Her Mate's Secret Baby:Interstellar Brides, Book 9(24)

"I was followed to Natalie's home," I said. "Someone knew of my arrival,  Natalie's location here on Earth, and the reason for my visit."

She spun about, pacing. "Followed? From here?"

"How else do I explain the attack on my family?"

"Why would someone wish to attack you on Earth?"

"The same reason I was taken and tortured on Trion."         

     



 

"You think this is somehow connected to the ambush on Trion?" The warden  scowled, a thick line appearing between her delicately arched brows.  She was actually quite beautiful. "But that's impossible. That would  mean there is a Trion spy here, in this facility."

I shrugged, then winced as pain exploded through my chest and back at  the simple movement. "Is there another transport center nearby?"

"No. The closest transport center is in Europe."

Natalie gasped. "There's no way he followed you from Europe. He would have been days behind you."

"They came from Miami, Warden. That is the only explanation that makes  sense. While it seems like a great amount of time has passed since  Natalie returned to Earth, over a year, for me, it has been ten days.  Someone wants me, or something from me. Why else would I have been kept  alive when the rest of Outpost Two was murdered? Someone followed me."

Warden Egara moved to work the controls besides the man arranging  transport. Her hands flew over the flat screen. "Let me check the logs."

Her eyes narrowed as she read. "I have your transport record and  communications from yesterday, then a bride who was transported today to  Atlan. There is nothing …  wait."

Her hand stilled, her eyes widened. Her fingers moved frantically. "An  encrypted message was sent an hour after your transport. The center was  closed when the message came through. The communication should have been  rerouted to the processing center in Paris. They were on call last  night."

She turned to look at me, then at Natalie, who still waved the wand behind my back.

"There is one message here. One moment while I decipher it."

I was impressed with her abilities. She was more like a Coalition  fighter than an Earth female, then remembered through my sluggish brain  our conversation from the day before. She'd been matched and mated to  Prillon warriors who had died.

Her body stilled as she scanned the screen. "The message came from  Xalia's transport center and it reads: Councilor Roark's medallion  pinged on Earth. Roark is on Earth. Find Earth coordinates for human  mate, Natalie Montgomery. Boston. Eliminate both. Bring medallion to  me."

I felt Natalie's hand still. The pain ceased completely in one spot, as the wand focused on healing one specific area.

"Someone wants the medallion?" she asked.

I looked over my shoulder at her. Her cheeks were pale, her eyes wide. I  enjoyed seeing her face flushed with passion and need instead of this  haggard concern and confusion. As soon as we were back on Trion, I was  healed, and whomever was trying to gain access to my medallion was dead,  I was going to fuck her for a week.

"Why do they want this medallion?" Warden Egara asked.

"It is a key to the subterranean vault on Trion for the southern  continent. Each councilor holds a key for a vault in their part of the  planet."

"What's in the vaults? You mentioned it, but not specifically," Natalie said.

"Weapons. Technology. Wealth. We live a simple life, but that does not mean we aren't prepared for a Hive attack."

Warden Egara harrumphed. "Apparently, someone wants to use the weapons to conquer Trion instead."

"That's my problem. The spy in your program, is yours, Warden."

"A mole," Natalie said, using an Earth term I'd never heard before.

The warden looked grim. "You take care of your problem, Councilor, and  I'll take care of mine. He won't live long. Not now that I know I need  to hunt him."

"The transport is ready, Warden." The dark-skinned soldier interrupted  our conversation. "Councilor, they said to tell you that a Doctor Brax  is on standby with Seton and a medical team."

"Excellent." Time to go home. I moved to rise, Natalie helping me.

Miranda handed the baby over to my mate, tears in her eyes her only  goodbye. We were going across the universe and never coming back.

"You must come with us," Natalie told Miranda, grabbing her hand. She  turned her head and looked to Warden Egara. "She's coming with us."

"What?" Miranda asked, her eyes wide, shaking her head. "I can't. I'm  not matched. I can't go to Trion! It's not like a quick trip to  Florida."

