Page 31 of Viken Command

I had an idea, and I didn’t like it. “The queen and even King Drogan, told her she was welcome at Viken United without question. The king programmed an emergency access code for her to transport to Viken United from anywhere on the planet at any time. If she feared she was in danger, that her fucking mates were gun runners, she wouldn’t stay here at Trixon. She would have gone straight to transport.”

Alarr stood abruptly. “Straight to Commander Clive.”

Commander Clive was the head of transport security for the resort and technically, our boss here. The low-level thugs we’d tracked—and met in a ruse to purchase some of the weapons we’d just placed tracking beacons on—reported directly back to him.

“If she went to transport and spoke with him about going to Viken United, and why, she’d show him the recording…” Teig began.

“Which she would.” I was sure of it. Our mate had courage to spare, as she’d proven when submitting to me in that hut on nothing more than faith. She’d trusted me and fuck, I’d let her down horribly. “She’s honorable, Alarr. She would feel that it was her duty to turn us in to the highest authority here, regardless of her personal feelings.” And I wondered what those were, now that she thought we’d betrayed her. Lied to her. That we were males without honor.

I thought of the eagerness I’d seen in her gaze as I had stripped her of the gown in the hut. Of the way her eyes had sparkled with laughter when we’d eaten near the water. Of how her gaze darkened with desire and need and trust.

Alarr shook his head. “Even if she did not do so, she obviously left here upset, wearing nothing but Oran’s shirt. That, alone, would be enough for Clive to suspect something was wrong, to ask questions. What female left Trixon alone and in just her mate’s shirt? He wouldn’t just allow her transport, even to the queen.”

“She’s in danger. We have to go after her.” I’d rip this resort to pieces if I had to. Whitney was ours. No one would hurt her, frighten her, or keep her from us. I’d kill them if they tried. Yet, we’d somehow managed to do all of those things ourselves.

Teig held out a hand to stop me on my way to the door. “Not so fast. What are we going to do? If Clive has her, which is an assumption at best, what would he do with her? And what if he doesn’t? What if she actually did speak to an entry-level transport tech, and he transported her to Viken United?”

Teig wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at Alarr. We both turned to Alarr, our commandeering officer. Although we were all technically equal in rank, he’d gotten us out of worse situations than this one. Teig was the charmer. I was the brute force. Alarr? He was the thinker. The cautious one. He was also the one matched to Whitney. We all had our roles to play, and this was his. It would be his decision on how to get us out of the shit we’d gotten into.

Alarr paced, and my mind worked on the problem at hand. I began to think out loud. “If Clive has her, we have to move on the weapons now. We can’t wait. That recording is proof that we aren’t who we claimed to be. Clive is not a fool. He will assume we are tracking him for the I.C. or for the kings. Either way, he now knows we were sent here to take him down. He knows Whitney is our mate. He’ll use her as bait to lure us into a trap.”

Alarr wasn’t looking at either of us, but I knew he’d heard every word.

“True.” He turned and lifted his gaze. I recognized the resolve in his eyes. He’d come to a decision, and it was time to move. Thank the gods, because if I had to wait one more minute to go after our female, I was going to lose my damn mind. “But if she did make it to Viken United, she’s safe. Angry at us and scared, but safe. If she didn’t make it to Viken United, Clive has her. We can’t make assumptions that she escaped. Instead, we should assume the worst, that Clive has her. We must take care of that bastard and finish this fucking mission.”

“And hope she’s unhappy but safely under the protection of the royal guard.” I agreed but doubted what I’d said. Alarr was right, we had to assume the worst. If Clive did have our female, I would never forgive myself for leaving her here and running to Viken United to check on her. Our mate had accepted me. Trusted me. Given me

her body and taken my seed. Mine, Teig’s and Alarr’s. She owned me now, body and soul. They belonged to her, and I had no desire to have them back in my possession. Without Whitney, I was nothing but a lost soul with no home.

Alarr walked to the comm screen as Teig and I waited. The head of the royal guards appeared on the screen. He was dark, from the black of his uniform to the black hair on his head. Short, like mine, I recognized the arrow insignia on his arm. He was from Sector Two, like me, his dark eyes all business. He would be a dominant. A true protector. Without thinking, I could breathe again. This was a male who knew how to get things done. “Viken United. Transport Ops. This is Captain Gunnar.”

“This is Captain Alarr at the Trixon resort. Did my mate, Whitney Mason of Earth, safely transport to Viken United?”

The royal guard smiled, the bright white of his teeth a stark contrast to his skin, which was a darker shade of brown than our beautiful mate’s. “Ah, so you are the lucky ones. We heard a newly arrived Earth female was mated to Viken. Our mate is eager to meet yours. She, too, is from Earth, our Sophia. Congratulations on an excellent match. Earth females are a treasure. Bold and beautiful.” He chuckled a bit, clearly not paying attention to the scowl of impatience on Alarr’s face. “So sweetly submissive and a joy to pleasure. You are blessed, Captain.”

“I am. But please answer my question. Did Whitney safely transport to Viken United within the last two hours?”

Gunnar lifted a brow, apparently becoming aware of Alarr’s mood. “I will look at the transport logs. Is there a problem, Captain?”

“I fucking hope not,” I muttered the words under my breath, but Gunnar heard me. Of course, he did. We were trained to notice everything. Every hesitation. Every movement. The slightest detail could be used to heighten a female’s pleasure, to discover her true desires, her darkest needs. I’d just begun to know Whitney, and I needed more. I needed her complete surrender, her trust. Her love. I needed her to love me. And wasn’t that a fucking tragedy now.

“I see.” His gaze held mine for the barest moment, but I knew he understood. His hands moved over screens we could not see, and his expression darkened. “There was an emergency transport initiated, then canceled, approximately nineteen minutes ago.”

My blood turned to ice. “Cancelled by whom?” I asked.

“Commander Clive of Trixon security.” Gunnar looked up. “He has the highest-level clearance. I’m sure your mate is safe in his hands.”

Teig bellowed, his passionate nature getting the best of him. He was already moving toward the door, grabbing a chair and flinging it out of his way. “Let’s go kill that bastard and get our mate.”

I grunted in agreement but moved to a drawer where I kept my personal belongings. I pulled out my bow and arrows and blades before following him to the door. Ion cannons and blasters were fine, but eventually, the blaster strapped to my side would run out of charge. I would go through an army, if necessary, to get to Whitney. Ten armies. And a blade would keep killing as long as I needed.

I heard Alarr’s voice rumbling as he continued to speak with Gunnar over the comm call. Teig and I paced outside in the darkness, impatient. Ready to hunt.

“I’m going to gut that bastard,” Teig promised.

Fury boiled through my blood, but not at Clive, at us. “We were fools. We should have trusted Whitney with the truth.”

“I agree.” Alarr’s voice echoed through the darkness before he appeared.

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