“And your problem with that is?”
Tren kissed her in response as he carried her back to the beach, and the waiting blanket. He’d just made it to the sand when an alarm went off in the pile of their clothing.
“What is that?” she asked as she let herself slide down his body to stand.
Tren downplayed the alarm. “Probably just a malfunctioning sensor. We’ll need to return to the house so I can look into it.”
He kept a sharp eye out as they dressed, visually tracking the area all around them. The warning didn’t bode well at all as it indicated a surface breach which meant someone or something had already penetrated his planetary shield. But no matter, he’d take care of whomever thought to disturb him on his home turf, and he’d do it painfully for having interrupted his tryst with Megan. To be on the safe side, he also keyed in a request for additional support from the barracks, where he’d exiled his usual security guards, so he might enjoy some private time with his mate.
Grabbing her hand, he tugged her after him as he pulled out a gun with the other.
“Um, I thought you said it was probably just a bad sensor thing?”
“It always pays to be cautious,” he replied as he increased their pace going up the path to the house. She didn’t reply, but the bite of her fingers laced in his let him know she understood the gravity of the situation despite his attempt at reducing it.
The very stillness around them bothered him so he almost sighed in relief when he finally saw motion, scuttling green forms that thought to ambush them. With the house in sight, the path to it clear, Tren pushed Megan forward.
“Quick now. Run inside and hide in the bedroom until I come for you.”
She hesitated and he could see indecision in her eyes. “But what about you? I can’t leave you alone.”
She worried for him? Tren’s chest swelled. “Fear not for me, I can handle this; however, I need you somewhere safe so I am not distracted.”
She went on tiptoe to brush his lips before turning to run with a muttered, “You’d better be careful or I’ll hurt you myself.”
He grinned at her departing figure, not taking his eyes from her until she’d made it into the house safely. Then his lips curled into a vicious snarl.
Time to take care of the scum who threatened his female.
Megan dashed into the house, but she had no intention of hiding and leaving Tren alone to fight. She just wanted to arm herself before she returned to help him. She ran into the main living area, but saw nothing of use. What she really needed was something from those racks of weapons she’d seen this morning during her fighting lesson.
She strode into the kitchen, meaning to ask the staff where they’d stashed them, but skidded to a halt. She found the small creatures-who acted as servants and looked like Hollywood’s version of green Martians-tied up and gagged.
Which meant some of the bad guys had made it into the house.
“Let me go,” she yelled.
“No.”
She kicked out, hoping to connect, but wise to her previous style of attack, he kept his lower body arched away. She struggled against him, but he reeled her in and slung her over his shoulder. She pounded at his back shrieking.
“Bully. Tren is going to make you regret this.”
“Not before I make him regret what he did to me,” Jaro replied with an inappropriate grope.
Megan’s blood ran cold as his intent came clear. “Like bloody hell.” With no weapon at hand, she remembered what Tren had taught her and used the only weapon she had. She bit Jaro.
He cursed, but didn’t put her down. “Feisty barbarian. Good thing I came prepared.”
A jab in her thigh made her huff in annoyance. “Aw, fuck. Not again. What is it with you aliens and drugging women. Jerrrk.” She slurred the last word as the world went fuzzy and she blacked out.
Chapter Thirteen
Tren didn’t wait for the encroaching enemy to approach. He charged them with silent fury. A gun in one hand, a knife in the other, he took aim as he went after the invaders. He didn’t miss. Nor did he shoot to injure. Each head shot took down an intruder, and those who popped up silently from the rocks and brush met the sharp edge of his blade.
As attacks went, the enemy proved less than impressive. Mindless clones who resembled the slimy skinned goblins of the Pracgudian galaxy, they didn’t even wield any laser pistols. Whoever had sent them to attack had armed them instead with knives and swords. To say he sliced through them in a gruesome swath was an understatement. Actually, the ease with which he dispatched them insulted him.
Unless these fodders for death served another purpose, such as delay. Tren almost groaned aloud at his stupidity in not recognizing the stalling tactic.
Urgency imbued him as, through his connection to Megan, he sensed her sudden shock, then fear. Her anger swiftly followed, but what worried him most of all was when, like a fire snuffed, he no longer felt anything of her emotions.
Tren roared in fury, the icy chill of fear held at bay by the intact tendril of his mating bond allowing him to know she lived, if incapacitated.
Unacceptable.
Tren broke off the battle with the clones and ran towards his house, then past it, following his ghostly connection to Megan.
At a swift jog, it didn’t take him long to catch up to his brother who strode along in cocky arrogance with Megan slung over his shoulder.
“Drop her, Jaro, before I put an end to our feud once and for all.”
His brother turned with a smirk. “Done with my little surprise already? That must be a record even for you. I’d calculated it would take you at least a few units, enough time for me to get away with the female.”
Tren raised his gun and aimed it at his brother’s head, his hand steady even if his heart quavered at what Jaro forced him to do. “Don’t make me kill you,” he warned.
Jaro scoffed. “You and I both know you won’t break our promise to mother over a female.”
Tren’s felt the coldness of his killer side slip over him. “I will kill anyone who thinks to harm my mate, promise or not.”
Jaro’s eyes widened, and he reeled back a step. “Mate? Surely you didn’t bond with the Earthling? She’s a barbarian.”
“Megan is my mate. The proof of her claiming is visible on her neck. So I am going to ask you one last time to put her down, or make no mistake, I will kill you.”
Before Jaro could comply, a burning pain hit Tren’s back. With a growl, Tren turned and fired on the ranks of a new group of aliens approaching armed with laser pistols. A presence at his side made him snarl, a sound bitten short as he saw his brother shooting at the advancing menace.
“Game over, Jaro. Call your lackeys off,” Tren shouted.
“They’re not mine,” Jaro replied, his expression grim as he aimed and fired.
“Frukx!” Tren didn’t like the sound of that, but then another worry hit him.
