Prime Obsession (16 page)

* * * *

Wulf lay down a barrage of laser fire with one hand as he waited for the closest of the enemy to give him a target for the poison dart from the gun in his other. His
gemate
was due for a lecture—and a spanking. Then he would growl and make her hot. He snorted with amusement. So, she liked his growls. Well, she was in for a lot of them since she seemed to tick him off at regular intervals.

By Balcon’s balls, she made him happy. She was the perfect mate for him. Feisty.

Intelligent. Fearless. He decided he wouldn’t want her any other way. He couldn’t even remember why he’d thought he needed a meek, stay-in-her-place gentle woman like most of the women on Cejuru Prime. Not that he still wouldn’t worry and lecture, he would; it was in his nature to be protective of his mate. It was a good thing she seemed to thrive on the arguments—and he knew he would love the making up.

Mind on the job, Wulf. I’m in position.

I’m ready whenever you are.

Wulf felt the moment she went over the barrier wall. As she leapt onto the back of one of the Antareans, screaming a blood-curdling battle yell she must’ve learned from one of her Volusian officers, Wulf leaned around the protective rock wall and shot the throat of the Antarean who had him pinned down. He was on the run as his mark dropped, writhing on the ground in his final death throes. Passing the downed enemy, Wulf held onto the dart gun and dropped his laser. With his free hand, he grabbed his knife and slit the dying
apayebo’s
throat for good measure.

Now, to Melina.

Her shout of pain froze the very marrow of his bones. Horror swept through him as blinding pain hit his mate and communicated to him before she shut him out with her infernal mental walls.

In the few seconds it took him to dispatch his Antarean, Melina had managed to slit the throat of the raider whom she’d jumped. But, as he went down, bleeding out from the severed artery, he’d flung her into the rock wall behind them. She’d hit hard and was now on the ground, shaken, injured.

Wulf sensed nothing from Melina. He let loose with a Prime battle cry. The last Antarean had almost reached her when Wulf shot him with the dart gun. The fast-acting poison dropped the filthy lizard instantly, a look of agony in his acid yellow eyes.

Holstering the dart gun, Wulf wiped the bloody knife on the last Antarean he’d killed and then sheathed it in the scabbard on his belt. He knelt over Melina, gently checking her for broken bones. She groaned and muttered something. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Now he sensed a low level of mental connection seeping through her mental shields. She was conscious enough to keep the majority of her pain and thoughts from him. No brain damage, then. If there had been, she wouldn’t have been able to keep him out. She was protecting him again.

“Melina, love. Open up. I need to assess your health through our connection. I can handle the pain,
lubha.
Let me in, please.”

“Well, I’m glad one of us can handle the pain.”

She dropped her shields. Her anguish throbbed through him, making him gasp.

“Happy now?”

He didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or growl. She might be injured, but her indomitable spirit was still healthy.

“Growl, please. Maybe the endorphins from the resulting lust will make me feel
better.”

“Melina, what am I going to do with you?” Carefully, he lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest.

“Find me a soft regen bed?”

Wulf chuckled and kissed her forehead, breathing in her unique scent. “That’s the plan.”

Walking back to where he’d tossed his laser pistol, he held her against him with one arm as he dipped to pick up the weapon and reholster it. Then he followed the tunnel that led to the plateau. He wanted Melina within the safety of his star cruiser. With any luck the landing parties from the
Leonidas
and
Galanti
were already on the ground. He’d been making his way back to let Melina know help had arrived and was in orbit when the Antareans cornered him.

“Wulf?”
Melina touched his jaw with a stroke of a finger. “
Antarean just around the
corner. Just one.”

Wulf drew the dart gun as he carefully lowered her to the ground, leaning her against the wall. He didn’t doubt she was correct. Female battle-mates were reputed to taste, smell and feel the enemy well before their men. Peering around the corner, he saw the back of one Antarean as it peered down another hallway. Wulf took the shot. The Antarean fell, his gasp of shock trailing off into a death rattle.

Wulf reloaded the dart gun and kept it at hand as he went back for Melina. His mate safely cuddled against his chest once more, he approached the plateau entrance to the catacombs. The sound of rock fall, then feet thudding on the packed dirt floor alerted him that they were not alone. He brought the dart gun up, ready for whomever entered the catacombs.

“Wulf, no!”
Melina’s eyes slitted open as she weakly touch his hand, staying his action.
“It’s Nowicki and Huw. We’re safe now. I’m really tired. I’m going to sleep now.

Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Wulf’s eyes teared up, realizing his woman had stayed conscious enough to protect him. Nuzzling some strands of her hair aside, he placed a light kiss on her forehead and murmured, “Melina, you are a gift from the One. I am humbled he chose you as my mate.”

A faint amused and very feminine snort sounded in his head.
“Tell me that the next
time I don’t stay where you put me.”

He laughed.

“What do you have to laugh about, Caradoc?” Nowicki’s harsh angry tones sobered Wulf quickly. Melina’s former first officer still had the large chip on his shoulder over losing a chance at Melina. Tough.

Wulf sent him a slitted glare. “My mate said something funny.”

“I didn’t hear anything.” The good captain had a perplexed look on his face.

Huw shouted with laughter. “So, it is true? Battle-mates can really communicate telepathically?”

Wulf nodded and moved past the two men, into the sunlight and thin fresh air of the high plateau.

Huw handed Wulf a breathing unit and placed one on Melina. Melina’s relieved sigh whispered through their link. The rich air lessened her discomfort. But he was still placing her in a regen bed and having the doctor on the
Galanti
check her out. She’d been through a lot the past few days and was a mass of bruises, laser burns and bumps.

“What’s he talking about, Caradoc? Melina isn’t telepathic,” Nowicki said, pulling his thoughts away from his mate’s health.

“But she is.” Wulf glanced at his brother. Huw’s eyes were alight with excitement and joy for his good fortune. It would have been so easy for his brothers to resent him for finding his
gemate
, but they hadn’t. “Most Prime have empathic abilities and can read emotions from most other species. We use those abilities to help in battle and even business negotiations.”

“Yeah, I knew that,” Nowicki admitted, “and Mel always had hunches. She read a battlefield better than anybody. But talking to you with her mind, come on, Caradoc.

That’s fantasy.”

“It’s not. Melina is a battle-mate.”

“You said that before, back on Tooh 10. Just what the fuck is that?” Nowicki asked, skepticism coloring his every word.

Huw let out an exasperated sigh, telling Wulf his brother was just about fed up with the Terran male’s attitude. “A battle-mate is one of the rare
gemates
who can telepathically connect with her
gemat
during times of strong emotions. All
gemat-gemate
couples have some empathy and heightened connections to their mates, but battle-mates go beyond that. In battle, the couple is connected symbiotically. It is said that battle-mates like Melina also have more heightened awareness in all of their senses.”

“It’s true, Huw,” said Wulf. “Melina could sense Antareans approaching even in her semi-conscious state. She warned me well in advance so that I could defend us.” Huw’s mouth dropped open in shocked awe. “You are truly blessed, brother.”

“I hope that you will some day find the happiness I have.” Both knew it would take another miracle for Huw and Iolyn to find their imprinted mates in the vastness of the universe. He still couldn’t believe he’d found Melina.

The two men paced him as he hurried to his star cruiser. “I’m taking Melina to the
Galanti
so the doctor can check her over and put her in the regen bed. Then I will return to help you in rooting out the remaining Antareans. We will also need to recover the bodies of Melina’s Terran parents and the other scientists. I have promised Melina her parents will be entombed on Cejuru Prime in the Caradoc family tomb.” Huw nodded. “I’m sure father and mother will approve. Melina wouldn’t be alive if the Terran couple had not taken care of her.”

“Hold just one damn minute.” Nowicki reached for Melina. “I can take her back to her ship, the
Leonidas.
I still have yet to hear from her that she wants to be with you.” Wulf’s growl started low in his diaphragm. Huw backed up, his hand over his laser pistol, ready to defend Melina and him.

The atmosphere was so rife with strong emotions—his rage, Huw’s concern and shock, and the
apayebo
Terran’s jealous hatred—that Melina roused from her unconscious state. Her emerald-colored eyes were dull with pain and exhaustion as her weary gaze swept the scene. Wulf could feel her assessing the other two’s emotions and touching his mind to determine where the threat was.

Sighing, her trembling hand stroked Wulf’s jaw. “Back off, big guy. Nowicki doesn’t understand.” She struggled to sit up within his cradling hold.

“Stay still, little warrior,” he growled, his voice held a mixture of love, amusement, and concern. “You are hurt. Weak as a she-kitten.”

“This she-kitten has claws.”
Melina shot him a look filled with amusement. Turning her head toward the stubborn Terran, she said, “Royce, I go where Wulf takes me.” Soothing the throbbing muscle in Wulf’s jaw with a stroking finger, she smiled.

“Although I find I have a hard time staying put.”

Wulf laughed, throwing back his head. His joy at his mate’s sauciness filled him, chasing away his anger. He engulfed her stroking hand within his and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “We’ll work on that, eh?”

