Hunted

by Grace Goodwin

  The Prillon doctor looked me over for a cold, calculating moment before dipping his chin in a nearly imperceptible nod. “Elite Hunter Quinn. Congratulations on your mating to Vice Admiral Niobe.”

  That was not what I was expecting, nor did I care to have his well-wishes about anything. Fuck that. I would prefer that he stay as far away from my mate as he could get. And stating her full title back to me? What was that? A reprimand for a child? “What are you doing here, Doctor?”

  The doctor glanced from me to Niobe, a question in his eyes. When my mate nodded, giving the doctor permission to speak, he did so. His words blunt. To the point. “I transported in to speak with the vice admiral about the Nexus unit she managed to acquire on Latiri 4.”

  Managed to acquire. Right.

  “And?” What had they done to the blue bastard? I hoped they’d dissected him alive.

  “I am not at liberty to discuss our findings with you. You do not have the required clearance from the I.C.”

  And that was that. I looked at Niobe, the apology in her gaze not what I expected as I realized she had no intention of telling me more.

  Duty. Rules. Command. Secret clearances and the Intelligence Core. But that look meant she didn’t like that he was intentionally being an asshole.

  My mate was so wrapped up in regulations and protocol that she may as well have been a machine. But she loved those rules, the structure. She’d said as much to me. The Coalition Fleet gave her a place to belong, to feel confident in her skills and abilities. She needed that order in her daily life just as much as she needed me to provide orders and domination in the bedroom.

  But I was an Elite Hunter. We operated on our own, outside of the rules, and this structure and protocol was stifling. Suffocating. Damned hard to deal with when assholes like Doctor Helion were pressing down on me like a mallet driving a spike into the ground, trying to make me conform.

  How the fuck was I supposed to protect Niobe when I didn’t know where she was half the time? When I had no idea who she met with, what they discussed, or what was going on in her life?

  In bed, naked, she was mine.

  But every other moment of the day and night? She belonged to them. To him. To Doctor Helion and the cadets and thousands more lined up behind them.

  Biting down my irritation, I focused on my mate, ignoring the doctor completely. “The cadet said you needed me?” I didn’t say ordered me. Not in front of Dr. Death and Destruction.

  “Yes. I have to go to I.C. Core Command. We’re going to transport out as soon as Warlord Gram arrives. I didn’t want you to worry when I wasn’t at dinner.”

  Going to Core Command? Where the fuck was that? I didn’t bother to ask. They wouldn’t tell me.

  “When will you be back?” I couldn’t forbid her from going without me. Gods fuck me, I wanted to, but I knew I didn’t have the power.

  She glanced at Doctor Helion for an answer, and he provided one I did not like. “I’m not sure. Less than a day.”

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “Can you guarantee her safety?”

  He stared at me, but I refused to back down.

  “I said, can you guarantee her safety?”

  “Quinn.” Niobe placed her hand on my chest and pushed, gently, trying to get me to back away from the much larger Prillon warrior. He was big, but he was slow. I could kill him in a fraction of a second.

  “Quinn!” Niobe yelled my name and the red haze of protective rage subsided. This was not acceptable. My lack of control was not acceptable. The daily separation between myself and my mate was not acceptable. Not being able to protect Niobe was eating through me like fire burning kindling. One spark, and the Elite Hunter inside me would burn. Protect my mate. That was foremost in my mind.

  Her submission was a beautiful thing. She handed it to me like a gift. My ability to dominate eased my challenge with her being the vice admiral, but nothing—nothing—would soothe my need to protect.

  Doctor Helion turned away, breaking eye contact, putting distance between himself and my female. Thank the gods he seemed to have some idea what I was dealing with because as soon as he was far enough away that my instincts said he was no longer a threat, I could think again. I pulled Niobe into my arms and buried my face in her hair. Breathed her in. Calmed the raging creature inside me that wanted to hunt. To kill anything that threatened her. “Niobe. No. I can’t protect you if you leave.”

