Page 5

Chapter 5

Lynn

I woke up, excitement buzzing in my veins. I jumped out of bed, eager to get on my way. This was it! The day I got started on the rest of my life. I couldn’t wait to see if Door Number One opened for me or Door Number Two. Admittedly, the chances of me having a Mylos soul mate were slim, but there was always a chance. I grimaced, thinking of Mama’s comments the night before. If I found out I had a Mylos mate, she’d be insufferable. She’d want a lavish wedding and start pressuring me into having a baby, no doubt insisting I put off starting my course until the baby could go to daycare. Hell, she’d probably insist on shuttling up on my class days to babysit. Not that I’d dislike that, but it needed to be my choice. Mine, with input from my mate.

I sighed, going into the bathroom to quickly empty my bladder before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. Entering the kitchen, I stopped and stared. Mama was not bustling around as she usually did. Instead, my brother was standing at the toaster, waiting for the bread to pop up.

“Hey, sis,” Sam greeted me. “I heard you get up, so I put in four pieces. You want peanut butter toast or cinnamon?”

“Uh, whichever is fine. Whatever you’re having.”

I looked over at Daddy, who was busy eating a banana while reading his latest copy of Popular Mechanics, while Mama sat at the table, sipping coffee as she scrolled on her phone.

“Good morning, Mama, Daddy,” I said, a little louder than I’d spoken to Sam.

Daddy glanced up, looking abashed. “Sorry, I was reading, so I didn’t notice you come in.”

I laughed. “When you're reading, you never notice anything,” I teased.

He grinned back at me. “Yeah, that’s true.”

The toast popped, and Sam began buttering the slices. Mama raised her eyes up.

“Oh! I meant to get you up in a few minutes. Can’t have you late to your appointment or you’ll miss your chance at finding your mate.”

“She’s going for the chance to study,” Daddy reminded her, his tone firm.

Mama sniffed, waving one hand dismissively. She forgot she had her coffee in her hand, which fortunately wasn’t full. Despite this, it still caused some of the beverage to slosh over the brim and drip onto the table.

“Oh, shoot!” she said, putting both the cup and her phone down onto the table.

“Sam! Pass me a paper towel!”

Sam paused what he was doing and tore a sheet off, pressing it into her outstretched hand.

“There you go,” he said as her fingers closed over it.

“Thank you,” she said, mopping up the small spill. I took my usual seat at the table, my eyes straying nosily to her phone screen. I blinked. Was that a dog on a tiny sofa?

“Right, as I was about to say,” Mama began, “I know she’s going to enroll in her course and have them pay for it. That’s guaranteed, but what if she misses this appointment and her soul mate decides he’s waited long enough and, believing no one is here for him, transfers somewhere else?”

“Did that happen in your book, Mama?” Sam asked, sprinkling sugar over the buttered toast.

“No! Well, not exactly. Sarkarn waited ten years, and the matchmaking agency found him no one, so he signed up for a different dating service, but it was a trap to lure in strong males. He was then press ganged into a pirate’s crew, and they were all captured by the authorities, and he ended up on a prison planet where he has to play in gladiator games.”

Daddy stared at her, one eyebrow raised. “You know that won’t happen, right?” he asked her.

Mama flushed. “I know! But he could still ask to be transferred, and then their paths would never cross.”

“They keep the DNA on file, Mama,” I told her. “So, we’d still meet.”

She sniffed. “It's still not polite to be late.” She handed me her phone. “What do you think about this? Should I get it in the solid blue or go for the brown one?”

“Did you ask Marietta about this?” I asked. “What if she doesn’t have space for it?”

Mama looked at me guiltily. “It’s not for Marietta’s. You’re leaving, and I get to babysit my grandpuppy once she’s had her booster, so-”

“You’re giving my room to Penny,” I finished for her.

“Yes. It’s not like you’ll be using the room anymore,” she replied defensively.

I sighed. She’d done the same thing to Marietta, admittedly. The day Marietta moved out, she began converting her bedroom into a craft room. It was now chock full of stuff she'd started and never finished as she flitted from one craft to another - cardmaking, macrame, quilting, you name it, she’s either tried it or would shortly.

“It’s fine,” I told her. “Just don’t get rid of my stuff, okay?”

“It’s going into the basement. You can go through it when you come home for Christmas.”

