Wulf and the Bounty Hunter

by Gail Koger

  Quinn scowled. “Billions of lives in exchange for a few psychics? It was a win-win situation for Central Command. Besides, with the Coletti warbirds circling overhead, they didn’t need us Sirens anymore. Or so they thought.”

  I smacked myself in the forehead. Goddess, was I gullible and naive. “Wulf is going to convert me, isn’t he?”

  My cousin watched Wulf for a moment with a feral gleam in his eyes. My warlord was still entering information into the computer. “It’s part of the process of you becoming his mate.”

  “Drinking his blood is also a part of the conversion?”

  “It is, but there is an upside to becoming Coletti,” Quinn added reluctantly.

  “Like?”

  “You’ll live a very long time, heal quickly, and have the ability to teleport.”

  I bared my teeth. “Do I get a swell pair of fangs too?”

  “Probably.”

  “You like sucking blood?”

  Quinn unexpectedly announced, “Your mother never stopped looking for you.”

  “What?” My heart began to pound.

  “She wants to meet you.”

  I had a mother? I have a mother.

  “Why are you upsetting Yakira?” Wulf shoved Quinn away from me.

  I grabbed Wulf’s arm. “Quinn said… He said…I have a mother. She’s alive. She wants…to…to…meet…me.” I was having trouble breathing. “Did you know?”

  Wulf wearily rubbed his forehead and nodded. “I tracked her down five years ago.”

  “What’s her name? Where is she?” My temper flared as I suddenly realized what he had just said. I punched him in the stomach. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Wulf took a firm hold on my shoulders. “Because I know you. As soon as you discovered your mother was alive, you would have done everything in your power to find her. Malik still has human allies in Earth’s Central Command. The minute you flew into their orbit, they would have taken you.”

  “Humans are helping Malik and the Tai-Kok?” Outrage and horror rolled through me. How could these traitors betray their own people to those monsters?

  “The traitors were giving the Tai-Kok the codes to shut down our planetary defense systems, allowing them to swoop in and slaughter thousands of people. The sick bastards consider human flesh a delicacy, and it sells for a fortune on their black market,” my cousin said with an expression of barely contained fury.

  A shudder shook me as screams echoed through my mind. I quickly pushed the memories away. “They did this for credits?”

  “They did.” Quinn’s voice was full of revulsion.

  “Did you kill them?”

  An unholy smile curved Wulf’s mouth. “After they attacked and tried to kill Voss’s mate, he had us leave the military traitors in an unarmed shuttle in Tai-Kok territory. We still search for their cohorts.”

  “I like the way he thinks.” I stared up at Wulf’s solemn amber eyes. “Tell me what you know about my mother.”

  “Her name is Eve. She’s lives on Earth in a place called Arizona. Once Malik is captured and we have exposed the remaining collaborators, I’ll take you to meet her.”

  “Promise?”

  Wulf stroked my cheek. “I give you my word.”

  “What about my real father?”

  “He died in battle a year after you were taken,” Wulf answered.

  “Oh.” Sorrow twisted my heart. I had no memory of him.

  “Your father’s name was Tom. He was a fighter pilot.” Quinn paused and pointed to his communications bracelet. “Would you like to see pictures of them?”

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Excitement raced through me, and I broke into the dance. Step. Step. Kick. Wiggle my butt. Step. Step. Kick. Wiggle my butt.

  Quinn stared at me in disbelief. “What is she doing?”

  “It’s her happy dance,” Wulf answered.

  “That’s a new one.” Quinn snagged my arm. “Hold on there. You don’t get to see the pictures until after our training session.”

  “What? That’s just mean.” I stamped my foot. “I want to see one now!”

  “Nope. Training first.” There was no compromise in Quinn’s voice.

  “Are you going to let him get away with that, Wulf?”

  “Yes. Think of it as an incentive.”

  “You’ve got a mean streak.”

  Wulf shrugged. “I’m Coletti. Go. Train.”

  I followed after Quinn. “I want copies.”

  “Depends on how well you do.” And without a lick of warning, Quinn attacked.

