Page 255 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

For the first time since the processing camp, Zero meets my eyes and holds them.

"I had you under my command the day you…" His throat works, but the word refuses to come.

I don’t interrupt. He has carried this since the day I died, and if I want him to accept the mission, I need to let him say it.

"The situation escalated because of choices I made long before we reached that camp," he continues. His hands close into fists at his sides. "I supported a regime that hurt the people I was supposed to protect, and when it mattered, I couldn’t stop that damage from affecting my capacity to lead."

The bond tightens as my Pack remembers the gunshot, the blood, and the moment they lost me. I keep my attention on Zero.

His gaze drops to Ember’s file. There is a picture of her, taken many years ago. She's looking right at the camera with piercing eyes, but she's so obviously an Omega with her rounded cheeks and soft features.

"You died because I got it wrong," he says, his voice roughening despite his effort to control it. "I’m not the Alpha you send to protect another Omega. Not after I got the first one I ever met killed."

I don’t let him retreat into his guilt.

"You didn’t kill me," I say.

Zero’s gaze snaps back to mine.

"You made choices that helped create the danger we were in, and you have to live with them. But you weren’t the one who pulled the trigger. She shot me because she was frightened, angry, and convinced I was her enemy."

His jaw tightens, but he listens.

"You can’t change what you did while serving Fathim, but you can choose what you do now."

I tap Ember’s file on the datapad.

"She doesn’t need an Alpha who has never made a mistake. She needs one who understands the damage an Alpha can cause when he treats an Omega as an order to carry out instead of a person," I say.

Zero’s brows are still furrowed, and he doesn’t look convinced.

I need him to do this. Instinctively, I know there isn't another soldier in this fortress who is as capable.

He looks back down at Ember’s picture, and I briefly wonder if I can use her good looks as an incentive, but I quickly dismiss that idea. Zero won't be swayed by the promise of a pretty Omega. He needs something much more fundamental than that.

Something he's desperate for.

He needs forgiveness.

Now, that is something I can use, however unethical.

"You think your guilt is proof that you can’t be trusted," I continue and aim for a low blow. "Then this is your opportunity to atone. If you complete this mission, you will be forgiven, Prime Alpha Zero."

Zero closes his eyes and draws a deep breath. His shoulders slowly lower as the silence stretches between us, and I begin to wonder whether I’ve reached him. Then he opens his eyes, and the shame that weighed down his expression has hardened into determination.

There he is. That's the soldier I need. He already has my forgiveness, but if he has to think of this mission as his atonement, then I'll let that fuel him.

His eyes meet mine again, and this time, he doesn’t look away.

"Bring Ember home."

"Yes, ma’am."

My eyes burn as I look down at the files belonging to the three Omegas I left behind when Stone forced me out of the Omega Division.

I left the Omega Division promising I would come back for them. The war delayed me, Stone tried to stop me, and death itself stood in my way.

None of it matters now.