Unexpected (16 page)

“He’s
not moving at all,” she said, finding it hard to catch her breath as she
cradled Felix’s head in her lap.

“The
lash disrupts the nervous system. I’m calling for a medic.”

“No,
don’t bring anyone here. He might come back.” Alisa’s momentary bravery
deserted her when she considered Ivar’s possible return. She spared a glance
around her at the fallen security officers, the blood spatters, the tumbled
stacks of containers. It had all happened so quickly and ended with so much
death.

“Who
did this to you, my love?” Mikel asked as he ran his hands over his bondmate’s
pulse points.

“Your commander, Ivar
Offen
.
He pulled me into a car and brought me
here. He was going to take me to a slum and leave me.” She paused and stroked
her hand down Felix’s cheek. “Is he…”

Mikel
frowned. “His pulse is weak, but steady. I know someone who will—”

A
sudden noise had them both turning back to the entrance where she saw the
commandant, covered in a wet cape similar to what Felix and Mikel had worn. His
eyes widened as he took in the carnage. Her hands shook with renewed fear.

With
a grunt, Mikel rose and stared at his commander. “I claim the right to trial by
combat with you,
Offen
. You conspired to kill my
bondmate.”

The
other man blinked and shook his head once. “You can’t invoke that old statue.
It doesn’t apply anywhere but on Alphan soil, between pure-blooded
Alphans
.”

“This
hangar is ceded to us by the humans, and all laws of Alpha apply here,” Mikel
shot back as he quickly removed his wet cloak. “You lectured me on that the
first day we arrived. Among so many other things that I now realize were
unimportant.”

Alisa
shifted her weight so she could bring her weapon into Mikel’s line of sight.
She wanted him to have it and kill the man who’d engineered so much suffering.

“What
are you doing? You’ve disobeyed me, abandoned your duties to the prince,
clearly murdered your fellow officers, and now you want to fight me?
Over this squalid human?
Does miscegenation destroy brain
cells?” Clearly frustrated, Ivar breathed heavily through his mouth as he
stared at Mikel. “You will be ruined. I’ll see that you are court martialed for
this and spend the rest of your days in a windowless cell too small for you to
stand or lie in.”

“How
will you accomplish that when you are dead by my hand?” Never taking his eyes
from the other man, Mikel crouched down and placed his hand over hers,
arranging her fingers over the weapon she held until her fingers slid into
depressions made for them. His skin was warm, and he was as steady at the
ground under them. “Aim and squeeze. If I should fall, use this to defend him
and yourself. Find refuge somewhere until Felix can call for help.”

Her
stomach turned over as he rose up, a slight smile on his lips. He flexed his
arms and strode toward his erstwhile commander. How he’d be able to defeat an
armed man who hadn’t just battled and bested three highly trained fighters, she
didn’t know, but she knew he’d die attempting to save her and his bondmate.
Almost as if he could sense their dire situation, Felix shivered in her arms,
and she tightened her hold on him.

Mikel
attacked silently, rushing Ivar in a surprising burst of speed and managing to
kick a weapon from the other man’s hand before he could bring it to bear. Rapid
blows and parries from both men followed, and the hangar echoed with the sounds
of their harsh breathing and the thumps of their bodies against each other. The
other man landed a roundhouse blow against Mikel’s midsection and sent him
staggering away. He fell to the floor and rolled onto his hands and knees. With
a supercilious twist of his lip, the commander reached underneath his cloak and
pulled out a short, evil-looking blue blade. She screamed out a warning, and
Ivar spared her a glance.

“Stupid human.
You’re next to
die.”

Mikel
took advantage of the distraction and again launched himself at the other man,
catching him in the shoulder and sending them both into a stack of resin
containers. Alisa wanted to rise up and see what was happening, but she
wouldn’t risk moving Felix. She could hear boxes moving, noises of struggle,
and a finally a low growl followed by a harsh cry. It sounded like a fatal
blow. Swallowing hard, she lifted up the weapon, prepared to fire it on Ivar if
he appeared.

