Abducted by Aliens (Tales From Angondra Book 1) by Ruth Anne Scott Page B

room, and she sat at his side and tended his battered frame.
    Leroni hung back. All at once, Carmen realized the din of battle no longer rattled the city. Deadly silence filled the night. She glanced around, and Leroni stepped toward her. “He’ll be all right now. He just needs to rest.”
    Renier groaned and his eyes rolled back in his head. He pushed himself off the bed with his hand over his eyes. “My head! What happened?”
    Carmen burst into tears of joy and threw her arms around him. “Thank God you’re all right!”
    Just then, the door opened and an enormous Ursidrean strode in. Carmen jumped to her feet. “What are you doing here?”
    Leroni moved between them. “He’s come to offer terms.”
    “Terms!” Carmen bellowed. “His people attacked the city. What does he think we’re going to do—surrender to him? We'll fight to the death.”
    Leroni touched her arm. “We don’t have to. He attacked the city so he could come here and offer terms to us. He's Alpha of his faction. Just listen to what he has to say.”
    Renier dropped his feet over the side of the platform, but he couldn't raise himself from his seat. His head hung between his shoulders, but he glared at the Ursidrean out of the corner of his eye. “What do you want, Donen? What's so important that you would attack our city and kill our people?”
    The Ursidrean’s voice rumbled through the apartment. “What’s so important? Don't you know? It's the Earth female I come for. All our factions suffer from lack of females, so I can find no female suitable to be my mate. How can I ensure the future of my people when I cannot leave our leadership to my heirs?”
    Carmen’s fury blazed. “Do you think you can buy and sell us like cattle? Who do you think you are, to attack this city and demand a female for yourself? You’re no better than the Romarie.”
    Donen faced her. “I invited the Romarie here out of desperation. They trade quality females all over the galaxy, and I wondered if we might benefit from them, too. When I saw you and your friends at the gathering hall, I realized I was mistaken. I would never take a female by force. I only come to ask your consideration for a people in desperate straits. Is it asking too much to ask you to help us in our hour of need?”
    Renier squared his shoulders. “Carmen is right. We can’t expect any of these women to do anything without their express consent. You attacked my city in vain, Donen.”
    “The Avitras Alpha has an Earth female of his own, and so has Caleb of the Lycaon.” His eyes swept back and forth between Carmen and Renier. “I can see that you have a female of your own, too. Why should I not benefit from a female, too?”
    “The only other female available is Aria,” Carmen replied, “and I wouldn’t make her leave the last of her friends to go be a mate to an Ursidrean. Why would she want to leave this lovely city, with the people who made her welcome, to go live in a cave in the mountains? You’re out of your mind if you think she would consent to that.”
    A sound across the room brought her head around, and Aria stood in the bedroom door. Her eyes glowed in the soft light.
    “Aria!” Carmen exclaimed. “I hope we didn’t wake you up with our arguing. I was just explaining to this…..this person….”
    Aria shook her head. “I heard the whole thing.”
    “You don’t have anything to worry about, Aria,” Carmen went on. “We won’t let him take you.”
    Aria took a step into the room. “It’s all right, Carmen. I'm going to go.”
    Carmen spun around. “You can’t! You have to stay here, where we can be together. Didn't you hear Renier say they live in caves? You can't live like that. You deserve better. I know where we can find food here so we're not eating meat roasted over a lamp every night. We can have a decent life here. Just stay here with me.”
    Aria smiled, but Donen cut her off before she could say anything. “The other factions say we live in