Page 75 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
The corridor was clear of any crew and hazard. He cleared the adjacent rooms, all crew quarters. None held his mate or anything more interesting than dirty undergarments.
“Ready,” Svallin announced.
Mads went through the door first. His eyes rapidly adjusted to the low light.
“Fascinating,” the old bull said, hardly surprised at all when Mads appeared in the control room. Lights blinked on the helm, indicating the quantum drive had yet to fully charge. “How did you find me? How did you know I have your mate? Can you sense her distress?”
Mads shoved the male against the helm, slapped restraints on him, and it was over. No drawn-out battle. No satisfying climax. He didn’t even get a shot off.
He felt utterly disappointed and did not know why. His mate was safe from Karl’s gruesome research. He received what he bargained for, yet why was he unsatisfied?
“Where is my mate?”
“You are unable to sense her? Close your eyes and your heart will lead you true.” Karl gave a bitter laugh.
“Is she alive?”
“When I left her. Accidents happen, though, when you leave a pet unsupervised.”
The male deliberately provoked him.
“But how did you know I had your mate?” Karl asked again.
“Because you’ve been stalking her and creeping into her house for genetic samples. You said yourself that she’s your most prized specimen, and you wouldn’t flee Earth without a prize specimen.”
“Ah, logic. How disappointing. I was hoping for a manifestation of a psychic bond.”
“That’s a myth.”
“Oh, you might think that now.” The old bull chuckled at a joke only he understood. “Your father thought the same, but I proved him wrong. He did not take losing his mate well. Poorly, if I had to rate it. He took it poorly.”
Definitely provoking him.
Sadly, it worked.
“Do not speak to me of my father,” Mads growled, years of anger and hurt churning in him. “He did not have a mate.”
Karl cocked his head to the side. “Your mother was his mate.”
“You lie.” Mads’ mother abandoned them. Arne told him the story many times of how she showed up on his doorstep and shoved a squalling infant in his arms. Mads had been as unwanted by his mother as he was by his father.
“Of course, I didn’t understand the intricacies of the mate bond then. I wanted to test the hypothesis that the surviving half of a bonded pair could bond a second time with another. Arne had bonded once, so he should be able to bond again.” Karl frowned. “I didn’t understand the emotional connection between them. Losing your mother changed him. Hollowed him out. His aura never recovered and he filled himself with poison.”
The information was too much. Karl’s aura, fractured and gray, conveyed sincerity, but Mads sensed manipulation. Karl wanted Mads to attack, to hurt him, possibly kill him, for what? To prevent him from returning to Reilen. He must fear that for some reason.
“I never felt the same sense of loss when I cracked open my mate, which I always found odd. Did your father have genuine affection for your mother? Or was it because my mate was human? I’d give anything to have been able to examine Arne’s brain, but he spent years pickling himself. It would have been quite useless to me.” Karl gave a wistful sigh.
“How many human females did you abduct?”
He grinned, fangs on display. “Enough. They were all so eager to come with me. I honestly thought it would be harder to collect specimens as I grew older, but we produce a pheromone. It’s quite irresistible to females. Have you noticed that? Females turning their heads and watching you walk by? Or was it only ever your female?”
Mads ignored Karl’s jabs. “What did you do with the bodies?”
“Fire removes many sins.”
Mads shoved Karl to a seat and secured him in place. He didn’t have time to play the old bull’s games.
“Find your mate. I’ll get us back to Earth,” Svallin said, sitting at the helm.