To
her utter joy, it was Mikel who approached her. He was dragging
Offen
by one heel, the other man’s body limp and leaking a
thick trail of blood. Mikel was also wounded, bright red staining his hip and
darkening the material covering his thigh.

With
a grunt, he deposited the commander’s body next to Felix’s and held the
gore-smeared blue knife out to her. “The final blow is for you, my Alisa.”

She
stared up at him for a second, unable to process his statement. Taking a deep breath,
he looked toward his enemy and frowned.
“Ah, too late.
He’s dead already.”

“Is
it over?” Alisa stared at the dead man, his golden skin now a pale cream, his
harsh features slack with faint, final surprise. The fatal wound seemed to be a
large hole punched into his temple.

“Over
for Ivar.” Mikel knelt down, heedless of the blood slowly leaking from his dead
commander as he checked over his bondmate. “Felix improves.”

Relief
filled her. It seemed the only emotions she’d been able to generate for the last
hour were rage, fear, and now gratitude that her men would survive.
But for how long?

“What
will happen?” She made a gesture that took in all the dead men.

“A hearing, perhaps a tribunal.
Don’t worry,
Alisa. The truth will prevail. But it does seem we will be returning to Alpha
much sooner than intended.” Now Mikel leaned her way and caught her gaze with
his own. No longer was the fire of battle in his eyes, now it was just concern
and focus on her. “Will you return with us?”

As
if there was any doubt. “Of course I will. I want to give my testimony in
person.”

“Is
that all?” Mikel’s eyes narrowed as he rested one hand on Felix’s chest, over
his bondmate’s heart. Before she could say more to prove her devotion, a voice
echoed in the hangar and she jumped with fright, sure more of Ivar’s minions
had arrived to avenge his loss. Instead, it was a thin Alphan flanked by two
burlier ones, all wearing wet cloaks and surprised expressions.

“What
has happened here?” the thin man asked, and Mikel rose to his feet with a
slight groan of effort. He bowed his head, and Alisa realized this must be the
prince her bondmates had escorted earlier. The royal walked closer, inspecting
each fallen Alphan with a bemused expression as he passed the sprawled bodies.
His escorts followed closely, their hands under their wet capes at what were
surely weapons, ready for any sort of aggressive act towards their leader.

“Your
Grace, we rescued our bondmate from mortal peril.”

“And
eliminated many of my elite security forces in the process, it seems. Is that,
ah, Commandant
Offen
, perchance?”

The
prince poked one rain-slicked boot at the commander’s limp form.

“Yes,
sir, it was trial by combat—”

“Prompted
by this lady?” Now the royal’s eyes, surprisingly dark for an Alphan but full
of wisdom, were locked on her, and Alisa’s breath froze in her chest. For an
unprepossessing exterior, the man was riveting in his focus.

“Yes,
our bondmate, Alisa Sorrel.”

“This
man detained you with ill intentions?” The prince stared at her like he to want
to read her mind as he gestured at the fallen man.

“Yes,
he took me in his car here, had
me
tied up in that
craft over there.” She gestured at the hover looming overhead. “And said he was
going to leave me in a camp to die.”

“Why
would a security commandant undertake such unethical and illegal behavior?”

“He
said he wanted to keep me from Felix and Mikel, wanted to prevent an alien
breeding with
Alphans
.” She knew she was stuttering
and blushing. It felt strange to refer to herself as an alien, embarrassing to
acknowledge that she’d had sex with men under this prestigious person’s
command.

The
prince’s elegantly shaped eyebrows swooped up, and Mikel grumbled under his
breath.
“Ah, one of those.
Well, they may be
troublesome, but there’s no turning back the tide—”

“Troublesome?
He was set to murder her and had these others as willing accomplices.” Mikel’s
interruption was met with the prince’s surprised head tilt and the two guard’s
increased tension. The prince drew himself up and somehow managed to look down
his nose at Mikel even though he was shorter by a quarter meter.

