Arobi's Queen: A Mate Index Romance (The Mate Index Book 11)

by S. J. Sanders

  Not something life or death, just annoying the way something loose within the plumbing vibrated so hard after the waste was disposed of.

  Walking through the kitchen she tripped, stumbled forward, and cursed. Frowning, she bent down and picked up the boobytrap on the floor. The long metal skewer fit her hand almost perfectly. She glanced at the bin against the opposite wall holding the metal skewers and sighed. Tanji must have dropped it when he was cleaning and putting them away. Hayley backtracked to the bin with a smile. About halfway there, her steps slowed as she noticed a thumping vibration beneath her feet that was definitely not the cleansing unit.

  A particularly hard thump made her sway on her feet, falling into the counter. Her eyes ran over the room, and a startled shriek left her as the whole house began to shake. She wondered if it was an earthquake, but that speculation was short-lived as the flooring suddenly surged upward, beautiful tile shattering in a sudden burst. Scrabbling back from it, Hayley screamed as two long, dark antenna pushed up from the hole, yet her scream cut off into a horrified wheeze when a monstrous head pushed free.

  Its mandibles and terrifying forcipules opened wide to snap at her. Each of the stingers at its forcipules were as long as her forearm. Hayley was certain that if the impact of those closing on her didn’t kill her, whatever venom it possessed would probably finish her off. A terrible shriek left it, its teeth gnashing at her as it pushed itself higher, further into the room, until its first set of legs found traction and pulled a thick segment of its body through.

  Its body was pointing toward the cleansing unit—the stupid fucking cleansing unit that was still vibrating away for no reason—but she was clearly in its sights. It drew back, a shrieking hiss coming from it, and Hayley scrabbled away.

  This thing literally looked like something born from nightmares, its gaping maw almost larger than her. Its mandibles clacked for only a second before it lunged. She didn’t know what divinity was watching over her at that moment that sent her darting to the left at the same time, but by some miracle she slid free while Tim Burton’s fucking pet centipede crashed into the counter, the sounds of breaking wood and stone filling the air as she attempted to run.

  She didn’t get more than a few steps when she felt something heavy strike the back of her legs, taking her down with another loud crash. Rolling to her back, she wheezed, her sides aching demonically. Her entire leg felt like one big bruise. Tears of pain streaming down her face, she watched as the freak centipede pushed over her, its mandibles rattling, its ruined eyes oozing blood and some sort of pus.

  Hayley dragged herself backward on her elbows, her eyes transfixed on the creature. Its head was the most grotesque part of it, all frightening horns and teeth, and some strange bioluminescent bulge low on its head. At first, it looked like another hard protrusion until it turned at a certain angle, and she watched fluid rush beneath a membrane. Somehow it made the creature look all the more disturbing as it leaned in toward her, its mouth opening wide. She was never more certain than at that moment that she was staring death in the face.

  Her hands slid across the floor in desperation, searching for anything. When her knuckles brushed against the metal rod of the skewer she had dropped, she froze. Ever so slowly, she wrapped her fingers around it.

  A shrill sound left the creature as the door flung open. It attempted to push back into the ground, but the broken tile filled in around it the more it pushed itself forward, trapping it within the kitchen. It shrieked again as the familiar voices of her pack shouted for her.

  “Here!” she screamed, praying she would be heard.

  The snarls of her mates filled the air and she was barely able to see flashes of their limbs from behind it as they attacked in earnest. The tearing wet sounds over the thing’s screams were awful. She caught sight of a pair of giant axes swinging, and heard the dull sounds of the blades hitting the exoskeleton as they tried to chop through it.

  The floor shook more, with more flooring breaking as it whipped itself around, trying to dislodge its attackers. Its eyes, however, were pinned on her. Clattering its mandibles, it lunged forward in a blur of gore and long, jagged teeth. A scream ripped from her as she brought her arms up in a last desperate bid to ward off her death.

  Hayley felt the impact that pushed the blunt end of the skewer back into her side. A wet squelch filled her ears as fluid splashed all over her face, seeping over her mouth, nose, and the corners of her eyes. She sputtered as vomit rose up in her throat, her arm rising to wipe at the sticky substance. She attempted to roll to her side, but her body was pinned under the weight of the monster’s huge head. Slime and brain matter poured down from where the skewer was lodged.

  Turning her head to the side, she vomited, releasing the entire contents of her stomach.

  “Please,” she wheezed. “Someone, get me out of here…”

  “Hayley?” Tanji called out.

  “I’m here!” she called out with all the air she had in her lungs.

  The creature’s head shifted, sliding across the floor and finally falling off her. She drew in a long, painful breath in relief. She didn’t know whose arms surrounded her at first until she heard Tanji murmuring to her. Blinking her eyes, she looked up as the beloved faces of Exeri, Simah, and Bilax came into focus, looking down at her. Multiple hands reached forward with calming touches as they reassured themselves that she was okay. Bilax shuddered, his jaw clenching before he looked down at her with a tight, concerned smile.

  “Look what you have done,” he chided. “We leave you home alone just one time, and you decide you want to slay monsters.”

