Jarek (Scifi Alien Weredragon Romance) (Dragons of Preor Book 1) Read online

  “And yet, she left you.”

  Jarek curled his lip at the prince. He did not like being reminded of Melissa’s desertion. He took a step toward the prince, prepared to silence his truths, only to have a body step between him and Tave. He snarled, hands rising so he could bat the interloper away, only to freeze in place.

  “Nalan,” Jarek glared at the female.

  “War Master,” she tilted her head at him and then did the same for the Ujal. “Prince Tave. I thought perhaps a Heart Master could assist in this situation.”

  Heart Master. They were always female, always those who could slice through a warrior’s rage and speak them down from the edge of bloodshed. Her tinkling voice danced over his nerves and he knew she used her power on them both. His anger slowly ebbed, lessening until some of his tension fled his body.

  Nalan turned her back on Tave and focused on him. Her eyes bore into his, so strong yet so fragile. “War Master?”

  Jarek took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I am fine, Heart Master.”

  “What causes this disagreement?” The tone still held a soothing edge.

  “I have found my mate.” Her smile was wondrous and it squeezed his heart. He should be looking into his mate’s eyes and seeing her smile. “She is a human that boarded with the Ujal, yet the Ujal gave her a means to escape me once it was discovered she belongs to me.”

  A tremble overtook him. Him, Jarek joi Melissa, trembled with fatigue. He had not fought Rhal for long, yet his muscles shuddered as if he’d battled for days. His mind swirled as the Knowing shoved more knowledge into his mind, attacking him with facts once more. He grew dizzy with the influx and found himself swaying in place.

  “Jarek?” Worry tinged the soothing word and he almost smiled. He’d gotten Nalan to say his name after all. Unfortunately it was with concern for him. She spun away and faced the prince. “How long ago did she disappear?”

  Her snapping rivaled any War Master.

  “I…” The prince floundered for a moment and Nalan spun once more to face Rhal.

  “When?” she snarled then and Jarek almost smiled. Almost. He was too busy trying to stay upright for now.

  Rhal shrugged. “Only a few minutes.”

  “Twenty, Heart Master,” one of the warriors from the group spoke.

  “Twenty…” Nalan whispered, her gaze colliding with his. “We have to find her. Now. Before you’re lost to the madness.”

  “Mad—” Tave began to question Nalan, but his word was buried… by an explosion racking the ship.

  Alarms blared, lights dimming as the emergency lighting took over control of the vessel.

  “Ship! Report!” He shouted above the din while pushing away the fatigue and hints of madness threatening to crowd him. For now, he had to be the ship’s War Master.

  Jarek could die from madness another day.

  6

  Melissa should get up at some point. Maybe after she took her next breath. Right now, the floor seemed to be the best place for her. The transporter brought her back to UST—Ujal Station Tau—and the royal family security center. The empty royal family security center seeing as the royal family wasn’t at the station. Because, well, they were in space.

  Where she’d been moments—thirty minutes?—ago.

  She rested on the metal flooring, the grates digging into her skin, and stared at the wall. Someone really needed to take a rag to the metal. There were coffee splashes staining the surface along with something that looked like it was once applesauce. It had to be from Theresa’s “let’s paint with food” period. And it still hadn’t been cleaned? Gross.

  Ugh. And dammit. And fuck. She couldn’t stay on the ground forever. There was no telling when she’d be found.

  Intent on getting up, she took a moment and drew air into her lungs and prepared herself for the move. That was followed by a groan as twinges of pain struck her. Not just from her old wound, but a new agony totally encompassed her. Her skin, her blood, her bones.

  Okay, breathing was a mistake. She’d just lay on the floor not breathing while her mind was bombarded with the Knowing. Each new wave of information trembled through her, sending shards of pain along her nerves. It was an overload, her body rejecting the alien bombardment.

  The moment she pressed the transporter she’d known leaving Jarek was a mistake. Her muscles seized, instincts trying to overcome her thoughts. Something inside her hadn’t wanted to leave the ship, but her brain overruled her body’s needs.

