Rebel Mate

by Grace Goodwin

  It wasn’t the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. I was worried for them, but it wasn’t the top of my list.

  Isaak wrapped me in his arms and pulled me even closer, used one hand to cradle my head to his chest. “Zenos is a Forsian hybrid, gara. Ivy looks human, but she has enough Hive tech in her body to make her nearly his equal in both speed and strength. Perhaps even more dangerous, but don’t tell Zenos I said that. They are strong. I command you to cease your worrying.”

  At last, I smiled. “Command me to stop worrying? Pretty confident with those commands, aren’t you? You should know a woman’s heart does not work that way.”

  The comment made him freeze, his body becoming tense against mine. “And how does your heart work, gara?”

  In his words, I heard something I’d never heard before… not from him. Vulnerability. Fear. I remained silent. I couldn’t give him an answer when I didn’t know myself. Didn’t understand.

  “I would know you,” he said, his voice a husky whisper. No command, just honesty. “Know everything. Every hope and thought and dream. Every desire. Every need. I would know your heart, gara. If you would but allow it, I would make it mine.”

  I stopped breathing just for a moment. My mouth even fell open in surprise. “Isaak.” I pushed at his chest, and he let me go. Stepping back, I looked up into his dark eyes and fought back the rising tide of hope that threatened to consume me. Hope, I had learned a long time ago, hurt more than almost any other emotion. Hope was a cruel bitch who never stayed. Like Isaak wouldn’t once we were done with Bertok. He’d transport back to his spaceship to roam the galaxy. Damned rebel.

  “I don’t understand you,” I said, looking out the window. “You want to go back to space, don’t you? Back out there to hunt more Hive and sell more tech?”

  “Yes. Of course,” he said immediately. No hesitation or doubt. “I cannot stay here. My family—”

  A loud ding interrupted us, and we turned to face the wall. Isaak hurried forward, pressing a panel. Part of the wall, of the stone itself, seemed to change before my eyes, turned into a flat screen. Ivy and Zenos appeared on the flat surface.

  “Isaak of Trion. Please respond.” Zenos’s deep, rich tone would have been intimidating, but his voice was monotone. Completely under control.

  “Damn it, Isaak. Answer the fucking phone.” Ivy’s irritated blast made me smile because I doubted Isaak knew what a phone was. That was more like it.

  Isaak looked to me, as if asking permission, and I realized he was attempting to protect my modesty. I was clothed, but it did nothing to hide my body. But I’d watched some Trion broadcasts since our arrival. My gown was sheer, beautiful, and not unlike what every other woman on the planet wore. Oddly, I felt at home in the soft gown, despite how much desert air made its way up my skirts, so to speak. I simply nodded and moved to stand in front of the screen. Isaak touched the panel again and moved to stand beside me, his hand on the small of my back like I was his.

  More torture, now that I realized how badly I wanted exactly that. Isaak. Mine. Forever. My master. My mate.

  Yes. Hope. Still a heartless bitch.

  “Zenos, Ivy, we are here.”

  “Thank God.” Ivy leaned down as if she were speaking to a very small screen, her cute nose scrunched up as she squinted at us. “Nice dress, Zara. Trion looks good on you.”

  “Thank you.” If I’d detected any sarcasm to her tone, I would have fired back. But she was sincere, the look in her eyes kind. “I really do like it here although I haven’t seen much of the place.”

  “I bet Isaak’s kept you occupied.” I couldn’t miss her sly grin. “I’ve heard Warden Egara really knows her stuff. I haven’t met one unhappy Earth girl out here.” Ivy blushed, and I wondered for a second why. Then she spoke. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I forgot about your mate being murdered. You just look so perfect with Isaak that—”

  “Female, enough drama and talk of mates. We have more important details to discuss.” Zenos literally lifted her off her feet and pulled her backward and up into his arms, cradling her across his chest without the slightest sign of strain. And I’d met Ivy. She was six foot if she was an inch. But in her mate’s arms she looked small.

  Loved.

  And happy. God, she gave in to his demands at once, settling her cheek against his shoulder and allowing him to hold her as he spoke of war and death and rage over the top of her golden head.

