by Rosette Lex
Safir wouldn’t see things Tristan’s way and he had refused to simply make the human his mate. So Tristan would come to an agreement with the others and take care of the problem his way.
Tristan waited only ten minutes until the five other warriors gathered at his place, the one he had built for himself not ten miles away from Safir’s much grander home. Each warrior had their own home surrounding Safir’s place.
The tall, broad shouldered men quickly entered Tristan’s living room. All were still frustrated with last night’s meeting. Safir and his empty reassurances hadn’t satisfied them at all. Their commander could not even reassure himself that he would be able to control his mating urges.
“So why have you called us here Tristan?” Doran asked as they all settled in the living room. Tristan was quite nervous, as he had never betrayed Safir’s confidence before. After all, things were too sensitive to address.
“Our Lord Commander has confided in me the reason behind his ‘slip ups,’” Tristan glanced around the room at the five familiar faces of his fellow warriors.
“His reckless shifting is due to his mating instincts being awakened. He is losing control of the tiger as it recognizes a human female as Safir’s mate,” Tristan let that sink in around the room.
“So he has endangered us to the humans because of mating instincts?” Doran was instantly outraged.
“Why has he not marked the female yet?” The room grew hot as Doran’s inner dragon stirred from his anger. Tristan shrugged, truly unable to explain Safir’s unnecessary respect for the human race.
That had been something Tristan always struggled with. They were a superior race to the humans; they could virtually disappear with their gift of shifting. Now a single human woman was putting their chosen way of life on this planet at risk.
“We must ensure that the Lord Commander satisfies his mating urges so that we can live comfortably here once again. Remember that the humans might hunt us down if he loses control again.”
“Yes I agree, this could be an opportunity to have our offspring on this planet since it is now our home. Safir finding a mate in a human woman means we can reproduce with them,” Doran’s tone was speculative.
“Indeed, and we would have an heir to be Lord Commander for a new generation of Voltairians on Earth…should we truly never find a way back to Voltaire,” Asher, another warrior, highlighted this important detail. The room grumbled in agreement that having an heir would be particularly advantageous to preserving their race on this planet.
“So how would we go about getting this human woman for Commander Safir?” Another warrior asked from his perch on the pool table. Tristan pushed away his slight annoyance at the man who would surely tilt the table and make playing impossible.
“We simply retrieve the woman for Safir, we will approach her in her place of business and convince her to allow Safir to court her,” Doran’s solution was simple enough. Tristan knew it wouldn’t be that simple though.
“We will have to be creative in how we approach her. She will most likely be wary of us, especially as to why we are approaching her for Safir’s sake. On top of that, he cannot know we approached the female on his behalf,” Tristan’s tone was severe as he met the eyes of each alien in the room.
“What if she denies our request?” Another warrior shouted.
“We may have to use some leverage, simply use empty threats, but ones she will believe. Once she meets Safir and grows to be his mate, I’m sure all of that will be forgotten,” Tristan said dismissively. Though, he did put more thought into this particular idea. They would indeed have to blackmail the female.
Tristan knew she would most likely grow hysterical at the simple fact that their race could shift into large beasts. Failure was not an option, even if they had to go as far as kidnapping the human; Tristan was prepared to do that.
Chapter 2
Arianna
Work that day had been more than I could handle. The café had just started one of their annual fall promotions. Ninety-nine cent pumpkin cookies, and the real kind too, none of that pumpkin spice stuff most commercialized coffee shops sold. The fact that we made fresh homemade pumpkin cookies was the real reason the place was always packed. We opened just after dawn and the cookies were gone just before noon.
All our morning and lunchtime regulars would pack in early to try and get some cookies. On top of the regular locals returning at their normal times for the lunchtime rush.
After what seemed like an eternity, the day came to an end. At that point, I couldn’t wait to find a good journalism job anywhere in the country if need be. This job was only supposed to be temporary and I couldn’t wait for the day where I wouldn’t need it any more.
On top of everything else I had to close too, as I had opted in to do overtime. As soon as it hit ten-thirty, I was ready to drop where I stood and sleep for days. I thought I’d be able to at least rest a bit until eleven came around, but of course that’s when a few stragglers came into the restaurant wanting a late night pick me up.
Once they had their coffee and espresso shots, eleven o’clock came around fast and I closed up sooner than I would have done on any other day. I was finally out by eleven thirty and I made sure to lock up before I headed to my car.
I had parked behind the café since my manager said she didn’t want employees taking up potential customer spots anymore. I rounded the building and began walking down a sort of secluded side street that separated the ever-encroaching forests of Keene and the city.
Usually, I found the forests to be comforting, tonight I found the dark trees to be oddly eerie…as if I were being watched. Just before I reached the rear lot, a bunch of large, muscular bodies emerged from the trees and encircled me.
My heart stopped in my chest and my voice got stuck in my throat with fear. I quickly glanced around and saw six of them, and they were big. They had to be at least seven feet tall, built with extraordinary muscle to fill in their impressive frames.
