Page 1 of Married to the Alien Mountain Man (Cowboy Colony Mail-Order Brides #5)

1

OAKEN

I t was a hot, clear morning when the sound of a slicer’s engine made my ears twitch beneath my hat. I rose from where I’d been down on my knees inspecting a stretch of fencing, and then strode out of my bracku pasture. Summer-green grass swished around my boots. It felt good to be walking without my cast, even if I did have a slight limp. Magnolia had assured me that, as long as I continued walking and working, my leg should strengthen back to what it had been before.

I could be patient on that front. I’d already proven myself patient in waiting for a wife. And what was waiting for a leg to heal and strengthen compared to something as wished-for as that?

“You stay there,” I said as I passed a newly fenced-in area of grass and rocks near my barn. From beyond the little gate, Nali’s fluffy pink face gazed back at me from among the grass.

“Do not look at me like that,” I said, my fingers already longing to unlock the gate so I could pet her soft fur. “I must go meet Tasha and the warden. And as you have not yet proven that you can reliably choose an appropriate place to defecate, you are not invited to the meeting.”

The young gortu bleated in complaint, her blue eyes shining with affront, as if I had not caught her attempting to shit in my boot this very morning when I’d taken it off to massage the ankle I’d broken in the spring. When I’d made it clear that the boot was not for defecation, the small four-legged creature had tried to eat it instead.

“I must make a good impression,” I said as sternly as possible. Which was difficult, as I did not consider myself a stern man. And it was doubly hard to attempt sternness in the face of the adorable, orphaned gortu that I’d rescued from the mountains and had painstakingly-bottle fed for most of the summer. But in this, I had to be resolute. “Tasha must see what a well-run property this is,” I went on. “So that she may deign to allow me a wife of my own.”

Wife . Even simply saying the word out loud was enough to make my heart feel delightfully lopsided in my chest. Sometimes I murmured it to myself, in the quiet darkness of my bed, just to feel the whispering thrill of it.

The slicer surged closer. They’d be coming upon my property soon.

“Stay here,” I said again, even though Nali was nowhere near large or strong enough to leap out of the fencing of her enclosure. “Jump around on some of those boulders I brought you. You may spend most of your time with a Zabrian, but you are still a mountain gortu. The exercise will be good for you.”

Nali huffed out another bleat and folded her knobby young legs beneath her body, plopping herself down in the grass. I grimaced, remembering how much effort it had taken to limp all the way back here from deeper in the mountains with a boulder on my back for her. It had taken multiple trips, and I’d brought her four of what I thought were very nice boulders. Exactly the sort that should tempt a young mountain gortu to leap upon them.

Not Nali, apparently.

But I was not discouraged. If she did not like the rocks in her enclosure, I could start bringing her on hikes deeper into the mountains. That would be good for both of us. Good for me, as I continued to regain my footing after my injury, and good for her as she developed her gortu instincts and skills without her mother.

A part of me wondered if learning to please a picky gortu could help prepare me for my human bride. She, too, would have desires foreign to me. Tastes and subtle communications I would have to interpret. And if I could not make one little gortu happy then perhaps I did not deserve a human female.

“I will be back for you later. And we shall go on a hike,” I said decisively. By this time, the sound of the slicer was very close. Tasha and the warden would be arriving imminently. This was only confirmed when Killian flew out of the nearby small house that he lived in with Garrek and Magnolia.

“They’re coming!” he shrieked, his body a teal streak as he ran, his white hair flapping behind him. Before he could get too far, though, my cousin Garrek’s dark blue tail shot out like a lasso and looped around the young convict-ward’s belly.

“Drop the rock,” Garrek commanded as Killian squirmed in his hold.

“I don’t have a rock,” Killian shot back.

“I can see the blasted thing! It’s nearly as big as your head!” Garrek retorted as Killian attempted to stuff an impressively large rock down his trousers in an apparent attempt to hide it.

“Why don’t you give your rock to Nali, Killian?” I suggested with a smile as I approached them. “She does not seem to care for the ones I have brought her so far.”

“But I need it,” Killian growled. “Garrek wouldn’t let me have a knife.”

“Empire help me,” my cousin breathed.

“Killian,” Garrek’s wife Magnolia called as she hurried out of the house after them. “Are you listening to Garrek?”

“Yes,” Killian said at the exact same moment that Garrek snorted and said, “No.”

“What in the great blue blazes would you need a knife for right now?” I asked.

“Fighting someone,” Killian replied instantly, as if that were the most obvious answer in the world.

“We are not fighting anyone,” Magnolia said firmly as she came to a stop before Killian and Garrek. “Either give me the rock, or give it to Nali like I heard Oaken suggest.”