  “It’s been five weeks, Forsian. What took so long?” Isaak asked. The gentle tone he’d used with me was now gone.

  Zenos’ jaw clenched, and he glared at Isaak. “I can’t just go to Cerberus legion and knock on the leader’s door,” he snapped. “We must listen, follow the movements of the legion’s members. Have patience.” He added the last intentionally.

  Isaak didn’t fall for it. “Well?”

  “Astra gave us her assistance, and we tracked down the data source in that crystal,” Isaak replied.

  “And?” Isaak asked.

  “We discovered plans for an attack on a city called Bakkarholt on Trion. As well as a date and time for the explosion.”

  Isaak stilled beside me. I couldn’t even feel him breathing.

  “Explosion?” It was my turn to freak out. “What kind of explosion?” Just my luck I’d find a place I loved, and some asshole alien would detonate a nuclear bomb or something on it. Hope really was a bitch, and she was cackling now.

  “The attack is set to happen in four weeks. We had the computer calculate the time differential, and the attack on Bakkarholt will occur on Trion tomorrow afternoon, two hours past peak sun.”

  Ivy lifted her head. “That’s Trion time, in case you were wondering. Not our time. Out here, it’s almost a month away.”

  “Fark.” Isaak paced the room now, and my back felt like ice without the heat of his touch.

  I looked back to the screen. I didn’t know where Bakkarholt was, but it didn’t matter.

  “What about Bertok? I don’t understand. Why would Cerberus blow up a city on Trion if they’re working with Bertok?” Didn’t make sense to me to blow up your own house or town.

  Isaak answered instead of Zenos. “That city is not far from here. It’s my father’s territory. He and Bertok have never been friends. If Bertok can destroy Bakkarholt, he’ll cripple my father’s trade and take out the largest garrison of my father’s fighters. The other Councilors would have no reason to suspect Bertok, and as the closest territory, he would be expected to assist us. Most likely to take over.”

  I snorted, I couldn’t help it. “Assist you directly into the grave, right? So, he’s doing a hostile takeover of your territory and using Cerberus to take the blame.”

  “Bertok will kill my father. Most likely force my mother to form an alliance once my father is dead.”

  “Bertok told me he’s already got a mate,” I said.

  “Having several is allowed on Trion,” Isaak replied absently.

  I narrowed my gaze, wondered if he wanted multiple mates.

  Perhaps he read my mind, for he said, “Gara, you are more than enough for me.”

  Ivy laughed. I whipped my head around and glared at her. I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or pleased.

  Isaak shook his head. “That scheming fark. He knows my father’s position is weak.”

  “Why?” I looked around the room, the house that screamed money. Power.

  Isaak was silent so long Zenos answered. “He has no heir.”

  From what Isaak told me, his older brother had been heir, but he’d died. Isaak was the heir, but he’d been off-planet for years. He hadn’t been here to step into his father’s place if needed. From what he’d just said before the call about leaving Trion again, he never planned to. So, while there was an heir, there wasn’t an heir who would take over. That was a lot of pressure on Isaak. What he wanted was different from what he might have to do if he wanted to save an entire fucking town.

  Shit. I shifted my gaze from Isaak, who was
running an agitated hand through his dark hair, to Zenos and Ivy.

  “Can you send us the details of this plan?” I asked Zenos. “No one is going to believe a space pirate and an Earth girl who disappeared right after her new mate died. Knowing what I know about Bertok now, he probably found a way to frame me for Naron’s murder. Why I left Trion so quickly after I arrived.”

  “Holy shit. I hadn’t even thought about that.” Ivy squirmed and Zenos gently settled her back on her feet, but she didn’t break free. Instead, she leaned into him. His strength. His heat. She had her mate, her forever. I was standing here in Isaak’s home, half naked and suddenly felt very alone.

  “It’s what I would have done.” I crossed my arms over my chest and mentally kicked soft, pampered me to the curb. This wasn’t my life. These weren’t my clothes. You could take the girl away from the streets, but you couldn’t take the streets out of the girl. Or something similar to that. “Destroy the city. Murder Isaak’s father. Take out as many of his men as possible. He’ll swoop in like a savior, make your mother trust him and take it all as his.”

