Synnr's Hope

by Kate Rudolph

  And Lureyne continued. “But no Zadra has ever Matched with a human before. There is a tradition that must be recognized.”

  No wonder Solan had issues if he had grown up under this woman. And Lena was a bit concerned that the Synnrs and Apsyns weren’t nearly as different as they liked to pretend they were. But she wasn’t going to put up with bigoted crap. “I realize I’m not on Earth anymore. But if I was, I would call all of that a bunch of racist nonsense. Don’t tell me I’m not good enough for Solan. He is an adult. He has chosen me. I have chosen him. I love him. And I’m not going to let you come between us. You can say you’re not an Apsyn all you like, but right now you’re talking like one. I realize this might be surprising, so I’m going to be nice. You can walk out the door right now and come back and start again. I’m willing to forget this conversation ever happened.” She didn’t want to. She wanted to cut things off for good. But for Solan’s sake she’d give his mother one more chance. “It’s been a few minutes. Solan’s going to walk in real soon. Your choice.” Some people could change, could adapt, could learn. Could Lureyne?

  Lureyne studied her for several moments, her eyes flicking up and down. Lena had to fight the urge to straighten her posture. She wasn’t going to let Lureyne affect her like that. Then the woman nodded and turned towards the door.

  And at that moment, Solan walked back in. “Mother? Are you leaving so soon?”

  She nodded regretfully. “Congratulations on your Match. Three children paired off in a year. I’ll consider that a success. Come over for lunch tomorrow. I would love to get to know your Match more.”

  Those weren’t Lena’s exact terms, but Lureyne wasn’t the kind of woman to give in totally. Still, it was a step, and Lena could accept that. If they were going to have a relationship, it would be built one day at a time. Lureyne gave her son a hug and left.

  Solan took his seat beside her as soon as she was gone. “What happened?”

  “I think your mom wants you to marry a Synnr woman,” Lena wasn’t going to waste time explaining everything. Solan knew his mother. He could figure the rest out.

  “If I marry anyone, it would be you, of course.” He sounded both confused and affronted, and it made Lena’s heart clench.

  “I love you.” Whatever had been holding those words back dissolved, and Lena felt relief in saying it. She loved Solan, Solan loved her, and they would deal with whatever issues there were with his family as they came up.

  That brought a huge smile to Solan’s face. “And it only took one interrogation from my mother for you to realize it. I wonder what you will tell me after lunch.”

  Lena’s stomach growled. “You better feed me dinner or we’re not going to make it to lunch.” She wasn’t sure when she had eaten her last full meal. They hadn’t managed to finish breakfast. She had no idea what time it was. This had been the longest day of her life.

  “Was she horrible?” he asked with a sympathetic grimace. “We don’t have to go to lunch.”

  That he was ready to take her side comforted her. And one day they might have to make a choice between putting up with his mother’s attitude or living happily. But Lena wasn’t ready to give up just yet. “Remember how I said some things are strangely similar to Earth? I can’t say I was completely surprised. A bit disappointed, but not surprised.”

  He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. “You and me above all others,” he promised. “My mother will have to get used to that.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  THE NEXT TWO WEEKS went by quickly. It was a mix of preparing for the war that everyone knew was coming and getting ready for his brother’s wedding. The day had been a long time in coming, and sitting at a table while the grooms looked lovingly at one another, Solan had never been happier for his brother. But he was ready for the party to be over. His Match sat beside him, smile beaming and looking delectable in a tightfitting green dress. He’d finally worked up the nerve to give her the necklace and now she wore it proudly around her neck.

  He liked seeing the jewelry on her. And he had an appointment with the jeweler in Osais to select more pieces. There were two sides to his Match, the woman he could drape in jewels and try and pamper to his heart’s content, and the tough soldier who resisted pampering but was his equal in every way.

  His sister had come up to them earlier and had been friendly enough. She and Lena weren’t close; two weeks wasn’t enough to make up for the mean things she had said over the phone. But it was better than the frosty greeting that had passed between Lena and his mother.

  Lunch the day after they met had been a battle. Solan’s mother had been head of the family for so long that she wasn’t used to being challenged. And Lena didn’t back down. When Solan took his Match’s side over his mother’s, things went from tense to pained. Would things ever improve? He hoped so. He loved his mother, even if she could be difficult. But he wouldn’t stand for anyone, especially his family, treating Lena poorly.

  They had met some members of other aristocratic families and things had gone well. Solan’s fears about how they would react to his human Match had so far been unfounded. Of course, they hadn’t met everyone.

  The celebratory meal was coming to a close, and soon the rest of the party would start with singing and dancing and a night full of revelry. But there was only one person that he wanted to revel with.

  He twined his fingers with Lena’s and leaned in close. “Come with me.” He knew of a few secret nooks and crannies in the building and he had just the spot in mind to steal a quick moment with Lena.

  She grinned conspiratorially and squeezed his fingers, getting up from her seat and walking beside him. Just out the door to the main room where the wedding was taking place, Crowze, Grace, and Zac were huddled together and speaking in harsh whispers. Grace put a hand on Crowze’s arm and Zac let out an affronted sound. He stepped in close, but Solan didn’t see what happened next. He and Lena were already turning another corner. And, frankly, he didn’t care that much.

