Hyperdrive (Alien Bride Race #4)

She doesn't know she's supposed to be MINE. I knew the moment we parted ways years ago. It felt like dying. Now, she's in danger. I'm not wasting my second chance.

Zariah
The last package I receive from my mother contains the one thing I don't an entry ticket to the Alien Bride Race.
My father was a savage bounty hunter turned pirate. I was a mistake. I was also, in his mind, free labor until I made my daring escape as a child. My twin brother stayed with our father and carries on the family tradition. I joined the shipping industry for an honest wage, but I can't seem to escape my past.

Now, I transport dangerous things as a private contractor. I trust few people and fewer aliens. But my mother's last gift included a message, apologizing for my childhood, one that makes me feel guilty for wanting to throw away my ticket. I don't want an alien mate. I'm not interested in starting a family when I come from one that's such a mess. But when the ticket falls out of my pack and a fellow contractor at the bar picks it up, I get teased to no end. To my surprise, Elix, someone I helped long ago, steps in and returns it to me.

He's a lone wolf type, keeps to himself, depends on no one, and is of an endangered species with few left in the universe thanks to the war with the Nebulous Empire. He's a jacked beast of a male with a protective tendency that I like. But more importantly, he's the only one who's gotten close to me and not tried to find out where my father hid his bounty.

I don't care for my father's credits or metal junk. All I want is to earn my way so I don't have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. My mother thought an alien mate might keep me safe. Maybe she's right.

I haven't seen Elix in two years. He's packed on a lot of muscle and, for a moment, makes me reconsider what I want for my future. But we come from opposite sides of the law, and I won't dishonor my mother's last request. With what's going on in my secret shipping life, the Alien Bride Race might be the safest place for me. I just have to win or make whoever catches me pick someone else so I can slip away again. A week's vacation to let the stardust settle sounds like a good plan.

I just didn't expect to want him...

Elix
I didn't want to leave Zariah behind after she helped me escape spaceport police as a child. I just had to sort my life out after my kind had perished in the battle with the empire. I'm a hot commodity for my special healing skills. Staying a ghost is imperative. But I can't get Zariah off of my mind. I've hunted plenty of criminals and fought in countless battles since then, but she is a hard woman to track. Her father taught her well.

I know she's working under the radar, shipping something illegal across Sol Federation territory. It's my duty to report her, but I don't have concrete evidence or the desire. From the shadows, I've watched over her and protected her at every opportunity without her knowledge. When I find out she's entering the race, I'm thrust into a different battle.

I always thought she'd stay single forever. The mere idea of another male laying one finger on her has me burning up with rage.

Zariah's memory kept me alive on the outer rim in the heat of battle. She might disregard the law, and I might defend it, but there's a part of her I desperately want to protect. I need her in a way she doesn't yet know. When I catch wind of plans of other males to bond with her in order to access her father's hidden bounty, I know my time is up.

She's in danger.

I have to find a way to get into the race so I can protect her, and I might have to break a few rules to get in.