Grace Goodwin's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-colony"

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Two honorable warriors with nothing left to lose...until they find her.

Prillon warrior Thomar Arcas is the royal heir to his ancestor’s legacy of dishonor, betrayal and death. When he was captured by the Hive, some on his home world cheered. Some sighed with relief. None shed a tear.

Thomar and his second, Varin, break free and destroy an enemy base, barely escaping with their lives. They transport to The Colony, the last refuge for contaminated males. Upon arrival they suffer in agony, their cyborg implants fighting for control of the powerful warriors.

Defeat is not in their blood. Not in their history. Not in their souls. Unable to sever their ties to the Hive integrations, they suffer relentless pain. Unwilling to force others to suffer, Thomar has chosen an honorable death over further disgrace; until they are matched to a human female from Earth who will do anything, and sacrifice anyone, to save them.

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"Styx Legion, Enforcer, Hyperion/Hunter/Prillon hybrid... One of the Legion's top 5 people. He’s as bad as they come." - GG

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Abigail “Abby” Gregg, Interstellar Brides Processing Center, Miami, Florida

The slow, heavy movement of a large—make that huge—cock pumping in and out of my body made me gasp and reach for my mate.
I groaned with pleasure as the male fucking me took my hands and shoved them over my head, his heat enveloping me as he fucked me harder. Deeper. Faster.
“Bite me,” I begged. The voice was desperate, female, but definitely not mine. My
body was too big, too tall, my legs too long. I’d had sex against the wall before, and I
knew my legs were not long enough to wrap around a man whose hips were this big. He
was big all over. Massive chest lined with sculpted muscle. Thighs as thick as a football
player’s. Even his hands were bigger than anything I’d ever seen before, easily trapping
my wrists between his fingers as he held me in place for his attention.
He thrust deeper, my—her—pussy stretching as our lover tilted his hips, lifting her—me—higher off the ground.
“Patience, mate.” His voice was a deep rumble, one this body recognized. Every
cell in this body reacted to the sound with anticipation. Heat. My—her—pussy tight. So
fucking tight. Ready to explode.
“Now. Please, do it now.” The words seemed to drive the male a bit mad as his cock
actually swelled inside me, getting bigger. Harder.
Hands over my head, my back was pressed to a hard surface as he shifted his hips, moving in a circular motion until the body I was inhabiting moaned in surrender. I was right there, on the edge with her. I wanted to come. Needed to come. We were soooo close, but I—she—knew we were missing something. Something fucking spectacular.
And she wanted it. Badly.
Now.
“Please.”

With a grunt, the male before me smiled. I couldn’t quite make out his face, his
features a bit of a blur. Dark hair? Thick lips? Maybe. What I could see were fangs.
Long. Sharp. Dripping with some kind of…venom?
In a panic, I tried to pull back, but the body I was in did the opposite, dropping
her—our—head to one side to give this freak better access.
He was going to bite me! And this body wanted him to. Holy shit. What the actual hell was happening right now? I tried to shout out in protest as the male lowered his head toward my—her—neck.
He scraped the sharp points over her sensitive skin, the slight sting making
my—her—pussy clench in anticipation. The first shocking stirring of an orgasm rocketed
through me in a single spasm. Stopped.
Her moan of protest matched what I was feeling. The orgasm rode me, teased me,
wouldn’t quite come for a visit. Damn it.
“I want them deep. Fuck me. Bite me. I need you.” The female voice sobbed with
need. She was desperate. Shameless. I would never beg like that.
Never.
The male fucking me shuddered at her words, his fangs returning to press along the
curve of her neck. “You are mine. My mate. I will kill anyone who touches you.”
“Yes,” she begged, his words, his threat of violence, making her body spin out of
control. She was dizzy. Which meant I was dizzy. I felt like I was falling. Spinning. Lost.
“Mine.”
Fangs sank deep, the shock wave of heat, the momentary flash of pain followed by
intense bliss as hot liquid—the best fucking drug I had ever even dreamed
existed—flooded my body. My mind. Love exploded inside my—her—body as her mate
claimed her, filled her with his essence.
I had no idea how I knew what was happening, but she knew. He was giving her everything. His body. His life. His loyalty. His soul was in that bite. And she took it like the greedy bitch she was—took it all. Leaving nothing for me.
Her body exploded, the orgasm making her wail in a long, drawn-out scream of
pleasure that I felt with every cell in my body.

