Chapter 13

 

 

Kat’Chinna walked down the corridor at a steady rate, even though she wanted to run to the briefing room. The word that had made its way through the barracks was that Major Ontarii had returned to Zanthar, and he wasn’t alone.

She’d been summoned a few moments ago, and she’d immediately started for the briefing room, her nerves fighting like eels in a sack. She was working hard to keep her skin an even green color. Now that she was only a few paces away from the entrance, she took a deep breath, making sure her expression hid any of the anxiety gnawing at her insides.

The membrane opened and Kat stepped inside. She had to fight to disguise her surprise when she saw the human lieutenant staring back at her.

He wasn’t alone in the room. His two female crewmates were with him. They were huddled together, their faces excited. Seems like they’ve heard the news as well.

“Hello, Kat.”

Although she wanted to avoid eye contact, she forced herself to meet Jeffrey’s gaze.

“Lieutenant,” she replied, giving him a polite nod.

Hurt flitted over his features but he covered it quickly with a sardonic grin. “Looks like you got everyone home safely, and managed to land your first Hareema prisoner. Well done.”

Kat wasn’t sure how to respond. She’d known that at some moment in time, she’d have to interact with Jeffrey Brunt again. She’d hoped she would have a little more time before that moment arrived, however.

So instead of responding she kept quiet, relying on a tactic she’d used on soldiers of lower rank. Just stare at him until he shuts up and goes away.

She knew it wasn’t the right way to respond, knew she should say something, but she refused to give into blind panic and start sputtering things she would regret later. So she stood and stared and watched his face get redder.

“We need to talk.”

A ripple of anxiety ran through her. She wasn’t sure how it went on Earth, but on her planet, usually the female utter those words to a recalcitrant male. Perhaps humans were different.

She thought for a moment of continuing her silent treatment, but knew she was being unfair. Besides, Jeffrey looks like the tenacious type. I doubt he’d give up until he got a response.

“So talk,” she said, wincing inwardly at her tone.

She watched as his brows lowered and his respiration rate increased. “I wanted to talk about what happened in that interrogation room.”

“What are you referring to? Our capture of the Hareema infiltrator?”

Jeffrey shook his head. “You know that’s not what I'm referring to.” The last words came out close to a snarl. It seems she’d already pushed him to the edge.

Maybe if she pushed him over it, he’d leave her alone and let her get back to her life. A life of fighting the enemy. A life of harmless crushes. A life where she didn’t have to worry about her confusing feelings, where she didn’t have to risk her career and her reputation on a relationship.

Although she knew she was being cruel, it seemed the only appropriate course of action. “That capture was the only thing of consequence to happen in that room. Nothing else is worth talking about.”

Kat wanted to look away, to block out the anger and hurt in his features, but she forced herself to be brave, using all of her energy to maintain her mint-green skin and her neutral facial expression.

“You know that isn’t true,” Jeffrey said, becoming animated as he launched into his tirade. “You might want to pretend that I was the only one affected by our little interlude, but believe me, you were right there with me. If anything, you were—“

The membrane opened, and in strolled the regent with his little mate by his side. Following behind him was his brother, Drake Karren Rasveen, Minister of Defense. Kat was both surprised and relieved to see the minister. Most Zantharians thought the Hareema would have killed him by now.

Yet here he was, standing beside his brother, his keen eyes scanning the room for threats. When two more figures entered the briefing room, though, Kat’s surprise tripled. It took every ounce of concentration not to let her emotions show.

Major Ontarii had just entered, his arm around the waist of an attractive human female dressed in a flight suit that matched the rest of the human crew.

It seemed that Jeffrey was so focused on his conversation that he hadn’t noticed the new arrivals. “—than other women. I’m not unfamiliar with an aroused female’s reaction. So I have no doubt that—“

The human female detached herself from Major Ontarii and waved to Dr. Tan and Chao, who had greeted her with shouts of joy. Then she turned her attention to Jeffrey, who still hadn’t noticed her.

At that moment he realized that Kat was distracted. “You’re not listening to me!”

