by Kali Argent
Limp and exhausted, she relied on her mates to disentangle them. Axton cradled her to his chest, his strong arms surrounding her, while Zade turned toward the en suite bathroom. Before he could leave, Olivia caught his wrist, pulling him back into their circle.
“I know I didn’t exactly make this easy on either of you, and I’m sorry for that. I love you, Axton.” She tilted her head up to kiss Axton’s lips. “And I love you, Zade.” Turning, she pulled Zade into a chaste kiss as well. “Thank you for not giving up on me, because I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“We’d have followed you to the ends of the universe,” Zade whispered. “Wherever you go, we’ll follow.”
“You were worth the wait,” Axton added sincerely. “But no more running.”
“And no more sneaking out of our room.” Zade’s eyes narrowed, and he growled before nipping at her lips again. “I love you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t paddle your ass red.”
Cocking an eyebrow, Olivia straightened as much as she could in Axton’s arms. “I’d like to see you try.”
They bickered all the way to the shower and only stopped when Axton pressed her against the tiled wall and kissed the breath out of her. Things between them would never be easy, but Olivia didn’t want easy. She wanted passion, adventure, excitement, and that was something her mates could easily give her in spades.
“I really should get back to work.”
“You have nothing scheduled until morning,” Zade reminded her, his fingers massaging shampoo through her long hair.
“What the hell are we going to do until morning?”
“You didn’t think we were finished with you, did you, love?” Turning her, he tucked her under the spray of heated water to rinse away the suds.
“That is,” Axton chimed in, caressing her stomach and thighs, “unless you’re scared.”
Olivia’s head snapped up, and her eyes narrowed in challenge as she wrapped her hand around Axton’s hard, thick length. “Just try to keep up.”
CHAPTER NINE
“I’m so happy for you.” Standing in her office the next morning, Olivia pulled Morgan into a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you, though.”
“I’ll miss you, too,” Morgan returned, her voice thick with emotion. “I never thought I’d have this, you know?” Leaning away, her gaze strayed to the D’Aire male on the other side of the room who stood patiently, waiting to sweep Morgan away. “I love him, Liv.”
“I know.” She could see it written all over the woman’s face. “And it looks good on you.”
Morgan opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped suddenly, her eyes fixed on the bite mark on Olivia’s neck. “It’s about time.”
Instinctively, Olivia lifted her hand and traced the tender flesh with her fingertips. In a few days, there’d be no hint of the mark, but for now, she wore the bite proudly. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Will there be a ceremony?”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “You know I don’t care for all the pomp and circumstance, and thankfully, neither do my mates. We’re going to have a small party at Asylum next week with the pack, but nothing big.”
“I’m still sorry I’ll miss it.”
Olivia hugged her friend again and sighed. “It won’t be the same without you.” Not just the party, but life on X21 in general. She’d have to find a new liaison officer, and the prospect had zero appeal. “Okay.” Uncomfortable with all the emotions swirling inside her, she eased away and nodded. “I’ve completed the files for your retirement, and I’ll send them along to the Capital this afternoon. Everything is taken care of, and you’ll be notified once it’s approved, but I don’t think you should have any problems. I just need your signature.”
As if summoned, Officer Blake appeared in the doorway of Olivia’s office and held a tablet out to Morgan. “I just need you to sign here, here, initial here, sign here, and print your name and date there.”
While Morgan was distracted, Olivia turned to her friend’s keeper, a stunning D’Aire male with long, silvery hair and cheekbones that could cut a diamond. Ambassador Orion D’Sil hadn’t said a word, standing quietly off to the side while she and Morgan said their goodbyes, but as she approached, he smiled and offered his hand.
“I’ll make sure she visits every chance we have,” he promised.
Instead of shaking his hand, Olivia slid a small, silver device into his palm and closed his fingers over it. “This is important to her.” She glanced over to make sure Morgan wasn’t listening before continuing quietly. “You take care of her, because if you hurt her, I’ll find you, and trust me, you don’t want me to find you.”
If he was offended by her open threat, he didn’t show it. Instead, Orion smiled as he slipped the MCR device into his pocket and nodded. “I like you, Commander.”
“Good. Do you know how to use that?”
She knew how much Morgan hated the star tattooed on her face, but as an elite there had been little she could do about it. Now that she’d decided to essentially retire and travel back to the D’Aire home world, Olivia saw no reason her friend should have to wear a mark that made her so unhappy. So, first thing that morning, she’d headed to the med-bay to sign out a Marking, Corrector, and Removal Device as a gift to the happy couple.
“I’m aware of its function,” Orion confirmed. “Thank you, Commander.”
Olivia nodded and finally offered the male a smile. “Just make sure you get it back to me, because it’s my ass on the line if that isn’t returned.”
“Duly noted.”
“All finished,” Morgan declared, turning back to them, her eyes wide with excitement, and her face practically glowing. “I guess we should be going.”
“Before you leave, did you have a chance to swing by Asylum this morning?”
