Draevan's Mail Order Bride

Chapter 1

Draevan stood in the doorway of his niece’s bedroom, watching her sleep during the early morning hours. Even after three moon cycles of caring for her, he still couldn’t believe he was now in charge of raising the eight-month-old baby.

An ache pierced his chest. He couldn’t believe a lot of things that had come to pass. Like the war against the Irrcons and the complete destruction of Planet Vaxxlia, along with most of his people’s females.

He ran a hand through his hair and resisted the urge to start pacing.

The baby appeared so peaceful in sleep that he didn’t want to accidentally wake her.

She’d woken twice last night, her screams echoing down the upstairs hallway of their home on Planet New Vaxx.

But this morning she appeared to be resting peacefully, the nightmares that often tormented her blessedly out of reach.

His throat burned as he continued watching little Meela sleep.

Draevan had always expected to have children, to have a family, but not like this.

Not in the wake of so much death and destruction.

Meela’s parents—Draevan’s brother, Harvat, and his mate, Calla—had perished during the war against the Irrcons.

Harvat had fallen in battle against their alien adversaries, while Calla had died when the Irrcons attacked a fleet of ships leaving Vaxxlia prior to the destruction of the planet.

Somehow, by the grace of the Star God, Meela had survived the attack.

And now the little baby was the only family he had left in the universe.

He prayed he would not fail her.

With that thought in mind, he once again found himself considering the Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides program, a matchmaking service that was run by the Intergalactic Dating Agency.

In the aftermath of the war, there were very few Vaxxlian females left.

If he ever wanted to find a mate, his only option was to sign up for the service and wait for VAMOB to match him with a human female.

It seemed a simple enough process. Most warriors who signed up for the program received their match within days if not hours, then they traveled to Earth to retrieve their new human brides.

If he were being honest, his main motivation for considering the VAMOB program wasn’t to quell his loneliness. It was because he feared he might not be an adequate caregiver for Meela.

He feared he couldn’t do it alone.

A fierce warrior who’d been promoted to the rank of commander just before the war broke out, he was used to leading his fellow warriors into battle.

He was used to wielding a weapon, issuing commands, and making decisions that could mean the difference between life and death.

He knew how to protect his people, and he knew how to kill his enemies.

But he had never learned how to care for a baby.

Especially not a baby who was actively grieving the loss of her parents…

Well, he thought she was grieving. Sometimes, she called out for her mother or father. It broke his heart whenever she cried Mama or Daddy at the top of her lungs, her eyes filled with tears.

He didn’t know how to properly soothe Meela when she awoke screaming in the middle of the night. All he could do was hold her stiffly against his chest and pray his presence was enough to comfort her. Even worse, he didn’t know what to say when she cried out for her mother or father.

And he worried that he would never be able to show the little baby just how much he loved her.

Yes, he truly cared for her, but he still couldn’t shake a sense of inadequacy as he considered how young she was.

These were her formative years. If he failed her now, she might grow up feeling abandoned, lonely, and perhaps even neglected or unwanted.

If he couldn’t raise her with the care and devotion she deserved, she might grow into an adult who struggled to trust others or form meaningful relationships.

The realization settled heavily in his chest, and he found himself resisting the urge to start pacing again. He also found himself fighting the impulse to rush to the window and release a growl of frustration that would echo off the snow-capped mountains.

Star God, help me.

He stepped closer to his niece just as she sighed, rolled over, and immediately settled back into deep sleep.

Her dark, wavy hair was in disarray on the pillow, and he mused that she looked just like her mother, but she also favored her father at times.

The glint of stubbornness she revealed on occasion definitely came from her father.

Draevan smiled at the thought, and his face suddenly felt strange.

It took him a moment to realize it was because he rarely smiled any more.

Yet another reason he should consider acquiring a mother for his little niece.

