by Emma Dean
He tilted his head as he studied the female before him. Adelina had truly grown into something wondrous. At first he hadn’t been sure, but now there was no doubt in his mind. She was perfect and he was one hundred percent loyal to her in every way. She would be the most phenomenal queen in three galaxies.
“Are you angry about your new title?” he asked.
Adelina glared at him then. “I’m not sure why I’m telling you any of this.”
He shrugged and took another step closer so they stood shoulder to shoulder like they had when he was her constant guard. “We grew up together. Old habits die hard, I suppose. I am sorry I lied to you about the council meeting that day. I…I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”
Her expression when the blood had sprayed her face – he would never forget it, not in a million cycles.
Something about his admission eased some of Adelina’s fury. She sighed and her shoulders slumped. Then she wrapped her arms around her middle as though she were cold. “I know, Alpha, I know you didn’t. It’s just…it feels like the people I can trust are becoming fewer and fewer. And now this? I’m not ready to rule. I’m not prepared to make alliances with a cula’ting bitch who wants to steal my children. I have no idea what I am doing, and it makes me feel like an imposter.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tucked her in close to shield her from the wind whipping around them. “You’re not an imposter, Adelina. You have always acted like a queen. It’s why I’m so relieved you accepted the title and the Crown. It suits you if I’m going to be completely honest. Raena and Giselle were never meant to rule – not the way you were.”
And with that neat little dominance trick of hers? She was a goddess.
She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed again. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter, does it? This is my fate and I must deal with it regardless of how I feel personally.” He could feel the tension leave her body at the admission.
It was his moment.
In one lightning quick motion he stuck the needle in her neck and hit the depressor with his thumb. When she looked up at him in shock and betrayal he held her face so gently, looking down at her with a soft smile. “It’s okay, I’ve got you,” he whispered.
“Alpha?” she asked, her body going limp.
She weighed nothing as he swept her up in his arms and cradled her to his chest. He carried her towards his ship and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’m not Alpha, my Queen. But don’t worry, you’ll soon understand everything.”
He grinned and his steps were light as he closed the distance to his ship. Soon…everything would be perfect.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Nash
The Royal Eyrie
Planet Hai Delta
Nash paced the length of the sitting room while Kaita inspected the edge of her blade. The rhythmic sound of her sharpening the metal grated on his nerves. The last few weeks with her had reminded him why she’d annoyed him so much as children.
With no time to challenge each other for the position of king or queen it felt like every conversation they’d had was a pissing match of some kind or another. He knew it was mostly their instincts, but Fate help him he was going to smother her with a pillow one day.
“Could you please stop that?” Nash asked, running his hand through his long hair. He grabbed a band and tied the hair back, out of his face.
Kaita rolled her eyes, but put the whetstone away.
Ever since he’d gotten a whiff of Varan’s scent intertwined with Adelina’s, Nash had been on the killing edge.
“Your little princess is nothing like you described,” Kaita said, sipping on a glass of water. “Other than perhaps her honor. She may not be a fighter, but she’s still a warrior.”
Nash glared at his fellow Kharan royal, wishing that just once she’d keep her opinions to herself.
“Are you going to accept her proposal?” Kaita asked. Her brow rose in question. That annoying little smirk on her face begged him to rip it off.
Nash snarled at her. Yes, then there was that. Second husband. Varan could go cula himself if he thought he’d answer to him.
Still Nash hesitated to decline. He was undeniably drawn to Adelina. He craved her like he craved water. That kiss before everything had gone to shit had only whet his appetite and he needed her in ways he didn’t understand.
But…his kind didn’t share and the thought of having to share the female he loved – who consumed him, was a lot for Nash to swallow.
There was a frantic banging on his door and Nash whirled around with a glare, wondering who lacked the sense to knock like a normal person. “What?” he snapped as the door slid open.
Varan and the Prince Kaiden stood before them. The fear and panic Nash smelled on the air stuck in the back of his throat. He growled at both males standing before him.
“I need your fastest, deadliest warship with whatever high tech weapons you possess,” Varan demanded. His eyes were wild and his canines elongated. “And your strength if you’re done throwing a little fit.”
“Why?”
“Adelina has been taken!” Varan roared. “She’s somehow in space and headed toward the Khara Galaxy!” He shoved his shreve at Nash.
He watched a signal as it moved through Hai Delta space toward the nearest border and Nash felt his stomach drop in fear. His hand went to his weapon without even realizing. “What? How did this get past your defenses?” he asked Kaiden. The Drakesthai had someone constantly watching the skies. How had no one noticed?
The dragon prince glared at him but tapped his comm behind his ear and barked out a command. “We don’t know how she was taken,” Kaiden answered, watching Nash as he activated his armor and checked the protocols on it. “One minute she was on the bridge and the next she’s gone. The vids show her with Alpha, and then they both disappear.”
Kaita handed him the long plasma sword and a few extra guns. “Do you need help?” she asked in Kharan.
Nash shook his head. “Stay here and find out if we have that alliance or not, check in on Lilja and Milagros. I’ll get Adelina back before she crosses the border.”
