Meredith's Pride [Galactic Nuptials 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) (11 page)

Mer stiffened, feeling a sudden coldness hitting at the core of his heart. Slowly shaking his head, he raised his hand, his fingers gripped tightly around the handle of the knife. “No!” He plunged the knife deep into Honaw’s back just as the gun discharged.

* * * *

Delsin sighed in relief when he heard Mer was alive.
I have to get to the palace and protect my mate.
Out of the brush, a small, gray lion leapt toward him, roaring when Delsin batted him away with one paw. When the animal managed to grab Delsin’s mane, he whirled around, sending his head into the smaller lion, sending it flying a good ten feet away.

As Delsin turned away, he felt the animal land on his back. He could feel claws raking his skin, digging in deep, probably drawing blood. He rolled, dislodging his opponent, and pounced. He could feel the flesh tear from his adversary’s neck. Panting heavily, he took off at a brisk run for the palace. “Mate, I’m coming.”

* * * *

A loud roar broke from Honaw as the knife pierced his back. Mer wasted no time in pulling the blade out and plunging it in again. Honaw wheezed in a breath and turned slowly, a look of shock on his face, his eyes almost bulging from his head. Mer managed to pull the knife out one more time. The large man was having difficulty breathing. Mer knew he must have punctured one of his lungs. But shifters heal quickly, and he didn’t think he’d done enough damage to kill him.

Before Honaw could raise his arm holding the gun, Mer stabbed the knife into his chest and quickly moved back. The alpha stumbled toward him, blood dripping down his arm as he tried to pull the blade out. “Not you. Not a human. I can’t be taken down by a mere human.” He growled low and began to raise the gun. “If I can’t have my mate, you can’t have yours.” He took aim just as a large lion rushed by Mer. It tackled Honaw and ripped out his throat.

Whimpering, Mer felt his limbs going weak as he backed up against the wall, trying to make his body as small as possible. He was sure he was about to die. Then, a blue light filled the room. As he watched, the lion morphed into Delsin, bones popping and reshaping. Within moments he stood by the window, naked.

“Delsin!” Mer’s voice was barely a squeak as he ran across the room and threw himself into Delsin’s arms. Before he could say anything else, another lion came racing through the door. Mer tensed, struggling to get out of his mate’s arms.

Delsin ran his finger down Mer’s cheek. “Easy, mate. That’s Etu.”

The blue light appeared again, and Etu stood smiling, a trickle of blood flowing from a wound on his hip. “Are you hurt, my mate?”

“I’m fine, but you guys look like you need a hospital.” Etu and Delsin laughed as the three of them joined in a group hug. “Did Señor Psycho find the cubs?”

Delsin snorted and kissed his cheek. “No, you saved them, mate. You saved our pride.”

“Can I see them?” asked Mer.

Etu rubbed his cheek against Mer’s hair. “They’re back on Khera with Zintssar and his family.” He stepped back and offered his hand. “Come on, mate. We’ll head back so we can all be together.”

Delsin nodded. “Let Knoton and Hakan know we’re taking the small shuttle back. Have them clean up here and join us as soon as they can. We’ll pack up and come back here together.”

“Okay! I’ll meet you at the shuttle shortly.” Etu placed a kiss on Mer’s head and walked away.

Mer studied Delsin. “You need a doctor.”

“No! I just need to shift a few times, and everything will be better.”

Mer narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot. “Well?”

Delsin chuckled, and the blue light appeared. Mer shaded his eyes from the glare and squeaked girlishly when a rough tongue scraped over his arm. He was magnificent in his lion form. Standing nearly five feet at the shoulder, and a good seven feet long, he was intimidating. The reddish-brown hair of his body clashed with the nearly blond, bushy hair of his mane. His long tail ended in a black, hairy tuft. Mer rubbed his head, his fingers threading through the heavy mane. The large cat purred, the vibrations traveling up Mer’s arm. The blue light suddenly appeared, and Mer found his hand on a naked man. All of his bruises were gone. He felt his cheeks warm as his cock hardened inside his pants.

