Captured for the Alien Bride Lottery (Khanavai Warrior Bride Games #2) - Margo Bond Collins

Prologue

Zont Lanov

Four solar days. That’s how long I’d been on Station 21, hoping to find my mate in the Bride Games.

I’d made my fun where I could, leading my new friend Cav Adredoni on an unauthorized trip down to the arena floor, where he’d certainly found his bride, even if she didn’t realize it yet. But he’d gotten one whiff of her and instantly known she was destined to be his.

As the old Khanavai saying goes, the cock follows where the nose leads.

Don’t get me wrong—I was having a wonderful time. The entire endeavor was almost as entertaining as a trip to the Clavox Pleasure Mines, where the females all have five breasts and can bend in the most interesting and unusual directions.

Well, maybe not that entertaining.

But I was enjoying myself.

That’s what I kept telling myself, anyway. However, the absence of even one human female who captured my interest—much less my nose or my cock—had begun to weigh on me.

Maybe I wasn’t destined to find a mate, after all.

Cav and I sat in the audience, our comscreens focused on the bridal interviews below. Bride after bride stepped up to speak to Vos Klavoii, the Games Administrator. The human women were lovely, in their own way.

But none was mine.

I had to fight not to heave an irritated sigh. I was on leave from Special Ops, and I would enjoy my vacation, even if I didn’t find a mate of my own.

Without warning, all the screens in the stands went blank. I glanced around, instantly on alert for danger. Could this be an attack from the Alveron Horde?

No, I realized as the screens blinked back on, showing Vos in front of an image of an Earther cityscape. This interruption might not have been planned, but it was definitely executed on purpose.

“Warriors and women,” Vos said, “Earthers and Khanavai, we have an exciting new development in this year’s Bride Games. Apparently, one of our contestants has run. That’s right—for the first time in all the years we’ve been holding the lottery, a bride has, as the Earthers sometimes say, gone on the lam.”

The palpable excitement in Vos’s voice echoed out over the stadium and I had to laugh. This was exactly the kind of thrill the devotees of the Bride Games hoped for every year. A gasp went up at the announcement and the brides on the arena floor began chattering among themselves.

Still…

“A runner?” I spoke my thought aloud. “How did she manage that?”

Cav didn’t answer, focused as he was on Vos, who continued talking as the screen behind him changed to show the runaway Bride Lottery winner. “Amelia Rivers is now a wanted fugitive on Earth. She’s originally from Dallas, Texas, but was most recently seen in Las Vegas, Nevada.” His voice dropped. “For those Khanavai watching, that’s in the United States, a country in what the Earthers call the North American continent.”

I registered the words, but the image of the human female on the screen held my attention. She was…

Perfect.

The word popped into my mind, and in that moment, I knew it was true. She was perfect—for me, at least.

“Las Vegas,” I said slowly. “Isn’t that the pleasure city?”

Cav shrugged, too anxious to see his own mate’s Bridal Pageant interview to pay much attention to my questions. Fine. I could find out more about Amelia Rivers on my own. I pulled up the program and ran a search for her name.

She’s stunning.

And she’s mine.

I spent that night mapping out my plan of attack and gathering the team I would take with me. A quick consultation with my commanding officer led him to contact Vos to ensure I had the complete cooperation of the Bride Games Administrator.

Central Command did prefer officers who were happily mated. Stable and settled.

I simply had to wait until the Bride Pageant ended, and then I could depart Station 21 for Earth.

It seemed too long a time to spend pacing my quarters, so I joined Cav to watch the brides, arriving just in time to hear Vos instructing the grooms on the rules of the Bride Games.

Might as well keep myself entertained until it’s time to leave.

If not for Cav’s determination to win his own bride, I would have invited him to join the operation. But he was far too besotted with her to risk taking time away from the Games.

I slipped into the seat next to him and turned on my screen to examine Amelia Rivers once again, even though I had already memorized the brief biography in