Claimed for the Alien Bride Lottery

by Margo Bond Collins

  “I’m sorry I took it. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  I wanted to tell her that she could have come to me at any point, but I wasn’t even sure that was true. If she had told me all of this in the beginning, would I have accepted it? Would the mate bond have been strong enough to overcome the fact that she was technically married to someone else?

  Maybe.

  But that didn’t matter. I knew now, and I did not care. “I will arrange for your friend to know that Josiah is safe with you.”

  “And then what? My divorce isn’t final. I can’t marry you.”

  Resolve hardened in my chest. “I’ll take care of that, as well. By the time our Bride Games are finished, you will not be married to him any longer. I swear it.”

  With a sob, Mia fell into my arms, and I wrapped her in them, every cell of my being promising to keep her safe. I led her over to the chair and gathered her into my lap, rocking her as if she were the child.

  After she had cried out all the tears she had in her for the moment, I picked her up and carried her to the bed, settling her in next to Josiah and tucking in the covers around her.

  “You’ll be safe here,” I promised her. “No one knows where you are. I’ll be back soon—I’m going to see what I can do to sort this out for us. What’s your friend's name?”

  “Rebecca Chilton,” she whispered sleepily.

  I brushed her hair back from her face. “Rest now. I’ll be back soon.”

  And then I left to do whatever it took to erase the fear from my mate’s heart.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mia

  For the first time since I’d been transported up to Station 21, I woke up with a smile on my face. Josiah was still sleeping, snuggled in my arms, the gentle light the station used to indicate morning just beginning to shine across his cheeks.

  As I stretched, I realized Eldron was in bed with us, too, his enormous bulk a comforting presence at my back.

  I was safe, Josiah was safe, and I was absolutely certain Eldron would not let anything happen to us.

  Quietly, I slipped out of bed. I had to get Thorvid in here to spend the day with Josiah—it would mean drawing the Poltien into our web of secrecy, but I had come to believe I could trust it with my life. Keeping Josiah’s presence secret might have been easier if I’d had two handlers—one to watch Josiah and the other to help me figure out what I needed to do—but working through what to wear on my own seemed a small enough price to pay for having Josiah with me.

  I had managed to pull on my clothes from the night before, having slept wrapped in Eldron’s chavan—the uniform that looked so much like a kilt—when Josiah’s voice piped up from behind me. “Mama, there’s a giant red man in the bed with me.”

  I laughed aloud and spun around. “I know it, baby. That is Commander Eldron Gendovi. He is a Khanavai warrior and is a very nice man. He’s going to take care of us today.”

  Josiah frowned and leaned in close to examine Eldron’s sleeping face. “Are you sure? I think maybe he’s a giant.”

  My heart lightened at the sound of his sweet voice, and I laughed again. “I’m absolutely certain.”

  Eldron opened both eyes and gazed gravely at Josiah. “It’s nice to meet you.” Sleep graveled his voice.

  “Yep,” Josiah confirmed. “He has a giant’s voice, too. I don’t think he’s a Kavan…Khana…”

  “Khanavai.” Grinning, Eldron sat up, moving slowly as he got out of the bed.

  Josiah’s eyes grew wide as he watched the alien warrior stand up. “Do things look different from up there?” he asked, wonder threading through his voice.

  “Maybe you’d like to sit on my shoulder and find out?”

  Josiah whipped his head around to stare at me. “Can I?”

  “Yes, you can. Just be careful.”

  “Mama says I can, but you have to be very careful with me. She doesn’t like it when I get hurt,” Josiah explained as he scrambled up to stand on the mattress and hold his arms out to Eldron.

  “I can’t blame her for that,” Eldron laughed. He lifted Josiah carefully and placed him atop one broad shoulder. “I would not like it very much if you got hurt, either.”

  “That’s really good,” Josiah confided. “Mama worries sometimes.”

  “I’m sure she does.”

  They paraded around the room for a few seconds before Josiah was clamoring to be let down again. “I want to see the rest of the station. Can we, Mama?”

  “Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry. But not today. Maybe some other time.”

  Josiah’s face fell. “Why not?”

  “Commander Eldron and I have to go be on television today.”

  Josiah’s eyes grew wide again. “On TV? Can I watch?”

  “I am going to let Thorvid decide that.” I would leave it up to someone else’s judgment for once.

  A few minutes later, the Poltien answered my call by showing up at the door.

  “Technically, the two of you are not supposed to spend the night together before you have been officially matched and mated by the committee,” Thorvid was saying as it walked into the room. Its words stuttered to a halt when it caught sight of Josiah, and the lizard-like rill on the back of its neck fluttered.

  Josiah seemed equally as awestruck by the sight of a humanoid creature not much bigger than he was. “What are you?” he asked.

  Thorvid burst out laughing. “I’m a Poltien. My name is Thorvid, and I think your mother might have something to tell me.” The Poltien tossed an arch glance in my direction.

  “This is Josiah. He’s my son—and he’s the reason I wanted to go back to Earth.”

  “How did you get him up here?”

  “I stole Commander Eldron’s codes,” I admitted.

