“None of that. Your communicators may be primitive, but you will not seek help.” The huge alien grabbed my cell from the makeup station and put it in his pocket. Shit.
“Who are you?” I asked again. “What the hell do you want?”
His gaze roved over my hair, my neck, my body. “Revenge. Your mate has done some very bad things. Hurt people. It is time for him to hurt in return.”
Oh God. He was here because of Bahre. I might attract stalkers but not alien ones.
“I don’t have a mate,” I snapped. I wasn’t sure that was strictly true, at least in Bahre’s opinion, but I wasn’t above lying to this freak to get him to leave me alone. I could scream. Someone would—
The alien moved faster than I could track, his hand covering my mouth when barely a squeak had escaped.
His hand was warm and big, covering me from ear to ear.
“No. I’m here because you and Bahre, how do you say, went viral? Not just on Earth. They are playing your adorable little meeting over every planet’s comms. You’re the hit of the entire universe. Warlord Bahre, hero of the Coalition Fleet, assassin and top-level operative for the Intelligence Core, has found himself a little human female to mate.” He glanced at my hands. “No cuffs. Bahre isn’t as smart as I thought.”
I tried to shake my head in denial, but he leaned over me, hand covering my mouth, so close I could see the odd striations inside his eyes. I’d never seen anything like them, not even in lizards. This close I realized the golden color was actually black and yellow striping so thin the colors blended.
The plain black suit and blue tie made him appear all too human, until one looked into his eyes. Or he smiled and showed his fangs. God… fangs! Was he a vampire? Seriously. A few years ago I hadn’t believed in aliens either. Was he going to bite me? Shit.
Pressing his nose to my hair, he inhaled. I flinched. “Were there not such a high price on your head, human, I’d keep you for myself.”
Price on my head?
What was he talking about?
Still holding me in place, he reached into his pocket and took out a small metallic device about the size of a large coin. Placing it on my thigh, he covered the object until I felt a sharp little bite of pain, as if the device had attached to my skirt and dug just a bit too deep.
“You’re going to enjoy your new life with Cerberus, human.”
He stepped back, and my mouth was finally free. I tried to scream, but the air was torn from my lips before the sound registered as everything around me twisted and distorted. Ice-cold claws dug into my flesh, and my world went black.
* * *
Bahre
My fellow warlords, my brothers from Atlan, gathered around me with smiles on each and every face the moment I walked in. They had cleared a large area in the center of the room for the sport. Keeping Atlan warlords penned up inside such a small space was not a wise idea.
My mate was upstairs preparing for her evening in front of the strange green screen speaking about Earth’s weather. She had to stay here long enough to repeat the performance later in the night, and I was restless because of it. I wanted to take her home. Now. Strip her naked and claim her over and over. My beast agreed. Only two floors separated us in the tall building, but that was too much. I tried to remain calm, but it was difficult. I’d touched her. Tasted her. Filled her. Being apart was a struggle.
While she did her job telling the humans about their daily weather, I had come here to collect the few things I had and tell the others of my good fortune without being too far from my female. I choked down a growl from my beast. If he wasn’t touching her, he believed we were too far away.
“Well?” Tane asked.
“She is mine.”
The Atlans rose and slammed their meaty fists onto my back and shoulders, some harder than strictly necessary, in a show of support. “Gods be damned, Bahre. That is good news.”
“I need to get the fuck out of here. I scented every single female from the program and not one of them interested my beast,” Kai said.
“I suffer the same fate, friend,” Tane added. “However Bahre has found his mate. As did Wulf and Braun. There is hope.”
“There isn’t much hope for the Bachelor Beast program,” I shared. “They have yet to understand we know immediately that the contestants are not our mate. There is no show.”
They grunted in agreement.
“I do not wish for my match to be broadcast on the television like Wulf’s was, and live on the news program as you were last night,” Iven added.
I shrugged, not caring at all. I’d found my mate. I’d protected her, satisfied her. More than once. My beast was content, for now. She was not wearing my mating cuffs, but as I told her last night, I was patient.
The five of us spoke for some time, and I truly enjoyed being among a group of warlords for the first time in many years. I was not on a mission, preparing to go into battle. There was no Hive here on Earth. Dr. Helion didn’t have power here. I doubted he could pull me back from this Bachelor Beast program if he tried. Ambassador Lorvar had become involved when Braun and his mate had been in an altercation with a thieving man. That meant this was more than just a human amusement. We were diplomatic liaisons whether we wanted
