Markon's Claim: A SciFi Shifter Romance (The Last Alphas of Thracos Book 2)

by Marina Maddix

  “Natalie, I can’t wait much longer to find out if you’re my fated mate.”

  “Not this again.”

  Anger flared inside me when she rolled her eyes.

  “Not what again?” I couldn’t keep my tone even, as much as I tried.

  “This whole fated mate myth. It’s ridiculous!”

  I slammed my hand down onto the table. Everything on it jumped. So did Natalie, and a spike of shame pierced my heart. But the anger was stronger.

  “I know you’re speaking out of ignorance, but you can’t just dismiss the very essence of who we are.”

  Natalie’s expression turned stony. A chill shivered down my spine, raising bubblyflesh on the back of my neck. When she spoke, I barely heard her, yet it felt as if her words resonated throughout the universe.

  “Did you just call me ignorant?”

  Oh shit.

  “No, I only meant that until you become a Warg, you won’t understand—“

  “I know what you meant,” she said through clenched teeth as she slowly stood. “Despite what you said, despite what we shared, you still think there’s a possibility that I won’t be your mate. You still think my love is so fragile that it could mutate with my body. ”

  She kicked away her stool and jabbed a finger in my face. “Well, let me tell you something, Mr. Big-Time Alpha Warg. Nothing…nothing can change the way I feel about you. Except you.”

  She spun on her heel and stomped out of my cabin, almost smashing Rikor in the face with the door. His astonished gaze met mine.

  Resentment and regret twined and twisted in my gut, battling for dominance. Yet my anger couldn’t quite dampen the flare of joy at her confidence in our love. If only she wasn’t so stubborn.

  “Sir?”

  “I’m in no mood for questions, Rikor,” I snapped.

  “But, sir…”

  “What? What’s so important it can’t wait?”

  “The council has called a village assembly in the meeting hall to discuss merging with the Valley tribe.”

  “When?”

  “Now, sir.”

  “Why wasn’t I informed of this sooner?” I demanded, irritated that the alpha — even if I’d claimed the title by default — was snubbed.

  Rikor shifted his gaze away. “I stopped by several times last night but each time you were, um, otherwise occupied.”

  As much as I wanted to go after Natalie, I wasn’t about to let the council get away with a power grab, if that’s what was happening. Besides, “Dammit! Let’s go.”

  giving Natalie some time to cool down was probably a good idea anyway. After the meeting, I’d track her down and we’d figure this out together. But right now, my tribe needed me.

  “Dammit! Let’s go.”

  “How do we know the alien threat is real?” asked Triftor, a large male who’d guarded our borders from Valley invaders for years. “How do we know they’re not just making it up?”

  “I won’t lie to you, Triftor,” I said from my place on the platform. “I can’t guarantee they aren’t.”

  An unsettled murmur rippled through the crowd, which appeared to include every single Hill Warg. They flowed out the door, craning to hear what was being said. The meeting had been going on for an hour, at least, yet no one left. That gave me hope.

  “But I trust Solan, and if that’s not enough for you, remember the alien vessel we found on our territory.”

  Several supporters of the merge nodded at their skeptical neighbors. At least everyone was being civil. So far, every question had been reasonable. It seemed almost as if they wanted to merge, but had spent so much of their life fearing the Valley tribe that they needed to object for appearances sake.

  “That was an accident, though,” Strabo said. I’d kept my eye on him, and even went so far as to have Rikor stand near him just in case he got out of control, but he was behaving.

  “Yes, that’s true. The vessel — or shuttle, as they call it — we found was the same one Natalie and her sisters commandeered and crashed. It wasn’t an attack, but I think the fact that it was so near our forest in the first place is cause for concern.”

  More nods.

  “If what Solan’s scouts report is true, which I have no reason to doubt, our entire species is at risk, not just the two tribes. Even Natalie can confirm that the alien interlopers would like to see us wiped out of existence.”

  More grumbles.

