Chapter Eighteen

Zaya

Steele called me to say that he was coming home as I was finishing milking the goats. I was so happy to hear from him, to know that he was all right. Of course, I knew cyborgs were tough warriors, but I also learned many had been killed in the war with those aliens. He admitted that he had taken a couple of hits, but his body armor had taken the brunt, and his bruises were already healed.

The two hours that it would take for him to travel home would give me time to shower and put on a stew for us to eat later. While I was in the kitchen cutting up vegetables for the stew, I heard Bruno growling from his spot by the door to the kitchen porch.

The alarm on the AI system didn't go off, but I went to the doorway to look out. Bruno's ears were alert, and he was scanning the horizon expectantly. He always seemed more protective when Steele was away.

I wasn't worried since Steele had installed the high-tech defense system and taught me how to use the ion rifle he procured for me. He spent quite a few hours teaching me how to use it, and I'd become fairly proficient at it. When Steele was gone, I kept it beside the door when I was in the kitchen.

More often than not, it would be some wild animal that would set Bruno on alert. I went back to cutting the vegetables and putting them in the pot. Then I heard Bruno's growl deepening. I set the pot on the stove and went back to the window in time to see Bruno run off barking.

A movement caught my eye in the distance among the trees. At first, I thought it was an elk, but then I saw it was a man on a horse. I felt my heart speed up, wondering how he had gotten so close. Glad that I hadn't undressed and put my robe on yet, I grabbed my coat and took up the ion rifle. I went outside intending to warn him off, suspecting the system may not have discerned more than the animal he was riding.

Ever the watchdog, Bruno ran at the horse, barking fiercely. Before I could even shout to call him back, the man took out a pistol and shot him. "Bruno!" I screamed as Bruno yelped and collapsed in the snow. I didn't wait for any explanations. I acted on instinct, setting the rifle to stun. I ran to get a clear shot and stun the man on the horse.

My aim was perfect, and he fell to the ground as I ran to Bruno, where he lay motionless. I dropped to my knees in the snow beside him. "Oh, Bruno, my sweet boy," I cried, tears running down my face. I was near panic as I didn't know what to do to help him. Blood was oozing from a bullet wound near his shoulder.

He was still breathing and making little whimpering sounds. The only thing I could do was try to stop the bleeding by pressing my hand against the wound. I didn't know how I was going to get him back to the house by myself because he was a big boy, weighing probably one hundred pounds.

I called Steele on my wrist com and started crying all over again. I managed to tell him that Bruno had been shot and was bleeding, and I couldn't get him back to the house by myself.

"Are you okay?" Steele demanded worriedly.

"I'm fine," I sobbed. "it's Bruno who is hurt, and I'm afraid he's going to die."

"Hang on, baby. I'll be there in five minutes."

Soon, I heard the familiar whine of Steele's sky cycle. I didn't know what he could do, but somehow, I knew he would help.

Steele

I landed my sky cycle with a jolt, turned it off, and grabbed a bolus of medical nanites, then sprinted across the field to Zaya. She was sitting in the snow holding Bruno in her arms with a hand pressed to the wound, and there was blood on her jacket.

"I'm here, Zaya." I fell to my knees in front of her, assessing Bruno's condition. I could see that he had lost quite a bit of blood as it was still seeping from the wound, even under the pressure Zaya had applied. I opened the nanites injector and gently moved her hand from covering the wound.

Pressing the tip into the wound, I quickly injected the medical nanites into it. I knew the tiny robots would go to work immediately to repair the damage and stop the internal bleeding.

Bruno whimpered softly, his eyes flicking as the nanites took effect.

"It's working," I said.

"Is he really going to be all right?" asked Zaya.

"Yes, I think so." I looked across the field and saw the man lying in the snow beside the horse. It had pushed away the snow to graze. He was wearing the uniform of the Mesaarkan mercenaries. "Is that the man who shot Bruno?"

"Y-yes," she stammered. "I stunned him. He's not dead. I think our system didn't recognize him on the horse, and that's why it wasn't activated."

"You did just fine, sweetheart." I scanned Bruno and found that he was improving steadily. Accessing the AI net, I loaded the baseline norms for canines into my CPU. Then I got up. "I'm just going to secure the intruder, and then we'll take Bruno back to the house."

The man was starting to stir when I reached him. I pulled a set of zip cuffs from a cargo pocket and secured his hands behind his back. I bound his ankles with a second pair, then went back to Zaya and Bruno.

It was no wonder Zaya could not carry the dog. He was nearly as big as she was, and Zaya didn't have my enhanced strength. I lifted him easily, then offered a hand up to my mate as well. While we were walking back to the house, I called Lieutenant Hawk and told him about the intruder on Zaya's ranch. He would send a flier to pick him up for interrogation.

I laid Bruno carefully on his bed in the kitchen, then took Zaya into my arms. She sobbed softly against my chest as I held her, rubbing her back and stroking her hair. "I'm here now. I'll recalibrate the system to recognize the difference between an animal with a rider and one without. I don't think this was random. I think he was scouting for the Mesaarkans for people to abduct. Lieutenant Hawk will find out whether he was targeting you specifically or just doing recon."

"I won't let them take me," she vowed.

"They will be sorry if they try." I sighed; my instinct to protect my mate warred with the knowledge that I couldn't be with her every minute and do my job. "I'm going to see if I can get one of the off-duty protectors to stay with you when I'm on patrol. I'm not taking any chances with your safety."

"No, Steele, that's not necessary. I was in no danger. I took care of it. Bruno was the one hurt." She looked up into my eyes with a certainty that reassured me. "And I want you to be safe, too."

As she looked up at me, I lowered my mouth to hers in a tender, passionate kiss. So far, this had not played out as I visualized my homecoming, but I would adapt. Zaya was safe, and her beloved dog was on the mend. After our kiss, we held each other for a long time.

"Zaya, you are everything precious to me. I'm not sure how I even breathed without you. That scares the hell out of me. Now I know that's why I didn't come to find you as soon as I got word they'd discovered my genetic mate," I said huskily. "If I lost you, it would end me."

"That's not going to happen if I can help it," she told me, holding my face between her hands and caressing my cheek. "You are my wish come true, the only man I will ever love."

I wanted so badly to breed with her, but I wanted to take my time and do it properly. Raven and Trinity were on their way to pick up the stranger who shot Zaya's dog. Then there was the matter of the horse, an innocent in all of this.

"Do you think it will be all right to put the stranger's horse in the barn with the goats?" I asked. Although I had learned a great deal about animals since I'd been with Zaya, I wasn't sure how they would mix.

"We have a separate stall to put the horse in. I'd rather keep it separate since he or she is so much bigger than the goats."

"Then that's what we will do," I agreed. I dropped a kiss on Zaya's nose and rested my forehead against hers.