  A painful gurgle of laughter escaped her. “You’re such a dick.”

  Simah chuckled but winced, drawing her eyes to the sealed gash on his body. She attempted to sit up to see to him but Exeri gently pushed her back. Simah brushed a hand across her cheek.

  “I am fine. You might need the med-unit, though,” he choked out, his eyes running over her body with a pained expression. “You are all scratched up.”

  “I’m okay,” she insisted. “Just let me sit up.”

  Exeri shook his head. “Let Grish check you with the scanner first to make sure it is safe.”

  After some shuffling around, the large Teril’s head appeared, and he smiled as his eyes cut over to the mutant centipede and back to her. “That was one lucky shot, Hayley,” he chuckled. “I think this makes you an honorary member of our unit. Now hold still so I can make sure you have nothing broken or any internal bleeding.”

  He brought forward a scanner and slowly ran it down her body, his face drawn into a hard look as he eyed its results. She worried that it indicated something bad, but he relaxed and smiled. “Now you’re twice as lucky because you escaped that without more than a few bruises. She can get up,” he said to Exeri as he stood.

  With a relieved smile, her alpha pulled her up into his arms, his body curling close around hers as her mates all crowded in. Frankie popped into view and peered down at her with a smile. Exeri glanced over at her.

  “Frahnkee, we need to be with our queen at this time. Please go to our comm system and comm Foazarg. His name is filed in our system. We will need help digging its carcass out. Then we will present it to the community at the market center and expose the Megaraisi Corporation for the lies they have told to run their operations.”

  Frankie nodded and disappeared, leaving her in privacy with her pack.

  Looking over at Bilax, she winced as she saw him look forlornly at his kitchen. “I’m sorry your kitchen was trashed,” she said quietly.

  He glanced down at her, his face softening. “It is not important. You are safe. That is all that matters. I have been thinking of remodeling, anyway.”

  “The house can be repaired,” Exeri said with a low growl.

  “What matters is our pack,” Tanji added.

  “Yes,” Hayley whispered as the words drew up the memory of her grandma’s face. She buried her face against Exeri’s chest as her arms woun
d around her guys and she clutched her males to her. “Family is everything.”

  Epilogue

  Two Months Later

  Hayley was pinned again. Tanji smirked down at her. He was a devilish one. She knew for a fact that he always went to pin her in such a way because he liked having her body beneath him. She narrowed her eyes at him, letting him know that she was on to his games. A guileless smile spread on his face that she didn’t believe for one moment. She shifted a little beneath him, considering the best way to throw him.

  Since the incident with the centipede thing, something that it turned out the locals called ekundog, her pack had renewed her sparring lessons. Apparently, things came a little too close for comfort for them. So they had resumed taking turns, each male taking a day to spar with her. Simah no longer went quite so easy on her, but the entire pack was still extremely gentle with how they pinned her since it had been verified that she was pregnant with their first pup. The entire pack was in high spirits and couldn’t get enough of touching her belly, speaking to the fetus, or fucking. Though the latter part was also apparently a necessity with their biology that she found incredible. Knowing that it benefited their pup as well as them, she wasn’t about to object.

  Life was definitely good. With the help of Foazarg and his people, they exposed the machinations of the corporation’s greed. The people ousted the Calystii from their community and began small-scale operations that did not draw the attention of creatures such as the ekundog. There were still minor disturbances from the low-level predators, but the pack took care of them for a modest fee.

  Not everyone reacted favorably, however. There had remained some who fully supported the Megaraisi Corporation. With the enactment of local laws that outlawed the heavy equipment, the remaining supporters eventually moved out of the zone to continue their operations elsewhere. It was just as well, to Hayley’s mind. She only hoped that other communities would come to a similar conclusion.

  Something good did come from all the headache, however. Her males forged new bonds with the males in their unit, and they frequently got visits from Grish and Borth when they weren’t going over to their farm. Rodriguez and Etina visited whenever they wished for a break from the demands of their job, and the pack often spoke to Mi’yar and Emagul. They hadn’t heard much from Mi’yar since his revelation several days ago that he had a disowned brother turned pirate whom he was forced to track down due to an ambassador’s stolen mate. She wished him well.

  To her surprise, however, out of all the members of the unit, Hayley found a good friend in Frankie, despite her initial reluctance. They commed each other with news about their families. She had been the one who encouraged Hayley to reach out to grandmother, and after weeks, she had seen her grandma break down into grateful tears on the holoscreen. Frankie also had a lot of good advice about being a human mate on an alien world that Hayley took to heart. It felt good having another woman to share her pregnancy and daily life with, even if it was long-distance.

  The only current point of tension within their family was when the news came that Tar-denovak hadn’t been aboard the space station for weeks. They had no doubt that he would eventually find his way to their home. If he found enough evidence to leave, it was only a matter of time before he turned up. That still caused her a great deal of anxiety—and Simah too, though she never pointed that out—but her mates assured her that he would not be able to take her away from them. So Hayley put her trust in them that their family would remain strong.

  “You are distracted, my sweet queen,” Tanji rumbled, his eyes heating with interest as he pushed forward just enough to drag his sheath against her, instantly flooding her pussy with wet heat, soaking the crotch of her pants.

