Grai's Game (First Wave) (7 page)

“I plan on going outside and seeing one of these creatures for myself. Maybe you would like to check on your brother?” Ivint offered Traze,
seeing his concern for his brother who was still bleeding as he helped others.

Ivint waited as Traze nodded his head mutely before running towards the door. Ivint pulled it open in time for the boy to lose no stride as he sprinted through it and to the door to the dock.

He smiled at the boy’s antics and noticed that even Banatar and Risk were not immune to the boy’s charm. The three of them followed at a more sedate pace out to the dock and immediately started helping the wounded.

Ivint couldn’t help but cringe slightly at the surprised look on the faces of the Relian’s and
ex-Relian captives who helped make up Grai’s force when they began to assist in treating their injuries.

Ivint would talk to Reven about it later, his brain refusing to deal with the information n
agging at the back of his mind when other matters were more important right now.

They were lucky that most of the injuries were not life threatening
; and it didn’t take much longer to deal with the majority of the injured.

Ivint looked up as he finished with another deep cut caused by one of the deadly talons on the dark ones and
saw Grai stumble as he stood from helping another one of his men. Still covered in bleeding cuts and wounds, Ivint realized Grai was the only one who had not been treated yet.

Finishing quickly with the man he was helping, Ivint stood and scanned the parking lot for Grai. Ivint found him bent over another man near one of the roll
-up doors and grabbed a med tech that had just finished with a patient, on the way.

Reven looked up immediately as Ivint passed and saw where he was headed. Grabbing a med tech to finish with his own patient, he followed
his friend.

Grai wiped the mixture of his blood and sweat off of his forehead with the back of his glove before digging into one of
the med kits they had brought. It was several moments before he realized that the shadows standing over him were not of the night and moon.

Instinctively, he moved quickly to the side and came up at a crouch in front of his injured man
, weapons drawn and ready. Ivint just grinned at the wicked looking blade that had appeared suddenly in Grai’s hand.

“Let’s hope you have no more need of that tonight.” Ivint told the startled man with a slight chuckle. Although, he was grateful when he put the knife away. The man’s speed was still somewhat of a shock to him
, as was Balduen’s. It had been so long since his people had been beast bonded, that he had forgotten how much faster their reflexes were.

Ivint nodded to the med tech who immediately began treating the Relian on the ground, along with a few others who had finished with other patients.

“Come, there is much to discuss.” Ivint held his hand out to Grai, knowing that he had not gotten up from the ground yet because he did not want his men to see him stumble.

Ivint hoped that it would give the man an excuse to accept his assistance and save his pride in front of his men
, even though he had no reason to feel less than heroic.

His strength and skill had been impressive to watch and his concern for his people, including his hybrids was no longer a doubt for anyone.
Ivint could well understand why his hybrids and Relian half-breeds were so loyal to him. He was a good leader, who obviously cared deeply for his people.

Grai looked at the High Councilor’s hand for a moment before accepting it. He was barely able to hide his surprise at the older man’s strength as he quickly pulled him to his feet, holding his hand for a moment longer than necessary so that Grai could gain his balance.

When he was steady, Grai let go of his hand and gave him a nod of thanks. Ivint just gave him a small smile and held his arm out for Grai to precede him into the warehouse.

Once inside, Ivint took the lead as he went directly to the
conference room. He was surprised to see the line of people that followed and waited while everyone entered the room, leaving the door open for the rest.

Traze
came in and went directly to his brother, breaking open a new med kit on the table in front of him. Ivint was surprised when Reven went to help him and not surprised when Grai tried to push them away.

“We can’t discuss anything if you are passed out from blood loss. And I do not wish to deal with a mate’s wrath when she finds out that we did not force you to at least clean yourself before going to see your son.” Ivint told the man sternly
, hoping he wouldn’t argue for long.

Grai just nodded his head and allowed Risk to peel the
blood-soaked shirt from his chest. Ivint stared at the Ator-Ma confirming that he was indeed mated, yet another truth he could add to the growing list of truths the man had told.

