Chapter 3

Ophelia

M y heart skipped a beat when the chime of the monitor went off. Although knowing what it would display, I stared at it before glancing back down on the ticket firmly held in my hand to confirm the numbers matched.

Yep, it was finally my turn.

I jumped to my feet under the envious stares of the other candidates waiting for their turn and hastened to the temporary office the Prime Mating Agency was using on the Persea Space Station. With it being a very popular entertainment hub for multiple minor planets and moons in the area, it was quite accessible for a great number of people. The agency came here twice a year and stayed for a couple of days during which the most famous empathic matchmaker in the universe tried to help people in the region to find their soulmate.

Despite my usual adventurous nature, I couldn’t believe I was truly going for this. Granted, signing up for the PMA did not guarantee a match would be found. In truth, countless candidates waited for years before their match was found, and in some cases they never were. Still, the prospect of being among the lucky ones sent a thrill down my spine.

Before I could rasp my knuckles even once on the door, a masculine muffled voice bid me enter. I complied, my pulse picking up another notch. The small room that greeted me offered no distraction other than the large window that looked down into the plaza below. The other walls were completely bare, the only furniture consisting of a table which served as a desk, and a guest chair across from it.

The Temern, sitting on the other side on what I presumed to be a bench so that it wouldn’t interfere with his massive wings, rose to his feet to greet me. He was taller than I had imagined, likely around 6’2. Naturally, I immediately recognized the famous face of Kayog Voln. Knowing that he was in his mid-to-late sixties, it blew my mind how young and fit he looked. Although on the more slender side, he had broad shoulders and chiseled abs beneath the maroon down feathers that covered his body. His chest and face boasted golden feathers, and a long, white, fluffy tail with a spot of gold at the base trailed behind him. He peered at me with gentle silver eyes.

Although I’d never been particularly drawn to bird folks, I couldn’t deny finding this one very attractive. It was all the more embarrassing that he was old enough to be my father, on top of being well known for his very happy marriage to a stunning female of his own species.

But hey, there is no crime in appreciating the view.

“Hello, my dear,” Kayog said in a warm and friendly tone. “Please do come in and have a seat.”

I instantly liked him and felt at ease. A broad smile stretched my lips as I closed the door then headed for the seat offered.

“My name is Kayog Voln, founder and primary agent of the Prime Mating Agency,” he said, resuming his seat after I settled in my own.

“Hello, Master Voln. My name is Ophelia Moreau,” I said with a nervous giggle.

“Please, call me Kayog. I’m quite informal,” he said with as huge a smile as the stiffness of his beak allowed.

“So long as you call me Ophelia,” I replied.

“Done! So, Ophelia, how may I help you today?”

“By finding me a mate, of course!” I replied enthusiastically.

“Am I to presume that things have not gone well on the dating scene?” he asked in a sympathetic voice.

I shook my head. “Although things have been very quiet on the romantic front for me for a while now, I cannot complain of the type of horror stories I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of. I’m single more out of circumstances than actual unfortunate incidents.”

“Circumstances?” he echoed with genuine curiosity. “Do tell.”

“I’m a bit of an adventurer and free spirit,” I said sheepishly. “I grew up an orphan in a refugee colony. The workers there were fantastic and did so much to help the desperate people flocking there to get their lives back on track that I wanted to do something similar for others. As soon as I turned eighteen, I signed up for missionary and volunteer work at similar colonies or with primitive cultures. I mostly work as a teacher, but I also helped in a variety of different fields.”

“It sounds like it has indeed been quite the adventure,” Kayog said with a smile.

“It has been. I love discovering new cultures and helping people. It’s one thing visiting a foreign place for a week or two as a tourist, and a completely different affair when you actually live among them for a few months or a few years. It opened my eyes to so many wonders and various ways of thinking that I don’t think I ever could have acquired otherwise,” I said wistfully. “Since I also don’t mind roughing it out in the wild, and enjoy hiking and hanging outdoors, I’ve never had a problem living even among the most primitive species.”

“It sounds like you love the life you’ve lived so far. May I ask what changed, which is now prompting you to look for settling down?” Kayog asked in a gentle tone.

