Wulf rubbed her lower back as he placed his lips next to her ear. “You are unwell, lubha. You don’t need to question them. My brothers and I have enough empathic ability to tell if they are lying or not.”
The back rub calmed her nausea. Or, maybe it was just the warmth of Wulf’s love and concern that soothed her.
“I’m fine.” At his skeptical snort, she touched his chest with her. “Really, I’m fine.
Plus, we’re stronger together. We need to determine if there are other rebels aboard. I refuse to feel threatened on my—our—ship,” she whispered. “Although I feel that we can pretty much eliminate the men we just left in the dining area. I sensed nothing from any of them that was threatening to us.”
“I agree. I read the room through you. The sensory readings were amazingly clear through our connection,” he murmured.
“That is why I need to remain,” she said, making her point. “We’ll talk to these two, first—and then the rest of the crew, if needed.”
Wulf nodded and turned toward his brothers, who’d silently observed the whispered consultation. “Sit them up, Huw. Iolyn. Remove the blindfolds and gags.” Wulf’s brothers jerked the two rebels into sitting positions on Huw’s bed and removed the bindings from their faces. Two sets of gold-brown glares fixed first on her, then on Wulf.
It was all Mel could do not to step back from the force of their hatred. Fanatics, Maren had called the rebels. He was correct. If the rebellion was widespread, the Prime Elder Council would have a major problem on its hands. Hell, even a small rabid group of fanatics could do a lot of damage. History on Earth, Volusia, and on at least on a dozen other planets in the galaxy was proof of that.
“Too bad the Antareans didn’t finish you off, Wulf,” spat the one that Iolyn had told her was Ensign Donte Caradoc, a second cousin to the Caradoc brothers.
“I am not easy to kill, Donte,” Wulf replied, his tone acidly lethal. Mel hoped that Wulf never aimed that deadly tone at her. “And, what do you have to say for yourself, Regin? Does my cousin Mara know that you are a traitor to our people, to her family?”
“It’s you who are the traitor, Wulf.” Regin attempted to stare Wulf down, but failed.
After a minute of uncomfortable silence, he then muttered, “My mate knows nothing of this. Leave her out of it.”
“He’s telling the truth about your cousin Mara, Wulf,” Mel said quietly. “Regin does believe you are the traitor to the Prime and not him. Donte’s comments also rang with truth. Ask them your questions.” She sighed. “They are easy to read.” Donte and Regin stared at her, fear now coloring their aura in varying shades of darkness.
“What are you? A Terran witch?” Regin asked, his voice strained.
“She’s Prime—and a battle-mate,” Huw said. “Fully bonded to Wulf. Remember the legends of fully bonded battle-mates, Regin? Don’t bother lying. They’ll know.” The prisoners looked at one another. “We will answer no questions,” Donte replied, his mouth firmed in a stubborn line.
Donte would be surprised at how easy he was to read. His shielding was non-existent. His emotions were an open book. It was obvious that male Prime didn’t use their empathic abilities much, except during times of stronger emotions such as a battle or a siege. She’d have to work with her Prime crews now that they would be a part of Gold Squadron. There were other species in the universe that read emotions besides the Prime.
While they would never have her ability to detect nuances, they could do better on both interpretation and shielding with proper training exercises.
“An excellent idea, Melina. Now that the Prime have joined the Alliance, we will meet more and more of these empaths.”
She smiled at him. She really liked that he could follow her reasoning. Small changes in an opponent’s reactions could reveal vital information under the right circumstances.
“Ask them your questions, Wulf. I will chime in as needed.” Wulf nodded. Mel noticed that both prisoners watched them closely. She thought that they just might be a tad more frightened now than before. The battle-mate legends must be really something; she’d have to get some of them to read.
“I really don’t care if you answer or not, Donte,” Wulf said, “but I will ask my questions anyway.” He paced from one side of the bed to the other, pausing to look first at Donte, then Regin. “Besides you, are there any other men on board this ship that wish to harm my gemate, myself, or my brothers?”
Both men looked away from Wulf and down at their laps, remaining silent.