Kat couldn’t believe the ridiculousness of the situation and rolled her eyes, not noticing that the female had sidled up to their conversation.

Suddenly a voice heavy with command demanded “Lieutenant, report!”

Kat’s eyes snapped to the human female, the air of authority almost causing her to follow the command. Before she could speak, Jeffrey’s near-constant stream of words trickled off. He turned, finally noticing the female, and he immediately grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.

Her stomach tightened uncomfortably with an unknown emotion when she saw him embrace the human female. She tried to push the feeling away, but it lingered.

“Captain! I didn’t think we’d ever see you again.” Jeffrey’s entire demeanor changed, joy replacing frustration on his features.

There was a growl from behind the embracing pair. Kat’s gaze shifted to Major Ontarii who was standing behind the humans, his hands clenched in fists. “Get your hands off my mate or lose them.”

Kat’s stomach felt as if it had just hit 15 G’s. Major Ontarii’s skin was a blazing yellow, the desire to murder the human male writ large on his face.

Mate?

The human female detached herself from Jeffrey and spoke soothingly to the major. “It’s okay,” she said.

It seemed like the walls were closing in on her. Her breathing sharpened, her emotions on overload.

Major Ontarii has taken a mate. A human mate.

Several years’ worth of daydreams evaporated like sea mist on a warm day. She and Major Ontarii on a beautiful alien world. Him stealing kisses beneath a waterfall. Holding her tight. Whispering words of love and adoration while a billion stars shone overhead.

None of that would ever happen now. Zantharians mated for life. Major Ontarii was forever out of her reach.

She couldn’t help the overwhelming resentment she felt toward the human captain. Her gaze narrowed as she raked her eyes over Major Ontarii’s mate. She was short, plump, with large eyes and thick, wavy hair. What has this scrap of female got that I haven’t?

The captain met her gaze, her discerning eyes taking in more than Kat wanted to reveal.

“Fill me in on what’s happening,” she told her lieutenant.

“After you’d left with this one,” Jeffrey said, gesturing at Major Ontarii, “we waited. After a few moments, you came back. He told his crew to remain on the ship with you and the others, while the rest of us were taken to the flagship. We thought it was you, so we followed orders, even though I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

The human female nodded. “It’s understandable.”

Kat saw Jeffrey make a sigh of relief. He continued, “On the flagship, we met this one, Kat’Chinna, Major Ontarii’s second. Long story short, we figured out that the Major Ontarii we’d brought back wasn’t the real one.”

The lieutenant frowned, his eyes searching his Captain’s face. “Where’s Mike? And Diego? And Talia?”

His captain shook her head sadly. “Mike and Diego didn’t make it. Talia was the Hareema plant. Although there had to be more.”

“Oh, there were more, at least two others,” Jeffrey said. Kat shivered at his frozen tone.

His captain had a similar reaction. “How do you know this?”

Jeffrey’s smile was sharp. “Because I caught one, and it talked.”

Kat didn’t like the cocky tone in Jeffrey’s voice. Why does he make light of everything? Even an enemy that threatened to destroy both their worlds.

Her head swiveled when Major Ontarii spoke. The surprise in his voice made her sick to her stomach. “You have a Hareema prisoner? We haven’t managed to catch one in centuries. How did you do it?”

“It’s all in the wrists,” the lieutenant joked.

His cavalier attitude made her nauseous. Coupled with Major Ontarii’s announcement, Kat was close to losing her lunch. We haven’t managed to catch one because we never tried, she wanted to say.

Before she could open her mouth to insult a superior officer, the Supreme Regent stepped forward. “We will discuss all of this further shortly. We have briefings scheduled all day. For now, I’d like to discuss assignments.”

Kat took a deep breath, turning herself on autopilot. I can deal with my feelings later.

To Major Ontarii, the regent said, “We need to debrief, obviously, and I want your help in interrogating the Hareema prisoner. Drake informs me that you have information about a rebel alliance among the enemy. I want to see what our captive has to say about this.”

Rasveen then turned his attention to Kat and Jeffrey. “You two, you’re charged with recovering the missing Earth vessel and reclaiming it from the Hareema. I want this done as quickly as possible. I think the next step in this war will involve a trip back to Earth, and I want it to be in your vessel.”

