4. Nia

The universe is fucking petty.

First, I end up having a cancerous mole on my boob, but not to worry, the Hands have specialized healing pods that can fix most things. I end up not having anything too serious, and the healing pod is able to get all of the cancer in less than a day after just one session.

I should be so grateful for the healing pod and alien technology, right?

Wrong.

The pod malfunctions. I’m left inside of it for hours, awake and feeling the chemicals in my veins the entire time when I’m supposed to be passed out. I try to scream but am choked on the oxygen tube. I try to claw my way out, but the pod can’t be opened until it completes its job. So yes, I’m healed, but I’m also left with nightmares of being trapped in it and uncertainty about how it affected my ability to conceive.

Second, my unknown ability to conceive has the doctor telling me the other Hands won’t be sending me to the new planet. He promised me he would get me here, though. So, we come up with a plan. It’s a variation of the same plan he was already trying to make work. His timeline’s just shifted forward a little bit. Meaning all of it hinges on this tribe’s ability to work overtime.

Third, I make it to the planet with the demons where they don’t have females, and I’m not immediately requested as a mate. It’s probably due to me not being sure I can have kids. I get it. These aliens put a lot of importance on procreation, which I get because I also like having sex. I don’t think I realized it would cause so many of them not to take me as a mate. I didn’t think I’d be fought over, but I didn’t think the room would go silent.

Fourth, and finally, when someone eventually decides they’ll take one for the team and mate the broken female, they tell me my new mate’s name is Beren. Fuck no.

“This is an unfortunate coincidence,” Vex says to me as he turns to face me.

There are two more giant red aliens behind him. My eyes are drawn to one of them who looks heartbroken in the face but has a raging boner in his pants. My eyes snap back up to his face where he’s clamping his jaw shut so tightly I can see it pulse in the corners as he grinds his teeth together. His horns loop down, framing his face, and I’m almost grateful he has those ones instead of the ones jutting straight out of his head like the one next to him because those look like they could stab an eye out.

The demon who knelt in front of me and had me licking come off his fingers had the curling down horns too, and I’m kind of pissed he’s not the one I’m mating because I thought he was pretty cute. He could at least smile at me, whereas the one I’m supposed to mate, who’s still pretty handsome in an alien-type way, looks like he’s just angry. Of course, he is. His name is Beren, and he’s mating a barren female.

“I’m not mating someone named Beren,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest, not missing how Beren’s eyes drop down to my chest before he can correct himself and look at my face.

He looks furious at himself, at me, at the world. Probably because he’s being tricked into a mating he doesn’t want because no one else is willing to mate the female who can’t offer them what they all want. The one thing I was sent here for.

“One minute,” Vex says, looking at his bare wrist and then at the glowing portal still humming behind the partition. “You finish mating him, or they will take you back, and I will be imprisoned.”

Beren’s brows furrow at the mention of me being taken back, and then he pushes past the doctor to kneel in front of me. He lifts his hands to place them on my shoulders but stops himself and then snarls at his hands like they’ve wronged him. His eyes meet mine, blazing red, and looking furious as he speaks to me.

“You do not like my name? Fine. You may call me whatever you wish, but you will call me yours, and you will call yourself mine. I care not what my name is so long as it is a name you will enjoy on your tongue and in your mouth.”

“Just say his name,” Deja yells at me from where she’s sitting. My head snaps in her direction so fast that I’m worried I might have whiplash. Tears spring in my eyes, my throat starts to burn, and emotion clogs my thoughts. “Come on, I want you to stay here, and it probably means something else in their language.”

“Born from joy,” the demon that fed me Beren’s come says from behind me. I startle at him being so close. Beren reaches out and steadies me before narrowing his eyes on the other demon. “You wanted to know what his name means. That is it. You will find that our mate does not live up to it well. He is a serious male most of the time.”

Vex looks back down at his wrist, his brow furrowing. Shit, I really don’t have enough time to be this picky. At least someone offered to take me. I mean, no one offered for what felt like an eternity. The demon who came and had me lick come off his hand wasn’t even the demon I was supposed to mate. Then, to make matters even more awkward, somehow, I’m pretty sure I’m intruding into an established relationship.

The demon who knelt behind the partition with me seemed kind, and he made me feel at ease. The one in front of me? I can’t tell if he’s upset with me for having to mate me or if he’s upset because I seem less than enthused to be mating him.

“Fine, fine, I’m yours… Beren.”

The name has me frowning in unease because of my own insecurities. It feels like a giant mockery of what I am now. I need this mating, though. I have to stay here because if I go back to Earth, I don’t know when or if they’ll ever let me come back. I can’t be there anymore, not after everything that’s happened, not when my friends are here. The look of hurt that crosses Beren’s face is a surprise, but he masks it quickly by clenching his jaw and looking behind me to the other demon still standing there.

“See so much joy on his face now. The name makes sense, yes?” the demon behind me, the demon I’m apparently sharing Beren with, says with a hint of a laugh in his voice. When I turn to look at him, his eyes are watching me, and a smile is splitting his lips. “It seems your face is showing just as much joy. That is fine. Maybe it will be what bonds you both.” He looks at me in earnest but then startles himself. “Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Lyath. You may say my name often it will probably upset our mate.”

