Alphas of Pandora, page 32
Only one other person was not engaged in deathly combat. Faseer stood on the other side of the clearing, his malevolent glare shining in the bright lights from the hovering skycars. He looked at her in a way that made all this struggle personal, as if he planned to tear her apart with his bare hands or subject her to the worst he could think of simply for the enjoyment of it.
Faseer advanced on her slowly, skirting the soldiers fighting around him as if by magic and more easily than should have been possible. He said something inaudible in the howling wind, but the intent was written into every line of his body.
“You will be mine.”
Castor would not come to aid her, he was busy fighting for his life. The same could be said for Adrian and Legion, who weren’t even close enough to reach her in time.
There was nowhere for her to run and no place to hide where he wouldn’t find her. He would never stop coming until she was a captive or dead. Fear rose like bile in her throat as Faseer strode closer, the distance between them almost completely eaten up by his long strides. And with Castor lost in the darkness, there wouldn’t be anyone to stop him.
The gun was still in her hand and she glanced down at it while Faseer’s maniacal expression turned almost amused. He didn’t think she had it in her to defend herself. The confidence in his expression did not change when her fingers stiffened on the barrel. His smile did not alter even as her eyes narrowed and her awareness of the world contracted to the man in front of her.
He was a threat, not just to her but to her mate. If Faseer had his way, the man who owned her soul would be disemboweled with his rotten corpse displayed for all to see. No matter what else happened, she could not allow a threat like that to exist in the world. It was an affront to her very life itself.
Faseer was only steps away, arms outreached to grab for her as malevolent intent filled his gaze. But in that moment, she wasn’t thinking about the harm he intended to do to her. She thought of Castor.
Aura raised the gun, aimed it and fired.
Thirty-Eight
Castor wouldn’t have believed her capable of murder, if he hadn’t seen Aura fire the gun with his own eyes. He had reached her just in time for the blinding muzzle flash and the kickback that sent her flying off her feet. She fell into his arms at the same moment that Faseer dropped to his knees only yards away.
Faseer was dead before he hit the ground, the single shot striking him in the heart.
Without their leader, the Vigilian soldiers surrendered easily, trading their freedom for silence. Enough blood had been shed and Castor had no interest in attempting to explain why he arrived in the Pandora with a dozen POWs in tow. It was infinitely better to allow them to return to Vigil with their tails between their legs. The Vigilians pursuit of Aura had been illegal in the extreme and it served them all to pretend none of this had ever happened.
He momentarily considered murdering each and every last soldier, but the rage had fled with Faseer’s death. Now, he focused only on getting his mate out of this wretched forest and somewhere safe.
Aura did not wake during the journey back to the city, despite the jostling of the skycar in the high wind. He held her in his lap and stared down at her face, still pinched with tension despite her lack of consciousness. This was not a restful sleep but a reaction to overwhelming stress.
No sense of relief settled over him as they flew over the electrified boundary that separated the Forbidden Zone from the border to Pandora. Instead, regret and recrimination were among the primary emotions. He had failed both his city and his mate so completely that it disgusted him. The more he had tried to overcome the weaknesses of his family line, the more epically he had failed everyone around him.
It simply could not go on.
Aura made a small sound of pain in her slumber as his arms tightened around her. With an effort, Castor forced himself to relax and shift her off his lap to the seat beside him. His fingers ached with the urge to touch her again and he clenched them at his sides as he glared out the window.
“Have you already found another reason to brood?” Legion asked from the opposite seat, expression sardonic as he regarded Castor. “It’s been at least an hour since someone tried to murder you, so I assume it has to do with the girl.”
Castor forced his gaze away from the towers as they rose toward the upper levels. “I am in no mood.”
Legion barked out a laugh. “Are you ever?”
“Not all of us have your flair for sociopathy.”
“I have simply accepted what I am and I suggest you do the same.” Legion’s gaze passed briefly over the unconscious Omega sprawled across the long seat. “Omegas thrive under an Alpha’s control. Without balance, everyone involved suffers.”
A low growl escaped his lips before Castor could stop it. “I am more than my urges.”
“You are the best of us and it’s killing you.” Legion yawned and leaned his head back on the rest behind him. “In any case, I don’t have another of these little adventures left in me because I do have an Omega to return home to. Whatever you decide, I suggest you get to it quickly.”
But Castor already knew what he would do, had known since before he had even entered Vigil in search of his mate. There was no way to reconcile his ideals with the reality of what he was without destroying everything he had worked to create.
He had to let her go.
“I assume the other task that I assigned has been completed without difficulty,” Castor murmured, his gaze on Aura’s sleeping face.
Legion raised his eyebrows at the abrupt change in topic, but seemed to take it in stride. “Adrian has taken a contingent of Guardians into Vigil. He is no stranger to covert work, so I assume there won’t be any problems.”
“Good.”
“Quite a lot of effort you’ve put in,” Legion commented. “Are you sure it’s worth it?”
