The Ring: The Dupre Family, #1

By Cece Odey

Cassie is the first of the three Dupres to find her life mate. Set in the future but not sci fi, this is a romance between two humans of different cultures who bond for life.
A sample from the book
Ambassador Dal' Ben of the Remus Federation was standing at the beginning of the receiving line with his deputy Ambassador greeting each of their guests and making them feel welcome. He had been chosen for the post despite his relative young age due to his negotiating skills which were enhanced by his telepathic abilities.
His planet had been colonized over two hundred years before by telepaths who were being persecuted on Earth at that time and although their telepathic talents varied, all the population had some telepathic ability.
At gatherings like this, he shielded his talents and refused to eavesdrop on his guests minds. Whilst he may find out some useful information, he could just as easily discover something personal which he would have to try to forget. Using personal information to blackmail government ministers for trade agreements wasn't his style. His shields allowed him to detect changes in the aura of the gathering so he could manipulate conversations to keep light hearted and nip problems in the bud.
The guest list had been kept deliberately small this time as most of the Embassy staff were back on Remus celebrating Foundation Day, and they were just waiting for the last two guests to arrive. As always, it was his friend and rival Tophe and this time he had a companion with him.
He turned to the door as the hover limo arrived. Always the gentleman, he saw Tophe get out first and turn to assist his new companion out of the car but in doing so obscure Dal's view of Tophe's new love interest. Dal was glad that he had found someone new after his companion, Skye, had left six months ago without saying a word and had disappeared completely. His friend had been devastated and Dal hoped that this woman would help his friend get over Skye's disappearance.
When Tophe turned round and Dal saw and felt Cassie for the first time, he felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach by a horse. She was HIS mate. What was she doing with Tophe? The connection was instant and he felt a small flair up in the aura around him. He wanted to kill Tophe and drag his prize away for claiming.
Dal caught the questioning look in his deputy George and heard "Are you ill Dal?" in his head. He gave a small shake of the head and made a huge effort to calm his feelings and boost his shields. If George, whose talents were not as well developed as Dal's, could feel his rage, then the rest of the gathering could become uneasy without knowing why. Although it was the last thing he was feeling, he projected calming thoughts into the room.
By the time Tophe and Cassie had walked through the white marble entrance hall to reach him, he had managed to get his murderous thoughts under control. To most people his smile of welcome was genuine, but to those who knew him, they could see it didn't reach his eyes. Unfortunately Tophe was one of those who could see there was something wrong. He shook the Dal's hand and asked in a hushed tone.
"Are you alright my friend?"
This is the first part of a trilogy of three siblings who find love and the lifemate sometime in the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marian Blake
• Release date: Jun 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201710118

Book preview

Thank You Page and Credits.

Thank you for buying this book.

I would also like to thank the Good fiction Fast group on Facebook for all their encouragement and advice.

The picture for the cover of this book is called On the beach and is by Ambrozjo's . It is available to down load from www.sxc.hu.

Prologue

After many years or war and famine, the population of Earth had been severely depleted and women had to work alongside men. Pregnancy and childbirth were considered to be a danger to the health of the women. Women were encouraged and then forced to donate their eggs and all children were grown in a test tube.

By the time the Earth’s population had reached a sustainable level pregnancy and childbirth were a thing of the past. All women from puberty were harvested of eggs on a monthly basis and they had to provide 130 months worth of eggs to pay for their, and their male siblings care pre birth. The father’s sperm was collected when a child was desired.

Chapter 1

It was over, after 10 years, Cassie had fulfilled her contractual obligation as a pubertatis and was free. She could leave the conurbation of Emfor whenever she liked and travel, get a job, anything.

Ten years of injections to make you ovulate each month, ten years of going to the clinic Ovumm Colingendis to have your eggs harvested, ten years of being manipulated by robots collecting your eggs in that clean, sterile clinic, all finished. Along with a sense of relief to have finished in the minimum time, Cassie felt a little lost as the reason for her existence had gone. She had always known that this time would come but now it was here she felt a little sad.

She left the building for the last time but didn't look back. If she had, she would have cried so she looked anywhere else. Quickly she headed for the transportation station to use her last free teleportation trip back home. Luckily, the queue was small and she reached the front quickly. She pressed in her home co-ordinates and was in home in the blink of an eye.

Unusually, her father, the General, was home early to see her after she had completed her obligation and to celebrate. His new companion - stepmother number 4 and a brunette this time - greeted her with a smile.

Well done Cassie. The General and I are taking you out for dinner to celebrate. Fleetingly, and not for the first time Cassie noticed everyone called her father The General. Then she was picked up and swung around like she was a child again by her father so all she could think of was trying not to get too dizzy and be sick.

When he had put her down Cassie swayed for a minute and then smiled at her father. She never thought of him as The General and still loved it when he treated her as his favorite. He handed her an envelope, where he had got it heaven knows as they went out of production more than three centuries before, and she proceeded to tear it open. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her step mom wince but she didn't care at the waste of a precious envelope, she just wanted to find out what was inside.

A plastic ticket fell out and onto the floor. She