Alien Warriors | 14-Book Sci-Fi Romance Bundle

A sneak peek of Hope In A Time of War: I don’t want to leave Faith. I really don’t. I want to lay back with her and tell her that she makes my heart soar. Yet I find myself walking away briskly from my own tent into the chilly night. Why do I feel compelled to run away from her? My hand goes to my chest, where my heart is thumping like a bird’s. I’m terrified. Why am I so frightened? I rush out of camp, heading deep into the woods with long strides. The cloud cover has broken at last, and the silver moons of Armstrong shine down on me with entirely too much beauty. It’s as if they are mocking the sheer panic in my  heart. I think that this is how I felt when I learned my parents had died. Not that I remember the specifics; I was much too  young. But I remember the feeling, the pure empty dread of a void that could never be filled, not ever again. So why do I feel this way when I think about what Faith said? When she said that she might love me… My feelings roil inside of me, threatening to tear me apart. I increase my pace, rushing up the knoll of a hill and then breaking out of the tree line. The snowman Faith and I made stands watch over the valley, the river reflecting the silver light of the moon. Somehow, I found my way back here. The snow fall hasn’t completely filled in the footprints which tell the story of our snowball fight, nor the deep pit where the two of us rolled and wrestled and laughed like children. I think…I think this is one of my best memories. But the snow will eventually fill in the footprints. The thaw will melt the snowman, and then all I’ll have is the memory.  Now I think I understand why I’m having a panic attack. It’s not the thought of Faith loving me, or of me loving  her. It’s the thought of losing her forever, just like I lost my parents. Thank Ataxia none of my fellow grunts can see me in such a state. Reduced to tears and then a quivering, cowardly mess over a mere slip of an Earth girl. Yes, I built up a callous over my heart. I did that because I knew I could never survive the pain of losing anyone else, ever. Faith has been chipping away at the callous like a miner extracting ore from lime stone. A surge of anger rips through my body. This is all her fault. She knew the kind of man I was, but then she had to go and change me.  I can’t stop feeling. What a predicament. I can kill men by the dozens, wield any weapon known to either side in this never ending war, and pilot nearly any type of vehicle that doesn’t require neural implants. But I’m helpless to stop feeling this way for Faith. I don’t know what to do. I sink to my knees and stare up at the gibbous moons, cursing them for their ethereal beauty. “Damn you, Ataxia.” My voice is a hoarse shout, accompanied by white steam. “Damn  you for all eternity. Why did you take my parents? Why?” I jab my finger at the sky, and when I speak next it’s through clenched teeth. “I know your twisted game, goddess. You want me to love Faith just so you can take her away. You feed off of our misery and suffering, and you could use your omnipotence to DO something about it, but you don’t. You just sit there on your all powerful ass and expect us to scrabble and strain and slave to be virtuous, but you make it so damn hard.” I reach up and grab the Ataxian flame symbol on my uniform shirt. With one snap, I rip it off, tearing the cloth, and toss it onto the snow.