Morgan lounged in a cushy chair located in his newly adopted bedroom at Chris and his mates’ luxury hotel suite. He’d dragged it to the window so he could gaze at the city that had once been Palm Springs. The panorama was almost as good as television. From the twentieth floor, he had an excellent view of the busy comings and goings of the aliens who had taken over Earth.

The Alasharians.

He hadn’t sneered to himself that time. If he was being completely honest, he would have to admit that the twinge in his gut, the pull, had been because of the kindness and bravery that Chris’ alien mates had shown him. If it hadn’t been for Nary, one of Chris’ soul matches, he would’ve been killed when the rogue humans had bombed the pleasure party.

Morgan shuddered. Pleasure? It had been a horrific, violent gathering that had managed to reveal some surprising things to him about the aliens who had taken over Earth a month and a half before. The beings were simultaneously more evil—and more wonderful—than he could’ve imagined. Of course, it depended on which of their factions he was referring to at the time. Nary and Lasar, Chris’ mates, were wonderful. The Alasharian leader, the Nall—along with several party-goers—had shown themselves to be the epitome of evil.

So, now what?

It had become obvious after the bombing at the party by the unknown group of humans, that their actions had set events in motion that would likely be far worse for their own race than they’d anticipated. What if the Nall determined that keeping any human alive, sex slave or not, wasn’t worth the risk?

Hallosh won’t let anyone hurt me.

Morgan jerked up in his chair, the unexpected errant thought shocking him even as it came to mind. His heart thundered, his breathing accelerated at the memory of Hallosh’s touch. The alien’s tentative hold had nevertheless been strong and comforting. When Hallosh had lifted him out of the rubble, he’d instinctively snuggled closer before catching himself. The sudden tension in Hallosh’s body had alerted him to his bizarre reaction to the hunky alien.

Was it bizarre?

Morgan curled in on himself, pulling the shawl he’d been wrapped in the night before more tightly around him. He’d told Chris over and over how perplexed he was by his cousin’s strong attraction to the Alasharian males and he’d meant it. Morgan had been terrified of the species from the moment they’d invaded Earth. That terror had turned to revulsion once he’d been captured and learned they would be taken by the aliens as sex slaves. His initial anger toward Chris when he’d discovered that he’d fallen for his captors had now been replaced by a measure of understanding given their obvious love for, and devotion to, his cousin.

So maybe I understand even more of it?

He swallowed, his throat much too dry. He could never… Could I? He frowned, irritated with himself for even considering such a ridiculous thing. And anyway, Hallosh had behaved as if he didn’t want anything to do with him the rest of the night. Other than his inexplicable insistence that Chris make sure Morgan’s few scratches had been cleaned and bandaged, he’d made certain to stay away from Morgan after they’d all returned to the hotel.

Morgan sighed, wiggling in the chair, annoyed at the sensation of a low hum of electricity skittering just beneath his skin.

What the hell is wrong with me? He wanted to escape the confines of the small bedroom he’d stayed in for the past two days, but he didn’t want to bother Chris or Nary. Nary was in bed in the main area of the suite recovering from his injuries and Chris was busy taking care of him. Other than a quick foray to the kitchen to grab some juice and some sort of Alasharian breakfast roll that Chris had told him was safe to eat, he’d stayed out of the way.

I wish I had my books with me. Or my notebook. Everything Chris and his mates had given him to alleviate the unrelenting boredom of his circumstances had been left behind in the suite that had become his makeshift prison. Once they’d hastily returned to the hotel, they’d had more pressing concerns. After it had been decided that Morgan should stay with them until Rama arrived—the alien who would take charge of him—there had been no mention of retrieving the few items he owned that Nary had been responsible for bringing to him.

Tears burned in his eyes. Nary had been so kind to him from the beginning but Morgan had been too filled with hate to realize it. Then Nary had almost lost his life because of the way Morgan had run away at the party. He sniffed. I’ll never treat Chris’ mates badly again. He’d even promised himself to remain open to the possibility that Rama, since Lasar was friends with him, might be a good being. He wouldn’t judge all the Alasharians as evil just because some of them were.

A light knock sounded, then the door opened. He angled his body around to see Chris peeking into the room.

“Hey. You doing okay in here?”

Morgan drew his eyebrows together. “I’m fine.” He didn’t want Chris worrying over him when his mate needed his attention. “How about Nary? Is he feeling better?” He swallowed after he’d said it, a flush of heat blooming under his skin.

“Knock it off, dude.” Chris frowned as he stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. “Your guilt isn’t welcome here.”

Morgan sighed then returned to gazing out the window. Chris dragged the matching chair over until he’d placed it next to Morgan’s. Chris plopped down on it.

“Morgan?”

