Somehow my body had responded to her presence even before I realized she was here. She was close. I glanced about, trying to find her, as if she’d just miraculously appear. Yet the five of us were alone on the set.
I shoved open the door and walked out into the plain, cold stairwell. I’d been told this was for emergencies, which this was quickly becoming. A frantic need to find her. The scent was stronger here, and I breathed deeply, pulling her into my lungs, my soul.
My mate. Perhaps she could melt the ice around my emotions. Perhaps, with her, I could feel something other than cold and empty.
“Bahre?” Tane joined me in the stairwell as I looked up and down, deciding which direction to begin my hunt. The building was tall, multiple floors, and she was on one of them. “What is it?”
“My mate is here.” I never thought I’d say those words aloud.
Tane stilled, then smiled. I saw the beast rise in him with excitement. “Here? Where?”
I gave him a negligible shrug as I scanned the vacant staircase. “I don’t know. Somewhere in the building.”
“Her scent?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Let’s go get her.”
His words made me smile, the first time in what seemed like years. I took a deep breath and decided to go up. Her scent was hours old, and logic indicated she had come into the building to begin her work and not yet exited.
Unless she had taken the lift system the humans called an elevator. I would deal with that challenge if and when a true hunt became necessary. I turned to Tane. “Tell the others, but they must remain here. I detect no threat to her, so I do not wish to frighten my female.”
“Understood.” Tane left me for a moment to inform the others where we would be going, but I did not wait for him. My beast was suddenly eager, and I moved up the steps like I imagined an Everian Elite Hunter would. There was no room for error in this, the most important mission of my life. I would find my mate.
Mentally I prayed to the gods she could accept me. I was not typical, even for an Atlan. Scars like mine were rare as most who survived their wounds were immediately taken to a ReGen pod to heal. I had not been so lucky. Nor did I wish to undergo the surgical procedures required to make me pretty. I’d never cared what I looked like before. But now? I worried she would be afraid of me. Repulsed.
I was a warlord. Being scarred and frightening helped me do my job for Dr. Helion and the Intelligence Core. However, my appearance would not help me woo a female. My female.
After climbing two sets of stairs, the delicate scent disappeared. I looked to the exit door for this floor and knew she’d gone through it. She was here, on this level.
When I opened the door, a dark room appeared on the other side, and I recognized the scene from one of the human news comms that broadcast local items of interest. Screens in the lobby showed the program as I assumed advertisement of some kind, although the machines provided no sound.
Around the large space, there were many humans standing in dark areas, behind cameras, monitoring microphones and moving behind computer screens.
We’d come directly onto the set of this program. As I leaned against the open door, I took a deep breath. Yes, she was here. I scanned the dark area, but a male voice had me turning my head.
The human was behind a desk and staring at one of the cameras. He spoke of something about the weather. The lights shifted and brightened the right section of the set. And there, in front of an odd green wall, was her.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Tane set his hand on my shoulder, and I pointed at the human female.
At my mate.
I scanned her from head to toe. Red hair, the color of The Colony’s barren land at sunset. Her skin was pale and smooth, almost glowing under the program’s intense lighting. She wore a cream colored dress that hugged her lithe shape and made her hair even more vibrant. However, the color of it clashed with the harsh green background. She was looking at the camera and speaking, her hands pointing to the blank wall. She spoke about clouds and temperatures, moving her arms around and pointing as if something were actually behind her.
I had no idea why humans wanted information from a green wall, but if it was on a television program, it had to be important. When she pointed toward the ground, my eyes followed, took in her long legs that might actually wrap around my waist when I claimed her, holding her hands over her head, my cuffs about her wrists and affixed to the wall.
I growled and Tane squeezed my shoulder. No one was speaking but my mate.
She took a step and pointed once more. Those strange Earth shoes on her feet had heels that raised her height by four inches. They looked impossible to walk in but, I admitted, were sexy as fuck. Having those sharp points press into my ass as I fucked her would be a painful and pleasurable reminder that she was mine.
“There’s a brief chance for rain later, but other than that, a perfect, if somewhat cooler, Florida weekend. Now on to my daily local photos. I’ve got one shared by a local woman, Michelle Kaur. This picture is of her father-in-law with his neighborhood friend, Howard, enjoying the famous Florida sunshine. If I’m correct, it looks like the alligator likes beef jerky.”
Her voice was deep for a female’s. Melodic. Smooth. Mesmerizing. When she smiled, it lit up the room brighter than any of the spotlights on her. Every inch of her was perfect. I took a
