“Why? It’s not even Coalition. How can I be safer there?” she asked.
“You’ll be protected by us,” Styx vowed. “And you’ll be safe because there isn’t any Coalition.”
“But he…he’s dressed just like you.” She reached her arm out, pointed to the dead Cerberus who’d been tugged off the transport pad and now lay sprawled in the corner awaiting some kind of investigation. “He was from Rogue 5, right?”
I nodded and she closed her eyes, her fingers gripping Styx’s biceps even harder. “Then we can’t go there.”
I reached out, pulled Harper out of Styx’s hold. Hugged her. Felt her fully against me for the first time. Gods, she felt good. Soft, gentle, small.
“Mine,” I growled.
“We will take you to our home where you belong,” Styx added.
“Between us,” I added.
“It won’t be any safer, not if the people who attacked are from your home,” she insisted.
“Mate, we are the only ones who can keep you safe.” Styx approached the lead technician. “The next free transport window, you will send us to Rogue 5, Styx legion.”
“There is an open window now,” he replied, but did not look up from the controls.
“You didn’t see us leave.” Styx waited for the Coalition warrior to look up from his controls. “She’s my mate and she’s being hunted.”
The Prillon looked from Styx to me, and finally to Harper, who clung to me, her hands shaking despite the brave face she was putting on. “She’s your mate? And he’s your second?”
When Prillons mated, there was a primary male and a chosen second to claim their female together. Styx and I were equals. Neither would be a second, even if everyone else would think me one. We would claim her evenly. We’d fuck her together and often apart.
Styx narrowed his eyes. “Yes. And we’ll kill anyone who tries to stop us from taking her.”
The Prillon almost grinned, just the far corner of his mouth twitching up, clearly understanding that a mate came first. “May the gods witness and protect you.” He spoke the formal Prillon ritual words and lifted his chin in the direction of the transport pad. “I never saw you. I’ll erase the transport record, but you need to go now. Right now.”
“What is your name?”
The Prillon started. “Mykel.”
“I am Styx, of the Styx legion on Rogue 5. If you have need, call for me. For helping save my mate, I owe you a life debt.”
The Prillon ignored his words, quickly working the controls as I led Harper back up to the transport pad.
“Are you sure about this? They were from your planet,” she said, her voice cloaked with exhaustion.
I lifted my hand to her head and held her to my chest, gently stroking the silken strands of her golden hair, soothing her. “Trust us, Harper. We will take care of you.”
She had reason to worry. Until we knew why Cerberus was attacking Coalition fighters—and MedRec teams—we would be vulnerable. Cerberus the legion, but also Cerberus the leader. He knew what was going on, what his people were doing. He knew everything.
But we’d be on our turf. Our rules. Our battleground. Thousands of lethal warriors willing to kill to protect Styx, and our new mate. With Harper between us, nothing else mattered. Just her safety and happiness.
I clenched my jaw, hugged Harper tighter to me, feeling the strongest bout of possession.
“By the time I’m done, Cerberus will beg me to end him,” Styx said with dark intention, jumping up onto the platform to join us right before the transport began.
Chapter Six
Styx, Rogue 5, Styx Legion Core Command Room
“Cerberus doesn’t deal in slaves. The female must be mistaken.”
“We can’t trust her, she’s Coalition.”
“What is Cerberus doing in that Sector? Is he trying to bring the entire fucking Fleet to our door?”
Raised voices filled the meeting room, jumbled and arguing, one on top of the other in a cacophony of noise.
Still, it felt good to be home, to have my mate tended to. To know she was safe.
I let them argue, waiting for the inevitable verbal battle still to come. I’d told them about Harper, about the attack in Sector 437, the Cerberus uniforms. All of it.
I had yet to reveal to the men and women in this meeting room that Harper, a female from Earth, an active duty Coalition officer, a woman I’d taken from Zenith without permission or following protocol, was my mate.
