Chapter Nineteen
Violet kicked and spat curses at them as they hauled her down the corridor to the sick bay. The men barely noticed. She had no chance against them, but she wasn’t going to go quietly.
Unfortunately, Madok wasn’t dead. The Reginar gene, with its superior healing powers, had kept him alive, and his medic had apparently been able to counteract the poison. The treacherous Vulfan stood by one of the treatment beds, pale and sweaty and very angry.
“I’m going to skin those furry little beasts and wear their pelts for a cape,” he spat at Violet. She struggled not to weep at the thought. She would not let him see her cry, damn him. The poor Eeplings…she’d promised to protect them, and failed miserably. They would die because of her.
Madok called Treffon on his comm bracelet, but there was no answer.
“Guess he got bored,” Madok sneered at her as the guards held her arms with grips like iron. “That’s okay – I’ll just record what I do to you and send it to him.” He grabbed a laser scalpel. “First I’m going to burn my name into your face.”
Then he paused. “What are you smirking at, human whore?” he shouted.
“Treffon is my true mate.” Violet met his gaze fearlessly. “And I am his. Whatever you do to me, you can never take that away from me. All my life, I waited for the one, and I met him, and we love each other.”
“You crazy bitch!” Madok’s voice rose to a high-pitched scream. “None of that matters!”
“Oh, it matters, all right,” Treffon’s voice rang out from the doorway.
She had repaired the transporter after all!
Treffon rushed through the door, with Kroi and Tristao and a whole squadron of guards at his heels.
The guards surged forward. Madok’s remaining half-dozen men wore plate armor to protect them from the Eeplings’ barbs, and even a Vulfan’s teeth couldn’t bite through steel, but the armor made them slow and cumbersome. Treffon waded into the fray like a Vulfan possessed, the guards behind him, striking down any man who came between him and his true mate. When one of Madok’s men turned and made a break towards Violet, hoping to take her hostage, Treffon literally tore him limb from limb, ripping his arm from its socket with a sickening gristly sound.
The Thorolf and Wor-Lan guards had little to do except keep his bruised and bleeding victims from crawling away to lick their wounds.
And finally he stood face to face with Madok. The miserable, spineless cur who had tried to poison his true mate. To kill in such a cowardly way was shameful – a Vulfan warrior did not skulk in the dark. He fought his battles in the light, like a man. That was bad enough. But when he’d tried to kill Violet – beautiful, fierce, sweet, clumsy Violet – he had signed his own death warrant.
Tristao gestured the guards back, but there was no need. They all knew Treffon was the only one who had the right to fight Madok to the death. They ranged themselves around the circling pair, staring straight forward, their faces expressionless, ritual witnesses to a death match that honor demanded.
Madok didn’t shift. Instead he lunged at Treffon in human form, trying to knock him to the ground. Though they were evenly matched, both with the strength and endurance of the Reginar bloodline, Treffon was younger and heavier, and he stood his ground. They grappled, and Treffon hooked his his leg around Madok’s pulling him off-balance and crashing down on top of him. Madok used his hips to flip Treffon, slamming him onto his spine and knocking all the wind from him. Treffon barely managed to get his forearm up between them.
Then, with his nephew at a disadvantage, he shifted. His fingers retracted into paws, tipped with vicious black claws that tore through the fabric of Treffon’s tunic and bloodied his chest. Fur sprouted and his ears grew into points. His nose and mouth pushed forward into a snout, and he snapped and slathered, pushing against Treffon’s arm in an attempt to tear out his throat. It was a cowardly move…but Treffon had been ready for it. He’d known that Reznik had learned his dirty fighting from somewhere.
Treffon had been holding his beast leashed just beneath his skin. As soon as Madok shifted, he released it, letting it roar to the surface. His transformation was swift and brutal, and enraged by what Madok had tried to do to its true mate, his beast threw off the older man as if he weighed no more than a pup.
Treffon placed his teeth against Madok’s furry throat. The older wolf whimpered and waved his paws, directing a sharp yelp for aid at first one of the Thorolf guards, then another. And one by one, lips curling in disgust or eyes full of contempt, they turned their backs. At the last, he rolled his eyes imploringly at the Wor-Lan guards. He found no quarter there.
Treffon tore out Madok’s jugular vein, leaving him sodden with gore, lying in a spreading pool of dark blood.
Violet had crouched in the corner as they all fought.
Kroi fell groaning at her feet, splattered with blood, his face pale. “Tell Allison I love her,” he moaned, clutching his abdomen. “Tell her she should find a new mate. I will not mind.”
“But Kroi, you’re—”
“No, I insist! She must be happy, and she must have someone to protect her! Tell her I felt no pain towards the end.”
