Page 17 of Alien on the Moon (Thryal Mates #3)

Elena

“Surprise!” the crowd all called out at the same time.

Everyone was waiting for them, all the workers of the stations—from the researchers to the sanitation staff and the chefs. Her sisters and their mates had even arrived for the surprise, which of course included the prince.

“Oh my god!” Elena said as she stepped into the cafeteria with Rylan.

Elena almost jumped out of her shoes at the shock. But luckily, Rylan was there to hold her still. Elena was starting to feel that would be the case for the rest of her life. And it made her smile more than any part of the celebration that was waiting for them.

The whole crowd clapped and cheered for them. After a moment, Elena managed to notice the banner hanging behind the crowd. It read: Thank You!

Rylan held her hand tightly as they soaked in the moment. She looked up at him and he down at her. Both beamed with unmeasurable pride.

Elena couldn’t help but think this was all for Rylan, and he deserved every moment of it. And she assumed he was probably thinking the same thing about her.

After a moment, Arccoo stepped forward toward the pair. Elena held her breath, unsure of what to expect the prince to say.

“Congratulations,” he said through a huge smile. “To both of you.”

“Your Highness,” Rylan said. “What’s going on here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” The prince laughed. “We’re celebrating two of the brightest minds my kingdom has to offer. The two of you.”

“Right,” Rylan said. “Of course. But is that smart? We still have so much work to do. Do you really have the resources or the time for something like this?”

Even in the face of success, Rylan was thinking about the work. Elena thought at the moment that it was one of the best things about him. He was always striving to do more, do better.

“Yes,” Arccoo said as he placed a hand on Rylan’s shoulder. “We do. We have more than enough of both now, thanks to you. Everything that’s being served tonight was harvested from the fields this morning. And the process is automated enough that it can be left alone for one celebratory dinner. Don’t you think?”

“I suppose so…” Rylan breathed out.

“Take some time,” Arccoo said. “Enjoy this moment. You’ve more than earned it. And if it makes you feel any better, consider it an official order from your prince.”

Arccoo turned around just as the doors to the kitchen burst open. Plate after plate of the most delicious smelling food Elena had encountered since arriving there was brought out.

“Ready to enjoy the celebration of all our hard work?” Elena laughed as she squeezed Rylan’s hand.

“Might as well be, it was an order,” Rylan joked back.

Elena gladly joined the table piled high with food with Rylan by her side. They sat at the head of the table with the prince and her sisters, but they might as well have been alone.

Elena kept her eyes on him, and he returned the favor. They barely looked away from each other long enough to make sure their forks hit food.

Elena was happy just talking to him. They chatted about the work they did and the work they still had ahead of them. How they could fine-tune the machines. How they could adjust it for other types of crops and terrain.

Watching Rylan talk about something he was passionate about had quickly become Elena’s favorite pastime. She could do it forever and never feel the need to say anything herself. He was just so smart, and his voice was like music to her ears.

After dinner, the atmosphere shifted to a more traditional party. Music played over the intercom system. Treats and desserts were brought out. Groups split up to play party games.

It was a true celebration, better than any party in any palace, Elena decided. While they had more work to do, Elena was proud of what she was able to do to solve the problem. The kingdom was saved, and food would be made here to feed countless mouths.

About two hours after dinner wrapped up, the party was still going on. Elena decided to retreat to the refreshment table. Rylan had been pulled aside for another interrogation session by her sisters, and Elena couldn’t bear to watch.

At the table, Arccoo approached her again. He once again had a huge smile on his face.

“What is it?” Elena asked.

“I don’t know if I should say,” he said with a sly smile.

“But you want to say? Don’t you?”

“Just… When we get back to Thryal, I’ll have some good news for you.”

“Oh my god,” Elena said as she rolled her eyes. “Just tell me now! What difference does it make?”

“I don’t know if I can tell you yet,” Arccoo said with a smirk, refusing to make eye contact with her.

“If you don’t tell me right now, I’m running to Carmen, and I’ll tell her.”

