She looked up into his eyes and they stood like that, frozen in time. I saw the bond between them. There was no inner beast, no mark, no mating collars. They were both human. Yet they were mates. There was no question. The silly heat in Melody’s eyes when I’d first sat down was gone. I only saw love now. Bonding. Shared pain.
Connection.
I had that with Angh, but had walked away from it because of duty. Honor.
Honor?
What honor was there in my job if I didn’t have Angh to come back to? Who was I fighting for? What was I fighting for if not the connection, the love people shared? I had it and I’d tossed it aside, just as Denzel had tossed the cuffs on the table.
“Fuck this,” I said to myself, staring at Denzel but not seeing him. “Fuck this!” I repeated, this time louder. A few heads turned my way, but I didn’t care.
Angh was in trouble. I was already AWOL, already committed to him. He wasn’t going back to The Colony. He was here. In the brig. Ready to die.
“The Vice Admiral can just fucking deal. She can have me, but she gets my beast, too.”
I grabbed the cuffs and stormed out of the cafeteria. It was time to claim my mate.