Fuck. Me. My body rocked up off the table as the strange sound of my own voice filled my ears and the male, his bite, the complete and utter bliss I’d been feeling, faded away like a dream.
“No!” I tried to get him back. I wasn’t finished. She wasn’t finished. We wanted more. I knew she was going to get more. A lot more.
“Miss Gregg? Can you hear me?”
“No.”
A soft huff of laughter answered my denial. “Glad you are back in the land of the
living. Your testing is complete.”
“Send me back.” I rolled my head from side to side, testing the hardness of the
strange indentation my skull rested between. And then I remembered all of it. The
Interstellar Brides testing center. The chair that looked like my worst nightmare from too
many visits to the dentist’s office—I had a rather terrible sweet tooth when I was young
and too many cavities to count. I remembered, too, that my two best friends in the world
were gone, really gone. No longer on Earth, gone. Which was just one more layer to the
reasoning behind my decision to volunteer as a bride.
That, and I wanted an Atlan warlord like Tane for my very own. Or Bahre. Hell, I
wasn’t picky. Any warlord would do as long as he looked at me the way Tane looked at
my friend Elena. Lucky, lucky Elena. But…Atlans didn’t bite. Did they?
I opened my eyes to see a kind but not smiling Warden Egara looking at me with
her lips tight and her head tilted at an angle as she studied me. “Are you all right?”
Was I? Well, my body was still pulsing with the aftershocks from an orgasm that
hadn’t really been mine. I’d been bitten by some kind of freak alien with fangs and loved
it. Wanted more. My wrists were in restraints so I wouldn’t fall off the chair as I writhed
and begged some unknown alien to pump his cock into me, bite me, and make me
scream. And I had no idea what the hell I’d just seen. I’d signed up to get matched to an
Atlan. Not…that. Whatever that alien creature had been.
“I don’t like vampires. You know that, right?” The thought of sucking blood had
always made me nauseous. Gross. Just gross.
Warden Egara raised her perfectly arched brow. “There are no vampires in the
Coalition Fleet.”

“Then what’s with the fangs?”
She glanced down at the tablet screen she held in her hands. “You have been
matched to the moon base Rogue 5. The people there are hybrid descendants of a
native race of fanged creatures who lived on the planet Hyperion.”
“All of them? They all have fangs?”
“Yes.” She studied me for long, silent seconds. “Did you find the bite
uncomfortable?”
I couldn’t lie. I wanted to, but I couldn’t make myself do it. “No.”
“Excellent.” She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she ran through a series of
rapid-fire questions. Was I married? Did I have children? Was I legally responsible for
any children here on Earth? I would have thirty days to reject the match. Blah. Blah.
Blah. I’d already read everything, checked every box, and answered all these questions
more than once. I barely listened. I couldn’t stop thinking about those fangs. That
orgasm. That feeling of being blissed out.
That kind of pleasure would be addictive. I’d be eager. Desperate. Needy. I hated
that. What if he said no? What if he got her—me—all hot and bothered and needy and
then refused to bite me? I would not be like that woman in my dream. I would not beg.
Would. Not.
“Why do they bite? What’s in that venom?”
“It’s not venom, my dear. It’s a special enzyme complex that promotes healing and
helps the males bond with their mates. It also encourages the female body to prepare
for pregnancy.” She grinned at me. “To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how it works. I
haven’t studied it in detail as you are the first bride I am sending to them.”
“What?”
“Well, technically, they are not part of the Coalition Fleet. However, some members
of their legions have helped us, so those males qualify for a bride on a case-by-case
basis. And this is a very good match. Very good.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ninety-eight percent compatible. Nearly perfect.”

