by Vi Voxley
They were the protectors of Octava and along with it, the whole CAS. They were also fierce rivals, as most warlords who ruled the vast armies of the Gargons were.
"Holy hell," she whispered to Isabel as the crowds began to cheer wildly. "You are going to be so happy."
Dana could understand the joy of the Gargons. Their two most feared warlords, both finally finding their fated – it was a day of celebration. Even she felt an elation she hadn't felt in a while.
She had had many doubts about the Sanguine's mission. Now, the hope the Gargons put in their leaders was dragging her along in their wake. What a glorious day it was.
And the fact that the two warlords had managed to ignite a passion within her told Dana something else. She wasn't completely dead inside yet, as she'd thought at a few low points during the cold, endless flights.
As a mother, she'd been prepared to devote her life to making sure her son had a better destiny than her, and devote herself to only that... now, Dana was laughing and clapping along with everyone else. Feeling like perhaps she might try to find love again.
Clearly, her body was aching for a man. If she could only find one for her, a good, nice man – it was a dream she hadn't dared to poke in a while.
The warlords were steadily approaching them, exchanging looks of careful confusion. Dana laughed softly, looking around at the expectant faces. She and Isabel had to be sitting in some enchanted section of the arena where girls picked up legendary warriors like it was nothing.
Okay, they're coming our way, no doubt about it anymore. Please be Isabel, please be Isabel, she wants one of you so badly. I've watched so much heartbreak. Let me leave you guys to your crazy ways with one joyous memory.
Then the warlords stopped right in front of them. Dana felt her smile broaden so wide it hurt her lips. She clutched Isabel's hand in hers, feeling her friend's pulse beat a million miles per hour.
It was all going to be okay, she knew it now.
Both warlords reached out their hands. For her.
She felt Isabel wince and her friend's hand slipped from hers. Dana's heart sank. It had to be a joke and if it was, it was in terrible taste. She waited for the punchline, the "ha-ha, look how funny this is, the only girl who's not looking for a fated gets the best two".
It didn't come. The crowds were going out of their minds. The warlords kept their hands extended to her, the fierce weapons sheathed again and their duel ended before it began. It was clear they were in the same boat now. The final confirmation came when Dana saw her own confusion reflected in their eyes. It was real. It was really happening to her.
She was the fated of not one, but two Gargon warlords.
5
Chase
He didn't understand what was happening. By the looks of it, neither did Havoc.
Chase had never been much of a philosopher. The warlords of Gargon left thinking of the bigger picture and their place in the galaxy to others, focusing on the here and now, the practical. The things they could see. The things they could, more often than not, kill.
It was the first time in his life to wonder about important questions. Like how could he know if the gods who ruled over his fate had lost their minds?
There was plenty of proof of it, right next to him. What kind of a cruel twist of fate would pair him with Havoc for a fated?
The gods are not kind…
It wasn't unheard of, naturally. Gargons often formed bonds where there were two males. It helped to make the children even stronger, fiercer through the genes of two fathers.
From a purely rational standpoint, he and Havoc were the best combination to make a baby in their fated's womb.
That was it. That was where sanity ended and madness began. Everything else about it was impossible.
All that was a distant concern for Chase in that moment, however.
He'd done it. He'd found his fated. She was right in front of him, making every inch of his body ache for her with a passion the warlord hadn't been able to imagine. He'd expected lust and love and devotion, all the gifts men usually gave to their females.
The roaring inferno inside him made all those emotions pale compared to the elation Chase experienced then. It felt like his entire being had gone up in flames, tearing down the man he'd been and rebuilding everything around the vision before his eyes.
She was, in a word, incredible. Flawless, even. Everything he'd found to be faulty with Isabel before was perfected in her. There was no exaggeration to her natural beauty, no false facade that he could see.
Only the pure, clear essence of the woman he was destined to spend the rest of his life with. Her big blue eyes were staring at him and Havoc, her pretty pink lips parted. The brown uniform she wore did no favors to her, but Chase counted that to be a good thing.
If she'd been any more stunning, he was afraid he couldn't control himself. Already, his body was desiring hers with a passion that took his breath away.
More than anything else in his entire life, Chase wanted to pull her over the separation keeping them apart and take her right there. Mount her under the eyes of the roaring spectators, hear how her cries of ecstasy drowned out even the thousands who witnessed their joining.
His cock was so hard it was nigh unbearable to deny himself a touch, any touch at all. Chase groaned silently, knowing his own hand could never be enough now that he'd found her. Only her sweet, velvety pussy would bring him the absolute satisfaction he craved.
It took him a long moment to gather enough of his senses to notice his fated hadn't taken their hands yet.
He wanted to tell her many things, every emotion in him boiling over, yet Chase remained silent. Fates had gifted him with a fated at last. He was going to prove himself worthy of such a treasure.
More than ever, he needed to be the man he was born to be. To protect, keep and honor her.
Havoc seemed to have a better grip on the situation, possibly because he'd already experienced it once. The other warlord lowered his hand and took a step towards their fated.
