p; “Fuck, no,” Zed said again. “You will not leave my side. Neither Axon nor Calder would allow you to go. They will agree with me, that your safety is our first concern.”
“Goran said Mindy is safe. If he says that, it must be true.” I’d turned back to the comm and narrowed my eyes at Goran, all but daring him to contradict me, because that would mean Mindy really was in danger. “Well, General, is she safe or not?”
“Mindy is safe,” Goran clarified. “But there is still a traitor to find. To execute.”
“Then I will go to Mindy. My twin. She’s hurt and I’m coming to be with her. I will see for myself she is getting better and I will remain with her while she recuperates.” I put my hands on my hips. “And my mates will do what needs to be done to help you find the traitor. If I am your sister, then Mindy is theirs. We have the right to come help.”
“There is no recuperation time, mate. She will be fully healed after her time in the ReGen pod.” Zed was pleading with me now, but I ignored every word. My sister needed me. That was the end of the conversation as far as I was concerned. I’d contact Warden Egara, the high council of the galactic, interstellar, coalition, super-duper-important-alien-warrior-gods if I had to. I was getting off this rock one way or another.
“Then I will remain safe with her as you help Goran hunt down the person who hurt her.” I glared, letting my sister’s master know just how furious I was with him for letting it happen in the first place.
Zed said nothing, studying me. I held his gaze, letting him see what my twin meant to me. I was not budging on this.
“This is how it works, Zed. My sister, my family, is hurt. I will go to her. I will agree to let you and Goran get the bad guy while we sit around being safe. A compromise. You must compromise as well and let me go to her. She got hurt. She’s going to be scared. We are there for each other. Always. Do you understand that?”
He still remained silent.
“I will go with you or without you.”
Sure, he could easily overpower me, but if he did that, he’d win this battle, but not the war. This match, our marriage or whatever, was bigger than just this one event. If he betrayed me now, over this, I’d never forgive him. If something happened to Mindy, and I wasn’t there, I’d never forgive any of them. Life was full of moments, good and bad. If we were going to work this thing out and be a family, if they wanted me to trust them, to depend on them, my mates would have to stand with me when it was really important. Mindy was my identical twin, literally, my other half. This mattered. A lot.
“Send transport coordinates,” Zed said finally, his thumb rubbing the side of my neck gently as he spoke. “We will be there as soon as I notify the others.”
Goran bowed slightly. “Very well. Mindy has sixteen hours left in the ReGen pod. Once she wakes, perhaps your presence will bring her comfort as she remains quiet. While I know the ReGen pod will complete her healing, she will remain in bed for a few days until I am sure she is in full health. And with your mates at your side, I will feel confident that she will remain safe.”
“Thank you. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
The screen went blank and I turned into Zed’s embrace, allowed his strength and heat to warm me. God, it felt good to have someone to lean on, to help me look after my twin. I’d been doing everything on my own for so long, I was afraid to trust that this was real. That he was real. That I wasn’t alone. For the first time. Ever.
Zed’s deep voice rumbled through my ear where it pressed to his chest. “Axon and Calder will not be pleased.”
Looking up at him, I lifted my hands to his cheeks and let my heart shine out of my gaze. I wanted him to know what this meant to me. What he meant to me. “Thank you, Zed. I love her.”
“I know, love. We wish to give you everything you desire. From orgasms to family, but you will remain safe. That is my only stipulation.”
“What is it about space guys? All bossy and protective. Goran’s from a different planet and he’s the same way with Mindy.”
He took my hands from my face, kissed one open palm, then the other.
“You are my mate. It is my job, my privilege to ensure you are happy, healthy and safe. Now, let’s go to the transport room before I change my mind.”
It looked like I was heading to Trion after all.
10
Axon, Med Center, Outpost Two, Trion
The kings warned me that having an Earth mate would not be easy. I thought it was because they were so different, their customs unusual. The transition from Earth to Viken for Violet would be so great that it might be a bit rocky for her. Too strange. Too much. And with three mates, it made her shift to being a Viken bride even more difficult.
But they hadn’t meant those transitioning issues. No, they meant real problems.
Instead of transporting to her mates, Sophia, also matched from Earth, had been sent to a remote outpost where an attempt on her life had been made. The fools had mistaken her for Queen Leah. Her mates—Gunnar, Erik and Rolf—had had to hunt for her in the forests of Viken for hours, panicked and helpless to defend her. And they had yet to even meet her. The idea of waiting for a mate to transport only to discover the coordinates had been redirected would have given me a heart ailment.
Bella, the other Earth mate who’d been matched to three Vikens, had been kidnapped by a mates’ sister as an attempt by the VSS to infiltrate the IQC and destroy the planet’s direct line of communication with the rest of the Coalition Fleet. They had nearly succeeded in transporting Bella to a distant slave station outside of Coalition control, an act which would have destroyed her and the three warriors lucky enough to love her.
I’d shrugged those off, laughed at the insanity behind those tales. Yes, tales. But I’d been so very wrong. Only now did I fully understand what those warriors had suffered to protect the one female destined to be theirs.
Right now, I wasn’t spending my time fucking my mate for hours on end. Nor laboring with the effort to move into mated quarters. Or showing her Viken United, getting to know her and letting her see her new planet in all its beauty.