Perfect? Except I did not like vampires. I’d watched a Dracula movie when I was
seven and never moved past it. Even the sparkling vampires that were so popular for a
while couldn’t erase that dark terror from my memories. “Helped how?”
She shrugged. “Spying, probably. Smuggling. The legions are, technically, criminal
organizations. They are run somewhat like our motorcycle gangs, or maybe like the
Mafia here on Earth. I’m not exactly sure. But whatever they do for us, I know the I.C.
doesn’t want their activities in the official records.”
“The I.C.?”
“The Intelligence Core. Kind of like the CIA.”
God. What had I gotten myself into? “And you’re telling me I’m matched to one of
these smuggler spy criminals?” Instead of an Atlan? I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t quite
get over the bliss of that bite. I was losing my mind and all good sense. Officially. Gone.
“Yes. You will be sent to Transport Station Zenith, where your mate will meet you
and create a cover story for you.”
“Cover story?”
“Outsiders are not allowed on Rogue 5. But don’t worry. There are at least two other
human women mated to members of the legions.”
“But not brides.”
“Correct. One met her mate at a bar, of all places.” Warden Egara laughed. “A
space bar called a canteen. She was a medical officer in the Fleet, and from what I
hear, they didn’t even make it to their room.”
Sex in a bar? In space? God. “And the other woman?”
“Oh, she was a fighter. She left the Coalition and infiltrated the legion to avenge her
ReCon unit. Her friends were all killed by an overdose of a drug one of the legions sold
to her friends.”
What? “Did she get them?”
“Her new mate did. Or rather, his legion. I’m not sure exactly what happened. I only
get bits and pieces sometimes. Earth is so very far away, after all.”
“Gossip will always find a way.” I knew that to be one hundred percent fact. Truth or
lies, nothing traveled faster than a juicy bit of gossip. What would my social media
followers think—all five million of them—if they knew I was going off to be married to a

space criminal? What did I think? This mate of mine didn’t sound like a big teddy bear
Atlan. Or even one of the uptight, rule-following Prillon guards I’d met at the Bachelor
Ball or at Chet’s house after. I was matched to a criminal? A bad guy?
No. A spy. Maybe like a double agent? Was he a good guy?
Had to be, right? On a case-by-case basis? He’d helped, earned a bride, so he had
to be good.
Shit. What if he wasn’t? Would I care? That bite had made me lose my mind. Would
I care what he did when he wasn’t making me sob with out-of-control orgasms?
Damn. Yes. The answer was yes. I would care. “What happens if I don’t like him?”
“You have thirty days to decide. If you find Cormac does not make you happy…”
Cormac. His name was Cormac.
“…report to Styx, the leader of his legion. He knows how to contact someone who
can get you out of there.”
“Okay.” At least I had an out. That made me feel better.
“Oh, one more thing. This is a special case. Normally, your mate would be waiting
for you with bells on, so to speak. If you were going anywhere else, I wouldn’t have
been able to tell you his name. In this case, the Styx legion’s involvement with the
Coalition Fleet is top secret. Revealing their connection to us could endanger multiple
lives. No one can know you are an Interstellar Bride.”
“But…how am I supposed to explain being there?”
“Cormac will take care of that, I’m sure. When you arrive, play along. Pretend you
know him, that you met him somewhere else. Be vague until you two get your story
straight. He will do the same.”
Great. Was she serious? I studied her facial features. Not one hint of a teasing grin.
No smile. She was deadly serious.
The warden’s fingers flew over her tablet, and she seemed to be making multiple
selections. “I do believe you are ready to go.”
“I—”
A line appeared in the wall next to me, and the chair I was sitting on jolted to the
side as it moved into the new space the retreating section of wall created. Beyond the
wall was a room bathed in blue light with a small pool in its center.

“Hold still, Abby. You need your NPU.”
I knew from dealing with the Atlan Warlords and from my own research that the
Neural Processing Unit was some kind of universal translator. I wouldn’t be able to
understand my new mate or anyone else in space without it. Holding perfectly still, I
waited as a slender robotic arm moved toward my head. The sharp tip settled just below
and behind my ear. I winced as it pierced my skin. This bite hurt a hell of a lot more than
the vampire man’s had in my dream. Vision? Memory?
“Wait! What does he look like?” I squirmed in the stupid hospital-style gown I was
wearing, my bare backside sticking to the seat, my thighs and bottom coated with my
arousal. I was very ready for some hot sex. Really hot sex. With a vampire criminal.
What the hell was going on here? Was there something wrong with me? Why didn’t
I get matched to an Atlan? I really, really wanted an Atlan warlord. Damn it.
I tried to use my arms to shift my weight on the seat but didn’t get far. My wrists
were restrained, supposedly so I wouldn’t fall off and injure myself while I was out of my
mind having sex on another planet—in someone else’s body. The thought made me
squirm even more. I had to stop moving before I got a rug burn. Seat burn. Whatever.
Warden Egara was watching me, and she hadn’t answered my question.
“Well?“ I insisted. “How am I supposed to know who he is?”
“Normally, I’m not allowed to show you. But this is a bit of an unusual match, so I
will. As I said, his name is Cormac. He is a member of Styx legion.” She moved her
hands even faster over the tablet. Seconds later, the wall before me turned into a large
screen.
And there he was. Holy crap. I didn’t know when they’d taken the picture, but he
didn’t look happy. His eyes were dark and narrowed as if he were annoyed. His hair
was so short it looked like a buzz cut the army gave new military recruits. I thought
maybe it was black as well, but it was nearly impossible to tell the color with it being so
short. His face was older. Somber. He looked like he had been to hell and back and
could teach a class on cruelty.
But his lips were full. His jaw was cut. He was handsome in a brutal way that made
my pussy clench and my nipples grow hard. He wouldn’t treat me like a porcelain doll