Her pretty face softened as she watched Killian. “We’ve been over this, sweet urine. Tasha and the warden aren’t going to do anything to break up our little family. Tasha has already let us know that the bride program is going to continue here. In fact, Tasha herself is staying here now that she’s married to the warden. So you truly don’t need to throw a rock at anybody.”

Killian sighed, sullenly muttered something about Nali, and Garrek let him go. The boy trudged towards the little gortu’s enclosure. I did not supervise him in his interaction with Nali. He may have been an unpredictable and ever-so-slightly feral convict-ward, but Killian had an affinity and deeply-held love for every animal he encountered. While there was a very good chance he’d throw that rock at a Zabrian head without hesitation, I knew he would not do anything to hurt Nali. Even now, I could hear him speaking to her in gentle, soothing undertones as he entered her enclosure.

“It’s probably better that he’s distracted with Nali for the visit, anyway,” Garrek said to Magnolia as he turned away from the direction Killian had gone and gazed through the grassy valley. “I don’t want him doing anything to hurt Oaken’s chances.”

A surge of affection for my cousin rose within me. I had always loved Garrek like a brother. We had lived together as children in his father’s house in the Empire of Zabria. I had been smaller than him, younger, more sickly. He had seemed to me to be everything I wanted to be. And when I could not protect myself from the blows of my uncle, he had been there to save me, even if it meant patricide, and therefore dooming himself to an exile here with me.

My hero since childhood, and now here he was, so worried about my chance at future happiness with a human bride.

I supposed it made a certain amount of sense he’d be concerned, considering he sort of, accidentally, stole my intended bride away. Magnolia’s cheeks dimpled, the charming gap between her front teeth revealed as she smiled up at Garrek’s stoic face. The face she loved.

Magnolia had once been meant for me. My broken foot had prevented me from meeting her upon her arrival in this world, so Garrek had agreed to bring her here. But by the time I came upon them, they’d already lost their hearts to one another. I could feel no disappointment when I saw how desperately Garrek loved her. He, who had always protected me, deserved this happiness. And as I never got the chance to love Magnolia like a wife, I did not feel the loss of her as any sort of pain. I could not grieve that which had never really been mine.

But I still very much hoped, more than I’d ever hoped for anything, that I might get a bride of my own one day.

I could wait as long as it took.

As long as she wanted me.

Warden Tenn was visible on his slicer now, the vehicle propelling itself through the air and over the rippling grass. I could not see much of Tasha yet, but I did spy two small light-coloured hands at Warden Tenn’s front as she held onto him from behind. Once they were about twenty paces from us, Warden Tenn directed the slicer down to land and the engine ceased.

“Greetings, Warden!” I called, striding over and ignoring the stiff ache in my ankle as I did so. I did my best not to limp. I did not want Tasha to think I was not yet healed enough to take care of a human wife out here.

“Oaken, Garrek,” the warden grunted in greeting as he dismounted. “Hello, Magnolia.”

Magnolia smiled and waved, then grasped Garrek’s hand as they also approached.

I still could not see Tasha. Warden Tenn was now completely blocking her from sight as he turned his back to us. He bent slightly, appearing to fasten his hands and tail around Tasha’s waist, then lifted her down onto her feet. I stood up straighter, clearing my throat and preparing to greet her properly.

Only, even once the warden stepped out of the way, I still could not see her face for the helmet with its opaque protective visor. She remedied that quickly, reaching up to take it off with a practised ease that told me she had grown used to wearing and removing the thing.

“Hello, Tasha!” I said as soon as the helmet was off. Tasha’s white and brown eyes went to my face. She gave me a smile that was very professional and polished, and – at least, I hoped I was not imagining it – warm.

“Hello. Oaken, correct?” She propped the helmet against her right hip and smoothed pale yellow strands of hair away from her face.

“Yes!” I practically coughed up the word. I had the strangest sensation that my heart was now beating inside my throat instead of beneath my ribs. My nerves felt scrubbed-raw, as if someone had taken the stiff bristles of a shuldu’s brush to them.

I was the first unmarried male whose property Tasha had visited in our province. Of Warden Tenn’s men, she’d so far only visited the ranches of Silar and Fallon. She’d met those two males alongside their happy human wives. I did not yet have my own happy human wife to trot out before her to prove my worthiness.

I hoped that I alone would be enough.

“Hi, Tasha!” Magnolia said, breaking from Garrek’s grip to wrap her arms around Tasha in an embrace that she called a pug.

“You look well!” Tasha said, her eyes keenly searching Magnolia’s face.

“I am,” Magnolia replied breathily. “Thanks to this big lug.”

She returned to Garrek’s side and patted him on the strip of dark blue chest that showed between the sides of the white vest she’d made him.

“And that big lug,” she added kindly, tipping her head towards me. “They’ve both taken excellent care of me.”

“That is very good to hear,” Tasha said, her appraising gaze returning to me once more.

