Chapter 1

ONE

Taki

I swirled the vintage ferm and watched the blue liquid coat the sides of the goblet. Taking a sniff, I smiled across the table before sipping the strong brew. The cool liquid felt like fire down my throat, and a small giggle bubbled up. I eyed the half-eaten golder steak on my plate. I should try to eat more…

"Okay, maybe you've had enough." G'ersh rolled her eyes, but she wasn't much better. The vettes on her arms were tinged pink in contrast to her brown skin, an indication the ferm was affecting her too.

I glanced down at my arms. The horizontal stripes wrapping around my biceps were also flushed pink. I was only on my second glass of the ferm, but it was strong. "Just this glass, and then I'll stop."

G'ersh tossed her silver hair over her shoulders and grinned widely. "Can you ditch Tauran tonight? I want to watch the new video show on Deck 4." She leaned in closer with a whisper. "I heard there's a humian in the production, and he's naked for half of it."

Despite my every attempt to dull my reaction, the ferm had lowered my self-control, and I could feel the heat of my vettes flush up my arms. G'ersh, of course, noticed and let out a wicked cackle. "You know you want to see!"

I did. Sort of. But I also didn't. Humians didn't get the respected roles in our video shows—those were offered to full-blood Radians and full-blood Radians only. Humians got the roles that exploited them, mainly for their physique. As Radian females, we weren't supposed to want humians, but compared to our males, they were bigger. Bulkier. A little rawer. I'd only met a few in my life, and they were all intimidating. A naked humian male? My vettes burned hotter.

G'ersh looked smug, and opened her mouth to stay something, but then her blue eyes flashed on something behind me. I turned around to see my behooval striding toward us. I understood the reason for her reaction now—Tauran was not her favorite person, which left me uncomfortable. G'ersh was my best friend, and I'd complete the mating ceremony with Tauran before the next sun cycle.

I turned back to her. "Be nice."

She spoke through gritted white teeth. "I'm always nice."

I scoffed with amusement. "We have different definitions of nice."

"Fine, he looks less constipated than normal."

"G'ersh!" I hissed right before Tauran arrived at my side. I corrected my expression and beamed up at him. "Hello."

For a Radian male, Tauran was attractive. His eyes were larger than most, and he was slightly taller than me. He'd been attempting to enhance his muscles with some artificial plant powder, but the effect had been minimal. That was okay. He had an influential position in the Radian council and would be able to provide for me. At least, that was what my sire had told me, and that was what I repeated to myself many times whenever the thought of the mating ceremony cooled my vettes.

"Taki." He bent down with a three-fingered fist on the table. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can join you two tonight."

"Oh no!" G'ersh said dramatically. "What an absolute tragedy." She coughed into her fist. " Deck 4 ."

I ignored her. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, everything is fine. But I was summoned by the council electorate and need to meet with them before tomorrow's deadline."

I couldn't remember what deadline he was talking about. There were so many in his position. So I just nodded. "That's okay. G'ersh and I can keep ourselves busy."

"Sure can," she quipped.

Tauran squeezed the back of my neck, and I shuddered before remembering I was supposed to enjoy his touch. My sire said it would take time to develop. But my vettes would never burn red for Tauran. I'd settle for a slight interest of pink at this point, anything but the uninterested white. As Radian females, we dreamed of our vettes burning red for a male our body chemistry deemed as most desirable—strong, protective, and a perfect sire to future offspring. The vette choice was coveted and revered. Respected. But it was also rare, especially for females like me locked into arranged marriages. But that was okay, I told myself. Tauran was a good male, even if he didn't light up my body. I'd never feel the desire of a vette choice, but I'd be taken care of.

"I'll be late, so you can sleep with G'ersh tonight, so you don't have to be alone."

"I can do that."

"Sleepover!" G'ersh cried with her hands in the air.

Gods, I loved her. I knew I should pay attention to how relieved I was not to have Tauran with us this evening, but sire told me connections took time. There was no such thing as love—or lust—at first sight.