that might break at any moment. No. He looked like the kind of man—alien—who would
shove me up against a wall, bite me, and fuck my brains out.
I shuddered with anticipation, with a raw hunger I’d never before allowed myself to
feel, as I studied the barely visible tips of his fangs peaking at me from between his lips.
So this was my mate. My hard as nails, take no prisoners, no bullshit mate. Cormac.
Cormac with fangs.
I wanted him to bite me. Fill me with his cock and claim me. Like, now. Right
freaking now.
Maybe I didn’t need an Atlan warlord after all. I’d met several, and not one had
made me want to rip his clothes off and demand sex.
Warden Egara waved her hand at me as the chair lowered me, gown and all, into
the warm, blue water. I had to admit, the bath felt heavenly. Soothing. So relaxing.
“Good luck, Abby!”
I tried to smile, but I was suddenly so very tired. My eyelids were so heavy.
The last thing I remembered was Warden Egara’s voice.
“Your processing will begin in 3…2…1…”

Available Sept. 22, 2022

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Available for PRE-ORDER! Release Date 9/22/22!
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The beast will stop at nothing to claim her...and his child.

Beast's Secret Baby is coming TOMORROW!!!

Atlan Warlord Velik is hanging on to sanity by a thread. His mating fever rages. His beast fights him every moment. The beast needs to hunt. To kill. To find their mate or surrender to a glorious death in battle. He volunteers for a mission so dangerous, he knows he will not return.

Waiting to deploy, he is lost, keeping distance between himself and those his tormented beast could destroy. His fate is sealed...until his beast picks up her scent. Sees her face. In an instant, the beast knows this human woman belongs to him and no one else.

Until he sees the diamond ring on her finger and hears her discussing her wedding, the event mere weeks away.

He is honorable. He is desperate. He will stop at nothing to seduce her. Claim her. Steal her heart and keep her for himself.

When he disappears without explanation, she has a decision to make; play the fool and hope for a dead Atlan’s return, or marry another and ensure the security and safety of her true love’s unborn child.

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She is everything the beast craves, and the one thing he can’t have.

Beast's Secret Baby is out NOW!!!

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Atlan Warlord Velik is hanging on to sanity by a thread. His mating fever rages. His beast fights him every moment. The beast needs to hunt. To kill. To find their mate or surrender to a glorious death in battle. He volunteers for a mission so dangerous, he knows he will not return.

Atlan Warlord Velik is hanging on to sanity by a thread. His mating fever rages. His beast fights him every moment. The beast needs to hunt. To kill. To find their mate or surrender to a glorious death in battle. He volunteers for a mission so dangerous, he knows he will not return.



Waiting to deploy, he is lost, keeping distance between himself and those his tormented beast could destroy. His fate is sealed…until his beast picks up her scent. Sees her face. In an instant, the beast knows this human woman belongs to him and no one else.



No beast has ever claimed his mate, then left her behind. If he survives the mission, he will beg her forgiveness. He must live. He must return to her, even if he suspects the gods themselves want him dead.

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He will stop at nothing to seduce her. Claim her. Steal her heart and keep her for himself.

Beast's Secret Baby is almost here!