  Now she was on Earth’s surface, curled in a ball and fighting back tears.

  She would have been safer with the wing-wearing, sword-bearing, growly Preor.

  Shaa kouvi.

  My beloved.

  God, had she actually said the words aloud? To him? Jarek sen Claron, War Master to the Preor Third Fleet. Her beloved. He was Jarek joi Melissa now—Jarek joined to Melissa.

  She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. No way. She hadn’t uttered a sound.

  The Knowing flowed harder, dumping more knowledge and assuring her Jarek was her Preor mate. She needed him at her side. Now.

  The Knowing could take a flying leap.

  Melissa almost chuckled. Flying leap. Jarek could fly away with the Knowing and leave her in peace. Soon, hopefully.

  Okay, she really needed to get up. Like, now.

  She shifted her body, muscles clenching and spasming with the move. She rolled until she rested on her hands and knees. That was the point she stopped. The room spun on her, the world blurring with the change in position. Well, she was back to thinking movement was a bad idea. Her stomach objected to the jostling and she swallowed hard. Her mouth watered, saliva pooling while her nausea increased.

  She was not going to puke in security. She just wasn’t. Mainly because she’d never hear the end of it from Rhal and Erun. And Erun’s mate, Vanessa—who also happened to be Melissa’s sister-in-law. Family relationships made jokes at another’s expense totally acceptable.

  Hopefully her niece Tabby wouldn’t join her mother in the teasing. That’d be nice.

  She curled her fingers against the grating, cursing the edges of metal as they dug into her knees. Sure, the grates were great with eliminating puddles of water after an Ujal took a dip in the sea, but they were hell on skin.

  She really needed to be done with the mental whining now. Her next task was to get upright. If she managed, she’d see about trying to fix whatever the hell was wrong with her.

  The Knowing seemed to take that thought as a question and it launched into explaining her new status as a Preor mate all over again.

  How do I get this to stop already?

  Her mind pulsed with a single thought over and over again, the Knowing forcing the word to fill her vision until she was blind to everything else.

  Mate.

  Right. Mate a guy she’d just met. A guy who wasn’t really a guy, but an alien with wings who turned into a dragon.

  Melissa shook her head, attempting to banish the thought the Knowing planted. She had a life on Earth. She had a family and friends who didn’t paint her with the same brush as her brother. Her brother who destroyed so many lives through his actions, selling Ujal younglings to the highest bidder.

  A soft chime drew her attention to the door and she lifted her head enough to see Erun standing in the hallway outside security. He held a phone to his ear and those strange purple eyes bored into hers. “I have Melissa. I will convey her to medical.” Medical? Ugh. He must have seen her disgust because he raised a single brow and then tacked on, “Immediately.”

  He pulled the phone from his ear, tapped the screen to end the call and then slipped it into his pocket. He padded into the room on silent feet, not a sound made as he stepped to her side. “Hello, sister.”

  Sister. The single word was said with so much caring, so much love, it nearly brought tears to her eyes. Her own brother had never spoken with such emotion and Erun… Erun meant the word down to his bones. He hadn’t had a fami
ly growing up and he clung to his mate, Tabby, and Melissa as if his life depended on their presence.

  Love. So much love.

  It was another reason she shied away from Jarek’s claim. She’d found a place of happiness, created her own happy family with her sister-in-law, and she wasn’t ready for that to be ripped away. Mating with the War Master of the Preor Third Fleet meant spending time—a lot of time—in space.

  Space where her small family wouldn’t be.

  “Erun,” she rasped.

  “I am going to assist you now.”

  Melissa grunted. She didn’t have the strength to do much else.

  Erun reached for her, one arm moving beneath her and resting on her ribs just below her breasts. “Let us get you upright and then I shall carry you to medical. Sece is waiting.”

  Sece, the Ujal healer who’d overseen her niece’s transition. She was also, coincidentally, Tabby’s half-sister. Her brother’s misdeeds stretched beyond Tabitha and screwed with other Ujals.

