I shrugged. “They still lied. They still deceived me. Used me because that Prillon asshole ordered them to.”
Leah sighed, her shoulders drooped and her gaze filled with pity. I’d seen that look one too many times back on Earth and it made my new hurt feel all the more raw.
“Remember when we spoke at Trixon? I told you my guys were working on hunting down illegal arms smugglers.”
True. She had. “Yes. I remember.” Who could forget being surrounded by space guns capable of destroying small ships?
“Well, I didn’t realize that your mates were the ones the I.C. sent to Viken to do just that.”
“So, your mates lied to you, too?” I asked.
The pity was gone now, replaced by anger. “No. I didn’t ask. I don’t want to know everything, Whitney. I have a baby girl to raise and only so many hours in the day. They don’t tell me everything because I don’t want to know each time a crazy man breaks into the palace to try to kill me or Allayna. I don’t want to know about every assassination or criminal on the planet. I’d go crazy.” She leaned forward and placed her hand on my knee. “They didn’t tell you because they were protecting you. Just like my mates didn’t tell me.”
My head was shaking before she’d even finished the sentence. “No. You made the choice to be left out of the loop. That’s not the same. They didn’t ask me, didn’t give me the choice. I’m their mate. They should have told me the truth, and because they didn’t, I ended up running straight to the crime boss himself, shot with one of those stun guns and dragged to a spaceship to be sold as a slave. That’s not protecting me.”
“The kings disagree. They’ve asked me to try to help you understand. They don’t want you to be hurting like this.”
Tough. It was done. If Leah chose to insulate herself, and I completely understood that, she was the queen. But just because Leah chose to ignore some things didn’t mean I shouldn’t be given the choice. “I thought the mates in outer space were different, you know? Place their mate above everything else? First priority and all that.”
I’d never been anyone’s first anything. My older brother was the magical first-born son. My only serious boyfriend in high school had told me—after we’d been a thing for four months—that he only went out with me because he’d already dated every girl on the cheer squad, and I completed the set. When I went to college in northern California and left the Mason money and notoriety behind in New York? Dating was hard. But then who was I kidding? Dating was always hard. Which brought me back to my present dilemma.
“A guy on Earth did you wrong, am I right?” Leah asked. “Is that why this is so difficult for you to forgive?”
“You mean, did I get burned by a shitty ex-boyfriend on Earth?”
She nodded.
“No. Not really. It’s worse than that.” I leaned forward, set the bowl down. “Girlfriend, let me tell you the story of the Mason family. Prepare yourself, it’s not like a Norman Rockwell painting.”
I settled into the couch, told her of the Mason Ponzi scheme that rocked the US East Coast’s old money families. Leah had been gone from Earth long enough not to have known about it, so I didn’t leave any detail out. She understood what my family had done because she was also an American and knew how things worked.
By the time I was done, her face had gone from shock, with her mouth hanging open, to having her eyes narrowed and grim determination on her face.
“Well, that sucks big hairy balls,” she said when I finally finished, ending with volunteering at the Brides Testing center.
I had to laugh. “You could put it that way. Now you see why I can’t go back to Alarr, Teig and Oran. I don’t trust them. They’re no different than my family—using me to get what they want—and I can’t accept that. Ever again.”
She tilted her head. “I can see that. Okay, I talked with Warden Egara earlier. Since you’ve rejected Alarr, then the testing matches you to another Viken male. You will have thirty days with him—and the other two mates he chooses to join you both—to accept or reject your new match.”
“I feel like I’m online dating. Swipe right for your new arranged marriage.”
She shrugged. “The testing got it right with my guys.” She leaned forward, patting my hand. “Warden Egara will make it right, I know it. This is a very unusual situation, Whitney. I know you’ll be happy here. Give Viken a chance.”
“I did.” I remembered the efficient woman from the testing center. It wasn’t her fault Alarr wasn’t the one for me. “And I thought she had it right the first time,” I grumbled, feeling the disappointment. I really did like Alarr, Teig and Oran. But what I liked, had it been real? I would never know.
