Healed (The Found Book 3) (31 page)

"You're not so bad yourself, sweetie-pie." She smiled and stepped back when the warrior stepped toward her. Even as a child, people gave her startled looks the first time they heard the whiskey-smooth, low tones she'd inherited from her mother. Grinning, she swung around and moved away in a hip swinging saunter. Too bad this was the only time she'd get to flirt with one of these huge warriors. She'd made it her number one rule to avoid them after her tour of the spaceship. Something about them made her want to throw caution to the wind and get naked and dirty with one of them. A reaction that puzzled her as she'd sworn off men in favor of her career a long time ago. She glanced back at the warrior, saw him watching her walk away, and hurried to catch up to the other women.

In the corridor another Zarronian warrior told them to follow him. She moved to the end of the line and trailed behind. When they reached a place where two corridors intersected, she stepped into the other corridor and hurried away, holding her breath and praying she wouldn't run into anyone.

Four corridors later she came to what appeared to be a dead end. She waved her hand over a small dot on the wall and two hidden doors slid open revealing an elevator. She entered it and repeated the words Madami Valan had spoken and felt her empty stomach jolt as the elevator began to move. Crossing her fingers, she hoped when the doors opened the corridor would be empty. Her luck held and she left the elevator, scanning the nameplates on the doors she passed. The first one said 'Commander Valanson'. Frightened it would open and she'd be caught she hurried by it, tripped and bumped into the wall, making a loud thumping noise.

She caught her balance and ran to the next door. The nameplate was blank. She ran her hand over the mechanism and slipped through the doors before they opened completely. The interior was luxuriously appointed and appeared vacant. Several deep couches in a smooth emerald leather sat around the room with strategically placed tables. A deep ivory carpet covered the living room ending at the kitchen area where the flooring changed to a light colored wood.

She moved through the quarters and checked out the two bedrooms. In both of them she opened the closet doors and breathed a sigh of relief when she found them empty. Gleefully, she pulled the blond wig from her head, tossed it to the floor of the closet then shook her head and combed her fingers through the long strands.

Her stomach growled reminding her it was several days since she'd eaten. In the kitchen area, she studied the food processor, remembered what Madami Valan had shown her and began pushing buttons. A few seconds later, the door opened and a tray slid out. Standing at the counter she tasted the food and rolled her eyes in ecstasy as the unfamiliar flavors filled her mouth. She cleaned every crumb from the tray then placed it in the disposal unit.

Feeling better she showered, washed her hair, and towel dried it before she dropped onto the nearest bed. Her last thought before sleep took her was
I made it
.

***

"Commander Valanson, your sons are summoning you," the communications officer, Hugh Angusson, said as he swiveled around from his duty station.

Thorn Valanson frowned at the interruption then stalked to his chair on the bridge of his starship, the Invincible. His parents had forced him to bring his sons, Dane and Dev, on this journey. The boys were five and harder to handle than a wet wolfen. Working together, they were slowly, but surely, destroying his command—just as their mother, Naline, had destroyed his life. Earlier, after finding them in engineering, where he'd specifically forbidden them to explore, he'd confined them to his quarters.

He and his sons were strangers. After their birth and naming ceremony, he'd taken them to his parents then he'd left Zarronia on a three annual journey to explore the Almar Galaxy. One moon phase after he began his voyage, their mother had been executed for her crime of treason against the Zarronians. The news of her death had been a relief as it had freed him from their mating, and he'd sworn to never again trust a female or risk his heart.

He and his twin brother, Soren, had grown up with Naline even though she'd been a couple years older than them. She'd been Wrothian and the adopted daughter of their father's friend, Hugh Elofson. She'd been ravishingly beautiful but it had been a disguise that hid the treachery in her dark soul. After accepting him, she'd used his family's position and wealth to gather information and purchase weapons for their enemy, the Wrothians.

As bad as her betrayal had been for him, it paled in comparison to the concerns it had raised for his people. The knowledge he'd impregnated her without a true bonding taking place had every scientist on the planet scrambling for an answer. The first discovery was that the mixing of Zarronian and Wrothian DNA had changed them and there were now levels of mating with the Earth females.

The first four levels depended on the female’s DNA. At level one, a female could relieve a warrior's fever but she couldn’t bond with him or conceive. This was a female only a warrior on the verge of death would choose as fatherhood was coveted by every warrior. A level two female could relieve a warrior's fever and carry his sons but the bond between them was nearly non-existent. The mates could be away from each other and the fever could be controlled with ZL3 and meditation. Level four females were the most coveted as they were comparable to the old bonding between Zarronian warriors and females. The female could take a warrior's fever, bond with him and have his children. They needed to be together and could only be away from each other for one to two moon phases.

Level fives depended on the warrior's and the female's DNA. It occurred when a warrior with the right DNA, Thorn’s DNA in fact, met a level five female. This is what the scientists called a True Mate. The female triggered an intense mating response in the warrior and the bonding was so strong the mates were unable to be without each other for more than two cycles. There were three level five bonded couples on Zarronia.

Level six was the only ranking based solely on a warrior's DNA and it was a death sentence. The warrior could relieve his fever only with a level six female but one had never been found. Rumor had it there were several level six warriors on Zarronia.

Thorn was thankful Naline had been a level two and had relieved him of the worst of the fever. The symptoms he suffered now were manageable and with any luck at all he'd never meet a level five female. His True Mate.

He pushed the dark thoughts away, activated the communicator and sighed when Dane answered. Dane was the leader and anything he did, Dev did, as well.

"Father?" Dane's young voice sounded frightened and unsure.

