Page 16 of Coveted

Suri’s usually happy expression disappeared with the concern, but Alana shook her head. Her cycles varied a little, but she still had until at least mid-summer before she should go back into heat.

“No, I’m just excited to meet him. And I’m a bit useless here now.”

She hadn’t meant to let the last part out, but Suri gave her a knowing look.

“A lot has changed for you recently. Are you sure you don’t want more time?”

Alana straightened in her seat, shaking her head. The sooner she left, the better. She was tired of feeling smothered. She wanted to explore who she really was when there weren’t restrictions every direction she looked.

Suri smiled and glanced away from the screen.

“When do you think you can leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

The other woman’s surprise was clear when her head jerked back to Alana, a touch of concern creeping back in. Thinking fast before Suri asked any questions, Alana blurted the first reason she could come up with.

“Father has a trip coming up, so the ship needs to get back in time for that, and it’s really no problem for me to come now. I’ve already said my goodbyes.”

She hadn’t, but that sounded better than saying she had no one to say goodbye to. Her mother might miss her, in her way, and maybe her younger brother in his few moments between the classes their father had him in, but Alana doubted anyone else would notice she was gone.

Besides Tina.

She winced a little at the thought of leaving the woman without a job. Tina’s life had revolved around Alana’s schedule for so long, Alana wondered what the beta was going to do once she left.

There was still a touch of suspicion on Suri’s features, but she gave Alana a nod and forced a smile. Alana returned it, brushing her concerns away. She was sure her mother would find a use for Tina if her servant had nothing else to fall back on, and maybe Tina would be just as excited to be free of Alana as Alana was to leave. She couldn’t possibly have enough time to have a life of her own when she was managing every detail of Alana’s.

“Okay, I’ll tentatively schedule you for arrival in seven days. Once you’re on the way you can contact me and let me know if I need to adjust it.”

Alana nodded, excitement coursing through her. She didn’t care what it took, she’d find a way to convince her father she had to leave in the morning. She’d go immediately if she thought she could, but that would be too much of a struggle.

“So, on to the juicy details!”

Suri’s bright smile was back, her friendly teasing something Alana was growing to enjoy. No one had ever treated her as an equal, and it was addictive.

Alana grinned back, clutching her hands in her lap. She may have been disappointed about not getting a say in who she would spend her life with, but she was still willing to be optimistic.

“His name is Vax Domaxay. He’s a Tayann cross, though he didn’t list what the other half of his heritage is. I’m sending you a picture now.”

Suri paused and Alana looked around for her tablet before realizing she’d left it by the window when she'd been reading the night before. She almost decided to go grab it, but she didn’t want to leave the office since Tina was likely waiting for her in the sitting room. She’d have to satisfy her curiosity later.

“You’ll be living with him on Farcon 1 which is a previous Earth colony as well, though it has a high alien population now. It’s a mining planet, providing crystals mostly used in starships, so it does well.”

Alana began to remember why she’d heard of the planet before. If she was right, Suri was being modest saying the planet did well. It was supposed to be one of the richest, but there was something else about it teasing at the edges of her memory.

“There was a rebellion a little over a year ago, and the previous Chancellor was overthrown. And for good reason. The man and his son were vile, on top of being speciest.”

Suri cut herself off, sucking in a deep breath as she shook herself. Alana was a bit stunned at the rush of words from the other woman, bright spots of color in Suri’s cheeks showing the depth of her feelings about the subject.

“But that’s all settled now,” she continued. “Vax took over and has made a lot of changes for the better.”

“Wait, Vax took over? The alpha I’ve been matched to?”

A flicker of something crossed Suri’s face, but it was gone too fast for Alana to catch it. She was more concerned with the implications of what Suri had said, waiting for the response.

“Oh, I guess I forgot to mention he’s the new Chancellor of Farcon 1. The status of our members usually doesn’t factor into the matches, but I’m sure you being the daughter of a Chancellor played into the decision. I’m sure you’ll make a great pair.”

The hope and happiness on Suri’s face was at odds with how Alana felt. She’d been looking forward to being out of the spotlight, to being free to be who she was instead of forced to conform to an image, yet she was going from bad, to worse. The daughter of an important man was noticed when she could be useful to either gain favor, or shame the father. As his mate, Alana would have just as much scrutiny on her as he did.

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