Page 3 of Lorrd: Intergalactic Dating Agency (Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides Book 8)

Tears blurred Wren’s vision. Everything had gone horribly wrong. She peeked through the front window curtains of Emmy’s Cupcakes, watching as a group of Harmony guards marched down Hillsboro’s main street, Alec among them. She prayed they would give up soon and return to the compound.

“Are they back again?” called Emmy from behind the counter. “Don’t worry. They can’t come inside. The door’s locked. We don’t open for another two hours, and you can hide upstairs after we open, just like the last few days. Don’t worry, darling, I won’t let them take you away.”

Wren’s heart pounded a frantic rhythm in her chest. She stepped away from the window and allowed the curtains to fall back into place. “This is the fifth day in a row they’ve been walking the streets. They must know I’m here.”

“Well, since the Greenline’s out of service, and the bridges heading out of town are blocked, they probably just assume you haven’t made it past Hillsboro,” Emmy said as she poured cupcake batter into decorative tulip-shaped paper liners.

“Don’t worry. As soon as the fighting lets up in the nearby towns, I’m sure the roads will open back up.

Then, even if the Greenrail still isn’t running through these parts, you could probably hire someone to drive you to another town.

I’ll help you find safe transportation. We can also visit the pawn shop and turn that paper money of yours into galactic credits.

Old as it is, I bet it’s worth something. ”

Wren sighed and sank down in a chair. She couldn’t believe her luck.

On the very day she’d arrived in Hillsboro, explosions had sounded in the distance, and the incoming train never showed up.

A frazzled clerk eventually informed her that the Greenrail would be temporarily shut down due to insurgent fighting in the countryside.

Apparently, warfare had broken out in the towns closest to Hillsboro. From what she understood, a powerful group of rebels known as the Hawthorns were vying for control, and the people of Hillsboro feared they might be next.

“I thought I would be two thousand miles away by now.” Wren stood and headed behind the counter.

She gathered the dirty dishes and carried them into the back, depositing them in the sink.

She turned on the water, added soap, and waited for it to fill.

After all the kindness the sweet elderly woman had shown her—inviting her in off the street and offering her a spare bedroom—the least she could do was make herself useful.

Emmy joined her in the backroom, carrying another stack of dishes, which she placed on the counter.

She gave Wren an encouraging smile. “As I’ve already told you, you aren’t the first wayward soul from Harmony I’ve helped over the years.

And all the others have made it. At least as far as I know, they did.

Elizabeth, Marley, Connie, and Harlow, just to name a few. ”

Wren forced in a few deep breaths. “You’re right. All four of those women made it. I mean, they must have, because they were never captured and brought back to Harmony.” A dark thought entered her mind.

What if the guards that the Prophet dispatched to hunt down deserters didn’t always bring them back? What if they hurt them?

What if they… she couldn’t complete the thought, and she strived to keep her expression neutral, not wanting Emmy to know what she was thinking about.

“So, you knew all those women?” Emmy asked.

“Yes, though not very well,” Wren admitted.

“They were all a few years older than me. I just know their names.” She swallowed hard.

“There have been others too, most of them women. Only about half have been tracked down and brought back to Harmony.” She tried but failed to suppress a shudder as she remembered the punishment that awaited her if she were captured.

A very public rebuke from the Prophet, hard labor in the fields, a period of shunning, and the Shroud of Disgrace—a thin black veil that would mark her as the worst kind of sinner.

And that didn’t include facing her parents’ disappointment.

“There’s another option I’ve been meaning to tell you about, darling,” Emmy said with a playful, scheming glimmer in her eyes. “In fact, it’s the option Harlow took.”

“What do you mean?” A sudden knock on the bakery door startled a gasp from Wren.

Annoyance darkened Emmy’s visage. She drew in a huge breath and shouted, “We’re not open yet! Come back later!”

“Oh god, oh god, oh god.” Wren teetered on the verge of panic. “Is it them? Can you check your security footage?”

Emmy withdrew her phone from her apron pocket and swiped the screen a few times.

Wren moved to stand directly beside her and stared down at the small device.

She covered her mouth to keep from shrieking when her brother’s face appeared on the screen.

It was Alec. He’d been the one to knock on the bakery’s door.

At present, Alec was still standing on the doorstep of Emmy’s Cupcakes, while the other five Harmony guards stood watch in the street. Did her brother somehow sense her presence?

“Myles will be back soon,” Emmy said in a calming voice as she returned the phone to her apron pocket. “That no-nonsense husband of mine will chase them away if need be. He has his grandfather’s old-fashioned shot gun. It’s a bit clumsy compared to modern weaponry, but it’ll get the job done.”

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt on my behalf.” Wren struggled not to break down in tears. “What’s this other option you were preparing to tell me about? The option you said Harlow took?” Desperation clutched her. She would do nearly anything to avoid being dragged back to Harmony.

“Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides,” Emmy announced with a broad smile. Then she pulled her phone out again, swiped the screen a few times, and finally showed Wren the device as a video started playing.

Wren stared at the screen, transfixed by the huge, muscular aliens that appeared. A commercial, she realized when she heard the voiceover. She was watching a commercial for a mail order bride service called Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides, which was part of the Intergalactic Dating Agency.

Oh god, was Emmy suggesting what Wren thought she was?

“Ladies, are you lonely? Are you tired of waking up to more frightening news every day? Would you like to live on a beautiful and safe planet with a mate who will cherish and protect you? I bet I have your attention now, and I would like to tell you about a new interstellar dating service called Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides.”

