But for now, in this moment, there was only this.
A male and his mate, planning their future together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“You want to go back to the ice.”
Alina’s words weren’t a question. She stood at the small kitchen counter of her quarters, hands wrapped around a steaming mug, brown eyes watching Jaz with the kind of quiet intensity that suggested she’d already worked out most of what Jaz was about to say.
“Is it that obvious?”
“You’ve been staring at the northern windows since you arrived.” Alina smiled—a gentle expression that illuminated her pretty face. “And Adjar looks like he’s about to crawl out of his own skin every time Rhyx walks within fifty meters of you.”
She winced. “He’s trying to control it.”
“I know. Rhyx says it’s instinctive. Territory, mate-bonding, all of it hardwired into their biology.” Alina took a sip of her drink. “It doesn’t make it comfortable to watch, though.”
“No.” She moved to the small table that dominated Alina’s living space, running her fingers along its edge. The quarters weremodest but well-organized—data pads stacked in neat piles, geological samples arranged on shelves, a small flowering plant that somehow thrived despite the artificial lighting. It felt like a scientist’s home. A place where someone had chosen to put down roots.
Not for me,she thought.Not here.
“We talked about it last night,” she said. “About what we want. Where we belong.” She forced herself to meet Alina’s gaze. “I know it probably seems crazy. You’ve offered us safety and resources and a place in your network. And we’re planning to go back to the most hostile region on Mars.”
“It doesn’t seem crazy at all.”
Jaz blinked. “It doesn’t?”
Alina set down her mug and crossed to join her at the table. “Jaz, I spent most of my career in a lab with nice facilities, proper funding, and colleagues who respected my work.” She shook her head. “And then I found Rhyx and we had to run. Even though I loved him, I worried about my work. But I found the freedom to pursue questions without someone looking over my shoulder every five minutes. I’ve never been happier. Or more productive.”
“Is that why you came here?”
Alina laughed. “We don’t actually live here, although we visit quite frequently. We have a home and a lab in the middle of nowhere and I love it.” She leaned against the table, her expression growing serious. “I understand the pull of a place, Jaz. The way certain landscapes settle into your bones and refuse to leave. If the polar ice is that place for the two of you, then you should go.”
Relief washed over her, stronger than she’d expected. She hadn’t realized how much she’d been dreading this conversation, afraid that Alina would see their decision as a rejection.
“We’re not abandoning the alliance,” she said quickly. “We still want to help. With the emergence sites, with protecting others who wake up, with everything you’re building here. We just?—”
“You just need to do it from a place that feels like home.” Alina nodded. “I understand. Truly.” She was quiet for a moment, her brow furrowing in thought. “The question is how to make it work. GenCon is still watching a lot of the polar territory. Your claim is compromised. If you go back as Jaz Kour, they’ll find you within a week.”
“I know.” She had spent most of the morning wrestling with that particular problem. “We talked about using the ranger network stations as staging points and staying mobile, but?—”
“Too risky. And too limited.” Alina drummed her fingers against the table. “You need a legitimate presence. Something that gives you a reason to be in the territory and access to supply channels.”
“I had all of that. Had being the operative word.”
“Then we create it again.” Alina’s eyes had taken on a familiar gleam—the look of a scientist who’d spotted an interesting problem. “Not under your name. Under a new one.”
She frowned. “Identity fraud? That’s?—”
“Not exactly uncommon.” Alina waved a dismissive hand. “Half the settlers on Mars are operating under assumed names. For everyone who came here looking for a chance to build a new life,there is someone who was running away from the old one. We just need to provide the appropriate documentation.”
“Documentation I don’t have.”
“Documentation I can provide.”
The offer hung in the air between them. She stared at Alina, trying to process what she was hearing.
“Really?”
