Earth's Last Days: The Invasion-Chapter 202: “It’s a Soul-Deep Bond”

The smell of pizza floated through the hangar bay as Mikiel, Verion, and Iris handed large disks of pizza out to the waiting group. Many of the newcomers, those from outside the dome, looked at the pizza in shock, not expecting human food to be served on an alien ship.

Mikiel looked at everyone from the mountain city Iris was from, smiling at the shock on their faces as they looked at the pizza, not expecting pizza to be served by their hosts. It was human food, not alien. Their surprise made Mikiel smile wider. "We serve this in one of our taverns. It’s very good with the strong beverage," he told Iris. "The sisters call it beer. I think I like the sound of what they call it better."

Iris giggled; she couldn’t help it. She liked the two aliens she was helping. As everyone ate their pizza and many lay down to sleep, Iris looked at Mikiel and Verion. "You call us humans. What are you called?" she asked. All she knew was that they were aliens.

Mikiel took a bite out of his own pizza, forcing Verion to be the one to answer Iris’s question. He did it on purpose so Verion could get used to conversing with those he didn’t know. He had a feeling that Iris was his mate, but wasn’t sure. Both seemed shy enough not to realize it if they were mates. If they weren’t mates, it looked like Verion was becoming fast friends with Iris. She was shy like Verion was. She was also nice to him. He liked her."

Verion smiled shyly. "Ramesian. We are Ramesian. Those in the disk ships are Kreq. They look like your people, only they have a green tint to their skin," he explained slowly, doing his best not to stutter.

Iris frowned. "I didn’t see the disk ships when we were taken off the planet and brought here. There are two types of people here besides humans?" she asked carefully, not wanting to offend them by calling them aliens. To them, humans were the aliens.

Verion nodded. "We all lost our home planet. It seems we are destined to call this ship home instead," he said sadly. He had made himself depressed thinking about it. Not only did they lose their home planet, but they lost their new home too. "We don’t really have a home anymore. None of us."

Iris smiled; seeing his sadness, she squeezed his hand gently to comfort him. "Home is always where those you love are. It’s not the planet that makes the home. It’s those you care about and call family that make a place a home."

Mikiel watched in silence at the conversation. He began to wonder if he was right that they were mates and hadn’t figured it out yet. He still wasn’t sure, so he didn’t want to make them uncomfortable by asking them.

The door to the hangar bay opened, and a very exhausted-looking Fleet Commander Lerian, walked in. He scanned the room. His eyes stopped on Mikiel and Verion. He walked up to them, his pace slowing as he noticed Iris as she nibbled on her pizza. His gaze went to her, ignoring the two males.

When Fleet Commander Lerian reached them, he forced himself to look at Mikiel. "Have you figured out who the leader of the mountain city people is? I need to create a roster so we can find quarters for his people," he asked him.

Before Mikiel could answer the fleet commander, Iris looked up, gasping as she made eye contact with Fleet Commander Lerian. There was a moment of pause as they looked into each other’s eyes. Trapped in the depths of their eyes as they gazed at each other. Lerian shook himself free from her gaze. He had no choice. He had work to do.

Iris pointed to the elderly man. "That is Keith. He was our leader," she told him. She couldn’t stop looking at the fleet commander. "Stars," she said suddenly. "I see the galaxy in your eyes." Her voice was breathless. Her eyes darkened as she looked at him.

Mikiel smiled, unable to contain it before he took another bite of his pizza, realizing Verion wasn’t her mate after all; Fleet Commander Lerian was.

Fleet Commander Lerian offered his hand to help Iris stand. "Perhaps you should introduce me to him. We need to make sure everyone is assigned quarters," he told her quietly, his gaze now fixed on her again, unable to look away.

Mikiel watched Fleet Commander Lerian. He could tell that the fleet commander didn’t know what to do about Iris. It would be very uncomfortable to assume she would automatically want to go with him to his own quarters if it turned out she didn’t want to stay with him yet. Mikiel knew that Lerian needed to wait until he could talk to her in private to discuss the living arrangements and give her a choice. If she wasn’t ready, he had to accept it. He wondered how the fleet commander was going to handle it.

Iris took Lerian’s hand, and he gently pulled her to her feet, not releasing it. She didn’t fight it, nor did she attempt to let go of his hand. She smiled up at him in awe as they walked to the elderly man, Keith. The man saw them coming, his gaze moving to their hands that were clasped together. He took a moment to stare at their hands before he moved his gaze to the fleet commander.

Releasing her hand, he stretched out his hand to Keith in greeting. "I am Fleet Commander Lerian. I need to create a roster of all you people so I can find quarters for them. Mated pairs are combined. Those with children are combined. Families that reside together are combined. Those who are unmated are given their own."

Keith looked between Fleet Commander Lerian and Iris, ignoring the information that Lerian had just given him. "Are you claiming Iris?" he asked evenly. To Mikiel, who was listening, it sounded like he was asking the fleet commander if he was claiming her as property.

Lerian looked at the older man, a question in his features. Mikiel could tell that the fleet commander didn’t understand what the man was referring to. Mikiel wasn’t sure either.

"Are you taking her against her will?" the man, Keith, asked evenly. His eyes were narrowed at Fleet Commander Lerian.

Fleet Commander Lerian, finally understanding, smiled. "No, sir. I am not. Our race has a unique quality. We can find our mates by looking into their eyes. The Kreq have that same ability. Your people would call it an imprint, I believe, but I am unsure. I would never force Iris to come with me unwilling. I will give her time to decide if she accepts me or not as her mate," Lerian explained.

Keith folded his arms, his eyes hard. "And if she chooses to reject you?" he asked. His voice was still even.

"I will not force her," Fleet Commander Lerian repeated. "If she does not accept me, there is nothing I can do about it."

Iris turned to Lerian, smiling up at him. "I don’t reject you. I feel like we were made for each other. Like we were meant to be with each other," she told him. Her voice was quiet, trying to keep the conversation private.

It didn’t matter. Even in a whisper, Mikiel heard every word.

"Do you wish to come with me to my quarters, or do you wish to have your own until you are ready?" Fleet Commander Lerian asked just as quietly.

Mikiel smiled. The fleet commander was handling it better than he thought he would.

Iris smiled up at him. "I don’t need to wait. I think I am ready now."

"You can’t stop it," a voice from behind them spoke. It was Miles who was walking toward them with a square device similar to a tablet. He stopped in front of them. Looking at Keith, he smiled. "I bumped into my mate by accident one night. I nearly knocked her over. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going," he chuckled. "She wasn’t either. We each had a lot on our minds that night. When I looked at her, I knew right away that she was meant for me. I could never have rejected her. It would have torn my soul in half. The mate bond is a soul-deep bond. I’ve felt nothing like it before. You or anyone else who has never felt the bond will not understand it unless you find your own mate. As a human who has a Ramesian mate, I can only speak for myself. Everyone I’ve asked about it says the same thing, though," Miles explained.

Keith relaxed after hearing Miles speak about the mate bond. Then, he looked at Fleet Commander Lerian, nodding. "I’ll make a list of everyone in my group."