Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3) (7 page)

“Lorn has found his Matriarch.”

He sucked in a quick breath. “Casey from the United States?”

“Yes, you know of her?”

He considered not telling Lady Elsin that Casey and Paige knew each other, but realized quickly it wouldn’t work with her. In addition to being Lead High Congress for the Northern Continent, the largest and most powerful Continent on Kadothia, her husbands secretly helped run the Kadothian spy network and made sure their wife was informed about everything—including Tren’s retirement. Once he was bonded, he would no longer be able to fulfill the role of Supreme Commander, and he would pass the title on to a worthy successor, voted on by the High Congress. Instead of going to the battle fronts, his priority would be keeping his Matriarch safe on Kadothia from any threats that may come her way and help her rule their territory.

The military was all he’d ever known since he was a teenager. He felt some apprehension at stepping down, but the candidates to replace him were all good men.

Or at least most of them were.

“I very briefly met Casey back on Earth when she came to visit Lorn at our command center,” Tren said as he watched another Earth woman brought out of a cage by a pair of grim faced healers. “She is friends with my potential bondmate.”

Lady Elsin surprised him when she said, “I expect an invitation to your bonding ceremony. You would do well to accept my public show of support on your bride’s behalf. Trenzent, I know you avoid politics like the plague, but even you must be aware of the anti-Earth sentiment that’s building in the Bel’Tan galaxy.”

He’d heard whispers, but hadn’t paid it much attention. “I have, but I was unaware of how serious it is.”

“Nothing dire, but it would not hurt for your enemies to be aware that your Matriarch is well protected on all political fronts.”

“Thank you.”

“There is another issue I must discuss with you. Security level Zupulon.”

His heart was already beating hard from the rescue, but when she invoked one of the highest levels of secrecy Tren’s body surged with adrenaline. Security level Zupulon was reserved only for the most sensitive information that was a life or death matter. “What is the threat?”

“We received information that there are slavers on the Reaping ship.”

“Are you sure of this?”

“No, but we intercepted a communication yesterday from someone on the ship regarding the price of an Earth woman of a specific type. It was astronomical. Earth men and women are the hottest commodity right now as an exotic species built for sex. If the slavers are using the Reaping ship to fulfill their orders we need to stop them, now.”

Red filled his vision, and he almost choked on a howl of rage. Nearby a woman burst into hysterical tears while clutching at her healer, staring at Tren with a look of horror. Still wearing his helmet, he strode over to the other side of the holding room, to where additional stasis pods were being set up.

“Commander Trenzent,” Lady Elsin snapped with enough bite to her words to get through to him. “I know this is trying for you, but your bride will soon be on the Reaping ship, and I thought you should know.”

“I will destroy them and feast on their hearts.”

“I am sure you will, but first you must find them. I am sending my best Negotiators to help you try and find our enemies before they strike. A friend of yours whose loyalty you do not deserve, but have none the less.”

His gut clenched, and he locked his emotions down as best he could, already suspecting he knew who she was sending. “Lord Rell.”

“Yes. He is the best man for this job in many ways. I trust you two will be able to put aside any personal issues and work together to stop the slavers?”

What he wanted to do was never see Rell again, but it seemed the Lord of Life, and Lady Elsin, had other plans. Part of him wanted to reject her offer, but what she said was true. If the slavers really were trying to find a foothold in the Milky Way galaxy, no one was better at finding them than Rell.

Too bad Tren didn’t know if he could be near the other man without fighting with him. Though his hatred seemed to be fading for some reason, he still couldn’t stand the thought of being near Rell. He considered bringing that up with Lady Elsin, but she would want to know the personal nature of their dispute, and he wasn’t sharing that information with anyone. The shame of his own actions that fateful day still haunted him with strong guilt. All those men, dead, because he wanted to spend more time with his secret blood brother.

“Commander Trenzent?”

“Are you sure Lord Rell is the best fit for this?”

“I am absolutely certain.” Her voice softened. “Commander Trenzent, he needs you.”

“I-I do not understand what you are saying.”

“Lord Rell is even older than you are, Commander, and without the bond of a true blood brother he has been suffering.”

“The madness?”

“Not yet,” she said with a heavy emphasis on the word ‘yet’. “I must go, may the Lord of Life hold you in His grace, Supreme Commander.”

“You as well, Lady Elsin.”

After they disconnected, he forced himself to remain standing, not wanting the men carefully watching him to see even a moment of weakness. The threats to Paige from his enemies, the kidnappings, and the involvement of the slavers all tore at his self-control, but knowing Rell was on his way, that Tren would have to see his estranged blood brother, had Tren coming as close to breaking as he ever had. The feral part of him wanted to take his bride and flee, to hide her someplace where no one could hurt her, to keep her safe, but he knew that was the animalistic beast inside of him trying to take over his rational mind, so he fought it the only way he knew how, by thinking of Paige.

Slowly the memory of her touch, taste, and scent calmed him enough that he fought the primal need inside of him back with the promise of seeing her. He craved her presence, the healing balm of her touch, and he needed to reassure himself that she was safe. Right now, on Earth, she was heavily guarded by Cormac and a half dozen Warriors that were keeping an eye on her while Tren dealt with the slavers. He used to believe she was safer on Earth than anywhere else, but as he watched more and more women, living cargo, being pulled from the stasis pods he knew Earth wasn’t as protected from the evils of the Bel’Tan galaxy as he’d hoped. Gathering himself, he opened his communication links with the officers around him and began to issue orders, wanting this mess cleaned up as quickly as he could so he could get back to Paige.

***

After he’d washed the filth of the last few days from his body, he took another energy booster and hoped it held him together long enough to get him through seeing Paige before his body shut down and he passed out.