  “I have to go. I’ll be safe. I promise.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  She was shaking her head, her cheek pressed to my chest, but she let me hold her here in a public place. I needed her close. Needed to calm down. To know she was safe. Secure. In my arms. “You can’t. We’re going to a secure I.C. installation. Less than a dozen people even know this place exists. You have to let me go.”

  “I can’t.” I wasn’t being dramatic or lying to her. My Elite Hunter instincts literally took control of my body. I couldn’t let her go. The creature inside me knew she was going to leave him if I did, and he tightened his grip like an animal.

  Fuck. I was beginning to feel like an animal. A beast. I didn’t have mating fever, like a fucking Atlan warlord, but I was losing control, just like they did, because I couldn’t protect my mate.

  I didn’t know how Seth or Dorian let Chloe go off on missions. She was a commander and outranked both of them. While Karter’s mate wasn’t in the Coalition, she did lead all non-fighter personnel for an entire battlegroup. How did they compartmentalize? How did they not lose their minds? But none had a vice admiral for a mate. I was going insane. It was obvious from my looping thoughts about trying to protect her.

  Niobe pulled out of my arms and I held myself still, using every ounce of discipline I had acquired in years of hunting to let her go.

  I watched as she walked onto the transport pad where Doctor Helion and Warlord Gram joined her. I watched as she nodded to the transport tech.

  “Initiate transport.”

  “Yes, Vice Admiral.” The transport tech worked his magic.

  I watched as my mate, my life, my beating heart disappeared… and I had no idea where she’d gone.

  This was unacceptable. It was time to stop complaining and mentally whining. That shit was over.

  It was time to do something to protect my female.

  13

  Quinn, Prillon Prime, Prime Nial’s Personal Study

  * * *

  Security on Prillon Prime was a challenge. I’d had to sneak past no fewer than seven guards, and incapacitate two more, to reach this room. The guards would wake up later with massive headaches but be no worse for my passing.

  I wasn’t on Prillon Prime to cause trouble or hurt anyone. The opposite, in fact.

  And I would speak to Prime Nial whether he agreed to a meeting with me or not. I’d tried the diplomatic route, without success. It seemed a lowly Everian Hunter did not simply request a meeting with the most powerful ruler in the known galaxy. I’d been informed, in no uncertain terms, that he was busy.

  Well, fuck that. I didn’t have time for busy. My mate was out there with Doctor Helion doing gods knew what, alone. Without her mate for protection.

  Without me.

  So I helped myself to one of Niobe’s—no, the vice admiral’s—individual transport beacons.

  They could punish me for that as well, if they wished.

  Or they could try. They’d have to catch me first, and based on the status of Prime Nial’s current contingent of warriors, they’d need three dozen more to have a chance. At least. I was not just an Elite Hunter, I was here to protect my mate.

  They’d have to kill me to keep me from protecting Niobe.

  Looking around the inside the Prime’s home, I moved like a shadow. I could smell two males in the residence. One in close proximity to a human female I assumed must be their mate, Jessica, from Earth. The other? Anger and frustration scented the air, his body’s response to stress clearly evident, at least to me. The scent came from a small room near some
sort of library, ancient historical tomes and heirloom armor lining the walls.

  His father’s armor. His grandfather’s. Marked and scorched and burned in battle. The Deston family was legendary among the Prillon people, and I had no doubt Prime Nial would be a warrior to be reckoned with. But I was more than up for the task.

  Moving toward the door, I opened it slowly, knew I’d find Prime Nial within. Alone.

  Prillon wood gleamed on the floor. Large windows showed spectacular views of the city below and would serve their leader as a reminder of all those he governed from within those walls. And the male himself… seven feet tall, broad shouldered and powerful.

  I made no sound, still he froze with his hand midair over a report and looked up but did not move otherwise. He took his time inspecting me, looking me over from head to toe, assessing my intentions. He had good instincts, setting the report aside and raising his brows at me with impatience. I liked him as soon as he spoke.

