Bachelor Beast

by Grace Goodwin

Was she calling me fat now? “What. Do. You. Want?”

  “The question, dear, is what do you want?”

  When I remained silent, she continued.

  “You see, this woman, Ruth Sanchez, is as much a problem for me and my plans as she is for you. I have asked James to make arrangements for her, so that she will no longer stand in my way. Or yours.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Yes, you do. Don’t play dumb with me. She ruined your chances with the alien you love. She ruined my plans for a very successful business alliance with a brand-new, world-famous, human bride on The Colony. Ruth will conveniently disappear, and our plans will resume. Yours and mine, my dear. You will have Wulf back, crawling on his knees, and I will have you exactly where I want you.”

  I had a horrible idea where this was going. “Where is that?”

  “The Colony, of course. With your children, living the life of your dreams. Win-win.”

  Jimmy sat next to me in silence, content to allow his mother to shine in her role as evil mastermind. “He doesn’t want me,” I insisted. “He is in love with Ruth.”

  “True. You will be his second choice, but does it really matter, if you get him in the end?”

  Yes, it mattered. “What good would I do you on The Colony? I don’t understand what you want from me.”

  “You will be a bride. Trusted. Adored. You will have access to everything. Weapons. Technology. Art. There is an art dealer on Viken, a human bride named Sophia Antonelli. She helped organize this event tonight, all the way from Viken. You will be able to contact her at your whim. I want it all, and you are going to get it for me. I will give you twenty percent of the take and my personal guarantee that no one you care about will meet with any unexpected accidents once you leave Earth behind.”

  Sure, I wanted Wulf, but he wanted Ruth, and I wanted him to be happy. He deserved to be happy. I wasn’t a murderer. No matter how much I envied Ruth Sanchez right now, I couldn’t agree to this. But what was I going to do? Jimmy had already threatened Lucy. My cousins? I didn’t spend time with them, but I didn’t want them killed either. My grandmother?

  There had to be a way out. Alaska, maybe? South America? Somewhere I could take Tanner and Emma and disappear, somewhere out of a freaking senator’s reach? Where, exactly, was that? Mars?

  There were rumors she was going to run for vice president in a few years. She was rich. Powerful. Connected. God help me, she probably had assassins on speed dial—on both sides of the law.

  “What if I don’t agree to this?” I asked.

  “Then you are the one who disappears.” Jimmy kissed my cheek after he whispered the words, his breath reeking of cigar smoke and gin.

  “Tanner and Emma?” I asked.

  She sipped her wine and waved the waiter back over. “I’m sure I know a judge who can make sure they are placed with the right foster family once you are… not here to care for them.”

  Jimmy’s grin was lecherous, and I did not mistake her meaning. She’d make sure they ended up somewhere terrible. Truly terrible with no one to protect them.

  I was going to throw up. Right now. All over this beautiful gown in front of all these people. This was not dropping off drugs at some seedy bar. This was worse. So much worse. But I needed Wulf to be happy. He had to be. I couldn’t sacrifice Ruth’s life and Wulf’s happiness because my brother had been an asshole. This was my problem. I would deal with it alone. Like I did everything else in my life.

  “I’ll volunteer, okay? I will go to the Interstellar Brides Processing Center and I’ll volunteer. I’ll request The Colony. Just don’t do anything to Ruth. Or to me.” I held the older woman’s gaze and made sure the hatred I felt shined through free and clear. “Do not touch my children. Do you understand me?”

  “Of course. I’m not a monster.” She sounded so… rational.

  Jimmy leaned back in his chair and finished off the last finger of gin. “See, Mother? I told you she’d be reasonable.”

  “Yes, ma’am. What can I get you?” the waiter asked a smiling Agnes Jenaway.

  “Pour Olivia a drink, would you? She needs it.”

  The waiter came around the table and filled my crystal goblet. With a shaky hand I sipped the wine as my mind whirled. I had bought some time but not much. If they did any research at all, they would realize I could not volunteer and take two small children with me. I’d already tried that. The only reason I would have been able to go with Wulf, bringing Tanner and Emma, was because I would have already been his mate. I had to get out of New York and disappear. Like, really disappear. New name. New place. New everything.

