Chapter 3

3

M ikos, Battleship Karter, Sector 437

"How is he doing, Doctor?" A deep, commanding voice spoke softly. Had I not been fighting my way to consciousness to protect my female, I would not have heard a single word of the conversation flowing around me. She was here, somewhere. Hurt. I could sense her. Smell her. Alive. She was alive and had been injured. She was probably in pain. She needed me.

"Honestly, I don't know how he made it back to the ship." The doctor's voice was female and confused. "I grew up hearing stories about our Forsian cousins, but I've never seen anything like this. He should have been dead before ReCon found him. Giving Breanna his essence further strained his system. Although, it did save her life." Her deep sigh implied she did not approve of my choice. I didn't fucking care. I'd do it again a thousand times over.

The doctor called me cousin. She must be an Atlan female. Astra Legion's spies kept tabs on all the senior officers in Battlegroup Karter. The only Atlan female on board serving in Battlegroup Karter's medical staff was Doctor Moor. Her mate was a respected, high-ranking Warlord. I allowed some of the tension to leave my body. As an Atlan, she would know I had chosen a mate. She would understand what Breanna Parks meant to me and keep her safe.

"Why did he bite me?"

My pulse pounded. That voice belonged to my mate. Was she healed?

"Oh, no. You woke him up. Look at those vitals." Doctor Moor walked over to stand next to the ReGen pod and looked down through the translucent lid, right into my wide-open eyes. She shook her head. "You're not supposed to be awake for another fourteen hours, friend."

Another fourteen hours? "How long?"

She sighed and checked the display screen on the side of my pod, her long, dark hair temporarily obscured my view of her face. "Nine hours and seventeen minutes. Not long enough."

I lifted my hand and pressed my palm flat against the transparent cover. "Release me."

The doctor titled her head and stared at me for what felt like hours, her dark eyes considering. I said the one word necessary for her to understand exactly how serious I was about getting the fuck out of this pod. "Mate."

"All right. Don't break anything." She turned to speak to someone over her shoulder. "Better get the commander down here. We're about to have a situation."

I assumed she was speaking about Commander Karter, although I couldn't be sure. I was in his sector of space when I'd been captured by the Hive. I didn't believe they'd taken me far. Doctor Moor's presence provided further confirmation of my location.

The doctor deactivated the healing pod. The moment the energy ceased flowing to my battered body, a fog of pain engulfed me. Nothing like before, but enough that I recognized the truth of the doctor's words. I needed more time to heal.

Time I did not have, not with my mate unprotected and possibly suffering the ill-effects of my bite. I wasn't sure how long it would take the poison of my hybrid essence to affect her, but I knew it wouldn't be long, especially if I had already been unconscious for at least nine hours since injecting her.

The moment the lid fully retracted, I swung my legs over the side of the ReGen Pod's small bed and stood to find four humans and the doctor staring at me like I'd grown two heads. The doctor stood between me and the humans and handed me a pair of pants in medical green. I would not complain. Green was Astra Legion's color, and I didn't want to stand here naked in case I couldn't control my body's reaction to the female. My female. "I am Mikos of Astra Legion." Partially clothed, I stepped around the doctor to face the humans.

"Fangs pretty much gave you away." The male who spoke stood in front of Henry and Breanna, the front leg of a human tripod. I recognized him as the captain who came into my cell right before I lost consciousness. Another male I did not recognize stood, fully armed and watching me, near the door. He was large, for a human, his stance that of an experienced fighter. His skin looked pale, sickly, and his head was a strange red I had never seen before. Not surprising, as I had not met many humans. I spoke to their leader.

"I require transport to Zenith immediately, with Breanna Parks."

"Not happening." The male standing between me and my mate crossed his arms over his chest, completely unaffected by my demand. I noted the captain's insignia on his uniform, as well as the mark designation for ReCon, team Three. Once more grateful for Astra's intelligence network, I knew I spoke to Breanna's commanding officer, Captain Seth Mills of Earth.

"Captain Mills, I must take Breanna Parks to Rogue 5 immediately. Her life is in danger."

"What are you talking about? I feel fine. Thanks to you." Breanna pointed at the ReGen pod behind me. "And a few hours in a pod."

