Rasveen then turned his attention to Kat and Jeffrey. “You two, you’re charged with recovering the missing Earth vessel and reclaiming it from the Hareema. I want this done as quickly as possible. I think the next step in this war will involve a trip back to Earth, and I want it to be in your vessel.”
The human captain lodged her protest, but Rasveen was brooking no resistance. “Your lieutenants have proven themselves more than capable. They will recover your ship. You will remain here. Am I clear?”
Kat could see that the human captain wasn’t used to taking orders from alien alpha males.Good luck. You’ve tied yourself to one of the biggest alphas on Zanthar. Time to get used to it.
Dr. Cohen came forward to usher Captain Brooklyn to her quarters to freshen up. The knot in Kat’s insides tightened when she saw Major Ontarii fight to accompany her. Zantharian males hated letting their chosen female out of their sight.
After the human scientist led her colleague out of the briefing room, Major Ontarii and Rasveen put their heads together, discussing what would happen next. Jeffrey had put his arms around his crewmates and they were talking in excited tones.
Kat stood there, staring at the ground, her mind caught in a whirlpool of shock, disappointment, and anger.
The lieutenant lifted his gaze to her face, and she could feel his eyes on her, as if his stare had weight.
Without waiting for him to resume their earlier conversation, Kat turned on her heel. “I’ll begin making preparations,” she said over her shoulder as she opened the membrane, then escaped out into the corridor.
Her steps were rapid as she fled the briefing room. She wished she could run away from the whole situation, just leave it all behind her.
Major Ontarii has mated with a human female.
The words sounded foreign in her brain. They didn’t make sense.
Although she’d always hoped they’d end up together, she’d admitted to herself that Major Ontarii might never take a mate, even her.
And now he’d shown up with a human mate, even though he’d known the woman for only a couple of days.
Can you really fault him his passions?an inner voice asked.You submitted to the lieutenant’s charms after only a couple hours.
“Shut up,” she told herself. “Fooling around on an interrogation table isn’t the same thing as matehood!”
Two soldiers who were passing by fixed her with confused stares, and Kat scowled at them, forcing herself not to break into a dead run.
Calm down. Breathe. Try and forget what’s happening.
Even if it means the death of your dreams.
Although, if Kat were being honest with herself, she would have to admit that she felt the tiniest bit relieved. Carrying a torch for someone for years, letting desire linger unfulfilled for so long, was a difficult task.
If it wasn’t the unrequited love lost that was making her stomach feel like it was doing flip flops, then what could it be?
The image of the handsome human lieutenant rose in her mind.Oh yeah. Him.
The regent had charged them both with bringing back the human ship. She’d planned to avoid Jeffrey as much as possible, promising herself that she’d never be alone with him again. If they weren’t alone, she wouldn’t be in a position to be vulnerable to his charms.
Or her own desires.
Kat made her way to central requisition hub, requesting the fastest scout ship on hand. They’d have to make due with a minimal crew, but a handful of them should be enough to deal with the Hareema plants on the human ship. As long as they didn’t run into anything more threatening…
She requested five of her most trusted underlings to be assigned to the scout ship. The head requisitions officer told her that he’d oversee the outfitting of the ship himself and would let her know when it was ready to fly.
With that finished, she headed toward her cabin. Although she had a small family home on the other side of the planet, she kept quarters here, as she wasn’t on the home world often for long enough to travel back to her home. She’d just filled her tub and settled herself inside the hot scented water when she received a summons from the regent’s office. She was to meet in the strategic planning center in ten minutes.
Kat rolled her eyes.It figured.
She grabbed her sponge and started running it over her tired limbs. It was soft but scratchy enough to exfoliate. The sponge had once been a living creature whose body contained a substance that was naturally antibacterial.
Rinsing off quickly, she hopped out of the tub and started drying herself briskly. A few moments later, she was straightening the tendrils on her head, forcing them back into a tight knot on her neck.
A fresh uniform followed, and she was speeding down the hall to the strategic planning center.
