The Colony Boxed Set 3 - Books 7-9

Chapter 4-1

4

Jorik, Coalition Fleet Processing Center, One Hour Later

“It’s unacceptable, Warlord,” the center commander said, slapping her hand on the table. A Prillon and close to my height, she had to lean forward to do so. “What were you thinking?”

I sat, arms folded over my chest, stared. I didn’t care. My beast prowled within but wasn’t fazed. “My mate was in danger,” I said, for the third time.

Her golden stare met mine. Held. I might be bigger, but she was not intimidated. I wasn’t the first Atlan she’d dealt with and wouldn’t be the last. And I had a feeling Atlans were easier for her to comprehend than the humans she had to work with on a daily basis. “Your mate? I don’t see mating cuffs on those wrists. And there’s no record of you receiving a match, or even being processed in the Interstellar Brides Program. What the f**k were you thinking, grabbing some random Earth female off the street? Are you suffering from Mating Fever?”

Her gaze raked over me.

“No.”

“And yet you wish to claim an unauthorized match with a female? Do you even know how much trouble you’ve caused me? You pulled a man’s head from his body and the humans caught it all on vid feed.”

I shrugged. “I would do it again. He deserved to die. He was threatening my mate.” My mate. Gabriela. I thought of our time together… every moment. The sight of her body, the feel of her skin, the taste of it. Her scent. It was all burned into my memory. My beast, thankfully, was soothed by the knowledge she’d been pleasured, that my seed marked her. Filled her, even now.

She shook her head, sighed. “No, Warlord. You were dispensing justice for a human crime. You have not only disregarded the laws which govern this planet, you committed what is, in their eyes, a crime punishable by life in prison.”

I sat up straight. “What?” That got my attention. What the f**k was she talking about? “I protected my mate. That is all.”

“No, you took a human who wanted to take some money—not even this female’s personal wealth, but her employer’s—he wished to remove money from the store and leave. And you killed him.” She leaned against the edge of her desk now, her second resigned sigh scaring me more than a reprimand ever could. “You are being charged with one of their worst crimes, murder in the second degree, Jorik.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“You know the word murder?” she countered, the tone laced with sarcasm.

I pressed my lips together as I knew she wasn’t seeking an answer.

“As this center is considered an international embassy, you are safe here. They can’t come and drag you out of here to their prison, their court system. Their… primitive form of justice. You are safe, for the moment. But I have extradition papers waiting for me in the front office. Once I see them, I can’t protect you without causing an Interplanetary Incident. Prime Nial would need to get involved, as would the Atlans.”

Fuck. “The law clearly states that any male may kill in defense of his mate.”

“That’s Coalition law, Jorik,” she countered. “Not human.”

“They are part of the Coalition now, are they not?” I waved my hand in the air indicating this entire, backwards planet.

“Yes, but you were not on Coalition property when you protected your mate. And by human law, she isn’t your mate. You aren’t legally married. You committed a human crime on a human. You were in the human city. Their territory. Their laws.” Her frown was full of pity and her voice had lost that snappy edge. Now she was just prompting me to what I’d done wrong. She sympathized, I could tell, but she had a shitty job and again, had to play by the humans’ rules.

I’d barely said goodbye to Gabriela before I left her small quarters at the center commander’s request. I’d come peacefully, although not happily, for I was not eager to leave my mate. I was not ashamed of what we’d done. The opposite, in fact. I was proud. Honored she would be mine. That what we’d shared had been so… perfect. She now knew I’d do anything for her, to protect her from danger, and to cherish every inch of her body with my own. I would return to her. Or she would come to me. The human laws would not be allowed to separate us.

“I will not leave my mate.”

“You do not wear mating cuffs.” The commander spoke quietly. I’d heard the steel in her tone before. I was f****d. “You are not afflicted with Mating Fever. Have you even asked this female to be your mate?”

Fuck. “No, but I—we—” What could I say without dishonoring my female? “She has given me her body. We have been together.”

She didn’t even blink. “Yet, you have not officially claimed her.”

“I have not claimed her, but she is mine,” I said through gritted teeth.

She laughed, although without any humor. “Welcome to Earth, Warlord. You’ve assimilated well, but humans do not place the same reverence on intimate acts that we do. She is not yours. What you did was commonly referred to as a one-night-stand, in human slang.”

“It was not one night,” I countered, settling back and crossing my arms once again. I felt like brooding, for no matter what I seemed to say, she didn’t understand. “It was this morning... and we did not stand.” Not while I was f*****g her, at least. She stood, as I held her in place and worked her with my tongue. I smelled of Gabriela, of f*****g. Her scent clung to me even now. Perhaps that was why my beast wasn’t jumping over the table to throttle the female in charge so I could be done with this scolding and return to my mate.

The center commander’s demeanor was as crisp as her dark Coalition uniform. Her arms went over her chest to mimic mine. “There are no rules against fraternizing with humans, so you have not broken Coalition laws. There is the problem of the human laws. They have very distinct rules about ripping a human’s head off.”