“There are no actual changes of heart,” I corrected. “My current life isn’t quite conducive to finding a mate. As my last mandate just ended, and I happened to be near Persea, I figured I would seize the opportunity to see what miracles you could perform for me. Maybe you could help me find both love and my next career move.”

He cocked his head to the side in that way birds often did when observing something. He narrowed his eyes, instantly giving me the inexplicable urge to squirm.

“Why do I feel there is more to it than you’re telling me?”

My cheeks heated to be thus called out while one of the motivations that prompted me to seek him out in the first place came back to the fore. With my ridiculously pale skin, my face had to be crimson right now. The corner of his beak quirked with amusement in light of my tattletale physiological reaction.

I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. “Well, I try to keep abreast of galactic news in various ways during my missions. I’ve grown quite fond of the work of a reporter named Malaya Velasco.”

“Ah yes! Malaya is such a delightful young woman!” Kayog exclaimed.

The almost paternal affection that lit up his eyes did something funny to me. I heard of the Temern’s reputation for being a truly caring person instead of the typical business-driven agent. It further fueled my sentiment that I had been right coming to him, even though the chances of him finding me a match were likely slim to nil.

“I read the story of her unlikely marriage to an Obosian Hell Lord. I’m not going to lie, Lord Kronos is insanely hot!” I confessed with an embarrassed giggle that had the Temern bursting out laughing.

“The Obosians are quite appealing to women. Those horns, bat wings, and piercings seem to work wonders,” he added in a gently mocking tone.

My cheeks burned even more as I nodded sheepishly. “It’s the whole demon, dark elf, badass justice defender mix that just makes them beyond irresistible.”

He chuckled some more while waiting for me to get to the point. I licked my lips nervously, tucked a strand of my fiery hair behind my ear, and went for it.

“In the media coverage of her official Obosian wedding, Malaya’s new husband’s best friend, Lord Amreth, was prominently featured. To say that I was heavily drooling would be the understatement of the century. Finding out that he’s single only had my toes curling even more. So…”

“Are you asking me to introduce you to Lord Amreth?!” Kayog asked, visibly stunned.

Mortified, I pressed my palms to my cheeks. Truth be told, I didn’t really know how to answer honestly. In the back of my mind, yes, I hoped he could introduce us, wave a magic wand, and make this scrumptious-looking beast of a male fall madly in love with me.

But of course, that wasn’t how it worked.

“Honestly, I would have loved for you to deliver him to me on a silver platter,” I confessed sheepishly. “Since that’s not going to happen, I wouldn’t spit on you finding me my own perfect mate, ideally an Obosian. But I’m open to pretty much anything else.”

“I see,” Kayog said, rubbing the bottom of his beak as one would their chin while pondering something. “Unfortunately, you are not Lord Amreth’s soulmate, nor are you meant for an Obosian.”

I stiffened, bristling at such a swift and definitive statement. That he ruled out Lord Amreth, I could see. But Obosians as a whole?

“How do you know that? Maybe you haven’t met him yet?” I challenged before a terrible thought popped into my head. “Or are you sensing something off with me that would make them not want me?”

He snorted and shook his head before giving me an indulgent smile. “No, Ophelia. Not at all. You have a delightful soul, one that an Obosian undoubtedly would appreciate. But I already know who your mate is. I just did not expect it would be him.”

My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. “You already know my mate?!”

He nodded, his silver eyes sparkling with mischief that had me both excited and worried.

“I do. Honestly, I didn’t really expect to find his mate. By human standards, he’s definitely alien. Although part of his species is deemed advanced, his lifestyle qualifies as primitive. Unlike Lord Amreth, he doesn’t have wings or horns. Instead, he has fur and a tail.”

“Fur and a tail?” I echoed, my mind racing as I ran various species through my head.

My stomach knotted as I narrowed down the potential candidates. The almost mocking glimmer in his eyes seemed to hint I would not be too crazy about the answer.

“Are you saying he’s a Yurus?” I asked with a hint of worry.

In principle, I wouldn’t mind too much to be mated to one of them. They had come a long way from their barbaric past. With their half-minotaur, half-orcish appearance, they weren’t hard on the eyes. But their genetically violent nature made me a little skittish at the prospect of marrying a Yurus.

Kayog’s mischievous smile expanded as he shook his head. “I said no horns, remember?”

