Ambushing Ariel.

By S. E. Smith.

Acknowledgments.

I would like to thank my husband Steve for believing in me and being proud enough of me to give me the courage to follow my dream. I would also like to give a special thank you to my sister and best friend Linda who not only encouraged me to write but who also read the ma.n.u.script.

-S. E. Smith.

Synopsis.

Ariel Hamm has always had a tender heart. Her love for her sister, Carmen, and her best friend, Trisha, has always been a priority in her life. But at twenty-eight, she is ready to start focusing on what she wants. After her fiancee unexpectedly ends their engagement, she is searching to redefine who she really is. A pilot for Boswell International, she knows flying is not her first love. Unhappy, she finally makes a decision based on what she wants to live on the property she purchased in Wyoming and care for the stray and neglected animals that have always captured her heart.

Her plans change suddenly when she finds herself on a warship headed for a distant planet. Determined never to let another man distract her from her dream or break her heart, Ariel makes plans to escape and make her way back home no matter what. What she doesn't expect is the alien male who is just as determined to keep her by his side!

Mandra Reykill never expects to find his true mate so unexpectedly - or so painfully. He knows his older brother is returning home with his true mate and her friends but never suspected his true mate could be among the women. His dragon recognizes her immediately and falls in love with the delicate beauty. His symbiot is enchanted with her gentle touch and kindness. Unfortunately, all Mandra the man gets is a stubborn female refusing to acknowledge his claim on her and determined to escape him at the first available moment. To top it off, his nice, orderly life is suddenly turned upside down when he finds his home and his warship suddenly infested with creatures from all over the galaxy that are just as taken with his mate as his dragon and his symbiot.

Now, he needs to find a way to convince Ariel he is the alien for her while trying to keep his sanity! But, he is not the only alien wanting to claim Ariel; another has set his sights on Ariel and is just as determined to claim her.

Can Mandra convince the stubborn human female who has captured his heart their future together can be her new dream before she escapes him forever?.

Prologue.

Ariel Hamm leaned down over the paper in front of her, studying the equations on it carefully. She bit her lip as she worked the problems. She wanted to get the rest of her work done so she could have some free time before bed. She was just finishing up the last one when a high pitched scream broke the silence. Her head jerked up and her mouth opened to form a small 'O'. She stared wide-eyed at the big man sitting across from her reading the newspaper before jumping out of her seat and taking off down the hallway.

Henry Hamm shook his head and watched as his six year old daughter took off like a bullet before releasing a sigh. He wondered what it was going to be this time. He made it to the door leading into the bathroom just as Anna Hamm came barreling through it shaking.

He opened his arms and wrapped them around his wife who was mumbling curses under her breath. Glancing over his wife's head, he saw Ariel bending over into the bathtub. She lifted something out of it, gently cradling it in her arms. When she turned around, her big brown eyes were swimming with tears and her little chin was trembling. It was not the look on her face that held Henry's attention, though. It was what was in her arms. The small brown creature was trying to burrow down against her tiny body. Ariel stared wide-eyed at her dad waiting for his response.

"It's alright, Anna. It's just a prairie dog pup," Henry said soothing his hand down his wife's back.

"It's not just a prairie dog pup, Henry Hamm," Anna said glaring up at him. "It's a whole litter of prairie dog pups!"

"But momma, Ariel had to help them. Mr. Wilson plowed them up and was going to drown them. Ariel couldn't let them die," five year old Carmen argued. "She had to take care of them. She's their mommy now."

Anna looked over her shoulder at her oldest daughter. Ariel stood protectively in front of the old fashion bathtub filled with yapping prairie dog pups. She then turned her gaze on her youngest standing defensively in front of Ariel. Shaking her head, she turned in her husband's arms and regarded both of her daughters in exasperation. Last week it had been turtles, the week before lizards, the week before that... Anna shook her head again more firmly. Ever since Ariel was old enough to walk she was bringing home every stray creature she could find and some that weren't even a stray, like the neighbors' cats, dogs, and chickens. The list went on and on.

"She gets this from you, you know," Anna began looking at her husband of seven years over her shoulder in frustration.

"I know," Henry said with a small smile.

"I don't like animals in the house," Anna continued.

