Chapter 27
Ronan
Eight soldiers total.
Telltale signs around the camp show there were a lot more fighters here recently, coinciding with Khuth’s claim that most of their platoon had been sent home. The area is scarred with the evidence of recent activity—crushed, brown grass where tents once stood, and muddy tire tracks from loaded-down vehicles leaving.
Now only the clean-up crew remains.
Aside from Bruk, none of them are a threat, but they have numbers, and I’m not an idiot.
Generally .
Hands clasped submissively in front of him, Cameron stands with his head sagging as he stares at the ground. The slight tremble in his limbs doesn’t appear fake, and I hate it.
I hate all of this.
Everything inside me screams at the sight of him so uncomfortable, my monster gripping the iron bars of my ribcage and thrashing until the entirety of my being quakes. It growls and gnashes its teeth, fucking bellows with the need to make this right. But somehow, I fight the beast and keep my shoulders thrown back, a firm grip on Cameron’s arm as my fingers flex against the mark hiding under his jacket.
Khuth flashes me that smile full of sharp teeth as he introduces me to the group, but the words are muffled and wobbly, like my head is underwater as I force myself to focus. If I let the wrath take over, I’m only putting Cameron in danger, so I quell the rage with promises that we’ll get our revenge.
Someday, somehow.
It’s a promise carved into the darkest parts of my heart.
“Want to lock up your… human?” Khuth asks, turning his nose up as his eyes trace Cameron’s timid frame.
I force bored indifference into my voice as I shake my head. “He needs to stay where I can monitor him. He’s very important to my mission.”
“Understood,” Khuth says, gesturing towards a rusty cage positioned against a tent, just outside the dining area where we stand. “This should be acceptable, then?”
He’s fucking got me, because a refusal wouldn’t make sense. There’s no good reason why I’d want to hold onto a prisoner all night when I could lock him away, and I shouldn’t care about the conditions of his confinement.
“That is sufficient,” I respond, and it’s all I can do to keep myself in check as he wraps his filthy hand around Cameron’s arm.
Cameron flinches, dropping his act for a moment as he reaches for me, and I fling his hand off mine even as it cracks my heart right down the middle. “Stupid human,” I snap, hoping he catches the hidden meaning behind the words.
My stupid human.
I will protect you, even if it takes my last breath to do so.
His eyes dart to mine before dropping back to the ground, and Khuth stares at Cameron curiously before leading him towards the cage. The ceiling is so low, Cameron won’t be able to stand straight, and the ground is muddy underneath.
I try not to consider what dampens that soil.
Khuth secures the padlock and tucks the key in his front left pocket. A smile crosses his lips as he returns to me, softer than before, and his fingers send a different message as they wrap around my biceps. Discretion is out the window as he leads me towards the table, tracing a long, pointed fingernail along my arm.
“I realize your time here is short,” he whispers, keeping his voice low so the others can’t hear, “but maybe after dinner we could… get to know each other better?”
It could give me an opening to steal the key from his pocket—eliminate an obstacle in the privacy of his tent, beyond the prying eyes of the others. Right now, I need every advantage I can get.
“Well, you could certainly try to convince me,” I say with a forced smirk of my own, and his pleased hum is almost lost in the clatter of cutlery and low drone of conversation.
Chatter around the table is strangely familiar, with discussions of missions and maneuvers that are a staple of military existence. Kek, the Curtiphan from the backseat of the car, leans forward with his long arms resting on the table. “You’re from the Glaston base?” I nod, glancing over to thank the black-scaled Lu’Mite as he hands me my plate, while his thick, barbed tail swishes behind him. “That’s got to be, what? Five hundred miles from here?”
“Closer to six hundred.”
His three eyes widen as he purses his lips, stabbing a piece of meat on his plate. “That’s a long way to send a single soldier with no backup.”
“I don’t need backup,” I say, offering him a humorless smile that makes him pull his hands back by a few inches.
“They don’t normally send us so far away from Ljómur unless we’re in platoons.”
My eyes bore into his and everything freezes for a moment as my heart skips an entire beat inside my chest. Sitting my fork and knife onto my plate with a clink, I glance down at his uniform. “Ljómur?” The others at the table seem to become unnaturally still as I gesture at his insignia. “Can’t say I’ve heard of it. I thought you were from the South Akers base?”
“We are,” Khuth says with an airy laugh, the only one at the table that doesn’t seem to be affected by the tension. “Just a silly nickname we’ve come up with. Kek’s a jokester and likes to say the food leaves him radiated enough to glow.” He grips the Lu’Mite on the shoulder, who turns towards him with bared teeth as he’s jostled. “Adanx here doesn’t find it as funny as the rest of us, since he’s the one doing the cooking.”