"My bite healed your flesh, but over time, my essence is lethal. The antidote is on Rogue 5. This is not the right time in our orbital cycle for transport. We will need to travel by ship and leave at once." I ignored everyone in the room but the female I needed to convince. I would remove her from this ship by force, if necessary, and kill anyone who tried to stop me. Although, in my weakened condition, I could not be sure of my success. I did not know how many Atlan Warlords might be on board, nor how quickly they would mount an organized defense. Far better to reason with her, if possible.

If not? It was a good day to die.

"Antidote? For what? I looked you guys up. Guys from Roge 5 bite their mates all the time. Their essence is healing, not poisonous." Breanna looked at me with wide eyes as if confused to be explaining Hyperion physiology to me.

"I am a hybrid, a son of Rogue 5. My unique Forsian ancestry makes my bite deadly. I am not a doctor. I do not understand why, but I am telling you the truth, female. You will survive only a few days without the antidote. We must leave at once." Telling everyone the truth about my Forsian brothers and myself was a calculated risk. Astra kept our condition quiet, a weakness our enemies need not know about lest they discover a way to use the knowledge against us, make Astra Legion weak, eliminate the group of Forsians who gave our leader such power.

Before we acquired the antidote, revealing our secrets to the entire Coalition Fleet would have been unthinkable. It was our understanding that a select few inside their Intelligence Core knew of our condition, perhaps even contributed to the creation of the antidote. Still, the weakness was not common knowledge.

Everyone on Rogue 5 believed the Forsians in Astra Legion to be unpredictable and easily bored when it came to fucking females. Few knew the true reason we never claimed mates.

Now that my Forsian friend, Zenos, met and claimed a human female who had offered the antidote to Astra Legion in trade for vengeance, everything was different. We had a cure. A solution to the poison dripping from my fangs. I could save Breanna's life. If they allowed her to come with me. If she agreed to come with me.

If she refused, I would toss her over my shoulder and carry her off this ship. I could not allow my mate to die a slow, painful death.

Her dark brown eyes, when she looked at me, showed no trace of fear, only curiosity. "If your essence is poisonous, why did you bite me?"

Breanna

"I bit you to save your life." The huge Forsian snarled and bared his fangs at me. Did he want to kill me, or bite me again? I honestly couldn't tell. I barely remembered the first bite, just a feeling of warm euphoria. I'd attributed that to the fact that I was literally dying. That's what dying was supposed to be like, right? First you feel cold, then warm, then…nothing?

I did all that, but then I woke up in a ReGen pod completely healed and so horny a whisper of air across my skin could have set off an orgasm. Whatever was in his bite was dangerous, capital D, because that had been hours ago and my breasts were still heavy, the nipples overly sensitized. My skin was warm, as if I'd sunken into a nice bath. And downtown? My pussy was so swollen and wet I had to force myself to concentrate enough to speak. The brief glimpse of his massive cock and rock-hard thighs hadn't helped my situation. Even now, I was talking to him while staring at his chest.

The urge to nuzzle into him, nibble and taste, draw the scent of him deep into my lungs was so strong, so urgent, I took a step forward before I realized what I was doing. Captain Mill's arm shot out to stop me, like a protective parent trying to keep me from swaying forward in the passenger seat of a car.

I was pretty sure this was one car wreck no one was going to be able to stop. Could I die from being too horny? Was that what their hybrid bite did? Make the body overheat to the point of spontaneous combustion? Because I was getting damn close.

Those shoulders. God. I had no idea muscles could have muscles. Why did the doctor give him those stupid green pants? Was she trying to torment me?

"Doctor, what is he talking about?" Captain Mills turned his head to address the tall Atlan female, who shook her head.

"I have done a search. There is one entry on the subject, but the data is protected by I.C. encryption codes. I can't access the files." Her frown seemed genuinely confused and I glanced from her to the fanged giant staring at me, his expression completely unreadable as he spoke.

"That is because the condition is kept secret. If all of Rogue 5 knew of the Forsian weakness, Astra Legion would be at risk." His gaze bored into me like twin lasers and made my heartbeat gallop like a racehorse in my chest. "I tell you now to save Breanna's life, as she saved mine."

