She sat slowly, a baby in her lap, both with dark red hair. The Queen turned to face me, confusion written on her face. “Where am I? Gunnar? Erik? What is going on?”
“Wolf!” Baby Allayna lifted her arms when she saw one of her favorite playmates, Rolf. The tiny girl could not say his name properly, and so he’d become Wolf. I learned from the Queen that a wolf was an animal on Earth, fierce and loyal, ruthless and cunning. She considered it to be apt, for my friend was all those things.
Rolf hurried forward and lifted Allayna from Queen Leah’s arms.
I bowed my head and stepped forward, offering my hand to assist her from the transport pad. “My Queen, what are you doing here?”
She looked around, confused. “We were transporting to Sector Three. My mates are already there, awaiting our arrival.”
Erik barked at the transport technician. “Contact the transport room in Sector Three immediately. Her mates will be ready to tear the place apart.”
“Yes, sir.” The wide-eyed technician followed Erik’s order, his voice clipped but firm as he contacted the other transport room and let Queen Leah’s mates, Tor, Lev and Drogan, know that their mate and daughter were both alive and well.
“Transport imminent. Please clear the pad,” the technician yelled the warning, and I tugged on the Queen’s hand until she was safely behind me as the transport pad fired up once more.
Seconds later, Lev stood on the platform, his scowl made fierce by the deep scar over his right eye. Lev was one of our triplet kings, but he’d been raised in Sector Two, my sector. He was the most ruthless of the brothers, the most feared. There was no forgiveness in him, no softness, at least not until Queen Leah.
Leah cried out and ran into his arms. “Lev!”
We silently watched him transform from tense warrior to comforting mate as he held her close. He lifted his arm in a silent command for Rolf to bring his daughter to him. Rolf stepped forward and Lev lifted the tiny girl into his arms as if she were the most delicate glass. A shudder racked the King’s body. The little one nuzzled into her father’s neck and I had to turn away. I could not stand the sight of so powerful a warrior broken by fear for his loved ones.
He was decimated by just a transport malfunction. Witnessing such vulnerability served as an effective yet simple reminder that it was better not to love. To risk such complete despair over a mate.
With his mate and daughter safely in his arms, Lev’s attention turned to me. His jaw was tense, his eyes fierce. “What the fuck is going on here, Gunnar?”
I slowly shook my head, not cowed by the King’s harsh tone. “We don’t know, sir. We gathered to await the arrival of our mate from Earth.”
Lev looked around, his arm tightening about his lovely mate’s waist. I doubted he would let her go anytime soon. Leah clung to him with complete trust. But even Lev, a ruler of our planet, had not been able to keep his mate safe in something as simple as a transport. She could have been sent anywhere.
“VSS?” Lev looked to the transport technician when he spoke. “And did you confirm transport from Earth?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then where is their mate?” The King’s tone was clipped, but the younger man shrugged.
“I don’t know, sir. We’ll have to run detailed analysis of the system signals. This type of mid-transport coordinate shift is impossible.”
“Erik. Find out what the fuck is going on.” I ordered my friend to take over transport control without a second thought. Erik had a special gift for technology, for puzzles. If we faced an enemy, I preferred a head-to-head confrontation. Rolf, the trickster, always talking, would try to manipulate or confuse his enemy before a strike. But Erik excelled at solving unsolvable puzzles, and for understanding our technology in a way I never could. His ability to rebuild communication pods and weapons had saved all our lives on more than one mission on the front line of the Interstellar Coalition’s war with the Hive.
Erik frowned, his long dark hair pulled back and tied behind his head like a shadow. His fingers raced over the control panels as he ran an analysis with the much younger, less-experienced transport technician watching with dawning awe. “I don’t know, Gunnar. It looks like the transport beams crossed and both of the women were redirected.”
“Was Sophia sent to Sector Three in the Queen’s place?” Rolf asked, his tone tense. He was always so calm, but now, he had the dark, commanding look usually reserved for Erik or myself. His fair coloring and easy manner fooled so many, hiding the pain he carried inside.
I paced as Erik made contact with Sector Three’s transport, eager to know our mate was safe.
Our mate. Sophia. I’d lied to my brothers-in-arms when telling them I had not studied her profile. I had, in fact, memorized every detail. I knew the exact curve of her cheek, the golden flecks of color that made her right eye slightly lighter than her left. I’d read her entire application data log. Knew she was too small, too fragile, too fucking pure for a man like me. But none of that mattered. Now that I’d seen her, knew she was mine, I wanted to taste her, to sink my cock into her body and watch her eyes cloud with need. I’d agreed to the bride program’s match, agreed to be her mate for life. I’d even agreed to the royal family’s request that I share her with Rolf and Erik.
I’d vowed to care for her, protect her, and give her everything she needed. But I could not love her. Love would be left to Erik and Rolf. Love, for me, would be an impossible feat—but that did not mean I wanted harm to come to her. Not like Loren. The woman from Sector Two who I'd loved so long ago.
I'd loved her too much, allowed her every indulgence and she'd died for it. Drowned in a lake late one night with her friends. They hadn't watched her closely enough, lost her in the darkness. If I'd been there, she would have been protected, watched over. But no.
With Sophia, I would protect her with my life. Dominate her if need be, but not love. No, I couldn't love again. And yet, Sophia was mine. Just like Rolf and Erik were mine. Just like the three Kings and their lovely mate, Leah, were mine. Little Allayna, with her bouncing red curls and big blue eyes. Mine. I protected what was mine. Whoever had threatened our mate would die by my hand.
The transport technician looked to us as Erik cursed, shaking his head. “Their transport room confirmed no transport occurred. Sophia Antonelli is missing.”
Lev moved to stand directly beside Erik and watched his fingers move over the display. If Lev knew how to use the machinery, he would have pushed the big warrior out of the way and done it himself. He had to stand by, like I did, helpless to find my mate.
“Were there any other transports occurring?” the King asked.