  “Do you know they tell their whelps that we’re monsters? That if they don’t behave, a Warg will sneak into their bedrooms at night and eat them.”

  Gasps of shock hissed through the packed hall. Through the mass of bodies, I saw a Warg outside the hall shift to his beast form and howl in outrage. Even at the height of our clashes with the Terrans, Wargs would never harm a whelp.

  “Does this sound like an overture of peace or the wholesale brainwashing of an entire species?” I asked.

  Even Strabo and Triftor looked irate. The council members bowed their heads together, whispering at this unexpected piece of information.

  “If we don’t unite with our Valley cousins soon, it might be too late.”

  I hoped the urgency would sway them, convince them this was the right path.

  “What say you?” I called out. Silence settled over the hall as those gathered considered the options. Finally, Triftor stepped forward.

  “I’m with you, Markon!”

  A mass of bodies surged forward, but only a little over half. The rest shot doubtful glances at each other. One of the council members, Simwat, stood from his seat at the head table.

  “The council agrees with our alpha,” he announced, his voice quieting the subdued murmurs of the crowd. “But I still have concerns, and I can see others do as well. I move we revisit this idea in a month, when we’ve had more time to consider all the ramifications of such a merge.”

  When the pack of objectors muttered their agreement, my jaw clenched as I ground my teeth in frustration.

  “I respectfully disagree, Simwat. We’ll need time to merge the tribes, to train together for combat, to become one cohesive tribe. Time is not a luxury we have.”

  “If Solan is telling the truth,” Simwat argued. “And that remains to be seen.”

  My beast growled in response to my aggravation. “What, you want to wait until the aliens attack to do what we all know to be right?”

  Simwat leveled a hard glare at me. “If you want our unanimous support, Markon, this is the way it has to be. The aliens haven’t ventured into the forest for two generations. Why would they start now? Of course, you can order us to do whatever you want, but…”

  The implied threat hung in the air. Mutiny.

  I scanned the hall, hoping to see Natalie’s face. Maybe she could help convince them. As a Terran, no one knew more about what her species was capable of, or the lengths they’d go to achieve their mission.

  But she wasn’t out there. Not that I could blame her. I’d made her feel like an outsider earlier. Why would she want to take part in such a meeting when she thought that even the alpha who loved her didn’t consider her a part of the tribe?

  A frantic howl from outside interrupted my thoughts. The hairs on my neck stood on end and my beast howled to be set free. And it wasn’t just mine. Instinct dictated that every Warg beast respond to a war cry.

  21

  Natalie

  Ignorant?!

  Who the hell did he think he was? I already felt useless enough at my inability to find a cure. Suggesting it would take a long time for me to succeed only rubbed salt in the wound.

  Sure, Jorek and I had hit a wall, but my gut told me it was only temporary. I was on the right track, I knew it. But all these distractions — mainly Markon — didn’t help matters.

  I sat on the bench where I’d found him and Amma yesterday — the same where he’d first kissed me — eyeing the forest. Walks always helped clear my head, to think through problems, but it was still forbidden for females to leave the village without
an escort. I wasn’t as worried about getting in trouble with Markon as I was with a pack of forest rats swarming me.

  Still, something drew me to the tree line, almost as if it was calling to me. My skin itched from it. Screw it, I thought as I jumped up and headed in the direction Amma had waddled.

  “Natalie,” someone hissed behind me. Teema stood at the corner of the koshu, eyes wide with worry. “What are you doing?”

  I squared my shoulders and put on a brave face, as if I didn’t have a care in the world. “I’m going for a walk. What are you doing?”

  “I was just going to the meeting,” She looked over her shoulder, then toward the meeting hall, then back at me. “You can’t go alone, Natalie.”

  “I don’t give a shit about Markon’s rules anymore. I’m not going to wait for him to assign me escorts.”

  “I don’t think you should,” she said, moving to my side. “I’ll be your escort.”

