Mating Rights

by Jaide Fox

  Jaxon could smell blood. He saw the frenzy of the women striking her and knew they smelled it too. Jaxon lunged forward, intending to put a stop to this, his brain on meltdown as he saw the woman he loved bruised and bloodied and struggling to continue.

  Torolf and Ranger grabbed his biceps, halting his descent into madness. He choked back the bile in his throat. “Run, Mali,” he screamed above the pounding drums and mad yells of the crowd.

  She turned her head, taking a strike against her temple. She fell to her knees and the women stopped just long enough to allow her to struggle to her feet. Mali limped now, almost to the end, almost to freedom from the pain. Another branch struck her face, swelling an eye shut instantly. She stumbled against the row of women then was pushed to the other side, pushed along, closer to the end. Were they helping her?

  Jaxon saw Kimber and Angelica at the end, pushing her with their sticks instead of hitting her, guiding her to the end. She punched through the opening, collapsing on the ground in a heap. Kimber rushed to her as did Angelica. They stood her up. Her once white dress was covered in dirt and blood, shredded along the back and the arms. His gut twisted and still, they held him back.

  Nicodemus raised his hands and the drums and chanting stopped. All was silent except for the blood roaring in Jaxon’s ears.

  “Mali has survived the gauntlet and cannot be outcast. You must choose a mate, gel. If he accepts your claim, you and your children will be part of the clan, now and forever. No one can dispute your rights as a full clan member. Do you make a choice of your mate?” Nicodemus announced loud for all.

  “J-Jaxon,” she said on a strangled cry and went limp.

  Chapter Twelve

  The smell of frying bacon and fresh brewed tea tempted Mali’s nose and beckoned her eyes to open. She cracked her lids, looking beneath her lashes at the familiar room.

  “Jaxon?” she croaked. Her mouth was dry. She tried to lick her cracked lips, but her tongue felt coated in sand.

  “I thought bacon would awaken you,” Jaxon said, sitting down on the bed beside her. She tried to sit up, but couldn’t. Jaxon’s arms went around her and lifted her up, settling her back against the pillows.

  “What has happened?” she asked, feeling sore but amazingly whole despite the ordeal she’d just suffered.

  “You’ve been asleep for three days.”

  She blinked. “I have?”

  He nodded. “Healing. I thought you’d never wake up. Bacon is better than any smelling salts known to man.”

  Mali chuckled, though she thought she sounded more like a meat grinder. She coughed and gratefully took a cup of warm, sweet tea. The liquid energized and soothed her sore throat. “What happened? I remember being beaten.”

  Jaxon handed her a plate of crisp bacon. “You survived the gauntlet. Kimber gave you an extra push at the end, as did Angelica. I was surprised, but she seemed impressed with your fortitude. I never figured she’d have a soft spot in her. You chose me as your mate and collapsed.”

  “I did?”

  He frowned. “Did you make a mistake?”

  She smiled, ducking her head. “No.”

  “Good, because I’ve laid claim to you. You are mine and no other may have you. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up so we can make this official. I am too old to wait any longer on children.”

  Mali laughed and held her hands up for mercy. “This is too much too fast. I never expected you would agree to the match. What of Jen? Your first love.”

  He sighed and stopped his advance on her, sitting back on the foot of the bed and crossing his arms over his chest. He looked like a petulant grown man, and it made her smile. How she adored her ornery old wolf!

  “Jen was puppy love; a dream. You are real, and here and now. I will not have it any other way. I dunna how else to say it.”

  “Say what?” she asked.

  He growled, pushed her plate of untouched bacon to the side and made her drop tea on the floor with a liquid clatter. Jaxon grabbed her and held her to his chest, raining kisses on her forehead and cheeks, and the corners of her mouth until she was breathless—laughing and crying.

  “I love you, Mali. You are mine and I am yours.” He stopped and looked into her eyes. “We were fated to be together, if you can get over your foolish pride as I have mine.”

  She sighed, touching the scars on his cheeks and brushing his long brown hair back. “Are your wounds healed then?”

  “Only with your loving touch,” he murmured.