  Bam! A mental punch landed in my head. I staggered backward.

  Jab. Jab. Jab. Quinn kept raining blows on my mind.

  Pinpoints of light danced before my eyes. This wasn’t a training exercise. It was an all-out assault. Didn’t he realize I had no experience in psychic warfare?

  “Wulf can’t help you now. No one can. Get down on your knees and beg,” my cousin mocked, hurling a mental lightning bolt at me.

  I managed to get my shields up and block it. Beg? The word made my blood boil. The only one begging would be him. I fired off a mind blast.

  Quinn had the nerve to laugh. “That’s the best you’ve got?” He hammered at my shields. “Get on your knees and I’ll stop.”

  Out of sheer desperation, I copied Quinn’s lightning bolt and launched it at him. It bounced off his mental shields.

  “Malik’s going to mind-fuck you first and when you think it can’t get any worse, he’ll jam his snake so far up your ass, you’ll feel it in your throat,” my cousin taunted.

  My heart was pounding. My muscles trembled so badly I could barely stand, and it felt like my brain was on fire. A familiar female voice whispered in my head, “Never give up. Never accept defeat.” Images rushed through my dazed mind, and I suddenly knew what I had to do to win this fight.

  Buried deep inside me was a raw, untapped power. I touched it reverently. It had been there all this time, and I hadn’t noticed. How messed up was that? But, she knew it was there, and even better, she showed me how to use it. She was totally awesome.

  Quinn landed another blow. “On your knees.”

  Never. My cousin was going to get a lesson in humility. A torrent of power exploded from me and slammed into Quinn.

  His face a bleached-out mask of surprised agony, my cousin fell to his knees. “Not. Possible.”

  “You’ll find with me, anything is possible.” I pulled the communications bracelet off his wrist and linked with my mother. “Thank you.”

  Her love flooded my mind. “My precious daughter, I love you so very much. I count the days until we can be together again.” Ghostly lips pressed against my cheek. The link broke.

  “I love you too.” A blurry picture of a woman with red hair and green eyes suddenly materialized in my head. Along with the scent of roses.

  Chapter Eleven

  I wobbled onto the bridge. Every muscle, every bone in my body was screaming in protest. My poor brain throbbed, and those funny black dots were back. Psychic combat was incredibly hard. If my mother hadn’t helped, I would be the one on my knees, not Quinn. I guess technically it was cheating, but hey, the point was staying alive. Right?

  A concerned frown on his face, Wulf watched me totter toward him. He sat in the captain’s chair with an inborn air of authority. “No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t interfere, but no one said your mother couldn’t.”

  “You sneaky, wonderful male.” Goddess, I loved him.

  Wulf grinned, and I thought I caught a brief flash of relief in his eyes. “The Overlord left strict instructions. You have to learn to defend yourself mentally. He never said your mother was excluded from your training.”

  “I don’t think Quinn is going to appreciate the distinction.”

  “I promised you a chance to kick him in the balls.”

  “You did, and I did. Sort of. But now, I need your blood. A lot of it.”

  Wulf pulled me onto his lap and bit his wrist.

 
I sucked the blood down like a starving man. A sigh of relief broke from me as the pain faded away. “Quinn is a tyrant. I wanted to use my bionics to knock his sorry ass through the bulkhead, but then, there’s the whole space and airless vacuum thing.”

  “Wise decision.” Wulf wrapped his arms around me.

  I leaned against his chest and allowed the comforting warmth of his body to sink into my very soul. I was home.

  Wulf plucked Quinn’s communication bracelet from my hand. “I’ll download his pictures into your device.”

  “Thanks. You’re really handy to have around.”

  “I’m even better at smiting boogeymen.”

  Ugh. My trust issues were still bothering him. “No, you’re the best at kissing.” I wiggled in anticipation when my communications bracelet gave a ding. The pictures had transferred. Did I look like my mother? Would my two families get along? Would my bionics freak them out?

  “You worry too much. Your Earth family is eager to meet you.” Wulf quickly scrolled through a dozen pictures of my cousin in bed with several scantily clad females. He paused at photo that showed a well-endowed pleasure worker with a lizardlike tongue giving Quinn a blowjob.

