Page 34 of Viken Command

Alarr looked at me. “The containment team will be here within minutes. The I.C. is tracking the ship.”

“Good.” Oran stood over Clive, one boot firmly on our enemy’s back to hold him down. His gaze went to our mate, raked over her to find any kind of wound. “Whitney, are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

Whitney raised her gaze at last and looked at Oran. “I’m fine.” She took a step backward, toward the row of buildings behind us.

Alarr reached for her hand, but she retreated yet again. “I am sorry, mate. You should not have had to endure this. We failed to protect you.” He put his hand to his heart. “I vow it will not happen again.”

She shook her head, her hands taking turns rubbing the opposite wrist. She was shaking, the adrenaline from what happened coursing through her veins. “I’m fine. Really.” A bright light shined down on us from above, and she glanced up, as Alarr and Oran did, to see the I.C. ship coming to land where the Cerberus smuggler’s vessel had been minutes before. I didn’t need to see the I.C. ship. I’d seen hundreds of them. I kept my gaze trained on my mate, who acted oddly.

Whitney stepped back as the ship settled, and the loading ramp lowered to the ground. I turned at last, at the sound of Helion’s voice. “Excellent job. I knew having a mate here would be the final thing we needed to complete this mission.”

Fuck. Me. Inwardly, I groaned.

“What?” Whitney’s voice made me turn to her, but the horror on her face had me turning to Helion to beg him to explain.

“No. It wasn’t like that, Whitney,” I said. “On my honor, you were matched to Alarr.” I watched Helion approach the injured Commander Clive with a smile on his face that had nothing to do with humor. “Doctor, please tell her.”

Helion held up his hand, a clear order for me to stop talking. Me, as well as Alarr and Oran, for both males had opened their mouths, presumably to argue my point. Our point.

“Commander Clive. So good to finally meet you.” Helion moved silent as a ghost, the huge Prillon warrior was an imposing and ruthless figure. He wasn’t in a Coalition Fleet uniform. Instead, he wore the dark green of a doctor, but I knew he was so much more dangerous than the healer’s uniform he wore when he faced the rest of the universe. He was a demon in disguise. A killer in a healer’s cloak. He was, without doubt, the most dangerous male I’d ever met. And our new prisoner had his full and undivided attention. “You have caused Prime Nial and the I.C. a lot of problems.”

“Just let me get to a ReGen pod,” Clive gasped, his face contorted in pain. “I’ll tell you everything. I swear.”

Helion crouched down in front of Commander Clive’s face. “Oh, I know you will.” His gaze traveled down Clive’s spine to the knife blade still protruding from his back. “Do you require the return of your blade, Captain Oran?”

“No.” By the look on Oran’s face, he never wanted to see the dagger again.

“Good.” He stood and faced Alarr. “Good work, Captains. You will report to I.C. Core Command for a debriefing immediately.”

“We can’t, sir. I’m sorry. We must attend to our mate.” Alarr dared to defy him, and I knew by the tone of his voice I needed to be ready to go to battle beside him. I moved to stand behind Alarr, as did Oran. We’d told him in that last comms call that once the mission was complete, we would take our mate to Battleship Zeus. Together.

Doctor Helion raised both

of his pointed eyebrows in a look of shocked surprise. “What mate? I don’t see a female clamoring for your attention.”

What the fuck was he talking about? Whitney was right—

She was gone. A quick scan of the area and I saw a flash of her bare legs as she ran toward the transport room.

Alarr took off at a run. “Whitney, wait!” he bellowed.

Doctor Helion raised his hand, and an I.C. operative stepped in front of Alarr and pointed a blaster at him. “Don’t make me shoot you, Captain.”

Alarr rounded on Helion with rage in his eyes. “You will let me pass,” he growled.

Helion shook his head. “You will accompany me to I.C. Core Command and give your reports. Once that is complete, you can chase your cocks back to that female. She’ll be safe on Viken United.” He glanced down at a comm on his wrist. “Ah, see, there she goes now. Straight to the arms of Queen Leah, no doubt, to tell her all about you three and how hard her life is.”

I waited for the top of Alarr’s head to blow off, he was that angry. So was I. I wanted to rip the bastard limb from limb like an Atlan in beast mode.

“Fuck you,” Oran yelled. “You really are nothing but an asshole.” His fist crashed into Helion’s face as Alarr rushed the I.C. fighter in front of him. I tried to rush to Oran’s aid, but a blast of agony hit me square in the hip, dropping me to the ground like a stone.

I knew what a stun blast felt like, had taken one in training, and several during battle, and that had been more than a warning.

More weapons fire sounded around me, and soon, Alarr and Oran were laid out next to me on the ground in front of the I.C. ship, paralyzed for the next several hours.

Doctor Helion stood above us, staring down his sharp, Prillon nose. “As I said, Captains, you will accompany me to I.C. Core Command, and then you may go after your female. Her pussy will still be wet and eager, I assure you.” He chuckled. “Unless, of course, you were not good lovers. In which case, she might have three new mates taking care of her needs by the time you get back to her.”

Alarr growled. The fury in his gaze a living, breathing thing. Oran’s anger smoldered, like an ember waiting for a hint of an opportunity to light. Me? I was dying inside. Whitney thought we’d used her for the mission, that we weren’t her true mates, that everything, from her arrival to now, had been part of Doctor Helion’s plan. A complete lie.

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