7 Zinnar

I am one of the first to jump.

I fear I may not find the one I want most of all of the females available before another does. I don’t want to be stuck. This is my last chance.

If I had more time before the race to wander in search of a mate, maybe I would have found one that made me want to build us a mating cave. But as time passes, my options lessen. I do not want an arranged marriage to a woman I do not want .

Many attractive females run through the arena in tight-fitting suits. I land hard among other soldiers and sprint through the women. I think I want a yellow for her bright and upbeat personality, a blue for her docile and gentle heart, a green for her intellect, or any monochrome for her skills. I don’t want a red. They’re too bossy. And I don’t want a pink, because I doubt she’ll ever love only me.

There are only a few females with scents I like. Nothing grabs my attention enough to make me stop. I have no desire to fight others for what I want. I must get to her first.

Then fear grips me with the concern I won’t find one I like. Then I’ll have passed up the good options.

I don’t have to pick one. Abr said we don’t. I can come back at the next available slot.

But I don’t think my father will agree. His last words to me as I left our solar system ring in my head. “Take the first one, the first chance, and make it count. A king cannot and does not make mistakes.”

I pass a pink-banded female with a lovely scent, but it isn’t her own. She’s masked her natural fragrance with something synthetic. That’s what their band-color often does from what my comrades have said as we exchanged stories in the fields. I’ve heard about the race for years from them. Now I’m here. I want something real, raw, free-spirited but calm. Dedicated but independent.

It’s just not possible for her to exist, let alone here in this small group.

I circle a ropes course and find a blue-banded brunette who has a near perfect scent. But before I can snatch her up as she climbs the rope net, a Talhuskin swoops in from above and snatches her up, then takes off into the sky again, his scaled wings casting a shadow over me as he passes.

Three more females race by in a giggling group. Behind them, three Ethariols chase them on all fours, hunting like a pack.

I search for the females left with no one in pursuit. Few remain. It is like the food market before a holiday. All the good stuff is snatched up, and I fear I’ll be stuck alone, eating lardbean hash.

To my relief, two women still run alone in the meadow with no visible males behind them. I sprint for the closest. She’s yellow-banded, slender, blonde, and hops along a row of boulders bordering the meadow with unusual skill.

I charge through the rocky patch, catching up with her as she leaps down. She tumbles and pops up as I enter her path. The female slams into me.

Steadying her, I take in her scent and know we would pair well, though she does not command me the way I’d hoped. Her scent is sugary and flowery, but a bit strong for me.

I’ve heard from others that the best mate is the one that lights a fire in them. This female does not, but she is better than my arranged marriage possibility.

She throws her arms around my neck before I can greet her, ask her name, or even decide if she’s the one I want.

Better than my other option.

She thinks I’ve picked her. Guess I better roll with it. That’s what the king wants.

Not wanting to risk losing a good match, even if it isn’t quite what I’d hoped for, I pick her up and sling her over my shoulder.

Hearing a grunt and a thud, I turn around and look to see the other woman has fallen face-down in the meadow. No one is chasing her.

She’s green-banded, and already I’m regretting my choice. Her loose waves are a soft dark brown, similar to our ink when our kind shift.

The woman sits up and looks around, then silently cries. It’s then that I notice everyone but us is heading inside the flag ship.

I walk to her on instinct and because I have to meet her. I offer her a hand. It isn’t in me to let anyone feel forgotten. I know the feeling of having no one around when they’re needed most.

She’s injured her knees, but her tears ease when she sees me.

Unfortunately, I can’t take two. I can’t put down the one I’ve got, even if I’d rather have caught the brunette. Her scent curls through me like a firestorm. I’m instantly erect and breathing heavy under the burden of figuring out what to do.

She is perfect. When I help her up, the feeling of her soft skin in my hand aligns my broken pieces and comforts me like family should. I want her.

My cock stiffens until it is painful. When we lean closer, I see the hope in her hazel green eyes and am a wreck inside.

The blonde slips in my grip, and it makes her fidget and complain.

Rules and honor preside. It would look terrible if I swapped them out now. My father would not approve. The Interstellar Relations Department would say I was wrong because I had made a choice then changed my mind. Acts like that cannot become public or they will make it look like I made a mistake, went back on my word, and that could lead to broken trust even if our treaty with the Sol Federation was unharmed.

All I can do is apologize as the woman who basically threw herself at me fidgets on my shoulder.

I want to tell the green-banded woman to stay. I don’t want to lose her. She is right for me, but as a symbol, I have made a move, a choice, and am watched by a camera drone. I apologize and walk away. As I do, my soul fractures.

The yellow-banded woman introduces herself as Effi as we walk toward Coalescence. I hike up the ramp and into the ship toward the Mingle Celebration with the wrong female over my shoulder.

“Aren’t you going to tell me your name?” she asks.

“Prince Zinnar Ettarous.”

“Prince, huh? Do you make a lot?”

She is definitely not right for me. “Plenty as a soldier.”

I set her down and look her over. “Are you hurt at all from the race?”

She shakes her head, bites a nail, then grins. “Thanks for picking me. I didn’t want the money. Doesn’t look like she did either. But if nobody picked her, I guess that says something.”

“What does it say?”