The human captain lodged her protest, but Rasveen was brooking no resistance. “Your lieutenants have proven themselves more than capable. They will recover your ship. You will remain here. Am I clear?”

Kat could see that the human captain wasn’t used to taking orders from alien alpha males. Good luck. You’ve tied yourself to one of the biggest alphas on Zanthar. Time to get used to it.

Dr. Cohen came forward to usher Captain Brooklyn to her quarters to freshen up. The knot in Kat’s insides tightened when she saw Major Ontarii fight to accompany her. Zantharian males hated letting their chosen female out of their sight.

After the human scientist led her colleague out of the briefing room, Major Ontarii and Rasveen put their heads together, discussing what would happen next. Jeffrey had put his arms around his crewmates and they were talking in excited tones.

Kat stood there, staring at the ground, her mind caught in a whirlpool of shock, disappointment, and anger.

The lieutenant lifted his gaze to her face, and she could feel his eyes on her, as if his stare had weight.

Without waiting for him to resume their earlier conversation, Kat turned on her heel. “I’ll begin making preparations,” she said over her shoulder as she opened the membrane, then escaped out into the corridor.

Her steps were rapid as she fled the briefing room. She wished she could run away from the whole situation, just leave it all behind her.

Major Ontarii has mated with a human female.

The words sounded foreign in her brain. They didn’t make sense.

Although she’d always hoped they’d end up together, she’d admitted to herself that Major Ontarii might never take a mate, even her.

And now he’d shown up with a human mate, even though he’d known the woman for only a couple of days.

Can you really fault him his passions? an inner voice asked. You submitted to the lieutenant’s charms after only a couple hours.

“Shut up,” she told herself. “Fooling around on an interrogation table isn’t the same thing as matehood!”

Two soldiers who were passing by fixed her with confused stares, and Kat scowled at them, forcing herself not to break into a dead run.

Calm down. Breathe. Try and forget what’s happening.

Even if it means the death of your dreams.

Although, if Kat were being honest with herself, she would have to admit that she felt the tiniest bit relieved. Carrying a torch for someone for years, letting desire linger unfulfilled for so long, was a difficult task.

If it wasn’t the unrequited love lost that was making her stomach feel like it was doing flip flops, then what could it be?

The image of the handsome human lieutenant rose in her mind. Oh yeah. Him.

The regent had charged them both with bringing back the human ship. She’d planned to avoid Jeffrey as much as possible, promising herself that she’d never be alone with him again. If they weren’t alone, she wouldn’t be in a position to be vulnerable to his charms.

Or her own desires.

Kat made her way to central requisition hub, requesting the fastest scout ship on hand. They’d have to make due with a minimal crew, but a handful of them should be enough to deal with the Hareema plants on the human ship. As long as they didn’t run into anything more threatening…

She requested five of her most trusted underlings to be assigned to the scout ship. The head requisitions officer told her that he’d oversee the outfitting of the ship himself and would let her know when it was ready to fly.

With that finished, she headed toward her cabin. Although she had a small family home on the other side of the planet, she kept quarters here, as she wasn’t on the home world often for long enough to travel back to her home. She’d just filled her tub and settled herself inside the hot scented water when she received a summons from the regent’s office. She was to meet in the strategic planning center in ten minutes.

Kat rolled her eyes. It figured.

She grabbed her sponge and started running it over her tired limbs. It was soft but scratchy enough to exfoliate. The sponge had once been a living creature whose body contained a substance that was naturally antibacterial.

Rinsing off quickly, she hopped out of the tub and started drying herself briskly. A few moments later, she was straightening the tendrils on her head, forcing them back into a tight knot on her neck.

A fresh uniform followed, and she was speeding down the hall to the strategic planning center.

The membrane opened and she hurried inside, swallowing her disappointment when she saw who was gathered there.

On the other side of the large briefing table, Major Ontarii stood behind his human mate, his arms around her waist, his face nestled at her neck, planting kisses and harvesting enjoyment from his female.