  When it came down to it, she had more energy than she thought. She apparently had enough to scream. Her body rebelled against his touch, skin blazing with a sudden wash of pain and the Knowing attacked her once more. It fed her bit after bit of information until she realized exactly why Erun’s touch nearly sent her collapsing once more.

  No one—no male—could touch her until after she’d mated with Jarek. Until then, all contact with males would be painful.

  Nice.

  Another wave of nausea assaulted her and she jerked away from his touch. “Don’t.”

  “Melissa?” A hint of hurt tinged his expression.

  Men and their tender feelings. She didn’t mean to sound like a bitch. Really. But overwhelming pain and the urge to vomit up her intestines sorta made a girl wanna bust out her bitch hat.

  “It hurts,” she gasped and grasped the counter, using it to keep her on her knees instead of collapsing to the floor once more. “It hurts when you touch me.”

  “I will have them bring a stretcher.” He frowned.

  She shook her head and then wavered, body swaying while dizziness took up residence in her head. Okay, shaking her head was now on the “do not do” list. “I’m fine. Just…” She swallowed hard and slowly inhaled then released the air with a slow exhale. She could keep dinner in her stomach. She could. Really. Okay, maybe. “Just keep the halls clear while we walk to medical.”

  “No one shall touch you,” Erun snarled.

  He was scary to look at and frightened her more often than not, but it was good to have that fierceness on her side.

  “Good.” Melissa tightened her grip on the counter and lifted one knee, placing her foot flat on the grating. She flexed and pushed herself upright, squeezing her abdomen when it felt like her stomach was about to climb her throat. When it didn’t look like she’d pass out, she waved at the doorway. “Lead on.”

  “Melissa…”

  “I can’t stand here much longer.” She really, really couldn’t. It was taking everything in her to remain upright. She wasn’t even sure she’d make it to Sece without collapsing. Then again, if she passed out, she couldn’t feel pain when a male touched her. Fainting seemed like an excellent idea.

  Rather than argue with her, Erun opened the doorway and stood aside, gesturing for her to follow him. “Come.”

  Melissa shuffled forward and the moment she stepped into the hallway, his phone beeped, announcing a secure message. She didn’t care who he texted as long as he kept others from touching her as she went to medical.

  Erun kept pace with her, his gaze traveling the length of the hallway while occasionally diverting his attention to his phone. When someone stumbled into their path, Erun snarled at them, his purple scales rippling over his skin while he threatened the young warrior’s life. She would have laughed if she knew it wouldn’t make her cry.

  Instead, she continued, hand skimming the walls as she shuffled forward, prepared to catch her weight if she stumbled. Medical was in sight now, mere feet away, and some of the weight lifted from her shoulders. The Knowing continued to ebb and flow in her mind, attempting to shove even more history to the forefront of her brain, but she pushed it back. She needed to keep breathing more than she needed to know a warrior’s sword sheaths were made of katoth skin. When she wondered what the hell a katoth was, the Knowing gave her an image of an animal similar to an Earth cow with wicked fangs, spines that stuck out of its back, and curled horns.

  Okay then.

  Melissa stepped in front of the medical doors, waiting for them to grant her access, and they slowly parted to reveal the sterile room. As the metal granted her access, many things happened at once.

  Still staring at his phone, Erun gasped.

  Reading her own, Sece shouted. “Incoming!”

  And then bodies flickered into sight in the center of the room. Soot covered and bleeding, several males filled the area. Prince Tave on the left, Rhal on the right, and cradled between them… Jarek. Jarek, bleeding and wings broken, dangling in the air between Tave and Rhal.

  The prince met her gaze for a spare moment before he swung his attention to Sece. “I do not think he is breathing.”

  7

  Jarek’s first thought upon waking should have been about the status of his men and ship.

  Instead, his mind immediately went to Melissa. Did she feel the madness of their separation? He was unsure how long he’d remained in the shadows, but even a moment was too long. He needed to be at her side even if she did not wish to be near him. Otherwise the madness would steal them both.