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Atlan Warlord Velik is hanging on to sanity by a thread. His mating fever rages. His beast fights him every moment. The beast needs to hunt. To kill. To find their mate or surrender to a glorious death in battle. He volunteers for a mission so dangerous, he knows he will not return.

Waiting to deploy, he is lost, keeping distance between himself and those his tormented beast could destroy. His fate is sealed...until his beast picks up her scent. Sees her face. In an instant, the beast knows this human woman belongs to him and no one else.

Until he sees the diamond ring on her finger and hears her discussing her wedding, the event mere weeks away.

He is honorable. He is desperate. He will stop at nothing to seduce her. Claim her. Steal her heart and keep her for himself.

When he disappears without explanation, she has a decision to make; play the fool and hope for a dead Atlan’s return, or marry another and ensure the security and safety of her true love’s unborn child.

Amazon: coming soon!
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Get ready! Warlord Kai is coming for you...

Bad Boy Beast - Interstellar Brides Program: The Beasts - Book 8
by Grace Goodwin

Chapter One

Atlan Warlord Kai, Miami, Florida

I finally tracked the elusive female, the human who risked her life to break into an illegal fight club and capture images of Warlord Maxus, and the rest of us, during the surprise Hive attack. Whoever she was, the moment she sent those images to potential buyers, she placed herself in more danger than she could comprehend. 

The Hive wanted her dead. 

The Coalition’s Intelligence Core wanted her alive for questioning. 

Me? I just fucking wanted. The moment her lingering scent filled my head that day, my beast had one fucking thing to say… mine. Over, and over, and fucking over again. 

Mine!

I know. Patience. 

No patience. Mine. Go. Now. 

Our mate is in danger. You want to fuck around and be killed by Hive Scouts? 

Weak. I kill them all. My beast sounded insulted I would even mention the possibility of our death. I never lose to Hive scum.

“You lost once.” I wasn’t trying to be an asshole to—myself—but we had been defeated in battle. Once. Captured and taken to a Hive Integration facility and experimented on. Tortured. Integrated with Hive technology that, even after rescue, made it impossible to return to the Atlan home world. I was an outcast now, contaminated, just like every other fighter, warrior and warlord exiled to The Colony. Too dangerous to be allowed to return to Atlan, take a mate and live a civilian life. 

Worse, mating fever raged in my blood. Soon the beast would break free and unleash his agony in an unforgivable killing fury. Unless I convince my female to accept me, take my mating cuffs and never leave my side. 

The odds were not in my favor. 

“I’m going in.” I squinted through the dark, grateful for the pitiful light provided by two lamp posts positioned in the building’s parking lot. Three more surrounded the area but were not functional. It was well past midnight. My female—and she was mine—should be asleep. 

Crouched on the roof of her three-story apartment building, I jumped to the ground and landed outside her bedroom window. “Are you sure these diagrams are correct?” 

“Yes. You still determined to knock on the door?” The voice in my comm belonged to Bahre, our chosen commander while we were here, on Earth. Most of the warlords had been successful in finding their mates. Some had returned to The Colony. I was not among them. The beast within became more difficult to control with each passing day. If I did not claim my mate soon, mating fever would destroy me, and I would be forced to embrace death.

“I do not wish to frighten her.” 

“Fucking mistake. Get her out and explain later.”

“She’s my mate. I do not want her to fear me.” 

“Fuck. Going soft already. Be quick about it.” Bahre’s sigh spoke for both of us. Protecting a mate, physically and mentally, was the only thing that mattered. “Do you have a visual?”

“Negative.” The human apartment building appeared to be quiet. “Activating scanners.” 

“The Hive Scouts we’re tracking are closing in on your position.” 

“How long do I have?” 

Bahre cursed. “Ten minutes, if you’re lucky.” 

Break in, convince a hysterical, human female to accompany me to another planet, put a transport beacon on her, and get her out of here before the Hive showed up? What could possibly go wrong? 

I activated the scanners in my Coalition helmet and watched thermal outlines of the humans inside the building appear on my helmet’s screen. “Fifty-seven humans. Twenty-nine female. Fuck. I hope the Hive don’t get any ideas .”The Hive had been kidnapping and attempting to breed human females. “Only one Scout unit? Just three of them?”

“That’s all we’re tracking. Just get in and get her out of there. We need those images. The I.C. is breathing down my neck on this one.” Bahre’s rumbling didn’t help my agitated state. My beast growled, ready to unleash his rage on the world. 

