Cara had focused so intently on blocking her thoughts that she didn’t notice when Jaxen pulled away. A loud throat-clearing snapped her to attention, and she found herself staring at the wall.
Uh-oh.
She’d missed his entire message. What had he tried pushing inside her head—to forget the probe and Aisly’s eyedrops or to forget their entire encounter?
“I’m a little confused,” Cara said, rubbing her temples and glancing back and forth between the siblings. “I came in here to ask you something, but now I can’t remember what it was.”
Aisly smiled sweetly. “You must be tired from waking up so early to take your brother to the spaceport.”
“Do you need me to escort you back to your room?” Jaxen asked.
“No, I’ll be fine.” Cara shook her head and laughed dryly. “Guess I need a nap. Sorry to bother you.”
“Any time,” Jaxen told her.
She held up two fingers in a L’eihr good-bye and returned to her room, but not for a nap. She spent the rest of the afternoon talking to Aelyx about what had happened while intermittently huffing his shirt. After what she’d endured, she needed the comfort.
That night as Cara and Elle lay beneath their covers, Cara whispered, “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Do L’eihrs get allergies?”
“Allergies?” Elle asked.
“Yeah, you know, reactions to pollen and mold. Itchy, watery eyes, cough, runny nose. Things like that.”
“No,” Elle said, confirming Cara’s suspicions. “Anyone with a hypersensitive immune system would have been barred from reproducing thousands of years ago.”
“You’re a medic,” Cara said. “What reason would someone have to use eyedrops?”
“They wouldn’t.” Elle sounded confused, which made two of them.
“That’s what I thought.”
The hiss of their door opening interrupted their conversation, and Cara pushed onto her elbows, heart thumping as she scanned the darkness for the intruder.
Ah-woo, came a low whine.
Cara pressed a relieved hand to her chest. It was only Vero. “Our keypad’s messed up again,” she told Elle, then pointed a warning finger at Vero. “If you pee on my pillow, I’ll choke you with your own tail.”
He crept to the foot of her cot, then extended one paw and lowered his head to the floor.
“Ooh,” Elle whispered in awe from the top bunk. “He’s showing deference. This means he sees you as his pack leader.”
Yeah, right. Or he was trying to trick her into leaving her pillow undefended.
“It might have something to do with Aelyx’s scent,” Elle said. “He followed Aelyx everywhere—idolized him completely. As Aelyx’s mate, Vero would consider you an alpha by association.”
It was an interesting theory. Cara patted her mattress. “Come on, boy. It’s okay.”
After a while, Vero found the courage to climb into bed with her, scooting nearer by slow inches. Just when Cara started to think it was a trick, he curled up against Aelyx’s T-shirt and rested his head on the mattress, purring sadly.
“You poor thing,” Cara whispered. Slowly, so as not to startle him, she lowered her head to the pillow. A few minutes later when Vero’s breathing began to slow, Cara extended one finger and petted his arm. His shorn fur was baby-soft, his delicate skin warmer than she’d anticipated. He surprised her by curling his little digits around her finger and tucking her knuckles beneath his chin.
Aww. Vero was a cuddler.
Even though he smelled kind of like wet dog, she enjoyed the contact, so she scooted close enough to feel his warm breath against her cheek. They snuggled that way for the rest of the night, united by their love for a boy in another galaxy.