Page 7

Zoran marched stiffly down the concourse, Mia at his side. As soon as they’d exited the ship, she’d tucked her hand trustingly into his and allowed him to lead her through his jutji ’s spaceport. He held her gently, keenly aware of the delicacy of her bones, the softness of her skin, the drape of his colors across her lush feminine body.

That she wore his colors baffled him as much as the way she held him. What had happened to her anger at being forced , as she put it, to take and receive the mating mark? His jaw clamped down on a vicious snarl. Confusing, infuriating, delectable female.

His mother stood at the end of the concourse at the edge of the crowd gathered there to greet the human females. It was a quiet crowd, respectful in their curiosity. Even the females seemed hopeful, though these humans would supplant some of them, the ones not already bound, as mates.

Zoran nearly stopped midstride. The jealousy and resentment of Xeruvian females had not been a consideration when the Warlord Council considered options for rebuilding. They hadn’t the option of emotional indulgence. Had he not set aside his own contempt for the frailty of humans when he’d accepted Mia as his mate?

And his mother had said nothing on this matter, as she should have. If any Xeruvians had such a complaint, they should have stepped forward immediately. Not that their concerns would have stopped the implementation of this last, desperate plan to take human females as mates. But airing such concerns beforehand would have helped them all accept the humans now.

These new females were tiny miracles, each and every one. Hopefully his people would come to see them in that light.

Zoran drew Mia to a stop before his mother and sketched a respectful bow, only dimly aware of the other warlords shepherding their mates and the unmated human females forward. “Mother, my mate, Mia, late of San Francisco.”

Alara eyed his mate for a brief moment, her piercing gaze measuring the human dispassionately. Her eyes were the same bright green as his own, her skin a shade lighter, her features stern, yet beautiful, the mating marks on her throat proudly displayed. Alara had retained the warrior-like grace of her youth. Her strength had wobbled when her mate and daughter had died. Zoran knew she mourned their loss still, as they all did. And yet her courage had never faltered. His mother’s vocal support had been instrumental in his own success in formulating a plan to find a compatible species. Without her, his people might have been lost.

Mia, for her part, returned his mother’s gaze with the steady curiosity he had come to expect from her. She waited patiently for Alara to speak, her expression openly welcoming.

At last, Alara gently disentangled Mia’s hands from his own and pressed them to her forehead. “Daughter, it is with the greatest pleasure that I welcome you.”

Mia’s smile warmed him to his core. “Thank you. It’s so lovely to meet you. Should I greet you the same way?”

Sly humor sparked in his mother’s eyes, and she slid her gaze to him before answering. “My son has not taught you the traditional greetings?”

“We haven’t had a lot of time to work on that.”

“I see.”

Zoran rumbled a warning. “Have quarters been arranged for the unmated humans?”

A smile lingered on Alara’s mouth, though she had the grace to contain her amusement. “We have set aside a compound for their use, very near the science center.”

Mia cocked her head, her eyes alight with curiosity. “The science center?”

“Our clan’s research facility,” Alara said. “We have made room there for any human who wishes to join our research staff.”

“Me!” Mia said, laughing. “Zoran gave me access to part of your culture’s database on the trip here. I’m very interested in integrating our research with yours to see if we can’t solve problems we both face.”

Alara’s expression softened, and she placed a gentle hand on Zoran’s arm. “Ah, my son. What a beautiful gift you have brought into our clan.”

Mia’s cheeks pinkened as her smile turned shy. Zoran clenched his hands into fists, firmly controlling the emotions sweeping over him. She was not ready for his touch, though he’d tried to gentle her to him, and he would not force her again unless she asked it of him.

“Mother,” he said abruptly, “would you escort Mia to the science center? I have matters to attend to.”

Alara nodded once. Zoran bowed to them both and left, fighting the need to treat Mia as a Xeruvian warlord treated his mate. Something inside him roared a silent fury. Mia was his . How could he leave her there without even a proper farewell?

Yet, he could not bring himself to touch her as he should, to openly claim her so that no one would ever doubt what she was to him.

And what he, by the will of the Fates, was to her.

Mia watched Zoran stalk away, perplexed by his behavior. He’d insisted on marking her before their arrival, then abandoned her at the first opportunity. Was this some unknown Xeruvian tradition she needed to learn, or was his abandonment going to be business as usual? If she was only a broodmare, why had he bothered claiming her? Why introduce her to his mother or allow her access to their accumulated knowledge or—

“Do not worry, my daughter,” Alara said. “He is ever aware of you.”

