My mate is hovering behind me, and…

20

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My mate is hovering behind me, and for that, I am glad. These males have never known the sheer pleasure of mating, and they would kill for the opportunity.

Old customs have fallen to the wayside. They want what I have. So, I must give them their own mates.

“Males, let me explain the App to you. There is a device that Samarians use on Earth, called a cell phone,” I say. “They are all addicted to it and they use it for everything. The V’aalarans found a way to create an App for their device, one that looks like a regular dating App. We get to screen the females, and if one of them selects us and we select them back, they are instantly transported to us.”

“Can they leave?” Prince Yi asks.

I shake my head. “The device only brings them here. There is no path to return.”

“And they do not fight?”

“Not too much,” I say, wincing. I know that some of what I need to say will be hard for my mate to hear.

“And if they do?”

“Subdue them, if needed. But honestly, try to win them over. They are strong and need to be treated as such.”

“How did you win this one over?”

I glance at my mate. She looks annoyed.

“I’m still working on that.”

“But you mated, nonetheless. She agreed to be your mate?”

“Yes.”

Naomi’s fingernails dig into my arm. I forgot that she was holding onto me.

Ouch.

“Alright. Show us.”

I walk Prince Yi through the process of setting up his profile. He starts searching for a mate and finds one that he definitely likes. But she does not swipe up.

“You may wait. Or you may move on.”

“How long does it take?” Yi asks.

I glance at Naomi. She swiped fast. “How long, my Love?”

She clears her throat and stares at the Prince. “If she has not responded by now, you should move on. There are plenty of other Samari in the sea,” she says.

Interesting phrase. I’ll have to ask her about that later.

Yi swipes past a few more attractive females. He finally stops on another one. Rachel.

“Now what?”

“Wait a moment,” I command. He has already initiated the sequence that causes lights to flash at the top of her screen.

The screen begins to glow.

“She has accepted you.”

Everyone sits in complete silence, in awe that Prince Yi will have a Rachel soon.

“Now what happens?” my mate whispers from behind me.

“She will materialize in front of you. And then you will place a communication device behind her ear.” I fish into my pocket and take out a handful of them, which I drop onto the table. The males pass them around, each eager to have a comm device.

Naomi reaches up to her ear and starts touching the skin behind it. She finds the spot where I planted the device and sighs.

In front of Yi, a female form begins to take shape. She is tall, dark skinned, and has long hair in braids.

She starts screaming in her language, and even though we can all understand her, she can’t understand anyone.

“Naomi?”

“Oh.” Naomi takes a step forward. “Rachel?”

Rachel turns to glare at her, her eyes filled with fear. And hate. “What is this place? Why am I here?”

“This is the planet Narul. You have been summoned here to be Prince Yi’s mate.”

“I agreed to no such thing!” the female shouts. Naomi sighs, a sad expression on her face.

“Yi, place the device.”

Yi glances at Naomi, who bows her head before speaking. “Rachel, I’m so sorry. Yi will place a device into the skin behind your ear. This will allow you to understand their language.”

“How do you understand me?”

“I’m from Earth.”

“And you let them take me?” Rachel demands. Her hands are immediately on her hips, anger snarling her lower lip.

Naomi cowers behind me. “I’m so sorry.”

Rachel folds her arms over her chest. “Fine. Place your damned device. I have something to say.”

Yi leans forward and inserts the device behind her ear. He waits for a moment as it connects, then tells Rachel, “I have never seen a more beautiful female in all my life.”

She stares at him, still fuming. “Take me home. Now.”

“This is a one-way trip, my Princess.”

“And each of these men is expecting to find a woman?” Rachel asks, staring directly at Naomi.

Naomi squeezes my hand even tighter, so much that I feel severe pain radiating up my arm.

“They have no women. I cannot stop them. I used the App, too.”

“The App?” Rachel says, then her mouth drops open. “Oh, my.”

Prince Yi’s younger brother, Fio, is already plugging his way through the App as well. He pauses over a female, Greta. “She looks kind,” he says to the group, oblivious to the conflict on Rachel’s face.

A few moments later, Greta appears in front of us, and the sequence repeats.

By the time each male in the room has selected a female, including the King, Naomi is in tears.

“They didn’t agree to this,” she whispers.

“We need them,” I tell her.

Rachel catches her eye, now having witnessed the same breakdown amongst a number of females. The same raw terror that she experienced was repeated a dozen times.

“Let me take you to my quarters.”

“But these women…”

“They will be treated like Queens.” I turn to face the males. “Remember, treat them like Queens. Each and every one of them.”

As we walk away, the tablet in my hand, my mate by my side, I know that the fate of Narul has been forever changed. But my mate looks heartbroken, and the look on the faces of those females tells me what I had not understood until now.

This is a trick, and the females feel like they’ve been robbed of their choice. Yes, we need them. But we’ve stolen them to serve our own purpose.

Rachel wasn’t even the loudest female.

Alondra, the last female selected, took one look around the room and screamed. She started kicking and punching the warrior she’d been selected for, and he let her. They would war with us, one angry female at a time.

By the time we get to my quarters, Naomi doesn’t want to talk or cuddle. She moves silently to the bedroom and collapses in the bed, where she continues to cry.

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