aHunter4Life (aHunter4Hire) (14 page)

“Yes,
and why I didn’t recognize or trust you when we first met.”

“Explain.”
She leaned back on the couch.

“Our
genetic modifications meant that we had a narrower focus than an ordinary man.
We are committed to our makers, the
Kaladin
. We’ve
been programed to work together in a smooth and efficient manner, but there are
side effects.”

Selena
frowned. “Like having a heart attack when you’re young because of overuse of
steroids?”

Catal
shook his head. “We usually don’t live that long. We are warriors bred and
trained to succeed at any cost. Death is the reward we expect.”

“So
you only see one purpose in life, and that is to fight and die.” Selena raised
her eyebrows. “What about your parents? Didn’t they have a say in what you
did?”

“We
have no parents. We are created in birthing chambers.” Catal lowered his voice.
“We are not like other men. Our makers used the implants to ensure that we
would never find a mate.”

Selena
shook her head. “That’s not possible. You and I both know that.”

“That’s
because my implants stopped working.”

“What
agency would be involved in anything so cruel?” Selena’s voice was doubtful.
“Why would it be necessary?”

“The
genetic modifications that were done to Hunters meant that we formed intense
commitments and connections. It made us fantastically loyal warriors. We also
formed powerful bonds with each other and our mates.”

Catal
glanced away. Since crashing on this planet, he had believed his life would be
complete if only he could return to Cygnus. Instead, the only right thing in
his existence was this woman beside him. Selena made him whole.

“You
mentioned pair bonds before.” Selena reached for his hand. “Explain what this
means.”

“A
Hunter bonds only once.” Catal clasped her hand in his. “He forms a pair bond.
If she desires, she will become his mate.”

“By
mate, I assume you mean lover.” Selena’s voice was hesitant.

“Yes.”
Catal went down on his haunches beside her. “The linking with our mate is so
strong that it means we will forgo everything else to protect her. It makes us
poor soldiers. So the implants were in place to stop us from bonding.”

“Are
you trying to tell me that you couldn’t commit because of implants?” Selena’s
eyes narrowed. “That’s the most outrageous explanation for desertion I’ve ever
heard.”

“My
implants probably stopped working after I crashed on your planet.” Catal held
her gaze. “Until I met you, I had never formed a pair bond.”

“Why
are you telling me this now?”

“I
should have been honest with you when we first mated, but I didn’t trust
humans. I believed you were the enemy.”

Selena
pulled her hands away. “That’s a poor excuse. Even on the planet you’re from,
there must be people you can and cannot trust.”

“I
was never permitted near anyone but my teachers and fellow Hunters.” Catal sat
back on the couch. “We are not meant to interact with others. We are meant to
battle. That is the only thing that has occurred to us on this planet that was
part of our training.”

“What
else happened?”

He
shook off the panic that rose in his throat. It was a child’s fears and he was
a man now. The crash had made him that. Selena needed the truth from him. His
fears wouldn’t help.

“When
we crashed, our teachers thought it would be possible for us to return to
Cygnus. They tried to contact others on our planet, but our communication
systems were destroyed.” Catal swallowed back his terror of what happened next.
“When they knew we were stranded here, they decided to try and find a way for
us to return to Cygnus on our own. Your planet wasn’t as technologically
advanced, so they inserted themselves into some of your scientific communities
and tried to accelerate your progress.”

Selena
swallowed. “What agencies?”

“Your
space exploration and weapon developments.”

“For
which side?”

“Whichever
country had a program. We weren’t here to take sides.”

“What
did your teachers do with you?” Selena pushed back a strand of hair from her
head with a shaky hand. “You had to be too young to help.”

“We
were.” Catal heaved a sigh. “We were expendable. They left us to fend for
ourselves.”

“You
were a child.” Selena’s voice held outrage.

Catal
nodded. “Unfortunately, our crash didn’t go undetected. Our teachers were able
to escape, but not all of us were that lucky.”

“What
happened to you?” Selena’s voice was low.

“I
was captured.”

A
shiver raced through Selena as she saw the dead calm in
Catal’s
eyes. She remembered clearly the first time she’d seen that look. They had
returned from a rendezvous outside the compound gates. He held her close, but
when she looked up, he was gazing with unblinking eyes at a point just beyond
the gatehouse. Before she could ask what was wrong, he’d pushed her behind him.

She’d
barely had a chance to blink when Catal had pulled out his sidearm. In the next
second, he’d reached for the knife in his boot and threw it. A harsh groan and
the sound of someone falling was followed by two quick shots from his pistol.
Running footsteps from the main house ended the assault, as the guerrillas
retreated. Catal had seen her back to the house before leaving with the rest of
the Hunters to pursue the intruders. Throughout the ordeal, he didn’t speak and
his eyes had the same focused calm.

She
knew it was bad, but she had to ask.

“What
happened?”

“Another
Hunter and I had hidden under some debris near the crash site. We’d been
ordered to stay put by one of our teachers.”

“Why
would you stay there?” Selena’s tone was incredulous. “The crash site would be
the first place searched.”

“Hunters
are bred to follow commands, no matter what the order, we obey.”

“Did
the other boys have the same instructions?”

Catal
shook his head. “No. They were given different locations so that everyone was
scattered. The teachers thought that if some of us were captured and found
alive, the humans would stop their pursuit.”

“You
were used as a decoy.” Selena stifled a moan. “How awful.”

