Page 17

I sniffed and turned my head away, but I couldn’t stay mad at him—not exactly.

I wasn’t sure why. I wanted to hear what he had to say, and it wasn’t just because he was so big and so good looking, and he was sitting there looking at me with those beautiful, jade green eyes, though that was probably a big part of it.

“Well go ahead then. Try to explain it to me, if you can.”

“The king of Thalios only had a vetami egg in the first place because his father, who used to live on Horvath, left here long ago with some breeding pairs of the animals. He shouldn’t have, and he knew it, though it wasn’t strictly illegal at the time.

He took the vetamis to Thalios, when he married their queen, and he bred the Golden vetami.

Vetamis are usually red or green. We’d like to know how long this has been going on, and if there are more Goldens like this one.

We’ve asked the Axis leader, King Davos, to open an investigation into it. ”

“I see. And you must see that my father would have had no way of knowing any of this.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sure we can exonerate him completely, though that will be up to King Davos.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem then. And my father paid a lot for this egg, you know. Will you give him his money back?”

“I don’t have his money. He’ll need to take that up with the Thalian king. Or Davos.”

“Oh. I suppose you’re right. I’ll talk to my grandfather about it.”

He gave me a puzzled look. “And what does your grandfather have to do with any of this?”

I looked at him oddly. “My grandfather is King Davos, of course.”

He fell back in his chair like he was thunderstruck.

“W-what did you say? What are you talking about?”

“Davos is my grandfather on my omak’s side. My omak is Prince Vannos of Tygeria, son of King Davos. Didn’t you know that?”

“No, I certainly did not.”

“Oh. Well, he is. So, we should be able to get that King Travon to give my father his money back.”

He was still just sitting there staring at me, like he was in shock.

“Why are you staring at me that way?”

“It’s…a huge surprise. I had no idea.”

“You never asked.”

“Listen Rylan, this might be a good time to tell you something really important. About why I reacted so strongly when I first met you.”

“Because you believed I was a thief?”

“No. Well, yes, but that’s not it. There’s another, bigger reason I reacted to you the way I did.” He blew out a long sigh and scrubbed his face with his hand. “Gods, I can’t believe any of this is happening.”

“Just tell me.”

He took my hand in his and looked deeply into my eyes. “Have you ever heard of the Lycan mating bond?”

I just stared incredulously at him then, because everyone who had ever dealt with Lycans had heard of that.

My uncle Anarr had been caught up in that craziness when he first met his husband, Renard Dimitru, a former Lycan general.

Oddly enough, Anarr had also been arrested by that same general the very first time they met.

Just like I had been arrested by this one.

I pulled my hand away. “Are you trying to say…did you feel that? For me?”

He leaned forward and put a hand on my arm. “Yes, Rylan, I did. I do. It made me a little excited, I’m afraid.”

“A little excited?” I sat up straight and pointed my finger at him. “You were totally crazy and out of control, and I didn’t do anything! ”

“Well, you did pull that disruptor on me.”

“Totally deserved!”

“And you tried to shoot me.”

“I-I didn’t! I mean, yes, I did fire it, but that was an accident. And you called me a thief!”

“I thought you were at the time. You refused to explain anything.”

“I didn’t refuse. Not exactly. You didn’t give me much chance to tell you anything. I just didn’t understand what was happening. Though I suppose it might have been wrong of me to pull that disruptor out.”

“Might have been? You could have killed me.”

I sat there for a moment, still fuming as I went back over all that had happened that day. It was still a bit of a blur. “But I had reasons.”

“I know.”

“Is my crew all right? Did you hurt them?”

“No, they’re fine and they’re all back home safely now. They didn’t want to leave you behind.”

“Of course not. You can’t blame them.”

“I know.”

I sat for a few seconds longer, trying to figure all this out in my head.

It was difficult, because he was holding my hand again somehow and gazing at me with those beautiful green eyes.

And I wasn’t objecting. Anarr always said the mating bond went both ways.

He’d told my omak-ahn, Blake, that he had probably fallen in love with Renard right away too, but Renard had been such an ass to him that he hadn’t let on right away.

He’d been in denial in a way. Still, Blake was human and didn’t understand such things at all.

He and my uncle Renard had never really become friends, even though he and Anarr were very happily married now and had been for years.

I looked over at General Fortina and I totally understood what Anarr had meant, because he was an ass too.

