Wyst Read online

  Wyst

  Book 2 of Mate Search Series

  By

  J. A. Hornbuckle

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  Copyright © 2016 by J.A. Hornbuckle

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  Cover Design by: Brandi Doane McCann

  License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this novel with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please buy an additional copy for each recipient.

  No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information story and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of J.A. Hornbuckle or her authorized representatives.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction and is not a reflection or representation of any person living or dead. Any similarity is of pure coincidence.

  Although, if you recognize yourself in any character represented, maybe we need to talk…

  EPub Edition: September 2016

  ISBN: 9780996510738

  Chapter One

  “Something about this just feels wrong,” Wyst muttered under his breath.

  The large male standing next to him in the shadows of the porch turned his eyes away from the flurry happening down on the driveway and nodded before crossing his arms across his chest. “You’ve got that right, brother. Never thought I’d see the day where we would have to send one of our own away in order to ensure his safety.”

  “But what choice do we have?” Laxon who was standing next to one of the large posts turned to look at Gyard and Wyst. “I think Bronson made the only decision he could given the circumstances.”

  Wyst knew the youngest of their group spoke the truth. Especially in light of the youngling daughter Rykhan’s mate carried within her womb. Something every male on the Mate Search quest had hoped and prayed would happen. Up until then, the hope that a union between an Earth female and a Picari male was nothing more than an optimistic dream. Although a decidedly necessary one in order to repopulate their planets.

  When the Searcher launched into deep space, their duty had been clear. It was unfortunate the specially selected warriors had discovered the original objective of their mission was a lie. And it wasn’t until the Quest Committee were told of Rykhan and Leah’s baby that the full truth was discovered.

  Gyard’s deep voice held a note of derision as he blurted, “I didn’t sign up for this shit.”

  Wyst nodded and adjusted his stance, his eyes remaining trained on the people surrounding the SUV. “Nor I. Yet there doesn’t seem to be any other way, not if we are to keep Rykhan’s mate and youngling safe from the Stege’s plans.”

  “Tsiran’s toes!” Gyard spat. “Fracking politicians with their schemes and secrets make me sick.”

  The front door opened spilling light out onto the porch as Bronson, the Gal-Trol Quest commander, filled the doorway. The three warriors looked to their leader as Gyard mumbled a quick apology.

  “In any other circumstance, your words would be not only unwelcome but would have repercussions.” Bronson shook back his waist length hair, the ambient light catching on the ihrom on his forehead; the one that signified his rank. “But in this instance I happen to agree with you.”

  The older man strode forward and he glanced at the flurry of activity in the driveway. Wyst’s eyes followed those of his senior officer, noting both doors of the SUV were now closed even though last-minute instructions were still being given through the open windows.

  “So what happens now, Bronsyn?” And Wyst thought Laxon’s question was a valid one because in all the years of serving in the Picari Protectorate Wyst had never seen or even heard of a warrior performing an assignment alone. There was more power in numbers and he wondered at Bronson’s thought processes.

  “All in due time,” their commander mumbled, turning back toward the house. Wyst noticed the other male’s deep frown and tired gait, making the man seem older somehow. “I’ll explain it all in due time.”

  Both Gyard and Laxon followed Bronsyn into the house leaving the door open for the others. Wyst watched as Tyshar and Arbrynt said their final goodbyes to the young couple in the car before making their way up the steps, only giving him a brief glance as they passed by.

  Pam, Leah’s best friend, was the only person remaining as the SUV backed out of the driveway and began to slowly move forward. Moving to the middle of the street, he watched as the petite but curvaceous blonde raised a hand and waved her goodbye to the retreating vehicle, remaining in place long after the SUV was out of sight. Wyst couldn’t help but be affected by the lonely figure she cut as she stood in the street, her dejected posture giving evidence of her sadness.

  Although he could clearly hear her thoughts, just as he had when she and Leah had been battling to escape from the Searcher earlier that day. It was during the time the two females were fighting for their freedom that their Mycalyte connection snapped open, but it wasn’t the same as the emotional tie Rykhan shared with his mate.

  Holding her position for another few seconds, Pam dropped her head and wrapped her arms around her waist before turning to the house. Wyst wondered if she could hear his thoughts as clearly as he could hear hers.

  I’ll miss her so much. When he’d first heard her voice in his head he’d been stunned and disbelieving because that kind of connection only happened between true and legitimate mates. And according to the acolytes and priests on both Galaxia and Nutrol, the association had more to do with receiving the emotions of your other half. When Wyst heard the pixie’s thoughts though, they didn’t contain a shred of emotion. Just a stream of words he could almost hear, given in her voice. Just like now.

  I don’t give a shit she’s pregnant with his kid, if Rykhan hurts either her or the baby, I’ll eff him up so bad, he’ll wished he’d never heard of Earth. Even though he couldn’t sense the feelings behind her words, he still found himself shocked at their bloodthirsty nature. As he discovered in both his studies of the humans inhabiting the small blue planet as well as his recent experience with the females of earth, the species had a propensity for violence. And the females especially so. Something inconceivable for the women of Galaxia an Nutrol. The descriptions of those females, the ones who’d been killed by the poisonous gases in the ionic cloud of a comet coming too close to their worlds, never alluded to any warrior-like behaviors or speech.

