“We will do everything in our power to keep you alive. The I.C. has fighter groups, squadrons of Prillon flyers, even other Atlans at our disposal if we need them.”
I shook my head slowly. “I won’t make it that long.” I held up my cuffs so they were between us. She couldn’t miss them. “I might survive one of your missions, two if we’re both lucky, but I’ve got Mating Fever.”
She swore under her breath. It was the first time I’d seen any kind of emotion from her. Being an Everian Hunter, I expected her to be a little less…pent up, their Hunters infamously calm under pressure. She fit that, but she was also passionate about her job. A requirement in her two roles as Academy leader and I.C. Vice Admiral, but not normal for the females I grew up with, the serene and compassionate females on Atlan.
Staring at her, I wondered why she had yet to mate, to find a worthy Hunter from her home planet to take care of her in a way only he could. Wondered if the mark on her palm had ever flared to life, made her go crazy to find the one person who was her perfect match. To be with the one male in the universe, in a custom to which she was familiar. I could only surmise a night with her mate would make her far less…prickly.
“I assume, based on the fact that you came to Zioria and ripped the door off of Instructor Dahl’s classroom, that she is your mate.”
“She is.”
“Very well. I will pull her from active duty at once.”
“No.” The one word sounded like an ion cannon in the small room. Kira was an honorable warrior. She would not want to live with the fact that she was being forced to sit on the sidelines when she was clearly needed.
“Get those cuffs on her, and I don’t much care how you do it,” the Vice Admiral commanded, as if it were as simple as clicking the cuffs closed.
“She works for you,” I replied, as if that explained everything.
The Vice Admiral’s brow arched and she was less than pleased at discovering Kira had shared secrets. “So, she is also a confidentiality risk.”
“No.”
“Then how do you know she works for me?”
“Look, I’m not in the mood for this and neither is my beast. Captain Dahl is an honorable warrior. I want the cuffs on her. Do you think I want to succumb to the fever when I can have her?” I sighed, but it did nothing to calm me. “She confessed to me that we couldn’t be together because she works for the I.C. She didn’t name names or tell me what she does, but I am not a cadet. I know what’s out there. You know what I’ve done. I’ve seen better warriors than you die. I’ve survived the Hive, fought in so many battles I lost count. Do not insult my intelligence. And do not insult me or my mate again.”
The idea did not sit well with my beast. In fact, the thought of Kira being insulted or maligned in any way made my beast furious. She’d lain in my arms last night, completely broken, and for what? This woman and her lack of respect? I would not allow that.
“You will die if you don’t get those cuffs on her,” she countered. “You’ll be executed. I spoke to Governor Rone about you, and Lieutenant Denzel. I know why he was ordered to accompany you, Warlord. And I am not amused.”
“Yes, I will. I will die before I force her to be my mate. She made her choice. It is her decision and only hers.” I touched the other cuffs affixed to my belt, the small set that should have been about her wrists. “She refused my cuffs. She refused me.”
“That is understandable.” The Vice Admiral sat back down, her arms crossed over her chest and she did not look any happier than I felt. “She is an instructor here, yes. But she works for me. For the I.C. She is an indispensable asset to the team. You may have decided she is your mate, but she’s not free to make such a choice. She belongs to the Coalition. There are not enough I.C. assets with Hive communication implants to go around. I can’t afford to keep you two together. Unless the implants in both of your heads have somehow magically connected?” Her voice was not hopeful, but curious. “Heard any strange buzzing when you’re together? Like the implants in your head and hers are trying to communicate?”
What the fuck was this woman talking about? I lifted a hand to my neck and traced the thick outline of the scar there with my fingertips. Kira did have a scar on her neck, but it was off to the side, closer to her ear.
Just like Commander Phan’s.
But even if my mate did have the implant, there was no connection between the two of us that I was aware of—other than being mates. I would not lie, not about this. Too many lives were at stake.
“No. I’m sorry, but there was nothing. I didn’t know Kira had an implant similar to mine.”
“That’s what I thought.” She leaned forward and used her fingers to manipulate the digital files just visible on her desktop workstation. “I will pull her from field ops effective immediately.”
“No.”
“Look, Warlord, she tried to work with Commander Phan and failed. Right now, I’m staring down the potential loss of Battlegroup Karter and all of Sector 437. There are several planets in that sector that the Hive will overrun in a matter of months if we can’t maintain Coalition control. I need you more than I need her, and I need you alive. She’s out. You’re in. I’ll throw her in the damn brig if I have to, to force your cooperation. It’s not up for debate.”
“Are you threatening Kira?” My voice was low, too low. I was riding the razor’s edge of control.
The Vice Admiral didn’t bother to look up at me, as if my compliance were guaranteed. The threat I posed one not worthy of her attention. She was a fool. She had just threatened my mate. Atlans had killed for less and they hadn’t been in Mating Fever.
She moved her fingers over the screen and I saw an image of Kira in a cadet’s uniform. She looked so much younger, innocent. Her eyes in the photo were sparkling with excitement and hope. Not the devastated look I’d seen in them last night, heard in her voice, felt in her every touch as we’d fucked one final time.
“I don’t think you understand, Warlord. Kira is mine. I own her. By Coalition law, the only way out of her contract with the I.C. is to die or be injured so severely she is unable to continue.”
“She has a mate. If she accepts my cuffs, she will be free of you. I’ll go direct to Commander Karter myself.” He owed me, that Prillon bastard. I’d saved his entire Battlegroup with Chloe. If I needed something, he’d come through. He’d go to Prime Nial if he had to. I’d see to that.