  “You may have it and my heart forever, Jaxon,” she said, and turned her face up for his kiss. He kissed her slowly, savoring her mouth for what seemed an eternity. Finally, he pulled away and smiled at her, and for the first time, she could see true happiness in his eyes.

  “We must go back and have you properly meet my mother and father,” she said.

  Jaxon’s right eyelid twitched and his smile fell. “Your father is going to kill me,” he groaned, much to her amusement.

  Mali, laughing, nodded. “Indeed he will.”

  The End

  Thank you for reading my book! I hope you enjoyed it enough to leave a review. If you’re interested in learning about my new releases, be sure to sign up for my newsletter on my webpage http://www.jaidefoxbooks.com or you can follow me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jaidefoxbooks

  Read an UNEDITED excerpt from Captured by Aliens 3: ALIEN INTENT:

  Chapter One

  The phone rang above the explosion happening on the television.

  Jasmine Gray and Samara Brooks startled from their lounge on the overstuffed couch. Samara paused their movie. “Someone always calls when we get to the good part,” Samara said.

  Sitting up, Jasmine scooped the phone off the coffee table and looked at the screen. She rolled her eyes and looked at Samara as the phone continued to ring. “It’s Cyndy.”

  “What the hell is she calling this late for? She always goes to bed early,” Samara said, looking vaguely concerned. It was eleven o clock at night, and they all had to go in to work by eight.

  “Guess I better answer it. It might be an emergency.” Jasmine swiped her finger over the phone and put it on speaker. She propped an elbow on her knee. “Hey. What’s up?”

  “Jasmine? Omigod. The lights are back. You’ve got to come right now,” Cyndy said. Her voice sounded strained and abnormally high-pitched. “I’ve been watching them move over the city for the past fifteen minutes. Something’s going on. I know it.”

  Samara sat up on the edge of the couch.

  “Cyn, we’ve got work tomorrow. I cain’t come this late. And you know I hate that road in the dark--,” Jasmine began, but Cyndy cut her off before she could finish making an excuse.

  “If you love me, you’ll come. Bring Samara and her camera. Tonight’s the night. I’ve been watching the lights dance like lightning.”

  “Just use your phone and we’ll look at it in the morning—“

  “My resolution isn’t worth shit. I need high quality res and you know it. I’m not going to the media with fuzzy, crap video. Get your asses over here now. I’ll be outside waiting on you,” Cyndy said and hung up.

  “She’s losin’ her damned mind up there on that mountaintop by herself,” Samara griped. “What kind of dad leaves his kid a house out in the boonies?”

  “One that wants his daughter single?” Jasmine growled and stood. “Anyway, she ain’t got any other friends. Let’s go see the aliens so we can hurry up and come back to bed.”

  “Yeah,” Samara said as she walked off to retrieve her handheld digital camera before joining her cousin to leave the house.

  The pitch black night didn’t seem to have a single star in the sky to illuminate their way as Jasmine drove the long winding road up to Cyndy’s house. Heavy cloud cover smeared the black sky with smudges of grey.

  The headlights and reflectors in the middle of the ribbon of road were the only sources of light for miles. Jasmine grit her teeth as the car buffeted from a gust of
wind that whipped the close crowed trees.

  Narrowing the higher they drove, branches scraped alongside the door like fingernails on chalkboard.

  “There goes the paint job,” Jasmine grumbled, turning onto the ruts marking Cyndy’s driveway.

  “It’s probably not that bad. Damn. This place gives me the creeps,” Samara whispered, giving a visible shudder as she looked out the window. “Should we see the houselights by now?”

  “I thought so.” Jasmine glanced at her cousin and quickly returned her eyes to the road. Forced to drive at a snail’s pace for fear of bottoming out in a rut, she hadn’t noticed the darkness continued right up to the house.

  “Didn’t she say she’d be outside?” Samara asked.

  Jasmine stopped the car beside Cyndy’s in front of the house. They both got out of the car and tread carefully up to the dark porch.

  Samara hugged her arms around herself as Jasmine knocked hard on the door.

  “Cyndy?” Jasmine called, punching out a beat with her fist.

  “Doorbell,” Samara said, pressing the button. Nothing happened. “I’m officially freaking out now,” she said, looking at Jasmine.