  “We’ll send you everything we have,” Zenos said.

  Isaak thanked them. “Tell Astra I owe her a favor.”

  Zenos laughed. “Don’t think I will. She’d hold you to it, and that female never forgets anything. And her mate, Barek, is worse.”

  Another dinging noise sounded from the fancy screen, and Ivy looked at Isaak. “You get it?”

  Isaak walked to the wall panel and pressed a few more buttons. “Yes. Thank you. I owe you both.”

  Ivy shook her head. “Take care of Zara. That’s all. Earth girls stick together out here.” Ivy glanced from Isaak to me. “If you need me, call me. We’ll come. Got it?”

  “Yes. Thanks.” I meant that, with every cell in my body. They were helping us because they were friends. Because they were good. Because they cared not because they wanted something. They didn’t have an ulterior motive.

  With one last nod from both of them and a hard glare at Isaak from Zenos—which I didn’t quite understand—they were gone.

  “You need to call your father,” I said.

  “No, I don’t.” Isaak remained at the wall panel as data and maps began to appear and disappear on the large screen where Ivy and Zenos had been moments before.

  “Look, I know you have some kind of family issue, but you have to call him. Or your mom. Somebody. We have to warn them.”

  He turned to look at me, the resignation in his gaze, the stiffness of his shoulders something I recognized well. He was bracing himself for pain.

  “They’re already here.”

  12

  Zara

  * * *

  My back went ramrod straight, and I felt as if I were back on Earth and meeting a date’s parents for the first time. Okay, that had never happened to me before, but I’d seen it in movies, and it was just as it had been depicted.

  “They’re here?” I couldn’t miss the shrill tone of the question. I looked down at the sheer gown, the clearly visible nipple rings and chain, my bare feet. “Are you crazy? I can’t meet your parents like this.”

  Isaak did something to make sure the screen was blank then turned and pulled me into his arms. It was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, I was sure, but it wasn’t helping. “You look beautiful, gara. Perfect.”

  I blushed as much from his words as the heat in his eyes. “But—”

  He put a finger over my lips. “No. You are perfect. They will not be allowed to believe otherwise.”

  I realized then that he hadn’t seen his parents in years. Why was I panicking? There was a shit-ton of issues between them that I doubted I’d even register. How was he so calm?

  A loud pounding sounded at the door before I could argue the obvious. He could not control his parents’ thoughts—about him or me. And although I knew a bit about the rift that had driven Isaak from home, I knew from my own personal experience that family could be messy. He’d stayed away four years. That was messy.

  And then there was the elephant in the room… Isaak was only on Trion to help me take care of Bertok. If he hadn’t run into me, he’d never even have considered returning to his home planet. He wouldn’t be facing his parents right now or ever. He was leaving again soon, going back out into space, for his ship and the freedom he seemed to need as much as he needed air.

  He held me, and the pounding sounded at the door again.

  “Fark, boy. Open the door before I have my guards blow it open.” The voice was deep and commanding. Sounded like someone I knew all too well.

  Isaak actually chuckled. “Patient, as always. Seems my father hasn’t changed.”

  He released me and walked to the door, waved his hand over a panel and stood with his arms crossed over his chest as the door slid aside to reveal an older woman and a near exact copy of Isaak with a few more lines on his face.

  Same stance. Same build. Same eyes.

  Same scowl.

  Isaak’s skin had a richer tone than his father’s, more like melted caramel, but the similarities between the two males startled me into a grin. Wow. Talk about strong genetics.

  “Greetings, Father. Mother.” Isaak inclined his head in a bit of a bow, and his mother rushed into his arms, an oomph escaping Isaak’s chest from the impact.

