“How do you know that?” Treffon demanded.
Her gaze dropped to the ground. “Because I know where he was all night.”
“Even if you were guarding Voljaki’s room, he could have sneaked out,” Madok growled.
“No, I mean I was with Voljaki all night long,” she said defiantly, looking up again to meet her father’s gaze. “He is my true mate. I tried to deny it at first, because I knew that you would be likely to challenge him, and one of you would die. Even though we are not close, I do not wish your death. Or his.”
Madok’s face flushed dark with rage. “Yes, I knew he was your true mate. I can always sense these things. That is why I tried to keep her away from him,” he added, glancing at Treffon. “I did not want her to be tempted. Of course, I hoped she would be strong enough to deny her disgusting base desire for this…this traitor from a pack of traitors.”
At that, Voljaki snarled and lunged forward, but two guards grabbed his arms and restrained him. Violet got the impression that if Voljaki wanted to, he could have easily overpowered them, but he was holding himself back – just barely.
“That strange-smelling drink in your flask,” Treffon said. “You were drinking leerian weed to suppress the Var-hool, and you had disguised the scent somehow. That is why it smelled so odd.”
“It is true. But I can hold back my feelings no longer, and I will not allow him to be framed,” Zura said firmly. “He is my true mate, and I am his.”
“You could still walk away,” Madok argued. “Keep taking the leerian weed. Find a more suitable mate, someone from our pack…” He trailed off. Zura was shaking her head.
“You are dead to me,” he spat.
“I know.” There was an undercurrent of sadness in Zura’s voice.
Voljaki spoke up. “If she is not made to feel welcome here, then she can return with me to the Wor-Lan pack.”
“You’re not off the hook yet,” Madok snarled. He swung on his daughter, his face furious. “You are clearly lying to protect him. You have turned out to be nothing but a bitch in heat, a woman without honor.”
Voljaki let out a furious bark at the insult to his true mate, and shifted. In his rage, it was quick and ugly, and probably painful. His hands were paws by the time they hit the ground with a thump. His clothes all but exploded from his body as fur rolled down his spine, hackles raised. His mouth opened wide, rows of vicious teeth bursting forth as his jaws deformed into an enraged snarl.
The men who’d been holding his arms fell back.
“Change back!” Treffon shouted, and sent a wave of power at Voljaki. Violet felt it, and nearly fainted. Voljaki returned with an answering wave of almost equal strength; he must have some Reginar genes in him, she realized.
The two of them battled for maybe half a minute, and the men around them staggered back and clapped their hands over their ears. Finally, panting, Voljaki’s fur sank into his skin, and his bones cracked and reformed, and his tail shrank and vanished. He crouched on the ground, naked, in human form.
Treffon gestured at Tristao, who hurried over. “Voljaki and Zura will remain under guard while we investigate,” he said. “This is purely a precautionary measure; I do not believe that Zura would lie and betray our pack, even to protect her true mate. If we find that Voljaki is guilty, he will face death by combat,” Zura let out a threatening growl and her whole body covered in fur, but Treffon went on, “and if we find that he is innocent, then he will be free to go.”
Tristao nodded. “Sir, we should have the answer very soon. We installed security holos in the hallway outside your chambers. The person who entered your room was wearing a blur-suit, but we can retrace his steps. We will analyze the movements and location of every person in this castle and eliminate the suspects, one by one. By the end of the day, we will know.”
Reznik, who had been silent up until that moment, let out a shout of fury.
“Then I will die with honor!” he howled, and shifted.
He lunged through the air – at his sister.
Voljaki shifted in a flash, blocking Reznik. This time, when his true mate really needed his strength and protection, his transformation was much smoother. He turned in an almost balletic motion, transforming from man to wolf as he leaped, and intercepted Reznik’s desperate lunge.
Treffon did not interfere. Voljaki was fighting for his true mate, as was his right. And now that Reznik had just confessed, he was as good as dead anyway.