Mia almost blurted her questions out then and there, and reluctantly left them unsaid. Questions would have to wait. She didn’t know Alara, or Xeruvian culture, well enough to voice her curiosity. Not where Zoran was concerned anyway. She fully intended to question everything else, though, at every opportunity.

“Where’s the science center in relation to here?” Mia said instead. “Are we in Clan Kerus’s territory?”

Alara thread Mia’s arm through hers and led her sedately out of the spaceport. “What do you know of our clan system?”

“Not much,” Mia admitted. “The trip was so short, and I was curious about your scientific advances. There’s just so much to learn!”

“You are young yet and have much time for further studies. Perhaps we should ignore my son’s wishes and explore your new home.”

“Yes! Thank you. I’d like to see—” Mia broke off, laughing. “Pretty much everything.”

“We cannot see everything today, child,” Alara replied, her amusement evident in her voice if not her expression. “But we shall see enough.”

Mia happily allowed Zoran’s mother to lead her forward. Mother-in-law? Future mother-in-law?

She grinned as she took in her surroundings. The spaceport was relatively small, nothing like major airports back home. The concourse was a single wide corridor tiled in gray stone, arching overhead into an atrium tall enough to accommodate large, palm-like trees. It felt more like walking through a preserve than away from a spaceship.

Once they broke through the crowd of curious onlookers, the spaceport widened around a bubbling pool in the center, then dipped along a gentle slope into a causeway backed by what looked like dense forest. Heavy rain beat down beyond the spaceport’s walls, startling Mia into stopping.

“The spaceport’s not enclosed?” she said. “You’re not worried about rain coming inside?”

Alara followed her gaze and clicked her tongue in understanding. “There’s a field separating the two. It allows air and people to flow in, yet filters out most strong weather and predatory or pesky creatures. Such technology is not used by your people?”

“Not yet. It’s a little intimidating. I’m used to distinct walls.”

“Then you may have some trouble adjusting. Much of our architecture incorporates these fields. It allows us to invite nature into our homes without compromising our safety. Come. I secured a conveyance for our use.”

They exited to the side, where an overhang jutted away from the spaceport, protecting people from the weather. It reminded Mia so much of similar structures on Earth that for a moment, longing stole her breath. Would she ever make it back home again?

Wind whipped under the overhang, carrying a spray of warm rain with it.

“Ah,” Alara said wisely. “I see now the advantages of fully enclosing our spaces.”

The wry humor cut through Mia’s homesickness, easing it, and she laughed. “It does have its uses.”

The conveyance turned out to be a private vehicle driven by an elderly Xeruvian male. Or what Mia thought might be an elderly male. Like many of the other Xeruvians she’d seen, this one stood tall and proud, though not quite as tall and muscular as the warlords. His smaller physique hinted at a caste system of some kind.

Mia mentally made a note to investigate, then turned her curiosity on the vehicle. It was similar to a car, tapered at front and back in graceful curves, with three sets of wheels instead of two. Unlike the spaceport, the vehicle was fully enclosed with viewing spaces made out of a clear material. Not glass, she deduced. There was no glimmer to it, as there would be with glass. She put a pin in that, too, as Alara ushered her inside and the driver ferried them away from the spaceport.

Once they were beyond it, the jungle closed around them. Mia nearly pressed her nose to the window to get a better view of the vegetation. Here, the land remained wild, in stark contrast to the obviously cultivated landscape preserved in the spaceport. She caught a flash of white slinking through the grayish brown tree bark and richly colored leaves, and was suddenly very glad to be in an enclosed space.

The vehicle entered the edges of a settlement after only a few minutes’ drive. Alara nodded at the passing buildings. “This area is primarily residences, one of several communities dotted through the region. There is a small market here, a larger one closer to the center.”

“We are in Clan Kerus’s territory, aren’t we?”

“Indeed. Many of the clans have built small ports within their lands, according to the people’s needs. We are landlocked here and have no seaport, though we do have a landward port near the confluence of our borders with our closest allies.”

“Oh. I suppose I should’ve studied the maps I found a little more closely.”

“There is time, daughter.” Alara’s gaze caught on something to the right. She touched Mia’s arm and directed her gaze outward. “Here is a good example of the way those fields are incorporated into our residences. Do you see the balconies?”

