“Galaton?” she said under her breath.
She had never heard of such a place so she did a little further investigation online and found that Galaton was an ancient Draconian colony in the Draconian galaxy. They had a very different culture from the Draconians that she and most other humans knew.
She kept reading about her mate, learning more about who he was, and soon found out that Galaton was divided into four districts by the four different elements: fire, air, water, and earth. Each district was ruled by a dragon prince, and each prince represented an element.
The dragons had terraformed the planet Galaton to conform to their elemental determination. Unlike the Draconians from Draconia, they were aristocratic and had a strictly upheld hierarchy. The four princes of Galaton had been part of the royal lineages for hundreds of thousands of years. Maybe even millions. Every time the lower level aristocrats tried to overthrow their leaders at the end of the female genetic era, the princes’ families had managed to rise back to the top, proving that they really were the royal blood of Galaton.
“Holy shit, I nabbed me a prince,” she said drunkenly.
“What?” the pool shark asked, walking over where she sat at the couch.
“I just got matched up with a dragon prince from Galaton, boys!” she slurred. “How do you like that for lucky?”
Chapter 2
When Elait, Air Prince of Galaton, finally received the message that his mate had been identified, he could barely contain his excitement.
He strode out onto the balcony of his Crystal Palace and looked out at the Air Lands below. His castle was built on the highest mountain peak in all of Galaton. Below the tower of crystal that was his home, the snow-covered mountain descended into the void. Around him, the air was turning with an oncoming storm.
Elait flicked the wrist of his tight-fitting blue uniform, bringing up his holocom. He clicked on the picture of his new mate. He saw a tiny, curvy human female with flowing brown hair and caramel skin. She had eyes that slanted up slightly at the corners, and a sly smile that melted his heart. He quickly read her profile, learning that she was a transport pilot on Earth and had dreams of traveling to space. The rest of the profile was largely unintelligible.
Just looking at her, he felt his heart swell and his inner dragon rumble. He flicked off his holocom screen and tried not to think about her. He could not afford to be infatuated with his bride just yet, or it would bring on his mating thrall.
Since the last female had died several years ago, the male dragons of Galaton had been rising against their princes. It was a common thread on Galaton. Every five thousand years, when the X chromosome finally died off among their people, the lower level aristocrats tried to overthrow their princes.
Elait had sent his semen sample to Earth many long months ago, along with the other Galatonian princes, in an effort to secure his bride without leaving their lands alone at such a turbulent time - but they also dared not risk the mating thrall.
Since the Draconians had allowed Galaton into the mating lottery, the princes had devised a plan to safely bring the brides to Galaton. They’d send their semen on a faster than light-speed transport craft to Draconia and then through the wormhole to Earth. The tiny transport craft could fly faster than any living creature could with their technology.
Elait was overjoyed that his beautiful mate had been located. The fates had brought them together, finally, after all these years alone. The girl was only twenty-six, but Elait was over a hundred and twenty.
He had been waiting for her for decades, and now he had an image of her face. The tiny, petite human would come to him and bear his son: the heir to the Throne of Air.
According to their plan, his mate would be artificially inseminated with his seed before leaving Earth, and she would then spend the next twelve months travelling to him, arriving with his baby in her arms.
Yet, Elait knew that he had to put her out of his mind until then. Every thought of her, every impression of her, made his mating impulse begin to stir. If he left the impulse unchecked, it would eventually drive him mad.
The princes discovered that if the bride was impregnated before leaving Earth, starting the mating bond, it would alleviate the sharpest edges of the thrall.
The plan had worked for the Fire Prince, so Elait believed it would work for him as well. The Fire Prince’s bride was already on Galaton and he had survived his mating impulse.
The trick was to not think of his mate…Sophia. He must not contemplate the feeling of her skin under his fingertips as he traced the curves of her body.
He growled and pushed away from the balcony, walking into his chambers. Delicate furnishings, popular among the air elemental dragons, decorated his room. Spiraling gold posts and cloud white upholstery dominated the design. Everything was of the finest quality, crafted with the exquisite beauty of Draconian logic. His craftsmen had created a crystal bed with a mattress so light it felt like sleeping on a cloud.
He walked through his room and exhaled, making his way to the elevator where he could go out to one of his speeders.
He had to do something to take his mind off of Sophia, and piloting a speeder was the one thing he knew would distract him. If he shifted into dragon form right now, he would be in trouble: his dragon was hungry for his mate, and Elait dared not let the beast come out.
Instead of shifting and taking a flight, he would take a speeder out for a good, soul-filling thrill and focus on something other than the gleam in his mate’s big, brown eyes.
He walked out of the Crystal Palace and onto the docking bay where he found his favorite speeder. His favorite was a single person unit that was open to the air.
He slung his leg over the seat and gripped the handlebars. Elait flicked his hand over the holographic dashboard and the speeder rumbled to life.
It slowly rose into the air. Elait pushed the accelerator on his handlebar until he was jetting through the sky over the snow-covered mountain peaks of the land of air.
