Danika, Prillon Prime
The shuttle landed in a massive stadium. The door opened and the ramp lowered but I did not move. Not yet. We’d been halfway here when the pilot informed Thomar and Varin that their presence, specifically, had been ordered. And mine.
Me? Ordered to show up by the king of the galaxy? King. Prime. Whatever. The whole thing was surreal. All I wanted to do was go back to The Colony, curl up in bed with my mates and ignore the rest of the world for a while.
Or, at least four days. After that?
I wasn’t going to think about after.
We walked down the ramp, the rest of our shuttle crew behind us carrying the babies. I felt like I was stepping into a Star Wars movie. Thousands of Prillons, males, females and children, were seated in row upon row of spectator seats. We walked out of the shuttle onto a dirt pit like gladiators entering the fighting arena. And just like the movies about ancient Rome I’d seen on television, Thomar and Varin walked with me to face a raised dais where two huge Prillon warriors stood looking down on us. Between them stood a human woman. I realized that had to be Jessica, the new queen. The human who had been mated to an outcast with Hive integrations, outcasts, just like my mates.
She smiled down at me and I felt the icy lump in my chest melt a bit, just enough so that I felt like I could breathe.
Through the collars, I felt Thomar’s unease and Varin’s banked ire.
My mates did not trust this place, this ruler, or the Prillon citizens surrounding us. Their minds were prepared for battle. Ambush. Nothing good.
I tried to send them calm. Surely a woman from Earth, a member of the small human sisterhood out here in space, wouldn’t smile at me like that if we were about to go to prison. Or have our throats slit.
A light breeze lifted the heat from my neck and bare shoulders. I was wearing a long, black gown with black ties. Black on black to match my collar. My mates’ collars. Rachel explained to me about the Prillon families and their colors. She also told me that the Arcas family no longer had a color. Theirs had been taken away a long, long time ago by an emperor who didn’t like Thomar’s ancestor. Now they just wore black.
Irritated at the entire Prillon race, I’d used the S-Gen machine on the shuttle to make the blackest black dress ever created. Every stitch was black. I pulled my hair up into a black clip and generated long black gloves that covered my arms nearly to my shoulders. I felt like a princess from a fairy tale. Except for my boots. They had small heels, but they were black, black steel in the tips—just in case. And my dress? Slit all the way to my hip on both sides, the little blaster Varin had given me strapped to my thigh. If Thomar and Varin were worried, I was going to be ready for anything.
Apparently, this ancestor had gone crazy and killed his own mate. Since the Arcas family was known for hot tempers and killer instincts on the battlefield, their entire family suffered from that disgrace. On the trip here, Thomar had filled me in on any missing bits of the story. He’d also explained that harming a female, any female, was the worst thing a Prillon male could do.
Killing one’s own mate? Unthinkable.
I didn’t care what this Prime or his idiots in the crowd thought of my mates. I knew the truth of them. They were honorable. Strong. Loving. Protective. Obsessive.
Perfection.
And they were mine.
Or were they? I’d heard about this queen, Jessica, and how she’d let her mates claim her in front of an entire arena of people.
I looked around. Perhaps this arena.
“Stay close to me,” Thomar instructed, his body moving to stand between me and the Prillon guards nearest him on the left side of the dais.
“Do not fear, mate.” Varin took up a similar position on my other side, his hand resting on business end of the modified rifle still strapped to his back.
Thomar wore his as well, but his hands were at his sides as he stepped toward the king—ruler—Prime. Whatever. I didn’t care who this guy was. I wanted to get my mates back to our room on The Colony and get them naked so I could check every single inch of their skin for injuries, wave the magic green wand over them and then make them fill me up with both of their cocks at once. I didn’t want to worry about politics or the future. I wanted every minute I had left to be about pleasure. Love.
Remind these remarkable males that they were mine. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to claim them and patience was not one of my virtues. Especially now, after seeing them in their element. Fighting. Protecting others. Their bravery and discipline when we faced that Nexus unit had blown my mind. The way they had gone back for Bastion. They were more than warriors, they were superheroes.
The crowd was restless as we walked across the grounds. When we stood still at last, Prime Nial raised his hand and the crowd went silent. “People of Prillon Prime. Today we honor two warriors worthy of the title.”
The crowd roared for a few moments. Thomar and Varin darted a glance at one another, utterly confused.
I grinned and caught Jessica’s eye. She winked at me.
Oh, yes. This was going to be good.
“Prince Thomar Arcas, members of the Arcas family, please make yourself known to me.”
Thomar stepped forward as scattered members of the crowd stood to be acknowledged. I glanced at each one briefly, curious about Thomar’s family.
The males were big. As big as Thomar. Their faces grim. The females stood stiffly and I understood what they must be feeling. If their mates, fathers and brothers were anything like Thomar, they didn’t deserve the way they’d been treated their whole lives any more than my mate did.