered all those kids her father helped to be a part of her extended family.

She was an only child but home life like this comforted her. Especially when she was feeling like shit, like today.

Her gaze fell to Lauren’s belly as the woman rubbed it and she smiled again.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Lauren groaned. “It’s not as great as it looks. This child is growing faster than my body can keep up and I swear he thinks my bladder is a punching bag.”

Nia’s