  Was it only Pam’s fierce loyalty to her friend that had her thinking along those lines?

  He frowned, as she made her way slowly toward the steps of the huge house located in the foothills of Troon North, a residence he and his warrior-brothers agreed to share as they commenced their search.

  Will I ever see her again? And what happens after she delivers her little baby girl? Will the Picari really try and take it from her and Rykhan? Fat chance of that happening if I have anything to do about it. They won’t get their filthy alien mitts on my niece anymore than they could harvest my ovaries. Just what kind alien assholes plan that sci-fi shit anyway?

  His eyes slid over the young woman highlighted in the streetlights, taking in the blonde curls tumbling to her slumped shoulders and found he wanted to comfort her. His hearts dipped when his exceptional hearing caught a whispered sigh chased by a soft mewl of loss, even over her words in his head.

  Wyst was at a loss on how to respond to her grief, especially since their relationship was so contentious. Aching to move towards the beautiful sp
rite he checked himself, determined to remain in the shadows and give her the privacy to accept her friend’s leaving without his interference.

  She moved slowly, deliberately his way and it took more than a few minutes before her foot found the first step. The dejection and sorrow in her posture tugged at his hearts and found him speaking without thinking his words through first. “I can hear your thoughts, little pixie.”

  Two steps up, her body stuttered to a stop and her beautiful blue eyes raised to him. He watched as she took a moment to brace herself, jutting her tiny rounded chin his way in challenge, her stare and unblinking. “So?”

  Ah. There she was. The little spirited warrior of her soul came to reside front and center in her crystalline blue gaze that always reminded him of ice. And Wyst had to admit, it was exactly what he needed to see since Rykhan’s departure had left him feeling raw and strangely vulnerable. His own hearts recognized her pain and loneliness. And because he understood what he saw, he took a step forward out of the shadows, allowing the light from the open door to highlight the right side of his body.

  He knew she saw him, partially lit from the weak light and decided another step was in order before he rested a shoulder against a nearby post and adopted an unconcerned posture. They had a few things to get straight between them and he considered the time when they were at their most vulnerable to be the perfect instance to initiate it. But he needed to appear calm in order to address it. “I heard them when you were battling onboard the Searcher.”

  “And that means what exactly?” Gyed, the attitude she wore as a proud mantle was a turn-on! Did she know how much her snappy reply inflamed him?

  Taking another step forward, he dropped his defenses and stared at her in confusion. Surely she’d heard the stories, the legends of what a Mycalyte connection meant in the time she’d spent with him and his brother-warriors. “You know what it means, Pam.”

  True to form, she stomped up the remaining two steps and planted a hand on a canted, rounded hip, stretching herself up to stand as tall as she could, which was only as high as his lower chest. “I think you need to cough the explanation up, big guy, because I’m getting nothing here.”

  To use an earthy Earth expression, his brain called ‘bullshit’ to both her words and her bravado stance. So he took yet another step forward, cutting the distance between them by half. “Why do we need to deny it?”

  But his words ignited the short fuse the petite woman always seemed to have and she exploded. “Deny what, douche-bag? That I don’t like you and you certainly don’t hold any affection for me?”

  Ooh, a challenge!

  And everyone who knew Wyst was aware he lived for a good dare. The fact his pixie just gave him the perfect one and although it wasn’t on the field of battle, it was a throw-down that left his body thrumming nonetheless. So he took another step to where she stood. “We can thought-share due to the Mycalyte connection between us, pixie.”

  As he stopped before her, Wyst noticed her head tilted back at what had to be an uncomfortable angle, but she held her ground. She was so tiny compared to his towering height, his arms ached to make the distance between them more compatible, as in hauling her into his body and forcing her to entwine her legs around his waist. A position they’d shared in the past and one he found quite delightful. Especially while kissing her.

  But the look on her face, one of narrowed eyes and pressed together lips told him that wasn’t the right play to make in that moment.

  “I don’t know that word and we have no connection, Wyst.” She was lying and he knew it not only by the way she wouldn’t look at him but by the trail of thoughts he could hear. He better not get any closer because I’ve had just about all the shit I can freaking handle for one day. God, I hate how much my body wants him. Why can’t he just leave me alone?

  He schooled his features trying to keep the shock out of his face even as he tried to dampen the sheer wave of lust her unrestrained reflections initiated. Which made his tailpor twitch in interest even as it lengthened with desire. Opening up his mind fully while staring deeply into her eyes, Wyst replied without words. Any time you want to give my bed another try, pixie, just say the word.

  And he knew she heard him because her eyes went from narrow-eyed fury to wide-eyed shock, then turned mutinous in the time it took to blink. She inhaled and her pillowy full lips parted, signaling her intention to verbally flay him where he stood.

