We made the choice.
You. Not me.
Would you rather we allow him to die?
The beast thought long and hard over this one, but I already knew what his answer would be. He claimed I had made this choice alone, but that was not the truth. We were one in mind and body. One being. One heart. We loved who we loved. We had made this sacrifice together.
We had fucked it up together, as well. Adrian. So small, fragile and feminine. So fearless. Standing there, facing us down with the courage of a warlord racing into battle. That alone had made my—our—cock hard before she’d dared take a step closer. That one step had sealed all our fates.
I should have fought you harder. Never touched her.I should have resisted. Been stronger. Fought the beast harder. When I’d needed to be stronger than I’d ever been before, I had failed. Failed myself, my commander, my beast and my mate.
Wanted her.The beast reminded.
We both did.
Mine.
“I know, beast. I know. Fuck.” She was mine, too. The mating cuffs on my wrists sent shocks of sweet pain through every fiber of my being. That pain grounded me and my beast. We had a mate. The years we’d spent fighting and killing had built up a horrible rage. She was the balm. A new obsession. Our purpose. One we could not live without.
Not that we had much longer to live anyway.
I had no regrets in my life. None, except hurting her. Selfish bastard that I was, I couldn’t even regret holding her. Fucking her sweet pussy. Tasting her wet heat. Kissing that soft mouth. The beast claimed her, but I had been there. Feeling everything. Taking everything in like the selfish male I’d turned out to be. Worse, I could not regret the experience. Hurting her? Yes. That was unforgivable.
But the beast was correct. We had both wanted her. I’d just needed to free my beast so he would follow instinct and claim her. Fuck her. Touch every soft, curved part of her. Taste her skin, her lips. Her pussy. Our mate’s wet heat had set off an explosion of emotion neither of has had expected, nor been prepared to handle.
After that, we’d been truly lost to her. Anything she wanted, we would provide. Anything she needed. We would obsess over her happiness, her health, her smile. The beast lived to fight, but when the battle was done, when mating fever came for us, it was as if everything we’d ever done had to be atoned for, as if the only way to appease our gods was to serve our females. The flip of that switch, from predator to protector, happened in an instant. Pure instinct. Irreversible. Once we found our mate, there was no going back.
Not that any Atlan with a mate had everwantedto return to his old ways. Fucking a beautiful, eager female was far superior to shredding Hive armies.
My cock grew hard as thoughts of her consumed me. I could still taste her. Smell her. Feel her smooth skin under my fingertips. Better to think about her in these last few minutes than about the fate that was coming for me.
Helion left earlier. I’d told him to apologize to Adrian for me, to beg for her forgiveness. I didn’t deserve it, but I was going to stubbornly believe that with her soft heart, she would grant it regardless.
He had asked me the one question I could not lie about.
Was she truly mine? Did she calm the beast? Or had I claimed her in an attempt to escape execution?
As if I had no honor. I would never use a female in such a way.
I’d growled and the beast had surged back to the surface at his insult.
Fuck, yes. She was mine. How she found me in this place would always be a wonder to me, a mystery never to be solved. A fucking miracle. If a few hours of bliss was all I would ever have, then I would be grateful. Her mere existence brought me peace.
“Warlord Kovo.” The door to the medical chamber slid open and four large guards walked inside. The two in front I recognized from their many visits checking on me, ensuring I was still alive so they could kill me at the proper time.The two behind I had never seen before. But then, I’d never been taken to the execution chamber, either. Had to be tough minded individuals to watch your Atlan brothers be put to death day after day.
“I am here. Where you left me.”
The nearest guard, an honorable warlord named Lotte, and his counterpart, Trass, moved to stand beside me. They both looked down, inspecting the bindings.
Trass shook his head. “Dishonorable. You are not suffering from mating fever. You should be allowed to walk to your end with honor.”
Lotte, a warlord who had served enough years in the Coalition Fleet I often wondered how long he would survive his own mating fever, grumbled agreement. “We have our orders.”
“He is mated.”
“The law is the law. He was convicted.”
“Poor bastard. Killed his own brother.”
