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  “What’s going on?” she asked, looking back at SimON.

  “There are intruders,” he told her in a low voice.

  Just as they reached the shuttle, a blast sounded from behind her. The medic threw her toward the shuttle door. “Get inside and hit the blue button to close the door. Now!”

  She stumbled on the ramp almost falling. Looking back as she scrambled up the ramp she watched in horror as three familiar figures came out of the woods. The two assholes that abducted her and the rebel leader came out shooting their blasters at SimON and the medic. The medic tried to return fire but soon the two men who took her tackled him to the ground.

  In horror she watched as SimON was shot in the chest with the blaster. The rebel leader didn’t hesitate stepping over poor SimON and heading right for her.

  Tera turned to run inside the shuttle and managed to hit the blue button just in time. She watched the ramp as it lifted up closing the door on the leader and his cronies.

  The shuttle shook as the men used their blasters against the ramp. She was helpless if they managed to get the doors open. She would be dead.

  “Oh God.”

  Moving back to the console, she looked for controls that would start the shuttle. Damn it! Where’s the start engine button? She hit several buttons and must have hit the communications. She heard someone’s voice over the intercom. It sounded like Commander TylOR.

  “Hello! Help! Mayday! Mayday!”

  “Who is this?” the male’s voice demanded almost making her jump back in fear.

  “It’s Tera Kincaid. We’re under attack! SimON’s been shot and I don’t know if Medic TynER is still alive or not.”

  “Tera?” a familiar beloved voice grasped over the line.

  “CristOF. Oh God he’s here, CristOF. The rebel leader is trying to shoot open the door to the shuttle.”

  “Stay there. We’re on our way.”

  The shuttle shook again and there was a creak. “I don’t know if you’ll get here in time. The door sounds like it’s starting to give way.” She felt panic gripping her.

  “Tera! Tera!”

  “I’m here,” she tried to calm herself down taking deep breaths.

  “Sit down and buckle up. We’re going to try to pilot the shuttle remotely,” he told her.

  Tera sat in the pilot’s chair and fumbled with the seat belt. The shuttle console lit up and she could feel the shuttle start to lift up. It rose higher, moving away from the rebels below. A thrill went through her. She was going to make it!

  She looked at the viewing screen, which showed her what was happening below. The three men raised their blasters, and the next moment the shuttle shook and tilted on its side. Then the vehicle was falling towards the trees.

  Reaching out toward the communicator, she shouted, “CristOF! The shuttle is being shot down!”

  “Hang on honey…”

  The next thing she felt was the impact as the shuttle crashed into tree after tree. She lost consciousness at some point. When she woke up with the shuttle on its side on the ground. There was a gaping hole in part of the shuttle facing the sky.

  Taking deep breaths she moved to undo the buckle binding her to the chair. She reached for the communicator but all she got was static.

  “Hello?”

  Static.

  “CristOF, help.”

  Static.

  Getting up she moved around the shuttle trying to figure out how to get out. The ramp wasn’t accessible; her only escape option was the hole. Standing on a chair, she was able to pull herself up through the hole, but she cut her hand on the shredded metal of the ship in the process.

  She didn’t have much time; the rebels could be searching for her. Or maybe they just wanted the shuttle. She felt glad that the rebels wouldn’t be able to escape using the shuttle. Unfortunately, it also meant she was stuck on this island alone with the enemy. How did they get here? They must have had a boat too.

  Well, if she was going to die she was going to make damn sure these assholes were caught and punished. That meant she had to find how they made it to the island and keep them from leaving. She only wished that she could warn CristOF, and to tell him how she felt about him.

  Chapter 16

  CristOF felt his heart squeeze tightly when the communicator only conveyed static. The shuttle had been shot down. His female was trapped on an island with the enemy, with no way to defend herself. She may be injured from the impact. He refused to think of her any way other than being alive.

  “Kitana!” He hit his fist against the console just in front of where he sat in the co-pilot’s seat.

  “Easy, Warrior CristOF. We’re only a few minutes from the island.” TylOR told him from the seat behind him.

  “Warrior SimON and the medic are most than likely dead. That means she is all alone facing the enemy. I feel this overwhelming rage…”

  “That, my friend, would be the mate’s pull to protect and claim his mate.”

  “It’s real? I’ve only heard stories about that?”

  TylOR eyed him warily. “It’s real...and extremely dangerous for anyone standing in between you and your mate.”

  CristOF squeezed the arms of his chair to let out some of his frustration. The feeling of helplessness did not sit well with him. He tried to distract himself by looking out the viewing screen and using the shuttle’s radar to detect where the bodies were located.

  “There are three bodies at the campsite; one has low life signs. Three other heat signatures, two traveling through the woods and one is on the beach.”

  His shuttle was coming up on the shore they were about one hundred feet away. A small figure caught his attention. “There she is!”

  CristOF watched as Tera came out of the woods. She was headed for a boat that had been pulled up on the shore. What in Kitana was she doing? She was completely exposed. That boat would do her no good if the rebels shot her—or it—with their blasters.

  “What is she up to?” TylOR asked, coming to look over his shoulder.

