Bitten in Secrets and Desire (Claimed by the Morrak #3)

Chapter One

Elaina

My alarm blared with the assurance of something that knew it ruled my life. Groaning, I rolled onto my side before forcing myself upright and stumbling across the room. By the time I reached the source of the obnoxious noise, I was awake enough not to smash it to pieces like I wanted.

Bracing one hand on the dresser, I reached for the glasses I left there each night, fumbling around until my fingers connected with smooth plastic.

I’d always preferred metal frames, but the military didn’t allow them.

It was one of the many things I’d given up for my career as an intelligence analyst.

Like sleeping past the crack of dawn.

Yawning, I tried to shake off the lingering drowsiness as I pulled out my PT uniform.

I hated PT days since they highlighted the extra curves I’d sported my whole life, but luckily I’d scored high enough during training for the chain of command to restrict their punishments to increasing my PT instead of kicking me out like they could have.

There weren’t many others familiar with the number of languages I was, and it was an advantage I regularly used.

The one bonus to these mornings was that I was out of the house within fifteen minutes.

No need for makeup when I was going to sweat it off in less than an hour.

Everything I needed to be presentable when I reported for duty was already packed in my duffle, so all I had to do was brush my teeth and re-braid my messy curls.

After two hours of torture and another to clean up, I strode into headquarters and took my place at my desk.

One of the things I loved about my job was the independent nature of it, where everyone in the room had their own tasks to complete, and we were mostly left alone to do so.

As long as we finished everything on time, the higher-ups left us alone unless they were giving us a new assignment.

“Voss.”

I turned my head, hiding my wince as stiff muscles protested the motion. We had amazing setups, with a team dedicated specifically to ergonomics, but I was always sore after a workout. The drill sergeant made sure of it.

Major jerked his head towards the room behind him before disappearing into it.

I was in the middle of decoding the last message he’d assigned me, but it wouldn’t be the first time they’d thrown something else in my lap in the middle of something.

Everyone in the room was fluent in both English and Common, but each of us knew other languages as well, so it wasn’t odd that I was the only one singled out.

Locking my computer, I rose and straightened my uniform as I made my way to his office, sucking in my belly and trying not to breathe.

It also wouldn’t have been the first time I’d been called in to be reminded I still wasn’t what the military standards demanded of a woman my age, and that was a berating I wanted to avoid.

“You’ve received a special assignment from the UEC.”

I straightened at the Major’s words, a hint of excitement stirring.

Something from the United Earth Council meant it had to do with one of the alien species we were in contact with, or possibly a new one yet to be introduced to the general population.

A new species meant a new language, and I was already trying to decide which framework to use on it first when that bubble of excitement was popped by his next words.

“You are to attend the Morraki Selection Gala, Friday, at the Eurasian Alliance Building. 1900 hours. Formal attire is required. It cannot be black.”

I couldn’t help the frown that creased my brows. I was aware of the Morrak, the new alliance with them had been all over the news for months. It had prompted me to study as much of their language as I could get access to, but I hadn’t informed anyone yet since I couldn’t claim fluency.

“What’s the assignment?”

Major gave me a blank look that said he questioned my intelligence, but it was nothing I wasn’t used to. He was the type who was hard to impress, and I was the quiet one who didn’t make waves. The one he forgot about until something reminded him I existed.

That was the way I preferred things.

“To attend the gala. The information packet has been forwarded to you. Dismissed.”

A hesitant wiggle of excitement tried to break through the confusion.

It was possible the orders came from higher up and he didn’t know why I was being ordered to attend, and the thought of working on an assignment above his clearance almost made me salivate as much as a new alien language to learn, but I couldn’t imagine an instance where that was the case.

The walk back to my desk was slower, a sense of dread sitting heavy in my stomach as I neared my computer.

I wasn’t an ops agent to be sent undercover on missions to extract information, I was the glasses behind the desk who figured out what the information meant.