"I know," Henry said looking with a warning at Ariel when she started to protest.

"I don't want any critters in my bathtub," Anna insisted firmly.

"But... but where else is she going to put them?" Carmen asked puzzled. "Under her bed is full and so is her...," Carmen stopped when Ariel b.u.mped her with her elbow.

"Be quiet," Ariel hissed out under her breath.

"Under her bed...?" Anna said putting a hand to her throat. "Where else?" She asked looking first at Ariel whose eyes filled to overflowing again before turning a stern look on Carmen. "What else does she have in my house?" Anna asked turning toward Ariel and Carmen's bedroom.

"NO!" Ariel wailed tearfully. "Momma, please. They need me!"

Henry decided he better help his wife. She was from the city and still had a fear of all the different critters that lived in the 'wilds of Wyoming' as she put it. Anna walked into her daughters' room and was about to get down on her hands and knees to look under the bed when Henry grabbed her around her plump waist.

"You better let me," Henry said gruffly.

Ariel watched as her dad got down reluctantly on his hands and knees and began pulling out the cardboard boxes she had been collecting. The s...o...b..xes were carefully labeled with a crayon drawing of each animal and had holes punched in the tops. Ariel watched in despair as her dad pulled all six s...o...b..xes out, opening each carefully. Her collection of lizards, frogs, and turtles was growing. Next, he pulled out two larger boxes. One had several kittens and the other had a baby porcupine.

"Where are Earth did you get this?" Henry asked amazed. Each box was carefully filled with water, food, and strips of old clothing from the sc.r.a.p box.

"That's what happened to all my quilting material!" Ariel's mom exclaimed just as the phone rang.

Ariel's mom hurried out of the room and down the hall to get it while her dad sat back on his heels. "Okay, what else do you have before your mother comes back in here?" He asked looking at his oldest daughter struggling to keep the little prairie dog from escaping.

"She has Patrick and Sandy in my bed," Carmen said helpfully. "Well... you do!" Carmen said looking at Ariel innocently as Ariel gave her a frown.

"Who are Patrick and Sandy?" Henry asked before shaking his head. "Maybe I should be asking you not who they are but what they are?" He muttered.

Ariel tried to get in front of her dad to stop him but he just picked her up, prairie dog and all, and set her to one side. Henry moved over to the other twin bed in the room and gently lifted the brightly colored, quilted covers back. He bit back a curse when he saw what was curled up under the covers.

"But daddy, they were cold. It is getting too cold to leave them outside now and they might have babies and if they do then their babies will be cold and..." Ariel quit talking when she saw her father's pale face.

"Oh, sweetheart, if your mom sees these two she'll never come in the house again," Henry said looking at two three-foot long corn snakes curled up in the middle of Carmen's bed.

"That's why I've been sleeping with Ariel," Carmen whispered looking at the snakes. "I don't think they like me sleeping with them."

Henry looked at his youngest daughter trying not laugh at her serious expression. He quickly threw the covers back over the two snakes when he heard his wife coming down the hall. He put his finger to his lips to make sure they knew not to say anything before turning to look at his furious wife.

"What is it now?" Henry asked trying to keep a straight face.

"This is not funny, Henry! Ariel, what else do you have hidden in here?" Anna said putting her hands on her rounded hips.

"N... nothing," Ariel whispered looking up at her mom.

"I just talked to Paul Grove. He seems to be missing his daughter. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Ariel's mom asked sternly.

This time it was Carmen's eyes that filled with tears. "But momma, she wants to be our sister and sisters are supposed to live together. We'll take good care of her. I promise! I even shared my dinner with her," Carmen sobbed out.

"Oh lord!" Henry said softly with a chuckle. "Where do you two have her hidden this time?"

A small noise came from the closet drawing all of their attention. Ariel's mom walked over to it. She opened it tentatively at first before pulling the door wider once she found it was safe to do so. A small, curly haired girl of six smiled up innocently at them. She was sitting on a stack of folded blankets with a bottle of water and some cookies next to her. Ariel's princess pillow and Carmen's glow worm doll were lying next to her.

"Hi, Momma Hamm," Trisha said smiling up at Anna.

