Page 18 of My New and Improved Alien Lovers

I do not take this as truth, opting to remain near her. One of our jobs as her mate is to provide emotional comfort, even if she does not freely ask for it. So I stretch myself out on the very edge of the bed, facing her, hand sweeping forward to push thehair out of her eyes. Just a few bell tolls ago we were all smiling and about to get intimate, and my face was buried between her thighs. Now it feels as if a great distance has grown between us, and I know that it is because of the kruul’s mate.

I must believe this, because it would pain me too much to think Margaret simply developed a dislike for us.

It is not becoming to speak ill of the kruul’s mate, but we have enough freedoms on this ship to speak of what we wish to in our own homes without repercussions. “You are frightening us, Margaret. Can you tell me what happened in your meeting?”

She opens her mouth and winces, then goes back to her ball, closing her eyes to me. “I am well.”

I wait until her features relax a little before trying again. If speaking isn’t something she’s ready to do at this moment, perhaps I can offer her comfort in other ways.

It takes some muscling to pull the tension out of her body, but eventually I have her body nearly straightened out so I can pull her to me, wrapping my arms around her and tucking her face against my chest. I take it one step further by throwing my leg over her hip, completely encompassing her while I squeeze her to me gently, running a hand up and down her back.

“If you do not feel like talking, then I will. If any of the rules recently established were announced to you, then we owe you the greatest apology. It was not our intention to pull you from your home, only to keep you as a glorified prisoner here.

“It was not like this when we left, and I know time passes differently here than it does on earth, and many practices are kept from triads without a mate, but…this is not what we wished for you. We were very angry to have to release you to a room of strangers. We were…veryangry.”

“I want to believe you,” she whispers quietly, her voice scratchy.

My alarm spikes, wanting to call my triad mates in here for help, but she’s already struggling, and I do not wish to overwhelm her further. “Your voice…it hurts you? What happened?”

She blinks up at me, eyes holding onto much sadness, and my heart further breaks from it. I catch the tear that escapes, holding her tighter. “Sweet Margaret, we belong to you wholly. If you are nervous to talk to us because you fear our reaction, know that the only thing you should fear is how we choose to seek vengeance on those who have hurt you. You are our priority; do not let the kruul’s mate poison you against us. If that is what has happened.

“If we have done something to turn you from us, please, speak of it so we may rectify your pain. You must know the lengths we’d go to to make you happy and well.”

I press a kiss to her skin and she shudders, her fingers finally grasping onto me desperately. She snuggles into me tightly, pressing her face against me with more force. “It’s not you guys. It’s…it hurts to speak. She told us that is a burden we must bear living here; that the air is not meant for us to breathe so it punishes us. The other human women there… it took me too long to learn why they were all so silent. They did not speak a single word during the meeting.”

I cannot refrain from calling in my brothers any longer. Our mate needs them, and we need to figure out as a group where to go from here. Instead of yelling, which would surely offend my mate’s ears, I send a signal through their wristbands.

She tenses when they enter, but I reassure her they are here for her, and then she’s desperate to touch them.

Owiin lays behind her, rolling her over and holding her while she begins to sob. She is mourning, I realize, because she hasjust given up her entire life to be with us, and our people are punishing her for it.

“It is more serious than we thought,” I tell my brothers carefully.

Adeema is perched at the end of the bed, hand holding her adorable feet over the sheets, but I give him my spot so he can be closer.

I need to pace anyway, to think of a way out.

“She claims it pains her to speak, that the Kruul’s mate told her the air we breathe here will harm her voice. I’m thinking that doesn’t stop until it’s gone, for she said none of the other human women spoke. I thought they were too silent when they exited the room. We must learn more.”

Owiin’s hand gently cuffs her throat, the heat seeking where her pain is.

“She also made sure I understood that I should be repulsed by my body. We got an anatomy lesson on Violetian females, framed as lifting them up as superior beings. Did you notice…and I kind of hope you didn’t, none of the other humans had breasts?”

We all still, my hand instantly flicking to my wristband to look up more information. We were looking up our responsibilities earlier so we could be compliant, but we did not have the time to research the responsibilities of our mate.

It takes a few turns to discover the information I want, because they clearly don’t want it to be very accessible, but our leaders are honorable enough that they will not hold it from us entirely.

“Here,” I tell my family as I project everything for them to see. “Requirements of human mates once a mate bond is firmly established: Human females should remain scarce of the kruul’s mate unless she calls them for valuable education. Itis her ship, and the humans should consider themselves guests here.

“Seeing as their presence is unsatisfactory to the kruul’s mate, humans are subject to her guidance. As of this publication’s release, human females will undergo involuntary vocal therapy, so they are quiet and respectable members of our ship.

“Human females will also undergo a necessary beautification process once they have committed to members of the Violetian race, in order to be more desirable to them. This process is subject to the kruul’s mate’s jurisdiction and will require the female to become more physically similar to the Violetian females. They are expected to adapt to our culture, to emulate the Violetian females, as it is an honor to be gifted Violetian males.

“This beautification will include body alterations and mental shaping if necessary. Human females are to be reminded often that escape pods are available for their use, should they find these rules unpalatable.”

It goes on with more droll talk on how humans need to match the aesthetics of Violetian females in all ways in order to please their mates, but the only thing it is rising within me is sick.

They want to…mutilate my mate. So that the kruul’s mate doesn’t feel insecure about the differences in her body.

---