“Sure.” Melina attempted one last smile before she slipped back into unconsciousness.

“Melina?
Lubha
?” Wulf growled in a low continuous rumble as he hurried into his ship. This was not a healing, restful sleep. Her mind was filled with pain, exhaustion, grief, hunger, and images of bloody scenes from her recent battles. She needed the blissful, untroubled sleep a regen bed would provide in order to recover her strength.

Over his shoulder, he shouted. “Huw, take over for me. Find the rest of those
apayebote
. I’ll be back just as soon as I get Melina settled and am assured of her health.” Huw’s response, if any, was cut off by the closing of the hatch.

Wulf settled Melina into the co-pilot’s chair, buckling her in. His worried glance flicked toward her as he went through the procedures for a planet-takeoff. She was too still.

Touching her mind, he found no walls. She was not conscious enough to keep him out. That worried him deeply. Yet, her life signs were strong. She would be fine once she spent some time in a regen bed, he told himself.

“
Galanti
, this is Wulf. Have the doctor meet me in the shuttle dock with a regen bed.

My
gemate
is injured.” He didn’t want any delays in getting Melina the medical attention she so desperately needed.

“The doctor has been advised and will meet you, Captain,” Lt. Commander Dakkin, the ship’s chief communications officer replied. “Safe trip up, sir.”

“See you in a quarter hour.” Wulf took off, plotting the shortest intercept course for the
Galanti.

Same day, on board the Galanti

Mel awoke with a suddenness that had her gasping for breath.

“Melina? Are you all right?” Iolyn’s concerned voice drew her attention to the side of what she realized was a portable regen bed. Wulf’s brother sat beside the medical unit, in a black leather chair with a data pad on his lap.

“I’m fine. Something woke me.” She lifted her head and swept the room. First impressions were of austere pale gray walls, subdued lighting, and a huge bed on a dais, covered with a black spread made of some subtly shiny fabric and canopied with black and silver-gray drapery. It wasn’t any place she’d ever been before. “Where am I?”

“Wulf’s quarters on the
Galanti
.” Iolyn placed the data pad on the floor, then stood and approached the regen bed. He fiddled with some dials, then raised the clear dome allowing her to sit up. “He didn’t want you in the medical unit. He wanted you to have complete quiet and privacy while you healed and rested.”

“He wants me in his bed, Iolyn,” she said drily. “This is the closest he could get to that goal until I was healed.”

Iolyn chuckled. “Yes, you’ve figured him out.” He tapped the com badge on his chest. “Let me call one of the doctors in to check on your progress.” She reached out and stilled his hand before he could tap it again and send a message.

“No. Don’t. Something is wrong. Something woke me from the deepest sleep a regen bed can generate, Iolyn. What does that tell you?”

A frown crossed his brow and he reached for his laser pistol. “
That
tells me that Wulf’s battle-mate senses danger.”

“Exactly.”

“Let me call for security.”

“No. We don’t know who we can trust.”

Iolyn emitted a low, grumbling growl. Unlike Wulf’s growls, the sound did nothing for her. “The crew is loyal to Wulf and all the Caradocs, hand-picked from the oldest family lines on Cejuru Prime. As of now you are one of us, you are safe here—or should be. But I can’t dispute your senses. You’ve been right too many times.”

“I know this is hard for you, but at this moment, I only trust you, Huw, Wulf, and Maren.”

“With Maren on Tooh 2 and Huw and Wulf are on the planet—” Iolyn replied.

“—I only trust you and me. I’ll trust no one on this ship until I’ve had the chance to meet and scan them.” Mel kicked off the covers, then realized she was naked under the sheet. “Damn, don’t look.”

“Too late,” Iolyn said, turning his back, “And we won’t tell my brother that I saw anything.”

“He’ll know anyway. He’ll see it in my head.” She sighed. “Find me something to put on, please? I can fight nude, but would rather not.”

“Right.” He picked up a shirt from the back of the chair where he’d been sitting and thrust it at her behind his back. “Here’s one of Wulf’s shirts. He ordered clothes from the fabricator for you, but they haven’t been brought up yet.” Mel held the soft, woven t-shirt to her face and inhaled. Wulf’s scent was all over it.

Like the shirt he’d given her the last time she’d been on the
Galanti
, the smell calmed her. Smiling, she shrugged the shirt over her head.

There was no residual pain with her movements. She glanced at her hand. Totally healed. Raising the shirt, which reached her knees, she examined the leg wound Parker had inflicted. It was starting to scar over. She flexed her leg and was happy to feel no weakness or pain. She’d do.