He turned to Chris who regarded him intently. Something about his cousin was different. At first, he’d thought it had something to do with Chris’ raging hormones since he’d finally had his cherry popped by his alien matches. But it wasn’t that. Sometimes, a thought would form in Morgan’s mind as to what it might be, but then he would try to articulate it and it would be gone. It’s driving me nuts.

“Give me a while, okay, Chris? It’s not just the other night, although that was pretty epic what Nary did. It’s all the other times too.” Morgan lowered his head. He couldn’t maintain his gaze with Chris. “All the horrible things I said to you about your mates.” He winced. “And what I know Nary heard me say.”

Chris let out an aggravated sigh. “Okay, you’re right. You were a total asshole.”

“Hey!” Morgan whipped around to glare at Chris. “You don’t have to be mean about it.”

Chris laughed. “Oh, my God. Your face. Look, I needed to get your attention. But can we move past all of that now? You’ve apologized and you had every right to question things. If it hadn’t been happening to me, I never would’ve believed it.”

Morgan nodded. “You’re right. I’ll shut up about it now and just show you guys by how I act that I don’t feel that way anymore.”

Chris squeezed his arm quickly, then drew it back. Morgan frowned again at Chris’ touch.

“What about you, Chris? Your hand felt really hot. Are you coming down with something?”

Chris’ eyes widened and he seemed to go even paler than normal. “I’m not sick. I’m…” He chewed at his lip. “I came in here to bring you up to speed on a couple things.”

Morgan picked again at the fringe decorating the shawl that was wrapped around him. He wondered about the Alasharian it had belonged to. Had they survived the blast? Had they been one of the spectators egging on the rapes of the humans or had they been ones who’d been aghast at the horrific display?

Morgan forced his thoughts away from the upsetting events of the night before last as he waited for Chris to seemingly gather his own thoughts. It was fine. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be brought up to speed. He worried the shawl some more, wishing he had one of the small robes that Lasar and Nary had gotten for Chris to wear. Even though he’d been forced into continuous nudity in front of the aliens since being captured, it seemed weirder in front of Chris’ mates. He shuddered. Despite knowing there wasn’t anything else that could’ve been done, and even though Chris had been there, it had still been an awful moment when Nary had attached the cock ring to his dick.

And touched me.

He’d been fantasizing about being touched, being fondled and stroked by someone else for quite a while. However, being forced, and being touched by an alien, had robbed that fantasy from him.

Chris shook his head and sighed. “Sorry. I seem to drift off a lot lately.” He inhaled a deep breath then locked his eyes on Morgan. “Lasar has been gone all day with his troops, hunting for the renegade humans who are responsible for the bombing, and we have no idea when he’ll be back or what might come of it. At the very least, it’s even less safe for humans than it was before.” Chris grunted. “If you can even imagine that. Anyway, Rahna Rama, Lasar’s friend, well, he’s been called back here to help from the territory he was assigned as a commanding warrior, or a…” Chris furrowed his brow. “Or whatever his position of leadership is.”

Morgan’s stomach clenched and he chewed his bottom lip. “Oh. I see.”

Morgan had been told that Rama didn’t want him as a sex slave, that Rama was only taking Morgan on as a favor, but he couldn’t deny how much having to go live with the alien scared him. Rama might be a good being, might be as caring and decent as Lasar and Nary were, but Morgan had no idea what to expect. What would his future be like living with the alien? Would he become Rama’s servant? Would they have any type of relationship at all, or would he simply be ignored? Morgan wasn’t certain which scenario he preferred.

“Come on, dude. You knew it was inevitable.”

Chris’ words held a sympathetic tone, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

“I know. I guess I thought I’d have a chance to get more adjusted to the idea, that’s all. You know, a warning when he was on his way.”

Chris snorted. “Consider this your warning.”

Morgan smirked at his cousin. Yeah, he’d been acting a little off recently, but he was still the same smart-ass he’d always been. Morgan squirmed in his chair.

“Do you have any idea how I should behave with him? I mean, do I call him ‘Sir’ or one of those other titles you give your mates?”

Chris shrugged. “I’d steer away from ‘hey you’, but other than that, I don’t think you need to call him anything in particular. Maybe Rahna Rama. Keep it basic.”

Morgan frowned at him. “Chris, seriously. Some compassion here?”

Chris raked his fingers through his long blond hair. “Yeah, okay. Sorry. I’m kind of flipped out about Nary being hurt and Lasar on this mysterious, potentially human-annihilating quest. Then there was the dream…” Chris pressed his lips together, his face flushing.

“Wait, what? What dream?” Morgan stomach dropped.

“Uh…” Chris gave a nervous chuckle.

Morgan regarded him with concern. His cousin had talked about a lot of weird stuff ever since he’d been captured, such as instinctively knowing that he was supposed to be mated to Lasar and Nary and being able to sense their feelings as if they were all linked telepathically somehow. What must that be like?

