Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart (116 page)

"Do I not get a welcome?"
a deep, melodious voice asked from the doorway of the small house near the
gates of the city.

Riley’s eyes softened on the huge
gelatinous figure standing looking down at her. "Bob!" Riley cried
out softly, stepping into the huge arms as they opened up for her. "I’m so
sorry for what I said to you the last time I saw you," she murmured
against his broad chest. "You were right, I do belong with him."

Bob’s huge body shook as he
chuckled. "That is good. I can rest knowing I made the right decision."

Riley leaned back and grinned up at
her friend. "That doesn’t mean I don’t still have to put him in his place
every once in a while."

Fred and Bob both broke out into
laughter as they heard Vox snort. "Riley, I have to go. I won’t be long,"
Vox said with a shake of his head. "Take care of her, my friends," he
said, brushing a kiss across his mate’s plump lips.

"We will! We will!" Fred
assured him, coming up and taking Riley’s hand in one of his while he clung to
Doral. "You have to meet Bob’s mate. Come, come, we have refreshments."

Vox watched as his mate was pulled
into the small cottage. He nodded to the two guards with him. "Stay with
her. Protect her with your life," he ordered.

"Yes, my lord," both men
replied taking up position in front of the door to the cottage.

Chapter
22

Vox strode through the palace
corridors to the conference room with a grim expression on his face. He had not
shared with Riley the true nature of their visit. He had personally gone to interrogate
his two former bedmates. He discovered that their betrayal was larger than he
expected. He had managed to get the location of one of the rebel bases from
Eldora before she died from a poisoned drink left for her. Pursia had hung
herself the night before in her cell using the covers from her bed. Eldora had
begged for forgiveness before she died, swearing she had been forced to betray
him and his family. He discovered that Bragnar, one of the warriors assigned to
the kitchens, was holding her younger sister hostage in return for her help.
She told him with her last breath that Bragnar was responsible for the
attempted poisoning of his mother several months before. If it had not been for
his mother’s
lady’s
maid giving
his mother the wrong bowl of soup, it would have been his mother who died
instead of one of her personal assistants.

"Have you any word as to who
Bragnar is working with?" Titus asked as soon as he closed the door to the
conference room.

"No," Vox said grimly. "Pallu
and Walkyr are going to scout the rebel camp to see if what Eldora told me is
true. She swore on her dying breath she was forced to do what she did."

"Do you believe her?"
Banu asked as he activated the holovid in the center of the conference table. "The
region she told you is thickly covered in mists and old growth forests. It is
said even the trees there are alive. It is hard to believe that anyone could
build a camp there."

"I believe her. Her family is
from the forest clan. They would know how to live there. Plus, she had no
reason to lie as she was dying. She knew there was nothing that could save her,"
Vox said, looking at the image of the thick mists that swirled into view.

The satellites could not penetrate
the cloud cover. Maybe he needed to talk with Ha’ven or one of his brothers.
Those damn Curizan loved a challenge when it came to technology. He knew his
friend would have something within a few days that could probably tell them
exactly how many leaves were on the trees.

"Have you linked him to anyone
else? We know whoever Bragnar is working with must also be working with
Raffvin. That damn Valdier has his fingers into everything," Titus grunted
out. "Who did Bragnar associate with while he worked at the palace?"

"The handful of males and
females he talked to have been cleared. None of them knew much about him. They
all said the same thing—he kept to himself for the most part," Vox
replied.

What was the connection? He knew it
had to be related to the deaths of his aunt and her mate, the attempt on his
mother’s life, his kidnapping. Why would they do this? His thoughts turned to
his aunt. She had been a gentle soul. His mind fought to piece together the
clues. He looked at his cousins. They had taken Titus and Banu as well. Why was
it important to take his father’s side of the family? Titus and Banu were from
his father’s oldest sister. Maybe the clue was with her.

"Where is Illana?" Vox
asked suddenly.

Both Titus and Banu started in
surprise at the mention of their mother. "She is probably in her workshop.
She loves working with her hands, and you know she creates some of the most
beautiful bowls and vases with the mineral clay. Why?" Banu asked
curiously.

"I am not sure," Vox
murmured looking at the holovid again. "But something tells me we are
missing something crucial, and she may have the answers we seek."

"I’m not following you,"
Titus said with a frown. "Do you want me to ask her to join us or would
you like to go to her workshop?" he asked, puzzled.