Standing at the head of the table, I gripped the back of my chair and let the chaos roll through me. I was impervious to the din, knowing Blade had our mate somewhere safe, bathing her, tending her, feeding her. Caring for her as was right and proper. As leader of the legion, I could not always care for a mate as I should, which was why Blade would claim her, too.
When I failed her, called away by duty or necessity like now, Blade would not. Were he out fighting, I would tend to her. This moment I knew I’d made the correct decision, for as disorder swirled around me, knowing my mate was safe and secure with Blade, I was content.
The large stone table before us had been transported from the Hyperion surface to our moon base, the cold connection to our home world a reminder that grounded us in our past, our duty to the ancestors, to protecting not just this moon base, but the sacred beasts on the surface below. The table normally held six seated around its broken edges, myself plus five lieutenants. Soon, with a mate, that number would increase to seven.
If I thought my legion was agitated now—
“Styx saw the uniform as well. Cerberus legion raided Latiri 4. We need to know why.” Silver sat opposite my position at the end of the table, Blade’s seat next to her noticeably vacant. Khon sat on her right, silently taking in the argument with intelligent pale green eyes and his arms crossed over a massive chest. His face might as well have been a stone wall. He shaved his head, claimed the dark hair interfered with his ability to sense the wind when he was on the surface. Of all of us, he went to the Hyperion surface the most, to hunt. To check on the well-being of our ancestral families, the wild ones still living below. He was brutal and efficient, and slow to anger. Which was why he occupied one of the chairs. “Do we not have spies in Cerberus?”
“Cerberus killed both of our spies last month.” Silver’s long hair was pulled back tight in a braid, the pale color nearly identical to Blade’s, their features similar enough to make their shared mother obvious. But that was where the likeness ended. Blade was quick to fight, quick to anger, and quick to forgive.
Silver was a woman, a Hyperion female. She rarely raised her voice, and like Khon next to her, was a cold, calculating strategist. But lose her trust and she’d kill you as soon as look at you. There was no forgiveness in her. Her gaze met mine, and what I saw there made me ball my hand into a fist at my side in silent warning. She was tall, like all Hyperion females, and strong. But it was her mind the others feared. And her ruthlessness. Like all females from our world, she was merciless when it came to protecting her family. And this legion was her family now. Her brother, Blade, my second-in-command, and now my mate-bonded, was the only blooded family she had left.
She was listening. For now. But I knew, should I fail to maintain my dominance in this room, any one of the four at the table could rise in challenge to take leadership of the Styx legion from me. And the only way to win was a fight to the death. My death.
Silver would be first.
Khon and Silver ignored the brooding silence of the other two lieutenants, Ivar and Cormac. The two males didn’t concern me. Ivar, like Blade, preferred action to strategy, wildness to self-discipline. He kept his black hair long enough to please the females, his pale blue eyes and wicked tongue—both in bed and out, if rumors were to be believed—kept him in a steady supply of their company. He was content to fight and leave the politics and strategy to me.
Ivar would follow Cormac’s lead. And Cormac was mine. Through and through. And thank the gods for that. He was huge, a brute even by
Hyperion standards, perhaps a bit closer to our ancestral bloodline than the rest of us. A full head taller than I, his black hair was streaked with silver at the temples, not from age, but from mixed blood, one of his ancestors having been from Silver and Blade’s animal line. He’d been found as an infant, abandoned on the surface, perhaps too alien for the wild Hyperion mother who’d given birth to him to accept.
One of the Styx females had found him, raised him, trained him to fight.
My mother.
He was my brother in all the ways that counted and would never betray me.
But it was the captains who stood lining the walls of the small room who made the animal in me nervous. They raised their voices, arguing amongst themselves, thinking out loud. They were younger, volatile and somewhat unpredictable when compared to my battle-hardened lieutenants. Rash thinking kept them in junior positions until they had experience and wisdom to be anything more.
Blade was bringing our mate here. Was, in fact, already on his way. And I would not have her walk into danger. Nor would I tolerate any hint of disrespect.
