Semylyn steadied herself on the counter, a few feet from the capsule. He had awoken! Her hands fisted as she watched Heth finish administering a double dose of sedative.

"Odd," Heth muttered as he moved about the room.

Odd? Semylyn wanted to shout. Odd! It should have been impossible! What fashion of monster could this Sun-Dweller be that he should have such strength?

She shivered at the thought. 

"Help me with this, Heth." 

Semylyn whirled at the sound of her father's voice. He and Oarket bustled into the Lab, carrying the unconscious form of another Sun-Dweller.

Heth hurried to open the second capsule's covering and assisted with maneuvering the long-limbed female into position. Semylyn felt a roll in her gut at the sight. They looked like... Well, the whole process was criminal in nature. How could they look different?

"Alexandria Greaves." Omree provided Heth with a name to enter into the capsule's database. Quickly, the screen flickered, proclaiming itself Active.

Omree heaved a great, weary sigh, and turned to his daughter.

"She is Troyak's."

Semylyn nodded wordlessly and felt a strange pang in her chest.

"As soon as the hunting party returns, we will initiate the Bonding."

Omree reached out a hand to clasp Semylyn by the shoulder, but her skin was ice, and she made no move to reciprocate his gesture of affection.

Oarket, Omree, and Heth exchanged glances, and she watched as they quietly exited the lab, leaving her alone with the two sedated captives. She didn't like the dark, sickening feeling that filled her heart. The unfamiliar emotion eluded her best efforts to name it. What was she feeling?

Semylyn forced herself to push away from the counter and approach the second capsule. She pressed the command key that caused the opaque covering to clear, and she gazed upon the face of Troyak's soon-to-be bonded mate.

She was lovely. Semylyn bit her lip as she took in the girl's long golden hair and pale, almost translucent cream-colored skin. Lashes of the same golden color as her hair gave a delicate exquisiteness to her face. She was taller than her own 5' 4", but not matching Troyak's towering 6' 4" height.

Perfect, Semylyn thought. She turned abruptly from the capsule. They can have healthy, gigantic offspring. The sick feeling pressed more heavily against her chest. She now knew what to name the emotions that scalded her conscience.

Guilt and... Could it be — jealousy? Just naming it felt as though she'd been contaminated, infected with some dreaded alien contagion.

She understood the guilt. Weren't they abducting people with the intent to violate their free will in the most selfish of ways for the sake of their own survival? Did their desperate situation really give justification to their actions?

And the second — jealousy, was she really going to lose her most cherished friend? How could they steal him from her side and give him to a female who could never be his soul mate as she'd always been.

Semylyn fled the Lifecycle lab. She couldn't bear to be there any longer.

All her life she had thought of the Sun-Dwellers as monsters.

But now, as she sat, shivering in a corner of the Habitation Courtyard, hidden by a great floral fern, she couldn't help wondering-who were the real monsters?

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