Bren's Blessing

by Pearl Tate

  No one says anything for a few long seconds, but we all look at each other carefully. I know what he’s alluding to. I’ve known things didn’t go well in his relationship with Vina. “I was going to talk to Hannah about leaving the planet this morning.” Wanting to set his mind at ease and get this out in the open as soon as possible, I turn to Hannah.

  Her eyes are big as she stares at me. “Really? I thought you were looking forward to being here. At home.” She starts biting her thumb nail like she does when she’s uncertain.

  “Yes. At first that was all I could think about. You and I here, starting a family. But now that we are back, I’m scared for you. For us.” Hannah’s eyes get bigger.

  Matthias nods. “I understand. They won’t let this go.” He sinks back into the chair across from us. “You are turning their lives upside down.”

  “Exactly. They would have been happy to see Hannah die. Maybe that was only the first try. And now with others showing mating marks, they will try to stamp this out quickly. I think the sooner we all get off the planet the better.” It makes me sad to say it but both of them nod soberly.

  “Hannah, will you be my sponsor onto the ship to take me as an active crew member?” Hannah acts shocked at Matthias’s request. It still hasn’t sunk in how much power she wields.

  “As my mate, you are the head of the household and he is your mates’ brother, so you can act as a sponsor. We have to assume that these mating marks annul any lineage promises or Family Unit Lead commitments. Right?” Matthias nods. “Then this will be the easiest way to get him onto the ship without having a formal technician capacity job.”

  She’s nodding enthusiastically. “Of course, I will. But how do I do that?”

  I hear the relief in the laugh Matthias spits out. “We can fill out the appropriate documentation together and then get it ready for the confirmation ceremony tonight. They won’t dare to deny us there and it will give everyone else hope. I’m sure you are both as excited as I am about it.”

  Hannah rolls her eyes but then gives me a hug with one arm. “As long as this big lug will be there, I’ll survive.” I’m not even sure if she realized there was a formal confirmation ceremony to come but she doesn’t seem surprised. Someone may have let her know while we were separated.

  My arms tighten, and I squeeze her gently back. She doesn’t realize it yet, but we will never be apart again. I won’t allow it and I don’t think my heart could handle it. So, I’m relieved to hear she feels the same.

  “I love you Hannah Becker from Earth.” Our lips lock and I enjoy her warmth and contentment both physically and through our bond. She’s mine. Forever. A wonderful blessing, I never suspected.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  - Hannah

  We all watch the planet shrinking slowly as the Discovery accelerates away from Quasar and back into space. I don’t know about everyone else but I’m super fucking relieved.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Whispering in Bren’s ear makes him shiver slightly under me in the view room seat. He squeezes my ass before pulling me closer into his side, and looking down at me, still stroking as he smiles.

  “I’m absolutely positive I’m perfect with this decision.” Glancing over to his brother Matthias, who’s halfway across the room watching the same view as us, he nods seriously. “Very certain.”

  Settling back against him, I relax and enjoy his warmth while he goes back to work around me. After all the primping and care that we took to go to the council’s confirmation ceremony “celebration” Bren and his brother couldn’t get out of there fast enough. It was uncomfortable! Even knowing that we were in the right and everything should be good, they’d made me paranoid.

  It was a lavish event and only the top families were invited but the entertainment and news had picked up on the story and followed it very closely. Leaving the planet was the best thing to do considering the life we would have to lead there. The only correlation I could think of was movie celebrities. Even at home on Earth, as an astronaut, I wasn’t immediately recognized and mobbed like we were here on Quasar. It was incredible.

  The hate groups forming were the most surprising and disturbing element, I thought. Catty women were showing up on the news channels to talk about how this was going to ruin their economy and family units if more human women came and “stole their males.” That sure didn’t take long. One day. One day after proving that our bond and mating was real and then all human women are the villains.

  It was just as well that Bren and Matthias had already been working on leaving. Can you imagine how it will be once they find out about Matthias?

  By the time we were ushered into the party in our honor, they had everything planned so we didn’t even go back to Bren’s place afterwards. Just straight to the ship.

  Vina Likana was there with the other council members and I felt sorry for Matthias even though I was the one that had to stand up and actually decree that we were filing the “Petition for Mate Location Leave.”