She was mine. Which meant she was theirs now as well. Their Lady Styx. Second only to me in our legion. I was asking them to kill for her. Die for her.
And I hadn’t even claimed her yet. Gods, she had yet to agree to the claiming. I could fuck her, bite her and be done with it. But I would have her consent. I would have her willing.
My decision was made. The Hyperion in me would not relent. It took an act of will to keep my fangs from bursting free of my mouth in a show for dominance with every thought of her.
“She’s Coalition, Styx. Are you sure this is the wisest course of action?” That was Silver, and immediately the captains’ voices quieted. I appreciated her wisdom on allowing them to vent their frustration and concern before taking up their cause in a more rational, controlled tone of voice.
One that wouldn’t get her killed.
I leaned forward, my fists resting on the top of the stone slab and let the smell of the home world calm my senses. Until I thought of laying Harper out on this table, filling her with my hard length, tasting her flesh with the scent of home surrounding us. I would never see this table, this room in the same way again.
Taking a deep breath, I ignored the ache of my hard cock and opened my eyes. “She is mine. My mate. Blade has agreed, and we will claim her together as soon as possible. As for Cerberus and whatever they were doing in the Latiri Star Cluster, we’ll find out.”
“Gods, Styx, have you lost your fucking mind?” Ivar blurted, running his hand through his black hair. “While I agree we need to know what Cerberus is doing, they’ve always been bad. It’s nothing new. But her?”
I growled at the way he used that one word. Her. As if it tasted bad.
“She’s an officer of the Coalition Fleet.”
This was repeated again and again. She was Coalition. Not quite the enemy, but damned close.
“She’s mine.”
Silver raised a brow and leaned back, tipping her chair on one leg to rock back and forth, tempting gravity to take her down. “Technically, she’s not yours, she belongs to them.”
I snarled at her, didn’t try to hide my fangs this time. She held her hands out in front of herself to placate me. “I’m not trying to defy you, just pointing out the facts. Do you have a plan? A way to get her out of their system? Strip her from the Coalition database?”
“Yes.” I did. It was risky, and I’d owe a favor to a scheming Prillon warrior I did not want to be indebted to any further, but nothing would stop me from keeping Harper. Nothing.
“Well?” Ivar asked, eyes wide, waiting. “What’s the plan? What are we going to do about Cerberus? They’ll bring the Coalition down on all of us.”
“We could take them out.” Cormac’s deep, rumbling voice filled the small room, and an almost eerie silence descended on the group. It was not often a top level enforcer of Styx spoke of all out war with another legion. He pulled a blade from somewhere on his body, one of many he always carried, and watched the play of light on metal as he tilted it in the light. “One night. That’s all I need, Styx. Give me enough from the coffers to hire some of those deserters from Everis. Some real Hunters. Astra legion might help as well. She hates Cerberus.”
Silver choked on a small laugh. “That’s because Cerberus wanted her for his mate.” She settled her chair back on all four legs and grinned. “And Astra isn’t too fond of males who don’t know how to take no for an answer.”
“He didn’t want her, he wanted power. He wanted Astra legion.” Khon spoke true, his green eyes narrowed beneath dark brows as he looked at Silver. “And that was twenty years ago.”
Silver shrugged. “A woman never forgets.”
“Gods know that’s the fucking truth.” Ivar grinned and a few of the captains around the room chuckled. If anyone understood the working of the female mind, it was Ivar. Perhaps that was another reason he was so skilled at luring unmated females into his bed. He had yet to find his mate. None of them in the room had.
“We will find the truth. Ivar, put men on it. Use the Everians if needed. I am willing to pay for a Hunter. Just find out what the fuck is going on.”
At his nod, the door slid open and there she was.
Every eye turned to watch as my mate was escorted into the room by Blade. The sight of her, golden hair falling in a gleaming wave past her shoulders, her green eyes, bright as gemstones, assessing everyone in the room.