Castor glared out the window as sunlight broke over the tops of the towers, blue sky bright from this height even with the permanent haze obscuring the sun.
“More sure than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Aura woke in a room filled with warmth and light. Sunlight streamed in from tall windows, so bright that it seemed unnatural. This was not her room in the harem, because the view through the glass was completely unobscured. It was all blue sky and distant horizon as she looked around her in rising confusion.
She was also completely alone.
It took several moments for to reorient herself to reality as the events of the last few days came crashing down on her. The trauma of her kidnapping, near violation and trek through the Forbidden Zone seemed like someone else’s memory. Except that she could still feel the weight of the gun in her hand and the impact that reverberated through her body when she had pulled the trigger. She had killed a man.
Aura waited for the horror to rise in her chest at the terrible recollection, the memory of the shock on his face when he realized that he had completely misjudged her, but she simply felt nothing at all. She had only done what she needed to do to protect herself and her mate.
But where was Castor?
The bond lay dormant in her chest, not so much as a quiver of sensation. For a devastating moment, she thought that perhaps he had died in that forest. But there was no sense of emptiness, the bond still existed. But it was as if a wall had been put up between them and when she reached out to touch it, her mind felt only resistance.
The bed sheets around her were cool to the touch, no one else had slept beside her. The room smelled clean and completely devoid of any hint of an Alpha’s scent. Castor had never even stepped foot in this room before and neither had any other Alpha.
Aura had no recollection of how she had made it from that moment to this one, but it was clear she had been brought here by someone other than Castor. She rose from the bed on shaky legs, gripping the edge of the mattress as her knees threatened to collapse underneath her.
The room was smaller than the one she had used in the harem and it only took a few steps to reach the door. She expected it to be locked, but the knob turned easily under her hand as the portal swung open.
She took a careful step into the darkened hallway, then nearly jumped out of her skin when a familiar voice spoke from behind her.
“Oh, you’re awake. I was just coming to check on you.”
When Aura turned, she met the smiling face with one of confusion. “Dharia?”
“You’ve been asleep for almost a day. I was worried you’d never wake up. They had a doctor in here, a Beta of course, who kept saying there was nothing to worry about, but you never know. Are you hungry? I was just on my way to breakfast.”
Swallowing against the sudden dryness in her throat. “Where are we?”
“The Enclave,” Dharia responded as if it should be obvious.
That short answer did nothing to assuage her confusion. “The what?”
“Jeez, I’m such an idiot. You have no idea what’s going on, do you?” Wrapping her arm around Aura’s shoulders, Dharia led them down the windowless hallway to a set of double doors. “It’s a wonderful thing that the King has done, although I really didn’t believe it until I saw for myself.”
Aura listened with half an ear as Dharia prattled on about the wonders of their new living space. The Enclave was adjacent to the palace, but a world completely to its own. No Alphas were permitted to enter, only Betas who had agreed to a strict policy of non-interference. The women here were allowed to live as they pleased without any risk of suffering unwanted attention from Alphas, or anyone else. By royal decree, any Omega in the city could choose to come here and live out her days without fear of interference. It was an automatic death sentence for any Alpha attempting to enter, including the King himself.
It seemed too amazing to be real, but all Aura could do was wonder why she had woken up here.
“There’s something I’m supposed to show you,” Dharia said, pulling on her arm as Aura took slow steps. “Hurry up. I’ve never seen someone go so slowly in my life.”
Aura allowed herself to be pulled down the hallway. When the doors opened, a bright light nearly blinded her as a gust of warm air blew against her skin. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the light, widening as she took in the most beautiful place she had ever seen. Trees and shrubs, decorated with flowers in every color imaginable, filled an open courtyard. Water babbled over colored rocks from a nearby waterfall that fed a stream winding through the flower gardens. They crossed a small wooden bridge and Aura looked down to see a school of tiny fish swim past.
Handfuls of women lingered on the stone path, smiling or nodding a greeting as Aura stumbled past open-mouthed. She had no voice to speak, robbed of the ability by shock and awe.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Dharia sighed. “There’s nothing like this anywhere else in Pandora. King Castor truly out did himself, although I hear his cabinet is none too pleased. Come this way.”
Aura followed Dharia down the path to a small vegetable garden on the far side of the courtyard. A bent figure knelt on the ground, pulling weeds and tossing them to the side.
She was running down the path before her mind had connected to the movement. “Auntie Nona!”
The older woman lifted her wrinkled face to the sun, squinting eyes that had gone watery with cataracts. “Oh my girl.”
They embraced with bone-crushing force, Nona making a pained laugh as Aura squeezed her tight. Tears spilled down her cheeks as Aura pulled back to stare into the beloved face she thought she would never see again. “How?”
Nona shook her head, as if the events that had transpired barely made sense to her, even after all this time. “After you disappeared from the station, everything turned to chaos. The people were rounded up and taken until no part of the ship was safe. We were among the last, because I’ve always been able to find the best hiding places. They made me work in the fields until men came in the night and brought me here.”