Delsin grinned and pulled him closer. “No embarrassment, mate. Let’s get moving. The faster we get back, the faster the three of us can be together.”

Mer frowned and tried to pull away.
Why do they keep calling me mate?

* * * *

Delsin put his arm around Mer’s shoulders and saw him flinch. He leaned away and studied his face. “What’s wrong, mate?”

His blush deepened. “Nothing, really. I’ll be fine.”

Delsin frowned, took Mer’s arm firmly, and turned him around. His breath caught and a deep rumbling growl escaped. His mate’s shirt was in ribbons, the skin underneath striped in ragged, weeping cuts.” He cursed colorfully and pulled Mer’s face so he could look into his eyes. “What did he do to you?”

Mer looked down at the floor. “Chained me up and used a whip on me.”

Growling, Delsin checked his wrists and then dropped to his knees. He pulled up Mer’s pants leg and cursed at the distinctive bruises and abrasions left by leg shackles. Taking a deep breath, he rose to his feet and put both large hands on each side of Mer’s face and stared into his eyes. “He did this to you because of us. Is this all he did?”

Mer glanced away. “That’s all, Delsin. He never laid a hand on me. I got the impression he wouldn’t dirty his hands on a human.”

Delsin closed his eyes briefly and then smiled. “Let’s get to the shuttle. Etu and I have just the thing to take away your pain.”

“You have medicine that will fix this? Cool! Will it hurt?”

Delsin laughed. “I can honestly say you’ll enjoy getting this medicine.” His little mate would be surprised when they licked him all over to heal his wounds. Their saliva had healing properties.

Mer bounced from foot to foot. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Mer accepted a glass of juice from Delsin and sank back onto the couch. He didn’t think there was one inch of his battered body that didn’t ache. Etu and Delsin had some kind of problem with the shuttle when they flew home, so they never got around to giving him their special medicine to help him heal.

“Were the cubs happy to see you?” Delsin rubbed his hand over Mer’s head.

“Yeah! They were all smiles and climbing all over me. It was a great feeling.”

“I’m glad they’ve taken to you so well. It’ll make our trip home easier.”

Mer worried his lip between his teeth. “Are we really going back to that planet to live?”

“Don’t worry, mate. You only saw a small portion of the planet. Our home is on the other side, in the mountains, and it’s beautiful. I know you’re going to be very happy there. And it’ll be completely safe because the other pride is gone.”

“All of them are dead?”

“No, but the ones left didn’t want to stay around without their alpha. We offered to let them join us, but they declined.”

“Where will they—”

“Alpha!” Knoton burst into the room, a wide grin on his face. He bowed low to Delsin. “Congratulations, my Alpha, on slaying the enemy pride leader.”

“Is everything okay now?”

“Everything is fantastic, Alpha. Zintssar sent help with the cleaning up, so we finished early. The biggest miracle is what we found in the basement of Honaw’s palace.”

Delsin glanced at Mer and then back at Knoton. “What did you find?”

“Mates! Some of the women from our pride.”

Delsin’s eyes widened, and he took a step forward. “Explain.”

“When we searched the cells in the basement we found Athaw, Hula, and Misko. When we questioned Honaw’s man Tokala, he said they’d taken the women to make sure the cubs would be cooperative. It was Honaw’s plan to have the women mate to his own men and raise all the cubs as Mkata. They’ve been prisoners there since the first attack. After I was wounded in the last battle, I didn’t take the time to count bodies. There was no one left alive so I just thought everyone had been killed. It never occurred to me they’d taken our women as prisoners.” Knoton bowed lower. “Forgive me, Alpha. It’s my fault they suffered this long.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, my friend. You acted correctly, especially since you were injured yourself. The important thing is we have them back. Are they unharmed?”

“Nothing but some bruises, and they were starving. I guess he didn’t feed them much.”

Mer watched a light begin to glow in Delsin’s eyes as he discussed the condition of the women with Knoton. If the mates were coming back, where did that leave him? They might be calling him mate, but from what Honaw had told him, they weren’t really mated.

