by Juno Wells
The other two men on his team seemed like polar opposites. One was younger, with floppy hair to his shoulders and dimples in his cheeks. He grinned straight at her, eyes shining.
The man beside him was older and more reserved. His face was stoic as he stared, but his eyes held a reverence that made a shiver work its way up her spine.
Then the talking stopped, and the fighting began.
6 AAVIK
She was the most beautiful thing Aavik had ever seen. She looked nervous but she still stood tall. She was so tiny and fragile, he could have crushed her to death easily. Nothing like the Vaherian women, who had been bigger than the men.
Adrenaline pounded through Aavik's veins when she stared back at him. No fear, no malice. She held his gaze with curiosity, and he struggled to keep his face emotionless.
They were going to win this fight, he was certain of it.
One look at her and he knew it was meant to be.
He wasn't listening to the King's words. He'd been guarding the man when he'd been writing the speech and practicing it, and he already knew every word that was being spoken. Welcoming the human woman to Vaher, talking about how she, and the ones who followed, would save their planet and race from extinction.
Aavik was acutely aware of Veiko beside him, staring at the ground and refusing to even look at the woman who was going to be his mate in a matter of minutes.
Then the speech ended and Aavik was so hypnotized by the delicate hands of his mate as they reached up to tuck wind-buffeted hair behind her ear that he was almost hit by the first strike of his opponent.
If they had been so fast it had to mean they weren't distracted, and that meant they weren't meant to worship the woman on the platform.
Aavik had a good feeling about this.
The goddesses were shining on him and his team today. They were going to be the ones to win the right to love their first human visitor.
That didn't mean the fight wasn't hard though.
The distraction faded quickly and his head was completely in the game. He dodged blows from his opponent with practiced efficiency, always skirting out of the way by just an inch at the last minute so he extended the least energy possible. His stamina wasn't what it used to be when he was Wraxic's age, but he was still as formidable a fighter.
The rules of the tournament were simple. Causing death and maiming was frowned upon, but not completely forbidden. The goal was simply to incapacitate the opponents, so they could no longer fight. That was either through injury, or their surrender when faced with certain death.
As the king's personal guard, it was rare that they actually competed in the weekly tournaments that took place in the arena. Their lives were too precious to risk serious injury by taking part in the sport, and they had nothing left to prove. They'd reached the top of the ladder. There was no one more powerful to see their potential and rank them up. They were the personal guard of the King. They'd reached their end game.
This time was different. This time they were competing for the right of the hand of the first human. Everyone on Vaher had had the right to enter the tournament.
Of course not everyone had.
If Veiko had a choice, he wouldn't have entered either. They were under direct orders from the king that they were to lead by example, to demonstrate that the most powerful warriors on the planet wanted to win the hand of the woman, and so should everyone else.
It was the first time Veiko had ever looked tempted to argue with their monarch.
Aavik's opponent slammed his two-handed sword in Aavik's direction. He blocked easily with one of his two curved swords. They were an interesting design, unique on Vaher except for the people who had since tried to copy his style and inherited from his father. They allowed for interesting counterattacks and strange angles that people weren't expecting.
Because it was years and years since Aavik had regularly competed in tournaments, people had started to forget his technique.
It gave him an easy advantage now. He ducked beneath a second attack from his opponent. They'd attacked too quickly with their heavy sword-- a poor choice of weapon in general-- and now they were open to attack.
Aavik dashed forward and cupped both swords around his opponent's neck. He sliced through just the top layer of leathery skin, and blue blood glistened on his blades.
His opponent bowed his head. "I surrender," he said.
Aavik didn't hesitate before turning to get back into the fight. He was met with a disaster from Veiko.
A self-imposed disaster.
Veiko wasn't himself. He wasn't even trying.
To the untrained eye of someone who didn't work with Veiko on a daily basis, they might think he was just having a bad day, that his movements were just a bit too slow, he was just a bit wrong with his angles.
Aavik knew better. He was losing on purpose. He was sabotaging their chances of winning.
He dove straight into the fight between them. It wasn't just about winning the human as his mate, it was about maintaining the reputation of the king's personal guard. Veiko was the leader, he was the best warrior on the whole of Vaher, and he was losing to someone far beneath his stature.
It was embarrassing.
"Do you want to be replaced?" Aavik hissed as he countered an attack from Veiko's opponent that would have dealt a decapitating blow to his sword hand. "Do you want me to finally get my place at the head of the personal guard? Because this is how you do it." He pushed back against Veiko's opponent, who was wielding two smaller knives and was agile.
Veiko spat on the floor. He'd obviously intended to lose before either Aavik or Wraxic won their fights.
Wraxic was grinding it out against his opponent. He was much younger and had the stamina advantage. Aavik wasn't worried about him.
"Get your fucking act together," Aavik hissed at Veiko, who purposely missed another easy attack. "And be a man."
Veiko scowled at Aavik, baring his teeth. The spikes on his back that had previously been invisible-- another sign that he hadn't been giving it his all-- burst through his skin, shining a brighter white than any warrior on the battlefield.
