HARPER
“You know, Harper,” Zared began, “as my mate you are not required to train or serve.”
“I’m not playing that card, Zare,” I replied. “Being your mate doesn’t make me better than they are. It should not have any bearing on whether I train to serve some useful purpose here. I’m not asking to go on missions.”
“I won’t allow it,” he replied and it sounded like an order.
I gave him a defiant look. “What? You what?”
“You don’t have the training for the kind of missions we have ahead of us.” He gripped my upper arms gently. “That’s what I meant. Training with the other Earth women is your choice. What did you think I meant?”
“That I couldn’t train.” I looked up into his beautiful violet eyes. “I wish you didn’t have to go on those missions.”
“I wish there was no need for them,” he said quietly and slid his arms around me and pulled me against him in a tender hug. “We were looking forward to some time off to be home and spend time with our families before this happened. Now it’s all gone.”
I laid my head against his chest and hugged him back as he rested his cheek against the top of my head. I had no argument for that logic. What happened on his world was reprehensible. I knew that he was the kind of man who would have to get his people out of slavery. I was afraid for him, but I wouldn’t ask him not to go. That would only hurt him more.
The program they put together for us was more than just physical training. We learned about their technology and the worlds of the Consortium and the numerous humanoid races among their worlds. The more we learned, the more we knew we needed to learn. It also helped me feel less displaced.
Once the biochip kicked in, Zared gave me this tiny little disk about the size of a quarter that was a computer. It was a disk with a touch pad for my thumb that activated a virtual screen that activated a holographic display. It was just about the coolest thing I ever had. Once I could read and write their language, it became useful. I was thrilled because I could write again! That’s when I started this journal starting when I was taken.
When I thought about everything that happened to me since that evening, it seemed almost surreal. I had three new best friends and a soulmate with whom I was falling in love. Except for the fact that I was completely cut off from my family and my home world, I was happy.
Well that and the fact that Zared was getting ready to go on a potentially dangerous mission. That scared me more than a little, though he kept reassuring me that this was not the first dangerous mission. He was good at what he did and I shouldn’t worry. He didn’t get to be Commander General by getting people or himself hurt or killed.
There is always some war going on back on Earth. I had seen what it does to people. Falling in love with a warrior would not have been my first choice, but with Zared I had no choice. The mission that brought them to rescue us at the slave auction house was only the beginning.
“I thought you were crazy, falling for that hot commander,” Scarlet remarked as we were having a leisurely lunch in the mess hall. “But that Pyrr is pretty hot as well. I see him watching me when he thinks I’m not looking.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, “he’s got his eyes on you all right. Are you going to cut him a break or keep him dangling?”
“After listening to you worrying about your commander, I’m not so sure I want to pair up with any of these guys. I’ve seen way too many soldiers come back in body bags.”
“So, you’d rather be alone than risk falling for somebody because you might lose them?” I asked.
Scarlet didn’t answer right away. Finally, she said, “Been there, done that. We were in Afghanistan and his truck got it from a roadside bomb. We were getting married when we got back to the states in a few months. And he was gone.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.” Her eyes filled with unshed tears.
“You’re scared. Believe me I get that. Anytime you care for someone and let them into your life, you risk losing them for whatever reason.” I told her. “They say some women don’t want to commit. The guys are even worse.
“You practically have to be a mind reader. Almost from the first day they are after you for sex. So finally, you say ok. You have sex and it’s not half bad, so you think it’s going to be a relationship. Days go by and they don’t call, they don’t message, nothing. The next thing you know they’re going out with Mary what’s-her-name like nothing ever happened between you.”
“I hear you,” she said. “I’ve been there, too. What do you think, Zoe?”
“They’re all pretty exotic looking, but those muscles. They all are so gorgeous and sexy. I don’t know if I can pick just one.
“So take, two.” I giggled. “Some men like to share.”
“What about you, Nora?”
“They’ve all been pretty nice. But there isn’t really one I like better than the others,” she said. “It’s been months, and I’m still trying to wrap my mind around being kidnapped by aliens. I don’t even like sci-fi.” She grumbled and we laughed.
“Well, if this were sci-fi,” I said, “we could be watching it, not living it.”