Claus (Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides #7)

Chapter 2

Anticipation coursed through Claus as he stood on the front porch of his soon-to-be mate’s tiny house. The floorboards creaked under his weight. He peered at the camera, wondering if his mate was inside watching. He waved and displayed what he hoped was a friendly smile, though he couldn’t stop nerves from churning in his stomach. After years of loneliness, he was about to meet the female with whom he would spend the rest of his life.

Would his assigned mate, a thirty-two-year-old female named Emily, agree to become his bride immediately? Would she agree to leave Earth soon? He peered up and down the street as he waited for her to answer the door.

It was a brisk but sunny morning in the small lakeside settlement, and there were lots of people milling about. Whenever someone walked by the house, they paused to stare at him with wide eyes, making him suspect he was the first male of his kind to visit McHenry. In any case, it appeared the residents weren’t accustomed to otherworldly guests.

He refocused his attention on the camera that was pointed directly at him, then rang the bell again and knocked a few times.

What was taking so long?

Wasn’t his assigned mate excited to meet him?

He attempted to push away the doubts that plagued him, the worry that he wasn’t good enough or deserving of a female. He gave his head a swift shake, trying to banish the encroaching darkness. The scars on his chest seemed to pulse, as though he were experiencing the slash of a poison-tipped Irrcon blade all over again. When he blinked, he saw his old prison cell.

Fluxx , he needed to pull himself out of the past and quickly.

I must keep moving forward.

Mating with a human female and procreating is the best way to help my people.

The weight of his responsibilities combined with his guilt over mistakes he’d made during the war against the Irrcons as a young warrior. If Emily learned about his past, would she still want him?

With his keen ears, he picked up voices coming from the other side of the door. A woman and three male children. He drew himself up taller and smoothed down the wrinkles in his shirt, wanting to make a good first impression.

He hoped Emily warmed to him soon and that her children would quickly look to him as a father figure. He was determined to fill in the gaps left by their biological father’s passing, which had occurred nearly five years ago, if he remembered the details on Emily’s VAMOB application correctly.

At last, the door swung open, and Claus’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the beautiful human woman who stood before him. Emily. She was breathtaking, though he found her shocked expression a bit odd. Surely she was expecting him. Behind her, three small boys peered at him with a mixture of awe and suspicion.

He smiled and dipped his head briefly in a show of respect. “Greetings, Emily, my sweet human bride,” he said in Galactic Common. “I am Claus, your assigned mate, and I am here to claim you as my bride and become the father of your three offspring. I am pleased to finally meet you.” I must keep moving forward.

Emily paled and her eyes grew wider. The boys’ expressions also deepened with shock. How strange. He’d sent a message two moon cycles ago announcing the exact date of his arrival in McHenry. Emily had replied saying she couldn’t wait to meet him. Yet now she was staring at him as though he were a stranger. Or as though she’d never expected him to come.

The young female glanced over her shoulder. “Boys, please go back to the kitchen and finish your breakfast,” she said in English, though Claus could understand the Earth tongue perfectly. “I just need to speak with this Vaxxlian for a moment. Everything is fine. I promise.”

“He’s here for Mommy,” the smallest of the bunch whispered. “But Mommy’s gone.” Tears sprang to the boy’s eyes.

A sense of foreboding hit Claus. He squinted as he regarded the dark-haired woman, thinking she looked close enough to the picture Emily had transmitted. Close enough… but her eyes were brown rather than blue. Her facial features were similar but different enough that he now suspected this woman must be a relative of Emily’s. A sister, most likely.

But where was Emily?

The words of the youngest boy, who Claus remembered was named Finn, reverberated in his head. He’s here for Mommy. But Mommy’s gone. He swallowed past the sudden dryness in his throat, praying gone didn’t mean dead. The thought of the three young boys losing their mother only a few years after their father’s untimely demise made his heart pang with grief.

The female turned and placed a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Go back to the kitchen with your brothers, sweetheart. I promise I won’t be long.” She nodded at each of the older boys and finally the children departed the entryway, leaving Claus alone with the woman who sadly wasn’t his mate.

She gave him a polite smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “As you have probably surmised, I’m not Emily,” she whispered in Vaxxlian, taking him aback. How did she know his tongue? “My name is Aubrey. I’m Emily’s sister. Um, we should probably talk outside.”

He nodded and stepped back, allowing her to pass. She closed the door and pointed at a plush seating area in a corner of the covered deck. He followed her lead and took a seat across from her, dread coiling inside him as he awaited whatever news she was about to impart.

Please don’t let Emily be dead.

His throat burned. He hadn’t known his assigned mate very well, but they’d exchanged a few messages, and he’d been so anxious to finally meet her and become a family. Despite his fears that he wasn’t worthy of a mate, he’d hoped Emily and her sons would be his salvation, giving him a renewed purpose in life.

“Where is Emily?” he asked, keeping the conversation going in Vaxxlian. “We last messaged one another two moon cycles ago, and she was expecting me.”

