Page 54 of Mated To The Vikens

Held.

I wanted soft skin and baby giggles. I wanted to be a mother, so damn much. I wanted to watch a little one scramble and crawl all over a stoic Gunnar, laugh at Rolf’s teasing, and tug on Erik’s long hair, forcing him to play.

Tears gathered in my eyes as I watched the happy family and my hands drifted low, over my abdomen, where I hoped to one day create a special, precious someone. Like Leah, it would not matter to me which of my mates was the biological father, for I loved them all.

Gunnar noticed the position of my hands, of course, and his large ones shifted to wrap around me and cover mine, holding them in place when I would have dropped or moved them away. He always noticed everything I did, every move I made, every expression. Sometimes, I wondered if he could somehow sense my very heart beating.

His breath was hot in my ear as he bent over me. “Do you want a child, Sophia?”

I couldn’t lie. There was no reason to. “Yes.”

Gunnar’s hands tightened convulsively over mine and a faint tremble passed through him where he pressed to my back. I turned around and wrapped my arms around him as the celebration resumed. The cake was cut, the sugary treat new to the people gathered. Judging from the delighted sounds of surprise around the room, Leah had just corrupted an entire planet.

I wanted a piece of that cake. Badly. But I really wanted to know where the hell my other two mates were.

When Gunnar tried to lead me back onto the dance floor, I pulled back. “No, Gunnar. Where are Rolf and Erik?”

“They will return soon.”

“So you said, but where did they go?” My patience was wearing thin. I was starting to feel like they

were keeping something from me, something bad.

Had the VSS made a new threat? Was one of them injured?

My heart raced and I tugged free of Gunnar’s hold. Turning on my heel, I took three steps before Gunnar’s hand wrapped around my waist, and the Queen’s voice carried over some kind of speaker system.

“Sophia Antonelli of Earth. Please come forward and present yourself to the Queen of Viken.”

Holy fucking shit.

I froze. Gunnar chuckled, so I hit him in the chest. “You knew about this? What is going on?”

He raised a brow and walked me toward the sound of the Queen’s voice. She’d moved sometime during the cake cutting and the dancing and I could just make out her head above the crowd on some sort of stage.

In no time at all I stood before her and had no freaking clue what I was supposed to do. Bow? Curtsy—whatever the hell that was? Kneel? I’d never been formally presented to royalty before.

I settled for a slight dip of my knees and what I hoped didn’t look ridiculous, but Leah just laughed and motioned for me to come up onstage and stand beside her.

When I was up on the raised platform, I looked out over a crowd of hundreds of Viken citizens, all silent, waiting for their queen’s next words. I met Gunnar’s eyes, and the warmth and pride I saw there helped me relax enough to get air in and out of my lungs. I didn’t like being the center of so much attention. Ever.

Leah locked her arm with mine and continued to speak. “My friends, this is Sophia Antonelli, mate to Gunnar, Erik and Rolf of Viken United. She came to us, like I did, as an Interstellar Bride from Earth.”

Polite applause broke out, but lasted just a few seconds before silence settled once more. Leah took a deep breath.

“Not long ago, those who wish to destroy the new peace we enjoy on Viken made an attempt on my daughter’s life.”

Gasps and outrage filled the room, angry shouts mixed with shocked denials as Leah continued.

“But this woman, this stranger, saved Princess Allayna’s life. She saved my life. And then, she bravely traveled to Central City and helped our royal guards track down the man responsible for the attack.”

Shocked silence at that. I gave a halfhearted shrug. “The Queen of a planet calls and asks for a favor, well? What were we going to say?

Leah pulled back and looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “Actually, I made a trade.”

“Trade?”

Leah nodded. “Yep. They all wanted to be the first to have authentic alien art in their museums. The Smithsonian and The Louvre made me the best offers.”

---