That had done it, then. Now Veiko was pissed.
And he wasn't stupid enough to turn his rage on Aavik in front of everyone.
Veiko's opponent lasted ten seconds before he was in the dirt with Veiko's sword at his throat.
"I surrender," he barked, scowling. He thought Veiko had just been playing with him.
Veiko turned to Aavik, face of thunder. "We can't trust her. I don't want this burden. I want a real mate, one I can love, one I can trust."
"Well it's not an option anymore, is it?" Aavik hissed back as Wraxic floored his opponent and the cheers began to ring out around the arena. "There are no more women. Only her. And now she's ours."
7 HANNAH
Three people had won, and now they were all staring at her.
Jukk shifted his weight at her side and she forced her gaze away from the men in the arena. "What's going on?" she asked. When he said nothing, she started getting desperate. "They're looking at me like I'm food."
Only that wasn't completely true. Two of them looked like they thought she was the goddess Jukk had labelled her as. The third, who she'd been sure was going to be killed in the battle he was doing so poorly, looked like he wanted to gut her.
"They'll be the ones to explain what happens next," Jukk said.
"What about you? Why can't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't compete in the tournament and win the right. It's not my place."
"What else did they win the right to?" she asked. “What—”
“You’ve been brought to Vaher to be a mother,” Jukk said. “They want you to have their children. That’s why you’re here.”
His words almost made her legs give out. She wasn’t convinced that Jukk would dare to touch her to stop her falling over the edge of her platform.
Then the three men who had won the fight were suddenly in front
of her. She hadn’t had time to process what she’d just heard, she couldn’t speak to them.
She was quick enough to realize that these three thought they’d just won the right to make her into their personal broodmare.
“Oh, you can all get fucking lost,” she said, clenching her hands to fists. It was stupid and pointless. It only took one look at the towering men in front of her to let her know that they could do whatever they wanted to her, and there would be no stopping it. “I’m leaving.”
Two of the men looked taken aback. One touched the back of his neck, the place where Hannah knew their translators were located, as if she couldn’t have possibly said those words.
The third man, the one who hadn’t wanted to look at her, smiled smugly.
He’d been just waiting for this to go badly. Oh, they were definitely going to get on best out of the four of them.
The youngest started to drop to his knees, but the angry one stopped him. “She’s going to cause a scene,” he said. “Get her out of here, don’t let her do it.”
“Cause a scene? Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve just been told that the only reason I’m here is to be your fucking baby carrier and you’re surprised that I’m going to cause a scene?” Her voice got louder and louder with each word.
She stepped backward when the angry one stepped forward. Two steps, and then her foot didn’t meet the hard metal of the platform she stood on.
A hand wrapped around her wrist, jerking her forward. The angry one held her tight, fingers biting into her wrist. She was so surprised by the sudden contact, the hot hand on her cold wrist, that words died on her tongue. It was the first time she’d been touched in over a week, and it made goosebumps rise on her arm.
She met his eyes. Grey steel. Not all Vaherians had eyes and skin that shared the same color, then.
What she hated most of all was the spear of desire that stabbed her. Being touched by an alien shouldn’t do that, no matter how gorgeous he was.
She jerked backward even though she knew there was nothing behind her but air and tried to pull her arm free.
She almost laughed at her pathetic attempts. And she’d thought she was ready to be a CIA agent. It was laughable.
And then the arena vanished around her and was replaced by a different room. It reminded her of the ship she'd traveled to Vaher in, with cushioned walls and couches made from the same material. A bed sat in the center, and it was huge.
Big enough for the four of them, no doubt.
In the confined space, her shouting made her cringe and she stopped abruptly.
All three men looked at her. Jukk was no longer by her side. The angry one must have teleported her to the room, not her guard.
“Where is Jukk?” she asked instinctively. He was the only one who had been willing to tell her the trust so far. He might have a bit too much deference toward her, but she trusted him the most of anyone she’d come across so far. “I want him to take me back to Earth.”
The three men stood between her and the doorway and she started toward them, expecting them to part and let her pass. “I’m going to find Jukk,” she said again.
The men didn’t move. They didn’t think she was someone to be seen not touched. They’d won the right to touch her.
She stopped just short of walking straight into the hard chest of the youngest one. “Move,” she said, folding her arms. “Seriously, move. I don’t want to be here. Just send me back to Earth.”
“That would have to be cleared by the king,” said the angry one. “I’ll arrange an audience with him tomorrow to discuss your repatriation.”
She didn’t step backward even as the heat of the younger warrior seeped into her. She tilted her chin to look into his face. He stared straight back with grass green globes and thick set, frowning eyebrows. “Why do you want to leave?” he asked. “This is your home now.”
“This isn’t my home,” she snapped.
A hand was suddenly stuck out at the side of her. “I’m Aavik,” its owner said. “I hear this is Earth custom. To shake a hand when you meet someone for the first time.”
