Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (33 page)

“And our scans show that the youngling she is
carrying was not injured in the least. I am uncertain how the rest
of her gestation will proceed given she only has one heart.
Depending on which DNA is stronger, it may cause problems later
when your youngling’s second heart engages.”

Everything within Rykhan stilled and he could
not think. Not beyond the repetition of Jyrl’s words, ‘the
youngling she is carrying’ which replayed, rang out again and
again, in his head. So much so that he missed the rest of what the
other man had said.

“Say a-again?” Rykhan’s growl sounded strained
even to his own ears.

“I was simply reminding you that because of
this incident and because your youngling will be the first of the
Picari-Humanoid hybrids that will repopulate our worlds, your mate
will need constant monitoring until she delivers.”

“She is breeding?” the huge warrior whispered
hesitantly.

“Isn’t that what I just told you?” Jyrl replied
with a frown. Rykhan could not control his body’s reaction, at the
swaying motion he made before dropping to his knees again,
completely unable to support his own weight.

“Protector?” The doctor’s voice came from very
far away and Rykhan idly noted the note of alarm in the other man’s
tone. As a highly decorated, senior warrior of the Picari
Protectorate, Rykhan typically appeared stalwart, stoic and above
all, in control. At that moment though, he could not help his
emotional reaction to the doctor’s news.

All Rykhan could do was cover his face as he
began to sob.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Rykhan stepped out of the med bay
and stormed down the hall of the
Searcher
on his way to the TIPS room,
his absolute rage dogging every step. They had only allowed him
ten
lesps
with
Leah, only ten measly
lesps
with the female who completed him in every way.
She had not even known he was in the room.

She did not have the least inkling of where she
was, of what had happened to her.

All because someone had set
their
tresl
to a
security level high enough to kill, to end the life of his
Leah.

And the youngling they had created
together.

All he could think as he activated the
transport system was that the warrior who had left his
communication device unmanned would face the full extent of
Rykhan’s wrath. Would experience as much hurt as Rykhan could give
to avenge his female’s injuries.

Oh,
Tsiran
! She had looked so small, so
pale beneath the different units that helped her heal. And although
he’d bent low, placing his mouth right next to her ear as he’d
begged her to open her eyes, she had laid as still as death. He was
not sure if he believed the med-leader and his assurance that Leah
and their youngling would survive.

He did not know how he would continue to live
if they did not.

As he almost exploded out of the green mist,
out of the white noise of the TIPS triangulation, Rykhan was
determined to find and destroy the Picari warrior who dared allow
his fragile human female to be hurt. His single-mindedness to enact
his retribution grew as he raced down the steps, traversing across
the various patio levels. His anger was a white-hot throb within
him as he yanked open the heavy sliding-glass door and ran into the
house.

“Who did this?” he bellowed into the
emptiness of the hallway, never realizing he was using the formal
Picari language in the blood-rage filling him. “Whose
fracking
tresl
hurt my human mate?”

He stood for a moment with feet firmly planted
and fists clenched as he listened for any signs of life within the
large residential structure. Sensing small movements from upstairs,
Rykhan stepped forward only to spy Wyst standing at the mouth of
the long hallway.

“Was it you, Wyst?” Rykhan growled

“I didn’t intend for her to…I mean it wasn’t
intentional.” Rykhan heard his warrior-brother’s voice but the
words meant nothing beyond giving him a target for all ferocity
that was churning, growing within him. “I offer my apologies,
Rykhan and hope you can…”

He had no memory of racing towards the male or
even of his battle cry as he took Wyst to the hard tile. However,
his heart soared at the sound of his heavy fist connecting with the
other warrior’s face, and with each sharp smack, at the feel of
Wyst’s skin beneath his knuckles, the feeling of satisfaction in
hurting his warrior-brother grew.

Rykhan wasn’t sure how long or how
many hits he’d been able to strike before he was dragged away from
Wyst who had all but confessed that it was his
tresl
which had hurt his Leah. Nor
did he pay any attention to the warriors who assisted Wyst to his
feet while others held Rykhan immobile. All he perceived was the
red-haze coloring his view and the pulsations of anger still
beating within him. As he stood between the two who held him,
Rykhan found himself panting, breathing in and out so harshly the
sound filled his ears, drowning out all other noises.

When Bronsyn entered the space Rykhan’s head
begin to clear. There was no mistaking the censure in his
commander’s eyes, the man’s very posture signaling his disapproval
of what had happened.

It was obvious their quest leader did not know.
Not even the other males on mission understood the full extent of
Wyst’s actions. It would be up to him to let them know of the other
male’s perfidy.

“
My Leah almost died. And Dr.
Jyrl discovered she’s breeding.” Saying it aloud finally released
the storm of his rage, quickly followed by a bleak sorrow. The
depths of his overwhelming sadness loosened his knees until he
sagged against the warriors holding him in place. “Wyst’s
tresl
had been set to
maximum security and it could have easily have killed both my mate
and my youngling.”

For the space of two of their heartbeats, no
one moved or even breathed.

Bronsyn tried to bring the group back to normal
by directing everyone into the dining room after ordering Laxon to
apply ice to Wyst’s face. Although his commander didn’t glance at
him once in the ensuing minutes, Rykhan knew he’d crossed the
line.

A line no male accepted into the Protectorate
had ever crossed. At least not in recorded history.

He’d struck a fellow warrior.

In anger.

And with intent to maim.