“Tell her what exactly?” He laughed.

“I don’t know, I’ll make something up and she’ll believe me and be mad at you. So just tell me!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you. You’ve impressed people with your work here.”

“That’s the news?” Elena laughed. “That’s not news. I know that.”

“No, you don’t understand. You’ve impressed the right people. Back home, word of your work here has reached the royal scientists. And you’ve gotten their attention.”

Elena could barely hear the words as he spoke. Her mind just kept racing with the possibilities. The royal scientists were no joke. They were doing some of the most important work in the kingdom. To have their attention meant you’d done something right. Or something very wrong.

“The royal scientists?”

“Yes,” Arccoo said with a smile. “The royal scientists. Those royal scientists. And they’re impressed with you. You’ve been invited to join the Royal Institute.”

“Me?”

“How could they not be?”

Elena couldn’t believe it. This was all she’d been dreaming of for so long. She was given a chance to show off her intelligence. And it worked. Now no one could deny how valuable her mind was.

As just a simple human, it had been an uphill battle for her since arriving on Arccoo’s planet. And she was starting to believe the day would never come when she could really make a name for herself. The attention of the top royal scientists was something of a far-off dream she thought she could never achieve.

Their attention was always treated as something to earn. She knew she’d need to prove herself in the field, but she just needed an opportunity that it seemed would never come. Finally, here that moment was, and she couldn’t have been happier to do it by Ryland’s side.

“What does this mean?” Elena asked.

“They want you.”

“They want me?” Elena asked again. “What does that mean ?”

“Elena, have some confidence for a second,” Arccoo said with a laugh. “You just did some incredible work here. The best of the best now want you. What could it possibly mean?”

“They want me to work for them?” Elena could hardly bring herself to say the words. A mix of shock and excitement coursed through her body.

“They’ve been working on a project back home for a while. It’s stalled for a bit, and they think a fresh pair of eyes could be a game-changer. You are the fresh set of eyes they’ve been looking for.”

Elena’s mind was still racing, reflecting on all her hard work: every late night spent studying, every moment fighting for her place at the table. It was all worth it, every single second of it. Her life’s effort was not about to be a waste.

She’d never felt so happy in her entire life. The excitement was starting to overtake the shock in her body. Her hands were starting to tremble. Happy tears started to well up in her eyes.

It was all she’d ever wanted. All she’d ever dreamed of. As far back as she could remember, she was working toward this moment. Though she never, even in her wildest dreams, expected to hear the news from the prince himself.

She could see her future before her very eyes. She could picture working alongside the royal scientists and someday becoming one herself. She imagined developing project after project and winning award after award. Not only that, she could someday be responsible for giving opportunities to other young women in the position she was once in.

As all of this hit her, Elena felt the urge to run to someone and share the incredible news. She wanted to celebrate with someone who would feel nothing but pride for her.

But the urge wasn’t bringing her to her sisters. To her family. That’s not who she immediately wanted to share it with. Not the people who helped and supported her along the way for so long and were ultimately always there for her.

The urge was pushing her toward Rylan—toward the one she’d only met not too long ago but the one she’d grown so close to, so quickly. He’d begun occupying almost every thought in her head.

She wanted to share it with Rylan, wanted to see his reaction. She wanted to feel his pride and be wrapped in his congratulatory hug.

And then, a less exciting thought entered her head. Rylan was here. And the royal scientists were very far from here.

She never realized it until that very moment, but her desire to prove herself to the royal scientists had gained a new rival. Her desire was to be around Rylan and to spend time with him.

Could Elena accept the opportunity knowing it would pull her away from him? What if that meant they would never see each other again? That thought alone almost drained all the excitement out of her.

In such a short span of time, Rylan had become such an important figure in Elena’s life that she couldn’t imagine losing him forever. But she also couldn’t pass up the chance to work with the royal scientists.

“Well?” Arccoo said. His words dragged Elena out of her head and back to reality. “What do you think?”

“I… Uh…” Elena struggled to form full words.