“You mean Helion’s being an ass. I heard he claimed a mate. Didn’t that calm him down?” 

Bahre’s chuckle sounded like rumbling rocks in my head. “Made him worse, especially when it comes to protecting human females.”

Of course. Now that the notorious asshole commander of the Intelligence Core was mated to a human female, he was obsessed with protecting Earth. Didn’t seem to matter that he’d supposedly retired and relocated his mate to his home world of Prillon Prime. He was even more active—at least when it came to Earth—than ever. 

He had his human mate. Time to claim mine. 

“Larkspur Linton. Age twenty-three. Where are you?” The apartment number on her government issued identification was one-zero-seven.

“Stop stalling, Warlord. I’m going to think you’re afraid of a tiny human female.” 

“Guess you should have come with me. Make sure I don’t fuck it up.” 

Bahre burst into laughter. “Fuck no. The day a Warlord can’t handle three Scouts on his own is the day I walk away from Quinn. She’s waiting for me, so hurry the fuck up before my cock insists I leave you without backup on comms.” 

My turn to chuckle. Quinn was one beautiful female. I couldn’t blame Bahre for his eagerness to be with his mate. 

Speaking of mates.... 

Mine!

Yes. I know. Just a few more minutes. 

No. Now. 

My beast was tired of waiting. Frankly, so was I.

I checked the details on the scanner. Human female. Alone. She must have fallen asleep on her sofa. The apartment appeared to have two bedrooms, but the other rooms were unoccupied. My mate was alone. 

What did she wear to bed? I inspected the thermal image of her sitting on her sofa. The flickering light of her television, or computer screen, flashed across her window. A strange shimmer appeared, then disappeared on my scans. I would need to get that glitch checked out once I was back on The Colony. 

I stared at that curved, red outline and tried to imagine what it would be like to touch her. Other than the grainy image on her driver’s license—brown hair, brown eyes, slightly taller than average for a human, I had no idea what she looked like, sounded like, thought or needed. What if she refused to come with me? 

Mine! 

The beast didn’t give a fuck what she looked like. All females were beautiful and unique. The only thing that mattered was that she was mine. I knew the moment I caught her scent at the fight club that night, a sweet, feminine fragrance that haunted me every minute since. Taunting me. Daring me to find her.

“Eight minutes. Scouts inbound. Hurry the fuck up.” 

Why was I not already inside? Was I nervous to meet her? Afraid she would take one look at the scars and integrations covering my body and find me unworthy? I’ve never feared anything in my life, not on the battlefield, not during my imprisonment with the Hive. Now I dreaded the reaction of a fragile human female? 

Mine!

The beast had a one-track mind. The rock-hard cock rubbing against my armor was proof of that.

Moving quickly, I went to her door and raised my fist. My knock rattled the nearby window. 

Inside me, the beast lunged, eager to break free.

Holding him back took every bit of self-control I possessed.

I braced my hands on either side of the door frame and waited. Knocked again. Nothing. No footsteps. No calling out. My mate’s apartment remained silent. 

Fuck. I didn’t want to have to do it this way. 

I kicked the door open and stepped inside. “Larkspur?” A tall, freestanding coat rack, and the variety of items hanging from the black, metallic hooks, blocked my view of the living area. 

The narrow hall made it impossible for my shoulders to pass. I lifted the metal rack, coats, purses, umbrella and all, and walked forward. “Larkspur Linton? I’m Warlord Kai. I need to speak with you. You’re in danger.” 

“It’s a trap! Get out!” A woman’s shout was cut short by the sound of something hitting flesh. 

“We have an intruder. Eliminate him.” A cold, monotone voice gave the order without a hint of emotion. I knew that tone, the cadence of a group mind, the way the Hive always referred to themselves as ‘we’, never ‘I’. Never the individual. 

“No! Get out! Run!” A woman’s scream made the beast roar a response. 

The Hive were here. For touching my mate, they would die. 

I rushed into the small living space. Three Hive Soldiers, bigger, stronger, better armed and with more advanced integrations than their lowly Scouts—surrounded a human female where she sat, facing them, on her light brown sofa. Her dark hair hung on either side of delicate cheekbones and full, kissable lips.

