Chapter 13
Rage was close, at least when compared to the distance between star systems, but it still took more than eight hours before they got a reply. They spent the time talking, fucking, and resting.
Once the message arrived, he was more than ready to go home. He had news to share, and despite Rage’s confidence that there was no threat anymore, Havoc did not want to risk broadcasting what he knew to anyone within range.
They replied one last time, letting Rage know the coordinates he needed. Then it was time to return to the surface and prepare for guests.
“Should we let Bysshe and the others know we’re on our way? We’ve been gone so long they will be worried,” she said.
“Once we’re back in the atmosphere we’ll let them know. There’s not much open space around there. Hopefully Bysshe will have some idea where we can land.”
When they reached out, Bysshe responded immediately.
He assured them that the rest of his brothers had returned from the crash site, and they’d brought the rest of the survivors of the Harvest with them.
Some of his brothers had even found mates, but not every female had been claimed, which added weight to his theory that there was more to the bond than simply being in the same proximity.
“Where have you been? How did you get a ship? Oh, and Loris is demanding to know if Maddison is alright.”
“The ship belonged to a mercenary team. I killed two of them and Maddi took out the third. They didn’t leave a guard, and Maddison was able to work with the AI. I had no idea these things could fly themselves!”
“Not all of them can,” Bysshe said.
“Let me talk to Maddison!” Loris shouted. “Maddi, did I hear that right? You fought with mercenaries? What the fuck happened?”
Maddison laughed. “It wasn’t a fight. He stood right in front of my hiding spot, so I hit him with a stun wand. It turns out, logarians aren’t as tough as they look.”
“You killed a logarian? On your own?”
“I didn’t mean to. It just sort of happened that way, but I’m okay. What about you and Joy?”
“We’re fine. Better now I know you’re safe. We’ve been worried.”
“Sorry about that. There was a reason we didn’t reach out sooner. Havoc will explain once we’re all together.”
Bysshe took over the conversation again.
“You aren’t the only one to commandeer a ship.
We have three now. Risk brought in one and nearly crushed my orchard in the process.
The mercenaries who went after the survivors at the Bountiful Harvest’s crash site kindly donated one to our cause, too.
They won’t be using it anymore. We’ve cleared enough space for you to land next to the others.
Your AI should be able to manage it no problem. ”
“We’ll be there in less than an hour,” Havoc said. “Bysshe, I need you to call everyone together. We have good news to share.”
“You mean the fact that Rage is alive? We heard. It’s incredible. Isn’t it?”
Havoc grinned despite the fact the link was audio only. “That’s related to my news, but this is bigger.”
Bysshe hummed in surprise. “I see. I’ll spread the word. See you soon, and do not let that AI land on my orchard!”
Once they were safely on the ground, Havoc freed himself from the safety harness and raced for the door.
Maddison followed him, but she wasn’t in the same rush he was. In fact, she seemed hesitant.
“What’s wrong, little star? We survived and made it home. We won.”
She bit her lip and sighed. “Some of us survived. Bysshe didn’t say how many they found, but I doubt it was everyone. All those lives lost, and I can’t shake the feeling that it’s my fault.”
He turned around, the need to see his clan forgotten. Maddison was more important than any of them. “You didn’t cause any of this.”
“Not directly.” She raised her hands and then threw them out and down in a gesture of frustration. “Logically I know I didn’t do this, but people are dead, and someone needs to answer for that.”
He opened his arms. “Come here.”
She stepped close and hugged him tightly, her face pressed to his chest. “I’m being stupid. I know. I’m sorry.”
“Guilt isn’t a stupid emotion. It means you care. Humans do that.” He didn’t mention how messy and complicated their lives were because they had so many emotions.
“Yes, we do.”
She raised her head and strained to look up at his face. “And don’t pretend you don’t care. You do. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He smiled as he said it because he knew she was right.
“Uh-huh. Sure.” She smiled, and some of the pain faded from her eyes. Not all of it but enough for him to know the messy part was over for now.
“And you totally aren’t going to be growly and possessive when we go out there and I meet your brothers. Because you don’t feel emotions the way humans do.”
He growled as her words struck a nerve, and he recalled the way Menace had reacted when the three of them had seen Joy for the first time. Now, he understood. “If they want to look at a female, they can find their own. You’re mine.”
“Ha! I knew it. You do care.”
He lifted her until her feet left the deck and she was nose-to-nose with him. “I do, little star. Very much.”
“Always?” she asked softly.
“Always.”
She kissed him, and he felt as if he’d stepped into the light of the sun after a lifetime of living in shadow. She was all the light in his world, and he would never let her go.
They left the ship together, her hand wrapped around his fingers as they descended the short ramp to the ground. Everyone was there—his brothers, Bysshe, and several groups of human females.
“For fuck’s sake. You too? Was it something in that shuttle’s water?” Loris demanded as soon as she saw the marks on his chest. “You better treat her right, Havoc, or so help me…”
“Peace, little warrior,” Vengeance said, smiling down at the female who was obviously his mate. “She’s not yours to protect any longer. She is his.”
Bysshe stepped forward before anyone could say more. The pale blue-skinned android looked pleased but cautious as he gestured the others to silence. “Welcome home, Havoc. Hello, Maddison Summers. I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
“Hello, Bysshe.” Maddison smiled. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you, too. Actually, someone you know mentioned your name just a few hours ago. Havoc can tell you more.”
Havoc’s chest swelled as he looked around the group.
