Souls of Steel: A Reverse Harem Sci Fi Bully Romance (Chimera Academy Book 1)

by Eva Brandt

  “That’s exactly right,” the Sphinx purred. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, young Selene. There will be plenty of people more than willing to do that in your stead.”

  She was right in that regard, and I was forced to face this when the reinforcements the pilot of the Cerberus had promised finally arrived. As the other ships and chimeras descended from the sky, the stranger opened the communication lines again. “We’ve secured this space,” he said. “Leave the chimera and identify yourself.”

  Disgruntled, I opened the cockpit of the Sphinx, but didn’t get out. “Selene Renard. It’s a pleasure.”

  It really wasn’t and I suspected the man felt the same. “Selene Renard,” he drawled, as if tasting the words on his lips. “Tell me, Selene. What are you doing with a highly advanced chimera prototype? Someone like you shouldn’t even be near this area. You’re certainly not qualified to pilot a chimera.”

  He was still ensconced in the Cerberus and hadn’t even bothered to introduce himself or show his face. Clearly, he thought I was worth less than the dirt under his shoes.

  Well, fuck him very much. I straightened my back and shot him my sweetest and most dishonest smile. “I don’t think you’re in any position to decide that. Only a chimera can choose its tamer, and the Sphinx has chosen me.”

  I had the urge to stick out my tongue at him and finish my little rant with a ‘so there’. But that would’ve been childish and I held back. I didn’t have to do anything anyway, since the Sphinx provided me with her silent support. Her eyes flared with crimson power and she let out a low rumble that sounded far more animalistic that anything a mecha should’ve been able to produce.

  For what seemed like forever, the other pilot didn’t answer. I suspected he must’ve reported the information to someone, because a few minutes later, he spoke again. This time, he sounded a little more polite. “I see. You are correct then. It is not my place to get between a chimera and its tamer.”

  As if he’d just decided I was worthy of his attention, he opened his cockpit as well, allowing me to get a good look at him. Dark-haired and muscular, he fit inside his massive mecha far better than I did in the Sphinx. His gray eyes were red-rimmed, like in the case of all chimera pilots—like mine would undoubtedly be now. His full lips twisted into a sharp smile that threatened to slice as deep into my soul as the chimera’s power had.

  “Perhaps it’s time that I introduce myself as well. I am Flight Lieutenant Knox Alexander, second-in-command of the Grand Chimera Warrior Unit. Come. It’s time for us to meet with General Rhodes.”

  His words made a mix of conflicting emotions surge over me. On one hand, I was relieved General Rhodes had survived the incident. On the other, I wasn’t ready to face him. A man like General Rhodes wouldn’t react well to my union with the Sphinx.

  But that wasn’t something I could prevent and I’d already accepted the responsibility of becoming the Sphinx’s tamer. I wouldn’t let anyone stand in my way, not now, not ever. “All right, Flight Lieutenant Alexander,” I said, bracing myself for what would doubtlessly be a difficult confrontation. “Lead the way.”

  Tamer of the Hell Hound

  Knox

  “A chimera pilot who is a woman? Are you sure of this?”

  “Yes, Sir,” I replied through the coms. “Her name is Selene Renard. She’s piloting the Sphinx.”

  “This is unexpected.” At the other side of the connection, General Rhodes hummed thoughtfully. “Selene Renard. That name sounds familiar. Flight Lieutenant Alexander, secure the area, then bring the girl to my location. We will discuss the matter then.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The com-link went silent and I suppressed a sigh. As a Chimera Warrior, I’d sworn an oath at a very young age to protect Terra from all invaders, apsidic in origin or not. Since then, I’d seen countless horrors, made some bad choices, and had even come to believe that nothing could surprise me any longer.

  Clearly, I’d been mistaken. The redhead who had shown up out of nowhere on today’s mission was a huge surprise, and not one I welcomed.

  She was beautiful, her crimson hair tumbling down her shoulders in rebellious curls, her eyes as dark as the void of space, her skin fair and her lips full and rosy. Her Terran garb hid most of her curves and I hated it, because I wanted to see what she was hiding underneath her clothes.

