The Breeding Prize - Aya Morningstar Page 0,5

wide hips, but there’s no way, right?

I turn my head and search for Raiska. He’s sitting in one of the chairs and just staring at me from over fifty feet away. He’s not even pretending to read a book. He’s just staring.

I’d almost hoped that I’d look up and that he wouldn’t be there. That I’d just completely imagined the whole thing.

He’s there though, and even from this distance I can see the unnaturally pale whiteness of his skin and the bright gleam of those alien eyes.

Shit.

He let me go, but if everything he’s said is true, then I’m not free. Other aliens are coming for me, and the only thing standing between me and them is Raiska.

Will they also be strong enough to lift up a car? Is Raiska stronger than all of them? Will he really be able to protect me, or—

“Annabelle? Annabelle!”

I look up and see Priya. She only works part-time, so she often comes in after lunch.

She snaps her fingers in my face. “Did you hear me?”

“Um, what did you ask again?”

“Is that him?” she asks, tilting her head in Raiska’s direction. “The really big guy?”

“Who?”

“Everyone is talking about it. You left for lunch with him. You came back holding his hand.”

“He was holding my arm.”

“Same thing. How did you find him?”

“He found me.”

“What do I have to do to get a guy like that to find me?”

I take in a deep breath and let it out in an exhausted sigh. You just have to be the fertile prize, Priya. You just have to get almost abducted. You just have to try to decide if you want the alien breeding competition to happen in the Carnegie Library, or if you want to sneak into an alien portal and hide out with Raiska’s half-brother. It’s a small price to pay for a hot guy to show interest in you, right?

“Uh,” I stammer. “I guess I just got lucky?”

“So you’re dating him?”

Two

Raiska

I stare her down as she speaks to the darker-skinned one. Human females are intensely fascinating. While we worked with the Council to fend off the Ulkar, we were told to view them as things to protect and not things to interact with. We were not meant to consort with them, or do anything at all to interfere with their day-to-day lives.

I’ve kept my distance until now. When I heard I was going to be selected as a competitor in the Breeding Games, I didn’t think it mattered who the fertile prize would be. I knew only that a human female would be in danger, and that if I didn’t protect her, I’d be killed. I wanted to find Annabelle largely out of my own self-interest. I didn’t want to lose the Breeding Games and have the Ulkar kill me for being the weakest of their offspring.

That all changed the moment I laid eyes on her. Now I no longer care about my own life, I only want to protect her.

I watch her talking to the other female, the one that I can barely see. Annabelle is a sun so bright that her light buries all the other stars. I can see only her.

It’s a problem. I’m meant to be a warrior. I’m meant to put my mission first. Even if I’ve decided to protect her above all else, then I should not be here. We should already be through the portal to Lakria. Instead, I’m doing what she wants.

It’s a huge tactical and strategic error. I am the only Valittu with the ability to mind control lesser humanoids, and I walked into the library fully ready to put Annabelle unwillingly under my power. The moment I saw those deep amber eyes and those glorious curves, I no longer could bring myself to impose my will over her.

I’d hoped she’d listen to reason once I told her about the portal, but now she’s chatting with her friend as if the Breeding Games hadn’t already begun.

My fingers dig into the strange faux-leather material of the chair, and my muscles clench. My weapon may not be visible to humans, but I’m ready to grab it at an instant’s notice. Every few moments I have to tear my gaze from the deep gravity well that is Annabelle’s beauty in order to scan the library for potential hostiles.

I should be able to sense other Ulkar half-breeds, but I must also assume that other competitors can mask their presence, just as I’m able to mask mine.

Annabelle and the dark-skinned woman walk around