  Harold, Marcia and Walter returned to the table as the waiter placed an appetizer plate in front of me. Without missing a beat, Agnes turned to her husband and raised her cheek for a kiss—as if she hadn’t threatened to kill me and torture my children. “Well? How do the bids look for the piece from Prillon Prime?”

  Harold grinned. “No one has outbid you yet.”

  She lifted her glass to her lips and sipped, watching me over the rim. “They won’t.”

  Walter held out his chair for his wife, then sat, rubbing his hands together. “Time to eat! Dinner should be excellent. I heard they flew in a chef from Italy.”

  “Everyone has a price.” Harold placed his napkin on his lap as the waiter set his appetizer plate in front of him. He glanced up with a smile for me. “Hungry, Olivia?”

  Agnes lifted her brows and waited for my answer. Obediently I lifted my fork. “Of course.”

  She smiled, and I lifted the fork to my lips, tasted ashes in my mouth. I was sipping more wine, washing down my third bite, when all hell broke loose.

  15

  Olivia

  * * *

  “Olivia!” There was no mistaking that deep voice, that roar.

  Wulf.

  A heavy pounding sounded from the entrance, and I realized, as what looked like an entire battalion of Atlan warlords stomped into the room wearing space armor and really big space guns on their thighs, that Wulf was here. He was really here, and he wasn’t alone.

  As if he could scent me—which I knew he could—he beelined straight for our table and loomed over us like the giant he was.

  “Jimmy Steel, I am here to claim the rights of a mate. I have come to kill you.”

  Men and women either scrambled to get out of the way or sat, paralyzed in their chairs, as a dozen fully armed aliens fanned out inside the ballroom. I stood, but that fast Jimmy’s arm snaked around my waist and yanked me to my feet. I felt the cold press of a pistol at my temple. “One more step, Wulf, and I blow her head off.”

  “Injure her, and I will make you beg for death before I kill you,” Wulf snarled.

  Jimmy was the one shaking now, the cold steel bouncing against my cheekbone as he fought for control. I looked at Wulf, shocked that he’d come, grateful that he had.

  “The children!” I shouted and pointed to the room behind glass. Two of Wulf’s giant companions moved quickly, entering the other room as the adults watched, transfixed. I tried to twist in Jimmy’s hold so I could reassure Tanner and Emma, tell them to go with the unknown Atlan warlords looking for them, but I heard a sweet voice and sagged in relief.

  “Woof! You’re here!” Tanner’s singsong voice sounded pleased, but Wulf didn’t take his eyes off me.

  “Go with my friends, Tanner. Take your sister.” Wulf’s no-nonsense order must have sunk in because Tanner didn’t even try to argue.

  “Okay. Come on, Emma,” Tanner said as if he were one of the full-grown Atlans and not four years old.

  “Get my children out of here,” Wulf ordered.

  My children. He’d called them my children.

  The two Atlans said something to Tanner and Emma, something I didn’t hear, but the children didn’t make a sound as the warriors carried them out of sight, to safety. Two more Atlans entered the childcare room and directed the caregivers to take the children somewhere else. Somewhere safe.

&nb
sp; Somewhere they wouldn’t see what happened next.

  Jimmy wasn’t waiting for that. He was backing away from Wulf and the other Atlans, gun to my head, dragging me with him. “Stay back. I’m not bluffing. I will kill her.”

  Wulf held up his hands, dropped his weapon and motioned for the other Atlans to step back. “Protect the humans. I will deal with the threat to my mate.”

  “No, Wulf! Don’t,” I begged.

  What the hell was he doing? He was unarmed! Walking toward a madman with a gun.

  “Be still, Olivia.” Wulf took a step forward, hands up in front of him as if surrendering. “Release my mate and I will allow the human authorities to deal with you.”

  “If I don’t?” Jimmy asked. “If I blow her fucking head off?”

  “If you harm her, I will pull your head from your spine and watch your blood soak the ground.” Wulf’s voice was deep, feral. I had never heard that tone before. He meant every word. But he was still… Wulf. His beast was there beneath the surface. I could see the struggle in Wulf’s eyes, but he was holding on. For me.

