by Luna Hunter
The Alien General’s Wedding
In The Stars Romance
Luna Hunter
Contents
Foreword
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Afterword
Also by Luna Hunter
Preview of The Zoran’s Bride
Foreword
Thank you for picking up my book!
With the Royal Wedding coming up, I started to think — what would a Zoran wedding look like? The idea for this short story followed from there, and I simply had to write it.
It’s short, sweet and steamy, and it features a lot of familiar faces from my Barbarian Brides series. If you haven’t read that series yet, no worry, you you can still enjoy this story.
However, if you want to get the most out of this book, I’d suggest reading my Barbarian Brides series first.
Happy reading
Luna.
Blurb
Always the bridesmaid, never the galactic bride...
Zoey's life is thrown for a loop when her cousin Nora gets in touch with her. To say she has big news is an understatement..
Nora drops these bombshells on her:
1) Nora is getting married to a seven foot tall, alien warlord called Torin.
2) The wedding is next weekend.
3) Oh yeah, it's doubling as an Intergalactic Peace Summit as well, to smooth relations between humans and Zorans after the narrowly avoided inter-species war.
4) Will you be my maid of honor?
5) Also, that means you'll have to do the opening dance, in front of the whole intergalactic elite, with the gorgeous, brooding Zoran warrior named Kage. No problem, right?
When Zoey sees Kage, a towering mass of purple muscle with teal eyes that make her weak at the knees, she realizes that she might be in over her head...
The Alien General’s Wedding is a 15.000 word short story, and is part of the In The Stars Romance line. It’s short, sweet and steamy. It can be read as a standalone, but it'll make more sense if you read my Barbarian Brides series. However, if you're on the mood for an alien wedding, then feel free to pick this book up! No cheating, HEA guaranteed!
Chapter One
Kage
The xenophade blade cuts through the air. My purple, broad frame is coated in sweat, my muscles strained by the sheer weight of the ancient blade, but I do not falter. I do not waver. I don’t let anything distr—
“Kage!”
My instructor’s loud voice startles me and the blade slips from my grasp, clattering down on the temple floor.
“What?!” I growl, whipping my body around.
I picked this ancient temple as my training location so I would be left alone. Mastering a xenophade blade requires your full concentration. One mistake and you could lose your own hand.
“You ruined my concentration, Vasu,” I scowl.
“Then you still have much to learn,” my instructor says coolly. “I have tried to contact you for several days. Why are you not answering your com?”
“I”m focused on my training, like a proper warrior.”
Vasu glowers at me. Him and I don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. I’m what they call hard-to-work-with. Or an arrogant asshole, as I’m more commonly known. My prowess in battle, my strength, my speed — they are all beyond reproach. My attitude, however?
Now that’s a different story.
I don’t like following orders. I only follow those I know for sure are stronger than me. Turns out, there’s not too many Zorans like me.
It’s turned into somewhat of a situation for me. I need a Zoran general to vouch for me in order to become a true warrior. Until then, I will remain uninked.
I thought my strength was enough.
So far, every single general has passed.
Their loss.
“You might want to take a look at this,” Vasu says. He hands me a thick envelope.
“What’s this?” I say. “Paper? What is this, two centuries ago?”
I pull out a turquoise… invitation? My eyes scour the page.
You are cordially invited to Torin & Nora’s wedding.
“What’s this?” I growl. “Is this some kind of joke?”
My instructor smirks at me. “Afraid not, Kage.”
“What the hell’s a wedh-hing?”
“Some type of human bonding-ritual. You remember your uncle Torin, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
How could I forget? He’s the finest warrior our clan has ever seen. A fact my father reminded me of often.
Too often.
“He’s mating with a human.”
I furrow my eyebrows. “A human? Are you sure?”
“Definitely. You haven’t seen the news? Any of the ‘casts about Torin, about Egon, about Onyx?”
“Like I said, I have been training. Something I’d like to get back to, in fact.”
Vasu shakes his head.
“No. You’re headed to Earth, Kage. And you’re going to watch the damn news on your way there. There’s a lot you missed out on, boy. A lot.”
Chapter Two
Zoey
The doorbell rings. Of course it rings moments after I came out of the shower, and while I’m the middle of applying a fresh lick of nail polish to my toes.
“Coming!” I yell.
I open the door and the delivery guy looks startled.
“What?” I snap. “You never seen a woman without make-up before? In fact, I don’t remember ordering anything.”
He hands me a thick envelope, turns around and leaves without saying another word.
I roll my eyes and close the door. What do we have here? A letter?
I don’t think I’ve received one of those in the last few decades. In fact, my door doesn’t even have a slot for it. I open the envelope and a second later a shriek of pure excitement leaves my lips.
