1
Warlord Iven, Interstellar Brides Processing Center, Miami, Florida
* * *
Had the human female, Warden Egara, been any less respected, I would have stormed out of the room with a bellow of rage at the insanity of the two females’ request.
How dare they ask this of me now, when mating fever turned the blood in my veins to acid, and every thought in my head to a roar of rage?
I could barely think. Held onto control by a thread. I’d already waited too long to make the request to return to Atlan for ceremonial execution. I’d been on Earth for long months with no success. I had not found my mate. Had, in fact, given up. I was tired of fighting, tired of hoping. Not just tired, exhausted. Defeated. Even my beast had settled into the pain, the once savage protests he made when I wanted to choose an honorable death had faded to soft whispers the last few weeks. Neither one of us wanted to lose control, sacrifice our honor after so many years of battle. My story would not end with failure. Disgrace. The deaths of innocents at my hand. I refused.
“You must choose another. I cannot do this.” I crossed my arms and glared at both Warden Egara and the other female. Lady Daciana Radu of Everis. She was the reason I’d been summoned. The source of this disaster. The Everian female standing next to Warden Egara was an elder from her planet who, according to the warden, had arrived just a few hours ago via emergency transport from Everis. The elder female had striking features with bright green eyes, warm brown hair with a few strands of gray at the temples, and a handful of lines around her eyes and mouth that denoted seriousness, if not age. I’d been told she was a high ranking member of the planet’s elite Hunters’ organization. Couldn’t remember the name of said group. Didn’t care. I never paid much attention to the Elite Hunters when I fought in the Hive wars. I was usually facing our enemy in direct combat on the ground, tearing their bodies in half with my bare hands. Not skulking about like a shadow.
My beast growled in approval as memories of our victories flooded my body with battle rage. The Elite Hunters of Everis were trackers and assassins. Our paths rarely crossed, though I held great respect for their contribution to our war with the Hive. No one could hide from an Elite Hunter. Their gift for tracking was more than legend. Had I believed in such things, I would have said it was magic.
“Warlord, please, this is a delicate matter. We do not want the human authorities to know I am here.” Lady Radu tilted her head and pleaded with me, as if that would convince me to risk the lives of everyone stupid—or reckless—enough to be close to me.
“Why is this my problem?” Since I’d been captured by the Hive, tortured, integrated and sent to The Colony to live out the remainder of my life, my lack of interest in interplanetary politics had dropped from negligible to sub-zero. I didn’t care who she was. I didn’t care about the Everian noble she had come to Earth to find. “His family should send warriors to protect him.”
“There is no one else, Warlord. The matter is urgent. We don’t have time to go through the proper diplomatic channels.” Lady Radu’s eyes darkened and I recognized the focus of the hunter in her blood. “They have already sent Elite Hunters of their own. There is a bounty on the prince’s head.”
“A price set by his own blood. The prince should go home, stop hiding from his duty to his family.” I had no tolerance for hapless royals who preferred wild parties to the responsibilities they were born to fulfil. The fact that this prince’s own bloodline had put a price on his head told me all I needed to know about the coward.
Warden Egara cleared her throat. “Warlord, the boy is only six years old.”
Fuck.
“What did you just say?” Already my beast roared inside me at the idea of a child in danger.
Lady Radu smoothed the non-existent wrinkles from her rust colored pants and tunic. “He’s a child. His parents are both dead. His father’s cousin, Pridon, placed the bounty on his head so he can hunt and eliminate the boy, not care for him.” Her serious expression turned dark, and I saw the predator that dwelled within the seemingly helpless female.
“Why is he on Earth?” I asked.
The lady shrugged. “His mother was human. An Interstellar Bride. Her sister, the prince’s aunt, was the closest family the boy had left. His parents left instructions for the boy’s care. She is his legal guardian. She came to Everis for the memorial and transported to Earth with the boy the same day.”
“So send both the boy and his human aunt to Everis.” This was not a problem. Surely there was someone in a position to protect the young prince until he came of age. Why did these females insist on creating a problem when there was such a simple solution? “If the child is to inherit, he should be able to hire an entire battalion of Elite Hunters to protect him.”
Lady Radu shook her head. “His fortune disappeared when he did. It is believed his aunt has his credentials and credits with her until he comes of age. On Everis, right now, he is poor as a pauper.”
“With a dozen bounty hunters hoping to find him—and his vast wealth—first,” Warden Egara chimed in. She was twisting her hands around one another in front of her. The first signs of distress I’d seen from either female. I had to bite my tongue to stop the roar the beast sent to my throat. We were too close to the edge, worse than even I’d believed, if this small act of anguish from a female I barely knew nearly caused me to lose control.
“Why me? There are dozens of Coalition fighters here.” I waved my hand around to indicate the Interstellar Brides Processing center where we now stood surrounded by Coalition technology used to process both fighters and brides for the war effort. The place was guarded day and night by a large number of well-trained Coalition males.
Lady Radu answered. “Because they are all registered threats. Known. By now, both the bounty hunters and the Elite Hunters sent by the boy’s uncle will have requested profiles on every guard on the property. They have access to all the information they need to recognize and thwart any attempts at protection. Facial recognition. Service records. Strengths and weaknesses. It would be child’s play for the royals on Everis to gain access to this knowledge.” She reached her hand out to touch my arm, thought better of it, stopped and dropped the tiny hand to her side. Like the human females, she was small. Fragile. Hunter bloodline or not, very breakable. “They won’t bother tracking contaminated.…” Her voice faded as she thought better of what she was about to say.
Contaminated? Males like me who had been captured by the Hive, tortured and integrated with Hive tech. Warlords, warriors and fighters exiled to The Colony to live out the remainder of our lives alone, hidden from the people we’d sacrificed so much to protect. Cyborgs like me were considered unsafe. Volatile. Vulnerable to Hive influence due to the nanotech imbedded in our cells.
They weren’t wrong. On the few occasions I’d been close to Hive Soldiers since escaping their Integration Units, I could hear them in my head. Feel the buzzing collective energy of their group mind. However, I was not concerned that the Hive would be able to gain control of me. I’d survived them. Denied their attempts to use me. Integrate me. Make me one of them.
Atlan Warlords like me rarely survived the Hive Integration process. Our beasts fought too hard, broke the mind of the male with their primal, instinctive resistance. My beast would not be ruled, not by me, my commanders or our society. A beast would kneel before one living being and one only…their mate. And gods help those of us who never found her. The beast raged, became so powerful even we could no longer control them. Mating Fever turned our greatest warlords into frenzied killing machines. Nothing but fury. No conscience. No remorse.
I was close to the edge of that abyss. Yet, how could I say no when a female like this was the only protection an innocent boy had? “You do not believe they will have this information on me? Because I am contaminated? From The Colony?”
“It’s not just that. You have been here long enough to learn the native language. You can speak English without using your NPU. You can blend into the population. Appear human.” Warden Egara blinked at me as if judging the accuracy of her statements. Yes, there were a few human males close to my natural size. As I understood it, these human males were all paid to compete in sporting competitions in arenas like the gladiators from Earth’s history. Although there were no battles to the death. No true risk. Boring.
“I do not blend.” I straightened my shoulders and glared at both females to prove my point. I was nearly two heads taller and three times their size. In beast mode, I’d be even larger. There would be no blending if the beast made an appearance.
“We’ll give you new clothes.” Warden Egara pursed her lips as she inspected the black pants, black shirt and black boots Warlord Bahre’s human mate, the female Quinn, had chosen for me. “You look a little too…”
