She caught her balance and ran to the next door. The nameplate was blank. It opened and she slid through it before it opened completely, then scanned the luxuriously appointed quarters while it closed behind her. They appeared vacant.
Several deep couches in a smooth emerald leather sat around the room with strategically placed tables. A deep ivory carpet covered the living room ending at the kitchen area where the flooring changed to a light colored wood.
She moved through the quarters and checked out the two bedrooms. In both of them she opened the closet doors and breathed a sigh of relief when she found them empty. Gleefully, she pulled the blond wig from her head, tossed it to the floor of the closet, shook her head, and combed her fingers through the long strands.
Her stomach growled reminding her it was several days since she'd eaten. In the kitchen area, she studied the food processor, remembered what Madami Valan had shown her and began pushing buttons. A few seconds later, the door opened and a tray slid out. Standing at the counter she tasted the food and rolled her eyes in ecstasy as the unfamiliar flavors filled her mouth. She cleaned every crumb from the tray, and then placed it in the disposal unit.
Feeling better after eating, she showered again and this time she washed her hair too, and toweled it dry before she dropped onto the nearest bed. Her last thought before sleep took her was I made it.
***
"Commander Valanson, your sons are summoning you," the communications officer, Hugh Angusson, said as he swiveled around from his duty station.
Thorn Valanson frowned with impatience, then stalked to his chair on the bridge of his starship, the Invincible. His parents forced him to bring his sons, Dane and Devin, with him on this journey. The boys were five and harder to handle than a wet wolfen. Working together, they were slowly, but surely, destroying his command—just as their mother destroyed his life. Earlier, after finding them in engineering where he'd specifically forbidden them to explore, he'd confined them to his quarters.
He and his sons were strangers. After their birth and naming ceremony, he'd taken them to his parents, and left Zarronia on a three annual journey to explore the Almar Galaxy. One moon phase after he began his voyage their mother, Naline, was executed for her crime of treason against the Zarronians. The news of her death had been a relief and he'd sworn to never again trust a female or risk his heart.
He and his twin brother, Soren, grew up with Naline. She'd been the adopted daughter of their father's friend Hugh Elofson and he'd thought he'd known her. She'd been ravishingly beautiful but it had been a disguise hiding the treachery in her dark soul. After accepting him she'd used his family's position and wealth to gather information and purchase weapons for their enemy, the Wrothians.
As bad as her betrayal was for him, his suffering didn't compare to the concerns it raised for his people. The knowledge he'd impregnated her without a true bonding taking place had every scientist on the planet scrambling for an answer. The scientists eventually discovered the Zarronians use of ZL3 changed their DNA in ways they hadn't expected and there were now levels of the mating fever that plagued his race.
The first four levels depended on the females' DNA. At level one a female could share a warrior's fever but she couldn’t bond with him or have his sons. This was a female only a warrior on the verge of death would choose as fatherhood was coveted by every warrior. At level two a female could share a warrior's fever and carry his sons but the bonding did not take place. Level three was a weak bond although the female could take the warriors fever and carry his children. Most astonishing the mates could be away from each other for up to six moon phases without harm coming to either of them. Level four females were the most coveted as they were comparable to the old bonding between Zarronian warriors and females. The female could take a warrior's fever, bond with him and have his children, and they could be away from each other for one to two moon phases.
Level five occurred when a warrior with the right DNA, his DNA in fact, met a level five female, who the scientists called a True Mate. The female triggered an intense mating response in the warrior and the bonding was so strong the mates were unable to be without each other for more than two cycles. There were only three level five bonded couples on Zarronia.
Level six was the only ranking based solely on a warrior's DNA and it was a death sentence. The warrior could relieve his fever only with a level six female but one had never been found. Rumor had it there was at least one level six warrior on Zarronian.
Thorn was thankful Naline had been a level two and relieved him of the worst of the fever. The symptoms he suffered now were manageable and with any luck at all he'd never meet a level five female—his True Mate.
He pushed the dark thoughts away and activated the communicator, and sighed when Dane answered. Dane was the leader and anything he did, Devin did, as well.
"Father?" Dane's young voice sounded frightened and unsure.
"Yes, Dane."
"Father, we heard someone in the corridor. You said we were the only ones on this level." His voice was accusing.
"Our quarters are the only ones occupied, Dane," he told him, impatiently. "It was probably a maintenance worker."
"Oh. Are you returning soon?" he asked, casually.
Too casually, Thorn knew they were up to another one of their tricks. For a fleeting moment, he regretted the time he'd missed with his sons. He hadn't been present when they'd learned to walk or talk. For the last two annuals, he'd visited them only when his father forced him to do so. "Dane, I want you and Devin to begin preparing lunch. I'll be there in five minutes."
"Alright, Father." The communicator was deactivated from their end.