“Right!” I replied, feeling silly for forgetting. “Then who…?”

My voice trailed off as I gave him a horrified look. His shoulders shook with barely repressed laughter at my reaction.

“Please don’t say he’s a Nazhral?!”

“I don’t need to since you did on my behalf,” he replied teasingly.

“Oh God!” I exclaimed.

Resting my elbows on the table, I buried my face in my hands, crestfallen.

“Aww, Ophelia, don’t be so sad,” Kayog said in a sympathetic voice. “Gaelec is a good male. And he’s your soulmate.”

I parted my fingers to peer at him. “So he’s not a pirate or a hardened criminal?” I asked in a small voice.

He frowned and gave me a slightly disapproving look. “You know, you shouldn’t assume that someone is a criminal just because of their species.”

Fighting the urge to further hide my face behind my palms, I dropped them to clasp my fingers on top of the table, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said, mortified.

“Don’t be,” Kayog said in a much gentler tone. “Nazhrals have a very bad reputation. So it’s understandable that you should have that instinctive reaction. Gaelec is not a criminal, but he’s indeed an ex-convict.”

I recoiled and gave him a ‘What the fuck?!’ look.

“What?! You just shamed me about assuming that he was a criminal only to turn around and tell me that he in fact used to be?!”

He held my gaze unwaveringly. “I chastised you for assuming that every member of an entire species are criminals. The fact that he happened to have committed a crime in his past does not mean that it applies to every single Nazhral.”

I pursed my lips and gave him a stiff nod.

“Furthermore, Gaelec isn’t an unrepentant hardened criminal either. He was young and got manipulated into committing the act that led to his incarceration,” Kayog explained, while typing something on the keyboard of his computer.”

“How young was he?” I asked with genuine curiosity, although still not thrilled about that pairing.

The Temern quickly read something on the holographic monitor of his computer. I assumed he had pulled up Gaelec’s file.

“He was nineteen and served twelve years. In fact, he was released only two weeks ago! The timing could not have been more perfect,” Kayog said enthusiastically.

“Released from where?” I asked. “Where did he serve his sentence?”

“He was on Molvi,” he replied in a factual manner.

“Oh, my God! That’s just too much for me,” I said, unconsciously shaking my head. “They only send the worst criminals there!”

“Don’t be too quick to judge,” Kayog gently chastised me before blowing up the holographic monitor and setting it so that it would display its contents on both sides, allowing me to read it as well. “Here, take a look at his release report. It just so happens that the very Lord you were fawning over was his Warden.”

My eyes widened at this revelation. What were the odds? Still, I greedily read the report. To my shock, it was extremely positive. Obosians were not known to sugarcoat anything.

“And here is what your mate looks like,” Kayog added, activating the small 3D holographic projector on top of the table.

I shamelessly examined the rather hot male that appeared. I didn’t quite know how I felt about his undeniably feline traits. Granted, he was clearly humanoid enough not to be confused with an animal, but I always assumed I would end up with someone a lot more human-looking, like an Obosian, and the dryad-like species called Edocit, or even a four-armed Zamorian.

“Are we even compatible?” I asked sheepishly.

“Of course. Humans are incredibly adaptable and compatible with a majority of species, which is why most of my pairings involve one of you, man or woman. Although rare, there have been unions between humans and Nazhrals. Their genes are dominant, so the offspring usually look entirely Nazhral.”

“I see,” I said, scratching my nape uneasily.

My reluctance didn’t stem from his appearance or what any children we might decide to have could look like. His body looked phenomenal, and his face attractive. But I didn’t know if I wanted to become involved with someone who dabbled in criminal activities. Also, twelve years on the worst prison planet had undoubtedly affected him. What kind of post-traumatic syndromes would he display? Had his stay there hardened him? With him having been released so recently, what were the odds he would go back to his old ways?

“I can see you are worried,” Kayog said in a sympathetic voice. “I can almost hear your thoughts. But know this, Ophelia, I would never send you into danger. Gaelec is your soulmate. And frankly, he needs you.”

My brow shot up. “Oh? What makes you say that?”