You are cordially invited to Torin & Nora’s wedding it reads in fancy lettering.
My cousin is getting married! I didn’t even know she was engaged for crying out loud! Without reading on, I storm towards my holocam and dial her number.
“I can’t believe this,” I say, mock-scowling, at the holographic image of my cousin. “You’re getting married? M-A-R-R-I-E-D?!”
“That’s how it’s spelled, yeah,” she snorts. “Glad to know you can still read.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say while crossing my arms. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you,” she says. “You’re not really mad, are you? I wanted to tell you in person, but we found a perfect venue right away, but we had to book fast, and it all started to turn into a thing — you know how Zorans are — and next thing I know the invites were at the printer and…”
I can tell she’s nervous from her body language alone. She keeps glancing to the side, biting her bottom lip, and she keeps fidgeting with her hair. Classic Nora.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “Really. It’s okay. I’m happy for you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course,” I laugh. “You’re getting freaking MARRIED to a Zoran! That’s the most important thing here. Whether or not you told me by mail, holo-call or messenger owl really doesn’t matter. I promise.”
“Okay,” she smiles. “Good.”
/> I hold up the invite. “By the way, who sends out physical cards anymore? What is this, the 20th century?”
“It’s cute, right?”
I have to admit it is. There’s even a small cartoon drawing of the both of them on there!
“We’re mixing up both human and Zoran traditions, and while I was doing my research I stumbled upon these type of invitations in a history book, so…”
“You mean you didn’t have a scrap book ready to go?” I tease.
My cousin shakes her head. “You know me, Zoey. I’m like, the least likely person to plan their own wedding. I didn’t expect any of this, to be honest. I have one more thing to ask you, by the way.”
“What’s that?”
“Will you be my maid of honor?”
My chest swells with pride. “Of course,” I say. “Of course!”
“Glad to hear you’re on board!”
Already my mind is flooded with ideas for bachelorette parties and embarrassing speeches.
“Do you think there’s a Zoran version of Magic Mike? Ah nevermind, I’ll ask around.”
Nora blinks twice. “Err, there’s something I haven’t told you.”
“What?”
“This wedding isn’t just about me and Torin…”
“What do you mean?” I ask. “What could be more important than the two of you on your freaking wedding day?”
“I knew you’d react this way,” she chuckles. “However, the Zoran King thinks differently. I’m sure you’ve heard the news, about Onyx?”
“Heard about it? I’ve been badgered to death with it!”
Siya Onyx, the extremely wealthy heir to the Onyx empire, has absolutely dominated the news cycle for the past few weeks. Turns out, her company was doing more than just supplying colony-worlds with power. A lot more. To make a very long story short, she was caught developing a biological weapon that could wipe out all the Zorans. And she was dabbling in cloning, genetic manipulation… all part of some crazy scheme to take over the Federation and install herself as Queen of the World or something crazy like that.
Personally, I don’t get it. She had all the money, the power, the fame in the world — what else is there? Why can’t anyone ever be happy with what they have?
Anyway, a bunch of Zorans brought her down; with the help of some of their human female mates, I might add. In short, humans and Zorans relations are pretty tense right about now.
Which is why I think it’s so awesome that Nora is going to marry a Zoran. Siya Onyx had swept everybody into this fever, she blamed the Zoran for all Earth’s problems, and people ate that stuff up. Sure, they’re intimidating as fuck with their imposing height, their broad shoulders, their intense, brooding eyes…
But none of that makes them evil. Just don’t get on their bad side and you’ll be fine.
“Why do you ask?” I say. “Do you expect people to picket your wedding or something? I’m sure that won’t happen. Anyway, where did you even meet this Torin? Weren’t all the Zorans exiled to New Exon?”
My cousin grins at me. “The name Torin doesn’t ring a bell?”
“Should it?” I ask.
“Okay, sit down, and promise me you won’t get mad.”
“What?”
“Promise me!”
“Okay, I promise,” I sigh. Is she pregnant or something?
“You know The Resistance, right?”
“The Zoran group who took down Siya? Sure.”
“Torin was a part of that,” Nora says.
“No way!”
“And so was I.”
I just about fall out of my chair. My cousin? Part of a freaking rebellion?! WTF!
“WHAT?!” I bellow, my face red.
“Uh ah! You promised!”
“I promised I wouldn’t get mad if you, I don’t know, got a tattoo or something! But you were part of a freaking uprising?! Do you know how dangerous those people are!”
“I know. Trust me. That’s why we had to stop them.”
“I can’t believe this!”
“And I’d like to remind you that we won,” Nora smirks. “So no harm, no foul, right?”
This is not what I was expecting when the day started.
