Page 11 of Unexpected Alien Prince

“What? How does that work?”

He shrugs, raising his hands and dropping them.

“I do not know,” he says. “I know that it is true. It keeps our bloodlines pure and limits our ability to reproduce.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“You, Adella, are myParitella.”

“How? I’m not Alvan.”

“I do not know,” he says. “I agree it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I know it is true. I knew the moment I met you. My heart sings when I am with you and… I think… you feel the same.”

I stare at him for a long time. My head is a swirling crazy mess of conflicting thoughts. One thing crashing into the next without reason. Above that, though, is a feeling. Or more than a feeling. A certainty.

He’s right.

Every date, every attempt since he left spins around with the rest of the mess below the certainty.

He’s the one.

I compared every other man to him. I rejected everyone of them for not being him. I had taken none of them as a lover. Not a one. Because they weren’t him.

“What did you mean my fate?” I ask.

“There is a ritual we Alvans must do, when we find ourParitella.But if I do it, you will be marked. You will be mine forever.”

“But you’ll be mine too,” I say.

“I am yours no matter what you decide,” he says.

“What are you saying?”

“If you reject this, it is fine. You must choose freely. But if you do reject me, I will never mate again. I will… die alone.”

“Oh, so no pressure,” I say.

He chuckles. “No, no pressure.”

“But that doesn’t explain my fate…”

“No,” he says, staring into my eyes. “I am now third in line for the throne. The wars continue and the Royal Family, all of us, are targeted. I do not know what fate awaits me when I return home and I am asking you to come with me.”

“Come home…”

“Yes, to Alva,” he says. “You do not have to. I will not complete the ceremony. And if we do not win this war, well it will not matter anyway.”

“What are the odds? Of your side winning?”

“I do not know,” he says, sighing heavily. “We are not doing well right now, but there is a plan. If it succeeds… it could turn the tide of the war.”

I nod as if I know a damn thing about winning a war.

“And what is my role in all of this?”

“You would become my Consort. In your culture it would be wife.”

“You’re asking me to marry you?” I ask, eyes widening with surprise. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am.

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