WarDog: Book Twelve in the Galaxy Gladiators Alien Abduction Romance Series

by Alana Khan

  “I’m going to inject you with a stabilizer to strengthen your heart so we can get you out of here,” he softly tells his patient. The male blinks his eyes, too weak to even move his head. After injecting him in the side of the neck, Dr. Drayke consults the medpad, then pronounces it safe for the male to be carried up top where the stretcher awaits. The steps were far too steep to bring the stretcher down here.

  I kneel to pick up the male, not wanting my captain to be sullied by this poor male’s matted hair and fetid skin. Zar shakes his head. I can see the tears in his eyes. Somehow by his proud bearing and the look on his face, I wonder if he considers it an honor to tend to his countryman. Perhaps it will be the last act of kindness this poor devil will ever experience.

  It’s with the utmost care, as if he’s touching his race’s most sacred religious book, that he hefts the male into his arms, one forearm under the male’s back, one in the crook of his knees. Hugging the male to his chest, he strides to the steps and takes them slowly, not wanting to jostle the dying being in his arms.

  The male groans when they reach the sunlight. I imagine the light, which he hasn’t seen in annums, must sting his eyes. When I reach the top step, Zar is standing so his shadow falls across the male as the doctor straps him to the hover-stretcher. The male groans in relief.

  “Join the others on the main floor of the mansion. They’re having a meeting,” Zar tells me, then beams up to the Fool with his charge and the doctor.

  Chapter Eleven

  Willa

  “Um, your attention please.” It’s Anya’s voice over comms. The pit of my stomach feels like it’s being bathed in acid and squeezed in a tight fist at the same time.

  In the moment between the end of her sentence and the beginning of the next, my mind flies to visions of a thousand terrible things she’s about to announce. The one that circles round and round in my head is that she’s telling us they’ve all been killed. Or at least my Bayne has.

  As I picture him lying dead on that awful planet, tears spring to my eyes.

  “The fight is going well. Their report is that all the enemy has been vanquished except Khour.”

  I sigh in relief, more thankful even than when the Fool’s Errand rescued us from the slaver ship.

  “Only one serious injury. Wrage. He’s already bellowing to be released from medbay, so I wouldn’t worry too much about him. You can wish him well later. I’ll put even odds on whether he’s even still in medbay or not. But ladies, we have more important things to do.”

  As I pay attention I look at the comm unit in my ceiling as if the speaker is a vid unit.

  “The males found a group of women in an outbuilding on the property. They barged in, secured the perimeter, and are staying at the periphery until we arrive, believing the presence of a bunch of huge gladiator males would traumatize them.

  “We’re already in the process of treating some malnourished and abused males we found in a dungeon. I’m not certain what shape these females are in.”

  I drop onto the bed, my legs giving out. The extent of cruelty I’ve encountered during my sojourn in space is staggering. Abused males, traumatized females. Thank goodness I’m safe now. And I’ve found Bayne. I quell my rising fear by assuring myself Anya would have told me if something had happened to him.

  “I’m looking for volunteers to go down to the planet with me to meet these females, assess what’s going on, and provide assistance.”

  I hit my comm immediately, “I’m in,” I say although I don’t know what help I can be. Within moments I’m dressed and waiting near the transporter with five other women.

  They transport us to what appears to be a courtyard in the middle of the compound. The mansion is to my back, an old well is in front of us, and to the side is an old building that reminds me of a two-story college dorm. It’s quaint and utilitarian.

  Steele greets us, then accompanies us to the building made of the same chestnut and gold stone that constructs the whole compound.

  I didn’t notice at first, but the charming old-fashioned building has something most college dorms don’t—bars on the windows. We enter onto a common area where the males have evidently rounded up all the females.

  I’d expected to see a variety of alien females, but it sure looks like a bunch of Earth girls.

  “Earth?” Anya asks without preamble.

  They all nod, eyes wide. They must be as surprised to be rescued by a bunch of Earth girls as we are to find them.

  It doesn’t take long to discover these five women were being held against their will, most were awaiting sale. It never ceases to amaze me that although humans are prohibited in space, the slave traffickers seem to prefer us. I was told it’s because our genetics are bland and it’s easy for just about any species to breed with us and produce offspring that look like the father.

  The women seem to be in good physical shape. At least the asshole kept them fed. The doctor is busy with the malnourished males they found on site, but when he has time, he’ll give all the women a thorough exam.

  “You’re free to leave this building,” Anya tells them after consulting with Zar, her mate. “I don’t recommend it. The grounds are littered with dead males—the ones who kept you prisoners here. We’ll have to meet to decide what to do, but you’re free and we’ll ensure you all wind up in a good place.”

  “How soon can you get us back to Earth?” a small woman with tight brown curls asks.

