Chapter 2
Kiljorn Homeworld
Sharon stood on the training field and looked around at her surroundings. She was currently on the planet of Kiljor, which was beautiful and so different than Katiera. Kiljor had more metallic and shiny buildings, and it had differing geographical climates like on Earth — mountains with snow, deserts with no water, and then places with islands all around.
She had been on Katiera a few years and had nearly adjusted to the lush greenery and the gorgeous green water that covered most of the planet. She had arrived on Katiera with her military friends from Earth as part of a relocation program. It wasn’t until they were on board the transport and had taken the culture classes that they became fully aware of some of the reasons of why only female travelers had been chosen for the program.
The Katierans were dying out as a people because their numbers were diminishing. They hadn’t borne many healthy children in almost twenty years, although Katiera had plenty of natural resources to sustain life comfortably.
Earth had the exact opposite problem. The Earth World Government (EWG), which was made up of leaders from all over the planet, came together to try to solve the problems of diminishing natural resources and overpopulation. They had even sent out a message to nearby solar systems asking for assistance. The Katierans answered that call and made a deal for an exchange. They would help rebuild Earth’s natural resources in exchange for allowing the Katierans to run a relocation program, which would exist on a volunteer basis. Sharon suspected that the volunteers seeking to relocate were selected based on their age and childbearing usefulness.
If she had known before leaving Earth that her whole purpose would be to help repopulate an alien planet, she wasn’t sure she would have chosen to come. It’s not that she hated the Katierans; in fact, she could understand their desperation to save their people, just like the EWG was desperate to save Earth. She made her choice and, as her granddaddy would say, she had to “make it work for you.”
Sharon didn’t want to sit around waiting to bond with one of the Katieran males, even though they were all well built and sexy as hell. Their unusual eyes, with golden irises, were exotic, and many of the males were charming. She had shared sex with a few during her time on the planet and had enjoyed it, but when they wanted to claim her by releasing their seed inside, she refused each time.
Her friends called her too picky, but Sharon had an idea in her head of who “the one” was supposed to be. As she was growing up, her grandparents and parents set a high standard for her. Each of their marriages were love matches, and that’s how she had always imagined it would be for her. Hitting her thirties, however, had her questioning the choices she had made.
On Earth, she trained with the police as a hostage negotiator and worked with the FBI and even the military. She was an expert on profiling terrorists and finding out what they wanted and ways to take down their networks. It kept her pretty busy and her social life suffered because of it. When she traveled to Katiera, she gave all that up, so she began to feel she lost her purpose. She started talking to her friend, Lieutenant Lucy Daniels about returning to Earth. That’s when she was asked to come to Kiljor, a neighboring alliance, for a mission.
So, here she was on another alien planet, surrounded by sexy aliens who stared at her with curiosity and desire. Maybe coming here was a mistake, too.
“Sharon Task?” a male’s voice called out.
She turned to stare up at the hugest guy she had ever seen. He was at least seven feet tall, with wide shoulders, trim hips, and a gleaming bald head. Wow, just...wow.
“Yes, I’m Sharon.” She remembered at the last moment not to try to shake hands. It was their custom to clasp forearms with other warriors, but it was rare for males to touch females.
“I’m Commander TylOR. Welcome to Kiljor.”
“Thank you. I’m curious about this mission.”
“We’ll get to that. First, I need to access your abilities.”
“You need to do what?”
“I assume you know how to fight. I need to see the skills you have and if you will need extra training. Though training is going to take up time we may not have.”
Sharon held up her hand to stop him from talking. “I’m good with showing you my skills. Give me a second. I didn’t exactly dress for tactical practice.”
She went over to a bench and took off her leather jacket with the hoodie that had been covering her head. Now her short blond hair was revealed. She knew everyone was watching and what they were thinking. Females from their world didn’t cut their hair except for a trim, so her short hair was going to draw attention. Also, it was startlingly blonde, which was not a familiar hair color for these aliens with their naturally bronzed skin tone and dark shades of hair color. Except for Kiljorn commander, she had never seen any of the males with bald heads before.
Her jeans and T-shirt were fine for fighting, but she debated whether to keep her boots on. Unsure how smooth the ground was, she opted to keep her boots on. “Okay, Commander, who do you want me to fight?”
“Me.”
Oh fuck!“Gotta tell ya, this is probably going to be a real short match.”
He chuckled motioning her to follow him. “You don’t have to beat me — which you won't — just survive the match so I can assess your skills.”
“Right, just survive?” Seeing others following closely behind, she turned to them, “Is that what he says to you too? Just survive?” They broke into laughter. Commander TylOR glared at them and immediately they stopped. Yeah, he was definitely a badass if a look shut these guys up. Sharon was in for a world of pain.
They stood facing each other, and the individuals who followed formed a circle around them. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to take the guy down. He was seven feet tall and she was only five feet five inches. He was probably a good two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle. She weighed...half that. Calling on every bit of training she had, she looked for weaknesses. Was being a freaking hulk a weakness?
She tracked him as he paced around. He made a move to grab her but she ducked and rolled and got back up quickly. Okay, he was a little slower in his movements than she expected, which would allow her to keep some distance and possibly outrun him if she had to. What if she became trapped and couldn’t run?
Maybe his stomach was softer than it looked. When he launched at her again, she dodged but tried to punch him in the middle.Oh fuck!His abs were hard as bricks. She shook her hand to make sure she could still move it.
“Are you okay? Do you need to see a medic?”
