Teril's Fire: A Mate Index Alien Romance (The Mate Index Book 12) Read online

  Teril’s Fire

  A Mate Index Romance

  S.J. Sanders

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Epilogue 2

  Other Works by S.J. Sanders

  About the Author

  ©2020 by Samantha Sanders

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission granted in writing from the author.

  Editor: LY Publishing

  Cover Artist: Samantha Rose

  This book is a work of fiction intended for adult audiences only.

  Prologue

  Grish Ugaar was at a loss on how he might help his brother. Although assisting in a recent battle at the aid of their Arobi friends had lightened the male’s spirits, it didn’t last long. Before the first lunar cycle was complete, Borth had retreated once more into his private, pain-filled world. He would completely shut out even Grish on a bad day, when the agony from the ghosts of wounds he’d sustained on Agraadax overwhelmed him.

  It was another bad day.

  Even from halfway across the field, Grish could see the grimace on his brother’s face. His right leg dragged with every movement, despite the supportive knee brace he wore to reinforce the cybernetic limb’s ability to function under duress for long periods. On most days it did not bother him, but the rainy season was coming, and it seemed to irritate the phantom pains of wounds long since healed.

  During the heat of the summer, it hadn’t been so bad. Borth had even begun entertaining the idea of sending away for a mate, a small human who would not look down on the male for his physical inabilities.

  That too, like so many things, was now relegated to a subject that his brother was in no mood to discuss.

  That alone was frustrating. The medics said that half of Borth’s problems weren’t physical. If anyone needed a mate to distract him and shower him with love, affection, and approval, it was his brother. Humans weren’t like Terils. They would never consider a Teril mate. Their refusal to mate with a female of their species had brought them to this world since they had avoided summons to return to their homeworld to be matched with an appropriate female.

  Their species was too focused on physical strength and soundness of body for it to have been a healthy situation for Borth. A Teril was larger and stronger than most species in the Intergalactic Union. Weakness wasn’t tolerated among their kind, and was not welcome among their females.

  A human mate, however, would be different.

  He knew he should have used their savings to acquire their female during the summer, before his brother’s mood soured. He had hoped that things would last until the money from the harvest came in.

  Now they were paying for that short-sightedness on his part.

  It was for that reason that he was about to break his brother’s trust and do something behind his back for the first time. He was going to order a mate for them from the Mate Index.

  Clearing his throat, Grish raised his voice so to be heard.

  “Borth, I’m going to the city to gather goods. I will be gone only overnight. Is there anything you want brought back?”

  The only sign that his brother heard him was the hand the male raised to wave him off. He didn’t look his way, nor call out lewd suggestions jovially as had been his custom.

  His brother was broken. This, if nothing else, affirmed for him that he was doing what was right.

  Humming to himself, he made his way to their flyer. He had packed it earlier that day in preparation for the journey, so there was little to be done. Borth would amuse himself with vids as he nursed his pained leg, until hunger drove him to dig through their kitchen for food. Neither of them was much good at cooking, but they had a replicator that served its purpose. The irony wasn’t lost on either of them that they were farmers selling crops to eat replicated food, but it was where they were.

  Settling into the flyer, he could almost hear it creak from his weight. It was barely large enough for them. Their ganthli—the horned plating that fringed their heads—barely cleared the ceiling. No doubt once younglings began coming, they would have to invest credits into a larger flyer to serve their purposes. Grish smiled at the thought of having a family as he programmed the coordinates for the trading post.

  Although it was a fair distance to the post, it was not only the sole place nearby to trade or buy supplies, but also one of the few long-range comm systems through which he would be able to attend the hologram meeting with the Mate Index representative.

  He fingered the scrap that he had written the appointment on. He would have filed it on the comms, but everything was connected to the household comm, meaning Borth would have discovered his secret.

  At the fourth hour past sunrise, he would make arrangements to begin their family. It was the very thing that had consumed his and Borth’s thoughts since they formed their uthak.

  A thrill ran through him as the flyer zipped through the air, and he shamelessly spent the flight mulling over what their mate might be like and how many offspring they would have. How soon and how often did human females prepare to breed, and how long was their gestation? These were unknowns to him, and he considered the many possible scenarios. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he was somewhat surprised when the flyer came down at the rest lodge by the edge of post.

