by Vivian Star
"Arghhh!" Chloe finally gives in and gets up, storming around me and getting in the car.
"Don't follow us, or I will shoot you," I warn the guys. Some of them sneer as I get in the car and quickly press the accelerator. I wait until we are three roads away before I stop the car and chuck the gun in the back before staring Chloe down.
"I'm sorry," she eventually says. "I just want to date. I want to see what it is like."
"With men like that?" I question. "They are at least twenty and scum. You'd regret it instantly, I can promise you that. You want to explore? Try guys your own age or even better, just wait."
She looks down. "I wish mum was here, and I'm sorry for what I said."
"I know," I whisper. I pull her into a hug as the first tear falls. "But for what it's worth, I might be a shitty guardian, but I will always be there for you."
"You're not shitty," she cries, and I laugh because the truth is, I'm swimming in deep water and I'm crap at it.
* * *
Snuggling into the warmth surrounding me, I feel like I'm still dreaming even when I'm just waking up from a memory. I've never been this...comfy and safe. I slowly become aware I'm lying next to a man, a topless man. One blue pec is literally right in front of my mouth, almost like it's begging me to lick it. But I won't. I'm not alien crazy. I think. I look down to see my hands are resting on a tight six-pack, and the tips of my fingers are very close to the edge of tight black trousers, where I can see a very, very big bulge.
Goddamn, how would that even fit in anyone?
My cheeks burn as I look up and find the amused eyes of Xair staring down at me, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist.
"You're awake, I see," he dryly comments with so much amusement in his tone I can't help but blush more. "Do you like the view?"
"Why are you topless? What happened?" I question, skirting around his question to me because there is no way I can answer it. He doesn't let me go as he stares down at me, a certain kind of tension filling the room.
Wait, blue crystal covered cavern? With a roaring fire?
Talk about romantic and random all at the same time.
I sit up, Xair's arms falling away from me as I stare around the cavern we are in. The walls are lined with glittering blue crystals that look like the earrings I have on Strixa that my mother left me. She wore them on her wedding day, and she wanted me to wear them on mine. There is a big fire roaring in the middle of the room, and it smells like salt water, likely from my crisp and rough clothes that have several rips and tears in them.
I only remember being in the sea, how cold it was, how lost I felt when Xair's hand slipped from mine.
I thought I was going to die.
Slowly, I turn to Xair as he sits up, both of us inches away from each other. "Did you save me?"
"No, I almost got you killed. I found you on the beach, the shore must have washed you in while I got pushed further out. Don't you dare say thank you," he breathes out. My heart hurts as I gently place my hand on his cheek. He doesn't pull away, but he looks at me with such confusion.
"I'm alive," I whisper to him. "And that is down to you. Just accept that I am thankful, Xair."
"Sav, you should run from me," he admits, moving his hand to my shoulder. He lightly runs his finger down my arm, making me shiver. "All I want to do is fuck you in this cave until you can only remember my name. Fuck you so hard and deep that you will never, ever be able to think of anyone but me."
A deep part of me is screaming, "Yes, please do that," even as I realise the danger of it. I stay silent as he moves closer, my heart pounding in my chest so hard I think it may escape and jump into his hands. Not that he would catch it. You don't need feelings to fuck someone, and what I feel for Xair is beginning to be an issue. "But you are my destined mate, and fucking you would link us forever."
"What?" I breathe out, confusion slamming hard into my chest. Xair moves away, and my hand drops as he climbs to his feet.
"I'm going to get us something to eat. Don't leave the cave," he commands, and he is gone before I can even tell him not to leave.
Destined mate? Like Rox and Darcie are?
Holy. Shit.
Mates are so rare in the universe. It takes most people their entire lives to find a mate, and here I am at twenty-four with a complicated mate who doesn't want much to do with me but saves my life all the same. When I was a child, I never believed in magic or that superheroes would save the day, even when my parents told me the stories they told all my sisters too. Darcie loved the stories of fairies, Alice would always want to read the story instead of being told it and Chloe was a big fan of the story of Peter Pan. Isabelle always wanted the darker stories, like the real The Little Mermaid, because she liked the angst and darkness, I think. Creepy ass that she is.
But me?
I never believed any of it was real. I saw life for what it is. Hard. Period.
But now I have to accept that some magic in the universe thinks Xair is the man I should love for the rest of my life. I should have an instant connection with him, and in a way, I did from the second we met.
I knew he was complicated and messed up on levels I know we haven't touched yet, but every time he pushes me away, I just want to dig deeper. I want to find out who he really is under the whole assassin facade he puts on. I have never been this fascinated with any guy my entire life. Not like I am with him. And it's not just because he is good-looking. There were plenty of good-looking guys on Strixa who sent me dozens of gifts, and some even sang songs to me. Like, through the door, as I wouldn't let the crazy bastards in.
Whatever I feel for Xair is far deeper and far rawer.
And terrifying.
After some time, I pick up Xair's shirt that was wrapped around my shoulders and bring it to my face, breathing in his scent. Crap on a cracker, he smells so nice. Like pine cones and cherries.
I drop the shirt like it's on fire, knowing I need to snap out of this.
