“It is not your concern.” It came out in a harsh growl. He wanted to end this conversation now.
Zura flicked a glance at him, lines of worry creasing her forehead. “It is my concern if the darkness claims you,” she said in a low voice.
Nobody else would dare say that to him. It was true, though. He could sense it. He didn’t have much time left. If he didn’t find his true mate, he’d go mad.
For some, mating with a female who was not their true mate was an option. It never had been for him.
The problem was, he knew that he’d had a true mate –had, past tense. He’d sensed her existence for the first time perhaps a decade ago – calling out to him, as if from far away.Come find me. I’m ready for you. I need you.
After so many decades alone, hope had flared inside him.
He’d searched everywhere for her. He’d scoured his home planet of Ilyria. And when that had failed, he’d gone to Earth countless times, working with Starcrossed as part owner. He’d always hoped his true mate would walk through those doors, looking for a match. She never had.
He’d consulted those of his pack who had some psychic talent, including his uncle Madok, Zura’s father, who had a legendary talent for finding and matching true mates. No luck.
But finally, after years of searching for her, he no longer felt her…just a dull ache of absence. There could only be one explanation for it – she was dead. Clearly she had died before he’d ever had a chance to meet her. To love her.
And there would be no other for him. It would be a betrayal of her memory.
During the daylight hours, he threw himself into ever more brutal battle training and forced himself to think only of the pack…most of the time. In the dark hours of the night, however, he wondered what she would have looked like. What she would have smelled like. How she would have felt nestled softly against him.
But in a cruel trick played by the universe, he was cursed to die unmated. Was he being punished for the brutality of his father, Kaa, and his father’s father? For hundreds of years, the Thorolf pack had been known for their savagery. They invaded, they slaughtered, they conquered weaker packs and killed their males and forced their females to mate with them, until only the Wor-Lans stood against them.
After Treffon’s father died in battle with the Wor-Lans, Treffon had taken over as Reginar. Although he was known as a harsh and demanding leader, he was a gentle, trilling fleedlefurr compared to those who had ruled before him.
It was not done out of compassion – he would have beaten anyone who’d dared suggest that to him. It was done out of necessity. Treffon was able to adapt to changing circumstances, unlike his predecessors.
There were many threats facing their species – space pirates, raiders, slavers, cyborgs – and they needed to form alliances in order to survive. And their numbers had been reduced to the point where Treffon could not afford to casually murder pack members for the mildest of offenses, or as proof of his absolute power, as his father had.
Treffon glanced at Zura. “If I am no longer worthy, there will be a successor.”
To be worthy, a Reginar had to be in peak physical and mental condition. Treffon spent most days from sunrise to sunset in brutal physical training that would have killed a lesser Vulfan; nobody was in better physical shape than he was. His mind, though…he was having a harder and harder time controlling the dark rages that swept through him without warning.
If his beast drove him mad, or if he left Ilyria to die in battle, then the most likely successor would be his uncle Madok. Treffon wasn’t sure if that would be best for the pack.
Madok wasn’t weak; he was a strong, fierce fighter, and he carried the Reginar gene. All bearers of the gene were stronger than the rest of the pack, both physically and mentally. Like Treffon, and Treffon’s late father and grandfather and great-grandfather, Madok could knock a man to his knees with just his thoughts.
However, Treffon didn’t agree with Madok’s strategies and leadership style.
The Thorolf pack was tens of thousands strong. It was divided up into clans made up of extended families, and Madok led a pack of several hundred, so Treffon had plenty of opportunity to see what Madok would be like as a leader.
A Vulfan was a warrior – straight and direct. Madok was loyal, of course – he had risked his life in battle for the Thorolf pack more times than Treffon could count – but he was also more of a schemer.
Zura didn’t like her father either, and Treffon greatly valued her opinion. She’d scrapped and spatted with her father since she was a cub, and had moved out of his pack territory as soon as she was old enough.
“It’s not just my concern about the leader of the pack. If the darkness claims you…”Zura trailed off. She looked as if she wanted to say something else, perhaps something sentimental. Perhaps she’d even say that she’d miss him.
Treffon let out a low warning growl. He brooked no sentimentality in his pack. Feelings were weakness.
Before she could say anything further, Voljaki, Wor-Lan Security Chief, walked by with half a dozen Wor-Lan guards. The Wor-Lan and Thorolf packs were working with the Peacemakers to get all of the aliens registered and scanned as quickly as possible.
Voljaki was almost as tall as Treffon, and he was clad in the Wor-Lan military uniform of black and red. He had a stiff bearing, and he was constantly vigilant, his gaze sweeping the area for signs of any threat. His gaze briefly lighted on Treffon and Zura, and he bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement of Treffon’s higher status.
Treffon saw Zura stiffen and look away. She took a long, healthy swig from her flask again, staring off into the distance.
The entire Madok clan despised the Wor-Lans with a burning passion. Zura disagreed with her father on many points, but she had apparently been influenced by his hatred of the Wor-Lans.
Not entirely surprising; the Wor-Lans had killed her mother. Of course, that had happened after the Thorolf pack, led by Treffon’s father, had kidnapped dozens of Wor-Lan women and cubs, starting a blood feud that had lasted decades and killed thousands.
