“No.”
“He’ll never stop,” Quinn confirmed. “He’ll keep going. He’ll hurt people. Kill. All because he thinks he should own a woman who wants nothing to do with him. It’s wrong. If I can stop him, I’m going to. I’m tired of being afraid all the time. You’ll keep me safe.” She turned from me to Tane, then looked at Helion and the two Hunters. “You will all keep me safe. I can’t let this guy get away with it. He’ll never stop until we finish him.”
Fuck. She was right. I knew she was right. And I fucking hated the idea of using her as bait, but my female had a mind of her own, and I loved that about her. She would do what she had to do, and I would make sure she was safe.
I looked at Helion. “What’s the plan?”
13
Bahre, Cargo Hold, Sub-Level Four
I scented her. My mate was here. It soothed my beast and riled it in equal measure. How dare someone use her as a pawn? As bait? She was innocent. She was perfect.
We stood inside a large cargo chamber on the lower level of the transport station. Helion’s plan was, as usual, multilayered and complex. He had so many plans in motion I had stopped listening to him once my part with Quinn was outlined.
I didn’t fucking care who ruled Cerberus Legion. I didn’t care about politics, informants, payoffs, who owed whom a favor, or anything other than keeping my mate safe and happy.
Unfortunately for me, happy meant Quinn wanted to help take Cerberus down. I understood her need to reclaim her power over the males who had hurt her in the past. I was proud of her for fighting for herself and for fighting to protect other females, women from her planet she did not know and would never meet. However, getting validation for ending Cerberus didn’t bring justice to the human, Jeff Randall, on Earth. He would still be out there, and as she’d said, most likely move on to another female. Seeing Cerberus dead would empower her, but not completely.
I could see it, but she couldn’t. Not yet. But I could deny her nothing. Grudgingly I had to admit she was right. Cerberus would come for her. I couldn’t deny the success of a solid plan just because I was mated to the bait. I would ensure she was safe and remained that way.
Quinn was beautiful and fragile and fucking fearless. Watching Elite Hunter Rett secure her to a chair made my beast want to rip him to pieces. Her wrists were bound, her ankles restrained. She was helpless. She couldn’t even use those ruthless heels on her shoes as weapons.
Rett wasn’t even the enemy we were after.
“Are you sure about this, mate?” I asked again, looming over her. And Rett.
Her green eyes were bright with fierce determination. Like a warrior going into battle. “Yes. I need to do this.”
I swallowed hard, knowing I’d have to walk away from her side. “Very well.” I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, breathed her in. “No harm will come to you. You have my word.”
“I know.” She smiled up at me. “I love you, my beast. I want you to know that.”
Fuck. My heart literally skipped a beat in my chest. Now? She chose to tell me now? Here?
My beast fought to break free, to rip her from the chair and fuck her against the wall. Right fucking now. She was mine.
I roared. She kept smiling. In fact, she perhaps smiled even bigger.
Everyone else froze, waiting to see what my beast was going to do. It wasn’t every day a mate was included in a mission. It wasn’t every day a mate professed her love for you. During a mission. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure I could control my beast.
Fuck that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
She loved me. Me. Beast. Scars. I’d killed Lukabo with my bare hands, and while she hadn’t witnessed the act, she knew it. Wasn’t afraid. In fact I believed she was actually pleased I’d done so. She trusted me to protect her, even now, after I’d failed her on Earth.
She loved me. All of me.
I dropped to my knees before her so we were eye level, even though she was sitting. “Quinn. Mine.” My beast’s rumbling voice was loud in the echoing chamber. I cupped her small face and looked into those fathomless eyes. The look on in her eyes screamed love. All for me.
“Gods be damned, female. Are you trying to ruin the op?” Dr. Helion took me by the arm, tugged me to my feet, and dragged me away from my mate. My mate, who loved me enough to declare her feelings in a roomful of other males. Everian Hunters. Prillons. Warlords. Killers.
I moved with him instead of ripping his head off, enough in control to realize Helion was right. If I allowed my beast to take over, toss her and the chair she was tied to over my shoulder, and took her back to our suite, the operation would be ruined. Cerberus would escape. In the end that would make my female unhappy.
Unacceptable. I’d be disappointed as well. I was a warrior and fought for peace. This I could do beside my mate.
Still, she was grinning like she was inordinately pleased with herself. I wasn’t sure why.
Behind me, Elite Hunter Quinn chuckled. “You’ve got your hands full, Warlord. My mate is human. I know that look.”
“Indeed.” Quinn was unpredictable. And mine. So very, very mine.
“Hearing those words… fuck. It is the sweetest sound,” he continued. “Besides her cries of pleasure.”
I grunted a reply, trying to will back my beast. Thinking of what Quinn sounded like as I fucked her to her completion wasn’t helping.
“Focus, Warlord. Use the need for your mate to complete