  I gaped at her. “You? But you’ll get in trouble, Teema. I’m not even part of this tribe, but you…”

  Teema looped her arm through mine and gave me a stern look. “You are part of our tribe, Natalie, and don’t ever say otherwise. So it’s my duty to protect you. Besides, I don’t see anyone else around, do you?”

  My heart lurched. She thought of me as family. Tears threatened to spring into my eyes, wondering if my being born to loser parents had been some kind of cosmic joke. I should have been a Warg all along. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to become one, and the sooner I found the cure, the sooner that could happen.

  “Are you sure? Markon will be pretty pissed off.”

  She nodded. “Yes, but he’ll be even angrier if I let you go out there alone. Besides, this will be the perfect opportunity to prove to him that we’re not just a pack of helpless broodmares.”

  I couldn’t stop from grinning. A way to prove the women’s worth and piss off Markon? Bonus!

  “Let’s go!”

  Teema followed closely on my heels as I pushed through the dense foliage and into the forest proper. “Where are we going?” she finally asked.

  I hadn’t really thought about it, I just knew I needed to go. Other than a vague notion of where we crashed our shuttle and the general direction of the river separating Hill and Valley territory, I had no clue about their geography. Then a memory flickered in my brain.

  “The meadow.”

  At Teema’s insistence, we didn’t talk much as we hiked. She’d moved two steps in front of me and was on constant alert, ready to shift into her beast form at the slightest hint of danger.

  “Why don’t you just shift now?” I asked, breathless after a half hour or so of hiking. Sweat coated my exposed skin, and no matter how hard I tried to avoid them, tree branches kept reaching out to snag my silk wraps.

  “My beast is loud and kind of a bitch,” she laughed. “I don’t want to draw any attention to us. Besides, I can shift long before any forest creature could sneak up on us. Now hush. The meadow is just ahead.”

  The crack of a branch behind us stopped Teema in her tracks and I nearly bumped into her. She raised her head and sniffed the air, then listened hard.

  “Not a grumpus…not a hopwart…something small…” she muttered.

  Bright daylight glowed through the trees. The infamous meadow lay just beyond. Eager to find out why Amma loved it so much, I surged ahead, leaving her behind to follow.

  A delicate floral scent reached my nose. It mixed with the spice of the forest, creating a heady aroma that drove me forward. Shoving my way out of the tree line, I found myself in a large, perfectly round meadow, bursting with waist-high wildflowers.

  So many specimens!

  “Careful,” Teema called out as I pushed deeper toward the center of the field, maniacally inspecting each plant in hopes of finding some we hadn’t tested. I waved my hand above my head to show I heard her, but my focus was on the flora.

  I sniffed a lovely green and orange bloom. Checked it. Next up was a thorny purple stalk. I didn’t even need to get close to know Jorek had tested it. I still remember how bloody his fingertips were afterward.

  My fingers wrapped around a long, looping strand of magenta seeds, and a smile drifted across my lips. Helixgrass. Same thing that was in the flowers Markon gave me. Same stuff he fed me this morning after another invigorating lovemaking session.

  Also…checked it. Or rather, Jorek did. I sighed and looked around me. I was surrounded by flowers I recognized when I’d been hoping for something new, something that would be the breakthrough I needed. Standing in the middle of that meadow, I wanted to plop down and cry.

  Teema stood at the edge, eyeing the tree line for threats. I opened my mouth to shout the bad news when I felt something very hard press against my temple.

  “Move and you die, bitch,” snarled a raspy male voice behind me.

  I froze. I’d been concentrating on the plants so much that I didn’t notice the man hiding amongst them. The strong smell of flowers had masked the stench of his body odor until he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tight into his body. A shudder of hate and revulsion rippled through me as my brain caught up with the situation.

  “Hank,” I whispered. “I thought you were dead.“

  “You wish!”

  He spoke loudly enough that Teema turned our way. When she saw him holding his laser gun to my head, her eyes grew round. Then her upper lip peeled back in a snarl. She took a step forward and seemed to grow in size. Hank pressed the gun harder into my head, and I winced.

