The Theron Residency (Brides of Theron Book 4) by Rebecca Anthony Lorino, Rebecca Lorino Pond Page B

said around me. I could tell that they thought I was strange. If only I could have understood what was being said at the time.”
    “It was no surprise to me that when Donal brought me back to his quarters after the auction he thought that I was wild. He naturally expected me to be much different than I really was. In the end, he was disappointed in what he got for his money. It wasn’t easy living with him either. We fought all the time. Sometimes he would hit me.”
    “Right before we left Earth’s orbit, I couldn’t take it anymore. I spoke to the Commander about being put up for auction again. I was told that the auctions would have to wait until we reached Theron. Commander Zeb said that I would be unsafe on the ship without a mate to protect me. Apparently, a bonding ceremony is necessary for our safety.” Laura looked quizzically at Ceran. “He assigned me a personal guard and moved me to a different stateroom on the ship. Then, all Hell broke loose. The ship was being attacked and though I didn’t know at the time, Avery was gone.” Sarah tenderly patted the little rewa as he ate another berry. Jacko looked up at her affectionately with his big bright eyes. Laura could hear the small ball of fur start to purr at her touch.
    “The guard assigned to me brought me and my belongings to my new stateroom. He despised me at first. He watched over my door just as he was instructed to, but I could tell that he wanted more than anything to be on the scout team assigned to find Avery on UV-49. He later admitted to me. He said that for a time resented me for having caused him to be assigned to some useless guard duty. Apparently, there is nothing worse than guarding a poor human unmated female. Frankly, I thought he was a bit whiny when I met him.” She giggled.
    “Anyway, he came into my stateroom to check on me when the first pulsar blasts hit the ship, and that’s when it happened. The ship quaked with each hit and when an especially hard blast shook the ship, I fell into his arms and he caught me. We held onto each other for a while. When the battle was over, we found ourselves talking about everything. We soon discovered that we had more in common than we once thought we did. When we finally arrived at the planet Theron, I was assigned a small room at the base until I could be put up for auction. Donal had been very vocal about the sort of bride I was. His stories had reached many warriors and consequently there weren’t many bidders. I was surprised when my guard placed a bid and won the auction.” She popped a couple of berries in her mouth and started to chew them.
    “So who’s the lucky warrior?” Ceran asked.
    “Manko.” She said with a smile.
    “Manko, I know him. He has long hair and works security under Zeb’s command. Am I right?” Ceran said.
    “That’s him. In fact, his parents own a farm where I get all my fruit and veggies. That’s his sister Lena behind the counter. How did you like the smoothies, by the way?” Sarah asked.
    Both Laura and Ceran said at the same time, “It’s delicious.” Laura could taste the tangy fruit of the yazo berries and something that tasted like banana. “What is in this?” Laura asked.
    Sara started listing the ingredients one by one as Jacko inched closer to Laura. She hadn’t seen him in so long. He smiled at her and showed his little, pointed teeth covered with pink berry juice. She slowly eased her finger out to pet him. He backed away at first, but then reconsidered. He inched forward to sniff her fingers. Then, all at once as if he remembered who she was, he jumped into her arms. She stroked his soft downy fur, tickling just under his jaw where he liked it. She was glad that he didn’t hate her for giving him away. She always wondered how he would react if when and he ever saw her again. After all, rewas were supposed to be intelligent little creatures.
    Sarah looked affectionately at her rewa and said, “Jacko is great. Thanks for giving him