  One hallway led to another, past the restrooms and beyond the kitchen. No one was going to come this way, not unless they wanted to get into a bit of trouble. There were a few storage rooms and a small dining room for private parties.

  “Have you lured me here to have your wicked way with me, sir?” Lena asked with a teasing smile, stepping close to him and running her finger up and down his chest.

  “I would never take advantage of someone innocent,” he said with false sincerity.

  “Good thing I’m not innocent.” She leaned in close and kissed him, backing him up against the wall, not caring that they were still in the hallway. Anyone could walk in on them.

  He heard a door open and then a feminine voice said, “Oh!”

  Lena broke away from him and looked around. Solan glanced over her shoulder and saw Oz and Emily standing in the doorway of one of those little storage rooms, both of them with mussed hair, wrinkled clothes, and cheeks pink from exertion. They all stared at each other for several seconds before bursting out laughing.

  Emily collapsed against Oz , hiding her face against his shoulder as she was overcome with even harder laughter. She and Oz shuffled away without saying a word.

  “Come on,” Solan said, leading Lena towards the newly vacant closet.

  Lena paused. “Is this the only option in this hallway?” she asked.

  “No, I think we have some options a little further down.” He had studied the layout to make sure his brother could have a secure event. Now he was thankful for entirely different reasons.

  Lena kissed him again. “Let’s try that, then. I don’t want to think about Emily and Oz while you’re inside of me.”

  Fire lit in his blood, and he could feel her spark coursing through his veins. His cock thickened, and it took a good deal of self-control to keep from pressing her against the wall and taking her right there. “If I’m doing my job, you won’t be able to think about anything.” He tugged her arm further down the hall and they snu
ck into the small dining room. The dining table wasn’t a bed, but it would do for the moment. Lena hopped up and summoned him toward her with the crook of her finger, a wicked smile on her face.

  He closed the distance between them and covered her mouth. He was exactly where he was supposed to be, and he couldn’t wait to live the rest of his life at her side.

  Epilogue: Pre-Order Exclusive

  LENA, SOLAN, EMILY, and Oz were in a large warehouse filled with dozens of obstacles, obstructions, ladders, and other pieces of debris. Cameras were all over the place with trainers in a control room monitoring them. All four of them had their wings out and were ready for the mission. Lena wasn’t quite sure why all of them were wearing heavy jackets with a sensor at center mass, but she was used to weird shit in training scenarios by now.

  Solan was the one who explained the parameters. “The goal of this exercise is to practice control. We will all be using our sparks to inflict damage, and it will be measured by the sensors on our chest.” He pointed to the black box embedded in the jacket. “The vests also have a dulling effect on our sparks, so unless you’re incredibly out of control, you won’t be able to seriously injure anyone.”

  “Are we working in teams?” Lena asked. Her eyes crawled over the building, looking for places to hide and places where she could take out her opponents.

  “No,” said her Match, and she saw a gleam in his eye. He was ready to win.

  He’d have to get through her first.

  “So what are we doing?” asked Emily. She was shooting glances at the three of them and Lena knew not to underestimate her. Emily may not have had any military training until she Matched with Oz, but she’d been an elite level gymnast for most of her life and the need to win always pulsed within her.

  “The goal is to retrieve a key from the center of the room and use it to unlock a door on the second floor. There are four keys, one labeled for each of us. You may only take your key, taking someone else’s key is an automatic violation. If you use too much power and it registers on another participant’s vest, you will be disqualified. And, if you are hit by enough spark to normally incapacitate a person, you will be disqualified. You will know you are disqualified if the lights on your vest turn red. First one out the door wins. Also, wings must stay out for this drill.”

  “When do we start?” Oz asked.

  Solan nodded at a clock. “We have one minute to find our starting places. Begin.”

  They scattered. Lena’s vest was even heavier, but she had to ignore it. She could see the seconds counting down and had to find a good spot, somewhere she wouldn’t be vulnerable or trapped. It was impossible to see far enough into the maze of obstacles to determine where the keys were hidden, but that wasn’t the real issue. She had to watch out for her opponents.

  An alarm blared and they were off.

  Lena held her position, trying to keep her wings in the shadows. They were like flares, announcing where she was for all to see. But she couldn’t retract them, not if she wanted to win.

  And she wanted to win. The bragging rights would be epic.

  Her spark jolted within her, and she was sure Solan had used his power. She tried to concentrate on him to get an idea of where he was, but it was useless. Blue and red wings came into sight and Lena lashed out, smiling when she heard a masculine grunt. Oz.

  She took off, her hiding place blown.

  The warehouse was huge. It could have fit a space ship, so the four of them could hide from one another all day. Of course, their trainers wouldn’t like that. And it didn’t take Lena long to find the keys. They were in the middle of the maze, completely in the open. No cover for twenty feet on either side. She wanted to make a break for it, but she was sure someone would be waiting to take her out.

  So she wasn’t going in from the ground.