My gaze sweeps around the rest of the group, not a single one of them looking remotely amused. “I would imagine not,” I finally say, picking up my utensils and returning to my meal. There’s a time and a place to prod, and when I’m outnumbered and under a microscope isn’t one of them. “Personally, I find this meal to be far more enjoyable than anything the idiots at Glaston prepare. Maybe I could put in a good word and get you transferred."
Adanx’s shoulders relax slightly as he narrows his eyes at the others. “Perhaps my skills would be better appreciated elsewhere.”
Slowly, conversation fills the uncomfortable void. After I deflect the topic of my mission again, claiming it’s classified, they lose interest and slowly shift the topic to their day-to-day chatter. I’m able to listen, trying to pick up clues that might help us get out of here unscathed, all while the gears in my mind spin at the new information Kek let slip.
They know something about this mystery base, that much is undeniable.
Bruk’s eyes keep drifting to where Cameron sits in the cage. I resist the urge to glance at him, focusing instead on using my limited conversational abilities to encourage the large man to talk.
It’s not in vain—a few crucial details slip through that aid my plans.
Bruk is assigned to keep watch for the middle of the night shift, which means he’ll likely go to sleep early to rest beforehand. Two of the others are a couple and share the furthest tent, often retiring to their quarters right after dinner. If I can get Khuth out of the way, it only leaves four.
Better odds than I’d expected.
When the meal is over, my offer to help clean is refused. I grab a crust of bread and force a mean smirk on my face as I walk to the cage and pass it to Cameron. To my surprise, he’s maintaining his terrified prisoner persona effectively, subdued and silent, only nodding his thanks for the bit of food.
“You’d think they’d be more grateful,” a deep voice behind me booms, and I turn to find Bruk watching me.
“They never are,” I say with an air of superiority, and he steps close enough that I have to tilt my chin up to look him in the eyes. “It’s a pity this one is critical to the mission, because he’s been nothing but a pain. A mouth to feed and the cause of too many sleepless nights, making sure his scrawny ass doesn’t run.”
Bruk snorts. “I wish they’d run… chasing them is the only bit of fun I get these days.” He steps closer to Cam as I fist my hands at my sides. “Think this one is dumb enough to run?”
“Probably,” I say honestly, and Bruk laughs, but it’s an evil, mocking sound.
Desperate to draw him away from Cameron, I turn back towards the rest of the group and Bruk reluctantly follows. Khuth smiles at me as we approach, and I get one step ahead in my plan. “Could I trouble you for that tank of gas now while I’m thinking about it?”
“Oh, it is no trouble at all, Regalis.” He practically purrs the fake name as he grabs my arm again, standing far too close, and this time I can’t help it as I glance at Cameron. Pure rage shines in his eyes as he stares at the way Khuth touches me. Before anyone notices, I try to communicate silently, begging him to give me time. Cameron finally pulls his lips into a furious grimace as his head sags back towards the ground.
I hate everything about this.
The danger I’ve put him in.
That he has to witness this man’s hands on me .
I hate it all.
I hate them all.
We stop at a supply tent, and I’m only half listening to Khuth’s chatter as he fills the van’s tank with gas. He stores the empty can, then shocks me as his hand lands on my hip. “Want to get this started early? I like to play with my food, officer, and sometimes it takes me hours before I’m ready for dessert. I’ll give you a night neither one of us will soon forget.” His fingers drag inward until I snatch his wrist, stopping him before he reaches my cock. Brows knitted, he yanks his hand away with a frown. “What was that for?”
Trying to save face, I glance around us. “Your friends are right there.”
“Aww, are you shy, pretty boy? We can go to my tent. They won’t see us, but I can’t promise they won’t hear.” He winks and takes my hand, leading me through the camp with a swing to his hips.
Bruk is nowhere to be found, and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing. Three of the others sit around the dining table, while everyone else has retired to their tents for the night. The sun’s dusky rays are dying on the horizon, and I’m desperate to kill time so I can work under the cover of darkness.
“Got anything to drink in this camp? I haven’t had good whiskey in ages.”
“Need to get drunk to get it up?” he teases, dragging his fingers along my hips again. When I meet Cameron’s eyes, I’m convinced he’s going to chew his way out of those metal bars from sheer anger and determination.
Khuth pulls out an amber bottle, taking a long swig before he hands it to me. “Nothing fancy, but it’ll do the trick.” I put it to my mouth but only allow enough past my lips to leave the smell on my breath. We kill a few more minutes as the sky fades to a deepening navy blue.
Khuth won’t let me dally any longer, and he’s almost dragging me by the hand as he leads me to his tent. Inside, he turns me around and pushes, and I allow him to knock me onto the cot. His weight is repulsive as he climbs on top of me, grabbing my left wrist and pinning it over my head.
