Chapter Seven
Rezzer, The Colony, Base 3, Medical Station
“What the fuck do you mean it worked?” I heard the booming voice before I saw the governor. “It’s been less than an hour.”
The leader of the Colony came storming into the private room with Ryston right behind him. Without thinking, I hooked my arm about Caroline and pulled her into my side. While I knew neither Prillon would hurt my mate, my beast acted on instinct.
Yes, my beast. And thank the gods for that miracle.
No, Caroline was the miracle. My personal savior. Just—mine.
As I was sitting on the exam table, Caroline and I were the same height. Her dark gaze held mine briefly before she looked at the duo. She was so lush and curvy, soft where I was hard. But she wasn’t small like the other Earth females on the Colony. She wasn’t slight. She was quite large—everywhere. My cock swelled at the feel of her full breasts against my arm. If Caroline stood beside Lady Rone, I would assume she’d be close to a full head taller.
I took a deep breath, caught her scent, the thick musk of fucking lingered on her skin just as I knew my seed coated her thighs. Any Atlan would know she was mine by that alone. My cuffs on her wrists were an outward sign for everyone else.
She was mine now. How stupid and arrogant I’d been to try to walk away from a matched mate. Honorable? No. I’d been an idiot and could have lost her. A growl rumbled in my chest, and she squeezed my hand.
“Governor. Ryston.” I angled my head in deference, but didn’t get off the table since Doctor Surnen was on my other side waving a wand over me.
“It did work. How fucking big are you?” Ryston asked, a grin spreading on his face.
His gaze raked over me, most likely noticing the ripped clothing…and my size.
“Don’t know,” I replied. My mate had ruthlessly taunted my beast until it emerged and fucked her. Hard. Once soothed, at least a little bit since her cuffs were on and she was well marked with my seed, it retreated, just enough so I could speak. Could think clearly. Could walk so that my cock didn’t lead the way.
I knew the beast was back. I didn’t need a doctor to tell me that. Hell, Doctor Surnen took one look at me—and at Caroline—and knew. It was pretty obvious my mate had been fucked, and fucked well. But I wanted to know the beast was back permanently, that she’d fixed me. Or whatever the fuck it was called when she revived my dormant beast.
I wanted to toss Caroline over my shoulder and carry her back to my quarters, keep her beneath me for the next few weeks and make sure she didn’t regret allowing me to claim her—but I’d chosen the medical station first. I needed to know what was happening with my Hive contamination, the cyborg parts circulating in my blood. The doctor had never seen anything like it, and somehow the Hive had managed to suppress my beast. Make me weak.
Every Warlord in the Coalition Fleet knew about me by now. The Atlan Senate, the rulers of our home world, were in contact with Doctor Surnen daily, tracking my lack of progress. Even the Intelligence Core, the black ops, assassins and spies of the Coalition Fleet, knew about me.
Not only was I contaminated, banished, but I was such a freak that the entire Coalition whispered my name with fear. Regret. Loathing.
I was the beast who wasn’t a beast any longer. Less than a man.
Until Caroline. She’d saved me. Not just my body, but my soul. I could never repay her. But I could damn well try.
Once I had her naked again, nothing was going to separate us. Not even a command from the governor. And the testing chair restraints? They wouldn’t keep my beast from Caroline.
And so I sat not-so-patiently, but with keen interest in hearing the doctor’s final results.
The governor, Maxim, leaned against the wall next to the door, blocking entrance to anyone he did not authorize. “This needs to be kept off the record, Doctor, until we know what we’re dealing with. The extent of his mate’s effect on his beast, and until we can figure out how she reversed whatever it was they did to him.” His dark brown eyes were pools of death. “The Hive have spies on this base. It’s the only way they could be staying one step ahead of Hunter Kiel’s security team, the sweeps of the caves. Until we know exactly what’s going on, I don’t want the truth of Rezzer’s recovery to leave this room.”
“I agree.” Doctor Surnen didn’t take his eyes from the scanner in his hand. “And until I know what is going on with his physiology, I don’t want too many questions from Atlan or the Fleet either.”
Maxim smiled, the look pure predator. “Excellent. We’ll both be happier if we don’t have to deal with too many questions. At least not yet.” He turned his laser focus to me, but the killer was gone, replaced by amusement. “Yes, you said four whole words,” Maxim said, a smile spreading across his face. “My mate will be pleased to hear her idea worked.”
“Her idea?” Caroline asked. Her voice was raspy, and only I knew it was not her normal tone and the reason why it was that way. She’d screamed so loudly, so deeply when she’d come that it had affected her voice, taken it away. My beast all but preened with that knowledge.
“The testing, Lady Caroline. She was the one who talked Warlord Rezzer into the testing,” Ryston added.
Caroline looked up at me, confusion in her dark eyes, and I realized she had no idea who any of these warriors were, nor how much they could alter our fate.
“Mate, this is Maxim, Governor of Base 3 here on the Colony. He is a warrior from Prillon Prime and our elected leader.” I cocked my head toward Maxim first, then Ryston, introducing him next. “This is Captain Ryston. He is Maxim’s second and they share a mate. Their mate is from Earth, like you.” I frowned. “And where is Lady Rone?”
“She is napping.” By the smile tugging at Ryston’s lips, I had to wonder if it was her mates’ attentions that had worn her out or the baby that she carried. Based on the way she’d been escorted from the transport room by her mates, I had to assume the first.
The doctor put down one wand and replaced it with another, holding it up by my head. I ignored the wand and looked at Ryston. “Please tell Rachel that her idea worked.”