  The Knowing remained a presence in his mind, so it had not yet driven him to insanity. Perhaps she was fine. The question would torment him though. And the only way to discover the truth was to hunt her as the Preors of old hunted their mates.

  Keeping his eyes closed, he let his mind wander, gathering clues of his location without hinting he was awake. He recalled the events that saw him injured. Two explosions rocked the ship, one from either end of their cruiser. Smoke filled the hallways, making visibility lessen until he did not know who stood before him—Preor or Ujal.

  The Ujal… Were they responsible for the damage to his ship? No. Prince Tave brought his youngling aboard. He knew the male could be ruthless in the protection of his mate and young. He would not drag them into a battle zone.

  He recalled dragging Rhal and Tave toward the meeting room and their own warriors. As he shoved them into the space, the attack came… From whom?

  His own warriors. His own males swung at him, a blade cutting deeply into his back at the base of his left wing. Even with his debilitating injury, Jarek spun and met the males strike for strike. He became the physical barrier between the Ujal delegation and the Preor warriors.

  Diviak… Hezas… Proog… Tagass…

  His men fought with heart even if they had abandoned their honor and attacked their superior.

  He recalled his loyal men coming to his aid, Evuklar wielding his own blades in Jarek’s defense.

  In the end, he’d swayed on his feet, one hand on the wall bracing his battered body. Blood flowed, staining the walkway while Preors littered the ground. Dead and dying laid out before him. As the height of battle fled his body, his pain reared and flew in his veins. It was then he realized victory came at a cost—his own life.

  But were they victorious? He did not recognize the scents surrounding him. The metallic tang of the ship did not fill his nose and the steady hum of the engines did not vibrate through his body. The rustle of wings did not reach his ears. He did not lay on a healer’s metal platform.

  Proof he was not on the ship.

  So where was he?

  He tasted the air, his dragonish characteristics coming to his aid. He parted his lips enough to draw in the air around him while he stretched his hearing. The room was filled with salt and brine and the rush of water filled his ears. The surface beneath him was soft and cushioned, cradling his weight.

  The Ujal. He was with the Ujal. O
nly their warriors would sleep on a surface so soft. The Ujal treated their males like children—coddling them.

  Jarek rested on his stomach, head on a pillow while his wings gently lay on the cushioned surface. He tensed his muscles, testing them each for pain, and fought hard not to hiss with the flare of agony. He had not been unconscious for long then. His wings still felt as if they were nearly ripped from his body.

  The soft patter of feet told him of another person in the room. The rustle of cloth and scrape of a pen on Earth paper helped him identify the occupant’s location. A healer?

  A soft whoosh preceded the arrival of someone else, the steps even softer than the other. “Any change?”

  His gut tightened. He had not heard her speak more than a handful of words, but still he knew her voice. Melissa… His mate.

  “No, nothing yet,” a feminine murmur was followed by a quiet sigh. “You should go home, Melissa.”

  Melissa hummed. “Soon.”

  “Liar,” the unknown female chuckled.

  Even if Melissa lied, no one would dare say the words within his hearing. As soon as he was well he would—

  “I can’t leave him. Not yet.”

  Not ever, if he had his choice.

  With her in the same room, he realized the Knowing no longer bombarded him. Surprising since they’d been separated so quickly and for so long.

  She must have spent a lot of time at my side while I was unconscious.

  He hated his injuries, but if it brought them together, he couldn’t despise them too much.

  “You need to sleep.”

  “I slept.” Melissa moved closer, padding around his bed until she stopped near his head. The scrape of metal on the floor told him she must have pulled a seat closer.

  “Sleeping in a chair isn’t sleeping.”

  “My eyes were closed.”

  The female harrumphed.

  “Sece, when he wakes up and we can talk, I’ll consider going home. I…” Melissa hesitated. “I can’t leave him. Not like this. It won’t let me. I can’t…”

  The Knowing would not allow her to leave him a second time. He hated that was the reason she remained, but he would take the gift nonetheless.