"So, the stuff you injected into me saved my life in the moment. But now, because you bit me, I'm slowly dying anyway?"

"Yes."

I shook my head. This made no sense. It would be a complete lie if I told myself having Captain Mills, Henry, and Lieutenant Collins in the room—all of us fully armed—made me feel safer.

If this guy wanted to get to me, none of us would be able to stop him. He'd been intimidating in his prisoner's cell on the Hive ship, covered in blood, shackled with chains, and looking mostly dead. The doctor said he wasn't fully recovered, that he needed hours more in the ReGen pod. But damn, if he was weak, he didn't show it. The blood was gone, leaving gleaming skin across the widest chest and shoulders I'd ever seen. He wasn't just a large alien, he was monster sized. Like an Atlan beast, without being in beast mode. There was zero confusion and zero wildness in his eyes.

He was fully aware, fully conscious, present.

Dangerous. That's what he was.

I wanted one.

Screw that. I wanted him. Naked. Taking me up against the wall. On the floor. From behind. Any way I could have him, as long as his cock was rock hard and buried deep. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Imagining him taking me. Fucking me. Filling me. Making me his. The images rolled through my mind like I was watching a pornographic film with us on the screen. I couldn't make it stop. Didn't want to.

"Jesus." The softly spoken curse slipped over my lips right before I licked them. His gaze followed the movement with an intensity that made my pussy clench. I felt empty. Desperate. On edge.

What the hell was going on? What did he do to me?

Doctor Moor stepped between us, breaking the spell. I blinked and stared at the wall. My feet. Anywhere but at him. "I thoroughly scanned Breanna when I took her out of the ReGen pod. All her scans were normal."

Mikos shook his head as if frustrated and trying to explain algebra to a first grader. "How many hours has she been out of the pod?"

"Two or three. Not long," I answered.

"Scan her again."

The doctor lifted a ReGen wand and stepped around Captain Mills to reach me. Within moments of the blue-green light activating, she moved the scanner from forehead to thighs and back again, a frown taking over her pretty face. "This is… I don't understand. This shouldn't be happening."

"What? What's wrong?" I felt fine. Based on my animalistic attraction to Mikos, better than fine.

"There are toxins in your blood I've never seen before."

"I feel fine."

She was ignoring me now, in full doctor mode. She walked to one of her control panels and started going through screen after screen of data faster than I could track, let alone have any hope of reading. I wasn't a medical person anyway. Might as well be trying to read Greek. After a few tense moments of silence, Doctor Moor stood up and offered me a weak smile that did nothing to make me feel less like I was dying. "I've sent a message to Doctor Surnen on The Colony. There is a note here that he signed regarding someone from Rogue 5." Her gaze darted to Mikos. "Makarios of Kronos Legion? Is he a Forsian hybrid? Like you?"

Mikos nodded. "He is. He was the first of us to acquire the antidote."

"Too bad he disappeared." The doctor mused out loud like the only person in the Coalition Fleet with the antidote going missing was no big deal.

"What do you mean, he disappeared?" I'd been on this battleship for almost three years, been on more missions than I wanted to remember. Why had I never heard about any of this?

Doctor Moor read directly off a screen. "Makarios of Kronos Legion claimed Gwendolyn Fernandez was his mate. They vanished." The doctor chuckled. "Looks like Helion's been hunting them for a long time." She glanced over her shoulder with a grin. "She's human. Like you." Her attention returned to the screen. "There is a large quantity of redacted material here. I wish I could tell you more." She chuckled. "Sneaky bunch, you humans. Have a talent for finding trouble."

We did? Trouble? Like being bitten by a Forsian hybrid? Did that count?

"If I can't get answers from Doctor Surnen, I'll have to go straight to I.C. Command." She blinked too quickly, her gaze darting back to her screens like she fought a compulsion to get back to her unfinished puzzle. "That might take a few days, depending on Mersan's mood."

"What about Helion?" Captain Mills asked. Commander Helion was the most notorious asshole in the Coalition Fleet, and the head of the Intelligence Core. Even I knew that.

"He retired. Well, mostly. He's on Prillon Prime now with his new mate. Doctor Mersan took over his position as head of the I.C. Don't worry, Mersan should have what we need."

