Hannah's Warrior: Cosmos' Gateway Book 2 (17 page)

“
Why not the smaller female?” Merrick
asked quietly looking at where Teriff, Borj and the councilmen were
quietly talking.

“
I heard she was breeding. The one
called J’kar yelled at her for endangering their younglings. He
said younglings as in more than one.” Core said with a small grin.
“I have never heard of a female breeding more than one youngling at
a time.”

“
Be quick. I will meet you on the edge
of the forest. Make sure she is not harmed. Until we know she is
bonded to any of the males, I want her to remain untouched. I want
to learn more. I do not like that the human male did not tell us
everything.” Merrick growled out quietly.

Core nodded. Two of the other warriors left
with him. Merrick watched them go with a sense of warning.
Something wasn’t right. He needed more information and he needed it
now. He looked at Borj who was watching Core and his other two
warriors with a frown. Borj’s eyes turned to Merrick and
narrowed.

Borj moved towards Merrick determinedly. “The
other female is mine. I have claimed her.”

Merrick looked at Borj with a raised eyebrow.
“She did not seem happy with your claim.”

“
It does not matter what it appeared
like.” Borj said fiercely waving his hand in rejection of Merrick’s
observation. “She is mine. We have completed the mating rite. She
wears my mating mark.”

Merrick looked at the intricate circles on
Borj’s palm as he held out his left hand. He felt the sense of
warning twisting in his gut again. Borj may be the quietest of the
brothers but that did not mean he was not as deadly as his
brothers. Merrick thought of the tiny female in J’kar’s arms and
the symbol on Borj’s. If he wanted his mate back then they would
need to share the information they had on where the females came
from. His clan was in desperate need of females. There were a few
young females but none of claiming age. He would do what was
necessary to bring hope to the males of his clan.

“
You have found a mate and you would
deny others the chance?” Merrick asked coldly. “You know as well as
I do that times are becoming more desperate. The men need to find a
mate or they will begin fighting and it will be the end of all of
us.”

Borj looked at Merrick in resignation. “I
cannot promise anything but I will speak with my father and the
council. They are aware of the situation. We have noticed it among
our own clan. There are extenuating issues I cannot share at this
time.” Borj said quietly.

Merrick noticed the slight hesitation in
Borj’s voice. He understood Borj’s reserve but he had already set a
course that could not be changed. The female would go with them and
answer their questions.

Borj watched in frustration as Merrick and
the rest of the Eastern Mountain Clan left after receiving a
promise from Teriff and the council they would consider their
petition for more information on where the females came from. He
hated his position at times. He wanted to go to Hannah. He said
things he shouldn’t have. He had been angry and frightened when he
saw the three of them come out from the planters. He knew she was
just protecting her little sister but all three females did not
realize how dangerous Prime males could be when riled. He still
couldn’t believe his brother’s tiny mate jumped on the back of
Merrick biting him while Tilly hit him in his manhood knocking to
his knees allowing Hannah to knock him out cold with a small
planter. They took out half of the Eastern Mountain Clan warriors
on their own, including their leader.

Borj started chuckling. Actually, it was
rather funny now that he wasn’t so frightened. When Tink jumped on
Merrick and bit him then covered his eyes while her equally tiny
mother hit Merrick in his groin all the warriors around them were
stunned. They were used to meetings like this turning into a brawl.
They would beat each other senseless then go drink together
afterwards. It helped to burn the frustration of not being at war
or having a female available. Obviously, the females did not know
that. When Merrick pushed J’kar, Tink charged like a seasoned
warrior protecting her mate attacking the huge warrior from behind.
When Borj saw Hannah calmly walk up and break the small planter
over Merrick’s head knocking him out before turning on another
warrior and kicking out sending him to floor as well, he wasn’t
sure what to do. By then, Tink and Tilly had sent another warrior
to the floor in agonizing pain. That was when his father, J’kar and
he decided they needed to protect the other warriors before a true
war broke out.

J’kar, furious his pregnant mate was even in
the room, did not help matters by yelling at all three of them.
Borj rubbed the back of his neck. He did not do much better. He
should never have order the guards on her or restricted her to
their living quarters at all times. Her quiet response sent a chill
down his spine. She looked at him with such a sense of betrayal he
hated himself.

You promised never to lock
me up. You promised I would always be free.
Her sad words echoed in his head.

“
Borj!” Teriff growled out in
frustration. “Get Lan and Brock in here immediately. We need to
talk.”

Borj inclined his head before heading down
the corridor to the portal room where both men seemed to live. He
could have called for them but he needed a walk to calm his mind.
He found both men in the room. Their heads were together. He could
not see what they were looking at but they seemed excited. He
watched them for a few minutes before they finally looked up
realizing they were not alone.

“
So much for security.” Borj commented
leaning back against the door. “It was unlocked and neither one of
you even realized I was here. What are you working on that has you
oblivious to security and danger?” Borj asked pushing himself off
the door and walking towards them.

“
Miss October.” Both men said with a
grin. Lan held up a copy of Penthouse while Brock had a copy of
Playboy. “They are different females. I have never seen anything
like this!” Lan said with an excited grin.

“Where in the
hockta balmas
did you
find those?” Borj asked startled.

“
Tilly!” Both men said again. “She and
Angus had us over for dinner. She showed us what necking was and
the bases of love making. She said it is much like their baseball.
She said as in the game with the ball, sometime a male strikes out,
only gets to a couple of bases, or if he is lucky makes a home run.
Angus showed us first and some of second base but he refused to
show us any more even when Tilly started teasing him. Instead, she
said some of the articles in these documents might help. RITA
scanned them and is translating them for us.” Brock said as he
stared at the image in front of him. “I want to copy this image for
my wall.”

