The Alpha King (5 page)

Shaking his head at his inability to do anything to help his brother and the behavior of said brother that was influenced by a certain unspoken of event. He wouldn't think about his inability to help his brother or stop the heartbreaking attack and brutal rape Buck had suffered a decade prior. The sight of his brother's injuries and the smell of his blood along with the various scents of different shifters comingling in Buck's system still haunted Blaze to this day. He'd done all he could to help Buck, to show he cared and deal with his sorrow, his part in his brother's harrowing experience, but to no avail. His guilt had become a heavy burden to carry especially when he added his own betrayal of his brother that had led to the rape.

Shoving away thoughts of Buck and the past, Blaze blew out a frustrated breath and shook out his arms before once again looking at his father on the vid screen. His father had made the secret video for his heir—his son, Blazell—thirteen years before, and he had been solid as a rock as usual, his voice deep and authoritative, resonating with power. Blazell practically had the words and nuances memorized. He knew every gesture his father, Algonoquin Roughshire, made in the vid, but he still, for the life of him, could not understand what it all meant.

"There are dark forces at work, my son, they seek to completely wipe out every existing humanoid, either by death or phasing out their DNA and overrunning it with the genetic makeup of other species. You must beware of the GPA leadership, Blazell, for there are many on that board who will seek your demise when I am gone. Above all, you must find your mate. It was foretold, my son, that the mates of both my sons would be special, but your mate will be the one to help change history. Do not stop looking for your mate, no matter who it turns out to be."

"It is imperative you do your best to locate all three of the orphaned Versuthion boys. They are a special family, my son, and their continued existence is necessary for the continuation of the humanoids. Their futures are tightly interwoven with ours and the survival of our own people. By extension the entire galaxy is based on their ability to exist and stay alive. Find the Versuthions and bring them to Tumaro. One of the boys was adopted by a mixed race couple, friends of mine, Wendiford and Markaela Sothsberg. When he is older, they are to send him your way. But the younger two were kidnapped as children. I looked frantically, everywhere that I had access to or wherever my intel gathered information, but couldn't find them. I'll leave you all the information I have on their last known whereabouts and possible locations, but I fear they may be a part of the undercover pleasure slave movement. In which case, they must be found sooner rather than later. I implore you, my son; you must find and help them, take them into your care.

"I attended a GPA meeting two weeks ago and heard their plans for the Versuthions. I did not act in time and the three boys were split up. They must be reunited and they must be protected at all cost. If you are watching this, my son, then the burden must fall to you. You must do what I could not. Be ready, my son, for I fear you will have an intergalactic war on your hands when these three young men are finally found."

The video ended and Blazell swallowed back the sob that threatened to break forth from his chest. Gods he missed his father. More now than ever before. He needed his father's wisdom and guidance, his support, but more than that he needed for his father to take over the throne so he could find his mate. Blazell closed his eyes and the same image appeared in his mind, as if he'd conjured it, The man had long, sun-streaked brown hair framing a delicate face, plump lips, a slim nose, and golden eyes. The man had to be Blazell's mate. He'd been dreaming about him for the last three years and over the past week the details had become sharper. He had a feeling it wouldn't be long before he found the guy, and he could only hope it happened soon because the Elders weren't going to hold off much longer on making him mate with someone… anyone… or rather, any woman.

Blazell turned at the sound of a loud crash and leapt to his feet, rushing to grab his weapons and royal military garb moments before the door burst open and the room swarmed with seven of his Gamma guards. He quickly turned off the vid screen and made his way to Rico Suavez and Gregor Malvechio, his two most trusted guards.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

"A shuttle crashed just inside the palace walls, Alpha King," Rico responded.

Blazell nodded. "I want two guards to go check for survivors and see what the hell that ship was doing trying to land inside the palace walls," he commanded.

He watched as the guards all looked around at each other, Rico and Gregor shooting each other a nervous glance, one that made the blood run cold in Blaze's veins. Gregor shuffled his feet hesitantly and Blazell had a feeling he already knew who had gone down to investigate.

"Gregor, where the hell is my brother, Beta Prince Buckington?"

* * * *

Buck approached the damaged vehicle slowly, his eyes looking for any possible attackers, his years of training with the GPA Peace Corps and Marines kicking in when he stepped closer, his phasers raised and ready to fire on anyone who made any sudden moves. Stopping after a few feet, he sniffed the air and then raised his hands to get the four guards who had come with him to stop. He smelled something vaguely… familiar. Almost as if he were smelling a sweeter version of his brother.

"Beta Prince? Is the Alpha King out here?" One of the guards asked.

Buck rolled his eyes at the guard's stupid question. "Don't you think you would know if the Alpha King was out here?" He shook his head at the guards' overenthusiastic words of comprehension and understanding.

He opened his mouth to remind them to stop being so idiotic when the sound of a moan reached his ears. He froze and listened for the sound again. He'd have to rely on his sensitive wolf hearing as he couldn't rely on his sense of smell. Blaze had obviously walked in the area because he could smell, the Alpha, even if a more delicate, softer fragrance of Blaze. As if Blaze had been sitting out among the flowers, something Buck couldn't really see happening. Blaze didn't really strike Buck as a picking-flowers type, but Buck trusted his sense of smell. He smelled Blaze but lighter, tinged with a softer, almost different aroma, which could possibly be because of the crushed flowers underneath the ruined space shuttle. Still strange, for scents were as individual as fingerprints.

Something niggled at the back of his mind, an ancient story his mother had told him when he'd been younger, but he pushed it away. He would try to recall it later. He had to focus at the moment. Especially since he also smelled blood and the distinct scent of a female Edifician. Since he couldn't see her, he could only presume she'd lost her life. He would send out the Elders to read the final rites and have her body returned to her family, though why an Edifician, and a female at that, would be all the way out on Tumaro alone baffled him.

