Wingman: Alien Castaways 2 (Intergalactic Dating Agency): Alien Castaways, #2

Wingman

Alien Castaways 2

Cara Bristol

Wingman (Alien Castaways 2)

Copyright © October 2020 by Cara Bristol

All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

eISBN: 978-1-947203-20-4

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Editor: Kate Richards

Copy Editor: Nanette Sipe

Proofreader: Celeste Jones

Cover Artist: Croco Designs

Formatting by Wizards in Publishing

Published in the United States of America

Cara Bristol

http://www.carabristol.com

This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Other Titles by Cara Bristol

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Author’s Note

Although real places are mentioned in this story, the town of Argent, Idaho is fictitious.

He has wings, but this alien is no angel...

Traumatized by the death of his family and the destruction of his planet, Wingman lands on Earth in search of a haven and the solitude to nurse his emotional wounds. When a chance decision foils a kidnapping, he’s drawn into the life of a young widow and her daughter. He’s shocked to discover the human woman is his genmate, the one he’s genetically bonded to.

To escape a stalker, Delia and her imaginative, impressionable daughter flee to a small town where nobody can find them. She’s concerned, but not overly so, when her daughter says she invited an angel to her birthday party.

Until the winged alien actually shows up and all heck breaks loose. After a rocky start, Delia begins to see Wingman for who he really is—a wounded hero, one of the most protective, sexiest men she’s ever met.

As passion deepens their bond, past dangers resurface to threaten Delia and her child. Will Wingman be able to confront his demons to make the sacrifice necessary to protect them?

Chapter One

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands... A dented white van crept down Silver Avenue for the third time, playing a tinny tune over and over.

Stop! Stop! A human girl child raced out of a fenced yard.

The vehicle rolled along, its driver oblivious.

Wait! She ran down the cracked sidewalk. Wait!

At the end of the block, the driver must have noticed her because the vehicle pulled to the curb and waited. In her haste, the little girl dropped a handful of coins. She snatched them up and took off running again.

Earth culture fascinated Wingman; everything was so alien. Through observation of humans, he discovered many strange and wondrous things—some not so wonderful things, too, but the good outweighed the bad. Curious about the van and what the child wanted so much, he tucked his wings against his body and moved closer. It had rained all week, but today the sun shone bright and warm, causing him to perspire under the concealing cape.

This was one of his rare daytime forays. Usually he ventured out at night when he’d be less visible, but this morning he’d awakened from another bad dream. The helplessness engendered by the nightmare had lingered, so he’d sought some exercise to shake off the emotions. He’d decided to visit Argent, a small town tucked between Lake Coeur d’Alene to the south and Lake Pend Oreille to the north. It had taken less than five minutes to stroll the main street running through town, so he’d expanded his exploration to the surrounding neighborhood.

He and his fellow ’Topians could go out into public now. Yesterday they had received new alien ID cards through the Intergalactic Dating Agency. He’d been assigned an alias and a new planet of origin. It was unlikely the High Council would search Earth for them, but you couldn’t be too careful when the Xeno Consortium wanted you dead.

With their safety as close to assured as it could be, he and the other castaways figured they could begin assimilating into the native population. No one on Earth had wings, though, and he felt conspicuous.

The little girl caught up with the truck.

An odd prescience urged him to duck behind a weathered wooden fence and observe through the cracks.

A man wearing a ball cap with the brim backward leaned out the window. A straggly long beard and sunglasses hid his face. Well, hello, honey! I didn’t see you there for a minute! What can I get you?

Do you have orange push-ups?

You bet I do!

He ducked inside before emerging with a colorful tubular object. Here you go.

Thank you. She placed her coins into his outstretched palm.

In pulling his arm back inside, he bumped the window, dropping the money onto the street. Oopsie!

I’ll get it! The girl knelt and retrieved the coins.

The man jumped out of the vehicle. You live around here?

That way. She pointed with her push-up and handed him the money.

He slipped the coins into the pocket of his jeans. How about I give you a ride back to your house? His ingratiating smile caused Wingman’s feathers to sharpen.

She shook her head. I’d get in trouble. I’m not allowed to accept rides from strangers. Mom’s gonna be mad anyway if she finds out I left the house to get ice cream.

Maybe she won’t need to know...if I get you home right away. He slid a panel open on the van. Hop in. You’ll be home in two seconds."

No...I can’t. She backed away.

He grabbed her wrist. You need to come with me. The push-up fell to the sidewalk, and he kicked it into the street.

Stop it! Let me go! She hit at him with her tiny fists.

He clapped a hand over her mouth, picked up her thrashing body, and swung around to the van.

No! Wingman roared. His cape fell away as his wings unfurled. He leaped into the air, flying across the distance to land between the man and the open door.

Who the hell are you? The dagger and gun tattooed on the man’s neck suggested he considered himself some sort of badass, but he had no idea who he was about to deal with.

