“I’m sorry, Lanis, but this girl is not the one. In a nutshell, she simply will not do.”

The high council member looked down her long nose and sniffed. “Again, Kari? Why are you so quick to veto every girl I present? Is it me, or is there some other reason you insist on being so difficult, besides the fact you used to be the old king’s lover? It’s annoying enough that you object, but throwing human phrases at me, too? Pray tell, what in the two suns of Galaxa do nuts have to do with finding the king an appropriate mate?”

Kari smirked at the sour expression on the woman’s face. “Nuts have everything to do with choosing a mate, Lannie baby, and if you don’t understand, then it has been way too long since you got any.”

The older councilor’s lips puckered like she sucked on a lemon. “Watch your tone, miss. I’m still the senior elder at this table and haven’t I told you a thousand times not to call me that ridiculous name? Your time on Earth did you a disservice regardless of what Vander thinks. How you ended up on this council is beyond me.”

Kari shrugged again. “You answered your own question, Lanis. My time on Earth expanded my view and Vander agrees. Galaxa is a warrior planet and it could use a little enlightenment. As to my being on this council, Vander wanted a voice of reason among the kiss-ass bootlickers too afraid to change the status quo. This unwillingness to change is part of the reason Galaxa is in its current state. We need new blood, Lanis, and importing females from Nova Aurora is not the answer. We have a shared lineage with them and that makes them susceptible to whatever is killing our women here.”

“And you really think you alone can sway the entire council?”

Kari considered the high elder and the doubt in her silver eyes. “Possibly. I made a difference in Vander’s life before and no one can deny it. You forget, I was more than just Vander’s father’s lover. I was his maîtresse-en-titre when he was king and Vander’s governess. I’ll know when the girl is right for my boy.”

Lanis lifted her chin. “The king is not your boy, and just because you were his father’s mistress after Vander’s poor mother died doesn’t give you the right to veto every woman I bring before this council. I personally chose this girl from one of the best families on Nova Aurora and she comes with an enormous dowry.”

“It doesn’t matter. She has no shine.”

Lanis threw a hand in the air. “Shine? Is that another pretty human phrase?”

With a sigh, Kari shook her head. “No. It means she doesn’t have what it takes to awaken the xenos in Vander.” Her eyes met Lanis’s and softened. “The girl you chose is beautiful, Lannie. Regal even, but she doesn’t possess that certain something to stir what’s necessary in our king. I have no doubt she could stir lust in any man, but that’s not our aim. We need a mate for Vander. A true mate. Not a playmate.”

Lanis exhaled, lifting her hand in surrender. “Fifteen girls, Kari, and you’ve found fault with each and every one. I give up. I’m exhausted.” The older woman sat on the council bench.

Kari plopped down next to her elder and pushed her long silver hair from her shoulder. “It was the same flaw in all of them, Lannie. They were all missing that one vital ingredient.”

The high councilor sighed. “I wish you could explain yourself, Kari, because lord knows I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Vander is special, Lanis. It’s in his eyes and how they glow with power. It’s as if the xenos is seething below the surface of his skin just waiting for the right one to free it from inner captivity. It’s close. The woman he takes for his mate must be strong enough to tame the animal within the king and share its wild nature. It is the same for all our warriors. We need help.”

Lanis’s lips parted, and then she pressed them together. “No, I will not have my position seized or my obligation to our king and planet compromised by an earthbound shifter. Vander’s eyes have not shifted to the green we all wait for.”

Chuckling, Kari watched the mood walls surrounding the council room change to a soft, pale green. “You need to cool your jets, girlfriend. Even the walls think you’re wound too tightly.” She paused. “If it’s any consolation, Vander doesn’t like the idea of a matchmaker, either.”

Lanis crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked. “I’ll credit his father for that bit of common sense.” She looked at her sister and exhaled. “It looks like we’re at an impasse, Kari. What do we do?”

The younger elder laced her fingers with the older woman’s hand. “We convince the king.”

* * *

Vander Kasaval studied the newest candidate through his floor to ceiling monitor. He didn’t know her name or much else about her, other than she was the daughter of a rich lord from Nova Aurora and the next in a long procession of females paraded for him as a possible mate. He exhaled, raking a hand through his hair.

“Now that doesn’t look promising.”

Vander smirked at the familiar voice behind him, but didn’t turn. “Not even close, my friend.” He slid his eyes past his shoulder to Damen Iceri, his chief of security. “Did you come to share my pain or just amuse yourself?”

He answered with a laugh. “Both.” Damen’s eyes flicked to the garden scene on the monitor. “Is she the latest?”