  Oh, ick! That image was forever burned into my mind. I smacked Wulf’s hand when he continued to stare at the picture. “Quit drooling and move on.”

  “Yes, my lady.” He slid past a bevy of nude females cuddling Quinn.

  “Quinn has way too much free time.”

  “The Overlord gave your cousin ample opportunity to become accustomed to the changes in his body.”

  “And adjusting to his new male parts takes that much practice?”

  My warlord snorted in amusement. “Control can be an issue.”

  “I’ll bet.” The image of the red-haired woman in my dreams appeared. “That’s her! That’s her! She’s my mother, isn’t she?”

  “Yes.” Wulf slid his finger across the screen and enlarged the picture. “This is your mother.”

  I studied her. While my hair was copper colored and straight as a board, my mother’s was a curly auburn. Mom’s emerald-green eyes were a shade lighter than mine, and she had a smattering of freckles across her cheeks. Me? No freckles, but I did have her snub nose and pointy chin. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

  The pad of Wulf’s thumb brushed over my throat in a gentle caress. “Very. Her beauty rivals Detja’s.”

  “Aww. That’s so sweet. I’d kiss you if I could.”

  Wulf’s eyes widened in exaggerated horror. “Sweet? Warlords are never sweet.”

  “Oh. Right. It goes against the warlord’s code.”

  “Exactly.”

  I linked with Ziyad. “I found my mother, and I’ve got pictures of her too.”

  “I’ll be right there.” She zoomed up.

  “Me want see,” Bui cried, scrambling up my leg.

  Quinn rudely knocked Lothel aside as he stormed onto the bridge. “Wulf, you goddamned alien, do you think I’m a fucking moron? You had no right to interfere with my training session.”

  Ziyad licked her lips. “Please let me eat him.”

  Lothel’s hand dropped to his sword.

  “It’s a real shame Quinn wasn’t stillborn,” Colburn added, stepping off our small elevator.

  Resting his chin on my head, Wulf exhaled a long breath. “Doesn’t he realize he’s one of us goddamned aliens now?”

  “Apparently not.”

  “You cheated,” Quinn snarled.

  I snarled back. “Prove it.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think your mother had something to do with it.” My cousin shot Wulf a suspicious look.

  “Are you accusing Yakira of contacting Eve?” Wulf challenged. “She doesn’t have her mother’s brainwave pattern or her communication codes.”

  My cousin’s brows came together in a fierce line. “You do.”

  Yikes. I’d better put a stop to this, before they came to blows. I jumped in. “You call what happened a training session? It wasn’t, and you damn well know it. You hate me for some unknown reason, and this gave you the perfect opportunity to do a little ass kicking. Was it payback for me breaking your nose?”

  “My nose wasn’t broken.” Quinn scowled.

  “Then it was the two black eyes?”

  “I’m following the Overlord’s instructions.”

  “I find that hard to believe. Zarek knows I don’t have any psychic combat experience. You’re supposed to teach me how to fight. But that wasn’t your plan, was it? You treated me like I was one of Malik’s thugs. A thug you were determined to kill.”

  “What? Are you crazy? I wasn’t trying to kill you. You’re my cousin,” Quinn protested.

  “If that was your idea of cousinly love, I’ll give it a pass.”

  Out of the blue, Wolf declared, “You think Yakira should have found her way home.”

  “Her name is Kira. Not Yakira. For God’s sake, she had almost twenty years to figure out who she was and where she came from. Do you know how hard it was watching Eve grieve year after year?” Quinn punched the console. “It tore my heart out, but you never once contacted her.”

  “Are you kidding me? I was a traumatized three-year-old who came very close to dying. Halvor had the memories of my abduction blocked. Would you want a child to remember what it felt like to be eaten alive?”

  The color drained from Quinn’s face. “God, no.”

  “I think my mother forgives me not contacting her sooner,” I said harshly, my body trembling with rage.

  All the fight seemed to drain out of Quinn. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I was out of line.” My cousin’s gaze darted from Lothel to Ziyad to Wulf to Bui and then settled on me. “Do you accept my apology?”

