“Or a federal prisoner.”
I froze, wondering where this was going.
She held up her hands. “Don’t worry. I served time, too. You’ll get no judgment from me.”
“You did?” I looked her over. Kind, compassionate look in her eyes. No scars that I could see. She was soft. “White-collar crime? What did you do?”
“I was framed, caught up in a pharmaceutical scandal where a lot of people died.”
“Only one person died because of me.” I moved the ReGen wand to my shoulder and melted back into my chair in her office. God, this thing really did work miracles. This shoulder had bothered me since I’d had it nearly twisted off by a big bitch on the inside my second night in prison.
“I bet he deserved it.”
The words startled me, but she wasn’t wrong. “How did you know it was a man?”
“Lucky guess?” She looked at me over the top of her teacup. “And as the governor’s mate and part of the medical team, I am one of the few people with full access to your file.”
“He did. Doesn’t make it right.”
“Doesn’t make it wrong, either. I wanted to meet you first, before the others.”
“Decide if I was a threat?”
She looked guilty but not contrite. I would not get an apology from her. “I protect what’s mine, just like you did. Like our mates do.”
“And? What have you decided about me?” I should not care. Should. Not. But I did. A lot.
“I think we’ll be great friends. And I believe you will be happy here. Thomar and Varin are honorable warriors.”
“They are.” I wanted to ask her about Thomar’s condition. She’d said she was part of the medical team. She had to know exactly what was going on with him. How to fix him. I didn’t get the chance to ask because the door to her office slid open and four women burst into the room, laughing and stumbling over each other like children.
“Oh my God! It’s true! I can’t believe you’re here!” The blonde who spoke was dressed like one of the warriors I’d seen monitoring the halls, complete with one of those alien guns on her hip. “I’m Kristen. I’m mated to Tyran and Hunt. Tyran is the hottie who escorted Rachel to your rooms. The super strong one.” She put her hands on her hips and smiled at me like we were best friends. “I was informed that I am to tell you that he is a magnificent male and amazing mate.”
Laughing now, because I did remember him, very well, I stood and held out my hand. “Danika Gray.”
Another blonde shoved Kristen out of the way. “I’m Lindsey. I do PR for The Colony. I’m going to need to interview you as soon as possible. I need photos of you with your mates.”
“Okay?”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Oh, we’re going to be such good friends. Where are you from?”
“Saratoga Springs, New York.” I looked around, expecting more women to be here. “Is this it? Everyone from Earth?”
CJ shoved Kristen out of the way and grabbed me into a hug. “We are the whole show, at least here, on Base 3. Warden Egara is trying to get more brides here, but so far, not much has worked.”
“Is that why they made that TV show? Bachelor Beast?”
Lindsey pulled CJ off me and grabbed me into her own hug. Tight. After squeezing the air out of my lungs, she let me go and stepped back, her hands still locked around my shoulders. “Did you watch it?”
“Every episode.” There wasn’t much else to do in prison.
“Did you like it?”
“Loved it. Especially when that first one—”
“Warlord Wulf? He’s a sweetheart.” She clasped her hands over her heart like she was in love with the Atlan herself.
“Wulf grabbed that makeup artist and locked her in the dressing room with the cameras rolling. That was so sexy.”