"Let us go there," Vox
replied suddenly anxious to see his aunt.

Titus and Banu stood up at the same
time. Banu flipped the holovid off and shrugged his shoulder at Titus. He didn’t
understand either, but both of them had learned a long time ago to appreciate
Vox’s instincts. It had saved them more than once during their youth, not to
mention during the war.

Titus led them through the huge
palace. The gleaming pale walls changed color as they passed through them,
reflecting the difference in the warmth of their bodies against the sensitive
stone that picked up on their moods. The stone for the palace had come from the
mountains surrounding the city. The tall arched corridors allowed an abundance
of light through crystal clear windows that could be darkened with a single
command. Workers moved on light feet, laughing as they went about their way. He
could feel his aunt’s touch among the workers. They enjoyed their duties.

Soon, they were entering a small
building located on the west corner of the grand gardens. The small domed
building was bright and airy on the inside and was filled with all different
shapes and sizes of plates, bowls, and cups made from the special mineral clay
found along the streams that ran down from the mountains.

"
Nënë,
how are you
doing?" Titus asked, walking over to give his mother a kiss on the cheek.

"I’m fine," she replied
with a raised eyebrow as she looked at her two sons before turning her gaze on
Vox. "Hello, my lord," she said with a graceful bow of her head.

"Greetings, Illana," Vox
said walking over and brushing his lips along his aunt’s cheek. "How have
you been?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I
am well. Now, out with it. You three only came to see me when you were in
trouble as cubs. What mess have you gotten into this time? You know your father
isn’t going to believe me if I try to cover for you, don’t you?" she said,
looking at Titus and Banu.

All three men chuckled as they
stood back. "This time it is for a different reason we are here,
Nënë.
Vox
thinks you might be able to help us piece together the attacks on our family,"
Banu said with a grin.

"Ah," Illana responded
quietly before walking over to the sink to clean the mineral clay from her
hands. "I knew this time would come," she murmured. "This must
not go anywhere else," Illana said as she turned to look sternly at her
two sons. "It pertains to Banu as well, but I hoped that I would not have
to tell him for a while yet. It would appear the time has come to share a
little of our family history that is known to few."

Over the next hour, Illana related
a tale of four brothers who were the first rulers of Sarafin. One ruled the
forest kingdom, one ruled the city near the ocean, one ruled the desert kingdom,
and one ruled the ancient city as its guardian. The gods had divided their
world so none was more powerful than the others, but together they would be
practically invincible. To know who the true rulers were, they were marked
with
a symbol. Each symbol was unique to the
warrior, but when placed together the symbols marked the location of the Heart
of the Cat, a gem so powerful it had the power to either heal their people or
destroy them. The four brothers, concerned that the gem would fall into the
wrong hands, hid the stone in a location only known to them. As they buried it,
the symbols formed on each, mapping the location so it could never be truly
forgotten. Only the leader of each kingdom would have the mark. If that person
were to
die
, then the mark
would appear on the next ruler. But, if the line were to die out…

"…Then so would our people.
Over time, legends built up about the location until it became more myth than
reality. But, make no mistake, it is very real," Illana finished. "Vox,
you wear the mark as will your son. Just as Titus does since his father passed
the throne onto him. Banu, you also
bear
the mark since the death of your father." She turned sad eyes
to her youngest son.

Banu’s eyes narrowed in confusion. "I
don’t understand. My father still lives."

"No," Illana replied
softly. "While your father and I consider you our son, your true parents
died days after you were born. Your father was my younger brother. Your parents
were murdered in their sleep. They had been drugged in an attempt to capture
the desert kingdom, which is your true heritage. Your nurse stole you away in
the night and brought you to us. Arimis went to avenge my brother and his mate’s
murders, but the desert had swallowed the kingdom. That is one of the many
myths surrounding it. Only two of the kingdoms are known—the ocean and city
kingdoms. The other two remain hidden until their rightful rulers return to the
throne."

"Why? Why would you not tell
me years ago about my parents?" Banu asked clenching his fists in
disbelief and rage. "You let me think all these years I was your son. Why
would you not tell me?"

"I have lost three of my
siblings to tragedy. I could not bear to lose
any more
of you," she said calmly, looking at him intently. "You
became our son the moment I held you in my arms. I loved you as assuredly as if
I had given birth to you. If I had told you before the wars, you would have gone
searching for the kingdom. You were too young to go. Then the wars took you
away."

