Free Alien's Innocent Bride: A Sci-Fi Alien Paranormal Shifter Romance (Mail Order Human Book 1) by Sue Lyndon, Sue Mercury

Excerpt:
     
    Sev watched from a distance as the Starship Matchmaker delivered his new mate. Tara . He liked the sound of her name, and even better, he liked the sweet feminine scent of her that carried through the breeze. Ah, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her, and he couldn’t wait to run his tongue over her flesh and taste her.
    He hungered for the chase, but he waited until she finished scanning her surroundings. When she began walking toward the forest, he moved from his place behind the rocks in the tall grass and followed her. He would hunt her down and carry her back to his abode, as was the custom of his people.
    Before the plague that had claimed the lives of most of the females of his kind, male Zaxxumians used to chase their females down in the forests during a great, annual mating ritual. Now that there were hardly any females left, the hunts only occurred one on one, when the families of the females arranged it, or when a male with wealth, such as himself, procured an otherworldly female through Mail Order Human.
    His nostrils flared as her scent drifted through the breeze once more, and he crept along behind her, careful to remain hidden behind rocks and trees. Soon the petite human female known as Tara would belong to him. He would claim her and make her his in every possible way. A thrill rippled through him, and he moved faster, finally rushing out into the open.
    He growled and ran straight for Tara, his arms open as he prepared to snatch her up.
    Her high pitched scream filled the air, making him wince and stumble just enough to miss her on the first swoop of his arms. As he made to grab her again, she hit the ground, rolled away, and came back at him with a sharp stick. The pointed end scratched his chest but didn’t break the skin.
    Growling again, he paused to study the little human he’d purchased. Long dark brown locks framed her pale, delicate face. Luscious pink lips. A cute tiny nose. His heart swelled with affection. Ah, she was a beauty. And his. All his.
    “Mine,” he snarled, panting. “My Tara.”
    She jabbed him with the stick twice more. “How do you know my name?”
    “You are my mate, little human, and I’ve come to claim you.”
     

Chapter One
     
    Tara stood in line, careful to keep her head lowered. If Magino’s men spotted her, she wouldn’t last another day. Her heart raced and she pulled her hood down, obscuring her face and hoping the criminals responsible for her parents’ death didn’t notice her amidst the crowd of desperate women.
    She couldn’t believe her life had come to this. Once upon a time she’d lived in a beautiful home in southern Pennsylvania, with hardly a care in the world. Much had changed since the Great War.
    Crows cawed and swooped overhead, and an icy breeze pierced through her thin dress. She shivered. If Magino’s men didn’t kill her, something else would take her out before long. Hunger. Illness. Hypothermia. A stray bullet.
    She shuffled forward. Only two young women remained ahead of her. Once she signed her name on the list and scurried onto the waiting starship, she would be leaving Earth forever.
    A shudder ran through her. Escape from her war ravaged home planet came with a price.
    By signing her name on the list, she would be signing her life over to Mail Order Human, a company that scoured Earth for single women who were willing to give themselves to an alien male. The women were given no guarantee they would be treated kindly by their new alien mates, but as conditions on Earth deteriorated, many women saw Mail Order Human as a worthwhile risk. For Tara, she viewed it as her only chance at survival.
    Most governments had fallen and society was crumbling. Rival gangs continually fought one another, taking down many innocent bystanders during their feuding. Illnesses swept through towns, leaving behind death and despair. Food became scarcer as the days passed.
    Earth was doomed.
    Tara would probably be standing in this line