Her smile froze on her face.
“He what?”
“The colony took a vote before it agreed to participate.” Finley’s eyes stayed locked on her screen. “It’s in the public records. Most voted in favor, but there was a small opposition group. Goraath was one of them.”
Her stomach dropped. Perfect. Just perfect. She was being assigned to a man who didn’t want her there, didn’t want any of them there, and lived so far from anyone else that she’d be dependent on him for everything.
“That doesn’t mean anything.” Val’s voice cut through the spiral of panic starting to build in Juni’s chest. “He entered the lottery. He accepted the terms. His opinion of the program doesn’t change the fact that he agreed to host.”
“Yeah, Val’s right.” Anja crossed her arms. “And if he gives you trouble, report it. They built safeguards into this program for a reason.”
Safeguards. Right. What were the safeguards worth when you were forty-seven kilometers from the nearest help?
The ship shuddered beneath them. A deep vibration traveled up through the floor and into her bones.
Autumn moved to the viewport, pressed her hand against the reinforced glass. “We’re entering the atmosphere. Look, we’re almost there.”
One by one, they joined her. The six of them crowded around the small window, watching as the planet’s surface came into view.
It was beautiful.
Juni hadn’t expected that. She’d expected alien and strange and maybe a little frightening. But the world spreading out beneath them was gorgeous. Rolling plains in shades of purple and gold, mountain ranges that caught the light of the twin suns, and huge forests that looked almost black from this height. And in the distance, the glitter of what had to be the colony… small and fragile against all that wild alien landscape.
And somewhere down there, forty-seven kilometers from that little cluster of buildings, was a ranch. And an alien man named Goraath who didn’t want her there.
“You going to be okay?”
The question came from Val, quiet enough that the others wouldn’t hear. The older woman stood close, her shoulder nearly touching Juni’s.
She looked down at her datapad, still clutched in her hand. Goraath. Remote ranch. Northern territory.
Shit… was she going to be okay?
She didn’t have a choice. Back home, she had no job… she’d been fired for reporting sexual harassment, and blacklisted from her industry. Lost her apartment when she couldn’t make rent. Spent three months in a shelter before she’d seen the advertisement for the Mate Program and thought, why the hell not? But even they hadn’t been able to help her, and after weeks without a match, she’d been banished here. Well… at least dying on an alien planet was more interesting than dying poor and alone on Earth.
She’d left behind everything she knew. Signed up to be shipped across the galaxy to marry a stranger from a species she’d only learned existed two years ago. Crammed herself into a transport ship with five other desperate women and spent six weeks hurtling through space toward a future that was either salvation or the biggest mistake of her life.
She could handle one grumpy rancher.
“Yeah.” She met Val’s eyes. “I’m scared. But I’m doing it.”
Val nodded. “Attagirl.”
The ship shuddered again, harder this time as the descent thrusters fired. The planet’s surface rushed up to meet them, close enough now that Juni could make out details. The purple wasn’t grass; it was some kind of crop, grown in massive geometric fields. The forests weren’t black but a deep blue-green.
And somewhere in those mountains to the north, an alien man was waiting for her.
She pressed her hand against the viewport, fingers splayed across the cool glass. Her reflection stared back at her… heart-shaped face, too-bright eyes, auburn hair already escaping its ponytail. Small. Soft. Completely wrong for a harsh frontier planet and a remote ranch and a life that would probably break her in half.
But her mom hadn’t raised a quitter.
Joy is a choice, Juni-bug.
She chose it now. Chose to believe this would work. Chose to believe she was strong enough. Chose to walk into the unknown with her chin up and her heart open, even though every instinct screamed at her to run.
The ship’s landing gear engaged with a mechanical groan. They were committed now. No turning back.
She took a breath, let it out slowly, and turned away from the viewport.