They became a snarling tangle of limbs and slavering jaws, Reznik’s reddish pelt making him look almost vulpine against Voljaki’s glossy black. And Reznik fought dirty. Instead of meeting the challenge beast to beast, his limbs and body lengthened, his rusty hair becoming sparse and pale skin showing through, and his paws lengthened into rudimentary clawed fingers. Still snapping and snarling like a wolf, he tried to use half-human hands to gouge at Voljaki’s eyes.
He was trying to take advantage of the strengths of both forms, but he was a fool. In this grotesque, half-shifted shape, he had neither the nimble dexterity of the man nor the sleek, savage power of the wolf.
Voljaki snapped at Reznik’s questing fingers, then went for his throat, biting down on his windpipe. Reznik half snarled, half sobbed, scrabbling at Voljaki’s jaws for a moment before the victorious wolf bit down, ending it.
Reznik’s half-shifted corpse lay on the floor, glassy-eyed and pallid, neither human nor wolf. His features were pushed out into a pale half-snout, his limbs looking oddly distorted and broken.
Treffon growled in disgust. It was not a noble end, but no worse than the cur had deserved.
Violet looked away and struggled not to vomit. The air stank of blood, and her heart hammered in her chest.
Zura stood with her fists clenched, tears streaming down her face, but she held her head high. Voljaki gave her a questioning glance, and she nodded her thanks and approval at him. “I had no choice,” Voljaki said to her.
“I know. You did well.” There was an undercurrent of grief in her words, but she looked at Voljaki with love. The moment he’d seen a threat to her, he’d done exactly what honor demanded – ended the threat.
Madok’s face was pale, and he stared at Voljaki with hatred radiating from every pore in his body.
“Wor-Lans,” he growled, and there was a world of contempt and disgust in that one word.
Voljaki turned to him. “Do you challenge my kill?”
Madok, instead of answering, spat on the ground and looked at Treffon. “First I lost my true mate to the Wor-Lans, and now both of my children. I am returning to my home and do not wish to be disturbed.”
Chapter Seventeen
A week went by, and all was quiet. The aliens at the resettlement center were getting along again. Madok spent most of the week on Earth working for Starcrossed, and when he came back, he was grim and silent, nodding in acknowledgement to Treffon and Violet without speaking to them. He completely ignored Zura and Voljaki, who hurried away whenever they saw him approaching.
Dorcas continued to clean up while playing poker, but Violet regularly made her give back most of her winnings. And Dorcas seemed to be getting especially close to Fife; the two of them spent all their time mooning at each other. Fife was an old warrior who’d been scarred in battle many times. He seemed to appreciate Dorcas’ feisty nature. He’d lost his pair-bond in the Population War.
Tristao took over the investigation into the attacks on Violet. They still hadn’t been able to discover the motives behind the attacks on Earth, but they had verified that Reznik was the one who’d planted the poison in Voljaki’s room and put poison in Violet’s shampoo.
Violet spent the days training with Zura, and hanging out with Allison and the Eeplings. Zura had to admit that training Violet to defend herself was pretty hopeless, but she tried her best. It wasn’t good enough. It was good exercise, though.
Violet continued to spend every night with Treffon, and it was getting harder and harder to imagine ever leaving him.
But on this particular morning, she knew she needed to do just that – for a couple of hours, anyway.
She was sitting in the parlor with Zura, Voljaki, Allison and Kroi, surrounded by stacks of paper samples and decorating books and trays of food. They were drinking punch and eating sweet cakes and planning Zura and Voljaki’s pair-bond ceremony, and Allison’s cub shower.
Treffon was pretending to be interested, but mostly just pacing back and forth.
“You don’t have to stay here while we do all this girly stuff. Go do some sparring,” she told him firmly. He was still worried about her safety, even with Reznik gone, and rarely left her side.
Treffon scowled. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not your true mate, because I wouldn’t want to be mated to a man who goes soft from lack of exercise.” She playfully punched his rock-hard abdomen. “Ouch,” she said reproachfully. “Did you eat cement for breakfast?”
