Chapter 6 Rowan
Cade walked into the living room with his laptop tucked under his arm. Without a word, he set it down on the table, flipped it open, and turned the screen toward me. The video feed showed me sitting on the couch, staring right back at myself.
I frowned. “Creepy. What the hell is that?”
“Live feed,” he said.
“Of me? Why?”
He clicked the touchpad, cycling through different angles of the kitchen, the hallway, and the living room. “Because I need to know where you are. At all times”
My stomach dropped. “You have cameras in here?”
“We had them installed after your escape attempt.”
“We?”
“Yes. The entire team has access to the feed.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“That’s insane, Cade! That’s a complete violation of my privacy.”
“We've been over this. Privacy is a privilege you no longer have. You lost that when you ran.”
I scoffed. “This is a new level of control, even for you. You can’t seriously think this is okay.”
“I do,” he said simply.
“So what, you’re just going to watch me all the time?”
“Yes.”
I threw my hands up. “Fantastic. Love being the zoo exhibit you all get to monitor.”
“You can call it whatever you want,” he said calmly. “It keeps you safe.”
“Safe?” I snapped. “You mean controlled.”
His eyes met mine, steady and cold. “Sometimes those are the same thing, especially when you have the self-preservation of a lemming.”
I opened my mouth to argue but stopped when he closed the laptop and tucked it under his arm again.
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
“Debrief,” he said, pausing in the hallway. “Stay put. And remember, I can still see you.”
My glare followed him down the hall until his door clicked shut. Even with him gone, I could feel the cameras watching.
Hours crawled by.
I flipped through the TV channels, but everything felt dull. Arca news. Reruns of government-approved sitcoms. Nothing that didn’t make my brain feel like it was slowly melting.
I picked up my guitar and strummed aimlessly, hoping muscle memory would carry me somewhere better.
It didn’t. The instrument felt heavier than it should have, as if it belonged to a version of me that no longer existed.
Music had been my escape once. My joy. Now it just reminded me of what I had lost.
Alex and I used to do this together. We would spend hours on the floor, writing lyrics and melodies, feeding off each other’s excitement, convinced every half-finished song was something special.
Back then, music felt like a lifeline. Now it was a painful reminder.
I set the guitar down and let silence take over.
Eventually, I wandered over to the bookshelf. Most of the books were thick military manuals, outdated training guides, or dry technical reports. Definitely not light reading.
I skimmed the spines with little hope until something half-buried near the bottom caught my eye. It was small and worn, with bent corners, and a cover faded from use. I pulled it free and brushed off a thin layer of dust.
A fantasy novel!
The cover showed a woman holding a sword, with a dragon coiled behind her. The title being mostly rubbed away didn’t matter because the book was the first thing I’d seen in weeks that fit my genre preference.
I read it until Ryker and Talon finally got back from patrol.
I hadn’t expected Ryker to tackle me onto the couch, affectionate like he used to be.
The sudden contact caught me off guard, but instead of irritation, a wave of relief hit me.
The last few days without their touch or physical closeness had left me restless.
I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed their hands on me until that moment. My omega instincts surged.
Then Talon sauntered in behind Ryker, smelling like a steak dinner. The scent hit before I could process where it was coming from. A rich, metallic, and mouthwatering fragrance. When he told me it was dead direworg, my stomach twisted. It should have disgusted me. Instead, I was hungry.
Another reminder that I wasn’t fully human anymore.
They hurried down the hall to clean themselves up, leaving me to worry about the surprise Ryker had enthusiastically mentioned. His eyes had a mischievous sparkle that told me I wouldn't enjoy it one bit.
As I fretted, wondering what they had planned, Ryker's laughter echoed from the bathroom. Over the sound of running water, I could just barely hear his and Talon's muffled voices.
They were both there.
In the shower.
Together.
My body responded to the thought by squeezing my thighs tightly. I’d been in the shower with Cade and Ryker before, but it hadn't been sexual between them. This probably wasn’t either, yet I couldn’t help feeling the sense of familiarity between Ryker and Talon went deeper than friendship.
I had seen the spark in Talon’s eyes as his tattooed hands closed around Ryker’s throat. Ryker’s gaze glazed over with pleasure and want. The image of them touching, looking at each other like that, was unforgettable. Now, I couldn’t stop picturing them in a new setting: the shower.
