by Mel Teshco
The Tantonic was fast closing in behind her when Baron pushed into her mind. Run fast and don’t look back.
She put on a burst of speed that took even the Tantonic by surprise. Baron’s pulse galloped faster still, his heart in his throat and his dragon enraged and helpless.
Run faster.
She was never going to make it, but he needed her closer. She was fifteen yards away from him when the Tantonic was barely a nanosecond away from tackling her to the ground.
Fall to the ground. Roll away.
He exhaled a stream of flame that hit the Tantonic in the face and engulfed him in fire. Piper was already out of range and scrabbling further away from the heat and the Tantonic’s shrieks as it dropped to the ground in a steaming pile of melted flesh.
Baron turned to Piper even as she climbed to her feet. Her stare met his, and something inside him quivered and almost broke. He’d nearly lost her ... nearly lost his one true mate.
Piper took a step toward him as Rebecca emerged from the trees, a Tantonic holding her against its body.
“Wait!” Rebecca called out.
Piper stilled, and then slowly turned toward Rebecca.
The Tantonic’s arm tightened across Rebecca’s throat. It’s odd, garbling voice rang out. “Burn me, and your friend here is dead.”
Piper crossed her arms. “She’s no friend of ours.”
Rebecca cried out. “Piper, please! I know you hate me for what I’ve done, but I really do think of you as my friend. Don’t let it hurt me.”
The Tantonic moved close and grinned, its mouth dripping with blood and drool as it faced Piper. “She is free to go if you come with me instead.”
“That’s my incentive?” Piper asked with a dry laugh. “I don’t think so.”
The Tantonic lifted a hooked claw and pierced Rebecca’s neck. Blood trickled free. “Then her death is on you.”
Piper stiffened. “No!”
Baron held back a roar, instead staring in horror as Piper fell for the alien’s blackmail. Baron couldn’t change his form now; it’d take less than the minute he’d need to shift for the Tantonic filth to take Piper away forever.
Instead Baron pushed hard into Rebecca’s mind. The blonde suddenly slumped and the Tantonic grunted, readjusting his grip. Rebecca instantly woke, using every ounce of her strength to elbow the creature in the throat. The glowing red amulet flew free and the alien staggered to his knees, grasping its windpipe.
Rebecca had the good sense to run even before Baron exhaled fire.
The Tantonic put its arms up and screeched hideously. This one hadn’t welcomed death like most others. It finally gargled, then fell to the ground in a hiss of blubbery steam.
Baron swung his head and faced Piper once more, ensuring she was okay. Come to me.
Only then did he start his shift back to human ... before anymore Tantonics arrived.
*
Baron pushed through layers of consciousness, fully aware Piper was beside him. Her absence would be akin to his body losing its soul.
His eyes flicked open in his human form to see Piper crouched beside him, her brow knitted with worry and her eyes bleak with fear.
“You’re all right,” she breathed.
He sat, ignoring a wave of dizziness to ask, “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m fine now you’re awake.” She shuddered. “Rebecca and I saw the Tantonics jumping from their aircraft and we bolted for the safety of the trees. But there were too many aliens to hide from.” She inhaled slowly. “I never wanted to lay eyes on a Tantonic again, instead one almost abducted me!”
“You’re safe now, that’s all that counts.”
She nodded, before holding up his uniform and thick boots. “I grabbed these for you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She bit into her lower lip. “I had to step around a lot of your blood to get your uniform.” Her face paled. “You lost so much blood I honestly didn’t think you were going to wake up.”
He drew on his uniform and boots, and grimaced as he viewed the evidence of blood loss with his own eyes. “My change back to human healed the wounds I acquired as a dragon. I’ll recover.” He turned to scan outside the doorway. “Rebecca has gone?”
Piper snorted. “She hasn’t changed as much as I imagined. She’s always looked out for herself, whether she’s a soldier or a sandwich maker.”
“Unlike you,” he murmured huskily. “I’m sorry I put your life in jeopardy.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“The flames I pushed through the skylight were meant to lead the Tantonics here. The aliens can track down my heat signature like a blip on a radar screen. What I didn’t expect was for them to arrive in their flyer and overpower every soldier here.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be sorry. You saved me from being delivered to a secret location I probably would never have escaped.” She pressed outspread hands to her stomach. “And if a baby really is growing inside me, I won’t let the PDA or any other organization take him—or her—away from us.”
He touched her outspread hands, his voice revealing just a little of the awe filling him up from the inside out. “I can hardly believe we’ll be parents.” His vision went red at the edges. “No one will ever touch you or our baby.”
Chapter Twelve
Piper smiled, not even trying to stop the tenderness flooding her heart. “I believe you.” Her teeth pressed into her lower lip as wonder surpassed all other emotion. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a mother. I mean, I was a virgin not so long ago and now I’m ... expecting.”
To a man she hardly knew.
“You’ll be a brilliant and loving mother.”
Her smile widened. “And you’ll be a loving and invincible father.”
“I intend proving that to you and my child for the rest of my days.” His mouth caught hers in a long, slow kiss before he murmured, “I apologize for my dragon breath.”