Mia leaned forward, duly noting the outward curve of balcony like extrusions along the exterior walls. The homes were various shades of gray, brown, beige, and off-white, depending on the construction materials, most natural. She recognized more of the grayish stone, what looked like stucco, and even massive slabs of stained wood. Each structure seemed uniquely fitted to the land surrounding it. That changed the closer they drew to town, where the land had clearly been adapted to the buildings. Still, it flowed in organic lines, not better than human constructions, just different.

And remarkably the same. While most of the balconies were empty, a few held children and even adults leaning against protective ledges and railings. Watching their vehicle’s progress. Mia glanced behind their vehicle and noted the line of other vehicles following them. They hadn’t been the first to leave the spaceport, but they also hadn’t been the last. Farther back, just visible behind a short line of personal vehicles, Mia caught a glimpse of a larger one swaying down the road. No doubt it was carrying the unmated females.

Mia turned around on a sharp harumph.

“The scenery is not to your liking?” Alara said.

“It’s beautiful,” Mia replied.

“Yet there is anger in your heart, and sorrow.”

“How could there not be? Zoran kidnapped me and—” Abruptly, Mia remembered who she was talking to. Embarrassed heat flooded her cheeks, and she hunched lower in her seat. “Sorry. I haven’t really had time to…”

When her voice trailed off, Alara suggested gently, “Adjust to being mated to a male from another culture whom you have known only a short while?”

“Yes. Exactly. He just stormed into my work, growled mine , and that was that.”

“You expected something different from a mate?”

The question was asked so tentatively, Mia had to relent. She twisted around in the seat, facing Alara, felt it conform to her new position, and spoke candidly. “Humans tend to have a longer courtship ritual. They sometimes spend months and even years getting to know each other, deciding if the person they’re dating is the right one and whether they want to spend the rest of their lives together. There’s a whole process to it. Granted, some people skip that and go straight for the gusto, but most don’t. Even with arranged marriages, there’s a process.”

Alara couldn’t quite quell her horror. “It sounds quite tedious and uncertain.”

“Oh, it can be. It doesn’t always work, but mostly people have a choice. Both of them, not just one.”

“Your anger stems from not having a choice?”

Mia waved at the mark on her throat, partially healed somehow but still, she assumed, visible. “He didn’t really explain before he gave me this. I didn’t know it would bind us together. Or, I suppose it did anyway.”

“He did not explain. My son, my son,” Alara murmured. “Did you run from him, child?”

“When we first met. Why?”

“That is part of our courtship ritual. When the mating instinct rouses, the female may choose to ignore it and stand her ground, thus denying it, or she may allow her prospective mate to run her down.”

Mia gaped at her. “Running indicates acceptance? That’s so backward from what humans do.”

“And therein lies the crux of the problem. Zoran likely scented your fear, yet did his instinct see your running as a desire to mate with him. Such instinct would have been below the surface.”

“Subconscious,” Mia murmured, her eyes wide. “Things I wish I’d known.”

“Would you truly have rejected him, had you another choice?”

Mia gave the question the consideration it deserved. If she’d been walking down the street and met Zoran, would she have introduced herself? Gone on a date with him? Wanted to be with him?

The answers made her squirm in her seat. “No. I was attracted to him the moment I saw him.”

“Then it is only the method of his claiming that troubles you.”

“Yes. I wish he hadn’t—”

She swallowed the word forced down, certain now that he’d thought she’d chosen him in some way. It was a cultural conflict, a misunderstanding, and she’d fully participated in that. Why, oh why, hadn’t she spent more time learning about Xeruvian mating rituals and less time absorbed in their research?

“My friends thought I should go with it,” she said instead.

“Go with it?”

“Play along.” She rolled her hand in an I’m trying to find the right term way. “Embrace the relationship.”

“Such would certainly bring Zoran happiness.”

Mia laughed. “I bet.”

“I would be happy as well.” Alara clasped Mia’s hand in her own, gently, as if she were well aware of her greater strength. “If there had been another way, my daughter, we would have chosen it.”

Mia covered Alara’s hand with her free one. “Don’t apologize for trying to save your people. I might’ve done exactly the same thing in a similar situation.”

Alara hesitated for a moment, then said, “May I offer some advice?”

“Um. Sure?”

“Do not forgive my son so easily. He will value your affection more if he must work to win it.”

Mia blinked at her for a moment, letting the words sink in. A slow grin curved her mouth. “Leona is going to love you.”

“Who?” Alara said, cocking her head quizzically.

The vehicle slowed, drawing their attention to the town beyond them, and Mia let the conversation shift naturally to her friends. She would settle matters with Zoran soon enough. Now it was time to explore this beautiful world he’d given her.