Page 58 of Mated to the Alien Warrior

My mate has never been more beautiful or desirable than in this moment, and I thank the universe or whatever deities were responsible for sending her to me.

Haley walks slowly across the floor towards me, her hands knitted together and a tremulous smile drawing my attention to her lips. I suddenly realize she is nervous, too. This will be the first time we have had an actual conversation with each other alone. I want to do whatever I can to make sure she is comfortable here – with me. I wish to ease all of her worries.

As soon as we have both settled in our seats at the table, Haley does not hesitate and she asks, “So, where am I? I mean, what is this village? I think you said this planet is called Laedirissae.”

“Yes, we are on planet Laedirissae, and this is my tribe’s village. We are the Anuriix tribe. We have many members, from graying elders to the tiniest of kitlings.” My chest swells with pride. “We are the best tribe on Laedirissae with the fiercest warriors.”

“And the most modest, too, right?” Haley’s eyes twinkle as she pops a berry into her mouth.

I long ago abandoned the suspicion that Haley could be here for a nefarious purpose – she is much too kind for that – but I’m still curious about how she came to be here on Laedirissae and who the other females with her are.

“How did you come to be on planet Laedirissae?” I ask her as I set a cup of water down beside her.

Haley watches me intently as I tear off a piece of the warmed gretit and dip it into the nectar, and she does the same.

“Oh my God, this is so good.” A moan of enjoyment escapes her mouth as soon as she bites into the soft disc of grain, and the sound shoots straight to my cock making me grow even harder than I already was. I shift in my seat, willing it to subside.

After a few moments of enjoying the gretit, Haley swallows and takes a sip of water before clearing her throat and saying, “Some gray aliens abducted me and a bunch of other girls from our planet, Earth. They were going to sell us at a slave auction.” Her eyes darken until they are the color of a stormy sky and a line appears between her eyebrows.

“Well, actually, they were taking me to sell on another planet because they said I was inferior stock.” Haley does an odd hand motion with her fingers when she says the last words before she sighs and takes a large gulp of water. Her voice is nonchalant, but I can feel the turmoil of emotions flowing through her.

I let out a growl at my mate’s words, and she whips her gaze away from the cup she still holds in her hand and we lock eyes. The thought of anyone hurting Haley, stealing her from her home, and selling her makes me burn with the need to protect her. To seek revenge for her.

And to label her as inferior. . . they know nothing of my mate. I do not know anything about other humans, but I know she is the finest of her species. She is not inferior.

If I ever have a chance to lay a hand on the miserable sardos who abducted her, they will regret the day they did so.

My mate watches me, as if she knows exactly what I’m thinking, and considering the potency of the mate bond between us, she might. I push down the anger rising inside me and turn my attention back to her.

After a quiet moment, only broken by the sound of Haley chewing thoughtfully on her food, she swallows and continues, “Something happened. I think the ship we were on was being chased by cops or something. Anyway, long story short, the aliens who abducted us dumped us and we crashed here.”

Haley snags another one of the soft discs of gretit and takes a big bite. “Why were you in the jungle alone? It is a dangerous place if you do not have weapons.”

Haley stops chewing and places the half-eaten gretit on her plate. “There is a little girl named Zoe with us. I woke up during the night and didn’t see her, so I went outside to look around for her thinking I’d easily find her. Piece of cake, right?” She chuckles derisively. “I ended up getting lost in the jungle. I’m just glad you came along and saved me from that dinosaur.”

The translator chip does not recognize some of the words Haley uses, but I understand the basics of what my mate has said. I do not know what a sweetened food has to do with the little girl, but perhaps Haley is asking for more food. I move the bowl of berries and the bottle of sweet nectar closer to her so that she understands she may eat as much as she wants.

As for the other things my mate said – my chest swells with pride. She is fierce and she willingly puts herself at risk to help others. My mate has more courage in her tiny round ears than most Laediriian males have in their entire bodies.

But the thought of what could have happened to her if I had not arrived in time to battle the tiniio makes my body grow chilled.

“You did not find the kitling? Zoe?”

“No.” Haley frowns. “I hope she made it back to the ship, but I don’t know. That’s something I kind of want to talk to you about. I really need to get back there. My friends are probably going to run out of food and water soon, and I was wondering if you could help us?”

The expression on her face is so hopeful, and I could not turn her down even if I wanted to and I do not want to. I do not know if the other members of the tribe will be happy with my decision to help the humans, but it does not matter. I will help my mate and her people whether my tribe – or my father – approves or not.

“Yes. We can leave as soon as possible.”

A large smile stretches across Haley’s face at my pronouncement, and I feel an answering happiness swell inside of me.

Haley and I finish eating our meal, and as we are gathering the plates to stack in the small sink, she asks me, “So, considering everything that’s happened between us, I just want to make sure. . . um. . .” Her words trail off and she looks down at her the floor, and I can’t help but wonder what has suddenly made my mate so flustered.

Haley takes a deep breath and asks, “You don’t have a wife or anything, do you?”

“What is a wife?” The translator chip is still learning Haley’s language, and it does not recognize many of the words Haley uses, including this one. From what Vrenner explained the chip will essentially teach itself Haley’s language over time and eventually the translation will be nearly seamless.

She tilts her head to the side as if she’s trying to think of an explanation. “Um. . . It’s the person you’re in a relationship with. Like, for humans when we meet someone we love and we want to be with them forever, we have a ceremony where we commit to being with only them for the rest of our lives.” Haley frowns. “Except sometimes it doesn’t last forever.”

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