“I thought you were on a really long cruise,” I say. “I feel so dumb.”
“Don’t be. Sorry I tricked you, but the less everyone knew, the better, you know?”
“What about all those pictures you posted?”
“All fake.”
“Ugh,” I say as I think back to all the comments I left on a bunch of fake vacation photos.
“Anyway,” Nora says, taking a deep, long breath. “Now, onto the most important part.”
“There’s more?!” I say. “I don’t know if I can handle much more!”
“We’re getting near the end,” she says. “Trust me. So. The Human Federation and the Zoran Admiralty are not exactly seeing eye to eye at the moment. Due to the whole a-human-almost-committed-genocide-bit. And I’m getting married. To a Zoran. So… King Vinz thought it a good idea to make our wedding a bit of an…. Intergalactic peace summit.”
“A what now? And you’re okay with that?”
Nora shrugs. “I would have been fine with a small ceremony for just friends and family. However, if my wedding can help bring back a semblance of peace back to the galaxy, who am I to say no? If the Zoran King himself wants to throw us a three-day long feast that’ll rival those of ancient kings and queens, well… I guess that’s okay.”
“Whoah,” I say. “That sounds amazing.”
“It will be. So, my point is. One: There will be a lot of aliens there. Can you handle that?”
“Of course!” I say, even though I’ve never met an alien before. I saw a Zoran once, from a distance, but that’s about it. Still. Fake it ‘till you make it!
“Two: It’s next weekend.”
“That’s on rather short notice!”
“I know, but these Zorans are an impatient bunch. They want to strike while the iron is hot and all that. Can you make it?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Great. Okay, final question: How is your dancing?”
“My what now?”
“You might kinda have to dance with a Zoran groomsman in front of the leaders of just about every race in this cluster of space. Just a head’s up.”
Right. Just a head’s up. At the thought alone my damn head is already spinning!
“No problem,” I lie. “That’s not a problem at all.”
“Good! I can’t wait to see you again, Zoey!”
Chapter Three
Kage
“Glad you’re here, Kage!”
My uncle Torin grabs a hold of me and hugs me tightly, his powerful grasp nearly knocking the wind out of me. I try not to show it.
“This interrupts my training,” I grunt. “I wouldn’t be here if my instructor didn’t force me to be.”
“All work, no play, huh? I see Vasu is instilling the right ethic into that purple skull of yours. Still, you need to relax every once in a while.”
“I can relax when I’m inked.”
My shoulders and biceps are still bare. Uninked. A true warrior is covered with symbols, each one representing something different: A kill, a battle, a campaign. A battle-hardened veteran can size up a man from his ink alone.
Here, at this human castle, I am surrounded by some of the finest Zoran warriors and generals the universe has ever seen. Rumor has it that the Warrior-king Vinz himself will be here.
I am not worthy of his company. I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be reminded of the fact that I have yet to prove myself. My body burns with desire, and every second that I am not in training is one wasted.
“You’ll get there, Kage. There’s no rush. Ah, Egon! Good to see you. I’d like you to meet my nephew, Kage!”
I snap to attention as I salute Egon the Savior. My instructor was right; I had missed out on a lot of important news.
It was Egon who led the squ
ad — which my uncle Torin was a part off — that saved New Exon from Siya Onyx’s foul plot to destroy our kind. That’s something I haven’t forgiven the human for, and it is also something that makes me question this Zoran/human union.
“At ease,” the green Zoran says. “This is a mating union, not a battlefield. Enjoying your time off?”
“Kage here would rather be in training,” Torin says. “He thinks this is all a waste of time, don’t you?”
“Err,” I stammer as I curse myself internally. Way to screw up your first impression! “I don’t see the point, to be honest.”
“That’s because you haven’t met a human female yet,” Egon says. The two warriors exchange a glance that makes me feel like I’m out of the loop. “Ah, look, here they are right now!”
I turn around.
Two females pass through the archway. I recognize Nora from the invitation, my uncle’s mate, but it’s the other human female that catches my attention.
In fact, I can’t look away.
Her hair bounces with every step. The dress she is wearing hugs her body perfectly. She’s go gracious, so beautiful.
So… perfect.
I’m frozen in place, my heart suddenly thumping in my chest, as an unfamiliar feeling spreads throughout every inch of my being.
I had no idea human females could be so… enchanting.
She looks at me, and our eyes meet. My heart feels like it’s been struck by lightning. My armor feels two sizes too small as my entire body burns up.
“What did I tell you?” Egon says, elbowing me in the ribs.
The spell is broken, and I turn away. My uncle and Egon are both smirking at me, and I feel like an absolute fool.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Torin says. “I have something important to ask you, Kage. Follow me.”
