“Now you’re just being thickheaded. She’s a female. It’s in their nature to do things we don’t understand. It’s part of the reason we are so drawn to them.” He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. “She will return. Think as if you are a human.”

“I’m not.”

“True.” Harley nodded. “Her life will drastically change if you two mate. It’s forever and she isn’t naïve about what we are. Divorce isn’t on the table if she agrees to become yours. It would mean giving up a job that I’m certain means something to her and leaving the outside world. They have family and friends to consider too. I have no young but if I did, I’d be leery of sending mine to the out world where they could get hurt. Her people might feel the same about our world. Maybe they are not Species fans and believe all the bad hype they hear from our enemies.”

Moon frowned, not enjoying the queasy sensation he experienced. It would be difficult to talk her into being his mate if her people were set against it. The emotional turmoil it would cause to decide between them or him would be great. Only she could guess at their reactions since he’d never met anyone from her personal life.

“It’s been a long time since she was around Species and we have evolved. That will take some adjustment time too, Moon. Humans panic when they are faced with long-term commitments. That’s why they have that ‘cold-feet’ saying.”

“I didn’t mention anything about making her my mate.”

“She’s not blind. You’ve got all the symptoms that are easy to spot.”

“Not to her.”

“She learned a lot about us after we were freed.”

“She dealt with Species right out of Mercile. There were no mated couples at site four.”

“True.” Harley let his arms drop to his sides and shrugged. “I believe she has strong feelings. She’ll return. Give her some time.”

“What if she doesn’t come back?”

“We could have the task team go after her and bring her back. She’d be easy to locate and grab.”

Moon was tempted to call Trey Roberts. They were friends and the male was always helpful. It would only take about an hour to assemble a team. He mentally picked out three other members he’d entrust Joy to. Better yet, he’d go with them. They’d only need one vehicle. Tim Oberto needed to be kept out of the loop since that human would want approval from Justice, Fury, Slade, or one of the council members to collect a human female from the out world.

“You’re plotting it in your head right now, aren’t you?”

Moon stared at Harley. The male had the audacity to laugh.

“It was a joke. You have it bad. Are you sure your balls are still attached?”

He snarled, insulted.

Harley threw up his hands as he stood. “Okay. I get it. This isn’t humorous to you. I’m sure you’ll tease me if I ever find a female I go insane over. No more kidding around. You can’t send a team after her. Can you imagine how terrified she’d be to have the equivalent of their SWAT team suddenly surround her? She might handle it well but the ones near her would flip out. It would draw media attention and Justice would have to hold press conferences to undo the damage. He’d be unhappy at having to assure the public that we’re not going around kidnapping their females to be our mates.”

But when? In another two years? He couldn’t even get the words out to express that fear.

Harley looked concerned. “She has strong feelings for you. You weren’t there when she was facing down a roomful of males. The female is fierce when it comes to you. I would guess it’s a case of cold feet. They aren’t as focused as we are on getting and keeping what we want. They tend to chase after something, catch it, and panic when they realize they have it within their grasp. You fell for a human so you need to accept her flaws.”

“Fine.” He needed to be alone and think.

“What does that mean?”

“She’ll return to me.” Even if he had to make certain she did.

“Why don’t we go for a run? It will drain some of your restless energy. You’re still wound too tight.”

“I’m fine.”

“Lie,” Harley accused. “You are anything but fine. I’d be pissed if she had abandoned me. You need to run and sweat it out.”

“I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime.” He had a flashback what he’d endured at Medical.

Harley grinned. “True. That was hellish.” He sobered. “I can’t hand over the bastard who hurt you so you’re able to pound him into a bloody pulp or track down your wayward female. What I can do is help you deal with the anger. We’ll run or take it to the mats if you need to fight. You sure can’t seek out a female to distract you since you only want Joy.”

He did want her in the worst way. First, he’d yell at her for leaving him but then he’d seduce her to prove she belonged to him.

“I am angry,” he admitted. “I know they’ll catch the ones involved with the attack. Patience still isn’t my best trait but I know it’s only a matter of time before they are brought to us. I need to be alone to think about Joy.”

Harley glanced low and smiled. “Miss her that much, huh? It must make it harder with her scent clinging to you.” His eyes sparkled with amusement when he looked back up.

“You said you’d stop making jokes.”