  “I know it’s late and we should all be in our beds, but we need to talk.” Neither Wyst nor Pam had heard Bronson return to the porch and his authoritative voice startled them both to the point it found them springing quickly away from each other.

  Bronson went back into the house and she quickly followed, giving Wyst a withering glance as she passed in front of him. “Let me just grab my purse and I’ll get out of your hair.”

  At her words Bronson came to a standstill and he glanced over his shoulder to the woman behind him. “Do you not consider yourself a part of us now that Rykhan’s mate has gone?”

  “No, it’s not that…” Wyst came to stand next to her and found her cheeks blooming a deep pink color. “I just thought when you said ‘talk’, you meant official Picari warrior stuff. Not fit for human ears and all that.”

  Bronson’s mouth lifted in a halfhearted grin as he resumed walking into the large living room where the other warriors were already seated. “What I have to say concerns you as well, Pamela Swain.” Moving to the front of the room Bronson moved his waist length hair behind each shoulder as he held himself at full attention. As he took up the stance all the other warriors rose to their feet and adopted the same stance only including the move of a fist over their hearts in abeyance.

  And that action alone told Wyst that whatever came out of Bronson’s mouth next was sure to rock his world yet again. Sliding his eyes down into the left, the little pixie had also copied the Picarian warrior move, something she’d only done once before. And Wyst saw his quest brothers found it no less endearing the second time she performed it, just as he did.

  Bronson cleared his throat and paused before asking in a ringing voice, “what is the sixth rule of the Picari Protectorate?”

  All five warriors bumped their chests with their fisted hand in unison and yelled as one, “We are a band of brothers. We live, fight and remain steadfast in the knowledge we are shoulder to shoulder, of one heart and one mind. That none of us battle alone!”

  As the echoes from their raised voices fell away, Pam’s feminine voice was heard by all. “All for one, and one for all.” All eyes turned to look at her in varying degrees of astonishment, causing her to blush again. “It’s the Musketeer Creed,” she murmured with a rueful shrug.

  “I’m not sure we are familiar with the reference,” Bronson chuckled with a confused look on his face. “But I like that it gets to the heart of the matter at hand.”

  Casting his eyes again around the room the commander took a deep breath and continued. “It is with that in mind I’m ordering Pamela Swain and Wyst Marnd to South Dakota as well. I do not order this lightly but do consider it imperative not only to protect the newly mated couple but to remove our Pamela from the easy reach of those determined to recapture her.”

  “The other transport is fully functional, I just need to upload the coordinates and it will be ready.” Arbrynt’s deep voice released Wyst from his salute and cause Pam to visibly jump.

  Wyst turned her in order to ask what she was feeling since he could no longer hear her thoughts, when Tyshar spoke. “I have the same amount of American currency for you and your mate. Just as much as I provided to Rykhan and his Leah. Take it and go with Gyed’s blessings.”

  Tucking the thick wad of cash into a back pocket, Wyst shot the blonde-headed woman of Earth next to him another brief glance before he made for the stairs. He needed to get to his room as fast as possible. But just as he made it to the top of the second floor landing he felt her mind touch his. What in hell’s name is going on, Wyst?
r />   We are to follow Rykhan and Leah, leca purvya. I go to pack and then we will go gather your things. Hadn’t she realized what Bronsyn’s words meant?

  At the subsequent mental scream, Wyst had his answer. Not only could he hear Pam’s fervent denial with his ears, he was also able to hear her thoughts which pulsed with the words, no freaking way.

  Snagging a large soft-sided bag from the closet, he grabbed handfuls of clothes before racing to the cleansing unit for his hygiene items. While not as technologically advanced as Galaxia and Nutrol, Earth had devices to help even an alien feel clean and refreshed. But every move, every step was dogged by Pam’s mental yells as she tried to enlist the help of the other warriors in preventing what was, he knew, a ‘done deal’.

  Bronsyn was the first she tried to reason with, but when the leader didn’t respond, she moved to Gyard, where she pleaded for understanding, even using her nickname of ‘Gere’ for the large warrior. After realizing Gyard was immovable, Pam moved to Tyshar and tried citing she and Wyst couldn’t be a couple because she hadn’t grown a wahrom—the metal mark of a warrior which Wyst held on the back of his neck—despite their ability to share thoughts. By the time she made it to Laxon, or ‘Sean’ as she called him, her emotions were too high to be contained and she began to cry. An act that hit Wyst low in his gut, making him pause in his preparations long enough to ‘talk’ to her along their link. Be at peace, pixie. We need to leave in order to protect and help those we hold most dear.

  She didn’t reply but he sensed his words were received when she warned Arbrynt he wasn’t taking away her cellphone like the large man had done with Leah’s. Wyst smiled at the mutinous words, but then she’d always been feisty from the first moment he’d met her. It was, in his opinion, one of her more endearing qualities.

  Deciding the best defense was an offense, Wyst spoke through their link again. Why are you not planning what clothes you will bring instead of upsetting my brothers with your theatrics?