"This is not the place to talk about this," he said, keeping his voice low. "Will you come with us?"
Their fated looked from Havoc to the masses still applauding, appearing to notice the audience for the first time since they'd stopped in front of her. He could see a decision being born behind her blue eyes and she nodded, putting on a smile, even if Chase noticed how forced it was.
No matter. He imagined it had to be a shock to her. Two fated males weren't uncommon. It wasn't a rule either and so far it had happened to very few Terran females, and no one had gotten two warlords.
If he and Havoc were stunned, she had to be double that.
With shaking hands, his fated tried to climb over the separation, stumbling slightly. Chase was by her side at once, catching her in his strong arms, holding her there for a moment longer than was absolutely necessary. Her eyes met his and for a second, there was such a smile on her lips that Chase doubted he could ever think something else was beautiful, compared to that.
Her body felt amazing under his hands, soft and smooth and delicious in all the right ways. It was a shame to lower her to the ground gently under the adoring cheers of the audience.
"Give them a little wave," he suggested. "You have just given hope to an entire world."
She went so pale that for a moment, Chase thought she would faint. Then, with the same smile as before, his fated raised one hand to wave to the people who were now not disappointed to miss the duel at all. Instead, they replied with a thunderous cheer that accompanied the three of them until they disappeared at the edge of the arena.
There, Chase turned back and so did Havoc. It wasn't customary to leave a duel unfinished, even when they found their fated in the middle of it. They selected two of their best warriors to take their places and sent them off to the arena's ground, to the warm welcome of the crowd.
Across the arena, Chase caught a glimpse of Isabel. She stood where she'd been before, looking like she hadn't mo
ved a muscle. The depth of hatred in her eyes diminished the last of her beauty in the warlord's mind.
Her eyes were watching him, unblinking, and then Chase turned away, putting the female out of his mind. She was nothing to him now.
There were much more important things for him to focus on, even if he had to share the moment with Havoc.
As they walked away from the arena, heading towards his house in the capital that Chase barely ever visited, he couldn't take his eyes off the female next to him. It looked like she was floating, everything she did was carried out with such ease and grace.
Yet her eyes were distant, her mind somewhere miles and miles away. She was walking in a dream, guided between her two new fateds as was proper, not uttering a word.
"We didn't even learn your name," Chase said.
The female looked at him. Her body had shuddered when he'd spoken, he could see that plain as day. The attraction she felt for him was there without a shadow of a doubt, yet there was a strange reluctance about her, a hesitation he didn't understand. All the women aboard the Sanguine were prepared to become the fated of Gargon warriors. It was why they were there in the first place.
"Dana," she said then. "My name is Dana."
The ambassador.
All at once, everything was starting to make sense. Her absolute shock, the way she didn't look thrilled when other females would have been dancing on the streets. Chase exchanged a look with Havoc, seeing the other warlord understood the implication as well.
The gods really had lost their minds. Their fated was the one woman who had widely announced she hadn't come for a bond and didn't want one.
Even so, Chase was a slave to the choice of fate. Not even that revelation could dim the light she'd brought into his world. Her name echoed in his mind, the most beautiful word he'd ever heard.
Dana.
6
Havoc
Luckily, Chase's house wasn't far.
They were heading there based on a wordless agreement to settle their bond in private, away from prying eyes. Even as they walked down the wide streets, Gargons everywhere stared with open glee, realizing the implications immediately. Havoc could hear them whisper, hopeful and nearly as happy as they were.
Or as happy as they were supposed to be.
In his own heart, Havoc recognized the emotion he'd thought forever lost. He was reluctant to admit it, but Chase might have been right. Refusing to experience the kind of love the fated bond brought had been foolish of him.
The brightness that a fated brought into the world was incomparable to anything else. Even if Hannah and her bitter end still haunted his mind, her image was starting to fade before the warlord's eyes, making his heart ache.
He didn't want that, yet was powerless to stop it. The guilt was both overbearing and barely there at all. The second he'd seen Dana standing in the crowd, the soft smile on her lips and her blue eyes wide with wonder, Havoc had been lost. Truly and utterly lost to her charm, with or without his will.
The most miraculous part of it all was that despite all the evidence to the contrary, it did feel like he'd found his fated for the first time. The feeling was unique and if the sands of time hadn't started to erode his memory, more powerful than it had been with Hannah.
Then, Havoc had been able to comprehend and see himself apart from her. Now everything he was, was tied to Dana in a way that couldn't be broken or ignored. She was everything, as a fated was supposed to be.
It had been unexpected, but suddenly he couldn't imagine his life without her now that she had appeared. Even if he had to share his fated with Chase, which was on an absurd level of coincidences.
We will make sense of this, he decided.
As for Dana, though... she didn't look overjoyed. She looked a little afraid, with a determined look in her gorgeous eyes that could have meant a number of things. Havoc could only hope time would sort it out for all three of them.
The second Chase had asked her name it had become obvious why she didn't react the way most other females would have. The ambassador of Sanguine wasn't the biggest believer in her own mission. In a purely rational sense, Havoc could understand why. She saw the pain it brought up close and being that she'd never been interested in a bond herself, it had to be difficult to go through with the voluntary torture every time her ship landed.