“It
meant that the rest had a chance to escape.” Catal shrugged. “It is a strategy
often used with success. Capture is part of battle, and that’s what we were
conditioned for.”

“What
about protecting children or working together as a team?” Selena didn’t hide
her indignation. She took a deep breath to calm her anger. “What happened
next?”

“I
killed my first man that day.”
Catal’s
voice was
devoid of emotion. “It was one of the soldiers who seized us. He had a gun
aimed at my head and I didn’t hesitate.”

Selena
winced. “So they took you away.”

Catal’s
face went blank. “I had training in handling pain and torture, but it wasn’t
sufficient. I learned enough to last a lifetime by the end of my ordeal. These
are things a warrior accepts.”

Selena
reached out a shaky hand to Catal. “You don’t have to continue if you don’t
want to.”

“You
deserve the truth.” Catal looked down at their joined hands. “I didn’t
understand about pair bonds before, but now I do. You are the only person I
have ever told this to, not even my brother Hunters know what happened to me.”

“You
must have escaped or did they let you go?”

Selena
tried to keep the tears out of her voice. Whatever happened to Catal, it must have
changed him. She remembered the numerous scars that were spread across his
body. A large cluster were on his chest and back. She’d always assumed they
were battle wounds and he’d never told her different. Now she wondered.

“I
escaped. The other Hunter with me wasn’t so lucky.” Catal shuddered. “I saw an
opportunity and I took it. I told him I’d return with help. Once I found my
brothers, we went back, but the place was deserted. He was gone.”

“So
you don’t know what happened to him?”

Catal
shook his head. “I should have waited until both of us could go.”

“No.”
Selena grabbed
Catal’s
hands. “If you hadn’t escaped,
you would have died there.”

“The
others said the same.”
Catal’s
voice was low. “It was
decided that he must be dead. When we couldn’t make contact with him, we
stopped looking.”

“Was
he the only one taken?”

“No.”
Catal stood and started to pace in front of her couch. “Over the years, more
than half our numbers have been killed by humans.”

“You
must hate us.” Selena’s voice was a whisper. “Is that why you left all of
Juan’s men dead?”

Catal
frowned. “I never killed your brother’s men.”

“Juan
saw a Hunter killing everyone at the camp.” Selena clutched her hands together.
“He didn’t lie about what he witnessed.”

“It
wasn’t us.”

“The
Hunter told him that he was working for another government and he was following
orders. He started shooting. Juan barely escaped with his life, but the rest
were massacred.”

“We
had orders from your brother that morning to do surveillance.”

“He
says he never gave you any commands.” Selena’s voice was apologetic. “I asked
him numerous times about what happened, and he’s very clear. You and your men
deserted rather than guard the compound.”

“Pablo
brought the orders.”
Catal’s
voice was firm. “We were
to scout General Ramirez, the guerrilla leader. Our orders were to assassinate
him in retaliation for the kidnapping of your neighbor’s daughter, Rosita. It
took us two days to track him down.”

“Pablo
volunteered to drive me into town that day.”

Selena’s
stomach sank. Pablo must have been the traitor. All these years she’d blamed
Catal and he was innocent. Her eyes widened as she realize what a horrific
mistake she’d made. If she had trusted her love for Catal, she would have known
he couldn’t have betrayed her brother.

“We
returned from our mission to find a massacre at the base camp.”
Catal’s
voice was devoid of emotion. “I searched everywhere
for you, but you weren’t there. I didn’t leave a body or stone unturned, even
when I was ordered to stop.”

“Juan
said you were responsible.”

“No.”
A muscle twitched in
Catal’s
jaw. “We were
mercenaries and took money from humans to kill, but we were still Hunters. We
had honor.”

“So
you weren’t working undercover for a government black ops agency?”

“Juan
paid us.”
Catal’s
crossed his arms over his chest.
“We did his bidding. We went to do the assassination that he ordered. Surely
you heard that we succeeded.”

“Juan
said you betrayed him.” Selena’s voice was weak. “He is my brother. I believed
him.”

“So
you ran?”

Selena
nodded. “My love for you turned to hatred and bitterness.”

“You
thought I was your enemy. That is why you denied our connection.”

“You
weren’t the only one I shut out of my life.” Selena wiped her hand over her
forehead. “I left my brother and country. I couldn’t live with the violence any
longer.”

“You
were afraid.”
Catal’s
words were a statement.

“You
always made certain I was protected.” Selena shook her head. “I was a coward. I
should have waited for you and demanded an explanation, but I thought everything
that had happened between us was a lie.”

“Don’t
say that.” Catal crouched in front of her. “I remember every second of our time
together. It is the only true thing in my life.”

“I
thought you’d used me.” Selena looked up at him. “How can you continue to aid
me? If it had been me, I would have walked away the minute I realized who was
seeking help.”

“You
almost did leave when you saw that I was one of the Hunters who answered your
call.” Catal smiled. “I would do anything for you. That is the nature of the
pair bond.”

Selena’s
chest felt as if a vice were tightening around it. Catal had never stopped
loving or looking for her. He had never betrayed her. Her throat thickened at
the thought of her own deception. She inhaled a shaky breath. She must tell him
the truth.

“I
have to confess something.” She looked down at her hands. “You might not be
able to forgive me.”

“There
is nothing you could do…” Catal started to speak and then stopped. He frowned
and then stood. Selena swore he was listening to someone, but there was only
silence in the room.

“We
have a new lead.” Catal reached for Selena.