* * *
Alec roused to the sound of two deep-timbred males arguing. Unfortunately, he recognized both of their voices.
“I should flay you for what you have done!” Gesh snarled, his words echoing. They must be in a tunnel, or some kind of cave. “That was not the plan we agreed on! Those castle guards should have never seen our faces!”
“So they saw us!” Roni snapped back. “At least we are still alive.”
“Not for long!” Gesh shouted. “Because now we are fugitives! Traitors who are working with the enemy! The king is going to hunt us down. Hunt us all down and kill us! Because you could not follow the gods-damned plan!”
“I had my reasons,” Roni growled.
“Your reasons were not good enough!”
Alec grimaced and peeled his eyes open just as Roni stepped forward angrily. “So it is okay to champion your meesha, but I cannot champion my bitch?”
“I’m not your bitch!” Chet barked from somewhere nearby.
Alec groaned and sat up straighter, then looked to his right. Specifically, at the person he’d been propped against. Sad brown eyes met his, dimly lit by nearby torches.
“Noah,” he rasped.
“Hey, Cap,” the scientist murmured. God, what was wrong with him? He sounded like someone died.
Alec winced and palmed his cheek—why’d his face hurt so bad?—then gingerly turned and checked out their surroundings. It was dark. Really dark. But from the light of the torches, he could tell that he’d been right to guess a cave. No tunnel could accommodate all the silhouetted bodies standing around.
Memories began returning.
Mannix assaulting Chet… Gesh’s pack showing up… Then others, too. Another species. Then the rescue team…
Alec frowned and squeezed his eyes shut. More memories filtered back.
All three factions fighting together against a throng of castle guards… People shouting… Bodies down… Gesh and his pack mates grabbing him and Noah…
His pulse spiked anxiously.
He hadn’t wanted to leave… Had been fighting to stay… Naydo’s apologetic face… Noah shouting, then—
Alec’s eyes snapped wide.
That asshole had knocked him out.
So he could take Alec without struggle.
From Zercy’s castle.
Oh, God.
Alec scrambled to his feet, heart suddenly racing, as Gesh and Roni continued to bicker. “Shut the fuck up!”
The two Kríe stopped, looking his way in stunned silence.
“Where are we? What have you done?” Alec restlessly looked around.
Zaden stepped from the darkness. “You’re awake.”
“Zaden,” Alec exhaled. “What’s going on? Where fucking are we?”
“Beneath the mountain,” his friend explained, his voice subdued just like Noah’s. “We escaped the battle using the tunnels Chet and I found. The guards don’t know about ‘em or else they’d’ve found us by now. We stopped for a sec to pick up the supplies Chet stashed but are getting ready to move again. We’re tight on time.”
Naydo loped over and peered down at him. “My apologies for hitting you.”
Alec glared up at him. “You’re a dick.”
Naydo frowned and turned to Zaden. “Gesh ordered me to do it. I could not refuse. He is alpha of our pack. I must obey.”
Zaden eyed him coldly. “Why are you pleading your case to me? I’m not the one you decked.” Just the one he fucked.
“Because I care if you are angry with me,” Naydo admitted matter-of-factly. “Him? Not so much. Only a little.”
Alec rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Zaden blinked, then scowled. “Go away.”
Naydo exhaled and lumbered off just as Chet headed over.
“Boss,” he muttered. Even in the dim light, the bite on his neck was visible.
Alec frowned. “How’re you feeling?”
“Probably better than you.” His gray gaze shifted to Alec’s cheek. “You’re lucky he didn’t break your fucking jaw.”
Alec sighed and rubbed his cheek again. More men came over and joined them. Men Alec had yet to officially meet.
“Captain Hamlin,” the dark blond greeted. He extended his hand. “I’m Captain Garret Scott of the search and rescue team. Good to finally meet you. Glad you’re okay.”
Alec clasped the guy’s palm. Nodded slightly. “Thanks for coming.”
Garret grinned a little and shrugged. “Only took us a year.”
He and his swapped introductions with Alec and his team. The ones that were present at least. Two were missing.
Alec glanced around. “Where’s Bailey and Jamis?”
Chet and Zaden fell silent. Noah’s whole demeanor wilted. Alec tensed. Oh, God. What happened? Ice doused his veins. Clenching his jaw, he muttered, “Where. Fucking. Are. They?”
“Alec...” Zaden slowly dragged a hand down his face. “During the battle, the guards took them and—”
“Yeah, I saw that. Before Naydo punched me.”