  “You’re cheating,” she choked out a laugh.

  “It is not cheat… It is using all the weapons in your arsenal,” he said with a raspy chuckle.

  “Oh, really?” she purred as she slipped her hand between them. Her fingers closed around his swollen sheath, rubbing and squeezing simultaneously until he extruded into her hand with a gasp.

  The moment she noted his distraction, she flipped them and jumped to her feet.

  “I win!” She laughed.

  Tanji groaned and rolled over onto his back, his cock still partially exposed. “You are a cruel, cruel female.”

  “I would say she is an intelligent one,” Exeri snorted. “You made it quite obvious just what part of your body you were thinking with, and she took advantage of it.”

  Bilax and Simah chuckled from where they sat on mats on the grass as Tanji moved to their side, flopping down with a satisfied smile.

  Yeah, she knew that she just made his afternoon by touching his dick.

  “I am convinced that thinking with your cock is what will be your biggest mistake,” a voice broke in.

  The pack tensed as the Itashvanda walked into the clearing. Exeri sniffed the air and gave him a mocking smile.

  “Spray to cover your scent? Why all the subterfuge? Were you afraid to confront us directly, Tar-denovak?” Exeri taunted.

  The male sighed as he stepped toward Hayley, and the entire pack bristled, a low snarl rising from each of her mates at the smallest move.

  Tar-denovak scowled at them. “You cannot keep her. The rules of the Mate Index Distribution Program are clear. By keeping her unlawfully you violate all the codes that allow other members of the union to acquire mates. She needs to be returned.”

  Exeri pushed up to his feet in one swift movement, his growl rattling in his throat as his pack sprung up behind him. Hayley didn’t hesitate to bolt over to him. His arms closed around her, holding her tight before nudging her back within the protection of the pack as he advanced on the other male.

  “We were cheated from acquiring a mate allotment that we should have received for our service, one we were kept ignorant about. We can forgive this, but you will not take our queen and pup from us.”

  The male’s face fell as his wings sagged a little. “A pup?” His eyes fixed on her. “Is this what you want? I can swear to you that you would only be on Earth for a short time before your contract would be picked up again. You can still escape this arrangement with these aggressive, violent males for one who is more deserving. I would welcome you into my nest,” he said slowly, with great effort.

  The growl grew louder from her males at the offer, but she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness for him. He was putting his heart out there.

  “I am sorry, you are very kind to offer, and to come all this way trying to help me. But I’m exactly where I want to be. My pack is my family. I won’t leave them.”

  The large male sighed and dropped his head before looking up at her with a wistful smile. “I understand. Among the Itashvanda, we do not force females. It is your choice, and I see that you have chosen. Your pack is fortunate to have you.” He glanced over at the Arobi, his smile slipping into a grimace. “I cannot pretend to know what she sees in your pack, but given the oversight, I will file paperwork upon my return to the space station. There was some confusion… Hayley Benito was bought as a service allotment mate for Entanga Pack. I hope you prove yourselves worthy of her.”

  Hayley squealed and wrapped her arms around Exeri’s waist, hugging him tight as she felt the arms of her mates fold around her. Glancing around the Arobi’s large body, she smiled at the male who had worked so hard to help her. “Thank you, so very much.”

  He nodded stiffly as he backed away. His wings opened wide, and with a snap he was gone, disappearing back into the trees. She stared at the trees for a long moment, a small smile curving her lips as she considered just how much of a gift he had given her. Hopefully, he would find his own mate soon.

  Hayley wondered what sort of ex-felon he might get paired with, and snickered.

  Simah cocked his head at her questioningly, but Hayley shook her head and leaned into their embrace. Four sets of arms surrounded her. Simah sighed contently as he held her close, Bilax settled his head agains
t hers, and Tanji nuzzled her shoulder while Exeri held her and supported the weight of them all. This was her family. Forever.

  A smile broke over her face as she whispered, “Can you believe it? We have each other, forever now. We’re finally free.”

  About the Author

  S.J. Sanders is a writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy Romance. With a love of all things alien and monster she is fascinated with concepts of far off worlds, as well as the lore and legends of various cultures. When not writing, she loves reading, sculpting, painting and travel (especially to exotic destinations). Although born and raised in Alaska, she currently as a resident of Florida with her family, her maine coon, Bella, and pet bearded dragon, Lex.

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  Other Works by S.J. Sanders

  The Mate Index

  First Contact

  The VaDorok

  Hearts of Indesh (Valentine Novella)

  The Edoka’s Destiny

  The Vori’s Mate

  Eliza’s Miracle (Novella)

  A Kiss on Kaidava

  The Vori’s Secret

  A Mate for Oigr (Halloween Novella)

  Heart of the Agraak

  A Gift for Medif

  The Arobi’s Queen

  Monsterly Yours

  The Orc Wife

  The Troll Bride

  The Accidental Werewolf’s Mate

  Sci-Fi Fairytales

  Red: A Dystopian World Alien Romance

  Ragoru Beginnings Romance

  White: Emala’s Story