  Vina may have hated me before but now I’m sure she wants to kill me. Slowly. Skin me alive or something. If looks could kill, the one she gave me across the room was a death sentence. I guess due to the mating laws, any claim she had to him was now null and void and a whole new social class exists for every male this happens to in the future.

  Matthias would have liked to investigate the laws even more and see how other family members would fare under it but since we needed to get the fuck out of there—that is the last thing Bren was worrying about. I’m still pushing to get that information from Marquel Sune.

  As soon as I made the announcement, they made Matthias take off his shirt and there was a lot of touching and exclaiming and drones buzzing around. It created quite the stir! But they let him go. Six months.

  If he isn’t back in that time with his mate than he is considered almost AWOL or something. I don’t even get it. As big as a surprise it was that Matthias ended up with mating marks, that isn’t even what is blowing my mind right now.

  I’m pregnant!

  When we got back onto the ship, Atticus insisted on checking me out after my “ordeal”. How they can tell I’m knocked up already, is beyond me but they can. At least they seem very confident about it.

  Bren is beyond ecstatic although I can feel a bit of his worry through the bond. I think we’re both hoping to find a place to live before I ended up knocked up. He’s just a potent guy—alien or whatever. There is a part of me that is a little bit worried about having a new interspecies child with him but then I look at him and the love I feel for him just overwrites everything else. If our baby is half as kind and beautiful as him, we will have the most magnificent child in the world.

  So, I’m off to discover new worlds with my new alien husband. I couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect life for myself.

  Bren surprised me with the news that he got me a job too! He spoke with Atticus and Brock, and I’ll be able to work with them right here on the Discovery. I can’t wait to get up to speed on all their physiology and technology. And once we catch up with the freak Travek, I can’t imagine that I won’t have a few human women to hang out with.

  We will have to continue the circuit the Discovery takes. Continuing to check on the areas, planets, and readings for the council’s review. They don’t know that the guys are planning on totally leaving their society eventually. We’re also given strict orders to stay on the route while looking for his mate but that is still going to have to take priority.

  Matthias is freaking out and I can’t blame him. I have my happily-ever-after and can’t imagine being separated from him. I’m safe and loved. Feeling Bren’s big body shift under mine, I notice it puts my chest over his and I feel our hearts sync. As they do, I know everything will work out fine.

  About Pearl Tate

  I’m super excited to be spreading my wings and sharing what I enjoy!

  I’m happily married to the love of my life and working on being the best mom possible
to our great children.

  I love all kinds of stories but there is a special place in my heart for all forms of romance. The good, the bad and yes, even the ugly. When I write, I get to make sure there is always a happily ever after and that is the best part of all!

  If you like what you’ve read, don’t forget to stop by my website to get on my mailing list. I’ll let you know when the next book should be out as well as when I run specials.

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  TURN THE PAGE

  for the first chapter of

  Matthias’s Miracle

  Book Two of the Quasar Lineage

  MATTHIAS’S MIRACLE

  CHAPTER ONE

  - Susan

  “Everyone is going to love these brownies! Chocolate and peanut butter, right?” Lisa’s chatter next to me is only interrupted by our sneaker noises cutting through the damp grass. I hate how early it gets dark now. It’s only seven thirty as we walk up the stairs to the old building, but in the November evening, it’s full dark.

  “I hope everyone hates them because I’d like to have two.” Holding the door with a smile, I inhale their scent as the basket she’s carrying them in goes by my face.

  “I know! Maybe nobody else will show up. You never know. I plan to think positive!” Lisa’s infectious laugh echoes in the stairwell as we start up the stairs. We’ve been meeting with this small group of other girls for a little over a month now, once a week. As second year students, we have banned together to try and figure out our physics class.

  It’s an informal study group. Shelly is the coordinator who set it up on the meet-up website. Most of the college study groups have use online platforms to get their groups together. Shelly’s appealed to me because of the amount of detail she included. Women only, on campus and she even had this time slot and room reserved for us to use at the school. Much less distracting than a coffee shop.

