Page 29 of Possessive Alien Mate

“What was her name?” Tyra asked as she backed up. Each time she took a step, Rem pursued her, until he had her pinned against the wall. He placed his hands on either side of her and leaned in to stare at her, though he didn’t make a move to grab for her again. “Tell me,” she pressed. “What was her name? The female who betrayed you and then died, the female whose ghost still haunts you. I want to know her name!”

“Bethamma!” Rem roared. His expression, already hard, morphed into a look of pure rage. “My mother told you. Didn’t she?” His nostrils flared and his body tensed further.

“Not directly, but she confided that you’d had your heart broken a long time ago.” Tyra breathed out slowly, trying to gather her thoughts. She didn’t wish to cause a rift between Rem and his mother, even if Rem was once again acting like a jealous ass. “Look, your mother was only tactfully answering my questions. I’ll admit, I was prying into your past a bit, but only after your mother mentioned she was surprised you had taken a mate. I wanted to understand you better and you’ve been keeping this part of yourself a secret. Please don’t be mad at her.”

“You had no right to pry.”

“No right?” She scoffed. “No right? I’m only your mate!”

“You’ve kept secrets from me,” he said in an accusatory tone. “I know there is more to your story to explain why you left Earth. You have not told me everything. I can sense it.”

Her stomach roiled. How did he know? And did he suspect the darkest secret she was keeping? The one that made her feel absolutely worthless. She blinked back a fresh wave of tears and returned Rem’s severe glare.

In her desperation to keep this one secret, she found herself yelling out, “Why did you even decide to take a mate?” It didn’t make sense to her. If he was so distrustful of females, why would he sign up to receive a bride from Earth?

“Because the king ordered me to take a human female!”

Chapter 24

Tyra’s breath left her in a painful whoosh. She stared at Rem, shocked to her very core. She didn’t know how to reply to his shouted confession, so she simply stood against the wall, keeping as still as possible, as her heart plummeted to the floor.

He didn’t want her. He had never wanted her. The only reason he’d taken her as his mate was because, for whatever reason, King Vaath had ordered it.

Her gaze dropped from Rem’s and he started backing away from her. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to brace herself against the grief that was rushing toward her. It didn’t help. The agonizing emotion struck her with all the intensity of a blow to the stomach.

Rem turned and headed for the door. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she felt the waves of anger rolling off him. The door opened upon his approach and closed immediately after he exited. She didn’t follow to see if he’d locked her in again. She couldn’t force herself to move.

After a few minutes of stunned silence, her legs gave out and she sank to the floor, where the remnants of her shattered heart taunted her. She had been so stupid to think she could find happiness with a complete stranger, especially one who came from another world entirely.

Time passed slowly, each hour of separation from Rem dragging on like an eternity. Though he’d admitted to never wanting her, she still couldn’t help missing him and grieving the loss of their union. Marttiaxoxalians were said to always mate for life, but she couldn’t fathom any circumstance in which their relationship might continue.

Would he send her away?

Would she be shipped back to Earth?

Feeling faint, she finally forced herself to her feet when dawn began to break through the trees. She pulled her old suitcase from the back of the closet and dragged it across the floor to the dresser that still contained the tattered clothing she’d brought from Earth. She changed into a pair of pants and a t-shirt, then slipped into her boots. She set about packing up her belongings, careful not to include anything that she’d purchased on Mars with Rem’s galactic credits. She didn’t want any reminders following her to… wherever she found herself when this all ended.

* * *

The soundof Chexxa’s screams echoed in Rem’s mind, bringing him an unmistakable sense of satisfaction. His confrontation with the young male now over, Rem stalked through the darkened streets of Ressiktron as he headed home. But the closer he got to his house, the heavier his footsteps felt.

What had he done?

He paused as he replayed his argument with Tyra, as well as the confession he’d torn from Chexxa’s throat.

“She didn’t know I was following her! She never saw me!”

Fluxx. Tyra hadn’t truly done anything to entice the young male into following her. Now that he’d had some time to calm down, he realized Tyra’s brief smile and wave to Chexxa and his brother didn’t signal an attempt at unfaithfulness on her part. Gods, how could he have accused Tyra of being tempted by Chexxa? She hadn’t known he was following her, yet he had reasoned she was being unfaithful just because she’d failed to tell him about Chexxa.

He thought of the images that had shown her looking over her shoulder. Given that Chexxa had been staring at her in the bakery, it was no wonder she’d been glancing behind her during the remainder of the shopping trip. She’d probably felt as though she were being watched. Marttiaxoxalians often possessed such intuition. He supposed humans were capable of it as well.

Guilt settled upon him when he recalled the rest of his argument with Tyra. He should not have told her about the order from King Vaath. At least not in the manner he’d done so, shouting it at her and then leaving the room before he could tell her the rest of the truth—that he desired her beyond all reason, that now that he had her, he could not imagine a life devoid of her sweet presence.

He couldn’t deny the truth any longer.

He loved her.

Even though he hadn’t wished to take a mate, the first moment he’d looked upon her, he had felt an inexplicable need to take the sweet human as his. To hold her and protect her and take care of her.

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