“If you’ve taken her room, where will she sleep?” Sam asked, setting a plate with two pieces of cinnamon toast in front of me before putting a second one down in front of his empty seat.

“Thanks,” I murmured and was rewarded with one of my brother’s brilliant smiles.

“I’ve thought of that,” Mama replied. “We’re going sofa shopping. I’m sure Burkley’s has a decent quality sofa bed. We’ll need at least a queen as the Mylos are quite big.”

We all looked at each other helplessly. If I didn’t get matched, Mama was going to be even more disappointed than I would. I’m not ashamed to admit that when I fingered myself, it was usually a Mylos I pretended was about to claim me as his mate, more often than not. But unlike Mama, while I wanted to find someone who was my perfect other half, I knew the odds were, well, astronomical that it would be a Mylos. Or that if it was, that he’d be sitting in orbit right this very second. I mean, come on, a girl has to be realistic!

Daddy cleared his throat. “Why don’t we finish breakfast and then I’ll take you to go look, honey?” he asked Mama. “And then we can go to lunch, and after that, stop at the bougie Pet Superstore. I bet they’ll have some fantastic stuff. Maybe Marietta and George would like to meet us there.”

Mama’s face brightened. “That’s a fabulous idea! It’ll take my mind off Lynn’s appointment. Oh! But when you’re matched, call us right away! We’ll want to see a picture before he flies you away. They don’t let you come home until you’re fully claimed, you know.”

Sam snorted as he poured the first of two glasses of orange juice. Mama pretended not to hear him.

“I’ll stay home,” he said, pouring the second one. “I have to finish my paper anyway.” He put the orange juice back in the fridge before carrying both glasses over to the table. Passing me one, he set the other down in front of the place he’d set for himself.

I smiled in appreciation, picking it up to drink, loving the slight sourness of it. I set my glass down.

“I guess I’d better finish up and go grab my shower, so I can get going.”

“You’ll always have a place here,” Daddy said. “If you need it. Just putting that out there.”

“I know.” And I did. Mama wasn’t kicking me out. I was already going, and she was doing her best to fill the hole she’d have from not having me here for her to fuss over. It was her way of coping, and the sting was taken out of it by her going to buy a sofa for me and the mate she’d decided I absolutely was going to end up with to sleep on when we came to spend Christmas.

* * *

I hummed softly to myself as I drove to the Center.

Imagine that! I thought to myself. For Mama to have gotten that as a book rec on her Kindle, she’d have to have been reading some steamy romances. Not alien ones, unless she had been trying to distract us from that. Shifter ones, at the very least. I wonder if she’d be interested in trying one of the reverse harem ones I've read?

I giggled to myself. Yeah, I wasn’t brave enough to suggest that. Not to my own mama, at any rate. Though if she liked those prison planet, gladiator-y ones, I bet she’d love the Sadie Smythe series I’d plowed through recently. Those Tryne… Hoo boy! Talk about sexy beast bad boys!

Not that the Mylos weren’t sexy as sin, and I didn’t want to be a prize to a damaged, almost feral alien sentenced to fight and die in a death arena. I also liked reading stories where the warriors were fighting pirates or invaders or whatever, and found their mates among the cargo, having been kidnapped from an unknown world. I didn’t want to live it, though. It was fun to read about, that’s all.

Nope, getting to go live out my dream of studying the cosmos and living on a spaceship and maybe even a few space stations and an alien planet or two along the way was exciting enough for me. With a Mylos mate, who would be devoted to me and our children as they came along? It would be paradise.

By the time I was turning into the parking lot of the Center, I was hoping with all my might that Mama was right, and that I’d find my soul mate as well as get to attend my course. Maybe a little bit of the reason why was that I was a little afraid, just a teensy bit, of being out in the vast universe without the family I’d always been surrounded by, but the rest? Okay, I'd gotten a little horny thinking about those books and then the ripped abs and tight asses of the Mylos I’d seen on TV and on the posters. That, and I really did want to find love, because who didn’t? I’d dreamed often of finding what both my parents and Marietta and George had.

I pulled in next to a pick up truck that was already sitting there, idling, and a middle aged man glanced over at me, a nasty look on his face. I swallowed, having taken note of the bumper stickers on his vehicle. What the hell was a Humans First supporter doing here? I didn’t have time to ponder it any further before he bared his teeth in a nasty smirk, threw it into reverse, and backed out before driving away.