Borj looked at the two men and shook his
head. Hannah was right. His planet might not be ready for the Bell
family. He walked over and calmly took the small stack of magazines
from the men. He ignored their protests. He was afraid to ask where
the other magazines were. He would have to round those up later.
For now, Brock and Lan were needed in the council room.

“
Father and the council need you. The
Eastern Mountain Clan came about the females.” Borj said. He
quickly filled them in on everything that happened in the council
chamber including the females attacking Merrick and knocking him
out.

Lan laughed so hard his had to wipe the tears
from his eyes. “I will have to get RITA to replay that for me. I
would love to see those tiny females putting Merrick in his
place.”

Brock laughed as well. Both men had been on
the not so forgiving side of Merrick’s fist at one time or the
other, mostly after a long night of drinking. In truth, both men
respected Merrick as being a fair leader of his clan. Gods know,
few could outsmart the bastard in the forest and mountain areas. On
rare occasions, raiders and space pirates would try to steal from
their planet. In days of old, it was the young and females raiders
and space pirates would take. They would use the females until
there was nothing left of them and sell the young boys to fighting
houses. This was very rare now with their defense systems in place
but a few months back both men heard of a group of raiders who
crashed into the mountainous region. Merrick quickly dealt with the
few survivors, especially after the remains of several dead females
who had obviously been tortured were found in the wreckage.

Borj walked down the hallway heading back
towards the Council Chambers. He listened with half an ear to Brock
and Lan discussing the different women they saw in the magazines
Tilly gave them. He couldn’t resist glancing over his shoulder once
more as a feeling of unease swept over him. He had tried reaching
out to Hannah several times but she had blocked him. He needed to
figure out a way to slip under the wall she built. It was driving
him crazy when she cut him off. It left a huge hole in his soul
that ate at him until she opened up to him again. He knew she
didn’t even realize she was doing it. She had built those walls at
such a young age they were a part of her. He needed to give her
time and build her trust in him enough to know he would never hurt
her. Borj sighed heavily. He wasn’t doing a very good job of
building her trust in him at the moment.

Brock and Lan both gave him a funny look when
he let out a long stream of expletives under his breath. Both men
shook their head in sympathy as they moved into the Council
Chambers. Borj might be there in body but it was obvious to the
other two men he was with Hannah in his mind.

Chapter 13

Hannah walked with her head held high and her
shoulders back. She refused to let the weight of Borj’s anger with
her defeat her. She was used to being alone. Maybe she was meant to
be. Tears filled her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She
should have known not to trust him. She should have known better
than to trust anyone. Hannah was so focused on her internal turmoil
she didn’t recognize the warning in her gut until it was too
late.

Hannah turned throwing an arm out behind her
to warn the guards following her and twisted as two man came out
from one of the alcoves. None of them saw the third man who came up
behind them. The guards never made a sound as they sank to the
cold, hard floor unconscious. Hannah was able to avoid the first
dart that was fired at her but not the second. She looked down
dazed as a numbness swept through her. She barely had time to call
out one name before everything went dark.

Core caught the female to his hard body
before she could hit the hard surface of the floor. He closed his
eyes briefly as her sweet scent filled his nose. Core looked at the
other two warriors with him. They quickly removed the darts and
dragged the guards into the alcove. Moving silently to the window,
Core waited as first one than the other warrior jumped down. He
gently dropped the female in his arms out the window knowing the
warriors would catch her. He moved through the window dropping down
on silent feet to the ground below. With a nod, he took the female
back into his arms. They moved silently, keeping to the shadows
until they reached the thick trees near the high wall. They planned
the move carefully knowing where the sentries were. They had just
moments before the sentries came back around this side of the
building again. It was a lesser used garden. Core and Merrick
scoped the palace for several days before coming inside. Core
handed the female up to one of the warriors who had already climbed
up the tall, thick tree. He followed next. The last warrior moved
up the other side of the tree at the same time. Once at the top,
they repeated what they did in the palace. This time Core went down
first and caught the female as she was dropped into his arms.
Within moments, they had vanished on the land gliders they
used.

Borj was listening to Lan and Brock give the
council an updated report on the security measures and
modifications to the portal they had made to make it more difficult
for others to try to use. RITA was currently offline due to an
upgrade Brock was making but she would be back up shortly. She
would be the first and last line of defense with several other
safety measures in between to ensure the portals could not be used
without proper validation. A self-destruct was incorporated at the
first sign of anyone trying to hack into the programming.

Borj jerked when he felt Hannah brush his
mind briefly. It was as if she reached for him only to realize it
and withdrew again. He bit back a curse of aggravation. She needed
to let him in. He reached for her but all he got was the blank wall
again. Maybe she needed time alone. A good work out might be what
he needed to get rid of this feeling of unease that had started in
the pit of his stomach as soon as he heard the Eastern Mountain
Clan had been admitted to the palace. Borj looked at Brock and Lan
with a gleam in his eye. It had been a while since he beat the shit
out of both of them. Maybe it was time to remind them just how
important it was to remain vigilant.

Two hours later, Borj dropped down onto the
bench wiping the sweat from his face and chest. Brock was lying on
the floor of the training room breathing heavily while Lan sat next
to him with his head on his knees. Neither man said anything for a
few moments.

“
So, that was an interesting workout.”
Brock said staring up at the ceiling.

Lan raised his head and scowled at Brock.
“Workout? I thought it was a definite ass-kicking – ours.” Lan
looked over at Borj. “So, what did we do to deserve it this time?
Was it the documents Tilly gave us? I mean, I didn’t see your mate
in those documents so I can’t imagine you kicking it because we
were looking at the other females.”