“It
seems you set things to rights efficiently, Centurion Mikel of the
Tauride
. We’ll have to convene a hearing, but I can attest
to your loyalty and quality of service. Your bondmate requires medical
intervention.
Herdon
will stay and arrange all
transport and security.”

With
a quick gesture, the prince beckoned one of his men forward and instructed him
to call for the royal physician to report immediately. The two men crouched
down and shifted Felix’s body from her lap. One helped her to stand as the
other pulled some sort of scanning device from his belt and began to check over
her stirring bondmate. These men attending the prince clearly must be
proficient in all the skills, from hand-to-hand combat to first aid, anything
needed to protect their charge. Alisa reached for Mikel’s hand, heedless of the
drying blood on his skin, and faced the prince.

“Thank
you … your majesty.” She fumbled with the words, completely out of her depth
with such matters of address.

“It
is ‘Your Grace’, until I attain the throne.” The prince’s dark eyes were
momentarily alight with what she hoped was humor. He studied her face for a
moment, and she wondered how bruised and bloodied she was, if he noticed the
straps still binding her ankles, but decided it didn’t matter. She’d fought for
her men as hard as they’d fought for her. “Yes, I begin to see the appeal of
human women. Best wishes to you, Alisa Sorrel. I hope you will soon be proud to
call Alpha home.”

With
that he inclined his head her way,
then
exited the
hanger, one of his guards following as the other still attended to Felix. All
the strength leached from her limbs, and she collapsed against Mikel’s side, a
deep sigh of relief leaving her as his strong arms wrapped around her.

Epilogue

Close,
but not as tight a cluster as he’d like to see at this stage of her training.
Felix glanced over at Alisa as she lowered the phase pistol from regulation
stance and peered through her polarized shooting glasses at the far-off target.
They were practicing at the firing range he’d had installed at their new estate,
and so far that morning her accuracy was in decline. He didn’t need to wonder
why. Uncertainty was emanating from her in sad waves. They’d been in residence
for three months, on Alpha for four, and he worried she was growing homesick
for Earth now, once the newness and adjustments to life on her new planet had
worn off.

Mikel
hopped down from his perch in a shooting stand, scope in hand, and rushed to
her side.

“You
had less than sixty percent in the kill zone and last week
were
at just over seventy. Perhaps you are not adjusting to the slight breeze from
the southeast?”

At
his bondmate’s helpful advice, Alisa drew in a rough breath and then collapsed
in tears, giant sobs wrenching through her body as she clutched at her head.
Felix extracted the pistol from her hand and holstered it. It was set to mere
laser pulse and fired no projectile, but caution was the watchword when it came
to any weapon. Meanwhile, Mikel had gathered her up in his arms and was rocking
her while making the soothing sounds they’d learned she liked.

“What
ails you, my heart?” Felix wanted to get to the bottom of this. If he needed to
arrange a trip back to Earth, or import some pet or goods to comfort her, he would
do so immediately.

“Yes,
you saw the doctor a few days ago. Was there something amiss?” Mikel eased the
glasses away from her tear-stained face, and she sniffled, glancing from one of
them to the other with reddened eyes. Felix had been worried when she’d
suddenly asked for a physician familiar with human anatomy, but when she’d
refrained from mentioning any sort of prognosis, he assumed she was healthy.
Anxiety flared in his gut.

“I’m
fine. Everything is functioning perfectly normally!” Her voice rose in a quaver,
and she began to cry again, tears streaming down her face in such a display of
grief that Felix was dumbstruck. She’d been so happy, so content to settle into
their new home, see all the sights of Alpha, meet people, eager for sexual
encounters whenever any of them had the inclination. His assumption that
everything was perfect was shattered.