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My second in command meets me at the jail entrance. He obeys my silent command and unlocks the gate. Vynn startles awake at the sound of grating metal. I step through and wait in the antechamber as my second in command follows the proper procedures and locks the gate behind me.
A security guard unlocks the secondary gate from inside the control room. I stomp down the hall and stop between my intended cells.
Vynn clings to me. The harsh fluorescent lights beat down on her tangled mass of thick, dark hair. Her pale skin flushes as a cramp steals through her.
Fully in estrous, she needs my knot again, even though I’ve taken her twice already.
“Vynn?”
Her mother’s strained voice floats out from the darkness behind the bars to our right.
“Omma?”
A cloud of exotic perfume fills my nostrils as my omega frees one arm from the makeshift cocoon. I snarl and tug the blanket closed again.
Four large beta males turn the corner and approach us from deeper in the jail.
I nod to the cell on the left. Three guards gather around it before unlocking the door and hauling the occupant from the darkness. Wrapped in chains and stumbling in the sudden brightness, Ru meets my stare. The fear emanating from him pleases me until my tiny scorpion wriggles and hisses. Her agony threatens to split my chest in two.
The remaining guard pulls her mother from the cell on the right.
My omega fights harder.
Without a word, I turn and lead the group through the gates and into the dark maze separating my den from the rest of the ship. No matter how hard my tiny scorpion struggles, she can’t get free. I stole her stingers and claimed them as my own.
She’s mine. Her stingers belong to me. Her parents belong to me.
Her future is mine and mine alone.
Which is why I lead the procession into the pod nearest our den and perch my ass on the counter closest to the door as the guards guide her mother and father past us to the table.
With a nesting area in the corner, a hygiene alcove—complete with working shower, toilet, sink, and curtain—a round table with four chairs in the center, and a kitchen along the front wall, the ancient officer’s dining hall is now a fully stocked living space big enough for two people.
My tiny scorpion stills.
I nod for the guards to unchain Ru. The wariness filling his tense expression proves his intelligence. My aggravation grows as I stare at the alpha responsible for so many years of anger.
I turn and jerk my chin at Sera. Her guard removes the shackles from her wrists.
Tears glisten on her lashes, but the death grip of rage no longer squeezes my heart when I meet her wide-eyed stare. Time has weathered her face, but her features remain the same. They do nothing for me anymore. Although almost identical to my omega, she lacks the softness of youth and the plump lips her daughter inherited from her sire.
I recognize the hard edge of guilt in her eyes for the first time. When it morphs to yearning and joy as she turns to meet Ru’s eyes, I know the truth.
She was never mine. Her betrayal wasn’t to break me. It was to find her own happiness.
The knowledge eases my angst.
I instruct the betas to leave. Tension vibrates through the silent room.
“Fore?” My tiny scorpion’s tremulous inquiry seals my fate.
I snarl and tighten my arms around her.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
Sera steps forward. Ru holds up his hand in the universal sign for stop. She freezes.
“What are you doing, Fore?” Vynn asks. The hope in her voice echoes in our bond.