  “I don’t know.”

  Closer now, he could see her reach inside his coat, which she still wore, and pull out blade. He gaped in amazement as she sunk the bland into the inflatable part of the boat, rendering it useless. Then she headed back into the woods.

  “She sabotaged the rebels’ boat, keeping them from leaving. That is brave—foolish, but brave,” TylOR commented.

  “Take us over the trees in the direction that she went,” CristOF ordered the pilot.

  “We won’t be able to land in the trees, sir.” The pilot looked back at the commander for support.

  “He’s right, we won’t be able to land in that,” Commander CristOF said.

  “I don’t plan to land, I plan to jump.”

  He walked over to the door and manually opened the ramp.

  “Warrior CristOF, halt!” TylOR shouted out.

  CristOF ignored his commander; the first time in his career he’d ever done so. There was no time to apologize. He sensed the other males’ closeness to his mate. He would never allow her to face them alone.

  Without second-guessing himself, he jumped. He aimed his body at the nearest tall tree and reached out his hands to grab hold of a branch. The first branch broke on contact and he had to grab another as he started to fall again.

  Finally he was able to hold onto one, ignoring the pain he felt in his arms. Getting his feet in place he climbed down the tree swiftly. He halted at the base of the tree, sifting through the sounds of the forest for anything unnatural.

  There, toward the west he could hear two pairs of heavy feet tromping through the trees. They didn’t even try to cover their steps. That had to be the rebels. Just to the right of the heavy footsteps came the sound of lighter steps, soft and hesitant—Tera.

  His first instinct was to go directly for Tera, but he had to do something about the males following after her. They were too dangerous to ignore. He headed for the one closest to him. The stupid male wasn’t even trying
to keep his presence hidden. He obviously didn’t know CristOF was there.

  Listening for the footsteps, he halted by a large tree. Just as the male started to run past him, he jumped out tackling him from behind. He could have used his blaster and shot the male in the back but that was not an honorable way for a warrior to fight. He wouldn’t hunt unless he made it fair.

  The male used his elbow to hit CristOF in the side to get him off of him. When he reached for his blaster, CristOF kicked his hand making the blaster fall about five feet away. The male struggled to get to it, but CristOF grabbed his feet and yanked, making him fall to the opposite side.

  They struggled wrestling each other. The male somehow reached to free his blade and tried to stab CristOF, but he wasn’t in the mood to be stabbed twice in one day. He grabbed the male’s hand and twisted the blade in a different direction.

  The feel of the blade sinking into flesh was sickening. Both of them stiffened and looked into each other’s eyes. Light faded in his opponent’s eyes as death approached.

  “Goddess,” the male whispered on his last breath.

  CristOF let go of him and he fell to the ground dead. Taking a life never came easy for him. It was a shame that he had to take the life of one of his own people. He had lost so many people to death; watching his grandmother and grandfather die of old age had been disheartening. Watching a life end, even one of an enemy, was a sad thing to behold.

  A scream tore through the jungle, bringing his thoughts back to the present. “Tera.”

  He jumped to his feet and began running in the direction of the scream. CristOF’s heart raced. He had to get to his mate. She was his and he would protect her with his own life. He prayed to the Goddess that he had not taken too long.

  Just ahead of him he could hear a struggle taking place. Tera was going to have to face off against a warrior she had no way to fight. He prepared himself to expect anything.

  Chapter 17

  Tera thought for just a moment she might be able to survive this who encounter. All she had to do was hide in the forest until CristOF and the other warriors came back. She’d risked everything to make sure that the rebels’ boat would be useless to them. Unfortunately, they caught her in the act. She knew it would be risky but she had to do it. Now they were after her.

  “You bitch! I’ll kill you before your male ever comes for you!” The leader yelled from behind her.

  She ran back into the woods, weaving in and out of the trees. If only CristOF were there with her, he would tell her what to do or maybe throw her up into a tree. Her was like her own personal Tarzan.

  There had been two males chasing her. She thought that the man following close behind her was the one that her captors had called LazarUS. He really scared her. Tera had glanced back. LazarUS was closing in on her. God, please help me. She prayed. A laser blast hit the ground close to her scaring her enough that she tripped and fell down to the ground. She tried to crawl away but a foot landed on her back pressing her to the ground. She let out a scream.

  “No one is going to help you female. You escaped me twice—there won’t be a third time for you.”

  He raised his foot off and she turned over and sat up. She glared up at him. “You’ll never get away. Your training camp has been dismantled. It’s over for you.”

  The rebel leader laughed like a madman. “Do you think that tiny island is all that the rebellion is? We have many islands, on many worlds with warriors preparing for the war that’s coming.”

  She shivered at the crazy vehemence in his voice and the hate in his eyes. Tera was scared but she had to distract him while she looked for a way to escape him.

  “You want a civil war? Earth had many civil wars. They never bode well for either side. Those type of wars often pitted brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor. Many would die. At least the United States’ Civil War had some good come from it; slaves had been freed. But I get the impression you want a different result from your civil war.”

