Page 5 of The Alien Warrior's Vow

Lans growled.

Chozo flashed him a scared look and eased away from her. “Emma, no.”

“Sh.” She pointed to Sara. “She’s talking.”

“My heras, what is this about?” Korben asked Sara, staring at her with a befuddled expression.

Pin rubbed Kia’s shoulders. The couple had been near inseparable since that harrowing incident with the jelly aliens and their weird, raider friends. Emma didn’t fault them. That night, she’d been pretty sure she was about to get carted back to the auction house.

“I was told this pertained to our plan.” Pin studied his mate.

“Babe,” Kia whispered, pecking his lips, “let her talk.”

The alien warrior’s eyes softened after that.

Gosh.

These Plutonians were fierce in every way, but they turned into melted wax with their mates.

It was almost cute.

Almost.

“First of all, we want to offer our condolences.” Sara glanced at each of the warriors. “We heard about the loss you suffered today.” She licked her dark lips and her eyes lingered on her mate. “We know how important every Plutonian warrior is to your species.”

Korben took Sara’s hand and rubbed it gently. “Thank you.”

Emma could feel Lans’s stare burning into her cheek. His deep rumble skittered over the table and slammed her in the heart. “Why do I get the feeling that you did not gather us all in here just to apologize?”

“What if we did?”

Lans leaned over. Despite the fact that he wasallthe way across the table, Emma felt as if he were pushing her into the wall. She only managed to keep her expression plain because she’d had years practicing how to appear disinterested. Still, her pulse kicked off like a race horse.

“Actually, Lans is right.” Sara licked her lips. “We had a meeting—”

“We?”

“Us girls.” Simone nodded at her mate, Zar. Like all the other warriors, Zar had muscles upon muscles beneath that blue skin. Because he’d been in captivity, his hair was thinning in places, so he wore it pasted back. The style only highlighted his rugged good looks. Simone gestured to her. “Uswomen, I mean.”

Lilliana nudged Tiegan in the side. “We called it the Council of Females. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

He smiled politely and inched away.

Emma wished Lilliana good luck, but she didn’t see the alien looking at her the way the other Plutonians looked at their mates.

“And what exactly did the Council of Females decide?” Korben asked gravely, as if he, too, could already sense what was coming.

“Emma?” Sara gestured to her.

She stood and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Plutonians, we’d like to join the war.”

Three

Lans

The room wentquiet for a moment and then it exploded with chaos. Lans ignored everything happening around him as his eyes narrowed on Eema. She stood tall and regal, completely unmoved as his comrades shouted their objections.

Lans saw the determination in Eema’s eyes. The stubbornness.