Leo

      I arrived at the transport center with ten minutes to spare, but stopped short when I saw five guards with Lord Jax’s insignia on their shoulders enter the center via a side door. Walking with them was a consort I recognized. Cassander of Jax was well-loved by the ladies. In fact, I had heard tell of males becoming frustrated when their new mates complained that Cassander was a better lover.

      Of course, he’d had more than twenty years with his mate before she died. I could only imagine the skill and knowledge he held in regards to a female’s body and her desires. He would know exactly how to touch her to make her surrender to his every demand, every need.

      I had no doubt that should I ever find The One, I would make sure to satisfy every single one of her needs. Her cries of pleasure would become my obsession. I would play her body like a master, watch every move and every breath until I was her master, until she begged for my touch. Craved it. Couldn’t come without it.

      In my pants, my cock stirred as a strange scent teased my senses.

      My cock stirred. All on its own. What the fuck?

      All because of a delicate fragrance, like the translucent petals of the Aleran flower that grew in abundance in the citadel gardens I’d played in as a boy. Crazy.

      It had been years since I’d been to the citadel and should not be stirred by simply inhaling the soft scent. Even longer since I’d been fool enough to bury my nose in the center of the silken petals and breathe in their scent. When the queen lived and ruled, I’d played in the gardens while my father went to meetings with the other guards. But the citadel, while in the same city, was far from here and I’d not passed by those sacred gardens on my journey from my guard post. Perhaps the wind brought the scent to me, cloaked in darkness, a taunting ghost of happier days.

      Strange. I hadn’t thought of those long, bright days for years. But the smell of the flowers lingered, as if clinging to my body with a mind of its own. And to stir my cock? A scent, not a female. Perhaps it was time to see a doctor.

      “Stop daydreaming and get moving, soldier.” I whispered the order to myself. There were three females inside that building and I’d promised Prime Nial to protect them with my life. I had no idea who they were, or why they’d traveled all the way from Earth. But those facts were irrelevant to me. I didn’t need to know their names to die for them. That was a warrior’s vow. To die for innocents he or she had never met. To protect them simply because they needed someone stronger, more skilled, to defend them from any threat.

      Prepared to step out of the shadows and enter the building, I stopped cold as three dark shadows caught my eye as they moved along the roof.

      Assassins.

      Within moments they’d vanished again, blending into the shadows as if they’d never existed. Phantoms. But I’d seen them. Knew they were real.

      Knew they were hunting.

      Fuck, there was no question as to why they were here. Why they were stealth and silent.

      The Earth women.

      Who were they? And where had the assassins come from? Surely not Lord Thordis Jax? From all I had heard, he was a decent and honorable male. But perhaps someone in his family was not. Or had assassins followed these females all the way from Earth? From Prillon Prime? Nial’s mate, Lady Deston, had spoken as if the females were of great import to her personally. Perhaps whoever hunted these ladies wanted to get to Prime Nial, his second, and their mate. Then why were the females on Alera, not Prillon?

      “Where did you go, evil bastards?” My voice was so quiet I barely heard the words as I scanned the rooftops and buildings for movement. I was not a trained assassin, but I was very, very good at killing. And watching. Waiting. I was hunting now.

      The door opened as a vehicle pulled up to the side entrance. A large EMV slowed to a stop, and I watched as two guards exited the transport center, checked the vehicle and driver before leading the three females, the consort and the rest of the guards inside. The shuttle was large, but fast, moving past me in a blur as I threw my tracker into the air. The small, autonomous drone would fly just out of sight above them and allow me to follow their every stop and destination through the computer, displaying coordinates I could follow easily.

      Racing to my own EMV, I quickly followed, frowned when I spotted a second drone tracking the shuttle. Lord Jax’s vehicle was much faster than mine. Much more expensive. My soldier’s wages didn’t allow for such luxuries, nor did I care for them as long as the EMV took me where I needed to go. I was not frivolous. Depending on how far they traveled, I could remain right behind them, or be twenty minutes delayed.

      The assassins, however, would surely have the very best EMV money could buy. They needed to monitor their prey, know exactly where they were headed. Follow. Attack. Kill.

      Fuck. I tapped my comm and placed a call to Thordis Jax. His bleary-eyed assistant answered the call.

      “What is it? It’s the middle of the night, sir. Who are you and why are you calling me?”

      “I need to speak directly with Lord Thordis Jax. It’s an emergency.” I flicked a gaze from the drones to the rear of the Earth females’ EMV.

      “Hummph. No, it is not. Lord Jax is asleep, and I assure you, whatever your emergency, it can wait for a decent hour.”

      “Listen to me,” I countered, tipping my tone low. “Wake him. Tell him his special guests have assassins following them.”

      “Who are you?” he asked instead of taking my command seriously.

      “It doesn’t matter. Wake him the fuck up and give him the message.”

      The older gentleman snorted again, rubbing his eyes, and I slammed my hand on the comm to end the call. Idiot. I didn’t have time to argue, and I wasn’t about to tell him who I was. Especially when