I am Velik. Not Sherlock. I kill Sherlock.
My beast had zero sense of humor.
Earth was not so different from Atlan. Slightly different colors. Different culture. But beautiful, just as home had been.
A home I hadn’t seen in two decades.
Overheated from my run, I turned and ran straight out into the water. The waves pushed at me. Even the beast realized the water in this bay was stronger than he was. Relentless. It could drag us under and kill us both with zero effort.
Not a lot of things could do so.
The smell of salt water and fish had become easy to ignore. The cool water calmed my body and slowed my heartbeat even as my thoughts raced. I had avoided this action for as long as I could. I had no honorable choices left to me.
The beast grumbling with disagreement, I activated the embedded comm Dr. Helion had implanted behind my ear years ago. When I left the Intelligence Core and asked to be assigned to Earth, I’d sworn I would never talk to him again.
The only reason anyone ever spoke to Helion was to give a report, get a new assignment, or they were ready to die. When I left the I.C., I’d had none of those reasons. My plan? To guard the Coalition Fleet’s processing center and—I had hoped—find a human bride. I’d been here for several years, looking, waiting. The beast gained power and control daily. I could not afford to wait another day.
“Warlord Velik, this is a surprise.” Helion’s voice was calm and calculating, as always. When serving under his command, that steady confidence provided the calm in the storm. If Helion gave an order, we all knew the decision had been made with ice cold, unbiased analysis.
“Commander.” The waves pushed at my chest, the crashing sound loud to my ears. I knew the comm would filter out everything but my voice.
“Is your Mating Fever truly so severe?”
Of course he would know what I wanted. Why else would I contact him? I closed my eyes and surrendered to my fate. “I am too far gone to return to Atlan. I need an assignment. A mission. I’m done.”
“Are you sure about this? Once I set the plan into motion, there will be no second chance.”
Something bit my leg. I ignored the slight annoyance. As I spoke, the same stinging sensation occurred several more times on both legs. Perhaps this was the gods’ way of helping me focus as I asked Helion to help me die with honor. “I cannot hold out any longer. I have failed to find a mate here. I would end my suffering serving the Coalition rather than rotting in a prison cell on Atlan.”
“Very well. How long?”
The beast fought to transform, to be free. Fought hard. “The sooner the better. I don’t think I’ll last a week.”
“Fuck.” I heard true regret in Helion’s voice. Perhaps the male did have a soul. “I need that week, Velik. I will get you out of there sooner if I can.”
“Thank you.” The relief made my legs crumble beneath me and I rode the next set of waves to the shore.
“Just a moment. I need to ping your transport beacon.”
I sat in the sand, staring at nothing as I waited. The transport beacon surgically implanted near my hip buzzed my flesh with an all-too-familiar sensation.
“Contact confirmed.” Helion sighed. “All right, Warlord. Hang on as long as you can. I will get you out of there.”
The comm link went dead and I laid back on the sand. Hands under my head, I watched puffy white clouds move across the sky for long minutes. Until the beast startled to attention.
I was on my feet before I realized a battle for control of my body had even begun.
Mate. Mine.
What the fuck was he—
Then I heard a voice—her voice. I turned to look out over the waves to discover a boat with sails moving across the water a hundred yards offshore. The craft was not overly large, and I counted no more than a dozen humans lounging about while three other humans adjusted the ropes and sails. Gusts of wind blew into my face from the southeast. My beast growled.
His senses were even more astute than mine, but we both smelled her.
Fuck. My cock instantly hardened. Already addicted. I breathed deeply, memorizing the scent of cherry blossoms and a sweet spice I was not familiar with. There were no cherry trees here. Perhaps the scent came from the soap she chose when she bathed…
Images of thrusting deep inside our female while holding her up against the wall of a shower flooded my mind as my beast took off sprinting down the beach.