Zaden nodded. “Right, they’d been separated from the rest our team. Were fighting for all they were worth to get back to us. We tried to get them, literally the entire contingent at one point, but there were too many guards and—”
“So they’re at the castle.” Alec eased. He’d been thinking of way worse scenarios.
“No,” Noah blurted, his voice cracking. “They’re not at the castle. Jamis got carted away by a dekdónni and Bailey… And Bailey’s fucking dead.”
Alec’s heart straight-up stopped as all blood drained from face. “What?” he rasped. He’d heard him wrong. He had to have heard him wrong.
“He’s gone,” Zaden murmured. “While trying to escape, he… he drowned.”
Alec shook his head. Shook it again. Swallowed repeatedly. He’d been responsible for him. And he’d failed him. He’d let Bailey die. Anger welled in his chest. Furious at himself. And everyone else. “You’re telling me in the ten fucking minutes I was out, we lost a fucking teammate? We lost Bailey?!”
“He is not lost.”
Alec stilled at the unfamiliar voice. Turning toward the sound, he met a tall blond’s gaze. A male from the other faction who’d helped whisk them away. So familiar looking, yet Alec had never met him before.
“What did you say?”
The male stepped forward. “He is not lost. He is not dead.”
“What do you mean?” Noah stared at him. He looked scared to even hope.
The blond turned to him. Studied his drawn, distraught features. “Do not worry about your friend. The Oonmaiyos will take care of him.”
Noah’s mouth fell open. So did Zaden and Chet’s.
“The Oonmaiyos?” Alec repeated. “Are you serious?”
He inclined his head.
“But how could you possibly know that?”
“Because the Oonmaiyos oversee all waterways in these parts. Their aquatic realm is vast and heavily patrolled.”
“They could get to him in minutes?” Noah asked, eyes widening. “’Cause that’s all the time it takes for a human to drown.”
The male smirked a little. “We were making quite a commotion. I suspect they saw him coming before he ever hit the water.”
Noah exhaled and dragged a hand through his golden locks, his brown eyes darting around in visible thought. He looked back at the tall blond. “What will they do with him? Where will they take him?”
“If he is injured, they will tend to him, then return him, as he is not theirs.”
Alec frowned. “Return him to where?”
“The waterfall flows into Múnrahki lake. Múnrahki lake is castle territory. So they will take him back to the castle. Back to the king.”
Alec stared at him. Then nodded. “We’re going back to get him.”
“What?” Chet barked.
Gesh chuffed darkly. “I do not think so.”
“Yeah,” Garret muttered, crossing his arms. “That’s not a good idea.” His team grunted in unison, the two marines looking downright disgruntled.
“We can’t just leave him,” Alec grated. And if they went back, he could do damage control with Zercy.
“Look,” Garret reasoned. “If we go back there, those guards will apprehend the whole lot of us. We’re not exactly their favorite people right now.”
“Then I’ll go back myself.”
“No. No fucking way.” Garret’s voice turned sharp. “Listen, man. Ever since we got here, we’ve been risking our necks to find you. And that battle back there? That was no fucking joke. We put our lives on the line to get your team outta that prison. Hell, so did every male in this cave. If you go back, that makes everything we did for fucking nothing. Do not disrespect us like that. We’ll figure something else out.”
The tall blond male concurred. “I will send word to the Oonmaiyos and tell them to hold on to your friend. He will be safe.”
Alec rubbed his forehead anxiously. He needed to get back. Preferably before Zercy returned from his trip. “I… I dunno…”
“They would punish you if you returned,” Roni piped up. “Severely. Assume you knew of the plan all along.”
“No.” Alec shook his head. “Zercy wouldn’t… He wouldn’t order that.”
“Not really feeling the urge to test that theory,” Chet muttered. He met Alec’s eyes. “We didn’t just wander off without his permission. We put a hurtin’ on his guards. Some might have even died.”
Alec’s heart clenched in his chest, remembering Kellim. He looked at Noah. Noah groaned. “Kellim was one of his royal guard.”
Gesh snarled and glared at his pack mate. “Did you hear that, Beng? You killed a royal guard. That is punishable by death, and he will probably want my head.”
Beng grunted from the shadows. “You told me to stop him.”
“Ságe’s cock,” Gesh snapped. “I said stop him, not gut him.” He turned to Alec, eyes grim. “The king is going to be very, very angry.”
“Yeah, no way I’m going back there,” Chet repeated.
Zaden shook his head and looked at Alec. “Me neither, man. The king’s not stable. You know this deep down. He could snap and that’d be it. Are you really willing to take that kind of chance?”
With himself, yes, Alec thought. But with his team? The other team?
No.
