I threw up. I can't believe I threw up. I also can't believe this large beautiful male cleaned it up and immediately offered his apologies to me for the inconvenience. Like no, I just puked on your shoes I'm the one who's sorry. But, as it stood I was nearly 85% certain if I opened my mouth to apologize I'd puke again. The room was spinning and I definitely felt like I'd been taken apart piece by piece and then haphazardly put back together. All those pieces right now felt like they were trying to mesh back together correctly.

"It will pass." He offered me a small glass of water. Where he got it; I have no idea, but I was grateful.

I took a small sip and the taste was off, slightly citrusy. Not water.

He must have noticed my confusion, "It's pomilh it will help settle your stomach."

It did help, so I kept sipping it for a few seconds, stupid but I really wasn't inclined to puke in the hallway we were approaching.

"Do you feel well enough to walk?"

I took a deep steadying breath, "Yes, thank you." In reality, I didn't feel anything close to ready. My entire life had been upended and then my body basically disintegrated and replaced. All in all, I felt entirely unready, my present as uncertain as my future. I followed after the male anyway.

"Good. I was prepared to carry you, but it would be best to refrain from too much contact. It could displease your mate. Prior to a Temanus Ilharus we males tend to get rather possessive."

I stopped. My what? My fucking what? Surely I misheard him.

The male got a few feet before he realized I'd stopped following him, "Are you unwell again?"

"My what?"

He looked confused, "Your what, what?"

"It could displease my what?"

There was a beat of silence before he backtracked, "I apologize. We need to be on our way."

"Answer me or you'll be dragging me and I'm sure that would displease my..." I let my sentence hang in the air waiting for him to finish it.

"Your mate. Yes, it would displease your mate," He ran a hand through his unruly hair, "I'm sorry. I wasn't supposed to be the one to explain this."

"My what!? Wasn't supposed to be the one to explain this?! What the fuck is there to explain?! I'm here for genetic study! My genes provided a match that insinuated it would help further a cure for your...your issues!" I took a few steps back.

"Please. Calm down. It would not do well to run. I don't want to forcefully take you to the records department, but I will. I have been tasked with your safe transport." He took one step. One single step and he closed the distance I'd just made.

A ship full of men. A ship full of large intimidating men. "Calm down! What did I agree to?! There was nothing in that packet about a mate!"

"The genetic instability of our race has been a constant throughout our history. You presented a genetic match, yes. Your genetic match was to a male. It is a notation of bond between your souls, which will knit together as they were intended to before you were both separated and tossed to different ends of the universe. It is how we live and have lived. It is the Val'Dornn legacy. To be a 'cure delivering female' which I believe is how your government misleadingly worded the bastardized contract we developed is to allow your soul to knit with your other half and to continue the Val'Dornn race."

"What. The. Fuck! No. Absolutely not. I refuse. I never agreed to that." Didn't you though? You and Charlotte had fantasized about this very concept, being the only woman lavished by the attention of the beautiful alien males aboard the ship. "Who the fuck would ever agree to something this fucking crazy!?"

The males expression shuttered when he finally responded his voice was quiet, "This is considered a sacred blessing. It is something each of us males have dreamed of since we first had the ability to comprehend that we were only one half of a whole. We Val'Dornn had intended complete honesty when creating the terms of our acquaintance with your race. However, we were banned from the planet's surface and from interference before a match was fou8nd. It gave your leaders the opportunity to mislead you and for that, we are truly sorry. We will remedy this before another female is found and exposed to a situation she was not expecting. Know this, you are the reason your male on this ship draws breath every day and you are the one thing he wants to see when he wakes up and before he falls asleep. He will express this at the ceremonial tying of your souls."

"I refuse."

The male sent me a pitying glance, "You have already agreed, Addison Kane."

"You cannot expect me to marry someone I don't know! I will fight."

He sighed, "You will be afforded time to adjust to the circumstances. Your male will be patient with you--"

"I don't have a male!"

He continued on as if I had never even interrupted him, "--and while you may not know him, your soul does. It will demand that you solidify your bond and knit yourselves together. Even now it likely flexes tighter and tighter, pulling the both of you closer together now that it senses your proximity. Now will you walk with me or will I have to carry you?"

"Take me to him." The terror and the anxiety that had been my constant companion burned away in the wake of the anger and indignation that had sparked within me.

He seemed suspicious of my tone, but lead me down the hallway, through two left turns and then a righthand fork before we got to a door inlaid into the metal.

I surged forward, past him. The door whooshed open at my approach and I stormed into a room filled with a group of males, only one of which I recognized. The dark haired dark eyed male from my restaurant stood at the forefront, a pleasantly surprised look on his face.

"How fucking dare you." It was a shame it wasn't the first impression, because I damn well planned for it to last.