“Chris? You can’t leave me hanging like that. You’re freaking me out.”

“Look, it’s…” Chris sighed. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t even understand what’s going on, okay?” Chris scrubbed his face with his hands. “I can tell you this much. It has to do with that Supreme Soul Healer I told you about.”

Morgan’s eyes widened as he tensed. “Uh-oh. Was it a horrible vision? Are we all going to be killed by the Nall?” He’d had to work hard to keep the hysteria out of his voice.

“Hey.” Chris reached over and grabbed Morgan’s hand, clutching it. “Nothing is for certain. That’s at least one thing I’ve managed to figure out in all of this. Yes, there’s a destiny aspect to everything that’s been happening, but it’s as if…” Chris frowned. “As if the choices I make could drastically skew the outcome one way or the other.”

Morgan arched his eyebrows. Chris flushed and let go of his hand.

“Uh…wow.” Chris winced. “That didn’t quite come out the way I thought it would.” He snorted. “I swear I’m not that full of myself.”

Morgan grunted. “Only mildly full of yourself, Oh Great One?”

Chris’ blush deepened. “Cut it out. It’s that Healer guy. He keeps saying all this stuff to me that doesn’t make sense. Then last night, I’m having the weirdest dream…or vision, or out of body experience—I couldn’t tell—and he’s giving me dire warnings and hinting around that I’m like, one and the same with him.” Chris let out a low growl. “It’s flipping me the fuck out.”

He’s lost it. “Okay…” Morgan cleared his throat. “Maybe you’re not getting enough rest. You know, because you’ve been taking care of Nary, and all the stress from our new circumstances, the situation with your mom and sisters—”

“They’re under Hallosh’s protection.”

Morgan gave a slight shake of his head. “Yeah. I know. You told me, remember?”

“There are many who will be on the side of the humans, who will defend them. We all need to unite. You must allow yourself to become a part of the destiny.”

“Uh…” Something with Chris wasn’t right and it filled Morgan with a sense of dread. It wasn’t only his words. The flat tone Chris had used as he’d spoken, the way he’d stared through him rather than at him with glazed-over eyes terrified Morgan. He swallowed hard.

“Chris, stop it. You’re scaring me.”

Chris blinked, but remained still. It didn’t appear as if he’d heard Morgan speak.

“Chris!” Morgan shook him by his shoulders.

His cousin shuddered, his eyes fluttering before they focused back on Morgan. “Huh?”

“What happened just then?” Morgan couldn’t keep the trembling from his voice.

Chris drew his eyebrows together. “Happened?”

Oh God. “You were lost in your head or something. It was like you weren’t even seeing me, but you told me stuff about Hallosh, aliens uniting with us and something about allowing myself to be a part of the destiny.”

Chris’ eyes rounded. “Holy shit.” He pressed his lips together, shaking his head. “I fucking knew what happened last night was going to mess with me. What I can’t figure out is if he’s doing it on purpose, or if it’s part of the destiny thing and he’s just as caught up in it as I am.”

“What the actual fuck are you talking about? Who’s doing what on purpose?” Morgan let out a sound akin to a whimper. I wish Hallosh was here. Morgan gasped. No I don’t. He jumped from the chair, his nerves so jacked up he didn’t know what to do other than to pace back and forth on the plush carpet like a restless, caged animal.

“Hey, Morgan. Stop.” Chris grabbed his arm, abruptly halting him. He hadn’t even noticed him rising from the chair.

“I can’t handle this, Chris. I’m not strong like you, remember? I keep telling you that.”

Chris let out an aggravated sigh. “I don’t think you’re giving yourself credit, dude. And I believe you’ll play an important part in whatever the events are that are headed our way, so you can’t come unglued.”

“You mean, if I allow myself to be a part of the destiny?” He’d said it with no small measure of irony.

Chris shrugged as he released Morgan’s arm. “Apparently. But that was probably my intuition speaking just then. I swear I don’t remember saying all that other stuff. How do you suppose that feels?” Chris wrapped his arms around himself. “Not gonna lie. It’s pretty creepy.”

A wave of shame filled him. Yeah, he was scared. But if he was going through what Chris was, he’d probably fall apart.

“I’m sorry, Chris, you’re right. I’ll be better, I promise. I should be here for you to turn to, not just begging you for reassurance all the time.” Morgan stepped forward then gave him a one-armed hug. “I’m here for you and I’ll do my best to help, even if it’s only for you to have someone to tell things to.”

Chris hugged him back before letting his arm fall to his side. He smirked at Morgan. “Even if I don’t remember saying them?”

Morgan fought back tears. I need to knock it off. Accept that this is all happening and figure out how to move forward. Be there for Chris the way he’s been for me.

“Even if.”