It wasn’t the bleeding cuts that held his attention though, it was the scars. There had to be more than twenty across his chest,
all in varying lengths and depths. Some were obviously inflicted by a blade of some kind, some burn marks; all were horrific.

Moving silently behind the man as they continued to work on his abdomen, Ivint could see the expanse of his back as he sat on the edge of the chair and stifled the gasp that came at the sight.

His chest had looked bad enough, but his back barely resembled a body part. The mass of scars upon scars had mottled and distorted the skin to the point that it looked more like he had suffered terrible burns. Ivint would have assumed that was the cause if he hadn’t noticed the individual slashes. The tell-tale signs of being severely whipped and maybe caned.

Judging by the damage, he had to have been whipped from a small age long into his adulthood for the scars to have set in such a fashion. It reminded him of the damage done to Jess’s legs. The same kind of torture had been
used on Kalai’s own son, and Ivint knew that couldn’t have happened without his approval or at his orders.

Quickly glancing at
Traze, he wondered briefly if the boy had also been subjected to the same kind of abuse. He doubted it though, Grai didn’t seem the type to allow anything to harm those he cared about and Traze showed none of the deep emotional scars that came with such abuse. It gave Ivint a lot more insight into the puzzle the man represented.

“Koda?” Grai asked, looking around the room at the screens and seeing his brothers battered and damaged ship.

“I heard from
Scaden; they have successfully repelled the incoming force; the others have fled the quadrant. His ships sustained heavy damage and there were a few casualties. We’ve got engineers and med tech’s helping with the situation. Rest easy for a moment while you get cleaned up.” Ivint assured the young Relian.

Ivint watched in silence as
Traze and Reven tended to the worst of Grai’s injuries. Including a deep slash across his stomach that would have felled a lesser man or at least made him seek treatment immediately.

This man and his strange brothers puzzled
Ivint greatly. Their words were surprising enough, yet their actions were the greatest jolt of all. Ivint wasn’t sure if it was the most elaborate scam yet to get inside their ranks, or if they were truly so different from their sire and his brutal ways. Either way, they earned the right to be heard.

Even as they tended to the deep wound in his stomach, Ivint noticed the man never flinched. His lack of emotion regarding his own injuries told Ivint’s sharp mind more than the man probably wanted to reveal.
He shook his head, trying to clear the sympathy so that he could think more objectively.

It would do no good to express his pity
anyway; the proud and strong man would ignore it. He knew Reven must have drawn the same conclusion when he stopped dabbing gently at the wound with the antiseptic long enough to stare at Ivint with a mixture of grudging respect and sympathy for the man.

One of his men came into the room with a clean
T-shirt and tact shirt, which he immediately began pulling over his head even though they were still working on sealing the wound on his stomach.

Ivint could understand
why; the curious stares of those in the room would put anyone on the edge. Although, he was also curious and had more questions than answers, Grai and his people deserved better than that for the sacrifices they made today. If Grai was telling the truth, it would not serve them to treat an ally so badly. And he needed to speak privately with his own.

“
Why don’t you go to your mate and child. I’m sure Tricia is worried over you.” Ivint suggested, surprised when Balduen growled and glared at Grai.

The two men stared at each other for a heated moment before Grai looked away first, turning to Ivint.

“I thank you for the offer, but we have much to go over. She has been informed that I am well and is busy assisting in the MedLab… with Dare.” Grai added, inclining his head slightly towards Ivint in a show of gratitude and respect.

Ivint didn’t know that the two women were still together and respected that Grai did not want to upset Balduen by going near his mate.
The situation between the two men was already strained to the breaking point and needed no help to push it over the edge.

“The med tech’s have everything under control now. Dare is leaving to go lie down. If I may?” Balduen never took his eyes off of Grai while he spoke to Ivint.