He does not want a mate, and I've never thought about having one. Something about him makes me feel vulnerable, he makes me lower my guard that I've always had up. Dammit. I climb to my feet and grab my shoes that Xair must have taken off me at some point. He even dried my socks for me. I smile as I pull my socks and shoes on and leave the cave, standing outside and looking at Noveta for the first time actually on the planet.
Just wow.
Nothing but massive white rocks of all sizes lead to the sea, with some blue-leafed trees bursting out between them. In the far distance, I can see several mountains that stretch high into the sky. They are blue with white snow covering the tips. The sea itself is an intense blue, almost silver colour, and so clear that it doesn't look real.
I should be terrified...but a small part of me wanted an adventure.
I certainly got one.
The sound of rocks rubbing against each other makes me jump, and I spin to see the wall...changing shape. I tiptoe back as a creature made of rocks appears from the wall, like it was hidden inside of it, camouflaged to blend in. I'm speechless as I stare at the creature that vaguely resembles a horse with its four long legs made of shards of rocks. More white shards cover all of its large middle body and long neck. Only its pure white eyes look real and two fluffy blue ears that fall down to the ground by its feet.
It makes a small noise like a whine, but it's high-pitched and makes my ears hurt. I cover my ears as the noise gets louder, and I fall to my knees as dark spots flicker across my vision.
"Xair!" I scream for him, hoping to the goddess he will hear me. The noise stops, and my hand burns instead, and I grab it, rubbing my skin on my palm as it changes colour, turning from my cream skin into a symbol that glows blue.
"Sav!" Xair shouts, and then he is in front of me, picking my hand up into his. "Fuck, you scared me."
"The horse thingy!" I mutter, pointing a shaky finger at it with my other hand. "It made a noise and—"
"Marked you as its own," Xair growls and looks back to the h
orse thing. "Back off, Truzan. This Earthling is mine, and you will not own her."
My heart flutters at his overprotective claim. The Truzan simply makes another light whine and lies down on the ground, staring at me with what I think is a loving gaze.
"I think that means it's staying," I say, and Xair turns back to me with a glare.
"You can't keep it," he warns me. "If you don't get a good distance from it immediately, it will bond to you for life and only serve you."
"Sounds like someone doesn't want competition," I tease.
"It's a Truzan!" he protests, his eyes flashing with anger. "It may be a rare creature, said to be friends with the goddess herself, but it still needs to get lost. You are not being claimed by a goddamn animal!"
"We need a ride," I remind Xair before looking at the Truzan. "You will help us, won't you, Rocky?"
Rocky makes a whine noise that sounds suspiciously like a yes, and I grin at him. Xair groans and picks up a small dead creature of some kind, dragging it into the cavern. "You've named it. Great, we are never getting rid of it now."
"With that attitude, you can walk, and I can ride out of here in style," I shout to him, and he starts saying words that my translation chip can't make sense of.
I have a feeling they are alien swear words, and I can't help but chuckle as Rocky moves to my side, and I place my hand on its smooth shard-covered head.
Seems Noveta likes me. It certainly sent a cool welcoming present after my splash landing.
I stay outside with Rocky for a while until Xair calls to say the food is ready, and I head inside where Xair has something that smells like chicken roasting on the fire.
"It won't taste that nice, but it's just for tonight. I will hunt us something better tomorrow," he tells me as I sit at his side.
"Any food is good to me," I gently tell him, happily accepting the piece of meat on a stick he hands me. "I grew up learning that food isn't always something you just have, and that makes me appreciate it more."
"I learnt the same lesson when I was new to assassin work. If I didn't have money, I didn't eat," he tells me, and I suspected as much. I dig into my food, which Xair is right, it doesn't taste the best, but it fills the hole all the same.
"So have I earnt your trust enough for you to tell me what we are doing exactly on Noveta and where your sister is?" I ask him.
He finishes off his bite of food before answering. "The biggest city ruins site is controlled by a Rebel King. He has no royal blood and killed the last king of Noveta."
"Got it," I reply when he pauses.
"The Rebel King stole my sister and forced her to marry him. I must save her," he tells me. "She is kind and sweet. Too gentle for a brute like him."
"Then we will save her," I say. "I did make that deal with you. How are we rescuing her, then?"
"Newly mated females are allowed to attend a party that happens once a year in the palace. You will go, and I will be your guest."
"Sounds like a plan where nothing could go wrong at all," I mutter, rubbing my forehead as a million different ways this could end in death flash across my mind. "How far do you think we are from the main city?"
"No idea. Not until we find a village or something," he admits and then smirks at me. "But don't worry, I won't leave you out here."
"I have a horse thing, you'd be the one left behind," I reply, and to my surprise, he laughs hard. I end up laughing alongside him, and for a second, it feels like we are two normal people falling for each other.
But then my heart reminds me that it's one-sided.
It's just me that is going to be broken in the end when he leaves.
Chapter Nine
My ass and thighs hurt like I've been having rough sex for ten years straight.
Unluckily for me, I've just been riding a horse-type creature on an alien planet full of rocks.