“Am I supposed to upset him?”

“He is easy to rile.” Lyath gives me a mischievous grin.

Beren grumbles, seeming to brighten when we both face him. His eyes bounce from my face to Lyath’s before he finally decides to walk over to where Lyath’s standing. He holds out a hand for me to take if I want to. His other hand wraps around Lyath’s shoulder, holding him close to his body.

“So why did I have to mate the angry one if you’re both together?” I ask, not taking Beren’s hand but moving close to him so he knows I’m willing to follow him if we’re leaving.

I’m probably asking a pretty invasive question, but they’re stuck with me now as far as what the doctor told me. Beren stiffens at my question but keeps his gaze forward as he guides Lyath and me through the dining hall.

“Oh, you will find he is a much better mate than I am,” Lyath says with so much enthusiasm I don’t think he’s lying.

Either Lyath’s selling himself short, or Beren puts on a really shitty first impression. Not that either of them needs to offer me more than they have. I only needed someone to mate with me to keep me on the planet. They don’t have to have an actual relationship with me, and I don’t think I’ll be getting one with these two, who seem to be already devoted to one another.

“Yeah, I guess it didn’t really matter which one of you it was.” I shrug my shoulders, trying not to sound as disappointed as I feel. I kind of hoped I would be finding my alien charming or fated mate or whatever. I didn’t really think I’d be the third wheel in an already happy couple.

“Oh, it mattered very much.” Lyath looks around Beren to look down at me.

I’m not touching our shared mate, but I stay close to him as he navigates us through the lines of tables. They’re all filled with other demons, some of them looking like my mate and some of them with different horns and different coloring. Most of them watch me like they’re both happy I’m there and also uncertain if they can acknowledge me just yet. Vex, who I’m just now realizing has left without saying goodbye, told me that the demons are protective and possessive. Or, most of them are. He also told me of some who enjoy sharing their mates.

“Why’s that?” I ask, noticing how Lyath narrows his eyes to my empty hand. His brows pull together, and I can tell he wants to ask me why I’m not touching our shared mate, but I don’t have it in me to tell him that I’m almost positive his mate doesn’t want to be mated to me and that we may have forced him into it.

“You will figure it out, I am sure,” Lyath answers and then shakes his head.

A weird snort of laughter works out of him as he tries to stifle a laugh. He opens his mouth to say something else, covers his mouth to laugh again, and then repeats the process a few times like he is unable to say whatever joke he’s trying to make. The absurdity of it has me trying to stifle my own laughter, but when he opens his mouth for the third time to try to make a joke and only makes himself laugh, I accidentally let out a giggle, too. The sound has Beren shooting a look down at me, and for the first time since he found out he was mating me, he doesn’t look completely pissed off.

“Tell my mate your joke.” Beren glances at Lyath from the corner of his eyes. “She seems to think you are humorous already.”

“I am just thinking of how angry you must be in your head to have your other mate telling me how much it does not matter which of us she’s mated.” Lyath barely gets the words out, his body folding in half as he laughs loudly. Others around us give him suspicious looks because his joke isn’t funny and doesn’t even constitute a joke. His ability to make himself laugh is pretty funny and has me laughing, much to my own embarrassment, because all of these demons are going to think I’m laughing at Lyath’s terrible joke. “She has no idea how you are yet, and already she is wiggling her way underneath your scales, is she not?”

“Is this my life now?” Beren sighs as Lyath and I try and fail to stop our laughter.

I manage to stop myself, but then I look over at Lyath, who’s trying his hardest not to laugh, which causes his shoulders to jerk, and it has me laughing all over again. Okay, so I’m mated to a male who doesn’t seem to want anything to do with me, but at least I can get along with the male who’s mated to my mate. I kind of thought I’d be with someone who wanted to be with me, but being the third wheel in an established relationship will work, too. I mean, I’ll end up best friends with my hand, but at least I’m not stuck going back to Earth.

“This is your friend, correct?” Beren says when we near Deja, who’s watching the three of us, about a million questions are written all over her face.

“Best friend,” Deja answers for me, holding out her hand and pulling me into a chair next to her.

I wrap her in my arms when I get myself righted, hugging her so tight that I’m sure I’m cutting off her airway. She doesn’t complain, though. No, she holds me tight to her. I don’t realize we’re both crying until I pull away and feel the warmth of my tears running down my cheeks. I wipe them off, startling slightly when I hear a low hiss beside me. When I look up, Beren’s gaze is narrowed on Deja, who glares back up at him with defiance in her eyes.

“What are you going to do?” She raises one of her brows up at Beren, who pulls his lips back in a snarl. “Do I need to tell Dath that Nia’s mate is being a dick to me?”

Beren’s eyes drop to me, the red disappearing into a deep black, the snarl fading to a tight smile that doesn’t seem to reach his eyes. “Nia?”

I nod my head, and he does the same before turning back to Deja. “I am not scared of your mate. You can tell him that.”