“Kroi, seriously, you—”
Kroi roused himself a little, sitting up halfway. “Never let her forget I love her! Our short time together was the happiest I have ever been!”
Violet tried again. “Kroi, you’re not even—”
He flopped back down, staring at the ceiling. “Farewell, my love!” he cried out dramatically.
“…injured,” Violet finished.
“Yes, I know, I am mortally injured, but it was worth it to die a hero, so my beloved could be proud of me and mmpphh…” Violet put her hand over his mouth.
“You are not injured, is what I said. Not in the slightest. You just tripped and fell. That’s it.”
Kroi sat up, an expression of bewilderment on his face. “No. That is not possible. I am bleeding, look. I’m covered with blood.” He plucked at his tunic, looking at her plaintively.
“Yeah, when Treffon ripped that dude’s arm off, blood splattered everywhere.”
“Oh.” Kroi looked down at the blood on his tunic. “You are right. I am not injured at all. Violet, I am not a very good warrior, am I?”
Violet considered being polite and lying, but what was the point? “Honestly, no. But there are other jobs in the pack, right?”
“I would prefer to be a teacher, like Allison. I love working with cubs. But my father wanted me to be a warrior. He said that was the only way to be worthy of a mate.”
Violet snorted. “Allison loves you, and since you’re a pretty lousy fighter, I’m sure she would rather have you be a live teacher than a dead warrior.”
Treffon walked over to them and nudged Kroi with his foot. “You have redeemed yourself in my eyes, not because you did a good job, but because you were brave and tried your best. I accept your resignation from the guard. Now get up – you look ridiculous.”
Then he held his hand out to Violet and pulled her to her feet. “Excuse me,” he said. “If you could spare a moment for a man who has been a terrible fool?”
Violet looked up at him. “Well, hello. Fancy meeting you here.”
“I came to rescue you. Where else would I be?”
He pulled her into his embrace. In between passionate kisses, he was saying something about how stupid he’d been, how he’d forced his real feelings down and hadn’t let himself sense that she was his true mate, but she definitely was, he was an idiot for not admitting it sooner, and he’d spend the rest of his life making it up to her…
“Treffon,” Violet said, putting a finger on his lips to shush him.
“Yes, my beloved?”
“Could you please just shut up and kiss me some more?”
* * * * *
Zura and Voljaki and Allison were waiting by the landing pad when Treffon landed Madok’s ship later that afternoon.
“It took you a long time to return,” Zura chided them as they walked down the ship’s ramp. “I was worried. What were you doing?”
Violet blushed red as she glanced at Treffon. “Talking,” she muttered.
“Oh, the human’s face is changing color. That means she is embarrassed because she was having sex with my cousin,” Zura explained to Voljaki.
“Why would that embarrass her? She is his true mate.” Voljaki looked confused. “She should be embarrassed if she is not having sex him.” He stroked Zura’s arm. “For instance, I have not heard your cries of pleasure since early this morning, and I am very…embarrassed.”
“Aieee! I can’t hear you! La la la la…” Violet covered her ears.
“Of course you can hear us, otherwise you would not be turning the color of a snarfleberry,” Zura said. “Humans say strange things all the time. Oh, by the way, where are the Eeplings? We have someone who wants to meet them.”
Dorcas came barreling down the ramp, followed by the Eeplings and the rest of Treffon’s men.
“They locked me in a room for two hours,” Dorcas said indignantly to Zura. “So rude! Why, I’ve half a mind— My goodness, what is that?”
A group of Eeplings were hurrying towards them. To Violet’s shock, they were half the size of the Eeplings from the resettlement center. They were accompanied by a slender, purple-skinned woman with antennae, and a half a dozen squat, bumpy-skinned aliens who wore uniforms and blasters. They hurled themselves at the Eeplings who were with Violet, and there were hugs and shrill cries of joy.
“We had the grownup Eeplings with us all along!” Violet exclaimed in shock. “That’s why they were travelling without a teacher or guards! But how did they get separated from their children?”
The purple-skinned woman walked up to Violet. A voice hummed inside her head. They were evacuating their colony when their ship was attacked by cyborgs, so the parents put the children on a separate ship and sent them away. Then they fled directly through the cyborg fleet, to draw the attackers after them.
Violet blanched. “I can hear you in my head, but your lips aren’t moving. How are you doing that?”
I am a telepath. You can call me Su. I work for the Eeplings. Her lips still weren’t moving.
“I’m so glad they’ve been reunited. It must have been terrible for them to be separated from their families.”
Su nodded. The Eeplings are telling me that they had faith that I would bring their children to them safely, and also they kept busy by protecting the good but clumsy human.