The king nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Unfortunately? What’s wrong with this one? From the look of her, Lanis truly outdid herself this time.”

Vander turned to his friend. “The woman is beautiful. I won’t argue that, but her narrow frame is too delicate. One deep thrust between those skinny legs and she’d snap like a wishbone.”

Damen’s snort left the king with a raised eyebrow. “We both know Galatian warriors are large compared to most, and you? You’re freakishly big, especially when you’re getting your freak on.”

Vander’s lip curled at his friend’s pun. “Nice. I’m looking for back up and you’re more interested in being a comedian.”

Damen grinned. “Hey, what are friends for?”

“Ha! Yeah, well, then who needs enemies?”

The security chief glanced at the monitor once again. “My sources tell me this one’s somehow connected to Alyx. If she’s a purebred Auroran, then I’m not surprised she’s small. From what I hear, Alyx has a matchmaker hooking up half the alphas and powerbrokers on Nova Aurora with humans, and it’s solved most of their problems. I also hear they are the total opposite of Lanis’s pick.” He gestured toward the screen with a wink. “The matchmaker’s girls are full and curvy and utterly mouthwatering, but I’d have to check my reports.”

“Your reports?” The king frowned.

“I know it’s not considered good interplanetary politics to spy on your sister planet, but yeah, I have video surveillance.” Damen grinned. “Makes for pretty interesting viewing, if you catch my drift.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“Have things gotten so bad, men have resorted to self-satisfying via an audiovisual link to our sister planet? Next you’ll be asking me permission to pipe in satellite porn from Earth.”

Damen made a face. “If that’s your attitude, then you haven’t been paying attention, Vander. The female situation is bad. The rest of us don’t have a council parading a daily lineup of women for us to swipe left or right.”

The severity on his friend’s face made Vander pause. “You’re wrong, Damen. I have been listening, and believe it or not, I read your reports. In fact, you mentioned Alyx’s matchmaker. I asked Ms. Wilder to come and help our situation. Galaxan men deserve mates.”

“What about the Galaxan king?”

Vander shook his head. “It’s not that simple, my friend. As king, I should be able to find my own mate.”

“I don’t know, Vander. Alyx argued the same point with his council, even going so far as to reject the matchmaker’s offer to help, dismissing her special talents. But the woman ended up finding him a perfect mate before he could blink.”

Vander snorted again. “Friend or not, what the Auroran king does on his planet is his business. I doubt a human would fit the bill here. I need a strong woman, independent, and used to managing big things. She has to be able to handle size, Damen. Galaxa is twice the mass of Nova Aurora and far less civilized in places, if you know what I mean.”

Damen laughed even louder. “You’re worried about finding a woman who can handle size? Are you sure you’re talking about Galaxa and not your extra-large royal package?”

A slow grin tweaked the corner of Vander’s mouth. “That’s a given.”

“Listen, I know you’re king, but if you’re already enlisting Ms. Wilder’s help for everyone else, why not ask her to look around for you? What’s the worst that can happen?”

Vander looked at the thin, elegant woman in the monitor and the troubled faces of his elders as they assessed her. Kari glanced up in that moment as though she knew he watched. She caught his eye, her face unenthusiastic as she quietly shook her head, motioning to the woman. With a shrug, she blew him a kiss.

The king nodded at the cherished woman and then touched his fingers to his lips, acknowledging her kiss.

Damen moved beside his friend, watching the exchange. “After all these years, she’s still got your back, huh.”

“Kari is the closest thing to a mother I have—” He paused and glanced toward his friend. “I don’t know what Jag and I would have done without her when growing up. So, yeah, she’s got my back.”

“I thought my ears were burning for a reason.”

Both Vander and Damen turned. “Jag, what are you doing back?” Vander asked, moving to clasp arms with his brother. “Any word?”

Jag shook his head. “Four more found dead. The same symptoms. The bodies were found outside the city walls on the edge of the great sand ocean. The women were last seen in the marketplace before they vanished. Their families have been notified. Along with their bodies, the items they purchased are being catalogued. The merchants are in the process of being questioned. As far as we can tell, the women had nothing in common, but we’re still looking.”

Vander moved to his desk, his face severe. “That brings the death total for the palace to seventy over the past six months and that’s doesn’t include the number of dead in the outlying villages.”

“The number is far higher here,” Damen added. “There has to be something connecting them all.”

Jag took the file from under his arm and put it on his brother’s desk. “The only thing we’ve been able to find is they all had been to a spa or spring house in the past month.”

“The same one?” Damen asked.

“No.” Jag shook his head. “That would have been too easy a common denominator.”