Chapter 4
Lyra
The transport beacons activated perfectly, thank the gods.
We landed on a cold tile floor, the type some humans preferred for their kitchens.
Ethan was unconscious. Unmoving. I rolled him over gently and checked his pulse.
He was alive. The dark red tile squares weren’t red enough to disguise the dark crimson stain of Ethan’s blood spreading out beneath him.
No. No. No.
Mate.
Oh hell. I’d barely held my beast back when we were in the human lab.
She wanted to rip those Silver Scion assholes a new one.
Problem was, I was enhanced, but so were they.
They were bigger. Stronger. More tech. Despite everything, I was still female, and they were…
not. Attacking them would have gotten us all killed.
Guilt at Doctor Pearson’s death ate away at my peace of mind, but there was nothing I could have done. I asked him to leave. He ignored me and confronted the Scions.
I’d barely chained my beast when the fight exploded around us.
One second I had Ethan shoved beneath me, shielding his human body with mine, ready to take the blast for him.
The next, he twisted us—fast, decisive—and caged me under him like I was the fragile one.
The moment his body pressed into mine, something primal snapped through me.
My beast arched inside my skin, purring at the strength in him, the command in that single, instinctive move.
She wanted him—wanted the male who’d dared to protect her, who moved with that raw, fearless certainty.
And gods help me… the heat that lit through my belly when he pinned me should’ve been impossible.
He was human. Human, and now shot because I couldn’t tear those Silver Scion bastards apart the way she wanted.
I should’ve been focused on keeping him alive, not on the imprint of his hips between my thighs or the memory of his chest crushing the air between us.
Guilt twisted through me, sharp as a blade, but my beast didn’t care.
She liked him claiming the top position. She liked his protectiveness even more.
It didn’t matter that he was the vulnerable one, the one who needed me to keep breathing. My instincts warred—half wanting to wrap around him and shield my mate, half wanting to drag him closer and mark him for choosing to protect me when danger hit.
A small part of me had hoped the she-beast would be gone after transport. That having my cells ripped apart and put back together would erase her. Make me feel normal again. Not sex starved, obsessed and totally out of character.
Mine.
So much for that idea.
None of this mental chaos should’ve been happening. Not with him lying here bleeding. Not with me knowing he might not survive when my beast had already he belonged to her
Scrambling to my feet, I ran my palm over what appeared to be an empty section of countertop.
My toolbox appeared. I shoved the scanner I’d used to take the DNA sample from the dead Silver Scion’s spine, and Doctor Pearson’s samples, inside and grabbed the hand-held ReGen wand. My detective still hadn’t moved.
I forced myself to move with cold efficiency, ignoring the clawing, screaming wench inside me, the beast, who was freaking the fuck out over Ethan’s condition.
Calm down. Humans do not react well to their initial transport experience. This is normal.
Blood. Hurt!
I know. I’m taking care of it. I activated the ReGen wand and knelt on the floor next to our ma—Ethan.
The human detective we would use to track down the location of the Silver Scions base.
That was the only reason I so desperately needed to save him.
I ruthlessly quashed any other misguided emotions.
I was on a mission, nothing more. Nothing. More.
No! Mine. Heal. Now!
Bossy fucking bitch. “Settle down.” Speaking to her out loud made me, somehow, feel slightly less psychotic for communicating with her at all.
She was nothing. A voice in my head. A figment of my imagination.
A mental disorder I would need to divulge to Doctor Mersan, Commander Helion, and the I.C.
medical teams so they could warn any other Atlan females like me they had deployed.
Females whose DNA had been tampered with. Enhanced.
Although, I didn’t know of any others like me. What Atlan female would choose this life? No sane female. None with any family. Friends. A mate. A lover.
I had nothing. This war, and the Intelligence Core, had taken everything from me, and now they were taking my sanity.
Female Atlans did not have beasts. Did not.
Heal mate. I come out.
No! My reaction was instant and full of panic. I could feel her satisfied smirk inside me. Great. Worse, I wasn’t sure if her threat was real. Could I transform? Was that possible?
She wasn’t supposed to exist at all. So far, she was just in my head. I was not going to literally transform into a gigantic monster with mating fever and unnatural strength. Right?
What would happen—to me, and to Ethan—if I was wrong?