Meela deserved more than a battle-hardened warrior. She needed someone to better nurture her during her early years. Someone who could hold her and sing to her when she was scared. Someone who would kiss her scraped knees and offer her comfort when she was hurt.

Yes, he decided, Meela needed someone who could give her the affection and nurturing care that only a mother could provide. The sweet gentleness of a female.

But finding a mother for Meela meant Draevan would have to take a mate… a woman with whom he would be honor bound to spend the rest of his life.

Would he make a good husband?

Or would he be cold and distant to the female VAMOB selected for him?

He tried to push aside his doubts, but it wasn’t easy.

The brutality of the war echoed inside him on a daily basis, often sending him into dark moods or making him hunger for another battle.

He trained hard in the practice arena in Starzzia, the main city on New Vaxx, the planet his people had recently settled on.

He also worked hard to train the males in his unit, wanting to ensure they were battle-ready, often drilling them into the late evening hours.

Guilt struck him. All the time he spent in the training arena was more time spent away from Meela.

She stayed at a daycare facility on-site that many warriors who’d found themselves single fathers also used, but even though he checked on her several times a day, he still felt guilty for being away from her for so long each day.

Though many of the human females who’d come to New Vaxx had jobs and even owned businesses, most of them still seemed to make caring for their children a priority.

They were more accustomed to the needs of young children than he was, and he couldn’t help thinking Meela would benefit from having a female caregiver who could be there for her far more often than he could.

Perhaps that was what he needed to look for when he signed up for VAMOB.

He could stipulate that his future mate be willing to help care for Meela, explaining from the beginning that the little girl would be part of their family.

He would still provide for them and ensure they wanted for nothing, but his human mate could give Meela the daily care and affection he feared he wasn’t entirely capable of providing.

It seemed a reasonable arrangement.

More importantly, it would give Draevan’s niece the stable, loving home that she deserved.

At last, the sun rose over the mountains, and golden light streamed through the window, bathing Meela’s tiny face in a warm glow.

He glanced at his wrist comm, checking the time, and sighed. He hated to wake his little niece when she was sleeping so peacefully. But he was already late for warrior training in the arena, and he’d been late more often than not recently. He couldn’t continue to neglect his duties as a commander.

He leaned over Meela’s crib and brushed her hair from her face.

As she stirred in her sleep, he endeavored to wear a gentle expression.

A fatherly expression. He thought of his brother and how wonderful he’d been with Meela, just how much the child had adored him, and another ache pierced his chest. Would his little niece ever view him as a father figure?

Would she ever love him half as much as she’d loved his brother?

Meela finally opened her eyes and stretched with an overly dramatic groan that belied her youth.

It was the sort of weary sound a seasoned warrior might make as he woke up for an early patrol shift.

To Draevan’s surprise, he found himself smiling again.

Yes, he loved Meela with all his heart. If only he knew how to show her.

If only he had the disposition of his late brother.

Harvat had completed the requisite warrior training and had fought the Irrcons during the war, but he’d been a healer among their people, a natural talent that had helped him save lives and had given him a gentler temperament than Draevan’s.

As Draevan recalled how brightly Meela’s face used to light up whenever his brother walked into the room, his confidence in his own abilities as a caregiver plummeted even more.

“Good morning, Meela,” he said. “It’s time to wake up, get dressed, and eat breakfast. We’re running late and we must leave as soon as possible.

” Did she understand what he was saying?

Most Vaxxlian babies could speak in short sentences by the time they were eight months old, though Meela wasn’t doing so yet, and Draevan wasn’t quite sure how much of what he said she could actually understand.

He also couldn’t help but notice how much smaller she was compared to most babies her age, though a healer had recently told him that she was developing normally; she simply happened to be on the small side.

Despite what the healer had told him, he couldn’t help but worry about her delayed speech and slight build.

What if she wasn’t thriving because he wasn’t an adequate caregiver for her?

Meela glanced around the room, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. “Mama. Daddy,” she whispered. Her bottom lip trembled.