Gravity. It was a small beast that sat on my back, my chest, my head whispering that I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t strong enough to be betrothed to a werewolf prince of Alzar-4.

And not just any werewolf prince—a prince of House Nightclaw, which had just become the preeminent House of a new United Wolf Empire. Or was it a Wolves United Federation? My Alzarian language skills needed more practice.

Ahead of us on the wall screen, the white steles of Castle Nightfall appeared on the horizon. Ral lay next to me, asleep and naked on the massive bed. The suite in the shuttle for his Royal Specialness had a huge padded platform with a window, rather than seats as was the norm. “For comfort in wolf form,” he had claimed with a completely unconvincing grin.

I only had a moment to direct my best skeptical look at him. “You don’t like flying in wolf form.”

I was rewarded for that nugget of truth with a shifter-speed tackle on the bed.

“No. You’ve found out my dirty secret, Captain.” He had lowered his mouth to my ear. “I like flying and having sex with you.”

Now that was a secret I was delighted to be a part of.

Later, Ral stirred next to me and the sheet slipped off to reveal a sexy, firm ass with the most adorable dimples in the universe.

Even though I was sleeping in Ral’s bed, it was still odd to think that he had actually asked me to marry him. More shocking was that I agreed, even after he used me to start an intergalactic war. Which, oddly enough, had brought the half a dozen ongoing skirmishes in various sectors to a screeching halt while the diplomats talked more seriously. Apparently, it required a real declaration of war to bring about peace. Even if it was a cold, bitter interlude in which all sides frantically built up their arsenal in preparation for the coming war.

Only now, the war was against the undead.

Goose bumps crept like spryders along my skin as I thought of encountering those monstrous things without my exo-armor.

I couldn’t help but reach out to run a hand down Ral’s back, assuring myself of where I was and who I was with.

And sneak a quick pinch of that lovely butt of his.

“Skye,” Ral said, his voice low and teasing.

My core clenched involuntarily. It wasn’t fair how just the mere sound of my name from his mouth could make me do that. The rumors about werewolf stamina and insatiability when it came to sex?

That was one file to definitely tag “Confirmed.”

He turned toward me, revealing an even more impressive chest and torso. I had been in the military where nicely muscled dudes were as common as complaints. I had thought I was immune to that kind of physical distraction.

Ral smiled, and it felt like sunlight on my bare skin after a long mission in space.

Clearly Ral had proved me wrong.

The wall screen flashed on, showing us the outer-view as the shuttle approached the city.

“I want to show you something,” said Ral, making the screen zoom in. I could see the hints of modern weaponry and defenses—hovering spheres, spiked rooftops, slick walls—but overlaying it all was a riot of rainbow flowers everywhere, on the rooftops, on window boxes, in planters on the streets. Though the wolves of Nightclaw had a reputation for being ferocious in their love of fighting as well as their love of beauty.

“Do you like the flowers?” Ral zoomed in on a screen toward the approaching city.

“They’re beautiful.”

“They’re an integral part of city defenses,” he said. “The flowers are an Ealen creation, designed to confuse the sensitive shifter noses. The nicer they smell, the more poisonous and deadly they are. Don’t touch them if you can.”

“Plants.” I shook my head, thinking of all the weird alien plants I had come across. I was still haunted by the memory of the stalk swarms from basic training on Langyue. The little things had teeth and would wrap themselves around unsuspecting victims to inject them with a neuralytic paralyzer. “You can’t trust them.”

Ral laughed. “They are tasty though. And yes, we make our children eat them.”

“Poisonous flowers?”

“No, plants. Vegetables.”

I elbowed him. In the little time we’d been engaged, I had read up on Alzarian history and culture as much as I could. Of course, it didn’t help that most of the stuff seemed to be written by non-Alzarians. It also didn’t help that every time I asked Ral or one of the other werewolves of his personal guard, they would tell me that the book got something wrong.

“No, we do not send children out to hunt in a pack by themselves to learn before they are able to walk in human form.”

“No, we do not insist that pregnant women only eat things that are still squirming. Just because shifters prefer to eat things not made in labs doesn’t mean that we want to chase our meal off our plates.”

Being Gaian and an ex-Coalition pilot was one thing. Being human was another thing altogether.

I ran my fingers through his short dark hair. “Would it be easier for you if I was a werewolf?”

Ral’s look was serious. “Would you become one if you could?”

The question was moot. Only some humans could be turned after birth, depending on the predilections of their DNA. I didn’t have the right DNA for it, and even if I did, the Coalition nanites in my blood that had interfaced with my now-disintegrated armor wouldn’t allow such things to happen. “I don’t know. It might be kind of interesting to know how it is to run around on four legs.”

He shook his head. “You’d hate being a wolf.”

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t like turning furry every time your adrenaline shot up.”

“That would make flying difficult.” It was why the werewolves and the tigershifters couldn’t man space fighters as effectively as humans. Despite all their training, the stresses of flying tended to make them get furry in the cockpit. Few were able to maintain iron-like control over their forms.

Wait, if adrenaline was responsible for the shift, then what about…

He chuckled at the expression on my face. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“But —”

“In a healthy werewolf, desire makes changing… difficult. It’s like pissing when you have an erection.”

I gave him a side eye. “That wasn’t what I was thinking, you dirty wolf. I was thinking about how you managed to keep control in the cockpit when we were escaping from the tigershifters. How did you do that?”

He tilted my chin toward him. “I have excellent self-control.”

“Hmm.” My fingers following the muscled V-line around his hips. “Are you implying I can’t control myself?”

The toothy grin of a wolf on the verge of getting what he wanted spread across his face. “I like you out of control. I’d take you any way, any shape or form. Although it would be really cute to argue with you and see your teeth sharpening.”

