Page 1 of The Dalgur’s Pet

PROLOGUE

GISELLE HOLLAND HAD A good feeling about tonight, though that didn’t stop the nerves from fluttering in her stomach.

It was her and Anthony’s five year anniversary, and he’d asked her to meet him at a restaurant after work, which in her mind could mean only one thing.

A proposal.

She had no idea if he’d picked out a ring—he certainly hadn’t sneakily asked her opinion or conferred with her friends as far as she knew—but she would be more than happy without one.

Honestly, this was the first date he’d planned in ages, and to that suave downtown tapas restaurant no less, the very place she’d been begging him to go with her for months. Things weren’t perfect, but was anyone’s relationship?

Her parent’s marriage hadn’t been, though thankfully the shouting matches had ceased when they had divorced. She’d only been ten, but as she grew up, she knew she wanted more than that for herself.

She and Anthony never fought, though lately they’d hardly been talking at all. He was tired from work, at least that’s what he told her, and she supposed it was better than the screaming she had grown up with. The fire had always been fairly mild between them, but she’d always considered that a good thing.

Chemistry and passion were overrated, anyway. Anthony was stable, reliable. If he failed to indulge her hedonistic desires, that said more about the unusual things she was interested in than it did about him.

Desires she had kept to herself, for the most part, feeling too self-conscious to bring up the types of things that really intrigued her. Anthony was good in bed, even if he wasn’t dominant in the way she wanted, and that was just fine.

Though the strange tension between them the past few months had snowballed into a dark cloud of worry for her, she tried to relish in the fact that she was finally going to be getting what she wanted.

Not that she was someone who had dreamed of marriage since she was a little girl—seeing her parents tear a hole in their family had left a bad taste in her mouth, even though she’d been young—but it was the symbolism behind it. Committing yourself fully to another, through sickness and in health and all of that. It had taken Anthony years to finally let her move in, and this felt like the next big step in their relationship.

After his text message earlier, Giselle had been brimming with nerves and excitement, rushing to the nail salon after another stressful day at work. Luckily, they had been able to squeeze her in for a quick manicure, neat and light pink, perfect for showing off a ring.

Or no ring. No ring was fine, too.

The contents of her closet were strewn across the bed, and she was glad that Anthony had said he’d head to the restaurant straight from the office. It had given her time to get herself in order. She wanted to look nice for potential pictures.

What if he’d hired a photographer?

That didn’t sound like Anthony, but maybe he was planning something big. Out of character? Perhaps. But an engagement was a special occasion.

Giselle half listened to her podcast while she dug through the piles of clothes on the bed for what felt like the tenth time. It was the one she liked about UFOs and strange encounters, a guilty pleasure she told no one about, even though the stories filled her with an eerie sense of wonder.

The idea of space exploration and extraterrestrial life had fascinated her since she was a child. She remembered staring out the window of her bedroom each night, observing the constellations and the cycle of the moon.

Was there something out there? Was intelligent life ubiquitous or rare?

She liked to think there were others, perhaps galaxies away. Maybe even living on Earth and integrating with humanity. The thought that humans were the only intelligent beings in the universe was… scary, to say the least.

Her fingers brushed over silky fabric, and when she pulled the dress out of the pile, she knew she had the one. Before she could overthink her decision, she slipped it on, smoothing the cloth over her curves and checking herself out in the full-length mirror tucked away in the corner of the room.

Yes, it was the perfect dress. The perfect dress for the perfect proposal.

Tonight was going to be life-changing.

CHAPTER 1

TEARS STREAMED DOWN GISELLE’S face, her hands gripping the wheel so hard her knuckles were turning white.

“I just don’t see how we would work long term.”

The words echoed in her head and she gritted her teeth, trying to blink away the wetness blurring her vision. She raced down the empty highway in her old sedan, bright headlights the only source of illumination in the dark desert.

It had been at least a couple of minutes since she’d last passed another car, though it was difficult to tell with the way her head was spinning, shock giving way to misery, replaced quickly by agonized rumination, emotions melding and roiling like a mass of worms wriggling in her stomach.

When had it all gone wrong?