Thirty minutes later, Ariel, Carmen, Henry and Anna watched as the taillights of Paul Groves' truck made its way slowly down the long, gravel driveway. Ariel's shoulders drooped. She put her arm around Carmen who was still crying about losing her older sister. Anna bent over and picked up Carmen's little body, cradling it against her and turned to enter the house. Just as she opened the door, her nose wiggled at the strong scent coming from inside.

"Oh heavens!" Anna exclaimed covering her nose with her free hand. "I thought you threw the left over cabbage out in the trash can outside."

Henry frowned as he moved into the house sniffing. "I did. It was picked up this morning by the garbage truck."

"Oh, that's not the cabbage," Carmen said sniffing and holding her nose. "That's Ariel's new kittens she found. The ones with the pretty white stripe down their backs. She's keeping them in the laundry room."

Henry couldn't hold back the laughter any longer. "I'll find them and take them out," he said as his wife turned and headed back outside, shaking her head in resignation.

"But daddy, they need me!" Ariel cried pitifully as she followed her dad into the house.

Chapter 1.

Present Day.

Ariel rubbed her aching head and pushed a strand of long, straight white-blonde hair back behind her ear before looking down at the still figure lying in the bed. Carmen's coloring looked better today than it did yesterday. Ariel reached down to touch Carmen's forehead. She wanted to make sure Carmen wasn't running a fever. Ariel had just leaned over when she felt a hand slide across her a.s.s.

Swinging around in annoyance, Ariel's dark brown eyes flared with anger at the unwanted touch. She growled out a warning to one of the warriors in the medical wing who happened to 'b.u.mp' into her. Ariel bared her teeth and snarled at the huge warrior. The warrior looked at her with a hot gaze before moving out of her reach.

"Your face is going to get stuck like that and I'll be d.a.m.n if I'm going to be the one looking at it for the rest of my life," Carmen whispered.

Ariel's eyes filled with tears at her little sister's softly spoken words. "It's about d.a.m.n time you opened your eyes," Ariel said hoa.r.s.ely.

Carmen didn't reply. Ariel watched as her sister's eyes widened as she took in her surroundings. Ariel knew Carmen was going to be p.i.s.sed when she realized where they were. It was still hard for her to take in.

"Where the h.e.l.l are we?" Carmen asked as she struggled to sit up.

Ariel reached around and helped her into a sitting position before she answered her. "You aren't going to believe this but some really weird s.h.i.t has happened to us."

Carmen's eyes locked in on Ariel's serious expression. "Tell me," she said as her lips compressed into a straight line.

Ariel glanced around her. Trisha was dozing in a chair nearby with a huge golden creature next to her. The thing had attached itself to Trisha the moment they were brought aboard the alien warship. She looked at the huge men who were lying down or sitting up in almost every available spot. Ariel had stood guard over her sister and Trisha with a long metal bar she dismantled from a small movable table.

She tried to look at the room through her sister's eyes. It was hard to see much with all the men lying or sitting around. The bare, off-gray walls were smooth with one set of double doors leading out of it to the far left. The room itself wasn't all that big, maybe the size of a hospital emergency waiting room but it was full. There were a half-dozen narrow beds, a few portable tables, and about as many chairs. One wall had a long, dark-tinted window that lead to another small room. Ariel knew that was where the doctor, or healer as the men referred to him, was most of the time. The lights dimmed and brightened on a verbal command she was still trying to figure out. Not long after they arrived, the doctor had inserted some type of device into their ears and they were able to understand what the men were saying. When the doc first did it to Trisha, Ariel was ready to kill him until Trisha stopped her. Neither Trisha nor she had been outside the room yet. They didn't want to leave Carmen alone and defenseless.

"How much do you remember?" Ariel asked hesitantly looking back at Carmen who was frowning.

"Obviously not enough!" Carmen muttered in a low voice glaring at a couple of men who were staring at her with open l.u.s.t. "Just tell me where the h.e.l.l we are so we can get the f.u.c.k out of here."