  Heaving himself out of his chair, Grish pulled his pack from the storage compartment and walked with heavy steps toward the rest lodge, smaller citizens scurrying out of his way. Many were afraid of his species, and for good reason, but he found himself filled with a sudden apprehension that their mate might also be nervous or afraid around them. His mouth tightened, sending another citizen running for cover.

  He would have to make sure to do everything in his power to make her comfortable. He would work extra hard at it to compensate for Borth’s recent surliness.

  Ducking into the low entrance of the lodge, he squinted down at the tiny local seated behind the counter. The male’s eyes widened, and his head tipped back as he took in the whole of Grish’s large frame.

  The clerk swallowed nervously. “How long will you be staying?”

  “Just one night,” Grish replied. “I should have my supplies collected and my female underway to me before the end of the day.”

  “I… see,” the male stated, his fingers nervously tapping at the large upright data screen in front of him. “Place your hand on the registry pad, please.”

  With a warm smile that for some reason made the male sink further into his chair, Grish lifted his hand and placed it on the pad. It flashed green, and the clerk gave him a tremulous smile.

  “The locks to your room are now coded to you. Please go down the hall to
room twelve.”

  Nodding in thanks, Grish turned away, adjusting his pack on his shoulder as he moved and made his way to his assigned room. As promised, the lock pad on the door recognized his handprint, and the door slid open before him.

  It was just as nondescript as he remembered. Nothing but dull shades of sand hue. Still, it was serviceable. Leaving his pack on his bed, he left his room to find supplies for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, he wanted nothing to interrupt his appointment. He had heard that the officials for the Mate Index were notoriously difficult. Throughout the day, he wondered just how true the rumors were about the human officials, and it continued to plague his mind early in the morning when he set out to the transmitter.

  Unfortunately, it all proved to be true.

  Grish sat wedged onto a small chair as the holographic image of a stern human male leaned forward and inspected him critically, an out-of-date datapad clenched his hands.

  “You say you’re looking for a mate for you and your… brother.” A faint look of distaste crossed the male’s face so fast that a less observant male may have missed it. But not Grish.

  The interview was already off to a bad start, it seemed. He did vaguely recall hearing that humans did not typically engage in such relationships that were common among other cultures in the Union. Grish cleared his throat and twitched with unease as he attempted to salvage the situation. He could not fail and have their application denied.

  “We are not biological brothers, but brothers by uthak. It is the closest sort of brotherhood, one formed for creating family units. It is by our cultural traditions that we share a mate and work together to provide for the female and the rearing of offspring.”

  “And you plan to provide this by… farming,” the human supplied, his brow knotting. “A strange occupation for males with a long history of enlistment.”

  “We are retired. Farming is an honorable pursuit for warriors. It keeps us active, something we require.”

  “And where is your brother?”

  “Tending to the farm. It is difficult for us both to be away. There’s always much work to be done.”

  The male made a noise in the back of his throat and nodded. His finger moved over the datapad as he no doubt skimmed over his application. An application that the male would have already read, but was making show of examining for the sake of performance. Humans had a flair of dramatic, as he already knew. Finally, the male set the application down and knitted his fingers together on the table before him.

  “It seems your application is in order. Have you given any consideration to what sort of woman you’re looking for as a mate?”

  Grish stared blankly at the male. “I do not understand.”

  The human let out a nervous laugh. “Well, are you looking for a certain body type—curvy, athletic, slender—or perhaps a specific complexion or hair color?”

  Humans really considered such things? Teril females would color and oil their scales, especially their horn crests, but never had he heard of anyone weighing the value of a mate on such things. Shrugging, he attempted a smile despite feeling less and less comfortable with the entire process.

  He was doing this for their family. He would succeed!

  “We have no preferences in such things. We just want a female who will be kind, loving, and patient. A good mate who will bring joy and comfort to our home. It would be an extra bonus if she’s inquisitive and enjoy games of strategy. It will make passing time together pleasant, since we enjoy many games in the evenings as well as vids.”

  The human stared at him for a long moment, but then, to Grish’s relief, the male suddenly smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, but there were worse.

  “I believe I have a few options for you to consider. One in particular you might like. Very sweet disposition and clever. I’m certain you’ll find her a good match.”

  Letting out a pent-up breath, Grish smiled and shifted in his seat with expectation.

  Success!

  Chapter 1

  Crystal Inola Rivers frowned at the landscape. It was one of the circles of hell. She was sure of it. Nothing but rolling hillsides, grass, and dirt. It had to be a mistake. The view from the transport was so uninspiring that she turned to the captain and jabbed a finger toward the viewing screen.

