Page 22 of Blossom and the Alien Actor

“Please tell me I don’t ever have to meet him in person,” she said.

Brexton smiled down at her. “My sweet mate, I can assure you that he’s not all that terrible. Not since finding his mate and having his daughter. They have mellowed him.”

“That was mellow? What was he like before?” she asked.

“Cold. Hard. Unforgiving at times. Charlotte showed him what it was to be in love, and with the birth of his daughter, the walls around his heart cracked even more. He’s a good male, and fair.”

“Now what?” she asked.

“Now we’re going to meet with security and you’re going to give them the name and description of the man who is after you and the children. Any place you think he could be hiding, or friends he may have… tell them everything.”

“All right.”

Brexton paused a moment and pulled her close. “No regrets? No second thoughts?”

“None,” she said, reaching up to cup his jaw. His beard was soft, and she shivered as she remembered the feel of it as he’d kissed her. What would it feel like elsewhere on her body?

“Come on,” he said, his tone soft. “We’ll take care of this, and then I’m taking you home.”

He led her through the station until they reached a door that saidSecurity.Brexton knocked before pushing it open and stepping inside, pulling her along with him. A male who was smaller than her mate, yet who looked fierce with the scar running down one half of his face, turned to stare at them.

“Zlerak, this is my mate, Blossom,” Brexton said.

“I’d heard you rescued a female,” the older male said.

“Yes. Borgoz just approved our mating, but Blossom has someone trying to hurt her. A human male who wishes to sell her and our children to someone evil.”

Zlerak scratched at his jaw, then nodded to two chairs across from a large desk. “Sit and give me as much detail as you can on this male and anything else that might help capture him.”

Blossom took a seat and gave the alien her ex-boyfriend’s name, physical description, and last known place of employment. She hadn’t dealt much with Mike’s friends, but she told the head of security the names she could remember, and anyplace that Mike had mentioned as a hangout.

The alien, Zlerak, typed on his keyboard a moment, then frowned and turned the screen toward her. Blossom nodded when she saw her ex-boyfriend’s face.

“That’s him,” she said.

“Michael Moretti. Nephew of Silas Moretti, Italian kingpin in Las Vegas. Your ex has a trail of crimes, and a lot of arrests, including human trafficking spreading from Las Vegas down into Colorado, then across into California. He’s been picked up several times, but nothing ever sticks.”

Blossom felt the blood drain from her face and she swayed in the chair. Brexton wrapped an arm around her and tried to soothe her. She’d been with that kind of monster? Had let him touch her, tried to get him to claim her kids? What the hell kind of mom did that make her? Shouldn’t she have sensed the evil in him? She’d put her babies in danger by letting that man into her life.

“He won’t hurt you, or the children,” Brexton swore. “Isn’t that right, Zlerak?”

“Absolutely,” the head of security said. “No one would dare capture the mate and children of a… Terran.”

She blinked a moment and focused on the alien, momentarily pulled from her dark thoughts. “You paused. When you said Terran, you hesitated.”

Her mate shared a look with Zlerak before the older male cleared his throat.

“Now that you’re family, there’s no harm in you knowing. Our people were not originally called Terrans, and that’s not how we’re known anywhere other than Earth. Our actual name is Zelthranites, and we’re from a planet called Zelthrane-3. Our council believed humans would be more accepting if we were called Terrans. There’s been discussion of coming clean to your Earth government, but it’s been so long now our people aren’t sure it’s worth the risk.”

“You mean the risk of Earth being angry we were lied to and the program being shut down?” she asked.

Zlerak nodded. “Yes. A lot of us still don’t have mates. While human females sign up all the time, only a handful are actually compatible with our males and accepted, and out of those even less are actually claimed by a male.”

“But the women who sign up, they’re still compensated even if they aren’t chosen as a mate?” she asked.

“Yes. Why do you ask? Do you require compensation for agreeing to be mated to Brexton?”

“No! No, not for me, but… I was just thinking that if your people were open to accepting single mothers, especially those in a similar situation to mine, you might find more women who are to your liking. I know that single women who have never been married are more typical as a chosen mate. At least, from the ones I’ve seen on TV. But a single mom who has had to fight nonstop to provide for and protect her children? She would be loyal, if you could break through her walls and convince her that her kids would be safe.”

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