Treffon walked over to the bar and ordered a flagon of Keera.
As he took a long pull of the bitter brew, his chief guardian, Tristao, walked over to him along with his mate, Cora Lee, a human – or rather former human. When Cora Lee had become pregnant with Tristao’s cubs, several years ago, she had geno-morphed. She was now full Vulfan, pointy furred ears and all.
Voljaki was there too, standing across the room with his men. He and a squadron of his men had been assigned to work with the Thorolf guard as part of an exchange program, designed to encourage cooperation between the two packs. However, he and his men still did not mingle with the Thorolfs any more than necessary.
“Greetings, Reginar,” Tristao said with a look of surprise. “I am so pleased that you came here tonight! There are many attractive females here.” He glanced quickly at Cora Lee. “I mean, none as beautiful as my darling pair-bond, whose loveliness…ahhh…”
“Dims the sun? Puts the moons to shame?” Cora Lee’s eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Yes! Exactly!” Tristao said eagerly.
“Leave the poetry to me, sweetie. And don’t worry, you’re allowed to say that other females are attractive. I know you’d never stray.” She stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
Tristao responded with a kiss on the top of her head, but his gaze was constantly sweeping the room as he did it. That was why he’d risen to his position; he was able to balance duty and his personal life appropriately.
“I am pleased to see that you are ever vigilant,” Treffon said to Tristao. “Your cubs are all well?”
“Delightful as ever. They will be fierce warriors. My oldest chewed through a table leg this morning,” Tristao said with obvious pride.
Cora Lee rolled her eyes, but she looked amused. “Yes, he is his father’s cub, all right. Oh, and you certainly dressed up for the occasion,” she said to Treffon. “Is that Rarsachia I smell?” Rarsachia was a tree whose leaves were crushed to release a mild aphrodisiac scent.
Treffon was temporarily taken aback. He had not put any special effort into getting ready tonight. If he’d bathed a little longer than usual, taken a little more time choosing a crisp new tunic, and trimmed his hair with special care, it had certainly had nothing to do with the human female.
No, he’d only paid extra attention to his appearance tonight because, after all, he’d known the Wor-Lans would be there as well, and he would never allow them to see the leader of the Thorolfs looking anything less than his best.
“Enjoy your evening,” he said to them without answering Cora Lee’s question. He began circulating through the crowd.
Zura, who was off-duty and wearing a flowing white tunic-dress , waved at him, and he made his way through the crowd towards her. There circles under her eyes, and her smile appeared forced. She took a drink from her ever-present flask as he walked up to her.
There was a whiff of something oddly familiar wafting from the flask.
“What is in that concoction?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “I make it myself. It gives me energy.”
He looked at her skeptically. She seemed to be avoiding his question, which was unlike her. “Are you ill? Is all well with you? Are you…” His voice trailed off as he spotted the earth female.
Zura followed his gaze. The female was wearing a silky red gown that clung to her every curve and snatched his breath away. She was talking to Allison and Kroi, who had their arms around each other’s waists.
“I knew it,” Zura said quickly. “You like Violet? I sensed something about her.”
Treffon scoffed. “Then you are wrong. She is not my true mate.”
“But there is something about her that I like a great deal, and I see that you do too.” Zura’s tone was hopeful. “She could be an acceptable match for you.”
Treffon sighed. He had thought about this a little bit since he’d met the Earth woman the night before. Or perhaps a lot. Or perhaps every waking moment. And he might have dreamed of her too.
She had spoken of holding out for “the one”. But she had also admitted that she found Treffon very attractive and enjoyed his company. And he certainly enjoyed being near her, and his body definitely responded to her.
Would she perhaps be interested in some kind of alternative arrangement with him? Would she accept a pair-bonding even if she was not his true mate?
At the very least, he would enjoy speaking to her. Odds were that the darkness would claim him sooner rather than later, and he might as well enjoy life’s pleasures while he still could. And being with this Violet was certainly one of life’s pleasures
Violet spotted him, and her face lit up in a smile. She waved him over.
