Prime Obsession (27 page)

And stop staring holes into Ard and Commander Petrovich.”

“Valerian whiskey. Make it a double. Neat.” Huw turned toward Wulf. “Does that icy bitch have to be on the
Galanti
?”

Wulf turned his head toward his
gemate.
“
Lubha,
would you like to answer our brother?”

“Gladly.” Melina turned toward Huw. “Yes.”

Iolyn laughed as Huw muttered “
ansu bhau
” under his breath. “Guess you’ll have to learn to keep it all business around Nadia.”

“Shut up, Iolyn. And since when do you call her Nadia?” Huw huffed.

“Since she asked me to,” his brother replied.

“Dammit, she told me to address her as Commander Petrovich,” Huw almost whined.

“Was that before or after you tried to interfere in her conversation with Ard?” Melina asked.

“After,” mumbled Huw. “I was just trying to mediate. Ard was treating her like shit.”

“Nadia is more than capable of handling any man on the
Galanti,
” Melina assured him. “Try treating her as an equal.”

The look of horror on Huw’s face caused Wulf to roar with laughter. Once he gained control, he said, “Seems I recall you telling me to treat Melina as an equal a time or two.

You need to practice what you preach, brother.”

“Shut up, brother.” Huw growled. “No one likes a know-it-all.” Iolyn and Melina laughed at Wulf’s angry scowl and Huw’s petulant frown.

“Okay, boys,” Melina said. “We’re here to explain that both of your roles will not change on the
Galanti
. Huw, you will still be chief engineer, and Iolyn, you will still be the chief IT engineer. Wulf and I feel better knowing you will have our backs.” Wulf added, “Eventually, you will both captain your own ships—if you wish. You are on the same promotion track in the Alliance Military as you would have been in the Prime.”

“Can we choose to remain in the Cejuru System in the Prime Military, if we wish?” Iolyn asked.

“Of course, Iolyn,” Melina replied. “We would love for you to stay in the Gold Squadron, but the choice will be yours when the time comes.” The two brothers’ tension levels lowered immeasurably after Wulf and Melina’s pronouncement. Although, Wulf noted, Huw still sent dagger-like glares toward the booth that Ard and Nadia shared with Captain Nowicki and Commander A’Tem, the chief engineer on the
Leonidas
.

After their drinks were served, Wulf’s table ordered their meals.

With a companionable silence settling over the table as they enjoyed their pre-dinner drinks, Wulf hated to broach the topic that concerned him the most. It was the two-ton elephant at the table and could not be ignored.

“We need to root out the leaders of the rebels and put an end to their attempts to kill us and sabotage the pact with the Alliance,” Wulf said. “Melina and I want to go on the offense.”

“And we need to do it soon,” Melina added. “Too much time has been invested in negotiating the agreement between the Prime and the Alliance to allow some malcontents to destroy it”

“Why soon?” Huw asked.

“Calls have been made to Galactic Alliance genetic research labs to send some of their scientists to Cejuru Prime to work alongside Prime researchers. The goal is to determine why the Prime women who are left can no longer carry babies to term,” Melina said.

“That’s important research,” Iolyn agreed. “But the fanatics have concentrated their attacks on us, not the research into the infertility of our women. The purists have just as much to gain by that research as anybody. I don’t see them disrupting it.”

“If that was all the research entailed, you would be correct,” Wulf said. “But the research goes beyond Prime women’s infertility and inability to carry to term. The teams will also be looking at the genetic drift issues among the humanoid species.”

“Meaning?” Huw asked, his gaze drifting toward Nadia across the room.

Melina was correct. His brother was attracted to the Terran Nadia. But there was a lot of conflict and confusion in his brother’s emotions concerning that attraction.

“Let him bring the topic to you, Wulf. Huw is torn about this lust he has for Nadia.”

“I hate to see him so upset.”

“We’ll keep an eye on the situation. Don’t worry. My gut tells me she is attracted to
him also. She is glancing over here as much as he is over there.”
Wulf sought out the table with Nadia. Melina was correct. The attractive blonde’s gaze returned again and again to their table. He smiled. His
gemate
read people far better than he ever had—and he was doing better since he bonded with her.

“You do realize, Huw, that there could be problems with non-Prime women conceiving with Prime males?” Melina said. “The research is important. The Prime will not survive without that.”

Huw stared at his hands before glancing at the Nadia as she laughed at something Nowicki said. “I understand that.”

“As does the majority of the Prime population,” Wulf said. “Both governing councils are concerned that whoever is behind the fanatics would attack these scientists. We can’t afford to allow terrorists and their backers to halt the research needed into hominid branch differences that need to be overcome in order for non-Prime females to bear Prime males’ children.”

“So, will the Alliance send the military to protect these researchers?” Huw asked.

“Yes. In fact, our first mission will be to escort the top Alliance geneticist, Dr.

Brianna Martin, to the labs on Cejuru Prime,” Melina said. “She is an expert on genetic drift and was the one who isolated the gene that kept Volusians from interbreeding with Terrans. Her gene-splicing technique solved that issue.”

“Once the scientists are on Cejuru, our part of the job will be done,” Wulf said. “The Prime military and planet law enforcement will protect them.”

“But if we can stop the power and money behind the fanatics now,” Melina said, “we could be a long way to solving the whole purist problem and eliminating the main danger to the scientists.”

“So, how will we take the battle to the terrorists?” Huw asked, taking a sip of his whiskey and tearing his gaze away from the foursome across the room.

“We’re going to show ourselves on Cejuru Prime,” Wulf said. “Make ourselves targets—lure them to attack, then allow some of them to escape our net to lead us back to their leaders.”

Iolyn fisted his hand around his drink. “What if we go to all this trouble and just find a bunch of crazy people?”

“That won’t happen,” Melina assured him.

“The theory is to cut off the primary funders and planners. Without organized leadership, the fanatics will become toothless.” Wulf pulled Melina closer against his side. His voice was grim. “There is more than Prime nationalism and pride in pure bloodlines behind these attacks. Someone with a lot of cunning and intelligence has another agenda. And our line of the family is the target—someone in our family is funding and directing the attacks.”

“You still suspect someone in the family,” Huw said, his brow raised. “Why now?

Why incite the fanatics now? There has always been some crazy purist faction skulking around the edges of Prime politics.”

“Because before I found my
gemate,
the power would’ve died with me. Melina’s existence means there will be a next generation of Prime leaders,” Wulf said, a muscle clenching in his jaw as he refused to let go of the anger that bubbled under his calm facade.

It was hard to keep the anger at bay. The day Melina was found to be his bond mate was the day she came under an ever-present, ever-increasing danger.

He took a breath to calm himself and continued, “While we are no longer hailed as Kings and Princes, we have a great amount of power and the wealth that goes with it. But the lesser Caradocs, what Melina calls the shirt-tail relatives, don’t. Someone amongst those relatives wants us dead and out of power. After all most of the attacks so far, with the true crazies like Solar and Prolow being the exception, have been—”

“—assorted cousins like Donte, Regin, and Uly,” finished Iolyn, a grim expression on his face.

“
Ansu bhau
,” Huw muttered, then gulped his liquor down in one swallow. “Does Father know?”

“He reached the same conclusions we just presented,” Wulf said. “Mother and Father plan to have all the Caradocs to a reception at the house the day after tomorrow. Melina and I will leave for the family residence later tonight, arriving under the cover of darkness. I want Melina to get the lay of the land before we engage the enemy.”

“We’ll come with you,” Huw said.

Iolyn nodded. “You’ll need us to cover your backs.”

“We—all four of us—will cover each other’s backs,” Melina said.

“That’s my little warrior.” Wulf pulled her into his side and kissed her cheek. She shivered. But he knew it was not from excitement or anticipation of later lovemaking, but apprehension of the battle to come. He shared her fears, but he didn’t plan on losing. He had too much to live for.

Next morning, Caradoc family home, Cejuru Prime

Mel stood on the balcony off Wulf’s and her apartment in the Caradoc primary residence, gazing at the ethereal scenery surrounding the ancestral property. The late night arrival had not allowed her a view of her new home planet before now.

Located twenty kilometers outside of the capital city, the ancestral home was built into the summit of a high mountain, in a range that was made up of many more high peaks that seemed to go on forever. Lush greenery covered the sides of the peaks, and waterfalls gushed everywhere she looked. The waterfalls flowed into a river that eventually meandered through the mountain valleys and into the capital city where it divided the city into two before flowing to the world ocean that covered half the planet.

Just as on Earth, the Prime species evolved from creatures that had crawled from the ocean.

Besides having an abundance of life-giving water, the planet was extremely temperate, being in the middle of the habitable zone in the Cejuru system. With no tilt to its axis, only the poles froze. Adding to the ideal conditions was the planet’s heated core; even when night settled over the part of the planet rotated away from the sun, the air and water temperatures remained mild.

Later, Mel decided she would dress and visit the expansive gardens that stepped down the mountainside of the Caradoc property. She loved flowers, but had never had the opportunity to have a garden. She would ask Wulf’s mother to teach her so that she could establish some gardens on the property Wulf owned and where he planned to build them a home for when they were dirtside.

Wulf. A smile crossed her lips at the thought of her
gemat
. A delicate shiver slid down her spine as she recalled his lovemaking on their first night on the planet. As always, the sex had been spectacular. Wulf had taken her to the peak again and again. But somehow, here on this planet, their union had transcended the mere physical and taken them to a place where their minds and souls had become one.

When she’d asked him why their lovemaking seemed more profound than before, he’d replied, “The souls of all the bonded pairs that have gone before have given their approval to our bonding. Their combined spiritual energy permeates the planet and amplifies the true bond.”

For the first time in her life, she believed there might be something more beyond the mortal world. The thought gave her peace. Wulf and she were bonded now and forever—

she would never be alone again.

Melina turned her head slightly and looked over her shoulder through the glass doors leading to their bedroom. A naked Wulf lay sprawled across the huge bed that seemed to take up about a third of the bedroom. His large muscled frame looked scrumptious, delineated as it was by the sunlight filtering into the room.

She grinned as she turned to head back inside. Wake-up sex sounded good. She found herself quite hungry all of a sudden.

In the periphery of her vision a light flashed. She didn’t know what warned her first, the light or the sense of hatred that flowed from beyond the house grounds. Whichever it was, she dove to the tiled terrace floor. Milliseconds later a laser blast blew out the glass in the door where her head would’ve been.

“Melina!” Wulf’s angry roar came to her from the bedroom.

“I’m all right!” she yelled back. “Stay there. I’ll come to you.” She belly-crawled along the stone floor then opened the unbroken door and shimmied across the threshold into the relative safety of the bedroom. Wulf was there; he pulled her away from the opening and behind the safety of the thick stone walls.

Urgent hands stroked every inch of her body searching for any laser wounds.

“I’m fine. Not hit at all,” she reassured him.

Two more laser blasts shattered a mirror across the room from the opening to the terrace and then strafed the bed, setting the bedding on fire.

“You’re bleeding, Melina
lubha
,” he rasped as a gentle finger swept over her forehead. He traced a path down her face then onto her body, from cut to cut. His angrier-than-hell-gonna-kill-someone growl, the one that set her nerves on edge, increased with each cut visited.

“Probably from the glass door,” she said as she grabbed his hand, stopping its bloody game of connect the dots. She brought his hand to her lips, kissing it. “Sssh,
gemat
. I’m fine. The laser never touched me.”

She paused, then grinned. “Guess the bad guys know we’re home, huh?” Wulf glared at her. “It’s not funny. You could’ve been killed!” At least he stopped growling. Her headache was thankful for the respite.

“Well, I wasn’t.” She shuddered and he pulled her closer as if he could absorb her into his body to protect her. “Guess that means no walking through the gardens with your mother later.” And, dammit, she wanted to walk through the gardens. Had been looking forward to it. “This is getting ridiculous. I refuse to let these bastards imprison me in your home.”

“We’ll get them,
luhba
,” he whispered against her temple. “You’ll get to see the gardens if I have to have an air cordon put around the property.” Seconds passed and there was no more laser fire. Still they stayed on the floor, holding onto each other.

A loud pounding on the door to the hall had her starting within Wulf’s arms.

“It’s father and my brothers,” he said, running a soothing hand down her back.

“I know.” She pushed out of his arms. “Get dressed. I’ll let them in. I have a good idea of the trajectory of the shot. I can show them where the shots originated.”

“They’ve seen me naked before,
lubha
.” he smiled.

“Not in my presence they haven’t,” she hissed, swatting him on his so-fine naked butt. Damn, she’d had plans for that ass. There was always later. “Get some pants on, at the very least.”

“Only for you,
gemate lubha
.” He leaned down and kissed her lips before strolling toward the walk-in closet.
“And it was your plans for my so-fine-naked ass that
awakened me right before the shots hit.”

“We’ll make time for that—later.”

“It’s always later with you,
gemate
.”

“Smart ass!” she muttered as she walked to open the main door into their suite of rooms.

Iolyn, Huw, and Wulf’s father stood in the hall, dressed in casual attire and bearing weapons. Behind them was a small squad of armed soldiers.

Wulf’s father looked her over from head to foot then came back to her head. “You are bleeding, daughter. Huw, get the medic from the guard station.” Huw ran to the stairs leading to the first floor. Concern bled off of him in waves. She must really look bad.

“You are bleeding from at least two dozen places,
lubha
. Of course Huw would be
concerned.”

Ignoring Wulf’s voice in her head, she addressed his father. “I’m fine, Ilar. I managed to hit the ground right before they fired.” She gestured at the cuts. “These are from the broken door. It was closed when the shot hit.” Wulf’s father gestured to the soldiers. “Two of you go and check the balcony. The rest of you check the grounds. I want to know where the shot came from. Also, secure the area around the house just in case the sniper fire was a ploy to test our security.” The soldiers turned to do as their leader bid after one awe-struck glance at her.

Mel frowned and hissed at the pain. The cut on her forehead was deeper than she’d thought. “Why did they look at me like that?” Melina asked Iolyn. “All I did was duck.” Iolyn smiled. “Sister mine, you don’t know how unusual you are. The closest shooting position has to be on the next mountain peak over ten kilos away. The fact that you somehow saw or sensed the shooter from that distance is a miracle.”

“Iolyn, I saw a flash of light from the corner of my eye,” she said. “Anyone could have done that.”

“No, my dearest daughter,” Ilar said with a smile, “not anyone. What you saw was the shot, and you simultaneously sensed the shooter’s emotion and reacted to save yourself. All that had to happen in a split second. You should be dead—but you aren’t.

Thus, their awe.”

“She is lucky to be alive,” Wulf said as he surrounded her with his arms, pulling her back against his warm, naked chest.

At least he had pants on. She took a deep breath and almost sighed at the relief his scent and touch provided. Much better than any pain medication.

“I sensed the shooter’s hatred at the same instant she did. I was up and running for her as she threw herself to the ground.” Wulf gulped and shuddered against her. “I would’ve been too late to save her. A millisecond later and she would’ve taken a full blast to the head.”

No one said anything for a few seconds. The sound of more guards entering the room broke the silent tableaux.

“Premier, sir.” One of the original responding soldiers came to stand in front of them. “The shot had to have come from your honorable sister’s home. What are your orders?”

Ilar shook his head. “From Beria’s house? I don’t believe that.” Mel turned to the soldier. “Lieutenant, why don’t I show you exactly where I saw the flash? I am sure that Premier Caradoc would want us to be doubly sure.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The lieutenant saluted and gestured for Wulf and her to precede him to the balcony.

Wulf placed her at his side with his arm around her waist and walked with her outside.

Once there, she used the sight on the lieutenant’s laser rifle to find the spot where she’d seen the assassin’s laser flash.

“There, about ten kilos away and about one third of the way up that mountain.” Mel pointed the position out to the guard who nodded. Wulf’s arm tightened on her waist. His angry growl came back to set her nerves on edge once more; his irate rumbling also confirmed that it was the house of his aunt.

“Wulf, please. That growl makes me want to kill something.”

“I do want to kill someone. Specifically, the person who tried to murder you.”
The growling got louder and harsher. Everyone on the balcony tensed as if waiting for the inevitable explosion.

“Well, you can’t—right now. So knock it off.”

He ceased the growling, then massaged her waist as he leaned over and whispered against her ear, “Sorry.”

“Amazing. You are communicating by telepathy,” Ilar said, his eyes glowing with some strong emotion. “You are true battle-mates. I didn’t quite believe it when my old friend Tor told me. This family is truly blessed, my daughter.” Blushing, Mel inclined her head. “Thank you, Ilar.”

To redirect the conversation away from her and her battle-mate status, which never ceased to embarrass her, she cleared her throat and turned to the guard. “Is that where you projected the shot’s origination?” She pointed to the spot once more.

“Yes, Captain Melina.” The guard’s face was sober. “That is the home of Beria Caradoc-Nabann, the sister to your esteemed father by marriage and the aunt of your
gemat
.”

“Well, hell,” whispered Mel. She turned worried eyes toward Wulf, then Iolyn and finally to her new father-in-law. “That’s not good. We suspected a family member, but not someone that close in blood.”

“We’ll discuss this later,
gemate lubha
,” whispered Wulf. “I want your wounds treated first and you to get a bolus for the pain. And, don’t deny that you are in pain, my love. I feel it.”

Mel nodded. “Can we get something to eat, do you think? My head hurts, but I suspect it is more from hunger than pain.”

Wulf hugged her tightly. Kissing the top of her head, he spoke over it to his brother and father, “We’ll get Melina’s cuts seen to and then get dressed and meet you in the family breakfast room.”

Ilar came over to them and kissed Mel’s cheek. “I’m sorry your homecoming has been filled with this strife. It is a sad welcome home for you.” She smiled at Ilar. “We’ll get through this—as a family.”

“Definitely as a family,” Ilar agreed, a smile on his face. He turned to leave, several of the soldiers following him.

Iolyn patted Mel’s shoulder before he turned to leave also.

“Iolyn?” Wulf called. His brother halted, a quizzical look on his face. “Get Tor Maren. He also needs to be in on this family meeting.” Iolyn nodded, then shut the door behind him.

“Come,
lubha
. Let’s get you cleaned up so the medic can tend the wounds more easily.”

Mel nodded. “Maybe we can take a shower together? Conserve some water? Multi-tasking is always good, right?”

Wulf’s lips attempted to curve into a smile, but failed. “Whatever you wish, my love.

I don’t want to miss a single second with you. Life is … too short. I could’ve—”

“—but you didn’t lose me. I’m fine. Right here in your arms,” she reassured him, kissing his
gemat
marking, stroking it with her tongue until it glowed. “Let’s celebrate life—and save some water at the same time.”

“Yes, let’s,” he rasped as he took her lips with so much passion that Mel felt as if she burned from the inside out. Her
gemate
marking pulsed in time with his heartbeat. Wulf’s love for her and hers for him was worth fighting for. No one would take this from her. No one.

Pulling her lips from his, she twisted from his arms and pulled him along to the bathroom and the giant shower. For now they’d reaffirm their bond—later would be soon enough to make plans to eradicate the threat to their future.