Prime Obsession (17 page)

Speaking in low tones, she said, “I’ll hide in the maintenance tunnels. Preferably between the laser trap and the poison gas trap near the engine room entrance. Those are the two deadliest traps on board. No one would attempt to get to me through them. Wulf can come get me when he returns.”

“I can call Wulf back now,” Iolyn offered.

“No, if you use open communications, someone could monitor. We want any other rebels to think I am still locked in this room.” Mel pinned him with a stern look. “
And
you have to go about your business as usual.”

“Won’t they wonder why I’m not guarding you?”

“Did anyone know about that order other than Wulf and you?”

“No, only Huw, and he’s with Wulf.”

“Then the crew will think nothing of seeing you out and about doing whatever you normally do. The door will be locked, and the area around Wulf’s quarters will be off-limits per his previous orders.” Mel frowned. “You’ll need to watch your back, too. Ullyn and Prolow would’ve killed all of you that first time I boarded the
Galanti.
”

“I’m going into the tunnels with you.” Iloyn held up a hand as she opened her mouth to protest. “No, Wulf would kill me if I left you alone. And any other traitors will just …

well, they’ll just have to wonder where we and their two murderous friends are.”

“That’ll drive them nuts.” Mel looked longingly at the closed door and thought of the now destroyed, comfortable-looking bed. “Can we find something comfortable to sit on?

That tunnel is cold and hard. Plus, some food and drink would be nice. I’m starved.” Iolyn smiled. “I can arrange that. We can enter the tunnel from Wulf’s closet. It is his emergency exit. Wait here, I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

“Be careful. I’ll contact Wulf—light a fire under him. Maybe we won’t have to be in the tunnels any longer than it takes for him to get from the planet’s surface to the ship.”

“How are you contacting him?”

“How do you think?” She smiled and raised a brow at him.

He stared at her with open-mouthed awe. “Does the battle-mate connection work that far apart?”

“It does. I sensed him as he approached Obam IV. I suspect that as long as we’re in the same star system…” She shrugged. “Of course, he was in a rage and just pouring emotion into the atmosphere. But since I’m stressed and really, really want him here, I think I can manage it.”

Iolyn was speechless. His mouth moved and his eyes were moist with the strength of his emotion.

“It’s okay, Iolyn. I know that I’m something out of the current Prime milieu. You’ll get used to me.”

Iolyn came to Mel and pulled her into his body and hugged her. “You are a miracle, dear sister. Thank you for staying safe so my brother could find you.” Embarrassed by his emotional response, Mel shoved him. “Go. Find me some food and something to drink. I’d kill for a soft drink. I’ll hold down the fort.” Iolyn nodded, then left, locking the door to the outer hall behind him.

As Mel sought to touch Wulf’s mind, she prowled the outer room of his quarters.

Like the bedroom, its decor was uninspired. It had basic, utilitarian furniture: one couch, two chairs and a low table. Everything was black fabric-covered with silver metal trims and accents. A dark wood—or maybe it was an ebony stone of some sort—bar with various liquors on a mirrored shelf was featured in the corner of the room. In the other corner of the room stood a shelving unit with some books and trophies from various sports she knew were Prime in origin but had never seen played.

Maybe she could do better in decorating than Wulf; how hard could it be? Gods, was she thinking about getting all domestic and nesting? She shook her head. Her crew would never believe it. She was so undomestic she had to hire a professional shopper to buy her off-duty clothing. And cooking? Forget it. She used to help her mother make Greek food, but she mostly chopped and blended. Wulf wasn’t getting much of a mate.

Skirting the bar, which, she found, was made of an ebony-colored, striated stone that gave the impression of wood grain, she found a small cold unit and opened it.
Eureka
.

Juice. She pulled out a bottle of something that looked like orange juice and opened it.

Taking a whiff, she found it to be exactly what it looked like. She drank it down in three gulps.

The sugar surge raced through her body almost as soon as the juice hit her stomach.

A cold, masculine-tinged rage hitting her in the center of the same organ followed quickly on the heels of the sugar high. She’d gotten through to her
gemat.
To say he wasn’t happy was more than an understatement.

“Wulf? What’s wrong?”

“Melina? You should be asleep.”

“Don’t equivocate. I’m awake, and feel your rage. What’s going on?”

“We found the bodies of the scientists.”

“They were dead, Wulf. I checked. I would never have…”

“No,
lubha
, you wouldn’t have left anyone alive to be butchered. The animals
desecrated the bodies, that’s all. It made me furious. I am sorry my rage awakened you
from your healing.”

“You didn’t.”

“I didn’t what, love?”

“You didn’t awaken me. The rebels coming to kill me awakened me.”
Wulf’s roar of rage swept through her mind like the shock wave of an ionic blast.

Maybe she should have worked her way into the explanation instead of just dumping it on him. He wasn’t taking it well at all.

“Wulf. Darling.”
Darling? Wow, that had slipped out so easily. She blamed the snarling rage on her behalf. It demonstrated his love for her and made her hot. No one had ever loved her—or cared about her well-being—as completely as Wulf.
“I’m fine.

Iolyn and I took them out. Calm down,
gemat
. You’re giving me a headache.”
She repeated her words and endearments until the roaring in her head settled to a low, rumbly growl. Damn, but she liked his growls.

Iolyn entered the room with two packs. He raised an eyebrow, questioning if she was ready. She held up one finger. He nodded and entered the bedroom, presumably to open the secret entrance into the tunnels.

“Melina, you are truly fine?”

“You can tell. Touch my mind, and through it, my body.”
Soft strokes feathered over her. She shivered at the gentle, loving touches. She could’ve sworn his relieved sigh rustled her hair.

“I’m coming back to the ship. Stay safe.”

She caressed his jaw in her mind and knew he felt her when his low, sexy groan tickled her consciousness.
“Iolyn and I will camp out in the maintenance tunnels near the
engine room where you first met me. We’ll set the traps.”
She sent him images of her and Iolyn resting on camp bedding and pigging out on junk food.

Wulf’s laughter tickled her mind.
“I love you,
gemate lubha
. I’ll be there soon, and
we will seek out any others who might harm you.”

“That’s the plan, my love.”

Iolyn entered the outer room. “You done yet?”

“Yes. Wulf is coming. He knows where to find us.”

They entered the bedroom. Iolyn held a finger up to his lips, signaling her to be quiet. Mel noted that Iolyn had moved both the rebels to the bed, covering them with the remnants of the bedspread. He’d also blindfolded them.

Entering the closet, they shut the door. “You can set the traps after we get between them, can’t you?” she whispered.

Iolyn held up a small computer pad. “This will do the job. And I’m using a one-time set of codes. Only Wulf’s override codes can shut the traps off.”

“Good. Let’s go picnic. I’d like to catch a quick nap before Wulf walks me all over this ship, seeking out any other traitors.”

Iolyn laughed. “I’m betting he has other plans before you do that.”

“What could be more important than finding any other traitors?” Iolyn just winked and said, “Think about it.”

Mel’s burning cheeks were her only answer as Iolyn boosted her up and into the tunnel access.

Wulf, along with Huw, entered his quarters immediately after making sure the landing party secured the bodies of Melina’s parents and the scientists in an empty shuttle bay. The few Antarean prisoners taken were escorted by ship security to the containment cells on the lowest deck. He would interrogate them personally later, much later. Let the
apayebote
stew for a while.

Eventually, the Prime would turn the Antarean prisoners over to the Alliance for justice, since that was the way things were to be done under the new treaty. The captured Antareans would never see the light of day again—they had attacked and killed innocent Alliance civilians. Even the more liberal Alliance didn’t allow murderous raiders to escape justice. It was one thing the Prime could truly admire about the Alliance: Justice was swift and met the crime.

Wulf stalked through the outer room to his bedroom. Even though he knew Melina had gone to ground with his brother in the tunnels, a sudden stabbing of fear pierced his subconscious, causing him to reach out to her, to check that she was safe. He touched her mind gently. She was safe. He drew in one calming breath and let it go.

He’d be with her soon, but first he had to deal with the two who would have hurt her.

He glared at the two lumps lying on his disheveled bed; they moved like two she-cats in a bag.

“Want me to see who they are?” Huw asked, a fierce frown on his face.

Wulf nodded, his jaw clenched from a combination of anger and disgust. No matter who they turned out to be, they were related to some of the most prominent families on Cejuru Prime. Disappointment tasted bitter in his mouth as he let out a low growl. This time the emotion was aimed at himself. He’d hand-picked this crew, wanting only a safe, secure crew surrounding his
gemate
warrior. He’d failed her.

Huw pulled the shredded coverlet off the two men and then turned them over.

Pulling off the blindfolds, his brother left the gags. Time for talk would come later. Right now, he just wanted to see who’d betrayed him, betrayed his mate. Huw’s gasp of shock echoed his own. Ensign Donte Caradoc, the son of his father’s cousin Darga, and Engineer’s Mate Regin Twiller, the husband of his cousin Mara, lay blinking against the brightness. Stun burns on their torsos bore witness as to how Iolyn and Melina had subdued them.

A flash of murderous rage burned away his bitter disappointment.

Turning to Huw, he found his brother was as angry as he. “Throw them in the containment unit.”

“With the Antarean prisoners?”

The bodies on the bed moved more erratically at Huw’s words, muffled cries escaped around the confines of the gags.

“Yes.” Wulf turned away from the obviously terrified traitors. “I’m going to retrieve my
gemate.
I want them out of here, away from her.” He walked toward his closet and the hidden escape tunnel. “Destroy the bedding and have the bed made up freshly. I don’t want anything that touched those two touching Melina.”

“Wulf,” Huw called out.

Wulf paused at the closet entrance and turned. “What? Weren’t my instructions clear, brother?”