  “We want the humans gone from our world, our culture.”

  “You can’t do that. There are mates and families now.”

  “The impure will be wiped out so that our people will be whole again.”

  She looked at him, incredulous. Another Earth leader had wanted to wipe out a whole group of people and nearly did. “You can’t kill families! That’s...evil.”

  “The mixing of the races is an abomination and must be weeded out.”

  Since leaving Earth she was only around Katierans and Kiljorns who welcomed humans. They had laws about protecting women and children.

  “This goes against your laws. You are dishonoring yourself before your Goddess.”

  “You know nothing of our laws!

  He glared at her, showing his hatred for her and her kind. It made her shiver in fear. Never had she ever felt such seething disgust and ill will directed toward her. He didn’t even know her, but he wanted her dead. Tera didn’t want to die, she wanted live and be with CristOF.

  The thought of never seeing CristOF again, never getting to finally make love to him, to lie in his arms sated and happy, to never get to have children with him—of her whole future being taken from her because of this prejudiced, evil man—infuriated her. She wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

  As he moved toward her with his blaster aimed for her head, she kicked up with her leg, knocking the weapon from his hand. He growled in anger and made to jump on her, but she rolled away and he hit the ground instead. Her hand made contact with a large fallen branch, so she grabbed it with both hands and swung at his head.

  Whack!

  She threw the branch to the ground and took off running again while the man was down. Her heart felt like it was beating so hard it would break free of her chest. Tera glanced back to see if the man was following her, and didn’t see the body she crashed into.

  Umph!

  She would have bounced backward if it weren’t for the strong arms that wrapped around her. Had the other rebels caught her? Tera panicked punching at the chest in front of her to break free.

  “Let me go asshole!”

  “Shhh...Easy, love.”

  She froze. That voice was familiar. Glancing up, she looked into the face of the man she loved. “CristOF.”

  “I need you to stay here while I go after the male.”

  She shook her head and gripped his arms. “No, don’t go. He’s dangerous.”

  CristOF growled low. “I’m dangerous too. He dared to hurt and frighten my female. He will meet justice for that…or die.”

  Tera wanted to argue with him further, but the sound of branches crushed beneath boots had them both turning to look in the direction Tera had come from. CristOF pushed her behind him protectively.

  The rebel leader came into view and he had his blaster raised and pointed at them. “Tracker...you’ve caused me enough problems. It will be my pleasure to destroy you. Know that once you’re dead, I will deal with your female slowly torturing her over and over before ending her life as well.”

  “LazarUS is it? You are bold with your blaster in your hand. Are you too afraid to face me like an honorable male, hand to hand?”

  The rebel leader put his blaster in a side holster and spread his arms. “I am more than happy to kill you with my bare hands.”

  Tera was shoved back. It was clear that CristOF wanted her to flee while he fought the other man but she stood there, frozen in fear for him. The rebel leader had no honor and she was positive that he would not be fighting fair. The least she could do was be there to help if the man pulled any tricks on CristOF.

  It was the worst feeling to stand there and watch the whole thing unfolding. I had never been witnessed a fight except in elementary school. Two boys got into a fight on the playground over who would play the superhero and who would play the villain. She had never felt so helpless as she could do nothing but stand back and watch.

  They circled around each other, their hands to their sides ready for a strik
e, each waiting for the other to make the first move. She knew instinctively that it wouldn’t be CristOF who moved first.

  CristOF had slow smooth movements. Every move had purpose. He was clearly comfortable watching, waiting for the perfect moment. She could see the hunter in him, stalking his prey, reserving his strength and energy, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

  In contrast, the rebel leader tried to attack with quick choppy movements, easily dodged. He was already sweating profusely. His hands shook, and he kept moving toward his blaster nervously. When he’d threatened Tera he was much more sure of himself, but facing an equal or someone more experienced had him acting clumsily.

  The rebel leader tried to punch CristOF, but he easily stepped out of the way.

  “You move too predictably.” CristOF told him making the rebel leader kick out with his right leg. That made contact with CristOF’s hip, forcing him to step backward.

  Tera gasped, but CristOF showed no sign of emotion, no expression except the raising of his eyebrow. He was taking note of his opponent’s every move, every weakness. CristOF missed nothing.

  Then, like lightning, he made his first move, jumping in the air and coming down on the rebel’s leg. She cringed at the sound of the bone snapping. It was broken and the pain that shot up the other man’s face looked excruciating. He fell to the ground. CristOF turned to glance at her briefly.

  Was it over? She made to move toward CristOF but saw that the rebel leader now held a blade. “No!”

  She didn’t even remember doing it but she moved forward to place her body between CristOF and the rebel leader. The rebel threw the knife and she felt the sharp blade hit her in the back.

  CristOF shot his blaster at the man on the ground and caught her as she started to fall to the ground. Sounds of others coming toward them were drowned out. All she could see and hear was the sound of her heart and CristOF’s. He was so beautiful to her, even now with the expression of worry on his handsome face.

  “No! Tera no!” He held her in his arms, gently turning her to look at the blade stuck in her back. It must be bad; his hands were shaking.