Chapter 10
“Ican’t do the mating ritual,” I murmured, staring outside into a manicured garden that belonged to a castle. It resembled an oversized courtyard with statues of various miniature spaceships. If it wasn’t for the tree canopies shaped into strange looking birds, or the hundreds of Vepar mingling out there, drinking from silver goblets, dressed in gowns, or their horns glimmering in the sunlight (not to mention the two suns in the heavens), I might have said this was Earth. Maybe.
“You only need to cross the woods and reach the destination on the map in two days. You said you’ve gone hiking back on your planet, so this is the same.”
I turned to face Thane, barely able to breath as fear shook me from the inside out. He wore a black uniform with the double sun emblem on his chest, and looked strong and so damn sexy, but my heart was pounding too hard with dread. “Then why are all those people out there? And what are those drone-like things flying outside? Cameras?”
He sighed a heavy exhale. “Mating rituals that receive applications from more than fifty potential females end up being broadcast to the public.”
“Fifty?” I breathed, a surge of jealousy swirling in my chest that so many wanted to be with these three Vepar. Not that I could blame them because if these three bachelors were seeking a mate, I’d be inclined to put up my hand too if I wasn’t being forced to.
I gaped at him. “So fifty women are going to be traipsing through the woods? That tells me it’s gotta be a process of elimination so this hike you mentioned is more than a hike, isn’t it? How am I going to win against that many?”
“Your only competitor in this challenge is yourself. The council has selected nine females from the submission, plus you.” He stretched a hand toward me and cupped the side of my face. I softened against his touch, except his comfort did little to chase away the worry drumming on my mind.
I saw the resolve in his gaze, the admittance that his hands were tied, all of ours were, and he was trying to soften the blow of the upcoming test.
“We never meant for this to happen,” he added as if he could read my mind. “Or for everything to get out of hand so fast. We are doing everything we can to help you. Follow our lead, and trust us.”
I wanted to protest, wanted to yell with frustration, wanted to beg him to just sneak me into a ship and take me back home. Except then what? I prayed the enemies roaming on earth didn’t find me and make me their personal snack machine? And I’d grow weaker without taking the Vepar’s blood because I’d someone become a vampire now apparently. Or whatever the bond exchange between me and these Vepar had done to me.
“I don’t have much of an option,” I muttered. “Looks like I have to succeed.”
He dragged me into his arms, and I pressed myself against him, inhaling his timber and musky scent that drove me crazy. Except now, it gave me the confidence to keep going, to know I wasn’t alone. It was more than I had on Earth.
Someone cleared their throats and Thane broke away from me. Derrial and Corran stood at the entrance to the waiting room, both dressed the same, and between the three of them, I let myself fall under their trance.
“They’re about to start.”
The Councilmen appeared in the hallway and Thane’s posture stiffened.
Offering me a smile, he mouthed, good luck, and strode out of the room. Derrial winked at me while Corran blew me a kiss, and within seconds they were all gone. I returned to the window to watch them emerge from the Council’s building, and the crowd broke into a cheer as if they were celebrities.
I kept running my hands over the simple, straight dress that hung off my shoulders and fell to my feet like a sack. Nothing like the gowns the women outside wore. A requirement for the challenge apparently.
I turned to the empty room and paced to an oversized TV screen and back, unable to quiet my brain as I waited to be called. Half an hour later, the shrill sound of a siren shattered through the room, and I flinched. It blew three times in short sequences. After which the mass of Vepar outside broke into a cheer.
A man appeared at my door, his hair white and tumbling his waist. With small horns the color of snow, he reminded me of an elf. He had a softness in his eyes.
“This way, little one.” He waved me to leave the room, and I quickened my steps, my stomach doing somersaults.
In the hallway nine women lined up in front of the rear door, all dressed in similar clothing to me, their hair plaited, or tied up, and I hurried to collect mine into a ponytail, before curling it in on itself. I joined the end of the line, so nervous that perspiration dripped down my spine.
Each of the women were stunningly beautiful, and I didn’t belong here, not with them. A few of them looked my way, their noses wrinkled at the sight of me. They wore wry smirks as if I were nothing but a bug they stepped on.
I held their stares, refusing to look away as a sense of wanting to prove them wrong collided into me. Show weakness and they’d treat me that way, but when the girl standing in front of me turned a bit to face me. I lost my breath as I recognized her. Her auburn hair was plaited and wrapped around her horns,
Hell, just great. She’d visited me in the cell the other night, sprouting threats.
Her bow-shaped lips thinned, and the same cruel glint passed behind her eyes… I remembered her earlier warning about making my life here an absolute nightmare. Well fuck… I was spending two days in the woods with her, and if I said I wasn’t afraid, I’d be lying.
“Do you remember me now?” she whispered, her tone mocking, clearly still upset I didn’t know who she was.
“Face the front,” the elf man called out, and she sneered before snapping back around.
Wonderful, so not only was I having to carry out a challenge on an alien planet, but a jealous psycho was joining me. Why did nothing ever go easy for me?
At once, the doors to the outside opened wide, and a fluttering of cool air rushed inside, grabbing for my dress.