“We have no choice, Ander. The Hive hunt for her. We cannot remain on Earth. It’s not safe for our mate.” Nial looked at me and I nodded, rolling my shoulders in preparation for battle. Just in case.
“The colony may be no better than this place.” We were taking our mate into unfamiliar territory with no weapons but our own fists. If the warriors who had been banished to the colony were angry or vengeful, or unfriendly to outsiders, we could regret the decision to take our mate amongst them.
“If we must, we can steal a transport ship and travel to the battleship Deston from there.” He looked down at Jessica, who appeared to be asleep in his arms. “If we stay here, the danger to our mate is tenfold. The Hive will send additional scouts to hunt for her once they lose the tracking signal on the ship you destroyed. They will send more than three scouts next time.”
“Agreed.” I would trust my mate’s safety to Prillon warriors who had been named outcast over an endless stream of mindless Hive slaves. There was no question.
Nial nodded to Warden Egara. “Send us to the Colony.”
We stepped onto the transport platform and I looked at the darkly beautiful woman who had helped us save our mate, concerned that we left her behind unprotected. “Be careful once we are gone. The Hive might track our mate to you.”
“I’m not afraid of those bastards.” She looked fierce, filled with a rage I’d not seen in her before. I studied her with new eyes as she entered our destination in the control panel in front of her.
“You are brave and honorable. You would make an excellent bride.” I knew several warriors who would be pleased with her darkly exotic hair and warm eyes.
“I already tried that. I’ll pass.” Her sad smile was the last thing I saw before the transport energy came for us.
Chapter Nine
Jessica
I was having the most amazing dream. Warm and comfortable, my bed was a mix of soft and firm. I rubbed my face against my pillow and the scent that rose, a dark, woodsy smell, made me smile. A hand stroked over my bare belly in slow and easy circles. It felt so good that I felt like I was melting and a contented sigh whispered past my lips.
“I will not begin her examination until she awakens.”
I stiffened. I knew that voice. Nial’s. But a stranger answered.
“I understand, prince, but a delay is dangerous. The others can scent her.”
“She smells like Ander and me. Our seed is upon her.”
“Regardless, it is not enough. She smells like an unmated female, and she does not wear a collar.”
The conversation was alarming, but I didn’t want to awaken. I didn’t want to open my eyes or climb from my contented spot. And I did not want to deal with an examination or challenges. I did not want to wake up and face a room full of males trying to sniff me. Who cared what I smelled like? As far as I knew, I smelled like green tea shampoo and lavender-scented antiperspirant, as per the usual.
The strange voice continued, “On the Colony, an unmated female is unheard of and the warriors are demanding a chance to challenge for her.”
“She is ours.” Nial’s voice boomed and startled me. My eyes flew open and I wasn’t in a bed at all, but in his lap. I was staring at his massive chest, a gray shirt stretched taut over broad muscles. How I thought this pillow was soft was definitely part of a dream, for Nial—I knew it was Nial’s lap without looking up at his face for I would recognize his scent anywhere—was all hard male. Everywhere, including the cock that nudged my hip.
“She is awake. As soon as she is examined and cleared for the claiming ceremony, we will remove her from the Colony. I assure you, doctor, we will not linger. She is hunted by the Hive.”
Ander. I knew his voice now as readily as Nial’s. He was loud and brash and direct, and very, very good with his tongue. I wondered if he did everything with the same intensity he used when he went down on me.
Nial’s hand stilled on my belly. My bare belly. I glanced down and realized I was wrapped in another blanket, this one a dark red, not the bride processing center’s dull gray. His hand had slipped between the folds to touch me directly. Warden Egara was nowhere to be seen, but a man wearing a gray uniform stood nearby, staring at me as if I were an alien. I did not recognize the room we were in. Blinking, I looked around Ander’s large form, similarly clad in dark gray, and realized we weren’t in the processing center at all.
“Where are we?” I asked. My voice was scratchy and I cleared my throat.
Nial gave me a gentle squeeze. “We are on the Colony, fourteen lightyears from Earth.”
“The Colony?” I asked.
“It’s a planet, near Earth. Coalition forces send all the contaminated and non-functional warriors here to live out the remainder of their lives.”
“What do you mean, contaminated?”
His body had tensed beneath me when he used that word, and I knew it pained him for some reason. I trusted my instincts, and they were screaming at me that his answer was important.
“The warriors who have been contaminated. Like me.”