Page 4 of Forbidden Bonds
I chuckle as I download the files. Photos. Time-stamps. Him at the door with a woman draped over him, her hand on his chest… another with her hand over his crotch. Cozy. Mrs. Stevens will get a kick out of that and, if she has any sense, a generous divorce settlement.
The media outlets will lap that shit up.
His voters will be all over this juicy gossip.
The printer hums, spitting out the last page. I slip them into a manila folder and drop it into the chute that delivers it straight to Lucian’s office. My brother will probably ask Jordan and Kade, his delta enforcers, to deliver it personally during Councilman Stevens’ charity function later this week.
Maximum drama. Maximum impact.
I send Lucian a quick message to say it’s on its way.
Ping.An alert sounds.
My head snaps back toward the monitors. My brows pull together. I have alerts on all kinds of things. Another alert pings. This one is on the empire comm division.
I drop back into my seat and drag the keyboard closer.
Black market shipments under fake clearance codes… Just a cover… Military, codename: Reaper. That raises a brow. Special operative Ethan Black. I wonder what he’s up to. I make a mental note to let my brother know. Ethan and Lucian go way back and went through military training together.
Black was born on Lyus like Lucian and me and, like us, turned to an alpha when the forced conscriptions came through. His current location gets a second raised brow. Deep in Uncorrupted territory.
I scrub the record. That shit is classified at the highest level… Also, isn’t his mate pregnant? Must be something important for him to leave her long enough to get all the way over there.
Something to keep an eye on.
It’s the early hours of the morning. I rub my eyes and push back from the desk. I’m not tied to any schedule, so this is not unusual.
My communicator dings and I turn it over to find a short video from two underwear models I know. It shows them living it up in Lucian’s club, with the caption:‘Do you want to party?’
Do I?
Without responding, I stand and shove the communicator into my pocket. Then, after a few seconds, I take it out again, and shoot them a text before slipping it back and heading for my private elevator.
I spend a lot of time watching humanity and very little interacting. But sometimes I make exceptions. Sometimes I need to forget what I lost and just be in the moment.
Sex: gratuitous, no strings; an opportunity to escape my dark thoughts, and to feel good.
Release.
It’s better than some of the alternatives.
The elevator arrives and I step inside.
Larissa
We’re closing in on Pilgrim Point and will be docking within the hour.
The general has been unyielding with Jenda, refusing to let her test me, despite her numerous appeals. There is a power struggle happening between them, and I’m the omega toy they’re fighting over, each of them doubling down, determined to come out on top.
Which is worse? Jenda and her sick experiments, or Cohen using me to help the Uncorrupted win?
God. I can’t keep doing this.I’m alive on the outside, but inside, I’m already fading.
“I warned the general that you needed to be given to an alpha,” Jenda says as she studies me with her cold eyes during the regular appointment where she reviews my data. “Your latest lab results suggest your heat is imminent. They are coming too close together, lasting longer, becoming more severe.”
Her words bring a sense of doom. They are also true.
Only, there’s no way I could stop myself from connecting with an alpha’s mind during the frenzy of heat. Bad enough when I’m forced to crawl through their minds under instruction while I’m in command of my own emotions and wits.
