“Probably,” Commander Gendovi said with a nod. “I wasn’t able to get us out of it. No matter how many favors I tried to pull in.”
I heaved a sigh. I desperately needed to tell Cav what I had done. I started to pull him aside then and there, but we were interrupted by the arrival of Vos Klavoii’s assistant, Anthony.
A small but incredibly efficient human male, Anthony bustled into the concourse hallway. “Oh, good. You’re all here. Please follow me to Mr. Klavoii’s office.”
It looked like I wasn’t going to be able to tell Cav anything anytime soon.
“Remember what I told you,” Natalie whispered cryptically to Amelia.
What had she told my mate?
As we fell into line to follow Anthony to the main Games Director’s office, I hung back to be at the end of the line.
Amelia and Natalie slowed and dropped behind me, irritating me in ways I couldn’t express while we were on the station. It went against everything I believed to allow them to walk behind me. I couldn’t protect them if someone attacked from behind. Not that I expected us to run into trouble— this was Station 21, after all. But all my military training told me that one soldier needed to be in the front, one to the rear.
You’re safe here, I reminded myself.
For now, anyway—right up to the moment that I told someone about my mating cock coming out to play with Amelia.
Amelia stuck close to Natalie’s side, and I couldn’t help the stab of envy that came with realizing she felt safer with the other human woman than she did with me.
Even after everything we had been through together.
When I accidentally mated myself to Amelia, I was certain I could walk away from her if necessary.
Don’t lie to yourself, Zont, my conscience prompted me. You were certain you could get her to accept you as her mate.
My conscience was a damned nuisance.
But it was right, I realized.
It had never occurred to me that I would have to fight against any other grooms hoping to claim Amelia as their own.
I was Special Ops. Chosen from the best of the Khanavai Space Fleet. Trained to be even better. The very best of the best.
And about to lose my mate in a stupid competition.
I ran my hand down my face, from eyes to chin.
Fuck. I was in serious trouble. This, as the human saying went, sucked.
Anthony led us into the Games Director’s outer office. “Please wait here.”
He disappeared into the inner office and returned a few moments later with Vos Klavoii himself.
“Please, come into my office,” Vos said, opening the door and ushering us inside. “We have some issues to discuss.”
Chapter Fifteen
Amelia
“You have to be kidding me.” I stared at Vos Klavoii—probably the most well-known figure on all of television—with my mouth hanging open in shock.
“I never kid.” Vos’s voice was completely serious, different from his onscreen persona.
“Repeat those options to me, please.” I tried to keep in mind what Natalie had told me about him. He’s an ass, but he can be negotiated with, I reminded myself. As long as it’s in his best interest—and increases his ratings.
“Your choices are simple,” Vos replied, his voice too prim for my tastes, but also somehow commanding. This was a man who was used to getting his way, no matter what it took. “You may choose to accept Zont Lanov as your mate, as he was the only groom to put in a formal request to court you during the Bride Games, even after you fled.”
The sneer that accompanied his words made me wish I had a hotel lamp in my hands to bash over his head, but I simply nodded. “I see.”
“Or you may choose the second option. If you choose that route, you will participate in the full range of Bride Games, along with Commander Gendovi and Mia Jones.”
I considered the options. I had promised Zont I would seriously consider being his mate. But going through the Bride Games meant the possibility of going back home at the end. And not home to an Earth where I would always be on the run, but home to the life I’d had before. A life with a thriving medical practice, friends, a place of my own, a life I had built.
A life I loved.
A life without Zont.
The Games Director gave me just long enough to let all that run through my head, but before I could say anything, he held up one hand to stop me. “There is, however, as you humans say, a catch.”
“Of course there is,” I muttered. From where she still stood beside me, Natalie elbowed my side. I grunted but didn’t say anything else.
“In order to compete in this special edition of the Bride Games, you must first reject Zont Lanov as a suitor.”
Everyone in the room gasped—except, I realized, Zont, who stood stock-still, staring at the ground, waiting for my response.
“Either way,” Vos continued, “you will be filmed choosing someone. And I do not foresee you leaving Station 21 without a Khanavai mate.”
“Why?” I finally managed to ask.
“Which part would you like to have explained?” Vos asked, a small smile playing around his mouth.
If I’d had my lamp from the hotel room, I might have done more than try to knock him out with it. I might have used it over and over on his smug face.
“Why do I have to reject Zont to participate in the new Bride Games? Why do I have to take any Khanavai mate at all?” My voice came out sounding strained, as if it had to battle the anger in my throat to get out.
Vos’s expression turned hard. “Because you ran. By jeopardizing the Bride Alliance between Earth and Khanav Prime, you have drawn the Alveron Horde’s attention to Earth.”
“What do the Horde attacks have to do with me running?”
Vos shrugged. “To the best of my knowledge, no one has determined the exact connection yet. But the ship they sent to Earth focused