Shaking his head at the horrible loss of life, he turned to the left when he heard the groan again. His black hair swung behind him and momentarily blocked his view. He gestured to the guards and they flanked him when he approached the sound. When he finally found the source he gasped, along with the rest of the guard, at the sight of the gorgeous man who lay among the palace flowers, his body battered, bruised, and bloody. Buck could hear the stranger's heart beating, slowly, but he still clung to life.

With no other thought but that the small man needed immediate medical attention, he lifted the gorgeous person into his arms and turned to head back into the palace. Neither he nor the guards noticed the slim, brown hand that lay covered by the debris of the shuttle, the palace flowers, and the branches from the beautiful Tundle tree.

* * * *

Elder Mailon Saungfreid finished up his latest cyber mail message to his online pal 'Tal Vers' and sat back with a sigh. He loved his buddy TV. They'd been chatting for over six years and although they hadn't sent any images or holograms of themselves to each other, he knew TV was the best friend he'd ever had. It was just too bad they both sort of knew that they weren't mates. Fated best friends? Definitely. But fated life partners? Nah… not so much. They both loved to have a bigger, stronger man holding them down or to be holding down a larger man riding his thick hard cock.

Mailon cleared his throat and discreetly adjusted himself under the table before turning his attention back to Elder Bryce Morgasein. He hated Elder Bryce. Mailon always had the distinct impression Elder Bryce's words were not really true, but no one listened to him when he tried to point it out. Mailon, the smallest of the elders, pretty much didn't exist to the guards. The only ones who really paid any attention to him were his parents, the king, his friends Percy, Buck, and TV. The other Elders noticed him, but only because they oftentimes needed a deciding vote.

He wished he could go to Edifice, leave all of the Elder business behind, and go visit his friend. He'd much rather be with TV and listening as the other man rambled on about his sister 'Fire', and dreaming about their mates, or at least Mailon would be dreaming about his mate, TV would be mocking him for it. All of those things would be better than to be sitting in the conferences where he listened to Elder Bryce plot and scheme against the humanoids. The man also underhandedly tried to usurp Alpha King Blazell's authority. Mailon wanted Elder Bryce out of the picture, for good. He'd need a miracle to make it happen. Something or someone to fall out of the air and help Alpha King Blazell remove Elder Bryce, and to help make treachery within the Elder an issue never to return again. The Alpha King wanted to get rid of the problem Elder but there were laws and steps involved to prevent any Alpha King from removing an Elder just because they didn't like them. Mailon had to find cold, hard evidence that would stick and could not merely be considered hearsay. The Alpha King had informed him of exactly what he needed and expected and Mailon had the job to uncover it. He wouldn't fail his Alpha, his King, even if it became the last thing he did.

The sound of two crashes, not far off, pulled Mailon's attention away from Bryce's treachery. Without thought, Mailon took off out of the room. He ignored the shouts and commands for him to come back to the meeting filled with stodgy Elders. The Alpha King would want to find out the truth immediately and, because of his position in the palace, both the known and unknown, and his true status in the wolf shifter hierarchy, Mailon would be the best one to do the investigating. He pulled off his clothes and quickly shifted into a small gray wolf, and then with a quick and almost silent howl, he allowed the other part of his change to flow over him and he became the image of a large gray wolf with a large black dot on his ass and took off towards the sounds of the crash.

* * * *

Tal opened his eyes and looked around, wincing at the harsh glare of the light above him. Turning his head slightly, he glanced around the room and realized he lay on a bed, a very soft bed, and the room décor and furnishings had been done in soft golds and greens. Tal instantly felt at ease, not only the colors but, inexplicably, also by the presence of someone in the room, which didn't make any sense because Josie knew not to enter his guest quarters when they were given rooms to sleep in. He sighed and closed his eyes to return to sleep. His brain clicked into gear. He been headed off course towards Tumaro and his shuttle had crashed. Josie had been with him…

Josie!

"J-J-Josie?" he croaked.

Clearing his throat, he raised his voice and tried to sit up in bed, which he seemed incapable of doing. "Josie!"

The doors to the room flew open and Tal found himself blinking up at the massive, hulking man who'd rushed inside.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" the gorgeous man asked.

Tal's brain effectively shut down again and he let his gaze rove over the man's features. Tall, really tall, gorgeous, with long black hair, a pair of the lightest blue eyes ever. While his skin had a darker shade than Tal's, it still appeared paler than that of other Tumarons.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Tal answered, "J-Josie… my sister, where is she? She was with me on the shuttle. Where is she?"

Reaching out, he grabbed onto the front of the man's gray shirt and held on as tight as he could, which in his weakened state wasn't all that tight. What if Josie hadn't survived? What if she had and tried looking for him? What if the Tumarons had found Josie and made her their slave? Were they about to do the same thing to him? What if he never saw his sister again?

Tal looked around the room frantically and realized what he'd thought had been a bedroom, actually appeared to be a clinic. He began to panic, his breath coming faster when he imagined all of the horrible things that could have happened to Josie, while he'd been lying in a hospital bed, apparently being taken care of.

The big man frowned when he sat down on the bed. Tal noticed and appreciated the look of concern on the other man's face but he had to find his sister.

"There was no woman when we found you, beauty," the stranger said, his voice low and full of confusion.

Tal's brain paused momentarily at the endearment. The man didn't know him and while Tal found him attractive, he felt too stunned to really appreciate it. Then the other man's words sank in.

"What? No. No. No! No, you have to be wrong! She was sitting in the seat next to mine, she was there! You have to go find her! You have to go and find my sister! Josie! Josie!"