“Nadyah is with Delphine and the Ravager is powered up and will accompany us.” Varan glared at Nash and moved toward the door. “You better hurry if you’re planning on tagging along.”
“Why was she alone, Varan?” Nash demanded, not liking the way the other male’s dominance pulled at him. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d been doing your job as husband and escort.”
Varan and Kaiden turned to glare at him. Even Kaita gave him a disapproving look. “Don’t you dare act like I’m not doing everything in my power to get her back,” Varan roared, stalking forward and jabbing his finger into Nash’s chest.
Nash growled at the shorter male and Kaiden flared his wings. “Enough! She was alone because she ordered us to leave her be. She commanded it as the Queen of Draga.”
That stopped his challenge before it could even fully form. Nash’s breath left his body in a whoosh and he felt like someone had stolen all the oxygen from the room. “Queen?”
“Yes, Queen,” Varan said. “Now are you coming with us or not?”
The thief’s dominance rankled but Nash rolled his shoulders back and kept his thoughts to himself. He may not know how he felt about Adelina’s proposal, but he still cared for her – loved her. Nash clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth together.
They needed to move. The longer they waited the worse it would be for her. This wasn’t about who had the biggest cock, this was about getting Adelina back. “I’m coming and you can have access to anything you need. Let’s go.”
Kaiden stopped them both from heading toward the stairs. “It will be much faster to fly, but I can only carry one of you at a time.” Without warning he gripped Nash by the arm and jumped straight out the window into the gloomy sky.
He managed not to screech as they plummeted before Kaiden’s wings caught wind, but just barely.
Kaiden shifted so that he had his arms around Nash’s chest and then banked toward the landing station. Moments later their feet hit the ground and Nash stumbled, but managed to catch himself before he fell on his face.
Kaiden launched himself back into the air and flew quick as lightning back to the Royal Eyrie before Nash could throw a slew of curses at the blasted dragon.
“Nash!” Nadyah ran down the ramp of the Ravager toward him and grabbed his arm, desperation and panic leaving a bad taste in his mouth. “Delphine said she watched Alpha board the ship he came in on and then leave. She didn’t see Adelina, but I bet my life that’s the ship she’s on. He must have cloaked her somehow. The coordinates of her bracelet match those of his ship.”
Nash didn’t shake her off for once despite that awful scent of hers. Nadyah had tears streaming down her face and he didn’t even bother to ask who Delphine was. “Why in all the hells would Alpha take her? You think he’s a spy working for the Neprijat?” he demanded.
“I don’t know, I should have sensed it if he was – but I didn’t,” Nadyah stumbled over her own words, guilt and grief written on her face.
Then Kaiden landed with Varan and Nash relayed the information. The thief growled deep in his chest, the intensity coming off him was impressive. “Are you trying to tell me that little prick has stolen my wife and queen? I will shred him to pieces before I take one eye at a time and then feed them to him.” Nash saw the elongated canines and watched the way Varan stalked into the pirate ship.
He smiled in anticipation.
Nash couldn’t wait to deliver a world of hurt to the male who thought he could just take Adelina without anyone noticing.
“Ready to see blood run?” he asked Kaiden as they fell into step together toward his warship.
“It will be my pleasure to exact justice,” Kaiden confessed. “I’ve known him for all of one hour. It will be nothing to drop him into the heart of a volcano.”
Nash grinned and unsheathed his sword. They would hunt Alpha down like the rat he was before ripping him into tiny pieces until blood ran down the walls and he was nothing more than a pile of flesh and bone.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Adelina
Alpha’s Starship
The Hai Galaxy
Her head pounded and Adelina groaned as she cracked an eye open. She went to put a hand to her forehead to try and ease the pain but the motion was halted abruptly. Her eyes widened in surprise and she realized she had no idea where she was.
Then she discovered she was strapped down and couldn’t move.
Terror flashed through Adelina so hard and so fast it left her breathless and her ears began to ring. She could feel her anxiety closing in, her body already showing symptoms of an oncoming panic attack.
She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth as Nadyah had taught her; over and over until the tingling in her hands dissipated. Then when her heart rate settled a little she took a moment to evaluate her surroundings.
The first thing that came to her attention was the noise. It was the rumble of a starship engine if she wasn’t mistaken. Then it was the smell – purified air lacking any notes of sulphur or ash. Adelina was definitely on a ship.
The slight sensation in her stomach told her they were moving through space, no longer on the surface and the gravity was lighter than it had been on Hai Delta.
All these facts didn’t help her control the panic, but it did give her some clues. She sniffed again and flexed her fingers until her claws were full length. What concerned her the most was she couldn’t remember what the last thing she’d been doing was.
She remembered having that verbal match with the eldest, most cantankerous of the dragons and that she’d asked for time alone. Nothing after that.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
Adelina turned her head and watched the male who had once been her childhood friend, companion, guard, and briefly her lover walk into the sterile room.
“Alpha, please…tell me what’s going on,” she pleaded with him, testing the bonds around her wrists. Surprisingly her feet weren’t bound, but lying flat on her back had her at a disadvantage.
