Page 35 of Viken Command

Perhaps Helion was right. Perhaps she deserved better.

9

Whitney, Viken United

I’d thought I was all out of tears on Earth, but I’d been wrong. Once I arrived at the palace and Leah stood in front of me, I started crying. Ugly sobs with snot. I knew it wasn’t pretty, and I hadn’t cared. Neither had Leah, for she’d hugged me, then somehow got me to a room of my own. She’d settled me into bed, set the lights to low, and told me she’d contact Warden Egara and update her on what happened and that I was rejecting the match. I’d assumed I’d have to do it, but a queen of an entire planet probably got special dispensation for stuff like this. I was left to be miserable in peace.

I threw the covers over my head and let it all out. The happiness I’d thought I’d finally found. The fact that it hadn’t been real. How I’d felt when I’d thought Alarr, Oran and Teig were arms dealers. How I’d felt when I’d discovered they weren’t. At least the match hadn’t paired me with pure evil.

That made no difference. Okay, maybe a little, but still.

They’d deceived me. Lied. Used me as a pawn for their jobs. Fucked me to keep their cover. They could have told me the truth. I would have understood. I’d have found them brave. Valiant. And that would have been ridiculously hot. Three heroes as mates? Totally worked for me.

What kind of hero used a woman? What kind of hero used his mate?

I couldn’t live with them any longer, couldn’t handle the possibility of being used again. I couldn’t trust them.

And that was why I cried. And cried. Cried for wondering if there was someone out there who I could love unconditionally, who would want me for me, and only me. Not for some other reason. Not to lure people to invest their money. And not to gain access to sex parties in a pleasure resort so they could hunt for weapons.

I thought of my time with Oran in that hut, of how he’d tied me down and I’d allowed myself to trust him. Of the way I’d begun to panic, then been in bliss simply because Alarr had soothed me, and I’d known he was there. I’d felt safe. Wanted. Protected.

And it had all been an act. Every single time they touched me… Alarr, Oran, Teig. All three of them, but never all together.

I’d thought they were perfect, and they were far from it. I wasn’t expecting perfection. Still, I’d thought I had finally found a healthy, solid relationship since Warden Egara said I had such a high match percentage.

Stupid alien computers. What the hell did they know? Apparently, not much.

“Wake up, Whitney.”

The voice pulled me from a sleep I hadn’t even realized I’d succumbed to.

“Come on, wake up, sleepyhead.” That was followed by a nudge on the arm.

I sniffled, stirred. Blinked.

Leah loomed over me and smiled. “I’ve let you rest and wallow. Now it’s time to shower and talk. I’ve got ice cream.”

I sat up with those words. “Ice cream?”

She laughed. “I thought that would perk you up.”

I slipped from the bed and I felt awful. My body ached and my head throbbed. My face felt swollen from crying.

I was content being led to the bathing room, having the water in the shower tube set for me, clean clothes left on a counter.

“I’ll leave you on your own, but whatever you do, don’t look in the mirror.”

Leah left, the door sliding closed behind her. Of course, I looked at my reflection. Of course, I squealed at the sight. Shit. My hair stood up in seven different directions. My face was splotchy. I looked droopy and dejected. Miserable.

I took a deep breath, realized Alarr, Teig and Oran had made me this way. It was their fault I looked like roadkill. I hated them all over again for it.

I would not let them continue to fuck with me. Being like this was giving in, proving they’d hurt me.

No fucking way. I was Whitney Mason from Earth. No man was going to keep me down.

I took my shower, washed my funk away along with any of the guys’ lingering seed on my pussy and thighs. Like the shampoo commercial, I washed them right out of my hair… my body, my mind.

I was done.

---