Read Erun (Scifi Alien Romance) (The Ujal Book 4) for Free Online

stole a glance toward the entry, risking that quick look before returning her attention to her struggling daughter.
    “Rina!” She called for her friend and rushed toward the only person who could get answers and make unquestionable demands.
    Like ordering everyone to let her close to Tabby.
    Tave was behind her, his overwhelming presence seeming to steal all the air in the room. He stood tall, arms crossed over his chest and unbending anger filling his features. “What in the darkest seas is going on in here?” He strode toward the single occupied bed. “Faim?” he barked out the doctor’s name.
    “With all due respect, Prince Tave, I do not have time for you. I have a delayed transition youngling whose genetic material must be stabilized. Answers can wait.”
    No, answers were needed now. Now .
    She gave her friend a pleading look. “They won’t let me touch her. They won’t let me near her.” She rushed toward Rina, her pain running over and consuming her. “ Please .”
    Rina grasped Vanessa’s hand and dragged her to the bed. “Erun, release the child and step back.”
    “Principessa—”
    “Move.” It was an order, filled with conviction and demand and her best friend was imbued with a strength Vanessa had never witnessed.
    “She stole an Ujal youngling. She damaged the child and no one even knows if Tabitha will live. I cannot allow such a being near her. I must protect—”
    “She’s my baby,” she cried, uncaring about the noise she made or how desperate she sounded. “ Mine .”
    “Who you may have killed,” he growled and her heart froze, clenching with pain. The truth was in his gaze, each word etched in the harsh lines of his expression.
    No one thought Tabby would live.
    They all thought it was her fault.
    “No,” she whispered. She couldn’t take another death, couldn’t take another pile of guilt and pain heaped upon her. She’d die. She’d be buried beneath the emotions. They’d choke her. Smother her with their unending weight. “No.”
    “Step aside, Erun, or so help me I’ll kill you myself.” And Vanessa had no doubt Rina meant it. The principessa might not be able to commit the crime but Nessa had the feeling Tave would give Rina whatever the hell she wanted. Including one dead Ujal.
    Rina’s grip was painful, but Vanessa hardly felt a thing. Her focus drifted to Tabitha, to her pale child with delicate gold scales fluttering over her skin. She sensed the weight of Erun’s glare, but all she cared about was his retreating hands and his large body moving aside. He stepped back and she slid into his space. She reached for her daughter, ignoring the activity around her and simply focusing on her little girl.
    The mouth that usually held a bright smile was turned down in a frown, small whimpers still escaping her as she thrashed. Vanessa stroked her daughter, soothing her with a gentle touch, and Tabitha immediately calmed. Tabby sighed and slumped against the bed. Her tiny hand clung to Vanessa’s fingers and her eyelids parted to reveal her gorgeous blue eyes.
    But they weren’t blue. No, they were a deep, burnished gold, a hue nowhere near natural for a human. But an Ujal…
    She swallowed hard, shoving her rioting emotions down as she focused on Tabby. “Hey, Tabby Blabby.”
    “Momma…”
    “Right here, baby,” she whispered back and brushed her golden curls from her forehead. “Right here.”
    “Hurts, Momma.”
    “I know, but Doctor Faim is gonna make it all better.” She kept her tone soft and soothing and kept any hint of her anger toward the doctor absent. It wouldn’t help Tabitha. She could rage at the male later, behind closed doors and without any weapons at hand. Because if she got her hand on something… She’d pummel the guy for keeping her away from her injured daughter. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Tabby’s forehead, breathing in her scent as she offered comfort.
    “It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. Momma has you now.