  “Well, this is going to be an interesting story.”

  “It is,” I agreed. “But it needs to be one that I tell you later. Today, I need you to keep an eye on Josiah during the filming.”

  Thorvid considered us all for a long moment before nodding. “And I assume you don’t want anyone else to know about him yet?”

  “Please. That would make my life much easier.”

  “For a minute,” Thorvid muttered.

  “I’ve started the process of finalizing your divorce, even without Frank’s signature,” Eldron said quietly as we headed toward the Bride Games studios.

  Hope flared in my chest. “How did you manage that?”

  His smile made me want to sing. “I have connections. An Earther judge will sign off on it today—you won’t have to do anything.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes again. But this time, they were happy tears, the result of a weight lifting from my heart. Reaching down, I wound my fingers through Eldron’s. “Thank you,” I said simply.

  He paused outside the studio door and turned to face me. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

  “I don’t even have words for how much this means to us.”

  Leaning down, he gently kissed my lips. “There will be some other details we have to figure out, but I am certain everything will work out as it should.”

  Before I entered the studio, I sent up a silent prayer that he was right to be so optimistic.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Eldron

  As we made our way into the soundstage Vos had sent us directions to, Mia practically vibrated with happiness. I didn’t know exactly what kind of strings I would need to pull to get her out of her current marriage—though by all accounts, she had done everything she needed to in order to complete a divorce. Her ex-husband simply had refused to sign the paperwork.

  And there would probably be some legal hurdles ahead to deal with custody and visitation.

  For all that the Khanavai were a warrior race, we were gentle with our children—no Khanavai male who attempted to physically assault his own child would be welcome in anyone’s home.

  Our legal system would support my attempt to gain custody of this Frank’s child.

&nb
sp; He doesn’t deserve to call himself a father.

  At most, I would arrange for Frank to have supervised visits with the boy, though even the thought of it made a growl rise in my throat.

  I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts about Josiah that it really didn’t dawn on me that the soundstage had been turned into a kitchen studio until the door shut behind me.

  Cooking?

  I was a terrible cook.

  Also, I wasn’t at all sure how Mia was going to feel about traditional Khanavai dishes.

  I had to snicker to myself, though. I was pretty certain I knew exactly how she would feel about traditional Khanavai dishes when I cooked them. If she had any sense at all, she’d feel horrified.

  Mia, on the other hand, seemed to light up at the site of the kitchen.

  “Am I going to get to cook?” There was a thrill in her tone that nothing else had put there before.

  Not even Josiah. When she spoke to him, I heard love and devotion, even joy.

  But apparently, excitement was reserved for cooking.

  Good. One of us needs to enjoy it, at least.

  “Shall we get going?” Vos asked, coming toward us with his hands out to welcome us.

  Turning toward the camera, he officially introduced us to two worlds.

  As Mia began cooking, my mouth fell open. She moved through the kitchen with the grace of a dancer, the joy that I had seen lighting her up earlier suffusing her every movement. She sang as she worked, alternating between vocalizing and humming under her breath. When I stepped closer to her, however, I recognized a few of the words as the names of Earth-style ingredients.

  She was cooking from memory, something complicated and precise, and was singing the steps to herself.

  It was not just a song, though—and not just a dance, either. Somehow it all blended together into some kind of glorious symphony of a performance. She lost herself in the joy of creating that meal.

  After watching for a while, I retreated to a chair in the corner, content simply to see her happy.

  I wondered how Josiah and Thorvid were doing back in my room, delighted at the thought of Josiah seeing his mother so content.

  When Mia placed the dish in front of me at the table and then joined me herself, I leaned over to inhale the amazing aroma. “What is this?”

  “Coq au vin.”

  Chicken in wine? I thought chicken was a bland human food. Also…

  “I thought you cooked breakfast at a meal dispensary,” I said.

  My mate raised one eyebrow. “I do now.”

  There was a story to be had there, as well. Who was this human female I had fallen in love with?

  As I took a bite of the meat dish, though, I decided I didn’t care. “This is amazing,” I said with my mouth full.

  Mia laughed aloud and clapped her hands before standing up and leaning over the table to plant a kiss on my lips, full mouth and all. For a moment, I completely forgot that the entire galaxy was watching us. I would have happily swept the food off the table and claimed Mia right there.

  I glanced down at the dish in front of me.

  Well. Maybe I would have carefully moved the food, anyway.

  As it turned out, Vos didn’t require me to make a Khanavai dish. Apparently, the reports on his numbers were good enough that he was willing to let us simply come back the next day for the next Bride Game.

  “Would you like to see the studio we’ll have our challenge in tomorrow?” I asked as we left the kitchen stage.

  “Absolutely.” Mia practically glowed, her day in the kitchen combining with the knowledge that Josiah was safe in my room with Thorvid to leave her perfectly content—the first time I had seen her truly happy since we met.

  I led her along the studio hallways until I got to the one I had bribed Anthony to tell me about.

  This studio was very different from the last one. Instead of the kitchen, we made our way into a traditional Khanavai bathing room.

  “Is that a swimming pool?”