My newly named creature, Rocky, is a champ and can run superfast even with me. Xair was right behind me, his arm tightly around my waist, but it was not an easy ride, to say the least.
I lie down on the big grey rock, looking up at the star-covered sky and two moons that are right in the middle of it. The moons look like they dance on the band around the planet, and the blue band looks like a shooting star has left a trail of blue dust across the stars.
If the blue trees, large rocks and silence of the planet weren't enough to remind me I'm not on Earth, the new stars really drive the idea home.
"Why did you enter The Mates Lottery?" Xair randomly asks me. "I heard from the guards about you before we met. Were you looking for a mate?"
"No, to save my youngest sister. We needed money for medicine," I tell him, turning my head to see him staring down at me, the flames of the fire he made highlighting his high cheekbones, his dimples and bright eyes.
Damn, he is so handsome.
"I bet you didn't want to get picked," he thoughtfully comments. "How did you get picked? You can't have another mate out there."
"That's the thing, it was strange. None of the males, even the one it said I was meant to be with, felt a bond," I explain to him. "I wonder if it's the same for my other sisters. It was right for Darcie but so wrong for me."
"That is good to hear," he murmurs so low, but I catch it.
"Why?" I ask, calling him out on it.
He looks me dead in the eye. "Because if you had another possible mate out there, I'd kill him."
My body flushes as I hold his gaze. "You don't even want me, Xair."
"I never, ever said I don't want you, Sav," he firmly tells me. "I want you. You are the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on, but—"
"Always a but," I joke, but something inside hurts. Like my heart aches for him to take away the word but and actually do something about how we clearly both feel.
"I am not a good mate for you. I can never be," he finishes his sentence.
"Why do you think so little of yourself?" I demand, sitting up straight. His thumb runs circles against my stomach, and I know he doesn't realise he is doing it. "You always act like you're the worst person in the galaxy for me."
"You only see the good side of me, not the truth. And when you see the truth, you will run and take my soul with you," he replies and turns away. "Don't ask for more of it."
"You'd never give me any more," I whisper, and if he hears me, he doesn't respond. I wrap my arms around my legs, staring across the thick trees in front of us that move occasionally in the wind.
"What is your sister like?" I ask, needing to ask something to break the silence growing between us.
"Perfect," he laughs out. "My mother kept my sister, of course she did, and Senza was not allowed to contact me. But that didn't stop her from calling me once a week. We would talk for hours, both of us desperate for some kind of familiar connection. My mother may have kept Senza, but she was not close to her. We both grew up alone in that sense, without a mother, and I swore to protect Senza. I swore to come and save her, take her away to somewhere she could live a normal life with me."
"I swore on my parents' dead bodies that I would protect my sisters, and I have failed beyond compare," I admit, rubbing my arms. "Sometimes I wonder if it was fair at all that I was left to protect them. I became like a mother to them, less of a sister. Maybe we both made unfair promises that were forced upon us due to duty to our families."
"I feel that way about Senza. I feel like an overprotective father rather than a brother. I have spent the last five years of my life trying to find my own future, and I gave up in the end," he admits to me. "And now I'm going to make sure my sister has a safe future and get you to your sisters."
"You have saved my life...I'm not going to hold you to your promise to help me find my sisters," I tell him. "But I will help you."
"Then we can go our separate ways," he replies, but it's not coldly. It almost sounds like he was forced to say it.
And the words forced their way into my heart, tearing it open and laughing at the feelings found inside.
"Good night, Xair," I reply, steeling my voice as much as possible and lying back down. I roll over, not wanting to look at him anymore. Rocky is on my other side, his head curled towards me.
At least I have one male loyal to me.
Shame it's a horse.
"We can't ride the creature into the city," Xair tells me for the fifth time. "He will be shot."
I cross my arms, looking back at Rocky who is eating literal rocks for his late-night dinner. Yum.
"Fine," I huff and walk to Rocky, stroking the side of his neck. "I have to leave. Will you wait for me here?"
"Oh, for Vyuna's sake," Xair growls behind me, and I ignore him as Rocky makes a whining noise before sitting down like a dog. I just love him.
"All ready then," I say, walking to Xair's side and looking at the fading daylight at the end of the cavern. We have climbed all the way through it for a good two hours, and Xair claims the city is just outside of this place, but I know we will have to climb back down for sure. Xair cocks his head to the side, and we make our way out into the bright light, which blinds me for a moment, but when I open my eyes, I see what would have been a great city.
But all that is left is ruins and people making their homes inside of it.
The city is in the middle of five mountain tops, dug right down at the bottom with several wooden bridges linking across the space. At the bottom nearest us are ruins of buildings, covered in tents and lines of people's laundry hanging out to dry in the middle of them. Hundreds of blue-skinned aliens walk around in little more than robes around their bodies, not feeling the coldness of the air down there. At the other side of the city, the street moves higher, following a row of broken steps to four massive buildings that don't look too damaged compared to the city. They appear to be made from rock, shiny glistening rock that reflects the sun right back into my eyes. Around the mansions are dozens of plants and trees, much like the ones from Strixa with their winding roots that smother the mansions in green and brown at the bottom.
