Page 55 of Fractured Souls

It would be so easy…

No! He was furious at himself for even considering it.

If he gave in to his basest desires now, she would be lost to him before he had a chance to truly claim her.

An unwilling mate was no victory at all. Only a spineless coward would take a female against her will.

That was why he gladly endured this torture, clenching his teeth as he strode into Tarak’s office, tasting his own bitter blood as his fangs pierced the inside of his lower lip.

She would be his mate, but she would yield the way he wanted her to... willingly and without any fear.

She would choose him.

He paused at the threshold, sensing her apprehension. “Relax. You won’t be getting any trouble from my boss.”

“It’s a long time since I’ve been summoned,” she said wryly. Her voice was low and throaty; she almost sounded conspiratorial, as if they were long-time lovers sharing a secret. “Reminds me of my old job.”

He liked it when she spoke to him like that. It was comfortable and intimate, and he could listen to her for an eternity. He could close his eyes and drift away on the sound of her voice, let it take him to places he didn’t even know existed. “I’m guessing that when you got reprimanded, they always let you off the hook, eventually.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re competent and stubborn. Good combination. Makes you valuable to a team… but not always good at following orders.”

“How would you know?”

“We’re all a bit like that here.” Left unchecked, any of the First Division warriors could wreak havoc and cause massive death and destruction. That was why they needed Tarak in charge.

“Huh.” Alexis snorted in disbelief, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice. He liked her all the more for it.

The lights were on inside the room. Normally, it would be dark in here save for the cold, distant burn of starlight, because Kordolians saw perfectly well in the shadows.

Either Tarak was being considerate of Alexis, or there was another human here.

Abbey. He could hear her shifting around. She, out of all the humans, was the noisiest one by far. Same went for that wild little offspring of theirs.

They saw Tarak first. The General was in deep thought; he stood by the window staring out into space, his hands clasped behind his back. Abbey was there too, sitting in the boss’s command chair. She was barefoot, one leg folded beneath the other in a casual way that was completely unbefitting of her surroundings.

Her presence here didn’t surprise him. When it suited him, Tarak would involve her in his decision making—mostly when there was some sensitive human issue that required her input.

Obviously, she was here for Alexis’s benefit.

That was significant. The boss was making an effort to ensure Alexis was comfortable.

Abbey’s influence, no doubt.

“There is a problem on Tharos,” Tarak said, not bothering with any sort of greeting or formality.

Straight to the point. Typical.

“Problem?” Alexis’s voice was sharp with concern as she strode into the cavernous space, giving Abbey a small greeting wave. “What kind of problem?”

She seemed to be taking this Tharian business very seriously, almost personally, as if Anuk were her own flesh and blood. He saw the determination in her eyes, in the tight angle of her jaw. There was no fear of Tarak at all, and he was a man who could bring lesser beings to their knees in fear with just a look.

This was who she was; the person she’d been on Earth, this so-called detective. A truth-seeker.

Goddess, she was fucking beautiful.

“Some time ago, I sent a surveillance ship to Tharos’s orbit to map the terrain and gather data on the remaining population. Until now, it had not encountered any significant outside activity.”

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