There were tears in the beautiful deep blue eyes of his fated.

She was absolutely flawless. For months now, Rhys had been impatient, wondering when the gods were going to bring him the female he was destined to bond to. Others, lesser men than him, had several sons already. He'd been starting to think that the galaxy was playing a cruel joke upon him.

Now, seeing the perfect creature in front of him, the harbinger knew why they'd kept him waiting. The female was without fault in his eyes. The deep blue eyes were bottomless, like a starry pond on Luminos on a cloudless night, with the stars reflecting from it.

Her body was hidden from his sight by the dull black uniform everyone in the Union's service seemed to wear, but his mind easily filled in the gaps. Rhys could see curves that made his mouth water, aching to hold her supple, soft body against his.

Messed-up curls of blonde hair fell over the female's eyes as she stared at him with a mixture of dread and desire. A common reaction for the women Nayanors brought on their ships.

Except the only occasion where her hair would be tousled like that was laying in his bed after he'd finished fucking her warm, hot pussy.

Rhys' blood boiled and the feral sneer on his lips spread wider. With difficulty, he tore his gaze away from his female and returned it to the man who'd dared harm her.

"Step forward," he ordered roughly. "If you want to die like a warrior and be buried facing north to see the afterlife."

The fact that the warrior hesitated disgusted Rhys. It seemed he needed to take better account of what sort of fighters he had on his ship if that was the man's reaction.

"Harbinger," the warrior tried to reason with him. "I wasn't aware this was your female. If I had, I never would have –"

Rhys drew the sword from the sheath on his back. It was a famous weapon on Luminos, unlike any other. The blade was split in two halfway, making it incredibly deadly even when he merely wounded someone. The jagged edges cut up the enemy's insides, giving them no hope of surviving once the blade was no longer blocking the wounds.

The warrior reacted, instantly drawing his own blade.

"Let me atone for this in another way," the warrior asked, enraging Rhys further. "My fated is expecting my son any day now. I want to see him raised."

Rhys gave a barking laugh.

"With you as his father, I doubt he'll be anyone noteworthy," he said coldly. "Face me and I might do you the honor of delivering your sword to your son, which is more than you deserve.

"I'm only offering you this because I'm in a merciful mood now that I have found my fated."

Turning to her, Rhys ignored the desire that coursed through his veins. The mere sight of her was turning him on faster than any female had ever been able to do. His cock was hard, pressing against his armor. The harbinger couldn't wait to bury himself into her wet pussy, fill her with his seed and continue his bloodline at last.

She looked strong. That was good.

"Stand, female," Rhys said. "What's your name?"

"Quinn," she said quietly, wiping the tears away from her eyes and observing him with interest now.

Now that she was no longer in pain, Rhys could see her true colors starting to show. It was rare to see a female who didn't cower from him in fear. He liked that. It brought a wild grin to his lips and made him long for her even more.

It said something that he considered killing the warrior a chore more than anything at that point. No one had made him feel like that about battle before, only now Rhys couldn't wait to be done with defending his honor and his mate so he could be alone with his female.

"Move out of the way, Quinn," he said, her name rolling off the tip of his tongue.

He ached to hear her beautiful voice screaming his name when he claimed her.

She didn't need to be told twice. Retreating out of the way, Rhys was free at last to make the warrior pay for laying a hand on his fated mate.

"I only did what I had to do," the warrior said, coming forward to face his doom. "She set another female free."

Rhys scoffed.

"Then you're twice as guilty," he answered. "Her foolishness was mine to deal with. And you were weak if you let her save a female.

"The rest of you, go make yourselves useful and hunt down the escape pods that launched."

The warriors scrambled away before their commander could unleash his anger on them as well. Rhys turned to the warrior who he had decided didn't deserve to have his name known. His mistakes were too severe to be forgiven, even if the harbinger found himself to be in a giving mood. After years of looking, gods finally granted him his wish that day and nothing could spoil it.

"Don't even think of running, female," he told Quinn, who once again faced him without fear.

"I won't," she said.

That was surprising. Rhys made a point to find out what made her stay when all the other females ran from him and his warriors, as they had for years.

He pushed the question out of his mind when the warrior attacked, trying to catch him off-guard while Rhys' attention was on his fated.

The harbinger didn't mind such a cheap tactic. After all, it was the only edge the warrior could hope to have in a duel with him. With a grin and barely any effort, Rhys sidestepped the blow that landed on the wall, denting it. No doubt it had been meant to take his head off, but the harbinger was intent on it staying on his shoulders for a long while yet.

A part of him wanted to play with his prey a little, to draw the warrior's death out as he deserved for failing him, but the need to get to Quinn was much stronger.

Gripping his razor-sharp sword with both hands, Rhys braced himself for the blow that couldn't be blocked. The warrior's eyes went wide as he saw it coming, barely having enough time to turn and face it like a man. It was a strike Rhys was known for. With both feet firmly on the ground, the wide sword cut through the air, backed by all his impressive strength.

The warrior brought his sword up in defense, but Rhys' blade sent them both flying against the wall. The warrior's sword was mangled, the sheer force of the blow so hard it bent its blade.

Even so, the warrior tried to lift it up in self-defense, with a hand that was still shaking from the devastating strike. Rhys kicked it out of the way before beheading the man with enough force to make the head roll on the ground and blood trickle down the walls.

He sheathed his sword, not sparing the dead another look and walked over to Quinn.

The female's eyes were nailed to the corpse, sitting against the wall like he was just resting, except for the missing head. She looked gorgeous like that, wide-eyed and flustered, even when her disapproval was palpable.

"You are not taking his sword," she pointed out when he reached her.

"No," Rhys said.

"Why?" she asked. "You promised him."

He cocked his head to one side, observing her with amusement.

"Why would you care? He harmed you. Aren't you glad to see him dead? He doesn't deserve any favors from me."

"Yes," Quinn admitted, "but I would still take the sword. He already paid with his life, didn't he?"

Rhys looked over his shoulder, regretting only that he'd ever let the man join the ranks of his warriors.

"No," he told Quinn again, turning back to her. "His sword is broken, weak. Just like he was. His son will be better off without either of them."

"That's horrible," Quinn said, frowning, and he could see she really believed that. "The sword can be reforged. It could be a memento, if nothing else."

"Metal can be remastered, yes," Rhys said, pulling her along with him as they left the dead behind. "But there is no reason to remember him."

He put his hand around Quinn, feeling her tense up immediately.

"You have no need to worry," he told his fated. "There is no one on Luminos who could do that to me. You are mine now and I don't intend to ever leave you alone in the world."