Now she was floating through the streets, keeping a polite smile on her face. She was doing a good job of it, too. To the Gargons who surrounded the three of them on all sides, Dana looked positively shocked, a little shy, with a modest excitement playing on her lips. If that was what you wanted to see, that was.
Havoc himself wasn't fooled and he doubted Chase was either.
It was lucky for them they'd soon be out of the public eye and able to talk about what happened with the only people who mattered.
Through all of that, Hannah's memory came with him, a constant fixture in his existence. The nature of his pain was changing, however. With every step he took, Havoc was more glad he'd let Chase talk him into taking part in the festival. It brought forth a different kind of hurt, one he'd never contemplated before.
After so many years, he'd finally remembered it felt better to be happy than wallow in his misery.
There was no other way to put it, he simply felt like he was marring Hannah's memory by giving his heart to someone else.
Havoc didn't want her to fade away and be nothing. He simply, for the first time, wanted to leave her in his memories and live again.
"Here we are," Chase said, dragging Havoc back to the here and now.
They passed under a large arc covered in vines, entering an expansive courtyard that was the centerpiece of Chase's house. Havoc allowed himself a small grin. He never ceased to be amazed at the place or how little it looked like it belonged to a warlord.
On the surface, it was a modest little building, pretty in its own right, yet utterly forgettable. Which was Chase's exact intention.
As soon as they entered the house itself, the true nature of it came out.
Havoc could hear Dana's shocked gasp as she froze to the spot, looking around at the display of what it meant to be a Gargon warlord.
The vestibule was adorned with only some of the trophies Chase had. Weapons, furs, mementos. The walls were barely visible from under the mass of decorations, including Chase's armor and some of the weapons he gave a more sentimental worth to, not that the bastard would ever admit it.
Dana looked from one to another, her lips parted a little in amazement.
Havoc couldn't tear his eyes away from her. There was something incredible about her, a strength and a spirit he had never met before. His fated wasn't just the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen, she was the most interesting one. Everything he'd ever heard of her came together to form a picture of a person Havoc wanted to know and possess.
He couldn't help it. Dana called to him and there was no Gargon man alive who could have resisted their fated. Havoc couldn't stop imagining the ways in which he wanted to make her his, not for a moment. To possess that woman utterly was all he desired now, along with being possessed by her.
"This is some place," she said admiringly, a true smile on her face.
Havoc saw Chase grinning, a pleased look on his face.
"Come," Chase told them both. "Feel at home. You especially, Dana. As my fated, everything that's mine is yours now."
Havoc saw her smile fade a little as Chase led them to the second floor into a nice, light lounge room, although even that was packed with weapons. You never knew when you were going to need one, especially with the Iron League showing signs of aggression again. At least that was the excuse the warlords used to surround themselves with weapons of destruction.
"Bring us something to eat," Chase ordered one of his servants. "And something cold to drink."
While the master of the house took care of the preparations and accommodated them, Havoc hadn't taken his eyes off Dana for a moment. She paced the room, looking
around with interest and her discomfort was obvious. Her amazing body was so tense the warlord half-expected her to pull something, keeping herself under pressure like a string.
It was clear she didn't exactly look forward to the conversation they were about to have. Yet whenever her deep blue eyes fell on either of them, she couldn't fight down the shiver that had nothing to do with the remarkably warm day outside.
"Sit," Havoc offered his fated. "There is nothing for you to be afraid of. You are free to do as you please and we won't stop you."
Chase gave him a poisonous look.
"Of course not," he chimed in, glaring at Havoc. "As I said. This is your home now. Nothing in the world could harm you as long as we draw breath."
You're not helping and you're not seeing the problem, Havoc thought, knowing the truth would come out soon enough, even if Chase did not want to admit it.
Dana, on the other hand, turned with a slight smile on her lips, taking a seat on a low sofa.
"It's not you," she said, her beautiful soft voice ringing in the room like a perfect melody. "It's your gods. Or fate. I'm not sure which one of them has decided to... do this to us."
Neither one of them replied. Chase's levity was gone in an instant.
"Listen," she said, folding her hands in her lap and trying to keep both of them in her sights. "I assume you know me. The fact that I was aboard the Sanguine doesn't make me a prospective bride. I'm not part of the menu."
There was a curious regret in her voice, saying she wasn't as sure of that as she might have been before meeting them.
"That's not how it works," Havoc said. "You don't get to choose your fated. We are given the chance for love and we either take it or we do not."
There was a deep, deep sadness in Dana's eyes as she nodded to that.
"Fair enough," she said slowly. "Then let me say this. I like you guys. I mean, what kind of a woman wouldn't find you attractive, you're–"
She sighed, the most adorable blush on her cheeks, flicking her gaze down for a moment. Havoc felt his cock stir in his pants, pressing against his armor, aching to be freed and thrust into her wet pussy. Judging by her voice, Dana wouldn't have minded that. It was practically shaking with lust.
