Chapter Three
Hunt
Tyran grinned, the bright light of a challenge accepted in his dark brown eyes. He was my opposite in many ways, his darker skin and hair a stark contrast to my own. His love of organized violence understandable, but sometimes he couldn’t stop, took things too far. Ever since our capture, he’d never been the same. But then, none of us were. Tyran, more than any warrior I knew, looked forward to the organized fights. “How long do you think I have?”
I considered. The Atlan would hear about the fighting pits by dinner tonight. By tomorrow, he’d want to knock Tyran from his place as champion. “A day. Maybe two.”
“Excellent.” Tyran put his weapons away and fell into step beside me as I walked down the hall. Our boots should have been loud on the hard floors, but we had learned to move quietly on our feet. Even Tyran, dressed in full combat armor, moved silently as a shadow beside me. In comparison to my second, I was considered the personable one. I had to be with my job. I couldn’t have the new arrivals scared on their first day. Tyran had an aura of darkness about him. We’d been friends before our capture, but after? After, Tyran’s silence grew and I had no idea how to fill it. All I could do was hope our mate would heal him from the inside out.
Ruthlessness, precision. Tyran had an accuracy to his movements, to his fighting that men tried for decades to achieve. This had a price. An introverted spirit, an intensity that made others afraid. Especially since he was a Prillon warrior. But I would have no other as my second. I would trust no one else to keep my mate safe.
“Did you meet with the governor this morning?” Tyran asked.
“Yes.”
“Any word on Krael?”
My blood chilled as I thought of the Prillon warrior who’d betrayed us all. My fists clenched at the thought of his lack of honor. He’d been a traitor for a long time and we hadn’t known it. It set us all on edge. While we had rules to follow on the Colony to keep things civilized, the entire population was made up of veterans, former fighters, and we’d all assumed that honor prevailed. We learned the hard way this was not the case and now we watched one another closely, with greater scrutiny, with a sense of suspicion I had grown to hate. It was hard enough keeping the men here sane without this added concern of traitors walking among us.
“No one can find him. And there are no transport records. He’s either still on the planet, or he used a ship to escape.”
“The governor put a price on his head.”
“It’s not enough.” I knew all about it. There was an even larger bounty off planet, courtesy of Prince Nial of Prillon Prime. But it wasn’t sufficient. If it were, we’d have Krael in custody. No one outside of the Colony knew why we wanted the bastard, but everyone in the universe knew we wanted him alive.
Tyran agreed as we made our way toward the center of Base 3. Our home had changed much the last few weeks. Between the Prime’s mate, Lady Deston’s, visits, the presence of two mothers who’d relocated to the colony to live near their sons, and Lady Rone’s arrival as the first Colony mate, the Colony had begun to come to life. The Governor’s mate, in particular, enjoyed the gardens and had insisted that more be done to make them welcoming. Trees and flowers had been transported in from all Coalition planets with seating scattered throughout. Vines grew everywhere unchecked, lending the place a somewhat wild feel. I’d scoffed for a time, but now the quiet solitude of the area, with its new water fountains and domesticated birds, drew me in and brought me some measure of peace.
Seeing things from their home worlds growing and coming to life here was uplifting. The Colony wasn’t a dead planet. We were alive. We just had to remember hot to live again.
As if I’d conjured her, I looked up to find Lady Rone and the governor walking toward us, both of them looking pleased.
“Captain Hunt! Tyran! It’s time. Come quickly!” Lady Rone reached for each of our hands, all but dragging us in the opposite direction. She was one of the only people on the Colony we’d allow to lead us around in this manner, despite the fact that she was tiny in comparison to our Prillon size. If we did not wish to move, nothing would force us, except perhaps an Atlan in full beast mode.
“My lady, what are you doing?” I looked to her Primary Male, Governor Maxim and he, too smiled. A look I’d rarely seen, but with more frequency now that he and his second, Ryston, had been matched through the Interstellar Brides Program.
“Your mate has arrived.”
“My mate?” I stopped dead in my tracks, stunned, as my heart raced. My matched mate? She was here? Lady Rone still tugged, then gave up, pulling solely on Tyran. “What? Why didn’t anyone tell me I’d been matched or that she was due to arrive?” Normally, we knew in advance, at least a few hours. Not that I would complain, but shock made every word from my lips ripe with idiocy.
Tyran ignored me and walked with Lady Rone’s hand wrapped around his elbow as he escorted her toward the transport station, all but leaving me behind. He glanced over his shoulder and I saw something in his gaze I hadn’t seen in a long, long time. It wasn’t just hope.
It was eagerness.
Maxim slapped me on the back, pulling me from my thoughts. “She’s not your matched mate, Hunt. She’s Captain Tyran’s.” He called ahead to Tyran. “I assume Hunt is your choice of second?”
Tyran looked stunned, as shocked as I felt, but he answered quickly. “Of course.” Tyran’s confirmation reached me, and my world, while still upended, settled. Things might be different than I’d expected, but we would adapt. I would adapt. I had no choice now.
We had a mate. That was the only thing that mattered now.
* * *
Captain Tyran Zakar, The Colony, Base 3
My mate. Holy hell. My mate. Not Hunt’s, as I’d first thought. Yes, I’d been disappointed, hope dying a slow death by starvation when weeks, then months passed and not one new mate arrived on the Colony. We’d gone to the testing center, went through the process, but neither of us came out with a match. That was three months ago. Until now, we’d heard nothing further about it. I knew Hunt had held onto his hope these long weeks. I’d given that up long ago.
All I remembered of the event was an amazing yet vague sex dream and that I’d left with a cock so hard I worried it was going to puncture through my armor. Fortunately, I’d been able to return to my quarters and take myself in hand, ease the discomfort I knew would only truly be lessened by sinking into my mate.
And now, I was going to have one. I wouldn’t be a second, but the matched mate, the Primary Male. I tried to suppress my grin, but it was almost impossible. I felt…gods, I felt good. Elated. Thrilled. Something pretty damn close to happy. There was a female out there in the universe that was perfect for me.