Kiera
I stared at the crazy alien man dumbfounded. I was pretty sure 'What the hell?' was written all over my face. Mate? That wasn't possible. My mind automatically began making a list of just why that wasn't possible. We were two different species. I was human and humans didn't have mates. I knew nothing about him, and he definitely knew absolutely nothing about me. He didn't even know what I was. Hell, I literally just crashed onto the planet barely an hour ago.
Undeniably sure that he was wrong, I made sure to let him know. "You don't know anything about me. We aren't even the same species." Straightening myself back up, I brushed the sand off my knee. It just wasn't possible. Humans didn't have mates. Long ago, so long that it was ancient legend, there were stories of soul mates. Stories that only the oldest of our population knew. Could my physical reaction just be something to do with the translation device syncing with my brain? Was it possible that the device had somehow found knowledge of that in my mind when it had synced with me?
"Same species or not, you are my mate. Our kind have mated with many different species." He seemed to come to a decision. "Bring the others. You will live with me in my castle. We will find them suitable accommodations."
That instantly got my back up. It rang too close to a previous nightmare that I refused to think about. "I stay with my crew or we stay here," I said definitively. This dragon man was about to realize that I could be just as stubborn and decisive as he was. Squaring my shoulders, I prepared to do whatever it took to protect the others and myself. But mainly the others. We may be on a strange new planet with dragon people and have no idea of their culture, but I would fight to the death for my crew. They were the only family I had. The training we had undergone ensured we would be prepared should we encounter hostiles on any new planet we found. It seems we may have found one.
"No. I have decided. You will stay with me as my mate should. The others will be found housing as we have done with other survivors. You will understand more after we have shown you more of our world." He turned toward the other man as though about to issue more orders. Looking back at me when he realized that I hadn't followed his orders, he gestured behind me. "Call your crew over. They require the translation drive." He hesitated on the 'crew' as though it was a new word for him.
I wanted to cross my arms over my chest in obstinance but thought better of it. I needed my arms loose in case I needed to attack. Or defend myself. Glaring at him, I very calmly asked, "What is my name?"
He just looked at me quizzically. This so-called King didn't even see the point in knowing my name. He expected me to mate with him, which involved Lord only knew what, and he didn't even care who I was. I was a possession to him. Something for him to own.
"Exactly. I'll be staying with my crew." I debated on not calling them over, but the translation device would be handy if we needed to make a quick exit. That was beginning to look like more and more of a possibility. Surviving would be that much more difficult if I was the only one who could understand the people around us. Without taking my eyes from him, I yelled over my shoulder in French. "Come on out, guys. Stay alert. They have a translation device that you need. It is debatable whether we will be staying with them or not." When I received no reaction from the two men in front of me, I knew that the translation was one sided. That would definitely work in our favor.
Taking their cue from me, the four others in the bushes slowly came out carrying the life packs. Grabbing mine from Greg, I put it on my back so that if we needed to make a quick escape, it would already be in place.
I kept my eyes on this Glacian guy. No matter how attractive he was, his 'holier than thou' attitude was grating on my nerves. He may be a king here, but he would not be my king. I had dealt with too many of his kind back at headquarters. Men who thought they knew better just because they were male or held a higher rank. He was king, which made him even worse. Everyone would obey him simply because of who he was. That didn't give him the right to claim me as if I were nothing but a thing. Been there, done that. The men at headquarters had tried that and failed. I was not reliving that.
"Rokk has enough devices for all of your crew. In my presence you will only speak Drakian. I will not have you speaking something I do not understand." His tone said he expected instant obedience. The poor dragon baby really thought we would obey him. It was almost cute.
I lifted one eyebrow. "That's a little heavy handed, don't you think? Just because you think we are mates doesn't mean that you get to control me. If that's the way it is going to be, then being mates means something different here than it does where I come from. You may be a king here, but you are not my owner. Or my keeper." I wasn't about to tell him we didn't have mates. We had to be careful with what information we gave these people. From what little I have seen, they couldn't be trusted.
Eyeing me speculatively, he nodded. "We will discuss it later. For now, make sure your crew have the drives on so we can communicate." He handed me the small box.
I turned my back on him dismissively. The insane alien really thought I didn't know what he was up to? He thought that if he could order my people around it would better control me. Fat lot of good that was going to do him. Giving my group my full attention, I continued to speak in French. "These little devices will make it so you can speak their language. They still won't be able to understand ours. From what I can tell, it's one sided." I handed each of them a device. "When you put them on, it's going to get hot against your skin, but it will pass quickly."
"Are you sure?" Bao asked. "You seemed to be in more pain than just a slight burn." Following my lead, she continued to speak in French.
I shook my head. "That was something else. He thinks we are mates. I don't see how it's possible. Something happened but he's a little too high handed for me. He says that there is some form of mate connection between us now. There is something drawing me toward him. It's subtle. But, honestly, there is no way I could be a mate to him. I don't think I could ever even like him."
Mikhail put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed lightly. His solid comfort at my side was reassuring. "You know we have your back, right?"
Fabrizio placed his hand on my other shoulder. "I'll always have your front," he said with a straight face. He grinned when we all laughed at his innuendo. "I'm not hearing a 'no'," he sang playfully. "Come on. I'll make sure you enjoy it."
"I'm not saying 'yes'," I sang back at him just as playfully. It was one of the things I loved the most about Fab. He could cut through any tension, no matter how thick.
We all turned when a growl came from behind us. We knew we were not in any danger. Greg and Bao had been closely watching the two large men behind us even as we talked quietly.
Glacian stalked closer until he stood about five feet from our group with a menacing snarl on his face. "Tell the males to take their hands off you. You are mine. They have no right to be touching what is mine." He looked like he was barely holding himself back from attacking them.
I had had enough of his overhanded, autocratic attitude. Carefully handing the box in my hand to Bao, I slowly turned toward him. I took the two steps that would put us chest to chest. Or face to chest. The man was freaking huge.
"Listen here, dragon boy. I don't care who the hell you think you are to me, but you will not, under any circumstances, dictate how I act with or around my family. Do I make myself clear?" The hard edge to my voice and the murder that I knew was shining from my eyes told him I was not budging on this. It would be wise of him to back off.
"No one speaks to me this way. I am King," he sneered down at me.
"Well, obviously someone needs to. You are not my keeper, or my mate, and I am not a damn dog. If my family or crew decide to give or show support, we will do it. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it. I don't know what family units are like here, but we are not changing our ways just because they are not familiar or the same as yours. You had best start understanding that now." I refused to break eye contact. I meant business and he needed to know that now. We had worked too hard and been through too much not to stick together no matter the circumstances.