Mel concentrated on their emotions. The fear and hatred were still there, but now there was an element of triumph as if they knew something that the rest of them did not know.
Playing the odds, she voiced her opinion. “There is someone—or some thing—on this ship that could harm us, but I can’t tell exactly what. Yet.” Both men’s heads jerked upwards. Their widened gazes now fixed on her.
She moved to stand alongside Wulf, who placed his arm around her back and pulled into his side. Absently, he massaged her waist.
She stretched the odds even further and said, “I would check all the ship’s emergency systems as soon as possible.”
The prisoners’ emotional levels escalated through the ceiling. Wulf jerked next to her as if he’d been shot.
“Good work, my gemate . We now know they have sabotaged something on this ship.
That means we can probably expect another attack upon the ship before we reach Tooh 10. With damaged systems, we’d be sitting ducks.”
“What if we had decided to go to Cejuru Prime?”
“Donte or Regin would have just radioed their comrades and given them that intel.
Either way, the attack would have to come somewhere in more unpopulated areas of the galaxy, away from the heavily trafficked space lanes where help would be more easily accessed.”
Mel nodded. “Makes sense.”
For the benefit of Huw and Iolyn, Mel said, “Wulf and I believe these two have sabotaged something on this ship,” she said with more calm than she felt. “I don’t get the impression it would destroy the Galanti. More than likely, they mean to incapacitate a system needed for our defense.”
Again the prisoners’ emotional levels shot up. Their heated reactions confirmed her speculations. Playing the odds had paid off. With a thorough testing of the systems, they should easily find what the traitors had done to the ship. She prayed to all the gods she knew that they would find and fix the problem before the traitors’ cohorts attacked the ship.
Pushing her luck and intuition to its limits, she added, “I would check weapons, security on docking bays, and possibly that beta-weapon you are testing. The rebels plan to attack the ship before we get to Tooh 10.”
“How can you know this?” Regin sputtered, ignoring the glare and harshly uttered
“Shut up, fool” from Donte. “The legends say nothing of a battle-mate reading minds of any other than her warrior- gemat.”
“The legends don’t know everything,” Wulf growled. “Iolyn, Huw, throw these two into solitary confinement after you check them thoroughly for any implanted communications devices or locators. Then have a ship-wide systems check run, checking it against the last maintenance done on Cejuru Prime. If anything has been altered since we left the home planet, I want it checked over manually. Crews of three, just in case we have any lingering traitors on board.”
Donte and Regin’s reaction to Wulf’s last words had Mel breathing a sigh of relief.
“There are no more traitors,” Mel said, smiling. “They just confirmed that, don’t you agree, my gemat?”
Wulf swept a warm hand down her back, hugging her to his side. “I agree, gemate lubha.”
Iolyn and Huw hauled the two rebels to their feet, untying their legs so they could walk, then marched them to the doorway.
Dragging at Huw, Donte turned his head, shouting over his shoulder. “If they don’t kill you before you get to Tooh 10, our comrades will manage it eventually no matter where you go. Enjoy fucking your slut battle-mate while you can. She won’t live to procreate,” he snarled.
“Get him out of my sight before I kill him.” Wulf roared, his fists clenched.
Mel grabbed his arm as he attempted to move toward Donte.
“He’s out of here, brother.” Huw dragged Donte from the room. The door closed behind them.
Mel picked up one of Wulf’s clenched fists and rubbed it against her cheek, then kissed the whitened knuckles. “Just words, Wulf. Spoken from fear. You had to feel that.
He said what he said because of his own doubts that his comrades will be able to succeed.
We scared them out of the absolute sense of complacency the rebellion leaders instilled in them.”
“I know, Melina mine,” he said, his large body still shuddering from the effects of his anger, “but I can’t handle the thought of you being harmed. I just found you, if I—” Wulf’s words trailed off, but the emotions behind them were clear. Her big Prime warrior was afraid. That was not acceptable. Mel stepped into Wulf’s full embrace and placed her arms around his waist. With her head nestled on his chest, she absorbed his vitality, his strength while she decided how to assure him that she was going to live a long, long time.