“We are headed to the Khara Galaxy,” Alpha said. The way he tilted his head to study her was strange and his eyes – he looked at her with an odd raptness that concerned Adelina. “I’m delivering the Queen to the Neprijat King.”
Her throat closed up and tears pricked her eyes as she took in the full extent of his betrayal. It physically hurt, like a knife in her heart. Adelina didn’t understand how or why, but the stark truth in his voice and the way he held himself. It was excruciating. The one person she thought would never betray her to the Neprijat no matter their recent difficulties…the promise he’d made to her, twice now – had that been nothing more than a lie?
Then rage consumed her.
“Alpha,” she whispered with the promise of death in her words. “After everything? Everything!” Adelina pulled at the restraints, fighting them as she tried to get at the male.
“Shh,” he murmured, caressing her cheek ever so softly with his knuckles.
She jerked away and bared her teeth, wishing she could sink them into his hand.
“I know you don’t understand,” he told her. “But you will, I promise.”
“You swore an oath to me!” she screamed at him. “You promised you’d end my life before letting the Neprijat take me, and now this! I will feed you to their dogs.”
Alpha smiled down at her and it looked so…wrong. “You really don’t know do you?” He walked around the table she was strapped to, but he didn’t touch her again. “I am not your Alpha,” he told her, that strange smile still on his face. “I am not Alpha at all. I am Drozer – the Neprijat King’s most loyal and trusted spy.”
Her very breath left her body as she stared at him. It crystallized the hot rage in her veins into ice – making her feel brittle and frozen as Adelina tried to comprehend those words.
This male…whoever he was, he smiled down at her with so much love and dedication on his face it brought bile to her tongue. He grinned and leaned against the table on his elbows, so close to her face. “My Queen, my mind was uploaded into Alpha’s body right after your coming-of-age party. It was convenient really as you no longer needed a guard and I no longer needed Darius’s body.”
Adelina jerked away from whatever inhabited Alpha so hard her wrists protested, nearly snapping from the sudden, violent motion. She’d never heard of such tech – where one could simply move their consciousness from one body to the next like it was no more than changing clothes.
But they knew nothing about the Neprijat, or their tech.
“How?” she breathed. It was difficult to formulate thoughts – to take in all that this male had revealed to her. The shock of it made her so very cold and her entire body started to shake.
“The exact details don’t matter,” he said, pushing off the table. Whoever wore Alpha’s body turned to a closet and pulled out a plain blanket. He tucked it around her gently.
Adelina studied him, every line of his face, but especially the eyes. Had she truly not noticed since her coming-of-age party? “Tell me, what happened to the real Alpha?”
“Once I leave his body he will regain control and it will be him once more. I will upload memories as I did with the others and he won’t remember a thing. Unless you wish him to, my queen,” Drozer said as he finished tucking in the blanket.
The words he used, the strange inflections. She flinched as he leaned against the table again to simply stare at her. Then he wiped the tears from her cheeks with a handkerchief. “Shh, I know it’s a lot to take in, but you will soon understand. We’ve needed a queen like you for so long.” His touch was cold and foreign – like it had been during their dance at her wedding reception.
Bile rose in her throat and it took everything Adelina had not to vomit.
Goddess, help her. She’d really not noticed – Adelina had been so wrapped up in her ow
n world she hadn’t seen the clues, but…he’d been reassigned and had no longer been her constant guard. She thought he’d betrayed her, but it hadn’t been Alpha at all.
“What happens to the person you inhabit?” she asked, flexing her hands.
“They’re still in here, but they have no control,” Alpha—Drozer told her, tapping his temple. “It’s truly an interesting process. We choose a location and a body from our long range scanners. Then we take the mind from one body and simply put it into another, snatching that person’s life momentarily. Once we have established ourselves a bit, we use this little piece of tech to snatch the next body, and then the next until we are exactly where we need to be.” He tapped the cuff on his wrist that looked like any standard wrist-cast.
Adelina didn’t know what to make of it all, but she had so many questions. If she was going to her own personal nightmare, she may as well understand how she’d let this happen. “Who were you before Alpha?”
Drozer smiled as if he was pleased with her curiosity. “So you want the whole story. Well, it won’t hurt to tell you now that you will soon be one of us. I was sent to Draga Terra just before we took the Khara Galaxy. I managed to get access to Princess Raena’s personal guard Darius, and snatched his body. As the heir she was never alone which made it easier for me to get close to the royal family. The plan was simple. Weaken the royals and soften them to make the taking easier.” He traced Adelina’s bottom lip, focusing on her like she was a riddle he needed to answer. “You really are an unparalleled beauty.”
She jerked out of his grip and glared. It didn’t appear to bother him at all. Drozer shrugged and continued with his explanation.
“It was easy enough to poison King Orion with the hypomalarya though I didn’t expect him to live as long as he did or for the bastard Ian to find ways to prolong his strength.” Drozer looked annoyed, but it was with Alpha’s face. Adelina had to keep reminding herself this wasn’t her friend and companion. This was her enemy.
