Warrior's Mate (3 page)

Switching back to English, she said, “What happened to
your tattoo?”

For as long as she had known Tex, he’d had a huge
skull and crossbones tattoo on his left arm. Now, his skin was clear and
unblemished. “Fuck if I know,” he muttered. “When they healed us, it’s like
they sucked the ink out of my skin. It’s damn creepy if you ask me.”

A few seconds later, they were dragged outside, into a
coliseum made of dark-gray stone. Their captors led them to the center of the
stadium where a makeshift stage had been set up. They climbed a few stone
steps, then came to a stop when they were standing next to eight other human women.
Three of the women were softly weeping, but the other five looked as dazed as
Jordan felt.

She was struck speechless as she took in the view around
her. Cool air blew against her skin and she glanced up, trying to acclimate
herself to what time of day it was. Immediately, she wished she hadn’t.
Although it wasn’t that bright outside, the large blue sun was easily seen in
the clear lavender colored sky, as were the two dark amethyst hued moons.

Sweet Jesus, where the hell were they?

The two warriors released her and Tex from the batons
and they left the stage. The excited mummer of voices had Jordan’s gaze
shifting back down toward the crowd. The entire stadium was packed with male warriors
who were all looking at the ten humans on the stage. They filled the two tiers
of the coliseum, and some even stood behind the seats or off to the sides of
the stone benches since the place was so full.

“Holy fucking shit…” Tex whispered.

“Yeah,” Jordan breathed out. She stood at the end of
the line, glancing around as the terrifying reality settled in. They were there
for the entertainment of the warriors, but not for something as basic as a
gladiator type of fight. No, they wouldn’t have stolen women for that. Besides,
they wouldn’t have healed them if they just wanted to watch them die. And the
warriors had said something about mates, which led her to the only reasonable
answer that remained.

Good God, they were part of some sick sort of slave
auction.

An eerie silence settled over the crowd. Jordan forced
air into her lungs, trying to remain calm. Her gaze swept over the warriors,
then skittered over to their captors that waited at the bottom of the steps
near the stage. They also scanned the crowd, as if looking for something. She
couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw disappointment on their faces as the
silence stretched on.

“Nothing,” one of their captors said. “Should we let
them get closer?”

“Perhaps,” the warrior who had brought her outside
said. “But only a few at a time. Damn, I was really hoping this would work.”

“We all were. Maybe the Wraiths were wrong. It would
be a first, but it could happen.”

Jordan was confused by what she heard. Were the
Wraiths the beings that had brought them there? And what were the warriors
hoping would happen?

She got her answer a few seconds later.

“Mine!”

The loud animalistic roar sounded from the entrance of
the coliseum, making her jump. She heard Tex curse while some of the other
women screamed in fear. Jordan watched as a warrior charged toward the stage,
and her blood chilled in her veins as she realized his eyes were locked on her.

Holy shit!

Jordan was a soldier who knew how to handle herself,
but all her training flew out of her mind as sheer terror took over. The
warrior sprinting toward her was larger than the others, and his fierce
expression was intimidating as hell. Her wrists were still shackled, so she did
the only thing she could think of.

She ran.

CHAPTER THREE

Kadan Krell was the king of a dying race.

He’d taken on the mantel of leadership when his father
had passed on into the afterlife only hours after his mother had died. It was
the way of mated couples. But matings were something that had been happening
less and less frequently on their planet, which put their entire race in danger
of extinction.

The Vor were a race of shifter warriors, strong and
true. In their natural state, most of the males were muscular from hours of
training and going about their everyday lives, but when they shifted into their
demon form, they were a thing of nightmares. All the Vor were born with stripes
on their skin that were hints of their other half. When they shifted, the
stripes spread over their entire bodies, turning them black as night. Powerful black
wings manifested from the middle of their backs, completing their change.

In their demon form, they were almost unstoppable. Some
said that if they decided to advance their race by traveling the stars, they
could conquer worlds, but all the Vor wanted was to continue to live their
lives on their own planet. For centuries, many of the chieftains had waged war over
territory or for a variety of other reasons, but over the last few years,
relative peace had reigned over the kingdom. Part of that was due to Kadan’s
firm hand as their ruler, but mostly it was because they couldn’t afford the
death of any of their people…not when births were so rare.

Females of the Vor were well cared for, even pampered.
All males protected the females, and it was a death sentence to any who abused
them. Those females who didn’t have a mate had their choice of males to spend
time with, and they usually changed partners each time they went into heat the
four cycles during the year. But those heats had stopped producing offspring
over the last decade. The only females that had been able to conceive were
mates, and on the rare occasion when they did get pregnant, the child was
always male.

