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I’d imagined Aurelians would just be bigger, stronger versions of humans – with aesthetically enticing muscles and pale, white skin, but the same core humanity underneath.

They aren’t.

Those Aurelians I saw tonight reminded me that they’re an alien warrior species – who conquer, and kill, and take whatever they want. They might wear the veneer of order and civility; but it’s like putting a dog collar on a tiger – you can’t change their very nature.

In the old days, before the current Aurelian Empire lead by Queen Jasmine, the Aurelian species dominated the universe through force of arms and might of will.

They’d justtakehuman women as slaves, all in the impossible search for their Fated Mate. Women were viewed as treasures to their kind, not people.

Treasured or not – even if caged in the most luxurious of harems – women were consideredpropertyby those Aurelians; and one look into those slate-grey eyes tonight made me suspect that many Aurelians still feel the same way.

In fact, I know that Aurelians go Rogue now, because of that belief. They leave the Empire to follow the Old Ways – of slavery, and abduction, andownership.

Queen Jasmine may sit on the throne, but the throne is splintered. The entire Aurelian Empire has become fractured by her divisive stance on the rights of humans. Not all of the Aurelians share her progressive views on interspecies relations; and they’re becoming bolder in expressing that.

Jasmine might be leading the Empire in the right direction – allowing human-run planets to declare their independence from the Empire, and ensuring that women who flock to Aurelian harems are given a free, full education and salary when they leave...

…but Jasmine cannot change the nature of their species.

Seeing those three, powerful alien warriors up close tonight confirmed that for me. Deep down, even with just the glance I got, I could tell that they’re monsters – only held back from claiming whatever they want by a thin veneer of honor and pride.

When you strip away that illusion of civility, though, you’re left with a brute.

“But is that Aurelians? Or just men in general?”

I whisper the words out loud to myself. It’s too quiet in my room, and I need to hear myself speak to reassure my jangled nerves. I’ve been tossing and turning in bed for hours now, trying to find sleep – but it eludes me.

The Aurelians are tickling at my thoughts. It’s like there’s an itch I’ve always had in my psyche, but never knew how to calm until tonight – until I saw those three Aurelians in person.

Now, satisfying that itch is all I can think about.

Too quiet.

I freeze in bed.

Outside, the plodding, heavy footsteps of the Sentinels have stopped.

Normally, they continue like the ticking of a clock, all night long. They’ve become such a part of the chorus of the night that the silence seems louder in their absence.

Whyhave they stopped?

The glass of my window suddenly shatters.

I scream, tugging the thin sheet to my chest as a huge, brutish creature bursts into my room – leaping through the shattered window like a beast.

Oh, Gods – it’s him!

The leader of the Aurelians stands on the broken glass and splintered wood of my bedroom window – utterly demolished by his entrance.

The towering alien has a wild look in his eyes as he lurches across the room andgrabsat me.

I kick and scream, slamming my fists against him, but it’s like trying to fight off a man made of stone.

Effortlessly, the Aurelian’s hand covers my mouth, cutting my scream off. I bite as hard as I can, and I even taste blood – but the huge, steel-hard warrior doesn’t even flinch.

He wrenches me out of the bed, scooping me up as if I weigh nothing and carrying me right out of my bedroom window.

The towering warrior leaps from my window sill seemingly into empty air…