  My first year, I had a math study group that started studying in a coffee shop. By the end of the semester though, some of the guys had decided to change the spot we met to a bar. Who does that?

  Oh yeah, horny-ass guys at college!

  My mind wanders as Lisa goes over the brownie ingredients. She was able to make them up between a hot plate and her toaster oven. She doesn’t remember that she showed me how to do it about two weeks ago. “I love them. I don’t even care what they have in them. You showed me how to make them, or at least the hot plate part, remember?” Reaching our study room door, I smile as I hold it open for her again.

  “Oh yeah! I was thinking it was Stephanie, but it was you.” Stephanie is her room mate and I’m right next door with Jill. “Damn! Are we late?”

  Following her in, I see that there are six other girls already spread out in chairs at the round table.

  “No. You guys are right on time. Especially since you have food.” Beth waves us over and pulls out a chair for Lisa. She drops gratefully into it as I pull off my hoodie onto the chair next to her. By the time I settle into my chair, the basket is circling around the table with everyone chattering away.

  “How are ya?” Shelly, the organizer of our weekly group, is to my left and I smile noncommittally.

  “Can’t complain really. I wanted to thank you for coming out for the rally yesterday. It really means a lot to all of us. Every person counts.” The campus MeToo movement is picking up speed. She waves her hand at me like it’s no big deal, but I can tell I’m embarrassing her so I change the subject. “I’m a little stressed out about the test next week. Do you feel prepared?”

  “Fuck no. But let’s do this.” Clapping her hands wildly over her head, her blond shoulder length hair flies. “Ladies, ladies. Oh yeah! Brownies.” Grabbing one from the basket that stalled in front of her, she slides it over to me before continuing. “Let’s break into groups for our specific issues. With eight of us here, that should make it, so we can cross reference our strengths and weaknesses for each other.”

  She stands and starts pulling out some of her own paperwork. Everyone starts talking quietly again.

  A bright light pulls my attention behind Karen. She's directly across the table from me with the window behind her.

  What the hell? The light has lit up all the windows on the wall behind her. Even with the lights on inside, it’s easy to see that it’s super bright. My first thought is a helicopter. We are three stories up, so it can’t be someone on the ground or a car or something. What the fuck?

  “What is that?” Lisa’s brown curls bounce as she stands up next to me and Beth quickly jumps up too. I don’t even realize I’m on my feet and moving to the window until I’m around the table and almost there.

  The light isn’t like a normal light. It’s like rays of the sun, beaming through the window in individual strands. As I stop at the window, it’s so bright, there is no way that I can look and see exactly where it is coming from. Using my hand, I shield my eyes a bit and try and get a fix on the actual source.

  Angling my body away from the light, I see Lisa, Beth and Karen are just behind me. Still around the table, Jo-Anne, Jenny, Shelly and Rachel are standing. Their mouths are hanging open. We’ve all gone silent.

  Pulling my hand away from my face, I feel the strands of light prickling my skin! It feels like static electricity. How is that possible?

  “Can you feel this…” My voice dies out. All the individual streams of light dance with iridescent colors around me. They don’t seem to be coming at me anymore. It’s the prickling on my skin that makes it feel like they are attacking me. I can actually see the individual strands of light and all the colors of the rainbow. It makes a waterfall of light color around me. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’m about to say that and see if they see the same thing when I realize that I can no longer see anything.

  How is that possible?

  Now I’m freaking out but afraid to move. The light is everywhere. Did you ever see those old oil lamps that beads of oil are like rain coming down in a circle around the lamp figure? That is what it reminds me of only millions of them as fine as a strand of hair. Every color in the rainbow and some of them are so mesmerizing that you don’t even want to move.

  “Lisa! Can you hear me?” Where is everyone? Is just my vision effected? What the hell is going on?

  “Yes! Susan! I can’t move though.” Lisa’s voice sounds much farther away than it should, but I’m relieved knowing that she is there. She sounds as scared as I feel.

  Unfortunately, her words register, and I realize the same thing. I can’t move. I can’t even seem to close my eyes and now my mouth won’t move to even respond.

  So, is this it? Am I dying?

  Are we all dying?

  Is this the end of the world?

  That’s my last thought before my eyes mercifully close and my brain shuts off.

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