Page 39 of Wanted By the Alien Warden

Humans.

My throat felt strangely dry. My tail was tense on its hook.

They are very…

“Pretty,” Xennet breathed, leaning so far in that he blocked my view. I glared at his stupid purple-haired head and jabbedhim in the ribs with my tail until he grudgingly moved back to his place. Maybe I needed to make another sign…

I glanced at Dorn. He hadn’t said anything yet, but his eyes had gone from their usual red to a hotly blazing white.

“Why are you showing us an image of these humans?” I asked the warden. Warden Hallum was a hard man, but he was fair. He was not in the habit of joking or teasing or dangling beautiful things – or females – in front of us when he knew that we could never have them. I did not think he would show us five strange, lovely faces on his screen if he did not have an important reason to do so.

“Because,” he answered in his deep, authoritative voice, “if you do everything I say and act like the men I know that you can be-” He gave Xennet an extra meaningful look. “-then you may get to marry one.”

Silence devastated the room, as sure as a stunner’s blast. My ears rang.

“Marry,” Xennet finally sputtered.

Dorn’s eyes even whiter than before, if that were possible.

I raised my left hand in front of my face and saw the telltale white glow of my own gaze reflected on the pale blue hide there.

Shaking. My hand wasshaking.

I forced it into a fist and dropped it.

“Marry,marry?” Dorn choked out. It sounded like he’d attempted to swallow a spoonful of dust before speaking. “As in,marriage?”

“Of course,” Warden Hallum replied. “What other sort of ‘marry’ would I be speaking of?”

Something foreign, something I barely recognized as hope came to life inside me. I promptly strangled it and said, “The empire would never allow it.”

“The empire has already allowed it,” Warden Hallum replied. And then, unbelievably, he added, “The program was alreadygotten underway in Warden Tenn’s province. Three human brides have been settled among his men.”

“Three?” Xennet exclaimed. Suddenly, one knife was back in his hand, the other clutched by his tail, rules about brandishing all but forgotten. Or happily ignored. “There are three of us here! Why did the females not come to our province first?”

Xennet did not wait for Warden Hallum’s reply. Instead, he marched furiously towards the door, as if he planned to walk himself all the way to Warden Tenn’s province with nothing but his boots, his knives, and his own uniquely unstable form of optimism.

He did not even make it to the door before Warden Hallum’s tail shot out and seized upon the metal hook on the back of his belt. Xennet stumbled, and then attempted to yank free.

“Don’t make me pull my stunner,” the warden barked, authority suffused in every word. “Put your blades away and return this instant, Xennet, or I promise you that I will lock you up somewhere even you cannot escape from when the human Tasha arrives.”

Xennet’s body twanged into tense stillness before he exploded into motion, sheathing his knives and sprinting back to the centre of the saloon.

“One is coming here?” he asked, his voice practically vibrating.

“Yes. She is coming here to judge you all. You must pass her tests.”

Oh.

Oh no…

“What sort of tests?” I asked. Grimacing, I noticed how my handless wrist felt suddenly heavier than it should have. I glanced around the saloon, then at the loft above that served as my sleeping quarters. Would a human female even consider living in such a place? Unlike Dorn and Xennet, I didn’t evenhave my own herd. I had shuldu and gardens and the land around the saloon, but no real ranch.

“Yes, what sorts of tests?” Xennet echoed frantically. “I am very good with knives. Tell her that I am very good with knives!”

“Don’t pull them out again,” Warden Hallum growled in warning as Xennet reached to do it. “If they want to know about your knives, then they will ask.”

“They?” I asked, my attention snagging on the word.

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