“You have my word, mate. My most solemn vow.”
One promise, and I forgave him. I didn’t have the strength to hold a grudge. Didn’t want to. I could either accept that he loved me, that he spoke the truth, or worry forever. I was tired of worrying, of being lonely. Alone. He felt so good. So right. So mine. “It’s a good thing you didn’t die. I would have been mad enough to hunt you down in the afterlife and kick your ass.”
His chest rumbled under my ear as he chuckled at my ridiculous threat. “I do not deserve you, mate. But I will never let you go. I cannot.”
“Good.” Exhaustion settled over me like a heavy blanket as my mate’s words soothed the frightened little girl inside. Mikos would never leave me, never abandon me, never choose another. Contentment like nothing I’d never known soothed my frazzled nerves.
Mikos would follow through on his promises to me. He was not human, would never play by human rules. I would never return to the Coalition Fleet. That was fact. Not that I wanted Commander Karter dead. Not at all. He was one of the good guys. But the knowledge the Mikos would not hesitate to carry out his threat, for me, made my heart beat a little faster. Heloved me. He was going to keep me. He was brutal, powerful, and a monster others feared. My monster. He was all mine.
Nothing else mattered.
21
Breanna
The ReGen pod opened,and he was there. Above me. Over me. My avenging angel standing guard as I slept. He must have left me for a little while, long enough to shower, because he looked perfect. Sexy. He didn’t smell like blood and killing. He smelled like home.
“Hello, mate.” I reached for him because I needed to touch his skin, feel him, know he was real. Alive. Not a fever dream. Mine.
He leaned down and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his head and held him to me. He looked so good. No blood on his chin. No rage in his eyes. He looked…happy. Content. Which was exactly the way I was feeling. My neck didn’t hurt. Nothing hurt. Now that the antidote had cured me of whatever weird side effect I’d experienced from Mikos’s essence, I felt better than I had in years.
“Bree. Let him go. We need to talk.”
Whose voice was that? It sounded oddly familiar.
I would have ignored the voice, but Mikos moaned and pulled away from me. I looked down to find I was covered from neck to ankle by a soft, green blanket. Astra colors. I’d never been a huge fan of green, but it was growing on me.
Mikos helped me sit up. I tucked the blanket under my arms and swung my legs over the side of the ReGen pod’s bed. A familiar Prillon warrior waited to speak to me. “Sebastion.”
He nodded. “I am here to discuss your return to the Coalition Fleet.”
Mikos growled, but I put a hand on his arm, and he settled for placing his body between Sebastion and me, partially blocking my view. With a sigh, I leaned to the side so I could see my friend. “I’m not going back.”
“That’s what I figured.” Sebastion activated the small screen imbedded on the forearm of his Coalition armor and raised his arm. “Sign this document.”
“What is it?”
He cleared his throat and moved in an arc around Mikos, toward me, as he spoke. “Your resignation. Per Coalition law, any female who is claimed and mated, is no longer eligible to fight in the Fleet. Karter gave you thirty days leave because that is the amount of time allotted for a female to either accept or reject a mate’s claim.”
“What?” How had I never heard about this rule? Or the time limit? Not like dozens of women were running around fighting in the war. There were a few. And I didn’t speak with many Interstellar Brides, either. I knew Chloe and Erica, but they were both so happy with their mates it never occurred to me to ask what would have happened if they weren’t. Speaking of Chloe… “What about Commander Phan? Chloe? She’s mated to Captain Mills and the Prillon warrior, Dorian, and she still fights.”
Sebastion shrugged. “She’s I.C. They break every rule there is. You are not. You have a mate now. Mates are sacred, Bree.Protected above all else. Commander Karter knew when you left that he would probably never see you again.”
“What? How?”
Mikos turned his head and stared down at me, theI’m-going-to-fuck-your-brains-outlook all over his face. The same look he’d had back on Battleship Karter when he’d demanded everyone clear the room. The look that caused Commander Karter to tell him he only had an hour.Thatlook.
“Oh.” I sighed. “So, literally, everyone knew but me.”
Sebastion shrugged and held out his arm, stepped close enough for me to do a quick read of the words displayed on the small screen.
Short. Simple. To the point. My name and Coalition designation had already been added to the document in the appropriate places. I pressed my thumb to the appropriate place and caught Sebastion’s eye as we waited for the scan that verified my identity to be completed. “Thank you.”
“My honor to serve, Lady Bree.”
Sebastion’s armor made a beeping sound, signaling the task was complete. Before I could blink, Mikos stepped between us. I tugged at his arm, ready to apologize to Sebastion for my mate’s rude behavior, but Sebastion just laughed.
“Take good care of her.”