His parents wanted him to at least try to find a bondmate and provide a mother for Dane and Devin but he wasn't willing to do that. If they were tired of raising them, he'd hire someone to do it. Even Soren constantly harassed him about his sons. The last time he'd seen his brother they'd gone to the gymnasium for a friendly training session but Soren badgered him about his indifference towards Dane and Devin. Thorn ignored him, until Soren got frustrated and took a swing at him. He'd ducked the punch, and then tried to walk away. But, Soren hadn't let him. Their disagreement finally ended with both of them lying on the floor, exhausted and bloody.
Dag Cameronson, his first-in-command, approached him. "Those two still giving you hell, Thorn?"
"Yes. They're worse now than they were when the journey began." Thorn looked at him and realized Dag knew his sons better than he did as he was one of their mentors. He'd also stood by him when Naline was caught and he'd had been accused of conspiring with her. At first, Thorn refused to accept her betrayal. Only after he'd been proven innocent, and she'd been proven guilty, had he accepted the truth, and begun to hate her.
"Your sons remind me of you and Soren at that age," Dag said. "The two of you were constantly getting me into trouble."
One of Thorn's rare grins appeared on his face. "Not me, old friend. That was Soren."
Dag chuckled. It was an old joke between them. The brothers were both almost seven feet tall and massively built, with black hair and identical faces. Only their eyes were different. Thorn's eyes were a light grey while Soren's were the aqua color of their mother.
Since being assigned to the Invincible an annual ago, Dag noticed another difference. Thorn and Soren always adored females, and maintained several kourtisans between them. Now, when Thorn needed sex, he went to the fourth level of the starship where the pleasure-givers lived and paid for it. Wondering how to get his old friend back, Dag shook his head. "Dane and Dev are only five. You can't expect them to obey your orders like the warriors do."
"They also can't be allowed to ignore my orders." Rising, Thorn turned the bridge over to Dag and stalked away.
He ignored the warriors he passed as he strode to his quarters. Two identical faces turned to stare at him when he entered and sat down at the table. A glass of stinkgoat milk sat next to a food tray piled high with stinkgoat ch
eese. He detested the food they'd chosen for him and they knew it.
"Don't you like the food, Father?" Dane asked, as Devin leaned forward, eagerly awaiting his response.
"No. You must have gotten me confused with your Uncle Soren. He's the one who likes milk and cheese." He kept his voice calm, but was puzzled when he saw them frown. They glanced at each other, nodded in silent agreement, then gave him identical disappointed glares. What had they expected him to do? Throw them in the brig and torture them?
Sighing, he disposed of the food and prepared another tray. The three of them ate in silence until Dev mentioned the noise they'd heard in the corridor.
"What kind of noise was it?"
"A big thump. Like someone hit the wall." Dev's grey eyes widened with excitement as his overlong black hair fell into his eyes.
Absently, Thorn reached over and brushed the unruly lock of hair away. Dev always looked excited and disheveled, while Dane always appeared calm and well-groomed. Thorn looked into Dev's grey eyes then turned and looked into an identical pair of grey eyes. Until that moment it never occurred to him his sons were smaller versions of himself. In the past they'd only been a painful reminder of Naline's treachery. He watched them for a moment then asked, "What did you hear, Dane?"
Dane looked him square in the eyes. "The same sound Dev heard. It was a thump, as if someone fell against the wall. When I looked the corridor was empty."
"I'll check into it. Alright?" They both nodded. "Now, before I return to the bridge, I want to see the lessons you did this morning."
While they retrieved their tablets he cleared the table then checked the lessons in math and history he'd assigned earlier. Only a few of the answers were incorrect. He helped correct them, and then assigned enough to keep them busy for the rest of the cycle. Before he left he reminded them they were confined to their quarters. As soon as he arrived on the bridge Dag informed him all of the Earth females had been transferred aboard and escorted to their quarters.
"Good. I'll take command, now." He lowered himself into his chair and studied the chart his navigator, Ronan Hughson, handed him. He made a minor adjustment, then returned them to him. "Have the trade goods been transferred to the ship?"
"Yes, Commander."
Thorn nodded at his new security officer, Jarek Aulunson. The younger warrior was eager to please him, and ambitious. In a few more annuals, Thorn thought he'd earn his own starship to command. "Dag, inform the docking station we're ready to disengage."
Dag activated his communicator and spoke into it. "We're cleared to leave, Commander."
"Disengage." Thorn turned to Dag while the navigator and the pilot began the process. "I want to see how the new engines perform if we push them a little. Tell engineering to monitor them closely."
"Alright, Commander." Dag carried out the order, then took the vacant seat next to him.
Thorn slouched in his seat and allowed himself to brood. Lunch with his son's brought back a lot of bad memories. For annuals, the Zarronians knew a group of Wrothians were trying to regain control of the planet Zhang and release the Wrothian warriors who were imprisoned there. Those warriors were incarcerated for their war crimes against not only the Zarronians, but against the other inhabitants of the Xenti Galaxy. Over the annuals, many of them had been rehabilitated and freed. Only those warriors who refused to change had been left on the dark side of Zhang. Naline's father had been one of them and he'd managed to contact her and she'd willingly helped him. When she'd been caught, she smugly confessed to treason. Thorn wanted to resign his commission, but the Council refused to accept it. Instead, they'd given him command of his father's starship, the Invincible.
