by Sadie Carter
“Kruz will find us.”
Boris’s name was Kruz. Somehow that didn’t suit him at all.
***
“Dex?” Thor asked. “Are you certain we should be following Boris? The last communication we had said they were over the other side of the city.”
“I know, but Boris wants us to go this way.” And in his gut he trusted the other male. Especially when it came to Zoey.
“How do you know?” Koran asked. “When he does not speak?”
“I know.” Boris had a way of getting his point across.
Stars, he hated this planet. It was boiling hot during the day and freezing cold at night.
Boris came to a stop and glanced around him. The street was deserted, everyone taking a nap in the scorching heat of the day. Boris waved them forward. They followed him into what looked to be an abandoned building. There was no glass in the windows, the inside was empty and dark, and the smell of rotting garbage told him no one had lived here for a while.
“Boris? Where are you taking us?” Dex asked.
Boris disappeared into the black shadows and Dex swore under his breath as he, Thor, and Koran attempted to follow. He gestured to Torex to wait outside.
They moved through the building and Dex wondered if Boris was leading them astray. Then he spotted him up ahead.
“Boris. What are we—?” He came to a stop as he spied another male just beyond Boris, who looked like his double.
“One of you is Dexanon Xa’an?” the other male asked in perfect Standard.
“I am.” Dex stepped forward.
“Come with me. We have your mate.” He pulled up a hidden trapdoor and climbed down. Dex followed him down, tense, unsure what to really expect. As he stepped into a large room, a figure flew at him, her red gold hair flying behind her.
Zoey.
Dex grasped her close, holding her tight. He dug his face into her neck, just breathing her in as she wrapped her legs around his hips.
She shook in his arms. He didn’t know if he imagined it, but she felt lighter. More fragile.
Someone cleared their throat. He ignored them; Koran and Thor would have his back. He had despaired of ever holding her like this again. They could all wait.
“Dexanon, this is unseemly,” his mother said disapprovingly.
Zoey moved and he held her tighter. “Don’t even think about moving.”
“I stink,” she told him.
“I do not care.” He looked up, studying his surroundings, searching out any threats. The room was dark and cool. Besides his mother, a large, thin male sat on a bench, a male troll sat next to him.
Around the room stood seven other males. All of them looked remarkably like Boris.
“Someone needs to explain what is going on.”
***
Zoey looked up at Dex as he paced the dark room. She’d just finished telling him everything that had happened, with some help from Liula. Part way through, Dex had placed her gently down and started to pace. His face could have been carved from marble for all the emotion it showed, but she could sense his fury through their bond.
Dex turned to Klaran. “I owe you a debt for rescuing my mate and mother.”
“He wants Boris, ahh, I mean Kruz. They’re brothers. Sort of. But I explained that Kruz makes his own decisions.”
“Do you know why he doesn’t speak?” Dex asked Klaran.
“When Kruz was a young boy, his family was murdered. They were traveling back from a gathering. His sister, brother, and parents were all killed. Only Kruz survived. He has not spoken since.”
“How old was he?” she asked, saddened by that terrible story.
“Six.”
Wow, that was a long time to remain silent.
“How do you communicate with him?” Dex asked.
“Our race is able to communicate telepathically. He still speaks to us—it is everyone else who he has shut out. Until now.” He studied Zoey closely.
“He hasn’t spoken to me.”
Klaran frowned. “He says he stayed with you by choice.”
“I did say he makes his own decisions.”
Klaran frowned. “I do not understand what he sees in you.”
She huffed. “No reason to be rude.”
“I did not mean it that way. But Kruz has dedicated his life to finding those who murdered his family.”
“How was he injured?” she asked.
“We thought him lost. Dead. We were guarding a shipment on its way to Musin. We were ambushed by some Coizils. We managed to send them into retreat, but Kruz was captured.”
He fell silent for a moment, staring at Kruz. Then he nodded.
“Kruz says he was tortured. That is how he received the scars. They sold him to a coal miner. His arm was injured in an explosion. Then he was sold at another auction.” Klaran turned to frown at her. “To you?”
“I bought him to free him,” she defended. “He is free to go whenever he wishes to.”
“And yet he wishes to stay with you.”
Relief filled her? He did?
“So you’re mercenaries?” Dex asked. “You sell your skills for the highest price?”
“Yes, but we are also family. We would make allowances for his disability.”
“He isn’t disabled and the loss of his arm doesn’t affect his abilities.” Zoey moved closer to Boris, uhh Kruz, in defense.
He patted her shoulder once.
Klaran turned to him. “You belong with us. You are our brother.”
Kruz shook his head. Klaran made a noise of frustration. “He maintains that he belongs with you. What have you done to him?”
