Page 11 of A Mate For Matrix (Cyborg Protection Unit #1)

Chapter Eight

T he Crawler moved underground, snarling in frustration when she became entangled in the roots of another large tree.

She snapped and clawed her way through, driven by instinct and fury.

She’d sensed the beacon’s pulse the instant it ignited.

It had pulled her away from her intended course: toward the life forms a short distance away.

She had fought against the pull, but she had been programmed to seek and destroy the beacon. It meant danger—the seekers were here. She could not feed until they were eliminated. She surged upward through the choking mix of dirt, roots, and stone.

Using the dozen enormous legs attached to her underbelly, she pulled herself out of the hole and shook. Her six enormous eyes scanned the area and documented the terrain. The hard, interconnecting plates that made up her back rolled together.

Turning her head, she scanned slowly from side to side.

Her head froze when the signal from the beacon pinged against the sensitive receiver embedded in her skull.

She barely had time to lock onto the signal before it disappeared.

No matter; she knew the direction now. She calculated it would take at least a day to tunnel beneath the tangled forest.

She would need to be cautious. The seekers always traveled in pairs, her internal memory informed her.

The emergency signal meant the seekers had become separated and could not communicate.

The signal usually showed that one of them was injured.

It was her chance to terminate it before she began feeding.

Once she had eaten enough food to sustain her, she would lay her eggs.

She remembered the guards were always in pairs and always alert.

She had learned that when she killed one guard escorting her.

Others had quickly come and drugged her.

At the place with the dark rock, she could not dig to escape because the ground there was impenetrable, but here, she would have the advantage.

Twisting around, she crawled toward the hole she had created. She closed thin, translucent inner eyelids over her eyes to protect them. Back in the hole, she began digging and ripping through the ground again. Soon... soon her species would populate this world.

“Admit it, you are attracted to her,” K-Nine said, following Matrix as he moved to the back of the transport.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been with a female,” Matrix grunted, pulling open the cabinet.

“She’s different from any of the other females you have bedded. I could feel your instant attraction to her. Zion males instinctively know when they meet their life mate,” K-Nine insisted. “Jana has a beautiful heart. She took in the kittens, and she took care of me.”

Matrix threw K-Nine a heated glare. “You could have taken care of yourself. And for your information, it isn’t scientifically proven that Zion warriors immediately recognize their life mates.

As with any other species, if we see something pleasing, we are bound to be attracted to it,” he retorted, gripping the medical kit in one hand and slamming the cabinet door with the other.

“I can’t believe you were distracted by a… what did she call it?”

“A squirrel,” K-Nine said with a tilt of his head. “It was small, fast, and had been teasing me for quite some time. I would have caught it if that transport hadn’t come around the curve when it did.”

“You are lucky you have a reinforced frame and the repair bots could fix the internal damage,” Matrix pointed out.

“Changing the subject won’t work,” K-Nine said dryly.

Matrix ignored his partner and walked to the small galley. Small was an understatement, but the transport was designed to house a team for a few days to a few weeks during missions. It was their base of operations while they were on another planet.

He opened the med kit, drew out a small cartridge, and inserted it into the injector.

The medicine in the cartridge contained enhanced healing bots.

He leaned forward and looked in the mirror above the sink.

A soft curse exploded from his lips when he saw the black muck still clinging to him.

He looked like he had rolled in Crawler dung!

He looked at the area where he had attempted to clean some of the dirt off with the damp towel. It looked little better. There was a significant amount of swelling, and he could see that he had the beginnings of a black eye.

“Jana really hit you hard,” K-Nine observed, jumping up onto the bench against the back wall.

“You think?” Matrix growled. He pressed the injector against the bruised skin and injected the healing bots. “She nearly took my head clean off. If I hadn’t been distracted….”

Matrix’s voice faded as his mind conjured the image of creamy flesh displayed by the gaping towel.

K-Nine was right—Jana differed from any other female he had ever met.

The Wolfhound was also correct about life mates—a warrior knew when he met his future life mate.

There was an instant awareness that was missing with other females.

Zion warriors became very aggressive when confronted with their life mates. The need to possess and protect their females was a part of their genetics, from the days when they would invade other worlds, capture the females, and take them back to their home world.

And my partner wants me to live up to my ancestors' primitive tradition , he thought with a sardonic shake of his head.