The voiceover was in a human woman’s voice, and as the woman talked, more pictures of handsome, shirtless alien males flashed on the screen, as well as breathtaking images of otherworldly landscapes. Eventually, the woman’s face appeared on the screen.

“My name is Blaire, and I signed up for Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides because I was lonely, and I no longer felt safe on Earth. The dating service matched me with a handsome Vaxxlian warrior named Kazzik, and he came to Earth to get me. We were strangers when we first mated, but during the last six months we have fallen deeply in love. All the human women I’ve met on New Vaxx are happy in their mating unions. ”

Blaire continued talking about the benefits of becoming a Vaxxlian’s mate.

She also presented a simulation of a shimmering, translucent shield that protected the entire planet of New Vaxx, promising the world was safe from enemy attack.

Then she launched into a glowing description of the planet’s beauty, displaying numerous images of Starzzia—the main settlement on New Vaxx—as well as additional views of the alien world’s forests, mountains, and beaches.

Wren absorbed every word and every image.

At the conclusion of the commercial, Blaire shared the details on how to apply for the VAMOB program.

“Wow, a mail order bride service that matches human women with aliens? I think I need to sit down.” But since there wasn’t a chair nearby, Wren settled for leaning against the counter.

She struggled to take in air. She’d known about the existence of aliens, but she’d never heard of humans mating with them.

“Vaxxlians made contact with Earth only very recently,” Emmy explained.

"They lost most of their females and children when their home planet was destroyed by the Irrcons, a race of warmongering aliens which they eventually defeated. New Vaxx was a previously unoccupied world that they claimed and settled on, and now they are trying to start over and grow their population—hence their need for human females. I’ve heard that Vaxxlians are the only aliens that humans are sexually compatible with, and vice versa.

Anyway, last year Harlow found herself in a similar situation as you—the Greenrail shut down temporarily, the bridges blocked, and Harmony guards on the prowl—so she signed up for Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides. ”

Wren’s mind reeled. She had never in a million years considered traveling to another planet. It was too fantastical of an idea. She’d never fathomed she might have the resources to leave Earth.

But now the idea of leaving held a lot of appeal.

The Prophet didn’t approve of space travel, which meant Harmony guards couldn’t follow her across the stars.

But… mate with an alien?

Her heart commenced beating rapidly, and she felt suddenly breathless as she thought about the handsome Vaxxlians from the commercial. Was Blaire telling the truth? Did Vaxxlian males really cherish and protect their females?

Just because Wren didn’t want to marry a man from Harmony didn’t mean she didn’t eventually want to get married—to the right man. To a kindhearted, open-minded man. To a man of her choosing.

If she signed up for Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides, however, the Intergalactic Dating Agency would select her future husband. Or mate. Whatever the Vaxxlians called it.

“Tell me exactly what happened after Harlow signed up for the alien mail order bride service.” Wren wasn’t seriously considering signing up, was she?

Okay, maybe a little. She feared Alec and the other Harmony guards would never stop looking for her, and she also worried she might find herself stuck in Hillsboro for a lengthy time.

And what if the Hawthorns attacked Hillsboro?

Maybe… maybe agreeing to marry—or mate—with a Vaxxlian male was her best option.

At the moment, it was starting to feel like her only option.

A satisfied look entered Emmy’s eyes. “You’re thinking about it.

Good. I believe it would be the safest thing for you.

” The elderly woman leaned against the counter beside Wren.

“Well, here’s what happened with Harlow.

She filled out the application, and less than an hour after submitting it, she received the name of her assigned mate.

Then, the very next day, a spacecraft landed right outside the bakery, and a huge Vaxxlian male named Gorath stepped off.

He was such a gentleman too, very polite and sweet, and Harlow was instantly smitten with him.

They departed for New Vaxx that night, and she calls from time to time.

She’s doing well and very happy on New Vaxx. ”

The banging on the front door started up again, and this time Alec’s voice rang out. “Wren! Come out! I know you’re in there!”

Wren went cold all over. She exchanged a look with Emmy.

“Damn,” Emmy said. “I bet some idiot neighbor probably blabbed that they saw you here.”

A noise in the back of the bakery startled Wren further, but Myles eventually emerged from the rear corridor.

The elderly man must’ve come in through the back entrance.

He cast an annoyed look toward the front of the bakery.

“Those assholes.” He held up his phone. “I just called the sheriff, and he promised he would send a few officers out to chase them away.”

“That’s good.” Emmy put an arm around Wren. “Try not to worry, darling. The sheriff’s office is used to chasing the Harmony guards away, and so far, they’ve never exchanged fire.”

“Thanks for calling for help, but I hate that I’m putting you both in danger,” Wren said with a weary sigh. “I fear Alec and the other guards will only keep coming back. Eventually, they’ll decide to break in. I’m honestly shocked they haven’t tried already.”

As Wren weighed her options, she slowly came to a decision.

She couldn’t safely leave Hillsboro—not only was the Greenrail shut down and the roads blocked, but according to Myles, the forests surrounding the town were crawling with violent rebels.

She also couldn’t keep putting the elderly couple at risk. She couldn’t stay in their apartment above the bakery forever. If she stayed, the Harmony guards, her brother among them, would eventually capture her and drag her back to the compound.

And if Emmy and Myles got hurt because of her, she would never forgive herself.

This left her with only one option—sign up for Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides.