Wrylack had kept a close eye on the Meori the last few days. He’d studied their numbers, their physical weaknesses, and had determined the second ship was no longer with them. There were thirty Meori on board, with only a handful still suffering from injuries. While it was impossible for him to take them all out alone, he’d discovered something that gave him hope things would work out. The ship’s systems were a few years out-of-date, and from what he’d seen of the Meori, they weren’t very technologically advanced. Wrylack had been able to hack into the systems with his neurotransmitters to send a communication to the commanders on Xpashta, which he hoped they would relay to whatever crew was coming for him. He’d given them coordinates, numbers, and anything else he thought might help.

He hadn’t said anything to Shaylee, thinking it was better to keep her in the dark. If the Meori were to question her, she would honestly be able to tell them she didn’t know anything, and it was better that way. He didn’t want to do anything that could put her in danger. Well, more danger than they already faced. He hadn’t missed the way they looked at her, some of their gazes calculating. He had a feeling they were waiting for something, but he didn’t know what. What if Shaylee had been right? It unsettled him that they might take her away from him, and he knew if that happened, he would fight them to the death. What was the point of living if he had to do it without his mate?

There was another thought that concerned him. He ran a check on his systems every morning, and the serum that prevented him from having children had run out. As often as he was intimate with his mate, it was only a matter of time before she conceived, and he really didn’t want to be on this ship when that happened. It was dangerous enough for his mate to be around the Meori, but protecting her while pregnant was not something he looked forward to. He hoped his fellow cyborgs reached them before that time, because as much as he didn’t want to get her pregnant while they were held captive, he knew he couldn’t keep his hands off her.

She’d surrendered to him so sweetly the first time they were together, and had seemed surprised when she enjoyed what happened between them. Discovering that his precious mate had been so ill-used she’d never experienced an orgasm before, Wrylack had done his best to make sure she had several a day. It wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy the experience. Even when he only used his mouth to bring her pleasure, he loved feeling her come apart, the cries that filled their room when she found her release were music to his ears. He wanted to make her happy.

His world only had two other mates, both of them human, and from what he’d heard, both women had wanted to return to their world. Not once had Shaylee asked if he could take her home. She’d told him a little of her time on Earth, and it sounded almost as bad as the slavery she’d endured the past five years. She’d been so young when she was taken, was still young. It hardly seemed fair her life had been so hard. Not that cyborgs had it easy. The Cy-Con program had been brutal, but at least they’d led normal lives up to that point. Shaylee hadn’t known kindness or love in all her life, and it broke his heart. He tried to show her as often as possible how much she meant to him, but he didn’t know if it was enough. There was only so much he could do while they were trapped on this ship.

Wrylack was on his way back to his quarters from the med bay when Vrax intercepted him in the hall with two other Meori. They grabbed onto his arms and slammed him against the wall. Vrax looked pissed, his forked tongue flicking in and out rapidly. Before he could question them, Wrylack heard Shaylee cry out. His head jerked in the direction of their quarters and watched in horror as two more Meori dragged her from the room. They brought her closer, her skin turning red where they gripped her tight. She was terrified, and he struggled against his captors, wanting to comfort his mate.

“You were warned,” Vrax said.

“I didn’t do anything,” Wrylack protested. “I’ve healed your people as you’ve asked.”

Vrax hissed at him. “Then why are there two cyborg ships closing in fast? They could not have found us if you hadn’t disclosed our location. You were told what would happen if you tried to escape.”

Shaylee’s eyes were wide and filling with tears as she stared in horror at Vrax.

“Shaylee,” he called to her. When her gaze focused on him, he gave her a smile. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You think I’m kidding?” Vrax said. He turned to the aliens holding Shaylee. “Take her to the common room and strip her, then gather everyone. The cyborg is going to learn what happens when the Meori are defied.”

A rage built inside Wrylack as Shaylee struggled to break free. He used the ship’s systems to connect to his brother cyborgs, urging them to hurry. When his gaze focused on Vrax again, he knew he had no choice but to fight. He wouldn’t let them kill his mate. He’d held back before, not wanting to endanger her, but with the immediate threat hanging over her head, he had nothing to lose.

Shaylee struggled and slowed them down. Wrylack hoped he could get to her in time. The fate they had planned for her was horrific. While his people could be brutal when necessary, they would never think to defile a female. Vrax didn’t yet realize it, but he’d just sealed his fate.

Vrax gave him a sinister grin, his sharp teeth flashing. “My crew will have fun with your punishment. Every last Meori on board. There will be nothing left when we’re done with her.”