Immediately, Dex stood in front of her. Boris and Koran flanked her protectively. “Do not speak that way to my mate,” Dex snarled.
Klaran sighed. “I apologize. I am struggling to understand why he would choose to stay with you over his own people. But he tells me that you are constantly in trouble. You need his protection.”
Well, hell. “It’s not always my fault.”
“You should never have gone into that boutique alone,” Dex scolded, turning to stare down at her.
“That was my fault, Dexanon,” Liula spoke up. “I insisted she would be safe with me and that her guards remain outside. The fault is mine, not your mate’s.”
Dex and his warriors gaped at Liula for a moment.
Before anyone could speak, Stinky stepped in between them. “Lanana! Lanana!”
“Sweet merciful heaven.” She threw her hands in the air. “Where is Giz?”
“I left him on the ship,” Dex explained.
“Lanana!” Stinky insisted.
“Oh no, I rescued you from the slave trader. I don’t owe you anything else.” She placed her hands on her hips.
Rastian stepped forward. “Perhaps I could be of service to negotiate on your behalf.”
She frowned. “Don’t you work for him?” She pointed at Stinky.
“It has come to my attention that Lord Astair can no longer afford my services. I am looking for a new employer. I can speak over a hundred languages fluently and can understand many more. I could be invaluable to you.”
“Me? I don’t need a lawyer.”
“What about a translator?”
Hmm. That was an interesting idea. Rastian was morose and kind of bland. But he could be helpful. She glanced over at Dex, who sighed.
“Someone else? Really?”
“What do you mean?”
“You collect companions like other women collect trinkets, my own.” Dex looked pained, but he nodded. “We will hire him. Temporarily. I will need to conduct a thorough investigation into his background.”
Rastian nodded. “Agreed. Allow me to negotiate?”
She waved a hand. “Go for it.”
They spoke back and forth before Rastian turned to her again.
“Lord Astair is willing to take one payment in the form of four handfuls of the lanana’s fur. In return, he shall leave and never attempt to ma
ke contact with you or your planet again.”
“Good. Done. We’ll get him some of Giz’s fur and then let’s go home.” She turned to Boris-Kruz. “Sure you want to come with us?”
He nodded.
“Guess you’ll never be bored, right?” She turned to the others. “Uhm, I’m not sure where we will end up but maybe you can give us a way to contact you. In case you want to visit.”
Klaran nodded and spoke to Rastian. They waited while Boris-Kruz said goodbye to his brothers.
“Well, Boris, guess we’ll have to call you Kruz now,” she said as they walked away.
He just shrugged, looking unconcerned.
“You don’t care?” she guessed. “I gave you the name Boris because it was the worst name I could think of. I thought that might prod you into speaking up and telling me your real name.”
He grinned. Then he nodded back at the warehouse then down to her.
“Kruz was part of your life then?”
He nodded.
“All right. Boris, it is.”
Epilogue
“Crown Prince, please give me your hand.”
Okay, now for the squeamish part. Zoey watched as the elder sliced open Dex’s hand. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it still bled well.
So far the mating ceremony had gone better than she had expected. She had remembered all of her parts in the elaborate ceremony, even managing to say her vows in Zerconian, which had delighted Dex. She had Rastian to thank for that. He was an amazingly patient teacher.
Zoey held out her hand, wincing slightly as the knife sliced through her skin. They were nearly at the end of the ceremony. The elder would bind their hands together, say a few words and then they would officially be mated.
All that was left was to officially announce her as the Crown Princess. After great debate and a number of meetings to agree on the details, they had decided to remain on Zerconia. Both the council and Dex’s father had agreed to a number of changes that Dex wished to implement. Dex wanted the people of Zerconia to vote about whether they would allow visitors from other planets.
Even his mother was starting to warm up to her. Zoey actually had to check that pigs hadn’t started flying in the sky the day Liula had smiled at her.
She still didn’t approve of Zoey and they’d probably never be friends but so long as she stopped trying to tear her and Dex apart then she could live with that.
As their hands were wrapped together and the elder started to speak, Zoey closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
This was it. Her life. Forever.
When she looked back, she couldn’t believe how her life had changed in such a short time. She’d carved a life for herself here. Close friends, a man she loved, and adored a purpose.
A place to call home.
When the elder finished, a sense of being complete filled her and she stared up into Dex’s face with a smile.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, my own.”
Her warrior. Her lover. Her mate.
Thanks for reading Alien Mate! I hope you enjoyed it.
The next story in the Zerconian Warrior series will be out sometime in January/February, 2016.
Sadie.
Books by Sadie Carter
Zerconian Warrior Series
(in reading order)
Alien Warrior
Alien Lover
Alien Mate