It didn’t go unnoticed that some of the rage that had glowed so brightly in his eyes earlier when he’d looked at Grai, diminished a little since the battle in the parking lot. Ivint chose to take it as a good sign and nodded his head to Balduen. “Of course! Let me know if she needs anything.”

Balduen inclined his head to Ivint before standing and moving silently towards the door, leaving without another word.

“Let’s give it five minutes, and then you really need to go to your mate. She has to be worried.” Ivint said after Balduen had closed the door, giving Grai no further excuses not to go get properly treated.

He held his smile when Grai just nodded. Under the circumstances, Ivint was sure he was worried about his family and wanted to make sure that they were well. He had already heard the rumblings
among the ranks, the choosing of sides between Dare’s friends and those hybrids that had become friends with Banatar’s females but were loyal to Grai.

If this situation was not handled delicately the place could easily erupt into
in-fighting, and he would not allow that to happen. The first thing he needed to do was distinguish them as something other than Relian to his people… to himself. He was not above the petty thoughts that the others were also having and expressing, but he knew the futility of allowing those thoughts to continue to fester and grow.

“What do you call your people?” He asked.

Chapter Six

Grai looked blankly at the High Councilor not really sure that he understood the question. He turned to Traze
to see if he understood, and he just shrugged, a curious look on his face as well. Ivint watched the exchange with equal puzzlement. It was a simple question.

“I think what the High Councilor is trying to say is that you really aren’t Relian’s… you don’t act like them. Some of your
teams are previous captives of the Relian’s, and you even have some of our girls. You’re like a ragtag group of resistance fighters from some cheesy romance novel. And they always have an equally cheesy name, so what do you call your group?” Jax explained with a cheeky grin at Ivint. 

“Well, I don’t think I would have put it quite like that.” Ivint sputtered, his face turning pink from embarrassment
at Jax’s attempt to explain for him.

Traze and Grai continued to look at each other in puzzlement, which seemed to irritate Reven a little.

“Do you call yourself Relian’s?” Reven asked a little gruffly.

“NO!” The growling roar uttered by both Grai and Traze startled Reven into jumping back from tending the wound for a moment.

“We do not have a name. We just… are.” Grai said, unsure why they would think his people had a name when they were a multitude of people.

“You do not name yourselves something to reflect that you are not… like the others
of your kind?” Risk asked, surprised that they hadn’t thought of it. He couldn’t fathom wanting to be associated with a name that basically said you were the ultimate parasite scum.

It finally dawned on Grai what they were
asking, and he had to wonder why he had not thought of it sooner. It would have been a good way to assist in bonding his people together, although he certainly hadn’t done too badly with that anyway.

“No, I had not thought of that. Nor would I know what to call us since we are a ragtag group as you said.” Grai admitted with a slight frown. His people were highly trained
, good people and being described as ragtag, no matter how true, was beneath them. However, it was still better than being called a Relian.

“Then that sounds like something you need to speak to your people about. If we are to fight together in
the future, then we need a way to distinguish your people from Dagog’s to prevent… accidents.” Ivint suggested, liking the idea the more he thought of it.

“We are beast. We do not need to create new names for brethren. Our brothers the Zendarian’s have agreed to offer their name and sanctuary to Grai’s people. Apparently, they know you and your people well.” Dread interjected with curiosity heavy in his voice
as he looked at Grai.

The Zendarian’s were the most reclusive of the beast species and considered to be the
wisest and peaceful. For them to have offered their name to Grai’s people, they must have done something rather extraordinary to have earned it.

“Yes, we know them well. We will not take the chance that we will do something that will tarnish their reputation
and have rejected their generous offer.” Grai replied to Dread, hoping the Tezarian would let the subject drop.

“For
some reason, they do not share that concern. However, the choice belongs to you and your people. I cannot offer you the Tezarian name as I do not have the authority to do so. Even so, I offer you our friendship.” Dread replied nodding his head in respect to Grai, Viper following suit.

“I… we thank you for that. It means a lot to us. More so since
Dagog will return, and we will all need your assistance.” Grai said, returning the nod of respect to the Tezarian brothers.

