by Riley Carver
“You need to trust me. You know you can trust me. I’ve pair bonded with the Omega to protect her.”
Amiran sputters. “That’s convenient. I’m sure you did.”
“Look, I won’t pretend it was difficult for me to mate with her. It was what I wanted, but it was also what the situation called for. Did you tell anyone else about our new directive?”
Amiran shakes his head. I’ve got his full attention, and he’s giving me a chance to elaborate. If no one else knows about the orders to return in five days, then we’ve still got a shot at carrying out my plan. Everything spills out of me. I tell him about the interrogation and why I made the choice to claim Kira. The more I talk, the farther his face falls.
“So the traitor onboard is part of a larger network of traitors?” he asks.
“Exactly. But I still haven’t figured out who it is.”
“How is it possible for them to communicate, considering we monitor all radio communications?”
Kira clears her throat. To be honest, I’d been so focused on convincing Amiran of the gravity of the situation that I’d forgotten she was there.
“I know how they did it,” she says.
Chapter 14
Kira
“I figured it out when you threw this blanket over me,” I say. “Thanks for that, by the way.” I managed to shimmy into some clothes while Drax and Amiran were talking, and I shrug the covers of off me and sit up as I talk louder.
Drax and Amiran whip their heads toward me. I can tell they don’t believe me, but I know that I’m right.
“Your traitor is communicating through coded messages dropped off at trading posts,” I continue.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Amiran says. “We weren’t scheduled to stop anywhere prior to the attack on the ship.”
“Right, but we did stop, and it made it clear who the culprit is. I don’t know the entire system—you’re going to have to piece some of it together on your own. Anyway, knowing who it is is the most important part. You can squeeze the rest out of her.”
“Tell us,” Amiran says in my head. I smile at him. “Cevelii,” I say, and Amiran looks stricken.
“A Beta? A Beta attendant?”
“It’s perfect,” I explain. “No one pays any attention to her or what she’s doing. She was using some kind of tool to stitch messages onto a blanket. Actually, I don’t know if that counts as ‘stitching,’ but you know what I mean. Then, she pretended to sell the blanket when we landed on Srim. I saw it happen, and something about it bothered me. She was too jumpy about it, like she didn’t want anyone to see her.”
“We need to go search her chamber,” Amiran says. “This all sounds like a stretch, but it’s worth checking out.”
“No,” Drax growls. “We don’t want to tip our hand. We need to lure her out of her chamber and search it in secret. It’s likely that she has accomplices, and I don’t want anyone to have the chance to destroy evidence of their involvement.”
“Don’t you have cameras in everyone’s rooms? Why don’t you just watch the video feed?”
Drax chuckles. “No, we only keep tabs on our little Omegas. But that’s a good idea. Amiran, I’ll summon Cevelii. She was insistent that she get more access to Kira. I’ll pretend to hear her out while you do a quick search and install the camera. I want to catch and kill every last traitor.”
“What about the mission?” Amiran asks Drax.
“Once the traitors are dealt with, we’re changing course,” he says. “We’ll dock on Glinge and assemble a team from the soldiers on the Fysian base there. We need to have a foolproof strategy for when we surround the Upper Council.”
I look at Amiran, and he seems like he’s going to fall over. “You want to attack the Upper Council? That’s insane. They’re too protected. It’s a suicide mission.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in. But we need to restore the Upper Council. Corruption has taken hold there like a cancer. We must root out the compromised council members and solidify the power of the council members we can trust. It’s the only way to keep Fysi from falling into the Avekis’s hands. We’ll figure out a way.”
I watch Amiran try to process this information. Drax steps forward and clasps Amiran’s shoulder. I feel a surge of something I can’t name as I look over at Drax. He is so powerful, so confident. The emotions that swirl in me are like a mixture of love, lust, and possessiveness.
Amiran leaves and Drax turns back toward me.
“What am I going to do with you, my clever Omega?” he says without words.
I smile and beckon him over to me. I’m slick again, and I want to feel his knot stretch me to my limit. Drax purrs but shakes his head.
“I’ll be back soon, my sexy Kira. I have to put everything in motion. I will hurry back. Your heat is likely taking hold. I hope it won’t be too painful while I’m gone.”
And without a backward glance, he slips out of my room.
Drax
I stalk back to the control room, my thoughts heavy. Once we get confirmation about Cevelii, I’m certain that I can make her name names. Putting an end to the uprising on my ship is my first priority. Only then can I focus on the greater threat, the Upper Council.
Kyr greets me warmly. Since the incident with Zan and Cres, Kyr has stepped up and shown his worth. It’s not surprising to me, considering his stellar record at the officer’s academy. I act like nothing is wrong and mirror his attitude.
