1
Emma
“Emma? Hey, Emma!”
The muffled sound of someone calling my name wakes me, and I roll over. Sunlight streams through the curtains, warm and bright.
For half a moment, I think I’m still on Earth, waking up in my own soft bed in my tiny studio apartment. As if the last months have just been a dream, something entirely made up in my head.
But then I open my eyes and remember where I am.
Kalix.
A few months ago, I was abducted from Earth by a horrifying alien race called the Orkun. Well… actually, I was technically sold to them by my own government. Traded as a tribute bride to an Orkun warlord in exchange for advanced weapons and protection for the human race. Luckily, another alien race called the Kalixians rescued me and the other tribute brides before the wedding “ceremony” could take place.
After the abduction, the rescue, the crash, our stay on the trading planet Wauru, and the battle with an alien mob boss, we finally made it back to Kalix, the home world of the gladiator race who saved us. And by order of their prince, Khrelan, we’ve all been installed in a living complex similar to the apartment buildings I’m used to back on Earth. Our accommodations are provided free of charge until he and his advisors can figure out what’s to be done with us.
Will they allow us to integrate into their society—to work and learn and become a part of them? To potentially continue mate bonding with their males, as Rose and Harper and Autumn have done?
Or will we be sent back to Earth? Back to our former lives?
“Emma! Come on, lazybones! You awake yet?”
This time, the voice is followed by knocking, and I groan as I shove the covers back and sit up. I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips though. Lucy, another one of the women who was abducted by the Orkun, is housed in the pod next to mine, and she’s a very exuberant neighbor.
Some of the women might still be ambivalent about settling down on an alien planet, but Lucy isn’t one of them. She’s the type to make the best of her situation, and she clearly loves the adventure of it all. In fact, she’s been trying to get one of the warriors, Tycran, to notice her for weeks. It’s been almost comical to watch how completely oblivious he is to her interest.
“Coming,” I mumble, standing up and shuffling through the small living space. “I’m coming!”
The pod, which is a little bigger than a studio apartment, is more luxurious than anything I could have afforded on Earth working my minimum-wage retail job. It has three rooms. A main living room/bedroom, a small kitchen, and a washroom. The walls are all a glass-like material, which can be adjusted with a remote to either show the outside world on one side, with the other three able to cycle through six different color options, or be entirely enclosed with one of those color options. There are long, flowing drapes made out of some velvety material that can be drawn over the “glass” wall if it remains see-through at night, and I’ve fallen asleep almost every night that way, with the drapes mostly drawn and just the glimpse of the city lights peeking through.
The second I open the door, Lucy practically bounds inside, grinning brightly at me. Her blonde hair tumbles over her shoulder, longer than my own brunette locks.
“Hey, sleepyhead.” She chuckles. “I thought maybe you slipped into a coma.”
I roll my eyes as I shut the door. Lucy and I have become closer since we all settled into our pods a week ago. I’m a little shy and don’t always make friends quickly, but she’s so outgoing that it doesn’t really matter.
“Nah,” I tell her. “No coma. Just felt like sleeping in a little.”
“Sleeping in?” She looks aghast. “Who has time to sleep when there’s so much to see? So much to do? We’re on a freaking alien planet!”
I grin. “True.”
Honestly, I was really excited to come to Kalix. I’ve always been a bit of a nerd, the girl who loved sci-fi books and reading about fantastical adventures. But since we arrived here, I’ve been grappling with the difference between fiction and reality. It’s one thing to read about all of this crazy stuff—and something else entirely to live it.
Truth be told, I haven’t ventured out of my little pod all that often over the past week, despite promising Lucy that I’d go exploring with her. The newness and strangeness of this place, as amazing as it is, can also be a bit terrifying.
“Rose asked some of the girls to come to her place today. We should go,” Lucy adds. Then she waggles her eyebrows at me. “We can check out the sights on the way.”
I can’t help but laugh. I’m pretty sure she’s not talking about the buildings or the scenery. She’s talking about the men.
And this planet is full of them.
Years ago, the Orkun killed off nearly all Kalixian women, unleashing a virus that tore through the female population. Only a few women still live, and they’re no longer of child-bearing age. That’s why it was such a big deal when Rose formed a mate bond with Tordax, the commander of the Alpha Force, the Kalixian military team that rescued us. Then Harper and Malav bonded, and then Sorsir found Autumn and the two of them paired up as well.
It’s a bit of a divisive topic here on Kalix.
Tordax and his men believe that the human/Kalixian mate bond could be the best chance for the Kalixian race to survive. But others think they’re better off dying out rather than mixing with another species, believing that mingling Kalixian and human blood will only weaken them further.
From what I can tell, the prince hasn’t come down firmly on one side or the other, despite the fact that his best commander and his primary military advisor are both mated to human women.
“Yeah, okay.” I gesture to the small couch, which is sleek and seamless. “Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”
“Sure thing.”
Lucy settles onto the couch as I slip into the little washroom to shower. I quickly scrub my short, wavy brown hair, letting the hot water stream over me.
We’ve been provided with some Kalixian clothes, and I also have several outfits I bought on the trading planet Wauru. I decide to wear one of the former today—a deep green dress made out of a silk-like material. I didn’t wear dresses much back on Earth, but I have to admit I like the way this one flatters my curves. It gives me a little boost of confidence, and I hope it will help Lucy and me blend in better on the streets of Jocia.
Ha. Fat chance of that. We don’t have horns or color-changing eyes, for one thing.
And we’re women, which makes us stand out like two sore thumbs.
“Gorgeous,” Lucy declares when I step back into the main room of my pod. She’s wearing a dress too, and I try not to be jealous of the way she moves so gracefully in it. She was a stripper back on Earth, and she’s got a natural ease about her that I wish I had. I’m more the kind of person who considers it a victory when I manage to walk in a straight line without tripping over my own feet.
It’s a gorgeous day out in Jocia, the capital city of Kalix. The weather is warm and breezy, and Lucy and I take our time as we head over to Rose and Tordax’s house. Unlike the rest of us, Rose, Harper, and Autumn all live with their mates.
A little twinge of envy rises inside me at the thought. I want that. Not the house to live in, necessarily. But someone to live with. A mate.