A sudden anxiety rose up in Aura. “The twins?”
“Here and safe,” Nona assured her with a wide smile. “We were separated for a time so I have no idea who to thank for that miracle.”
“All the children are in the creche if you’d like to see them,” Dharia said from behind her, assuming even though she could not follow the conversation. “There are two who have been asking for you. I don’t speak their language, but I recognized your name being spoken more than once.”
Her reunion with the children was significantly more sweet than it was bitter, but Aura could not help but notice with tears in her eyes how different the twins seemed now than they had in her memory. She stroked their rounded faces and patted their distended bellies, amazed at the difference that could be wrought with proper nutrition. They still belonged to her, but quickly approached the stage when they would also become their own.
Castor had done this, she realized. He had ensured she could be reunited with her family in the safest place that he was capable of creating. And he had not even waited around to be thanked for it.
Her mate was giving her a choice, she realized. But then her thoughts turned to the more uncharitable alternative. Perhaps once again, he was making a choice for her, just as he had before. He had not bothered to ask her if this was what she wanted.
Promising that she would return to visit them soon, Aura left Nona and Dharia in the creche and crossed the courtyard with determined strides. Dharia had told her that there was only one entrance to the Enclave. It wasn’t difficult to locate, Aura only had to head in the opposite direction from the other Omegas she passed.
She approached thick gates made of dull metal and secured with heavy chain. Two Guardian Alphas stood sentry on the other side with their backs to her, but both acknowledged her request when she practically shouted it at them.
“I want to see the King.”
Castor responded to her summons with a speed that made it clear he had been waiting for it. But there was no hint of expectation on his countenance as he approached flanked by guards. His expression was very carefully neutral as he regarded her. while the guards removed the chain, and the gate swung open toward him. He stopped just short of crossing the boundary, his toes not quite touching the thick red line painted on the ground between them.
Neither of them spoke, staring at each other as electricity practically crackled in the air between them.
Finally, Castor broke the silence. “You wanted to speak to me.”
“I wanted to throw something at your head,” Aura snapped, before forcing herself to take a breath and attempt to calm. “What is this?”
“I’m not sure I understand the question.” Castor’s gaze drank her in like a man dying of thirst who had just glimpsed an oasis in the desert. “One of the other Omegas was tasked with explaining things to you.”
“That’s not what I mean,” she growled, thoroughly exasperated. “You dropped me here without a word. If I hadn’t asked for you, would I ever even have seen you again?”
Castor sighed. “It’s unlikely.”
“Why?”
“Your family is here, you won’t run from this place and end up in danger or dead. It’s the best I have to offer.” He gestured toward the Enclave behind her, his expression bleak but determined. “I am trying to give you what you want.”
“Are you?” Aura’s hands clenched into fists at her sides. She was angry, almost irrationally so. Because this was precisely what she had wanted, but she wasn’t happy with it. Not at all. And she couldn’t help but blame him for that. He had ruined her. “How would you know without bothering to ask?”
Castor’s own eyes narrowed, his own ability to remain calm sorely tested. “You ran from me. There isn’t any other way to interpret that aside from a desire to remain out of my reach.”
“I ran because I was afraid of you.”
“Of me. Why?”
If it wasn’t for the hurt she sensed through the bond, Aura wouldn’t have answered. But for the first time, she understood that conflict raged in him as deeply as it did in her. “I was scared of how I felt when I was with you, of the things you could make me want.”
He regarded her with an intensity that made shimmering heat rise in her skin. “And now?”
“I’m still scared. But without you, the fear doesn’t go away. It only gets worse. The thing I fear most is the emptiness I feel without you.”
His lips thinned, but she felt the hope that bloomed in him because the emotion mirrored in her. “Tell me what you want, Aura.”
Her answer was simple. “You.”
Castor winced in pain as if he’d been struck. “I am an Alpha, with all the urges and need for control that comes along with it. I can’t promise you peace.”
Now that the decision was made, a new calm had settled over her. For once, she was making her own choice. “I’m not asking you for peace.”
“And risk never seeing your family again?” he pressed, voice a husky murmur as fire danced in his gaze. “If you cross that line, what makes you think that I would ever allow you to return?”
Women had gathered behind her, their curiosity getting the better of them. Castor barely spared them a glance, but Aura heard their gasps at the apparent threat in his voice. He wanted to frighten her with the force of his need, show her what she would subject herself to.
But Aura wasn’t buying it. “Because you have honor and because you trust me to come back to you.”
Castor stepped back from the red boundary line and held out his hand, a dark and suggestive look descending over his features. “If you’re ready to test that theory, then do it. The only way out is through.”
It felt like a quote, but Aura did not give herself any time to think through his words. She’d had enough of thinking days ago while strapped to a hospital gurney. Listening to her mind had gained her nothing, it was time to give her heart a chance to direct things.
She held her breath as she crossed the line, even though the boundary was mental and not physical. Crossing it was a form of acceptance, of all the things she had spent so much time fighting against.