“This is wonderful news!” Delsin clapped his hands together.

“Why is it wonderful?” Mer could have bitten his tongue out when he asked his question. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

“Because Hula is mother to Nodin, and Misko is mother to Jacy and Yuma. That only leaves Taima and Keme without a mother. I will only be personally responsible for my brother’s children.”

“What about Athaw? Isn’t she their mother?” asked Mer.

Delsin shook his head. “Preyta was their mother, and the female alpha of our pride.”

Mer walked over and put his arms around Delsin, giving him a hug. “That is good news. I’m glad everyone is okay.”

Delsin put his arm around Mer’s shoulders and turned him to face Knoton. “Our mate took down the alpha and incapacitated him before we arrived.” He spent several minutes relaying the story Mer had told him about stabbing Honaw.

Knoton’s eyes grew wide as he bowed slightly toward Mer. “That’s amazing, Mer. You have the heart and soul of a pride mate.”

Mer could feel his face heating and moved to stand behind Delsin. He looked up when Hakan walked through the door.

Delsin moved to clasp his pride mate by the arm. “Welcome home. Where are the females?”

“Etu is guiding them from the landing strip. He wanted me to come ahead and let you know they’d be here shortly in case you needed to make ready for their arrival.”

“You and Knoton get the cubs dressed and bring them out here. The mothers will be anxious to reunite with their children. Then, after everyone is fed and cleaned up, we’ll have a pride meeting and make plans for our return to Linnaeus.”

An hour later Mer bounced Keme on his shoulder, trying to get a belch from the baby who’d just finished a bottle of milk. Taima happily stomped around the room, banging two sticks together like a drum major in a Thanksgiving Day Macy’s parade. The cubs’ reunion with their mothers had been tearful and blessedly short. The women had wanted to take their children somewhere private to count toes, or whatever it was that women did to make sure their babies were in one piece.

Delsin had asked Mer to get Keme and Taima ready for dinner while he had a meeting with the men Zintssar sent to help out. The dinner was to be in honor of the Arridians, and Mer was taking special care to make the cubs look their best.

Keme expelled her excess gas with all the grace of a barnyard pig. Mer chuckled, and cuddled her close. “Okay, you guys ready?” Taima looked up, babbled for a moment, and then headed for the door. Chuckling, Mer took his hand and started down the hall. As he neared the open door of the nursery, he stopped. He could hear the women talking. He’d been introduced earlier when everyone first arrived. The females were polite but distant and distrustful, holding their babies well away from him. The one introduced as Athaw tried to take Keme and Taima, but they screamed bloody murder and reached for Mer. When she persisted, Delsin had growled and told her to back down. She’d looked alarmed and backed down, but shot Mer a murderous look. He knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but he couldn’t seem to make himself move away. He listened to the women.

“The way I see it, Misko, you should mate with Knoton. He clearly shows a preference for you.” Athaw’s voice was loud and distinct.

“Whatever,” Misko said. “He’s a fine man. I certainly have no desire for anything alpha. Give me a nice nobody to spend the rest of my life with.”

“Hula, you should mate with Hakan. I’ve seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is looking.”

Hula sobbed. “I’m not sure I want another mate. Ours have only been gone a few weeks.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Athaw. “The pride will be stronger with all of us mated instead of single lions.”

Hula sniffed. “I guess you’re right. I’ll do whatever is necessary for the pride.”

“Good.”

“What about you, Athaw?” asked Hula.

“Since Preyta didn’t survive, I’ll mate with the alpha brothers and be mother to Keme and Taima.”

“You’re forgetting Mer,” said Misko. “Knoton told us they sent for Mer to be their mate and the cubs have clearly bonded with him.”

Athaw laughed. “He’s not their mate. I looked, and there’s no mate bite.”

Mer took a step closer to the room.
What the hell is a mate bite?

“Maybe not, but the intention was there when they brought him here all the way from Earth. I can’t believe Delsin is the type of alpha that would just throw him away now that they have females available to them.”