I nodded. "I will."

"Good." After another neck squeeze, he strode away, weaving between the tables in the dining wing.

I sighed and watched him go. The whole space cruise had been a working trip for him, and when I begged to go along, he told me I'd be bored, and that he wasn't offered another ticket. My sire had surprised me with two tickets, one for G'ersh and me, so that we could spend time together when Tauran was busy. I was glad he'd done so, because I had seen little of Tauran at all.

"Do you think he's working too hard?" I asked.

Draining the last of her ferm, G'ersh exhaled loudly. "Nope. He needs to work extra hard to deserve you. I still can't believe your sire agreed to this mating ceremony. Tauran's family is nothing compared to yours."

I shrugged, glancing behind me, but Tauran was out of sight. "He's stable and dependable. And his family isn't that much below ours."

G'ersh shot me a look. "The Valances are practically royalty."

"We're not royalty," I muttered, fingering the pendant hanging from my neck—a family heirloom passed down through five generations.

"Whatever. Enough about that. This is our night now that Tauran is gone. That means… another glass, a plate of some sticky sweet begelis, and then we go ogle that humian." She waggled the thin vettes above her shining eyes.

When she put it that way… the night didn't sound too bad. I grinned as I twirled the last of the ferm in my glass. "Let's do it."

We made it through two more glasses and a dessert that did nothing to quell the ferm from having its way with me. By the time the show was about to start, my vision had blurred, and I couldn't stop giggling.

"Come on," G'ersh slurred as she rose from her chair. "Don't wan' miss humiiii-an cock." She hiccuped and took a wobbly step forward.

Grabbing my clutch, I also staggered to my feet and suddenly pitched to the side. I only managed to stay upright by grabbing onto the table as I let out a wail of pain and surprise.

"Tak!" G'ersh squeaked and groped ineffectually at my arm. "Are you okay?"

I blinked down at my shoes to find my right heel had snapped off the sole. " Noooo ," I whined as I pressed the latch to unleash the straps. "These were Guccu!"

G'ersh hiccuped again. "Are you sure you didn't get knock-offs?"

I stuck my lower lip out in a pout. "I swore they were authentic." Slipping off my other heel, I frowned at the broken shoes. "I can't wander around like this."

"That's what behoovals are for." G'ersh crossed her lithe arms over her chest and glanced at her wrist time. "Tell him to bring you new shoes."

"I can't. He's in an important meeting, remember? Let me run back to my room to grab a new pair of shoes."

"But the show?—"

"I'll be fast! I can run." I pumped my arms in place to show her my running abilities. My hip bumped into the table as I wobbled a bit.

She didn't look convinced.

"Head to the show and I'll meet you there." I stumbled away and called over my shoulder. "I'll meet you there. Love you!"

" Mwah !" G'ersh smacked her lips. "See you soon!"

As a Radian female, I was faster in my bare feet anyway. Our anatomy was not made for shoes, but we shoved our long, suction-tipped toes into heels to be fashionable. While the ferm coursed its way through my system, I sure felt like I was fast, but when I stopped to catch my breath, I realized I hadn't even made it to the stairs that descended to my room's deck. Groaning, I took the lift instead, and ignored the family inside with two young ones who squawked incessantly. Rubbing my fingers on my forehead vettes, I ignored the gurgling in my stomach as we descended.

When we got to my deck, I lurched out of the lift and had to brace myself on the wall as I did my best to make it to my room. When my door number appeared in front of me, I crowed in triumph. "See? A little ferm can't hold me back," I said out loud.

Running my finger chip over the sensor, I smiled when the door opened with a soft click. I skipped inside, tossed my broken heels onto the floor and walked into the bedroom.

And then I stopped dead.

I didn't breathe. I didn't move. Laying twisted among the pleasure sheets was Tauran and a Radian female locked in an embrace. His cock remained locked inside of her suvette as he scrambled to cover himself.

Long scratches marred his back. His vettes, which had been bright pink when I walked in, now blanched a stark white.

