Page 3 of Possessive Alien Mate

“I don’t know. She must be crazy. No one signs up to become a Martian’s bride unless they’re forced to,” another woman replied.

“Maybe she doesn’t have any family left on Earth,” said yet another woman in a sympathetic tone.

Tyra felt her face heat. During the ten-hour journey to Mars, she hadn’t confided in the women her reasons for leaving Earth and she wasn’t about to now. It was none of their business. Besides, this was her fresh start. A chance to be someone else, anyone but the person she had been on Earth.

“I can hear you, you know.” She spun around and placed her hands on her hips, then scanned the small crowd gathered around the viewscreen, though she wasn’t sure which of the women had been whispering about her. “I’m sorry if most of you are here because you feel you’ve been forced, but perhaps you should try to think of this as an adventure, or an opportunity for a better life.”

“A better life?”

“An adventure?”

“Twenty years ago, these assholes conquered our planet, slaughtering millions of human soldiers in the process, and even though most of them settled on Mars instead of Earth, they still won’t leave our planet,” the redhead said, stepping forward. “They’ve practically enslaved us, forcing us to pay increasingly higher taxes and making us work in their factories, where they don’t pay us enough to make ends meet. My widowed mother was jailed when she fell behind paying rent and Martian taxes. That’s whyI’mhere. Because by signing up to become a fucking alien’s mate, my mother’s debt will be erased and she’ll be freed from prison. And that ten thousand galactic credit bonus we’re all given? I’ve directed Martian Affairs to deposit it in my mother’s account so she doesn’t end up in the same situation again, so my younger siblings don’t end up in a godforsaken Martian-run orphanage.”

“This is just a game to you,” another woman said with a sneer, “but it won’t feel like a fun adventure for long. Do you honestly have any idea what these Martian savages are like? They’re controlling, unfeeling brutes who only care about getting their females pregnant as many times as possible. They only care about increasing their population, growing their numbers so they can become even stronger and keep subjugating the humans.”

“I don’t think the Martians are much different from humans,” Tyra said, even as the hair on the back of her neck suddenly prickled.

What if these women were right? What if Martian males really were unfeeling brutes?

But she wasn’t ready to admit she might be wrong, especially when there was no turning back. She’d just arrived on Mars, after all. And while she wasn’t about to admit it to these women, there was nothing but pain and humiliation awaiting her on Earth, even if she could somehow manage to return.

She had to make this work.

She had to make Mars her new home.

“I am certain Martians are capable of love and kindness and compassion,” she said in a hopeful tone, but none of the women appeared convinced. Half of them looked angry with her, and the other half were gazing upon her with immense pity.

Before anyone could say another word, the door zipped open and over a dozen huge Martian males poured into the women’s quarters, their dark gazes scanning the room with purpose.

Tyra’s heart skipped a beat. She was about to meet her new mate, the alien male with whom she would spend the rest of her life.

Would she find what she was looking for on this planet?

Or would her secret pain follow her, no matter how far she ran from Earth?

“Carmen!” a purple alien called out as he stepped closer to the gathered women.

A trembling brunette emerged from the crowd. “Um, hi. I’m Carmen.”

The purple Martian tapped a foot against Carmen’s and then reached for her hands, pulling her away from the others. The males took turns calling out the women’s names. Tyra noticed that while none of the aliens smiled, they at least appeared cordial enough. All of them greeted their females with a traditional Marttiaxoxalian foot tap before ushering them out into the corridors of the ship.

Tyra’s breath caught in her throat as she studied the three males who remained. Two of them seemed somewhat pleasant, but the massive green one standing behind the others wore a deep scowl. He was taller and more muscular than all the other aliens she’d seen thus far, and his overly massive size combined with his fierce expression made her insides quiver. When the two males standing in front of him were matched with the other remaining women, Tyra couldn’t help but take a step back as realization crashed over her.

This angry looking brute was the only one left.

He was her mate.

She swallowed hard and tried to summon all the bravery she’d felt during the short voyage from Earth. She’d been excited and determined to make a brand-new life for herself on an exotic planet. She’d been hopeful and eager to meet her Martian husband, because surely the life awaiting her on Mars would be better than the one she was leaving behind.

Once the other couples filtered out of the room, the green male approached her, his gaze sweeping from her head down to her feet. She fought the urge to back up even further.

“Are you Tyra?” he asked, speaking in Galactic Common, his tone shockingly deep and gruff. His voice felt like a rough but intimate caress, and she found herself longing to hear him speak again, just to feel the vibration of his voice rumbling inside her chest.

“Yes, I-I am Ty-Tyra,” she replied.

He walked closer and tapped his left foot against her right one. She returned his greeting and tapped his foot in return, all the while holding his gaze, even though staring up at him made her neck ache. He had to be at least seven and a half feet tall.

Holy hell, what had she gotten herself into?

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