Luna’s Alien Mates

Chapter 3

Luna

The two Aashi who stood before her were not what she had expected.

They weren’t like the ones the other girls had been taken by. Those girls had been whisked away in large groups, surrounded by tall, broad warriors who seemed eager to claim them. Each one had been chosen so quickly, without hesitation, without doubt. But her? She had been left until the very end, standing alone while her heart sank lower with every passing moment.

And when these two finally approached her—one taller, one slightly smaller—it felt less like a proud claiming and more like an afterthought.

That stung more than she wanted to admit.

Being picked last wasn’t just humiliating—it whispered of rejection, of not being wanted.

She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to breathe as Agent Chadwick’s voice rang out behind her. “Good luck, Luna.”

She didn’t turn back. Didn’t want them to see the heat rising in her eyes.

Instead, she followed the two males, her gaze straying despite herself. Fascination tugged at her as their long, graceful tails swayed with every step. She had once thought two tails an oddity, but now she could imagine how useful they might be—climbing, balancing, moving in ways her human body could never manage.

Her eyes lifted higher, taking in the ripple of muscle across their backs, the sheer strength in their arms. Not just two arms—four. Four arms corded with power, even on the smaller one. The sight stole her breath, and she caught herself imagining things she shouldn’t, things that made her pulse quicken.

Would her chosen look like this? Would he be as impossibly strong, as captivating?

If so…she would be one very lucky woman.

They led her to a hut. From outside it seemed small, almost humble, but once she stepped inside, she realized it was far larger than it appeared—spacious enough to house ten Aashi with ease. It was carved from living wood, smooth and polished, and there was something both primal and beautiful about it.

The smaller male gestured toward a stool near a low table. Upon it sat hand-carved cups, a deep purple wood filled with a liquid the color of rust.

“Is this water?” she asked softly. The translator embedded at her ear clicked to life, repeating her question in the Aashi’s tongue.

The smaller one nodded, motioning toward the drink.

Her stomach turned. The liquid was murky, red-brown, nothing like the clear streams of Earth. She shook her head gently. “Um…no thank you.”

For a moment, she worried she had offended them. The taller one’s jaw tightened before he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Panic pinched her chest. Had she already ruined everything?

Clutching her backpack against her lap, she forced herself to sit straight though every muscle hummed with unease. The heat pressed heavy against her skin—too much for the Earth-made fabric clinging to her. Silence stretched between her and the one who remained until she couldn’t bear it anymore.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her translator echoing the words. “If I upset him…I didn’t mean to.”

The male shook his head, lavender eyes downcast. His voice, when it came, was quiet, almost…afraid.

He didn’t move closer. Instead, he sat on the farthest stool, as though the distance between them was necessary.

That only deepened her unease.

“What is your name again?” she asked, attempting a small smile.

He shifted, his braid sliding forward over one muscled shoulder. His gaze flicked to her and then away, as though meeting her eyes was too much.

“Axoh,” he said at last. “I am your Takxe. Your personal healer, Female Luna. And Vallyn…” He gestured toward the door where the taller one had gone. “Vallyn is warrior.”

She mouthed the unfamiliar word. “Takxe…”

The translator didn’t offer a perfect match, only echoed the foreign syllables. She tucked it away in her memory. She would learn. Somehow, she would learn their language—so she wouldn’t always be separated by this machine.

“Do you know who my chosen is?” she asked hesitantly. Her heart gave a small leap at the thought. If he looked anything like these two…she could hardly complain.

Axoh’s expression softened, though his eyes held something unreadable. “Your chosen are my Clan brothers. Queen Fraryn has chosen well. She has chosen you the best warriors of Zaali Clan.”

She blinked. “Warriors? Brothers? Do you mean…I get to choose one of them?”

Her hand reached up, tapping the translator as if the device had glitched. Surely she had misunderstood. Surely they hadn’t meant what it sounded like.

Axoh’s gaze never wavered, though his fingers toyed with the end of his braid—a nervous gesture, one she instantly recognized as human despite everything alien about him.

When he sat straighter, the movement pulled her attention unwillingly to the sculpted ridges of his abdomen. An eight-pack. She swallowed hard, cursing the way her gaze lingered. Whoever designed these almost-loincloth garments hadn’t thought about the temptation they created. Or maybe they had.

“There has never been a female who does not accept all chosen males,” Axoh said at last, his voice solemn. “They are the best warriors. Queen chose only the best for Female Luna. To accept only one would be insult to Queen Fraryn…and to the Clan.”

It took her a moment to grasp what he was saying. But when it sank in, her mouth went dry.

Five.

She wasn’t being given one chosen. She was being given five.

Five warriors. Five husbands.

Her pulse thundered in her ears. The agents, the M’Mori—they had to have known. They had sent her here without telling her.

Anger and panic twisted together in her chest.

“I come from Earth,” she said, forcing her voice to stay steady. “We choose. And we only choose one.”

Axoh shook his head, lowering his voice until the translator struggled to catch it. “Female Luna, Queen chooses. Female accepts. Lives with Clan. Have many kits. I am Takxe. I will care for you. But you must accept all chosen males.”

The finality in his words wrapped around her like chains.

Her gaze fell to her hands clutching the strap of her backpack. The weight of her new reality pressed down on her—alien customs, alien expectations. And yet…

She lifted her eyes to Axoh again, catching the way he still avoided her gaze, how his braid slipped through his fingers like a talisman. For all his strength, there was shyness in him, hesitation that almost mirrored her own.

Something inside her softened.

The world had shifted beneath her feet, and she stood at the edge of something terrifying, something overwhelming. Yet when she looked at him—at the healer with lavender skin and guarded eyes—her heart whispered that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t all meant to break her.

Maybe it was meant to change her.