He hurried across the room towards her. He saw a Vulfan about to speak to her, and scared him off with a ferocious growl and a wave of prickly rage that stabbed at the man like a cloud of needles. The man hung his head and scampered off with a whimper.
Allison and Kroi had walked a few feet away and were passionately embracing, their hands roving over each other’s bodies. Nobody paid them any attention; it was common behavior for new couples.
“Hello,” Treffon said to Violet. “What a surprise to see you here. You are most attractive tonight. In fact, your loveliness dims the two moons.” Yes, he’d stolen that shamelessly from Cora Lee. But he wanted to say something that would make her happy, and he was not good at flattering women; he’d had no practice at it. And it was worth it to see a smile light up her face.
“It’s you again! I’m so glad you’re here,” she said happily. “I was about to go home.” “By the way, I swear I’m not drunk at all tonight, and I’m almost positive I’m not going to spill anything on you. Look, I’m not holding a drink right now, so you’re safe. Don’t go anywhere!”
A battle cruiser couldn’t have dragged him from the spot.
“I am at your service,” he said, smiling down at her. Human females were such small creatures. He’d have to be very careful when he… No. He couldn’t let himself hope to be with her. He would just enjoy talking to her, and then return to his room and have a long, unsatisfying session with his right hand while he pictured her face and the sweetness of her full breasts and soft thighs and...
“So you’ll never believe what I found out!” she said. “When I went to Starcrossed last week? It was actually the second time I’d been there. Those memory machines you have are amazing. And very creepy.”
“I don’t understand,” he said. “You went to Starcrossed once before, but decided not to sign up for the dating service?” If she’d done that, they would have wiped the interview from her memory.
“Yes, I went with my friend Allison.” She pointed at Allison, then gasped at what Allison was doing to Kroi. “Jeez, woman, get a room!” she called out to her friend.
Shaking her head in amusement, she returned her attention to Treffon. “Allison decided to sign up for the service, but at the time, I decided not to. I was a month away from finishing up my master’s degree in marketing, and also I was living with my great-aunt Dorcas and I didn’t want to leave her behind. She actually came with me this time.”
“What changed your mind?” he asked.
A shadow crossed her face. “Well…in all honesty, aside from the fact that I have my degree now, someone on Earth seemed to be stalking me. I don’t know who. And then I got this invitation from Starcrossed, and I thought it would be a good way to get myself and my great-aunt far, far away from New York.”
His heart gave a sad little lurch. “So you did not really come here hoping to make a match?” For some reason, he found that terribly disappointing.
“Oh, if I met the love of my life, I’d be delighted. I’m certainly open to the idea.” She looked up at him. “What about you? Did you come here to,” she gestured at the women, “meet someone?” She winced a little as she said it. Did she dislike the idea of him speaking with other women? And why did the idea of her jealousy warm him just a little inside with a soft, contented glow?<
br />
Before he could answer, Allison peeled herself away from Kroi and walked over to them.
“Allison!” Violet said cheerfully. “I’m not going home early after all. Meet my new friend! Oh my goodness, I still don’t know your name,” she said to Treffon. “That’s so funny, I feel as if I know you already. I mean, here I am spilling my whole life story to you. I’m so sorry. What’s your name?”
Allison gave Violet an odd look. “Good lord, Violet, this is Treffon. He’s the Reginar of the pack.”
Kroi, who had followed Allison over, inclined his head in respect. “Reginar,” he said. Kroi was now wearing the level one trainees’ uniform as part of his punishment for neglecting his duties.
Suddenly Treffon remembered what Violet had said about him the night before – when she hadn’t known who he was.
And it was clear that Violet remembered it too. Her face went pale and she looked up at him in dismay.
“Treffon,” she said. “You’re Treffon. The Reginar.”
“Yes. And I understand that your name is Violet.”
He held out his hand to shake hers, human style, but she took a step back.
