Ahrick (The Alliance Rescue #7)

Chapter 1

Merrilee

The corridor leading to the conference chamber hummed with the ambient thrum of the Ardeese Valout's life support systems. I walked beside Jala, each footfall heavier than the last.

My boss moved with unusual tension—her pale golden pelt almost luminescent under stress, blue-gold eyes fixed straight ahead, distant and guarded.

"You're quiet," I ventured as we passed through the observation deck. "Is everything okay?"

Jala's jaw tightened. "The Prime rarely leaves Calpa."

The weight of that statement hung between us as we approached the chamber doors. The security detail was triple the usual complement, their eyes tracking us with uncomfortable intensity.

What kind of crisis required the Prime's physical presence?

The doors whispered open, and I stepped into a room that suddenly felt far too small for the power it contained.

The Prime stood at the head of the conference table—over six feet tall, with a creamy-colored pelt that seemed to glow under the chamber's lighting.

Her golden irises set in cobalt blue sclera held me frozen as her gaze swept over me.

Duke Ako stood to her right, his pale Aljani skin luminescent against platinum hair, ivory horns curving from his forehead.

Admiral Cullen Blackwood occupied the far side, his gray-green eyes studying me like a problem to be solved.

War Chief Xabat dominated the space beside him—massive, green-skinned, his presence alone shifting the gravity in the room.

My heart hammered. Whatever was about to happen was far bigger than anything I'd imagined.

And the way they were all looking at me...

Oh God. This was about me.

The Prime slid a datapad across the table. "Miss Sanchez, perhaps you can explain these."

My hands trembled as I picked up the device. The screen flickered to life, and my stomach dropped. Images. Dozens of them. Station layouts. Security protocols. Personnel schedules. Meeting notes. The evidence of my betrayal laid out in perfect, irrefutable detail.

The room tilted. Black spots danced at the edge of my vision.

"Your glasses, Miss Sanchez." The Prime's golden eyes fixed on me. "We know they're Meta glasses. Recording devices. Remove them. Now."

My hands moved automatically, fingers shaking as I pulled the frames from my face. I handed them to Admiral Blackwood who stepped forward, unable to meet his eyes.

He examined them with a scanner. "Confirmed. Meta tech. Military grade."

"You've been working with Declan Hewes." The Prime's words weren't a question.

The world narrowed to a pinpoint. Eighteen months. Eighteen months of living with this crushing weight on my chest, of waking up every morning wondering if today would be the day they caught me. Of jumping at every summons, every unexpected meeting, every time someone looked at me too long.

And now they knew.

Relief and terror warred inside me, a nauseating cocktail that made my knees weak.

Part of me—God help me, part of me—felt almost grateful.

The constant vigilance, the paranoia, the soul-crushing guilt every time I smiled at someone whose trust I was betraying...

it was over. I didn't have to pretend anymore.

But the other part—the part that understood what happened to traitors—wanted to run. To bolt from this room and never stop running.

The sob tore out of me before I could stop it—raw and desperate. "I didn't—I had no choice!" The words tumbled out in a torrent. "He had them. He had Ana and Sebastian. My brother and sister. He said if I didn't help him, he'd kill them. I couldn't let them die!"

I was sobbing openly now, my whole body shaking. "I hated it. I hated what he made me do. But he threatened that if I said anything, he'd kill them—"

"Ana and Sebastian?"

Xabat's deep rumble cut through my breakdown. I looked up at him through tear-blurred eyes, not understanding.

The War Chief leaned forward. "Your brother and sister. Are they Ana and Sebastian Sanchez?"

I nodded, unable to form words.

Something shifted in his expression. "They're safe. They were rescued months ago when I extracted my mate Harper from one of Hewes's facilities. Your siblings were being held in the same compound." His dark eyes held mine. "They're safe, Merrilee. They're free."

The sound that escaped me wasn't quite a laugh and wasn't quite a sob. My hands covered my face as my mind struggled to process it. Safe. Free. Alive and safe and free.

The weight crushing my chest suddenly lifted. Air rushed into my lungs in great, gasping gulps.

For the first time in eighteen months, I could breathe.

The Prime's voice cut through my relief. "How did you become involved with Declan Hewes?"

I wiped at my face with shaking hands. "I went to work for him straight out of college. Executive assistant. He was brilliant, charismatic—everything I thought I wanted to be." My hands twisted together. "At first, he was charming... sweet. We had an affair. Six months of thinking I was special."

The memory made me want to scream. "When it ended, he asked me to stay on with the company.

Said he trusted me. I had access to everything.

His files, his communications. That's how I found out.

" My voice dropped. "Human trafficking. Slavery.

