“So?”
“Without him, I cannot protect you. I cannot fight. I cannot claim you as I would want.”
She looked me over, clear skepticism in her eyes. “You look huge to me, like what? Seven feet? Of course you can protect me. Besides, you don’t look like you have anything wrong with you.”
I shook my head. “You do not understand.”
She sighed. “That is obvious. What do I not understand? You’re massive. You seem like you can move. What do you mean, you can’t fight? You’re just going to stand there and let someone like me kick your ass? Or let someone hurt me?”
I knew there was no way to explain it to her. The loss. The weakness. The lack of interest from my cock. So I turned away and opened the door. And I wasn’t about to tell her that without the beast, our mating would never be complete. “Come, Caroline. I will allow the doctor to explain it to you.”
“CJ.” She rested her hands on her hips, her breasts jutting forward beneath the clinging fabric, and my gaze dropped to them before I could think better of it.
For a moment something stirred, something dark and angry and severe. I wanted to reach out and touch the hard peaks of her nipples, taste them, bury my cock in her soft body. I wanted her to heal me. I wanted to be whole. But the flicker inside me soon faded, and I held my hand out into the hall, indicating she should come with me. “This way. Come with me, and I will help you understand.”
“No. You seem intelligent enough. You tell me how it’s possible the testing system is broken. Convince me that the Brides Program has a flaw. That you aren’t meant to be mine.” She shook her head, her long, black hair sliding back and forth along her back.
“Caroline,” I groaned.
“It’s CJ,” she said through clenched teeth. “Explain. Convince me. Now.”
My mate had a flare of temper, yet so did I. I didn’t need my beast to rage for me to be frustrated and mad. Not at her, but the situation we were in. “You want to know? Fine. I’ll tell you.” I crossed my arms over my chest, mimicking the pose of my matched female. The transport room door slid closed. “The testing proves you not only would be perfect for me, as a male, a warrior, but also that you want to be fucked by my beast. That you would enjoy his dominance, his huge cock filling you up. But I’ve been damaged by the Hive. No beast means no formal claiming. I can’t claim you as is my right as an Atlan. I can’t become what I am meant to be because of the Hive. I can’t give that beautiful body what it needs.”