Kat looked away quickly, her face almost heating at the sight of Major Ontarii’s skin flushed a shade very near to lavender. How embarrassing.

Looking at the regent and his lady love wasn’t much better. She was stationed on his knee, a possessive arm around her middle, while he smiled down into her cherubic face.

What the hell is happening around here? Kat considered the possibility that the humans were in league to take over Zanthar through seduction.

Turning to face the other inhabitants of the room, Kat blanked her face. The three human crewmates were settled into chairs around the oval table, talking quietly.

Suddenly Jeffrey’s head came up, his eyes locking on hers. A ghost of a smile lit his features.

Kat looked away, pulling up a seat at the table and crossing her arms in front of her on its smooth surface. She stared at her hands, wishing more than anything to be anywhere else but here.

“I see you took your time getting here,” the regent said when he noticed her presence.

“Apologies,” Kat said softly. “I requisitioned the fastest scout ship available and selected my crew. We should be ready to depart when ordered.”

“Good,” the regent said. “I want you and the lieutenant on your way within the hour.

“Your Majesty,” the human male said. “If I may speak?”

Rasveen nodded. Sylvia giggled, amused by the ironic formality in the lieutenant’s voice. An irony that was missed by her mate.

“I think it makes sense to try and talk to the prisoner again before we take off. He might have information that could be of use.”

Kat considered his words, then shook her head. “I don’t think it’s worth wasting our time. That creature is not going to talk. And even if it does, how would we know if it was telling the truth?”

“It won’t take long,” Jeffrey countered. “And any information, whether trustworthy or not, has to be better than flying blind into God knows what.”

Rasveen considered their words. Kat’s eyes skittered to her commander’s face. Major Ontarii was staring at her, a considering light in his dark eyes.

“I agree with the human,” the regent said at last. “You will attempt to interrogate the prisoner before you depart. But don’t take too long. I want you out of here as soon as possible. We need that human ship.”

Kat nodded, rising from the table. She had no choice. She was stuck with the human. Any argument on her part would just burn much-needed minutes in the fight against the Hareema.

Without a word in Jeffrey’s direction, she headed toward the exit.

“Lieutenant Yarr.” The regent’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

She turned back to face him. “Yes, Supreme Regent?”

“I trust you to bring back the human ship with your crew intact. And I trust you to cooperate with your human counterpart.”

“I have no problem with that, as long as he obeys my orders.”

“About that,” Rasveen said, the corner of his lips curving up. “It’s actually the other way around.”

“Pardon me?”

Jeffrey stood from his seat and sauntered over with a gnarshark’s grin on his handsome face. “He’s saying I’m in charge, sweetheart.”
Kat’s overburdened brain couldn’t take anymore. Her control snapped. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I won’t stand for it!”

“Are you disobeying my orders?” Rasveen barked, his voice deep and full of authority.

“If your orders are to obey this…this…”

“Primitive?” Jeffrey said in a low voice that only she could hear.

“Human! It’s my ship, and my crew!”

Rasveen stood then, heaving his mate into his arms. He towered over the rest of the company, his skin mottled with yellow. “You will do as I command! Lieutenant Brunt is in charge for this mission. He’s had several good ideas, convincing you to catch the Hareema captive, and suggesting the interrogation. I want to see if his ideas hold on this mission.”

The regent scowled down at her. “I’m not used to having my orders questioned. Don’t ever do it again.”
“Xiv,” the human scientist whispered into her irate male’s ear. “I think you’ve made your point. Now how about you and I go partake in an Earth delicacy. It’s called ‘afternoon delight.’”

The female kissed Rasveen on his cheek and the yellow tint to his skin melted away. “I want that human ship returned,” he said, then carried his mate out the membrane and into the corridor.

Major Ontarii and his mate followed close behind, hand in hand. “You can do this, lieutenant,” he said as he passed.

Kat gave him a tight nod, unwilling to meet his eyes.

“Well, precious, seems like we should be on our way.” Jeffrey held out his arm to her.

Kat looked at it, offended. Does he think me too weak to walk on my own?

She stalked off, into the corridor, not bothering to look back to see if he followed.