Hannah looked at the meaty, powerful hand. It was almost as big as her face. There was dried blood on it.
But it was the most normal thing that had happened so far. He wasn’t trying to grope her or remove her clothes. Hesitantly, she turned to Aavik and shook his hand. “I’m Hannah.”
She regretted touching him the moment she did. He looked like she’d just blessed him, and not in a completely innocent way. His brown eyes darkened further and a muscle in his jaw visibly twitched.
She hurriedly turned to the younger one and shook his hand too. His name was Wraxic.
When she offered her hand to the angry one, he looked at it as though it was poisonous. “I’m Veiko,” he said, without unfolding his arms.
Aavik said, “Shake her hand.”
“I won’t touch her.”
“She is your mate—”
Veiko and Hannah both protested at once, then fell silent when they realized they were agreeing.
“She’s being sent back to Earth,” Veiko said. “Don’t get attached, either of you.”
He turned as though to leave, and Aavik caught his elbow.
“She’s been brought here under the king’s instruction. She’s the first human to come to Vaher. He’s not going to just send her back.”
All eyes turned to her again, and Hannah wanted to shrink away. She was going to have to break out of the planet and find her way home across the galaxy? Maybe it was more CIA than she’d thought. She really wished she’d gotten some training.
“I want to leave.”
“You can’t.” It was the first hard edge she’d heard in Aavik’s voice, and it both pleased and scared her. He wasn’t complete devotion, but it meant he was dangerous too.
He wanted her, and he could take her if he chose to.
“Why do you even want me here? Jukk said you wanted me to be a mother. Why?”
“You’ve really been told nothing?” Wraxic asked.
“No.”
“There are no women on Vaher,” he said.
She frowned. “No women?”
“They vanished one day. Just completely disappeared. We don’t know what happened. It means that we have no way to reproduce. The Vaherians are dying.”
In spite of herself, she was touched. “I’m so sorry.” Half the population just completely vanishing. Mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. Just gone without a trace or explanation.
She had lost both her parents and it had sent her spiraling. Her singular focus on following in their footsteps had been the only thing that kept her afloat. And she’d known that her parents had just died in an accident. It had been no one’s fault, there was no one to blame. Just a fact of life.
The Vaherians had no idea what happened. The uncertainty must kill them every day.
“That’s why you’re here,” Veiko said. “To replace them.”
Her sympathy shattered, and she turned away. Even if she was stuck here with them, it didn’t mean she had to be compliant. “Whatever you want from me, you’re not going to get it. I’m going back to Earth the first opportunity I get.”
8 AAVIK
Aavik felt like his world was falling apart.
He was never going to be the best in the interior guard despite being older, and now the woman the goddesses had blessed him with wanted nothing to do with him.
The mood in the room was tense and Hannah stood staring out of the window.
“Did Yvonne know all about this?” she asked without turning around.
“Yes,” Wraxic admitted. They’d all been with the king when he was making arrangements with the human ambassador Yvonne Montague. She’d known the nature of the agreement, and it had been assumed that the women she sent to Vaher would know it, too.
Hannah’s back stiffened, but she didn’t say anything else.
Aavik wanted desperately to make some headway with her. He wanted some r
apport, something that would give him hope that this was fate.
He could feel it in his bones, feel the desire as he looked at her, feel the deep-seated need to keep her safe whirring around his consciousness, but that didn’t mean she felt it too.
Would the goddesses really be so cruel as to bless Aavik with his mate, but not bless his mate, too? Did she feel nothing of the physical bond between them?
“We’re not going to do anything that you don’t want to,” he said. “We need women so we can start having children again, but your purpose here is to be happy.”
She didn’t turn around, and he had no idea if what he’d said made her feel better.
Veiko laughed. “Her purpose is to have kids. Don’t give us a moral high ground we don’t have.”
Aavik rounded on his superior, fingers itching to take the handle of his sword and make a move. He was full of pent up energy, and if he wasn’t going to get to take it out on loving Hannah, then punching Veiko would have to do. “How can you speak about your mate like that?”
“She isn’t my mate. She isn’t Vaherian, she can’t be my mate.”
“Are you telling me you don’t feel it? You don't feel it at all?” Aavik demanded.
The twitch in Veiko’s jaw gave away the truth, even if he said, “No.”
“I feel it,” Wraxic said.
“I told you not to get attached,” Veiko said, dismissive. He was alert, though. His gaze was on Aavik’s hand, ready to dodge an attack. “She’s not staying. We’ll find women who want Vaherian children and let the warriors compete for them. I am not going to fight for this again.”
“What do you mean you feel it?” Hannah asked, and she looked to the side. Aavik was blessed with her profile, soft chin and button nose. Full lips he was going to devour.
“I feel that you’re my mate,” he said, as though it was obvious. When Hannah turned back to the window, he realized he’d been too vague. Did humans not have these feelings at all? Was it impossible for her to mate? “I can feel that you’re the woman I’m meant to love for the rest of my life.”