Zaden was right and he knew it. Zercy wasn’t completely stable. Hadn’t been since the very first day Alec met him. Not that Alec didn’t love him anyway despite his whiplash mood swings. But because of them, he couldn’t guarantee the others’ safety. And if he couldn’t do that, then he couldn’t make them go back, and since they were a team and he was their captain, they were still his responsibility. So he couldn’t go back without them. He had to stay.
His heart tore in his chest. Rubbing his brow again, he rasped, “Okay. We’ll grab Bailey from the Oonmaiyos. Now tell me about Jamis.”
“He is safe with our dekdónni,” the blond reassured.
“Your what?”
“They’re, uh, their friends,” Zaden offered, “for lack of a better word. By the way, this is Airis. I was just talking to him a minute ago. He played a big part in search and rescue finding us.”
Alec peered back up at the blond. So familiar looking… “Thanks. I’m Alec. Captain of the science team.”
Airis inclined his head. “We will reunite with your Jamis soon.”
“Actually,” Garret prompted, “we should probably get a move on. Airis has offered us refuge, but his place isn’t close, and this whole region’s gonna be crawling with Kríe before too long.”
“Mah.” Gesh crossed his arms. “We will not go with the Tohrí. The agreement was to work with them until I retrieved my meesha, and I have. I will associate with them no more. They are enemies of my people.”
Alec frowned at Gesh—then froze. Tohrí. He knew that fucking name. Cutting his gaze back to Airis, he studied him fixedly. Tan, lean, muscular, with long white-blond hair. The same race he’d caught a brief glimpse of in the castle, enslaved for plotting to kill the Kríe’s Niran tree.
His whole body vibrated. “You’re one of them,” he grated.
Airis stilled. “One of whom?”
“The race who conspired to eradicate all Kríe.”
All the air sucked from the enclosure as every Niran looked their way.
Airis eyed him intently, his features instantly tight. “You are mistaken. All my people have ever done is try to find common ground with the Kríe. That is why we offered our prince to wed their king, so our two kingdoms would finally be in accord.”
Alec ground his teeth. “Don’t you mean, so you could get him inside their castle so he could poison and kill their mother tree?”
Airis paled, lips parting. In his defense, he did look shocked. Glancing to his equally shocked looking band members, he shook his head. “Nún. We would never try to exterminate a species, let alone poison Mother Nira.”
Gesh and Roni stepped closer, baring their fangs.
Airis stiffened, then pointed at them furiously as another Tohrí joined him. “Do not even think to challenge me, boors. I will end you.” He looked back at Alec. “What you believe is wrong,” he growled low. “I vow it on my life. Whoever has told you these things spews venomous lies.”
Alec stepped close, just as pissed. He was speaking on Zercy’s behalf. “The king told me himself. Said he witnessed your prince in the act. Hell, I saw their tree nearly dead with my own eyes. My team’s been helping keep her alive for fucking months.”
“Shit,” Chet muttered. “You don’t know the frickin’ half of it.”
Tension thickened in the air. Airis’ band swapped devastated looks. All the while, even Garret’s team eyed them guardedly.
Finally, Airis shook his head. “We… I swear, we had no idea. And I am certain that our king had none as well.” His jaw went tight, his brown eyes distraught. “Prince Talik must have been acting on personal motives.”
Likely story.
Although in truth, as Alec stared at the male, he had to admit, Airis did look genuinely leveled.
“We must return home now,” Airis’ friend prompted, his voice tense. “Warn our people. Surely an attack is imminent. All in our province are in danger.”
Alec frowned and turned to Garret. “I won’t go with them. I refuse to. I can’t do that to Zercy. He’s been good to us. It’d feel like a betrayal.”
Garret scowled. “With all due respect, we don’t really have a lot of options.”
“They can come with us,” Gesh offered. He stepped next to Noah.
Noah frowned but didn’t move away.
Option two sucked but it was better than the alternative. Stiffly, Alec nodded.
Garret gaped in disbelief. “You realize he doesn’t have any place to go either. He’s a fugitive. Wherever he lives is as good as torched now.”
Gesh growled and crossed his bulky arms. “We are friendly with a tribe to the north of here. The fire horde. Their keep is heavily fortified. We will stay with them.”
Garret looked at Airis.
Airis inclined his head. “I am familiar with this tribe. They dwell in the mountains of Titus. You can see their realm from the cliffs of my own land.”
“Perfect,” Alec concluded, looking at Garret. “Your friends’ll be close.”
Garret coughed an incredulous laugh, then pointed at Gesh. “My team’s not going with him. We don’t trust him as far as we could throw ‘em.”
