Perhaps because I never saw the Prillon in person.
The information he had was not something to be broadcast, not even over a secure comm link. I grappled with the truth that Reji faked his death to go on a mission. That Kovo helped him. That Kovo’s trial and execution were part of the plan. That Kovo had found his mate and secretly lived with her on Earth.
That my grief meant nothing to them. My suffering was inconsequential to their greater cause. That my loss was part of their equation, an acceptable sacrifice to ensure their success.
Ethan would never betray us. Never hurt us.
My beast was talking nonsense.We don’t know him,I argued.He’s human.
Mine. Seduce him. Love him. He will love us.
Part of me believed her. Ethan was our true mate. He would never hurt us like the others had. Never lie to us. Deceive us. Betray us. Never.
So where was he? Why wasn’t he here, watching over us? Protecting us? My beast was convinced we were alone. She could not smell him. Hear him. Sense his presence.
Danger. Get. Out.My beast slammed her hand into the side of the pod, testing for a weak spot. Maybe we could just lift it off?
The pod was locked. I was sealed inside like a corpse in a coffin.
I didn’t know what I was, but I knew I was his. If he didn’t want me, I would do what our Warlords had done for hundreds of years… return to Atlan to be executed. My beast could not survive without him, and I could no longer survive without her. She was part of me now, a piece of my soul I’d never realized was missing. Stronger than me. A fighter. Survivor. Primal and powerful. A beast.
I slammed both fists into the ReGen pod. Again. Again. Until blood covered my knuckles. The pod healed the slight lacerations as quickly as I created new ones.
I’d tear this gods damned pod to pieces if I had to. Ethan needed us.
My beast agreed.
Let.
Boom!
Me.
Boom!
Out.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Stop that!” A young human female walked into the barren room. She pressed a button and the covering became translucent, as it should be. I looked through it so see she waswearing thin, useless sandals, a pair of jeans that hugged her curves in a way I knew her mate would appreciate, and a loose-fitting peasant blouse with big, droopy sleeves that showed off the mating cuffs on her wrists. I didn’t need to see our family sigil on the cuffs to recognize Adrian, Kovo’s mate. She was part of his new life, the happily-ever-after he’d been living while I’d grieved him.
I glared at her—and her perfect, silken, feminine hair—through the ReGen pod’s cover and slammed both fists into the material harder than I had before. A crack appeared beneath my right fist. Excellent.
“No! Don’t break it!” Adrian’s hand moved over the controls as she deactivated the pod. “You have no idea how hard it was to get this thing. The only other ReGen pod is at the processing center. We aren’t supposed to have one. It’s against the treaty.”
I sat up the moment the cover retracted to set me free. Fuck their stupid treaty.
“Where mate?” My beast demanded as I swung my legs off the side.
“Oh, shit. I didn’t believe them.” Adrian took several steps back and watched me with a wariness I approved of, because I would rip her head off if she didn’t tell me where the fuck my mate was right fucking now.
The growl that left my throat was impressive. I had to give my beast credit. She wasn’t fucking around. “Where mate?”
“I assume you mean Ethan Blake? The detective?”
I leaped from the padded bed inside the pod and landed on my feet facing the very small human female. She lifted her hands, palms out, and backed away from me. “Lyra, stop. Ethan went with the guys. The raid is today. He hasn’t seen you yet. None of them have except Kovo, and I wasn’t supposed to anyone. He couldn’t help himself. His beast was driving him crazy.”
I could understand that. Part of me was pleased that my brother was concerned for my well-being. The rest of me just wanted my mate. “Ethan?”
