Kyle quirked an eyebrow at him. “I think that’s an ancient Earthan poet, William Shakespeare.”

“Oh? Well, he must have stolen it from our man.” He nudged Kyle with his shoulder. “Come on and get strapped in your seat. We’ll be landing soon and then you can get all of this straightened out and go back to your big Tygerian. They are a handsome people. A little crazy, but very handsome.”

“Will you stay in our airspace and take me back with you?”

He shook his head. “Your people said in and out—quick-like. They’ll have Tarr on the docks waiting for us. We push you out the door to their waiting arms, grab Tarr and take off. But don’t worry,” he said, at seeing Kyle’s crestfallen expression. “Your family will take you back to him once you explain. Or to some neutral ground where he can come for you.”

Kyle shook his head. “I don’t think Taz wants anything more to do with me. He wouldn’t even answer when I tried to contact him earlier.”

“Hmm…maybe. But I’d hate to get between you and him if you showed up at his front door. He may beat you a little, but he’ll get over it in a year or two. Maybe three.”

Kyle laughed in spite of himself, and punched Jex on the shoulder. “Thanks, Jex. I’ll go sit down and get ready for the landing. Things will probably be wild for a few minutes once we land, so I want to thank you now for helping me. I know you did it for Tarr, but I still appreciate it.”

Jex blushed and turned away, mumbling something under his breath that may have been a thank you. Kyle liked him a lot, even though he was an unabashed thief and a scoundrel.

Some twenty minutes later, the transport was coming in low over his home planet for a landing. Through the window, Kyle could see the desolate hills of his home planet. Kyle got a sudden pang as he thought about how very far away from Taz he was, and wondered if he’d ever get back to him again. He knew he could convince his family to let him go—that wasn’t the problem. It was Taz himself, and his damnable pride. Kyle hadn’t counted on the fact that he might be feeling too damn angry and betrayed to let him come home to him. Still, there had been no other solution that he could see to recover Tarr safely. Not when everyone involved were such asses.

The transport hovered briefly right over a tiny spaceport landing dock, as the pilot prepared to land. It looked like it had been raining recently and the ground looked muddy. Kyle could see what looked like all the alphas standing on the docks, along with a slightly larger form, wearing shackles. It was Tarr Bonnet and he looked much the worse for wear. Bruised and battered, he’d lost his shoes at some point and his clothes hung from him in tatters. Kyle realized he must have shifted to his tiger sometime during his capture or subsequently. He was waiting patiently enough now though as they came in for a landing. Kyle glanced out the side window again and saw his brother and his cousins, their faces tense, their hands on their weapons. They must still suspect some kind of trick.

He unbuckled himself and hurried to the door of the transport, which was slowly rising. When he came into view, he saw his family’s face light up and he started to jump down and greet them, when he felt Jex’s hand on his arm.

Lucas, who was standing closest to him snarled and started forward, but Jex took out a gun and held it to Kyle’s head, whispering in Kyle’s ear. “I’m not going to hurt you, boy, but they don’t know that. All I want is Tarr, and I’ll let you go.”

Nikolai made a move to rush forward, but Lucas grabbed his arm. “Let him go, asshole.” He pulled his own gun and stuck it to Tarr’s head. “I’ve got your man, too.”

When Lucas put the gun to Tarr’s head, Kyle noticed Larsson, way at the back of the group, gave what sounded like an involuntary sound of anger. Tarr glanced back at him and shook his head. What the hell was that about?

“Wait a minute, now, Lycan,” Jex said quickly before things escalated even further. “I have no wish to double cross you. Why don’t we both put down our guns and let our boys go at the same time, hmm?”

Lucas bared his teeth into what might have been a smile. “You first.”

Jex shrugged and lowered his gun, removing his hand from Kyle’s arm. Before he did, he gave him a final squeeze. “Go on, boy. Go to your family.”

Kyle jumped down from the door and Lucas released Tarr to step forward. As he passed Kyle, he gave him a dark look, but Kyle grabbed his arm and made him turn around. Kyle could hear the uneasy movements around him as the others tried to figure out what he was doing.

Tarr looked down at his hand contemptuously, but Kyle leaned in toward him. “Tell Taz I only did this to get you released. I want to go back to him.”

