Page 46 of Tamed

“Continue. I’m with my mates and they both have the right to know.”

“I regret to inform you that the three alliance transports were simultaneously attacked by the Torretians. The Torretian fighters fired on the smaller ships and all three exploded. The bastards recorded the incident so there’s no doubt about the outcome. There were no survivors.”

“Understood,” Zevon gritted out. “Who else knows about this?”

“Just myself and the comm officer.”

“Keep it that way,” Zevon insisted. “I will decide when and how this information is disseminated.”

“Of course, sir.”

Tears shimmered in Kendra’s eyes. Her lips trembled and then a sob shuddered through her chest. Arcon had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, but Zevon pulled her into his embrace. “I’m so sorry, pet. This must be like losing family members.”

“Why kill everyone?” she sobbed. “They slaughtered six conduits along with their guards. It doesn’t make sense.”

Zevon pressed her trembling body against his chest, but he too was struggling to understand. He knew every member of the security teams, had fought shoulder to shoulder with many. He wanted to comfort his mate, but he felt as if his chest had been ripped open. And his responsibilities loomed large. All of the families needed to be notified and he had to see if he could salvage the alliance.

“Protecting the conduits is my job,” Arcon said regretfully. “I should have seen this coming.”

Zevon shook his head, meeting Arcon’s gaze over the top of Kendra’s head. “If anyone is to blame, it’s me. I command this station and I negotiated the alliance. I should have done more to conceal their flight plans. I should have sent them on different days. I should have had them teleported directly to the planet.” He paused for a deep breath. “Those sorts of recriminations are a pointless waste of energy. All we can do is mourn their loss and learn from our mistakes.”

“And make damn sure it never happens again,” Arcon stressed.

Zevon nodded.

Kendra pushed away from his chest and looked up at him with tear-bright eyes. “Verbet can’t get away with this. He has to be punished for the lives he’s taken.”

“Of course.” He framed her face with his hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We will make sure Verbet is punished.”

Another harsh sob tore through Kendra and a fresh deluge of tears escaped her eyes. “Why didn’t my power warn us? I knew something was wrong, but I needed helpful information!” Her knees buckled and Zevon swept her up in his arms. “I should have… Why couldn’t… What good are visions if we can’t save them?” Another deep, shuddering sob shook through her.

Zevon walked into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. Arcon skirted the bed and lay down beside her. She immediately snuggled into his big body and pressed her face against the side of his neck. Zevon sat on the edge of the bed and stroked the back of her hair, but his mind drifted to all the tasks awaiting him.

Releasing a sigh of frustration, Zevon stood up. “I have comms I must make. I need to see what the alliance leaders want to do about this. Can you stay with her? I don’t want her to wake up alone.”

“Of course. Go on.”

Zevon left the apartment and headed for the command center. He stepped into the semi-circular room a few minutes later and looked around. Everyone was calmly doing their jobs. Only the stricken look on the face of the shift supervisor indicated that they had just suffered a horrible loss.

Zevon walked over to the male and tried to appear casual. “Have you heard from any of the alliance leaders?”

“No, sir. The last communication was the one I told you about.”

Zevon nodded. “I’ll be in my office for the next few hours.”

His office was farther up the spiraling walkway from the command center. An elevator ran from the bottom floor to the observation deck at the top of the spiral, but Zevon preferred to walk. It kept his legs strong and burned off excess energy.

After greeting his assistant, Zevon strode into his office and closed the door. He was dreading these comms. He always dreaded these comms, but they were a necessary part of commanding a large military force. Starting with the soldier he knew best, he placed a holo-comm to their closest family member. Most grew quiet and tearful. A few lashed out in anger. The one that tore Zevon up the most was speaking with Ornalf Wexler’s mate. They had been bonded for less than a year and were expecting their first child. When the last comm had been place, Zevon gave himself a moment to recover.

Verbet would pay for this needless slaughter. Zevon would not rest until he’d paid.

Heaving himself up from his desk chair, Zevon made his way down to the training level. All of the training rooms were along one central hallway, so he simply went from room to room and instructed the conduits to follow him. Once all the females were gathered in one large room, he squared his shoulders and clasped his hands behind his back.

“A short time ago the three alliance transports were attacked by the Torretians,” he stated clearly but with minimal emotion. “There are strong indications that there were no survivors.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Lilian asked. She stood near the back of the room and was frequently outspoken. “Are you saying our friends are dead?”

Allowing them to draw their own conclusions, he told them what he knew. “The security teams are dead and I saw images of six females. They were dressed in Citadel uniforms but their bodies were badly burned.”

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