Bird of Prey: A SciFi Alien Romance (Project: F5 Book 1)

seriously using that line?” I yanked out my dagger, flipping it in the air and catching it. “Do you happen to know who I am?”
“I was hoping mine soon enough,” he purred, sounding more like a series of chirps, as his pale green eyes darkened. “Tell me what I have to do for you to earn your name. There is no point in denying, for the Stars have led you into my life, so let me know what I need to make you mine,” he begged, as he dared to take a step closer. “Do I need to dance for you to show you that I am worthy of you?”
“Dance?”
I heard about the Quaww and their mating dances, but to perform one to me without knowing my name was pretty far-fetched. There had to be a hidden agenda.
Sending a quick message to my squad, I eyed the rest of the club.
Nothing seemed amiss amongst the dancers, workers, and those hoping to score a deal.
“Yes, a dance.” He nodded, opening his wings wide as if he was putting them on display for me to judge.
Sheathing my dagger, I stood, already over the route this conversation was going.
“I don’t think you understand,” I said, not missing the face of defeat and rejection upon his face.
Why must I always be the bad guy?
Gritting my teeth, I plopped down, knowing that I will soon regret my decision.
“Fine, show me your dance,” I mumbled, picking up the rainbow drink to inspect it, only for REI to determine it was clear of anything nefarious. “But, I only promise you my name, nothing else.”
“That is all I ask for.” He beamed, expanding his wings to their maximum reach.
A chorus of protests from those trying to walk around him died down as soon as they noticed what he was doing.
This male Quaww performed as if he was fluid bending to the wind; his graceful spins reminded me of the pinwheel seeds as they fell from some of the exotic trees around the moon base. Every time he turned, his eyes would lock and hold onto mine as if he was dedicating his dance to me, letting everyone know that he wanted no other.
Slowly, he came to an end as he folded his wings around me, closing us from the world.
Oddly, I wasn’t scared, nor was I annoyed by his intimate gesture, for I had never had experienced something like it before—nor was there a male that dared to get this close to me.
“Your name?” he asked, his eyes begging me to answer.
Tilting my head to the side, I studied him for a moment.
“How about you tell me yours and why you want my name so bad?”
“I am Qraniebi,” he announced, flicking his gaze to my hair. “And as soon as I saw you sitting here all alone, I knew I needed to learn everything about you. Something about the way the crown of feathers frames your gorgeous long black hair called to me. I have never seen someone like you before. What species are you?”
Those four words ruined the moment he had worked hard to earn.
He must’ve seen my whole demeanor shift because he instantly retracted his wings, folding them tightly behind his body as he stared at me, confused.
“I can’t tell you that,” I said, standing as disappointment laced my voice. “I will give you my name, but nothing else.”
“What did I do?”
Shaking my head, I replied, “I am Agent B. I hope we never face each other across the enemy line.”
I turned and walked quickly away, ignoring his calls for me to wait.
It wasn’t his fault that, for the first time in my life, I dared to allow another to show interest in me.
The universe was filled with betrayals and secrets. There was no room for love without pain—no matter how much I wished it wasn’t so.

One
Bryeca
I had failed once again.
Somehow, my siblings and I had missed something, and our mistakes had triggered the chain of events that would forever change the Aldawi Empire.
My brother Kaede was missing. His personal AI, REI, had disconnected from our private network without warning. No matter how many times my sisters and I sent our AIs to search for REI, they found not a trace. Distance wasn’t a problem for our AIs; we had traveled to the most distant parts of the galaxy before and always remained within our family’s network. Kaede’s sudden disappearance alarmed me.
I refused to believe my brother was dead.
He was too stubborn a male, all wrapped up in his pride and quest for honor. No matter how much of a pain in the breast he was, I wouldn’t wish anything ill upon him.
We all shared the same mother—sort of. She had been one of the first generation’s altered humans, and the Yaarkins had harvested her eggs to create us. Only the six of us survived the cybernetic enhancements. We were infused with nanobots and spliced with six lucky males, then implanted into an artificial womb to mature.
The six of us never had a family in the traditional sense because we were isolated from the other demi-humans, tried and tested against gladiators only to be thrown back onto the medical table for further enhancement.
Until our masters, the Yaarkins, could no longer control us.
They submerged us in a Cryopod, locked away until they found a solution to their new problem. Before they were able to create a solution, my master swooped in searching for his destined—and found the six of us instead.
My siblings and I swore our loyalty to him alone, the price we paid for our freedom and security.
Now the male I’d sworn to serve stood between him and me.
“Agent Bryeca,” Sovereign Zirene announced. The amethyst eyes boring into mine reflected his voice, both seeming darker than usual. “Before you interrogate our criminal, I want to know if you’ve heard any word from your brother.”
Suppressing the shiver that threatened to overcome me, I reminded myself that it wasn’t solely me he was