If not kill.

The very thought, the remembrance of what his
hearts had demanded in terms of making Wyst pay for Leah’s injuries
chilled him.

Had he really wanted to send the male into his
goddess’s veil?

Sinking into his chair, Rykhan knew he faced
the possibility of death because according to Picari law, physical
violence without government sanction was an act of treason. There
was no denying he had not sought out Bronsyn’s council before he
had erupted in rage in order to extract his revenge.

Bronsyn’s words as the man seated
himself and seemed to gather his thoughts prior to speaking gave
Rykhan hope. “I offer felicitations at the knowledge that you and
your female have joined and have created a life that will help
reseed our planet. This was the goal of our initial quest and you,
Protector Nillr, have more than proved that both our scientists and
droids were right. A human female’s ovum can accept the Picari life
force and create a new specie. I give thanks to
Tsiran
for your successful joining
and wish you all the blessing of your union.”

Turning his gaze to Wyst, the
commander’s eyes took on a sharper look. “But I need to understand
why your
tresl
was
not only left unattended but also set to maximum
security.”

The other warrior raised the bag of
some frozen vegetable packet from his swollen mouth. “I have had
several late night contacts with Commander Stege. In them he talks
of how Earthlings can circumvent our goals. He downloaded many
things into my
tresl
which he won’t explain but says are necessary in the event of
discovery by the government of the land mass we currently
inhabit.”

His golden gaze, only marred by the
bruising and swelling of one eye, looked at each of the warriors
around the table. “Stege said that he was contacting each one of us
individually to ensure there would be no breach. But that we were
not to speak about his communiqués amongst ourselves in order to
prevent the humans from discovering our presence. That we were all
to keep our
tresls
on full security to prevent any human from accessing our data
and plans.”

*.*.*.*.*

Bronsyn looked at each of the warriors he
commanded. “Did Commander Stege do the same with any other of
you?”

At each negatory answer, Wyst’s shoulders fell
until he sagged in his chair.

Perhaps it is time, Bronsyn thought as he kept
his eyes on the males under his command. Rykhan’s Leah had brought
up good points in their initial meeting, ones that niggled at him
late into his sleep cycle but that he still could not
answer.

“I have recently been asked how six warriors
could possibly be expected to repopulate our two planets,” he
began. “I couldn’t answer and want to hear your thoughts on the
matter.”

At confused glances around the table, Bronsyn
was glad he was not the only one who had not known their full
mission parameters before launch.

“Frack
!”
Bronsyn thought it was Arbrynt who had uttered the expletive, but
it was Gyard whose anger filled the room.

“Our sleep spaces onboard the
Searcher
were too small
for just our bodies, never mind the fact that we would be sharing
it with our blays once we’d chosen them before returning home!” the
large blonde male’s rumbled. Gyard reached behind his shoulder, but
the warrior’s hair had been cut and was no longer long enough for
him to glide a palm along its former long lengths.

What in
Tsiran’s
name was going
on?

Bronsyn did not have a clue and as a loyal
servant to the Gal-Trol covenant, he did not have a single idea at
where to begin to unravel everything being hidden from him and his
questing warriors. All he knew was something was not
right.

“Here’s what I don’t understand,”
Rykhan began, rubbing a finger over his chin. “Why does the
Searcher
have one full
level dedicated to the med-bay?”

Laxon shifted in his seat and blushed as he
spoke. “I often wondered that myself as I wandered the star-ship on
our way to this planet. Do you know they have rooms with metal
cylinders that are ice-cold to the touch? Or other spaces that are
filled with small rectangles and medical equipment as if they were
intended to monitor small creatures?” The large quiet man shrugged,
a look of confusion crossing his young features. “When I was
discovered exploring our environs, I was ordered out and told what
I had seen wasn’t anything I needed to worry over.”

“That ship is four times larger than any vessel
I’ve traveled on,” Arbrynt stated firmly. “Yet we were never
allowed into any area other than the observation deck to allow us
all to be together at the same time.”

The very air stilled over the table as the men
took in this new knowledge.

“I believe there is the possibility that we
don’t know the full scope of our mission,” Tyshar finally said into
the void of silence as his dark, dark eyes shifted to their mission
leader.

“Agreed,” Bronsyn concurred with a nod. “In
light of everything, I would like to put the issue of Rykhan’s
attack on Wyst behind us. This simply means that I will not report
it and there will be no repercussions for the two warriors at
odds.”

“Again, Rykhan,” Wyst mumbled and his lip’s
movement reopened the splits Rykhan’s fists had inflicted and the
warrior used the back of his hand to swipe at the blood. “I do
apologize. If I’d known your female would touch my unit I would’ve
never set it on max.”

“While I accept your apology, I almost lost
both my mate and youngling.” Rykhan replied flatly. “I will not
seek any further justice against you.”

Tyshar tapped the tabletop to gain everyone’s
attention. “It seems we’re embroiled in some sort of plot or plan
that goes far beyond the parameters of our original
mission.”

Murmurs of agreement came from every male at
the table.

“Therefore, I believe that we are to be the key
players in something that goes beyond the simple mission we were
originally given, one which could potentially put the females of
Earth in jeopardy.”

“But we’re Protectors,” Arbrynt
interjected.

“We do not harm the innocent,” Gyard added on a
growl.

Bronsyn’s heart thrilled to hear his men
reaffirm the vows they each made at the end of their years at the
academy. So he completed it.