Kitten

With my mate’s body and the scent of his arousal surrounding me, I felt safer. A strange feeling since he was human and therefore physically weaker than me. I should be guarding his body, not the other way around, though I couldn’t object or reject his cover. It felt good to be protected.

Owner stalked toward us.

I glanced over my shoulder.

My mate pressed a finger to his lips.

I tried to suppress my mating call, but it was involuntary. I’d go into heat soon so that he might breed me. I had enough brain cells left to listen for William’s footsteps, though. He veered to his right, my left, and I heard metal clink. I tried to remember what he stored near that wall. Swords. He collected katana swords, and a pair of them were crisscrossed and nailed on that wall. Perhaps he was a great swordsman.

“Kitty, kitty, where are you hiding?” he called out.

I glanced back at my mate, who shook his head.

Alarms blared through the house.

Startled, I jerked and head-butted John, probably in the nose. I spun around. Yup, he held his nose, blood seeping through his fingers. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Many footsteps entered through the front door.

We were in trouble. My mate had four rounds and me. Better make myself useful. I waited for the footsteps to stop. They had. Probably the men had taken cover. William also halted. A sword pierced the couch next to my shoulder.

My mate jerked to the left, taking me with him.

This wouldn’t do.

I pushed him away and stood, then rounded the couch.

“Hello, William.” Multiple red beams streaked over my body, his security team aiming and ready to fire. They wouldn’t until the boss said so. Instinctively, I knew this because I knew William well, had spent time under his iron fist. He was no different from Alpha Nie. Domineering not dominant, strong not strong-willed, so he had to suppress another’s will in order to elevate his own. A sociopath, Vice would call him.

Sure enough, Owner lifted his hand. “Hold your fire.”

I leapt onto the table and bounced to the opposite wall, where I swiped the katana. I landed on my feet and hefted the weapon in my hand to get a feel for its weight. I’d prefer something heavier. With this one, I’d have to measure my swing.

William looked confident. Judging by the smirk on his face, he thought he had us trapped. He’d kill my mate and keep me. Win-win for him. He’d gotten money for me. My mate hadn’t taken a single penny from the stash on the table. And now he’d get to keep me for Men of Earth when they came to pick me up. I would rather die together with my mate, something William would never understand. A man who cheated on his wife was not a man at all. William was a boy, looking for thrills, and I’d give him that thrill.

I strolled toward William, then hopped on the long iron coffee table between the two couches, my mate behind the couch on my left.

“This is a beast woman,” a security guy said.

William snarled. “And?”

“You didn’t say anything about a beast woman in the house.”

“William, you bad boy,” I said. “You shouldn’t have let the security inside. They’ll find the basement and the other girls.” I glanced at the security. They could be with Men of Earth, but judging by the white letters on their black T-shirts, they belonged to a private contractor. I watched for signs of surprise on the faces of the three men who trained their guns on me. One of them, the one who crouched, glanced at the man to his right. Their eyes met, and the one who’d spoken jerked his head. “Check it out.”

Ha! I snapped my fingers. Contractors were paid soldiers, and they needed to know the threat level on the house a person had hired them to secure. William hadn’t told them he kept a beast female in here. Everyone knew what Alpha would do when he found out.

I turned back to William. “One of them might tell your wife.”

An eye twitch. Ha!

I pressed on. “Is that how you came into your wealth? Your wife’s money, not your money, so instead of worshiping the ground she walks on, you’ve decided to cure your inferiority complex over her. No more, William-boy, no more.”

“Kitten, drop the sword and come here,” he ordered.

My hand shook. He’d trained me to respond to this tone of voice. I gritted my teeth and swung. William jumped back. A man stepped out of his cover and raised his weapon, because not all humans were made the same way. Some wanted us dead. Some wanted a paycheck. Some gave a shit.

My mate fired. Bullets breezed past me. I leapt away from the line of fire and stood by the wall. William followed.

I slashed. Got his thigh. His impassive facade slid away like a mask. Pain didn’t suit him, though. He snarled and attacked. Fast. Left slice, right, under and over. I deflected, keeping one eye on my mate and the security closing in on him. Two bullets left.