One of them needed to keep a clear head. Even if he was sorely tempted to jump head-first into the insanity. And had already kissed that insanity.

Jana had curves he could actually hold on to and wrap his arms around without fear of breaking her in half. Her hair was the color of rich wood, and the glow in her eyes… Another soft curse escaped him when he felt his body harden.

“You like her,” K-Nine said, sniffing the air.

Matrix replaced the injector and closed the medical kit before turning around and leaning back against the sink. He folded his arms and glared back at K-Nine. He vaguely wondered how much heat he would get from their commanding officer if he requested a new partner when they got back.

“Forget it. General Ajax said we’re bonded for life,” K-Nine interjected before Matrix could voice his thoughts. “No one else wants either of us.”

“I only thought about it for a moment,” Matrix muttered before he lifted both hands and ran them through his hair. “We just met.”

“That has never stopped a Zion warrior from claiming his life mate,” K-Nine pointed out.

“She isn’t familiar with our ways. She is different,” Matrix growled, throwing his hands up in the air.

“You said that yourself. What am I supposed to do? Bed her and kidnap her? Something tells me she isn’t the type of female who is used to that type of treatment.

Galactic balls ! Until a couple of hours ago, I thought she was a criminal!

We should finish the mission and get out of here before it becomes more complicated. ”

“I have imprinted on her,” K-Nine stated quietly. “She is family.”

Matrix’s arms froze in the air as he stared at the wolfhound in disbelief. Imprinted… That meant that K-Nine wouldn’t leave Jana and the kittens behind—no matter what he told the wolfhound. Once a wolfhound imprinted, it was until death.

That was what had happened between the two of them.

Matrix had walked onto the training field where K-Nine was finishing up.

One trainer had decided that he needed to beat the wolf out of K-Nine.

Matrix had taken one look at the trainer beating a chained K-Nine, then walked over and knocked the man out.

By the end of the week, they had been matched as a team because K-Nine refused to work with anyone else.

“No,” Matrix growled and shook his head as he tried to fight against the inevitable.

“I told you that it was too dangerous to have a family! You know what our life is like. We are continuously on the move. We live in a small spaceship. We are constantly in danger. This would endanger our life mate as well.”

“Jana knocked you out—with a small wooden brush. She is fierce and loyal and has the heart of a wolf. I have chosen her as your life mate,” K-Nine stated, jumping down off the bench. “I’ll scan the perimeter. You? Wash up—you’ve got dirt in places I’d rather not mention.”

Matrix’s mouth snapped shut as he watched K-Nine disappear through the narrow opening.

Since when did he let anyone—much less a cyborg wolfhound—choose his life mate?

Turning, he gripped the sink before emitting a loud, frustrated growl.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror.

A grimace of distaste flashed across his face.

“I kissed her looking like this?” he asked himself in disgust before he bowed his head. “I should have left his mangy hide to the trainer. Everyone warned me to stay away from K-Nine. But no, I had to see what a Despairing Wolf hybrid looked like. When will I ever learn?”

Matrix stared into the polished mirror. That damn wolfhound had wrapped himself around Jana and those kittens like they were a litter of his own. And somehow… it didn’t bother him as much as it should have.

He looked at his dirty face in the mirror one more time before he pushed back and turned on his heel. He started stripping off his filthy clothes as he headed toward the rear of the transport, which housed the small sleeping and bathing areas.

He would take things one step at a time. They needed to find and destroy the Crawler. Then he would figure out what to do about the situation with Jana.

A soft groan filled the air as he stepped into the cleansing unit and waved his hand over the control panel to turn it on. He closed his eyes as he thought of Jana.

Steam curled through the compact shower unit. His breath fogged the control panel as he pressed his palm to the wall. Her face swam through the mist—wet hair, fierce eyes, flushed cheeks. He groaned as his body responded with all the subtlety of a missile launch.

A reluctant smile curved his lips, and his right hand moved down over his stomach to his suddenly stiff cock. He wasn’t surprised when he felt the taut bands swell with need. A shudder ran through him as he began moving his right hand up and down.

K-Nine was right. Jana was fierce. A strangled hiss escaped him as he came. His head fell forward, and he breathed deeply as the heavy mist surrounded him. He held his pulsing cock and shuddered.

“I am in trouble—deep, deep trouble,” he muttered, tilting his head back… but even as he said the words, a slow grin tugged at his lips.