They each had hard gazes, almost as if they were battle hardened and that scared me the most. This group of men wasn’t simply taking a late night stroll. One of them stepped forward so quickly that I barely had time to register his features.
Then he grabbed me from behind and held a cloth over my mouth.
I gasped and the almost rotten, chemical scent flooded my lungs. I couldn’t slow my breathing as I was panicking and soon my vision started to tunnel and fade. I could only remember the sickly sweet scent of whatever saturated that cloth before I passed out.
* * *
I woke up in stages; first I registered the scent of something dark and closed in, like a basement maybe. Then I felt that my hands were chained above my head, it was just painful on my shoulders. Wherever I was, it was completely quiet. I opened my eyes slowly and saw the six huge men surrounding me. They were all staring at me almost speculatively. My eyes glanced from face to face until they fell on one of the men who was…morphing into a wolf!
My already galloping heart hammered in my chest and I was almost ready to faint. His body quickly shifted from a bipedal humanoid figure to a four-legged wolf with piercing silver eyes. My head whipped around as my periphery registered another strange movement to the left. Another one was shifting into—into a freaking dragon!
I screamed in utter fear. What were those people, those creatures! They just turned into animals and one of them was supposed to be mythical!
My eyes were wide, my mouth agape and my general expression horrified as I screamed again. That just could not be real. I was dreaming, I thought I might have fallen asleep at work and was stuck in some horrible, horrible nightmare.
“Cease your hysterics woman!” one of the still human abductors snapped at me.
I fell silent, my eyes were still wide with horror and my body shook with fear. What were they going to do to me? My eyes shifted to the huge werewolf as his silver eyes studied me closely. Oh God, was he going to eat me? Would he have his dragon buddy fry me u
p and serve me as some sort of grilled meal? Then, as if that moment could get anymore surreal, the wolf started talking to the dragon. Like some sort of a scene from a supernatural movie.
“Safir cannot know that we abducted her Doran,” the wolf spoke to the dragon just as normally as they would speak in their human forms. I sat back and watched the entire exchange with wide eyes, the other men joined in on the conversation, agreeing with the wolf.
“She is perfect to be lord Safir’s mate, she has well rounded hips, fit for childbearing and bringing in an heir for our race’s survival,” the wolf eventually said, as if I were some prized breeding animal.
“I am not so sure this is the right way to go about things, Tristan. Lord Safir had strictly warned that he would never mate with a human woman without her consent. You told me this yourself,” the dragon cautioned the wolf. A brief sliver of hope touched my heart before it fizzled out like a fledgling flame in a body of water.
“So we simply do not tell Lord Safir that the human was abducted, he must never know and it’s as simple as that,” the wolf said with finality. My hope drowned before it could even get a chance to live.
“All we want is an heir to help our race. This female is perfectly fit to ensure that happens. We have all done the same research. Her only family, her parents died long ago in an accident. All that must be done now is to let Lord Safir claim her as his mate and his urges will be controlled, the tiger will be tamed once again.”
Hearing all this, I couldn’t help but keep myself from crying. What were they talking about? They wanted me to have sex with some Lord Safir?
“P—please, please just let me go, I won’t say anything about whatever you guys are. But just please let me go, please,” I cried, unable to quiet my rising hysteria and desperation any longer.
“Cease your crying woman! You can have your freedom, after you seduce our Lord Commander, convince him of your love for him and allow yourself to be marked as his mate, followed by birthing an heir to our race. Otherwise, you can die here and now, slowly and painfully.
I’m sure you can imagine what we are capable of,” the wolf snarled at me, his eyes shone with a disturbingly eerie silver light. As the visual of these creatures burning me alive and eating me came to mind, I forced myself to stop crying.
“Take the woman to her home so she can prepare herself for Lord Safir,” the dragon spoke that time, and two of the large men moved to follow his command.
They unshackled me from the dank wall and hoisted me up roughly. Everything after that was a blur and the next thing I knew was that I was being taken outside to a large black truck.
The sun was up and the late afternoon light was painfully bright compared to the dim lighting in that shack or basement or wherever I was. The two men packed me into the car and then got in the front to drive me home.
I tried to formulate some sort of plan to get away from them. I lived in an apartment on the fifth floor; it wasn’t like I could have snuck out of a window to run away. I’d have to find a distraction and then make a break for the door somehow. I needed to get out of that mess.
Before I knew it, the truck pulled up to my building and they forced me up the stairwell to my door where one of them pulled out the set of keys to unlock my apartment.
“This is what happens now; you will wash and prepare yourself to join Lord Safir. We will take you to your place of work and you will bump into him, do not make it look intentional. You will recognize him because he is both taller and more physically built than an average human man.”
The one who started explaining what they wanted from me had dark grey eyes and tousled brown hair. He could have been handsome had he not given me that threatening look. My other captor had intense amethyst colored eyes and silver blonde hair. He was not scowling at me but he was simply studying me silently.
