Truth is?
The only reason I’m keeping this liability on my ship is because my instincts are screaming that she’s the one – and if Tasha is our Fated Mate, then nothing else matters. I’ll happily go Rogue, be placed on the top of the Kill List, and even face down the Aurelian Empire itself if I have a chance to be with my Fated Mate.
And, if that happens – at least I won’t have to worry about pesky laws anymore. I can spend my time hunting down and killing Toad criminals as I build my family around me. Fighting, fucking, and living life unbridled by all laws.
All laws – but not honor. That was the difference between my thinking and that of Kit and his triad.
Laws are rules written on a piece of paper. Honor is a code of right and wrong. Sometimes, they interject. Often times, they don’t. While abandoning the code of Aurelian law by going Rogue might mean I get to ignore the rules of engagement, or trading standards, or any other bureaucratic detail…
…it won’t make it right to commit rape, or indulge in slavery, or break any of the rules defined not by the politicians of the Empire, but by the Gods themselves.
Right and wrong. The only laws that are immutable.
I turn and study the blood-soaked floor beneath me.
“Send Kit and his triad out with full honors,” I say to the triad who’d been holding Kit and his men down.
I’ll give Kit that much. I owe him that much.
Kit, Gaul, and Anton will be shot out of the airlock – still dressed in their military uniforms, and saluted as fallen brothers rather than sentenced criminals.
It will be a grisly sight – to watch them stiffen into ice as they shoot off into space, without their heads attached to their corpses.
Their heads themselves will be cremated – the ashes throw out alongside their corpses. It’s gruesome, but honorable – and it’s the best I can do for these ill-fated three.
With a nod, I turn and I make my way out of the mess hall. My triad follows along behind me.
My heart is heavy. The balance of this ship is now in disorder. The chain of command is twisted. My own men are doubting my actions and motivations, and as long as Tasha remains on board, that situation will only get worse.
I stomp onward, lost in thought – and I’m almost at my chambers when I hear her behind me.
“Wait!” Yells Tasha.
I turn and see her at the end of the hallway. She’s following me – flanked by Sawoot and Garrick’s triad.
I wearily acknowledge her: “Yes?”
“I need to speak with you. Alone.”
That’s not what I was expecting. The anger in her eyes is clear – but now she wants to be alone with me?
I can’t get a read on her.
If she’s my mate, I’ll need to know how to manage her – because otherwise, she’ll be managing me.
8
Tasha
I must warn Captain Aelon of the incoming Toad attack.
If I don’t, it’ll be my fault – and it’ll be my fault that my own crew will be collateral damage in the firefight that follows.
Don’t get me wrong - I still resent Aelon for letting Sawoot be put in danger, but that resentment is a mirror of my anger at myself. It was my own lack of leadership that stopped Sawoot from being safe. I’m her captain, and the responsibility for her safety starts and ends with me. If those animals had raped her, it would have been my fault.
I don’t want to leave Sawoot when she’s vulnerable, but I trust the Aurelians who saved her. Garrick and his battle brothers don’t have the same primal hunger in their eyes as many of the other Aurelians on board The Instigator. They look at Sawoot and I with a protective edge to their expression.
Captain Aelon towers over me. For a moment, he’s silent – and then he nods.
“Very well.”
I steel myself for the confrontation that’s about to occur. I’ve been telling myself that the only reason I want to talk to Aelon is to warn him of the Toad attack I’m now convinced is coming...
…but that’s a lie. I even know that’s a lie, and yet I keep repeating it to myself.
The truth is – I need to know why Captain Aelon is risking everything for me.
His crew looks like they’re on the verge of mutiny because of his punishment of the men who tried to rape Sawoot. There’s clear and festering resentment of Aelon and his triad for hording time and attention with me. My ass might still be burning from the punishment Aelon inflicted on me, and my pride and my body might have suffered beneath the dominion of this Aurelian commander, but it’s clear that he’s given me much, much more leeway than any normal Aurelian would tolerate.
I have to know what is drawing Aelon to me so fiercely. He hasn’t even looked at Sawoot, who is objectively far prettier than me, so I need to know his motivations.
Does he even know his own motivations? Other than his need to fight and fuck?
His triad wordlessly leaves Aelon’s side. Iunia and Vinicus glance at me as they walk past, and the hallway feels very small as the giants lumber by me.
I give Sawoot one last reassuring touch on the shoulder. She smiles weakly at me, wordlessly telling me it’s okay to leave her, and then she’s gone too; escorted by Garrick and his triad.
I’m now alone with Captain Aelon.
“Into my chambers,” he states, his voice resonating with the same undertone of rage as before, mixed with something new and intangible. It’s as if I can feel pain in his words.
I follow Aelon into his chambers, the door hissing shut behind me.
Aelon turns to face me. He has a weary look in his eyes. I know from experience that it’s hard enough being the captain of six crewmembers. Trying to lead hundreds of hyper-masculine, alpha Aurelians – each of
