Page 20 of Elite Starfighter, Game 3 (Starfighter Training Academy 3)

“Stand down, Titans. Guard the perimeter. Ground forces are now engaged.” As General Romulus gave a direct order, I didn’t dare disobey it. Not on my first mission as a Titan.

Not when I was so angry with my perfect, sexy, pair-bonded mate that I was seeing red.

One minute I wanted to jump him, the next? Scream at him. And after that? Shit. I just wanted to cry. I was an emotional roller coaster, and I hated every second of it.

Why didn’t Darius trust me to take care of myself? Why did everyone in my life have to treat me like I didn’t know what the hell I was doing? Like a walking mistake? A clutz? An idiot who needed careful advice and tending? I was tired of being treated like a wallflower.

Was this what love was supposed to be? Passion? Caring? Was this putting another’s needs before one’s own? I didn’t think so, but then, I’d never been in love before, so I had no idea how I was supposed to feel.

Did Darius really love me? After so short a time together? He was an alien, but he was still a man. Most of the men I knew on Earth, including my own father, weren’t big on monogamy or commitment in general. Why would an alien be any different?

“You can get off me, Darius. I’m not going to run away.”

Slowly, as if afraid he might startle a scared rabbit, Darius moved his Titan off mine and held out a massive hand to help me to my feet. I took it, not because I couldn’t get up on my own, but because I was too tired to fight with him. The adrenaline that had powered through my body was gone, leaving me to crash and burn to cinders inside my own mind. I didn’t understand any of this, and I hated the fact that I felt so unsure.. Hated that I wasn’t confident of my place in this group of Titans or with Darius. I’d thought I was sure about him, and then he’d been welcomed back, already a Titan. He was keeping secrets from me. Big secrets.

I knew the secrets game, had played that game my whole life, and I hated it.

I hated that Darius was hovering over me like a helicopter parent making sure I felt like I couldn’t do anything on my own. Acting like I should be scared when I wasn’t.

This was more real than anything I’d ever done before. Should I be frightened? Because as soon as I’d slipped inside Athena’s huge, powerful frame I’d felt powerful. Strong. Nervous but excited, too. Was that wrong? Was that how Mia and Jamie had felt on their first missions? Sure, I wasn’t excited about the prospect of killing a living being, but I hadn’t been terrified of dying either.

Perhaps I should have been.

Or perhaps I should be more worried about giving my heart to an alien who had no intention of responding in kind.

“Team Seven, cover the entrance. I don’t want any surprises down there.”

“Yes, General.” Darius moved to stand on one side of the blast area, and I stood with my back to the blast door on the other.

We stood in silence, scanning the terrain for enemy Scythe fighters, random enemy attacks. Nothing.

Then a rumble deep in the ground.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Darius and I crouched in a defensive posture, weapons ready. “General, there is a ground disturbance.”

“Copy that. Resolution’s sensors are picking it up. Hold your position.”

“Holding position.”

I didn’t say a word, but I had a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.

The rumbling increased until the ground shook like an earthquake.

A moment later Bantia burst through the wall, ground troops running at full speed behind her. She stood at the opening, urging the smaller forces to greater speed.

“Move! Move! Move!”

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“It’s a trap. The whole fucking thing is empty. But there’s enough explosive down there to make a crater out of the whole area. Get out of here!”

Reaching behind me, I buried my claws in the metal wall and pulled, peeling the opening wider bit by bit, relieved when I saw there was enough room for even one more soldier to squeeze through. “More!” I yelled.

Darius followed suit as Bantia joined me in peeling back the shielding. We weren’t doing much, but if we saved even a handful of lives, it would be worth it.

“Where’s Ulixes?” Darius asked.

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