“You’ll convince him that you find him appealing and you must press him to go on an outing—a date. No matter what he says, does, or shows that seems alien, you must make him believe that it truly does not matter.
Most importantly that you want to make love to him. It is imperative you show no signs of fear or unwillingness. Certainly do not let him know that you are being forced to do this. If you fail, your life will pay the consequence,” the one with those grey eyes spoke gravely and in all seriousness. I knew that he surely wasn’t playing around.
“We do not have to remind you what we are and how easily we can kill you…do we?” the other one spoke up, his expression turned into a sarcastic sneer.
I shook my head vigorously. I remembered all too vividly the wolf and the dragon. “Good, now go and clean yourself,” they shoved me in the direction of the hall that led to my bedroom and bathroom.
The one with purple eyes followed me into my closet as I reached for something to wear. I was going to wear a sweater and jeans, but he shoved the clothes out of my hand rudely.
“No, you must wear something more appealing,” he said bluntly. I huffed and then picked out one of my sweater dresses and tights. “That is better, what shoes will you wear to match?” I looked at him wondering if he was serious.
He was watching me expectantly, waiting for me to answer his question. With shaky hands, I reached for a pair of black knee high boots. It was not something I’d wear to work, I usually had a uniform…but I didn’t think the café t-shirt and jeans would keep me alive in that situation.
Once the purple-eyed man approved my outfit, he also accompanied me to the bathroom to make sure there weren’t any windows. Fortunately, he was generous enough to let me shower alone.
The water from the shower washed away my tears until I was somewhat able to pull myself together. So they just wanted me to go and seduce the guy that spilled his coffee yesterday. I knew exactly who the ‘Lord Safir’ person was because he fit the description of being taller and more muscular than the average guy.
How could I not remember such an extraordinary man? It was strange how he had bolted out as if he was getting a parking ticket or something.
I shook myself as I brushed my hair into soft waves and pinned it over my shoulder. I was going to seduce Safir and do what those guys wanted, and then I’d be safe and free.
I was definitely going to move to another city. Not some small town where weird shit like that happened. A sudden bang on the door startled me half to death as I jumped and gave out a small yelp.
“We must go now,” the deep voice boomed from the other side of the door before he opened it and waltzed right in. Grey eyes gave me a once over before he took my arm and pulled me out of the bathroom.
“You don’t have to be so rough you know! I can walk on my own. I mean, it’s not like I can run from you guys,” I snapped angrily, sick of all of it already.
“Oh the kitten has claws,” the purple eyed one mocked me and both guys laughed before the grey eyed one gestured me forward. I shook his hand from my arm and walked ahead of them towards the front door. They drove me to the coffee shop and before I got out of the truck, the beasts gave me a final warning.
“We’ll be watching to make sure you are successful in carrying out your task, you know what will happen if you fail,” I wanted to curse the grey eyed bastard out, but instead I gave a tight nod and then got out to head down the street and into the café. I took a few deep breaths before I pushed the door open and walked inside.
I quite literally bumped right into Safir as he was leaving. “You again,” I forced myself to smile up at him flirtatiously.
At first, he seemed a bit confused when I addressed him and then his ocean blue eyes cleared up and he smiled at me with what looked like a mixture of befuddlement and shyness.
“Yes…it is me; I am a regular here…though you did not work today.” We were standing just inside the shop and thank God, it was busy and the owner behind the counter didn’t see me. I would have worked that day under normal circumstances.
“I hope you didn’t spill your coffee this time?” I asked as he smirked and I m
ade myself study his face. The more I focused on him and stopped glancing around nervously, the more I realized that he was incredibly handsome. I knew it last night when he had dropped his coffee. I was a bit stunned, so I didn’t get the chance to really take in his features.
He had curly dirty blonde hair that was styled in a messy undercut. He had winged eyebrows and thick lashes framed his blue eyes. He had the oddest pupils though, they were white, yet seemed natural paired with his irises.
He had a straight nose that had never been broken and plump lips that were naturally pink. His cheekbones were well formed and what any male model would kill for, and his jaw line was strong and angular, he had a slightly cleft chin just to wrap up his incredible looks. Well at least I didn’t have to have sex with an ugly alien, Safir was…a god.
“I managed to hold on to my coffee, though I didn’t quite enjoy it as much today,” he said with a soft smile.
He would have been adorable in his shyness, but this entire situation had already placed a bad effect on our meeting. Who knew, if his monstrous friends hadn’t kidnapped me, we could have met naturally and I would have been more dazzled by him than I was in that messed up moment. I tried to keep my anger in check and myself together enough to hold a conversation. I couldn’t afford to fail.
“That’s good…um—do you want to sit outside?” I was nervous about my boss seeing me all dressed up and completely fine. I didn’t want to make out of this terrible situation without a job.
I looked up at Safir, expectantly waiting for his answer. He nodded once and then I turned around to go and sit at one of the outside tables. Safir followed close behind me and sat in one of the wrought iron chairs when I did.
“So how come you did not work today?” he asked me curiously, his gaze was growing less unsure and more intense as he studied me.
