Claimed by the Alien: A Scifi Alien Romance (Fated Mates of the Titan Empire Book 6)

live in a world without their emperor. They’d always had an emperor. The title was passed from one Titan to another through the ages. An unbroken line that reached back to their earliest times. He’d always been there to take care of them and lead them through difficult times.
I decided to change the subject.
“So, what did you do in the city?” I said.
“This and that,” Fiath said. “Nothing exciting. How about you? Have you always been a nurse?”
“Yes. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be. Even when I was a kid. I used to perform surgeries on my teddy bears. Without a license…”
Fiath smiled.
“How did you end up here all the way from Earth?” he said.
I was surprised he remembered where I was from.
“It’s not like it was through choice,” I said. “I was abducted. The locals told me it’s the Changelings that do that to innocent people. Then they transport them across the galaxy.”
Fiath frowned.
“Are you sure about that?” he said.
“It’s what the tribespeople told me,” I said. “What reason do they have to lie?”
“The Changelings just overthrew their empire.”
I shook my head.
“This was before that happened,” I said.
Fiath’s frown lines grew deeper.
“I never knew they were so underhanded,” he said.
“I guess we have a common enemy,” I said.
“Yes,” Fiath said. “We do.”
His eyes had turned hard as steel. It was a dangerous look that made me think maybe there was a reason he avoided my question about what he did in the city.
Even with his body as damaged as it was, he was in fine physical shape. I wondered what he looked like when he still had his face. I bet he was devilishly handsome…
I started. Focus, girl!
Since when did I fantasize about patients?
Never! That’s when.
Flustered, I consulted my clipboard.
“Can you move your fingers?” I said.
He moved his digits on one hand and then the other.
That was good news. It ruled out dangerous deeper tissue injuries he might have sustained due to the burning.
“How about your toes?” I said.
He wiggled them.
I ran a finger up his shin.
“Can you feel this?” I said.
“Yes,” he said.
I did the same thing with the other leg.
“How about this?” I said.
He nodded.
I made a note on my clipboard.
“Is that good?” he said.
“It sure is,” I said. “Your body is on the road to making a full recovery. It’s going to take some time—even for a Titan—but it’s good news. I’ve been putting the Healer’s Touch ointment on every hour while you were asleep. It seems to be working.”
I shone the light over his arms, across his chest, and his face. Everywhere showed improvement… Everywhere but his face.
That was to be expected. After all, it was the worst affected location.
Then something struck me about the burns.
I recalled the explosion that happened at the palace that night.
“Plasma fire,” the surgeon had said during the surgery. “Nothing burns like liquid plasma.”
The Changelings had opened fire on the emperor’s palace using plasma cannons. Could he have witnessed the attack first hand?
“Were you anywhere near the palace the night the attack happened by any chance?” I said. “Is that how you sustained these injuries?”
Fiath took a moment and gazed at me.
If I had to guess, I would have said he was considering how he was going to reply.
With the truth? Or with a lie?
“I was near it,” he admitted. “A wave of it washed over me.”
“That’s what I thought,” I said.
Still, something didn’t quite sound right. I’d seen the explosion with my own eyes, even if it was from a distance. The blast had been very powerful but the liquid plasma cooled quickly and hadn’t spread far.
Maybe Fiath was a guard and now he felt guilty for failing to protect the emperor. The warriors might blame him for what happened. The atmosphere was febrile. All it would take to explode was a single spark.
“Are you married?” Fiath asked.
I blinked, taken aback by the question.
“Married?” I said. “Why would you ask that?”
“You’re very kind, smart, and beautiful. I would assume your husband back on your home planet would be very worried about you.”
“I’m not married. I was supposed to be married by now though.”
“You are betrothed?”
“Betrothed? No. We haven’t done that in years.”
“Then how are you supposed to be married by now?”
“I was engaged. Am engaged. I’m not sure which tense to use.”
“You’re promised to another?”
“Yes,” I said.
The translation device was a real wonder of science but it wasn’t infallible. Sometimes the translations couldn’t be directly translated, so the device had to use the closest description it could come up with.
“He proposed to me and I said yes,” I said.
“Still, he must be worried about you,” Fiath said. “You suddenly disappeared.”
He probably was worried about me. It was funny though. I was far more worried about my friends’ fate than that of my fiancé.
What did that even mean? Did it even mean anything?
My thoughts were interrupted by a group of Titans gathered around a TV hologram device in the room across from this ward.
“What in the world…?” I said. “Excuse me.”
I joined the crowd and weaved between them. They stood watching, transfixed, as someone called Lord Taw stood on a small stage. Around him stood what I assumed to be Changelings. They were hideous creatures that looked similar to insects on Earth… Only six feet tall and with multiple black eyes.
“What’s going on?” I said to the nearest warrior.
“It’s Lord Taw,” he said. “He’s making a speech to the empire.”
“What speech?” I said.
“About whether or not we should accept the Changelings as our leaders. He’s a famous and powerful lord. If he fights the Changelings, then we will all fight.”
And if he doesn’t fight, none of the Titans will fight either.
Titans had a hierarchical structure. The emperor rested firmly at the top. This Lord must be somewhere below him but high enough that he garnered a great deal of respect from the other Titans.
“My fellow Titans,” Lord Taw said. “I am Kal, second son of House Taw. I consider myself honored to be not only a Titan but a