Typical bureaucratic bullshit.
No, Commander Karter seemed to have his shit together and could keep very alpha guys in their place. Although, he’d yet to push their possessive mate button yet. But it was coming. He knew who I was. As a Battlegroup Commander, he’d have full access to my file. I had a feeling I already knew what he wanted, and my overly protective mates weren’t going to like it.
Seth shifted his stance, settled. Let out a deep breath. Dorian quietly loomed over us. Not the commander, for he, too, was Prillon and was enormous.
“We didn’t expect to have to protect our mate from the commanding officer,” Seth said. And there was the possessive mate I’d just been thinking about.
Commander Karter looked between the three of us, took in the black collars about our necks and the severe expressions on both of my mates’ faces. He looked at me, his eyebrows raised in question. All I could to was shrug…and grin. If my new mates wanted to give me a little extra attention, I was game. To my shock, the huge Prillon commander threw his head back and laughed. “She doesn’t need you to protect her.”
Both of my mates bristled. Yup, protective. Possessive.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Seth asked.
Commander Karter lifted his hand. “Stand down, Mills.”
Just two words and he expected two dominant, alpha males to chill out. I could feel the anger through the collars and the commander didn’t seem to need a collar to sense it either. I wasn’t sure where this was going, so I remained quiet. I learned long ago that sometimes it was best to just listen.
“Your mate isn’t just a bride from Earth. She used to be a Coalition fighter. She’s skilled enough to handle herself on the battleship.” He cleared his throat and gave me a rather pointed look. “And elsewhere in space.”
“We’re aware she’s a veteran,” Seth said. “But we’ve…um, been a little too busy since she arrived to learn much about each other.”
Was that a blush I saw creeping up Seth’s neck? Adorable. Seriously. I wanted to go up on tippy toes and kiss him.
The commander cleared his throat, catching Seth’s meaning.
“While she was holding your interest, her record held mine.”
And here we go… Now I was the one blushing.
“I wasn’t aware you paid personal attention to brides arriving on the battleship,” Dorian added. He shifted to lean against the wall. While he looked relaxed, he wasn’t. All he had to do was lift his arm and his hand would be back on my shoulder. With one quick tug of his left hand, I could be in his hold, with his right hand free to grab his ion pistol from his thigh.
“I don’t. I let the Brides Program do their job. But when the doctor checked her out in the transport room when she first arrived, her profile pinged the ship’s defense system. The doctor thought it prudent to bring her presence onboard my ship to my immediate attention.”
Dorian reached out then, gently spinning me to face him. I had to tilt my head back…way back, to meet his pale gaze. “Why would your name ping the defense system?”
The darker tone he used with the commander was gone when he questioned me. He was softening his emotions for me; I could feel it through the collar as well.
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, Dorian, but I can’t say.”
So much for softened emotions. I felt a blast of frustration hit me and I stepped back. Dorian cupped my upper arm and held me in front of him, his touch amplifying the confusion and tension he, too, was feeling. And not in a good way. Wow, the collars were intense.
I rubbed at my neck. “Is there a way to turn these things down?”
“No.” Seth was even more annoyed by my question, but he did a better job of calming his emotions so I didn’t feel like I was in the middle of a volcanic blast of man-rage.
A V formed in Dorian’s brow. “Why can’t you tell us? Don’t fear we’ll judge you, Chloe. We’re your mates. We are yours. Totally and completely. You can tell us anything.”
“She can’t tell you because she’s not authorized to do so,” the commander said from over my shoulder.
“If she can’t tell us, then why the hell did you bring it up?” Dorian asked.
“Captains, I didn’t request your presence in my office, I requested Commander Phan’s. I have a mission brief for her. And a new assignment as a member of my command crew.”
“What?” I asked, my interest instantly piqued. Yes! God. I’d been going crazy the last few months on Earth. The last couple of days with Dorian and Seth had been amazing. Hot. Sexy. Wonderful. But I couldn’t have sex all day, every day.
Well, I could, but I needed more than that. Just like my mates did.
Doing nothing the last few months on Earth? Knowing the Hive was out here winning? Killing us. Destroying everything in their path. I couldn’t sleep at night, staring up at the stars, knowing what was happening out here in space. I looked at the commander. “I am not allowed to return to active duty in my previous“—I searched for the right word—“capacity.”