  “Just let me go, Jimmy,” I told him. “It’s not worth it.”

  “Why do you have a gun? Do what he says, James.” Jimmy’s father’s voice was stern, but he sounded confused. Could the old man really be that ignorant of what his wife and son were doing in the world?

  Jimmy stepped back. I stumbled against him, and he yanked me. Hard. The gun dug into my temple, and tears filled my eyes. I was trying not to panic, but seeing Wulf take another step, hands still in the air, made me want to scream.

  “You really are a stupid animal, aren’t you?” Jimmy moved the gun from my temple to point at Wulf… and fired.

  “No!” I screamed, struggling in his hold until I glanced at my hand and realized I still held the crystal goblet. With every ounce of strength I possessed, I flung my arm back and smashed the crystal on top of Jimmy’s head just as the gun went off again.

  “You bitch.” Jimmy cursed but his hold broke and I pulled away, stumbling as far from him as I could get.

  Wulf moved so fast I registered his roar before I figured out he already had Jimmy in his hands. My tormentor stared at me with round eyes, his gaze full of pain and horror as Wulf placed one hand on his shoulder, one under his jaw and…pulled.

  Agnes screamed. Harold shouted. The Atlans in the room watched stoically, making no sound, as Wulf ripped Jimmy’s head back and up. The sound of tearing flesh made me gag, and I looked away when the crackling of Jimmy’s spine breaking and popping free filled the room.

  Everyone in the room screamed and gasped in horror.

  I didn’t need to see the headless corpse to believe Jimmy was dead. I didn’t want to see it.

  “You bastard! I’ll have your head for this!” Senator Jenaway raged, her voice a high-pitched wail. The sound made my spine stiffen, and I turned to face her.

  “No, Agnes, I will have your head,” I said to the woman, suddenly calm. “I know every drug dealer Jimmy uses. Every drop. I know you were behind everything. I’m sure the police will be very interested in what I have to say. You are finished.”

  Harold paled, leading his wife away, as if fleeing now would wash away what she’d done. Both of them looked older and much more fragile than they had mere moments ago. Seeing your son’s head ripped off might do that.

  Walter and Marcia were nowhere to be seen, and I didn’t much care what happened to them.

  Wulf, my Wulf, stood before me, bleeding. I blinked, remembered Jimmy had shot him. Twice.

  I ran to him and wanted to jump into his arms but stopped directly before him. “Oh my God, Wulf. You’re hurt.”

  He shook his head. “No. I am not human or Atlan, mate. Not anymore.” He gently cupped my face, and I stared up at him, at the side of his face that had been scored by Jimmy’s first shot.

  “He shot you. In the face.”

  “Watch.” Wulf stood silently, and I did as he asked. I stared as his skin knit itself back together, as the bullet wound in his shoulder stopped bleeding, then ejected the bullet. Within moments he looked uninjured. Healed. I took a clean napkin from the table, dabbed it in water and wiped the blood from his cheek. Nothing. There was no sign of any kind of wound. His skin was perfect.

  “I… I don’t understand.”

  “The integrations, mate. I am not what I once was.” He leaned down and rested his forehead on mine. “Why did you leave?”

  I knew he spoke of the program. “I thought you wanted her.”

  He shook his head. “Never. I am yours, Olivia.”

  “What about Ruth… and the cuffs?”

  “The show was holding my cuffs hostage. I wanted to fling Ruth off my lap, and I did, but I wanted the cuffs in my hands first. I was done with their antics. It was clear the producer had planned it all to pull out my beast. For the… ratings.”

  I nodded, understanding.

  “As soon as Chet gave me the cuffs, I stood, untangled myself from Ruth Sanchez and went after you.”

  He patted his side, and I looked down, saw that his cuffs were there, clipped to his waist.

  For the first time I really, truly believed him. “Okay.” Dead body on the floor, blood on my hand, blood on Wulf’s clothing. I didn’t care. He was mine, and I was going to keep him. “I’ll take the mating cuffs now.”

  He led me a short distance away—ignoring the chaos of the room around us—and knelt, held out the cuffs and his wrists. Head bent, he waited.

