Space Invaders (6 page)

“Yes.” Vohne smirked. “Deep down, my mate is a soldier who can snap your neck if you bother him too much. But don’t worry. He never will.”

Zander dared to look the Thresl in the eyes. “Why is that?”

“Because I would do it for him.”

Pleased he’d made his point, Vohne went to get his human some food. He didn’t tell Zander that as he evolved he would lose some of his more violent urges and Kres would gain more aggression. They would find a balance until they were so close their minds would almost be as one while their bodies would feel the urge to join. The magic of Thresl-human bonding was they would both become stronger. He also didn’t share what being an alpha really meant.

He would share that information only with his mate.

Chapter Four

Kres didn’t know what Zander and Vohne had discussed while grabbing food, but his fellow classmate was giving him a cautious glance from time to time, as if he worried Kres was going to jump across the table and attack him.

“Is there a problem?” Kres asked before popping another piece of meat into his mouth. All morning he’d had an odd craving for red meat. Since he was usually a borderline vegetarian, it was extremely strange—but then, what
hadn’t
been weird lately? The fact that Vohne had known he needed meat and had brought him a giant platter also needed further investigation, but he’d do it later when he wasn’t shoving beef down his throat as fast as he could.

“Um, no?” The answer was more of a question than a statement of fact.

“What did you say to him?” he asked the Thresl.

Vohne shrugged. “I told him where the Thresl form comes from.”

He could see getting a straight answer would be like yanking out one of the Thresl’s fangs—difficult and potentially painful.

Taking another bite of food, he gave Zander a curious look, silently prompting the other man to continue.

“He is your inner form,” Zander said.

Kres choked. He was saved from a blocked airway by a pat on the back from Vohne that nearly broke his spine.

“You are
my
inner form?”

The Thresl smiled, exposing full fangs. “Surprise.”

Kres looked the large man up and down. “I must have a great inner warrior thing going on.”

“Yes, you do.”

He was unsettled by the serious expression in Vohne’s eyes. A loud explosion startled him out of their locked gaze.

Billowy, black smoke filled the cafeteria as smoke bombs detonated in the doorway. Kres tensed, wishing he hadn’t left his weapon in his room, but he hadn’t expected a synchronised attack over a steak dinner. He saw Vohne’s eyes glow in the dim light. A large hand clamped over his wrist and pulled him farther into the room, away from the invading smoke.

“They’ve come for us,” Vohne said.

“Whoever they are, they can’t have you.” There were many things Kres was uncertain about in their relationship, but there was no way he was going to let some Thresl-kidnapping bastards take his Vohne. Kres held his breath against the smoke as the room was entirely darkened by the bombs.

Blinding lights cut through the blackness as at least a dozen men entered wearing masks and carrying weapons with light scopes.

Vohne dropped to the ground, pulling Kres with him. “Whatever happens, don’t let them take you. I will always return. Remember that.”

“What?” Kres gasped. He tried to figure what was going on as a loud roar filled the room, and the air closest to him was displaced by Vohne’s departure as the Thresl ran directly into the blackness.

Choking on the smoke, Kres tried to stay as still as possible as screams echoed about him. He wondered where Zander was and if they had captured Zander’s Thresl. He still wasn’t sure what the soldiers were doing there, but he had a bad feeling. He agreed with Vohne that they were there for the Thresls. If they could catch the valuable cats, they could rake in a fortune on the black market with the ones that hadn’t bonded yet. He wondered how they had got past security. Someone was going to be court-martialled for letting the invaders in.

From what he’d overheard on the shuttle to the moon, they were on a secret facility. Someone, somewhere had said too much, and now Kres was going to lose his man-cat before they’d even completed their bond. A weapon rattled as it hit the ground beside him.

Kres snatched it up, quickly familiarising himself with the controls. He might not have his Thresl’s massive size, but he wasn’t a weak, quivering soul to cower under the table and let someone else fight his battles.

Carefully feeling along until he had a wall to his back, Kres stalked the men who had dared to come and try to take what was his.

A sharp shout had him stepping back in time to avoid the body falling to the floor. Without a second thought, he relieved the dead man of the knife strapped to his thigh and tucked it into the back of his waistband.

He still couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of him. The smoke bombs were the high quality kind that created a lot of smoke and kept it in the air. Staying perfectly still, he tried to hear any signs of Vohne nearby. He silently cursed their lack of bonding. If he’d got over his trepidation with the Thresl, they’d already have a link and he wouldn’t be blindly searching for the man-cat. When he found Vohne, he was going to make sure they bonded so well he’d be able to sense him in a Zevan mud storm during swelling season.

A sudden silence filled the room, more chilling than the screams and fire-fight of moments before. Kres dared to breathe, but only in quick silent gasps. However, his heart was knocking so hard against his chest he was worried the sound alone would give him away.

“I got him!” A strong arm was wrapped around his throat. “Drop the gun,” the man growled in his ear.

Kres was surprised at the lack of fear he felt as his weapon clattered to the floor. Being held by the enemy, he expected to feel something other than the complete and utter calm that took over his mind. As the stranger tried to choke the life out of him, Kres slipped his hand between them, grabbed the handle of the knife out of the back of his pants, and with ruthless precision plunged the knife into his enemy’s stomach.

Howling, the man released him. For a moment it felt like the world was moving in slow motion as Kres scooped up the dropped weapon then fired it into the forehead of the other man. With a dispassionate eye, he watched the soldier drop to the ground.

“Remind me not to piss you off,” Zander whispered beside him.

Kres spun around to see his new friend crouched along the wall. Still wrapped in the odd calm, Kres replied, “I don’t think you’ll need a reminder.”