  “Don’t even think of turning into a monster, you fucking mutant! Maybe you’ll kill me, but I’ll shoot her first, and hopefully you, before you can get to me.”

  My heart thumped in my chest, and I could feel his doing the same. He was scared, but he also had a gun. And he was right. Teema was too far away to reach us before he killed us both.

  The last time I’d seen Hank, he was trying to kill my sisters and me after we crashed the shuttle. He’d been escorting us to our new ‘missions’ after graduating from the Training Center. Except our ‘missions’ were bullshit lies and he knew it all along.

  “What do you want, Hank?” I tried to keep my voice steady even though fear and loathing warred inside me for dominance.

  The last time I’d seen Hank, he was trying to kill my sisters and me after we crashed the shuttle. He’d been escorting us to our new ‘missions’ after graduating from the Training Center. Except our ‘missions’ were bullshit lies and he knew it.

  “I want you,” he shouted at Teema, as if she’d asked the question, “to go back to that shithole you call a village and bring those other two whores to me. If you do that, this one lives.”

  “They aren’t there,” I answered when Teema looked puzzled. “I’m the only one of us here.”

  “Bullshit!” he screamed, pushing the gun so hard my head tipped to the side. I sucked in a pained breath.

  “No, it’s true,” I gasped. “They’re with the Valley tribe.”

  Hank paused, letting my words sink into his pea brain. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “There are two tribes of Wargs in the forest, Hank. Teema over there is part of the Hill tribe. Sienna and Arlynn are with the Valley tribe. They’re not here.”

  He was so silent that I could almost hear the gears clunking away in his head. Even if he was an idiot, he still was ready to kill me.

  “I don’t believe you,” he finally said, though I could tell from his tone that he wasn’t sure. Raising his voice, he shouted at Teema. “Go now or she’s dead! And don’t even think about trying to sneak up on me because I’ll see you before you can make it halfway across this field.”

  Teema hesitated, clearly unsure of what to do. When Hank flipped the amplification switch to high, the gun buzzed loudly. In a blink, Teema was gone.

  22

  Markon

  The crowd at the door parted, allowing Teema’s beast to rush in, lather coating her brown fur and foamy slobber spattering to
the floor. She staggered the moment she shifted and Rikor rushed to her side. Hanging on to her mate and panting hard, she looked up at me with pleading eyes.

  “Natalie…alien…kill…”

  Those three words were enough to bring my beast surging forward in rage, but I kept him in check until I could hear Teema’s report.

  “Someone get her some water,” Rikor shouted, but Teema waved him away.

  “No time.” She took a deep breath and spoke more clearly. “A Terran took Natalie. Has a weapon. Wants her sisters.”

  The tips of my fangs slipped past my lower lip and claws sprouted from my fingertips. I couldn’t hold him back much longer, and I didn’t want to. I just needed to know one thing before I tore the throat out of whoever was threatening Natalie.

  “Where?”

  “In the meadow.”

  I was already halfway across the hall and about to let my beast have free reign when Teema called out.

  “Wait! Markon, wait!”

  Growling, I turned back, fury radiating from me. No one stood between an alpha and his mate.

  “You can’t attack him. They’re in the middle of the meadow. He’ll kill her before you get close.”

  “If he does, he’ll die,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “He doesn’t care, Markon. He says he wants the other two Terrans. If he gets them, he won’t kill Natalie.”

  “How are we supposed to get the aliens?” Rikor asked, releasing his grip on his mate now that she’d grown steadier. “They’re in the Valley, a day away.”

  I shook my head, fighting to maintain control. “Solan would never give them up to some crazed Terran anyway. Did he say anything else, Teema? Who is he?”

  “I don’t know, but Natalie seemed to know him. She called him Hank, but he didn’t say what he wanted with the Terrans. I was afraid he’d hurt her if I asked any questions.”

  Natalie had never mentioned anyone named Hank, but she never spoke of other aliens besides her sisters. What the hell was this all about?