“You…you just let me…you let me make a total fool of myself last night,” she said in dismay. She looked really, really hurt. Tears glittered in her eyes, the sight twisting in his gut like a knife. “You could have stopped me at any time, but you didn’t. I actually really liked you,” she said. “I mean, I know you didn’t like me back in the same way – obviously you don’t think I’m your true mate – but still…I thought maybe we could be friends, and…”
Her cheeks turned bright red and she turned and plunged into the crowd.
He tried to push after her, but a crowd of women suddenly surrounded him, chattering eagerly.
“Ooh, are you the Reginar? Do you have a castle?” a tall brunette asked, stroking his arm and leaning forward to shove her breasts against his chest. “I bet you’re really rich. I just got new boobies. Do you like my boobies?”
He did not like her boobies. Nor did he like the rest of her. He liked Violet.
He jerked away, but the women kept following. He snarled and growled at the women, sending waves of fury radiating outwards. They fell back with little shrieks.
But by the time he’d managed to extricate himself and made it to the door, she was gone. Again.
Chapter Five
Nighttime in downtown Donnelle was an otherworldly wonder. The streets, as usual, were packed with crowds of native Ilyrians and aliens from dozens of other worlds.
Street vendors called out in scores of different alien languages, tempting passersby to taste their wares, or try their hand (or tentacle or paw) at a game of chance. New, strange scents mingled in the air, some delicious and some downright weird. A pair of tall aliens that looked like duck-billed dinosaurs gangled past, making honking noises through the crests on their heads. They were either drunk, or came from a planet that had very different gravity. A trail of large pinkish-gray slugs meandered across the square at a glacial pace, glowing softly. Hovercabs zipped overhead, gaining altitude after picking up their fares, their sleek shadows passing across the faces of the twin moons.
Unfortunately, Violet wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it.
She’d hurried back to her living quarters after storming out of the meet-and-greet, and Dorcas had offered to go out to dinner with her, to take her mind off things.
“Which one of those giant hairballs upset you? Because I’m going to tan his furry behind.” Dorcas scowled, waving her cane menacingly. Since she’d arrived on Ilyria a week ago, a walk-in clinic had cured her arthritis and given her perfectly functioning new knees and hips, but she still liked to carry the cane and play the part of “helpless old lady”.
“Nobody. He’s not worth it.” Violet sniffled. She hated that she’d been thinking about the huge, handsome Vulfan for the last twenty-four hours straight. She hated that he hadn’t thought she was his “true mate”, when she’d felt so overwhelmingly attracted the moment she’d laid eyes on him. And she hated how stupid he’d made her feel.
“If he made you cry, he’s getting the cane,” Dorcas insisted. “The pin-headed gollywampus.”
“Good heavens, Dorcas, watch the language,” Violet said, stifling a smile.
“I hate to set a bad example for you, but that giant hairball has me all het up.” Dorcas scowled ferociously as they headed down the sidewalk.
“Violet! Wait!”
Was that Treffon calling her? She scowled. She was in no mood.
“If he’s here, I don’t want to go out to eat. Let’s just go back to the Starcrossed tower,” she said, and they wedged their way through the crowd towards the hovercab stand.
It was a surreal scene. It was like being in New York, except the cabs were silvery, and flew, and the people who were crowded in line waiting for them were aliens with pointy ears or antenna or skin that was every color of the rainbow.
Violet frowned impatiently at the crowd. “Damn it, he’ll get here before we can get a cab. I’m not in the mood to talk to him.” Indeed, Treffon was barreling his way down the sidewalk to get to her, shoving his way through the thickly packed crowds.
Suddenly a hovercab glided towards them and the door slid open. The pilot-bot inside waved its metallic arm at them. Dorcas and Violet hurried towards vehicle.
Before they could get in, a tall, insectoid alien with antennae ran over and leaped in. It had three long, skinny fingers on each hand – and it extended its hand and flipped them off with its middle finger as the door slid shut.
“Huh,” Violet mused. “Apparently that gesture is literally universal. Also, what a dick! Or a bitch – I couldn’t really tell.”