“You can turn around now.”

“All in working order?” His concern washed over her in waves.

“I’m fine. As good as I was when I fought Parker on Tooh 2.” She smiled to underline her words.

“That should be more than good enough,” Iolyn said, returning her smile, then he frowned. “I feel the danger now. It’s close—but I can’t tell how many are coming.”

“Two. And they’re trying to get through the outer door’s security right now.” Low rhythmic beeps could be heard through the closed bedroom door as the two attempting to gain entry cycled through various code overrides.

Mel glanced around the very masculine and sterile room. There were three doorways, one was to the main room of the suite. “Where do the other two doors lead?”

“Closet and bathroom.” Iolyn angled his head to the third door. “That’s the only way in and out of the bedroom. Wulf felt this was more defensible than the medical unit, also.”

Had Wulf anticipated a problem when he’d left her on the ship? Or, was he just cautious? She’d bet on the latter.

“Okay, this is what we’ll do.” Mel moved to the large bed and pulled the raw silk coverlet back. Piling up some pillows as if she slept in the middle, she then pulled the silken spread back over them. “They’re here to kill me—and whoever is guarding me. I’ll go into the bathroom and you can hide in the closet. We let them get into the bedroom and then we take them out. Stun or wipe?”

“I want to say wipe,” Iolyn snarled, “but my brother will want to question them.”

“Stun it is, then.” Mel held out a hand. “Got an extra gun?”

“Take mine. I can get one from Wulf’s closet.” Iolyn headed for the door leading to the closet. “I can’t read your mind, Melina, like Wulf can. What’s the signal to take them out?”

“Why when they shoot at the lumps in the bed, Iolyn, what else?” Her lips twisted into a grim smile. “That should make any action on our part justifiable.”

“Works for me.” Iolyn entered the closet. “Oh, and just to make it clear, no one was supposed to approach this area of the ship without Wulf’s explicit permission, so any action we take will be valid.” He shut the door, leaving it open just a crack.

Mel entered the luxuriously appointed bathroom and looked longingly at the large marble tub. Damn, she’d love to soak in bubbles for a whole day. Maybe later. She vocally ordered the lights off and cracked the door so that she could see the doorway into the room. The assassins were close. She could almost feel the change in air pressure as they opened the door from the outer corridor into Wulf’s quarters.

It seemed like forever, but finally the door into the bedroom opened with a low whoosh as it slid into the recess in the wall.

Two men entered and approached the bed.

Dumbasses. They should’ve shot from the doorway. Obviously, amateurs. A professional assassin would have shot first.

The lead man aimed at the bed and let forth a full, what would have been, killing blast.

Simultaneously, Iolyn and she hit the two men in the room with stunning blasts to their torsos. One fell onto the smoldering bed, smothering the danger of fire with his body; the other toppled to the floor.

“Check the outer corridors to see if anyone else is lingering around,” Mel ordered as she left the safety of the bathroom and approached the downed men.

“On it.” Iolyn paused and checked to make sure the men were truly unconscious before he left the room.

Mel heard the outer door open, then close and lock. She kept her weapon on stun and aimed at the two downed Prime soldiers. They were harmless for now, but the stun would eventually wear off. They needed to be restrained. Since the bedding was ruined, it could be used to bind the men.

Placing the laser pistol down, Mel searched and found a knife in Wulf’s bedside top drawer. What a coincidence. That was where she always kept her extra knives. She grinned and made a mental note to let Wulf know that great tactical—or paranoid—

minds thought alike.

After cutting several long strips from the strong silken fabric, she bound both men, hand and foot, and then gagged them after making sure they were breathing easily. Wulf couldn’t interrogate dead men.

The attacks by the rebel faction from Cejuru Prime worried her. She didn’t think the Caradocs and Maren were taking them seriously enough. Now that she had a vested interest in the survival of Wulf and his family, she’d investigate the group herself. New eyes and a more objective viewpoint might shed more light on the rebels’ true motivations. She just didn’t buy the keeping-the-blood-pure argument that the traitors Ullyn and Prolow had fed her in the engine room on her last visit to the
Galanti
.

The sound of footsteps had her snagging the laser pistol from the bedside table and aiming it toward the bedroom door.

“Mel?” Iolyn’s voice called out. “I’m coming in.”

Mel relaxed and laid the gun back down. “It’s okay, Iolyn.” He peered around the doorway. “I see you have everything under control.” His amber gaze—so like Wulf’s—swept the shredded bedding. “I never did like the all black-and-gray theme my brother had for this room. You’ll want to redecorate, I’m sure.” He winked at her.