The blade sliced my shoulder, making me drop my sword. I bent, and William slashed again. Damn him. Nicked my wrist. Blood welled at my shoulder and near my wrist. If he slashed lower, he’d get my wrist. I hadn’t paid him enough attention, and I was gonna pay for it.

The tip of his blade pressed under my chin, and he nudged me up. I stood, following the blade. He had just opened his mouth when a bullet hit his temple. His brains spattered on the wall, but he stayed on his feet, eyes locked with mine. I picked up my sword and sliced at both corners of his mouth so I could remember his permagrin. Willam’s body hit the floor.

One bullet left.

I crawled behind the couch.

“You’re bleeding,” John said.

I nodded and unwrapped the tablecloth I’d worn as a tunic. I bit the corner and tore off two strips. I wrapped my shoulder and my wrist. “Done. I heal fast.”

John glanced at me. “When this is over, we’re gonna have a word,” he said, voice low and measured, hands above the couch and holding the gun. Security shot at us, then they paused to reload. They didn’t know John had only one bullet left. For all they knew, he was armed to his teeth.

Two men had gone to the basement, so that made a total of ten left here, provided the other two got busy with trying to open the cages. Some lingered outside, I presumed. So I’d estimate five men against the pair of us, then five more outside. One group at a time. “We should rush them,” I said.

“With what? A tank?”

I giggled.

John shook his head. “I’m happy you’re finding this funny.”

“And sexy,” I added.

“Christ.” He scrubbed his face and pocketed the gun.

“There’s still one left.”

“That’s for me.”

I understood. Torrent and I had wished for a bullet many times during our captivity, especially during times when they’d tortured him for information. “Okay.”

He spun around and took my face between his palms, his gray eyes cold, his features serious and firm. My whole body tensed, anticipating my mate’s command. “You must follow me and do what I tell you to do.”

“Yes, mate.”

“Don’t disappoint me.”

“No, no, I won’t.”

“Follow me out of here and let me do what I came here to do.”

“Yes, mate.”

A bullet zipped past and hit the vase on the bookshelf behind us. The porcelain shattered. They opened fire, the noise ringing in my ears. My mate tucked his hands under the couch and lifted. He threw the object at the incoming security team. Bullets hit the ceiling, dust falling on us. The bookshelf was next. He moved it away from the wall, lifted it, then rammed it against the window. The entire house shook, the window crashing into pieces. He swept me off my feet, leapt over the bookshelf, and rushed outside onto the front lawn.

The bright sun blinded me. My eyes watered, trying to adjust, but I couldn’t close them now. Through a haze, I saw neighbors in nightgowns and slippers had already gathered around William’s house. I snapped my head behind us to see one security guy come out. The other three on the roof held their rifles but didn’t shoot. “Where’s your car?”

“Fuck the car.”

The man who’d come out fired.

John sprinted, zigzagging across the lawn. The bullets flew around us, and I tucked my face into the crook of his neck. His chest was solid, his scent divine, and he made me feel like nothing could hurt me. I clutched his shoulders as he raced across the neighborhoods for several blocks until we reached a familiar one. I could smell the water. And beasts.

I peeked above his shoulder, my eyes slowly adjusting to light. Still, I squinted and wiped the tears. We were on Alpha’s street, coming at it from the west. I hadn’t known how close I’d been to Alpha’s house. I turned my head. Wait a minute. Not his house. His father’s house. “Stop!”

John slowed down and put me on my feet. I hooked a hand under his elbow lest I fell. “What…what is this?”

“Jamie’s new home. And yours, I presume. What’s the matter?”

Before me rose Alpha Nie’s fortress, a black menace about four thousand feet tall, made to appear more frightening by the calm blue of the sea and sky around it. The humans must think a perfectly carved asteroid had dropped on their land. The structure was made to function as a country of its own. It could hold thousands of people, including the three battalions of beast warriors inside the concrete-supported steel that rose from the bottom for about two thousand feet. Then came rows of floors housing military personnel, and on top of it a layer of business offices. Sunrays bounced off the dark windows.

On the very top was family housing, which looked different from the housing on Tineya. Single-family homes with red rooftops decorated the top. Dozens of pods circled the fortress, their engines humming like busy bees.

