Soldier Mine
The Thresl Chronicles #1

Excerpt

"Just who I wanted to see."

Kreslan Piers didn't need to look to know who had sneaked up behind him in the hall. Barley Tankis's voice haunted his dreams. The bastard had made it his mission in life to bother Kres since basic training. Unfortunately, Barley's father was the admiral of the fleet, so complaining about Tankis's behavior never produced any results. Kres had learned that lesson the hard way and had a scar on his arm to show for his efforts.

"Hello, Barley." Kres reluctantly turned to meet his nemesis.

"Hello, faggot," Barley sneered. If his usual expression wasn't so unpleasant, the tall blond could have been considered handsome with his wide shoulders and icy blue eyes. Unfortunately, it didn't take much digging to find the vast ugliness that lay beneath the surface.

"What do you want?" Kres had just gotten off sixteen hours of guard duty because one of his co-workers had come down with a cold. He could barely keep his eyes open. He didn't need to put up with Barley's crap on top of everything else. He wanted a few hours of sleep and then to go to the bar and grab a willing bedmate for a few hours of stress reducing sex. Hell, at this point he was so desperate he was even willing to consider a woman.

"I talked to Sergeant Wallace, and he agreed that you should guard the creatures tonight."

Kres's stomach churned over Barley's smug expression.

Shit. So much for stress reduction.

Even though he knew it was pointless, he offered a token protest. "I can't guard them tonight. I just got off sixteen hours. I'm going to get some food, then go to sleep."

Fuck, he needed sleep.

"So I should go back and tell the sergeant you're ignoring a direct order?" Barley's cold eyes glowed with malice.

Anger pulsed through Kres. He knew he was powerless. "One of these days you're going to get what's coming to you," Kres said.

He had to believe that. It was the only thing that kept him from punching Barley in the face and getting court-martialed.

With a final glare at Barley, Kres turned and headed towards the cargo bay.

"Enjoy your shift." Barley's mocking laughter followed him down the hall.

Kres wished he could get away with punching the bastard again, but the last time he'd ended up in the brig for three days while Barley roamed free. Kres had learned his lesson. He only did things to Barley when he knew he could get away with them.

Sergeant Wallace gave him a cool look when he arrived. "Took you long enough to get here."

"I came as soon as I heard you wanted me on guard duty, Sergeant. I just got off a double shift." Kres didn't bother to hide the annoyance in his voice. His feet hurt, his back ached, and he longed for his hard cot of a bed with a fierce need.

"Then you shouldn't have volunteered for this one," the sergeant barked at him.

"I didn't, Sergeant," Kres said through gritted teeth.

"Are you saying Barley is a liar?"

How he longed to say yes.

"I would never say that, Sergeant. But then, as I didn't volunteer and Barley said you insisted I do this watch, I'll let you make the judgment call."

The older man gave him a long, considering gaze. "I like Admiral Tankis. Too bad his son is a prick. Unfortunately, because you were volunteered, I let my other guard go. I'm going to need you to take this shift, Soldier, and then I'll make sure Barley takes the next three."

The thought of Barley watching animals for one evening much less three drained away most of Kres's anger. "I'll do my duty."

The older man slapped him on the back almost knocking the wind out of him. "I knew I could count on you. You're a good man, Piers."

He didn't think a good man would enjoy the thought of his enemy's punishment, but he wasn't going to argue. "What do I need to do?"

"Keep an eye out that no one bothers the animals. Check on them if they make any noise. There's been word that someone might be after the Thresl before he makes it to Callavar." The sergeant pointed towards the huge cage in the corner.

Kres nodded. "I'll keep a close watch on him."

Thresls were rare shapeshifters, cat hybrids that, once bonded with their owners, could take any form. However, the beasts were picky about who they bonded with and often wouldn't stay with their owner if the Thresl found them unworthy. However, that didn't stop black market thieves from snatching the creatures whenever they could. The rich considered owning a Thresl prestigious and would pay outrageous amounts to have one of their own.