“I’m not much for decorating. It wasn’t something we were taught at the academy.” She laughed. “Did you see anyone lurking out there?”

“No one. It seems the crew is following the directive Wulf issued before he went to the planet.”

“So, how many more rebels do you think there are on board?”

“No clue. There shouldn’t be
any
.” Iolyn dragged his fingers through his short black hair, his lips thinned in anger and frustration. “As I mentioned before, this is a hand-picked crew. After the last time, Wulf wasn’t taking any chances with your life, since he hoped this would become your Squadron’s flagship.” He grimaced and looked away, guilt and anger pouring off of him. “I wasn’t supposed to mention about the ship…”

“It’s okay, Iolyn,” she reassured him. “You didn’t let the cat out of the bag. I know what the Admiral and Wulf planned. I don’t have a problem sharing command with Wulf on this ship. It’s better than him hiding me on Cejuru Prime to turn out babies every year.

It’s Wulf’s compromise—and for a Prime male, I am sure it is a major concession on his part—and I’m willing to meet him on it.”

“That’s a relief. Huw, Maren and I had tried to prepare him before he met you that first time, but he had a very narrow view of a
gemate’s
place in his life.”

“I know.” She laughed. “I think the battle-mate thing convinced him that I’d be of more use next to him than on the home planet getting into trouble.” Iolyn smiled. “Yes, alone you could get into all sorts of trouble. Look at the situation we’re in now. He was pretty sure that you’d be safe here with me looking after you and everyone else forbidden to enter the room until he returned.”

“So, no doctor looked me over?” She was curious as to how far Wulf would go to protect her.

Iolyn shook his head. “No, the doctor did attend you. Wulf wouldn’t have let you go untreated. But he only allowed the medical team to examine you while he was still on board. I was under orders not to let the doctor back in unless you were in severe distress.

He planned to be back before you came out of the regen bed.” Sounded like her overly possessive alpha-male Prime warrior was still a tad bit overprotective. “Um, who stripped and cleaned me up? The medical team?” Iolyn let out a bark of laughter. “Uh-uh. No one touched you any more than necessary to examine you. Wulf took you into the bathroom and carried you into the shower and cleaned you up himself. Your old uniform is history in the recycler. He personally uncovered only the lacerations, wounds and bruises he wished the medical team to treat.”

“Are all Prime males that possessive?”

“Wulf is. Most Prime males allow their women to be examined for medical reasons without being present.” Iolyn shrugged. “Give Wulf time. He just found you.” He paused then added soberly, “He’s afraid to lose you.”

Mel smiled at the earnestness in Iolyn’s voice. He wanted his brother to be happy and her to be happy with his brother. “Don’t worry so, Iolyn. I’m not going anywhere.

And Wulf likes to growl, and I like it when he growls. Think of it as ongoing foreplay.” Iolyn choked back a laugh. “I’d rather not think about that at all.” Movement from the floor halted her next comment.

“One of our friends is rousing. Think they’ll tell us anything?” she asked.

“No. They won’t.” Iolyn kicked at the one on the floor. “This one is a second cousin of ours. The one on the bed is a cousin by marriage. As of now, they are traitors. They swore oaths to fight the enemy of the Prime and, now, the Galactic Alliance. They have violated both oaths. They know under Prime law that they’ll be executed for their treachery, so why would they tell us anything?”

“For leniency, perhaps?” She stared at Iolyn, willing him to work with her on this.

“Leniency? Maybe the Alliance would allow such—and if Wulf asked, perhaps the Prime Council would also.” Iolyn paused. “But Wulf won’t be lenient. Ever. Don’t ask him, Melina. Not even for you would he spare the men who would’ve shot you as you slept. They have not only dishonored the Prime as a whole, but the Caradoc family in particular.”

Okay, so Iolyn wasn’t going to work with her on this. Damn. Too bad her telepathy only worked with Wulf.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” she asked.

“No.”

“It means we don’t know how many more there are on board. You and I can’t go around the ship, questioning each and every crew member without opening ourselves up for attack. If there are others, they’ll come to find these two—so I have to hide somewhere the enemy won’t find me—just until Wulf returns. Then he and I can go over the ship and root out the other traitors, with you and Huw covering our asses.”

“I agree. So, where do we hide you?”

Mel waved him into the main room of Wulf’s quarters. Better not to have this conversation around the enemy just in case they got loose before Wulf returned and all this was brought into the open. She followed Iolyn out and closed the door into the bedroom.