“Oh, hell no!” she exclaimed. “He hasn’t done anything wrong!”
But two of the warriors were already moving toward Brux.
The big Lykan didn’t fight them. He just held up his hands, palm up, as though showing them he was unarmed.
That scared Kiera worst of all–it was like he felt he deserved to be arrested. If that was what was happening–she still felt too shocked to really take it all in.
“Brux?” she said sharply, looking at him. “Do something. You can’t just let them take you!”
He looked at her, and in his blue eyes she saw resignation and hopelessness.
“If I resist, they will think the worst,” he said quietly. “Kiera?—”
“No!” She ran to him just as the warriors closed in. But before she could wrap her arms around him, one of the Monstrum warriors caught her gently but firmly by the shoulders and moved her back.
“Please, female,” he said. “Do not interfere. This male is being taken for your own safety.”
“Don’t call me ‘female’!” she snapped, struggling in his grip. “You have no right to take him–his name is Brux, and he belongs here with me!”
The lead warrior’s expression hardened.
“He belongs before the Council. Now stand aside.”
Kiera saw Brux’s jaw tighten.
“Take your hands off my mate,” he growled, but still, he made no move to fight.
The warriors shackled him—not with chains, but with glowing restraint cuffs at his wrists. When Kiera saw that–saw him being led away in cuffs–something inside her broke.
“This is insane!” she cried. “He saved my life! You can’t just take him.”
Brux turned his head toward her as they led him toward the shuttle.
“Kiera,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Afraid?” she choked out. “They’re taking you away!”
His eyes filled with sorrow.
“I will come back to you–I swear I’ll try.”
Then they were hustling him up into the shuttle.
Kiera made a desperate rush forward, but the same warrior caught her again and held her back. Not roughly, but firmly enough that she could do nothing but watch as the hatch sealed behind Brux with a final metallic clang. Then he let her go and climbed into the front.
They were taking her man and leaving her behind.
“No!” she shouted at the closed shuttle. “Brux!”
The engines rose to a roar as dust whipped around her in hot stinging gusts.
And then–as quickly as it had come–the shuttle lifted, turned, and disappeared into the sky.
Kiera stood there, stunned, staring up after it. Tears streaming down her face before she was even fully aware she’d started crying. She didn’t know until the sanctuary blurred around her.
She wiped furiously at her cheeks. How could the Monstrum do that–how could they just abduct the man she loved with no explanation? Was Brux some kind of criminal? But no–he couldn’t be. Not her sweet, kind Brux. He was so big and muscular he could have broken her in two with one hand, but he had never laid a finger on her. He was gentle and wonderful and amazing and–
And then, through the raw misery of the awful situation, she felt it again—the brush at the edge of her mind like someone wanted to speak to her.