  “Are you sure this is it?”

  “Yes. The coordinates indicate that this is Antari Minor.”

  “But there’s nothing here!” she objected.

  The enormous winged alien—an Itashvanda, she recalled—frowned as he squinted at the small town that looked like it wouldn’t have been out of place on a Wild West set. She hated westerns.

  “I disagree. There is quite clearly the trading port city, Intakfell, exactly where we were instructed to take you.”

  Her heart sank. She was going to kill Robby if she ever saw him again.

  Stupid fucking idiot.

  For a fellow hacker, he had zero sense, especially since he had a tendency to use his skills for petty theft to feed his flash addiction when he was short on cash. The alien drug had arrived on Earth five years ago and took the entire planet by storm. When he was wired on flash, he did stupid things—like try to steal from aliens.

  She had told him to leave aliens alone, but when a large Calystii Imperial ship docked just outside the city, he was convinced he could get something worth selling. She wasn’t sure what he stole, but knew that he had skipped town directly afterward, leaving a target on Crystal’s back. She didn’t have the opportunity to tell the Calystii that she didn’t know what her idiot now-ex boyfriend did with the shit he stole.

  The moment she returned to her apartment and found it ransacked with a warning scrawled across one wall that, thanks to her neurotranslator she had implanted just months earlier, she had been able to read, Crystal had skipped town. Sure, she could have stayed and tried to explain her innocence, but a warning to return said item or die horribly didn’t inspire any confidence that they wouldn’t torture or kill her regardless.

  Unfortunately, the Calystii had been harder to shake than she thought they would be. They tracked her to every city she tried to hide out in, always coming dangerously close to capturing her. She wasn’t sure what they had planned if they caught her. She was quite certain, however, that she didn’t want to hang around and find out.

  When she spotted the silvery males at the edge of a crowd during a rave, she knew she had to do something else. Datapad in hand, she had hacked into the Mate Index system, set up her account, and had it marked as approved and processed.

  An alien world seemed like a better option for hiding.

  So she thought, anyway.

  But hiding out under the protective shadow of a burly alien who supposedly would worship the ground she walked on hadn’t worked out too well. Every male she had been matched with sent her back to a Mate Index HQ on one of the various space stations within days of arrival.

  She knew what her file said. That she was prickly, hostile, generally disagreeable about everything, antisocial, somber, frigid since she wouldn’t drop panties and get to fucking, and unfeminine (listing her tattoos and piercings as being the worst taste for her sex), among other things. As if the guys she was sent to were any sort of prize. The last guy she was sent to, the Korovik, although he had been pretty, was a stuffy asshole with zero sense of humor. He hadn’t appreciated it when she reprogrammed the entire household to make it more user friendly for her. He sent her back with an apologetic smile before she even had time to unpack as he informed her that they “just wouldn’t suit.”

  Yeah. Sure.

  That was the fifth time she was sent back. After that, it seemed that most males kept a wide berth from her. Normally she wouldn’t cry over it, but she sure as hell didn’t want to go back to Earth. Unfortunately, the asshole assigned to her case informed her that if she didn’t make this mating work out that she was being sent back and permanently disqualified from entering the program again.

  Not only that, but since they
also caught on to her little trick, he had been pleased to inform her of the prison cell waiting for her on Earth if she didn’t fulfill the terms of the contract she forged. Nice. They were willing to look the other way while there was a chance that she would do what she signed up for, but they were tired of losing funds due to dissatisfied males.

  Crystal gently rolled her tongue piercing and scowled. At least she knew what the dick had been so happy about. This apparently was her punishment. It had to be. No one would consider sticking her there as any sort of favor toward her. She thrived off the urban vibe, the rush of city life and the electric information highways running through it day or night. A city rarely slept. A place where she could plug in and race among data highways.

  What the fuck was she going to do here?

  A loud sigh escaped her as she turned to glance over at her escort again. “Please tell me that this is just a little out of the way place, and that there are at least some kind of cities around.”

  It was foolish to cling to hope, especially when that very quality had been what kept her with Robby when she should have cut him loose, but she tried to be optimistic that there was something she could salvage out of the situation. That hope was dashed when the alien shook his head, his enormous leathery wings shifting behind him.

  “Antari Minor is an outer planet, the settlements forming around farming and mining communities. Intakfell is one of the largest trading ports on the continent.”