His handsome mate nodded at him with approval and tugged again at the chain, slowly leading him from the room. Kyle looked down at his bare feet, trying to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, and it was far from easy. From time to time a wave of blackness overcame him and he stumbled. Each time, his mate stopped walking and allowed him to recover before moving slowly forward again. A part of his mind registered that other people were walking past them, but he couldn’t spare them any attention. All of his focus had to be on making his feet move to follow his mate.

After what seemed like a very long time, he was helped into a seat, and strapped in. His head lolled back against the soft leather seat and Kyle felt the blackness trying to steal over him again. His physical condition must have been worse than he thought or else Tarr had loaded him up with drugs, but this time, the darkness wasn’t quite as absolute. It had a softer quality, more like natural sleep, and when his mate reached over to put an arm around his shoulders, Kyle gave in to it and sank gratefully down in its depths.

* * * *

Taz Bonnet was furious with his brother, Tarr. He’d asked Tarr to help him find a nobyo a few weeks before and had actually almost forgotten about it until he received the message from his twin brother telling him Tarr had a surprise for him and asking him to be on the docks when he arrived.

Taz had been there, of course. He loved his brother, and owed him everything, though they were very different people despite their looks. As identical twins, they’d been told all their lives how much they resembled each other. So much so that Tarr often went without shaving and let his hair grow unruly and too long to avoid looking just like Taz. Tarr loved his brother, but always said he wanted to feel unique. He also sometimes affected the rough clothing of the Jolly Rogers he worked with, as well as their lack of interest in personal hygiene.

When Tarr jumped down on the docks and ran over to take him in a bear hug, Taz had returned the embrace good-naturedly, though to be honest, it offended his dignity somewhat. As a Tygerian senator, he had to be careful of his personal image. Pulling away after a moment, he smiled at his brother.

“I’m glad to see you too—what could possibly have been so important I had to take a day away from my schedule to come down here to the docks?”

“I told you—I have a surprise for you.” Tarr grabbed his elbow and began ushering him back toward the ship.

“What kind of surprise? I warn you, if it’s another one of those animals you keep bringing me, you can take it right back where you got it from—the last one ruined my floors.” Tarr seemed to think Taz spent too much time alone, so he continually brought him exotic pets from all over the known galaxies. The last one had been a Kraponian bear, which, despite being a bear, was only a little over a foot high, with snowy white fur and quite possibly the longest tongue Taz had ever seen.

He kept it rolled up in his mouth most of the time, but occasionally he would unfurl it to snag a treat from the dining room table from halfway across the room. The creature was adorable, really, but steadfastly withstood any and all attempts at housebreaking. By the time Taz found him another good home, he’d had to replace almost all of his carpets.

“No, not any animal, exactly, though he will be a pet.” Tarr laughed at the expression on Taz’s face. “Your nobyo, remember? You asked me to find one for you.”

Taz stopped walking and pulled sharply away in surprise. “A nobyo? But I’m not prepared. Gods, Tarr, you could have given me some warning—now I’ll have to try and get some time away from work to train him properly. I don’t suppose he’s already been trained? That would be too good to be true.”

“You might need to take a little extra time off. This one is going to be difficult to train, but he’ll be totally worth it once you do.” Tarr took his arm again and began pulling him toward the entrance to the ship, but once again, Taz pulled back, hesitating.

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Taz said, a hint of a frown forming on his face. “What do you mean, ‘difficult to train’? What kind of nobyo have you brought me? He’s handsome, I hope, and suitable to rear my children.”

“He’s very handsome—beautiful, really. And he comes from a very good family on his home planet. Very respectable, I assure you.”

“And just where is his home planet? Is he from Earth?”

“Earth?” Tarr made a scoffing sound. “No, brother, not Earth. You and I are too bold and strong for such puny creatures. You’d have been bored with such a one in only a short time. No, I’ve brought you a real challenge, one that will be a delight for you to tame for many cycles to come. And if you succeed in making him submit to you, you’ll be the envy of all who see him.”

Taz began walking again and climbed aboard the ship, but slowly, still suspicious. “Exactly who is this paragon, then? Where is he from?”

Tarr came to a stop in the by-now mostly deserted passageway and turned to gaze at him with a twinkle. “He’s a Lycan.”

