Page 4 of Keeping His Mate

There are four of them––creatures with golden skin, all over seven feet tall, and all extremely wide. They present as three males and one female, though I’m not sure how they identify here. Two of the males have silky silver hair. The one with long silver strands holds his chin high and his shoulders back, indicating an impressive level of confidence, or that he holds a position of power among the group. Although both could be true.

The one with shorter silver hair has the opposite posture of the leader. His head is bowed and tilted to the side like he’s entranced by the floor beneath his feet. His wide shoulders are hunched, and his thick arms are crossed over his chest. If I had to guess, I’d say this guy wears shame like a coat he never takes off. But I have no guesses as to why. He’s rather beautiful in a rugged kind of way.

The other two golden beings look alike. One is a male leaning on a steel cane in his hand, with long black hair in tight braids, and the other is a female with the same bright eyes and kind smile, just with streaks of white in her hair.

“Sorry,” Chloe says, gritting her teeth. “We should’ve warned you about that.”

“No, it’s all right,” I reply, sitting up taller inside the tube, so the others can clearly see and hear me. “I apologize for my reaction. All the time inside this tube has made me a bit loopy,” I say with a chuckle, trying to gauge their temperament. These giant gold people seem terrified of me, which is laughable considering I’m barely five-foot-two.

“This is Varrek,” Chloe says as she drags the one with long silver hair toward me by the hand. “He’s the leader of our clan, and the daddy to this half-alien baby inside my gut!”

His striking green eyes hold mine as he bows slightly. “Greetings, Elle-noor,” he says with a strange pause in the middle of my name. I find it charming. “It is my honor to welcome you to Oluura.”

“Nice to meet you, Varrek,” I reply. “Did I say that right?”

“You did, yes,” he says with a proud grin. Then his gaze drifts to Chloe at his side as he puts a hand over her protruding belly. A grunt sounds behind him, and Varrek’s focus snaps back to the other golden ones. “Ah, yes. The members of my clan that I trust the most. Elle-noor, this is Ahlvo, my second-in-command,” he says as he points to the male with black hair and the cane.

“Also my mate!” Ava adds with an enthusiastic hop.

“And his mother, Kaiva, who is our resident healer,” Varrek continues, gesturing to the older female at Ahlvo’s side. “Ava helps her care for our clan.”

I knew they were related. I knew it.

“And, of course, Bruvix, my cousin, who has many talents, but who also rescued you from Bzzsil Chi,” Varrek adds, pointing to the only person left in the room. The one who still won’t lift his gaze from the floor. This is the one who saved me from the “terrible dude,” who I’m guessing is Bzzsil Chi.

Why won’t he look at me?

“You know,” Ava says, moving closer to my side. “I’m not sure this is the right moment to get into the whole Bzzsil Chi mess. Perhaps, let’s help her get settled in her new home first?”

“Yes,” Varrek mutters with a dip of his chin. “I misspoke, Elle-noor. I am sure Bruvix would be happy to provide those details another time.”

I’m...frustrated by the mention of my rescue and lack of information surrounding it, but I’m having trouble leaning into that frustration when Bruvix still won’t meet my eyes. What is his problem? I did scream at the top of my lungs when I first saw him and his buddies, but how else am I supposed to react after being woken up in a room full of aliens? “I look forward to that, Bruvix. Nice to meet you, by the way,” I holler, since his back is still pressed against the far wall.

He grunts. That’s it. Just a single grunt before pushing off the wall with his foot and striding quickly toward the front door. Seven steps are all it takes for his long, tree-trunk legs to take him out the exit. “Something I said?” I ask the girls once the door slams shut behind him.

“Don’t mind Bruvix. Happy is not an emotion he’s familiar with,” Chloe says with a laugh.

“He is a miserable fellow indeed,” Ahlvo adds.

Despite the harsh words, the familial love for Bruvix shows in Chloe’s expression, and in Ahlvo’s. Maybe he’s just the town grump.

“Just so you know, I’m here to listen anytime you want to vent or discuss your experience since being taken… if you want,” Ava says softly.

Chloe nods emphatically. “She’s great! Ava’s our resident therapist.”

Ava scoffs. “I was in school to become one, back on Earth, but then I was taken. Anyway, I’m here if you want to chat.”

I smile in response because I’m not sure what to say. My head is still spinning from the fact my unconscious body has been bouncing around space for three months. I just hope Frank is okay. I know my ex, Olivia, probably has him now, given that we were sharing custody. But it kills me that I may never see that goofy smile of his again.

“Here, let us help you,” Ava says as she takes my arm. Varrek rushes to my other side and guides me out of the tube. Once I’m on my feet, I take a few moments to stretch the numbness from my limbs and shake my muscles awake.

“So, how far are we from Earth?” I ask, pulling the elastic from my hair and retying it into a low bun.

Chloe and Ava give each other a look that’s a blend of panic and sorrow, and it makes my stomach drop. Then I catch Ava eyeing my left hand as she bites her lip, and when I look down, I see what she sees. The slim yellow gold band my grandmother left me. Her wedding ring which I’m wearing on my ring finger.

“I’m so sorry, Eleanor,” Ava says, her hand covering her mouth as she shakes her head. “I wish there was a way we could help you get back to Earth. But we can’t.”

Chloe bites her lip before adding, “There are several galaxies between ours and the Milky Way, and we have no means of safe travel from here to there. I–I’m sorry.”