"T-Taki," he gargled out as if he was choking on his own spit. "Hold on, I can—" He wiggled, surely trying to separate himself from the female under him, but her suvette had a tight hold on him. Pulling out now would cause him immeasurable pain.

My head spun. I rubbed my eyes and then opened them again, but the view hadn't changed. In the pleasure sheets that I'd carefully arranged myself was my future mate with an unknown female. She stared at me in horror, and then her big eyes slowly turned to him. "You told me she was your sister."

My legs buckled, and my toes dug into the plush carpet as I struggled to remain upright.

You told me she was your sister.

My behooval, a man who begged me to be his lifelong mate, was a cheater and a liar.

"I hope your meeting went well," I whispered, the words like ash in my throat.

"Taki!" he cried out as I turned. "Wait!"

I didn't stay to hear anything else. I didn't want excuses, because there was no excuse for what Tauran had done.

Not bothering with new shoes, I stumbled out of the door as crashes and wails could be heard from behind me. The female was cursing him out, and in that moment, I could have hugged her. She was as wronged as me.

I wasn't sure where I wandered when I left my rooms. Everything felt fuzzy. He hadn't even wanted me on this trip—was it because he had planned to conduct his affair the entire time? I'd had no idea and joined him happily with my best friend. G'ersh had been right about him all along.

My chest felt hollow, and every breath hurt. Somewhere behind me, I could hear the pounding of footsteps, and I swore I heard my name. Was Tauran looking for me? Anger burned red hot in my chest and something in me cracked with a snap that reverberated in my ears. All I cared about right now was getting away from him. I didn't want to hear his voice or see his face.

My hands scrabbled along the walls. Where was I? In some deep part of the ship, probably. I swore I could hear the engines, but the walls were slick. Emergency signs pointed ahead, and all I could think was that this was definitely an emergency.

My fingers found a button, and when I pressed it, a door slid open. The footsteps were closer now. I slipped inside the door and whirled around looking for a button to close it. I needed to hide. I couldn't be found.

A large red button on the wall caught my eye, and I slammed it with my fist. The doors slid closed.

I sank down to the floor, leaned my head against the wall, and closed my eyes. I ignored the rumbling beneath me, and the distant robotic voice mentioning something about detachment occurring after the countdown.

Detachment sounded great…

I might have dozed off, because when I came to, the rumbling was quieter. No more countdown. Stretching my arms over my head, I studied my hiding spot. It'd been dark when I arrived, but now a dim light was on. Scratching my head, I blinked at the screen in front of me and smiled at the pretty view on the screen—stars as far as I could see, and a distant meteor belt that shimmered with reflected color. This was a nice channel. I hadn't seen this in my room. Legs still wobbly from the ferm, I stood up and stepped toward a chair in the center of the small room. Pressing a few buttons, I tried to change the channel, but the view remained the same.

"Hmm," I muttered. Sinking down into the chair, I blinked at the screen as the tip of a ship could be seen in the distance. I stared at it as it drew farther away until the name along the side caught my attention. "Carnivuw Royale…"

I gasped. Wait, that was the cruise ship I'd been on. I placed my hands on the screen, but my fingers only met a cool glass, like the windows on the ship. With dawning horror, I realized this wasn't a screen at all. It was a window , and I was on some sort of pod moving farther and farther away from the ship. Alone. In space .

" No ," I whispered in horror.

I began slamming the buttons on the control panel in front of me. "Take me back. Take me back!"

But the pod didn't change direction. A robotic voice answered my pleas. "Your emergency pod is on autopilot to the nearest planet."

"Nearest planet?" My chest heaved. "What's the nearest?—?"

The voice came again, cutting off my words. "Planet Xal. Expect landing in three lunar days."

My heart stopped. My vision went dark. I would have rather watched Tauran cheat on me one hundred times than travel to Xal. Its only inhabitants were the worst criminals in the galaxy, and I was on a collision course for its surface.