Tarr looked surprised, and stared back at him without acknowledging what he’d said. Kyle released his arm, and saw him glance once more at Larsson, who was watching them both. Tarr turned back to the ship and Kyle took another few steps before he was caught in a massive hug by Lucas. He passed him over to Nikolai next for more mauling. Blayde was slapping him on the back and the other cousins were crowding around him, shouting questions at him, when Kyle heard the transport powering up behind him. He glanced up at it as it hovered above them for a moment before shooting off at a rapid speed. He was happy to be home—happy to see his family again. But what in the name of all the gods was he going to do next?

* * * *

Nikolai insisted on taking Kyle home with him, and of course, all the others trooped along with them, despite Kyle’s need to crawl in a bed somewhere and go to sleep. The gorgeous Jagger met them at the door, and threw his arms around Kyle’s neck. It was good to see him, but his presence only reminded Kyle of his own mate, so different from little Jagger, yet the way he felt about Taz was the same as Nikolai felt about Jagger. Yet they were here together, and his own mate was light years away. In more ways than one.

Kyle was exhausted, depressed and heartsick. All he wanted to do was slink off to lick his wounds, not be subjected to an enthusiastic homecoming. He appreciated the sentiment, but he’d be back on Tygeria right this minute if not for their well-meaning meddling in his affairs.

He laid his head back on the sofa in Nikolai’s main living area, closing his eyes. He knew he wasn’t being fair—they had no idea Taz was his mate. There hadn’t been time for them to receive that last message he and Taz had recorded for them.

A sudden memory of that day, when afterward they’d talked about the baby’s name hit Kyle hard and a wave of sorrow and loss washed over him. He may never even see the baby now, not if Taz chose to freeze him out and never forgive him. He felt a hand on his knee and opened his eyes to see Lucas leaning towards him.

“I’ve called the doctor, Kyle. I think he should check you over.”

Kyle shook his head wearily. “No, I don’t need any doctor. You don’t understand the situation.”

Konnor, leaning against the wall next to him, spoke up. “What’s to understand? They kidnapped you, abused you, raped…uh…took advantage of you.” He made a growling sound low in his throat. “This thing isn’t over yet, damn it! We’ll make that bastard pay for what he did to you!”

Nikolai sat next to him, with Jagger perched on the arm of the sofa beside him. Nikolai threw an arm around his shoulders and squeezed him so hard Kyle thought he might be in danger of a dislocated shoulder. “Damn right. Don’t worry, little brother, we’ll get revenge for what he did to you.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. Nikolai was older than he was by exactly six minutes, but had acted like this their whole lives. Little brother, indeed. Like he needed someone to look after him. Had Nikolai known all along Kyle wasn’t the same as he was? That he wasn’t a true alpha? Had everyone known except for him?

Shrugging him off, Kyle turned on him. “I don’t want revenge. I want to go back home to my mate.”

A stunned moment of silence followed his words. When it went on for a bit too long, he realized they were all embarrassed for him. Lucas, who was the only one who seemed to be able to meet his gaze, looked at him sympathetically. “Kyle,” he said in the tone of voice people used to talk to mental patients or people about to jump from a ledge. “When people are kidnapped and held for a long time, there’s a condition that makes them identify with their captors. That’s what this is. It’s perfectly understandable and…”

“No!” Kyle yelled, dry-washing his face with his hands. “It’s not any fucking condition and I’m not crazy, damn it, so everybody stop acting weird.” He glared around at each of his family members in turn. “Taz Bonnet is my mate. I know it’s crazy, but that’s how it usually works with this damn curse of ours, doesn’t it? It just happened the moment I saw him. And he feels the same way about me as your mates feel about you. Except that now he thinks I betrayed him and chose you over him. I had to sneak away and get friends of Tarr’s to help me because he didn’t want to risk losing me!” He put his face down in his hands. “Now he probably hates me—he thinks I betrayed him.”

Another brief, shocked silence met his words, but then Konnor shook his head. “No, wait a minute. That can’t be right. We saw the tape of you in the arena with him on Tygeria. He almost killed you!”

“What? How did you see that?”

Nikolai spoke up beside him. “The Alliance has some undercover contacts on Tygeria. Lucas had them following Taz Bonnet once we found out he had you. We saw the whole thing, Kyle. It was brutal.”

Kyle shook his head doggedly. “No, you don’t understand. I initiated that whole thing. I’d been asking him to contact you to let you know I was fine and that he was my mate, but he was suspicious and afraid it was too soon. I insisted and made him an offer—if I could beat him in the ring, he’d let me come back for a visit.”

“Beat him in the ring?” Blayde said from his chair next to Lucas. “Kyle, he’s huge. It took two of us to put Tarr Bonnet down when we captured him—I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did.”