His heart thrilled like the flapping of dragon wings as the wind slapped against his face. His inner dragon flew inside his mind, feeling the wind blow over his scales.
Elait shot up through the clouds and down again, doing acrobatics in the air as he went. This, surely, would be enough to help him forget about her.
Chapter 3
Sophia woke in the morning to the sound of her holocom buzzing. Her head hurt like a SOAB. After a moment of flailing around, she looked down at her wrist.
“Report to your nearest Draconian Consulate at your earliest convenience. Draconian Mating Lottery Committee.”
She shook her head vigorously, trying to remember what had happened last night. All she could remember was taking a taxi to the hotel and promptly passing out.
Sophia had never wanted to mate. It just wasn't on her radar. All she ever wanted was to fly spaceships. End of story. She decided the message from the lottery must be a mistake.
Other memories crept across the foggy spaces of her mind. The Space Academy wouldn't take her, again. She groaned. No wonder she’d gotten wasted. She’d be destined to live her life piloting transport vessels back and forth over the Midwestern plains, forever. That was not the life she wanted.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pressed her feet to the floor. When she was safely on the ground she trudged across the hotel room to the kitchenette near the bathroom. Everything was high-tech and holographic.
She pressed a button on the counter to bring up the food replicator, and told it to make her a cup of coffee. A few seconds later, a cup rose out of the counter and she lifted it to her lips, taking a deep breath of the aroma.
She took a sip, savoring the flavor and feeling the caffeine work on her addled brain. Then Sophia walked across the hotel room and looked out the big window at the city below.
This area of central California had been rebuilt into a new city after the Mulgor invasion. It reached high above the forests and rolling hills that surrounded i
t. The new cities of Earth integrated natural elements into the landscapes in a way that traditional human cities never had. That was the Draconian influence.
Gardens spread across the faces of the skyscrapers. Hover bridges with tree-lined streets hung between them. Hover cars moved in the skyways among the towering buildings. Whole areas of preserved nature were at junction points throughout the vast city. Multi-level greenhouses produced fresh fruits and vegetables for the inhabitants.
New California really was a mecca. And it was one of Sophia’s favorite cities. And it should be: she was born here. Her family still lived in New Sacramento, and she was supposed to go see them for dinner.
What would they think when they found out she had been turned down for the Academy again? She couldn’t even imagine it. Sophia flicked her wrist to bring up her holocom, wanting to read the message from the Space Academy a second time.
“Report to your nearest Draconian Consulate at your earliest convenience. Draconian Mating Lottery Committee.”
“Oh, right. This,” she said to herself.
She clicked on previous messages from the Draconian Mating Lottery and the full picture of what she’d been up to last night came into view.
“Holy crap,” she said as she looked at the image of the dragon who was supposed to be her mate.
He was gorgeous. Faintly blue skin, massive broad shoulders, a smile to die for. Crap. She did not want a mate. What had possessed her to join the lottery? Finally, she remembered: she’d been pissed about the Academy and was acting like a drunken brat.
“Last time I let that side of my personality make major life decisions,” she muttered, flicking off her holocom.
What was she going to do now? Sophia had never wanted to join the mating lottery. It just wasn't something she thought about. A lot of girls her age wanted to be mated with the seven-foot-tall deadly sexy dragon shifters. But Sophia didn't even want a regular human boyfriend.
Her family had gotten used to the idea of her traveling through space because it was all that she had ever talked about since she was a little girl. Nevertheless, she didn't think that they would be thrilled about her leaving for an unknown planet like Galaton.
She finished her coffee and set her cup back in the food replicator. It quickly disappeared below the counter.
Sophia strode into the bathroom and took a nice old-fashioned water shower before getting ready for the day. She slipped into a pair of jeans, black boots, a black tank top, a motorcycle jacket, and aviator sunglasses.
She smiled at herself in the mirror and walked out of her hotel room. Out on the street, she caught a hover bus and rode it to the downtown New Sacramento Draconian Consulate.
It was time to put an end to this whole mating fiasco before it went too far.
She got off the bus and walked up the stairs of the Draconian Consulate. She had never been to one of these places before, but it was pretty impressive. The domed building had Greek-style pillars above the front entrance.
As she approached the glass doors, they slid open to allow her to enter. The inner room of the dome was completely empty except for one Draconian secretary sitting behind a desk.
Upon entering, Sophia was immediately greeted by the building’s artificial intelligence system.
“Greetings Sophia Castillo. You have been matched with Air Prince Elait Purr of Galaton. Congratulations!”
The secretary rose from his desk and approached her. The seven-foot-tall Draconian was wearing a skin tight silver uniform with the dragon-shaped emblem of Draconia on his chest. He bowed slightly forward and then stood, gazing down at her.
“I've come about the lottery,” she said reluctantly, putting her hand on her hip.
Compared to the seven-foot-tall dragon shifter, Sophia felt like a midget. She looked up at his chiseled body - aka perfection personified. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to mate with one of these guys.