Deja rolls her eyes, not seeming to care that Beren seems genuine in what he’s saying. Vex told me she was mated to one of the strongest males in the tribe, and here’s mine telling her that he doesn’t care in the slightest.

“Can you keep my mate safe while we finish getting our home ready for her? It will be a day or two, and I plan on Lyath and me sleeping out there so we can work late.”

“Are you going to be in a better mood when you come back for her in a few days?”

Lyath snorts a laugh before answering for Beren. “You know him very little, Dath’s mate. This is him in a good mood.”

Deja groans and throws her head back against the back of her chair. “Well, go away then. I’ll keep Nia safe, and you both can go get the house ready.”

“Both?” Lyath turns to Beren with wide eyes and a look of betrayal on his face.

“Yes, both.” Beren wraps his arm around Lyath’s shoulders and pulls him away from the table. “I will make it up to you tonight.”

“You will.” Lyath nods, shooting me a look over his shoulder. “Your new mate will not mind?”

I can feel my cheeks heat as Lyath’s lips spread into a wide smile as if he senses my embarrassment. Instead of giving him an answer, I turn toward Deja, hoping she can distract me from the thoughts running through my head right now.

I end up having to rub my eyes when images of Lyath and Beren in bed, tangled with one another, pleasuring one another, start flooding my mind. The warmth spreads from my face down my chest and settles low in my abdomen. I’m going to hell for fetishizing two gay aliens. Maybe I can squeak by the morality of it by explaining that I’m mated to one of them. Yeah, I’m sure that makes my thoughts completely and totally okay.

“You good?” Deja asks when I’ve been rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands until I see dark spots in my vision.

“Yeah.” My voice is a bit higher pitched, causing her to give me a wry smile and lean into me. “Do not.” I stop her before she can say anything to embarrass me further.

Deja throws her head back and laughs loud enough that I’m sure we have so many eyes on us. If she mentions how she knows I’m definitely fantasizing about my mate, they’re all going to hear about it. I scramble over and cover her mouth with my hand which only has her laughing harder. Tears start falling down her face, she starts snorting in the most unflattering way, and finally, after what seems like an eternity, she stops.

“Nia,” Deja starts to say, but I cut her off in a hissed whisper.

“I can fantasize about my mate.”

Another snort. “Yeah, but just know they’re definitely with each other.”

“I know that,” I keep my voice hushed because I can see some of the others leaning closer, wanting to hear what we’re whispering about. They’re nosy in this tribe. “It was a moment of weakness when Lyath turned around. You can’t deny I got two pretty cute ones.”

“Two cute ones that are more interested in each other’s pockets.”

“Who are you talking about?” One of the demons manages to squeeze between mine and Deja’s chairs, his dark scales setting him apart from all the other demons because of their almost black color. “We are all curious, and the new human seems to be speaking too quietly.”

“Go away!” Deja swats at the dark demon, who only laughs and crawls back away from our chairs before dragging a chair over and sitting too close to my other side. He leans in, his head in his hand, tilting his head to the side.

“You can speak with all of us. We are all very interested in the new human,” the demon says, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

“Not interested enough to mate me,” I look around the room as I say the words. All of them are hyper-focused on our conversation, but as soon as they’re called out, they cast their eyes down to their laps—all of them except for the one sitting next to me.

“I am mated, and this worked out,” the demon says. “You do not want Erkoz as a mate. I also share my family, so maybe you and her will have things in common.”

“Oh, actually, yeah,” Deja says a little more enthusiastically. “How about you go and get your mate, and then we’ll all have a big talk with you?”

“Truly?” Erkoz sits back up in his chair, his eyes narrowing a fraction as he tries to sus out whether Deja’s lying to him or not.

“Truly.” She nods her head, making a cross across her heart that has the demon tilting his head to the side. “Now, go.”

Erkoz wastes no time in pushing away from the table and running down one of the halls. Deja grabs my hand, pulls me out of my seat, and drags me through the dining hall.

“Where are we going?” I ask as she drags me out of the doors and out into the tribe. She doesn’t stop to let me admire how tall the trees are. The tops of them look like they’re almost disappearing into the sky. The sky is blanketed in dark clouds tinted a soft green like a storm’s about to roll in. I don’t get to admire or ask any other questions before she pushes me inside one of the buildings close to the great hall and closes the door behind me.

“This is my mate’s workshop,” Deja says as she locks the door. “I figure we can get a little bit of alone time without all of the others bothering you. They’ll pester you incessantly if they get the chance.”

“Oh.” I look around the small workshop, noticing the various sketches on almost every flat surface in the building. I look at all of them, smiling to see so many sketches of my best friend. Well, I’m smiling until I see a sketch I definitely did not need to ever see in my life. My cheeks warm again, and Deja is snatching the sketch away. “Maybe clean up all of your porn before inviting me over.”

“Maybe don’t snoop,” Deja laughs as she grabs a few more sketches from around the building and tucks them underneath a stack of plain paper. She stares at me for a minute, her hands on her hips like she’s deciding what to do with me. Then her arms are wrapping around me again, causing more tears to spill from my eyes when she speaks again. “We have so much to catch up on.”