Alexis, Planet Everis, The Touchstone

      “As you know, today is the meeting of males and mates here at the Touchstone.” The woman we knew as Officiate Treva stood in front of us, the group of twelve women who had been matched through the Brides Program and transported to Everis.

      The female looked completely human, but she moved with an almost beautiful efficiency that made me watch her more closely than I normally would. All of the Everians I’d met looked human, but there was something about them, something that screamed more. Officiate Treva looked like she was a decade older than Katie, Dani and myself and had a confident bearing the rest of us lacked. Her hair was a dark auburn and hung in a smooth fall to the tops of her shoulders. Her eyes were a warm amber, the color of whiskey and she was the same height as Katie, just above average on Earth. Her uniform was dark navy blue, the marks of her rank on her arm and color in bright silver. I did not know the politics or rankings of people here, but she and the other Officiates were high in the pecking order. I hadn’t seen a single Everian argue with her, man or woman. Her bearing and confidence made me feel even more unsure, like a child trying to play in the grown-ups’ sandbox. The way Katie and Dani were fidgeting, they must be feeling the same.

      We were on a new world, awaiting a roomful of males. I imagined twelve innocent little lambs about to be sniffed and assessed by a roomful of wolves. None of us were Everian, we’d never been to the planet before and knew next to nothing about being mated.

      Officiate Treva, however, had shared that she had been tested and matched after her service fighting the Hive was complete. She looked happy. In her Everian uniform she looked crisp and curt, however she was quite relaxed. If she’d had some stranger in a dream show up two nights in a row and tell her all the dark and dirty things he wanted to do to her, maybe she wouldn’t look so cool and in control. But, no. If the Officiate was mated, her man wouldn’t talk or tease, he’d just do it all.

      I shifted on my seat at the thought. Von. That was his name. And he said the naughtiest things to me. For once in my life, I wasn’t offended by a man’s horny rambling. This time, I wanted to hear more. No, this time I wanted to do everything.

      I’d seen other Everian soldiers—was that what they were called?—walking about, serving as guards and protectors for us, but they had all been overly serious. Like the Secret Service guarding the president. Always on duty, watchful. No one said we were in danger from anything other than overeager Everian males. Maybe they just didn’t tell us everything. Or maybe, we were a lot more valuable here than I thought.

      Were we Interstellar Brides really wanted that badly? I glanced at Katie, who was biting her lip. We’d transported to Everis together, waking up on beds near one another in the medical unit. Naked and covered only in a sheet, the doctors had waved odd wands over us, performing weird tests to make sure we came through in one piece. Once satisfied, they handed out pretty flowing gowns for us to wear and we were all dressed and shown to our suites. There were four suites occupied at the moment. Three brides per apartment. Katie, Dani and I had asked to be put together, in honor of our pact, so now the three of us shared. That had been two days ago.

      Since then, the three of us had become closer, true BFFs, going everywhere together, learning everything about each other’s lives on Earth. We weren’t able to leave the building, but we were free to roam about. The place was huge, reminding me of a mountain lodge with guest suites, conference rooms and full service, five-star restaurants. It had been amazing. Just us girls—and the guards who never actually spoke to us. Although one of them, a big, handsome man in one of the blue uniforms, had been watching me constantly. He was obviously well-respected, one of the officers or whatever, but he wasn’t the man I wanted.

      He wasn’t Von.

      None of the eighty potential mates had arrived until this morning. Once the other men started to show up, we’d figured out that the dark navy uniforms were the Everian version of officers while the brown uniforms were worn by everyone else. They were all military like, with protocols and ranks. The complete control of the Officiates, the sense of order helped me fight off my nerves.

      Over the last few hours, I’d looked for those blue uniforms, glad to see them ever watchful and somewhere close. I’d never been stared at so much in my life. Ogled. Katie and Dani agreed that we felt like fresh meat. Most just nodded in passing, returned a smile if it was offered. None pushed or tried to talk to us. Apparently, that