Xalan Bonded: Xalanite Mates Book 2 by AJ Mullican

Author:AJ Mullican [Mullican, AJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Timber

My hands trembled as the SUV pulled through the gates leading into the Xalanite intake center. I’d never been so nervous about meeting anyone, not even my old chief when I started at the CPD as a young Police Academy recruit. Meeting the other Xalanites on Earth, though, gave me intense indigestion as I fretted about what they might think of me.

I’d endangered their prince three times in less than a week.

I tried to remind myself that Xalanites were new to having royalty, that they might not view N’kal the same way human subjects would. I also tried to remind myself that I was, until recently, a professional law enforcement officer in a large metropolitan area. I’d escorted plenty of celebrities and officials in my day, so why was this any different?

Of course, I had never been dating one of those celebrities. I’d never crossed that line before, so maybe that’s what had my nerves in knots.

N’kal held my hand as we parked then helped me out of the car. My hips had severe bruising from my seatbelt in the accident, and while nothing on the X-rays showed a break, the pain kept me from maneuvering like normal.

While the AARO agents that milled about the parking lot kept the curious Xalanites from crowding us, N’kal and I followed Agents Brock and Mullins to the office building at the forefront of the compound. N’kal kept my hand firmly in his, squeezing my fingers as I took a shuddering breath to steady myself.

“I am here,” he murmured. “I will not leave you.”

His reassurances helped, especially when I remembered that he could probably hear my heart trying to beat itself out of my chest.

Then again, that meant the other Xalanites could hear it, too …

Purple-scaled necks craned to see better as we walked by. Low voiced muttered and whispered in a foreign tongue, and from the glares N’kal shot at some of his people, I suspected their words weren’t all that flattering.

“What are they saying?” I whispered, keeping my shoulders back and my head straight. Anxious as I was, I didn’t want to give the impression that I was weak or frightened.

“Nothing nice,” he growled in response. “Don’t worry. I will speak to the offending individuals later. I will not tolerate them speaking like this about you. You have done nothing to earn unkind words.”

I let out a sigh of relief once the doors closed behind us. Alone, finally.

Well, not quite alone yet. We still had a lot of bureaucratic muck to wade through before they’d even consider assigning us to one of the cabins spread throughout the compound. No, first we’d have to face the music from the higher-ranking government and Xalanite officials before we could retire for the night.

From the looks of things, the AARO had taken over an old campground. Wood cabins dotted the landscape amid trees and firepits, enough to house our current contingent of visitors and then some. With the popularity Earth visits seemed to have on Xalan, though, they might need to expand sooner rather than later.

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