Mutual Trust by Lea Linnett

Abducted by alien invaders, she’s making first contact all over again…

Bree’s people have been on the run for centuries, hiding in the frozen north while the lizard-like Levekk invaders creep steadily closer. Now, the aliens are on their doorstep, but Bree isn’t about to sit back with her head in the snow and wait for them to arrive. She’s a soldier, a hunter, and she’s determined to get back something the levekk stole from her: her mom.
Getting another glimpse of those golden scales she once saw as a child wouldn’t be so bad either, but when Bree falls headfirst into the mine the aliens have been building, she gets more than just a glimpse.
Marek was once a brilliant scientist, but his halfbreed status has landed him deep in the cerithisi mines on a backwater planet on the edge of Levekk civilization. Now, he’s worth less than the sub-species that his people have conquered, but when an outsider human comes crashing into his world, he’s given a chance: use his research and knowledge of Ancient Humanity to find out where the rest of her people are hiding, and get a one-way ticket back to his old life.
It should be simple. He’s spent a lifetime trying to prove that he is Levekk. He just never expected this human to awaken his humanity.
She wants freedom. He needs to keep her at his side. But then why does Marek feel this powerful need to protect his enemy? And why does Bree find herself trusting him when he says he’ll keep her safe?