The soft touch of the homes with their red roofs and charming, beige facades couldn’t take away from the horror spaces at the bottom. On Tineya, Alpha Nie had imprisoned my entire family. As I was too young to execute, he’d kept me and killed everyone else. I knew every corner, every hallway, every small claw mark on the walls. I could smell the wretched scent of urine and desperation that would never reach the top floors. I could hear the beasts howling as the guards tortured them. Their screams also could never disturb the walls of the charming settlement up top.

John nudged me.

I couldn’t move. I’d been imprisoned far too long, and the knowledge this fortress was Jamie’s didn’t seem to help. “I won’t go in there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nope. Not going.”

John stepped in front of me. “Kitten, I went to hell and back to get you. You’re going in there, and if I have to carry you, I will.”

I gritted my teeth, then snapped my gaze up. A pod left its post, descended, and paused, hovering in front of us. Two beasts hopped off. Twin beasts, Norem and Zenor. I couldn’t tell them apart until one enveloped me in a hug. I inhaled. Zenor. A rumble rose from the bottom of his chest, then he threw his head back and howled. His brother followed. Beast howls spread through the city. I heard every one of them as they welcomed me home. Then they paused and waited.

I looked up. Jamie stood on top of the building, a tiny figure, but his long white hair—same as his father’s—was unmistakable. He spread his arms and roared, welcoming me back home.

A door opened at street level, and Torrent walked out wearing the High Priest robes. He strode hand in hand with a blonde human girl. They rushed over, and when brisk walking wouldn’t do, the girl ran and threw her arms around my mate. I looked from Torrent to the girl and back but didn’t get to say anything because Zenor picked me up and loaded me into the pod heading for med bay.

Below me, John stayed with the blonde. “Torrent got his mate,” I said, just to confirm what I was seeing and what John had said to William when they played poker.

“Mm-hm. How are you feeling?”

“And she’s friends with John?”

“She’s his daughter.”

I knew that already but it didn’t hurt to confirm.

* * *

John

Lers forced me into the med bay when all I wanted was to return to my bunker and think about the mating Felicia had mentioned. I needed a few days to process what she’d told me. But Lers had plans, and they didn’t involve my leaving this fortress. “There are girls at the bottom of that house,” I said.

“Vice is on it.”

He left me in the white room. I presumed this was what hospital rooms had once looked like on Earth. There were subdued monitor noises, lots of screens, equipment I couldn’t name, and two beds. The back of my head hit the pillow as I lay down, closed my eyes, and sighed. It was done. Felicia was home, and in around three days’ time, I’d go about my business back to Retreat, Texas. Once I had Tom, I’d deliver him to the Alpha Beast. My crazy life would settle down, and I’d go back to my bunker.

Except now I had a woman. A mate. What would I do with her?

I’d never married, never had a woman. Oh, I’d been with women, but since it took effort to get myself worked up over their naked bodies, I never felt the urge to keep any of them. I’d accepted my solitary existence. My own company was often enough. After my parents passed away, I found it even easier to be alone.

But then I found my girl in a basket in the middle of nowhere. I named her Sienna because she was covered in dirt, making her skin brown. It wasn’t really the right name for my daughter. She was fair, and that was a blessing since many have told us we looked alike. We were both fair skinned, and people often remarked on the pale gray of my eyes and the pale blue of hers.

“Hey, Dad, you sleeping?”

“Come in,” I said and sat up.

Sienna walked in, carrying a tray full of first aid stuff. “I’m glad you’re back,” she said and set the tray on the counter. She proceeded to fuss over my cuts while I watched her for any signs that would tell me my son-in-law had fucked up. My kid looked well, her cheeks rosier than I’d even seen, her blue eyes clear. She turned up my palm and sprayed the nasty cut I got when I’d lifted the couch. The liquid burned. I breathed through my teeth. “You look happy,” I said. She picked up the gun-looking thing that sealed and healed wounds on the spot. I’d get one of those for Texas. Bury that bitch somewhere in case I needed it. “How’s Torrent treating you?”

“Good, Daddy, he’s fine.”

“I sense a little attitude. I’m allowed to ask.”

She jabbed me with the gun. It burned the wound, then closed it. I gritted my teeth.