Zander’s Thresl meowed imperiously.

“My Thresl says they took Vohne down the hallway.”

“You can understand him?”

Zander gave him an odd look. “You couldn’t understand Vohne?”

Kres shrugged. “A few words while he was a cat but not sentences. We weren’t together for very long in his cat form.” Impatient with their conversation while his Thresl was being taken, he scooped up another soldier’s weapon and handed it over to a bewildered Zander.

“What’s this for?” Zander asked with wide eyes.

“To shoot people.”

“But I’ve never shot anyone before.” Kres could hear the fear in Zander’s voice.

“You aren’t a soldier?”

“I’m a diplomat.”

“Well, get your diplomatic ass in gear. If they get Vohne off this station because I was chatting with you, I’ll shoot you myself.” He crammed the weapon into Zander’s hands and headed towards the exit.

“He was right, you know,” Zander babbled as he scurried after Kres.

“Right about what?” Not that he really cared. Kres’ eyes were busy scanning the area for possible enemies to give the other man much attention.

“You really are a kickass warrior.”

“Then let’s go kick some ass.” He was willing to do a lot more than that if it got his Thresl back. The bastards better have made their peace with whatever deities they worshipped, because if they resisted returning Kres’ Thresl, they were going to go visit them in person. He might have hesitated to claim Vohne before, but the utter fear he’d felt when he’d watched the Thresl disappear into the smoke told him they needed to be together, if only to see how far this bonding would go.

Kres kept his weapon close to his chest as he peeked around the corner. There was no one in the halls. The bastards were ahead of them. Zander rushed over to a numeric pad on the wall. Kres watched him press a series of buttons.

“Lock down commencing,” the robotic female voice announced.

“Nice!” Kres approved.

Zander shrugged. “They told us the code during training. You haven’t gotten that far yet. I hope they haven’t escaped.” Zander tucked himself close to the wall beside Kres and scanned the area with his brilliant blue eyes. The man might not be a soldier, but he had good instincts. His Thresl stood beside him, its gold eyes gleaming with anger. The cat wasn’t taking the abduction of one of its kind well.

“Can you feel him?” Zander asked.

“No.” For a moment despair threatened to drown Kres, but he shoved it aside. This was no time to feel sorry for himself. He had to get his Thresl back.

“You should’ve bonded with him,” Zander scolded.

“Shut up!” Kres snapped. He didn’t need a lecture on something he already knew.

A roar had them turning to the corridor on the right. As quickly and silently as he could, Kres rushed down the hall, only pausing when he reached an intersection. The noise became louder. Someone was getting an education in the abduction of Thresls, and it wasn’t going well for them.

Kres let a slow smile cross his lips.

“Don’t hurt him,” a male voice said. “He’s no good to us if he’s dead.”

He wasn’t going to be good for them at all.

There were only three men left. Two of them carried Vohne between them while the third ordered and cursed.

Kres didn’t know if the others had gone ahead or if their bodies were left on the floor in the smoke-filled cafeteria. All he knew was that they weren’t there and he wasn’t going to let these three idiots take off with his man.

Leaning around the corner, he aimed his weapon at the only one not holding his Thresl. The man went down with a shot to the back of his neck.

Kres hid behind the wall as the other two men shouted.

“We’ve got to get out of here.”

“The door’s locked.”

Kres smiled. The bastards were trapped.

The sound of booted feet thundered behind him.

“What’s going on?” The commander’s voice was hushed behind him.

“There are two of them left. They have Vohne.”

“Leave one of them alive for questioning. I want to find out how they got in here,” the commander ordered.

“I’ll try.” Kres refused to make any promises. If the choice came between keeping one alive and saving his Thresl, there wasn’t any question.

“You’d better open this door,” one of the abductors shouted. “If you don’t, your Thresl is history.”

“Let go of the Thresl and we’ll let you leave,” the commander responded.

“I don’t believe you,” the abductor shouted back.

“He’s smarter than he looks,” Kres muttered.

Fear almost stopped his heart. The creature that had at first seemed like an interruption to his well-planned life now was the most important thing in it. What would he do if Vohne were killed?

Vohne’s voice whispered in his head, “
Mate.
”

“Vohne.”

“Shoot the bastard.”

Without hesitation, Kres did as his Thresl had requested. Whipping around the corner, he shot the idiot threatening Vohne. A cry ripped the air as the remaining man holding Vohne tumbled to the ground beneath his weight.

Soldiers filled the hall, lifting Vohne and clearing the area of the two dead men and the one still alive. Medics arrived soon after with a gurney to take Vohne away. Kres fought through the crowd to get to Vohne’s side. He had to make sure his man-cat was unhurt.

He shouted and pushed until he stood beside the gurney holding his mate. Foggy gold eyes blinked up at him. Whatever drugs they’d pumped into Vohne’s body made him sluggish and uncoordinated.

Vohne gripped Kres’ arm like a vice. “You did good, my warrior. I am pleased to rule with you at my side.”

“To what?”

Before he could get any answers, the Thresl closed his eyes and the medics carried him away.

Zander patted him on the back. “What was he talking to you about? You’re looking pale. I thought you’d be happy you have your Thresl back.”

“I thought I would be too.” Now he was wondering what he’d got himself into…again.

Chapter Five

Kres was told to stay away from the infirmary while the Thresl healed. Apparently alpha Thresls didn’t like their mates to see them injured. Something to do with wanting to always appear strong in front of their chosen ones or some such crap. Kres hadn’t really paid attention past the request for him not to go with the medics. He was more interested in hunting down his Thresl book. He didn’t bother to fight his banishment from the medic ward. An argument was certain to be in their near future, and he wanted to make sure he had all the facts before it began.