Ten hours ago I’d threatened the life of an Intelligence Core command officer.
I’d survived to tell the tale. But if my mate didn’t arrive safe and well on Atlan, as promised, he would not.
Standing in Commander Karter’s office, I’d stared at the face of the mysterious Doctor Helion on the comm screen, the hint of beast on my features, my voice so deep it sounded like a growl. The beast knew this was the man who had taken our mate, taken her and disappeared. “Where is my mate?”
The Prillon doctor lifted his hand, palm out, as if to appease me even across the vast distances of space. “She’s fine, Warlord. Out of surgery. We removed the implant and she is in a ReGen pod right now, healing.”
Commander Karter held up the Nexus 9 helmet and bag that held the creature’s spinal attachment and I would swear Doctor Helion’s cock hardened at the sight. “I assume you will want this to arrive via secure transport?”
The doctor leaned forward, as if he would touch the items through the screen. “I’ll send coordinates.”
“No.” I stepped between them. “Not until I see Megan.”
The doctor sighed. “She’s in a ReGen pod. I can assure you, she is well. As soon as she is healed, we will transport her direc
tly to your new home on Atlan.” He glanced down, as if reading, then lifted his gaze back to the screen. “Yes. I have the coordinates to the nearest transport station here.”
Which seemed impossible, as I’d just chosen the home a few minutes prior in my meeting with Wulf. “When will she arrive?”
“She needs at least eight hours in the pod. And we haven’t debriefed her yet. Twelve hours.”
Too long. Too damn long. I needed my mate. The nearly constant pain of the cuffs held me in check, but it wasn’t the rage breaking me in pieces, it was my beast’s pain. “Ten. Or I’m coming for you.”
I didn’t care who I had to torture to find him. His agent, the human Tomar, was on this battleship somewhere. There had to be communications technicians who could track this signal. And Commander Karter, Doctor Mersan, the web of I.C. agents was more widespread than I’d ever realized. One of them would break.
The doctor actually laughed, but I did not share his amusement. Commander Karter moved to stand beside me, a grin on his face as well. I failed to see the humor as he spoke. “And this is why you don’t recruit Atlans.”
“Fine, Warlord. Ten. But we might need to speak to her again in the future.”
“You may visit us anytime, but you will not take her anywhere without me. Ever.”
He didn’t bother responding to that, instead reaching out to end the conversation. And that was that. I couldn’t threaten a blank screen.
That had been exactly ten hours and twenty minutes ago. I’d had to wait too long at the Atlan transport station for a vehicle to take me to our home, the trip taking a few more minutes than I’d anticipated.
The automated vehicle moved at nearly blinding speeds, carrying me away from my old life and closer to my new one. I watched buildings and people whiz past without notice. I’d never been to this city, even as a boy, but this would be my home now. At the end of this journey I’d have a home, a mate, a life I’d never imagined could be mine.
For years I’d had no dream but killing as many of my enemies as possible. Serving the Coalition Fleet had given my empty life purpose. I’d been useful, wanted, even if it was only for fighting. When I thought of taking a mate one day, the thought was abstract. All these years, I’d had no image of a specific mate in my head, nor did I know what my home would look like. I didn’t much care. My needs were simple. A bed, food, a job to do.
And then I’d found Megan. In a matter of days, my entire life changed. I’d dreamed of seeing my mate in our new home, a home. I remembered seeing the estates of other Warlords when I was a boy, warriors who received their gift from the Atlan people after retiring from fighting. They always had large homes with lands. Everywhere they went, they were treated like royalty. Unmated Warlords fawned over and pursued as mates for the elite females from Warlord families.
The grants and rewards never meant anything to me until I had Megan. Anything the Atlan people gifted to me was hers now, as I was. I would give that woman anything, anything at all. I didn’t care where we lived or what title or honors I would receive. I only cared about her. I wanted her happiness. I wanted her love. An impossible dream, I was sure, but I longed for it still. For Megan truly to be mine, to know she would be there to share my life, my bed, proudly display my mating cuffs on her wrists.
A few hours ago, she’d looked in my eyes and told me what she wanted. Trees. Flowers. A fountain. Her gaze had been soft, a tenderness in her I’d never seen before. And her kiss had broken something deep inside me, the gentle glide of her lips on mine had felt heavy with emotion, with longing of her own.
That kiss had made me hope she was growing to care for me. She was my mate, my perfect match according to the Interstellar Brides processing protocols. Our personalities and intellects, our desires and needs a perfect match for one another.
But compatibility did not guarantee love. And as much as I had refused to need love, her kiss had broken me. Now I craved it, craved her with a desperation that made my hands shake and each beat of my heart an ache behind my ribs.
I was in pain. Actual, physical pain, with wanting her. Worrying for her safety. Needing her. Loving her with her defiant, passionate nature. She was mine, and I longed to be with her on a level I couldn’t comprehend. My beast was forlorn, despairing and despondent, sulking deep within me like a wounded animal because I refused to give him free rein. He wanted to come out and destroy things, bash heads together, hunt and kill and growl until Megan was with us again.
But the man in me knew the acts would be futile. The I.C. was powerful, one of the most secretive and powerful branches of the Coalition Fleet. If they didn’t send her back to me, I could rage and hunt and kill, but that would not get my mate back to me. She had to find her way here, to our home. And I had to wait. And pace. And fight down the beast every moment, ignore his pain.
Gods help me, it had been a long fifteen hours. Yes, I’d counted every second of being apart from Megan, of waiting to welcome her to our new home.
I’d chosen carefully, taken my time in Warlord Wulf’s offices as I poured over every estate and property available, looking for something perfect for her. I’d contacted Captain Mills and asked where his sister, Sarah, had settled, thinking my Megan might like the company of another woman from Earth. He’d told me there were two human women, his sister and another mated to Warlord Deek. Two friends from home. That should please my mate. I wanted nothing for myself. My only concern whether or not Megan would be happy here, with me.
The vehicle I’d ordered at the Atlan transport station came to a halt at the base of a small hill. Atop the hill stood a home large enough to house an entire squadron of Atlan beasts. Megan had said she wanted eight bedrooms. This home had eighteen. I hoped that would satisfy her requirements. I had no idea why she wanted so many bedrooms, the beast in me hoping she would fill them with children.