Grace Goodwin - Mated To The Vikens

I hadn’t really thought about that. How could I not be a citizen of Earth? Was that even possible?

My belly clenched as the full impact of my decision settled in my bones. There was a small amount of time each day, seconds really, when I had yet to fully awaken, that I forgot what I’d become. Forgot what the Corellis had done to me and just how far I’d fallen.

“Your convictions carry a twenty-five-year sentence, yet you’ve elected to serve out your sentence under the direction of the Interstellar Brides Program. You have been assigned to a mate per testing protocols and will be transported off-planet, never to return to Earth. Do you understand what this alternative entails?”

“Yes.” I wouldn’t survive a year in prison, let alone two decades. I’d been incarcerated for six months awaiting trial, and that had felt like six years. Any alternative was better than a prison cell. One man. Three. Whatever. The true price was a one-way ticket to outer space. I was going to be just like the brides I’d read about in history books, the mail-order brides sent to the Wild West. I was going on a grand adventure and hoping for the best.

Not that I had a choice. I had no reason to stay on Earth. The Corelli family had ruined my life’s work and my reputation. My business assets had been seized. I had no job, no contacts, no life. And, the bottom line? I had committed the crimes. Yes, the Corellis had threatened me, bullied me, but I’d still had a choice.

As much as I wished I’d never made the bargain with Vincent Corelli for the money to pay for my mother’s expensive cancer treatments, I wouldn’t trade the extra time with her for anything.

I’d do it all again. So what if I’d smuggled his merchandise inside my art shipments in trade? I never hurt anyone. And when my mother finally did die, I’d assumed my work with the mafia was finished.

That had not been the case. Vincent Corelli wasn’t eager to give up a reliable mule. He’d threatened to kill me then, and I hadn’t pushed the issue. That was until I’d been caught with a crate full of blood diamonds and assault rifles and hauled off to jail.

Vincent Corelli didn’t bail me out, and I didn’t talk to the feds. I didn’t tell anyone he’d been blackmailing me. I still had family on the outside. My cousin’s two kids weren’t even five years old. And yeah, I’d grown up in New York. I knew how things worked.

I kept my mouth shut, my extended family went on about their lives, and Corelli let me take the fall.

So I had nothing left. No one. My world was destroyed. So I’d make a new one. On Viken.

Fiddling with the tablet some more, she frowned. “Your match is not as strong as I would like.”

“It’s not strong? What does that mean?” I asked, shifting in the hard seat. I felt like I was at the dentist with my naked backside stuck to the damn chair.

“Our matches are typically over ninety-nine percent. Yours is only eight-five.”

I frowned, too. “Does that mean I can’t go?” Prison? Really? And I’d just psyched myself up for this whole alien bride deal.

She did some more finger swiping, then stilled. “Interesting.”

I began to shake, a thousand butterflies dancing in my stomach. I was not getting back onto the prison bus, shackled and forced into a horrible orange jumpsuit. I couldn’t do it.

She looked at me again, offered a brilliant smile. “It seems that you have been matched to three Viken warriors.”

I swallowed, thought about the dream. Three men. Three sets of hands. Three cocks.

“Three?” Holy crap. Three? What the hell was I supposed to do with three men?

She nodded. “Your match is lower than usual because you have three mates. I think eighty-five percent is quite remarkable for three.” She cocked her head to the side as she studied me. “You do not seem surprised. I assumed you would be shocked.”

“The dream,” I replied. I didn’t say more, for I was not going to recount how I was fucked by one man while I stroked two others off.

“There were three men in your simulation? Interesting. The last Earth woman matched to Viken was matched to three men as well, however they are triplets and genetically identical. Perhaps you experienced their mating ritual.”

“Are you telling me that was real?” Holy shit. I wanted to experience that for real. If I was going to have three men touching me like that, I didn’t mind going to Viken at all. In fact, I was ready.

“Yes. The experience was real, but someone else’s recorded neural experience. A different couple. Or…um, foursome. Out of all the simulations that flitted across your brain as part of the testing, this one was your match.”

My nipples hardened in agreement at the memory. Yes, that was definitely a match.

“There is a note here.” Her brow furrowed as she read. Finished, she lifted her gaze to me. “This makes sense now. It appears Viken has instituted a brand new mating protocol for the Interstellar Brides Program. Since their Queen came through the program, and her match to the triplets was so successful in uniting their planet, it has been decreed that other Viken males from the three different sectors now share a mate as well.” She waved her hand in the air. “I’m sure they will explain everything once you arrive.”

“That’s it?” I asked as she stood. “I just… go?”

“You’re right. There is one last question. Do you accept the results of the testing?”

“I do.”

“Sophia Antonelli, you are no longer a citizen of Earth, but of Viken. Good luck.”

The wall opened behind me and I saw a soft pale blue glow. My seat moved, as if on wheels. She patted my shoulder as I passed through the wall and was lowered into a vat of warm water. I felt instantly soothed, surrounded by protection, comfort.

I didn’t even mind the giant needle-like thing headed for the side of my skull.

Frowning, I turned from the strange, robotic arm to look back at the warden.

“Don’t worry, dear. That just implants your NPU so you can speak their language.”

Blinking, confused, I winced at the small pinch of pain behind my ear.

Damn. That was going to leave a mark.

Warden Egara smiled and stepped back as the wall began to move. Soon, I would be locked in this little room, in this blue water. Were they going to drown me?

Frantic now, I yanked on the restraints as the warden continued to smile.

“Your transport will begin in three…two…one.”

The blue water came to my chin and everything went black.

Erik, Planet Viken, Viken United Compound, Transport Center

Nerves made my heart beat faster than I wished as I watched my two brothers-in-arms. Gunnar, with his black hair and blacker heart, stood silent and still as a statue as we waited for our mate to arrive via transport. He’d vowed not to love her, but Rolf and I didn’t need him to do so.

“How long must we wait?” Gunnar turned on the Viken warrior behind the transport station, every line in his body screaming of his irritation.

“For someone not interested in a mate, you’re fucking impatient,” I countered. While the other two stood near the transport area, I leaned against the wall.

Gunnar regarded me over his shoulder with a look that screamed fuck you .

“Not long, sir,” the attendant said. “The transport signal is strong. Your mate should arrive in the next few minutes.”

“Relax, Gunnar,” Rolf said. He could always calm our friend. “Earth is a long way from here. A long, long way.”