I kept moving, and my jaw dropped. That was definitely not an Atlan, or anything I would consider human. Human-ish, maybe? Except its head was too long. Its fingertips ended in long claws that looked sharp enough to slice silk, and its eyes were an odd color. What was that color? Key lime green? Like the pie? “Cormac?”

He was at my side at once. “Gods be damned. How the fuck did they find you?”

The creature lifted its head to look at us and then rose from the floor to a standing position. He wore pants that had been ripped above his knees and nothing else. Cords of muscle that looked like twisted ropes covered every inch of his body. His chest was massive, his thighs bigger around than my hips. He was just as big as the Atlans, but he had fangs longer than Cormac’s. Sharper, too. And his voice, when he spoke, sounded like rolling gravel. “Cormac.”

“Ruk?” Cormac dipped his chin in some kind of odd bow. “How did the Hive get their hands on you?”

Cormac knew this one? The one with the fangs?

Of course he did.

“Siren scum. They are trading captives to the Hive for weapons.”

Cormac visibly paled, and he raised a hand to his chest as if his heart hurt.

Who was this guy?

The thought seemed to draw the creature’s attention to me. He took his time looking me over, head to toe like I was some kind of insect he’d never seen before. “Your mate?”

“Yes.”

“This female is too fragile. Too small. You should have mated my sister, as the elders ordered.”

“What?” I looked from the alien to Cormac. “What is he talking about?”

Cormac cleared his throat. “This is Rukzi. He is a Hyperion chieftain's son and a friend. Everyone on Rogue 5 has Hyperion ancestry.”

I looked from Cormac to Rukzi, who bowed slightly at the waist and was still at least two heads taller than me. He was even taller than Cormac.

“Many blessings, female.”

“Rukzi, this is Abby. She is human, from a planet they call Earth, and she is my mate.”

“Yessss.” Rukzi’s voice was almost a hiss. “I can smell that.” He glanced back down at me. “I suppose it is too late to undo what has been done.”

“Yes. She is mine.”

Undo it? Undo what? Me?

That. Was. It. “You, Rukzi, are rude.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared. Hard. “And disrespectful.”

Rukzi looked at me through the energy barrier for a count of three, then burst out laughing, the sound more like a huge lion’s roar than a chuckle. “Very well, female. You have courage. I approve. You may call me Ruk.” He looked back at Cormac. “Although I shall not inform my sister of your match. I will leave that to you. She will be very disappointed.”