They had weird ideas. In fact, humans were clearly on the slightly deranged side. But General Galatov wanted a human mate, so I was determined to get one for him.
For perhaps the hundredth time, I fed all of the general’s genetic information into the computer and waited for the list of candidates to appear.
I had already checked out the top two. As it turned out, they both seemed to be already mated. One already had kits. The other lived with a human male. Nora had warned me that those types would be even less happy being taken away than ones without partners—whether or not they were officially mated to those partners.
I had to take Nora at her word. Even though she hadn’t been willing to meet with me for a formal planning session, she had been certain to track me down afterward to give me advice on finding the perfect mate for the general.
So here I was, back in the same city that Nora herself had been taken from.
I buzzed over the nature preserve in the center of the island city. Part of the problem with Earth was that far too many humans crowded together in small spaces, when there was plenty of land to be had in other parts of the world.
I shook my head. I would rather spend the rest of my life unmated, waiting for the opportunity to join with a Drovekzian mate—no matter how unlikely it was that we would have kits—than end up with one of these insane human females.
I couldn’t imagine what the captain and the commander saw in them.
Very little fur, inferior cultural norms, and from the most backward planet I have ever visited. Yuck.
I made another sweep over the nature area.
Give it a rest, I told myself. Luckily, you’re not here to find your own mate. You are here for the general.
I waved a few more details into the computer, waiting for it to respond and remembering that Commander Dax preferred the old-fashioned interfaces that required manual touch.
Perhaps that kind of tendency was why he had ended up with a backward human.
I, on the other hand, liked to consider myself a forward thinker. The new wave controls suited me perfectly.
The computer let out a beep, letting me know the third human match for the general had been located. Oddly enough, she, too, was walking through that nature preserve. Or along the edge of it, anyway.
I could put my scoutship in stealth mode, drop down in front of her, and let her walk directly inside before she even knew what had happened.
Then I would take off and explain to her on the way back to the Levelock.
Perfect plan.
I waited until the path in front of her was clear of other pedestrians and followed it exactly.
“Computer, project an image of the surroundings in subterfuge mode. Our goal is to capture that female before she realizes what has happened.”
“Affirmative.”
These new ships were wonderful—and immune, thank goodness, to Karlaxon interference. This ship didn’t need any further input to complete the maneuver perfectly.
Once we took off again, I jumped up from my seat in the cockpit and raced toward the entryway as the scoutship took off, our prey captured.
Sliding around the corner, I came face-to-face with the general’s matched mate—and came to a halt, totally blindsided by her.
She was beautiful.
She wore her dark, silky hair gathered at the crown of her head in some sort of band and falling like a shiny waterfall down her back.
Her clothes were odd—not at all suitable for space travel, consisting as they did of an outer garment the covered her torso, a fabric tube that covered only part of her legs, and footwear that included torturous-looking spikes on the bottom—no one would ever be able to walk in those. No one rational, at least.
Her utter irrationality was confirmed when she turned around, took one look at me, screamed, and then began swinging a heavy bag off her shoulder and toward my face.
I tried to fend her off, hoping I could explain to her that I needed to have her implanted with a translation matrix. But she kept shouting, “Get away from me, you fucking kidnapper! Help! Mugger, thief, kidnapper!”
Finally, one of her swings made contact, and the boxy bag she carried thunked up against my head, knocking me sideways.
But that wasn’t what brought me to my knees.
No, what knocked my feet out from under me was her scent. It hit me like a ship at lightspeed, toppling me from my knees and down to all fours.
At that moment, my inner beast burst out of my skin, roaring Mine! into the universe.
As my bipedal form completely retreated, a phrase skittered through my mind—not one of my own, but one I had heard Nora say more than once.
Fuck my life.
Enjoyed the first book in the Interstellar Shifter series? Be sure to leave a review!
If you’d like to pick up the FREE prequel to this book, you can get Star Mate Seduced, available for a limited time via BookFunnel. You can also sign up here to be notified when Star Mate Stolen, the full-length prequel novel, goes live.
The next book in the Interstellar Shifter series, Star Mate Marked, is available for preorder, too. Find out what happens when alien shapeshifters take unsuspecting human brides!
If you love steamy alien romances, you can read the Alien Bride Lottery series: Entered in the Alien Bride Lottery, Captured for the Alien Bride Lottery, and Claimed for the Alien Bride Lottery.
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About Star Mate Marked (Interstellar Shifters Book 2)
He never expected his inner were-beast to claim the general’s bride for himself.
Braxen had zero interest in going to Earth to pick up the Fleet General’s matched mate. The tiny blue planet is an ecological disaster and from what he has seen, its females are insubordinate and stubborn. But he owes General Galatov his life several times over, so he agrees.
But then he meets the general’s mate, and his werecat beast insists she’s meant to be Braxen’s mate.
Macy Blue was having the best day of her life—a promotion at work, ten pounds lost over the last few months, a gorgeous new dress, a first date with a nice guy planned for that night—right up to the moment she got abducted en route to the subway.
When the spaceship they’re on crash-lands on a deserted planet, everything goes from bad to worse.
Stranded with no way to call for help, Braxen and Macy must work together to repair the ship—or die trying—all while trying to fight against their forbidden attraction.
Star Mate Marked is a standalone book in Interstellar Shifters, a steamy new sci-fi romance series featuring alien beast warriors, kick-ass human heroines, and a happily ever after in every book!
About the Author
USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestselling author Margo Bond Collins is a former college English professor who, tired of explaining the difference between “hanged” and “hung,” turned to writing romance novels instead. Sometimes her heroines kill monsters, sometimes they kiss aliens. But they always aim for the heart.
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Read More of Margo’s Books
Khanavai Warriors Alien Bride Games Series
Entered in the Alien Bride Lottery
Captured for the Alien Bride Lottery
Claimed for the Alien Bride Lottery
Enemy of the Alien Bride Lottery
Interstellar Shifters
Star Mate Matched
Star Mate Marked
Sta
r Mate Mastered (coming soon)
The Alien Warriors' Reparation Brides Series
An Alien of Convenience
Alien Romance Boxed Sets
Stolen and Seduced
Captured and Captivated
Alien Embrace
Reverse Harem Alien Romances
Snatched
Her Alien Crew
Tiny and Fierce
Theirs by Destiny
Star Mate Matched Page 10