Disgusted with myself and furious that I’m in this position to begin with, I play along, allowing my free hand to drag up his leg as I search for the key. When I feel nothing, I tuck my fingers into his front pocket, hoping he’ll mistake the touch for one more intimate. He leans forward, pressing his body into mine as bile bites the back of my throat.
“Looking for this?” he whispers in my ear, right as metal bites around my wrist. The handcuffs close with a click, the other side attached to the aluminum frame of the cot. A familiar key dangles in front of my face as he heaves a disappointed sigh. “I wondered, you know, but I really, really hoped it wasn’t true.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” I growl, yanking my arm, but the cuff catches and digs into my skin.
“You’ve become quite famous, Ronan, ” he purrs, and I pull my lips up in a sneer as I try again to pull my arm free. “Did you really think they wouldn’t spread the word? An officer of your rank disappears after the charred remains of a commander are found from his last known location. You believe they’d just sweep it under the rug? No, pretty boy—those reports were sent to every base. We’ve all been on the lookout for a solo Anunian in a military-issued van. It was the human that had us confused. There isn’t even a whisper of a human being involved.”
“You’re going to regret this.” There’s a deadly calm to my words, another promise that carves its place on my heart.
“Oh, I don’t think I will,” he purrs, swiveling his hips on top of me as I bare my teeth. “And there’s no reason we can’t have a little fun before they execute you. Traitor or not, I bet you give it really good, don’t you? Anunians always have the best tricks in bed.”
A low growl builds deep in my throat as he leans forward, grinding against me as he puts his mouth to my ear. “After I ride you senseless and get my fill of that magic cum, I’ll go fuck your pretty human out there until he’s screaming and crying. Split him right in half, and you’ll be helpless to do anything but sit here and listen while I destroy him. He looks like a fighter. It’s always so much better when they fight, don’t you think?”
He nips my ear, a tiny, sharp pain that’s the final trigger of my blinding rage. My muscles shriek, twitching and popping with an energy I can’t control, and furious crimson flashes swim in my vision. “You don’t mind if I take him for a ride… do you?”
My teeth ache as bloodlust reshapes my reality, my skeleton snapping and twisting as my fingers morph, contorting into gnarling, wicked claws. The world explodes into sharp detail as my senses are heightened. Scents mingle in my nose, every one of them unique. The revolting arousal from the man above me is just as potent as the remnants of dinner on his breath. Unseen footsteps crunch on the soil outside, and I can track each step they take .
Khuth is oblivious to the monster he has unleashed as he grinds against me, mistakenly believing he is still in control. “You’ll never look at him again,” I whisper, the words forming in my mouth with a strange lisp.
Arrogant amusement lines his face as he backs up, but the horror that crosses his features is like a drug, more potent than any vial I could inject into my veins.
I can smell it, feast on it, as he tries to stumble away.
My hand yanks with such force that the chain of the handcuff snaps, leaving the metal around my wrist nothing more than jewelry. His skin pales, eyes wide with terror, as I seize him by the throat, cutting off his scream and pulling him close to watch the fear dance across his face.
Something ancient inside me purrs at that fear.
“You’ll never look at anyone again.”
My claws stab into his face, and I close my eyes at the warm spray of blood that splatters across my skin as they pierce his eye sockets, sinking until they meet bone. He screams for mercy, but it’s nothing more than a terrified rasp against my palm. I open my eyes once more, tilting my head as I watch the crimson rivers pour down his face and puddle on the cot.
The yield of cartilage and muscle under my fingers is a morbid encore as I crush his windpipe and release him to crumble to the ground. The rasping, gasping sounds of him trying to fill his lungs are a symphony to my ears.
“I’m not going to kill you,” I whisper, and he jerks back from my voice and tries to scramble away, fighting for air. “That would be too easy, wouldn’t it? Do you think you’ll bleed out before your lungs give up, or will it be the lack of oxygen that kills you? ”
I stand over him and scrape my claw along his arm, fascinated as the skin splits and bleeds. Another hoarse shout comes out as nothing more than a wheeze as he tries to run, but all that’s left in his world is darkness and pain.
“I thought you’d be more of a fighter,” I muse as he gasps a silent sob. A crimson trail traces down his cheek, crying as though the angels weep for his evil soul, and I kneel beside him, putting my lips to his ear. “It’s always so much better when they fight, don’t you think?”
My bloody hand wipes across his armor before I stand, catching the glint of the key sitting on the table. I fumble with it before shoving it into my pocket right as my heightened senses pick up on something new.
The scrape of boots on the ground.
The clang of filthy hands on metal bars.
Clear panic rings from his voice as he speaks and my eyes snap up, tracking him in an instant.
Cameron .