Wrylack looked at his mate and tried to convey to her that everything would be fine, that he would save her. She dug her feet into the carpeting and pulled against her captors, but they merely laughed and dragged her along.

He scanned the Meori who were holding him, noting that the one on the right had a fractured rib. He focused on Vrax, watching the captain, but the Meori’s attention was on Shaylee. Wrylack knew it was now or never. He jerked downward on his right arm, loosening the Meori’s grip, then jammed his elbow right into the fractured rib. While that one was doubled over, he twisted toward the one on his left, sending an uppercut to the alien’s jaw. After two more well-placed blows, one of them cracking the Meori’s sternum, he turned his attention to Vrax.

The captain’s serpent-like eyes had narrowed, and he reached for the ion blaster at his hip. Wrylack had anticipated the move and kicked out at Vrax’s hand. With his metal skeletal system, and the force he’d put behind the kick, the bones in the Meori’s hand had shattered. Vrax let out a scream that halted Shaylee’s captors. Wrylack didn’t tear his gaze away from Vrax, though. Not yet. The captain hissed, his tongue flicking in and out, and Wrylack went for the kill. Forming a fist, he punched straight through the Meori’s stomach, where his heart lay. Wrylack put all of his substantial weight behind the hit, tearing through the soft tissue and ripping the still-beating heart from the captain.

Vrax fell to the floor, a gaping hole in his body that poured blood onto the carpet. Turning back to the two Meori he’d already dropped, he swiftly ended their lives, ensuring they would never come between him and his mate again. The two Meori holding Shaylee dropped her arms and ran. Even if they got the others to aid them, it was too late. The vibrations under his feet told him that the cyborg ships had already docked. It wouldn’t be long before Meori blood soaked the walls and floors of the vessel, and every last one was taken out. Wrylack would settle for nothing less, not after what they’d done to Shaylee and those other two poor human females.

His sweet mate staggered down the hall in his direction, but he held up a hand.

“Don’t touch me until I’ve cleaned up.”

Wrylack turned and felt her fingers tuck into the waistband of his pants. With her trailing behind him, he went to the med bay. He washed his hands and cleaned the blood spatter from his chest and abdomen, while he opened communications with his fellow cyborgs. With the captain dead, the Meori would falter and be easier to take down.

The sound of fighting reached his ears, and Shaylee pressed closer to him. Wrylack dried himself and took her into his arms, holding her against his chest. She looked up at him with wide eyes, and he kissed her gently.

“My people have come for us,” he said. “I don’t want you to get caught in the middle so we’ll wait here.”

“What if the fighting comes this way?” she asked.

“Then I’ll take care of any Meori who pose a threat to you, just like the ones in the corridor.”

She blinked up at him. “I thought you were a medic. That’s like a doctor, a healer.”

“I am.”

She glanced at the hall and back to him. “But you took them out. You killed three of them by yourself when they had you pinned to the wall. You didn’t even have a weapon.”

Wrylack smiled. “I trained alongside the warriors on my world. I may choose to heal people, but I’m able to protect you, Shaylee. I let them take me from my ship because the odds weren’t in my favor. And I’m glad I did because it brought you into my life. But I’m not as helpless as you seem to think.”

She cuddled closer, pressing her cheek against him. Wrylack kept an eye on the med bay doors, ready to defend his mate if necessary. He didn’t try to contact the other cyborgs again, knowing they needed to focus. When he saw Lathim and Zorlok, the tension in his body eased. His friends smiled and studied the female in his arms with curiosity.

“Nice to see you in one piece,” Lathim said. “I’m assuming the bodies in the hall were your doing.”

“Your mate actually let you leave the house?” Wrylack asked.

Lathim chuckled. “Only after I promised to seriously hunt for more human females to bring home with me. She likes talking to Jillian, but I think they want more friends. And we could certainly use more mates.”

Shaylee looked up at him. “What will happen to the other slaves on board?”

Wrylack saw Lathim and Zorlok tense.

“She’s a slave?” Zorlok asked, looking disgusted by the thought. Not that Shaylee disgusted the male, but the thought of her being owned by someone did.

“No. She’s my mate,” Wrylack said.

Lathim looked her over, then nodded. “Where are the other females she mentioned?”

“Lower level,” Shaylee said softly. “There may be some in the common room as well. If they heard the fighting break out, they may have hidden somewhere on the ship.”

The look on Zorlok’s face said he knew exactly why they would be in the common room, and he wasn’t pleased. Wrylack had to agree that the thought of using females the way the Meori had was sickening. Not all of them would be compatible with his kind, if any, but those who were would be a nice addition to Xpashta.