“You know,” she said, then paused, clearly thinking. “They tricked you. Used you. I’m not going to disagree with you that they played you wrong. But you have to admit, they were terrible at it.”
“Terrible at what? Sex?” I laughed. They were far from terrible, and that was the problem.
“Not sex, silly.” She smiled. “I’m sure they were very skilled lovers. My point is, you figured out their whole undercover thing within a day.”
“Yeah, so?” I asked.
“They’d been there for months working undercover. While they duped other people, they didn’t get past you. They suck at being bad guys. They are horrible at deception.”
I nodded. “True, but that doesn’t matter.”
“You’re not getting my point.”
I stared at her expectantly. This had better be good because she was right. I didn’t get it. None of it. There was no reason for them not to tell me the truth. None. Zero.
“Only genuinely bad people are good at deception and lies. The fact that all three of them were horrible at it means they’re actually pretty good guys. They’re honorable. Honorable people don’t like to trick and deceive and lie to someone they care about. They can’t do it well.”
I bit my lip, considered. “Like little kids. With some, it’s obvious they’ve broken a vase and tried to hide the pieces. With others, they can blame it on the cat without blinking.”
She pointed to me. “Exactly. Alarr, Teig and Oran are the guys who’ve broken the vase and can’t get away with it. They are good guys. They wouldn’t be part of the I.C. if they weren’t. They wouldn’t be in meetings with my mates if they were anything less than the best of the best in the Coalition.”
“That doesn’t mean they’re right for me. I can’t do lies, Leah. I just can’t.”
“Not even if they do it to protect you?”
“No. That’s the same excuse my father used, and it’s bullshit.” I took a deep breath and spoke the truth, the real, solid truth I’d been holding deep inside. “And they didn’t come after me, Leah. Didn’t even try to make it right.”
“I know, honey. And that’s why Warden Egara’s going to have your next best match transported here today, whenever you’re ready. I just have to let her know, and she’ll hit the button. Your new mate and his chosen second and third have been notified, and they’re ready to meet you.”
I frowned. “I thought the women transported to their mates.”
She stood, rolled her shoulders back. “A perk of being the queen. And a perk for you being besties with Queen Leah of Viken. She’ll break bride protocol for me. Let’s head to the transport room, we’ll contact the warden and get you your new mate. Mates.”
Oh God, the idea of a new match, of three new Vikens for me… my palms got damp, and my heart practically beat out of my chest. I had been eager for the first match, but now… I was nervous. I thought of Alarr, Teig and Oran, how perfect they’d been.
But not perfect enough.
Maybe I didn’t need perfect after all. Maybe I just needed good men who would be honest with me. I could live with a lot if I knew I was always respected and told the truth. I could live without Alarr, Oran and Teig. I saw their faces in my mind and wondered if I was lying to myself.
“Let’s go,” I said, standing, smooth
ing down my dress. “You’re right. I’m ready to meet the next round of bachelors. Maybe these three will get the rose.”
Leah laughed as she led me out of the room. She might be the queen of Viken, but she knew her American television shows.
An hour later, Leah and I stood at the base of the transport platform. The hair on my arms rose as vibrations came through the soles of my slippered feet. Warden Egara had responded swiftly to Leah’s second comm call and to my second-best match. She’d even organized his transport—and two other Vikens he’d arranged to claim me with him—directly to Viken United to meet me.
I thought of the bed I’d cried myself to sleep in on the other side of the palace. I’d be in that bed with them later. All three of them and I’d get that claiming Leah had told me had been so incredible.
I licked my lips, suddenly panicking. I was far from eager. I wanted to be claimed by three virile, eager males. Viken males, ‘cause they were definitely my thing. But there were only three I really wanted. Alarr, Teig and Oran. And wasn’t I just a big idiot for needing three Viken liars?
My pussy ached, and my nipples hardened at the thought of what they’d done with me, flashes of our time together exploding inside my head and catching my body on fire.