I let out the breath I'd been unwittingly holding.

“Okay, then.” I drew in a deep breath, needing to recover that sense of firm conviction I’d felt before seeing the truck and that horrible man. I left it out, then took in a few more until my heart stopped racing. “It’ll be alright,” I reminded myself aloud, placing my hand firmly on the door handle. “They’ve got security cameras, and on the off chance that they haven’t noticed him yet, I’ll mention him when I go in. He was probably just casing the place, anyway.”

I opened my door, getting out. I took care to lock my door, just in case the asshat came back with friends. Though if he did, locking my door wouldn’t stop them from smashing it up with a bat or something.

“Nope, don’t even go there,” I scolded myself as I walked towards the entrance. “The Mylos will handle it, so he and any buddies he might have can’t do anything.”

I felt reassured immediately when I saw the Mylos office already waiting for me at the door.

“Here you are! Welcome, Lynn Jacobs.”

“There was a man in a truck when I got here,” I rushed out. “It had Humans First bumper stickers on it, and he looked mean.”

“Yes, I know.” He pursed his lips. “I was about to call the local authorities to ask them to remove him, but then you came and he drove off, so all’s well.” He smiled at me brightly. “I’m Officer Tylip, and it’s so good to meet you.”

I smiled back, relief swamping me at knowing that Tylip had been watching the suspicious looking man.

I came in, and to my surprise, I saw a young man already sitting inside, crying.

“Just take a seat next to Chris there and we can get started,” Tylip said as he closed and locked the door behind me.

“Are you okay?” I asked Chris, reaching into my purse for the pack of tissues I usually carried in there.

“Yeah. No. I don’t know!” he sobbed. “My dad and step mom threw me out, and my dad drove me here and said if I love Mylos so much, I could just go be with them!”

I settled down next to him, reaching a hand out to rub his arm comfortingly as my mind filled with a sudden, terrible suspicion.

“You poor thing. Your dad was the guy out there in the truck? Because he drove off right after I got here.”

Chris turned a hopeful gaze towards me. “Really? He left?”

“He’s gone,” Tylip confirmed. “Would either of you like tea or coffee?”

“Coffee would be lovely, thanks. Do you have regular drip coffee? I don’t like the fancier kinds.” I smiled ruefully. “Makes me a bit weird these days, I guess.”

“No, it doesn’t!” Chris replied instantly and I wanted to wrap him up in a big old hug, because really, he was such a sweetheart! I wanted to go outside, find his father, and give him a sock in the nose. Okay, maybe I wasn't actually brave enough to do any such thing, but the sentiment was there.

“We do. It’ll be a few minutes, though, as I have to put a pot on,” Tylip answered me.

“I’ll take one too,” Chris added.

Tylip went back to the small kitchen area and began measuring out ground coffee from a can he took out from an overhead cupboard. It was a brand I’d seen on occasion in a supermarket, but had never tried before, Chase and Sanborn.

“What would you like to do, Chris? Now that your father has left, you can leave safely after your coffee if you do wish,” Tylip said, turning on the drip coffee machine. “Or I can give you a tablet and you can fill out the pre appointment questionnaire.”

“The appointment one,” Chris replied, looking relieved. Had he been worried he’d get kicked out of here too? Not on my watch!

“Can we share my appointment slot if there’s not one free after mine?” I asked Tylip, grinning.

“You can,” he replied as he walked back towards us, stopping at his desk first to pick up two tablets. He turned them both on, tapping them to bring up two different screens. He handed us each one and I looked to see it already had my personal information filled in, complete with the photo booth picture I’d had to send in with my pre-appointment application. Below all that was a series of questions it asked me to answer as thoroughly as possible, without reservations. This was it. This was the part where the Mylos’s mysterious mate matching program figured out if I was the missing piece to a waiting warrior. Mentally crossing my fingers, I began.

I became vaguely aware of Tylip bringing us our coffees, along with a plate of donuts.

“Here you are,” he said brightly, causing me to look up. “You can fix it however you like it. We have vanilla and hazelnut syrups as well if you’d like.”

