“My death will cause you pain. This is not acceptable.”
“It’s not your choice, is it?” She rubbed her small thumb along my cheekbone with a gentleness I’d never felt from any other. My chest ached with a pain I did not recognize.
“It’s love, Thomar. That pain in your chest, it’s love. Trust me. I know how much love can hurt.”
Well, fuck. She was correct. She was mine, my perfect mate. Was it any wonder that I had grown to love her already? That just a few days with her would cause me to bond to her? I knew, beyond doubt, that I would kill for her, fight for her, die for her. She was everything to me for however long I had left.
We both stilled as we sensed Varin’s approach. When the door to the star dome slid open, we did not move as Varin joined us, taking a seat near Danika’s feet and then pulling her legs into his lap. Slowly he moved his hands up and down her calves in a soothing motion. “I did not want to intrude.”
Danika removed her hand from my cheek and reached for him. He took her outstretched hand at once. “You are part of us, Varin. Part of me. You are always welcome.”
Our mate’s care caused a cascade of emotions in Varin as well. Relief. Hope. Fierce protectiveness pounded through my skull. The strength of his feelings for our female rivaled mine and was amplified by the odd connection we shared through the collars.
Danika shivered. “You guys are intense.”
“My apologies.” Varin reined his emotions in, and I did the same, locking the ache behind my ribs away for later inspection. Varin looked from our mate’s tear streaked face to me. I knew he had heard every word of Danika’s story, had shared my outrage that our young mate had not been properly protected. That she had suffered and we had not known, not been able to spare her.
Varin agreed. We will care for her now.
Indeed.
Aloud he spoke to both of us. “I waited as long as I could. I did not wish to interfere with our mate’s healing. But I could not put him off any longer.”
“Who?”
“Helion is here. He insists on speaking to us immediately.”
The commander of the Intelligence Core was here? For me? “It has not been a week. I clearly instructed Surnen to give me at least a week.”
“The doctor has not yet submitted your request.” Varin leaned his head back to rest on the rim of the oval and stared out at the stars. The only thing I could feel from him was exhaustion. “He is here for reasons of his own.”
“What did he say? What is the bastard doing here?”
“Who is this Helion?” Danika became stiff in my arms, but Varin stroked his thumb over her wrist as I ran my fingers through her hair. As quickly as she’d stirred, she settled into our touch, calmed by the security of being surrounded and cared for by her mates. For the first time since I’d seen her, touched her, desired her, I truly felt like I belonged to her. Accepted. Trusted. Chosen.
Perhaps loved?
The contentment that filled me as I held her was one I had never experienced before, one I could too easily learn to crave as I had begun to crave the female who had just told me her deepest, darkest secrets.
Varin spoke for both of us. His dislike for Dr. Helion was strong.
“Dr. Helion is a Prillon warrior. He is a commander in the Intelligence Core and reports directly to Prime Nial himself. He is the one in charge of gathering intelligence on the Hive’s movements, plans, and weapons. He has spies everywhere, on every planet and among every race.”
“So why do you hate him so much? I can feel it. You despise him.” Danika’s curiosity made my heart nearly burst. My strong, intelligent female was herself again, but calmer. More at peace. Because of me. For once I had healed another rather than caused harm.
“His heart is as black as the darkness of intergalactic space. Endless. Infinite. Cold. When I look into his eyes, I see no soul, only analysis. He will sacrifice anything and anyone to achieve his ends.”
“That’s harsh.”
“He is a harsh male,” I confirmed Varin’s assessment.
“He sounds great. Let’s go meet him.” Danika pushed up off my chest and looked into my eyes with a mischievous look I had not seen before. “Has he met Rachel or any of the other Earth women?”
“Yes. One in particular vexes him. She eliminated a Nexus unit and then disappeared with her mate. He’s been trying to track them down for a long time.”
“Oh, was that Gwen? The ladies were telling me about her in the garden.”
“Yes. I read about her time on The Colony as well,” Varin mused, still watching the rotation of the stars. “Gwendolyn Fernandez. Human. No one knows why, but Helion believes he can use her to track down the Hive’s central command.”