When Aubrey hesitated to answer and looked at him with tears pooling in her eyes, his heart broke. He lowered his head and dragged a hand over his face. The urge to roar his grief seized him, but he didn’t wish to scare anyone, so he fought back the impulse.

“I’m sorry to inform you,” she said in a voice laced with sorrow, “but my sister Emily passed away about nine weeks ago. She caught the flu and faded fast. It was very sudden.”

Claus remained quiet as he absorbed the tragic news.

His assigned mate.

Gone. Dead.

He could scarcely believe it.

Guilt ravaged him when he considered how recently she’d gotten sick and died. Less than three moon cycles ago. If he’d come to Earth sooner, she would still be alive. All Vaxxlian warriors gave their females a dose of healing nanobots before they became mates, nanobots that worked fast to heal any illness or injury. Yes, if he’d arrived sooner, Emily would still be alive, and her poor children wouldn’t be orphaned.

Aubrey leaned forward, placed a hand atop his, and gave it a quick squeeze. “I’m so sorry, Claus. I had no idea Emily had signed up for Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides. She never told me.” She released his hand and leaned back in her seat, sniffling as she wiped away a tear.

Claus exhaled slowly and met Aubrey’s gaze. “I should’ve come sooner. I…” His voice trailed off. Shock reverberated through him. He tried to call up the exact details of the picture Emily had sent him, but it was suddenly difficult to form the image in his mind.

“Listen, Claus, I’m sorry you traveled all the way to Earth only to find out she’s gone. If I’d known she signed up for VAMOB, I would’ve informed the Intergalactic Dating Agency so they could’ve gotten a message to you.” She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, and it was then that Claus noticed she was shaking.

Cold. She was cold, and for a reason he didn’t understand, the idea of this human female he’d just met being uncomfortable in any way unsettled him. He experienced the sudden compulsion to lead her inside and tuck a blanket around her. An odd and perhaps inappropriate urge considering he was supposed to marry her late sister.

“And I am sorry you lost your sister so recently, Aubrey.” Sadly, he understood the pain of losing a sibling all too well. He was the youngest of six and the only remaining survivor of a once large family. His throat constricted as he thought of his sisters, brothers, parents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, cousins, and grandparents. All had perished during the war against the Irrcons.

“Thank you,” Aubrey said.

Did she have a mate of her own? When he inhaled deeply, he caught no hint of another male’s scent on her, making him suspect she was unmarried. A female alone on war-torn Earth raising her late sister’s three young children.

Despite his regret over Emily’s passing, Claus couldn’t help but be intrigued by his assigned mate’s sister. “You speak fluent Vaxxlian,” he said, both a statement and a question. He was curious to learn how and why she’d gained the skill. “It’s rare to meet a human away from planet New Vaxx who can speak my tongue. In fact, most Vaxxlian males converse with their human mates in Galactic Common even years after becoming a couple. There are many clicking and buzzing words that humans have difficulty saying, yet you have mastered it.”

“Languages are my gift.” Her eyes briefly lit with excitement before the haunted look returned. “I attended the Interstellar Institute for Alien Languages, and after I graduated, I became a traveling interpreter, visiting over fifty planets and more space stations and trading posts than I can count.” Her lips curved in a wistful smile. “But now Earth is my home once again. I intend to stay and take care of my nephews.”

Claus was impressed with Aubrey’s talents. He only spoke Vaxxlian, Galactic Common, Irrcon, and a few human tongues like English that he’d recently taught himself using courses offered by the Intergalactic Dating Agency.

When he considered her comment about remaining on Earth to take care of her nephews, however, he found the whole thing odd.

Earth was a failing planet. Why wouldn’t she want to take her nephews somewhere safer, especially considering Emily had been trying to escape the planet with her sons?

Aubrey glanced toward the door. “I should be getting back. I promised the boys I’d take them on a walk after breakfast, and I want to make sure little Finn is all right.” As though appearing on cue, three small heads materialized in the front window.

“It seems we have an audience. I should really get back inside and?—”

“Wait. Please. I wish to make you an offer, Aubrey,” Claus interrupted. He waited for the human female to meet his eyes, then he reached for her hand and held it gently in his. Her flesh was so very soft. Her mouth parted on a tiny gasp, drawing his gaze to her full, sensuous lips.

“An offer?”

“Yes, an offer.” He scooted closer, allowing his knees to brush against hers. A tingle of awareness passed between them, an unexpected spark that took him aback and delighted him all at once.

He still felt guilty for Emily’s death, and perhaps he always would, but he couldn’t simply leave Aubrey alone and unprotected. Especially when she was raising his assigned mate’s offspring. He felt a responsibility toward the boys. He’d anticipated becoming their father, and he couldn’t imagine just leaving.

He cleared his throat and said, “I am deeply sorry about your sister. The truth is that we did not know one another well, but we exchanged a few messages after VAMOB matched us. I was looking forward to claiming Emily as my mate and taking her and the children back to New Vaxx. However, given the circumstances, I believe it is only logical that you become my mate, Aubrey. Then I will take you and your sister’s offspring to New Vaxx and we will be a family.”