  “You’ll wind up in a good place,” Anya says as she shakes her head sadly. “It won’t be Earth. Humans don’t want to know there are other species out there capable of space flight. If you went back they’d take you directly to a place like Area 51 and your life would be miserable—that is if they don’t dissect you.”

  The look of hope on every single face is dashed, shoulders sag. I’m sure Anya hates being the bearer of bad news as much as these women hate to hear it.

  I sit on a couch between a blond and a brunette and try to lend a comforting hand.

  “It’s not so bad,” I tell them. I think of how miserable I was at first, and how happy I am now that Bayne and I have found each other. “Sometimes you don’t even have to work hard to make lemonade out of lemons.”

  Bayne

  The gladiators are in the living area of the mansion which is now riddled with dead bodies and the charred evidence of laserfire.

  “The house staff have been rounded up and are in a room waiting to be interrogated,” Shadow begins the moment I walk through the archway. “We’ll make certain they’re innocent, then release them. We’ve combed the area and believe we’ve neutralized all Khour’s henchmen.

  “We’ve located and are treating eight males we found in an underground dungeon. We’ve found some females we believe are from Earth and will be deciding what to do with them.

  “Follow me,” he says as he walks through the front door and out into the courtyard where we have to step over two bodies. We continue to follow until we’re in the open area between the house and trees, about one hundred fiertos from the house.

  “Khour is a rich and powerful male, and never to be underestimated. I’m certain he has surveillance cameras throughout the house, but doubt he can hear us all the way out here. I know what this male is capable of. He was my parents’ employer for a while, right before he convinced them to throw me into slavery to pay their debt to him. I hate the motherdracker with every breath I breathe.”

  My belly tightens with this information, reminding me just how much I loathe the male. More than one of us in the group has reason to want to kill him.

  “His panic room is most likely equipped with enough food and weapons to outwait us. We can’t stay here forever waiting for him to come out of his room.”

  We include Zar and Beast via comm and discuss ways to lure him out for the better part of an hoara. I picture Khour sitting in a comfortable suite of rooms with plush seating and a refresher fit for a king. He probably has not only fine food, but a selection of his fav
orites spirits. He’s got vids and satellite feed, and is watching us huddle out here trying to outsmart him. He’s probably chuckling to himself believing he’s outwitted us.

  We come up with nothing that will work and are trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we’ll be leaving this planet without the male we came to kill, although we put a good dent in the cartel’s ranks by dispatching over thirty of their soldiers. Only Wrage was injured in the attack, and Dr. Drayke says he’ll make a full recovery.

  The conversation is winding down. We’ve thought of every eventuality and don’t know how to coax him out. We can’t wait forever. During the entire conversation I’ve known exactly what I’m going to do, I’ve just waited for the group to run out of options before I suggest it.

  “I’m staying,” I announce brashly.

  “What?” Dax asks, his head whipping toward me. “What would that accomplish?”

  “Let’s make a show of leaving. The males from the dungeon are already on the ship. The Fool’s Errand, right? That’s where Dr. Drayke is.”

  Shadow nods.

  “Make sure Khour sees us parade the females through the house. We’ll land the Devil’s Playground right here in his front yard. There’s room there for all of them, right?”

  Erro nods. He resides on that ship.

  “He’ll watch all of you fly away after we have a loud discussion right outside his room about giving up and having other more urgent things to do. Doesn’t someone have an important gladiatorial match they must attend?

  “I will have quietly wandered into the woods. Before you go, I can set up surveillance vids in what’s left of his bedroom and can sneak back when he opens his hideyhole.”

  “Then what?” Stryker asks.

  “I kill the motherdracker,” I seethe.

  “No,” Shadow says with finality at the same moment I hear Zar and Beast say the same thing through the comm. “Suicide mission.”

  “Khour’s well-armed,” Zar says.

  “I’ll have a surprise.” I allow WarDog to growl for emphasis.

  “I don’t condone it,” Zar’s voice is firm. Beast grunts his agreement.

  “With all due respect, Zar, I’m not asking your approval.”

  “What about your female?” Shadow asks. “You may be willing to put yourself at risk, but will your female be able to tolerate losing you?”

  My shoulders slump as a fist squeezes my heart. As much as I want to kill Khour, I know this is a suicide mission. Can I really do this to Willa?

  “She’s in the dormitory?” I ask, having heard a contingent of our females came down to help the ones we liberated.

  “Yes, it’s past the well to the north,” Dax says.

  “Don’t make any decisions without me. I’ll be back,” I say as I stalk off.

  Just walking by the hole in the ground near the well and seeing the rough-hewn steps that led to the hellhole we discovered underground makes bile rise in the back of my throat and my nostrils flare with the remembered stench.