His thoughts were interrupted when Dag informed him they were ready to enter hyperspace. He nodded, and gave the order to begin the long journey home. In two moon phases, his life would return to normal. He'd take the first assignment the Council offered him but he'd leave Dane and Dev on Zarronia with a caretaker. Although he'd refuse any assignment that included returning to Earth.
He'd spent a moon phase on the strange blue planet. He knew his family hoped he'd meet a female and bond with her. It was the only reason his grandfather Eirik Dagson, the High Ruler of Zarronia, ordered him to accept this mission. Everywhere he and his warriors went the female inhabitants approached them and quite a few of his warriors ended up bonded. He'd adamantly refused their attempts at seduction, although being around them kept him in a constant state of arousal.
"Thank, Tor, that's over," Ronin Hughson said. "Another month on Earth and I would have ended up bonded to one of those long-legged beauties."
Thorn nodded, and shifted in his seat. The journey wasn't over yet and they had over ten-thousand Earth females on board. "You'd better stay away from the second level. Unlike Dag you haven't met your mate yet."
Dag smiled. "Lisa is all I've ever wanted in a mate."
"Have you set a date for the bonding ceremony?"
"We've decided to do it two moon phases after I return to Zarronia. I'd like you to be there, Thorn."
"I think I can manage to attend before I leave again."
"You could stay. The Council has offered to give you a post closer to home. Why don't you accept it for a while to see how it works out?"
"I can't, Dag."
"You have to stop blaming yourself for what she did," Dag said. "Sooner or later you're going to have to come home."
Thorn frowned. "Not yet."
Dag nodded and changed the subject. "If those Earth females ever find out about our mating fever and how susceptible we are we'll be in big trouble. Can you imagine what they'd do?" He laughed, then continued, "I've had nightmares about being abducted and held hostage until I'm forced to bond with one of them."
Ronan chuckled. "Sounds interesting to me."
"Yes. But, in the nightmare the female always starts out as a tall, leggy blond then turns into a four foot tall Witvian troll."
Thorn grinned and Ronan laughed.
"Now, that would be a real nightmare." Ronan settled onto a nearby seat. "I've spent most of my credits on the fourth level. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to choose a bondmate."
When Ronan and some of the other warriors began comparing the various talents of the pleasure-givers Thorn tuned them out. The mating fever they carried was a well-guarded secret. It began when a Zarronian warrior turned twenty, and grew stronger as he aged. By the time he was thirty-two he was forced to choose a female and share his fever with her or die as the fever grew in intensity. During his father's time, after the Wrothians attacked Zarronia and killed all of the Zarronian females, many warriors were unable to find compatible females, and died from the fever. His father and many other starship commanders had searched the Universe for mates and found the Wrothians and later the Earthlings. His mother Lia was a Wrothian.
Thinking about his parents reminded him his fever had grown worse during the last six moon phases. It increased whenever he visited his parents' quarters on the Invincible. The moment he entered he felt as if there was a scent lingering there that called to him. Between the unidentifiable scent and exposure to the Earth females he'd had to visit the pleasure givers frequently to keep his fever at a manageable level.
"Thorn?"
He returned his attention to the warriors around him. "Yes?"
"Which do you prefer? Blondes or redheads?"
"Neither."
Ronan cursed and Dag laughed. "You owe me five credits, Ronan."
Thorn's brow lifted in inquiry.
Dag slapped Ronan on the back. "I told him you preferred females with black hair but he didn't believe me. He's the one who insisted on the wager."
"But, every time I've seen you with a female, she's been a blond or a redhead," Ronan insisted. "The only black-haired female I ever saw you with was Naline."
Dag elbowed Ronan, drawing a grunt from him as Thorn stood up. "Dag, you have the bridge." The words were said harshly before he stalked away.
"Hell, Dag,
I'm sorry. I didn't think."
"It's alright, Ronan. Sooner or later, he's going to have to come to terms with the past."
"Are Dane and Dev making any progress with him?" Ronan asked.
"No. They're not any closer now than they were before the journey began."
"When's he going to wake up and realize his sons need him? If he doesn't do something soon, he's going to lose them forever." Ronan ran his hands over his face. "We're not doing enough as their mentors to make him see how he's harming them."
"I know but I don't know what else to do. We all thought this time together would improve matters but it's only made things worse. Even the boys are beginning to dislike him."
"Yes, and after all the time we spent telling them what a great warrior he is and trying to convince them he regretted not being with them."
"I still believe he regrets it. He just doesn't know what to do about it."
Look for Thorn's Bondmate in June 2015
Table of Contents
History
Glossary of Zarronian Terms
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Books by Mardi Maxwell
Excerpt from :Thorn’s Bondmate by Mardi Maxwell
Valan's Bondmate (Zarronian Warriors Book 1) Page 29