AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He leads me toward the glittering gangway of his vessel. I hesitate before putting a foot on it, and he humors me by not simply lifting me up and carrying me on. I cannot forget that this alien believes he owns me. I have become his property in his mind, as much as he has become my property in my mind, though the practicalities of ownership still escape me.
I look up at him, wondering if it is a smart idea to ask this question. “Why is someone like you buying a mate?”
He answers me patiently, even as the dock starts to become very sparse. Most of the other ships have already fled, but he has time to set my mind at ease. “It has been made clear to me that it is my job to provide the family with heirs, and that my position among my pride depends on it.”
“So why would you want a human mate?”
He shifts uncomfortably, as if he does not want to answer the question. To his credit, he does, even though the answer is not flattering to either one of us.
“Humans are small and easy to control. I do not have time to hunt and tame a female of my own species. You will be much easier to handle.”
At first I just smirk a little, but then I can’t help it. A full blown laugh escapes me. He has absolutely no idea who he has bought.
“You see? You laugh at the realization of your marital captivity. A female of my own species would attempt to disembowel me as a means of testing me.”
“The female of the species is more deadly than the male,” I quip.
“Yes,” he agrees. “Scientifically proven. Now, please, let us go. I have reason to believe the law will be raiding this station soon.”
I resist just a little, because I have to make absolutely, doubly, triply sure that he is really going to help me.
“Sure. But we’re going to my farm, right? You’re going to help me fend off the Growlers, right? Because I’m not going to pretend to be your bride if you don’t.”
I am now holding onto the gangway just sort of casually, but also quite tightly. I want a promise before I agree to go with him. A pinky swear, if he had a pinky. I suppose he technically does, but it’s more like a huge furry.
“You’re not going to pretend to be my bride,” he says. “You are going to be my mate. It will be undeniable when I present you to my pride. You will not have to prove a thing, and nor will I.”
I’m not so sure about that. He assumes he’s bought some submissive human who will play a dutiful part in his charade. I’ve never been submissive, and I have no intention of leaving my farm. But I need for him to come with me and help me, and I guess if he does…
“Help me clear the bandits from my home, and I’ll be your mate, I guess, if you want.” I can’t help but sound doubtful. Azlan is the most handsome male creature I have ever laid eyes on, of any species, in any time. I am no supermodel. I am pretty enough, I suppose, but in a plain and normal kind of way. His mane puts my dirty blonde locks to shame, the thickness of his hair making my frizzy flyaways even more egregious in comparison. My skin is spotty and pale compared to his, my body is less than half his size. I feel absolutely weak and, yes, if I am pressed, pathetic in comparison to him.
And yet, he wants me. It doesn’t make sense, but he has the cuffs with my name on them. I can see them partly sticking out of his back pocket.
He doesn’t bother to use them.
He doesn’t need to.
I think about running. Not seriously, because I’d be running into an illegal alien slave market that is about to be raided, but in the brief way all prey must think about running. It’s an instinctual blip that passes without action.
Azlan opens a paw and makes a guiding gesture to me, as if accepting my deal and ushering me up the gangway. I suppose it’s time I start walking, swallow the fear that I have made a huge mistake by coming to this lawless place, and put myself at the mercy of a massive Leonid alien like Azlan.
“Relax,” he says, putting a heavy paw on my shoulder as he steers me into the interior of his ship, which I find to be plush and ornate. Imagine a jungle, now imagine a very nice, ancient, let’s say circa 2023, living room. Then imagine those two things being combined together with some kind of artificial intelligence, and you have the interior of Azlan’s ship.
There are plants everywhere, big green leafy things providing cover and making the very large internal spaces feel somewhat cozy, at least in parts. We enter through a relatively narrow foyer of sorts, and then step into what I can only describe as a grand hall. I can see the bridge located up two sets of golden stairs wound with green ivy. It is open to this space in large part, so the captain and anybody there can look down and see what is going on below. There’s something slightly odd about the way this ship is set up, though I can’t quite put my finger on it exactly.
“Wow,” I breathe. “This is just incredible.”
“It’s a nice ship,” Azlan says, polite and yet guarded. I find myself wondering what is hidden behind his apparently gentlemanly exterior. I feel as though he has probably been honest with me, but at the same time there is a certain superficiality to his comportment. This is a male who keeps his secrets to himself.
“It looks like it was designed for a large crew, but it doesn’t seem as though anybody else is aboard?” The ship has that particular kind of feeling that large, empty spaces have, a certain echo that only seems to be present where sentient beings are not. It’s the difference between an empty room and a room with a cat in it. They don’t feel the same.
“I came alone, given this is a highly illegal act, and there were likely to be objections to it,” he says. “There are others in my family invested in keeping me from maintaining my status.”
“Oh. Family drama. Right. I kind of miss that.”
“You have no family?”
“I did, once, but things happened to them one by one, and now it’s just me.” I force a smile, though not very successfully. “The asteroid we farm has been in my family for generations. I guess being there makes me feel like I haven’t really lost them. I use the tools they used, I feed myself with crops from seeds they gathered. As long as the farm lives, my family lives.”