  “Sure.” I slid off Wulf’s lap and punched Quinn right in the kisser.

  His head snapped back. “I said I was sorry.” He wiped the blood off his split lip. “You’ve got a nasty right hook.”

  “Bar fights are a great place to learn the art of fist fighting, and believe me, I’ve had a lot of practice.” I got in Quinn’s face. “The next time you attack me, I’ll do everything in my power to kill you.”

  He took a step back. “But we’re family.”

  “Then act like family.”

  Wulf stood up and stretched. “I need a good sparring session. How about you, Lothel?”

  “It has been a while,” Lothel said with an evil grin.

  Wariness flared in Quinn’s eyes. “Now?”

  “Now.” Lothel grabbed his left arm.

  “Your battle skills need some fine tuning,” Wulf added, grabbing Quinn’s right arm and hustling him off the bridge.

  Chapter Twelve

  God, I loved Wulf. I put the picture of my mother up on the big screen. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

  “Very,” Ziyad concurred. “You’re a mirror image of her.”

  “You think so?”

  “I do.”

  I hugged Colburn. “Our family is growing.”

  “It is,” he agreed, visibly relaxing. “Let’s hope not all of our cousins are like Quinn.”

  Bui asked, “Why she have spots?”

  “Those are called freckles.”

  The command screen beeped, announcing my search was completed. I opened the bounty hunter’s database. What fugitive are we going after? “Well. Well. Well. What do we have here?”

  Everyone gathered around the computer and stared at the image of a fat, hairy male with horns, pointy ears, and scraggly silver hair.

  “He funny-looking,” Bui said.

  Hideous was a better word. I read the suspect’s description. He was five feet tall and weighed three hundred pounds. Under species, it listed his father as Farin, and his mother was a friggin’ Yagga. How had that happened?

  “I bet his mother drugged the father. There’s no other way a snooty Farin gets in bed with a Yagga,” Ziyad commented.

  I nodded. “The Farins are fanatical about keeping their bloodline pure.”


  “Whoa! Look at that! There’s a five-million-credit bounty on his head,” Colburn exclaimed, rubbing his hands together.

  Ziyad smiled happily. “We can pay off the Overlord.”

  “Me get new leg.” Bui bounced up and down on my head. “New leg. New leg.”

  I laughed. “Yes, sweetie. You get a new leg. Let’s hope our fugitive isn’t a mass murderer like Gulog the Mad, or Wulf will freak out.”

  “He’s not.” Ziyad pointed to the screen. “The Alliance wants him for wrecking one of their battle cruisers, damaging three other ships and the dry dock facility.”

  Colburn chortled. “The idiot stole the cruiser out of dry dock before the repairs had been completed on the warp drive.”

  “To no one’s surprise, except maybe the suspect’s, the warp coil blew, turning the warship into a floating pile of scrap metal.” I hooted. Could anyone be this stupid?

  Bui danced on my head. “More. More. Tell more.”

  I picked up from where I had left off. “In a vain attempt to control the battle cruiser’s erratic flight path, the suspect sent it careening into the mooring structure, destroying it and knocking several cranes loose.” I was laughing so hard I had to stop reading again.

  “This is like something out of an action vid.” Colburn sniggered.

  I took a breath and continued, “The cranes smashed into three more Alliance ships before floating out into space. Oh Goddess, this is too weird to be true. The suspect then activated their fleet of service bots, hoping they would fix the wrecked ships before anyone discovered what had actually happened. The suspect’s programing skills were sadly lacking, and the bots made the damage much, much worse.”

  My brother asked, “What’s this genius’s name?”

  “Tol,” I supplied.

  Ziyad’s tentacles stood up in astonishment. “Tol is Dingle’s half brother.”

  Small universe. I studied the comment field and groaned. “Capturing him is going to be a little tougher than I thought.”

  “Why? We can take that twerp easily.” My brother the optimist.

  “Tol has taken refuge on the Haikan space station.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Colburn ran an aggravated hand over his battle braids. “Let’s find another bounty to hunt.”