emotions weren’t her own. That the feelings of the two aliens affected her, too.
But that was nuts. Right? Right.
That didn’t stop her from feeling her own anger and fear mixed with exasperation, worry and bizarrely enough… arousal. Jenna couldn’t help but experience it all. She couldn’t figure out how in the world she could want to jump their bones and club them across the head with a baseball bat. She still vividly remembered the way the Drokten talked about her to Secretary Wells, claiming she belonged to them. Even through the calmness Hiren projected over all three of them, Jenna couldn’t hold back a petulant laugh.
“And also, you two somehow think I belong to you,” she hissed. “But I don’t. I belong to myself. I have my own life and responsibilities and they have nothing to do with you two.”
Sevith opened his mouth to protest—she could see the objection in his gaze—but Hiren shook his head, silencing his partner. “We understand your perspective and acknowledge your position.”
“You do?” she asked, with sarcasm dripping from her tone. “Since when? I overheard you both last night, telling the secretary you two were taking me to your ship. You were going to kidnap me!” Is that what the Drokten did—secretly kidnap human females and take them to their ship? If so, that broke her heart because she’d always thought so highly of them…
To Jenna’s relief, the bus rolled up to the stop right then. She turned to make a break for it, but Sevith stopped her with his gentle strength yet again.
Hiren spoke softly. “Wait, do not board this transport. Stay and let us explain. Listen to what we have to say. We have our own vehicle, a self-driver. We can take you wherever you wish. Please, give us but a moment of your time.”
Jenna stared longingly at the bus for a moment and then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew in her heart that they would never give up unless she let them have their say. And they hadn’t been violent or aggressive toward her, only wanting to protect her in their own misguided way… She groaned. But at the same time, they were completely screwing up her life. “Okay, fine. I’ll ride with you but only if you agree to take me to my next job and answer my questions too. Oh, and I’ll owe you nothing in return. Got it?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for their response, not really expecting them to go along with her no sex, no kidnapping demands.
And yet…
“Agreed,” both Drokten said at once.
Huh.
Moments later, their glamorous self-driving vehicle pulled up to the curb and Jenna found herself momentarily awed by this expensive, high-tech car that basically no one else had. After a second of hesitation, she allowed the Drokten to help her inside. The two of them climbed in with her, and Hiren took a moment to program their destination after getting a brief description of the area from Jenna. Then the car started rolling along, leaving Jenna to stare at the two aliens warily.
No time like the present and no holding back…
“Okay, which one of you is going to explain to me why you two are following me. Why you think you can just barge into my world and destroy my entire life?”
Sevith spoke first, his gaze hot with need. “It’s because you are our mate.”
Seven
Jenna winced at his declaration.
Sevith frowned. Why was she reacting this way? Maybe she hadn’t heard him clearly? “You are our mate, our Oso,” he repeated. “The female who will complete our triad.”
Still, the female continued to frown.
Why does she look displeased? Sevith mentally asked his Bahn. Doesn’t she understand what an honor it is to be our Oso?
Back in the time when there were plenty of females on his planet—before the devastating disease that changed everything—Sevith and Hiren would’ve been considered a good match. Even now, when there were few Drokten females remaining, they were still deluged with offers to meet with unmated females from their home planet, to verify whether there was an Oso match. They’d declined until this point because they had not been ready to focus on a family triad. Now they were ready, and they did not need to return home to try and find a mate. Their Oso was before them in all of her golden-haired, lusciously formed glory. Suddenly that heightened need he knew so many other Drokten experienced—the need to procreate and save