After the sergeant left, Kres walked through the rows of cages, peeking through the grates to observe most of the creatures sleeping. A low growl had him walking towards the Thresl's cage, sweeping his flashlight back and forth to see if there was a reason behind the animal's noises or if restlessness made it pace.

Careful to walk quietly in case an intruder hid in the hold, Kres approached the bank of cages with silent steps, the little sound he made easily covered by the noisy beast.

A quick glance around showed no one immediately near the enormous cage. To be thorough, Kres walked entirely around the container. Unable to resist, he peeked inside. A pair of gold eyes peered back. Kres respectfully kept his distance. He'd heard about these creatures mauling people through the bars. The new crisscross caging supposedly prevented that, but he wasn't taking any chances.

"I don't see anything, pretty kitty," Kres crooned to the animal. As if intrigued by his voice, the large cat moved closer to the latched door. The cat's red and black markings shifted beneath the shadows and limited lighting. The ship kept the lights low in the cargo hold in order to preserve power unless there was active loading or unloading.

The cat gave another growl.

Kres spread his empty hands to show he meant no harm. "I'm not going to mess with you. I've heard how dangerous you are." He stepped back from the cage and looked around. Still he didn't see anything.

The animal made a low purring noise, making Kres curious enough to look inside again.

"You sure are a pretty thing."

"Talking to the animals now, are we?" a mocking voice spoke behind him.

Kres spun around.

Barley and two of his goons smiled at him, but the look in their eyes was anything but friendly.

"What do you want, Barley?" Kres looked back and forth between the three men and knew in his gut this time they meant to do more than a little harassment. He could almost feel the antagonism pouring off Barley.

"You told Sergeant Wallace I volunteered you," Barley accused.

"You did."

"Why can't you just take your punishment like a man?"

"Because you aren't supposed to be fucking punishing anyone. You think you can do anything you like, but you're just an asshole with a father who gets you out of trouble."

It was like an alien had taken over his mouth and made him blurt out things he was definitely going to pay for later. Why couldn't he shut the hell up?

"Grab him."

Barley's goons each took one of Kres's arms and slammed him against the Thresl's cage.

Kres wasn't the type to go down without a fight. Using the goons as leverage, he jumped up and kicked Barley in the face. A satisfying crunch echoed in the hold.

"You bastard. I'm gonna kill you now."

Blood poured down Barley's face as he pulled back his arm. He slammed down his fist intent on doing as much damage as possible, but Kres dodged and Barley's hand hit the metal bars of the cage. Barley screamed with pain as his fingers slammed into the iron bars.

"I said hold him!" Barley shouted.

The goons pinned Kres tighter against the Thresl's cage. He knew this time there was no getting out of it.

Bracing his body to take Barley's punch, Kres was unprepared for the door at his back to swing inward. Two clawed hands slashed out, swiping long bloody trails across both of the men holding Kres. Blood splashed out of their wounds as they howled.

Barley's eyes rolled in panic. With a low animalistic roar, the Thresl picked Kres up and lifted him high off the ground. This was it, his last few seconds of life.

Yet, despite Kres's dire predictions, the huge beast set him gently to one side before he leaped at Barley. With vicious precision, the creature lacerated Barley's face with his claws until he was a mass of blood and bones and his flesh flapped loosely along his jaw.

Kres raced past the screaming men to reach the intercom. Pressing the button, he shouted into the receiver. "Emergency on the cargo deck. Emergency."

A high-pitched yell pierced the air as Barley fell beneath the Thresl's wrath.

"Shit. No. Don't kill him," Kres commanded.

To his surprise the creature froze. Leaning over Barley, he bared his fangs. Long and curved, they were five inches long and dripped saliva.

Barley let out a whimper as his men cowered in the corner as far from the Thresl as they could get. The creature blocked their escape route, and neither of them were in any condition to battle a Thresl.

Before Kres could think of what to do, a squad of soldiers rushed onto the cargo deck. Weapons raised, they surrounded the Thresl.