Page 52 of The Hive

There was no hesitation when I leaned down to kiss him, too. Our hungry mouths devoured one another and when I tasted the sweet honey of Saphyra’s slick, I growled. Not in anger, but in jealousy that I hadn’t been there to help. I savored the sugared taste of her on his lips, and my dick swelled until it ached. I wanted her that badly again, but when I looked at her, she had rolled away and was snoring softly against Axion’s chest.

Valyx chuckled quietly when he saw where my attention turned. “She’s tired. We all are. Best get some sleep and save this for later.” His hand wrapped around my engorged shaft, running his thumb along the underside and over the crown.

Fucking tease. I should have fucked his ass until he was groaning for more. But that might wake Saphyra. And from the dark circles under her eyes, I knew she needed to rest. Resigned to wait for morning, I settled in behind Valyx, my cock snug between his cheeks as a reminder of what was to come when the well-being of our omega was no longer at stake.

It was peaceful like this, stretched out against Valyx’s back, my arm draped over him and resting on Saphyra’s hip. I was beginning to think this could work with all of us together.

Grey finally made his way out of the bathroom. As he walked out, the light caught on something metallic near his collarbone.

“Grey,” I called out quietly. “What the fuck are you wearing on your neck?” I hoped it wasn’t some sort of tracking device, but surely one of us would have noticed it by now. My suspicion reminded me that maybe I still didn’t trust him entirely.

“What?” Grey patted his throat as if feeling for whatever it was but came up empty.

“A… necklace or something,” I said, hoping it was just an odd piece of jewelry and not anything worse. Now I was getting nervous. Was I being paranoid? Would he dare betray us after all we’d been through? Of course he would. He’s Altairan.

I pulled away from Valyx, who had fallen back to sleep, and rolled off the mattress. Anger ebbed off me in waves as I stalked over to the beta and tapped the control panel to turn the overhead light on. Groans came from the bed when the light was abruptly returned, but I had to make sure Grey hadn’t turned on us.

“I don’t know what you’re on about. I’m not wearing anything around my neck.” He shrugged it off.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it.

Valyx strode up behind me, blinking the sleep from his eyes. “Is that what I fucking think it is?”

“Is what what you think it is?” Grey asked, panic creeping into his voice. He turned to go back to the bathroom where the mirror was, but I grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

There, just above his collarbone, was a metallic pair of crescents, exactly the same shape and location as the bite Saphyra had left.

“It’s a Star-blessed mate mark,” I said, stunned. We all talked about how we thought we were Star-blessed mates, but there was only one way to know for sure. And here was the proof of Grey’s claim, right on his neck, just below the collar of where his shirt would lay. Green gold metallic shined back, as if mocking us.

Grey shrugged off my grip and returned to the bathroom. I could see him studying it from every angle. His fingers exploring it, fascinated.

“I never hoped it was actually possible,” Grey said in wonder.

“Obviously it is.” I tapped the light harder than was necessary, plunging the room back into darkness. I didn’t want to look at it anymore. We would deal with it tomorrow.

We did not deal with it tomorrow. We didn’t deal with it the day after that either.

The next two days were filled with meetings. My team met with Omen and his internal network, arranging and strategizing the mission to rescue the omegas, children, and any other hostages that needed help.

When Axion saw the mark with its metallic sheen, he had much the same reaction as the rest of us. Surprise, and then resignation. We had more than enough to worry about without concerning ourselves with something that wasn’t likely to change. Saphyra was happy and excited, but not surprised and went on with her business as if everything was the same, because to her it was. She already knew he was her mate, that’s why she’d marked him. The visual proof changed nothing in her mind.

On the third day, the Imperatrix’s squadron entered Arden’s sector. They were on their way to Verden, chasing us. With a select team of unmarked starfighters, we took care of them quietly. It was a waste but had to be done. With that final detail settled, we geared up to head for home.

Omen and his task force gathered, readying to leave for Altaira, and we boarded the Imperatrix’s ship, along with a few starfighters on loan from Arden to bolster our security while Omen was away. He sent Arkyn with us for a special mission, but I had a feeling it was to keep him out of his hair more than anything, and we left.

Chapter Fifty-One

Saphyra

The trip from Arden to Verden was relatively short. I sat with Grey on the bridge of the Imperatrix’s ship as we were escorted by a squadron of unmarked starfighters toward the orb of swirling green and gold. There was the blue of the ocean and swaths of forest and white-capped mountains, but there were also strips of black scarred terrain. There were no lights flaring from the shadowed side and no tracks of major civilization. From this distance, it looked completely barren of any sort of advanced life.

Grey answered my unspoken question. “Verden has been in the grip of severe drought for many years. Wildfires have destroyed huge sections of land. So much so that the destruction can be seen even from this far away. It won’t be an easy place to live but, together, we will find happiness.”

A low humming vibration echoed through my blood as we descended through the wispy cloud banks toward a golden field. The hills and meadows as far as the eye could see were a shimmering honey color broken by emerald stands of old oak trees and vast forests beyond. The wind and draft from the ships caused the grasses to dance in hypnotic, gleaming patterns, like a sea of burnished brass. It was beautiful.

My pulse raced in time with some unknown melody, and when the ship came to a stop on the ground, I couldn’t contain my excitement. An otherworldly impulse urged me to escape from this metal contraption and touch the ground. It was calling to me, welcoming me home.

I scrambled out of my chair and heard Grey call out to me, but I was too far gone. The control panel was locked, and I fussed and fiddled with it. The urgency to get outside overwhelmed all rational sense. I felt starved for the air and wind on my face, even though I had little memory of it.

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