Banu swung around to stare out the
window of the workshop, gazing blindly over the garden. "You said you lost
three siblings. Who was the other, and who and where is the fourth member
bearing the mark?" he asked harshly, turning to stare at the woman he had
always considered to be his mother.

A tear ran down Illana’s cheek, but
she did not turn away from the harsh stare. "Mia," she whispered. "She
was taken as a baby and never found. I have to believe she lived. She bore the
mark of the hidden forest."

Vox listened in disbelief as
everything he and his cousins had ever known came apart. His own fury with his
father mounted as he thought of the information withheld from him. He was the
King and should have been told of the legend and its effect on his family and
people, especially now that he had a mate to protect.

"What happens if there is no
one to bear the mark showing the hidden resting place of the Heart of the Cat?"
Vox asked knowing deep down the answer.

"Sarafin will fall,"
Illana answered quietly.

"That is why Raffvin wanted
me, Titus, and Banu. He knows about the mark, but how, and why didn’t he just
kill us?" Vox asked coldly.

"He needs us and Mia or any of
her children who may bear her mark," Titus replied calmly, piecing the
puzzle together. "He could not kill us if he wanted to find the Heart of
the Cat and capture the power of the gem. He ordered our deaths when it
appeared that he would not be able to find Mia or her descendants."

"We do not even know Mia
survived or if she had any cubs," Banu stated in an emotionless voice.

"Yes, we do," Vox said
with a sharp-toothed grin. "If she had not survived, then our world would
have fallen already. We have family to find, cousins. Whoever is working with
Raffvin must be aware of the legend as well. If that is the case, they may be
working on their own agenda and not necessarily with Raffvin."

"Great!" Titus growled
out as he ran his hand over the back of his neck in frustration. "So, is
there anyone out there not wanting to capture or kill us?"

"My lords"—a guard burst
through the door suddenly—"Lord Vox, your mate has been taken!"

Chapter
23

Riley laughed at Tamia, Bob’s
mate, as she related how she had captured the huge Gelatian’s attention. Bob
just chuckled and
rubbed
against the large peach-colored female. They enjoyed the afternoon as Riley
teased both of her former "mates" about abandoning her while they
told their mates how she almost blew everyone up, not once but twice.

"Doral and I need to go to the
market. Would you like to come?" Tamia asked politely. "It is not
far."

"I would love to go!"
Riley said with an excited grin.

Vox had kept her practically
a
prisoner at the palace. Okay, that might
be a bit of a stretch, but she hadn’t been anywhere outside the ocean city and
she wanted to see the beautiful ancient city. It reminded her so much of some
of the pictures she had seen of the older cities in Europe and since she never
got to see them, she figured she might as well enjoy this one.

"We will return shortly,"
Doral said, giving Fred a kiss on both lips with a blush.

"Very shortly," Fred’s
left head responded with a soft growl while he held onto both of her hands for
a little longer than necessary.

All three women laughed as Doral
pulled free with a vivid blush covering her face. They picked up the baskets by
the door that they would need to carry their purchases. Riley adjusted her
oversized purse over her shoulder and nodded to the two guards that Vox left.
She knew better than to argue with them following her around. Vox should have
been born a bulldog because he wouldn’t budge on her wandering around without a
couple of guards always tagging along.

"So where to first?"
Riley asked as they stepped through the gate.

"There is a market where many
different fruits, vegetables, and breads are sold. Bob does not eat meat, but
Fred does. We will go to the market first. There is another market a few
streets further where they sell beautiful cloth and other things," Doral
replied as she moved rapidly through the crowded streets.

Riley followed the clipped pace
Doral set. She might be small, but she was a bundle of energy. She was so happy
her two friends had found someone to spend their lives with. Fred had told her
that his older brother had been killed in a dispute over credits, and his
father wanted him to return. He had talked at length with Doral and both of
them decided that they did not want to raise their young on a fueling station.
Bob had become a prominent silversmith in the small village he had
settled
in on Curizan. That was where he met
Tamia who had also sought refuge after escaping captivity from a slave trader
who made the mistake of challenging a Curizan warrior. The warrior had freed
Tamia and brought her back to his world to live. She had been working as a
seamstress in the village. Both men decided they wanted to start fresh and had
already established their homes there.