"Yes, Dane."

"Father, we heard someone in the corridor. You said we were the only ones on this level." His voice was accusing.

"Our quarters are the only ones occupied, Dane" he said, impatiently. "It was probably a maintenance worker."

"Oh. Are you returning soon?" he asked.

The question was asked too casually and he knew they were up to another one of their tricks. For a fleeting moment, he regretted the time he'd missed with his sons. He hadn't been present when they'd learned to walk or talk. For the last two annuals, he'd visited them only when his father forced him to do so. "Dane, I want you and Dev to begin preparing lunch. I'll be there in five micro-units."

"Alright, Father." Dane spoke then deactivated the communicator abruptly

His parents wanted him to find a mate and provide a mother for his sons. He wasn't willing to do that but he wasn't sure what else he could do. He could hire someone to take care of them but even Soren had harassed him about doing something like that. The last time he'd seen his brother they'd gone to the gymnasium for a friendly training session that had turned into a battle. Soren had badgered him about his indifference towards Dane and Dev. He'd ignored him until he'd taken a swing at him and even then he'd ducked the punch and tried to walk away. Soren hadn't let him and it had ended with both of them lying on the floor, exhausted and bloody, and him admitting that he'd messed up where his sons were concerned.

Thorn pulled his attention back to the present and motioned for his first-in-command, Dag Cameronson, to join him.

"Those two still giving you hell, Thorn?" Dag asked.

Thorn nodded. "They're worse now than when the journey began." Thorn realized Dag knew his sons better than he did as he was one of their mentors. He'd also stood by him when Naline was caught and he'd had been accused of conspiring with her. At first, he'd refused to accept her betrayal. Only after he'd been proven innocent, and she'd been proven guilty, had he accepted the truth and begun to hate her.

"Your sons remind me of you and Soren at that age," Dag said. "The two of you were constantly getting me into trouble."

One of Thorn's rare grins appeared on his face. "Not me, old friend. That was Soren."

Dag chuckled. It was an old joke between them. The brothers were both almost seven feet tall and massively built, with black hair and identical faces. Only their eyes were different. Thorn's eyes were a light grey while Soren's were the aqua color of their mother.

"They're only five. You can't expect them to obey your orders like the warriors do."

"I won't allow them to ignore my orders either." Rising, Thorn turned the bridge over to Dag and stalked away.

He ignored the warriors he passed as he strode to his quarters. Upon his arrival, two identical faces turned to stare at him as he entered and sat down at the table. A glass of stinkgoat milk sat next to a food tray piled high with stinkgoat cheese. He detested the food they'd chosen for him and they knew it.

"Don't you like the food, Father?" Dane asked, as Dev leaned forward, eagerly awaiting his response.

"No. You must have gotten me confused with your Uncle Soren. He's the one who likes milk and cheese." He kept his voice calm, puzzled when they frowned in disappointment as they silently communicated, What had they expected him to do? Throw them in the brig and torture them?

Sighing, he prepared another tray and the three of them ate in silence until Dev mentioned the noise they'd heard in the corridor.

"What kind of noise was it?"

"A big thump. Like someone hit the wall." Dev's grey eyes widened with excitement as his overlong black hair fell into his eyes.

Absently, Thorn reached over and brushed the unruly lock of hair away. Dev always looked excited and disheveled while Dane always appeared calm and well-groomed. Thorn looked into Dev's grey eyes then looked into an identical pair of grey eyes. Until that moment it never occurred to him his sons were smaller versions of himself. In the past they'd only been a painful reminder of Naline's treachery. He watched them for a moment then asked, "What did you hear, Dane?"

Dane looked him square in the eyes. "The same sound Dev heard. It was a thump, as if someone fell against the wall. When I looked the corridor was empty."

"I'll check into it. Alright?" They both nodded. "Now, before I return to the bridge, I want to see the lessons you did this morning."

While they retrieved their tablets he cleared the table then checked the lessons in math and history he'd assigned earlier. Only a few of the answers were incorrect. He helped them correct them then assigned them enough to keep them busy for the rest of the cycle. Before he left, he reminded them they were confined to their quarters. As soon as he arrived on the bridge Dag informed him all of the Earth females had been transferred aboard and escorted to their quarters.

"Good. I'll take command, now." He lowered himself into his chair and studied the chart his navigator, Ronin Hughson, handed him. He made a minor adjustment, then returned them to him. "Have the trade goods been transferred to the ship?"

"Yes, Commander."

Thorn nodded at his new security officer, Jarek Aulunson. The younger warrior was eager to please and ambitious. "Dag, inform the docking station we're ready to disengage."

Dag activated his communicator. "We're cleared to depart, Commander."

"Disengage." Thorn turned to Dag while the navigator and the pilot began the process. "I want to see how the new engines perform if we push them a little. Tell engineering to monitor them closely."

"Alright, Commander." Dag carried out the order, then took the vacant seat next to him.

Thorn slouched in his seat and allowed himself to brood. Lunch with his sons brought back a lot of bad memories. The Zarronians had known a group of Wrothians were trying to regain control of the planet Zhang and release the Wrothian warriors imprisoned there. Those warriors were incarcerated for their war crimes against not only the Zarronians, but against the other inhabitants of the Xenti Galaxy. Over the annuals, many of them had been rehabilitated and freed. Only those warriors who refused to change had been left on the dark side of Zhang. Naline's father had been one of them and he'd managed to contact her and she'd willingly helped him. When she'd been caught, she smugly confessed to treason. He'd tried to resign his commission, but the Council refused to accept it. Instead, they'd given him command of his father's starship, the Invincible.