“Oh shit,” I whispered. Maybe it was the idea of three new matches that were making me all hot and bothered. No. It had to be the Seed Power from Alarr, Teig and Oran that lingered. Was my body craving the males I’d rejected? Or would any alien sperm donor do the trick?
Crude, Whitney. I could hear my grandmother’s voice scolding me, and I had to agree. It was crude and beneath me to think that way. I would not give in. I would keep my dignity no matter how badly this Seed Power was making my pussy ache and my body overheat.
Still. How did this work? Was I just craving Viken cock, or specifically theirs?
When the humming stopped, three hulking males appeared as if by magic on the platform.
“Oh shit,” I whispered again, looking them over. They were big. They were gorgeous. And I had no interest. None. My body was on fire, eager for a lover’s touch, but not theirs.
They looked to me, but quickly saw Leah and bowed low from the waist.
She looked my way. “I shall leave you. They should be bowing to you instead.” She winked and tried to walk out of the transport room before they even rose back to their full heights. She stopped when they moved toward me, and I was glad she hadn’t left me alone with them.
They came down the steps to stand before me. To look at me with interest, eagerness and lust. Big, hulking, hot Vikens each in different uniforms of black, brown, and gray.
All huge, gorgeous, and ready to be mine.
“Greetings, Whitney. I am Kayson, your new mate.” He walked to stand directly before me and bent to one knee like he was about to propose with a three-carat solitaire. Instead, he took my hand and I let him, even though his touch felt… odd. Unfamiliar. It lacked the zing I’d gotten when Alarr’s hand had held mine.
“Hello.” It was all I get out. Hell, I had no idea what to say. Did he know he was second place, the runner up? Did he know everything? Did he know that over the last twenty-four hours, I’d been wild and sweaty and screaming around three other Viken males’ cocks? What was he going to think about that? About me? Jeez, what a mess.
He held my gaze for a moment, his warm amber eyes and golden-brown hair completely different than that of my three mates. The difference helped.
Looking over his shoulder, he held my hand and nodded at the other two to come forward. “These, too, are your mates. Geros and Mal.”
They dropped to one knee as well, keeping their heads bowed.
The difference between this meeting and the one with Alarr was glaring in my mind. Alarr had touched me. Crowded into my space. Made me shiver and want instantly. Oran had noticed everything, ordering me a cloak when I’d barely shivered. And Teig? That kiss had made me forget to be afraid.
But this? It was like they were bowing to a princess, like I was brittle, made of glass, and about to break. But then, maybe I was.
“Told you they should bow to you.” Queen Leah spoke from behind me, and I jumped, startled. I’d forgotten she was still here.
Kayson moved his thumb over the back of my hand in a soothing gesture but remained kneeling before me. “I have been told of your prior mate’s deception, Whitney. Of his betrayal. I vow to you now never to lie to you, never to deceive you. We vow to place you, your safety, your happiness and your pleasure first in all things from now until the day we die.”
Fuck-fuckity-fuck. Intense. He knew exactly what to say, what my issues were. Was that because Warden Egara had told him what was going on? Or was he just that way? The way I’d imagined the alien males were supposed to be? Honorable? Devoted? Possessive? And he wasn’t bad to look at. In fact, they were all hot as hell. If I hadn’t met Alarr, Oran and Teig first, I had no doubt I would have been blissfully happy with Kayson and the other two.
Now? I wasn’t sure. But I wasn’t ready to give up on this new life. I didn’t want to go back to Earth, not that it was an option. I didn’t want to fail. I couldn’t go home. This was my home now. And these males were my new mates.
I looked at Leah. “I’m not ready for this.”
My new mate rose and used two fingers to gently turn my head toward him. I had to look up, way up, even farther than when I’d been standing before Alarr.
“We are content to wait for the claiming until you are ready, mate. Whatever you need, we will provide. We are yours.”
Oh God. What was I going to do now?
He was beautiful. Perfect. They all were.
Yet I didn’t want him or the other two. Not at all.
Leah’s hand came down on my shoulder. “Give yourself some time, Whitney. It’s okay.” She squeezed me and released her hold. “Well, I guess it’s time for some talking and getting to know each other. Follow me to the gardens, people. I’ll order brunch.”