"Oh my," Riley said with
a huge grin as she took in all the different stalls selling their
wares
. "Do you think Vox has credit
here?" she asked hopefully.

One of the guards chuckled. "You
may purchase whatever you want, my lady. Lord Aryeh instructed us to make sure
you had whatever you desired. He said he would deal with Lord Vox if he should
have a problem."

"I knew I was going to love
that adorable old hairball once he realized I was the best thing that ever
happened to his son!" Riley declared with a royal wave of her hand.

Doral and Tamia dissolved into
giggles while the two guards chuckled. Riley tossed her wayward curls over her
shoulder and raised her arm. "Charge ladies! And I truly mean charge! We
are going to do some major shopping. I swear I was going through withdrawal!"
Riley said as she sashayed her ass right through the middle of the crowded
market in excitement.

She spent the next half hour
exclaiming over one find after another in the food market. It was when they
continued onto the merchant’s market that she thought she had truly died and
gone to heaven. The silk scarves, unusual handbags, and other accessories
outdid the little overpriced boutique Tina worked in during high school. Riley
moved rapidly from one stall to another, picking up scarves, hats, bracelets,
and handbags with a critical eye.

"How much is this?" she
asked one merchant before turning to another and pulling another item up and
showing it to other merchant. "And this? Tamia is that too much for this?
Doral, what do you think? Does this make me look too pale? Oh my god, look at
this! I have to have it! Do you think Vox will be upset? The guy says it is
seventy-five credits. Is that a lot?" Riley asked, having no idea the
worth of a credit. For all she knew, it could be the equivalent of a thousand
bucks back home. "Damn! I should have had Viper tell Tina to clean out my
account back on Earth. She has access. I might have been able to convert it or
buy stuff at home to cash in here. I really, really want this bag. It will go
perfectly
with several of my outfits,"
she added
,
biting her lip in
indecision.

"Lady Riley, seventy-five
credits is very inexpensive," one of the guards assured her. "Lord
Vox would not be upset at all if you purchased the bag, especially as you like
it so much."

"You really think so?"
Riley asked anxiously fingering the
beautiful
beaded bag with the tips of her fingers. "It is the most
beautiful handbag I’ve ever seen."

"Please package the bag for my
lady queen," the guard called out to the merchant.

Riley grinned at the merchant as he
handed her the carefully wrapped purchase with a low bow. "It is a
pleasure doing business with you, my queen. I will inform my daughter you
admired her work."

"Tell her I have never seen
anything as beautiful as this, and I will take very good care of it,"
Riley responded to the beaming man.

"Riley, there are only a few
more stalls to go. Do you want to see them before we return?" Doral called
out from across the way where she had found a scarf she liked.

"We might as well as I don’t
know when I’ll get a chance to return," Riley answered with a contented
sigh. "This has been the best day of my life—well besides the day I met
Vox, even if I did knock him on his ass."

Tamia
laughed and moved
to
the next
stall. Riley felt a sense of unease as they approached the last stall. It was a
little further away from the others, and there were only a few shoppers down
this way. That wasn’t what had the hair on the back of her neck standing up
though. There was something else, as if she was being stared at. She let her
eyes wander around the area, pulling on her skills as a
bail bondsman
to help her. In the shadows
near an alley a cloaked figure was standing in the shadows. Riley stopped,
focusing on the figure with a frown. There was something vaguely familiar about
it. The frown on her face turned
into
a surprised gasp as the figure emerged from the shadows and lowered
the hood covering its head.

* * *

Antrox 157 stared with hatred at
the female who had destroyed everything he had worked for. He motioned with his
hand. Four figures converged on Riley’s small group. The two guards went down
with blasts to their backs as they moved closer to Riley when she gasped and
froze. The other two females screamed in terror. Within moments, Riley’s
unconscious body was being carried past him. He stared in distaste at the limp
pale figure as the mercenaries he had hired walked by him. He would
receive
a king’s fortune in credits for the
female. He had sworn he would make her pay for ruining his reputation within
the Antrox mining operations. He would have been lucky to hire on as a pactor
supply clerk after what she had done. Now, he would have enough to buy his own
mine. It would be small, but it was a start. He quickly followed the
mercenaries out of the marketplace, ignoring the calls for help from the women
as they bent over the still forms of the guards.