Dorcas scowled at her. “Remind me to wash your mouth out with soap later, young lady.” Then she waved her cane angrily at the departing cab and its rude passenger. “I’ll squash you like a bug!” she shrieked. She paused and frowned. “Wait, was that speciesist?”
Before Violet could answer, the cab, now a block away, exploded in a shower of metal shards and sparks. People screamed and ran as hot metal rained down on them.
A jolt of fear shot through Violet.
“Oh my God. That hovercab was meant for us. Someone sent the cab for us and tried to lure us in. Whoever is trying to kill me…they’ve followed me here.”
Dorcas’ eyes widened in alarm. “We’ve got to get you out of here! Make way, make way!” She began slashing viciously with her cane, dragging Violet down the sidewalk, away from the explosion.
They ran around the corner. A hoverbus was parked in front of a hotel, and the door was open. Several people were climbing in. Violet and Dorcas quickly crowded onto the bus with them and plopped into empty seats behind the driver, who appeared to be Vulfan. Webbing shot out and wrapped around their waists, securing them.
The bus rose into the sky. Below them, they could see red and yellow flames, sparks, and a black cloud of smoke rising from the hovercab’s wreckage. Saucer-shaped emergency vehicles with green flashing lights were gliding towards the site of the explosion.
What to do, what to do?
Could Violet be sure the attack had been meant for her? It really had seemed as if the cab had specifically singled her out. Then again, maybe the attack had been meant for the green insectoid – he or she had been such a jerk, it was entirely possible that the creature had made enemies. And Donnelle was a trading port for numerous planets, which meant that all kinds of intrigue and shady business dealings took place.
She should report what little she knew about the attack, though – although she wasn’t sure who to report it to. She could start by telling someone at Starcrossed, she decided. Probably Zura. Zura was the captain of a security squad – she’d know what to do.
“Um, we’d like to stop off at the Starcrossed tower,” Violet called out to the driver.
“The Starcrossed tower? You got on the wrong bus, lady,” the driver yelled back. “This is a bus for volunt
eers heading to the resettlement center.”
“But… Oh, fine.” Violet settled back in her seat. “When we get there, we’ll call Starcrossed and ask them to pick us up,” she said to Dorcas, tapping her comm bracelet. It was sort of like a super-advanced smartphone. She could tap it and tell it to call Zura, or Starcrossed headquarters, or Dorcas, who also wore a comm bracelet.
She had an odd, completely irrational urge to call Treffon. Being near him made her feel perfectly safe and somehow…at ease. But that was just her nerves working on her, she knew; he had already made it clear that she didn’t mean anything to him. Not only that, if he was at the Starcrossed party, he was probably just on the prowl for some nookie. She knew that some Vulfans did that, either because they despaired of meeting their true mates, or they were passing the time until the right woman came along.
The hoverbus sliced through the dark night, soaring over the moonlit landscape. The city of Donnelle faded into the distance as they flew over forests of strange, spiral-shaped trees.
“I’m going to give them a piece of my mind, that’s for sure,” Dorcas muttered indignantly. “Lousy service, exploding taxis... I’m going to give them a zero-stars review, that’s what I’ll do. That’ll show them. What’s the Ilyrian version of Twelp?”
Violet gave her aunt a sidelong look. “Do you mean Yelp, or do you mean Twitter?”
“Whatever. I’m complaining to both of them. I’ll Twit them like they’ve never been Twitted before. Then I’ll Yelp so loud their ears will bleed.”
“I’m sure you will,” Violet said, rolling her eyes. She didn’t bother to ask who, specifically, Dorcas was going to complain about, because that would just subject her to another barrage of technologically illiterate griping.
Dorcas kept mumbling rebelliously for the entire half-hour trip, while Violet leaned back in her seat and tried to enjoy the view. It was hard to do when she was alternating between worrying about her stalker and burning with mortification at how Treffon had humiliated her.
The Vulfan's Dark Desires (Starcrossed Dating Agency Book 3) Page 4