I snapped at the air. “The better to bite you with, my dear.”

There was a familiar gleam in his eye. “How about now?”

I pointed at the window. “We’re about to land and meet your father in his office, who is not too pleased about you bringing me here, I might add, and you want to play.”

“My father can go bite himself. I would always rather play with you. Always.”

His strong muscled arm snaked around my waist and hauled me to him. He spooned me, cupping my breasts, pressed hard against my ass. “I can smell your apprehension. You just need to relax.”

Ral knew me too well. I spread my legs slightly, straddling the length of him, sheathing him with my desire. He let out a low rumble and rocked his hips in a powerful attempt to thrust into me.

But I wouldn’t let him take me that easily.

I shimmied my hips, sliding his cock against my nether lips, keeping him from entering me. I shook my head. “You’re going home. I’m going to a planet full of werewolves who can sniff out lies.”

Ral made a wolfish rumbling growl, even as I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll let you in on a secret. It’s only I who can tell when you’re lying because I’ve memorized every molecule of your scent. I can also tell when you when you’re in the mood to be fucked. So, hold still and let me fuck you.”

I dodged another of his thrusts, painting him slippery with my juices. “I’m having too much fun.”

And then with that werewolf shifter strength, he had flipped me underneath him. He pinned me, his cock at my entrance.

Ral shook his head. “Such insolent disobedience.”

I licked my lips, enjoying his hungry gaze on them. “Then punish me.”

His hands were suddenly on my hips, his easy strength holding me in place. I struggled against his physical dominance and kicked out my legs, but all it did was nestle his blunt tip farther into my opening. I let out a moan as my hips thrust involuntarily, betraying my desperate need to have him filling me.

But one flick of those chiseled abs and he moved with me, mimicking my rhythm, teasing me with the promise of unfulfilled completion.

And now the tables had turned.

Ral grinned that delicious wolfish grin. “Ready to surrender, my dear Captain Skye?”

“Never.”

He lowered his mouth to my breast, his hand between my legs. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

* * *

Ral’s crew on his royal flagship had gradually changed the ship’s gravitational settings over the course of the journey to help me adjust to Alzar-4’s stronger gravity, but I was aware of the uncomfortable difference with my first steps on the surface.

An honor guard lined both sides of the path to the castle. Gravity shoved itself into every fiber of my body, trying to drag me down. It was making me nauseous.

Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.

Ral held my hand. “Look up, Skye.”

I did as he asked and was surprised by unexpected beauty.

Castle Nightfall was a huge castle hewn from rock and steel designed for intimidation with immense skyward-aiming steles. From a distance, it was a fearsome sight. But inside, it was a place of thick white soaring columns and vast open spaces of sunlight and exotic greenery that exuded the most amazing scents I had ever smelled. An elegantly designed creek in the Ealen style ran through parts of the castle grounds, surrounded by lush foliage and stocked with colorful fish. It was filled with people, all of whom welcomed Ral back with exclamations of excitement and joy.

And through it all, Ral’s smile became wider, showing more of his white teeth, even as he became more formal and distant.

When we were alone for a moment, I squeezed his hand. “No place like home?”

“This isn’t my home,” Ral said to me.

“I know,” I said, squeezing his hand, not sure if I was trying to comfort him or myself. Ral had grown up with his human merc mother on a different planet. And from what I could tell, Ral and his father, Tazoren, didn’t see eye to eye often.

We had headed directly for his father’s office, who met us behind a massive desk covered with floating screens.

A single swipe made everything blink out.

“Father,” said Ral, formally.

“Prince Ral,” returned his father. His father’s eyes flickered to me, cautious and calculating. Ral had told his father of his intentions before coming to Gaia to find me. His father, suffice it to say, had not agreed.

I had been told not to speak to his father until I was spoken to. But I was still a free citizen of the Coalition. “Your majesty,” I said. “Pictures and vids do not do Castle Nightfall any justice.”

His father raised his eyebrow at my clear violation of protocol and glanced at Ral.

Ral only smiled at me.

His father sighed. “Captain,” he said, finally acknowledging me. “It is an honor to host a decorated soldier of the Coalition.”

He looked at Ral. “This is not an easy path you’ve chosen.”

“No. But it is the one that I have chosen.”

They did their alpha staring thing at each other, and something significant seemed to pass between them.

Tazaren looked at me and let out another sigh. He was sighing an awful lot. It was probably a good sign since I knew Ral had ignored the “strongly worded advice” his father had given him in regards to his relationship with me. “I assume you will be properly prepared for the dinner this evening?”

It was dinner. What was there to prepare for? I smiled as confidently as I could. “Of course.”

Ral squeezed my hand and winked at me. “The House stylist is already awaiting her in my suite.”

Oh no. I knew that wink. That wink meant trouble.

“Good,” said Tazaren. He nodded to Ral and turned his back to us. “I will see you both this evening.”

As we left his father’s office, Ral leaned into me. “I’m going to introduce you at the state dinner tonight.”

I stopped and grabbed his forearm. “What?” I had brought weapons, smart armor, tools, but nothing that would prepare me for a formal state dinner.

He laughed. “Clearly a dinner with my family is more terrifying than flying an unarmored ship through space.”

“How many people are going to be there?”

“Five hundred, more or less.”

“Are you crazy? I have nothing to wear. Why can’t we just take it slow, tea here, dinner there?”

Ral shook his head. “People would read too much into those meetings, who gets to meet you first, whether it’s tea versus dinner. This way, we introduce you to everyone at once, and people know I have nothing to hide.”

Ral leaned closer. “And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to get worked up about it.”

“But I have nothing to wear.”

He winked. “I’ve taken care of that. Or rather, Klince will.”