A dark bruise spread on her left cheek and around her brown eye. A short, blue nightgown bunched up on top of her thighs, exposing long, lean legs. A binding device held her wrists bound in front of her, resting on her lap. Tears streaked her cheeks and still, she did not beg for her own life, but glared, defiance in her raised chin and unblinking glare. She did not cower before the Hive Soldier. Instead, she called out a warning to me.

My mate was brave. Courageous. Honorable. Her sweet, feminine scent filled the small apartment. She was fucking perfect.

The beast agreed. 

“Mine!” He roared as I felt my body shift and expand, my bones and muscles tearing and reforming as I swung the coat rack at the nearest Soldier. The trio—the fucking Hive always traveled in threes—included three integrated Prillonwarriors. Big. Strong. Trained in battle. 

They were no match for a beast defending his mate. 

The metal hooks in the coat rack hit with such force, the hooks punctured the Soldier’s armor, one hook in his chest, the other in the side of his neck. He collapsed to his knees, blood spraying on the pale gray carpet. 

The female scrambled away from the fight, hurling her small body toward the far end of the sofa.

The two remaining Hive Soldiers turned to face my beast, weapons raised. 

Rage unlike anything I’d ever known pumped through every cell at the glimpse of my small, delicate female trapped behind them. I’d fought countless battles against creatures like these, been consumed by the fury of war. This was deeper. Primal.

“Mine!” The word filled the room like booming thunder. My mate screamed. 

The two Hive opened fire, their blasters hitting my armor, charring the flesh beneath. 

Her scream was an explosion inside my skull, my mate in danger, threatened by my mortal enemy. Dozens of battles flashed through my mind, the images so vivid and real the room before me faded until I stood on the battlefield, muscles straining as I tore a Hive Scout’s body in half.

My beast’s cry of rage echoed through the small apartment. The thunderous roar in my ears broke the spell and I came back to myself. That nightmare happened on another day, in another battle. These two were here, now.

They continued to fire, their blasters turning my armor into molten metal on flesh. Searing. Burning.

The pain enraged my beast.

I stepped into the blasts and reached out to wrap my hands around the head and shoulder of the nearest Hive Soldier. He fought as his companion blasted me from the side. A head shot blurred my vision as my helmet took the brunt of the discharge.

The Hive before me was stronger than a Prillon warrior should have been. His Hive integrations gave him unnatural strength. 

With a growl of intense satisfaction, I pulled the Hive’s head from his shoulders and tossed it on the floor next to his fallen, dying companion. I stomped on the polished black coat rack for good measure, driving the metal tips deeper into the enemy’s neck. 

One more. 

Never before had I been grateful for my weeks of capture at the hands of the Hive, until now. Without the integrations in my own body, I might have been in trouble. But I was captured. Tortured. Integrated. Hardened. As one of the few Atlans to survive the Integration process, I was stronger than any Atlan warlord should be. So was my beast. These Hive Soldiers were Prillon warriors once, before the Hive changed them into something else. 

They were following orders, doing a job. I was a warlord, a beast, a killer protecting the only thing in the universe that mattered… my mate.

“Kai, what the fuck is going on?” Bahre’s voice finally broke through. He’d been talking, but my beast was too focused on battle to process his annoying questions.

“Hive.” My beast gave a typical one-word response. 

“The group of Scouts in four minutes out. They’re picking up the pace.” 

“No. Here. Now.” My beast’s tone left no room for argument. 

“I don’t understand. That’s not possible.” Bahre’s confusion was one I shared. How did these fuckers not show up on my scans? I should have known they were here. 

With a flick of my eyes toward the on-screen command in my helmet, I began broadcasting the scene to Bahre and anyone else who was monitoring the situation. 

“Fuck!”

Bahre’s shout in my comms matched my mood perfectly. 

“We are here for the female. Leave. This human is nothing to you.” The remaining Hive Soldier faced me but ceased firing his blaster. 

“Mine.” The beast would not be reasoned with. There would be no bargaining, no mercy.

The final Soldier resumed fire as I advanced. He took one step back. Two. The backs of his legs hit the sofa and my mate gasped, scooting farther away. 

The Hive Soldier turned his head to look at her, the thought clearly forming in his mind. He knew he was dead. Fucking dead. 

He lifted his blaster, pointed the weapon at her head.