  “Who the hell are you?” Prime Nial’s voice was a quiet rumble.

  “Elite Hunter Quinn, Prime Nial. I apologize for the condition of your personal guard.” Below, I heard the other male move and wondered what had given me away. Then I remembered the Prillon mating collars. One moment of alarm in Prime Nial would alert his second to danger, to come to his aid, to protect their mate.

  While Prime Nial might be measured, reasonable, I’d heard that his second, a beast of a warrior named Ander, was feared among the people, that he carried deep scars from the war and put fear in Nial’s enemies.

  I wasn’t afraid of Prillon warriors, or their scars. Still, I was not an idiot. I needed to hurry. Facing Prime Nial alone was one thing. I had no desire to state my case to anyone else. Ander was irrelevant to my mission.

  I remained standing as I waited for the Prillon ruler to decide what to do with me, not wanting to add to my level of disrespect. Breaking into his home unannounced was enough to merit severe punishment. But nothing they might do to me would stop me. I’d already been in the worst hell in that Hive controlled base. A Coalition brig would be like a vacation in comparison. And Niobe was worth any risk.

  He walked to stand in front of his desk, having already assessed me for danger and clearly finding me free of any to his person. I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted he found me non-threatening, or reassured that the reputation of the Elite Hunters preceded me, and that Prime Nial would assume I meant him no harm.

  “I am aware that Elite Hunters are quick, but to get past my guards…” He shook his head and sat down on the edge of the grand desk. I had no doubt he had a contingency of protective warriors nearby. But if I intended to kill the Prime, I would have done so already. “How many did you go through?”

  I did a mental calculation. “Nine.”

  “Alive?”

  “Of course.”

  He nodded. “Impressive.”

  I didn’t say anything, for it was an odd time to thank him for the compliment.

  “Should I be impressed, or should I fire my security team?”

  My presence here was not the fault of any of his warriors. “All due respect, Prime Nial, but I am an Elite Hunter with nearly twenty years of operational experience. Your guards were unconscious before they even realized I was here.”

  His non-integrated eye—his left was completely silver from Hive integrations—widened. “Why are you in my home, Elite Hunter? Explain, and it better be damn good.”

  “My mate is Vice Admiral Niobe.”

  A smile softened his serious expression. He stood immediately and came forward to slap me on the shoulder. “I had not heard of the match. Congratulations.”

  I nodded and smiled in return. I was pleased and I was not afraid to share that.

  “But that does not explain your illegal and unauthorized entry into my home, nor your unauthorized transport.”

  “Actually, sir, it does.”

  He dropped down into one of the two chairs that were meant for visitors. The less than formal location eased the worry that I would be escorted away before I put in my request.

  “This, I want to hear.” He indicated the chair beside his.

  Because we were both tall—he much taller than I—the chairs were too close together. I pushed mine back before I sat. “You are mated.” I glanced at his red collar. “I assume you are fiercely protective of your mate.”

  I didn’t state it as a question, for if I had, I would be insulting not the Prime, but a mated Prillon male. Not smart.

  “Fiercely. Lady Deston is my world. And Ander’s.”

  “How would you feel if your mate was a vice admiral, and part of the I.C.?”

  He rubbed his jaw, studied me. I could see why he was Prime. He was thoughtful, analyzing. Considerate, but most likely ruthless. The description sounded a lot like Niobe.

  “She is very important to me, to the Coalition.” His words of praise for my mate raised my hopes that he would cooperate with my demands.

  “She’s I.C. She’s a commissioned officer in the Coalition. She works with Doctor Helion on a number of highly secretive programs.” I spoke as if he didn’t know this.

  “I see.” The Prime leaned forward, his elbows on his knees where he sat, assessing me. “You can’t protect her as you wish.”

  Smart, too.

  “I assume you are aware of what happened on Latiri 4, of the vice admiral’s capture and transport of a Nexus unit?”

  “Yes. That is highly protected intelligence, but as you were there, I cannot fault you for the knowledge.”