“You didn’t have to go after Felicia alone. Torrent said you could’ve taken backup.”

“I do my best work alone.”

“Are you done now?”

“With what?”

“Your mission to rescue every girl in the world?”

“Not yet.”

Sienna banged the gun on the tray. “Daddy, I don’t want you to go to Texas.”

“I know, baby girl, but I’ve made up my mind.”

“Why? Why you? Why can’t it be someone else?”

“There is no one else. The beasts are here to stay. God knows I’ve tried fighting them. I’ve tried everything I knew to stay out of everyone’s business, but then he took you anyway. It made me think and rethink. I’m too old to change, but things can change for you and thousands of other girls. I need to do this because it matters.”

“You matter to me.”

“Come here.” I spread my arms. She laid her head on my chest, and I inhaled the smell of her lavender shampoo. “I’m gonna be fine. Have faith.”

A knock preceded Felicia, followed by Lers. He helped her up on the other bed and covered her with a sheet. She didn’t even glance at us, just kept staring at the ceiling. “Hey,” I said.

“Hey.” She kept her eyes averted. “Alpha will debrief us together. So, I’m…here.”

Sienna walked around my bed and went to Felicia’s. She extended her hand. “Sienna. John’s my dad, and I’ve heard a lot about you. You pushed Torrent out of a moving truck so he could find his mate. I’m forever grateful you did that. I wouldn’t have been so brave.”

Felicia smiled. “Thank you. Mating is a sacred union. It is what we live for, especially those of us who are on Earth. Our numbers are rather small, and the threat against us rather great. It was important that he makes it. And here you are. May you give us strong beasts.”

“Hear,” Sienna said.

The door opened, and Alpha Beast stepped inside. He went straight for Felicia and whipped the sheet away from her. He perused her body covered with a thin white gown, pausing at her declawed fingers. He picked up her hand and examined it, then put it back down. “Your teeth,” he ordered.

She showed him.

He bent and kissed her forehead, remaining there for a moment. I tapped my finger on the steel railing of the bed, fighting an irrational urge to kick him.

Finally, he moved back but kept her hand in his.

“I got the ones who did this to me,” Felicia said.

“We found four dead civilians and arrested the security at the house. Which ones would you like us to feast on tonight?”

“The civilians.”

Alpha Beast nodded. “Sienna, how are you?”

“Good.”

He winked at her and jerked his head to the exit.

She folded her arms over her chest.

Jamie folded his.

They were having a standoff.

Felicia giggled again. I took pleasure in hearing her laugh.

My kid rolled her eyes and stomped out of the room.

Jamie shook his head. “Like father, like daughter.”

“Mm-hm,” I said.

“Thank you, John.”

“Welcome.”

“Are we still on for Texas?”

“Definitely.”

“Take backup,” he said.

“You know I can’t.”

“We’ll arrange something.”

“I work alone. Fuck off and let me work.”

Jamie sighed, then glanced at Felicia. “Do you see why I can’t spend time with humans, hm? Makes me want to eat them.”

“Your mate is human,” she reminded him.

“A rare exception.” He moved a stray hair away from her face. “Vice will debrief you later. I just came around to tell you they’re preparing your quarters. Welcome back.” Jamie stepped away and turned for the exit.

“A beast visited the house once,” Felicia said.

Silence.

Alpha Beast froze, then spun around, his eyes, clear as ice. Fuck. I sat up straight and swung my feet over the bed. I got her sheet and covered her body, then stood by her bed.

“I tried to reach out to him. He nearly killed me. Owner saved my life, in fact.”

Jamie gripped the edges of the footboard. The metal bent. “Who was it?”

“I didn’t know him.”

Jamie bared his canines and let us see them elongate into fucking daggers. “We’ll line up every last beast on Earth until you find him. You will make an example of him.”

“That’s the thing, Alpha. I don’t think he was of Earth. Our dialect has changed during our time on Earth. His sounded…proper.”

Jamie leaned in and whispered, “What are you telling me, Felicia?”

“I think Nie’s beasts have landed. I think he’s coming for you.”

Jamie inhaled, and his chest swelled. He thumped it. “He’s welcome to try.”