But he was a handsome ass. He’d been kind to me, all things considered, and he smelled wonderful to me, gods help me.

All Lycans were pretty much the same, though they didn’t like to admit it.

Even from planet to planet they claimed differences, but Lycans were all a little crazy.

Everyone said so. Horvath was the same as the planets of Lycanus, really, though none of them would admit it. Typical Lycan behavior.

I stirred restlessly in my chair. “So, explain what you’re saying exactly, and tell me the truth. Do you have this mating bond thing for me?”

“Yes, Rylan. I do.”

“You could have just talked to me, you know. Just told me what was going on.”

“Yes, I know. I should have. Can you forgive me for not doing that? I didn’t fully understand myself and I was upset. I’m really sorry. You wouldn’t have been hurt if I hadn’t taken you onboard my ship.”

“That’s very true. You really do have a lot to make up to me.”

He nodded, looking down at my hand that he was still holding.

“I know. I’d like a chance to try, if you’ll give it to me.”

“Well then…what are you going to do about it?”

He looked up in surprise and stared at me for a moment.

“Well?”

“I-I’d like to make an offer for you to your father, if you’ll agree. I mean, I’m going to. If you say yes.”

“What does that mean, make an offer for me?”

“Ask your father for a marriage contract on you.”

It was my turn to look surprised. I barely knew him, but that was often the way with royalty and arranged marriages.

There had been talk of arranging one for me for a couple of years now, though nothing seriously.

An arranged marriage was sort of what this was like, in a way, I supposed.

In an odd kind of way. And then there was the fact that I was wildly attracted to him.

“I have to tell you, though,” he said, as I hesitated. “I don’t think I’ll be able to take no for an answer. If your father refuses, that is.”

“Why are you trying to ruin this for me?”

“I’m not. I just wanted you to know this bond is really strong. If your father denies my offer, I’ll-I’ll just…” He lowered his head and mumbled something under his breath.

“What was that? What did you say there at the end?”

He looked up and shrugged. “I’d keep you here anyway.”

I think my mouth must have fallen open. Was he serious? It seemed as if he was.

“Oh really? You will, huh? Just keep me anyway, like some kind of puppy.”

He blinked at me a few times. “Maybe. I’m not sure what that is.”

“You’d just keep me without benefit of marriage? Is that what you think of me?”

“I couldn’t possibly think more highly of you, Rylan. Surely you know that. And I’d still marry you regardless.”

“Regardless of what I say ?”

His shoulders slumped. “I really hope it doesn’t come to that. But I don’t think it would make much difference what you say, to tell the truth. That’s how strong this mate bond is.”

“I see. So, in your mind, this is pretty much a done deal?”

“A what?”

“A thing that has already been decided before those of us affected by it even hear about it, leaving us with no option whatsoever but to just fucking accept it! Even though I barely know you at all.”

“Oh.” He seemed to think about it and then nodded. “Yes, that does sound like it.”

“And you’re not bothered by that? That I wouldn’t want to be with you?”

“Of course it bothers me, but I really have no choice either. If that were the case, then I’d have to do everything in my power to change your mind.

To get you to agree. This was a ‘done deal,’ as you say, the moment I touched you in that warehouse on Lycanus 3.

You’re mine, Rylan, and nothing can change that for me.

Nothing. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. ”

A loud knock came on the door before I could make any kind of stunned reply, and the general turned a furious face toward it. “Go away,” he called out. “I’m busy now.”

I laughed at his frustrated expression, and the little dragon in my lap, who had been sitting quietly, laughed when I did. He was mirroring me, and it was so cute that I couldn’t help but hug him again.

“And you,” the Marshal General said reprovingly to the little creature. “You’re not helping much, you know.”

A sharp knock came on the door again, and when the Marshal General called out for whoever it was to “Come the hell in, damn you and stop pounding on that door!” The door opened to reveal two men—a tall, thin, older one with a full gray beard and severe features, and a younger man, tall, with a long nose, and the short, pale blond hair so many of the Horvathians seemed to have.

“Marshal General Fortina, my name is Colonel Bentine, and this is Lieutenant Mythe. We’ve come to pick up the vetami hatchling. Lt. Mythe is considering taking him on as his trainer.”

“Oh. Yes, all right. May I present Prince Rylan of Moravia.”