  “Isaak! I’m so glad you’re home.” He held her, a female just a bit taller than me, with dark brown curls and amber eyes. Her skin was darker than both her mate and son, as if she was from a different race or region of the planet. She had to be old enough to be Isaak’s mother, but she didn’t look a day over thirty. Not fair. But that wasn’t what shocked me. No, what had me consciously closing my slack jaw was the see-through cream gown she wore. Even more revealing than mine, I could see everything, including the sparkling chains that ran between her breasts, the teardrop shaped diamonds—or something that looked just like diamonds—dangling about a half inch apart along the entire length. She wasn’t supermodel thin, either. From what Isaak had said, she’d had given birth to at least one set of twins, and her body showed the signs. But she owned her body in a way I admired. She stood proudly, not an ounce of embarrassment or shame in her stance or her expression because she was scantily clad. No, she was covered completely but still exposed. Trion dress wasn’t like skimpy, sexy lingerie. It was alluring yet modest. Carnal but protected.

  Isaak had used the word adorned before. Well, she had that down. Besides the fancy chain, both of her arms were covered in gold and silver bangles so that every movement she made was accompanied by a faint tinkling sound like fairy bells. Her hair was pulled up into a loose style, and holding it in place was more bling, a circlet fit for any princess.

  She looked like a fairy queen. Or a goddess… with her breasts showing.

  “I did miss you, Mother.” Isaak’s tone was softer than I had ever heard before, and I was suddenly envious of this woman, of the love in Isaak’s voice, of the way the guards and Isaak’s father stood in a protective semi-circle around her, weapons out and at the ready to defend her. Then I realized they were all pointed at… me.

  At last, she released her son and looked at him at arm's length. “You’ve been gone for over a month. And look at you! You’re a man now. What have you been doing out there? Why didn’t you come home sooner?”

  A month?

  Isaak told me he hadn’t been home in four years. But then, Isaak and I had only been on Trion for just over a day and Ivy and Zenos said that out there, in space, it had been about 5 weeks. This Trion time difference thing was serious business. If it had only been a month, Isaak had been a man before he left. And now. Many adults didn’t see their parents for a month or longer. Four years was a little extreme, but maybe it wasn’t as bad as Isaak had made it out to be.

  Isaak’s father had his arms crossed again. “Captain Erick, take the female into custody. Then we will deal with my rebellious son.”

  Or maybe it was just as bad. Or worse.

  “Yes, Council
or Henrick.” One of the biggest, sexiest aliens I had ever seen stepped forward, around Isaak and his mother, and approached me.

  “What?” I set a hand on my chest. “Me? Is this supposed to be a joke? Because it’s not funny.” Holy fucking shit. Seriously? I left Earth to get away from gangs and crime and a bullshit existence, and the first time I set foot on Trion, my mate was murdered in front of me. And the second time they wanted to arrest me? If it had been a month since Isaak had been gone, then it had been maybe a day on Trion since I’d transported from Earth?

  “What are you talking about, Father?” Isaak stepped back from his mother as Captain Erick and two additional guards moved around him and toward me.

  It was Isaak’s mother who answered. “She’s dangerous, son. Killed her mate, Naron. Both his brother and Councilor Bertok are demanding justice.”

  Bertok? Did she just say Bertok? I took a step back and sputtered. “No. This is a huge mistake.”

  Captain Erick stepped closer and despite the fact that I was trying to be strong, I looked to Isaak for help. Was he going to stick his neck out to help me? Sure, he’d brought me here, but family was family, and I wasn’t that. He wouldn’t defy his father, the Councilor. I remembered that term because Bertok was one as well. Clearly Isaak’s dad was just as important as Bertok. Most likely Councilors stuck together. No one had ever tried to protect me. Not in my whole life. Not my deadbeat father who disappeared when I was a kid and not my mother who’d always been more interested in her latest boyfriend to waste energy worrying about me. Or protecting me. Or standing up for me.

  Earth. Trion. It was all the same.

  “I need you to come with me, Zara Novak of Earth.” Captain Erick stood before me now, blocking my view of Isaak, his father and his mother. Which was just as well. I wasn’t going to run down the street half naked, with bare feet on a planet I knew nothing about. I had nowhere to go. I could get my one phone call and try to get in touch with Zenos and Ivy, but I doubted they’d be up for breaking me out of Trion jail. And were they my friends or Isaak’s?