  “Is the power out?” Jasmine wondered, stepping off the porch when her knocks went unanswered.

  The tree canopy rustled in a swift wind, reminding Jasmine of scuttling beetles. The urge to shiver caught her as curly tendrils of hair wrapped around her face. She tucked her hair behind her ear and listened to the wind howl like a banshee.

  “It’s only been like forty minutes since she called,” Samara said. “Let me try to call her.” She dug her phone out of her pocket. The screen blinked on, a blinding rectangle in the darkness.

  Jasmine nodded. “I’m going to try the back,” Jasmine said, using her phone to light the way as she rounded the house to the back door.

  The wind speed picked up, blowing leaves around her sneakers. Jasmine’s phone flickered off just as she reached the back porch. “Fuck,” she said, swiping the screen to turn it back on.

  Her phone died. She must’ve forgotten to charge it and hadn’t noticed. It usually ran out of juice by this time of night.

  Shrugging, she slid the phone into her jeans and turned to the back door to knock.

  “Jasmine!” Samara yelled, her voice growing louder as she ran around the house. “I just saw something in the sky right as my phone died.” Samara stopped by her cousin, visibly shaking despite the darkness around them.

  “What?” Jasmine turned to step off the porch, but Samara grabbed her.

  “Don’t go out there, please!”

  She shrugged her off. “I’m sure it’s just stars. Or a satellite.”

  “Uh uh.” Reluctantly, Samara followed Jasmine to the clearing in the back yard. They both looked up at the sky. Clouds churned overhead, sometimes moving enough to reveal the night sky.

  Samara pointed up. “There! You see it? That yellow light! Omigod. There’s three of them now.”

  “Pfffff. No—oh, shit. What is that?” Jasmine squinted at the sky through an opening in the clouds. Sure enough, three yellow stars formed a line.

  “That’s Orion’s belt,” she said, drifting off as one of the dots jumped straight up and disappeared from sight. A second yellow ball rotated to the right, forming a ninety degree angle, and then it too blinked and shot up. The last light remained stationary and then began to grow larger, coming closer to them.

  Panic shot through her veins. Her heart made a painful thud in her chest. Hairs rose on the back of her neck.

  “Get in the house. Now, Samara,” Jasmine said in a voice chilled by fear.

  Spinning on their heels, they ran through the clearing towards Cyndy’s house. Before they could cross the short distance the glowing orb reached them.

  Nothing should move that fast, Jasmine thought. Her heart raced but her mind felt sluggish as adrenaline flooded her brain. Dimly, she heard something mechanical, like ball bearings screeching through a metal shaft. The grayish blue night disappeared under the onslaught of a yellow spotlight.

  Samara screamed and tripped, hitting the grass and sending debris flying. Was she crying? Samara never cried. The air went still and all sound ceased save for the pulse pounding in Jasmine’s ears.

  Jasmine stopped to help Samara to her feet and braved a look at the sky. Circles within circles of blinding light caught her in a trance. She felt her mouth gape, her muscles go lax. Frozen in place, she was helpless to do anything but watch as the light swallowed her whole.

  ***

  Consciousness returned slowly, painfully. Her head hurt like a motherfucker. Jasmine groaned. Her eyes shut tight, she rolled onto her side, gripping her head.

  A cold metal floor supported her weight, making her hip joints and back ache. In a fog, she wondered if she’d been arrested and taken to jail.

  “She’s waking up,” a voice said. Cyndy’s voice.

  “Wake up, cuz,” Samara said, touching her arm.

  Slowly, Jasmine opened her eyelids, blinked a few times, and focused on Samara’s dark face hovering above her. Just behind Samara stood Cyndy Perez. Above them both stretched a silvered ceiling emanating a soft glow from its entire surface.

  Jasmine sat up and frowned at Samara. “Wh—what,” she croaked. Her mouth and throat were dry as the Sahara. She wiggled her tongue trying to work up some moisture. “What happened to your hair?”

  Samara snorted and grabbed her short locks. “Someone took out my weave. I guess aliens don’t like extensions. Look at your nails.”

