Free Alien Commander's Bride by Juno Wells, Scarlett Grove

roof. Suddenly, Lexi dropped to her knees when she saw what was beyond the door. Mario stood there with a Draconian in human form. A transport vessel was parked behind them on the roof. They had Melody bound and gagged, sitting on a chair between them.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Lexi screamed. Melody looked up as Nash growled and burst forward.
    The other Draconian jumped into the air, shifting into a smaller green dragon, much like the one she’d seen in the sky above her neighborhood. Nash crashed into him. Mario dragged Melody to her feet and shoved her into the vessel, pointing a gun at Lexi.
    Lexi ran forward, knowing that her suit would protect her from the bullets. She slammed full force into Mario, shocking him so much he toppled over, dropping the gun. Melody screamed behind her gag. Lexi ran for the gun, scooping it up off the ground before Mario could touch it.
    “How could you?” Lexi screamed at him. “My father had the money to pay you off! And you took my sister anyway?” The gun shook as she held it.
     
    “This was never about the money, princess. There are Draconians who don’t want to wait for the computers to find them a bride. I’m only giving them what they want.”
    “You sick bastard ,” she yelled, aiming the gun at him as she circled around to Melody. She tugged the bounds at her wrists and untied her. Mario made a motion toward her while she was distracted—he lunged at the gun.
    The dragons clashed above while Mario dove into Lexi and tried to grab for the gun. It went flying through the air and landed at Melody’s feet. The sweet, shy teenager picked up the gun and aimed it at Mario, both fingers on the trigger. She stepped toward him.
    “You deserve to die for what you’ve done to my family,” Melody said, her tone even and unafraid.
    Melody’s finger twitched on the trigger, pulling it slightly back. In the split second before she shot Mario, Nash swooped down and grabbed the gun from her hand. The other dragon lay bleeding and unconscious on the roof.
    “You don’t need blood on your hands, little human,” Nash said, slipping the gun into the transport vessel. Melody began to cry then, and Lexi ran to her, throwing her arms around her little sister.
    Nash grabbed Mario by the scruff of the neck. “So, you’re his human contact, huh?” Nash demanded.
    “You can’t stop it! It’s already out there,” Mario stammered.
    “That isn’t going to save you from spending the rest of your life in jail,” Nash said. Nash threw both men into a secure holding area in the back of the transport vessel, and the girls sat in the comfortable seats in the passenger bay. He started the small ship and flew back to the consulate in downtown Seattle.
    The police were already waiting for them there. Mario would be booked by human police, but Nash would take Hallo Vox back for Draconian justice. After both men were sorted, Lexi sat with her sister in a comfortable room in the back of the consulate.
    “It’s even worse than we thought, Nash,” Lexi said to him.
    “It was an isolated event, my beloved bride. Nothing more.”
    “How can you be so sure?” She wanted to believe him—to believe in him. She stared into his eyes.
    “I will fix it,” he said in his even way, and she did believe him. He would fix it.
    Lexi looked back at her sister, who was still shaking. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked her.
    “I will, eventually,” Melody said.
    “Did Dad ever get the money?”
    “Yeah. He paid off Mario, too. That didn’t stop him from tracking us down at our new house on the north side.”
    “You guys moved?” She wondered how they could afford that?
    “Yeah. It’s a way better neighborhood; Nash helped us find it. People who live there actually still have jobs.” Lexi was caught up on the ‘Nash helped us find it’ part.
    “What do you mean, Nash helped you find it?” Lexi looked over at Nash standing on the other side of the room.
    “He came to our old