"We're not coming back. Please come with us. I'm selfish and I need you."

"She isn't matched," Warden Egara said. "As Councilor of Trion, Roark  could grant permission. But you-" she pointed at me, "-can't wait any  longer for that pod."

The ReGen wand's effects were waning again. I did need the pod.         

     



 

"Roark, please."

"It's not up to me. I will do whatever makes you happy, gara, but Miranda must choose for herself."

"Come with us," Natalie pleaded. "It's lovely there. We will find you a  mate. You have no one here. No family. Take a chance. I did, and look  what I have."

Miranda looked scared.

Warden Egara told the woman. "There is no time. You must choose now. I  can't allow a Trion Councilor to die on my transport pad."

Miranda nodded fervently. "All right. I'll go."

Natalie grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the transport pad. I  ensured we were all together, that the baby was settled in my mate's  arms. Through gritted teeth, I thanked the warden.

She nodded once. "Good luck. May you find happiness in the universe. Your transport will begin in three …  two …  one."



***



Natalie



The transport was a blue flash of light like the last time, but I didn't  have a murdering madman after me. This time, I wasn't crying because my  mate was dead. I wasn't screaming for the doctor and the guards who'd  protected me. I had my mate and my son with me. I had Miranda. And the  little dagger Roark had given me in the oasis was tucked snuggly into my  boot. I wasn't getting near a transport center again without the  weapon. Roark didn't need to know my anxiety since he was injured, but I  felt better knowing I could keep us all safe if something happened.

We were going back to Trion, to doctors and guards and Roark's people. But we weren't safe yet.

It felt like I drifted in and out of consciousness for hours, holding  tightly to Noah where he rested in my arms. I had no idea how much time  had passed when the lights and pressure faded. I woke lying on a hard  floor, Noah resting on my chest. Miranda appeared to be sleeping a few  steps away, and Roark's blood already soaked the pad beneath his back.

I opened my mouth to scream for help, but the med team surrounded Roark  at once. I eyed them all, thinking one might be the mole. But they  didn't want him. No, not now that it was known I had the medallion. They  wanted me.

"Councilor." A man close in age to Roark came to him at once. He was  tall, dark and handsome, of course. His pants were black, as was his  tunic, but he had some sort of colored insignia on his chest, and the  men surrounding him obeyed his commands. "Roark, my friend, you always  show up bleeding and half dead. It's not funny anymore."

"Cease your whining, Seton, and see to my mate. There is a traitor among us."

Noah chose that moment to stir in my arms and let out a blood-curdling scream.

Everyone froze in place and turned to look at me. At Noah.

As Roark was settled onto a Trion version of a stretcher, three people  waving ReGen wands over him, he spoke. "Natalie and I have discovered  that time on Earth passes differently than it does here. How long was I  gone, Seton?"

"Thirty-five minutes," Seton replied. "We notified your parents and they transported here to await your return."

Thirty-five minutes? I was seeing now how Roark was so stunned that I'd had a baby when just a few days had passed for him.

"Take care of my mate, Seton. And my son. See to them first."

"Son?" Seton asked, then, "What traitor? Roark, what the fark happened to you?"

"I will not say and leave my family vulnerable while I am healing. I  want two sets of guards on duty at all times. Have my parents stay with  Natalie and Noah. Trust no one."

Seton ushered Roark toward a strange, oblong coffin-looking thing  glowing with light. Roark looked at me as they lowered him inside.  "Protect Noah, mate. Trust Seton and my parents. No one else."

He held my gaze until I nodded. Noah was tugging at my hair and I  absently grabbed his little wrists, holding him in place so I could  think without him yanking hair out of my head. "We'll be fine, Roark.  Heal. We'll be here when you wake up."

Roark nodded and tore his gaze from mine to look at an older man leaning  over the edge of the pod adjusting the controls. "How long this time,  Doctor Brax?"