Captured By her Alien Mate by Ava York

Riley

It was hard not to squirm. I tried to stretch my legs out as best as I could, but seeing that I was sandwiched in between three barrels of wine, there wasn't much space.

I was definitely uncomfortable.

The shit you did for other people.

The cart rocked gently at the pace of the numa, and I did my best not to move. We're in dangerous territory, and I wasn't going to be the one to kill all my new friends.

But damn, what I wouldn't give to stretch out my legs. Even for five seconds.

We made it through the outside gate into the city. The city of the enemy. Aetom.

If we weren't careful, they would kill all of us. And probably publicly, knowing what I knew about the king and his nasty predilections.

Kator kept his hand on the cart, as if providing me some sort of intimacy and assurance with just a touch of the wood. I appreciated it, even the gesture was nice.

I was beginning to see why my fellow human woman has started to fall to the D’Tali, one by one. Sure, they had scales and horns instead of hair, but there was something about them.

Something that really made you feel safe.

Kator made me feel safer than I had felt in years. It was just as simple as that. I used to be a cop, back when that still meant something. Back before all this started. And my entire being wanted to protect Kator. And I wanted him to find success, at whatever he did.

So here I was, squished between a bunch of barrels of wine, twiddling my thumbs and trying not to eat my knees on every bump. Because Kator had business to take care of, and I needed to take care of Kator.

As we're passing through the streets of the city, Vokar took a sharp turn to the right, leaving us in the dust.

Confused, I looked around through the barrels as best I could. But Vokar had already disappeared. Apparently he had something better to do.

I didn't really have time to dwell on it. We were approaching the castle and shit was about to get real.

“I didn't know the king ordered any wine?” a palace guard asked one of the D’Tali soldiers. “And if he did, he didn't tell us about it.”

“Well, if you want us to turn around,” the D’Tali soldier said, “we can. But when the king doesn't get the wine he ordered, he's probably going to be pretty pissed off.”

I couldn't help but hold my breath. My pulse thundered in my ears, and my palms were so sweaty I had to wipe them on my pant legs. This was it. If we were turned away here, I wasn’t sure how we would get Kator into the castle.

Nor was I sure how we would get out of this alive.

And without Vokar, we were already one soldier short versus hundreds. This could end up being a slaughter. Exactly like the wedding that Camilia had been to.

It's not like King Mofat had a reputation for taking prisoners. If we were caught here, we would all die.

“The king wouldn't have ordered wine without us knowing,” the guard argued. “It's never happened before, so I really have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Your funeral.” The D’Tali soldier shrugged and made as if to turn the numa away from the gates. “But when he's short on wine tonight, don't be bitching to us about it. We will be long gone.”

The guard bought their bluff.

“Wait!” he called, clearly not wanting the responsibility of a sober king on his hands. “I suppose the king's son could have forgotten to tell us. Lower the gates!”

It was all I could do to not smile. I couldn't get too excited, not yet. There was still a lot of soldiers between us and getting into the throne room. But this was the first major step. After this, at least we were all within the walls.

At least we had a fighting chance.

The gates lowered, and the cart resumed its gentle cadence through the gates as a strong, cooling breeze passed over us.

“Close the gates!” the guard yelled behind them.

Oh no. Something was terribly wrong. Alarmed, I searched for the source of the guard’s alarm.

Then I realized.

It was me.

The hood had fallen back from my face, just enough to reveal my entirely un-scaley cheek.

For a moment I locked eyes with Kator. And chaos broke loose around us.

“They know!” a D’Tali soldier gasped.

The other D’Tali pulled their weapons just as the Aetamian guards pulled theirs. I turned on my blaster and hoped desperately that I could get it to work like Isabella had shown me.

Screams surrounded me, and I leapt up to join the fray. I wasn't one to skip a party, that was for sure.

Swords clashed, arrows flew, and Kator took off to the battle towards the main castle. And all I could do was go off after him. I was a protector, and that applied to Kator as well.

A sword swung at my head, and I ducked. Then I turned and shot the blaster, which was pretty similar to my old sidearm, back in the day.

The kickback was bigger than my old gun, and it almost flew from my hand because I wasn't expecting it. But the soldier went down. Dead.

“This works great,” I gasped to no one. Kator was far ahead of me, and I needed to catch up. I sprinted after him, making sure to clear the way with my blaster.

I had to make sure I stayed alive long enough to tell her. My main priority was helping Kator. He needed to do this, and I needed to help him. He needed to know that he had a family, even if we weren't related by blood.

Because, as much as I had wanted to deny it, I loved him. I knew it in my bones; I knew it in my soul. So, I would risk my life to help him. Just like I would for anybody else I loved. Like Isabella or Camilia. Just like I used to for the people of my block, long before I came to this planet.

Maybe fifteen feet behind Kator, I saw which door he entered into the castle and followed him. I needed to catch up; I needed to talk to him.

I needed to make sure that he lived, because one thing was certain: I wouldn't be able to live without him. Not anymore, not in this lifetime.

The door slammed shut behind me, and it took a couple seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of inside the castle hallway.

A shadow caught my eye, and I ducked just in time. An arrow flew above my head and embedded itself in the wall behind me.

“Hey!” I barked, pointing my blaster and firing.  It caught the guard right in the chest, and he went down without much more of a fight. “Fuck you.”

I could hear a battle taking place ahead of me, and my eyes were beginning to adjust, so I rushed forward to help Kator.

I rounded the corner to see a guard being thrown off his feet and slammed into the ceiling. He crashed down to the floor and lay there unmoving.

“Well done,” I said to the panting Kator, who had no less than five dead Aetamian guards surrounding him. If I could swoon, I would have at this moment.

But there wasn't time for that shit.

“You shouldn't be here. This is a suicide mission. And I can't lose you.”

“And I can't lose you,” I said, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “So, now that we're done making obvious and stupid statements, where too next, champ?”

“I love you.”

The words still sent shivers down my spine.

“And I love you. Now let's get this over with.”

Kator nodded his approval, and he led the way through the bowels of the castle. Most of the guards were concentrating on the battle outside, so it didn't take long for us to work our way through to the throne room.

To where Kator would finish it. Once and for all.

I heard the chain mail armor before I saw the Aetamian guards behind us.

Two of them rounded the corner, and I took them both out easily. “Man, do I love this gun; Isabella is going to lose it when I tell her how well it works.”

Kator shook his head at me. Something I figured he'd be doing lots in our future.

“I've got this hallway; you go take the throne.”

“I can't leave you. I just found you, I can't lose you.”

I shrugged and shot two more guards as they rounded the corner.

“I'm having too much fun to join you,” I said with my most reassuring smile. “Plus, with how good this gun works, there's really not going to be much for you to do around here.”

Kator gave me a smile.

It didn't meet his eyes.

“I promise I'll be safe. I promise I'll be here when you get out of there. I promise I'll be here still, Kator. Nothing bad will happen to me.”

“If anything… anything changes...”

“I'll yell. Now, go take care of business, darling. I'm going to have some fun.”

I turned away to square my shoulders at the incoming guards. I cracked my neck and smiled.