“Maddison had the ship we stole scan for broadcasts while we were ascending into orbit. It found one you need to know about. It was from Rage! Our brother is on his way here, and he is not coming alone. He has allies, and they seek to punish the scrawnies for what they’ve done to us. ”
The fa’rel roared, the sound reverberating through the forest and sending the local wildlife scurrying for cover. Even before the noise subsided, the questions started. How? When? What allies?
Once again, Bysshe gestured for them to be quiet. “Tell us what you know,” he said.
“I can do better than that.” He squeezed Maddison’s hand. That was the signal for her to tell the ship’s AI to play the recording on its external speakers.
“Ship. Please play the recording.”
Rage’s voice boomed across the landing site.
“It’s good to hear your voice, brother. I have much to tell you, but most of it will have to wait.
This is what you need to know. The gyr are our kin.
I will explain once we are together again.
I never gave up hope, brother. I knew you were all too strong for the fucking scrawnies to kill.
“We are not far from you now. Our best estimate shows we will reach the system in three days. It’s taken me a long time to get back to you. Longer than I wanted. But we are coming.
“Now the truth is known, the Galactic Legion has abandoned the verexi to their fate. We will have our revenge, brother. More than that, we have a future. My mate and I will be there soon. Tell Bysshe he was right. He won’t know what that means, but I want him to know that without him, we might never have known the truth. Good hunting, brother.”
His brothers cheered, the mood in the camp one of jubilation. Havoc enjoyed the moment, but soon Maddison tugged on his hand.
“I know this is a big moment, but I’d like to talk to the others. I see that Captain Perez survived, but I don’t see some of the other crew.”
“I’ll come with you.”
She laughed. “Somehow I thought you’d say something like that. You’re not going to let me go anywhere while there are unmated males around. Are you?”
“Never. I trust you. Them? No.”
“Then we’ll have to find mates for the single ones. I wonder if that could be a viable business…If I can find a way to fund it, that is.”
“You want to bring females here? For the unmated males.”
“Why not? I have no idea how it could work, or even if it’s possible. But Rage said that the verexis’ allies had abandoned them. If we could get permission to fly through their territory, it might work.”
“I think that would be good. We all deserve to be happy.”
“Did you just admit I make you happy, Havoc?”
“Always.”
She beamed at him. “You make me happy, too.”
With that, she led him toward a gray-haired human female who stood apart from the others. Her wrists were free of marks, so she hadn’t found a mate among his brothers.
As they approached, the captain straightened and came over to meet them. Her face had several recent burns, and some of her hair was missing. She walked with a limp, but there was no scent of infection or weakness about her.
“You made it. Thank the stars. It was bad enough I lost the Harvest. If I had been responsible for losing my boss…”
“You weren’t responsible for any of what happened,” Maddison used the same words he’d offered her not long ago.
“You’re right about that, but you’re wrong, too. I know what happened, and I should have seen it coming.”
Cold anger flowed beneath the captain’s words, and Havoc tensed. What was she talking about?
“What happened? Tell me,” Maddison said.
“Hooper. That’s what happened. She was first officer, but she wanted to be captain. I didn’t realize it, but she was spreading rumors about me, trying to make me look incompetent.”
“But how do you know about it now? I mean…she died. Didn’t she?”
“She’s still alive. Though I was tempted to strangle her for what she did.
Once you were off the ship, I treated her myself.
I didn’t understand why she attacked Bashir at the end there.
Or why she was so determined to get on that shuttle with you.
If she died, I wouldn’t get any answers, so I fixed her up enough I thought she had the same chance to survive as the rest of us. ”
Maddison exhaled. “I want to be happy about that. Something tells me I won’t be when I hear what you know.”
“You’d be right about that. You can get the details from her, but these are the highlights. Someone from head office offered her a lot of money and a shot at my job if she did something for them.”
“What did they want her to do?”
Havoc already had an idea where this was going, but he listened without comment.
“Install some code into the ship’s main computer. They told her it would screw with the logs and other nonimportant systems, making it look like I was incompetent. I can’t prove it, but I think that’s how we ended up in verexi space.”
And there it was. It didn’t matter who had made the offer, Havoc had no doubt that Maddison’s ex had been the one behind it.
“That son of a bitch!” Maddison saw it too. “He wanted to ruin me, and he didn’t care who else he hurt. I’m sorry, Captain Perez. I’m certain this was my ex-husband’s doing.”
“I figured. Rumors about the divorce were flying long before you came on board. Your ex is a real piece of work.” The woman looked at Havoc for the first time. “It looks like you got an upgrade this time around.”
“I really did.”
He gave her ten more minutes to talk to the captain. When that time was up, he scooped her into his arms and carried her away.
“Havoc! Where are we going?”
“Home. Too many males are looking at you, and I cannot think for all the talking. We are leaving. Now.”
She waved as he carried her past Loris, who waved back. “They’re bossy fuckers. Aren’t they?” she called out.
“Very!” Maddison replied, but she didn’t seem concerned.
He ignored their comments. He wasn’t bossy. He was the one in charge.
After a while, Maddison spoke up again. “So, this tree house of yours. Does it have a nice bed?”
“It does. I intend to tie you to it and keep you there until Rage arrives.”
She laughed and stroked his cheek with one hand. “Your offer is accepted.”
He broke into a run, eager to share his home and his life with this gentle, wonderful female. She’d shown him that revenge wasn’t the only path his life could take.
This time, he had another choice, and her name was Maddison. He’d choose her every time.