Mated to the Alien King: The Complete Series: A BBW SciFi Alien Romance (Captured by the Alien King Book 12) Read Online Free PDF Page A

people still think it's a good idea to cut down forests," Jared said, shaking his head.
    "Yeah, crazy," I said, putting my last bite of salad into my mouth. I swallowed my mouthful and decided to change the subject a little bit. There was so much I wondered about Jared. "Are you close to your mother?"
    He frowned.
    "Not exactly. We used to be but the last time we saw each other, we argued." His eyes fell to his half-eaten plate of food, and he dropped his fork. "We didn't part on good terms."
    "That's too bad. I don't have any family. My Gran raised me, but she died quite a few years ago."
    "I'm sorry, Kenna," he said, his green eyes compassionate.
    "It's okay. It was a long time ago. Maybe you could call your mom and talk to her. Holophones don't cost that much and you would feel like you're in the same room as her."
    I knew that Dar paid him enough to be able to afford a holophone call. If Gran was still alive, I would certainly spend the extra money to feel like I was in the same room as her and be able to touch her.
    "Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen," he said, looking angry and a little hurt.
    "Why not?"
    "Because she's kind of busy. She's always been about her career — even when I was a kid. She's never had time for me. I was raised by nannies and tutors and servants."
    "Really?" I said, and it was my turn to feel compassion. Gran and I might not have had much, but she always had time for me.
    "She's got more important things to do than talk to me, Kenna," he said, standing up and picking up some trays on the table.
    "Oh, come on, Jared. She's your mother."
    "She's the woman who gave birth to me," he said, a sad look on his face. "I'm not sure she was ever my mother."
    He turned and walked to the dirty dish wall. When he pressed one of the trays against the wall, a slot opened up and took everything.
    "See you on the bridge, Kenna," he said.
    I took the things off of Dar's tray and put his plates under mine. Then I piled all the dishes on and went to put the double tray into the wall.
    I had learned a few things about Jared, but I wondered if we would ever really know who he was. As I had that thought, my comm unit beeped.
    "Kenna, come to the bridge, immediately," Dar's excited voice came through. "We've got the information."
    "Okay," I said. "On my way."
    I made my way through the halls as quickly as I could, saying hello to the crew members that I knew and smiling to those I didn't.
    As I came around the corner, I saw my favorite engineer. We had breakfast together sometimes in the cafeteria. He was an older man and always cheerful, friendly, and kind.
    "Hey Carson," I said as he approached me.
    "Kenna, how are you?" he said, giving me a broad smile.
    "Good, just heading over to the..."
    My voice trailed off as I stared at the spot where Carson had been standing a moment before.
    He was gone.
    And not like it had been a transporter beam, either. There was a shimmery quality to a person the instant before they were transported.
    Carson had suddenly and silently, with absolutely no warning whatsoever, completely vanished.
    Oh shit.
    It had begun.
    I took off at a run.
    "We need to infiltrate," Jared was saying when I arrived.
    "Dar," I said, out of breath from running so fast. "Dar!"
    "Kenna?" he said coming over to me, with a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright?"
    "I'm fine. Carson. The engineer."
    "Yes, I know him. What about Carson?"
    "He disappeared."
    "What?" he said, in alarm.
    "I said hello to him, and he vanished. No transport. Nothing."
    Mana got up from her console. Jared turned away from the view screen where he had been studying the alien ship. Fear was evident on their faces.
    "Then it's begun," Mana said.
    "Like I said," Jared repeated, his face taking on a stern expression. "Someone needs to infiltrate. We can't possibly plan an attack or even a defense if we don't know who the enemy is. Trust me. I attacked enough planets, space stations, and vessels in my time with the AEA to