I thought of the male who threatened Gabriela. I would see the crazed look on his face for the rest of my life. I, too, would see my mate’s fear. The look in her eyes had made my blood boil then, my beast awakened, and it did now, remembering. “He deserved it,” I growled. “He had a primitive Earth weapon pointed at my mate.”

This time, the center commander didn’t correct my usage of mate. “I don’t disagree, but you’ve placed the entire Coalition in a very delicate position. The human governments do not fully trust us. Not yet. We have irrational humans walking up and down the sidewalks out front with their ridiculous signs about us being the aliens. They are scared, Warlord. Terrified. They are small. Fragile.”

Her words had me relaxing, until she continued.

“The comms footage provided by the business owner shows what happened, how you defended the Earth female.”

I sat up, nodded. Even smiled. “Good, then they will know I committed no crime. I will return to my mate.” And sink into her body once again. Pleasure her until she was too sated, too satisfied to do more than sleep in my arms.

She held up her hand to stop me. “No. The human news media is not playing that portion of the video to the public. They are only showing an Atlan in beast mode tearing the head off a man’s body with his bare hands. The number of humans outside, protesting our presence, has tripled in the last hour.”

“I protected my female, Commander,” I repeated. Again.

“I understand. That is why you are being reassigned to Sector 437 effective immediately. You will proceed directly to transport as soon as this meeting is complete.”

I stood so quickly my chair skidded backward, then tipped over. “What? Reassigned?”

“Miami police have a human with his head missing. To them, it was not self-defense since you, at the time, were an eight-foot alien beast. If they have their way, you will be locked up in one of their prisons for the rest of your life. The comms replay is evidence enough to prove your guilt, but the political firestorm you have created will make it impossible for you to receive a fair trial.”

“Summon my female. I will take her to Atlan.” My fists were clenched and my beast snarled.

She pursed her lips. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. Per Coalition law, you have service time remaining on your military contract. Unless you are suffering from Mating Fever, you must serve the remainder of it before you earn the privilege of claiming a mate.”

I looked to her neck, which held no collar. “You are not mated.”

“No.”

“When you are, you will understand,” I explained. “I will not leave her.”

“You will,” her voice was cold. An order, not a request. “The people of this city will panic if they think a wild beast is going to rip their heads off, especially in a place like an ice cream store. Children go there.”

“As if I were a threat to children,” I told her. I ran my hand over the back of my neck. “The idea is ridiculous, but clearly humans don’t see it that way. I’m their best ally. I would see anyone harming a child minus a head.”

“Exactly.” She sighed. “There is delicate political balance with having us here, Warlord, and you tipped it.”

I shrugged. Again, I didn’t care. From the look of her, she didn’t either, but was frustrated more by the politics of dealing with humans and their archaic rules than with what I’d done. And now I was a political pawn.

“I am on your side, Warlord. I am trying to help you. If you remain, you will be arrested and put on trial for murder in the human courts. The Coalition will have to deal with months, if not years, of media frenzy and fear. If you are gone, this human circus ends today. The human Senator used his primitive telephone to call me himself. He needs the humans to know you are gone so they can sleep soundly.”

I harrumphed. “I would think they would be comforted to know the bastard I killed is no longer a threat.”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she said, “This is Earth, Warlord. The rules are theirs.”

“Then I will take my mate with me,” I repeated.

“She is not your mate.”

“She is my bride,” I countered.

She shook her head. “She is not. You have not earned the honor of claiming one.”

The rules stated a soldier in the Coalition fleet could be tested for a bride only after they’d completed their military service. My eyes widened as what she was telling me was finally becoming crystal clear, even though she’d said it aloud a little while ago. She intended for me to transport from Earth immediately without Gabriela, without even saying goodbye.

“I must go to space and serve the remainder of my time in the Coalition, then I can return for her?”

She sighed. “You are going to space. Permanently. You have been banned from this planet.”

Banned—

“But my mate!” I said, my beast beginning to prowl.

“It would serve you best if you forgot about Gabriela Olivas Silva.”

Forget about Gabriela?

“No.” Rage took over, the beast grew. I saw red, felt my skin prickle, felt myself grow taller. “Mine.”

I heard the center commander shout into the comms, saw two guards enter the room, ion blasters raised. I felt the chairs beneath my hands as I tossed them about the room. Gabriela was mine. I would not leave her behind. I could not be separated. I would not forget. One taste, one touch, one breathy scream as she found her pleasure on my c**k and I knew.

“I. Will. Have. Her,” I growled, tipping the table on its side.

My thoughts were of Gabriela. Her sleek hair, her lush curves. Then I felt the sizzle of a stun shot from an ion pistol. I was frozen in place, but the beast within continued to prowl.

“Get a transport beacon immediately, coordinates loaded for Sector 437. Warlord Wulf can handle him.” The center commander came over to me, stood directly before me. We were no longer the same height since I was now taller with my beast in control. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, but once you are charging the Hive on an Atlan battlefield, you will forget about this woman, about Earth. Trust me. Wulf has suffered, as you now do. He will help you cope with your beast.”