Let the girl go. Feathers sharpened to gleaming points. He hated to dismember the man in front of the child, but he couldn’t allow him to take her.

The man eyed the blades. Fuck it. He dropped the child. She’s not worth it. He leaped into the vehicle and screeched away in a blaze of burning rubber.

Tears ran down the little girl’s face, but she wiped them away and stared up at him.

Are you all right? He retracted the blades and folded his wings.

You’re an angel! Her eyes were wide. My guardian angel. You saved me!

Better she assumed he was an angel—whatever that was—than an Avian from ’Topia, so he didn’t enlighten her. He picked up a bright, shiny penny left behind and handed it to her. What’s your name?

Izzy Mason.

My name is...Wynn. The alias coming from his mouth sounded strange. We’d better get you home. He motioned with his head, and she fell into step beside him. He shortened his stride to accommodate her. She trusted too easily. She’d almost been abducted, and now she followed another stranger down the street? Why wasn’t she supervised? How old are you?

Almost six! My birthday is on Saturday.

Where are your parents?

She hunched her shoulders, and guilt washed across her cheeks. Mom is taking a nap.

What kind of mother slept the day away, leaving her defenseless child to fend for herself? Not my business. What these humans do has nothing to do with me. But his gut had already tightened into a knot.

You had to cherish what you had because life was unpredictable. One minute you were ignorantly happy, about to be mated, and in a flash, everyone you loved died, your home was destroyed, and you found yourself hiding on an alien planet. He glanced at the child. Freckles danced across her nose as she innocently skipped beside him. Her mother is sleeping? Sleeping?

Mom was at the Whitetail until really late last night.

The bar in Argent was called the Whitetail.

She told me to stay in the house, but I heard the music. I used to get ice cream all the time in my old neighborhood but not here. Trucks never come by. I didn’t want to wake Mom, so I got some money out of her purse. I waved like you’re supposed to. I thought the truck would stop, but it kept going and going.

Almost like it had been leading her away.

She peered up at him with a hopeful expression. Do you know my daddy?

No, I’ve never met him. Why would she think he had? And why didn’t the father keep an eye on her?

Her face fell. Oh. I hoped you did. He went to heaven.

I’ve never been to heaven. He didn’t know where that was. Since landing on Earth, he’d only been to Argent, Coeur d’Alene, and to Seattle once.

Her brows drew together over bright blue eyes. But you’re an angel! Where do you come from if not from heaven?

Well, according to my ID card, Dakon, he replied.

Is that in Idaho?

No. Someplace far.

Washington?

Something like that.

Can you play a harp?

No.

Can you float on a cloud?

No. He stopped and picked up the cape he’d dropped. He pulled his wings in closer and slung the garment over his shoulders.

She narrowed her eyes. Are you sure you’re an angel?

You’re the one who called me an angel, he said.

Have you met God?

The Xenos, who’d created life on many other worlds, considered themselves to be gods. His fellow castaway, Chameleon, was a Xeno. So, technically...Yes.

Her eyes widened. Is he nice?

He’s all right. We’ve had our differences, but we get along now. It had been hard to overlook Chameleon’s position on Xeno Consortium High Council, which had ordered the destruction of ’Topia because its people had refused to pay homage. Rare for a Xeno, Chameleon had a conscience and had fought to save the planet. Wingman owed him his life, so he kind of had to trust him, but letting his guard down had been hard.

If you make God mad, you could end up in the belly of a whale or turned to a pillar of salt. He’ll make it rain and flood your house or even send you to Hell, she said. Then you burn forever and ever.

Her god sounded a lot like a Xeno.

They reached her house, a small bungalow with a sagging porch and peeling paint. But the grass was neatly shorn, a welcoming wreath of colorful flowers hung on the front door, and white lacy curtains flapped in the faint breeze.

He opened the chain-link gate. Go inside. Stay there until your mother awakens. No more running after ice cream vans. The mother would never know how close she’d come to losing her child.

All right. Bye, Mr. Angel. She entered the yard, and he closed the gate, waiting to ensure sure she went in. She skipped to the front porch and then turned around. Could you come to my birthday party Saturday?

He shook his head. It wouldn’t be appropriate—

Please? We just moved to Argent, and I don’t know anybody other than Mrs. Beckman, and she’s old. It would be nice to have a real angel at my party.

I’m old, too, he said.

Not as old as Mrs. Beckman! Blue eyes beseeched.

Pity the male population when this one grew up. She was laying it on, but her plaintive expression tugged at his chest. No, I can’t—

It’s at twelve o’clock in the afternoon, after Mom gets done sleeping.

This was Thursday, and she already knew her mother would be napping in the middle of the day on Saturday? Maybe the mother should spend a little less time sleeping and more time taking care of her child. Maybe he ought to inform her what had almost happened while she’d slept.

Twelve o’clock? Saturday? I’ll be here, he said.

Yay! I’ll tell my mom. She entered the house and closed the door.

Chapter Two

Of all the nights! Although the Whitetail closed at 2