He snorted. “Goes soft? It’s a good thing I’m not your true mate, because I’d be mated to a woman who is soft in the head.”
It had become a joke between them now, even though deep down it stung.
Honestly, she was touched that he was willing to forgo sparring just to stay by her side. She knew that he was about as eager to sit through the planning of a pair-bond ceremony as any Earth male would have been to sit through wedding planning – in other words, not at all.
And also, he was dying to go punch something. He hadn’t punched anything, or anyone, in days.
But he was more concerned about her safety than his own desires.
“Reznik is dead,” she pointed out. “The threat is gone.”
“I am not entirely at ease,” Treffon said, a scowl creasing his handsome brow. “The investigation is still ongoing, and we have unanswered questions.”
“We may never know all the answers,” Zura pointed out. “I will be with her, and so will Voljaki. You know that if anyone were to try anything, I would separate their head from their body.” She bared her teeth in a frightening grin, and her fangs descended for a brief moment.
Violet suppressed a shudder. She’d hate to be on Zura’s bad side.
“Also,” Zura added, “you are most annoying when you do not train regularly. You become irritable and snappish. Well, you have not done that yet today, but you soon will. So please, go. Now.”
“Very well, but please remain vigilant,” Treffon said with a worried frown. He glanced at Violet. “Or perhaps you could come with me and watch me train?”
“Go, you big lug!”
He kissed her lips gently. “I assume that lug is an earth term for handsome, charming, brave, devastatingly sexy warrior.”
Violet snorted. “Yeah, it means all of that.”
He winked at her and left the room.
As soon as he was gone, Violet missed him. It was like some important part of her insides had gone with him. She forced herself to join in the cheerful chatter with the two couples.
“She’s really going to enjoy the…” Allison was saying to Kroi.
“Merjaji ceremony? Yes, I know,” Kroi finished her sentence for her. Allison glanced at Violet. “That happens after the pair-bond exchange vows, and the couple go into the ceremonial mating hut, and they…”
“...are not allowed to leave for three hours,” Kroi finished her sentence again, and Allison giggled.
“You two still seem to be in the throes of the Var-hool,” Zura said to Allison. “So how long has it been?”
“Almost four months.” Allison glanced at Kroi, who trailed his fingers along her arm. “We still can’t keep our hands off each other.”
“And some day, I will be worthy of my Allison.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Allison looked at him in bewilderment.
“I have failed as a warrior. But I will be stronger. I swear.”
Allison seized his hand in hers. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”
“Four months,” Voljaki said to Zura with a smile. “I think the Var-hool will never end for us.”
Zura and Voljaki were holding hands, and they were practically glowing with happiness.
Violet forced a smile, but she felt a stab of envy that lanced all the way through her heart.
She hated feeling that way. She was truly happy for both couples for finding their true mates.
She watched Voljaki grab a bottle of water and hand it to Zura, as if he could sense that she was thirsty. As they flipped through books of pictures of feast-cakes, Voljaki and Zura teased each other about their choices.
“That cake has so many flowers on it! Are you sure you are not a little girl?” Zura’s mouth curled into a smile and her eyes gleamed with humor.
“I believe I proved to you just this morning that I am quite male. But say something like that again, and I will be forced to prove myself one more time…right here on the table.”
“Ha! If you even try I will…”
“No, that move will not work,” Voljaki interrupted before Zura even finished her threat. “Who have you been sparring with? The cub class?”
They were like puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. It was maddening that she felt that way about Treffon – like he was her other half. He was her person, the one she was meant to be with.
But he didn’t feel that way about her.
Oh, he seemed to care about her. A lot. He was obviously wildly attracted to her – he couldn’t keep his hands off her. Or his mouth. Or his dick. And she loved it; he made her feel beautiful and desired, all the time.