Faced with possible extinction, Kadan had felt
helpless until the Wraiths had approached him with a possible solution. The
Wraiths were a powerful race of elemental shifters that lived on their planet.
The Vor had given sanctuary to the small group of Wraiths left after their home
world had been destroyed years ago. Because the Wraiths lived isolated high in
the mountains, he hadn’t known that the Vor’s issues had also affected the
elemental shifters until they had come to him.

The Wraiths fed off of the Vors’ emotions, absorbing
them from the atmosphere. Positive feelings such as happiness and pleasure gave
them more energy than anger and hatred. Normally, just being on the same planet
was enough to keep them going, but as positive feelings decreased throughout
the Vor, the Wraiths had grown weaker.

The Wraiths told Kadan that they had been coming down
off their mountain sanctuary in secret over the last few months, blending in with
the Vor to absorb more of their emotions while also trying to come up with a
plan to aid their friends. When the Wraiths offered to travel to another planet
to search for potential mates for the Vor, Kadan’s initial reaction had been to
refuse.

What other race could possibly be compatible with a
Vor, and why would any warrior want an alien mate?

But Kadan had the future of his people to consider, so
he put his own feelings aside, and agreed to a test run.

Mating was sacred. It was a calling, a binding of two
souls into one. The Vor felt a bond with their mate the instant they scented
them. Since it had never happened to Kadan, he had never really thought about
it. He was too busy with duties and obligations that came with running the
kingdom to really consider his own happiness.

The Wraiths had assured Kadan that they could sense
potential mates for the Vor after spending time around some of the mated
couples. They were to choose a few females that could be taken from their home
planet who would not cause suspicion when they suddenly disappeared. The
Wraiths said they knew of a planet they could scout, and using the ship they
had traveled to the Vor with, the trip would take approximately a month each
way.

Kadan hadn’t been sure if he’d made the right
decision, but as word spread throughout the kingdom, a new hope seemed to
ignite within his people. He hadn’t realized just how lonely most of his
warriors were, and he hoped like hell their plan would work.

Earlier, he had been contacted by the Wraiths. They
had informed Kadan that their trip to someplace called Earth had been
successful, and they had brought back ten humans that had the potential to be
mates. Kadan had sent some of the mated warriors to look after the humans and
to prepare them for the viewing at the coliseum, outside his fortress walls. If
none of his warriors found their mate, the humans would be escorted to the
other clans to see if any of the chieftains or their warriors could scent their
mates.

Kadan knew that his warriors had gathered at the
coliseum, ready to see the humans. A part of him didn’t even want to go, but he
knew he had to. Striding out of his castle, he frowned at his second-in-command
as Braec grinned at him.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it.”

Kadan sighed. “I must, although I have more important
matters to see to.”

Braec chuckled as they walked together. “Aren’t you
curious? Taitt sent word. He said the humans are smaller than we are, and their
hair and eyes are a variety of colors we have never seen before. One even has
hair the color of fire.”

“Strange.”

“Yes, it is.” Braec paused before saying. “There is a
male in the group.”

That made Kadan stop. “Why would the Wraiths bring a
human male here?”

Braec shrugged. “I guess they said he has the
potential to be a mate to one of our females. It could go a long way to easing
their tempers. They aren’t really happy with having to share our warriors with
alien females.”

Kadan growled in annoyance. “They’re just jealous. Our
warriors spoil them.”

Laughing, Braec nodded. “We do, but then again what
the hell else do we have to do? Especially those of us who want sex. We have to
stay on their good side.”

“True.” They began walking again, and Kadan had to
admit, he was curious to see the humans with his own eyes. As they made their
way into the coliseum, Kadan’s steps slowed. He sniffed the air as he caught a
wisp of an intriguing scent. His pace quickened as he breathed deep, drawing
more of the scent in. It was sweet, intoxicating…and addictive.

“My liege? “ Braec hurried after him. “Is something
wrong?”

Kadan ignored him as he followed the scent inside. In
predator mode now, his eyes scanned the interior of the coliseum, then stopped
as they came to a small female with bright red hair the color of flame. Her
skin was so light she almost glowed in the sunlight. His world narrowed,
focusing on her while everything else simply faded away.

He knew instantly that she belonged to him.

Kadan had found his mate.

Worry filled Braec’s voice as he reached Kadan’s side.
“Kadan, what is it?”

“Mine,” Kadan snarled, and took off running.

He watched as the female’s eyes widened in fear. She
turned and jumped off the stage, sprinting away from him. Some of his warriors
tried to stop her as she ran toward one of the exits in the back. Pride filled
him when she evaded them, but rage quickly replaced it as he realized that they
might hurt her if they took her down.

No one touched his mate.

No one but him.