She pulled back. “Actually, I’m growing to love your sulfur and ash scent.”
His smile matched hers, but then he sighed and pulled away. “We probably shouldn’t linger here.”
She glanced outside. The growing gloom couldn’t hide all the dead bodies littering the ground. Her chest tightened. Baron was right; this should be the last place to exchange loving words. But she’d been so grateful to see him alive, nothing else had registered. Nothing else had mattered at all.
He pushed to his feet, staggered, and said, “We need to find someplace else for the night before more Tantonics arrive.”
She looked up at him towering above her. Would she ever get used to his imposing form? Probably not. She’d always pinch herself that a man like Baron not only wanted her, but would die for her. She refused to dwell on the fact that being his breeder was her one and only draw card.
She nodded, accepted his hand, before she was pulled effortlessly to her feet. Even with his blood loss his strength astounded her. She tilted back her head. “I’m guessing the PDA has also been alerted and sent someone here.”
“No doubt.” His face paled and he lurched one way before he steadied himself again.
She grabbed his arm. “Are you okay?”
His smile looked more like a grimace. “I’ll be fine.”
“You look anything but fine.”
“I’ve been through a lot worse and survived.”
Seeing him like this was bad enough. She hated to see anyone hurting, much less someone she deeply cared about. It was overwhelming to know he had such a powerful effect on her.
“Your blood loss has weakened you,” she said softly.
He nodded. “Along with shifting shape and planting suggestions.” He shrugged and grinned. “All worth it knowing you’re now safe.”
The growing warmth in her heart spread through her body. He really did affect her all too easily. “Then let’s find someplace to rest and get some calories into you.”
He nodded. “You took the
words right out of my mouth.”
She giggled at his Earth phrase, all too glad not to dwell on the negative. “You’re so human sometimes it’s not even funny.” She looked up as she held his arm and they exited the stone cottage. “Just how much television did you watch on your journey here?”
“Probably too much,” he conceded. “We had much to learn, and our screener was by far our best way to absorb things.”
A jeep abruptly rounded a corner and roared down the road toward them, its headlights almost blinding. Piper didn’t even try to escape, not when Baron was barely capable of walking. The vehicle slowed only enough to avoid the dead bodies before stopping in front of them in a cloud of dust. The general jumped from the passenger seat. “Are you two going somewhere?”
Piper vaguely heard Baron’s reply, but her attention had moved onto Misha, who’d climbed out of the driver’s seat. The woman’s stare moved slowly over each of the dead before she approached one of the soldiers who’d been hit by some kind of ice ray, his body already rigor mortis stiff.
Misha knelt and laid a hand on the man’s brow, closing her eyes before a soft glow formed under her palm. Within ten seconds the soldier moaned and opened his eyes, then sat, his eyes glassy and unfocused.
Misha pushed back to her feet, but her face had gone pale, her lips almost bloodless—similar to how Baron’s energy levels depleted after he’d shifted shape or planted a suggestion.
Piper gaped and turned slowly to Baron. “Did you see that?”
He nodded, his expression tight. “I did.”
The general chuckled. “Misha is quite the gem, is she not?”
Piper turned to him. “A werewolf doesn’t have those kinds of powers!”
Did they?
The general stroked his jaw. “Not normally, no. But mix them with other species and, well, sometimes we get lucky.”
Baron stiffened, but swayed as he gritted out. “What exactly is Misha?”
The general puffed his chest out, looking every bit the proud fatherly figure. “Misha’s mother was a breeder, just like your mate. Misha’s father was of course, a Riddich dragon.”
“Then how exactly did Misha become werewolf?” Baron asked.
“Misha’s mother, Amelia, was a breeder who’d been trained as a PDA operative. Her unique senses allowed her to track anything supernatural. Unfortunately, or fortunately as it turned out, she was in the first trimester of her pregnancy when she was bitten by one of our werewolves.”
Baron looked shell-shocked and Piper didn’t blame him. She kept her voice neutral when she asked the general, “So the PDA is experimenting on subjects to create the perfect weapon?”
“Not in Amelia’s case, no. The PDA did everything possible to ensure her gestation was a time of tranquility and calm. No one could have foreseen Amelia’s instinctive need to seek out otherworldly beings, instincts that were heightened in her pregnancy.”
Baron stepped forward, his jaw knotting. “If you and the PDA even think about allowing a werewolf to bite my mate, I will kill every last scientist and soldier—“
The general put his hands up. “Relax. We’ve no intention of putting your baby at risk.” He directed a smile at Misha. “Our little hybrid here is a one-off, I’m afraid. She survived what no other fetuses have.”
Piper felt sick to her stomach, her voice sounding raw when she asked, “So you’ve repeated what happened to Amelia with other pregnant women?”
The general shrugged. “Of course. It’s all for the greater good of humanity, surely you understand that?”
Piper glowered. “Actually, no. No I don’t.” she stalked forward. “Do you have children at home general?”
His face tightened. “My children are normal, and have nothing to do with what goes on at the facility.”
Was this facility the secret location Rebecca had planned to take her?
“If Misha was to bite and infect your children, wouldn’t that make them something ... more?”