This was all going so much more differently than he had expected that it
would, and he was a little flustered by it. This was definitely not the way that he was raised. These people were so alien from what he was used to dealing with.

“That should hold you until your mate can fuss over you.
Personally, I think Zendarian suits you, and you get to avoid all that registration of a new society crap with the Alliance.” Reven said the last on a whisper, before standing up and taking the empty seat next to Ivint.

“What is a registration of a new society?” Grai asked in
puzzlement; he didn’t like feeling so stupid, and this conversation was moving in a direction; he was unprepared to go right now.

“That is something we can worry about later.
Right now, you need to go assure your mate that you are well. Do you expect Dagog to attack again tonight?” Ivint asked, hoping the answer was no.

“No. It will take days for him to assess the damages and loss of personnel. By
now, he’s also reeling from the scale of desertion and the loss of the mother ship. We have at least a week before he tries to retest our defenses. He is far from done with us and this planet.” Grai admitted with a sigh, wishing his brother would stop the fighting but knowing that he wouldn’t.

“Then why don’t we all get some rest?
Grai, pick your teams to join in the sentry rotations at each of the safe houses. Reven and Jax, organize our teams as well. I want both teams to work together, make sure your choices are aware of that and willing to do so.”

“Scaden, I want hourly reports on the repairs to Koda’s ships and the status of the injured. Risk, please find rooms for Grai and his people, some should already have rooms here. I want no one leaving the security of the safe houses for any reason until we can meet in the morning and do a thorough threat assessment.” Ivint ordered. A chorus of ‘Yes, Sir!’ follow
ed each order.

Ivint stood
, signifying an end to the meeting. He stayed standing while everyone but he, Reven, Banatar, the Tezarian’s and Grai filed out of the room.

“Hey! Maybe I can bunk in your
room, and I can show you how I was able to break into your security?” Traze said to Risk as they headed down the hallway.

“Yeah, sure.” Risk replied, closing the door behind them.

Ivint sat back down at the table and looked around the room, glad to see that Banatar had calmed down dramatically since the earlier events that had brought the Relian brothers to their door. The more relaxed posture of he and Reven were a welcome sight.

Even the puzzling young Relian leader seemed more relaxed now that the room had cleared. Now that the initial excitement, fear and adrenaline had worn off, and he could think more clearly about the situation, he realized the importance of proceeding with great caution where this man was concerned and chose his next words very carefully.

“The order to stay was more of a request due to the dangerous circumstances. You and your people will not be held here against your will. Although, trust may take us some time, I do not think that you risked your lives and provided our people with protection and the tools to survive for so many years, merely to kill us now.”

Ivint almost sighed in relief when he saw Banatar nod his head slightly out of the corner of his eye.

“You will, of course, be watched closely when you are with us until we can be assured of the safety of our people. It is not a reflection of your character or the sacrifices you have made for our people, more of a precaution to avoid paranoia and fear among those who…” Ivint paused trying to find the right way to explain it without offending the proud man.

“I understand, as do my people. We expected no less. For those like Jess and the others who were abused by my father and his minions, it will be difficult for them. We do not wish to cause them any
more pain than they have already suffered. We can just as easily stay at our warehouse location if it alleviates any concern for them.” Grai offered. He did not expect the Valendran leader even to offer for them to stay with them. Guarded or not.

“Absolutely not! If you can fight and die beside us, you can stay within the protection provided by
our strength in numbers. Besides, if we are to make a true effort at an alliance, then our people need to see how you truly are, not as we have assumed all of you to be.” Ivint responded quickly, keeping all of his reasons for wanting Grai and his people there to himself.

“There’s no better way to learn trust than to work and fight beside one another, for the
same goal. If you really want to forge a place for your people to call home, then we all need to learn to trust.”

“I have no doubt you have
half-Relian’s among your people that are afraid to be mistaken for one of your father’s men by one of us as well. They have a right to live without that fear. Give them a chance to show the others, your people are different.” Reven added, hoping they would stay. He had every intention of ferreting out if they were lying. However, he was hoping that they weren’t.