Over the intercom, I give the command that Cevelii should be brought to me, and I keep an eye on Kyr. I wait for him to look away before quickly altering our trajectory. Landing on Glinge is such a slight change that I don’t think anyone will notice. I lean back in my chair and steeple my fingers.
“I don’t know that much about you, Kyr,” I start. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
If Kyr is surprised by my sudden interest in him, he doesn’t show it. He talks about his ambition of joining the Upper Council and of a mission he’s been tapped to lead as soon as we get home.
“That’s great,” I say, meaning it. “What’s the mission?”
“Ah,” Kyr laughs uncomfortably. “I wish I could share details, but it’s been designated as confidential. I’ll tell you this: The Avekis won’t know what hit ’em.” Kyr winks, and I nod back at him.
It won’t be long now before I know whose side Kyr is really on, but my gut says that he’s going to be spitting mad when he hears about what’s going on in Fysi. I hope so, at least. It would be nice if we Alphas can stick together.
“How long until we reach Fysi?” Kyr asks conversationally.
I pretend to examine my screen. “According to current estimates, we’ll dock in eleven days,” I lie easily.
Kyr looks wistful. “It’ll be great to get home,” he says. It hits me in the gut that I don’t agree. The challenges that lie ahead of us are mounting, and it’s difficult to know if I’ll end up back on Fysi alive.
But it doesn’t matter. I’d gladly give my life to protect my home planet. Just as I’d gladly give my life to protect my Omega. I concentrate for a moment and think a message to her. With her heat kicking off, I have to work quickly so that I can return to her.
Kyr clears his throat, snapping me out of my reverie. “The Beta you sent for is here,” he says, jerking his head toward the door.
I swivel around in my chair, and there she is. The Beta attendant is giving me a simpering smile.
“I’m glad you sent for me, sir. My concerns about the care of the Omega have only grown.”
Shit. It’s going to be hard to not rip her throat out. I take a deep breath and make sure that my face is expressionless. I need to lure her away quietly so that she can’t alert anyone she’s working with.
“Let’s go somewhere we can talk privately,” I say, and she follows me eagerly. I bring her to the airlock at the end of the hall and open the first set of doors. I lean forward conspiratorially and say, “I’m so glad you raised your concerns. It lets me k
now I can trust you—but I don’t want the Omega’s current attendant to see us together. She’s too unprofessional, a real loose cannon.”
Cevelii’s thin-lipped smile makes my stomach turn. I cover the windows in the airlock and turn back toward her, prompting her to speak.
“Sir, the Omega’s attendant is not fit for the job. I have seen her break protocol countless times. I try to be modest, so it pains me to put myself forward like this, but please assign me to the Omega. It’s for the good of the mission.”
I half-listen to her as I look around the space. There’s got to be something to tie her to. Ah, yes, I think, spotting a low crossbeam that I can loop my rope all the way around.
The Beta is still yammering. I reach into my pocket and set my laser gun to stun. Then I draw it from its holster and tase her so quickly that she by the time she starts to raise her hands protectively, she’s already on her way to the floor.
This wasn’t the plan, but I can’t hold back. Not when I have someone who has been plotting to hurt Kira in my grasp. I’m going to get her to talk the old-fashioned way, without waiting for the video feeds to catch her in the act.
I tie her wrists together and raise her arms over her head, securing her to the beam. I kick at her dangling feet until she comes to with a start.
Immediately, her eyes darken.
“You’re in violation of the Upper Council’s code of conduct for officers and the interplanetary agreement on soldiers’ rights.”
I chuckle. “Do you think I care about any of that? I only care about completing my mission, which means protecting the Omega at all costs.”
“And you think I’m a threat to the Omega? When all I’ve done is share my concerns about your staffing choices?”
“Listen, you can drop the act now. If you want to see how long you can hold out before telling me what I want to know, be my guest. But I give you a few minutes of pain before you tell me everything. Traitors like you only care about themselves. And I’ll be honest with you, this airlock is the last room you’ll ever be in.”
Cevelii rears her head back and spits in my face. I wipe away her saliva with the back of my hand and smile. I’m glad she’s not pretending to be an upstanding soldier anymore. I’m getting to her, and I haven’t even had to cut off any of her claws yet.
I step back and look her up and down. Her eyes have gone totally wild and she’s struggling against the rope holding her in place.
“I’m willing to make a deal, of course,” I say. “You tell me who recruited you and you can keep your life. I know you’re not the important one. I want the ringleaders. They must have tricked you into thinking you were doing something noble. Am I right?”
Cevelii nods her head vigorously. “None of this was my idea!” she sobs. “I’m not the one you want; you’re right!”
It’s pathetic how easy this is. It doesn’t make me doubt the veracity of what she’s going to tell me. It just proves what a weak-willed, sniveling, disgusting excuse of a soldier she is. She brings shame on all the Betas.
