Erun (Scifi Alien Romance) (The Ujal Book 4) by Celia Kyle, Erin Tate Page B

a grin and she swallowed hard. Now wasn’t the time to be attracted to someone. Not with everything else collapsing around her. “I break their jaws. It is hard to talk when the mouth is forced shut by the doctors.”
    She wasn’t going to say a word about that. Instead, she slid onto her seat, welcoming the ability to relax a little. “Keep going,” she encouraged him. She didn’t imagine this was something he shared often and she needed to know everything before she took his blood into her body.
    Had she already made the decision?
    Yes. The devil you know…
    Erun rubbed his jaw, palm sliding over his smooth face in a move filled with agitation. “It all began when I was a youngling. I was given supplements. Medicine ,” he sneered, “that was supposed to make me large and strong.”
    Well, they got that part right.
    “But they also did other things. They stripped a part of me away. They altered my genetics. I am Ujal in my mind.” He tapped his temple. “And in my heart.” He laid his palm on his chest. “But my blood is different.”
    And she could tell that the difference hurt him. Without second-guessing herself, she reached for him, her palm laying over his hand. Not with pity, but in support. “How? What did the drug do?”
    He frowned and ran the fingertips of his free hand over his lower lip, gaze unfocused as he got lost in his thoughts. “Humans would call them steroids ? Is that the word? It made me stronger. Fiercer. I was unbeatable in the sphere with those drugs. They allowed me to gain muscles that belonged to a male with twenty summers, not ten.”
    “Erun…” She ran her thumb over his skin once more. “Start at the beginning. What’s a sphere? How old were you?”
    “I…” He swallowed hard, vulnerability filling his features and—she couldn’t believe it—a sliver of dark purple scales rose beneath his skin.
    “Erun?”
    “I was born on Ujal to two parents. They did not always treat each other well, but I had food in my belly and a small dwelling. Our lives were not wonderful, but we did not starve.” His voice was fierce and he seemed intent on making sure she understood.
    “You weren’t mistreated.” It seemed that was the point he was trying to drive home.
    “No,” he shook his head. “Not then.” He went quiet and his lips pressed together until they formed a harsh line across his face. “But later, I was. My sire passed.”
    “How?”
    He blinked and jerked, almost as if he’d forgotten she was there. “I… It is irrelevant.”
    “No, everything in your past made you who you are. How did he die?”
    “They told me he was injured while hunting. Some of Ujal’s sea beasts are large and require several strong males to kill them. He was part of a hunting party made up of a few locals. They said he was pierced by another’s trident when they attempted to bring down the animal.”
    “You sound like you don’t agree.” She raised her eyebrows, waiting for his explanation.
    Pain filled his eyes and she thought she saw the beginning of tears. Erun? Cry? Then a blink had them retreating and it made her wonder if she’d actually seen his eyes filling. “I have made many kills with a trident. I know the damage they cause from all angles. The wound on my sire’s body…” He sighed. “I did not have the experience then to make a firm accusation. And today, others would doubt my words. They would believe my continued treatments cloud my mind.”
    “You think he was murdered.”
    “I know he was murdered,” Erun countered. “I know who murdered him. I know who took his life and then that same male destroyed mine. If he was not already dead, I would do the job myself.”
    She remained silent, waiting for him to work through his pain and tell her the rest. The quiet stretched and she watched the painful battle slide over his features. Would he tell her the rest?
    “Humans do not have a monopoly on pain. Or hunger. Or homelessness. They are not the only beings