  “She seems to have some kind of binding around her breasts,” my chimera said knowingly. “I think she might be more endowed in that field than she appears to be.”

  “You’re not helping,” I told him between gritted teeth.

  “Of course I am, my pup,” Cerberus replied. “You just don’t know it yet.”

  I tried to tune him out, but it was impossible. I’d had plenty of women throughout my lifetime, but none of them—not even the Terran sex workers—had looked like that. Then again, none of them could pilot a chimera either. Who was Selene Renard, really?

  “Here’s a thought. Why don’t you ask? She seems interesting and you need a new female in your bed.”

  “Can you get off my case?” I snapped at him. “Now’s really not the time for you to nag me about my sex life.”

  “Why not? There are only two things that matter in the life of a male—blood and breeding. There’s been plenty of bloodshed today, so you can focus on the latter. Not that I don’t value your connection with your pack mates, but they can’t exactly give you pups.”

  I let out an aggravated groan. To this day, I didn’t understand how I’d gotten stuck with a chimera who was obsessed with having children. I didn’t want heirs or anything like that. The other Grand Chimera Warriors were my family—my pack, as Cerberus liked to put it—and had been ever since I’d joined the Academy. But for some reason, Cerberus didn’t think that was enough.

  “For Tartarus’s sake, I don’t want a woman right now. I’ve had my fill when I was at the base.”

  “That’s not even remotely close to being true,” Cerberus replied. “You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.”

  I ignored him. No matter what Cerberus thought or said, I had no need for women. They bored me to tears and I only spent time with them when I had to. The noblewomen I knew were related to my brothers-in-arms and I had to be polite to them because tradition dictated it. And the occasional bed partners I took when I left Chimera Academy were just a way to add variety and let out sexual tension. Useful, but boring.

  Selene Renard would be no different. She might have managed to pilot the Sphinx, but that was undoubtedly an anomaly that would soon be fixed, once the chimera was back in the hands of The Grand Judiciary.

  “General Rhodes gave me specific instructions and I’m going to follow them. Now shut up and let me focus.”

  Cerberus rumbled, but didn’t call me out on my lie again. He knew very well that three-quarters of the time, I wasn’t that good at following orders. That was why Cerberus and I were a good match, because despite our differences, we were equally cruel and violent.

  It was a shame that I hadn’t gotten to show that to the terrorists. Selene Renard’s involvement had made my intervention less needed and a show of force superfluous.

  Maybe that was why I felt so off. I’d been ready to give those fools a taste of chimera fire and I’d been robbed of the chance. Yes, that explained my restlessness.

  Selene was responsible for it, but not because of her luscious lips and blood-red hair. She’d just gotten to my foe before I’d been able to, but she’d soon have to pay the price for it.

  I opened my cockpit and shot her a smile I knew was very unpleasant. “Perhaps it’s time that I introduce myself as well. I am Flight Lieutenant Knox Alexander, second-in-command of the Grand Chimera Warrior Unit. Come. It’s time for us to meet with General Rhodes.”

  A flicker of nervousness flashed over her expressive face. She understood the situation too and knew this wouldn’t end well for her. It wasn’t illegal for women to come to this area of the city, but it was improper. Between that and
her sudden acquisition of the Sphinx, she was in a lot of trouble.

  To her credit, she suppressed that fear quickly. “Lead the way,” she told me.

  I jumped out of the Cerberus and she followed my example without being told to. She patted the Sphinx’s claw and murmured a soft, “Thank you, my friend.”

  If the Sphinx answered, it wasn’t in a way I could grasp. In any case, Selene seemed to take comfort in the brief exchange, because when she turned toward me again, she was more relaxed. “I’m happy to hear General Rhodes is well. He was right in the middle of the blast. I feared he might have gotten killed.”

  “Did you? Well, don’t worry so much, Ms. Renard. I assure you we had everything well in hand.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me and I mentally cursed, wondering if I’d said too much. She must’ve realized how strange this whole arrangement had been. Anyone with a brain would have. I’d actually thought it would never work, because even the desperate extremists wouldn’t take such blatant bait.

