“Wake up, Lycan! Your new master is here to see you!”

The Lycan’s head rose only fractionally, as the bars were too close to the top of his head for him to straighten up. He twisted his head to the side and peered up through strands of his filthy hair. Taz caught a glimpse of eyes that reminded him of a summer storm over the vast Tygerian plains, when the black clouds were lit up briefly from within by powerful lightning, and then went dark again just as quickly.

“Gods, Tarr, what have you done to him?” He reached in to brush the thick hair from the Lycan’s eyes and the poor thing flinched away fearfully. Taz pulled back his hand and rounded on his brother. “Have you been beating him too? You bring me this poor, broken creature and expect me to keep him as my nobyo? My beloved? You’ve ruined him!”

Tarr made a sound of impatience. “No, not at all. He’s been drugged, that’s all. No one’s beaten him, though he didn’t exactly come easy when we captured him. You know what dangerous creatures they can be—I had to drug him. I’ve tried to keep him hydrated, so he’s not in bad shape at all, though he’s probably a little hungry and tired.”

“You think so?” Taz shook his head angrily. “There’s nothing I can do with this poor man.”

“At least look at him,” Tarr said, and reached in to pull the Lycan’s head around and get the hair off his face.

Almost reluctantly, Taz looked down and was struck at once with the Lycan’s beauty. His skin was tanned and smooth, and his lips were full. The Tygerians believed this indicated passion. The pretty lips were parted slightly and the tip of his pink tongue showed slightly between his white teeth. Taz found himself wanting a taste of that tongue. The Lycan’s eyes were as beautiful as he’d imagined from the glimpse he’d had of them through the fringe of thick hair, with long, sweeping eyelashes and that curious blood-red color. Taz felt unable to pull his gaze away and continued to stare down at him for a long time. Finally, he nodded at his brother. “He is beautiful. Please get him out so I can see him better.”

Tarr called on his communicator for two of his service slaves, who came in right away and unlocked the cage to pull the Lycan out. When the Lycan was on his knees before him, Taz didn’t feel the satisfying vengeance he should have felt. Instead he was entranced by those soul-searing eyes staring up at him.

Unable to stop himself, Taz leaned over to pet the Lycan’s head. At the first touch of his hand, the Lycan fell backwards, as if frightened. Taz shook his head. He’d take a lot of work if he’d been broken so badly that the slightest touch frightened him, but one good look at his beautiful face had convinced Taz he might be totally worth it.

“What’s his name?”

Tarr looked puzzled and shrugged. “I have no idea. I took him on Leeria from the bar. The Leerians told us we couldn’t touch the Lycan ship, but they didn’t say anything about the crew. All we knew was that some important Lycan family called the Balanescus were bringing in a shipment of bauxite, but other than that, I don’t know anything about him. Call him whatever you like.”

As Taz gazed down at him, the beautiful man got on his knees and shuffled forward, then wrapped his arms around Taz’s legs.

Shocked, Taz turned to Tarr who was almost goggling at the Lycan in surprise.

“What the hells, Taz? He fought us like a demon when we first took him. It took two injections just to put him down on the floor.”

One of the slaves stepped forward then to pull him sharply away and harness him, and Taz shouted at the man without thinking. “How dare you put rough hands on my nobyo? I’ll have you flogged for such insolence!”

The slave cringed and apologized, but Taz spared him barely a glance. Instead he looked over at his brother who was grinning from ear to ear. “I knew you’d like him. The moment I saw him I knew he was special.”

Taz ignored his brother’s gloating and accepted the leash now attached to his nobyo’s harness. It was a cheap leather one that Taz would replace as soon as possible. He’d buy a halter lined with a soft material for his nobyo, and attach a silver leash. He couldn’t wait to get him home to bathe him and groom him properly. Before he took him, he wanted to hide his nakedness from the prying eyes on the docks. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around the Lycan.

He stood back up and glanced over at his brother. “Is he an alpha?” he asked his brother, and received a huge grin in response.

“I think so. The Leerians said all the Balanescus are alpha. Once the drugs clear his system, he’ll give you a lot of entertainment. I thought about plugging him for you, but figured you’d prefer to do it yourself.”

“Yes, of course. He’s a virgin, isn’t he? I’ll have to prepare him carefully and plug him as soon as I get him cleaned up.”

Tarr adjusted his trousers. “Damn, I think I really do envy you, brother. Perhaps I should have taken his cousin for myself—he was a handsome devil too—but I did make promises to the Leerians. As it was, I had a hard time getting your boy off the planet. His family was beside themselves.”

