Page 1 of Rule
ChapterOne
Evelyn
“Congratulations, we’ve found you a mate.”
I stared in shock at the blonde womansitting behind the desk. “You’re kidding.”
The woman laughed before leaning forwardand tapping her pen against the shiny surface of her desk. “I assure you, Ms.Fisher, that I’m not. We have matched you with a Draax, and you’ll be leavingfor the Draax planet the day after tomorrow.”
“I didn’t expect it to be so quick,” Isaid. “I just had the genetic testing last week and only found out three daysago that I carried the gene for breeding with the Draax.”
The woman shrugged. “We pride ourselveshere at the agency on our efficiency.” This time she tapped the end of her penagainst her teeth. “Honestly, we rarely have breeding compatible women whosign up for the lifetime program, so we tend to fast track their applications.”
I swallowed heavily as the woman said,“Mind you, most of the women we send to the Draax planet to breed never come back.”
She paused, realized how that sounded andsaid hurriedly, “Because they’re very happy with their new life and the Draax theyare mated with. Not because they’re forced to stay.”
“I know,” I said. “I did some research beforeapplying for the program.”
She gave me a fleeting look and I tried notto blush. The woman sitting across from me was middle-to-upper class, and theshirt she wore probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. I pulled at my too-tightshirt. I was so poor I couldn’t even afford decent clothing for the breedingprogram interview. I’d had to borrow a top and skirt from my neighbour, Candy,and both items of clothing were too small.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you had a tablet.Most of the lowers don’t,” she said.
I squirmed in my seat. Like most middlesand uppers, the woman didn’t have a clue about lowers. “I don’t. But thelibrary has them.”
The woman gave me a blank look – I had anidea that she had never once set foot in a public library – before nodding.“Oh, right, of course. The library.”
She glanced at the tablet on the desk as arush of uncustomary anger flooded through me. I tamped it down immediately. Itwasn’t the woman’s fault that she was born into middle class. It wasn’t herfault that she didn’t know what it was like to be hungry or cold or on theverge of being kicked out of her home. It did no good to be angry with her justbecause she’d never laid awake at night in a closet of a bedroom, clutching aknife to her chest and hoping that her stepbrother and his friends didn’t getdrunk enough to try and rape her.
My stomach clenched, and I took a shakybreath. The woman glanced up from the tablet and frowned. “Ms. Fisher, areyou all right? You’re very pale.”
“I’m fine. What is the name of the DraaxI’m, um, mated to?”
I supposed it was a little strange to beasking the name of the alien I was about to be mated to for the rest of my life.In the old fairy tales that my mother read to me as a child, the girl marriedher Prince Charming. He was handsome and rich and madly in love with her. Hecertainly didn’t have green skin or a tail and was only interested in knockingher up with a baby. My stomach clenched again at the thought of having sexwith an alien. What if he was rough with me?
He won’t be. Candy has nothing but goodthings to say about the Draax aliens she slept with, remember? Besides, it’sbetter than what will happen to you if you stay.
I shuddered all over and closed my eyes. Myinner voice was right. In fact, I should be celebrating the fact that theagency had found a match for me so quickly, not be worrying about how roughalien sex would be. Even if the alien didn’t take his time or didn’t careabout my pleasure, it would still be better than being married to that scumbagTroy. Just the thought of sleeping with Troy made me want to vomit.
I realized the woman from the agency wasspeaking and I said, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said, that I had even better news aboutwho you were matched to for mating. You have been matched with a Draax namedQuillan and he,” the woman gave me a look of breathless anticipation, “is the Kingof the Western Province of the planet Draax.”
“I – what?” I said faintly. Did the womanjust say I was being mated to a king?
The woman nodded. “It’s true. You’re ournumber one match for him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. You’ve tested higher than anyother human for breeding compatibility. You’re a - what we like to call in thebusiness - guaranteed breeder. It’s highly likely that you’ll become pregnanton the first try.”
The woman smiled at me. “The king isapparently very anxious for an heir.”
“Right, of course,” I said. “Um, he knowsthat I’m a lower class, right?”
“We have passed on all of your informationbut, frankly, the Draax don’t care what class you are. They just want youhealthy and able to breed. Now, your payment of gallberry juice is waiting foryou in the front room.”
The woman pushed a few buttons on hertablet and then frowned. “This can’t be right. It says you’re to receive onlya gallon of juice for a lifetime of service. Oh, for the love of God, thejuice guys can’t get anything right. I just knew they would screw this up some-”
