Page 4 of Alien Prince Fake Fiancé

“Ash, pay attention!”

Rachel’s infant son, Lee, gurgled happily in his mother’s arms, sending a pang straight through Ashlyn’s heart. Her sister was blissfully happy, mated to the Caldorian Ambassador and warrior, Cam. Lee was a beautiful, happy, perfect baby. Everything in Rachel’s life was organized perfection, and the complete opposite of Ashlyn’s chaotic, uncertain life spent bouncing from job to job, audition to audition, city to city.

Rachel smiled down at her half-alien son and spoke in a sweet, sing-song voice that made him grin and reach for her nose. “She won’t admit it, but your aunt Ash likes one of those yummy warriors in there, doesn’t she? Yes, she does.”

Ashlyn turned away from the glass, determined to ignore the sexy Caldorian on the other side, and held out her arms toward her ten month old nephew. She adored Lee and spent as much time with him as she could whenever Rachel brought him for a visit. The feeling was mutual, and he immediately reached for her, snuggling contentedly into her. She kissed the top of his head, his auburn curls nearly identical to her own in color, and breathed in the gentle scent of baby shampoo and innocence.

Lee reached up with one tiny, pudgy little hand and brushed the tips of his fingers open and closed against her neck, the rhythmic motion making his eyelids droop.Must be time for a nap.

She gave him a gentle squeeze and whispered, “You want me to pretend to be engaged, or claimed, as they call it, to one of those aliens in the other room so that some nasty schmuck from Cappra doesn’t get to inherit a spot on the Intergalactic Council, right? I'm terrible at lying. What if I fuck,” she mouthed the word silently, “it up?”

Rachel smiled. “You won’t. C’bor Ubrion, from the planet Cappra, was taking over his father’s seat on the Intergalactic Council before he was killed, and the seat passed to his legal wife. Hishumanwife. His extended family wants to regaincontrol over the Council seat. To that end, they have challenged the wife’s right to rule based on the fact that she is not a citizen of Cappra. They’re claiming that according to their laws, unless the widow is a native of Cappra, she has to marry another member of the family within a year or give up the Council seat.”

“That’s archaic.” Ashlyn tensed angrily. “How can a technologically advanced planet be so completely backwards when it comes to marriage and a woman’s basic rights?”

“Yes. Yes.” Rachel waved away Ashlyn’s protest. “Before you get all upset and start marching in protest, just listen for a minute. Our research team scoured Cappra’s legal archives and discovered an ancient, obscure loophole. When we brought it to their attention, they were pissed. Like, really pissed. I don’t think they knew about it.”

Shifting Lee slightly so that his head rested on her shoulder, Ashlyn took a deep breath. She hated politics. She had enough trouble following all the drama, scandals, manipulation and mudslinging on her own planet. “Keep going. I’m listening.”

“If the widow is already engaged to someone outside of the deceased member’s family before the end of the year, she can present her fiancé to the whole Council and challenge for the right to remain in power. That’s where you come in. You’re going to pick one of those Caldorian princes over there, and challenge for the right to keep the seat.”

“Hold on. How was C’bor married to someone from Earth in the first place?”

“The truth?”

“Yes.”

Rachel cringed. “Okay. It’s not pretty. She was with her mate when their ship crashed. C’Bor took her captive and was going to turn her into his sex slave. Her real mate got her out of there before anyone else from Cappra saw her face. No one on Cappraknows who she was, only that she was a human. Which is why we need you to pretend that it was you.”

“C’Bor sounds like a real winner. Is it wrong to be glad he’s dead?” The idea of what the unknown woman had gone through ignited Ashlyn’s temper.

“We’re all glad he’s dead.”

“Why can’t the real widow take the seat? If she’s already mated, that’s perfect. Problem solved. They can challenge for the seat together.”

“No, they can’t. He’s aLumerian. The Council ordered the destruction of his planet and all his people more than two thousand years ago. The few that escaped went into hiding. There's a standing kill order for anyone they find.”

“Oh, wait. You’re talking about Juliette Rosen and her husband, Torrin, aren’t you?”

“Exactly. Cam told me there are DNA scramblers that work on a surface level, like when going through a checkpoint, but if they were to study his DNA, and we’re sure they would, they would eventually find out. Plus, we think they’ll want to set up special sensors that scan for Lumerian energy signatures, which is why a lot of the Lumerians that have come to Earth over the past year have already left for the duration of the challenge. Those who didn’t leave are being extra careful to stay out of range.”

“What about Sasha and Dagan? I was hoping to see her while I’m here.”

“Dagan took Sasha to Caldor until the challenge is over. The Council has heard about Sasha’s new healing abilities, but hearing rumors about a human woman being transformed after marrying an alien and seeing her for themselves is different. There are many species with psychic abilities, so Dagan is hoping whatever stir her transformation caused, if they don’t draw attention to her, the Council’s interest will die down. Also,Earth is just one of the planets they provide security for, so his attendance at the meeting isn’t expected. Technically, this has nothing to do with Caldor. They’re merely providing the venue on behalf of the human widow because she’s from Earth. The Ubrions wanted to host the whole thing on Cappra, but they were reminded that C’Bor’s widow is, officially, the legitimate Council member and has the authority to host the event wherever she wants.”

“Oh. Right. I didn’t realize location was such an issue.”

Rachel snorted. “Everything’s an issue, believe me. What to give as gifts, who gets to stay on the base and who has to transport back and forth from their ship, who gets to attend the ball, where they’re seated. It’s like planning the biggest wedding in history, times a thousand, and none of the relatives get along.”

“Glad I missed it, then,” Ashlyn said, grinning.

“Yeah, ever since the attack and Commander Bashall’s disappearance last year, Dagan’s been here to oversee the rebuild and upgrade security, but Cam’s been running the day to day operations until a new commander is assigned to the base. He’s been crazy busy getting everything ready for the Council’s arrival, or he’d be here right now.”

“Have there been any leads on the commander? He seemed like a great guy the few times I ran into him.”

“Cam gets weekly updates. Unfortunately, no one has heard even a whisper of a rumor. Whoever has him is keeping it quiet.”

“Does the Council know about any of the other women?” Sasha was a miraculous healer. Juliette could throw fire. There were other women who had been transformed and developed unusual powers after mating with an alien. If they survived the process. Or the attacks by Caldor’s enemies.

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