After the bonding, they’d cleaned up and eaten more terrible food. Cori hadn’t let him or Reiyn touch her again yet, and he couldn’t fault her decision. She didn’t completely trust them, despite the blooding and the time they’d spent together, but it did not matter. He would give her time, as much as she needed. He understood. After what she’d been through as a child, giving someone else access to her deepest self would take courage and strength. All three of them were damaged in their own way, but she would soon understand that what they’d shared was irrevocable. And I am also still adjusting to being alive. He smiled inwardly at himself and turned back to the display. Soon after the bonding, Xyran raiders began to penetrate the edges of the asteroid field. They’d had to continue hiding, and the three of them took turns checking the sensors, not willing to leave it up to the ship to alert them to danger. Every time they thought it would be safe to leave the system, another Xyran ship had shown up on the edges of the system.