“She’s undesirable at least.” Effi shrugs. “Alright, let’s mingle yeah?”

I don’t like the way she talks of the woman on the field. The brunette was perfect to me. But I let it slide, thinking Effi’s probably amped up from the race. Adrenaline can change the way humans talk just like rage or depression. I remember helping my mother through it more than once.

“Sure,” I say.

She looks back at me. “Oh, I didn’t mean together.”

I’m confused. “You don’t want to stay with me?”

“Just wanted to stay , honey. I’ve got my eye on the big dude in the corner. My bestie Liona is with him. We wanted to stick together, so we went Ginarigon hunting. She found one, so I’ll see ya ‘round, Prince Zinnar .”

“No chance then?”

She eyes me up and down. “Not really into your kind. You’re too—humanoid. I’m sorry.” She gives me a finger wave and sashays off to catch up with her friend.

My heart stutters. I thought when she picked me that she wanted me, and then we’d begin a week of getting to know one another. But now I’m alone again.

I scan the room for any wandering females and don’t see any at first glance. The isolation sinks in. I am in a massive hall, decorated for the celebration and filled with people and yet I have not felt like such an outcast.

The noise of the room—music, cheering, laughter, and animalistic growls of pleasure—close in around me. Needing some air to clear my head, I walk back to the ramp and look out at the field, wondering what became of the other woman. They’ve dimmed the lights and given the lunar landscape a softer evening glow.

My father and Rorlin will be upset that I did not try harder to keep Effi. But she isn’t right for me, for our kingdom. And I won’t try to push what I can tell she doesn’t want.

There are a few people in the field. I squint and find the woman I helped up just a few minutes ago. A glimmer of tears shines on her face as she walks out of the meadow to the transport that sets down. Abr staff wait for her, undoubtedly with her million winner’s credits.

She straightens and throws her shoulders back. Her scraped knees are red and dirty, yet she steadies herself and continues with confidence toward the two that wait for her. She finds a smile, though I know it isn’t genuine.

It is something I understand, deeply—pushing aside what I want to accept my role and the future that was decided for me.

Except I decided this one for her.

And she is what I have always wanted but never had time for.

As she takes the credits and deposits them with a touch of her wristband to the Abr treasurer’s tablet, a desire to talk to her grows.

Can I do that? She could stay. But she isn’t opting to.

I made my choice. She might not even want to talk to me at this point.

My growing tension tightens my neck. I rub it with a hand, trying to think through everything and find a way that the rules will let me make a second choice.

Thrusters hum louder, and my instincts have me running out of the door because the transport is taking off—carrying her away from me. I took too long. The mate I want, the one I need is leaving.

She sits by a window, looking out at the field with sad longing stretching her face.

She really wanted this, wanted a mate, a week to play and party.

I don’t. I wish I could trade places with her. Then her eyes drift to mine. For a moment, she almost smiles. My pulse rockets with a surge of hope.

Effi is gone.

I still need a mate.

I want the woman with the dark hair and green bands, with eyes like the morning sun over a meadow.

The staff members who sent her back to the spaceport walk toward the main complex that’s barricaded in digital construction tape and holographic cones.

I chase after them, knowing they might be my last chance to get to the female I want. “Excuse me?”

“Sir, why are you not mingling?” the treasurer asks.

“The one I chose left me.”

“Then go mingle and trade. That’s what this is for,” he says.

I shake my head. “She just wanted a ticket into the celebration so she could be a sister mate with her best friend.”

The founder, an older woman by the name of Rosy, leans on her cane and looks at the treasurer. “Technically that makes the gender split uneven. But if they don’t work out—”

“That’s not my fault,” I interject and point to the transport slipping through the enviroshield. “I wanted her. The other woman threw herself at me just so she could stay. This isn’t right.”

The treasurer shakes his head. But Rosy clicks her tongue and cuts him off. “The purpose of this race was to help intergalactic relations, to have some fun—which he’s clearly not having—help the women of our war-torn planet have better lives and the males of others find mates and introduce genetic diversity. But most importantly, you’d be wise to remember that this is a race for love, for mates, for finding the eternal partner. It’s just a crash course in it.”

Rosa slowly turns to me. “You have about an hour until she departs the spaceport. Her entrance can be reinstated if she brings her credits back. If she does not wish to return but you want to go with her, you will forfeit your entrance fees.”

“Don’t care. Can I request one more thing?”

“Yes. Can’t guarantee you’ll get it.”

“Tell me her name.”

“Rosalynn Cyphur.”

I thank them and call my team of royal guards with a tap to my crest. They’re docked at the Abr complex in case of emergency.

Rorlin answers. “What happened?”

“I’m going after the woman on the transport,” I say as I run out into the field. A camera drone hovers closer. “Can you pick me up? We’re low on time.”

“But didn’t she win?”

“Yes! I’ll explain later. Just hurry!”

I want her, but that doesn’t mean she’ll take me back. I rejected her. But I can’t go home alone. I won’t marry someone I don’t love. And to go against my father’s wishes would be dishonorable and have me exiled from the kingdom or thrown in a cell.

I don’t want to be forced to walk away from my people. So I’m going to have to come up with a backup offer, one Rosalynn can’t refuse.