Alec scowled and glanced between them. “But you just ran a mission together.”
“Because we had to. Otherwise, he’d’ve kept on hunting us.”
“Hunting you?” Alec’s brows hiked.
“Yeah, to trade us for your boy Noah.” Garret cut Gesh a glare. “On our very first meeting, his pack abducted our asses.” He glanced at Airis. “If it wasn’t for the Tohrí, we’d be stuck at the king’s castle right now with you.”
Alec frowned, eyeing the three factions who’d come together on his team’s behalf. They’d clearly all had completely different agendas.
“Look,” Garret grated. “We don’t have time to get into the specifics. Bottom line? My team ain’t going with those conniving bastards and your team shouldn’t be either.”
Alec shook his head. “Until someone can prove that these Tohrí are innocent, I won’t be associated with them. End of discussion.”
“And we’ll be staying with our captain,” Zaden added.
Garret clenched his jaw, his expression that of pure agitation. “I can’t believe you all would rather go with the assholes that captured and sold you, over your own goddamn people who came to rescue you.”
“It’s not about them over you,” Chet piped in gruffly. “It’s about our team sticking together. So if Alec won’t go with these guys, then neither will the rest of us.”
“Maybe it’s better this way, Chief,” Eli, the marine, pointed out. “It’s probably not a good idea to put all our eggs in one basket anyway. We spread out, disperse, until more help arrives to get us. More eyes on the ground is a good thing, yeah? We’ll be privy to a lot more of what’s going on in different regions. God knows if a war breaks out, that’ll be worth its weight in gold. And our telecommunication gear’ll keep us in touch with them at a second’s notice.”
“Uh, yeah. About that,” Chet ground out, glaring at Roni. “We don’t have our gear. These dildos we’ll be traveling with fucking took it.”
Roni smirked and held his gaze. “Would you like it back, my bitch? Because we have it stashed and waiting for you at your ship.”
Chet stilled, then just like that, his whole face lit up, his irritation evaporating fast into thin air. Even Alec couldn’t hold his smile back. To have their gear again, all their tech? Shit, yeah. It suddenly felt like Christmas.
“Then disregard,” Chet chuckled, rubbing the top of his head. “Communications will not be a problem.”
Garret brooded for a long, angry, aggravated moment. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. Whatever. But we seriously gotta go. We’ll discuss this more on the way. Let’s fucking move.”
* * *
With no time to stop at Gesh’s compound for additional supplies, the three parties agreed to travel together until their two paths ultimately diverged. Which Alec was grateful for. Their two teams needed time to get better acquainted. They hadn’t exactly started off on the right foot.
By the time Chet and Zaden led them to the tunnels’ outermost exit, their men were all at ease and talking freely. Lots of catching up, lots of filling each other in, on all the pertinent shit both groups needed to know about.
They traveled north for hours, briefly pausing for breaks and, at one point, stopping to grab some more supplies. Garret’s team’s gear. Evidently, en route to the castle, they’d stashed their stuff, intending to snag them again later on their way back. Which was very fucking cool, because when it came time to finally make camp, they offered up half of their tents to Alec’s team.
Not that Alec would ever actually be able to sleep. His chest hurt too much, the ache inside only strengthening. All he could think about, all he wanted more than anything, was to turn the fuck around and go back. But no one would allow it. They’d already been down that road.
Alec sighed, quietly sitting atop a log in front of the fire—a tiny fire, so as not to give their position away. At this point, his only hope was that Zercy came and found him. Tracked him down somehow and took him back home. Problem was, if Zercy did come, it wouldn’t be pretty, possibly costing yet more lives on his arrival. Because he wouldn’t be calm. Nor collected. Nor eager to talk. He’d be on a motherfucking rampage. Unleashing his wrath. And that… Yeah, that wouldn’t end well at all.
Frown deepening, he stared at the crackling flames, at the tiny embers sparking up into the night. He needed to get it together. His men needed him. He was their captain.
Honestly, it wasn’t like this turn of events was entirely unexpected. All along, his team suspected others would eventually come. And once they did—considering the extenuating circumstances—one of two things would’ve transpired to recover Alec’s guys. An exchange of words with Zercy convincing him to relinquish the team, or a tactical effort to retrieve them on their own.
Looked like they didn’t have much faith in diplomacy. And honestly, why would they? Considering the way Gesh’s pack had treated them, and the knowledge that Zercy had bought Alec’s team for pets? It was no wonder Garret had chosen to go the route he had. To him, all Kríe must seem like raging unethical savages.