But he’d said that she wasn’t his true mate. He wouldn’t lie to her about that. No Vulfan would lie about their true mate.
Allison and Kroi giggled at something unspoken. They kept in constant physical contact, stroking each other, gazing into each other’s eyes.
Violet wanted that. She wanted Treffon to feel that way about her. The fact that he didn’t was like a constant black cloud hovering over her.
Could she ever settle for anything less?
Glancing over at Allison and Zura, she felt resolve form inside her.
If she wasn’t Treffon’s true mate…she needed to leave. It would tear her heart in two, but staying here on this world and always feeling like an imposter would hurt even worse.
And what if, heaven forbid, she formed a pair bond with Treffon and then his real true mate showed up? What a nightmare that would be. The thought made her physically ill. He claimed that his true mate must be dead, but he had no way of knowing that.
No, there was no way around it.
She stood up and accidentally-on-purpose spilled a cup of sticky juice on herself. “Will you look at that,” she said. “I need to take a shower and change my clothes now.”
Zura, ever protective, insisted on walking her back to her room, and she promised to call her on her comm as soon as she was done.
Dorcas and the Eeplings were in the room where Violet had slept up until she’d moved in with Treffon. Dorcas was babysitting them for Allison, so Allison could help Zura with the wedding planning.
“I may need to leave,” Violet told Dorcas. “This thing with Treffon…if he’s not my true mate, I can’t stay.” She bit her lip. “Is Fife your true mate?”
“Fife? Oh, good heavens, no. He’s a lot of fun, I enjoy his company, but my late husband was my other half.” Dorcas stood up with a sigh. “If you’re going, I’m going.”
Violet called Madok on her comm. “I have an urgent question for you,” she said. “Can you meet me out by the landing pad?”
She already had an idea what he was going to tell her, and if she was right, she needed to leave at once.
The Eeplings followed her and Dorcas, waving their little wooden sticks around and eeping all the way.
Madok strode up to her, his face blank and expressionless.
“I’m really sorry to bother you at a time like this,” she said to him.
“A time like what?” He raised an e
yebrow.
He was just like his late brother, Treffon’s father, she thought. Brutally hard-hearted, even when it came to his family.
She forged ahead. “I have a really important question to ask you. I’ve been told that you can always tell when a pair are true mates. Am I Treffon’s true mate, or not? Because if not, I want to leave now. I won’t have the strength to say goodbye to him.”
Madok looked at her, his face grim. “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head.
Chapter Eighteen
“Oh no,” Zura said, dropping the book of cloth samples. Her face went pale as she read the message on her comm bracelet. She leaped to her feet.
“What? What’s wrong?” Voljaki was instantly alert. “Where is your friend? Has she been harmed?”
“No, she’s leaving. She’s having my father fly her to the Starcrossed tower to have her memory wiped, and then she’s returning to Earth.”
“No way! Why would she do that?” Allison cried out in dismay.
“She doesn’t want to be with Treffon if she’s not his true mate.”
Voljaki frowned. “I know that you have said he believes he is not her true mate, but I think he is wrong.”
Zura stared at him in shock. “That cannot be. When has a Vulfan ever failed to recognize their true mate?”
Voljaki shook his head. “Your cousin is no ordinary Vulfan. He has subjected himself to brutal extremes of abuse and self-denial for nearly a hundred years. And the savage training of his father taught him to deny his feelings, his wants, his desires.”
“You know, he really does act like he’s her true mate,” Allison suggested. “He anticipates what she wants. He’s completely in tune with her needs and desires. He’s totally crazy about her; he only really seems happy when he’s with her. And the same with her – she seems to know what he’s thinking and feeling. Could she do that if they weren’t true mates?”
It hit Zura like a photon blast. How could she have missed it? When Treffon had stopped feeling the connection to his true mate years ago, it wasn’t because she was dead – it was because he was nearly dead, inside.
The Vulfan's Dark Desires (Starcrossed Dating Agency Book 3) Page 11