While her mates had done their best to keep her distracted, she still hadn’t been able to shake off her concern for Isla Blevins. Olivia believed the young woman’s innocence, but she needed something more than instincts if she planned to help her. So, while Axton and Zade had been busy in the kitchen preparing a late meal for them, she’d used her wrist unit to contact Morgan, asking her friend if she’d use her empathic abilities to find out what she could from Isla.
“I did,” Morgan confirmed with a brief nod. “She’s a sweet girl who’s grieving the loss of her mother, but I didn’t read any guilt. There’s a heavy dose of fear mixed in with that grief, especially when I mentioned her stepfathers.”
It was as Olivia had expected. Ambassador D’Sil suggested a mind scan, but it was a dangerous procedure, and even if Isla agreed, Olivia knew Axton and Zade never would.
So, she thanked them both and wished them safe travels, and after another round of hugs and handshakes, she watched with a hint of sadness as Morgan exited the office with her keeper. She was happy for her friend, and she’d never met anyone more deserving of love, but stars, she’d miss her.
Fortunately, she didn’t have long to linger in her melancholy. The doors had barely closed when her office link chimed, and Hannah announced the arrival of Regent Adira Singer.
“Regent Singer,” Olivia greeted with a salute when the woman stepped into her office. “Please, have a seat.” The regent hadn’t explicitly stated her reason for the meeting, but Olivia had a pretty good guess what she wanted to discuss. “I suppose the first thing I should ask is if I’m still commander of X21. Regent Marks seemed pretty adamant that I be relieved of my post.”
Lowering herself into the seat across from Olivia’s desk, Regent Singer folded her hands together in her lap and snorted. “Regent Marks is a pretentious, self-absorbed ass.”
So shocked by the woman’s bluntness, Olivia scrambled for something to say. In the end, she settled on, “Does that mean I still have a job?”
Regent Singer laughed quietly, the sound almost musical. “Yes, Command Jacobson, you very much have a job.”
Relieved, Olivia plopped down in her desk chair an
d bobbed her head several times. “Okay, that’s good.” She hadn’t even realize how worried she’d been until that moment. “Can I ask you another question, ma’am?”
“Of course.”
“How did you know to come to Asylum yesterday?”
“My timing was a lucky coincidence, I’m afraid. I was delayed in my travels and didn’t arrive until after the opening ceremony had already begun, so instead of going to the observation deck, I decided to use the opportunity to visit Axton and Zade’s new sanctuary.” The corners of her lips twitched. “I hear your speech went quite well, however.”
Olivia forced herself to meet the regent’s gaze, even as her cheeks heated with embarrassment. “You know Axton and Zade?”
Jealousy quickly replaced her embarrassment, and her chest tightened as a barrage of torrid scenarios played through her mind. She’d never considered herself the possessive type, but clearly, she’d been wrong.
“I’m acquainted with your mates through their cousin, Sadayka,” Regent Singer answered, the ghost of a smile playing around her lips. “How do you think they received permission to install a lift in their bar and occupy one of the VIP suites as their quarters?”
Olivia instantly felt foolish. She trusted Axton and Zade, and she knew they’d never do anything to intentionally hurt her. Plus, Regent Singer had been an invaluable ally from the beginning, and she regretted thinking such insulting things about a woman she admired and respected.
Still, perhaps it was time to change the subject.
“I reviewed Isla Blevin’s records this morning, and I have to say, I’m not sure what to make of all of it.”
When she’d first met Isla, Olivia hadn’t recognized the name Blevins, but Isla’s mother’s given name, everyone knew. The Monahan family had made their fortune in real estate and land development, controlling architecture, construction, and even interior design contracts in almost every major city. From skyscraper office buildings to medical centers to privately owned restaurants, more than half the buildings in the Capital alone had been constructed by Monahan Development, and nearly all of the ones in Jade City.
It had been expected that Katelyn Monahan, Isla’s mother and heiress to the Monahan family fortune, would form a bonded unit with someone from the same social circle. Only two years after leaving the Academy, however, she met, fell in love with, and became the chosen of Isla’s fathers, Lieutenants William Blevins and Moran Davis, neither of which came from wealthy families or the same prosperous background as Katelyn.
Sadly, both men had perished during a string of rebel attacks in Jade City nearly twelve years ago, leaving Katelyn widowed and Isla fatherless. After more than a decade of mourning, eight months ago, Katelyn had finally taken two new bonded, Commanders Harvey Fielding and Alan Covey, a more suitable match in terms of social and economic status.
Then two weeks ago, she’d been found unresponsive inside her home in Jade City. It had been determined that Katelyn had died of suffocation, though her body lacked any physical signs to support the cause of death. The reports also excluded several details, including how Isla had come to be implicated as a murderer.
“There are just some things I don’t understand,” she confessed.
“I’d be surprised if you weren’t confused.”
“How did Miss Blevins come to be named as a suspect? There’s no evidence of her involvement in the reports.”
“Her stepfathers. They claim to have caught her trying to destroy a vial filled with a black substance two days after her mother’s death.”
“I’m guessing they turned this substance over to the Alliance?”
Regent Singer nodded. “You’d be correct. Miss Blevins’ fingerprints were found on the outside of the vial.”