"We're on an alien s.p.a.ceship," Ariel replied quietly. "These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are more than what they seem," Ariel said nodding to the men surrounding them. "After we chased the guy who kidnapped Abby into the woods these three creatures that looked like dragons from some science fiction movie appeared. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d that took Abby stabbed you..." Ariel's voice faded as she looked down at her hands for a moment. "You were dying, Carmen. You should be dead from the wounds you received. These three dragons burned the guy to a crisp and transported us here using some Star Trek type s.h.i.t," Ariel said looking at her sister.

Carmen stared at Ariel for a moment before looking around her at all the men. "What the f.u.c.k are they doing in here?" She asked quietly.

Ariel couldn't quite keep the smile from her face. "I've been listening to some of them. I guess one of the men turned all dragonzilla on their a.s.ses and busted them up pretty good before they could get him to calm down. There were more but they have slowly been leaving," Ariel murmured glancing at Trisha as she sat up slowly with a grimace of pain.

"Neither one of us have left your side," Ariel said nodding to Trisha who forced out a stiff smile.

"Hey, girlfriend," Trisha whispered. "Welcome back to the land of Oz."

Carmen looked around her with a raised eyebrow. "No s.h.i.t, Dorothy. So, how do we get off this pile of bolts and back home. I've got business that needs to be finished," Carmen said swinging her legs over the side of the narrow bed.

Ariel watched as her sister grabbed her side. "Are you in pain?"

Carmen snorted. "h.e.l.l no! Just wondering how long I've been out if I'm healed from the wounds I received. I know it was bad. I've been shot and stabbed enough times to know when it is," she said feeling her side first before she moved to touch her upper chest where the wounds should have been.

Ariel and Trisha both shook their heads. "It's only been a couple of days."

Carmen's eyes widened at that. "s.h.i.t!" Carmen muttered touching her chest again. "So, what is the game plan?"

Ariel looked at Trisha who nodded tentatively. Ariel smiled as the huge gold creature came to stand next to Trisha. It was back into the shape of a big dog again. Every time one of the warriors would get too close to Trisha, it would change shape and snarl at them. If they could get it on their side it, would be a big bonus. Somehow, Ariel got the feeling it was protecting Trisha for a reason and leaving wasn't one of them.

"Trisha remembers how to get us back to the spot where we came on board the ship. We figure if we can get to it, we can force someone there to zap us back down. We go our merry way and they go theirs. We both decided it would be better not to say anything about what happened to anyone back down on Earth about aliens and s.h.i.t. The last thing we want to do is end up in a padded room," Ariel whispered frowning as two men tried to approach them.

Ariel tapped the table leg against the palm of her hand looking at them with an expression that said 'advance at your own risk'. Both men looked at each other hesitantly before turning to leave. Another man came in and Ariel released a deep breath in relief. It was the doctor who was taking care of Carmen. He was the only one on board that didn't raise any warning flags in her gut, at least not yet.

"Hey doc, when can we blow this joint?" Ariel called out.

The healer, Zoltin, glanced at Ariel and shook his head. He found the human females to be very charming. It was a shame his dragon didn't go crazy over them. He might have tried to mate with one of them if it had. It appeared to find them entertaining and was curious about them but not in the way it would have reacted if one of the females had been his true mate.

His gaze moved between the three. He frowned as he looked at the one with the light brown curly hair. Lord Kelan's symbiot was very protective of her. He was more concerned with the way she was moving, as if in pain. He tried early to approach her to ask if she was alright but she brushed off his concern saying she must have been sitting in an awkward position too long. His lips curved as he watched her fingers lightly stroke the symbiot at her side. Whether she was aware of it or not, she was the true mate of their commander. It would be interesting to see how things worked out between them. She seemed to be a very unusual female.

He looked at the other two females. It was obvious they were related. Both had the same white blonde hair and peach coloring. Their facial features were the same with the dark brown eyes, small nose, and full lips though one was definitely curvier than the other.

Zoltin walked over to examine the one who had been gravely wounded. He pulled out his scanner and reached up to start at her forehead. He no sooner had his hand up in the air than he found himself face down on the bed with his arm locked behind his back in a painful position that immobilized him. He lay still, stunned at the strength behind the small body holding him.

"Uh... Carmen?" Trisha whispered. "That's the doc. I don't think you have to worry about him being a bad guy. He is the one who has been taking care of you."