He was running an entire network, selling people like livestock. "

God, I'd been so stupid. So pathetically, embarrassingly stupid. I hadn't been special. I hadn't been trusted. I'd been manipulated and controlled.

I could still remember the way he'd looked at me across his desk that first time—like I was the only person in the world who mattered. The way he'd listened when I spoke, leaning forward slightly, those ice-blue eyes focused entirely on me. I'd felt seen. Important. Chosen.

What a joke.

He'd played me like a violin, and I'd been too dazzled by his attention to see the strings. Every compliment, every private smile, every late-night conversation where he'd shared his "vision" for the future—it had all been calculated.

And I'd fallen for it. Fallen hard.

I'd ignored the little warning signs. The way he'd sometimes look through me when I wasn't useful.

How his warmth vanished the moment someone more important entered the room.

The casual cruelty in how he spoke about people he considered beneath him.

I'd made excuses, told myself he was just driven, just focused, just misunderstood.

The truth was simpler and so much worse: I hadn't wanted to see it. Because seeing it would have meant admitting I wasn't special. That the fairy tale I'd been living was a lie.

How many red flags had I ignored? How many people had tried to warn me, only for me to defend him?

The shame was a living thing inside me. "I copied everything, planned to turn it over to the FBI. But Hewes knew. He took Ana and Sebastian, sent me a video of them bound and terrified." My voice cracked. "He put me on a Trogvyk ship. Told me I had to spy for him to keep them safe."

I looked at Jala, tears streaming down my face. "He knew you'd intercept the ship. Knew you'd bring me here. I wasn't abducted by chance—I was planted. He orchestrated everything so I'd have access to intelligence he could never reach otherwise."

My throat tightened until I couldn't swallow.

"I'm so ashamed. Of all of it. Of being foolish enough to fall for him.

Of not seeing what he was sooner. Of choosing my family over everyone else he was hurting.

" I turned to Jala. "I betrayed you. You gave me a job, a home, friendship—and I repaid you by putting everyone at risk. "

The silence stretched. Then Jala moved, crossing to me, her arms wrapping around me. "You were protecting your family. How could I not forgive that?"

I clung to her, sobbing, before forcing myself to pull back. The Prime shifted slightly and her presence commanded the room.

"I understand your reasoning," the Prime said, her golden eyes holding mine. "What Hewes did to you and your family is unconscionable. The choice he forced upon you was no choice at all."

Hope flickered in my chest.

"However," she continued, and that single word dropped like a stone, "understanding your motivation does not absolve you of your actions. You broke Alliance law. You transmitted classified intelligence to a known enemy. You compromised station security. You endangered countless lives."

My throat went dry. "I understand. I'll accept whatever punishment you deem fit."

The Prime stood, her full height imposing. "The Alliance punishment for treason is death."

The world tilted. Death. The word echoed in my skull. My hands gripped the table, knuckles white. No more tomorrows. No reunion with Ana and Sebastian. Just... nothing.

But I forced air into my lungs. Made myself sit up straighter. If I was going to die, I wouldn't do it cowering.

"I understand," I said, shocked by how steady my voice sounded.

The Prime studied me for a long moment, then slowly sat back down.

"Tell me, Merrilee Sanchez," she said, her tone shifting, "would you like a way to redeem yourself?"

"Yes." The word burst out before I could think. "Yes, please. Anything. I'll do anything."

The Prime leaned forward. "Then you will help us kill Declan Hewes."

Her words made me speechless. I just stood there, staring at her, mouth working like a fish out of water.

"Hewes is a blight not just on Earth, but throughout the universe," the Prime said, her voice cold and sharp. "He's careful, paranoid, and exceptionally well-protected. He trusts no one—except, perhaps, those he believes he's broken completely. You might possess access to him that we don't."

War Chief Xabat spoke. "This won't be easy. It will be dangerous. You may not survive it."

The warning should have terrified me. Instead, I felt something fierce and hot unfurl in my chest.

"But if you succeed," the Prime continued, "if you help us eliminate this threat, your crimes will be pardoned. Your record will be sealed. You'll have your life back and can return to Earth."

Hewes had taken everything from me. My innocence, my integrity, years of my life lived in constant terror. He'd turned me into someone I hated, forced me to betray people I cared about. And he'd done it all with that smug smile, knowing he owned me completely.

But I wasn't powerless anymore. Ana and Sebastian were safe. And now the Prime was offering me a chance to strike back.

I'd never been particularly violent, but the thought of ending him sang in my blood like a battle cry.

"I'll do it," I said, my voice rock steady. "Tell me what you need me to do, and I'll do it. Whatever it takes."

The Prime's expression shifted into something that might have been approval. "Then we have much to discuss."