“Both Garrek and Oaken have my full confidence in their abilities to take care of someone, human or otherwise,” Warden Tenn said. “I would not have allowed either of them to participate in the bride program if I hadn’t. Nor would I have assigned Garrek a convict-ward.”

“Is that why I got Killian?” Garrek grumbled. “Maybe I should have given you less reason to have faith in me, then…”

“Oh, hush, you,” Magnolia said, poking Garrek in the brawny blue shoulder.

I cracked a grin, knowing Garrek was not serious. He may have liked to groan and complain about Killian’s antics, but I knew he loved that boy like a son. Loved him the way his own father, my uncle, had never loved either of us.

“Speaking of your convict-ward, where is he?” Tasha asked, squinting and raising her hand to shield her eyes from the bright morning sun.

“He is taking care of Nali. He is a good boy,” I said quickly, suddenly feeling the need to defend Killian from Tasha’s judgment. Like Garrek, I, too, loved Killian. He could be a tiny tornado of a Zabrian at times, but once he decided you were part of his family, he was prepared to protect you by any means necessary. Even violent ones.

Hence the rock.

There was more loyalty in his little body than that of many Zabrian males three times his size – and age.

He had value here. I wanted Tasha to see it.

And, a part of me wondered if, one day, Killian might like a chance at his own human bride. He did not deserve to be written off when he was a mere child. With someone like Garrek as his guardian, and someone as sweet as Magnolia in his life, I had no doubt he’d be a fine example of a Zabrian one day.

“I’m sure he is,” Tasha said softly. Then, with a wry arch of her brow, she added, “Even if he did threaten to kill me last time.”

“He won’t,” Garrek grunted.

Unfortunately, Killian did not exactly lend credence to that statement, as he suddenly came careening towards us from Nali’s enclosure at a pace that could only be described as terrifying.

The reason for it soon became apparent as I spied the tips of light pink ears bobbing swiftly between long blades of grass ahead of him.

“Grab her!” Killian shouted.

I broke into a run. Nali bleated defiantly and changed course away from both Killian and the rest of us. But she was soon trapped by the small stream that ran near Garrek’s newly-built cabin. She was not yet large enough to hop from stone to stone on the natural path that made a sort of bridge across the water.

Killian got to her before I did, first catching her around the back leg with his tail, then hoisting her up into his wiry arms.

Blast. I’d gotten slow since my injury. I paused beside him and put most of my weight on my left foot as Tasha, Warden Tenn, Magnolia, and Garrek caught up to us by the stream.

“She is too clever by half,” Killian was saying, his angrily spitting tone completely at odds with the gently protective way he held Nali nuzzled against his chest. “She wanted to come out. I told her she could not. But she did not listen!”

“Wonder what that’s like,” Garrek said dryly.

Killian ignored him, caressing Nali’s pointed pink ears. Now that she was the centre of attention and not locked away in her enclosure, she seemed perfectly content to remain in Killian’s arms and made no further attempts at escape.

“She kept giving me these big, pleading eyes. But I was strong, Oaken,” Killian said gravely. “When I was on my way out of the enclosure, and she knew she had not succeeded in manipulating me, she tried to piss on my leg. When I dodged, she made a run for it.”

Killian clutched her closer.

“I was worried about a grass ardu. I was thinking I should make her some boots like mine.”

“I am not sure wearing boots would be good for her development,” I said gently. “She already refuses to climb and jump on the rocks I’ve brought her.”

She had no mother anymore. Not unless you counted the streaks of blood and pink fur I’d discovered near the place I’d found her bleating loudly, panicked and alone. There was no gortu to teach her how to walk and climb properly as she was meant to do. Wearing tiny Zabrian boots certainly would not help.

But I could not blame Killian for the idea. He’d watched Magnolia nearly die from an ardu bite once. It did not surprise me he wanted to protect little Nali from something similar.

“Oh, now he cares about wearing boots,” Garrek said with a sigh and a flick of his tail.

“It was a good idea, Killian,” Magnolia said, giving him a pat on his shoulder before stroking the back of Nali’s head.

“It was. That was very thoughtful of you,” Tasha agreed, giving Killian a penetrating look. Her eyes seemed a bit shiny.

Killian regarded Tasha warily, angling his body so that Nali was out of her reach, as if the human-Zabrian liaison would snatch the orphaned gortu right out of his hands.

Tasha noticed, but she did not seem offended. In fact, she smiled at the young convict-ward, then said, “I’d like to see the rest of the property. Killian, why don’t you lead us on the tour?”

“Fine,” Killian said loftily. “But I am keeping Nali with me. I’ll carry her.”

“She might still urinate on you yet,” I warned him.

“I am ready for anything,” Killian declared before marching away, followed by the others.

Ready for anything.

I hoped Tasha saw that same preparedness in me.

That she might find me ready for a wife.