  “A bathing pool,” I corrected.

  Mia spun around to stare up at me, her dark eyes huge. “Bathing? They expect us to bathe together on television?”

  I grinned. “Traditionally, a bride and groom first bathe together completely clothed. You can think of it as something like swimming, if you like.”

  Mia put her hands up to her cheeks, as if attempting to compensate for feeling flushed. “How dressed is completely dressed?”

  “We will be wearing clothing that covers more than a human-style bathing suit,” I assured her, fighting to hold in a laugh.

  “Then I’m looking forward to it.”

  Mia stood on her tiptoes and kissed me.

  I could do this forever.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Mia

  “I’m going to go back to my room and gather some clothing,” I told Eldron as we headed back to his quarters.

  “Would you like me to accompany you?”

  “No, thanks. I would love it if you told Josiah and Thorvid where I am, though.”

  Eldron nodded his agreement, and we split up in the common area.

  Now that we were all staying in Eldron’s room, there was no one living in the Brides’ Quarters, I realized as I came around the corner into the long hallway. The automated lights had dropped down to minimal, and it was, I decided, a little creepy.

  I was halfway to my door when a figure stepped out of the shadows.

  “There you are.”

  I froze at the sound of his voice.

  Frank.

  Oh, God. No. What was he doing here? I spun on my heel to run, but I simply couldn’t move fast enough.

  Although he wasn’t nearly as big as any of the Khanavai warriors, Frank was not a small man, by any means. He shot out one muscular arm and grabbed me, fisting his hand in my hair and jerking me backward off my feet. I started to let out a scream, but he slammed his other hand down over my nose and mouth.

  “Don’t you dare let out a sound,” he growled in my ear. “You need to be absolutely silent, or I will make you disappear, and no one will ever know what happened to you.”

  I didn’t mean to, but I let out a small noise of dismay—one he took as disagreement. “Don’t think I can’t do it. I have contacts on the station. How do you think I got here? Now, promise me you’ll be quiet.”

  My heart pounded in my chest, but I nodded, trying to breathe around his hand. He pulled it tighter, reminding me for just a minute that he had control before he loosened it enough for me to drag in a breath.

  “Where’s Joey?”

  I clenched my jaw shut, irritated by the nickname I had never used and unwilling to tell him where Josiah was.

  He tightened his fist in my hair, ripping some of it out by the roots. “Where is my son?” he demanded.

  I whimpered, and Frank used his grasp on my hair to shake my head. “You’re going to take me to him now.”

  He began steering me back down the hallway. If I could just get someone’s attention, get some help, I could get out of this. But the hall was entirely empty.

  “Where’s your room?”

  “That’s where I was headed,” I gritted out through my teeth.

  “Lying bitch.” Frank shook my head again, snapping my neck back and forth. “They put you in the Brides’ Quarters, nowhere near here.”

  My stomach clenched. Maybe he really didn’t have contacts on the station. If he had, he would’ve known I wasn’t lying. Then again, he almost certainly had some help—as he’d said, how else could have gotten up here?

  That had always been the problem with running from an abusive police officer—he had contacts everywhere. The one time I had tried to report him for hitting me, his coworkers had banded together.

  I couldn’t leave him openly.

  Running had been my only option. I had known it then, and I knew it now.

  But this time, I had someone to run to—I would simply be running from my abuser, but maybe I could count on being
able to run to a savior, too.

  I didn’t have a chance, though. He opened a door and shoved me into a darkened room. I stumbled and fell to my knees.

  At the sound of a whimper next to me, I called out, “Who is that? Who’s there?”

  “Mia?”

  “Becca?” I scrambled around in the dark until I found my friend and threw my arms around her. “How did you get here?”

  “Frank. He came to ask me where Josiah was. I had just heard from your commander—I didn’t think it would hurt for Frank to know now.” She sniffled. “I think he didn’t want me to tell anyone he was on his way up here.”

  “It’s okay,” I comforted her. “I’ll get us out of here.”

  I would, too. I just didn’t know how yet.

  Then, in the darkness of the room, Eldron’s wristcom, still on my arm from the night before, pinged.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Eldron

  “Where the hell is she?” I muttered to myself.

  Behind me, Thorvid and Josiah sat on the bed playing some complicated handshake game that Josiah was teaching the Poltien.

  I rang my wristcom again, hoping Mia still wore it.

  This time, the screen unfolded to show Mia’s face, lit by the com’s vid. “Don’t say anything,” she ordered in a harsh whisper. “Just listen.”

  The com’s light went out. I couldn’t see anything, but I could still hear.

  A door opened, and then a male voice said, “I did a little recon. Maybe you weren’t lying after all. So let’s go to your room, if it’s really on this floor.”

  What the Zagrodnian hells is going on?

  Then Mia spoke. “Okay, Frank. Whatever you say. Becca and I will go anywhere you want.”

  Frank and Becca?

  I had spoken to Mia’s friend the night before.

  But now, apparently, Mia’s ex-husband—and he really was her ex now; I had checked to make sure the paperwork had gone through—had come looking for Mia and Josiah.