  But they had, and now, they would be destroyed. The collateral damage didn’t really matter, not to me, at least. Selene might not agree.

  I was almost disappointed when she didn’t ask me what I meant. “I see,” she answered instead. “I hope my attempt to help came in handy anyway.”

  “That’s not for me to say,” I answered, walking a little closer to her. She shot me a suspicious look, but I wasn’t intimidated.

  Instead, I was seized by the sudden impulse to pin her against the first available flat surface and have her right then and there. Compared to me, she was positively tiny and I could already imagine how good her tight cunt would feel around my cock. Orders, Knox. Remember your orders. If she was punished for what she’d done, maybe something could be arranged at a later date. But for now, I had to obey and take her to the general.

  Fortunately, it didn’t take us long to get to the mobile chimera unit that had arrived while I’d been doing damage control. Two LCHRPs hovered over the hastily erected tents. Medics and soldiers ran around in a display of organized chaos I was familiar with by now.

  I headed directly for the tent I recognized as belonging to my superior. There were no guards outside, but the chimeras watching over the area made them unnecessary.

  The general was alone when we walked in, reading something on his holo-screen. He shut down the display and got up, turning toward us with a smile that did very little to hide his true intentions. “Ah. Flight Lieutenant Alexander. Well done. I take it this must be the unexpected pilot of the Sphinx.”

  “Yes, Sir, this is Selene Renard.”

  General Rhodes’s eyes raked over Selene’s figure. My hackles rose at his almost offensive scrutiny. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

  He might be older than me, but he wasn’t immune to the charms of a beautiful woman. And he was said to enjoy spending time with Terran sex workers.

  Selene just stood there, keeping her eyes on his face, without fidgeting. The only thing that betrayed her nervousness was the acceleration of her pulse. I noticed just because of my connection with Cerberus. General Rhodes seemed oblivious.

  “Any connection with Tanya Renard?” he asked after a long moment of pause.

  “She’s my mother, Sir,” Selene replied dutifully, her voice level and calm. Despite my previous thoughts, a worm of something that felt uncomfortably like respect wriggled at the back of my mind.

  The general scowled, displeased by the news. “So you’re a priestess of Gaia then? How does that mix with you piloting the Sphinx?”

  “It doesn’t,” Selene answered. “Unlike my mother, I was born without Gaia’s Gift. I thought I was an Unblessed, but Gaia might have simply guided me in a different direction.”

  The latter sentence snapped me out of my trance as I processed what Selene and General Rhodes were talking about. Renard. Shit. Why hadn’t I made the connection before?

  Selene’s mother was the High Priestess of Gaia on the American continent. “It looks like you might have more trouble breeding her than I’d hoped,” Cerberus murmured.

  It was easier to ignore him when I wasn’t inside the chimera, but the truth of his words still irritated me. On the bright side, Selene’s connection to the High Priestess made it more difficult for the general to approach her sexually and that was a good thing.

  I’d worked hard to achieve my position. Brendan and the others were relying on me. I didn’t want to throw everything out the window because I had the sudden impulse of castrating a general, feeding him his own balls, then ripping out his intestines before he could digest his own flesh.

  Where were these thoughts even coming from? Tartarus help me, I needed to get a grip.

  The general stepped back, putting some distance between him and Selene. “It’s still very unexpected and quite remarkable. How did you become its pilot?”

  “After the terrorist attack, there was so much panic and chaos. It’s all a bit of a blur, really, but I reached out and the Sphinx… She reached back.”

  The explanation sounded vague, but I knew exactly what Selene meant. The instinctive link between chimera and tamer couldn’t be described in words. The general didn’t seem convinced. “The Sphinx remains in the plaza now?” he asked sharply.

  Selene nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

  “I’d like to test something out,” he said. “Could you please summon it? Ask it to come here.”

  For the first time since she’d entered the tent, Selene paled. “S-Summon it?” she stammered. “But… I don’t know how.”

