CAPTURED: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys(183)

Riley had ignored her dear grandmother and put it down to jealousy that  Tina had shown it to her instead of Pearl who seemed to only like black  leather and metal. Riley had drooled over the damn jacket every time she  picked Tina up after work for almost a year. Tina must have hidden it  so that the owner would finally mark it down from the twelve hundred  dollars it had originally been marked at because she knew how badly  Riley wanted the damn thing.

She gave a thrilled grin as she slid the quilted jacket on, rubbing her  cheek against the soft rabbit fur. Yes, she was an animal lover, but she  figured if she convinced herself that the damn thing died of old age or  something similar she wouldn't have to feel guilty about where it came  from. Hell, as far as she knew it could have been roadkill. The only  thing she cared about was that it was soft, flamboyant, and hers!

Riley zipped the jacket up and pulled the collar up until it covered her  ears. The fur lining practically covered her face, and she was able to  bury her nose in it to keep it warm too. She couldn't wait to see how  the guys reacted to it. The men in the bar had just stared at her all  night like they thought she was some movie star or something. Of course,  her grandmother said they didn't know whether she needed help from the  alien attacking her or if she was the newest hooker on the street. Riley  had blown her grandmother the middle-finger kiss and told her that her  john had given her the night off. Tina had groaned, mortified, while  Pearl had laughed so hard she had to excuse herself so she wouldn't piss  all over herself.

"Some grandmother I have," Riley muttered as she walked down the  corridor to the dining quarters. "She pisses her pants because she knows  her granddaughters are virgins! Most grandmas would be proud of that."

"Hi, Riley," Fred said, coming up behind her. "What is attacking you?  Did it come off the ship?" he asked, frightened, looking at the  glittering silver and purple jacket she had wrapped around her snugly.

Riley rolled her eyes at Fred. "Yes, there are thousands of them on  board. You better not lie down for too long or one of them will take  over your body as well!" she grumbled, not looking at him as she turned  to continue on her way. "Is it attacking me? He's a freaking comedian,  and I didn't even know it!"

She sighed as she entered the dining quarters and found no one was  there. Maybe she could just fix herself something quick and take it back  to her room where she could bundle up in the nice, clean blankets that  she had piled on her bed. Shit, she could see her breath now. What was  their frigging problem? Did they forget to pay the damn heating bill or  something? Riley shrugged her shoulders, just thankful she had something  to keep her warm. She plugged her earbuds into her iPhone, adjusting  the ear pieces so she could listen to Enigma as she fixed herself  something to eat. She was totally oblivious to the fact that Fred had  disappeared.



"How long before you can meet up with us?" Vox asked his younger brother, Viper, who was commanding his warship, the Shifter.

"It will take us two, possibly three days to get there. We have been  raiding every damn Antrox mine we can find. I didn't realize the greedy  insects had so many. We've been to four star systems so far looking for  you and have raided at least two dozen," Viper said, leaning back and  grinning. "So, how did you escape? I would love to have seen the  Antrox's expressions as you gave them hell."         

     



 

Vox flushed, not wanting to explain to his brother just yet that his new  mate had been the one to save them, even if she had blown the damn  mining asteroid to smithereens in the process. He shifted uncomfortably,  wondering how his parents and brothers were going to react to Riley.  His parents had recently reminded him that he was destined to mate with a  Valdier princess. That had been part of the treaty his father and the  old Valdier king had signed to ensure peace between the two species.  Now, he was about to blow the treaty to hell because he had no intention  of mating with anyone other than Riley.

"Remind me to tell you about it when you pick us up," Vox muttered in  frustration. "Just meet up with us as soon as possible. I'm not sure how  long this piece of dragon dung will hold up. We have it patched  together with our piss and sweat."

Viper laughed. "There is a Valdier warship closer. I'll notify them that  you may need assistance before we can arrive. It is Creon's warship.  They could be there within a day."

Vox nodded in resignation. "That might be best. I need to speak with  Creon Reykill about a personal matter anyway," he muttered. "I will  contact you later."

"Gods be with you, brother," Viper said, signing off.

"I hope they will be," Vox said as he thought of how he was going to  approach the youngest Valdier royal and ask for his help in breaking the  treaty between their people without it causing a war.

