Page 7 of Draevan

The desire to be part of a family.

The need to assuage the loneliness that sometimes threatened to drown her.

She drew in a deep breath, answered ‘yes’ to each question, and pressed the ‘submit’ button again.

To her utter astonishment, only a few seconds later, the status of her application suddenly changed from ‘pending’ to ‘accepted.’

Goodness, that was fast.

She opened the congratulations email that appeared in her inbox and scanned the contents, her heart racing. She was so excited that the words started blurring together, so she had to force herself to slow down and take her time reading. It looked like a standard acceptance letter.

The very last paragraph said:

Your assigned mate, Draevan, will arrive on Earth at the address you provided within two days. Please pack your belongings and be ready to leave immediately. Thank you for choosing Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides, a division of the Intergalactic Dating Agency.

Oh, God. This was happening.

She’d been accepted to the VAMOB program.

She was leaving Earth and going to New Vaxx, a planet that promised safety. And she was going to mate with an alien warrior named Draevan.

Chapter 3

Draevan guided his Vaxxlian cruiser through the Eshunna Passage, a newly discovered wormhole that vastly shortened the travel time between New Vaxx and Earth. The journey from New Vaxx to Earth and back took only about two days now, a vast improvement over the lengthy voyage that had once been required. He appreciated that he would be able to reach the humans’ homeworld quickly and collect his mate, a human female named Cora Kalloway, then return to New Vaxx just as quickly.

He glanced at Meela. Soon, his baby niece would have a mother. He hoped Cora would treat Meela with kindness, patience, and give her the extra attention she deserved. He prayed he wasn’t making a terrible mistake.

It was a bit daunting that he was putting his faith in the VAMOB program to select a mate for him. He had included some additional requirements on his application, however, requesting a female who adored babies and children and had experience taking care of them.

In theory, as long as Cora hadn’t lied on her application, she ought to make a good mother for Meela. Draevan once again resolved that he would do whatever he could to provide extra comforts and even extravagances for Cora in exchange for her caregiving duties.

He tried not to think about his other obligations to the human female—like the fact that he would have to mate with her immediately.

Preferably before they returned to New Vaxx.

He could not risk a young, unmated warrior catching her scent, realizing she hadn’t been claimed yet, and trying to steal away with her.

Unexpectedly, warmth filled him at the prospect of such intimacy, though he tried to banish the thought from his mind. As far as he was concerned, his arrangement with Cora would be more of a business agreement than anything else.

She needed to escape Earth, and he needed a mother to care for Meela. He would do whatever he must to ensure it was a fair exchange.

He’d already prepared a room for Cora beside Meela’s nursery, and he’d filled it with some essentials and ready-made clothes in a variety of sizes. He’d even purchased shoes, jewelry, and cosmetics, following the recommendations of several friendly shop owners who catered to the human females who lived in Starzzia. He’d heard that many human females arrived on New Vaxx with few belongings, and he’d wanted to make sure Cora had everything she needed to get by until he could take her shopping and let her choose whatever she liked.

Meela suddenly giggled and pointed at the viewport. She seemed mesmerized by the bright, swirling colors inside the Eshunna Passage, mostly blues and greens, but sometimes another color made a random appearance in a burst of light.

“It is beautiful, is it not?” he commented to the baby, still uncertain if she could understand most of what he said.

She laughed again, then she looked at him with the most joyous expression he’d ever seen her display. It caused his heart to constrict yet buoy up all at once.

He smiled back at her, feeling lighter than he had in ages. Ah, how wonderful it was to see Meela happy. Her happiness meant everything to him. Not only was she a sweet baby, but she was his brother’s child. Though he mourned the loss of Harvat and Calla, he felt privileged to be able to take care of and provide for Meela. And not a day passed that he didn’t thank the Star God that she’d survived the war.

He set the Vaxxlian cruiser on autopilot, then turned to check the harness that secured Meela to the seat. He’d placed a booster seat beneath it which was firmly attached to the copilot’s chair. He breathed a sigh of relief to find it was still secure despite the baby’s constant wiggling.

Initially, he’d planned to leave Meela behind on New Vaxx, in the care of one of his warrior’s mates, but at the last moment, he’d changed his mind and decided to bring her along. Firstly, he wanted to see how Cora would react to Meela when they first met, for if she didn’t seem like the motherly type, he would have one last chance to back out of the arrangement and request a new female from VAMOB. And secondly, he simply couldn’t imagine being away from Meela for two full days, or possibly longer if the return to New Vaxx was somehow delayed.

“We are on our way to Earth,” he told her again, hoping she really could understand most of what he said. “We are going to meet a young human woman named Cora Kalloway. She lives in a city called Manhattan, located in the northeastern part of the United States of America. We are going to meet her and talk with her for a while, get to know her a little, and as long as she… likes both of us, we will bring her back to Starzzia to live with us. How does that sound?”

Meela stared at him with wide eyes but said nothing. Of course, the only words he’d ever heard her utter were Mama and Daddy. He was really starting to worry her speech was a bit delayed for a Vaxxlian child and feared it was his own fault. Perhaps he didn’t talk to her enough, engage with her enough.