The general’s eyes narrowed even as his jaw locked. “My children aren’t a science experiment, Piper.”
“So what is Misha? What is my unborn child?”
“They’re ... resources. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
Misha continued to check other soldiers and seemed to not hear the exchange, except for the fact her hands clenched and unclenched.
Baron’s face hardened like stone. “Piper will never be your resource, and nor will our child.” He turned to Piper. “We should leave.”
The general focused on Baron. “Do you really think you’ll be going anywhere in that condition?”
Baron’s lip curled. “If it means getting away from you and the PDA, I’ll sure as hell try.”
The general didn’t look one bit perturbed, and that worried Piper more than she liked. The older man glanced at the damaged cottage with admiring eyes. “You’ve used up all your strength and lost way too much blood. And did I mention there’s a full moon tomorrow night?”
Baron stiffened beside her and the general laughed.
“Yes, that’s right. What will happen to Piper while you’re in dragon form and weak as a kitten? Though I must say, your strength has been most impressive. That cottage was built to withstand incredible force, yet you managed to all but destroy it.”
Misha stepped carefully over the grisly leftovers of a Tantonic before she crouched and retrieved its amulet. She held it up to show the general and he smiled and said, “Good work. We might finally be able to communicate with our Tantonic prisoner.”
“You have a Tantonic?” Baron asked.
The general nodded. That’s right. One of your Riddich friends killed two Tantonics. The third one that he’d knifed in the neck was still clinging to life. We managed to keep the creature alive. But since all three of the amulets were broken in the scuffle, we’re not getting anything from the alien except hisses and grunts.”
Piper glared at the general, her specialized senses tingling with revulsion. The man must surely have sludge crawling through his veins because he didn’t show an ounce of compassion. “We won’t be going anywhere with you,” she gritted out. “I’d rather take my chances with Tantonics.”
The general barked out a dry laugh. “Do you have any idea what those creatures do for shits and giggles? And now that you’re pregnant to a dragon, I’m certain they’ll want you even more than your mate.”
Baron exhaled heavily. “For years there have been rumors of the Tantonics forcing captive Riddichians to breed with other compatible species, creating part-breed children.”
Piper’s heart sank. “Why?”
A bead of sweat appeared on Baron’s brow, reinforcing just how weak he’d become. “I don’t know how much truth is in the rumors, but any children born to a Riddich and breeder parent are said to wield more energy than a purebred dragon. Energy the Tantonics get to extract.”
“So they’re torturing children too,” Piper whispered, bile rising up her throat.
The general clucked his tongue. “Let’s not forget those Tantonics will track Baron down the moment the full moon forces him to shift into dragon. His heat signature will draw them in and they’ll find you too, Piper.”
Baron’s face tightened. “I can’t risk that.”
Piper didn’t even want to know how many Riddich people the general and the PDA had tortured to uncover so much information. Her belly was too busy pulling itself into a knot, her mind racing with different scenarios and ideas. She turned to the general. “Will you take us to the first town on your way back to this facility of yours?”
He shook his head, looking anything but regretful. “I’m afraid not. Your dragon friend here will attract Tantonics to him and put innocent civilians at risk. That’s not to mention the wildfire spread of panic that would erupt the moment a whole town became alien witnesses.”
Panic welled up from within when she said to Baron. “We can’t trust these people.”
He nodded. “I know we can’t. U
nfortunately we don’t have any choice but to do what they want.” He turned toward the general. “Do I at least have your word that Piper and I will stay together?”
The general nodded. “Of course.”
She pressed outspread hands over her belly and stared at Baron. “What about our baby?”
“It’s the baby that I’m protecting as much as I am you,” he said, voice cracking.
Her breath caught in her throat. Of course it was. She was a breeder, the sole purpose of Baron being with her. But even as another part of her told her not to be stupid, and that his feelings for her were powerful even before he’d discovered she was a breeder, she knew it’d been what she was that’d unwittingly attracted him from the start.
Of course a man wouldn’t look twice at her unless he was compelled by her breeding status. She’d been stupid, a fool, to have believed anything else was possible.
And now it was up to her to do what was best for her and her baby.
Chapter Thirteen
Baron glanced at Piper who sat in the back seat with him. Brilliant, if only Misha wasn’t between them. Not that it mattered. Piper might as well be a thousand solar systems away from him, such was the rift between them.
She’d stared blankly out the window into the darkness for the last three or four hours, deliberately distancing herself away from him and their present situation.
Damn it. Couldn’t she see he’d do whatever he needed to protect her?
He sighed and faced the front seat. The revived soldier drove, any lingering ill effects from the ice vaporizer seemingly long gone. The general sat in the front passenger seat, as smug and arrogant than ever.
But then the general had gotten exactly what he wanted. A breeder, an alien dragon shape shifter, and an amulet. A triple bonus. And one that Baron had no doubt the general would savor.
Baron leaned forward. “Where is this facility?”
The general looked back. “I can’t tell you that.” He nodded at Misha, who placed the amulet in her lap to retrieve black pieces of cloth from a backseat pocket. “In fact, being that the facility is in a top secret location, we have no choice now but to blindfold you both.”