Vox looked at Titus and Adur and rubbed the back of his neck wearily.  Gods, he was tired. He hadn't slept well since he was captured, and with  trying to keep the damn freighter from falling apart, he hadn't had a  chance to even think about it in over two days. He sat back in the chair  near the communications console and was listening as Titus and Adur  talked about what still needed to be done when he heard the sound of  Fred's little feet scurrying toward them.

"Vox! Vox! You have to help! Riley! Help her! She has been attacked!"  Fred said breathlessly as he skidded onto the bridge where Vox, Adur,  and Titus were. "A strange creature! It has Riley in the dining  quarters!"

Vox's loud roar shook the room as he shifted into his cat. He sent Fred  flying into Adur as he rushed through the door. His claws clattered  against the metal flooring of the old freighter as he rushed down the  long corridor. He vaguely heard Titus yelling for Lodar and Tor to meet  them in the dining quarters, that Riley was being attacked. Bob heard  the loud roars as it echoed through the old freighter to where he was  working on sealing off another section of the ship so they would not  have to maintain its environmental system. His huge body shook with rage  when he heard that something was attacking Riley in the dining  quarters. He turned quickly and moved as fast as his big body would let  him through the narrow corridors.

Vox's blood boiled at the thought of some unknown creature attacking his  beautiful, vulnerable mate. He would tear it to shreds. He would teach  whatever creature it was that no one messed with his delicate, fragile  mate. He rounded the corner leading to the dining quarters, skidding  around it so fast his shoulder left a deep dent in the wall where he hit  it. He slowed as he saw Riley coming out of the room. She had a tray in  her hands, but that was not what caught his attention. It was the mass  of purple threatening to strangle her. The thing had glittering scales  all over it. Vox's heart skipped a beat when he saw the purple tentacles  embedded in her ears. The thing was trying to take over her mind!

Vox leaped to rip the thing off Riley at the same time she looked up.  Horror and fear flashed through her eyes as she screamed. The tray in  her hands flew through the air over her head at the same time as Vox hit  her chest, knocking her backward and down to the hard metal floor. He  used his teeth and claws to slice the creature off his mate, tearing and  slashing in desperate fear that it might be too late to save her.

He shifted when he had most of the creature torn apart enough so he  could use his hands to finish pulling it from her body. Riley's screams  of panic continued to tear a hole through his soul. Grief and rage made  his fingers clumsy as he pulled the last bit of purple fur away from her  face and neck. With trembling fingers, he gently pulled the remains of  the tentacles from her right ear, the other had already fallen out.

"Riley, speak to me," Vox whispered hoarsely. "My lumi, please speak to me. Tell me if it is still hurting you."



Riley breathed in the scent of the hot soup she had programmed into the  replicator that Lodar had shown her earlier how to use. She had decided  she'd better stick with something simple like he suggested and decided  on a broth and hot tea. Anything hot to warm her up since she was  beginning to shiver even with the jacket on. She tugged on the fur  lining, pulling it up around her ears and adjusted her earbuds so they  wouldn't fall out before she picked up the tray she had found.

Yes, sir-she thought as she lifted the tray to her nose to smell the  fragrant soup-something hot for the belly and a bunch of nice, clean  blankets piled high waiting for me in my own room. Now all I need is a  good movie or book to go with it.

She was humming along with the song she was listening to, her eyes  focused on the tray so she wouldn't spill any when a low rumbling sound  made her eyes jerk up. Her mouth opened in surprise and horror as she  saw the biggest damn cat in the universe glaring at her in rage. A high  scream worthy of any King Kong heroine burst from her lips as it  launched itself at her. She jerked her hands up, throwing the tray over  her head as she tried to protect her face from the massive teeth in its  mouth. She closed her eyes and screamed even louder and longer the  second time as the huge cat hit her square in her chest, knocking her  backward until she was lying on the floor. She could feel its teeth and  claws as it ripped into her jacket. She continued to scream, unable to  stop as the huge cat tugged and pulled until the material of her jacket  fell away from her body. A final quick tug pulled the remaining earbud  out of her ear. Riley felt the change in the body above her at the same  time as she felt the freezing air of the freighter.