What was so secretive about the Forsian bite that the Intelligence Core felt the need to encrypt the data in the first place?

Maybe the bite injected a love potion. A brain-washing aphrodisiac that would turn any woman into a crazed sex-fiend willing to do anything to get some skin-on-skin action and a few orgasms. I wasn't even looking at him, but I would swear I could still smell him, a mixture of something like pine, spices, and man. Hot, musky, powerful, man.

Alien. Whatever. He smelled like sex, and orgasms, and…safety. Protection. Power.

Or maybe I was just going crazy, having a strange reaction. Maybe almost dying made me need to feel alive. At the moment, I couldn't think of any better way to accomplish that than to take Mikos of Astra Legion for a nice, long ride.

"We do not have time for the Coalition's political games, Doctor. I speak the truth. The essence injected is deadly. Many males have watched their mates die an unspeakably horrifying, painful death. I would never have injected my essence into the female had she not been dying. The risk is too great. But what's done is done. Breanna Parks is alive. To remain so, she must come with me to Rogue 5 immediately." Mikos's deep voice was monotone, devoid of all emotion. It was like he was reading a script.

"How long does she have?" Henry spoke for the first time, his weapon sliding back into its holster. "How long before whatever you injected starts killing her?"

I froze like a deer in headlights when Mikos's gaze focused on me once more. "I do not know. You stopped me before I could give her everything I had to heal her."

"Sorry about that." Henry didn't sound sorry. Not at all.

Mikos snorted as if he didn't believe Henry's pathetic attempt at an apology either. "Be grateful she survived. Had she not, I would have to kill you."

Henry's hand returned to rest on his blaster as Mikos continued.

"If I must guess, I would say four or five days before the pain sets in. Depending on her overall condition, another three or four days until her death. I cannot be sure."

"Four days?" The words tumbled from my mouth, shock cooling my libido enough to let me think. A little. In four days, I was going to be suffering, in pain, and dying of poison? "How long does it take to get to Rogue 5?" I'd heard of the place. It was in Sector 437, just like Battleship Karter. But each sector of space was big. I'd tried to wrap my head around exactly how large, and come up with something like Earth, the sun and the rest of our planets, times ten? Twenty? I still wasn't sure.

"If we transport to Zenith, I will acquire a ship. Depending on the ships available, the journey could take several days."

"So I'll be dead before we get there?!"

Mikos shook his head. "I will not allow it. I will acquire a ship with a ReGen pod. That will slow the poison's effects on your body. You will be under my protection." He stood up straighter, became bigger, as if that was even possible. "You have my word, female. You will be safe. But we must go as soon as possible."

He wouldn't allow me to die? As ridiculous as that sounded, I found his vow oddly comforting. For some reason I could not fathom, I believed him.

As he finished, the door to the medical area slid open and Commander Karter himself stepped inside, his lovely human mate, Erica, at his side. "Report, Doctor."

I gently pushed Captain Mill's arm down, out of my way, as the doctor gave our commander the summary. I patted his shoulder in silent thanks and gave my friend, Erica, a quick hug when she gasped. Guess the ‘ she's dying from poison' news was a shock to more than just me. Erica was awesome, human like me, and one of my best friends out here in space.

Avoiding the worry in her gaze, I stepped around her to stand in front of Mikos. If I closed my eyes, I could still feel the sharp end of the Hive Soldier's weapon piercing my torso, my heart struggling to beat, recall the shock I'd felt looking down to see the blade protruding from my chest. I'd believed I was dead in that moment. Dead and gone. Done.

I stared up into the palest, most beautiful grey eyes I'd ever seen, the color slightly darker than a full moon back home and took a deep breath. "Thank you. No matter what happens, you saved my life."

With a gentleness that made me melt into a puddle in my combat boots, he lifted one hand to cup my cheek. "I could not allow anything to happen to you."

Was I leaning into his touch? When did I close my eyes?

What the actual hell was I doing?

Maybe my behavior was caused by whatever he injected into me. Maybe it was going to kill me and turn me into a woman with zero self-control. None.

This wasn't like me. At all. What did this alien do to me? Why was my entire being consumed with the need to strip naked and beg him to fuck me?