“I understand the wisdom in your words.” Grai responded carefully, knowing full well the Valendrans wanted to test them and see if this was a ruse.
“But I must ask my people and allow them to decide for themselves. As you said, I have some who fear you greatly and do not wish to distress them.”

“I will meet with my people tomorrow and allow them to decide who stays. For those who do not wish it, I will call in others to replace them to ensure our security is not compromised.”

“Additional room will not be a problem as our company owns this entire row of warehouses, rooms are already set up and supplies are stored. There is more than enough room to shelter as many as another hundred Valendrans and my people if needed.” Grai explained, hoping that he had not offended them by wanting to ask his people first.

The latter news had Banatar smacking his palm to his face and shaking his head. Ivint had to give Grai
credit; he'd done one hell of a job of infiltrating Banatar’s entire operation. All the more reason for them to stay, where they could be watched closely, and he could learn just how deeply they were compromised.

“That is good to
know, and we can start opening the walls between them tomorrow after we each speak separately with our people. We also have no desire to make anyone stay who does not want to be here. We will shuffle our people as well, and we can meet later in the morning to determine any additional forces we may need. Until then.” Ivint stood and everyone else followed suit.

All eyes followed him as he walked out of the door, obviously dismissing everyone.

“I must go to my mate. Good evening.” Grai stood and nodded to Reven
, Banatar and the Tezarian’s before also leaving the room, following the familiar scent to his mate and son.

He ignored the curious and sometimes hostile stares of those he passed as he headed determinedly to the MedLab where he knew he would find Tricia and Tristan.

Standing outside the door with his guards who had flanked him when he left the conference room, he checked his clothes nervously. He tucked in his clean shirt and tried to wipe as much blood and grime off of his pants as he could when the door was flung open.

Dr. Maggie and Tarvok immediately stopped speaking when they saw who was on the other side of the door. Grai could tell that the
conversation they had been having must have been rather heated by the angry looks on both of their faces. Sadly, he had no doubt it was because of him.

He stepped aside quickly to let the couple pass, and returned the nod that Maggie gave him before Tarvok propelled her down the hallway.
Presumably, to a more private location in which to argue.

Looking back to the
door, he saw Tricia standing near the farthest bed in the room, her beautiful brown eyes shining with her unshed tears. He crossed the distance between them quickly, ignoring the others who were laying injured in five of the beds in the room.

Moving the fabric bed divider to give them a little privacy, he picked her petite body up into his arms and held her closely to his chest trying hard not to squeeze her too hard from his need to be close to her.

It had been three hundred and twenty four days since he’d been able to touch her, terrified if they tried to meet they would be caught and she, and Tristan would be in danger from the Valendrans as well as his father and Dagog.

Dagog’s spies had been
everywhere, and Grai had spent every day hunting them down and killing them to keep them from betraying him or Banatar and the hybrids to his father and brother.

“Are you all right?” Tricia whispered in his ear, her voice shaking from emotion. She had miss
ed him so much over the long months they had been apart.

“I am fine, my love. All is well. How are you? How is Tristan?” Grai asked, pulling back from her long enough to sit in the chair next to his son’s bed. He settled her gently across his lap and began inspecting her for injuries.

Tricia laughed at his overprotective nature and responded, “Stop; I'm fine. Tristan is… stable.”

Grai turned to stare at his beautiful son.
Reaching out he gently took his hand, rubbing his thumb over his soft skin in wonder. The videos did not do justice to how tall he’d gotten since Grai saw him last.

It also did not show how truly thin the boy
had become, his small hand so delicate and frail; Grai was afraid to harm him with his large and rough hands.

“I know what you are thinking and stop it. He’s not so fragile that you can’t touch him. He needs to feel your touch
Grai; he always feels better when you do.” Tricia encouraged, not the least surprised that her gentle mate was afraid for their son.