“Who? Oh, me.” Violet laughed. “I’ll be darned. I thought I was protecting them, but now that I think of it, it really was the other way around. And now they can go home at last,” she said with relief. One of the Eeplings held out its baby to her proudly, and she took it in her arms and stroked its fur. “Man, I’m going to miss these ridiculous little balls of eep.”
Su’s expression turned somber. We have nowhere to go. The cyborgs destroyed their planet. They have no home now.
Treffon cleared his throat. “I have a suggestion. It was inspired by my pair-bond.” He put his arm around Violet’s shoulders. “We have an empty village at the edge of the pack lands. We only used it for war games, but Violet pointed out to me that there is more to life than constant training and sparring. We will interview the aliens at the resettlement center, and all those who are law-abiding and peaceful can move to the village if they so desire. They can farm and harvest fruit on our land, and take it to market in Donnelle. I will govern the village and maintain order.”
He stroked Violet’s arm. “If you are willing to come with me, that is.”
“Of course,” she said. “I will follow you anywhere.”
“Ahem.” Dorcas cleared her throat loudly.
“Yes, yes, of course you can come too, oldling— I mean, Dorcas.” Treffon winked at Violet as he said that.
“But…who would be the Reginar of the Thorolfs?” Zura asked, looking bewildered.
“I was hoping that you and Voljaki would rule together.” As Zura started to protest, he held up his hand. “It would be the perfect way to unite our two packs…and it is time for new blood. It is a new era, and we need fresh, young vision to lead the pack into the future.”
* * * * *
Nine Earth months later…
The village of New Hope, as they’d named it, was holding a joint celebration with the Thorolf pack. Governor Treffon and his pair-bond, Violet, had welcomed their first cub – a sturdy, handsome boy named Gaar. Violet and Treffon were on the pavilion in the middle of the village, surrounded by hundreds of aliens and Thorolfs. Drink flowed freely, and tables were laden with food. The piles of baby presents were stacked so high that they were taller even than Treffon.
As Violet sat and sipped a sweet, fruity drink, Treffon stood at the back of the pavilion. He held the newborn cradled tenderly in his arms, and he was whispering in the baby’s tiny pointed ear.
“You are my son, and I love you more than the moons,” he murmured. “My job is to keep you safe and make sure that you know that you are cherished. You will have all the time in the world to train to be a warrior, if that is the path that you choose. I will honor whatever your choice is. But there will be no training for you until you are old enough, and if anyone tries to hurt you, they will die in horrible ways.”
He walked back to Violet, and she set down her drink. Carefully, he placed Gaar in her arms.
“That was beautiful,” Violet told him. She couldn’t have heard what he’d said, but she’d felt it. “You are nothing like your father,” she reassured him. “I know that Gaar will have the cubhood that you and your brothers should have had.”
“Thank you.” He squeezed her arm. “I just need to say it aloud to remind myself.”
Dorcas and Fife, who were standing in the crowd, waved happily at Violet. Dorcas had pretty much won everything that Fife owned, because she was still constantly cheating at poker, but since she lived with Fife and they shared everything, it didn’t really matter.
Allison and Kroi ran the village of New Hope’s school, although now that Allison had a cub of her own, she only worked part time.
Zura and Voljaki were expecting their first cub, and Zura grumbled about having to cut back on her sparring, but she ruined the grouchy effect by grinning like a fool when she talked about it.
The Eeplings began filing up onto the gazebo, gazing at Gaar and making very gentle, quiet “Eep” sounds. Su, who was now working as a translator for the village of New Hope, accompanied them.
The Eeplings want to assure you that they will protect your cubs as they protected you, Su told Violet. Especially if your cubs are clumsy like you.
“Oh, thank you.” Violet laughed. “I’m sure we can use all the help that we can get.”
Treffon put his arm around Violet’s shoulders and gazed into Gaar’s little face.
“It’s a good thing that you are my true mate,” he said to Violet. “Because you have made me the happiest Vulfan in the galaxy.”
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THE END
About the Author
Hello, I am Georgette St. Clair, writer of hot, sexy romances which star all Alpha heroes, all the time. The road to love may be rocky and fraught with peril, (and humor and scorchtastic sex and healthy heapings of snark) but my shifters will stop at nothing to claim their fated mate.
A little about me: I live in Florida. My checkered career involved stints as a newspaper reporter, EMT, internet marketer, cocktail waitress, temp, nurse’s aide (but not all at the same time...)
Now I’m living my perfect life, spending my days in a fantasy universe where I nudge my smart-mouthed, take-no-guff heroines onto the path that will set them on a collision course with true love.
Check out my for a complete list of titles and what’s coming soon. Or connect with me on
Also by Georgette St. Clair
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Bridenapped Series:
Shifters, Inc Series:
Blue Moon Junction Series:
Timber Valley Pack Series:
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