She was listening. For now. But I knew, should I fail to maintain my dominance in this room, any one of the four at the table could rise in challenge to take leadership of the Styx legion from me. And the only way to win was a fight to the death. My death.
Silver would be first.
Khon and Silver ignored the brooding silence of the other two lieutenants, Ivar and Cormac. The two males didn’t concern me. Ivar, like Blade, preferred action to strategy, wildness to self-discipline. He kept his black hair long enough to please the females, his pale blue eyes and wicked tongue—both in bed and out, if rumors were to be believed—kept him in a steady supply of their company. He was content to fight and leave the politics and strategy to me.
Ivar would follow Cormac’s lead. And Cormac was mine. Through and through. And thank the gods for that. He was huge, a brute even by
Hyperion standards, perhaps a bit closer to our ancestral bloodline than the rest of us. A full head taller than I, his black hair was streaked with silver at the temples, not from age, but from mixed blood, one of his ancestors having been from Silver and Blade’s animal line. He’d been found as an infant, abandoned on the surface, perhaps too alien for the wild Hyperion mother who’d given birth to him to accept.
One of the Styx females had found him, raised him, trained him to fight.
My mother.
He was my brother in all the ways that counted and would never betray me.
But it was the captains who stood lining the walls of the small room who made the animal in me nervous. They raised their voices, arguing amongst themselves, thinking out loud. They were younger, volatile and somewhat unpredictable when compared to my battle-hardened lieutenants. Rash thinking kept them in junior positions until they had experience and wisdom to be anything more.
Blade was bringing our mate here. Was, in fact, already on his way. And I would not have her walk into danger. Nor would I tolerate any hint of disrespect.
She was mine. Which meant she was theirs now as well. Their Lady Styx. Second only to me in our legion. I was asking them to kill for her. Die for her.
And I hadn’t even claimed her yet. Gods, she had yet to agree to the claiming. I could fuck her, bite her and be done with it. But I would have her consent. I would have her willing.
My decision was made. The Hyperion in me would not relent. It took an act of will to keep my fangs from bursting free of my mouth in a show for dominance with every thought of her.
“She’s Coalition, Styx. Are you sure this is the wisest course of action?” That was Silver, and immediately the captains’ voices quieted. I appreciated her wisdom on allowing them to vent their frustration and concern before taking up their cause in a more rational, controlled tone of voice.
One that wouldn’t get her killed.
I leaned forward, my fists resting on the top of the stone slab and let the smell of the home world calm my senses. Until I thought of laying Harper out on this table, filling her with my hard length, tasting her flesh with the scent of home surrounding us. I would never see this table, this room in the same way again.
Taking a deep breath, I ignored the ache of my hard cock and opened my eyes. “She is mine. My mate. Blade has agreed, and we will claim her together as soon as possible. As for Cerberus and whatever they were doing in the Latiri Star Cluster, we’ll find out.”
“Gods, Styx, have you lost your fucking mind?” Ivar blurted, running his hand through his black hair. “While I agree we need to know what Cerberus is doing, they’ve always been bad. It’s nothing new. But her?”
I growled at the way he used that one word. Her. As if it tasted bad.
“She’s an officer of the Coalition Fleet.”
This was repeated again and again. She was Coalition. Not quite the enemy, but damned close.
“She’s mine.”
Silver raised a brow and leaned back, tipping her chair on one leg to rock back and forth, tempting gravity to take her down. “Technically, she’s not yours, she belongs to them.”
I snarled at her, didn’t try to hide my fangs this time. She held her hands out in front of herself to placate me. “I’m not trying to defy you, just pointing out the facts. Do you have a plan? A way to get her out of their system? Strip her from the Coalition database?”
“Yes.” I did. It was risky, and I’d owe a favor to a scheming Prillon warrior I did not want to be indebted to any further, but nothing would stop me from keeping Harper. Nothing.
“Well?” Ivar asked, eyes wide, waiting. “What’s the plan? What are we going to do about Cerberus? They’ll bring the Coalition down on all of us.”
“We could take them out.” Cormac’s deep, rumbling voice filled the small room, and an almost eerie silence descended on the group. It was not often a top level enforcer of Styx spoke of all out war with another legion. He pulled a blade from somewhere on his body, one of many he always carried, and watched the play of light on metal as he tilted it in the light. “One night. That’s all I need, Styx. Give me enough from the coffers to hire some of those deserters from Everis. Some real Hunters. Astra legion might help as well. She hates Cerberus.”
Silver choked on a small laugh. “That’s because Cerberus wanted her for his mate.” She settled her chair back on all four legs and grinned. “And Astra isn’t too fond of males who don’t know how to take no for an answer.”
“He didn’t want her, he wanted power. He wanted Astra legion.” Khon spoke true, his green eyes narrowed beneath dark brows as he looked at Silver. “And that was twenty years ago.”
Silver shrugged. “A woman never forgets.”