“Too excited to speak?” He laughed. “That’s about what I expected. I’ll give your confirmation first thing in the morning. They’ll be very—”

“Wait!” Elena said. “I… I need to think about it first.”

“I… What?” Arccoo said, the shock in his words visible on his face.

Elena was just as shocked as he was at what she said. But with Rylan now in the equation, she couldn’t just say yes so quickly. She also couldn’t bring herself to say a flat no, either.

“You’ll think about it?”

“Yes… I… I need some time before I can give you an answer.”

“Do you understand the offer before you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Carmen said it’s all you’ve ever wanted. That you’ve been working toward something like this your entire life.”

“It is… It really is…”

“This doesn’t happen every day, Elena. You know that, right?”

“I do. I promise, I do.”

“Then what exactly is there to think about? How are you not screaming yes while jumping up and down?”

“If you’d given me this offer six months ago, I’d be doing exactly that. Hell, if you gave me this offer a week ago, I might have done just that. But… everything has changed.”

“Everything has changed? What exactly has changed?”

“Everything,” Elena muttered. “Everything.”

She then looked away from the prince, across the party to where Rylan stood with her sisters. They were all laughing and sipping their drinks. She was excited to see how well he was fitting in with them.

“Oh…” the prince said after following her gaze. “That everything .”

“Yeah…”

“Believe me, I get how that can change everything. It happened when I met Carmen.”

“For as long as I’ve lived on Thryal, being recognized by the Royal Institute was all I ever wanted. But now I found something else to want. Someone else to want.”

“I see.”

“Where Rylan goes, that’s where I want to be, too.”

As Elena said the words, she realized the truth. She’d never been so confident in anything she’d ever said in her life. No scientific equation or experiment had ever made more sense than how she felt around Rylan.

He was what she wanted. Everything else would be secondary. She could happily work on whatever little project in the kingdom Rylan was assigned next. As long as she was beside him, it would be the right place to be.

“And that’s how you feel?” Arccoo asked. “Absolutely?”

“Absolutely.”

“Hmm.” Arccoo thought for a moment. “That can be arranged.”

“Excuse me?”

“It can be arranged. We can accommodate that.”

“What’re you saying?”

“Rylan is an intelligent scientist, too. You two fixed the issue here together. He’s already proven himself on one project, so why shouldn’t he also get an assignment at the institute? Especially if it’s the condition by which they get you. And if not, well, I can just make it an order.”

“Are you serious?” Elena started to get excited again. Her dream position, with Rylan by her side. It was almost too perfect. “You can do that for me?”

“Of course. His next assignment will not be far from you. I promise.”

“Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it,” Arccoo said. “Now, let’s get back to the party. We have even more to celebrate now.”

Arccoo and Elena rejoined the party. As Elena slid back into place next to Rylan, she decided to hold on to the good news for now. He’d find out soon enough, and she could wait to see the look on his face.

The rest of the party would go by in a blur, thanks to Arccoo supplying everyone with shot after shot. But Elena would still remember a few moments.

Everyone danced to the music. Rylan got close to her. Both of them felt each other’s bodies as they moved to the beat. She looked deep into his eyes and felt herself slipping away.

Rylan stopped the fun for a moment to grab them both water. They retreated to a quiet part of the party to rehydrate. Their gazes never left each other’s eyes.

Rylan and Elena teamed up for one of the party games, a match in human darts against Sofia and Zaraq. Rylan stood behind her and helped throw the darts properly. The cool touch of his hand against her skin was driving her crazy.

The two lovers laughed at each other’s jokes. They got food and drinks for each other, already knowing what the other liked. They had fun while looking after each other.

And that’s all Elena would remember of the rest of the party in the morning. Surely at some point, she and Rylan stumbled back to her quarters, but she didn’t remember.

Though, she didn’t care. She remembered the important things. How sweet and caring he was. The fun they had. It was all she really needed.

And it made her excited for the future. If memories and moments like last night were what she had in store, the future was bright.

Together, with Rylan, she was happy.