  “I was there. That fucker tortured me for over a week, killed my unit and made me watch.”

  He sighed and I realized I had lost focus, if only for a second.

  “I am sorry about the loss of your unit.”

  I nodded. There was nothing else to be said. “As I was the only one to survive, I am… between assignments. My unit is gone. I have more than served my time for Everis and the Fleet in this war. Niobe—Vice Admiral Niobe—is not just my mate. She is my job. My mission now.”

  “You are an Elite Hunter, Quinn. You are not one of my officers. You are not, technically, part of the Coalition. What is it you want from me?”

  “I want to be permanently assigned to Vice Admiral Niobe as her personal attaché. I go where she goes. I.C. Core Command. The Academy. Every meeting, every mission. It’s the only way I can protect her.”

  “You answer to the Everians, Quinn. Not to me.”

  “Strip me of my Elite Hunter status. Assign me a commission in the Coalition Fleet. Give me the clearance I need to be at my mate’s side.”

  His brows winged up in surprise. “Why should I do that?”

  “As I said, my mission now, and until I draw my last breath, is Niobe. Place me as her personal security. Where she goes, I go.”

  “And if I refuse?”

  It was my turn to study him, assess the threat to my mate. He was the means to a desired end, a solution that would make both me and my mate content, but if he refused? “I will find another way, but I will be with her. I will protect her. I have no other choice. I cannot accept the way things are. I cannot watch her go into danger alone and unprotected.”

  “She is protected by the Coalition, by highly skilled warriors, by trained I.C. assets.”

  “And not one of them will protect her as I would, and you know it.”

  He did grin then and I began to relax, to think that, perhaps, I would have my way without further argument.

  “You would no longer be part of the Elite Hunter lists. Ever again. You would no longer report to Everis, but to a higher-ranking Coalition officer.” When I didn’t even blink at those scenarios, he added, “You’d become nothing more than a Coalition fighter at the lowly rank of lieutenant. You are too smart, too highly skilled and trained to accept that kind of demotion. Hell, you’d barely outrank a cadet.”

  I shrugged. “Titles mean nothing. You can call me whatever you wish, I am what I am. My skills and training will not change.
I am an Elite Hunter, even without the title. No one can protect my mate like I will. I must serve Niobe. But to do that, I need the rest of the Coalition Fleet to acknowledge my status as her protector. I will gladly follow her commands....”

  “And mine.” His demand was clear, uncompromising. But I had faith he would not ask anything of me I could not accept. He was not an unreasonable male.

  “I accept.”

  The silence lengthened as we stared at one another, neither of us blinking. His silver eye was uncanny. Strange. But I had no doubt he saw everything. Perhaps more. “You break into my home, incapacitate my warriors, demand to speak to me, and you think I should reward you by giving you exactly what you want?” he countered.

  “Yes.” I held his gaze, willed him to understand. “Listen to me. I can deal with her being a vice admiral. She’s smart, skilled. I do not doubt her abilities or her wisdom. I am proud of the rank she’s achieved. I am proud of her, proud to call her mine.” I sighed, tried to relax my tense shoulders. “But I can’t accept her being in danger. The idea of her going off without me there to keep her safe is making me insane.” I leaned forward in my chair, knew a challenge was in my eyes. I would not back down, not on this. This was my future. My mate’s safety. “Commission me. Make me a Coalition officer. Give me the highest level clearance needed to be by her side. I am loyal to my mate, to the Coalition of Planets, to the survival and safety of all member worlds. I have more than proven myself. I will not betray you or the Fleet. I would never betray her. Assign me as her personal security. I would be the most highly skilled and ruthless lieutenant ever seen in the Coalition.”

  “As I said, you’ll lose your Elite Hunter status.” That statement meant he was still considering it.

  I shrugged. “With all due respect, as I said, I don’t care. Make me a lieutenant and assign me to the Academy, to her personal security. Where she goes, I go.”

  “And if I don’t?”