“Putting them in with the Antareans might not leave them in a condition to tell us anything about who sent them—and about any others that might be on the ship.” Huw paused. “I suggest moving them across the corridor to my quarters, then Iolyn can help me guard them until you are ready to interrogate them.” Wulf muttered every Prime swear word he knew. He’d let his anger and guilt color his order. Huw was correct. There could be other rebels on board. As much as he would like to kill these two—and putting them in with the Antareans would be a death sentence—he needed to know more about what they’d intended. Melina’s future safety—

and that of his family—might turn on the knowledge he could gain from these two, and any others that might be on board. He couldn’t let his emotional response to their perfidy rule his actions now.

He nodded. “You are correct, Huw. Thank you. I let anger rule my tongue. I’ll send Iolyn to you as soon as I have Melina in my arms.”

Huw smiled. “I felt your rage, and share it, but knew you would regret it later. Go, get Melina. I’ll remove all traces of these two from the room.” Wulf’s smile grew shark-like. “As for these two, let them think about the fact that if they don’t answer my questions, and fully, they
will
be put in with the Antareans.” Wulf entered the tunnel through the hidden entrance. He could have entered through the engine room, but the fewer who knew where Melina had hidden, the better. Who knew when she might have to resort to the hiding place again?

Quickly covering the six levels between his quarters and the engine room maintenance tunnel, he stopped just before the first engaged trap. He pulled out his data link and connected to the ship’s main computer, then entered his override codes.

Scrolling to the screen containing the engine room tunnel traps, he shut them down.

Wulf skirted the corner and hurried through the ten-foot-long trap. Iolyn and his
gemate
were another ten feet past the trap. His brother sat on the floor with a blanket-wrapped Melina on his lap. Her head nestled on Iolyn’s shoulder. She was asleep, lines of exhaustion and lingering pain creased her forehead even in her rest.

Wulf fought the possessive jealousy that threatened to overtake him. This was Iolyn—and he trusted him.

Spotting him, Iolyn held a finger to his lips. His gold eyes glimmered with relief at Wulf’s appearance. “She just fell asleep. One moment she was telling me stories of a pirate raid on Centauri Sigma that she and her squadron had cut short and then she was out.” His brother smiled down at Melina. “She was worried about you. She couldn’t touch your mind once we were in the tunnels.”

“I’ve taken a page out of her book and learned how to shield.” Wulf bent down and lifted her from Iolyn’s arms. All the tension that had built since she’d told him of the danger vanished at the feel of her within his arms. He inhaled deeply, calming himself with her unique scent now underlaid with his from his shirt and his shower gel. “I didn’t want her to touch my mind and see her parent’s bodies. The bastards … well, you know what Antareans do.”

Grimacing, Iolyn stood up and stretched. “So does she, brother. She’s seen it firsthand. You can’t protect her from everything.”

“I can try.” Wulf rubbed his cheek against Melina’s silky black hair. She’d left it down; the silken tresses lay in waves over his arm. She mumbled in her sleep then turned her face into his chest and nuzzled him. A sigh followed by a slight upturn to her lush pink lips pleased Wulf. Even in her sleep, she recognized him.

“I’ll head back to my quarters through the tunnels. Huw has moved the two rebels to his quarters. You and he will stand guard until I can question them.” The two paced side-by-side through the tunnel.

“They won’t talk, Wulf. They know they are dead men.” Iolyn’s glance swept over Melina. “She’ll want to help question them. You know she has abilities that will help determine if they lie or not.”

“I don’t want her near them.” His mouth tightened.

“She’ll insist. After what Huw and I have told you—and now that you’ve seen her in action first hand—you should realize that she can handle it. She isn’t afraid of Donte and Regin. She knew before they even broke in that danger approached. She put together the plan to stop them. She’d not thank you for cosseting her.” Wulf sighed and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. “You’re right… I know you are. I seem to be letting my fears for her rule my thoughts.”

“She won’t thank you for that, either,” Iolyn said with a chuckle, “In fact, she’d probably hand you your ass if you suggested she needed protection from the likes of those two.”

Wulf snorted back a laugh. “Yes, I’m sure she would try.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead and smiled when she wrinkled her delicately upturned nose in response.

“She
will
be an asset in the questioning of Donte and Regin. I will ask her if she wishes to help.”

Iolyn led the way up the ladder that led to the next level. “By the way, she thought you might want to parade her by the whole crew to seek out any other traitors.”

“That’s not how I wanted her to meet her new crew, but it can’t be avoided now, not after Donte’s and Regin’s betrayal.” He handed Melina up to Iolyn then climbed the ladder and immediately took her back into his arms. “I want to bring some hand-picked members of her squadron onto the
Galant
i. She’ll feel better having people she knows around her—and it will make it truly an Alliance command ship.” It would also make him more comfortable, knowing that she had loyal allies he could trust with her safety when he could not be at her side.

“That’s a good idea, brother. Melina told me that the only Prime she trusts are you, me, Huw and Maren.”

Wulf’s mouth tightened, angry that his mate should feel unsafe among his, and her, people. “She is correct, but for one—she can trust Father. As for the rest of the family and the rest of the population of the home planet, I’m afraid we must approach it on a case-by-case basis.”

“Father will be devastated at this treachery.”

“No, Iolyn. He will be coldly furious—as I am.”