Between that image and the unexpected way Ryker had greeted me when he got home from patrol, my body felt hot and restless. I tried to focus on the book I’d borrowed from the shelf, but after reading the same line three times, I gave up.
"Don’t think about Ryker and Talon naked together. Don’t think about them touching each other," I said to myself, repeating the words silently, trying to banish the image from my mind and smother the heat building inside me.
Then Talon’s voice brushed through my mind, low and amused, slipping through the bond.
Would you like that, Pet?
The shower turned off, and the bathroom door opened.
Both men stepped into the hall, towels around their waists, steam and beads of water still clinging to their skin.
Ryker's attention snapped to me. He couldn't hear my thoughts like Talon, but likely scented my arousal.
A grin sharp with mischief spread across his dimpled face.
“Soon, Kitten,” he teased, disappearing into his room.
Talon stayed where he was, watching me with a quiet intensity that always made my heart stumble. He remained in the doorway, stretching his arms upward, gripping the ledge. His inked body lengthened in a slow, lethal display of strength, muscles flexing and rippling beneath his skin as he moved.
His voice slid into my mind again.
You should really learn to control your thoughts, Pet. I asked you a question. Would you like to see me touch Ryker? Would you like us to share you again? Or would you prefer we share each other?
I felt my face heat, mortified that he’d heard what I’d been thinking.
My inability to control my own thoughts was becoming a real problem.
Talon probably thought I was a total freak.
I just prayed he wouldn’t tell Ryker, who would never stop teasing me.
I was sure he would never let me live it down.
Talon laughed.
What are you going to do to keep me quiet?
Shit! He could still hear my thoughts.
“Get out of my head, Talon!” I said out loud, frustrated that I was losing control.
“You’re the one who can’t control your thoughts, Pet. If you don’t want me listening, stop calling out to me. Now answer my question. Would you like that?”
Cade interrupted our conversation as he exited his bedroom. I guess the debrief was finally over. From the sound of it, he had been talking to his father, General Green. It hadn’t gone well. He looked tense now, his jaw locked and shoulders rigid.
“Would Rowan like what?” he asked.
I froze, and my face flushed even deeper, realizing Cade had caught the tail end of our conversation.
“Should I tell him, Pet?” Talon asked with a smirk.
Ryker stepped out of his room, shirtless and wearing fresh gym shorts. He came to stand behind Cade, interested in what Talon and I had been talking about too.
“Tell Cade what? Is Kitten keeping secrets again?” he asked.
They all stared at me, waiting for an answer.
“Please don’t,” I said quietly, lowering my head in submission, praying he’d keep my fantasy to himself.
“I won’t, Rowan. But only if you behave and listen to us during what comes next,” Talon said.
I blinked, uncertain of what he meant.
Cade moved to sit in the armchair across from me, Ryker dropped onto the couch beside me and slung his arm over my shoulders, and Talon disappeared briefly before returning in a pair of sweats. Whatever this surprise was, it was about to unfold.
“Rowan, I think you owe all of us an apology for your escape attempt. It was dangerous and reckless. I don’t think you truly understand what could have happened,” Cade said, leaning forward in his chair and lacing his fingers together.
“Cade, I uh… I’ve apologized almost a million times. We’ve been through this. I am really sorry. Trust me, I know how stupid and careless it was. I know I betrayed all of your trust, and I will never, ever do anything like that again. I swear,” I said, my voice trembling slightly.
“While I believe that you’re sorry, I’m not convinced you won’t try something foolish again. Not without a reminder. I find pain a good one. Next time you think about doing something reckless, I hope you’ll recall this and make a better decision.”
I stood unable to stop my hands from shaking or my feet from shuffling backward. “Remember what exactly?” I asked breathlessly, glancing between them.
“Rowan, don’t make this difficult. You’ve been due for punishment for quite some time. If you really are sorry and feel as guilty as you claim, you’ll comply without resistance,” Cade said, raising a hand like a trainer calming a spooked horse.
I made the mistake of meeting Ryker’s gaze. The devious glint in his eyes sent me spiraling further.
“Let’s talk about this, Cade. I said I was sorry. I learned my lesson, I swear—”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Rowan. Come back here and take your pants off. You’ll regret it if I have to chase—”