Cormac drove him to her home in the small shopping district of the town in his flashy red transport vehicle, a new Corvette that stood out and drew unnecessary attention.

“You are sure she is there?”

“Yes.” Cormac seemed irritated as his fingers grasped and squeezed the wheel of the vehicle. “She just returned from taking care of the children she watches over. Mylin has a visual on the only door in and out of her place. Other than her friends Dawn, Kimber…and Roxie coming over she’s had no visitors.”

Tren’s tired mind grasped onto the change in Cormac’s voice when he said the name Roxie. “Roxie, Casey’s sister? Is she your potential bride?”

Cormac didn’t even bother to deny it. “Yes.”

“Congratulations. Have you had your first kiss?”

“No,” Cormac growled. “She is an excessively difficult woman, especially with her sister Casey missing. They all believe she has been kidnapped and is in great danger. Roxie is on the warpath and she suspects me of the most absurd things, like being a Russian spy, and does not trust me enough to get near her. I wish I could tell her that her sister is alive and happy, but it is forbidden by the planetary regulations.”

Letting out a low whistle, Tren shook his head. “I hate that the people of Earth do not know that their women are safe, loved, and cherished—and not in any kind of pain or danger.”

“As do I, but we cannot expose them to our technology, especially when we will have to leave when the wormhole closes and not monitor them. We could inadvertently be giving them the one thing that destroys them.”

Tren didn’t bother to argue, knowing the truth of the statement. “Is Paige worried about Casey?”

Slowing the car, Cormac eased into the alley behind one of the old brick buildings that lined Main Street of this small town. “Very. She has been handing out fliers to people asking if they have seen her. And the last place public Casey was seen was at our bonfire with Lorn. Our disguises held, but the High Council was not happy with the attention drawn to our base.”

“Wonderful.”

Cormac gave him a sickly smile. “I hate to give you more bad news, but I overheard Paige talking about you. She was not happy that you ‘stood her up’.”

“What does that mean?”

“You made a date with her and did not arrive. She sat alone in the coffee shop waiting for you for two hours.” Cormac’s voice grew softer. “I could see her losing hope. It was painful and embarrassing to watch. And…I think there is a human male who may be attempting to court her. He works at the coffee shop and spent a great deal of time flirting with her before she left.”

Dread tried to rule him, tried to send him running up the stairs to grasp at his only hope, slowly slipping through his fingers because of duty. If he’d just stayed a little while longer, he could have kept his promise to meet her. The darkness his soul had absorbed while rescuing those Earth women seemed to gnaw at him from the inside out.

Maybe she loved this human male. “Did she respond to his attentions?”

“Not at all. His efforts to attract her made her uncomfortable, and she made it clear she did not return his attempts at flirtation. I do not believe he is a threat, merely a nuisance.”

“And you know this from those absurd Earth movies you watch on human courtship? Their ways make no sense.”

The dark blond in Cormac’s hair gleamed as he gave Tren a sharp look. “The movies I watch may be foolish, but they are not meant to be serious. They are idealized versions of their courting rituals, not guides on how to approach women. But just because humans cannot link on a psychic level does not mean they cannot experience true love for each other. There are happy Earth couples who are intensely bonded in a way we’ll never understand. Though they are different from us, do not look down on them. They are a young race, still growing, but they have great promise.”

Tren wanted to pull out his hair with frustration as he stared at the backdoor to Paige’s building. “So my potential Matriarch is frantic over her missing friend, mad that I did not keep our promised meeting, and there is a man I should be eliminating for attempting to take what is mine, but I cannot because of the laws of engagement with this planet. Do you have any good news?” 

Lips twitching, Cormac studied him in a slightly smug way that had Tren growling. “She dreams about you. I was watching over her last night, and she began to talk in her sleep, about you.”

“She dreams of me?” Hope burned inside of him that she was having True Dreams of him, dreams sent from the Lord of Life to alert her to her bondmate. “How do you know? What did she say?”

“Well, she said your name a great deal, but as for the rest…” Cormac eyed him in the small confines of the car. “I would rather not repeat it. You might take offense. And in my defense I stopped listening once I realized the nature of your future Matriarch’s dreams. Needless to say, your shy bride has some rather un-shy dreams about you.”

A small ember of hope burned in his chest. “She is attracted to me?”

“In her dreams, at least.”

“Then there is hope.”

Cormac put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. “Commander, until you are dead there is always hope. I did some reconnaissance while I placed an emergency homing beacon in her living room. Nothing invasive, but I was curious as to how her home appeared.”

“What do you mean?”

Cormac’s normally teasing smile softened. “Paige Grant is a very young woman, who believes in fairy tales.”

Frowning, Tren glared at him. “She is a fully grown, mature woman. If she was not, I would not be attracted to her or even be able to sense her as anything other than a female child. You understand how bondmates work.”

“You misunderstood me. She has a young soul, sweet and pure despite the abuse she suffered.”

The low rumble of Tren’s growl filled the small cab of the vehicle. Yes, thanks to his research into her past and the documents he’d read from the police reports he knew she’d suffered. Her bastard of a father had decided to escape the world with alcohol, one of the things humans had in common with Kadothians—the enjoyment of fermented beverages. Paige’s sire began to drink intoxicating beverages heavily after the loss of his wife to an illness called cancer. At the time Paige lost her mother to illness she’d been eleven years old. When she was twelve the beatings began, and by the time she was fifteen her father had kicked her through the plate glass window of their home.

“Easy,” Cormac soothed. “He is in prison, and he will never get out. Too many fights while he was serving his time.”