  WarDog’s hackles rise and he growls. Find him. Kill him.

  Easy boy, I want that as much as you do. We have to talk to our mate. WarDog immediately stands down and I can sense the same anticipation and trepidation I feel as I swiftly seek out Willa for the conversation that awaits us.

  I hurry, and moments later I call Willa through the arched front door. I don’t want to enter, it might traumatize the females. Who knows what has been done to them in this forsaken place?

  Willa runs through the doorway, across the covered porch, and into my embrace, almost tackling me. After throwing her arms around me, she peppers my face with kisses and then leans back to inspect me.

  “Oh my God, where are you hurt?”

  I shake my head. “Nowhere.”

  “You have blood everywhere.” Her fingers gently wipe my face.

  Raising my hands I look down to inspect down my body. “No injuries. That’s the blood of others.” I recall one of the Frains I killed when we first breached the front door. His arterial blood sprayed everywhere.

  She sags into my arms again, her hands roaming my back as if to ensure every part of me is unharmed.

  “We need to talk,” I tell her, my voice grim.

  Every muscle in her body tightens. The way I said those words was a clear message that what’s coming next is not going to be good.

  As I explain the predicament and my plan, she seems to cave in on herself as if her frame is shrinking the longer I talk.

  “A suicide mission, Bayne?”

  Her tone is doleful. She has to be thinking how terrible the timing is. We just found each other, and now I’m walking into a likely death trap.

  She hugs me so tightly it’s like she wants to crawl into my skin with me. She’s quiet, thinking. Finally, she says, “I know how much you hate him.”

  “Yes.”

  “He killed your mother.”

  “Yes.” Her mind is thinking this through, gaining an understanding of what I’m going through.

  “He set in motion the events that trapped you in canine form for a decade.”

  “Aye.”

  “I imagine it would be torture for you to walk away from him, from this opportunity to kill him.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m trying to figure out which one of us would be in more agony,” she says, obviously using every scrap of self-control she has to manage her grief. “Would it be you if you walk away and let him live, or me if you die on Fairea and I never see you again? I think the torture would be about equal.”

  “Probably, Willa.” I pull her to me even more tightly and rub her back while I nuzzle her hair. In my mind, WarDog is emitting a constant whimper as Willa’s overwhelming scent of fear, grief and love envelop us. It’s breaking our heart but I hold firm.

  “You know I don’t want you to do this,” her gaze spears mine, “but I understand, Bayne. I do. I won’t give you my blessing—you’ll never get that. And I won’t give you permission, that’s something parents give their children; we’re equals in this relationship. But I will give you compassionate forgiveness. I understand.”

  My heart squeezes knowing just how much her generosity is costing her. “Thank you, Willa. I love you. With all my heart. Forever and always.” I sag with relief and let out the breath I was holding.

  WarDog stops the heartrending sound he was making but is still on his belly with his head on his paws and his ears tipped back, overwhelmed by Willa’s fear. I regret only one thing right now. I should have made her my mate the other night when we made love.

  Maybe, though, it’s a blessing. Since we’re not mated, if I die she’ll be able to move on, find someone else. That thought makes me feel as though someone threw a spear through my heart.

  My inner beast leaps to his feet, standing tall and proud and declares We will not fail. We will find our enemy. Kill him. Return to our mate and claim her. Although I’m relieved to have my partner solidly behind me, I know our chances of succeeding are still uncertain.

  Pressing my lips to her ear I decide to decimate any barriers that might still be erected between us. I might never see her again. I want to give her this, a final gift. She can carry my words with her in her heart even if we never see each other again.

  “I love you, my Willa. As much as any male ever loved any female. When I was a youngling tales were told around the fire at night. My favorite was of the sun god and moon goddess who were punished by others in the pantheon of gods. They were forever doomed to never touch, and to only see each other at magical times. Their love for each other never dimmed, though.

  “I love you that much, Willa. Keep it with you always. Shining in the darkness. Never doubt it. Never.”

  She presses her cheek against my chest, hiding her face from me, although she can't hide her tears. I feel them. I smell them.

  “I love you, too, Bayne. Whatever happens, know that.”

  She reaches on tiptoe to kiss me. Not a passionate kiss that would be more
fitting in the bedroom, but a sweet kiss filled with all the love and longing two people can have for each other.

  Compassionate forgiveness. Only Willa could be so generous when her heart is breaking. I walk away and forbid myself to look back. My inner canine is whining, Can’t leave our mate, need her, love her. We’ll kill our enemy. Will come back to Willa.

  It’s hard enough without his emotions flooding me, but his heart is breaking, too. I embrace his determination and shore up my own flagging spirit as I walk away from Willa, forbidding myself to look back.

  Chapter Twelve

  Bayne