“And do we know what this mysterious black substance is?”
“Rothaarnian pepper flakes.”
Olivia’s scowl deepened, and her forehead creased. Diluted, Rothaarnian pepper flakes were used in a number of spicy dishes, but in their pure form, a single flake burned so intensely, it actually caused temporary paralysis in humans. A dozen or more could paralyze the lungs and even the central nervous system, which would explain how Isla’s mother had suffocated without signs of a physical attack.
“That all sounds very…convenient.”
The regent’s smile slipped for the first time since she’d entered the room. “I agree, Commander.”
“Do you think she’s guilty, Regent?”
Regent Singer sat up straighter in her chair. “Officially, I have no comment.”
“And unofficially?”
“Unofficially, I’ll say that a warrant doesn’t just disappear. The moment she steps foot outside of that sanctuary, she’ll be arrested and escorted back to Jade City to stand trial.”
“She’s terrified. Not ‘I killed my mom and don’t want to end up at the Mars penal colony’ scared, either.” Even before Morgan had confirmed her suspicions, she’d sensed the scroll had sought sanctuary for her protection, not to avoid imprisonment. “I believe she’s in danger, ma’am.”
“Her stepfathers are the Commanders of Jade City, and they hold a lot of sway.” Shifting in her seat, Regent Singer pulled down the sleeve of her red and black uniform where it had ridden up past her wrist. “I knew them when they were generals in the SI Division, and let’s just say their methods during interrogations fell under scrutiny more than once.”
As commanders, they had nearly unlimited resources, and it wouldn’t be long before they received the report that Isla had been found on X21. “She can’t stay here.”
While she didn’t verbally agree or disagree, Regent Singer twisted her lips into a shrewd grin and nodded. “I believe you have things well in hand, Commander. If there’s nothing else, I need to prepare for my departure.”
“Departure? You just arrived.”
Sighing, Regent Singer stood and straightened her uniform jacket. “It seems there has been an incident on New Vega, and my presence has been requested.”
Olivia stood as well, rounding her desk to walk the regent out of the office. “Then safe travels, ma’am.” She fisted her hand over her heart and bent slightly at the waist.
Alone again, Olivia paged her assistant through the office link. “Get me Vasera Blackthorn.”
“All communications have to be verified by Xenthian officials,” Officer Blake informed her. “It could take a while for the transmission to be accepted.”
“Understood. Just send it through to the vid screen in my office once you have her.”
“Yes, Commander. Will there be anything else?”
“That’s all.”
After disconnecting the link, she fell into one of the armchairs in the small sitting area near the door with a groan. Sometimes being commander sucked, and it was definitely one of those days. However, if she could convince Ivy to grant Isla sanctuary on Xenthian—a neutral planet outside of Alliance control—at least she’d feel like she’d accomplished something noteworthy.
She was so tired, but her day had only just begun, and she still had a dozen or more things to accomplish before she could retreat to her quarters. In fact, moving her things from her own quarters to Axton and Zade’s suite rested somewhere in the middle of her to-do list. They’d only briefly discussed it the night before, and while she wanted to be with them, she had a hard time visualizing how the living arrangements would work.
The males’ suite contained only two bedrooms, and though she didn’t mind sharing a bed with her mates, she needed somewhere to put her clothes and personal possessions. Having a dedicated place of her own to go when she wanted to be alone and just unwind would be nice as well, but she understood the importance of compromise.
They’d make it work. As clichéd as it sounded, even to herself, as long as they were together, everything else was just details.
The office doors slid open again, and her assistant rushed in with wide, anxious eyes. “Commander, you’re needed at Asylum.”
On her feet at once, Olivia cursed under her breath as she rushed past Officer Blake and jogged the familiar path to Asylum. Her first thought had been for Isla, but if that had been the case, Axton or Zade would have contacted her personally. Since they hadn’t, she could only assume another fight had broken out at the sanctuary, and she idly wondered who had lost a limb this time.
Mates or not, she was going to fucking kill them.
Slowing as she approached the neon sign over the entryway, she tilted her head to the side and frowned. Banging, grinding, and the whir of mechanical blades echoed throughout the corridor, bouncing off the paneled walls, but it was what she didn’t hear that confused her. No growls, grunts, screams, or imaginative threats spilled from the sanctuary, and as far as she could tell, no security officers or medical personnel had been summoned.
As she stepped into the bar, the first thing she noticed was that despite the noise, it hadn’t seemed to hurt business. Next, she realized that the east wall of Asylum had been completely demolished, and debris spilled into the empty shop next door. Shay’s three mates had apparently been put in charge of the demolition, and the males seemed quite pleased with themselves.
Olivia was definitely going to kill them.
Before she could lose her temper and start shouting, one of the Tarin females staying in the sanctuary on the lower level appeared in front of her. While she stood several inches taller than Olivia, her rounded shoulders and demure posture made her seem smaller, more fragile, and when she spoke, she stared at a point somewhere over Olivia’s shoulder.
“Commander Jacobson, I’m supposed to ask you to meet Zade in the back office.”