She wore the black uniform of Rogue 5 and the tight material hugged every luscious curve. The silver band around her arm made me want to beat my chest and roar to the heavens that she was mine. Mine. Mine.
Head high, her gaze locked on me, and I held out my hand to her. Blade walked in behind her and took his seat next to Silver, a look of contentment on his face I’d rarely seen. The usual tension was gone, the wildness somewhat tamed. Apparently, caring for our mate agreed with him.
It agreed with her as well. She was no longer stained with dirt and blood, the fear and weariness in her eyes now gone. And she wore our uniform. Our colors.
Ivar devoured my mate with his eyes, and I pulled her behind me, blocking his view, and growled a warning, to which he dropped his gaze and glanced at Silver for help. But Silver was even more interested in my mate than the males in the room. About a third of my officers were female, and their curiosity about the Earthling who had accomplished what none of them could—gain my interest, my devotion—was palpable.
I led Harper to the only open seat at the table—mine—and held it out for her. Reluctant to give up the tactile pleasure of holding her hand, I kept it in my own once she was settled and took my place behind her. Protector and guardian. She sat at the head of Styx legion, and I stood behind her. It was an important moment. I may have said she was mine, that she was my mate, a dozen times. Two dozen. Actions spoke louder than words, and the sight of her before me didn’t need to be repeated.
It was as if my captains stopped breathing.
Only now did they understand how serious I was. How far I was willing to go. For her. My mate.
“Gods, Styx. You can’t be serious.” Ivar reeled in shock. I saw the confusion on his face. I’d never hinted at claiming a mate, honoring a female in such a way before. Giving her my seat at the table was the greatest honor I could give her, and she was completely unaware of the magnitude of my action. But my people were not.
Sensing the unrest in the room, Blade moved around the table to stand behind her opposite shoulder. “She is our mate. We will kill for her, die for her, and we ask you to do the same.”
“She’s Coalition,” Silver said again, repeating her earlier statement. “She’s a danger to us.”
I saw my mate raise one pale brow, cross her arms over her ample breasts.
“And the mercenaries that took my MedRec team? They weren’t Coalition. They were yours. They were Legion.” She lifted a hand and tapped her biceps where the silver stripe was. “Dressed like you,
but with red. Here.” She tilted her head to the side and glance up at me out of the corner of her eye. “Are you sure my staying here is the wisest course of action?”
Even though she hadn’t been in the room at the time, her words echoed Silver’s when she’d spoken of Harper. It was as if my mate thought we couldn’t keep her safe.
Everyone started talking then, arguing about the presence of my mate.
As if it were up for debate.
“Enough!” I shouted.
Silence fell, only ragged breathing filled the room, everyone riled not only because I was taking an Earth mate, a Coalition member as my own, but because they were unsettled about news of Cerberus. A tenuous balance had been broken and the future was unclear. We were used to chaos, but not within our ranks.
“She is mine,” I bit out through clenched teeth, daring anyone to argue further.
“What?” Harper protested, tried to rise, but I placed my hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently before moving to wrap it around her neck. I did not squeeze. The move was a caress, a display of intimacy, of trust between us. She leaned back, lifted her face toward me, not only accepting of my touch, but exposing her throat even more.
Silver’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but my other enforcers visibly relaxed, fully understanding, in that one small gesture between male and female, what was already between us. They witnessed her beautiful submission. And that was all it took to see the truth of it all. She wasn’t here for Coalition purposes. We weren’t claiming her because we wanted an ally. No, they could all see that she really did belong to us.
“Styx? Blade? What are you doing?” Harper blinked up at me, confusion in her gaze.
“Claiming you.”
She shook her head and looked back at the enforcers seated around the table before scanning the rest of the captains in the room. They all looked back at her without blinking, giving her their complete attention. Which, apparently, made my sweet mate uncomfortable because her back stiffened, her relaxed, calm attitude now slightly ruffled. “We need to talk about this, don’t you think?” She glanced from me to Blade to Silver. “In private.”
Her Rogue Mates Page 6