“Nazhrals aren’t evil,” he explained gently. “Their society is drastically divided between the city dwellers who hold all the wealth, power, and advanced technology, and the Prides who are in many ways comparable to Earth’s old aboriginal tribes. It is a vicious cycle that must be broken. They are just trapped in a culture where the rich exploit the poor and especially their youth.”

“So I’m guessing Gaelec comes from one of those Prides?” I asked.

He nodded. “Now that he’s returned home, there is no question that his people will try to twist him into falling into those old ways again.”

“My point exactly!” I said, throwing my hands up. “I can’t be married to a potential slaver or murderer. I know that’s not what he was arrested for. The report said smuggling weapons on Grubrya—which was stupid considering how strict the anti-gun laws are over there—but I bet he committed other crimes before that he got away with. How bad were they?”

“I can assure you that he was never involved in the slave trade and that he didn’t commit any murder,” Kayog said firmly.

“How do you know?” I challenged, baffled. “And what makes you believe that specific guy is my soulmate?”

“Because I met him four years ago, after Rihanna’s case,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“The Yurus Chieftain’s mate?” I asked.

He nodded. “After her arranged marriage to Zatruk allowed her to avoid the unfair prison sentence she received, countless prisoners on Molvi reached out to my agency in the hopes that a similar pairing would allow them to be free of their remaining sentence. Obviously, the Obosians swiftly passed laws to close that loophole and ensure any convict would have to serve their full sentence. But it wasn’t before I had already met with Gaelec.”

“So he tried to exploit the system to dodge paying for his crimes,” I said in a harsh tone.

The disappointed look he gave me stung. Fine, maybe I was being overly judgmental, but I found it difficult to get excited at the prospect of being married to an ex-criminal who was likely to commit a crime again.

“Wouldn’t you also wish for any opportunity to reclaim your life, especially if you had committed that mistake due to the immaturity of youth?” Kayog asked. “You know, only one other member of his crew was sent to a Light Quadrant with the minimum sentence of twelve years. Everyone else was sent to a Gray or Dark Quadrant, which are the toughest places on Molvi, and a near death sentence.”

“Only him and another?” I asked, surprised. “Why is that?”

“Because when they got caught, one of his crewmates tried to murder the guards arresting them. Gaelec intervened and saved that guard’s life. He was fine with smuggling, but not killing. I intensely questioned him during our meeting to assess the type of male he was, as I would never risk pairing someone to a potentially evil or abusive partner.”

I nodded, mollified by his words.

“Gaelec was an exemplary prisoner. Not only did he stay out of trouble, but he also learned many trades and worked hard to put aside enough savings to give him a good start once he regained his freedom. He’s a good male,” Kayog said with conviction. “Having his soulmate in his life will undoubtedly help him stay the course. Once he tells you the details of that failed mission, you’ll see he wasn’t a bad person.”

I raised my eyebrows and gave him a disbelieving look. “The way you said that, you seem to assume I will accept.”

“I do,” he said matter-of-factly.

I gasped and gaped at him. “What if I don’t?!”

“Then I’ll have to insist until you do,” Kayog replied with a shrug. “You’re unquestionably made for each other. There is no greater gift than to be reunited with one’s other half. It would be unconscionable for me to let you throw away your happiness.”

“And what if he doesn’t want a human?” I countered with a bit of sass.

He huffed. “Then I’ll insist until he does. Don’t forget that I’m never wrong on that front, Ophelia. Nothing and no one can ever make either of you happier than each other.”

The conviction in his voice struck me hard. I stared at him, feeling torn.

“I hear what you’re saying, Kayog, but a criminal?”

“An ex -convict who has served his time. His debt has been repaid. Should he be punished forever?” he challenged in a soft voice.

I scrunched my face and shook my head. “Of course not. But what if he relapses? Where does that leave me?”

“Although unions through the Prime Mating Agency have a compulsory six-month trial, should he relapse and get back to criminal activities—which I absolutely do not believe he will—then you will be entitled to an automatic annulment, and we will pay for your relocation home or wherever you wish to go.”

I continued to stare at him, more conflicted than ever. The wretched male batted his eyelashes at me while making the most adorable face, making me laugh against my will.

“You know I will pester you relentlessly until you give in. In a few months, I promise you will personally message me to thank me for helping you make the best decision of your life.”

And against my better judgment, I caved in.