  Triumph glittered in General Rhodes’s sharp eyes. “You summoned it to you the first time, didn’t you? Otherwise, the chimera would’ve never come or connected to you. Unless, of course, you’re lying about your link to it.”

  “I’m not lying!” Selene bristled. “The Sphinx and I are one.”

  “Then you should have no trouble calling it here, right?”

  At the general’s words, I remembered the first time I’d connected with Cerberus, how hard it had been for me to adjust to the overwhelming presence of the mythical creature now inhabiting a part of my brain. It was undoubtedly so much harder for Selene.

  She’d never received the type of training I had. She didn’t have any understanding of what a chimera truly was. For Tartarus’s sake, Terrans still called the aliens that had invaded us Sun-Dwellers.

  She wasn’t prepared for this. Of course she couldn’t just summon the Sphinx.

  General Rhodes could never understand because he hadn’t actually piloted a chimera. He might have received more medals than my whole unit put together, but at the end of the day, the mechas had never accepted him, not in the way they accepted us Chimera Warriors.

  Something sharp and rebellious rose up inside me, the same power that had helped me bond with my Cerberus. They all thought they knew better, but they didn’t. They didn’t know a thing. The power of the gods was only granted to the people who deserved it.

  I knew what I had seen and no matter how crazy it was, Selene had been piloting the chimera herself. I still believed what I’d told her—that it was not my place to get between a chimera and its tamer. And maybe it was stupid, but for the sake of our unit, I would help.

  Clearing my throat, I brushed my hand against her arm. It was a barely there touch, but it still sent an unexpected jolt of energy through me. It went straight to my cock, but I ignored it.

  I wasn’t doing this because I wanted her as my woman. Right now, she was a fellow tamer and she needed my help.

  “You can do it, Ms. Renard. The power is there. It’s new to you and that’s why you feel you can’t access it. But like you said, you and your chimera are one. All you need to do is believe that.”

  General Rhodes didn’t appreciate my intervention. “Flight Lieutenant Alexander…”

  “With respect, Sir, you asked Ms. Renard to give you a demonstration of skill,” I said. “As a high-ranking member of the Grand Chimera Unit, it is my responsibility to make sure she c
an safely accomplish this.” Not bothering to wait for a response, I turned toward Selene once again. Explaining the mechanism of the link wouldn’t work since she didn’t have the education to understand it. Instead, I chose the simplified approach, which was just as good and more practical for a true Chimera Warrior.

  “Close your eyes and reach into yourself. The connection with the chimera should be there.”

  I took hold of her shoulder, knowing this wouldn’t be easy on her. She tensed at my touch, but didn’t pull away. “All right. I’ll try.”

  Her voice was much softer than before, almost musical. Our eyes met, and in the depths of her black orbs, I saw starlight. It was almost blinding, as if I was looking straight at a chimera diamond core.

  My grip on her tightened. Her breath caught, and on some level, I knew I was hurting her. Even so, I couldn’t force myself to let go and she didn’t ask me to.

  She closed her eyes and relaxed. Her heart rate evened. Beneath her skin, I felt the power of Tartarus sizzling, echoing the heat that rushed through my veins.

  General Rhodes glared at us, but I shot him a sharp look and he said nothing. Despite his position, he wasn’t irreplaceable, and he knew it.

  I might not have his rank or experience, but I was a Grand Chimera tamer. Without me, the Cerberus would go dormant for Tartarus knew how long, just like the Sphinx had been. The Grand Judiciary couldn’t afford that. My position gave me just enough power to do this, even if General Rhodes hated it.

  Maybe he’d have still tried to stop me, but he didn’t get the chance. Once she stopped panicking, it was strikingly easy for Selene to reach out to her recently tamed chimera.

  An outburst of tachyon particles swept through me, too fast for General Rhodes to distinguish, but as familiar to me as my Cerberus. Selene gasped, her body unprepared for the strain she’d just put it through.

  It would take a while for her brain to adjust to the natural emission of tachyons. Until then, she’d experience extreme hormonal imbalance, discomfort, wooziness, headaches, and more.