"We need to get out before
they shut down all leaving flights," the huge merc carrying Riley snarled.
"You didn’t tell us she was royalty."

"She is nothing but an escaped
acquisition. You were given the credits to capture her. I will give you the
other half due you once she is delivered," Antrox 157 replied coldly. "Otherwise,
you get nothing."

"Damn bug," another one
of the mercs muttered under his breath. "Move it, Garl. I don’t want to
stick around for any of these damn cat-shifters. They like to rip you open and
watch as you try to shove your guts back in."

"Prepare the ship for liftoff,"
a third merc yelled out. "We leave hot and fast."

"Grun, go ahead and make sure
the way is clear," Tril snapped at the husky red-skinned creature who sped
away on four legs. "You better hope she is worth the credits you promised,"
he said as he shifted Riley over his shoulder.

"She accepted five mates; three
were Sarafin warriors. I have no doubt she will handle whatever the pleasure
house sends to her," Antrox 157 replied, hurrying down the narrow alley.

Nothing
else was said as the five figures moved rapidly down the narrow alley and up
several flights of stairs until they reached the top of one of the taller
buildings in the city. Grun was removing the cover camouflaging the small
transport. It was a tight fit, but all five plus an unconscious Riley piled
into the small ship. Garl shoved at the controls, and the specially modified
ship rose rapidly before turning and shooting up through the atmosphere. The
group was used to retrieving difficult and dangerous merchandise. This mission
was especially challenging because none of them wanted to be on the wrong end
of the Sarafin warriors who were bound to try to retrieve what they had stolen.
They were there to retrieve and deliver, that was all. After the delivery, they
would disappear for a few months before regrouping in a different star system.

* * *

Riley came to slowly. Her head
ached and her stomach churned. She could feel that she was about to lose what
she had eaten for lunch.

Being pregnant sucks,
she thought darkly, keeping her eyes closed and breathing steadily
through her nose in the hopes of not tossing her cookies.
I think this
should be a totally male thing since they are the ones who want to brag about
how potent they are. What the hell do they suffer from? Puffing their chest out
too far? They pop the load and sit back while I get to be sick, gain even more
weight, and have bigger boobs to carry around while they strut like a damn
peacock!

Riley continued listing all the
disadvantages being pregnant entailed, hoping it would help calm her wayward
stomach. After several minutes, it appeared to work as she felt confident she
could open her eyes without them being crossed.

She turned her head cautiously,
studying where she had been taken. Her heart jerked at the idea of her friends
or the guards with her being harmed because of her.
Her eyes blurred
with anger at the thought of the senseless act.

"I’m going to smash that
oversized bug when I get my hands on him. I’m going to feed him to the first
Venus flytrap I can find. Or better yet, I’m going to find a really huge spider
and watch as he squirms in its web before it sucks all his guts out,"
she
muttered out loud.

A dark chuckle drew her attention
to the door of her cell. She stared in fury at the grotesque creature standing
on the other side of it. "What are you laughing at, you overgrown fleabag?"

"Antrox 157 said you had
spirit. I am glad he did not lie. You will bring more credits on the auction
block. Many of the more selective guests like a female with a little spirit.
They want to see how long it takes to break her," the snarly voice
replied.

Riley slowly sat up, putting a hand
to her head to still the spinning. She glared at the creature. It was shorter
than she, probably about five feet eight inches, if that. It was covered in
gun-metal gray scales and had two red, beady eyes, no nose, and thin lips
covering small, sharp teeth.

"Who the hell are you, and
what are you doing working with a scumbag like that dickless bug?" Riley
asked. "Don’t you have anything better to do than kidnap innocent,
defenseless females?"

Pud laughed. It was a shame he
needed to deliver the pale female so quickly. The owner of the pleasure house
wanted to test her out before he put her to work. It appeared the owner was
bored and had become intrigued by the story behind this particular female. He
rubbed the front of his pants, wondering if he could chance having a sample
before he delivered her.

"You make me hard, female,"
Pud told her with a nasty grin. "I like that. It has been a while since a
female has done that."

Riley rose up enjoying the way the
filthy creature took a step back when he realized she was taller than he was. "Don’t
even think of it, you little squirt. I’ll rip your dick off and feed it to you
before you even
realized
that
little worm in your pants was gone," she snapped out.