I reach into my holster and pull out the long blade I carry. I toss it hand to hand, making sure she’s looking at it.
“Well,” I say. “Start talking.”
“I was promised a ship of my own. I was supposed to be promoted for killing the Omega.”
“A Beta as captain of her own ship?” I ask incredulously.
For a moment, Cevelii looks at me defiantly. “There’s a new order coming. There are enlightened members of the Upper Council who see the promise of Betas like me.”
“I can’t believe the bullshit you’ve been fed. Your contacts never intended to keep their word. Surely, you see that?”
The Beta avoids my eyes, and it’s hard to read what she’s thinking. I sigh. “It doesn’t matter now. All that matters now is the choice you have to make. Do you want to live or die?”
Chapter 15
Drax
I walk back to the control room, struggling to process everything I’ve learned. In the end, the Beta told me everything she knew. Admittedly, it wasn’t much. Every traitor in the network is only told scraps of the plan.
At least she told me how to break the code she was using. Kira was right: Cevelii was stitching messages onto blankets. The message was from the Upper Council’s commissioner of defense, who met with Cevelii once to recruit her.
Cevelii and five other Betas onboard worked together to install a tracking device on my ship. That’s how the ship that attacked us found us. It didn’t matter where we landed for repairs; the commissioner of defense has contacts at the trading posts of every nearby planet and he wanted his message spread to them all.
They knew they had multiple chances to kill Kira too: when they first attacked the ship, when we landed and let her off, or if all that failed, Cevelii was going to do it herself.
I got what I needed from the Beta, and then she got what she deserved. I’m glad she was so willing to talk so that I didn’t have to get my hands dirty. There’s no honor among traitors, I suppose. The other five Betas who worked with her will be following her out of the airlock shortly.
Amiran stands to greet me. “I’ve installed the camera. The search of her room turned up nothing, but the video feed should pay off soon.”
“No need for a video feed now,” I say, waving him off. “The Beta won’t be returning to her quarters—ever.”
Amiran paces behind the row of monitors. “You’re impossible, you know that? Ever heard of sticking to a plan? What was the point of me sneaking around?”
“Shhh, lower your voice, Amiran. We have five Beta colluders who we need to round up before they get tipped off and go out shooting.”
Amiran is still glaring at me as I guide him to sit down next to me. We try to hash out a plan to pick off the Betas, one by one. But any plan we come up with feels like a stretch. There’s only two of us, and there’s five of them.
Kyr walks in sipping some Earthborn drink.
“Coffee,” he explains when I look over. “I got a taste for it when we landed on Earth, and the Omega doesn’t drink the stores we packed for her,” he says with a shrug.
I’m going to have to take my chances with Kyr. Now I just have to decide how honest I’m going to be. I can simplify the situation and tell Kyr there are traitors aboard, and we’re authorized to use deadly force to rectify the situation. It’s tempting, but it could backfire later when Kyr realizes I’m going a bit rogue. It’s now or never, it seems.
“There’s something I need your help with, and you’re not going to like what I have to say,” I start.
Kira
One minute I was fine, but the next the cramps started. I was standing up doing some stretches, and the first wave of them brought me to my knees—literally.
I’m on my floor curled into a ball, drenched in sweat and slick. This is way worse than my first heat. I guess this is why the collection center waits for Omegas to go into heat naturally before releasing us to our mates for pair bonding. I’m not sure I can take the pain, especially knowing there’s only one cure.
“I’m coming to you soon,” Drax’s voice echoes in my head. He’s been talking to me periodically, but I don’t know what he means by “soon.” I feel so empty right now, like there’s a hole at the center of me that only Drax can fill. I drag myself into the corner, feeling exposed in the middle of my room, even though I’m here alone right now.
When the door slides open, I use all my strength to lift my head and see who it is. My money’s on Peggy, considering I can’t smell Drax. I probably should have saved my strength. I can tell from the frenetic footsteps that it’s Peggy before her tall, slim body comes into my field of vision.
The second she spots me, she breaks into a run. She scoops me up and gently places me on my chair.
“Kira! Kira! What is it?”
I lick my dry lips and try to form words. “I-I’m in heat again,” I say, attempting a smile.
“What? That’s impossible on suppressants.”
She pauses for a moment as it dawns on her. “Oh, I’ll kill him. What is he thinking?”
I cover my ears as she starts to yell.
“Sorry, Kira,” she says softly. “Let’s get you a little more comfortable.”
Peggy slips out and comes back with a cool washcloth. She pulls my hair back and sponges at my face and neck. I don’t want to tell her that it doesn’t really make a difference. There’s only one thing that can make me feel better.
I feebly try to explain the situation. It takes a long time for me to get the words out, but Peggy listens attentively.