“This ship is secure,” Lathim said. “If you’ll take your female to the Mystic7, we have a room set aside for you. It will be smaller than those on this luxury liner, but I don’t think she wants to stay here. There’s a bit of a mess.”

Which meant the Meori had not only been killed, but it had been a bloody battle. Wrylack couldn’t feel any remorse for them, not after the suffering the females had endured at the Meori’s hands. He knew it was likely any slaves who had been compatible with the Meori would not be possible mates for his people, but they could at least free them.

He lifted Shaylee into his arms.

“Hide your face against me,” he told her.

Shaylee turned her face and closed her eyes, her arms tightening around his neck. Wrylack carried her through the ship, stepping over dead bodies along the way. When they reached the Mystic7, he still held her, not ready to let her go. Those on board looked at the female in his arms with envy. It was no secret the greatest wish of every cyborg was to have a mate. He’d gotten lucky.

“The captain put you in the room next to his,” Tenz said. He slowly reached for Shaylee’s hair, then drew his hand away at the last moment. “Are there others? Like her?”

Shaylee opened her eyes and looked at Tenz. “I didn’t see other humans, except the two they killed.”

Tenz nodded, though he looked sad. Ever since Lathim had claimed Maggie as his mate, every cyborg had wanted a human female of their own. Anyone walking by Lathim’s house could hear Maggie’s cries of passion, and it made them all envious. Now that he’d experienced it firsthand, Wrylack could understand why human females were sought after. Not all females enjoyed the intimacies of the bedroom, and he doubted any felt as incredible as his mate.

He carried Shaylee through the interior of the ship until he reached the corridor where the captain stayed, then opened the door to the room next to Lathim’s. It was tiny, with only room for a bed and a little walking space, but his mate was safe and that was all that mattered. He eased her down onto the bed and smoothed her hair back from her face. Shaylee smiled up at him, and he couldn’t resist tasting her sweet lips.

“You’re free,” he told her. “We are safe with my people, and no one will ever hurt you again.”

“What will happen to the others?” she asked.

“If they are compatible with my people, they will be taken to Xpashta. There are currently only two females on my world. Two mates. You make three. There are hundreds of cyborgs, and they’re lonely.”

“And those who aren’t compatible? Will they be sold?”

His gut tightened. “No. Arrangements will be made for them to return to their people. If they wish to return home, that is. Some may be like you and have nothing on their home world to return to. They will be taken wherever they want to go, and they will be kept safe.”

Shaylee nodded.

“Now, my sweet mate, you’re going to tell me about your children. The male I mentioned before, who has skill at tracking down those who are lost, is likely on this ship. I want to get the information to him as quickly as possible,” Wrylack said. “And I promise that Norkov will not stop until your babies are returned to you.”

Tears gathered in Shaylee’s eyes, and Wrylack caressed her cheek.

“I don’t know the name of my first child’s father. I was passed around so often, it could have been anyone, but my owner was a Mardian by the name of Grunshner. My child would be around three years old now, I think. Like I mentioned before, I don’t really know how much time has passed. The days all blur into one another when you’re a slave.”

Wrylack knelt in front of her, using his neurotransmitters to reach out to Norkov. As he’d suspected, the male was on board, and Wrylack relayed the information. He felt a spark of Norkov’s fury over what had been done to Shaylee and her missing children, and knew that he’d made the right decision to ask the cyborg for help.

“My second child’s father was a Vrotu by the name of Kinlor. He wasn’t overly cruel to me, but he hadn’t been pleased I was pregnant. I don’t know what he did with my baby.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “For all I know, my children are dead now or sold into slavery.”

“If they live, Norkov will find them,” Wrylack promised her. “He won’t stop until he either brings them home or finds out what happened to them. If they’ve been harmed, he will seek vengeance for them.”

“Do you really think there’s any chance they’re still alive?” she asked. “What if they don’t want to be with me? For all I know, they’re content where they are.”

“Your second child will know who you are without any doubt,” Wrylack said. “The Vrotu are very aware of things, even in the womb. They have a sense of knowing that can be downright eerie at times. Your child will remember your voice, and if they ever saw you, even for a moment as an infant, they will remember your face.”

“Really?” she asked, hope shining in her eyes.

“Really.”

She smiled softly, and Wrylack relayed the rest of the information to Norkov. He knew that if her children weren’t found, or had been killed, it would devastate his mate. It might have been wrong of him to give her hope, but he wanted to reunite mother and children, and give her a life she’d never thought she’d have. He didn’t care that the babies weren’t his by blood. They belonged to his mate, and that made them part of his family. And Wrylack was going to make damn sure his family was complete -- his mate happy and his kids safe.