Anger had him changing into his demon form. He could
feel the stripes on his body expanding, thickening so they covered his body like
black armor as he shifted. His wings burst out of his back, and he welcomed the
brief bite of pain that always accompanied the transformation.

Kadan let out a roar of rage that was immediately
heeded by his warriors. They turned and froze in place when they saw him. Their
heads bowed, instantly showing him their deference, but he ignored them as he
launched himself into the air. His mate was running from him.

The chase was on.

Jordan’s chest felt like it was going to burst as she
sprinted across the ground. When the warrior had started running at her, her
only thought was to get away as fast as possible. Her captors tried to stop
her, but her smaller form easily slipped by them. She’d heard the roar behind
her, and chanced taking a quick glance, then instantly wished she hadn’t.

Holy fucking shit!

The warrior had changed into a demon. A fucking demon with
fangs that was now flying after her. His eyes had changed to a burning red and
his body was pure black. Her gaze snapped forward and she pushed herself to run
faster, desperation and fear giving her an extra spurt of energy. She had to
get away or he would kill her. The doorway of the exit was right in front of her
when strong arms wrapped around her, and she was lifted right off the ground.

She let out a scream worthy of a horror movie. For a
moment that struck her as funny. She’d never had any reason to scream like that
before during her life. Never thought she could scream that loud or that long,
but she did.

Oh boy, did she.

When her lungs emptied of air, she sucked in more.
That momentary pause was enough to allow the embarrassment to set in. Seriously,
what good would screaming do? Instead, she started to curse him as she dangled
in the air. The demon held her so tight she couldn’t move. He was solid muscle,
and impossible to fight. Still, she tried to kick, to wiggle her body out of
his grasp.

“Mine!”

“Oh, hell no!” she countered immediately.

Shit, don’t piss of the fucking demon!

He let out a low angry growl, and Jordan began praying
silently in her head. Even as she fought his hold, she noted that he wasn’t
hurting her. Although he held her tight, his embrace was gentle. She shifted in
his arms, then went still as she felt his steel-hard erection against her ass.
Fuck, the demon was getting turned on by her struggles. This was so not good.
Before she could think of some way to break free, she felt his hot breath on her
skin, then cried out as his fangs sank into her neck.

Son of a bitch, he bit her!

Oh, God! Was he a damn vampire or was he trying to eat
her?

It felt like they stayed suspended in the air for
hours, but she knew only seconds had passed. Heat burst from neck, moving
through the rest of her system until she felt like her entire body was on fire.
When he pulled his fangs out of her neck, she felt the rough slide of his
tongue across her skin.

It made her shiver.

“You are mine now,” he whispered into her ear.

She tried to head-butt him in response.

He let out a triumphant laugh as he shifted his hold
on her, picking her up so she was cradled in his arms, and took them higher
into the air. His chest was rock hard, like skin stretched over solid steel. Jordan
stopped fighting him, not wanting him to drop her.

“Warrior’s claim!”

Jordan’s ears rang from his loud bellow, but it was nothing
compared to the wild response of the crowd below them. The shouts and roars
coming from the arena were deafening. The demon holding her flapped his great
wings, propelling them through the air, and she closed her eyes in defense as
her stomach rolled.

“Relax, human. You’re safe with me.”

“Safe? You fucking bit me,” she bitched. “Now, I’m
going to plunge to my death from a hundred feet in the air, and you’re telling
me to relax? Not likely.”

“I won’t let you fall. You insult me by thinking I
would.”

“Oh, well, I wouldn’t want to do that,” she muttered,
keeping her eyes shut tight.

He chuckled, then his hard chest vibrated as he let
out a soft purring sound. Jordan was shocked when she felt calmed by the deep
rumble.

“What is your name, little one?”

She took her time answering him. “Jordan.”

“Jordan.” He purred her damn name, and his arms
tightened possessively around her. She felt the rush of cool air on her skin as
he flew them higher. She’d always hated flying, but risked opening her eyes to
see where he was taking her. Her fear was forgotten as he flew them toward a
large, gray, stone castle unlike anything she’d ever seen before.

Her stomach gave another little flip as he flew toward
a balcony on the highest square tower. When he landed, he let her slide down
his body so her feet were once again touching the ground. As soon as he did, she
tried to push away from him, and was surprised when he released her. Because of
his strength, she wouldn’t have been able to get away from him if he didn’t
allow it, and knowing that pissed her off.

She quickly backed away from him. Taking a quick
glance around the room, she saw he had taken them to his bedroom. All the
furniture in the room was made of the same deep sapphire wood that the walls of
her prison had been built with, including a bed that was as large as a lake. It
was covered with an iridescent blue and purple fabric that made her want to
reach out and touch it to see if it was real.