  “Aliens?” Jasmine asked, looking at her hands. Her manicure had grown out. The nail polish and topcoat were near the top of her nail bed. “What happened?” she asked, looking at Cyndy.

  “We’ve been taken,” Cyndy said, sitting beside her friend.

  “We? Taken?” Jasmine said, looking beyond Cyndy and Samara. The room they were in was filled dozens of women—most of them of one ethnic variety or another.

  “We’ve been taken by aliens,” Cyndy elaborated.

  Jasmine scooted back and got to her feet. “Whoa, whoa whoa! How the hell would you know that? Where’s the door out of here?”

  “There is no door,” Samara said, standing.

  “Of course there’s a door. You just haven’t looked hard enough yet. And what’s this shit about aliens?” Jasmine pushed through the throng of women until she reached one wall.

  “We’ve looked everywhere. There’s no way in or out,” a petite Spanish girl said. “I’m Lupita, by the way.”

  “Jasmine,” she said, touching the wall. The moment she did, a pulse of light shuddered beneath her fingertips. An image flashed briefly on the wall like a television screen turned on.

  “It does that sometimes,” Samara said. “I was feeling around, thinking about how much I wanted to go home, and a picture of our apartment came onto the wall. I think it picks up your thoughts and displays them.”

  “Maybe to make us feel more at home,” Cyndy said.

  “That’s the craziest shit I’ve ever heard,” Jasmine said. But she noticed no one else dared touch the wall. She thought about the Smoky Mountains in fall and touched the wall. The metal reflected a mountain range covered in changing trees.

  “Shit!” she said, dropping her hands. “Okay. I’m freaking out now.”

  “I think we’ve been asleep or something and transferred in here. Like the put people in stasis in scifi movies. It’s the only explanation. I just chopped my hair off and look. It’s to my shoulders. It takes my hair months to grow this much,” Cyndy said, fingering her sleek black hair.

  She touched her own hair, but it seemed only slighter longer. It was hard to tell with her extreme curls anyway. Six months could go by and she’d hardly notice a change. Jasmine thought about her last conscious memory before waking up. They’d seen lights over Cyndy’s house. Could something as insane as alien abduction be real? Cyndy and Samara had always been nuts about scifi movies and books. Jasmine preferred her entertainment more grounded
in reality. This situation was a stretch for her to grasp.

  “Has anyone in here actually seen an alien?” Jasmine asked the crowd.

  A few of the women nodded.

  “What did they look like?” Samara asked.

  A young Korean woman stepped forward. “I’m Mai, from San Diego. I stopped at the beach to watch the sunset. No one was around, and then I heard this strange whining sound and a light flashed. I remember being on a table. Needles. And huge black eyes in a gray face looking down at me and then I was somehow in here.”

  “I—I remember seeing a gray, egghead with black eyes,” Samara whispered.

  Jasmine shuddered.

  The floor shuddered.

  Every woman in the room screamed, including Jasmine. Mass hysteria was a powerful thing.

  She’d never considered herself a coward by a long shot, but she felt like she was going to piss her drawers.

  “I hate to admit this, but I’m scared,” Samara muttered to her cousin. Jasmine nodded, feeling a quake building inside her body that made her jaw teeth chatter.

  The room shook. It was obvious to everyone that they were inside something that was moving. And whatever they were inside was stopping.

  Where were they being taken, and why?

  Just as the “craft” seemed to settle, hisses drew the women’s attention to the ceiling. Jutting from the perimeter of the ceiling were small silver nozzles emitting puffs of scentless gas. Someone in the crowd screamed, igniting a panic.

  “They’re poisoning us!” a woman screamed.

  “I don’t want to die,” someone else yelled.

  Jasmine didn’t want to believe they were being gassed to death. Why would they be taken from home and transported somewhere only to be killed? Bodies jostled her, pushing past to pound on the walls of the enormous round room. The cloud of gas continued to waft down to them, making her head suddenly spin as her oxygen levels decreased. The gas felt thick in her lungs. She tried covering her mouth, but she had no choice but to inhale the fumes. The wall flashed with scenes of earth, desert, night sky, apartments and more. The flashing lights, screams, and pounding feet and fists made bile burn the back of her throat as the dizzy spell increased.