Star Mate Matched
Interstellar Shifters Book 1
Margo Bond Collins
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
Epilogue
About the Author
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Star Mate Matched
Copyright © 2021 by Margo Bond Collins
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.
Published by Dangerous Words Publishing
Cover by Covers by Combs
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Created with Vellum
About Star Mate Matched
This alien warrior has finally met his match. But she's not who he thinks she is...
Nora Marlin
Fired from my job. Kicked out of my apartment. And dumped at the altar. All in the same week. So of course, that’s when an alien swoops down in his spaceship and steals me away.
FML.
Worse, he’s an overbearing, possessive giant of an alien, complete with rippling muscles and a sexy smile that could melt even the most hardened heart.
Okay. Maybe being abducted by an alien isn’t so bad, after all.
But I still need to get home and straighten out my mess of a life. Right?
Commander Lutro Dax
I was supposed to go to Earth to pick up my matched mate. When I got to the rendezvous point, Nora was there—so of course I brought her aboard.
There’s only one problem.
Nora’s not the human woman I was supposed to meet. She’s not my mate at all. So why is it all I can do to keep from claiming her as my own?
If I were smart, I’d turn around and take her back to her home planet immediately.
But I won’t…
Star Mate Matched is the first standalone book in Interstellar Shifters, a steamy new sci-fi romance series featuring alien beast warriors, kick-ass human heroines, and a happily ever after in every book!
Prologue
Commander Lutro Dax
“Commander Dax, there’s a message for you. It’s from Captain Jalek.”
I waved at the junior officer to let him know I heard him, then turned toward the comscreen.
About time Jalek reported in. He’d been gone for several solar turns longer than I had anticipated. I knew he assumed the mission I sent him on was less important than the battles I had assigned to others in his unit.
It was not.
In fact, his mission might be the most important one of all. Because there was one important fact Captain Jalek did not know. Other than me, no one outside of High Command knew it.
If we did not find mates, our entire species would be wiped out. The Karlaxons’ latest salvo had left virtually all our females barren.
The Drovekzian people were doomed. Even if we won all the battles, our world was lost, our people destroyed. Unless Jalek, or one of the other hundreds of scouts sent out on secret missions across the universe, came back with news of viable mates.
I swallowed down the fear that rose in my throat. I had no time for that now. As the first scout reporting back in, Jalek’s news was paramount.
I played the message.
Jalek’s face appeared on the comscreen. And by the ancient gods, he looked cheerful, an expression I hadn’t seen on his face since he lost his ability to shift into his beast.
“Commander Dax,” his image spoke. “I am sending this message ahead to report mission success. I repeat, mission success.”
Wait. What?
Of all the things I had expected to hear in Jalek’s report, mission success was the lowest one on the list.
I had to pause the playback for a moment to collect myself.
We are going to survive.
The lump in my throat this time came from relief.
“In fact,” Jalek continued when I resumed the message, “I am returning from Earth—that’s what the people there call planet X-320—with a mate of my own.” His voice dropped and he glanced around as if to ensure he wasn’t overheard. “At least, I know she’s my mate. She is still deciding.”
Deciding? What the garlockian underworlds did that mean? Either she was his mate, or she wasn’t. There was no deciding to it. I shook my head in confusion.
“We should arrive within three solar turns of your receipt of this message. I am also attaching a planetary scan of appropriate DNA matches for your perusal, as you requested. I hope this finds you well. I look forward to introducing you to my Lucy.” His image blinked out and the file unfolded in front of me.
Lucy. Such an odd name. But, as the old saying went, alien peoples have alien ways.
I was almost sorry I wouldn’t be around to meet her.
Quickly, I entered the file into the program High Command had sent me, then leaned back to wait for the results, tapping my fingers on the console. I was anxious enough that my claws popped out, scraping against the metal with an unpleasant sound and leaving behind four long scratches. I retracted them immediately. It wouldn’t do for any of my subordinates to see me losing control like that.
The system beeped its conclusion and I leaned closer to read the results.
“Yes,” I hissed.
There it was.
A perfect match for my own DNA.
I stood, pulling my uniform straight and smoothing my fur. I definitely would not be meeting Jalek’s Lucy. Not yet.
No, our paths would cross in transit. According to my orders, I was heading to … what was it called?
Right. Earth.
I was heading to Earth, where I would claim a mate of my own.
And there would be no deciding involved.
I glanced down at the DNA scan one last time.
That one.
She was mine.
Chapter One
Nora Marlin
Fuck. My. Life.
The words echoed through my head with each step I took, like a mantra I