I could dream of being sent to the gala so I might mingle with important figures and overhear some vital piece of information, but I wasn’t 007 material.

I was more likely to remain glued to the wall, trying not to hyperventilate.

I dropped into my seat and stared at the black screens taking up my vision. My hands seemed to move on their own as I typed in my passwords and opened my messages, “Morraki Selection Information” standing out amidst the headers.

What I read seemed more unlikely than being told I was to become a spy, but it didn’t change even after reading through the material several times.

The Morraki Selection Gala I’d been told to attend sounded like something they’d pulled from the history books, where people with fancy titles paraded around and tried to find other people with more money or fancier titles to marry.

Except it was aliens, and they called it bonding.

And to be approved to attend this gala, they’d apparently tested my DNA, because it would have to be changed if I was chosen.

I sat and stared for so long I startled when someone passed my desk. My eyes cut to the time when I spotted another person heading for the door. It was time for lunch, but I hadn’t finished anything I was supposed to have done that morning.

Looking over my shoulder, I spotted the Major leaving his office. He didn’t always come back after lunch, and I was out of my seat before I made the decision to move.

“Major!”

I caught a few looks as I jogged to catch him before he reached the door, and he turned to face me with a frown. He knew as well as I that I wasn’t working on anything that would excuse chasing after him, and his frown only deepened when I had to pause to catch my breath before speaking.

“I still don’t understand. Why am I being sent to the gala? I didn’t sign up for this.”

His eyes hardened, mouth flattening into a thin line.

“You signed up to serve your country. You were given an order, and you’re expected to follow it.”

I knew my mouth was hanging open, and I felt the heat in my cheeks from the flush I likely sported, but I was still too confused to stop myself.

“But—”

“Without question.”

The stern tone and glare had my jaw snapping shut, the rest of my protest caught in my throat.

The Major turned and stomped through the door, leaving me blinking at his back, and there was nothing left for me to do but return to my desk and the work that made sense.

It wasn’t until almost time to leave that I noticed the email from my uncle.

Elaina,

You should be receiving a summons from the UEC to attend the Morraki Selection Gala this Wednesday. Each Councilor is required to submit an unwed woman from their family as a candidate for the gala, and as your cousins are already married, you are the only one available.

I will see you there.

Councilor Hans Richter

Words were my thing, yet for the third time that day, they refused to make sense.

Besides a few summers spent at his home before my mother died, I hardly knew my uncle.

There had been a moment when I was told he had become my guardian that I had thought I’d go live with him, but he’d believed it more important for me to remain in a familiar place, so he’d hired a string of nannies to take care of me until I was considered old enough not to need them.

Old enough being fifteen.

He’d continued to cover the bills until I graduated high school, when I was informed I was “ready to be an adult”, and all support ended.

Despite it all, I didn’t hate him. He had his own life, and it wasn’t his fault my mother had fallen asleep at the wheel and stuck him with the responsibility of another mouth to feed. That was one thing I couldn’t complain about when other kids I knew had gone hungry.

But that was what had led to me joining the military, and while I might complain about the PT requirement, there wasn’t anything else I could imagine doing with myself.

I was good at my job, truly enjoyed studying languages and finding hidden messages in seemingly innocuous passages, and had no plans to quit.

Even if I occasionally had to obey orders that I didn’t like.

Nodding to myself, I typed a quick response assuring him I had received the summons and would be there. I could give my uncle one night for the years of support he’d given me. The order was to attend, not to be chosen, and I could manage that.

My lip curled at the thought of shopping for an appropriate dress.

I generally hated crowds and avoided the major shopping centers even more than most stores, but there was no time to order something and risk it not fitting.

I only had two days until the gala. It seemed odd that it was being held on a Wednesday, but I knew the government worked the same hours as the military.

All of them.

Plus some.

I considered stopping for a dress on the way home but decided I needed another day to prepare myself, and it was a good thing I did. There was a white package waiting outside my door, a note slipped under the black ribbon trying it shut, proclaiming “For the Gala.”