Mated to the Cyborgs(12)

Mine!

“While I would not usually take such liberties as sending someone to enter your private quarters, I knew haste was important,” Maxim said. “I sent someone, Captain, for your collars, since Hunt is your chosen second.”

I glanced at my friend. His expression was neutral. Blank. “He is my second,” I said it aloud. “If he accepts.” I would not have anyone doubt it. I was proud he would share my mate, that we would be a family. But I’d never asked. We’d never had this conversation, both of us presuming he would be the one matched.

But Hunt still wore his green mating collar about his neck, had put it there the moment his testing was finished. The bright green color was clearly visible and a declaration to all that he was ready for a mate. As his friend, I knew he wanted a female with a desperation he hid well. Finding a mate was more than crucial for him. Necessary. Many warriors on the Colony had teased him about it, but he was unaffected, stalwart in his desire. He knew she would come, and he’d been correct. But as it turned out, her arrival would not be as he’d expected.

He could, however, choose to wait for a mate of his own. He did not have to accept a role as my second. He could wait and claim his own mate, should she arrive one day. I would not blame him, if that were his choice.

“It’s your decision, Hunt. I know you wanted a match of your own. I will not refuse you should you choose to wait. I can choose another second.”

“No.” Hunt scowled at me, his objection clear. To be my second, he would have to remove his family colors and replace them with mine. If he was my second, he would wear the blue collar of my family. But would he accept this shift in our roles? Would he be willing to see a shared mate marked and claimed in a blue collar instead of green?

We all looked to Hunt, waited.

He reached behind his neck and removed his collar, held it out to me with a nod.

Relieved, I grinned, taking it from him.

“I am his second,” Hunt said, conviction in his tone.

“Good. Now that that’s settled—” Maxim turned and the door slid open. We entered the small transport room and my heart rate soared as if I were heading to battle. Adrenaline flooded my brain.

“She should arrive anytime now, Governor,” the transport officer said. He looked up just long enough to speak, then returned to the control panel in front of him. The door slid open again and a second officer came to me, holding out three collars, two blue as the deepest sky on Prillon Prime, and one, my lady’s, black as deep space until she formally accepted my claim, allowed us to fill her body together. Once she was mine, the collar would turn blue and she would be mine forever. The strips of cloth and imbedded neural technology had only held empty promise, until now. While I knew there was no change in them, they felt different. Soon, they would be affixed about our necks—Hunt, myself and our mate—binding us together, sharing our emotions and desires, making us one—forever.

The black and green grid of the transport pad was easily large enough to hold twenty armed warriors, but was empty. We all stared at it, used to sudden arrivals. But a female was different.

Everything was different. And when I felt the hairs on my body rise, the only sign of the energy shift created by a transport, I knew my life would never be the same again.

There was no going back.

And when a small form appeared on the pad, pale and bare, I felt her presence in my very bones, a heaviness, an ache I couldn’t explain. This was my mate.





Chapter Four



Tyran



It was Hunt who recognized the situation a touch differently and quickly stripped off his tunic, dashed up the few steps to the transport pad and covered the sleeping form.

He turned his head and glared at the two officers manning the transport controls, who both quickly averted their gazes.

“Get a blanket immediately,” Lady Rone called.

I heard footsteps, but didn’t look away from the fragile female. I couldn’t. I couldn’t even move, not until Hunt called my name.

With long strides, I closed the distance to my mate and knelt down beside her. She looked like she was asleep, but was she—

My fingers went to her pale neck, felt along the soft skin for her pulse, felt it sure and strong. Her hair was pale, a faint golden color and I wondered if her eyes would be fair and amber, like Hunt’s, or an exotic shade I’d never seen before. Her face was delicate, heart-shaped and beautiful with full pink lips and long lashes resting on high cheekbones. She was perfect. The most beautiful female I’d ever seen. I met Hunt’s pale gaze and the corner of his mouth tipped up. Was he laughing at me for checking her pulse?

Did I care?