Reeling back from him, Taz felt his breath catch in his throat at the word. “Lycan?” he croaked the word harshly, his mouth suddenly dry. “Are you crazy? You know how I feel about Lycans.”

Tarr stepped in front of him, crowding him back against the wall. “Calm down, brother. Yes, I know how the Lycans mistreated you when they held you captive, but this is your chance to avenge yourself. Imagine having one of the arrogant bastards under your complete control. You can beat him, fuck him, make him suck your dick, treat him any way you like and no one will say a word. Just think of it!”

Taz pushed his brother away. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve purchased this person to be my nobyo, and we take our nobyos for life. To care for them—not to treat them like back-alley whores. You’ve been with the Rogers too long if you think I would ever abuse a nobyo under my care, even a Lycan.”

Tarr grinned ruefully. “Well, about purchasing him. It wasn’t exactly a purchase.”

Taz mouth fell open in amazement. “Gods, you kidnapped him.”

“Kidnapping is such a harsh word. I prefer to say I temporarily denied him his freedom to bring him to a good home.”

“He’s not an animal, Tarr—he’s a person!”

“He’s a fucking Lycan, and they’re little better than animals.” At the look on his brother’s face, Tarr held up a hand. “Besides, we’re at war with the bastards. Technically, he’s a prisoner of war, and I captured him. He was trying to take me, brother. I’d have wound up in one of their damn prisons if I hadn’t taken him first.”

“And just how do I prevent him from shifting and eating my child?”

Tarr chuckled. “He won’t eat your child. He’s one of the noble Balanescus, and once you have him trained, he’ll be suitable to be around your baby. And the medicine I’ve been giving him will prevent him from shifting until you have him properly trained.”

“Medicine? You mean you have him drugged out of his mind.”

“Just come with me to see him,” Tarr said, taking his brother’s hand. “I told you, he’s really beautiful, even with his red eyes. They’re a dark color, almost black, and his hair will be lovely once you make him grow it out. His body is really magnificent and muscular, but he’s not quite as large as the others in his family. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Taz pulled away and began walking back down the passageway. “I’ll see him, since you’ve gone to so much trouble, but I’ll have to find him another master. I won’t have a Lycan in my home, not the way I feel about them.”

Tarr said nothing more, just nodded knowingly, in his usual irritating manner. He led Taz down the passage to a metal door at the end. When he opened the door, Taz was shocked to see rows of metal cages, barely large enough for an Earthan to sit in comfortably, let alone a much larger Lycan. “Gods, how long have you kept him in a cage like this?” he asked, pity for the Lycan flooding him, despite his negative feelings for the race.

Two cycles before, he’d been captured by Lycans while he was traveling back to Tygeria after a diplomatic trip to one of the planets in what the Alliance called Bode’s Galaxy, though the Tygerians had their own name for it, of course. He had hitched a ride home to Tygeria with a freighter to make it back in time for an important congressional vote, and their ship had been attacked by Alliance forces.

The entire crew, along with Taz, had been taken to the planet Lycanus to one of their prisons. They’d been treated with a kind of casual cruelty, receiving very little food and rough handling from the Lycan guards. He’d seen several of the younger crew raped and beaten by these guards, and the only thing that saved him from similar treatment was the fact that he had been carrying diplomatic papers.

Still, the experience had been a nightmare of maggoty food, freezing cells and sneering Lycan faces peering in at him through the bars. The Lycans were a handsome people, and prior to his capture, Taz had always admired their fierceness and courage in battle. Those guards were brutal, however, and even cruel. He’d begun to fear for all their lives.

Taz had been interrogated twice and beaten both times when he refused to divulge any information. Finally, the entire crew was transferred to a more permanent facility on the sister planet of Lycanus 2. During the transfer, he and the others been rescued by his brother in a daring, dangerous raid. Most of the Lycan crew had been killed after putting up a vicious fight. The entire episode had taken him a long time to recover from, both mentally and physically, and he still harbored a host of negative feelings about Lycans.

Tarr ignored his question about the cages and kept moving steadily toward a back cage where Taz could see a man sitting hunched up in a corner. He was naked, and his muscular body was smeared with dirt and what looked like dried vomit. His thick, shaggy black hair hung down across his face, and he seemed to be only semi-conscious. Tarr reached through the bars and shook his shoulder, shouting at him in Lycan.