We both thanked him, assuring him it was fine as we added milk and sugar to our drinks. He nodded just as the kunnarskin embedded in his wrist chimed. “Ah, excellent. You can begin the main questionnaire now.” He picked up Chris’s tablet, tapping the screen before handing it back to him. “Once you’re done, I’ll take a DNA sample using a cheek swab, and then Xeranos will give us the result a few minutes later.”

We both drank our coffees and the refills Tylip brought us, and somehow, between us, the donuts also disappeared. At last, I came to the last question, feeling emotionally wrung out from having bared my soul.

“All done, I see,” Tylip said, already at my side, and I felt my cheeks flush as I realized that the tablets were obviously monitored. Then I mentally smacked myself, because, duh! Of course, they were, as the program analyzed our answers in real time as we answered them. That was why once the DNA sample was processed, you got a yes or a no about a match so fast.

Tylip held out a swab he’d unwrapped.

“Now I just need to take a sample from inside your cheek,” he said softly, and I opened my mouth obligingly, extra glad I’d made sure to use both mouth rinse and my portable knock off Waterpik this morning. Tylip walked over to a machine in the back of the office space and placed my sample inside. He turned to find Chris holding out his tablet, having now also finished the questionnaire. Tylip was still walking over to take it when a chiming sound rang out insistently.

“Lynn! You’ve got a match!” Tylip said, his voice vibrating with unconcealed excitement.

I couldn’t believe it. Oh my god! Mama had been right! I’d dared to hope but - “I get a hunky hubby and get to study astronomy in space?” I finished my thought out loud, excitedly.

“Indeed,” Tulip answered me, looking amused. He tapped on the computer display sitting on his desk. “You’ve been matched to Yorix, a food replication technician. He’s been notified and will be here in an hour or so.”

“Wow. I don’t believe it. I hoped, you know, because hello, you are all so dreamy, and then there’s the whole perfect for each other thing.” I looked over at Chris. “Now we need to do you!”

He gave me a knowing smile that said it all; he was happy for me, but thought he wasn’t getting a match. “You already beat the odds. Maybe you can help me decide where to apply to college,” his words confirmed.

“Don’t be such a downer! I just know we’re meant to be besties, so you’ll be matched too.”

He shook his head at me as he handed the tablet over to Tylip, who took it before quickly producing a second swab. He quickly collected the necessary sample and put it in the machine to be analyzed.

To my complete and utter satisfaction, and his and Tylip’s shock, the chiming sounded once more.

“See?” I said, not bothering to keep the smug out of my voice.

“Xeranos, am I seeing this correctly?” Tylip asked the Mylos AI, staring down at his computer display.. “Both of them?”

“Both of them. They will be here in an hour and a half as they are currently on-world.”

Chris and I looked at Tylip, puzzled. Was there a problem that we’d both been matched?

Tulip glanced up at Chris with a smile, one more cautious than previously. “This is highly unusual, but you’ve been matched to not one but two warriors,” he informed him.

You could have knocked me over with a feather. That had been a possibility? Oh, wow!

Chris gaped at him for a second before asking, “Do I have to choose between them after I meet them both?”

Tylip shook his head. “No. Their mothers are Brides from Sanguine. The Sanguinii live in clans and often have mating units of three if not more.”

I couldn’t help it. “They’re poly! Oh my God!” I shouted. “You lucky duck!”

Chris sat there, looking stunned.

“Tylip, I’m afraid I need to correct the arrival estimate time of Chris’s matches. They are in fact already here in Cincinnati and have just replied to say they are on their way. Estimated time of arrival is in ten minutes,” Xeranos announced.

Chris’s face paled.

“Oh no! He’s gone a funny color!” I warned Tylip, unsure of quite what to do about it, as Chris was already sitting down.

“Everything will be alright, Chris,” Tylip said, hurrying over to check on him.“Please remember to breathe.”

To our immense relief, Chris sucked in a deep breath.

“I have two mates,” he managed to gasp out. “Ten minutes. Here.”

“Well, nine now actually,” I supplied, then winced. Yeah, that probably had not been helpful just now, given how shaken up he was.

“If you check the tablet, there’s a bio on each of them for you to read,” Tylip said, returning our tablets.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Chris agreed faintly.

I nodded in agreement, already skimming the information on my own.

The surprises just kept coming for Chris, though, and, well, to me as well because, dang- who knew the Mylos came in a vampire flavor? Chris was one lucky duck and I, for one, was glad that I’d thought to offer to share my appointment slot.