“However you managed it, I’m grateful. I have him safely now, and he’ll never have to go back to those animals again, will you, darling?” He leaned over and caressed the side of his nobyo’s face and spoke to him soothingly in the few words of Lycan he remembered, telling him he would care for him now.

His poor nobyo didn’t seem to understand, but he’d teach him everything he needed to know once he got him home. The babies his female spouse was having weren’t due for over a quarter cycle yet. At that time, his wife and her companion would keep the girl child and send the male to Taz. By that time, he hoped to have this nobyo trained enough to at least help his servants care for the child. Then later, he could take over complete charge himself.

The Lycan certainly had a great deal of intelligence in that expressive gaze, and once the drugs had cleared from his system, he’d be able to teach him the Tygerian language—the language of the people, which he would, of course, have to teach the children. He petted his nobyo’s head in satisfaction again, and pulled on his leash to lead him down the passageway and take him safely home.

Chapter Three

Kyle awoke some time later to softness and warmth, though he became aware the air around him was chilly. He was lying naked on a soft rug on the floor, and wrapped in some kind of furry blanket. He stretched a little, trying to wake up and clear the fuzziness from his head. He tried hard to remember where he was, but he couldn’t quite grab hold of the memory.

A sudden image of golden eyes flashed into his brain, and a rush of happiness came over him. He’d found his mate. It was Tarr—or no, that wasn’t exactly right. Someone who looked like Tarr, but smelled totally different. He was cleaner too, and more beautiful. Kyle sat up, rubbing his eyes. Where was his mate? He was suddenly afraid that finding his mate had all been in his mind—some kind of drug-induced dream. In a panic, he threw the covers off and tried to stand up, but was stopped by a chain around his ankle. He pulled at it viciously but the length of chain remained firmly bolted to the wall, holding him so that he had a range of motion of only a few feet in any direction.

Furious, he tried to shift, but to his horror, nothing happened. He fell back down on his ass, rubbed a hand over his face and tried again—and again. Nothing happened, not even the releasing of his incisors from his gums. He shook his head to clear it, but it didn’t help. The drugs they’d given him must have something powerful in them that prevented his shifting. He had to get free—he had to find his mate.

He was aware enough intellectually to know he should calm down and try to figure a way out of this—a part of him even wondered why he was so freaked out about finding his mate instead of worrying about being kidnapped away from his family and his home. Fuck, he didn’t even know where he was or even if he was really still back in that filthy cage and dreaming all of this. He knew he should try to figure all that out, but he wasn’t feeling very logical. Despite his efforts to calm himself, he slipped more deeply into agitation and confusion.

He fell down on the rug and began tearing at the cuff on his ankle. It was tight and made of some stiff, animal hide material, but lined with soft, black fur. He pulled and tugged at it, even tried biting it with his teeth, but it wouldn’t give at all. His growls and whimpers grew even louder until he knew he was making a lot of noise, and the damn guards would be in soon to shut him up, but he didn’t care.

A door opened behind him and he never even turned to see who’d come in, figuring it was the asshole guards, come to hit him again or pour more water down his throat. He resolved to fight them this time, now that he could think a little more clearly. He wouldn’t allow them to put him back in that cage—they’d have to kill him first.

When the rapid footsteps got right behind him, he turned and scooted backward, thinking he could make his stand better with his back to the wall. It was then the scent that had been assailing his nostrils since the door opened finally registered on him, and he went completely still, his mouth falling open a little.

It was his mate, crouching down beside him, a look of concern on his beautiful features. It wasn’t Tarr. That was definite now, and Kyle couldn’t figure out how he’d ever mistaken the two. There was a strong resemblance, to be sure, but the exotic creature beside him was much more beautiful. He was huge, the sleeveless vest-like garment covering his chest doing nothing to hide his muscular chest and arms. His skin was exquisitely marked with faint, thin tiger stripes running just under the golden skin, and his hair was a golden-red color, as were his eyebrows and eyelashes. His eyes were as golden as his hair, and he was simply the most delicious thing Kyle had ever seen.

He said something rapidly in his language, Tygerian, of course, and then seemed to concentrate hard on the next words, which he spoke in Earthonian, a mixture of several of Earth’s primary languages and the official language of the Alliance.

“Don’t be frightened, nobyo. You’re safe now. I had to chain you to keep you from trying to escape and hurting yourself. Do you understand me? You do speak Earthonian, don’t you?”