Kovo shifted his glare from me to the copper colored Prillon warrior on the screen next to us. “What DNA integrations, Doctor? What have you done to her?”
“Will a ReGen Pod help her?” Warlord Bahre asked. “I acquired one from Siren Legion last year.”
Commander Helion’s eyes narrowed as if this was new, and unwelcome, information. “Siren should not be on Earth.”
Bahre shrugged. “They’re all here. Talk to Shade. If you can find him.”
The doctor, Mersan, ignored the by-play and studied Lyra as if trying to give her a medical exam through the screen. “I don’t know. It might be too late to reverse the process.”
What process?
Before I could ask, Lyra collapsed in my arms.
13
Lyra, Two Days Later
My beast was in charge.I was locked away inside her like a little bird in a gilded cage. I could flutter my wings and chirp, but there was no getting out. No escape.
They are trying to kill me.
No, they are not. They are trying to save us.
My beast scoffed at my stupidity and punched the enclosure again.You. They only want you. Kill me.She howled in pain inside me and I felt tears leak from the sides of my eyes, wander down my temples and disappear into my hair. I was lying on my back inside a ReGen pod. I hurt. Everywhere. My muscles ached. My bones felt brittle, like shattered glass that had been glued back together.
What they had programmed the pod to do, I wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, it wasn’t working. ReGen pods could heal almost anything. Wounds that should be fatal could be completely reversed and healed in a matter of hours. I should not be in pain. That wasn’t how these things worked.
What if they weren’t trying to heal me? What if my beast was right and they were trying to kill her? Were they trying to remove the DNA integrations that had activated my beast?
Did I want them to?
Mate!My beast pounded at the ReGen pod’s dark cover, determined to shatter it. Deactivate it. Break free and find our mate. Force him to accept us. Love us. Claim us. Find us worthy. She was not concerned about herself. Only him.
They try to kill me. They fail. I will not die. I am too strong for them.
I had no response. She did, indeed, feel stronger, not weaker. Her voice was clear. Her thoughts fully formed. The need for violence floating in her heart and soul grew with each passing moment we were not with our mate. Worry for Ethan clawed at her. Devoured her control. Became an obsession neither of us could ignore. I had no hope of stopping her now, locked away as I was inside our mind. She had one goal, one cause, one focus.Ethan is in danger. He needs us.
The feeling was strong and urgent. Our mate was in jeopardy. I knew it in my bones.
Where was he? Why wasn’t he here, with us?
Perhaps he was and I just couldn’t see him through the dark covering. Most ReGen pods had translucent covers. This was opaque. Dark. Not Coalition issue. Might be nice for sleeping, but the dim interior made me feel trapped.
We had to get the fuck out of here and find him. Now.
Had he realized I was an alien and forsaken me? Did he hate me for lying to him? For seducing him? He wasn’t an Atlan male. He had not placed mating cuffs on our wrists. He had not claimed us.
Of course not. He wouldn’t fall in love with me at first sight. He would never assume I was his mate for life after a few hours of orgasmic sex. Humans changed mates often. Had sex forfun, because they were lonely or bored. Because someone paid them, or out of a sense of obligation. Human relationships were complicated. Messy. They didn’t make sense.
Had Ethan fucked me because I’d saved his life? Had he felt obligated? Was every kiss a calculated payment for helping his investigation?
I was not human. Not his kind. I had no idea what motivated him or determined his course of action. I wasn’t even Atlan anymore. Atlan females did not have beasts. They did not suffer mating fever or lose their minds the moment they met their chosen mate.
The last few years, I’d spent far more time on other worlds than I had on Atlan. My home was gone. My family, dead. I hadn’t set foot on the home world since I’d lost my brothers, Kovo and Reji.
Even their deaths had been a lie staged by Helion and the I.C., and for what? Reji was still reporting to Doctor Mersan. Commander Helion had, indeed, told me I should come to Earth on more than one occasion. Did I dare believe he had been trying to reunite me with Kovo this entire time?
Why didn’t he just pull me aside and tell me the truth?