Kayson placed his hand on the small of my back and escorted me as I followed our queen, my other two mates falling in behind us. I was with the queen and her guards, my three new mates. My best friend here was queen of the planet. I was surrounded by a fortress and more guards than I’d ever seen in one place. I was protected and safe.
And every time I blinked, I imagined that Alarr had been the one to arrive on that transport pad, kneel before me and beg for forgiveness. I imagined Oran and Teig on their knees behind him, vowing never to lie to me again. I imagined the hand on my back belonged to Alarr, that he was here, loving me, living up to the dream of him I’d been carrying in my heart.
And I hated him more.
10
Alarr, Viken United, Transport Room
When we stepped down from the transport pad within the palace walls on Viken United, we were met not with the kings’ guards as I’d expected, but by the three kings themselves. Identical triplets, their different colored uniforms and lengths of hair made them easy to identify—each from one of the sectors. As they came through the sliding door, the disapproving glares on their faces were identical as well. Oran, Teig and I paused in our motion to step down from the transport pad and bowed at the waist. The kings did not look well pleased to see us, and I had a good idea that whatever our mate had told Queen Leah had not been in our favor. Not that we deserved any.
After the formality of showing respect was complete, I stood and met the gaze of King Drogan, the only one of the three who had personally met Whitney while at the Trixon resort. “I’m surprised there isn’t a security squad ready and waiting to lead us to the brig for what we’ve done to our mate.”
King Tor arched a brow. “I heard about Commander Helion locking you three up in the I.C. brig. It sounds as if you have already spent more than enough time in a cage. Your time away does not punish you three, but your absence has been difficult on your mate.”
“Unfortunately, our absence was unavoidable. However, we gave Doctor Helion what he needed. T
he mission debriefing is complete, and you should have his report within a few days. Our part in this mission is over. We are free to collect our mate. And Whitney is our mate. We have come to take her back to Battleship Zeus with us.” I wanted no doubt as to our purpose in coming here. We were here for Whitney, and we had no intention of leaving Viken United without her.
King Tor, with his intense gaze and equally forceful demeanor, stepped forward. “She is no longer your mate. She contacted the Interstellar Brides Program on Earth and formally rejected the match to you, Captain Alarr.”
I clenched my hands into fists, ready to punch him in the face for uttering those words alone, but he didn’t stop speaking, and his next words were like a dagger in my heart.
“Another has already arrived to claim her.”
I looked to Oran and Teig, both looked as distressed as I felt. Helion had wasted precious time. If we’d been able to chase after her when we’d wanted, we’d have had the opportunity to explain. To apologize.
Slowly, I shook my head, my focus not wavering. “She was matched to me first. She is mine. We have treated her falsely, and we will apologize. We will make things right, and we will finally claim her as we should have upon her initial arrival.”
King Drogan laughed, crossed his arms over his chest. “You’ll need to do more than apologize. Groveling will be in order.”
“Begging, too,” King Lev added. “If your female is anything like Queen Leah, prepare yourselves to work for her forgiveness. Mates from Earth are passionate, as you know. Unfortunately, that passion translates with equal force outside of bed play.”
“You will beg. Grovel. Plead. And even that may not be enough,” King Tor tossed in, his irritation with us now obvious. “You have wronged a female from Earth. Trust us when we say forgiveness will not come easily. And you now have three new mates as well to compete with for her affection.”
I took a step toward King Tor, but he didn’t move, not concerned about my stance or any threat I might present to him. In reality, I was not a threat to him. I was a male who’d lost his mate due to a set of circumstances beyond my control. I wanted a chance to fix what I’d wronged, but it would not be easy. Gods, practically impossible. Based on the king’s words, Whitney and I were no longer officially matched. I had no claim to her, no right to pursue her. To touch her. Pleasure her. Protect her. According to protocol, she was no longer mine. But being official—following orders and rules—is what had led us into this mess to begin with.
Viken Command: Interstellar Brides® Program: Book 18 Page 12