Moving quickly, I took off the medical lab coat I’d borrowed and rolled it up under Ethan’s shoulder.
I held the ReGen wand over the entry wound and gently rolled him to inspect his back.
When I couldn’t see well enough, I ripped the seams of his dark blue shirt so I could take a better look at the wound.
The bullet went clean through. Thank the gods. At least I wouldn’t have to dig it out of him. I couldn’t tolerate the thought of hurting him.
Mine.
“Shut. Up.” I was going to kill her. I settled the ReGen wand over the worst section of his injury and sighed in relief when the bleeding stopped immediately.
I watched for several seconds, satisfaction thrumming through my system—and hers—as his flesh began to knit back together in front of our eyes.
He’d be weak from blood loss, but he would live. He would be healed soon.
Then what?
Mate. Heal. Claim.
“Stop talking.” My pussy clenched at the thought of taking off the rest of his clothes, taking his lips. Stroking his cock until he was hard and ready for me. Pushing him until he gave in and got a little rough. Thrust into me like a beast. “I can’t think with you rambling in my head.”
“Who—talking to?” Ethan blinked at me like he was having trouble focusing.
“Danger?” He reached for the metal weapon he’d fired at the Silver Scions.
Somehow, despite being wounded and barely conscious, he’d held onto the human pistol, and it had transported with us.
Civilian transport systems were programmed to remove all weapons during the trip.
Depending on the destination planet, some brides transported completely naked.
But military transport, and the I.C., had different rules altogether.
My mobile transport system would move anything I wanted. Armor. Weapons. Multiple targets.
Ethan seemed to feel more secure with the pistol in his hand.
I wasn’t sure why when he’d already learned the small bullets were completely ineffective against the Silver Scions’ armor.
His weapon wouldn’t even pierce the Scions’.
enhanced skin. Which he’d learned when he’d fired on them in the morgue.
He wrapped his hand around the pistol and lifted it. Tried to sit up.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned over him. “Shhh. No. You’re safe. Don’t move. I need to finish healing your shoulder.” He was stronger than he looked. The ReGen wand was working, but he shouldn’t be trying to charge into battle. Not yet. “Hold still.”
He didn’t obey until he’d looked around the entire kitchen and satisfied himself that we were alone. With a relieved sigh, he dropped his head back onto the tile—a bit too hard—and winced.
“I told you. You’re safe here. Stop moving.”
“I’m out of bullets anyway.” Ethan watched me with a strange grin on his face. “So you’re beautiful and bossy.”
My beast preened at the praise. Beautiful. He will claim us.
Shut. Up.
The compliment was nice. The other human word made no sense.
I had studied the human language but was not fluent.
The translation given by my NPU—the neural processing unit embedded in the bone under my ear instantly translated all known languages—did not make any more sense to me.
“I’m not your employer. I do not boss you. ”
He didn’t explain, his expressive eyes fixated on my face as I moved the ReGen wand over his shoulder. “What is that thing?”
“It’s called a ReGen wand. It uses frequency and light to heal.”
“Alien tech.” He grunted and I noticed his eyes were a bit glassy. Was he still in pain? “Those guys were aliens?”
“They are not from Earth. No.”
“How were they speaking English?”
I shrugged. “They have been operating on Earth for quite some time. I’m sure they found it necessary to learn to communicate with the local population in order to conduct their business.” The same reason I’d learned.
“Which is what, exactly?” His gaze sharpened and I saw the law enforcement officer inside him listening intently. Taking notes.
“Trafficking human women for mating and breeding. Recruiting mercenaries for their army. Illegal transport. Smuggling stolen goods. Selling illegal mod procedures and Hive technology. Biosynthetic enhancements. Drugs. Weapons. Ships.”
“Ships?” He sighed. “You mean I can buy a spaceship from those guys?”
“If you’re rich enough, yes.”
“Sounds illegal.” He shifted his weight. Tried to brace himself with his injured arm so he could sit up. Groaned as I gently shoved him back down. “Doesn’t the Coalition enforce their own rules?”
I felt the corner of my mouth tip up in a grin. So honorable. So na?ve. Adorable. “I don’t know. That’s not my area.”
“What is your area?” His hazel eyes held mine with an unbreakable force of will. His nonchalance was a mask. This was in interrogation. I couldn’t lie to him. Not about this.