  She found a ladder and scrambled up to the second floor. It was a hell of a fall, but she could manage. Her wings weren’t meant for flight, but she could manage a controlled glide. It would have worked, too, if a jolt of someone’s spark hadn’t hit her right as she jumped. She flared her wings out in time to stop herself from breaking anything, but she couldn’t help but cry out as she hit the hard floor.

  “Lena!” she heard Solan call.

  She almost said she was alright. Almost.

  Then she remembered she was here to win. So she kept quiet.

  Footsteps rushed towards her, and before she knew it she breathed in a whiff of an all too familiar masculine scent. Her Match. He covered her protectively, looking for any injury. She felt kind of guilty, but it didn’t stop her from what she did next.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  Lena leaned in close and gave him a quick kiss. “I want you to remember that I love you.”

  “Huh?”

  He didn’t have time to say anything else. Lena hit him with the biggest dose of her spark that she dared. It was enough to send him flying off his feet, but apparently not too much. Neither of their vests lit up with a disqualification.

  She sprang to her feet and rushed the keys, not looking back to see how Solan was doing.

  Then she sprinted for the stairs, but before she made it up two steps, someone’s spark hit her and she stumbled.

  This thing was far from over. And whoever had hit her was going down.

  But as she lashed out, she couldn’t help but laugh. This training exercise was too much fun. She already wanted to do it again!

  Thank you for reading Synnr’s Hope! And double thank you for being one of the first readers!

  Since you pre-ordered the book or bought it on one of the first days of sale, you get to read the exclusive epilogue! Want to see more exclusive content like that? Let me know.

  I’d appreciate it so much if you would consider leaving a review.

  Want a little more?

  Members of my reader club can read another bonus epilogue featuring Solan and Lena. Sign up at the link below to receive the bonus straight to your inbox!

  Get the Bonus Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  Zulir Warrior Mates Book Three

  These warriors are on the verge of war, and their only hope is in the hands of their human mates!

  Find out more!

  Keep up to date with what’s coming soon, get access to exclusive giveaways, and hang out with me online in my Facebook group. Kate Rudolph’s Detyen Dreamers is where Kate Rudolph fans can hang out and talk about the latest in alien romance.

  If you’d like to read chapters from my books months before they reach the bookstores and get early copies of my books, please follow me on Patreon.

  Patrons will also get an exclusive bonus scene from Synnr’s Hope. It won’t be released anywhere else!

  Keep reading for a sneak peek at Soulless.

  Preview Soulless: Detyen Warriors Book One

  A SHOCK OF something ripped through Raze in that moment when their eyes locked. He faltered and pain scored his chest as if claws raked him from shoulder to hip. In a blink it was gone as the pirate woman flung grit at him with astonishing accuracy and was off running like an Oscavian hound was on her heels. He stumbled for a moment, heart pounding so hard it threatened to beat out of his chest.

  He clenched his fists and for one crazy second his claws threatened to slide out of his hands as something they couldn’t define washed over him.

  Find her, that foreign urge demanded. Protect her. Claim her.

  He could almost feel it, could almost recognize what it was, but his mind rejected the impossibility even before his feet moved and the chase was on. He didn’t pull out his blaster. Though the pirate had quickly recovered from the stun, far more quickly than he’d thought possible, two shots in such a short amount of time might do permanent harm to her. Why he cared about that, he wasn’t sure, but his gun remained in its holster all the same.

  She glanced back and that was her undoing. He had height on her, and endurance. He could run for days and not give in to exhaustion or pain. No pira
te training was a match for a Detyen warrior.

  Though he wondered why she hadn’t cried out, hadn’t tried to raise an alarm. Surely she must have some allies in the nearby settlement. They were probably too far away to be heard, but didn’t creatures such as she rely on hope like that for survival? Or were her enemies too numerous that she doubted help would come?

  He closed the distance between them in easy strides until he could almost reach her with a swipe of his arm. Just as he launched the final step, she dropped and rolled to the side, her hand coming up with a small knife he must have missed on her person.

  “Fucking pirate scum,” she spat as she rolled to her feet, knife held confidently in her hand and absolute disgust written across her features.

  Pirate scum? “You’re the pirate,” he replied without thought, keeping his distance. His claws should be out now, with her on her back at his mercy, her cheeks flushed and breath coming in hard as she panted under him. What that stirred froze him in place, his body rocking with sensation he hadn’t known in years, sensation he could barely remember.

  The distraction cost him and she took advantage, swiping in with the knife in a move that showed practice and training to rival his own. His instincts took over and he rolled with her, taking her arm and flipping her as she cut a ragged wound across his shoulder. The hot flash of pain brought his focus back and they rolled together, neither able to take a position of advantage on the ground.

  The woman—not a pirate?—sprang back up and jumped on the balls of her feet, those cheeks flushed like he’d imagined and her eyes glinting bright in the moonlight. “Of course a giant like you isn’t going to make it easy for me. What are you, anyway?” The run and the fight hadn’t winded her and as his subdermal translator worked, he realized she wasn’t speaking IC, interstellar common. His translator identified her language of origin as English, an Earth language. Strange.