Which, in fairness, most were. Savages, at least. And their principles? Yeah, pretty subjective, too.
To his right, Alec noticed someone approaching in his periphery. He glanced up just as Miros sat down to join him.
Miros.
Alec stilled at the sight of him. With so many in their group, and their entire trip made in darkness, he hadn’t even spotted the male until now.
“Alec.” Miros smiled, his friendly demeanor strangely comforting. Familiar, even though they hadn’t seen each other in ages. Sure, he still carried himself like a typical arrogant Kríe, but he also still exuded his likability. Which wasn’t to be confused with any other kind of feelings. Free of senna`sohnsay, Alec wasn’t attracted to him at all.
He lifted his chin in greeting. “Hey. Long time no see.”
Miros nodded, his black dreads swaying. God, he was big. “How have you been? Sometimes I think of you. Wonder how you are faring.”
Alec looked at him. A dry smile tugged at his lips. “Wow. How good of you. To casually contemplate my wellbeing. The guy you fucked and then sold into captivity.”
Miros’ amicable expression ebbed. He turned his gaze to the fire. “Did he treat you well?” he murmured. “King Zercy? Was he kind?” His big eyes looked remorseful. So did his frown.
Alec sighed. Deep down, he knew that Miros felt bad. Even that fateful day at the castle, he’d looked contrite. “Yeah,” he muttered quietly. “He was good to me. Really good.”
Maybe there was something in his tone that tipped him off, but Miros returned his gaze to Alec’s face and keenly searched it. “Back in the cave, I heard the way you spoke of the king. Unwilling to betray him. Fiercely loyal.”
Alec scratched his cheek and glanced away. “I’ve grown fond of him. We’ve gotten close.”
Miros canted his head. “Close?” He studied Alec curiously. Suddenly, his black brows rose high. “You like him,” he rumbled, smirking. “You like the king and his big cock.”
Alec coughed, cheeks heating, and opened his mouth to deny it. But as he met Miros’ gaze he couldn’t. And didn’t want to. “Yeah,” he nodded, chest tightening. “I like him a lot.” His lips twitched. He muffled a chuckle. “Him and his cock.”
Miros chuffed. “Not surprising. All Kríe cocks are impressive. But a royal Kríe cock?” He grinned thoughtfully. “I can only imagine.”
Alec fought a smile and shook his head. Miros continued to regard him. “I am glad,” he finally offered, “that I resisted and did not mark you. You were not mine. You are his. Nira makes this clear now. You are Zercy’s to bond with. Zercy’s. And he is yours.”
Alec blinked at him, smile fading, the Kríe’s words unexpected. They touched him—and made his heart hurt even worse.
Absently, he rubbed his sternum, then cleared his throat and looked away. “Yeah well, that’s nice, but kinda irrelevant now. I’m headed with you guys to Titus, remember? Who knows if I’ll ever see him again. Besides…” he frowned and shook his head as he stared at the flames, “he doesn’t want to bond with me. Avoids marking me at all costs. I may be his, but he doesn’t want me that way.”
Miros grunted. “I do not believe that. You clearly mean very much to him. Why else would his whole army come to fight for—”
A howl in the distance had him stopping mid-sentence. Hell, every male in their convoy froze at the sound. A deep anguished roar, or maybe a cry, of some large injured animal miles away. Twenty at least, considering its faintness. And yet it still shot a chill up Alec’s spine.
Pulse quickening, he looked at Miros. “What the holy fuck was that?”
Miros’ wary expression instantly set him on guard. Kríe weren’t afraid of any predators, big or small. They were the kings of the jungle and all creatures knew it. So why then, did some wounded beast so far away make him nervous?
“Miros?” Alec persisted. “Should we be worried about something? Are there animals out there that’ll attack your kind in numbers?”
Again, Miros didn’t reply, just kept staring toward the howl. Not that any more had followed. Just that one gut-wrenching cry. The one that chilled Alec’s blood and shot straight through his soul.
Ears twisting like radar receivers, Miros finally loosed a grunt. “It was nothing. No beast in this jungle would ever challenge a Kríe.” His tone wasn’t convincing. Alec stared at him, disconcerted.
Miros lips finally twitched. He chuffed in amusement. “Do not worry, moyo. They are setting up perimeter traps as we speak. If any approach we will know it.”
Alec glanced around. “Really?”
Miros nodded. “Tah. My pack has added another safeguard as well.”
“Nice. What kind of safeguard?”
“We pissed a circle around the campsite.”
Alec coughed a laugh and looked at him.
Miros beamed an arrogant Kríe grin. “Our mighty cocks are good for many things.”