“Sophia Castillo, you've been matched with one of the Princes of Galaton,” the secretary said.
“That's what I’ve heard,” she muttered.
“I'm secretary Qui,” he said. “I will assist you with the transition into becoming a Draconian bride.”
“What does that mean, exactly? I don’t even want to do this.”
“I must explain to you that Galaton is not part of the Draconian government. They do not abide by our laws. Usually, when a bride is matched with a Draconian male, she is required to at least spend a week with her match before deciding if she will stay with him or not. As you know, when a Draconian male knows his bride has been identified, it ignites his mating thrall. The mating thrall will drive the dragon shifter mad and will eventually result in his death if left unsatisfied. Mating is serious business for Draconians.”
“I know all about that,” Sophia said.
“In the case of Galaton, we cannot require the brides to go to their mates because we cannot ensure your safety once you arrive on the planet.”
“So I don't have to go,” she said, with relief.
“Correct. But we do encourage all brides to go to their dragon mate. Without you, he will perish. But we will leave the decision in your capable hands.”
“No pressure or anything,” she muttered.
“One other thing you must know. Each bride of Galaton is required to be inseminated with her prince’s seed before leaving the solar system.”
“You mean impregnated?” she asked, aghast.
“That is correct,” he said. “Since the prince cannot come to you, due to political issues on Galaton, you must begin the mating bond through impregnation. An heir is also required of you for those same political reasons. So the insemination serves two purposes.”
“I don’t understand any of this. I only signed up because I was drunk and upset about something else. Now I’m supposed to get pregnant with a man I’ve never met and then travel to a place where you can’t even ensure my safety! All I ever wanted was to fly spaceships. This isn’t what I signed up for.”
“You will be on a spaceship, if that is any consolation. The bride ships are state of the art transport vessels.”
“I'll let you know by the end of the day,” she said, turning on her heel.
The secretary put his hand to his heart and bowed again. Sophia walked out of the consulate, feeling more confused than ever. She didn't want a husband or a baby. And now she was getting guilted into both. Because of a stupid, drunken mistake she'd made.
She huffed out a deep breath, waiting at the hover bus stop. The shiny, metallic bus silently floated into the station, and Sophia climbed on. She found a seat and it took off. When she stepped off the hover bus again, she was in front of her parents' house. She gazed down at the succulents on the ground and then up at the palm trees in the front yard. Her parents owned an old-world house with an inlaid stone front walk.
The front door opened before she could even knock, and her mother ran out and swept her up into her arms
“Sophia,” her mother said. “What took you so long?”
The rest of her family, including her father, her younger brother, her aunts and uncles, her grandparents on both sides, two cousins, four nieces and three nephews all ran up to greet her. She could smell the scent of BBQ wafting through the house as everyone hugged and patted her.
She loved her family, but sometimes it could be a little much. Sophia was an adventurer. All she had ever wanted was to go into space. Now she had the opportunity, but it would mean leaving her family behind and probably never coming back. She never expected to have to do that, and she wasn't sure if she could do it now.
The opportunity to see the distant reaches of space was beyond alluring to her, but she didn't know if her family would understand. She didn’t know if she could leave them.
Everyone walked out into the backyard that had been set up for the barbecue. She grabbed a hamburger from the table and sat down beside her cousin Tina, who already had two children of her own.
Sophia hadn't pl
anned to have kids yet, but if she wanted to go into space to meet this prince, she would have to. That was part of the deal.
The Draconian secretary had told her she didn't really have to go because they couldn't promise she would ever come back, or that she would be safe with this Prince of Galaton. It could be a dangerous situation, but that wasn't really what worried her.
She would get to go to space, but she also had to marry this dragon shifter guy. What if he didn't want her to pilot ships? She didn't know if she could live without flying.
She knew that Draconians cherished their brides; that they treated human women with an equal level of respect as human males. But these dragon shifters were not of the same culture as the Draconians that she knew. Maybe they were totally different.
Maybe she would get to the planet Galaton with her baby in her arms, and never be able to pilot again. She'd spent her youth babysitting her cousins and other children in the neighborhood. She knew how to take care of kids and she liked them well enough. She was sure that if she had a baby of her own, she would probably end up liking it. But she knew she could never give up her passion for flying for anything.
No matter what, she was going to have to make a decision. The Draconian secretary was waiting for her reply. If she didn't go to her mate, he would end up going insane and then self-destructing.
Most human women who were matched with Draconian males were required to stay with her mate for at least a few weeks due to his mating impulse. Sophia didn't know of a single human woman who had decided against staying with her mate after the two weeks were up. It never happened.
She took a big bite of hamburger and relished the flavor. She came home to California every couple of weeks. Her mom baked and her dad loved to grill. She knew she could always get something good to eat when she came home.
That was definitely a consideration when it came to whether or not she would agree to go to Galaton. How could she leave her family?
Her parents sat together at the end of the table. She knew she really needed to talk to them about her decision, so she leaned in closer to speak to them.