  One of the nearest Atlans cleared his throat. “If you deem him worthy, you must claim him by placing the mating cuffs on his wrists.”

  I shook with nerves, maybe crazy adrenaline, but I managed to reach for the large cuffs and wrap first one, then the second around his wrists. When he looked up at me with pure lust, adoration, devotion—he hid nothing from me—I nearly lost it. “I think I love you, Wulf,” I admitted. Finally.

  “I love you, Olivia Mercier,” he replied, his voice a deep, beasty growl. “I choose you. My beast chooses you.” He took the smaller cuffs and demanded I hold out my wrists. “You are mine now and forever.”

  “Okay.” I was well past arguing against something I wanted so desperately. Happiness I’d never imagined coursed through me.

  “Let’s go home.” He stood, kissed me gently and placed a small round device on my gown.

  I looked down at it. Frowned. “What’s this?”

  “A transport beacon,” he replied. “This will enable us to transport directly to The Colony. It is how Warden Egara transported the Atlan guards from the processing center to me in such a short time. She sent ones for Tanner and Emma as well.”

  “What about Lucy?” I asked. “She can’t stay here. Not with Jimmy’s mom still on the loose.”

  He lifted his head and nodded to the nearest Atlan. “The female, Lucy Vandermark, is wounded and recovering at the hotel. Please make sure she is safely transported to The Colony and will arrive when we do.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “I am not a commander,” Wulf corrected. “Not anymore.”

  “Yes, Commander.” The younger Atlan grinned and took off before Wulf could correct him again.

  “So, Lucy can come too?” I asked, worried for my BFF. I couldn’t leave her here on Earth.

  He nodded solemnly. “Yes. She is part of your family and will be protected. You will all receive your NPUs when we arrive.”

  I sagged against him, wrapping my arms around his waist because I could. “Thank you.”

  He lifted me in his arms—which felt incredible—and carried me out of the building. People made a path for us; no one dared stop the warlord. “You never need thank me for taking care of what’s mine.”

  I nuzzled his neck and decided that sounded pretty damn good to me. He tapped something on his wrist, and a female voice filled the air.

  “How did it go, Wulf?”

  “Very well, Warden Egara,” Wulf said, not stopping until we stood in front of the two Atlans who held t
he children.

  The warlords’ usually severe expressions held wide smiles as Emma patted her warlord’s head.

  “I thank you for your assistance.”

  “Of course,” she replied. “Is your bride with you? And the children? Does she have the mating cuffs on? Are you all ready to go?”

  Wulf smiled down at me, then set me on my feet. He went to the Atlans, took Emma from one and handed her to me. I snuggled her close and kissed her sweet head. Then he took Tanner from the other and offered his thanks to the duo. “All your requirements have been met, Warden. We are ready to transport.”

  “Excellent. Olivia?”

  I raised my head in surprise at the voice coming from Wulf’s wrist called my name. “Yes?”

  “Your new life on The Colony will begin in 3…2…1…”

  I held on to my beast as everything went black.

  16

  Wulf

  * * *

  I blinked, then again. The familiar gray walls of the transport room on Base 3 surrounded us. The air felt different. Drier. Cooler. The scent was familiar. Fuck, I was back. Less than thirty days after I left, everything had changed. I was supposed to find a mate, but I’d found an entire family. The mating fever was still upon me, but it had driven me to get us here, away from the danger, the insanity, that had followed us on Earth.

  I looked down at Tanner, who was unconscious in my arms. It was to be expected with the distance from Earth being so great. I felt the pull of weariness, and I was probably six or seven times his weight. I was used to the sap of energy as I’d transported hundreds of times.

  My gaze flicked to Olivia beside me. She was looking at me, eyes wide, and reached out and set her free hand on my arm. I was surprised she was conscious as I’d heard many females from Earth arrived sprawled on the pad. As for Emma in her arms, unconscious as well.

  As I’d commanded, the Atlan had found Lucy and given her a transport beacon. Her arrival had been timed to coincide with ours, because she stood beside us.

  Lucy took a step, spun in a circle. “Wow.”