Chapter 4

The settlement was a cluster of stone and wood buildings, rough and utilitarian, centered around a large square. As Karlie and Gavin limped down the main path, the activity around them ground to a halt.

Eyes turned to stare. Whispers erupted like a swarm of insects.

Karlie kept her head high, but she heard the words. "Cripple." "Caprice." "Abandoned." "How is he still alive?"

Each word was a needle, but it wasn't her they were aimed at. It was Gavin. She felt his arm tense around her shoulder, his body going rigid. But he kept his chin up, his eyes fixed forward.

A large male stepped out from the crowd, blocking their path. He had a thick beard and a sneer that twisted his face into something ugly. Jedediah Jed Boggs.

"Well, well," Jed drawled, his voice loud enough to carry. "Look what the cat dragged in. Gavin Knapp. We thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere."

He looked Gavin up and down, his lip curling. "Dragging that useless leg back here... and with some stray female in tow? Desperate, aren't we?"

Gavin's jaw clenched. He stepped forward, putting Karlie behind him. "Move, Jed."

Jed didn't move. He grinned wider. "Move? I'm just saying hello to an old friend. Heard Caprice dropped you like a hot rock. Can't blame her. Who wants a broken male?" He looked at Karlie, his eyes lingering on her torn clothes. "And you. Looking for a real male? One who can actually walk?"

A few of the males behind him snickered.

Gavin's fists balled at his sides, his knuckles white. The urge to fight was radiating off him, but he knew it would be a disaster. He was weak, injured, and Karlie was vulnerable.

Before he could stop himself, Jed reached out, his hand aiming for Karlie's arm.

"Don't touch her." Gavin growled, moving to intercept.

But Karlie was faster. She stepped out from behind Gavin, placing herself directly between him and Jed. She stared up at the much larger male, her eyes cold and hard.

"He is my mate," she said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the noise of the crowd like a blade. "Our bond is marked. Any insult to him is an insult to me."

Jed blinked, surprised by her defiance. Then he laughed. "Mate? Him? A cripple who can't even protect himself?"

She didn't summon energy, nor did she raise her fists. Instead, her eyes narrowed, her mind racing as Unit 9's rapid scan data flooded her vision. "Protect? Do you need a demonstration?"

She stepped closer, invading his personal space, her voice dropping to a deadly, precise whisper that only he and his immediate cronies could hear. "I noticed you're favoring your left side. The faint yellow stain on your collar, the dilated pupils... you've been using Three-Leaf Venom to numb a recent hunting injury, haven't you? A highly addictive, forbidden substance that rots the brain."

She tilted her head, her smile cold. "If I mention that to the elders, or to your mate, how long do you think you'll stay in this settlement?"

Jed stumbled back, his eyes going wide with sudden terror. The smug sneer vanished from his face, replaced by a pale, sickly dread. The laughter died instantly. The crowd went dead silent, sensing the sudden shift in power, even if they hadn't heard the words. Karlie held his gaze, letting the silence stretch.

"My mate's value is not defined by his leg," she said, her voice ringing in the quiet. "It will heal. His honor will be cleared. As for the rest of you..." She swept her gaze over the crowd. "I suggest you remember that."

She turned back to Gavin, slipping her arm around his waist again. "Let's go."

Gavin stared at her, shock and something deeper-something like awe-filling his eyes. He nodded, unable to speak.

They walked on. The crowd parted for them this time, a lane of silence cutting through the hostility.

Behind them, Jed stood frozen, his face red with anger and humiliation. "Special effects," he muttered, but his voice lacked conviction. "Just tricks."

Karlie and Gavin didn't look back. They walked until they reached the edge of the settlement, where a small, dilapidated stone hut sat alone.

"This is it," Gavin said, his voice thick with shame. "This is all I have left."

The hut was tiny. The roof sagged, the walls were cracked, and the interior was thick with dust and cobwebs. It was a storage shed, not a home.

Karlie looked around, her face unreadable. Then, she dropped her bag on the floor and clapped her hands together. "Well," she said. "It's got walls and a roof. That's a start."

Gavin stared at her. "How can you be so calm?"

"Because crying about it won't fix the roof," she said. She pulled a rag from her bag and started wiping down a table. "Come on. Help me clear this place out. We have work to do."

For the next hour, they worked side by side. Gavin swept while Karlie scrubbed. The physical labor was exhausting, but with each pile of dirt removed, the space felt a little less hopeless.

When they were done, Karlie pulled out two packets of synthetic roast meat and a bottle of purified water from her Nexus inventory. She handed one to Gavin.

He stared at the pristine, white material wrapped around his leg, then at the empty plastic wrappers that had appeared out of nowhere. His brow furrowed in deep confusion, his eyes darting from the strange objects to her face. "Are you... a spirit from the stars?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly with a mix of fear and awe. "Is this... star magic?"

Karlie tucked the remaining supplies away, keeping her expression neutral. "It's a secret from my homeland," she said vaguely, not wanting to reveal too much too soon. "A place very different from here."

He didn't push further, though the reverence in his eyes remained, his gratitude saying more than words ever could.

They ate in silence, sitting on the dusty floor of their new home. As the last light faded, Karlie activated a small, soft-glow lamp from her inventory, placing it on the table.

The warm light illuminated her face as she pulled out a datapad, her fingers flying over the screen as she made notes and calculations.

Gavin watched her, his heart heavy with a mix of guilt and a growing, undeniable warmth. She was a stranger, an outsider, and yet she had defended him, cleaned his house, and fed him. She was planning something; he could see the gears turning in her head.

He didn't know what the future held, but for the first time since Caprice's betrayal, he didn't feel entirely alone.